Oliver held out the chair for Finn, causing her to blush slightly as she sat down and reached for her menu. He then quickly moved to his own chair and sat, looking down at his, though he nervously glanced up at Finn here and there.
He had been excited and felt perfectly fine about his first date with Finn all day. Though it had been awhile and he had never dated a muggle before, he had spent a fair amount of time preparing - his muggleborn teammates had been teaching him the ins and outs of football. Katie had spent a fair amount of time going over muggle terms as well as everyday muggle items that might pop up either while they were out or in conversation.
Not to mention, everything had been going rather well. He had shown up at her flat on time and like any good gentleman, escorted her to the restaurant. But then, of course, disaster would strike as they were getting out of the cab. The driver gruffly informed him that he hadn't given him enough to cover the fare.
He supposed in the scheme of things it wasn't that big of a mistake. Surely loads of people accidentally handed over the wrong amount because they were in a rush or not paying attention. But it was his first time taking a cab and he wanted to impress Finn (even though she couldn't know it was his first time taking a cab). Not to mention, he was convinced that he had handed over the correct amount and proceeded to tell the driver so.
That is until Finn quietly tapped his arm and whispered that the cabbie was actually right. Oliver then apologized profusely - to both the driver and then Finn when they got out - and tried to blame it on being tired from training, worried she now thought he was the world's biggest prat.
As they sat in the restaurant, he worried about whatever else that could go wrong. Would he get into an argument with the server over a misunderstanding? Not pay enough for dinner? Misunderstand some muggle term and completely embarrass himself?
Glancing up again, he noticed that Finn was casually looking over the menu still. If she were upset, she certainly wasn't showing it. Looking back down at his own, he made a quick decision on what to order, not really paying attention to the prices or converting them to galleons. Not that it mattered - Katie had told him how much to get exchanged at the bank and assured him it would be more than enough for where they were going for the evening. Thank Merlin she had helped him choose the place and then made the reservation for him. With his luck so far, he'd likely have ruined that too.
"So... how was training?" Finn asked, looking up at him as she put down her menu.
"Good. Had a good session," Oliver said, trying to keep from tapping his foot under the table.
For Merlin's sake, he was a grown man. A top quidditch player. Just why was he letting one little mistake ebb away at his confidence like this?
Ah, right. The beautiful woman seated across from him who couldn't know about magic.
A server stepped up and looked at him expectantly about that time. Oliver picked up his menu and for a moment froze as his mind went blank on how this was supposed to work. Did he order first? Or let her? Was he supposed to order for her? He hadn't even asked what she wanted. Had it really been so long ago that he had been on a date that he would forget something like this? Surely not.
What was wrong with him tonight?
For her part, if she thought his behavior odd, Finn didn't react. She looked at the server and put in her order, then waited on Oliver. He swallowed and then quickly put in his before also ordering a bottle of red wine. At the very least he had remembered the type of wine she liked - or at least he hoped she liked it, he had seen a bottle of it at her flat the other night. A small smile came over Finn's face, so he hoped he had made up for the moment with the cabbie earlier. As well as treating the wait staff extra nice - though he was usually rather polite and kind to them.
"Right so... any hits to the head today?" Finn asked, smirking slightly as her green eyes twinkled.
He felt his cheeks heat up - she had noticed his bumbling. But at the same time, it helped relieve some of the pressure in his chest.
"Maybe a few," he admitted, finding himself chuckling slightly.
This was Finn. There was no reason to get so worked up. Even if he didn't have Katie (and Taylor) as a buffer, he could get through one date without blowing the entire Statute of Secrecy. Not to mention, they had spent hours together the other night and everything was fine. She had agreed to go out with him, after all.
Bloody hell, it was like the first time he had gone up on a broom on his own - that weird mix of excitement and fear. But no reason to worry, surely.
"Take a deep breath and relax," he heard a voice in his head say. "You'll be fine..."
Finn wasn't all that calm. The whole night she had been a bundle of nerves and worried that she'd say or do something that would have Oliver running for the hills. For that reason, she had a mental checklist of things to avoid in conversation - her mother, her ex, and her mother.
As Oliver started talking about some of the training the team had done that day, she crossed her legs under the table in an effort to keep from bouncing her leg. She reached for her water glass to have something to do with her hands and to try and keep from staring at him like an idiot.
It was bad enough that this was her first date since Ryan. It was also with a gorgeous guy who happened to be a professional football player. Granted, she didn't know shit about the sport. Glancing around, she wondered if they would have any sort of fan run-in. Not that she wanted to, just she remembered how dedicated to the sport a lot of her co-workers were. If Oliver were as good as Katie and Taylor made him out to be, then there was always a possibility.
And that's just what she needed on her first date in over a year. To have a fan come up and interrupt it.
"Finn?"
She jumped slightly, looking at Oliver with wide eyes.
"Yea?" she asked. He smiled and chuckled, seeming to visibly relax a bit more.
"I asked how your day was," he said. "You seemed off somewhere there for a bit..."
"Oh, sorry," Finn said, smiling tensely.
Great, now he'd think that she found him boring. Which she didn't. She was just caught up in her head overanalyzing everything she did and said.
"Just... yea, work was hectic today. We've got print coming up and I'm a little all over the place. Kind of hard to switch it off sometimes."
"Ah... any new arguments with the boss? Charlotte, wasn't it?" he asked.
Finn couldn't help but be a bit impressed a second time - the first being when he ordered her favorite wine. Seemed he really was observant.
"Not today, thank god. And it's not so much arguments... she's just... really particular," Finn said. "But in the media world, that's a good thing."
The server walked back up at that moment with the wine and both Finn and Oliver looked as though they could kiss her. She quickly poured them both glasses and sat the bottle down before walking away. Finn took a drink and then set her gaze on Oliver. What the hell was she being so nervous about? She needed to just relax.
"So, Oliver... Katie tells me that you're from Scotland," she said, deciding talking about his family and hometown could be a good start. As it was she only knew he played football and went to school with Katie, Angelina and Alicia.
"It wasn't obvious?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Finn blushed slightly as she reached for her wine glass again. "Aye, grew up there in a village not far from Glasgow with my parents."
"Ah, no brothers or sisters?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Though my mother claims she's glad for it, lest she had ended up with a brood of sport-obsessed children. I was enough of that," he said with a chuckle. "My da is rather into it as well."
"Still can't seem to wrap my head around it, to be honest. Never been one for sports. I mean, don't get me wrong, I had fun watching football - American football, I mean - and basketball and all that in school. But think I just enjoyed being at the games more than I actually enjoyed what was going on in the game," she admitted.
"True... that is part of the fun. Going with friends and such. Definitely enjoyed watching matches in school as much as I enjoyed playing," he replied thoughtfully.
"Really?" Finn asked, not quite believing him.
"Okay, maybe not as much, but still enjoyed them nonetheless," he confessed. "So none for you, then?"
"No, I was too busy on the newspaper staff. And debate team. And student council. And the school magazine," Finn said. "I'm completely uncoordinated. The few times I was forced to play any team sport in gym class, I was quickly relegated to water girl for the safety of the rest of the team."
"Surely you weren't that bad," Oliver replied.
"Managed to knock out two girls with one serve the last time I attempted volleyball," Finn said, her face straight. Oliver frowned slightly in confusion. "But I suppose I should wear it as a badge of honor. Not many can do that."
"I'll have to take your word for it," he replied. "Though imagine it's not too easy. Fairly hard to knock someone out with a qu-football. Assume it's not so different than a, a, volleyball."
Finn just shrugged as she studied him a bit.
"So you guys were all really close in school," she said. "Was it a really small boarding school or something? I thought they were typically all boys or all girls as well."
Oliver choked on his wine a bit.
"Well... yea, it's a bit smaller than your average boarding school," he said after clearing his throat. "And... suppose it wasn't really your average boarding school either. The houses were all co-ed, though the dorms weren't."
"Sounds better than where I went," Finn said with a huff.
"You went to boarding school as well?" he asked.
"No," Finn replied. "Private school. Full of elitists and trust fund kids. Though, suppose I'm a trust fund kid as well..."
Oh, shit. Curse her and her stupid nervous rambling. She needed to redirect. Fast.
Oliver stared at her like she was speaking in another language. Which, in a way, she was. At least he understood elitist. Suffered through a fair bit of that at Hogwarts with the purebloods in Slytherin. He had a grandmother who was muggle on his father's side. But he had no idea what she meant by trust fund kid. What was a trust fund?
"A what?" he asked.
Finn blinked a bit, confused. If he went to boarding school, surely Oliver had to know what a trust fund kid was. Boarding schools were usually prime locations for them.
"Rich kids from rich families who will always be rich and therefore tend not to find real jobs," Finn said. "I mean, I suppose when you put it like that, I'm different... I don't use my fund. It's just for emergencies..."
Her cheeks flushed slightly. Fuck, no, no, no. She was supposed to be diverting from this topic. Not to mention, now she sounded like she was bragging. Which she wasn't. God, this was quickly turning into a disaster.
Oliver sat up, his eyebrows rising slightly. Finn definitely didn't come off like any of the purebloods. Not to mention, she worked in a fairly middle class job. Several questions began floating around in his head, but he remembered Katie's warning to avoid bringing up her mother at all costs. And probably might be safe to not ask about New York at all. Right. What was there to talk about then?
"Anyway, it was a good school. Just... some crappy people went there. But then I moved here for university and never looked back," Finn said quickly, hoping to avoid high school and her mother at all costs. She smiled at him.
"Why journalism?" he asked, deciding it was the safest option of the questions he had. Finn chuckled.
"I loved it," she said, her eyes lighting up. "Writing. Tracking down stories. Then putting it all together and seeing it come out in print. I mean, my friends think it's weird, but my favorite smell is a freshly printed newspaper or magazine."
"Trust me, not strange. My friends think me odd for liking the smell of fresh cut grass and broom polish," he said with a chuckle.
"Broom polish?" Finn said with a slight snort. "That is a bit odd, though I get the fresh cut grass bit."
Oliver's eyes widened as he reached for his wine glass. Finn just watched him, obviously waiting for the story.
"I mean... shoe polish," he said, stuttering slightly. "My grandad was always polishing his shoes and... the scent grew on me. Makes me think of him."
Oliver looked around, praying for the bloody server to bring their food. He completely missed the soft expression that had come over Finn's face.
"I think that's really sweet," she said, getting his attention. "So... tell me more about your granddad..."
"You couldn't wait to talk about it, could you?" Katie teased as she sat down, meeting Oliver for coffee during her lunch break the day after his date with Finn. He looked up from his mug, a goofy grin on his face. "I take it from that look that it went well."
"Yea, it was... she's... I thought for sure I had ruined everything. Or would fuck up with all the muggle stuff, but... after awhile, it just didn't really matter that much anymore," he said. Katie raised her eyebrows slightly. "Did she say anything to you?"
Katie laughed as she lifted her own mug to her lips. She and Finn had stayed up way entirely too late after she got back last night, as the ginger woman gave her a minute-by-minute rundown of everything from him picking her up, to the chaste kiss he left on her cheek when he dropped her off. If she hadn't liked something, he had apparently made a strong impression overall - so much so that Finn hadn't mentioned it. Though she did tell Katie about a few of his missteps, which she wrote off as adorably absentminded.
But now, taking in Oliver's suddenly slightly worried look, she almost felt bad for wanting to tease him about it. Almost.
"Well..." she said slowly, drawing it out. Oliver just frowned at her. "Relax, she had a good time. And many good things to say about you."
He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Perhaps we could all go out next weekend? We've got matches on Friday but nothing the rest of the weekend," Oliver said. "A double date. Yea, we could do that. Bit easier with you and Taylor there. Though I don't really care... did she tell you we've been, what's it? Right, texting? We've been texting."
Katie choked a bit on her drink, not expecting Oliver to suggest that she join him on a double date. With Taylor. Had she been that obvious the other night?
"Knew it. You do fancy him," Oliver said, starting to grin as Katie's cheeks turned red.
"I... no," Katie said, sitting up a bit straighter. "He's nice and everything, but no." Oliver continued to laugh. "But texting... how's that going for you?"
"We'll get to that in a bit. What's so bad about Taylor. Seems like a good bloke, once you get past the teasing," Oliver said, happy to have the upperhand in the conversation. Katie sighed.
"You know why, Oliver. I'm not ready," she said, turning slightly serious. "It's not been that long..."
"But Roger's already moved on - the wanker. Why shouldn't you?" Oliver asked, losing a bit of the amused twinkle in his eyes.
Katie looked down at her mug, unsure of how to answer. She supposed it was true. Roger had moved on. She should as well.
But something in her was still hesitating.
"I'm fine with hanging out. But... the rest I'll have to take in my own time," she said, finally looking up at him. Oliver nodded.
"Fair enough," he replied.
"So... Oliver Wood... texting," Katie said with a grin.
"Thought I'd never get it down, but it's not so bad," he said. "Though, Merlin... how do you type so fast? Takes me half an hour to get a few words in and she responds in a few seconds."
Katie couldn't help herself as she chuckled while Oliver continued on lamenting the small keys on his mobile that were obviously not made for someone with large hands like his.
Though she couldn't help as the guilt snaked its way back in. While happy for Oliver and Finn, she knew how difficult it was going to be. Oliver had always been a rather open and honest person. It was going to eat away at him the longer he had to keep secrets from Finn.
Much like it was eating away at her.
"What? I didn't think I mucked up that badly with the cabbie," he replied, bringing her out of her reverie. Katie looked up at him, not realizing that she had tuned out.
"Oh, no... wasn't that. Just..." she sighed.
"Ah... the secret," he said, his smile fading.
"It's hard," she said. "Are you really sure that you're ready for that?"
Oliver was silent a few moments before responding.
"It'll be difficult... but that's just the way it is, isn't it? We can't tell her," he replied. "Maybe someday... but not for now. So when I think of it that way, it helps a bit..."
"That is true," Katie said, her thoughts turning to how Finn might react when or if they did actually tell her the truth.
Would she think they were all mad? Or would she be hurt or angry? She didn't like to spend too much time focusing on that, hoping that instead she might be excited to learn that magic existed.
If they ever got to that day.
"Can't focus on that, Kates," Oliver said. She looked up at him. "For now... let's just focus on the present."
She smiled slightly and nodded.
"That's probably for the best..."
Finn kicked her shoes off as she leaned back on Taylor's sofa, sighing in bliss to be in a comfortable setting as she sipped her glass of wine that he had ready for her as soon as she walked in.
"You know me too well, Tay," she called out, looking towards the kitchen. She heard a chuckle.
"Have known you far too long," he quipped.
"So... Oliver ordered my favorite wine," she said.
"Oh, did he? Take it from the mad grin you had when you walked in, you had fun last night," he called back.
"I did... it was a bit rocky at first. I think we were both nervous. But then... I don't know, something just clicked and then it was... very natural," she said, thinking over the night. "He's very... sweet."
"Sweet?" Taylor asked, stepping into the living room, a dish towel over his shoulder. Finn turned to face him and nodded.
"Yea... and I mean normally I'm not sure how I would take it, but he says the strangest things. But it's cute," she said. Taylor's eyebrows rose.
"Things like what?" he asked.
"I swear to god... he said he liked the smell of broom polish. Do they even make broom polish? But must have been tired or something. He then said that he meant to say shoe polish," she said. Taylor nodded slowly. "And then he seemed confused with his money, but I guess that was just nerves too..."
Taylor sighed as Finn continued on, talking about the date. He had to admit, Oliver was fairly good at catching his missteps and covering for them. But there was only so much being tired or taking a "football" to the head could cover for. If he didn't tighten up his story, Finn was going to catch on and have far more questions than he could answer.
Of course, about that time, Taylor noticed that Finn had stopped speaking and was now staring into space, her brow furrowed. He quickly walked over and sat next to her.
"Finny... what's that look for?" he asked softly. She met his eyes and sighed.
"I guess... just waiting for it," she said.
"Waiting for what?"
"For the shoe to drop. To find out that Oliver is not nearly as wonderful as he seems," she replied. "That he's got some big, horrible secret that's going to pop out and bite me in the ass."
"You've got to stop thinking like that, Finn," he said, taking her hand. "Just because Ryan was an asshat doesn't mean all men are going to be like that. That Oliver is."
"But you remember... he was so good in the beginning. And, I mean, we were going to get married... he hid all of that from me for a really long time," Finn said, her eyes starting to glisten with tears.
Taylor reached over, pulling her into a tight hug. He, of course, knew that Oliver was hiding something pretty big from her, though it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought.
He was hiding the same thing, after all. None of them had no choice but to keep the secret.
"You're going to have to let go eventually, Finn... learn to trust a bit more," he said softly. She sighed.
"I know..."
"Stop worrying and... let it happen..."
"I'll try..."
If you haven't already guessed it... the secret is coming out soon. But how was that for an adorably awkward first date??
Thanks for reading!