Chapter 23: Reunited At Last

Oliver slowly awoke on Lacey's bed. He looked toward the window and his heart skipped when he realized that the sun was going down. He had slept the entire day. He sat up quickly and was ready to run out of the room and down the stairs when he heard voices.

He recognized the voices, but one more than the other. Lacey was downstairs.

"What?" Lacey screamed.

"I told you he would come," the other girl said, Tina he thought.

"Why didn't you come get me or send an owl?" Lacey sounded angry and her voice had gone up an octave.

"I didn't think Cheque would have let you leave practice," Tina answered.

"It wouldn't have mattered. I would have left no matter what!" Lacey yelled. "Where is he?"

"He's in your room. He's been sleeping all day," Tina answered. "He said he was up for twenty-four hours. I think he may have fought in that battle that took place in the U.K."

Oliver didn't hear Lacey's answer. Instead he heard footsteps on the stairs. The next moment the bedroom door swung open and there she stood. Her cheeks were flushed a light pink and her eyes were wide. When she saw him her mouth went slack.

Oliver stood from the bed and walked toward her slowly. She was stunned, but she followed his every move.

"Lacey," Oliver said slowly. "I've missed you so much. I can't tell—"

Before he could finish Lacey pounced on him capturing his lips. Oliver barely had time to react before he fell back onto the bed, Lacey on top of him. She leaned back and he saw tears running down her cheeks.

"Why haven't you contacted me?" Lacey said in a hurt voice. "I haven't gotten a letter from you in weeks."

"I'm sorry," Oliver told her sincerely as he tried to sit up while holding her.

"I'm so happy to see you," she said before kissing him softly.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Oliver told her between kisses. "You're a hard woman to find, Lacey Camlin."

"Well, I'm here now," she said leaning into him.

"You are," Oliver smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Oliver," Lacey said grinning.

They didn't say anything to each other for a while, preferring to tell everything to each other through the meeting of their lips. They had both been worried about each other.

Oliver held her close to him on the bed. He felt her nuzzle into his chest as he buried his face in her hair.

"How long are you here for?" he heard her muffled voice.

"For however long you want me to be," Oliver answered.

"I like that answer," she giggled. "I know you've met my friends. What do you think of them?"

"Well," Oliver started. "I actually met Courtney on the plane. She's the one who brought me here. And Tom picked us up from the airport. And you live with Tina. Tina reminds me a lot of Kaylee."

Lacey laughed, "They are very similar. Courtney told me she met you on the plane."

"Who else lives here?" Oliver asked. "Courtney said you have two roommates."

Lacey pulled back and rolled her eyes, "Courtney is my other roommate."

"Oh, she didn't say anything," Oliver said.

"She wouldn't. She's been away for a few months and now she thinks we won't let her move back in. I don't know where she got that idea from," Lacey sighed.

"Hey Lacey!" Tina called up the stairs.

Lacey groaned, "What, Tina?"

"You need to eat and I'm sure Hot Stuff needs to eat, too," she paused. "Do you want me to make something or are you going out."

Lacey looked at Oliver. He tried to convey how much he wanted to be with her tonight and only her.

"We're going out," Lacey called back.

Oliver smiled, "Are you hungry?"

"I am," Lacey said quietly. "Quidditch practice went a little longer today. But I need to take a shower first."

"Okay," Oliver said. Then he remembered something, "Hot Stuff?"

Lacey flushed red, "It's a name Tina came up with for you. They know everything."

"They being who?" Oliver asked a little nervous.

"Tina, Courtney, and my cousin, Grace," Lacey answered.

"Oh," was all he could think of to say.

Lacey pulled away from him and sat up on the bed. She took her practice robes off to reveal short gray shorts and a pink tank top. She pulled her dark hair out of the pony tail and shook it out with her hand.

"Just give me half an hour and we can go," Lacey said.

"Take however long you need," Oliver said. Lacey leaned down and kissed him before she left the room.

Now he was alone again and he didn't know what to do. He had finally found Lacey. Then he remembered he only had a small bag with him with only a few days worth of clothes.

"This could be problematic," he said to himself. He looked around and saw his bag sitting at the foot of the bed. He opened it and looked through the things he had grabbed—three days worth of clothes, enough money to last him about two weeks, his wand, and his passport.

He sat back on the bed and sighed. He wasn't sure what to do. He wouldn't be able to stay as long as Lacey wanted him to, not to mention he had to buy a ticket back to London.

After waiting quietly for twenty minutes, Lacey came back into the room wearing nothing but a fluffy yellow towel. His eyes followed her long creamy legs as she walked to her dresser and began pulling out clothing. Without removing her towel she slipped on a pair of silky blue panties. Oliver swallowed hard thinking about what she was hiding under the towel.

Lacey kept her back to him while she clasped on a matching blue bra. She dropped the towel and Oliver was left staring at her toned curvy body. He wanted to say something, but he felt that if he said anything it would ruin the moment. Instead, he stood from the bed and approached her from behind. He wrapped his arms around her silky white torso and kissed her neck softly.

"It's been a while," she said in barely a whisper. She pulled away sharply when she realized what she had said.

"There's no need to be embarrassed," Oliver said not letting her get away from him. "It's true. It has been a while."

She nodded and relaxed against his strong frame. Oliver continued to kiss her neck and captured her lips when she turned her head.

"I need to finish getting dressed," Lacey said softly pulling away from him.

Oliver let go of her reluctantly. He watched Lacey finish getting dressed. She ran a brush through her hair quickly and then grabbed his hand. He looked up at her and smiled just before she pulled him out of the room and down the stairs.

"Bye, see you later," Lacey yelled as they passed her roommates on their way out.

"Are we going somewhere in particular?" Oliver asked once they were out of the apartment.

"I really don't know," Lacey sighed. "I just wanted to be alone with you. We need to catch up, a lot."

"I can't even think straight anymore," Oliver started. "So much has happened in the past 24 hours."

Lacey stopped walking and turned around to look at him. Her brow furrowed as she looked at his face. Oliver could see many questions forming in her eyes.

"Does, does that mean you fought? There was a battle?" She finally asked.

All the memories and feelings came rushing back to Oliver's mind. A shiver ran down his spine and his shoulders felt heavy. The world was safe again, but at what price? So many had died and so many had sacrificed their lives in the build up to the final battle.

Oliver's throat had become tight and his mind was racing. He couldn't speak, so he nodded. Lacey was slow in her actions as she leaned in and wrapped her arms around him.

"We don't need to talk about it," She said softly. "Not now."

Oliver nodded and tried to steady his breathing. Once his emotions were back under control he pulled away from her and took her hand.

"Come on," he said. "We need to get something to eat. We'll talk over dinner."

Lacey smiled and nodded and they set off down the street in search of a restaurant where they could spend a few hours talking.