trying my best to get along;; open

[felicity leanne stryder]

Hardcore Quidditch practices weren't something that Felicity was stranger to. In fact, that was more or less how she spent every day of the week, even when there wasn't an official practice for the day. Felicity was absolutely dedicated to her job and generally that led to her being caught up in her work so much that she missed out on the rest of the normal aspects of life. She didn't go out enough to really meet people, so her friend base was generally limited to the rest of her team and any other Quidditch players that she happened to meet at some event. Being the captain of the Harpies, Felicity spent a decent amount of time at Quidditch events, almost as much time as she spent on the pitch. Due to this, her social life was admittedly lacking, but she didn't mind. She was happy with where she was in life and that was enough for her.

That day, up to this point, had been spent on the pitch. Her team had left over an hour ago, but Felicity had stayed behind to finish putting things away and then to practice further. As the seeker, Felicity felt like she had a special duty to put in extra time, just to ensure that she was absolutely on the top of her game. Of course, given the amount of practice that she'd put in over the last few years were more than enough to ensure that she was always playing her absolute best. As far as she was concerned, she and the rest of her team were absolutely on their way to total victory that year, with her seeking skills bringing it home for the Harpies. Confident? Hell yeah she was. In Felicity's opinion, there was no reason to be captain if you didn't have the utmost confidence in your team and their abilities.

Touching down once again on the ground, the snitch in her hand, Felicity breathed in deeply, her breath coming quickly as she started to slow down from her state of activity. She continued to pant as she jogged over to the locker rooms to stow the snitch away and change out of her practice robes. However, before she could get there, a tawny owl came flying out from the sky to land on her shoulder. She didn't recognize the owl, so her eyes narrowed in question as she pulled the letter from it's leg. Opening up the letter from it's envelope, she quickly skimmed the contents, a sly grin taking over her face as she did so. It was the precise letter that she had been looking forward to for nearly a month now and finally, it was here. Quality Quidditch Supplies finally had the new brand of Nimbus brooms in for the team to test drive.

Felicity had always been talented at getting in with the people that she needed to know and the owner of the shop was one of them. Whenever the new models were sent out to be tested, she was one of the first to know. Forgoing changing from her robes, Felicity quickly put the snitch into it's case and apparated over to Diagon Alley. The sooner that she got the new brooms, the better. This would enhance their practice sessions tenfold and that was exactly the boost that the team needed in the coming weeks. Their next match would be coming up quickly and that little boost in morale would be absolutely brilliant for the rest of the girls. That is, of course, if the new model was actually up to her standards. Felicity was incredibly picky when it came to deciding which brooms her team would use, since she wanted nothing other than the absolute best.

Appearing just in front of the store, Felicity put a large grin on her face as she walked through the doors to pick up her package. Unfortunately for Felicity, that wasn't going to happen right away. The owner had stepped out for his lunch break and wouldn't be back for a few moments, which definitely soured her mood. As far as she was concerned, everyone should be catering to her desires, not going out for their lunch breaks. Leaning up against the wall near the register with a slight scowl on her face, Felicity settled in to wait. She definitely wasn't dressed to be out in public, as she was still in her rather sweaty practice robes, which definitely didn't show off her figure. However, she wasn't expecting to see anyone worth dressing up for, so it didn't bother her overmuch. Sort of.

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[colton ryan creevey]

Working was usually something that Colton didn't mind doing with his time. As a diplomat, he spent a lot of time travelling to foreign countries and there was always something important going on. Colton was the type of man that liked to be at the center of everything, especially when they were important events. Taking part in much of the foreign affairs of the Ministry, Colton had an inside view of the interal workings of everything that happened. From major policies to interpersonal affairs, Colton had a hand in just about everything. Unfortunately, his work was also sporatic at times and there were days where he was given off to work on paperwork. Considering the usual excitement of his job, paperwork tended to leave him in a foul mood.

In a bad mood from his paperwork, Cole wasn't keen to get things done and packed his things up early after a morning's worth of work. It wasn't important enough to keep his attention for much longer, so Cole didn't have a problem taking his leave to do something else. The first thing that came to his mind was going to visit his fiancee. The last time he had seen her, they had gotten into another argument, so it was probably a good time for him to try patching things up by pulling a large, romantic stunt of some sort. That was how it had come to work between the two. They would fight, not talk for a few days and than one of them would apologize and things would return to normal until their next big fight came along.

It wasn't the most functional relationship, but it was the best thing that Colton had going for him and there was no chance of him giving that up. Felicity was famous, rich, important and sexy, making her the perfect wife. After having been with her for so long, there was no way that he would give her up to someone else. Colton was possessive of his things and he considered Felicity something that was his. Instead of simply apparating over to visit her at her practice field, Colton went the extra mile and started digging into what she might be doing that day. He knew that she had been talking about a new shipment of brooms coming in earlier in the week and with a few calls had placed the exact location of where he needed to be. Having power was nice and made it a lot easier to track his fiancee down.

Leaving his office, Colton apparated to Quality Quidditch Supplies to see what he could do about getting there before Felicity and setting something up for her. With a bit of cajoling, Colton convinced the shop manager to let him purchase one of the brooms and be the one to show it to Felicity. That seemed like a fair apology. With the broom in one hand, Colton waited in the back room for the imminent arrival of his fiancee. Hearing the tinkle of the door's bell, Colton glanced out toward the register and saw Felicity there in her practice robes. Though she wasn't dressed up and had obviously been working out, she looked damn sexy when she was done with practices.

Smoothly walking out towards the counter, Colton placed the broom down in front of her and leaned across the counter with a smug look. "I had a feeling I'd see you here," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "I'm sorry about what happened the other day, so, forgive me?" Honestly, Colton wasn't sorry at all, but the boyish smile on his face made it seem impossible that he could be telling anything but the truth. It had worked every other time and he was sure it would pull through for him again this time.

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[felicity leanne stryder]

Within a few short moments of waiting around at the counter, Felicity heard the door from the back opening up. Turning around with a rather irritated swish of her robes, a slight scowl arose on her face when she saw who it was. Colton- her fiancee. Under most circumstances, she probably would have been quite glad to see him there, but since their last fight she had pointedly avoiding him. She didn't feel like dealing with his crap for a few days and really just wanted some time to take a breather from their relationship. However, it seemed like Colton had other ideas about that plan. It was just his style, too. Give her a few days to cool off before coming in with some big surprise and that stupid grin of his that were meant to make it all better. However, Felicity was starting to wonder if that were at all possible. Could things actually get better than they were?

She had to admit, though, he had outdone himself this time. Felicity had assumed that he was ignoring everything she was ranting about with the new brooms that came in, so it was kind of touching to know that he had actually been listening to her. Of course, even that wasn't enough to bring much of a smile to her face. Granted, she really wanted to smile since the broom she was looking for was sitting right in front of her. "Of course, you're here. What the hell are you doing here, Colt?" she asked, stepping back from the counter as he leaned in towards her. Even if it would be easiest to just accept his apology and act like everything was going just swimmingly with the two of them, Fel wasn't sure how much longer she could put up with living like that. Everyone else seemed to think it was a failing relationship, but she was unwilling to give it up...but what if they were right? They did fight more than they got along nowadays.

Drumming her fingers against the side of her leg for a moment, Felicity pursed her lips and looked over at Colton with an unsure expression. It was hard to stand there and ignore his plea for forgiveness when he looked at her like that, but at the same time she had been quite resolved to just step back from it for awhile. However, he was like a drug to her. The second he was back around in her life, it was like he crippled her and gave her no chance of getting away. "You do realize that you screwed up pretty hard, right? And just saying sorry and showing up here with...that smile and...god Colton, I don't even know what to say to you right now," she said. It was like any resolve she had to fight her feelings was being sapped away by his presence and she wanted nothing more than to just say okay, makeup with him and then spend the rest of the day cuddling at her flat.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Felicity stepped forward toward the counter and leaned up against it, right in front of Colton. Resting her arms on the top of it, right next to his, her held her head a few inches from him. "You really were listening about the brooms, weren't you?" she asked, her voice softening considerably from it's previously harsh tone. It wasn't exactly a show of forgiveness, but it was a start. "You look good, by the way. Did you just get off work?" she asked, a smile now playing at her lips. It was so easy to just let things cascade back to the way they were before they started fighting and she hated it. She wanted to pull away from him for a bit, just to see what things were like, but it was impossible when he showed up and did things like this for her.

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[colton ryan creevey]

The look on Felicity's face guaranteed Colton that his apologies weren't going to be an easy sell. She was still pretty upset with him, it seemed, so he would have to do some serious damage control if he was going to get her to just forgive him for their fight. He didn't think that it was his fault, but he was willing to accept the blame for now and get things back to normal between them, whatever that meant anymore. Faking a hurt expression, Colton hoped that by appearing as sorry and regretful as he could, she would feel bad for him and accept his gestures as a solid apology. Colton had to say he'd gone above and beyond this time around and he didn't know if there was anything he could have done better, really.

Noticing how she had stepped back from the counter, Colton slid slightly closer to his side to put more room between them, opening up the space for her. "You know exactly why I'm here, love. I messed up and I needed to apologize. I gave you some time, so can we just forget about it and move on?" he asked, a pleading look in his eyes. He didn't like fighting with his girl, not at all, but he believed that their fights were necessary in a way. There was a lot going on in their lives and he didn't agree with some of it, particularly with the werewolf. It wasn't something that would easily be resolved and so they fought. More than they should have, but he didn't blame either of them for letting things escalate to the point that they did.

It wasn't often that Felicity got so flustered, but Colton had managed to unhinge her with nothing more than asmile. Though initially worried that his tactics would fail, he was now content that she would be back in his arms within minutes. "I can think of a few things for you to say. You can accept my apology for one and then agree to let me cook you a nice dinner at home tonight," he offered, cracking another smile as he spoke. Colton hated to cook, usually leaving that job for Felicity, but he had a natural flair in the kitchen and could produce a spectacular meal when he needed to. "Anything you want, I'll serve it on a silver platter," he added, hoping to emphasize how willing he was to make up for things.

As Felicity came closer, Colton's smile moved to be more of a smirking gaze. He had won, again, just as he had predicted. "Of course I was listening. I always listen when you talk, love," he murmured, dropping his voice to a huskier tone. That was an utter lie. He only listened when it was necessary, usually. There had been a time where he hung on her every word, but now she was more of an accessory to him than a person. Not something he was proud of, but it was true. "I took off early so I could come see you. Worth every second of it." Colton was now positive that things were settled over and that they would be back together that night. Now that they were closer together, Colton closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against hers in a slow, but powerful kiss.

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[felicity leanne stryder]

The hurt in Colton's eyes was liable to kill her. As much as she hated what had become of them, she couldn't bring herself to hate Colton himself. He was the one person that had been through everything with her and that meant a lot to her. Even if she didn't always show it, she truly did love him. He wasn't just another guy to her, he was the guy. He always had been and she was sure that he always would be. As strained as things were starting to become, it hadn't occurred to her yet that maybe things really were different and that perhaps she wasn't as in love with him as she'd used to be. If she was even in love with him at all, anymore. She wanted to be, really she did. That was the easiest thing for her life. He was the kind of guy that her parents would have wanted for her and in the long run, it would benefit her life and her future children, but her happiness wasn't something that she could be sure of. At this point, it was rare to find an occasion where she felt truly happy around Colton anymore.

It was difficult to accept the possibility that things between them were failing, however. It was the little things that he did that made it hard. Even now, when they were fighting, she could see that he had a better understanding of her than most people ever would. His backing up slightly was meant to draw her in closer and that was exactly what it did. Even if she knew what he was doing, she couldn't very well help it. "I don't know that forgetting about it and moving on is such a good idea anymore, Colton," she commented lightly, though it was hardly something to take lightly. The longer they continued to fight, the less likely it was that they would ever manage to come up with some sort of solution to the problem. Not that they even knew what the problem was at that point. That too was something that they needed to work through.

Pursing her lips at how jovially he was taking the situation, Felicity couldn't help but let a small smile creep onto her face when he opened his lips into another wide grin. She had to admit that spending the night in and letting him cook her dinner was nice sounding, though of course that didn't fix everything in one quick night. "Fine, dinner does sound nice," she relented, though she didn't give him any indication that she was over being upset with him and certainly wouldn't forgive him that easily. If he was really sincere about wanting to patch things up this time, he would have to work for it. "But, only because I've just gotten off practice and I'm exhausted," she added, just in case he was getting some sort of idea that she was completely over it. Perhaps she was being a bit stubborn, but she felt it was deserved.

Looking up at Colton, there was still a hint of insecurity in her eyes, like she hadn't yet come to fully trust him and his motives there that day. Yes, he was there to apologize, but she didn't know why he was there to apologize. For all she knew, there was some sort of ulterior motive behind it, since there usually was with Colton. "I bet you do," she mumbled, the sarcasm in her voice coming through easily. It was hard to act like everything was perfectly happy and fun between them when talking, so she was admittedly rather relieved when he cut the conversation and instead leaned in to kiss her. It had more or less become their fallback as of late. Instead of just sitting there and trying to let some conversation flow, they made up for it with physical activity. That didn't usually lead to much fighting and that worked for them. Well, if you could consider it "working." Kissing him back across the counter, Felicity cut it short after a moment and pulled back. "Come on, the girl's aren't home tonight and I'm ready for this stellar dinner you've promised," she said, nodding her head towards the door to indicate she was ready to leave.

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