A Search for Balance

Chapter 4 - Necessities

With the prospect of having to share practice sessions with Orion looming over her, Lizzie's enthusiasm at returning to the pitch had rapidly faded.

The closer the beginning of her training drew, the more her excitement was dwindling, but her fury at Orion wasn't the sole reason for it. Matthew didn't grow tired of reminding her that he thought it was too early for her to take up flying again. He didn't let the matter drop, and every time Lizzie winced at the pain in her wrist, he found himself confirmed.

"It's only for her own sake that she wants you back, not yours. If Skye depends on you backing her captaincy, maybe she shouldn't have become captain in the first place."

Matthew and Skye not getting along wasn't news, and usually, Lizzie would have jumped to Skye's defence. But whatever her role in Orion's unexpected reappearance had been, Lizzie was still mad at her for not giving her so much as a warning, so she remained quiet and let Matthew rant away.

Skye wasn't the only thing Lizzie was keeping quiet about, however. After leaving Lewis Parkin's farewell feast, Matthew wouldn't stop asking questions about Orion, how he and Lizzie knew each other, and his abilities as a player. Lizzie felt sorry for brushing him off, but she couldn't tell him any more than she already had.

In introducing Orion as nothing but an acquaintance from school, she had purposefully kept the truth of what had been between them from Matthew, and a whole week after Orion had so suddenly reappeared, Lizzie's chance to correct herself had long since passed. If Matthew was irritated by her conciseness, it couldn't be helped.

The thought of Orion wouldn't leave her alone, and Lizzie wasn't sure what to make it. It had been two years since she'd had any sign of life from him last, and now he was back, and in Wigtown of all places. His return was touching on wounds she had been convinced had finally healed; when she thought back on the day she had found his flat in Montrose empty and abandoned, however, there was still a painful sting inside her heart.

Not knowing why Orion had left everything behind without so much as a word had haunted Lizzie for months, but after many tears and sleepless nights, she had begrudgingly accepted it and moved on. She had met Matthew, and after a while, she had begun to heal. And just when she had believed that this chapter of her life had finally closed for good, Orion had decided to come back.

So now he was to be a member of her Quidditch team. The thought was absurd to Lizzie. There was so much hurt and anger still inside her that she couldn't even look at him. How was this supposed to work?

When Lizzie woke on the first day of practice, her mood was bad. Plagued by fitful dreams of falling, she had barely slept and felt moody and exhausted. She freed herself from Matthew's arms, brushed her hand over his hair, and quietly got dressed. As she packed her Quidditch bag for the first time in months, she had to breathe deeply to quell the nerves fluttering in her stomach.

By the time she arrived at the Quidditch pitch, the fluttery feeling in her gut had turned into a tight knot and Lizzie felt sick. The goalposts were gleaming in the pale morning sunlight, and she stopped to admire the sight. It was a new day and a new season, and she had worked hard to be a part of it; she could do this.

The thought comforted her, but only until she walked beneath the wooden perimeter of the pitch and out onto the lawn. Much to her chagrin, Orion was already there waiting for her. To Lizzie's surprise, he wasn't alone.

"What are you doing here?" Lizzie spoke directly to Skye, not acknowledging Orion's presence with so much as a glance.

"I'm in charge of the team," Skye shrugged in return. "Need to make sure you lot get back to form, don't I?"