Chapter Text
Percy stared at the empty piece of paper in his hands. In a few minutes he would have to stand up and hold a speech - something he should be great at, it really was all made for him - but all his mind could come up was … How on Earth did I get myself into this.
He closed his eyes for just a few seconds, took a deep breath. Focus. Don’t ruin this for him. He opened his eyes again. Where should he start? Another breath. The beginning. You always start at the beginning. Tell them how you first met.
He remembered it as if it was yesterday. He had been eating his sandwich like every day, sitting alone on the steps to the gymnasium. A lost second grader who loved school, but hadn’t figured out how to make friends in it. Then, out of nowhere, the new kid.
„Your brother plays ice hockey on the high school team.“, he announced in a thick Scottish accent.
It hadn’t been a question, so Percy did not answered, just stared at the kid with big, confused eyes.
„Great!“, he sat down next to him and for the rest of the break Oliver talked to him about the rules of ice hockey and how he would make the team once they were in high school and that it was a pity that St. Catchpole Elementary School didn’t have their own team and what his favourite foul from last season had been.
„I made a list with all the interesting fouls, I can show you when you come over.“ Percy stared at him. When you come over. No other kid had ever invited him to their house. „Does your mom pick you up after school?“
He nodded.
„Great, you should ask her if you can come over later. Come on, we need to get to class!“
He hadn’t even heart the bell.
When his mom picked him up that day, he told her the news. „Mom, I think I am Oliver Wood’s friend. Can I go to his place?“
It took him a few weeks to realize that Oliver Wood was also his friend.
Tell them about how from that day on you did everything together.
How Oliver had forced him to introduce him to Charlie. How Percy had learnt all the rules and history of ice hockey and attended every match for 10 years. How they would share all their weird dreams and Percy would note them down in a little book like it was the most important business in the world.
„I had a dream last night“, Oliver would tell and Percy would get the notebook out. Oliver always remembered his dreams. „You know a rowing boat?“ Percy nodded. „That little curvy bit the oar sits in? It’s called rollock, by the way.“
„A what?“
„Rollock. Like … bollock, but with an R.“ Percy noted it down. „That was me. I was that thing.“
„Was anyone rowing the boat?“
„I think so, but I couldn’t see them.“
„How did it feel to be made of metal?“
„It was cold, but … not in a bad way. In a peaceful way. Like swimming. When you have to do nothing but exist.“
No, he would keep that for himself.
But he could tell them how Oliver had made him come to the afterparties of the games, despite him being prefect and the last person you’d expect at a house party. One party in particular … He would tell them how they had dreamt of seeing the world. About their plans to go and study in Canada after school and … well. He’d tell them how Oliver got to live his dream, how he’d travelled the world and how it had let him to … someone else.
Penny gave her glass a soft clink next to him, pulling him back to reality.
Yeah, people would like that story. He got up and turnt to the wedding party. He forced himself to look at the groom. His best friend. In a different world he would have been thrilled to be someone’s best man. To have won the friendship game he never understood the rules of. Why, of all people, did it have to be for Oliver.
„Hello. To everyone I hadn’t had the chance to meet yet“ He forced a smile. „I’m Percy and this …“ He can do it. „This has got to be one of the happiest days of my life.“
God, he wanted to die.