After the accident, Marcus disappears. The season isn't even over.
It's a year before Oliver finds him, drinking boilermakers in a Muggle pub in London. Marcus blinks three times and by then it's too late to get away.
Oliver sits down, pushes aside the glasses, puts his elbow in a puddle of beer. "You could come back," he says. "There was an inquiry. It wasn't your fault."
"I'm playing rugby now," Marcus says, looking into his glass. "For London Irish."
Oliver only has a vague idea what that might be. He wills Marcus to look up, to meet his eyes.
"I threw it away, you know," Marcus says. "Broke it in two and threw it away." He picks up a shot and puts it back down. "It's better like this."
Oliver's knees are jammed against Marcus', under the table. "You could come back."
"No, I couldn't." And then he does look up. "But you could stay."
FINIS
God damn you! Why are you turning me into a MARCUS/OLIVER SHIPPER?? ~thwaps~