Summary: As they sat by the lake, Lucy can't help but reflect on her times with Gray. Modern AU.
Pairing: Gray and Lucy, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. . .
Rating: T for mild language.
Lucy scuffed her boots against the wooden poles of the dock before she sat down, smoothing her skirt and sat down swinging her legs over the shimmering ripples in the lake.
She hummed a tune, closing her eyes for a brief moment to soak in the pleasant, warm sunlight that made today seem a wondrous, dazzling shade of blue and the grass extra green. For once, she felt the weather was perfect; a breeze rustled the trees on the shore,the leaves whispering as they brush up against each other, and the scent from the pine trees yards away by the shore was rather soothing. She re-adjusted the ribbon she had in her hair and combed the sleek blonde locks onto one of her shoulders.
She didn't bother to look up when she heard a 'clink' as a soda bottle was placed next to her. She already knew who it was.
"Hey. Hope I didn't keep you waiting."
Lucy grinned up at the dark-haired boy and patted the spot next to her. "Nah, you weren't too late today." Gray kicked off his sandals before plopping himself down gingerly next to her on the deck. He sat back with his hands behind him. Because of the sunny weather, he wore a simple white v-neck and black shorts.
They stayed in a comfortable silence for awhile as Gray opened the Coke bottle with a bottle opener. They shared taking sips, enjoying the reflecting lake surface and the breeze.
When it came to her and Gray, this lake was something constant that they could both escape to. It was a simple lake with not a lot of visitors or tourists, and that also has simple white boats in the distance skimming on simple,blue water. At the same time however, Lucy always felt that it was a fitting place to get away for the two. Their relationship wasn't anything dramatic or worthy enough for an emotional bestseller book and movie for people all over to weep and clutch their broken heart over. Their bond was like the surface of the lake in front of them: quiet and simple, but once you dove deeper, it was captivating and unique with blurs of scarlet fish scales, green turtle shells, and harsh brown frogs.
As Lucy tilted her head back to watch the sky, she reminisced the first time she and Gray sat together at this lake.
One morning as Gray was getting ready for school, he noticed his mother talking in a hush tone over the phone as he was smearing butter over his toast. After she hung up, she sat at the kitchen table heavily, holding her head in her hands. He wondered what made her stare at the kitchen table so intently, so vulnerable.
That was the morning Lucy's mother passed away from a tumor.
His mother and Layla were work friends, so Gray and Lucy had spent many afternoons together after school in daycares, school, and at each other's homes until their mothers had returned. Gray was soft-spoken and reserved, and he spent most of his time drawing in his sketch pad his father bought so he would stop doodling on walls and in his school books. Meanwhile then, Lucy was shy and uneasy when it came to classmates or teachers; she would surround herself by fantasy books and games of adventures, the main character always bringing something good to the world and going on a thrilling destiny with wonderful friends. They chatted every now and then, albeit the conversations were always very brief before they retreated to their own worlds.
After school that day though, Gray didn't see Lucy at school, and he went with his mother over to the Heartfilia's to give their condolences. As his mother fretted over grieving relatives and preparing food to somehow shove down their throats, Gray scanned faces and faces till he found Lucy sitting by herself in the living room, staring outside a window. He walked over to her, and she looked up, brown orbs blank and clean of any evidence of tears.
Gray was taken aback; he has no experience whatsoever in comforting a person that suffered a loss much more devastating than losing a goldfish or guinea pig. Before he would open his mouth to mutter cheap, overused condolences one would put on cards, Lucy spoke.
"Do you mind coming with me somewhere?"
Gray nodded, and he silently walked next to her as they slipped out through the back door to the porch.
Gray rubbed his thumb against the rim of the bottle cap as he looked around at the shores. "Man, I just can't get over how not much people know this place exists." He flipped the cap and hesitated. "I'm not complaining too much though."
Lucy smiled warmly at him and nodded. Gray felt his skin warmed up, and he is pretty sure it isn't only the sun that is making him feel this way.
After following Lucy for twenty minutes, Gray found himself standing on a deck that overlooked an expansive lake as Lucy sat down. She tucked her knees in, and Gray could tell she was shivering in the late autumn weather as she clinged to the hem of her jacket's sleeves. After awhile, he sat down next to her and stayed silent.
Minutes dragged into an hour in the cold. Gray didn't mind the weather so much since he had a thick hoodie on, but Lucy dragged her jacket's hood over her head, desperately clutching her arms and hugging herself. Just when Gray was about to take off his jacket to place it around her, he noticed that she wasn't shivering so much, but trembling. Her deep, brown eyes were shut, and her face stared down at her lap.
Gray heard the occasional sniff, and she rubbed her nose and continued to tremble. Her blonde hair that was usually up and neat was now a cascading waterfall of sunlight hiding her face. He scooted a bit closer and gently placed a hand on her head to push her hair back from her face.
Teardrops continued to pluck themselves to her skirt, and Gray waits patiently for her rain to pass away.
And that was the first time they sat together at the lake.
When it got late, they both walked back before it got too dark or their parents would begin to worry. However, Lucy and Gray walked back there together the next day. And then the next day when the the funeral was done. The next week they planned to do homework on days that were sunny by the shore, and on that weekend, they decided to play frisbee. Their own secluded worlds of drawings and books, fantasy and crime meshed together; they found themselves exchanging books and games and in heated debates like which Golden Sun character was cooler, Isaac or Felix, or what gave Sherlock and Watson the clues to the solution.
It was as if the mass of water was truly theirs only, offering silent reconciliation and their sanctuary from daily, mundane activities.
After Gray took a swig of the coke, he turned to her. "My parents got the invite for your dad's wedding. Wendy made me drive her to the mall just so she could find the right shoes for her dress." He gave a weak smile after mentioning the endless walking and torture he had to endure for his younger, spunky, blue-haired sister.
Lucy snorted. "Oh, that. My dad deciding to get married to the 'Wicked Witch of the West'. I'm just glad I dorm so I don't have to deal with Karen moving in."
"To be honest, I'm kind of surprised. . . it was out of the blue and rushed, don't you think?" He scratched his neck.
"Karen only first started talking to him because of his money, and father finally realized that I don't plan on taking over the family business. . . so in a way, it made sense, and I predicted it was going to happen when they first started seeing each other." Lucy shrugged. She had long given up on the two. "There wasn't much of a proposal though." She added.
"I mean. . . I don't know," Gray began, gazing at the surface of the lake. " If you're going to be married and stuck with a person for the rest of your life, you should at least love that person. Otherwise, eventually it's going to be doomed." He paused briefly before muttering, "Or at least make the proposal meaningful. I know I would."
Lucy glanced at him sideways, her lip curling up into a small smile when she noticed the slight red blush on his cheeks after the last comment. "What do you mean by that?" She brought her legs up and hugged them, placing her chin on her knees as she awaited his answer.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." He began to furiously turn red and crossed his arms.
"Wha-? C'mon, tell me, please?" Lucy clasped her hands together and pouted at Gray. She thought in her head how it was even possible for him to turn redder, and he looked away quickly, as if she blew a fuse.
"Just," he grumbled frustrated,"If I was going to propose, it would have meaning in it. Special. It's the first test to pour out your emotions and let the person have a taste of how much you love them and want to be with them."
Lucy stared at his hands that supported him sitting back. Her honey-brown eyes flickered to his dark ones. "That's pretty deep. What got you thinking that?"
Gray began to chew on his lip; when did he start thinking that? When did all the heart drops and stomach fluttering and flustered blushes begin? Was it when they began going to highschool or when they had graduated? When Lucy rested her head on his shoulder after a really cruddy breakup with a tacky, lip-pierced, orange-haired playboy and he thought 'maybe, just maybe I could have a chance now', or when he felt a surge of pure, golden happiness that they both got into the same university? After dancing and waving her acceptance letter around, she surprised him by leaping forward and tackling him with a tight hug. She laughed while he just smiled, hoping she doesn't notice how his hands are sweating gallons that a person could probably bathe in and how loud his heart is slamming against his chest.
Perhaps it just started as something small, miniscule that hid underneath his nose until it gradually grew over the years till it hit him in the face. He furrowed his eyebrows, a pensive look on his face.
Her stomach stirred as he turned to look at her with a sudden soft look in his eyes. "Something awhile ago," was his only explanation.
She bit her tongue, and Lucy's stomach began flipping and twisting. After it had settled, and she decided to continue letting her curiosity get the better of her and ask more questions.
"When would you want to propose if it was up to you?"
He stared up at the clouds before responding. "Maybe around a year or two of dating. After we were to try and see how living together would be like. And,maybe during Christmas time with all the lights around town. Like they say, it's the best time of the year."
She smiled at him,that pearly white smile that orthodontists bow down to, and scooted closer. "That is the best time of year. Well then, let me ask another question; if you could pick the place, where would it be?"
Gray became quiet again, and Lucy couldn't tell whether he was thinking or hesitating.
'The sky,' Gray mused, 'looks almost smooth enough as the lake for me to just dip my hand through.' If he grabbed Lucy's hand, right now, at this moment, and just maybe jumped and dove straight into that imaginary second surface of the lake. His fingers would be curled firmly against hers, never hoping to let go, and they would stir up the sand and swim into the world that contained a palette of colors. If only he could, he would spend his days, months, years, eternity even besides the sunshine-colored and sweetly honey-colored eyed girl, staying together in their simple, quiet world.
Gray took a deep breath, mustered up the courage from countless in-class daydreams and fantasy-filled dreams, and went for it.
"Right here. At this very place."
Lucy stayed quiet, the croaks of bullfrogs and the buzz of dragonflies yelling in her silence. After awhile, Gray began to wonder whether Lucy didn't get the point that he was getting at, or if she was in the middle of deciding whether to barf all over him or toss him in the lake.
Which, at this point, he would definitely not mind drowning.
Lucy gave out a breathless, shaky laugh and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Her lungs seemed to shrink, and her heart was roaring. "Wow, I'm a little jealous. She would be the luckiest girl in the world. I-"
"Lucy, it was four years ago that I realized I liked you. It was a year ago when I realized I love you. And albeit I would not understand why or what would compelled you to say yes, but I am damn sure that if you would agree to a date with me so I can prove to you that I will love you and will respect you for every single day we have together, I will enthusiastically cannonball in this huge body of water and-"
Gray was suddenly cut off, and all of the sudden he was seeing swirls and explosions of sweet-tasting color, tasting soft,passionate cinnamon on his lips, feeling warm, soft hands on the side of his face and took a few seconds to move his to her shoulders, and thinking 'dear, God, why did I wait so damn long' because it was simply paradise with their lips connected together. She scooted closer, and she was pressed to his chest, a slight grip now on his white v-neck, and Gray can't get over how they're still not close enough. All the feelings for her that he shushed and hid away came bursting out of the dam, and the years of underground emotions washed over him.
He tilted his head, thin lips pressed against her fuller ones. He gently moved his hands to her hair, lightly threading his fingers through. The kiss was tender and honest, yet it slowly gained fervor as Gray began to move his lips, fitting against hers again and again. The sun shone on his face as they slowly separated, eyes still intensely focused on the others, and he cradled his own ball of sunshine in his arms.
"Idiot, you didn't let me finish." Lucy whispered, beginning to laugh. Gray dipped his head in embarrassment and left a peck on her lips as an apology.
"Sorry about that. I'll remember my lesson for next time." He rested his chin on top of her head, and they stared at the white boats that dotted the horizon.
"Wendy is gonna be ecstatic and won't leave us alone, you know."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. After she yells at me on how I took too long." Gray's heart fluttered as Lucy beamed at him.
"You did take too long, though," she teased.
"Hey, I don't think you could do any better!"
Lucy just shook her head and continued to laugh. Her nerves were jittery still, and she couldn't bother to suppress the overwhelming feeling of joy in her chest.
"Lucy, give me your hand." Gray turns to look at her, and he wove his fingers together with hers into a lock. "In two years, come back here with me."
She responded with a jingling laugh that made him grin, and she gave him a simple kiss.
AN: I personally think Wendy would make the cutest little sister ever. Maybe if I have enough courage left over after writing this, I might write more stories with Gray and Wendy as siblings; that would be super fun.
Anyways, thank you very much for reading! Of course, any reviews and criticism would help me greatly as a writer. I want to say a huuuuuuge thank you to Adrienne (PassionateIdiot) and Genny (PastelClouds) for helping me out with this. They are lovely people to chat with and fantastic writers; check out Adrienne's work especially if you are also a fan of the 'Tales of' series.
(Oh, and I really hope somebody noticed that Golden Sun reference and jumped with joy. :P)