What Hurts The Most

The music was so loud, it seemed it made the walls of the house reverberate, but it still wasn't enough to overwhelm the power of Evergreen's anger running through her veins.

Neither did the people dancing around, nor the little amount of alcohol she had consumed minutes ago.

It was unbelievable. There was no way she'd forgive Elfman for doing this to her, not at her own party, in front of all of their friends. He had put her to shame, and she, proud as ever, let it stab at her heart like if it was cheating.

And she was well aware that she may be overreacting, but Queen of Fairies deserved a matching halloween costume of her boyfriend. She would even forgive him if it didn't match hers, but he showed up with no costume at all.

Just who did he think he was?

Maybe she should've listened to her friends when they told her not to date a junior while being a senior. Ah, the things someone did for love.

"Repeat to me," Evergreen said, trying to keep her voice calm. Elfman looked at her like a lost puppy, playing with his own fingers, a habit he had when he was nervous. "What are you dressed as?"

"I... uh..." he stuttered, "I'm a... man?"

Evergreen's left eye twitched, still unable to fully understand what exactly was on her boyfriend's head. "Do you even need a costume for that?"

"Uh... no?" Elfman asked.

"So that's why you aren't disguised." Ever repeated.

She felt her eyes sting, hot tears threatening to appear. She blinked them back, not wanting to let him know how much it disappointed her. Not just that, but also because he hadn't even complimented her about her own outfit: a cute, short green dress fairy-like, pretty wings, high heels, and she even carried around a wand with a star at the top. She had tied her hair in a complicated yet sophisticated bun, leaving some strands to frame her face.

And he had say no word to her about it.

It just hurt.

"Emm... no?" Elf said, and it was the final straw to her.

"ASSHOLE!" she yelled, before turning around and running off.

She pushed people aside as the tears appeared again, but she inhaled deeply. She wouldn't cry at her own party, no matter how bad she felt. It would only kill the good mood people were having there, and she felt it was no use to yell and kick them out of her house so she could be sad alone in her house. It would made her friends worry, anyways.

Even if the love air hanging in the room just made her feel worse. She saw Juvia and Gray practically kissing their faces out, Erza and Jellal hugging too intimately at the corner, Natsu flirting with Lucy, Gajeel and Levy dancing awkwardly but really close to the beat of the song, Lisanna drinking with Bixlow, and of course, Mirajane watching them all with hearts on her eyes, a grumpy Laxus at her side with a jealous Freed cursing in the corner.

Oh well, at least she wasn't the only one having a hard time.

Hiding herself behind the other people she barely knew, she went silently up to her room, praying no one was there.

She opened the door, relaxing when she noticed it was still empty, and closed it with the lock before throwing herself onto the bed and screaming on her pillow. No one would hear her, anyways.

Elfman stood still in his spot on the kitchen, almost petrified.

Was it... his first fight with Evergreen?

No, it couldn't be.

There was no way she'd get mad at him, she was the most good hearted person ever besides his sisters.

Oh God he had screwed up so bad.

And he wanted to believe he was hallucinating when he thought he saw a glimpse of tears in her pretty, dark brown eyes. It shocked him, leaving him out of words. And when she ran off, he could hear his manly heart breaking too fast into million pieces.

Automatically, his feet started walking desperately after her. His eyes didn't spot him through the maze of people gathering in the living room of her house, even with his extremely tall height.

But he did find Mirajane sitting over Laxus's lap, watching carefully what he thought could be any of her favorite pairings. He made his way over her, thinking he could use some advice from his older sister, since she was much more experienced in the love field than him, and a close friend of Ever.

"Hey sis," he said, smiling awkwardly under the hard glare of Laxus. Mira smiled sweetly at him.

"Elfman!" she said, "You won't believe it! I think Natsu is gonna kiss Lucy tonight!"

It was like a kick to his gut, but he tried to dismiss it, as she said it everytime she saw them together, which was practically all the time.

"That's awesome," he murmured.

He watched the demon costume his sister had picked; it was sexy and scary at the same time, much different than from her usual self. Under her, Laxus was wearing a black tuxedo, so Elfman just guessed he was dressed as someone, but he wasn't brave enough to question his sister's scary boyfriend.

Everyone was wearing a freaking costume.

In his opinion, dressing up as a man was a great idea, but it seemed Ever didn't share his thought.

"What happened, brother?" Mira asked, perceptive as always.

"I think I screwed up, sis." Elfman said, sitting next to them on the sofa. The same sofa where he had cuddled with Ever for the first time four months and sixteen days before... He felt his eyes itching when the tears threatened to appear.

Mira smiled sympathetically at him, "Is this your first fight?"

"Yes." he nodded.

"What about?"

"Did you do something to Evergreen?" Laxus joined, narrowing his harsh eyes at him, a threat hanging from his voice.

"Laxus, stop." Mira ordered. Laxus growled and kept glaring at him, but he stayed quiet. Sometimes Elfman wondered how the heck his sister did that, but he guessed it was something private.

"Well," he started, "She got mad because I don't have a costume..."

Mira frowned, putting her tiny finger over her chin, "Nothing else?"

"Umm," he thought. He didn't recall being mean to her or doing anything that could get her mad like that. "I don't think so."

"I told you to wear the costume I made you..." Mira murmured.

Elfman blushed, "I didn't want those bear ears! It was not manly!" he complained.

"They were better than your 'man costume'!" Mira argued, putting her hands on her hips, almost nudging Laxus in the process. Who, by the way, was trying not to laugh at him.

"But it is man!" Elfman retorted.

"Even Max came dressed up as his loved broom, didn't he?" Laxus commented, but both siblings kind of ignored him.

"Evergreen didn't like it, did she?" Mira arched her eyebrow at him, looking him with expectant blue eyes.

Elfman lowered his head and blushed, ashamed. "Well... no." he admitted.

"And now she is so mad, and sad. I don't want to imagine the poor girl, in her room, alone, feeling miserable."

"And her stupid boyfriend is talking to his sister because he obviously can't read the mood," Laxus added in, gaining a nudge from Mira this time.

Elfman shifted his gaze between the two of them, and realization hit him hard as he saw one of Laxus' hand on Mira's thigh and another in her hip. He even saw some kind of darker circle on the boy's neck, and both of their lips were swollen red, and their hairs were a mess.

Elfman felt his cheeks aflame with embarrassment, and he mumbled some apologizes before he stood up and walked away from the couch as fast as he could.

Talk about awkward moments.

Pushing those thoughts away, Elfman focused on what mattered. Evergreen.

He deadpanned when he realized Mira told him exactly where she could be, and then he cursed himself for being such an idiot. In all the time they had been together, he's learned more things about her than he knew about himself. It made sense; of course she'd be in her room.

Trying not to crush people under his weight, he finally made his way upstairs, walking down the corridor until her bedroom's door at the end of it. Carefully, he knocked three times and put his ear against the wooden surface.

No response.

Worry, shame, and fear all mixed up in his stomach. This shouldn't be happening on Halloween, at her party, the event she had talked about all October. She should be dancing in her fairy dress, with a happy grin on her pretty face.

"Ever?" he called. "Are you there?"

She didn't answer him, but he could hear her sobs.

"Ever! Babe!" he yelled again, "Please open the door, I'm sorry for whatever made you mad!"

This time, he heard some kind of a muffled scream, though he wasn't so sure what it exactly was. She still didn't reply, and he figured it would go on like this. He fell in love with a stubborn woman, after all.

Sighing, he sat down slowly, his broad back resting against the wooden door.

"Okay," he said. "I get it. You're not talking to me, but you'll hear me."

Gotta be a man, he thought. Taking in a long and deep breath, he continued,

"I am seriously sorry for not dressing up for your Halloween party, and I know how excited you were about it, I really listened to all of your rants about it, hehe. If it is what hurt you, then I will now go to my house and put on that bear costume Mira sewed for me, with the ears and all. If what got you sad like this is another thing, please tell me because I suck at this."

He heard some footsteps, some cursing too, from inside. He tried not to get his hopes high, because he wasn't sure if his heart would endure another yell from her.

"I…" she said. He could hear her shaky voice, and there went his heart again.

"You?" he asked, trying to help her. It was something they had to fix up themselves, their first fight.

"I got mad at you for not wearing a costume." Evergreen said. "But it was something else too…"

Elfman suck on a breath. "Could you… please open the door?" he asked cautiously.

It took eternal seconds of silence before she obeyed him. He felt as the world stopped when he saw her red eyes and nose, her recently perfect bun now disheveled. It was an image he hoped he'd never see again. She looked so… fragile, and he only wanted to wrap his arms around her to protect her from all the bad things in the world, but he restrained himself when he remembered the reason of her tears.

"Ever…" he said.

The girl growled at him, a frown adorning her face. "Really," she started, "You are the most adorable dork, there was no need to such a speech."

Elfman found himself trying not to smile. Now, this was the cheerful, proud Evergreen he was in love with.

"I guess I just overreacted." she said. "I'm sorry."

"I guess I just was a jerk then," Elfman half-joked, laughing nervously.

"Stop," Ever said, smirking at him. "You're really bad at making jokes. Your humor sense sucks."

"My humor sense is manly!" he argued.

"You just proved my point." she retorted, but she still walked towards him and wrapped his torso with her arms -or at least, tried to, because he was so broad and muscled, it was impossible for her tiny arms.

He smiled goofily as he held her, taking in her flower scent. He felt as everything was falling back in place.

"You know," he said quietly, "I really like how you look with that fairy dress."

Evergreen suddenly looked up at him, wide eyes and gasping mouth. Her cheeks turned a pink, cute shade of blush. He frowned at her reaction, wondering why she looked so shocked. But when he asked why, she only giggled and shook her head, leaving him clueless.

"Thank you," Ever said, burying her face in his chest.

They shared a comfortable, peaceful silence. Or what you could call silence in a house with music to the loudest, the people screaming and singing and laughing. Still, Elfman tried to block it all from his mind, enjoying the only company he needed that night.

Of course, until she shook his world with only a few words, "Wanna go to my bed?"

Elfman blinked a couple of times. "MAN!" he yelled.

Ever jumped out of the hug, watching him with wide eyes. "The heck?" she asked. "What are you saying?"

Looking at his flustered face, all shame and blush, Evergreen recalled her own words, and after processing them, she matched him, as if they fought for who could blush brighter. "I-I d-didn't mean that! You pervert!" she yelled.

"A-And what then?" Elfman asked, his voice stuttering and nervous.

Watching him like that, it made Ever remember how clueless, innocent and inexperienced he was on the matter, and she couldn't help but smile at him. It definitely was one of the reasons why she had grow to love him.

Her erratic heart slowed down from the commotion, "We could cuddle." she said.

Elfman frowned, "Are you sure? It's your party and-"

"Yeah," Ever agreed, "That's why I decide what I want to do. And I want to cuddle."

The never-ending blush contrasted with his tanned skin, and she liked it very much. No more questions asked, she walked to her bed, throwing herself over the mattress with a deep sigh. She motioned him to follow her when he stood still in the doorframe, his dark eyes scanning every little detail on her bedroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying not to sound annoyed, "Come here, big man."

He gave slow steps until her bed, and sat down, his back stiff. Really, Evergreen wouldn't believe this was the boy that always screamed about masculinity hadn't she know him too well.

"I'm not gonna bite you." she teased.

"R-right," he said, laying down. He was as hard as a rock, barely rolled her eyes as his behavior, it was as if he didn't trust her at all.

"What have you so nervous all of sudden?" Ever said. "I already said I don't have… dirty intentions." She blushed, cursing him for making her talk like that.

"I know…" he pouted.

"Then what?"

"What what?" he said.

"Elfman!" she protested, huffing out. She arched her pretty eyebrows at him, looking him with expectant eyes.

Instead of giving her a proper answer, he inhaled deeply before shooting her a happy, relaxed grin. It was sincere, and Ever just had to smile along.

"I'm okay. Sorry." he assured her.

"Now come here, big boy." Ever said, opening her arms the widest she could. He chuckled before moving in closer to her, throwing his gigantic, muscled arm over her tiny waist. She hugged him like a teddy bear, understanding why Mira wanted to make him dress up like the animal.

His enticing manly odor filled her nostrils, and she sighed contently. Now, this was what she wanted to be like with him, fighting and arguing just wasn't made for them.

"Are you sure you want to stay like this?" Elf asked.

She nodded against his firm chest, "Yeah."

"Ever?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Smiling, "I love you too."

Word Count= 2624.

I hope I didn't make them too OOC, since it's my first time ever writing this pairing. I hope you enjoyed this piece, and the others six to come! Thanks for reading, any review is very appreciated.