Right Girl, Wrong Guy

Chapter 1: A Chance

Sunlight floods through the small gap between cheap plastic blinds, revealing a small bedroom that appeared as if a wild animal had built its habit inside this tiny space. The floor is littered with dirty laundry and dozens of crumpled up sheets of white paper with the scribbling of half written out ideas as if it had snowed inside the room. However, the worst of the mess and its source was lying on top of the sheets of his twin-sized bed, still dressed from the late-night brainstorming session from last night.

With his guitar still in hand as if he fell asleep mid-cord, the boy quietly groans as he feels the sunlight trying to pierce through his eyelids to rouse him from his slumber. He rolls his head away from the window to dig himself deeper into his pillow only to feel the familiar sensation of paper crackling under the weight of his cheek.

The final straw was the radio beside his bed suddenly playing the ending of jarring rock song that forced him awake. "Annnd that was 'Her Stupid Name'(1) by the hot new group, Children of Chaos!"

A head of dark purple hair popped up from the pillow and a loud groan escaped his lips. His hand shot out and lazily swatted at the radio on the nightstand in an attempt to hit the snooze button. "Come on just stop please…" He quietly begged as he missed over and over again.

"Alright! Now up next is a fan favorite by the mysterious artist is known only as 'Firefly'(2)! Be our ninth caller after this song plays to have your chance to win great prizes-" The radio is suddenly cut off as the young man finally hit his mark.

"The last thing I need to hear today is myself." With a deep breath, he sits up on his bed letting his guitar fall down to his knees. His hands propped him up but it wasn't long before they were holding on to something other than the sheets.

The boy raises one of the sheets of paper scattered across his bed to face and reads what he can only think was something he stumbled upon late last night. At the top of the page was a single word is written in bold, LOVE(3), followed what looked like an intro but it was difficult to read.

LOVE

Love, love, love, love, love, love.
Woo!

You are everything I wanted
You are everything a girl could be-

What in the world was I thinking last night? He stopped reading his work before crumpling it up and tossing it to the floor to join its brothers littered throughout his room. Wait! What time is it?! He jerks his head towards the radio to see that it was already noon and he could kiss his previous plans goodbye.

"I have to get ready now! What if I'm too late!" The boy jumped out of bed and quickly opened his small closet's doors to find a change of clothes. Red open vest, Purple open vest, Green open vest! Do I only have vests?! Fine! Who cares? It's not like I'm asking out the girl I've wanted to ask out for the past two months today!

Without too many choices he grabs his favorite dark vest and throws on the rest of his clothes. Before rushing out the door he takes one brief look at the motorcycle poster on his door before yanking the door handle open and rushing down the stairs.

"What's with all the noise?! You should have woken up earlier if you had something to do today Romeo!" An older man shouts at his son from the couch downstairs. Romeo races past him towards the door and talks while reaching for his shoes.

"Sorry, dad I have to go now you know!" Romeo hops on one foot trying to put one sandal on while moving towards the door. "No, I don't know! Why don't you just tell me and stop trying to keep it a secret?"

"I'll tell you later! Bye!" With that, the door shut behind him and he raced through the streets of Magnolia to reach the guild. As he arrived at the gates of Fairy Tail Romeo smiled and waved to the few people outside enjoying their lunch while he halfheartedly jogged inside.

Just grab some breakfast and then head out. No stops. I'm determined to see this through! Romeo thought as he walked straight up to the bar, avoiding the usual fight that was going on in the guild. He made eye contact with the bartender to find that his luck had run out. Mirajane was smiling at him as he approached and knew a barrage of questions was coming. "So today is the day huh? When are you going to tell me her name?"

"I'll just have a ham and cheese omelet, pleaseee." He strained out that please because he knew Mira wouldn't let it go if he gave her an inch, "You're so cold! Just give me something! Is she tall? Short? Does she have short hair or long hair? What if she has really pretty blue eyes or-"

"Mira, please. The omelet." Romeo interrupted and with a huff, she ran back to the kitchen to put in his order. "Finally..." He sighed on the bar stool as his stomach grumbled either with hunger or nervousness he didn't know.

Okay, I'm just going to come out and say it. "I've been coming here for a while and I noticed you were really cute-" Yeah, I just noticed right now that you were cute. Not like I've thought about you ever since I thought about you since I first saw you. Ugh.

Romeo rolled his eyes and tapped on the wooden bar top to a beat that had suddenly popped into his head. Why can't flirting come to me like music? Just have the words pop right into my head and have it sound natural? He continued his rhythm until a plate of eggs was put in front of him.

"Thanks, Mira I needed this." Romeo grabbed a fork and dove in as she leaned against the bar counter with her head in her hand. "Is it someone I know?" He continued to eat his omelet, refusing to entertain her with his love life.

"Just a hint! Pretty please? I promise not to tell anyone." Romeo looked over at her with an almost half smile on his face as he couldn't believe what she just said. "Really? You? You won't tell anyone what I'm going to tell you."

"I promise!" She grew excited and ignored his clearly sarcastic tone. "Okay, Mira. I'll tell you. Her name is…" Romeo leaned over the bar and after looking from side to side, cupped his hand over his mouth to whisper in her ear.

"None of your business." He fell right back onto his seat and got back to eating his breakfast. "Hmph! If I knew you were going to be mean about it I wouldn't have fed you!" Mira crossed her arms and left in a huff. As she walked away Romeo closed his eyes and reflected on what just happened.

Maybe I shouldn't have been such a jerk about not telling her. I'll apologize later and maybe if it works out I'll tell her first that I'm not single anymore for the first time in 17 years… Man, it almost hurts just thinking about it.

Romeo opened his eyes and focused on finishing his meal. After a while, he left money on the table under his plate to pay for the meal. He turned around thankful to see the guild not fighting but instead calm and oddly excited.

"Hey, what's going on?" He turned to someone on a nearby barstool and asked. "Dude, you haven't heard? Team Natsu is coming back! Like the whole team is coming back. I'm talking Natsu, Lucy, Gray-"

"Okay, I get, thanks." Romeo cut him off before the guy got too excited, it was clear he was a big fan. If they are coming back then Wendy must be coming back too.

As if she had heard his thoughts, Wendy and Lucy breezed through the giant doors of the guild laughing to each other about their past mission while Natsu and Gray were locking horns behind them.

"Knock it off you two! We're back now!" Lucy shouted at them and guided the group to a table to eat. "Yeah, you hear that Gray?! Lucy said to stop being such an idiot!" Natsu headbutts him before he was yanked away by Lucy.

"Don't think I'm not also yelling at you too! Sit down so we can eat!" With that Lucy pulled Natsu down to sit next to her while Gray sat across from him with Wendy. "It's going to be okay. Right?"

Wendy spoke softly while looked at the two of them and as if it was one of her healing spells the tension quickly disappeared. The two leaned back into their seats with huffs and on cue Mirajane popped up out of nowhere to take their order.

I'll just go over there, say hi and see where it goes from there. I got time. Romeo walked towards the table with his arm up in a wave but just as he was going to reach the table another guy raced through the hall and up to their table.

Romeo stopped walking towards the group when he saw who it was and tried to play off his wave by bringing up his other arm up and pretended to be trying to catch a fly, turning in the opposite direction.

Not Arashi. Mavis, not now. "When were you going to tell me that you came back?" A young man hovered over Wendy clearly upset. He was wearing an expensive suit with a power red tie and with his sharp brown eyes, he pierced through the fun atmosphere. Wendy was stunned by his sudden appearance before looking away from him in guilt.

"I'm talking to you!" He grabbed her arm and yanked it towards him. "I'm sorry… I just came back and I forgot to text you and…" Wendy's words came out quick but were trailing into a mumble.

The others at the table narrowed their eyes at the way he was talking to her and as Arashi looked around he noticed he was making a scene. "Look, whatever. Just tell me next time." He let go of her arm and ran his hand through his soft brown hair in frustration.

Arashi reached into his suit and casually dropped hundreds of jewels on the table before looking at his watch. "We don't need your money. We just got paid for finishing our mission." Gray spoke up through his teeth while Wendy stared down at her feet.

"The money isn't for you. It's for my girlfriend. Okay, babe?" He crouched beside her and tried reaching for her hand. She just nodded silently and let him grab her hand. Arashi squeezed it tightly once before standing back up and adjusted his suit.

"I told you not to worry about money. I'll pay for everything. We'll talk later, without everyone else around." With that Arashi left as came, suddenly and with force. "Tch. He's just like his uncle." Natsu kicked the table in front of him in a burst of anger.

"Natsu!" Lucy reprimanded him for bad mouthing him in front of Wendy. "No, Lucy. It's okay. I…I get it." Wendy said softly. "Maybe he's going through a rough time or…"

No. Natsu is right. Arashi Everlue is just like Duke Everlue, a real jerk. Romeo balled his hand into a fist as he saw the state Arashi left Wendy in. From laughing with her friends to suddenly closing herself off like she was when she first joined Fairy Tail.

He let the instinctive wave of anger pass over him before walking towards the door. He passed the group without a word but he took one last glance at Wendy. She didn't even notice him because she was still looking down at her feet while the others at the table tried to comfort her. He looked away and knew he should just leave before he did something stupid.

Romeo busted through the guild doors and walked down the street, almost stomping the whole way. It wasn't long before he found himself at a small sandwich shop that recently opened a couple months ago.

Of course, when I'm upset I show up here. I should just do this now and stop thinking about the risk. This was his favorite place to eat at after a mission and there were two reasons for that. One was the awesome sandwiches they made and the other was personal.

He opened the door to the shop and the familiar ring of the bells above the door gave him a sense of comfort. "Hi! Welcome to Magnolia Subs! Can I take your order?" Romeo walked up to the girl behind the counter and felt a little flustered.

"Oh. Umm, can I get a Fiore Classic today and that's it." He wasn't hungry but he had to act normal. Today was the day. "Of course! It won't take long, it should be ready shortly." The girl gave him a smile that he couldn't help but mirror.

"Thanks…" Romeo watched as she started to make the sandwich and he couldn't help himself. The girl was clearly attractive, long brown hair, soft brown eyes that he swore made his legs feel like jelly every time he looked into them, and of course her cute lips that pursed together whenever she tried to remember where an ingredient was made his heart hammer in his chest. She was the full package and ever since he accidentally met her here at the shop two months ago he was in love.

Alright, this is it Romeo just be cool. You've always wanted to say this. It's either been too busy at the time or you've just wimped out. Now is a perfect time. Man up! He gave himself a little pep talk, moments before she came back with his sandwich.

"Here you go. Have a nice day!" She smiles at him and hands the sandwich to him. "Thanks." Romeo pauses for a second and just as the girl was about to walk away he speaks up. "Excuse me. Uh, I've been coming in here for awhile and I've always wanted to introduce myself-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, her smiling expression turns blank, her lips seal tight and she looks up at her eyebrows with a clear look all over her face: You have to be kidding me.

It was the look of someone when they are just about to finish their homework for the day and right as they feel as if they are going to leave their teacher comes in and drops another hour's worth of work on their desk. They can't argue with the teacher about it but you know they are thinking: What did I do to deserve this?

That look threw Romeo off and he quickly lashed out. "You know what?! Never mind! I'll go then! This was stupid anyway, I shouldn't even have had bothered." He turned around and suddenly walked out.

God! Romeo kicks a rock down the street as he walks home. I mean come on! It's one thing to reject me and say "sorry but I'm just not interested" but she couldn't let me even finish what I was going to say?! Just give me a chance!

He reached his front door and yanked it open before storming into his house and upstairs to his room. "Oh, hey! Romeo? How did it go?" Macao was worried when he saw how upset his son was. "Is everything okay?"

He didn't say anything as he blew past his dad and slammed the door to his room shut. Damn it! I looked like a complete idiot. Why couldn't she have just given me a chance to ask? That's all I wanted! Romeo kicked at the crumpled sheets of paper on his bedroom floor and one of them bounced hard enough off the wall in front of him to fly towards his face. In his anger, he snatched the paper out of the air and opened it up.

LOVE

Love, love, love, love, love, love.
Woo!

You were everything I wanted
You were everything a girl could be-

"Shut up!" He yelled at the page as if it grew a mind of its own and began insulting him. He was about to crumple it up again to throw it in the trash but instead, he grabbed his guitar off the bed and a pencil. With everything in hand, he stormed out of his room and down the stairs, again passing by his father without saying anything.

"I'm here if you need to talk!" Macao exclaimed as Romeo slammed the door behind him. Romeo raced out of the town center to a spot he would visit from time to time just to play his guitar and come up with song ideas outside of his room.

It was not long before he saw the town's old water fountain in the center of a forgotten grove. The water had long since dried out from its well but moss grew out between the concrete cracks while the climbing hydrangea twisted itself around a dirty statue of a fairy playing the harp in the center of the fountain.

Lace-like flower caps popped out from the green and while Romeo would have normally enjoyed this, he ignored it and sat on his cleared-out spot on the lip of the fountain. He flipped his guitar over his legs to use it as an improved desk and began furiously scratching out the words on the page.

There and there and there and there! It wasn't long before he had transformed what was originally his love song into something else entirely. The title that once was just the word Love was now furiously scribbled out and in its place, was a new title, HATE(4).

HATE

Love, love, love, love, love, love.
Woo!

You were everything I wanted
You were everything a girl could be
Then you left me brokenhearted
Now you don't mean a thing to me
All I wanted was your
Love, love, love, love, love, love

Hate is a strong word
But I really, really, really don't like you
Now that it's over
I don't even know what I liked about you
Brought you around
and you just brought me down
Hate is a strong word
but I really, really, really don't like you…

I really, really, really don't like you- what should come after that? Romeo twirled the pencil around his fingers and stared at the page waiting for the words to jump off the page. Let me just try this once before I go any further.

He put aside the lyrics and the pencil before he started to strum out a few cords at random trying to get a sense of the music. "Love, love, love, love, love, love-" Romeo became lost in the song as his fingers race along the guitar and his head began to slowly sway to the rhythm with his eyes shut.

"…thought you thought I was worth it…" He slowed down and sang softly. "…Now I think a little differently..."

"AWESOOOOME!" Romeo jerked his head up suddenly as he heard a man shout out from across the grove and he watched as the man trip on a root while popping out from behind the bush. The man quickly jumps to his feet and brushes the dirt from his suit as he walks towards Romeo.

"Who are you?" He had a puzzled look on his face as he put aside the guitar and stood up. He doesn't feel dangerous but he's definitely…weird. The well-dressed man had stars in his eyes, a wide smile, bright blonde hair, and wore expensive sunglasses on top of his head as he came right up to him to take a good look of Romeo. The man only took a moment before sticking out his hand for a handshake.

"I'm Jack Thompson, talent agent for The Fiori Creative Artists Agency, and I would love to represent you and get you the work you deserve." Jack smiled brightly but on the other hand, Romeo just looked confused and didn't shake the man's hand.

"Uh. I think you're talking to the wrong guy. I'm a mage from Fairy Tail. You know help people, fight monsters, stop dark guilds, that kind of stuff. I was just singing cause it's a hobby and-"

"And you're humble too! Oh, this is too much! The other guys at the agency will love you- give me one second." Jack reaches into his suit, pulls out a lacrima phone and excitedly dials in the numbers in. Within seconds he starts talking on the phone. "Yup it's me and oh man I found him."

"Found who?" Romeo spoke up confused. Jack holds up his hand to silently ask for him to wait a moment while he continues to talk. "He's exactly what we are looking for- yep, yep- I haven't gotten confirmation yet hold on." He covered the receiver on his phone and leaned over towards Romeo to whisper to him.

"You're Firefly, right? Because at this point it would just be awkward if you weren't."

Thank you for reading the first chapter! I really wanted to write a different kind of story than I'm used to because it's unusual to have a RoWen story start with Romeo not interested in Wendy, much less have her dating someone else.

If there are any reviews be sure to check the bottom author notes of the next chapter to see if I responded there or check your pm inbox if I sent you a message directly.

Remember, if you like this story and want to see more of it sign up for an alert so you can read the next chapter as soon as it comes out. If you want to check out more of my stuff just tap my name on the top of the page and you'll reach my other stories. Thank you for reading and I'll see you next time!

Below are the footnotes for this chapter.

(1) 'Her Stupid Name' is a reference to a great story of the same name written by Tenryu no hoko.

(2) 'Firefly' is a common nickname given to Romeo in the stories written by chaosphoenix123 and it can really be interpreted in a number of ways depending on the context surrounding it.

(3) - (4) 'Love' later changed to 'Hate' is a real song written and performed by the Plain White T's. It is titled "Hate (I Really Don't Like You). I recommend listening to it at least once to engage with the song at a deeper level than just the surface of the lyrics.