Always Waiting
Chapter 1: Encounter

On that faithful day, Sting found himself bumping into one of his life's annoyances. Her long hair fluttering underneath the sun's warmth, he widened his eyes as he caught her from falling onto the concrete path. "What a hassle... I bumped into a Fairy," he said where the girl with beautiful blonde hair widened her eyes to his scowl before pushing herself away and into someone else's arms.

His eyes narrowed and filled with annoyance, he stared at the two that were rumoured to be dating around the neighbourhood. "Not just one Fairy, but two Fairies," he scowled before dusting off the invisible dust from his uniform where he sized them up before knocking into the two as he walked off. As much as he hated touching them, the very sight of them made his day go sour - So much for a refreshing morning.

On that faithful day, he questioned how the girl that he bumped into was interested in such an idiot that he once worshiped when he was younger. He found it always amusing that she would blush around the pink-haired boy that he watched catching her. As if many within the neighbourhood wished to see the two of them dating each other, the majority knew that it would never happen.

He knew that even though Lucy fancied Natsu, it would never result to a happy ending. Not with Lisanna around, reappearing again after her sudden disappearance when they were younger.

Just how did he know all of this?

Gossip was one thing that occurs every morning at his school, Sabertooth Academy. Every morning would be about the same thing, Fairy Tail Academy and how to defeat them.

On that faithful day, Sting questioned why such a smart and intelligent girl would choose to go to such a pathetic school like Fairy Tail Academy. Lucy should be in their school and not that dumb school.

But then again, why should a Fairy transfer into their school? But the main question that spiraled around in his head the most was, why was she always in his head after that encounter?

Sting shook his head as he stretched tiredly. It's been a rough morning and his workplace allowed him to leave early since they wanted to allow a new worker to try and test their skills without feeling the pressure of having a lot of workers around and watching. His muscles aching from the amount of lifting he's been doing in the storage room to take the packages down from their high shelves for restock, he gave out a long sigh as he waited on the train platform.

"Look at him... He's hot." He smirked when he heard the nearby school girls whispering about him. Stretching again where he pretended to stretch his arms towards their direction, he directly looked at them and gave them a grin where they began to quietly fangirl to their little present from him.

Listening to them fawn over him, he quickly moved to the other end of the platform that was away from the girls and looked out to the sky. It's been a year since he graduated from high school and he wasn't planning to enter into some time-consuming workplace that would restrict him from going out too much.

The place that he's working at currently was a very popular sports store located deep within the city. Far away from reach from his high school where no junior of his would try to contact him, he wanted nothing to do with his secondary school now that he's enjoying his life out of education and mental strain.

As much as he wanted to avoid Fairy Tail Academy graduates, he knew that it would never be a Fairy-free life when they all live scattered around in the city, often coming into his workplace to find some new shoes or some gear for their competitions and hobbies.

"The next train to arrive on platform five goes to..." He sighed and scratched the back of his head as he listened to the woman's voice announce the times and trains on each platform speakers. It's been an exhausting day nevertheless, and he couldn't wait to go home and snuggle with his cat, Lector before hanging around at Rogue's, his best friend's, workplace.

Within a few minutes, the train arrived where he rolled his eyes as he sensed the presences of people swarming towards him in hopes of finding a seat in the carriages. Him being the first one to board, a certain someone in the corner of the carriage caught his attention where he furrowed his brows to where the girl was resting.

His body and mind telling him to do what's right since right now it was one of the city's craziest rush hours due to schooling hours and so, he grudgingly walked over to the blonde sleeping in the corner of carriage. Placing his palms on the wall where he towered over her, he easily caged her in between the wall and himself which protected her from the crowd riding the train.

"Out of all times to sleep, the Fairy sleeps during this hour on the train - Not to mention in the corner of a busy carriage," he complained under his breath where he pushed himself away from the wall in order to have a comfortable space for the girl once she wakes up. The echoes of the train hitting the train tracks whispering along the murmurs of mixed conversations occurring within the carriage, he closed his eyes in complaint.

What type of woman is she to do something this reckless?

Even with all of the complaining that he was doing within his head, he found himself shielding her from perverted eyes and trouble until they reach a station that was three stations away from his desired suburb where the girl slowly opened her eyes to only look up to him tiredly. "Hmmm?" she muttered in her wake where she then widened her eyes to look at Sting in the eyes. His eyes annoyed as he stared at her in return, he could still see the sleepiness in her eyes as she tried to make out the current situation that she was in.

The sleepy girl looking around, she saw how busy the train was where she looked at the Sabertooth Academy graduate in confusion. Realising that he was protecting her since she was asleep on a busy train, she opened her mouth where he suddenly cut her off in a hushed tone. "What an idiot," he growled where he adjusted himself to allow her to stand up, majority of the people boarding off the train at the current station, he stretched before pulling away. "What type of idiot are you to sleep at a time like this?"

Like that, he grumbled as he walked away from the girl and stood against the railings by the carriage doors. It was almost time for him to leave this suffocating place but since all of that happened, he wanted nothing else than to go to Rogue's workplace and have a cup of coffee. Perhaps he should grab something for Lector since it's been a hectic week.