Gray x Claire one-shot. I was inspired by the song "Wedding Dress" by Taeyang. :] So here we go.
The whole thing is in Gray's POV.
I do not own Harvest Moon or the characters, or the song 'Wedding Dress'.
So this is how it works; I'll suddenly stop the story at a point with an authors note. If you want the romantic Gray x Claire ending, ignore the author's note. If you want the alternate, dramatic Claire x Kai ending, move on to the 2nd part. [It'll be like a 2nd chapter.]
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The alarm clock went off. I groaned, and glared at the clock.
Did it really have to go off? Especially today?
"It's only 8 fucking A.M.!" I said out loud to myself. I got a pillow and covered my whole face under it. I did not want to attend the wedding.
Especially hers.
That was probably the last thing I wanted to do.
Let me tell you something...
4 years ago, a girl named Claire moved here, to Mineral Town. She heard about a ranch that was abandoned, and she decided that she wanted to run it and bring it back to life.
Claire is a petite girl. She has blond hair and has blue eyes that remind me of the ocean. She's beautiful, honestly.
She's really nice, too; she's probably the only person who has ever accepted me for me. My feelings for her slowly grew, and before I knew it, I was deeply in love with her.
Last week, at her birthday party, I was gonna propose to her... But it was to late. Actually, I was to late.
A tanned guy named Kai stopped the party for a few minutes, got on one knee, and proposed to Claire. Claire immediately accepted.
When that happened, I looked at Claire wide-eyed, my mouth hanging open.
It was then my world was crushed. I quickly abandoned the party, and ran to the beach, kneeling by the shore, crying. People may think I'm a tough guy, since I'm the blacksmith and all, but everyone has a soft side.... Right? I pulled out a blue feather that was supposed to be for Claire, stared at it, and shoved it back into my pocket.
"Baby,
Please, don't take his hand...
'Cause you should be my lady...
I've been waiting for you...
For so long..."
I got up from my bed and rubbed my eyes so I could see clearly.
I walked into the bathroom, and entered the shower.
As the water dropped onto my body, I was thinking of excuses;
Excuses so I wouldn't have to go through all that torture and attend the god damn wedding.
But I knew Claire wouldn't like that.
After all, we're best friends.
I knew that she would want me there, and if I didn't show up, my ass would get kicked.
"Maybe I've known all along
that this would happen..
I close my eyes,
and dream an endless dream...
Please leave him...."
I turned the shower off, dried my body with a towel, and wrapped the towel around my waist, and went through my closet, looking for a suit. I picked out a dark blue one, that had dark blue slacks, too. I put on black socks and put on some black leather dress shoes. I changed my usual white UMA hat to a dark blue one. Same exact style, but different color.
To complete the look, I fastened a black tie around my neck.
I look in the mirror to fix any mistakes, and let out a low grunt.
My mind was going crazy.
I knew that I shouldn't go, and just stay in the inn forever, but I knew better.
I glanced at the clock.
'10 AM...' I thought to myself.
'Might as well get going.'
I left my room in the inn and headed for the church, taking my time. I actually wanted to be late. Maybe I would miss the "You make kiss the bride" part.
***
Apparently, I was just in time for the wedding, even if I didn't want to be.
An usher escorted me to my reserved seat, which was in the damn front.
Maybe Claire made the seating arrangements. I sighed to myself.
A few minutes later, the ceremony began.
"When the music starts...
You will vow to spend
the rest of your life with him.
How I prayed every night
this day
would never come...
The wedding dress you're wearing...
...dress...dress...
It's not me [next to you]"
Kai was at the front of the aisle, standing in front of the priest, Carter. I turned around as I heard the front doors open... And there was Claire, in her wedding dress.
It was like a traditional wedding dress, kind of. It was plain white, and strapless. From the waist down, it was frilly. It was like a ball gown. She looked... beautiful in it.
She slowly walked up the aisle. You could tell that she was nervous, because she was walking unusually slow.
I tried not to stare at her so much, even if it was challenging. I slowly glanced away, making it seem like I was never looking at her.
When Claire reached the front of the aisle, she was greeted by a smiling Kai & Carter.
Kai took Claire's hands, and Claire forced a smile on her face. I knew it was forced. I was her best friend for a long time, so I knew a lot about her. I started to become puzzled.
I can also see that she looked kind of down, although she tried to hide it by smiling.
"Do you, Kai, promise to be for Claire, through the hard times and the bad?" Carter asked.
"I do." said a happy Kai.
Carter turned to Claire. I could feel nervousness rush through my body rapidly. Would she say 'I do'?
"Do you, Claire, promise to be for Kai, through the hard times and the bad?" Carter asked once again.
[A/N: If you want the romantic Gray x Claire ending, keep reading. If you want the dramatic, Kai x Claire ending, don't read the following parts, and move on to the alternate ending!]
Claire stayed silent. I could tell that everyone was confused. Even I was!
"Claire...?" Kai asked softly.
Claire looked away from Kai, and looked directly at me.
She mouthed the words, "I'm sorry."
I could feel tears almost escaping my eyes, expecting that Claire would marry Kai.
Instead, she let go of Kai's hand and looked down, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry...." She said softly, but loud enough so that I could hear her.
"My heart belongs to someone else." I heard her say.
I felt joy rush through my body, overcoming the nervousness.
She looked at me, and said, "I didn't realize this until today, but...."
There was an awkward silence, and Claire walked over to me.
"I love you, Gray."
I was shocked at her words. I smiled and, unfortunately, felt tears of joy rolling down my cheeks. I saw that she was doing the same thing. Then she turned around and looked at Kai.
"I shouldn't have accepted your proposal without thinking twice. I'm sorry, Kai..." She said softly.
"This was all my fault. I didn't mean to hurt you."
Kai let out a sigh, smiling sadly at Claire.
"Claire, don't be sad. You being honest is all I want."
Tears rolled down Claire's face. They were tears of joy.
"Thank you, Kai..." She whispered softly. He nodded slowly and smiled at her.
"And I'm sorry, everyone..." Claire said to the crowd who was shocked.
"I'm sorry for having you come here without a reason."
The crowd said altogether,
"It's alright. Like what Kai said, as long as you're honest, then we're completely fine."
Claire closed her eyes, bowed her head, and smiled.
"Thank you, everyone..." She said softly, but it was loud, so you could hear her.
She took my hand, and we walked for the door. I realized that we were heading to her ranch.
When we got to her ranch, we went in her house.
"Don't look." She commanded, and I nodded and turned around.
She obviously was taking her dress off, because I heard a zipper. I tried to push back the inappropriate thoughts in my head.
"Okay, you can look now." Claire suddenly said.
I turned around and she was wearing a white tank top and jean short shorts.
She slowly walked up to me and placed one of her hands & her head on my chest, and she looked up at me, and I looked down at her.
I started blushing furiously when I felt her lips brush mine.
I looked at her, and she was blushing as well. I closed my eyes this time, and enjoyed the moment. She pulled me to the bed, and kissed me again.
I never really thought that dreams could come true, but apparently, if you want the wish to come true bad enough, it will, eventually. Thank you, Harvest Goddess.
"Dress...dress...dress."
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So, how was the romantic-ish ending? I liked it, I guess. x]
I like the alternate ending more, though, LOL. Tell me which one you like more in a review, please. :) I hope that you liked it.
Also, if you want to hear the song, it's called Wedding Dress by Taeyang. :]
Review, please.