Evergreen slammed the door to her apartment shut and immediately collapsed onto the floor. Tears began streaming down her face and her breathing was shaky.
He's why. She couldn't believe it. Well, actually she could. It all made sense now. All this time the answer was staring her right in the face. Why hadn't she figured it out sooner? Evergreen was then struck by the reality of what just happened and she smiled as she touched her lips, remembering his firm ones. She blushed as she remembered the joy she felt when he kissed her. But that joy immediately faded once she remembered Elfman's heartbroken face when she didn't kiss back. Leading her to also be reminded of why she couldn't kiss him back, no matter how badly she wanted to. And she really wanted to. But they were already getting suspicious. Dragging Elfman into her mess would only make matters worse and put him at risk.
No, it's better this way. Better to break his heart now, than give him false hope of what can never be. At the word 'never' Ever felt her heart break. Slowly, she got up, took off her coat and heels and fell back onto her bed. Turning onto her stomache, she buried her face in her pillow trying and failing to get the kiss out of her mind. The feel of his strong firm lips moving over hers still lingering on her lips. The tears continued to silently fall from her eyes and seep into her pillow. But whether they were tears of sadness or joy, she no longer knew. The last thing she saw before she fell asleep was the crystal fairy music box on the bookshelf next to her window.
When Evergreen awoke it was almost midnight and though she was afraid to, she decided to return to the guild for dinner. As she walked through the front door, she was surprised to find it almost entirely empty save for Cana who was surprise, surprise, drinking at the bar. Ever quickly scanned the guild regardless to ensure Elfman wasn't there. She just wasn't ready to face him yet.
"He's not here. They went home a little while ago." Cana assured her. Breathing a sigh of relief, Evergreen took a seat at the bar and ordered her dinner. When Kinana left for the kitchen, Cana and Evergreen sat in an awkward silence for several moments before Cana had enough of the silence.
"So, you wanna talk about what happened today?" Cana asked, eyes on her mug.
"I, can't."
"Why not? I mean, who better to confide in than a drunk, right?" Cana took another swig. She wasn't trying to pry. But Evergreen clearly had something bothering her.
"I didn't want to hurt him."
"I didn't think you ever would. So, why did you?"
"Because he's already too involved."
This caught Cana's attention and made her look over at Evergreen who just stared at the salad Kinana brought her. When she received no explanation, she decided to let Evergreen know she was listening.
"Hey, you know, if something is bugging you, you can tell me." It was true. Cana was far from the gossip of the guild.
"It's a long story." Evergreen warned.
"I've got time." Cana shrugged. So, taking a deep breath, Ever began.
"Well, if I'm going to tell you, you're going to need a bit of background knowledge. You know my 'fairy obsession' as others call it?" Cana nodded.
"Well, it's not an obsession. I really am a fairy. I used to live in the fairy world."
"Okay. So, then why are you here?"
"When I was young, my parents and I were visiting this world. Normally, travel between our worlds is heavily discouraged. However, my parents were council members on business, so we had granted access. While we were here, we were ambushed by a band of wizards and they were killed trying to protect me. I had nothing aside from my mothers music box and no way back to the fairy world. Only fully fledged fairies are able to transport between other worlds. So I ended up at Fairy Tail."
"That explains why you were so reserved when you first came here. How old were you? I know it was shortly after Happy had hatched."
"I had just turned fourteen. And all these years later, I have been training my fairy magic and waiting for my eighteenth birthday, when the council would finally acknowledge me as a fully fledged fairy and allow me back to the fairy world. My path was set, and I knew what I wanted. But, then Tenrou happened and I began doubting. And now I'm twenty years old and I'm still hesitating and I didn't know why."
"Until Elfman kissed you?"
"Until Elfman kissed me."
"Wow. That's some heavy stuff."
"I suppose so."
Sorry this chapter is so short, but I didn't want your brains to explode from information overload. This is only half of what you guys need to know so next chapter your gonna learn more. Also I apologize if the characters seem out of character. I'm trying to keep them in character but, Ever and I are so different so it's trick getting into her mind set and how she thinks. Please review! They really help me out.
