Summer Screen Doors - Chapter Two
Suns and Screens
As she sat on the bus back to her place, Lucy Heartfillia thought of all the things she regretted from that morning, running through a growing checklist of stupid events in the short period of five hours from when she woke up to her current situation.
For starters, she deeply, deeply regretted agreeing to go to the beach with her friends. Why she had caved and said yes to Natsu's annoying begging was beyond her. Possibly because the journalist could not handle one more second of her irritating pink-haired friend's request, possibly because she felt like she needed to go out more. It seemed that lately, the only person outside of work she saw on a regular basis was her roommate, Erza. The blond was feeling a bit isolated and decided to give her friends a chance and trust that they could behave properly at a public beach.
Boy was she ever wrong.
The young woman should have expected what had happened. It's not like any of it was out of character; in fact everything was so predictable, it was like a cheesy romantic comedy.
Only seconds after getting there, Juvia had decided it would be a good idea for everyone to have ice cream. This, of course, was the start of the slippery slope. Once purchasing a scoop on a cone for all her friends, the friendly bluenette handed them out.
The boys, namely a certain raven-haired man and his archrival Natsu, started argueing over who had gotten the bigger scope, ignoring the fact that they were the same size and had cost the same amount. The fiery pinkette accused Juvia of handing the larger serving to her Gray-sama which the bluenette obviously denied.
Had Lucy had any forethought, she probably would have started running as fast and far as she could at that exact moment.
But, nooooo. She just had to stay and be part of the problem.
Before anyone even knew what hit them, the two boys had started a massive brawl, quickly growing in size and numbers as every single one of her friends, the impossibly strong Laxus and Gajeel included, joined in. Soon enough, it seemed the entire beach had been engulfed in chaos, leaving Lucy, Wendy and Levy to sit quietly on the sidelines, trying desperately to stop the fighting. Even Mavis and Mirajane had fallen victim to the group's antics. The two women had become collateral damage early on, both lying unconscious near the epicenter of the fitting. Once Zeref and Laxus found them in that state, there would be hell to pay for those who had hurt them…
At that moment, Lucy decided she couldn't handle her friend's stupidity for a second longer. Stepping into the action, she Lucy-kicked Natsu into Gray, simultaneously knocking the two adversaries out with one fell-swoop. She grinned as the brawl immediately started to die down once the two main fighters were out for the count. She, along with the help of Levy and Wendy, dragged the two other girls as they slowly started to wake up.
Once Laxus and Zeref had caught sight of their loved ones in that state, they started stalking towards Gray and Natsu, who were equally starting to regain their bearings. Grinning madly the two men closed in on the lying figures.
At this point, the blond journalist decided she'd had enough of her comrades antics for one day. Frustrated that her supposedly "relaxing" day had been ruined by her best friends' stupidity, she grabbed her bag and said her farewells to the two blue-haired girls that stood by her side. Waving away the offer of a lift, she took her things and got on the first bus back to downtown Magnolia, eagerly wanting to get home.
Though she regretted intruding on Erza's quiet morning in, she had very few options left. The blond wanted to get out of her bathing suit, which was still dry considering the fact she didn't even have the chance to step into the salty ocean water. She considering spending the rest of her morning downtown, maybe grabbing a bite to eat and doing some window-shopping.
She decided she would do that, but soon realized that she had forgotten her wallet back at home, as she had not expected to need more than a twenty at the beach. Feeling more and more melancholy because of her wasted morning with every breath, she made the choice to just go home. Though she felt guilty for ruining her best friend's tranquil morning, she had no other options at that point.
Soon enough, the bus was at her stop. Stepping out, the blond untied her hair, letting it flow behind her. She grinned from ear-to-ear as she walked down the quiet street in her new neighbourhood. It wasn't too long ago that Erza and she had agreed to split the cost of a small home and found this little jem. Situated in a small hipster neighbourhood near the water, it was just perfect for the two young women.
She plugged in her headphones to her phone and slowly strolled the few blocks to her house. Finally calming down after the insane morning she had, she started to enjoy her walk more and more. It was really a very beautiful day, the birds were chirping and the sun was out, adding a soft glow to everything. Before she even knew it, she was almost in front of her house.
Her face staring up at the pale blue sky, Lucy wasn't really looking where she was going. Truthfully, what happened next was partially her fault, not that she'd ever admit it.
Out of nowhere, a figure pops out into the blond's peripheral vision. Unable to react in time, the two collide.
Crack!
Cobra wanted nothing more than to find a lovely hole, curl up in a ball and die there. His head was pounding like there was no tomorrow (which there may not be at the rate he was drinking) and his eyes felt like sandpaper.
Slowly, he started to sit up, trying not to lose what little his stomach contained as he did so. Opening his dry eyes, he blinked, trying to remember where the hell he was.
Taking a quick look around, the events of last night suddenly came rushing back to him. He remembered the party at Midnight's, the delicious women and even more delicious jell-o shots…
Which brought him to his current situation.
As he looked around, he noticed the significant damage the party had on his friend's apartment. Streamers and empty beer cups decorated the floor, greasy plates with bits of pizza covered nearly every other surface. The smell was atrocious and stung Cobra's sensitive nose. The entire apartment was an assault of the senses.
Once Cobra brought himself to a standing position, he looked around quickly to find his shoes. At some unknown point during the previous night's wild affairs, the maroon-haired man had misplaced his runners and now needed to grab them quickly before Midnight found him passed out on his couch.
Even though Midnight was one of Cobra's best friends, he knew better than to wake him up and he certainly did not want to meet his end right away. He justed wanted to get his things and go back home where he could preferably sleep for the next century. That's it, he decided, no more partying for at least a month. Snorting, he knew he was full of shit. He said that every weekend but every Saturday he woke up on a friend's couch or futon, having very little recollection of the night before.
After a few minutes of groggy searching, the toxicologist finally found his missing pair of shoes. Hastily putting them on, he ran out of the door, eager to get as far away from that disgusting place as possible.
Once he exited his friend's dodgy apartment building, Cobra was blinded by the sun.
"Ugh, can't you turn off for five fucking seconds?" He yelled up at the shinning light, not caring that he seemed off his rocker to all the other pedestrians. Covering his face as best he could, he sprinted towards the closest metro entrance, wanting to escape from the hellfires.
Scanning his pass and grabbing the first train, Cobra was feeling exhausted. As he sat on the nearly full metro, he considered his life. He really did need to stop with his reckless behavior, all kidding aside. He was 28, for fuck's sakes. He had a good, well-paying job, albeit not as money making as Jellal's. He really did have his whole life ahead of him and he honestly should tone down the drinking.
Damn this deep thinking, he angrily pushed away the thoughts, it's too early for this shit.
A few minutes later, he reached his metro stop. Walking out for a second time, he was better prepared for the onslaught of brightness that attacked him the second he stepped out in the sunlight. He squinted his eye and walked briskly towards his home.
Between being tired, hungover and generally pissed off with his existence, he was distracted as he speed-walked home. Though he would never admit it, he would be partially to blame.
But how was he supposed to be expecting some bubble-head blonde to be walking out of nowhere?
Crack!
Oh, fuck.
As if his morning couldn't get worse.
The young woman looked down at the phone that laid, screen cracked to smithereens, on the concrete, and then back up at the perpetrator.
"Oh my God!" she screeched, making the man wince and take a step back. "Look at what you did to my phone! Look at it!"
"Listen Blondie, I'm sorry. But this wasn't all my fault, you should've been paying better attention to where you were going." Cobra said, calmly putting his hands in front of him. He knew it for sure wasn't his fault, but he was trying to keep his cool. In his current state, if he lost his chill, the girl would be reduced to tears in mere seconds.
"I should've been paying attention to where I was going?!" she questioned, her voice a high-pitched squeal. "This was your fault! You better pay for a new screen! I'm not wasting 100$ of my hard-earned money on some moron on the street!"
"I'm sure as hell not paying for it! It's not my fault you're such a bubble head who couldn't even think of where the fuck she was going!"
"How dare you insult me? You better give me my money! This is ridiculous!"
"You know what's ridiculous?" Cobra said, starting to walk past the girl to the house they stood in front of. "This conversation. I'm going home, please leave me alone."
And with that, he stalked off.
Boy was he ever glad he would never have to see that insufferable brat again…
...or so he thought.