I think that this is going to be a filler... you decide.

Enjoy!

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Chapter Six: The Outing

The Gossip Queens buzzed about the Gray/Mary breakup, making up cruel and outrageous rumors about its cause.

Mary had retreated into her library; seldom leaving it. She'd taken residence with the only ones who understood her; her books.

She refused to open it up to the townspeople; who were surprisingly unfazed by the lack of Mineral Town's library and now eligible bachelorette.

Once Damian finished 'Sense and Sensibility' (two days after he checked it out) he couldn't return it or check out any other books, so he'd been stuck in perpetual boredom once again.

His rants resumed that same day.

It was a nice summer day; not too hot.

The perfect day for going out and having fun.

This was exactly why Pat was dragging Damian out to the beach; where May and Stu were already waiting for him.

"But I don't feel like it…" Damian whined.

Pat, who was carrying a beach towel, sunscreen and 'Pride and Prejudice', just sighed. "You haven't played with your friends in over a week… You need to start doing that again before you become a grumpy old man that doesn't have any friends. Like Saibara!" she added the last bit just to annoy him; Damian wasn't too fond of the elderly blacksmith.

Damian pouted and resigned himself to his older sister's demands. He'd finally learned that it was no use; Pat would always find a way of making him do something is she really wanted to.

The beach was beautiful that day. The golden sand was shining brightly, reminding Pat of gold. The waves crashed against the shore gently, easing her worries about having to look up every five seconds to make sure Damian hadn't drowned.

May and Stu were already there, and they ran over to meet them. They were both in their bathing suits already, dripping wet with salty water.

"Hi Damian!" Stu said with his trademark smile that could light up any room.

"Hi Damian!" May said later, smiling the same way at him.

For some reason, Damian turned a nice shade of pink at seeing May. Quirking and eyebrow and nudging Damian a little with her elbow, Pat turned her attention to the group while she applied a bit of sunscreen to an impatient Damian who looked at her with venomous eyes. "Play nice guys; no horse playing or going in too deep. Okay?"

The kids cried out their 'Yes!' with boundless energy and scurried off to the ocean, laughing merrily as they did so.

Pat sighed; a happy sigh, one of contentment, and settled down one of the umbrellas, opening her book to the ending; her favorite part.

The laughter of the children filled the beach. Occasionally Pat would look up from her book and yell out a warning. Others she'd just smile and continue reading. Once in a while she'd walk over to the Snack Shack and get herself something to cool off.

Pat had already met Kai; Popuri's boyfriend on the first day of summer when he knocked at her door and introduced himself, Popuri beaming at her on his arm. He seemed nice enough. He'd taken up residence with Gray and Cliff next door to Pat.

She was sipping lemonade and enjoying a nice part of the book when Damian's voice called out to her from the water. "Come play with us, Pat!"

She did so; being a mother also meant making time for your kids. Even though she didn't want to get wet, she did. Damian was a kid; he needed to see the playful side of her sometimes…

Pat took up the role of 'the monster' while the others were her victims who were trying to escape her evil. May was called 'Queen-Princess Flower Lily-Tulip', Stu was called 'Super Batman' and Damian had dubbed himself 'G.I. Transformer-Man'… Leave it to kids to make up the weirdest names…

She spent the next hour or so role playing, entering splashing fights and playing tag with the kids.

After that they were so pooped it was all they could do to drag themselves over to the Snack Shack to fill their empty bellies.

Kai treated them to two large pizzas. He and Popuri joined them, laughing and conversing with them as they ate their pizzas, relating to the kids' childish and outrageous stories with ease.

It seemed that they were young at heart.

When Pat tried to pay Kai rejected and said 'First-timers here eat free; plus friends of Poppy are always treated.'

An hour and a few snow cones later, Pat sat on a beach towel, watching the sunset. The kids were asleep; totally spent from the day's fun. Elli and Barley would thank her greatly when she walked them home.

She wore a white tank top and black shorts over her one piece bathing suit. Her hair; still wet, stuck to her top, the salt mixed in with the water hardening it a bit. She'd gotten a little tan; complimenting her sun kissed blonde hair.

Sighing, she dug her toes in the sand, allowing each toe to mingle with each grain, savoring the tickling sensation she got from it.

The sun cast a beautiful medley of purple and orange over the sky, casting a nice reflection of it over the clearest ocean Pat had ever seen.

Despite everything, Pat still wished someone would be here at her side, holding her close and whispering words of love into her ear.

Maybe it was all the novels Pat read, but she'd always wished for her knight is shining armor to appear and sweep her off her feet. When she was a little girl, she would often fantasize about a man that would save her from her father and take her away. They'd fall in love, get married, have children…

He never came.

Pat was a twenty-one year old errand girl with an associate's degree in Comparative Literature. Most people her age would be looking forward to the things she'd described, but Pat was starting to doubt they existed.

When she was a teenager, she thought she would be ready to just jump into womanhood. She thought every boy she dated had the possibility of being 'the one'. By forcing her high expectations on them, she'd done nothing but chase them away.

Admittedly, the want to become an adult was so that she could escape her parents, but she really did expect her Prince Charming to appear on a stallion at her doorstep, using his sword to repel the monsters like her father…

And now she had no one.

She was alone while others her age weren't.

Look at Popuri and Kai; more or less her age and already considering marriage while she just wasted away.

Sighing in resignation, Pat watched the last of the orangish lights fade from view, leaving the beach only dimly lit by the lights of Rose Square and by those of Zach's house.

She walked over to the children, ready to nudge them gently to wake them…

"Hi," someone said simply.

Pat turned around. Gray.

Gray looked the same as always; emotionless and reserved from under the brim on his 'UMA' hat. His blue eyes looked into Pat's, making her uneasy for some reason.

"Hi yourself," Pat replied.

Gray seemed to look her over, then stepped closer to her. "Took your brother out for a day of fun? That's nice… I guess…"

"You guess?"

Gray put up both arms defensively. "I'm sure it was really nice," he said nervously.

Pat laughed and Gray sighed in relief that she hadn't been offended by his words. "It was nice, thank you," she said, feeling more relaxed and open for some reason…

"Great…" Gray said.

"Yeah," Pat said.

They stood in silence for about another minute or so. Damian stirred and the spell was broken. "Hey, sleepyhead…" Pat said to him with a smile, "Ready to go home?"

"Yeah…" he murmured sleepily, rubbing his eyes with little fists.

Stu and May then proceeded to stir as well, and Pat led them all towards Rose Square, saying bye to Gray.

"Need help?" he called, looking at her hands full of May's, Stu's, Damian's and her stuff.

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May and Stu had been taken back home safely. Damian was tucked in. Pat stood outside her closed door, looking at Gray.

"Thanks for the help…" she said tiredly.

"No prob," came Gray's response, "Any time…"

Pat smiled and reached for the knob… "Wait," Gray said, making her freeze.

"What?" she asked, irritated. She was way too tired to deal with him at the time. All she wanted to do was get back into the room and sleep.

Gray shuffled his feet and avoided eye contact. "I was wondering if you'd like to-,"

"You mean a date?" Pat asked him incredulously, interrupting him.

Gray looked down at the floor. "Something like that…"

For a second; there was complete and utter silence in the hallway. After that second passed, it was disrupted by Pat's response. "No,"

Gray seemed to shrink a few inches. "W-why?"

"You're on the rebound," Pat replied simply, "Plus you're not my type."

"Then what is your type?" Gray asked her, raising his voice.

"Someone who doesn't insult someone he just met, for starters," Pat said coolly, voice rising too.

"I apologized!" Gray exclaimed.

"And I said nothing changed between us!" Pat screamed back.

"Maybe I did mean those things!" Gray retorted, his anger getting the better of him, taking a step closer to Pat.

She didn't back down, instead, she took a step closer as well. "Then read my lips," she snapped, "I. Hate. You."

"Right back at ya!" Gray cried, then snorted, "Guess you're not ready for a boyfriend, huh spinster?"

Pat stood on her toes just to be a little taller than Gray. "At least I didn't get my last boyfriend from Geeks-'R'-Us!" she retorted, eyes flaring.

Gray's eyes flared up too. "At least I had one!"

"At least I'm not depressed!" Pat retorted.

"At least I'm not ugly!" Gray yelled.

Pat slapped him, softer than last time. In fact, it was just a weak one meant to ward him off. He didn't back down.

Pat went for it again but Gray caught her wrist this time. She tried with the other but Gray caught the other one with his free hand. He pinned her against the wall, smirking in victory.

"I win," Gray taunted her.

Pat considered kicking his groin. That usually did the trick. The groin, after all, was one of man's most sensitive spots. Yes, that'd do.

"You lose!" she exclaimed, drawing her foot back.

She blinked. Once, twice… thrice…

This couldn't be happening…

As she had prepared to kick him, Gray had leant down and kissed her on the lips; just like that.

Pat stopped thinking; her brain short-circuited the second Gray's lips met her own. It had been so long since she'd actually kissed someone that she'd forgotten how nice it could be even when his lips were stiff on hers.

Gray pulled back a few seconds later, and backed away. "S-sorry…" he said, putting his hands in front of him, "I-I didn't mean th-that… Oh Goddess… Oh God…"

Pat was taking a step forward each time he took a step backward. Finally, she had him pinned against the wall just like he had her pinned to the opposite one seconds before.

Gray closed his eyes tight, waiting for the slaps that were sure to come…

And was instead was met by a pair of soft lips on his own.

It was Gray's turn to blink a few times in surprise. Pat pulled away a few seconds later, the, blushing in mortification, backed away just as Gray had done a few seconds earlier.

"Oh my God… What the hell just came over me…?" she murmured, "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be," Gray said softly, grabbing her wrist.

They stayed in that position for a few minutes, Pat looking into Gray's eyes. It could've been an eternity that they stayed like that to them, but it wasn't until the clock struck nine and the bell rang out.

Gray pulled her close and she made no move to resist. She came right on top of him, hands on his chest, and kissed him as if she'd never kissed anyone before.

Who said you needed alcohol to do things you normally wouldn't?

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Hehehehehe... Did I trick you? Yes, she gave in to that attraction I haven't written about. More shall be explained next update.

R&R!