~~Gray~~

"Gray!" The dark skinned sailor crows my name before half charging me to give a hug. I just grunt while he clasps my shoulders and sits down at the bar stool next to mine. A frown on his handsome face, he kicks his suitcase under the bar and orders a drink from Ann before turning back to me.

"Hey, what kind of greeting is that?" Kai complains. "I come back for summer for the first time since last year and all I get is another one of your dumb scowls? Liven up a little, it's SUMMER!"

I just sigh loudly as Ann passes our table and heads towards where Jack and Claire are sitting, the two of them taking a lunch break together. As Claire laughs loudly at something the brown haired farmer says, I clench my hand into a fist.

"Nice to see you too, Kai," I manage, turning to look at him ever so slightly in the attempt to keep Claire and Jack in my sight. As Jack reaches out and teasingly pulls a strand of Claire's hair, I grit my teeth. I've no right to be this angry with him over Claire. I'm miffed that I haven't had as much time with her as I normally have, but I know that's not what's ticking me off so much about the guy. Problem is, I can't seem to figure out why every time I see the two of them flirting, I feel sick to my stomach.

Luckily, Kai doesn't seem to notice my weird actions as he just grins and says, "Knew I'd get a greeting out of you eventually. So who's the chick over there that you've got your eye on?"

I blush a little bit, knowing that I've been caught side glancing towards my friend. With another loud sigh, I mutter, "None of your business. We're just friends, and that guy bothers me."

"You're lonely, aren't you?" Kai teases. "You're lonely cause you were her best friend and now some other guy's come along and keeps her so busy you can't hang out with her."

I glare at him before grumpily saying, "I'm not lonely. And how'd you know she's my best friend?"

Kai just holds up a few letters before saying, "Popuri's going to be as bad as Manna if she keeps up this level of spying on others. But it helps me keep up with all the drama in this little town, and I know for a fact that the two of you used to be stuck together like glue until that guy came along." He glances over at them again then back at me before adding, "Besides, it's written all over your face that you don't like him."

Kai looks over once more before leaning in and whispering, "Actually, she's pretty cute. Her name's Claire, right?"

When I stand up and slam my hands down on the bar, Kai just laughs and tells me to cool down while everyone in the restaurant gives me weird looks before muttering to themselves and sneaking furtive glances in my direction. As I sit there, still fuming, I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"What?" I snarl, turning around. Instantly I feel bad when I see it's Claire standing behind me, her hands on her hips as she surveys me with a knowing look.

"Gray, I thought we talked about manners and how to properly greet people," she teases, and I smile in relief as I know that she's not offended by my angry mood.

"It might've slipped my mind," I say casually, turning my stool towards her so we're facing each other. I'd forgotten how short she was; even as I sit and she stands, we're still eye to eye.

She just laughs before asking, "Who's your friend?"

"Oh him?" I jerk my thumb at Kai and introduce him. The two shake hands, but when Kai's hand holds onto hers a little longer than normal I shoot a glare at him and he drops it. As soon as I turn back to look at Claire, she's beaming at me as she says low, "Don't make any plans tonight, okay? Just come over to my farm around eight, I promise it'll be worth it."

As she saunters away, I turn back to the bar and can't stop grinning, not even when Kai begins to complain again about my attitude.

I'm going to see Claire tonight.

It's Diesel that greets me on the farm instead of Claire. As the puppy bites at my shoelace and pulls, I smile and pick him up, fondly ruffling his ears as I do so. I haven't been on her farm since Jack came here a few weeks ago, and despite my dislike of the guy I have to hand it to him; the farm is looking much better than when Claire was on her own.

For a second I feel a little guilty at the fact that I never helped her, but that fades as Claire comes out and I set Diesel down and smirk at her.

"What took you so long?" I complain, grinning when I get a punch on the arm as my friend rolls her eyes before sauntering past me. As Claire doesn't answer but just drags me past her old barn, I can almost feel the excitement coming off of her. We reach the horse pen, and I'm about to ask what we're doing here when she pushes me inside the pen roughly.

"Ow," I complain, before I'm greeted by a meager looking foal. Behind me, Claire has her hands on hips proudly as she proclaims, "Barley dropped this little guy off this morning. Said he's mine if I nourish him and bring him up properly."

I give Claire another smile as I pet the little horse and say, "Nice, Claire. Did you name him?"

"Yeah," she says, watching the animal fondly. "His name's Jonah, and Jack said that if I talk to him and brush him every day that he'll grow faster."

My smile drops at the mention of Jack, and I scowl as I mutter, "Great. I'm glad you're getting help." Unlike everyone else, Claire can see right through me and she knows that I'm not pleased. She makes a face at me before pleading, "You know, he's really not so bad. I actually…I actually really like him, Gray."

While she blushes, looking the most like a girl as I've ever seen her, something twists in my chest before I get the feeling that my stomach's all but dropped.

What the hell is wrong with me? Surely I can't hate the guy that much, I don't know him well enough to hate him!

In order to distract myself from this weird feeling, I shake my head to clear it and ask, "So what've you been up to lately Claire? I mean, other than getting a horse that is."

Immediately she launches into how she's been working non-stop side by side with Jack, and I instantly regret asking her that question. The more she talks about him, the more I seem to hate him although I can't really put my finger on it. She's about so say something else about him when I put my hand over her mouth to quiet her down. Claire tilts her head quizzically at me, and I just shake my head and move my hand to her wrist, all but pulling her behind me as I try to get us off her farm as quickly as possible.

Neither of us speak until we're at the lake, and finally she wriggles her arm out of my grasp before laughing, "Gray, what is it? What's wrong?"

Rather than answering her, I flop down on the grass and give her a pointed look before stating, "The moon's supposed to be nice tonight. I mean, it's not terribly special, but there shouldn't be any rain so we'll be fine if we sit out here."

Claire purses her lips before giving me a smile and sitting down the way I knew she would. As she sighs and leans against me lightly, everything starts to feel a lot better, and I feel as if somehow I've managed to push Jack away from the front of her mind.

The two of us sit in silence before she asks, "So what's been up with you lately?"

"Oh, the usual. Work, the library, you know."

"The library! That's right! How are things getting along with Mary?" As she looks at me eagerly, I do my best not to roll my eyes as I blush a little myself and reply, "Just fine."

She snorts at my reply before smirking at me. With a poke, Claire says, "Just fine, as in you haven't really talked to her much have you? Just fine, as in you haven't even asked her to the firework festival."

This time I do roll my eyes as I gripe, "The festival isn't until the end of summer, the season just barely got started!"

Claire gives me another look before jostling me and saying, "Well I just wanted to put the thought in your head. Knowing you, if you don't ask early on you'll never ask and then I'll have to put up with you grumping about it the entire time."

"Oh whatever, I'm not that bad!"

"Are too," she argues, and I give up arguing with her and settle for just tickling her instead. Claire shrieks with laughter and tries to slap my hands away, but I'm not giving her any mercy. I tickle her for a solid minute or so. It's not until her knee comes into contact with my stomach that I stop tickling her to gasp in pain, and she pushes me over before running away and laughing.

With a growl, I get up and chase after her, all dignity forgotten as we run around in circles in front of the lake. Somehow I manage to catch her, tackling her roughly to the ground. The grass flies up around us as we land hard, and for a second I'm worried that she's hit her head when I realize that she's laughing so hard she can't make a sound. We stay that way to catch our breath until she blushes a bit and wriggles, saying quietly, "Gray….get off…"

It's my turn to blush as I realize I've all but pinned her to the ground. I move to get up when I realize that now is the perfect opportunity to convince her to agree to something for me. Leaning down closer so that I can feel her cool breath on my face, I whisper, "Hey, Claire."

She blushes all the more at my proximity before whispering back, "What?"

"Promise me something and I'll get up."

The blonde hesitates before asking slowly, "What am I promising?"

"Promise me that you're not going to ditch me just because you've got Jack."

Claire turns completely red before looking away quickly and muttering, "I'm not ditching you, I've just been really busy, and besides it isn't like we-"

"I know," I interrupt, "But I haven't spent as much time with my best friend as I'd have liked to. Can't you just promise me that much?"

For some reason, her blush fades as she mutters, "Oh…it's just cause…" Before I can ask her what she's muttering about, she looks up at me defiantly and says loudly, "Well okay. I won't ditch you, promise. We'll be friends forever, happy now?"

I want to wince at how cheesy it sounds, but considering that the situation is getting more and more awkward by the second I figure it's the best I can get out of her without staying in position much longer. Quickly, I get up and sit back down next to her.

Somehow, despite the night breeze, I can't cool down.

I'm trying XD Sorry it's been FOREVER since I've updated, but this semester is extra special for me...cause I get a student to teach music to! Yay! XD But yeah. I'll try to post again really soon, and like I said in order to make up for the lack of prompt postings I'll attempt to make the chapters really long.

Thanks so much for the reads and reviews! :) Until next time!