GOMENASAI, MINNA. I had an out-of-the-blue hiatus for a few months and I could not respond to anybody's reviews or messages because I have been busy because I have exams. I finally found time to update this story which has been kinda put in a dark and lonely corner of my WIP. I have to say, writer's block was also partially to blame for my lack of updating. I have so much in my head and I already know how this story will turn out but the in-betweens and the details and the progression of the story are so much work.
ALSO, For those who have read 'STARSTRUCK!'... here is a bit of an unofficial statement: Yes, I am thinking of writing a sequel. A plot is already forming in my head but I'm afraid I will not write it yet—not unless I finish either one of my active Fairy Tail stories. But still, you know. I am looking forward to everyone's support!
Anyway, without further ado...
-CHAPTER NINE-
Wait, let's back up... pause... and play.
The dishes made clinking noises as ceramic made contact with ceramic. The flowing water from the faucet was joining in on the music. It was a cold and quiet night at the secluded orphanage, the silence of the evening a perfect audience to this performance. Indeed, Gray was creating a peculiar symphony as he washed the dishes. The crickets applauded with their wings.
The raven-haired orphan repeatedly flicked his hands to get rid of the water droplets and he walked hurriedly to the other side of the kitchen to get some more soap; as he did, he stopped by his phone, resting quietly on the table, checking for any new messages.
There were none.
Gray pouted and then proceeded with his chore until he finished.
This time Gray walked across the room to get the frying pan with the particularly stubborn stain. He grabbed it along with a steel brush and then took them to the sink... again, stopping to check his phone for new messages.
Still, there were none.
His eyebrows furrowed and he sluggishly went back to washing the pan.
When he was done with all the dishes, he started wiping the counter. Grabbing the wiping cloth from the other side of the kitchen, he went across... but stopped yet again to check his phone for messages.
There were none.
A vein popped. "What the—?! All that and no message, not even one text for a whole week?!" He slapped the table with the rag. It made a terrible cracking sound.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" someone said and smacked Gray on the head with something hard. There was another terrible cracking sound.
"Ouch—! Erza!" He nursed his aching head. Somehow the woman behind him, Erza Scarlet, conjured a wooden sword out of nowhere and hit him.
It was a knack of hers, Erza's, to be able to procure weapons out of nowhere as if she had a vault of them in another dimension. Her favorite was that particular wooden sword. Erza stood as the eldest sister there and matured much earlier than the others. Even then she was still their reliable older sibling... and she always did know when something was 'up'.
The redhead faced him with a stern look in her eyes as she has always had since their younger orphan days.
"Why the heck did you do that for?" he asked. Gray was now squatting on the floor, gripping his head still in pain.
"You'll destroy the table! Didn't I teach you to take care of the furniture, you child?" Erza scolded, her sword resting on her shoulder. With this look on her face, Gray could not argue anymore but only look away in embarrassment. The older woman smiled. "So, what's bothering you?"
He looked up at her. "Huh? Nothing..."
"Really?" she asked. "But you've been weird all week."
"Weird?" he asked and looked up at her, "Weird how?"
Erza squatted down with him, and cupped her chin with her index finger and thumb (the sword magically disappeared as it had appeared). "You've been staring into space quite a lot... and you check your phone almost every minute. I asked the nuns about it but nobody seems to know."
"Oh... that... well..."
"Are you waiting for a message from somebody from work?"
"Uhm... yes and no..." he replied sheepishly. "There's this person I had a bit of an episode with... I guess I was waiting for some sort of explanation as to why that person did what she did."
Erza smiled. "Why are you so preoccupied about it, though? Before, even when all those people would say stuff to you, you wouldn't even bat an eyelash."
"Well, I—"
"Do you like this person?"
"Whaaaat?!" he exclaimed loudly. "How did you even come to the conclusion that this is about 'that'?"
"Well, I've never seen you act so out of character so I'm guessing it's something you've never had before?"
He pouted. "I'm not acting out of character!" She raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Okay, okay. Maybe I have changed... but it certainly doesn't having anything to do with Lucy!"
"So her name is Lucy, eh?"
He flushed, they both knew, to a deep shade of red, and stood up and started to walk away. "Whatever... I'm going to bed..."
"Oh, do you have hospital duty tomorrow?"
"No," he answered. "I took a leave from the hospital two days ago. Nowaki-san is on a trip and I've been left to man the flower shop until he comes back."
"When will that be?"
"In three days, I think..."
"Well, good night, then," Erza said. "And say 'hello' to that Lucy for me."
Gray turned around, opened his mouth to start a retort, thought against it (there was no winning in an argument against Erza) and returned to walking back to his old room in the orphanage.
Out of character? Who was acting out of character? I wasn't acting out of character!
But... well, I guess I have been kind of waiting for at least a confirmation from her as to whether or not I should take what she said seriously. That counts as acting out of character, doesn't it?
No, it doesn't! Anyone would be at least acting like this. This... this is normal!
...Or is it? If it were usual... what... just what would the old me do?
The old me?! There is no old me. I'm me!
But wasn't it I who told Erza that I've changed somewhat?
"Gray, I think... I like you very, very much!"
The heat rose from his stomach to his cheeks and his ears. The young man shook his head violently to rid himself of these thoughts.
"Gah, why am I even troubling myself with this?!"
Gray let himself topple over and land on the cold, hard countertop. With his right cheek in contact with the marble, he moved his arms, crossing them over his head to be a cushion for his head.
It was a hot afternoon, and hardly anyone came by the flower shop. The whole day the young man was left by himself with no one to talk to but himself in the humid room. As he stared at the scorching three thirty view outside, he considered locking himself up the airconditioned room beside him until he got frostbite.
Hot. Dry. Monotonous. Boring.
Gray groaned and turned his head so that he was facing the floor. At least the countertop cooled his forehead. He had been left alone to man the shop for a week now; with no human contact for most of the day he had started to talk to himself, sometimes in his head, sometimes out loud.
Ugh, all this thinking is giving me a headache. "Nowaki-saaaaan, please hurry and come baaaack."
He closed his eyes for a second. Just then, the door opened slowly and the bell chimed twice to signal the presence of a potential customer.
"Welcome, what may I do for you this afternoon?" Gray felt as if he shook his brains when he suddenly sat up. For a moment, his surrounding spun.
"Hey, man. You okay?" came a familiar voice. When everything was upright again, Gray could see a head of ginger wearing tinted glasses and semi-formal clothing. It was Loki.
Alert, the young brunette stood up and out from behind the counter.
"Yeah, yeah, fine. How've you been?" The other explained his past few weeks at the Heartfilia's, how busy they had been in preparing for Lucy's graduation/birthday party. "Oh, so it's gonna happen soon, her birthday?" Gray asked.
"The week after next... But hey, on to a completely different topic, have you not been in good terms with Lucy?"
"Huh? Not really, why'd you ask?"
"Well, she's been acting weird lately... and when I mentioned you weren't at the hospital she actually looked kind of relieved. Why were you not at the hospital all week?"
Gray put a hand behind his neck and rubbed sheepishly, "I took a personal leave because the owner is away and I have to look after the shop."
"Ah, so that's what it was... so you and her didn't have anything going on?"
"Not particularly..." Gray found it uncomfortable talking to another guy about this dilemma and so he switched the topic immediately. "But hey, I haven't asked. What brings you here? Another batch of lilacs, I suppose?"
"Nah, it's different this time. What flowers are good for congratulations?"
"Hm..." he thought for a while. "Well, you can never go wrong with roses. What's the occasion?"
"Lucy's graduation... it's today."
"Today?!"
"Yeah, wanna come? I was on the way to fetch her and thought it nice to give her a little something."
"Well," Gray thought... and then hesitated... and then decided against it with much difficulty, "I don't think I can. It's still too early to close the shop."
"Man, that sucks—"
"But, hey. Why don't I just give you a free bouquet? Just tell her... it's from me?"
Loki blinked. "Yeah... sure, I guess."
"She likes yellow, right?" Loki nodded. "A bouquet of yellow roses, coming up!"
With one leap, Gray disappeared behind the door of the workshop where the flowers were kept. Loki timed him and Gray took approximately ten minutes to arrange an elegant collection of large yellow roses and baby's breath. It was wrapped in royal blue paper and tied together with a gold-colored ribbon.
Loki whistled when he received it. "Nice one, man!" he said as he adored the piece like it was a work of art. "Really nice... are you sure you're a nurse and not a florist?"
Gray laughed. "This is more of a hobby than a profession. So, uh... give her my best?"
"You're really not coming?"
Gray found it hard, but he shook his head. "Sorry, man... maybe next time."
Loki sighed. Then he put a hand on Gray's shoulder as he was heading out, "She would definitely be really happy of you would be there."
He left with his signature salute; the bell chimed once more. When the echo of the ring settled, all was quiet again. Gray was left rooted on the spot.
Beep! Beep!
Loki impatiently honked at the cars in front of him. Traffic at that hour was to be expected but still, the congestion seemed to be stagnant; he had not moved at all for the past twenty minutes.
In fact, it did not seem as if they would be moving at all. He had long wanted to check what was happening but thought against it when he imagined how dry the air would be outside his car.
Hotly, he took his phone from the inside pocket of his coat and called Lucy.
"Hey, Lucy. You alright there?"
There was a lot of background noise at the other end of the line. Lucy spoke. "Uhm, yeah... Dad just left with Virgo. Where are you?"
"Sorry, I'm stuck in a jam. Can you wait a bit longer?"
"I guess so..." she said.
Poor kid. "Well, I—"
A figure zoomed past Loki's car so fast he could hardly tell whether it was human or beast. Leaning to the side to check, he finally caught a glimpse of the blue-black haired man as he hurriedly turned the corner, a single stalk in his hand.
"Loki? Loki, are you there?"
"Huh?" The girl's voice pulled him back into the conversation just as his mind was starting to conjure up deductions as to why Gray Fullbuster was running like that... with something like that in his hand. Then, as he reached a conclusion that seemed to be both acceptable and accurate, he chuckled.
"Loki?"
"Sorry, Lucy... I'm here. Anyway, it doesn't seem like I'll be there soon."
"Oh, that's alright. I can wait."
"I know. Then tell me all about it!"
"Huh? Tell you about what—?"
And he cut off the line. He leaned back on his seat, suddenly thankful for the traffic jam.
To all Cancers: you have the best luck today! This is the day you will have a life-changing moment. Don't overthink it. Just go with the flow to achieve your happiness.
It was the tenth time Lucy had repeated her fortune for that day. And as she looked around her the blonde could hardly believe she had spent five years in that school. Two years being held back sure had extended her stay but now that she had graduated she suddenly felt lonely. This was probably what the announcer meant when she said 'life-changing moment'.
She looked around at the several crowds of three or five, smiling, some crying, others laughing. They were probably sharing the same mixture of emotions she was feeling; except, she did not have anybody to share it with. She had no friends at school, her father already left, Loki and Virgo were not present at the moment, and her few friends were busy working.
Indeed, she was alone. And she could not help but think how nice it would be if they could celebrate together.
Don't overthink it. Just go with the flow...
Lucy watched from a distance at a young brunette and a black-haired boy. The brunette stared at the ground, her mouth moving voicelessly; the boy listened and, as she ended her short statement, he took her hand and smiled at her. He replied curtly, and wrapped two lanky arms around his classmate. How nice, she thought, to be able to confess like that... like it was shot from a movie.
Her confession, on the other hand, was more like a hit-and-run: quick, messy, and not well thought-out. She could not even being herself to contact him after that. And, as if life were being cooperative for once, he was not at the hospital where he worked during the time she stayed there. It was a good and a bad thing at once.
...to achieve happiness...
She imagined in her mind Gray's surprised face when she looked back at him. He was flushing, eyes wide clearly not expecting her confession, and body suddenly frozen in shock.
So cute, she thought guiltily. A small smile crept up on her face.
"Lucy!" Lucy looked left and right for the owner of the voice and found him running towards her from behind. It was Gray, the very man she had been thinking about, wearing a loose white shirt, faded jeans, and rubber shoes. He was holding something brightly yellow in his hand, a huge flower bigger that both her fists.
Not sure about what to say or do, Lucy forced to smile normally, hoping it would definitely come out normally and not look as if she'd been asked to give both her kidneys.
"Hey," he said when he reached her, panting and out of breath. He smiled sheepishly, as if he was not used to smiling.
"Hey," she greeted back, "long time no see. You weren't at the hospital this week."
"Was it time for you to stay in again?" he asked. "Sorry, I was asked by Nowaki-san to man the shop while he was away on a trip."
"It's fine, it's fine. No need to say sorry."
"But hey! You're finally a graduate. How's it feel?" he asked.
She smiled. "Happy, I guess? It hasn't sunk in yet. I guess it will take some time. Uhm..." Lucy was battling whether or not to ask him. She then decided to go through with it, "Are you here for someone?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah..." He raised the flower in his hand, a huge yellow chrysanthemum* now that Lucy can see it. "Congratulations on your graduation."
Pale fingers accepted the gift, holding the stalk carefully as if it were fragile as glass. "Th-Thank you!" She said it in such a high and nervous voice that Lucy surprised herself. She cleared her throat and said again, "Thank you..."
"Not every day you graduate high school, is it?"
She shook her head.
They stayed quietly like that for a few moments. The noise of the graduates and their friends and family as the started to leave filled the void between them. The two hardly moved, afraid that doing so would create such a loud ripple in the stillness they had.
"Well..." Lucy said when she thought that the silence had gone on long enough, "I guess—"
"Wait...!" Gray exclaimed. This time it was he who surprised himself. "I mean... I just wanted to..."
"Gray...?"
Gray ran a hand across his face and breathed deeply as if to recover his composure. Then, "About your confession—!"
"Hiiiieeeee!" Lucy squealed at Gray bringing it up. She had expected it, but it still sounded so embarrassing.
"Well... anyway, about that..."
"No, please... just forget about it. I mean, that was something I did for my bucket list. It had to be done so..."
"You mean... it didn't necessarily have to be me as long as you confessed to someone?"
"What? No!" she denied fervently. "I wouldn't do that with just anybody!"
"So... you were serious about that?" he said, "...about...liking me?"
Lucy looked away, flushing, and putting a hand on her chest to stop her heart from ramming so darn hard on it. "...Yes..."
"Then how am I supposed to forget about something like that?!" Gray sighed, defeated.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Lucy looked up curiously at him. She could hardly hear her own voice because of the loud thumping in her chest, in her ears, her temples. "What do you mean?"
Thump! Thump! Thump! Even louder now.
He smiled, a bit unsure. "Instead of forgetting about it, why don't I pick up where you left off?"
"What... do you mean?" she repeated.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Louder still. Her head was spinning.
"Go out with me, Lucy."
Thump! Thump! Thump! Was she holding her breath or was it just getting really hard to breathe now?
"Go... out? You mean... like?"
He smiled. "Yeah..."
Thump! Thump! Thump!
And Lucy fainted.
WEIRDO BLABBS: I was thinking of introducing Sting Eucliffe in this story but then I thought, isn't it too late? The plot takes a new turn and I have to think about how to write the rest of this story because I won't be using him here (sorry Sting fans!).
Ugh. I'm sorry. R&R, anyone?
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