A/N: All the positive energy you're sending me has inspired yet another long and quick chapter!
10
Uninvited Guest
Previously, on "How to Seduce a Lady": "Come on," I pushed open my door, jogging around the car to the passenger seat. I opened the door, and pulled her out. She eyed me in confusion as I slammed the door back into place, and took her hand. I ignored the pulsating warmth that radiated from the spot where our skin connected, and headed for the entrance of the supermarket, "I'm going to buy you some ice cream."
"I thought you said you were going to buy me ice cream," she mumbled, as we stood before the various bottles of alcohol lined up on the stalls. I guess I made a routine pit stop. I was so used to coming here to buy drinks that I almost forgot I had her with me. My gaze landed on a bottle of red wine, and I gave her a side glance.
"Want to drink something tonight?"
"I don't drink."
I gave her a look that said I didn't believe her since I really didn't. In this day and age everyone drinks. Even pathetic little bookworms like her. "Not even wine? Nothing? What do you do when you go to bars then?"
"I don't."
I forced my mouth to stay closed due to the surprise, and looked back at the colorful bottles. I think that my supply at alcohol was nonexistent back at home, and I needed to stock up in case… in case, what? In case I bring a girl over? Could I even do that with her there? I guess she wouldn't mind and I could tell her not to leave the room for a while, but would that really work? Wouldn't it be kind of weird to fuck a person in one room while you have a guest in another?
"Hey," She looked at me, waiting, "If I were to uh, bring a girl home and um…"
"You're asking me if I'd mind your one night stands?" She cocked her head to the side, "I wouldn't. You can bring whoever you want. It's your house. Since when do you ask for permission?"
She was right. She was completely right and I fucking tried acting like a little bitch. Who the hell said I needed a 'yes' from this psycho? All she ever knew was how to treat a cold and had like zero experience in life as far as I was concerned. I didn't even know she existed until a while back. And now I need her approval to sleep around with girls? Fuck that.
I took a deep breath in order to get back into shape.
"If you're not buying anything we should just go." She kept shifting her weight from one leg to the other, bored of waiting for me to finally choose something. I lost the will anyways, so I just dragged her away towards the freezers where they kept frozen chicken, microwavable pizza and ice cream. I told her it was on me even though she offered to pay like ten times. And now it was my turn to be bored. It took her almost ten minutes to finally pick one.
But it was refreshing to see her so mesmerized in something like it was a matter of life or death. Like someone would chop her head off if she didn't pick the correct one. She stared at the ice cream and I stared at her. I even leaned on one of the coolers and relaxed while watching her. She was totally oblivious to my staring and I liked it that way. Her eyes kept changing colors as she looked from one to another, and her mouth kept twisting into different shapes whenever she saw something she liked or disliked. I noticed a lot of details. Like how her lower lip is a lot fuller than her upper one. Or how she has tiny white earrings that were almost invisible beneath the few strands of hair falling freely from her bun. Her blonde hair had different shades here and there, which made it look even better. Her lashes were long even though she wasn't wearing any mascara. She didn't have any make-up on now that I mentioned it. She wore the sleeves of her long sweater over half of her hands, so just a small portion of her fingers stuck out, which made it look kind of cute to be honest. Her sweater reached over her ass so I couldn't really make out anything under there, but I liked the mystery. If she really was hot, I hoped I'd see it soon.
"Can I get the oreo one?" She asked, eyes brimming with delight. I felt my head nod without even trying to, as I moved to open the freezer. She also wanted to do the same, so our hands overlapped on the handle, and I froze. The coldness from the freezer was a high contrast to the warmth evaporating from her hand. I couldn't move my own because it was trapped under hers. For that brief moment of time I felt the electricity from her body float through mine.
You're probably just bored with girls.
The sentence floated back into my mind. Guess she wasn't right after all. I wasn't bored with girls. I still had it. Then why wasn't I influenced by the black-haired girl's touch? Why did I feel bored while we were kissing? Was something wrong with her? Probably. If I'm able to react as much to just a simple hand-touching like this, then who knew what I would do if something more happened. So I wasn't bored with girls. I just probably wasn't in the mood back then. Or the last couple of times.
"What's wrong?" I snapped out of the trance and looked towards blondie. She'd already removed her hand and was waiting for me to finish opening the freezer door so she could get her ice cream. I stumbled over my own actions, and pulled out the oreo-flavored one. I got one for me too.
As we walked towards the cashier, I couldn't help but stare at her hand.
We paid and got back into the car, and I saw the look of surprise on her face when I pulled up in front of the dorms. She glanced at me in confusion, not catching on.
"You should get your stuff."
Her mouth made an o-shape and she thanked me before leaving the vehicle. As I waited for her minutes stretched into decades and I started feeling frustrated. Did she decide to ditch me last minute? Did she also feel that fucking terrifying electricity when our hands touched and decided that I was a real creep? Maybe she was calling the cops as we speak.
It took me a moment to realize that the loud ringing wasn't my imagination, but in fact the ringtone on my phone. I answered the call as a distraction from the rising irritation of my thoughts.
"What's up, Gray?"
"Dude." The way his voice sounded made me think something horrible happened to him, "Can I crash at your place tonight?" My mind was going over all the possible ways I could turn him down. "I mean, not sleep over but like, stay and watch tv?"
"What?"
"Listen to this. I was chilling and eating a fucking corndog when Juvia came in and—"
"Juvia?"
"My girlfriend? The one from France? Never mind, anyways, I was eating a corndog and cutting a tomato with the sharpest knife in my house while watching tv and she started yelling something about some sale on some clothes and some shoes at some store and I freaked out because she surprised me and my knife flew out of my hand and—"
"Calm down, man I can't underst—"
"—and the knife went straight through the fucking screen on the tv!"
"It did what?"
"And it fucking malfunctioned! Can you believe my rotten luck or what? So then I went to my bedroom since I have another tv there and I was so angry and jumpy at the moment that when I started throwing the shit in my room around—because it was really messy and I couldn't get through the piles of stuff—my trophy for last year's athletic meet fucking knocked down the plasma screen!"
"Dude what the hell?"
"I don't even know man!" His voice sounded panicked. "Like I don't care about the stuff, my dad will get me more, but I fucking missed the game!"
"Soccer? Lamia Scale vs Blue Pegasus?"
"Yeah, that one!"
"I left it recording at home so I could watch it."
Gray's whimpers from the other side of the line almost made me laugh out loud, "I knew I could count on you!" And before I could think of some excuse he shouted "See you in an hour!" and hung up on me. I knew that nothing would stop him now. I could barricade the house and he would still find a way inside.
A faint knock on the window facing the passenger seat next to me told me that she was back. I unlocked the door and watched her slide inside. She had a big duffel bag and a huge backpack on her, and I helped her push it on the backseat. I wanted to ask how the whole thing went since she looked kind of pale, but I had other things on my mind now thanks to Gray. Thinking of numerous ways I could lock her up in a room, I drove off to our next destination.
"You can sleep wherever." I said, dropping down the duffel bag in the hallway. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down before breaking the news, "Uh, my friend's coming over."
She blinked in confusion, "Alright."
"So if you're not interested in watching soccer with us you can just do your own thing and—"
"Where do you plan on taking him? The living room?"
"Yeah? Why?" We walked into said room and the question answered itself. The room was a fucking pigsty. I had dirty clothes, empty bottles and cardboard boxes of Dunkin' Donuts everywhere.
"Alright, listen. You go get some take out or whatever since we only got ice cream and I'll do the work here." If it weren't for the fact that she had her 'serious' face on I would've thought she was kidding. I knew better than to be told twice, and was out the door in a matter of seconds.
The line at Subway was a fucking monstrous one, like every person in town suddenly decided they want a turkey sandwich. I wasn't sure about what she'd like so I just got her the one with roasted chicken. Suddenly, images of her yelling at me for being a vegetarian crossed my mind, and I regretted not getting her a salad. But I bought like seven sandwiches so she could probably pick out the cabbage from all of them and nibble on it like a rabbit or whatever vegetarians do.
As I closed the door behind me and untied my converse, I could hear voices coming from the living room. Gray was here. I didn't even think to tell her to fucking hide. How the hell was I supposed to explain myself now? 'oh hey man, look at my new roomie'. I cursed the people at Subway for not eating somewhere else so I could actually come back before disaster struck.
My eyes landed on the floor and I noticed blue ballet flats. Did he bring his girlfriend over? And as though she was waiting for me to notice them, the voice of an unknown girl erupted in the room next to me. I prayed to God that blondie was stuck in the toilet with horrible diarrhea and they failed to notice her.
It was now or never, and I pushed open the door to the living room. I was greeted by the sight of my couch. It was visible. There was nothing on it. My eyes watered at the thought of her actually managing to clean everything by herself and I made a mental note to try and keep it that way. The next thing that I saw was my best friend laughing it off with my new roommate. Blondie was talking about something and he was chuckling like there was no tomorrow. His probable girlfriend was sitting on my armchair and reading a magazine I didn't even know I had.
They noticed me walk in and immediately stopped what they were doing. That's when I noticed that Gray was standing a little too close to the ex nurse.
"Well look who finally decided to grace us with his presence!" He shouted, and the girls laughed.
"Yeah yeah, play the goddamn game!" I shouted, trying to mask my annoyance as he turned on the tv. I set the bags on the table, and everyone had a sandwich in their hands in a matter of seconds. Everyone except blondie. She said she'd go get us some plates and disappeared in the kitchen.
Gray made me shake hands with the blue-haired one that turned out to be the lovesick immigrant. He said he had something to ask me, which was my cue to make up some lame excuse about getting some water and dashed for the kitchen.
I closed the door behind me and widened my eyes in surprise. She even washed the sink. I tried remembering what the kitchen actually looked like before and was impressed to finally find out that I actually had a trashcan hidden underneath all that rubbish. "I didn't have time to do the other rooms but I managed these." She sat crouched down, looking for plates in one of the many cupboards. I watched her pull them out one by one, and felt the need to say something.
"Look, I didn't intend to make you slave around or anything." I started, watching her back which was turned to me, "And about Gray, I didn't invite him and stuff, he kind of came on his own and—"
"Oh, I don't mind." She cut me off, "He's my friend too, after all."
Someone could throw a wrecking ball in my face and it still wouldn't hurt as much as this.
I opened and closed my mouth in an attempt to go on with the conversation, but what she said struck me too hard to even be able to give a proper reply. I had actually forgotten about the whole 'they know each other' thing. The realization that what he said was true almost killed me. So they really were friends, huh? He wasn't making it up to joke around with me.
"Your friend too, huh?" I repeated, thinking of a non-idiotic way to ask around and try to get more information. "And how um, how did he become your friend?"
She looked at me as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, "We started hanging out?"
I watched her look for glasses and something to drink inside the fridge, and tried calculating the best way to dig deeper.
"I mean," she suddenly spoke, catching me off guard, "We had a different sort of relationship back then, but we decided that we should stick to being friends since it worked out the best for us."
The color started draining from the world.
"Different kind of… relationship?" I mumbled, all sorts of images popping up in my mind as I took a chair and sat down in order to calm myself a little. So, they went out… they kissed, touched… maybe did something else, something more…
I wanted to inquire more details but she left the kitchen with an excuse that she had to take the plates in the living room. I sat there for a while more, and returned to where everyone else was, after convincing myself that what they had in common had absolutely nothing to do with me.
Three hours, one soccer game and one boring movie later, we sat sprawled on the couch and the armchairs, filling the room with talk and laughter. But something inside me wasn't letting me relax the way I wanted to, and I kept looking for signs that Gray and blondie still felt anything for each other. Gray's hand was on Juvia's shoulders the entire time, so I could breathe a little easier.
Juvia and blondie hit it off pretty well, and even exchanged phone numbers, which only made me realize that I didn't have her number either. And yet we knew each other for almost a month now. I tried acting as though I didn't really care, but I thought that I might have some sort of advantage over Gray if I got her number. But maybe he already had it. Maybe that's why he didn't ask for it. The swirls of questions flooded my head and I almost tuned out of the conversation.
After one more hour, they finally got up to leave and I felt bad for wanting them to get out the door as fast as possible. I liked my best friend's company, but for some reason he really irked me that night. I walked them out, watching Gray open the door of his car for Juvia, and asked him to wait a second before getting in himself. I turned around to make sure blondie wasn't here, finally feeling as though I had to find out the course of their relationship, as though it were a life or death matter.
"What's wrong?" He asked, leaning against his black Camaro.
"It's about blondie."
"Lucy?"
I felt a twist in my lower stomach at the casual way he mentioned her name. Now that I thought about it, I'd never really called her that. Maybe I did, but it must've been so long ago that I actually forgot.
"Yeah, her." I pocketed my hands to keep them from balling up into fists, "How did you two meet?"
"Dude to be honest, the last thing I expected was running into her here. I thought you didn't like her at all, and to see her in your house was… well, confusing." He leaned his head to the side, "I asked her about it though, and I she explained the whole roommate thing."
"That wasn't what I asked." My voice came out harsher than I wanted it to.
"Uh, alright." He was beginning to become a little irritated as well, not that I blamed him, "I knew her from back home. When I used to live in that small town." I remembered Gray moving here in the beginning of high school, his dialect a bit different and his skin a bit more tanned than us, but those differences faded with time, "We were childhood friends and stuff. Nothing more, nothing less. Lived door to door. I remember her wearing these weird ballet slippers with a blue butterfly on them." Another churn in my stomach as he mentioned blondie in a way I haven't seen before, "We used to play all the time. She was the nicest kid on the block. Then we grew up and shit happened. I remember moving away in my first year of high school and she continued staying there until last year."
This finally answered how I had never managed to notice her before. It also helped me understand why she didn't have friends and why she didn't know anybody. She was probably shy when she got here and the others started bullying her or something.
"Were you two in a relationship?" The question came out so quickly I almost didn't notice I asked it. The surprise showing on his face stung me more than I had expected. Was he surprised that I found him out?
"What the hell? No." He shook his head, but I made a face saying I didn't believe him, "There was an incident back in second year, and I went back to help her with it, but we never dated or anything like that. It was a different sort of relationship." There's that word again. When he saw that I wasn't convinced his irritation grew even more, "Look, I'm telling you nothing happened."
"So you never even kissed?"
"Once or twice maybe, but on the cheek."
I flared up.
"Do you have a thing for her?"
"Dude wha—I have a fucking girlfriend in case you missed it!" He shouted, and I noticed Juvia lean in so she could look at us from the window. Gray noticed it too so he kept his voice down this time, "And why the hell do you care about that so suddenly? Didn't you hate her guts?"
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't. That has nothing to do with you."
"Neither does my relationship with her, but you still asked." I opened my mouth to snap back but I didn't have a valid argument. In a fit of rage and helplessness I slammed my hand on the top of his car, scaring both me and him and probably Juvia who was still waiting for him inside.
"Back. Off." I spat out, and he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.
"I am backed off, you idiot!"
We stood there silently for a while more, before he finally let go of me and pocketed his hands. "Dude, seriously, if you plan on keeping her for yourself just locking her in your house isn't going to do it. You can't keep antagonizing people like this because not everyone will tolerate you like I did." He ran a hand through his hair, "Do you even know what you want?"
"I don't want anything I was just curious."
"Are you also curious about my past relationship with Erza or the way things with Juvia are going now?"
"Um, no?" I said it matter-of-factly.
"And what does that tell you?" He taunted.
"That you're a cunt?"
Gray sighed louder than I've ever heard him, and the tension in the air finally dropped down to a minimum. "All I'm saying is, you shouldn't just jump the first guy that says he knows her. Yeah, we still keep in touch and I talk to her every now and then, but that's only because I treat her like a little sister." The statement calmed me down a little, "But I still care about her very much."
He stepped closer to me and I felt the tension rise back up again. He pulled off the most serious face I've ever seen on him, and it even surprised me a little, "So don't you dare fucking use her, we clear?"
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed blondie step out next to the door of the house, probably wondering why I was still out. I didn't want her to see or hear this, so I cleared my throat and looked her way in order to make Gray aware of her presence. She was further away so she couldn't really hear what we were saying, but still.
"We clear?" He repeated, and I felt the strong need to roll my eyes, but I stopped myself.
"Fucking crystal."
The man was holding her in a choke-hold. She screamed bloody murder but in forests like this, there's nobody that can hear you or come to your rescue. It was a death-trap and she knew it. Her eyes rolled back in her head as spit started dripping down the side of her mouth and her body slowly started losing consciousness. The man was struggling to keep her from kicking him and escaping. Low sounds of heels digging in the gravel were the only thing that muffled her dying gasps. It was over before it even began.
I looked away from the low-budget horror movie she was watching when I came in, and sat down on the couch next to her. She had a blanket over her head, and her back was pushed up against the pillows on the couch, as she made herself comfortable. I tried to concentrate on the film but what Gray said was still circulating somewhere in the back of my head.
"Is it good?" I asked, and she nodded from under her barricade. I sat there motionless and bored. The movie was so fake it almost made me want to leave my own house, but I didn't have anything better to do.
The lady died a while ago, but now her killer was the one who was being chased around the forest by some unknown persona for some unknown reason. I inwardly groaned at how fucking stupid the whole thing was, when I noticed her watching it with amazing intensity. She was totally concentrated and paid no attention to her surroundings.
And as though my hands moved on their own, I gave her shoulder a nudge and screamed into her ear. The shriek that ensued made me regret my decision. She was so freaked out she started waving around with her hands and hitting me wherever they landed. I made a move to grab them and calm her down, but she started kicking and I slipped and… well…
"Get off of me!" She shouted, her face just centimeters away from my own. I was pinning her down the way I pin my other 'girls' down whenever I was about to start something. I felt the blood in my veins pump faster and it took me a while to realize that it was because my heart thought I was on some sort of fucking marathon. She struggled for a few seconds, then calmed down when she realized I wasn't hurting her or anything.
Her eyes found mine, and I stared at them until I couldn't anymore, looking away and breaking the contact like I always did. I wondered what I saw there that didn't allow me to stare even more. My gaze fell on her mouth, and I felt a heat wave rush down my body. We were both quiet, our ragged breathing being the only thing that filled the room save the horror music in the background. I let my eyes travel down the side of her neck, swallowing the spit that gathered up in my mouth.
My eyes managed to look into hers again, as I felt my head move a bit lower. My voice came out low and raspy, "Scared, blondie?"
She parted her mouth to reply, but no sound came out. I couldn't stop looking down at the way her full lips stayed open in welcome. It felt like all the times I pushed those girls away in the last few days were coming back to get me. Revenge, huh?
There was an incident back in second year, and I went back to help her with it, but we never dated or anything like that.
Gray's words appeared in my head and I felt my whole body paralyze. I totally failed to notice what he said earlier. I was so preoccupied with the nature of their relationship that I missed a huge sign.
an incident back in second year
Last year? Something happened? I wanted to ask. I tried calling out 'blondie', but changed my mind last minute.
"Lu—"
An ear-splitting scream from the television caused us both to jump in surprise. We rolled off the couch, switching positions so that now she was the one pinning me to the floor. She rubbed the back of her head where she was apparently hurt, and sat up on the lower part of my stomach.
I prayed to god I wouldn't lose my cool and attack her.
"What happened? Did he die?" She asked, looking back toward the tv. I examined her and my heart almost came to a stop when I noticed that her sweater was a raised up a bit, and a bare part of her super-flat stomach was showing. Alright Natsu, you can do this. Keep your cool.
Think dry thoughts. Dried herbs. Sand. Dried sponge.
She moved a little so she was more comfortable.
Deserts deserts deserts deserts
Didn't I hate her one upon a time?
She set one of her hands atop my chest, continuing to watch the movie without even bothering to get off of me.
Deserts deserts deserts DESERTS
The neck-hole of her sweater slid down so that it uncovered a small part of her shoulder.
SAHARA IS THE LARGEST SUBTROPICAL DESERT IN NORTHERN AFRICA
"What's wrong?" She asked, leaning in to take a look at my face.
SAHARA COVERS A SURFACE AREA OF ABOUT 3.5 MILION SQUARE MILES
She finally got off me, and I filled my lungs with air after realizing that I had forgotten to breathe. I got up and sat next to her, feeling my heart rate slowly decrease.
Remember just how much you hater her.
"You wanted to say something earlier?" She mumbled, and I remembered almost calling out her name.
"Um, yeah." The sounds of gunshots from the movie erupted in the room, but we remained unfazed. I stared at her widened eyes as a bloodcurdling scream of a dying girl sliced the air between us. But none of that mattered now. "I have a question."
I watched her lean her head backwards, giving me her full attention.
What was I feeling at the moment? Was it really hate?
If it was, it was the strongest feeling of hate I'd ever experienced.
A/N: Yay! A new one!
This week I'll be up to my neck with exams and stuff, so I won't be able to write anything probably. That is why I wanted to update this as fast as I could.
As for people asking about Stop Playing Hard to Get, I will update it when I see fit, since I only have three chapters left to finish it, and I really don't want to rush the ending. Thanks for asking about it though.
I love chocolate and you!
with keys, through flames! aye!