What I Live For
"We are absolute predators."
-Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas
Please R&R
Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
Song Lyrics / Flashbacks
Previously:
Jellal looked down, falling back on the couch once more. "It's important to me. It's our hang out spot. It's not just where we became a band- it's where we became friends."
Gajeel gagged. "When did this become some cheesy bromance novel?"
Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head. "Besides, there really is nothing we can do. We're just four students there, and my grades suck. The headmaster isn't gonna listen to me."
"There's gotta be something..." Jellal began
"There ain't." Gajeel said, walking back to his room.
Natsu sighed. "It's not like we actually need that place anyway, we can practice here or downstairs." He walked towards his room as well.
Levy offered him a smile. "Things will workout." She walked away leaving the young man alone.
He sighed and rested his chin on his hand. There had to be something he could do... Something. Something. Something...
He smirked when he got an idea.
XI. Pandemonium
Natsu twirled his drumsticks in his fingers, walking towards his set while nodding his head to the beat of the music playing from his phone through his earbuds. He took a seat on his stool, and began to pound away loudly, not worried about waking up Gajeel. He knew for a fact that the young man slept with earphones on, and that he also listened to hardcore metal in his sleep. He continued to bang on his drums, following the rhythm of the song he was listening to until the light from the outside world peeked its way into his currently dark apartment. He did not stop playing the drums, he simply looked up, removing one earbud when Jellal stepped inside, leaving the door open, From what Natsu could see, it had begun to snow outside. The ground was covered in a large white blanket, and he could feel a breeze hit him. He lifted his eyes and looked up at Jellal's face, a bit surprised to spot a formed, purple bruise on his face.
"Whoa... what did you get in a fight or something?" Natsu asked, ceasing his playing and setting his drumsticks down.
Shrugging, Jellal pushed the door open some more to reveal a passed out Gray laying in the snow. "You could say something like that."
As if on cue, Gajeel stepped out of his bedroom, raising an eyebrow at the scene before him. He glanced at Natsu, then at Jellal, then at the passed out Gray.
"I don't even want to know what happened." The guitarist muttered before turning and disappearing into the kitchen.
Jellal pulled Gray inside the apartment as Natsu shut the door and followed after them to the couch. After laying him down, not at all gently for that matter, Jellal took a seat on the recliner, while Natsu went back to his drum stool. The pinkette noticed the bruises on Gray's face, one under his eye and one on his cheek, before turning to the lead singer of his band with a perplexed expression.
"You gonna tell me what happened?"
"I can't. All I know for certain is that if you try to get a drunk Gray to give you his car keys, he'll punch you right in the face." Jellal pulled something out of his jacket pocket before crossing his arms, an angry look appeared on his face, causing Natsu's eyes to widen. He had never seen such a look on Jellal before. Gajeel stepped out of the kitchen holding a glass of fruit juice in his hand. He leaned against the wall, listening in with interest at the bluenette's next words. "It wasn't just alcohol though. I haven't asked him yet but I think," Jellal held up a small orange pill container filled to the top with what looked to be small white pills. "He was under the influence of something else..."
Gajeel's eyes widened, and he set his glass down on the table, stepping closer to his friends. "What the fuck?"
"Gray is using drugs?" Natsu said, shocked, standing up and examining the orange container even closer. "I've seen these before. I think they're ADHD pills. Where the hell could he have gotten them?"
"It aint hard to buy drugs like those in this day and age." Gajeel stated, earning serious looks from both Jellal and Natsu. He threw his hands up in defense. "I didn't say I was buying them. You should see the brainiacas at that school. They pop those things like candy."
"Is Levy using?!" Jellal asked, standing up and glaring at the taller man.
Gajeel furrowed his brows. "How the hell should I know."
Going back to his drum set, Natsu looked over at the out cold Gray. "Good thing you beat the crap out of this droopy eyed idiot or else I would have."
"It wasn't me." Jellal replied. "I went to pink him up at a bar. The owner called my phone from his and said he needed someone to take him home right away."
"Wait a second... What the hell was the bastard doing at a bar?! What about Juvia?" Gajeel asked, a hint of anger in his voice. "Did that idiot just abandon her in their home?"
"I'm not sure of what happened yet. We're gonna have to wait for him to wake up and explain himself." Jellal answered, walking towards the kitchen to search for some ice.
"If he remembers..." Natsu mumbled, placing his earbuds back in his ears and nodding his head to the song that was playing.
...
Gray's eyes fluttered open slowly. There was a pounding in his head, but an even stronger feeling of discomfort on his face. Still laying down, he recognized his surroundings as Natsu and Gajeel's place. His eyes narrowed in confusion. He had no idea when or how he ended up in that place. The last thing he remembered about the previous night was laying down next to Juvia. He had been doing that every night since they had begun to live together. Why was he waking up in a new place this certain morning, and more importantly, why was he just laying there as Natsu's blue cat Happy laid on his chest, lightly smacking the man every time he wagged his tail.
"Hey!" The young man sat up quickly, scaring the poor blue cat off of his chest, down the hallway and into Natsu's room. Gray glanced over to his side, seeing his three bandmates standing there, all of them arms crossed, all of them giving him a serious look. "How the hell did I end up here?" He mumbled, holding his head in his hands.
Jellal and Natsu exchanged looks before the bluenette looked back at Gray. "You really don't remember what happened?"
Narrowing his eyes a bit, Gray focused on Jellal- well more on the bruise the man had on his cheek. "Did you get in a fight?" Without saying a word, Gajeel lifted his cellphone with the front camera turned on, showing Gray a reflection of himself. "Did... we get in a fight?" Gray asked, his eyes widenening as he examined his own bruises. He handed the phone back to Gajeel and turned to sit facing his friends. "Someone gonna tell me what's going on or not? You guys having some sort of intervention for me or something?"
"First things first." Natsu began. He held up the orange pill container and tossed it at Gray who caught it with ease. The young man only rose an eyebrow as he stared at the container. It didn't even have any labels on it. "You're gonna tell us why Jellal found ADHD meds in your car last night."
"What?" Gray asked, looking to Jellal with confusion. "How the hell should I know, I don't even remember what happened."
"The bar... the fight... punching me in the face? None of this rings a bell..." Jellal asked.
Gray stood up, a serious look on his face. "No."
The three young men all looked at each other before turning to look at back Gray. He looked a mixture of confused and angry.
"So you have no idea where these came from?"
Gray stared at the container before gritting his teeth and glaring up at his friends. "If you're asking whether I'm on drugs or not, the answer is no. I'm not. There are you satisfied? Now Jellal, will you tell me just where the hell I was last night?" Setting the orange container down, Gray took a seat, looking up at the bluenette who appeared as though he didn't believe Gray. Noticing this look Gray glared at Jellal. "I'm telling you the truth."
"You were drunk." Jellal began, shutting his eyes and lowering his head a bit. "You went a bar near Magnolia College and got drunk. Then, apparently, you got in a fight with these two guys, and the owner of the pub called me since I was the last one to have dialed you."
A brown haired young woman wearing very revealing clothing stood at the doorframe of the pub, glaring down at the drunk young man who had disturbed her drinking time.
"Jeez, a girl cant drink in peace around here without all you stupid men starting a ruckus." Being drunk herself, she giggled a bit. "It was kind of funny though, the way you just jumped up on that guy... hm?" She looked down to the sulking young man. "So you're a sad drunk huh? Wanna tell me what's on your mind?" He remained silent as the woman took a swig of her bottle. All of a sudden, she heard footsteps coming towards her. A tall, rather handsome, young man came walking down the sidewalk, stopping right in front of them. "you Jellal?"
"Yes, yes I am."
The woman stood up, giggling a bit. "Your friend here is quite the hot head. He socked two guys just for.. um... well I'm not sure why but it was pretty funny."
"He got in a fight?" Jellal asked shocked, finally taking notice of the bruises on Gray's face. "Thank you for the call..."
"Don't thank me, its my old man you should thank... later." She walked back into the bar, leaving a confused Jellal with a very drunk Gray.
"Get off me..." Drunk Gray mumbled, shoving himself away from his friend.
"You're drunk, Gray. C'mon... lets get you home."
"No." The young man walked off, leaning on the side of a building. "I'm... I'm... lying to her..."
He sighed. "C'mon Gray."
"Fuck off already."
Jellal kept his patience, remembering his friend was drunk. Jellal was well aware of the affects alcohol had on people.
"Gray..."
"I said fuck off!"
"After that, you swung, and I got this thing right here." Jellal lifted his hand, pointing at his bruise.
Gray pressed his lips together, "Well now you know why I don't get drunk often..." He looked at Jellal. "Sorry."
"So you don't know if you took the drugs or not?" Gajeel blurted, glaring at Gray.
"I'm not sure what happened, but I sure as hell know I'm not some drug addict." The bassist argued.
Gajeel grit his teeth, tossing Gray the house phone he and Natsu had in their home. "Call Juvia now." He stepped out of the room without another word and Gray froze in thought, completely understanding what Gajeel meant by that.
"She must be worried." Jellal noted, "But I believe you, Gray." Natsu nodded as Jellal continued to speak. "Yeah... anyways lets move on from this. Pandemonium is in two days. Lets prepare shall we?"
"Hang on." Gray mumbled, picking up the orange container pill, placing it in his pocket and picking up his keys which Jellal had left on the table. "I need to talk to Juvia right now."
...
"Juvia guess what today is!?" Lisanna chirped loudly, spinning the bluenette around in her chair to face her. The Strauss girl giggled a bit, lifting up a calendar with a large red circle around the date. "Elf-niichan has a meeting with one of the guys from that really stuck up company. He's coming down here soon, and it's your turn to greet the visitor!"
Juvia frowned, pushing the calendar aside. "What? Juvia did it last time!" The bluenette protested.
"Nuh-uh... Evergreen did it last time. It's your turn..."
Rolling her eyes the bluenette stood up. "Not fair." She began to walk towards the elevator while Lisanna laughed, falling back into her seat.
"Have fun..."
Juvia playfully glared back at the woman, stepping into the elevator and going all the way down to the lobby. A part of her job was greeting the other businessmen and women who come from different companies to meet with theirs.
"Juvia doesn't even know what time this person is supposed to arrive..." She checked the time on the clock at the front desk, sighing as she tapped her foot against the ground. Minutes passed, and she looked back at the doors when they suddenly slid open, but her eyes widened slightly when she spotted Gray walking in. She was currently upset with him, but she began to get worried seeing the brusies on his face. "Gray-sama... what happened to you?"
He had his hands in his pockets, walking towards her slowly keeping his eyes locked on hers.
"Juvia... We need to talk."
"Where did you go last night?" She asked, seemingly ignoring him completely. When he stepped right in front of her she took a step back.
"Look I'm sorry about last night. I wasn't feeling like myself but there's something more important going on."
"You didn't answer the phone. You left Juvia alone..."
He looked around them, not seeing anyone except the sleepy door receptionist who hadn't even acknowledged his presence. He pulled out the small orange pill container. "Do these look familiar to you?"
She looked down, her brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
Gray rubbed his forehead. "So they aren't yours... I didn't think so." He stuffed them back in his pocket and sighed. "I have no idea where they even came from."
Juvia rose an eyebrow. "What are those?"
"It doesn't really matter. They aren't mine or yours." He grabbed her hand in his and pulled her closer to him. To his surprise she didn't pull away. She returned the equally serious expression he was giving her. "I love you." He said, pressing his forehead against hers. Her serious look softened. It was impossible to stay mad at him when he acted like this. She should be upset. She had the right. But she couldn't. She couldn't be mad at her beloved Gray-sama. "I'm sorry."
"Gray-sama... Juvia is working..." She blushed a bit as he pulled away from her. "Juvia is sorry. Can we talk at home?"
Rubbing the back of his head, Gray looked away from her. "I've got to practice with the guys so I might be home late."
"Juvia can wait up..."
He pressed a kiss on her forehead causing her to giggle a bit. "Don't feel like you have to."
She placed her hands on his face, her thumb tracing over the bruise on his cheek. "Juvia needs to know where Gray-sama was last night and how he is feeling."
He looked towards the door. "Don't worry. I was just out of it yesterday."
She pulled him down and pressed her lips against his. "Juvia is still upset with you."
He grinned. "I'll make it up to you somehow."
After a few more laughs and kisses he walked out of the large building, getting into his car and driving off. He didn't know who the pills belonged to, but he sure as hell was glad it wasn't Juvia.
Back in the building, the young woman was in a daze, day dreaming about her boyfriend. She had completely forgotten why she was even standing in the lobby, that was until the doors opened again, and in came two men. Juvia turned around quickly, offering them a friendly smile when she recalled where she was and what she was supposed to be doing.
"Welcome! Please allow Juvia to escort you to the conference room where Elfman-Sama is waiting!"
...
"Why do I feel like it's been forever since we've practiced?" Natsu asked, taking a seat at his drumset as Jellal and Gajeel both set up their own stations.
"Maybe cause it has... but who cares." Gajeel responded, pulling his guitar strap over his shoulder followed by tuning the strings on it.
They all turned their heads when a fourth person stepped into the apartment, his bass in his hand. "Ready when you guys are." He turned to Gajeel giving the man a stern look. "She's clean."
Gajeel nodded and went back to work on his guitar.
Growling, Natsu lifted his drumstick pointing at the man who had just walked in. "We've been waiting for you ice brain!"
"I had something to do, idiot." Gray muttered, taking his place next to Gajeel while slipping his bass on as well.
"What did you just call me, bastard?!" The pinkette growled, jumping out of his seat stomping towards Gray.
"You heard me, you idiot." Gray hissed, stepping towards Natsu getting in his face.
"You wanna fight me too, droopy eyes?! I'm all fired up! Bring it on, Ice princess!"
The two gasped, covering their ears and glaring at Jellal when the mic he was setting up made a high pitched sound. Gajeel shut one eye and grit his teeth.
"What the hell man?" Gray shouted.
Natsu growled. "You trying to make us deaf or something?!" He yelled with a fiery aura surrounding him.
"The way you play drums I'm surprised your ears haven't bled out yet." Gajeel began, not turning to look at his room/band mate as he spoke.
"Yeah you trying to make a point there?" Natsu hissed.
Jellal sighed as he looked at his friends. "C'mon lets stay focused. There's no point in arguing now."
Gray looked to Gajeel then back at Natsu. "I hate to admit it, but metal face is right." Everyone heard Gajeel growl at the name Gray had used to describe him. "Natsu, you're hitting the drums way too hard, which wouldn't be a problem if Jellal just sang louder."
"What?" The bluenette looked back, shocked that Gray would even say something like that. "I believe I sing loud enough. We're not heavy metal so its not like I can just start screaming at the top of my lungs."
Gray turned around, not saying a word in response.
"Alright whatever..." Gajeel interjected, "I watched the video that the bunny girl posted up, and if we're gonna win that record deal somethings gotta change."
"What do you mean? We cant switch the song! The one Lucy shared is the one with the highest chance if getting us signed with Fiore Entertainment." Natsu said, sitting back down.
Jellal nodded in agreement. "He's right." He let go of the microphone and picked up the original sheet music for the song. "There's no way we can rearrange the whole song and make it in time for the competition."
"The point of rehearsal is to better improve our chances at winning!" Gajeel argued.
"It's not the song, it's the way we're playing it!" Gray shouted. "The fans won't notice the awkward set up, simply because they don't know music! But the judges, and the music executives will notice if we screw up." He turned to look at his bandmates. "We either pick a new song or rearrange this one. We can't keep playing the way we are right now... If we do that then Sabertooth is gonna get that contract for sure."
"We're rushing to conclusions. Lets just play the song and see what we need to work on." Jellal suggested.
The played the song. Then played it again. And again. And again...
"This isn't working! It sounds good, but not good enough to get us a recording contract." Gray's voice was full of impatience and irritation.
Gajeel removed the guitar, Natsu stood up with his hands behind head and Jellal leaned his forehead against the microphone which was on a stand.
"So what do we do?" Gajeel asked.
Natsu looked back at his friends. "Rookie bands from all over are gonna be there... all of them have way more experience than us."
Jellal shook his head. "We've come way too far to quit now."
Nobody said a word. The boys of Etherion simply sat their in silence. Minutes that felt like hours passed, but nobody made a move. It used to be so much easier for them. They'd just play and it would automatically sound good. Things had been falling well into place so far. They all agreed to join the band, they performed and came in second place the first time they sang in front of a real crowd, they got gigs around town, a celebrity promoted them, and they had even been on the radio! Things were going so well.. so what changed? Was it the pressure? The feeling of wanted to rise to stardom. These were things that they had not even thought about before.
Natsu sighed, picking up his sticks and beginning to lightly tap his drums to the beat of the chorus of their song. Jellal began to nod his head, and began to mumble the lyrics. Gray smirked, lifting up his bass as Natsu began to pick up the pace of his plying. Before they even knew it, Gajeel had joined them, Jellal was singing loudly, and that feeling of being in a band, of playing with their friends came back. By the end of the song they were all smiling. The tension and the pressure they had felt before was gone. It was all about the music at the end of the day, and when they put their heads together, there was nothing they couldn't do. Even at the end of their rehearsal they still felt as though something was missing, but they'd figure it out somehow.
...
"When you said you'd be late Juvia presumed it would be around midnight or one a.m... not the next morning..." The bluenette smiled, placing her arms around her boyfriend when he laid beside her on their bed.
Gray shut his eyes, "Sorry. Jellal and I were working on the lyrics and musical arrangements all night. I tried to call but I guess you fell asleep."
Juvia lifted her arm and touched the dark bags under his eyes. He looked pale, and like he was going to be sick. "Gray-sama... have you slept?"
"Don't worry, I'll be home tonight so I'll get some sleep before the day of the competition."
"Why not rest now darling?" She laughed, laying her head on his chest.
His eyes opened slowly and he looked over at the clock, reading the time. "I've gotta get to work in an hour."
Her eyes widened and she sat up, looking down at him with concern. "Gray-sama..."
"I can't just call out. Loke's been there all week." He explained, shutting his eyes again. "Anyways, there's a new kid coming to work at the store, I've gotta train him."
She removed the covers from her body and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Don't overdo it okay?"
He chuckled a bit, leaning his head to the side while exhaling a deep breath. "Don't worry so much. I'm fine."
...
"Oi, shrimp. The hell you doing?"
Gajeel watched with confusion as the bluenette turned his bedroom upside down in search of something. She bent down to search under the bed as Gajeel leaned against the wall, taking this time to examine her cute, little booty. He chuckled to himself but his grin fell when she shot up and glared at him.
"Pervert."
"Ain't like I haven't seen it before." She rolled her eyes and stepped over the pile of clothes he had laying on the ground. She ran her hands through her hair, an angry look on her face. "The fuck you looking for?"
Levy's face turned red, and she looked at her hands, messing with her fingers. It appeared as though she was about to open her mouth to talk, but she shut it immediately, shaking her head.
"It's nothing... I have to go."
She ran passed him quickly, "Hey, shorty!" But she had already ran out of his apartment.
...
"Romeo, huh? And you're eighteen?"
The dark haired boy grinned and turned to look at the older man. "I know I don't look it, but I am." He shoved his hands in his pockets and took out his wallet, showing Gray an ID. See, I'm a senior at Vermillion High School."
Gray shrugged it off and leaned against the counter. The store had been moving pretty slowly today, with only about three customers currently browsing around at the CD's and other items they had to offer.
"This job's pretty easy as you can see." Gray mumbled, "Kinda boring actually..."
Romeo's chuckled, "Well yeah maybe a little. But when I spotted this store I just knew I had to work here. Surrounded by music all day long- well for the part time shifts I get here anyways."
Gray smirked. "You're into music? You play anything in particular?"
"The bass, guitar, and occasionally the drums." Romeo answered. "I don't play in a band like you or anything but-"
Gray lifted his arm and stopped him in his tracks. Romeo rose an eyebrow at the bassists' sudden movement. "You know my band?"
"Are you kidding?" Romeo responded. "Everyone in Magnolia knows who you guys are. I saw you at one of those clubs one night. Personally I'm more of a Natsu fan, but I think youre a great bass player."
Gray walked into a room behind their spot on the counter, coming back out with a bass guitar. He handed it to Romeo causing the boy to look at him with confusion.
"Let me see what you've got." The man demanded, while Romeo simply laughed as he strapped on the bass. To Gray's surprise, the kid sounded good, like he had been practicing for years. After about a minute of playing, Gray nodded, crossing his arms and a smile settling on his face. "Pretty good kid, not bad at all."
"I heard you guys are performing tomorrow night at Pandemonium."
Gray nodded, "Yeah we are."
Romeo set the bass down back in the room that Gray had taken it out of. Once he stepped back out, he leaned against the counter, looking out at the rows full of CD's and other musical related things.
"Sabertooth is gonna be performing too, but I'm routing more towards you guys."
"Oh yeah?" Gray asked.
"Yeah, if anyone should get a record deal it's you guys."
Gray smirked a bit. "You sound more like a fifteen year old than an eighteen year old."
Romeo chuckled, "Yeah I get that a lot."
...
"Finally the day has arrived!" Jellal exclaimed, walking onto the fair grounds with Natsu and Levy.
Already, people had begun to fill up the area, playing games, watching the acts and simply spending time with their families. It reminded them a lot of the festival in which they took part in the battle of the bands, except this time, many girls who had already arrived had been giving them flirtatious looks. There had been tents set up, the scent of food filled the air, and the night sky was staring to overpower the daylights which still had a bit of time left to stay in the sky.
"Great turnout." Levy noted, wearing a red winter coat, black pants and boots.
Jellal pulled out his cellphone, "This is where Gray and Juvia told us to meet them. I believe that Gray is also bringing someone else."
Natsu began to put on a pair of black gloves, shivering a bit from the cold breeze blowing by him. "Wendy should be here soon too."
As if on cue, Natsu looked back when he felt two arms wrap around his middle and heard a familiar laugh.
"I'm surprised you found us here in the middle of all these people," Levy said, hugging the younger girl.
Wendy giggled. "I'm glad my mom and dad let me come. My best friend Chelia is around here too."
The foursome looked over when three more people came their way.
"Everyone, this is Romeo, Romeo, this is... everyone." Gray introduced.
The raven haired boy examined everyone with a friendly smile, until his eyes landed on a certain, long haired bluenette, looking at him in with the same shock. Wendy furrowed her brows in confusion, but did not say one word.
"I-Its nice to meet you all." He said softly.
"No need to be shy, we don't bite." Levy replied with a laugh.
Romeo chuckled as well, rubbing the back of his head looking away from Wendy.
"Gajeel-san is not here?" Juvia noted, looking around the group.
"Don't worry about him, he said he wanted some alone time before the band goes on." Levy checked the time on her watch."Speaking of which you guys have about thirty two or so minutes to kill before you have to be on stage."
Natsu lifted his arm, "That means it's time to explore!"
Gray sighed. "You know I think I'm gonna take it easy before we go on too."
Jellal lfted his cellphone. "Jet and Droy are about to be here, I'm gonna go check on the equipment."
"I'll come too." Levy agreed.
Wendy looked at the crowd of people. "And I'll bet Chelia is around here."
Romeo looked around. "Yeah I spotted some of my friends too."
The group all nodded and went their separate ways. They decided to meet up ten minutes before the group had to be backstage. Gray sighed, sitting down on a bench and resting his eyes. Juvia sat beside him, her hand on his thigh.
"Gray-sama told Juvia that he would rest last night."
Gray opened one eye to peek at her. He shut it once more when he spotted her concerned face. "It's hard to sleep the night before a big performance."
"Gray-sama, you cant keep pushing yourself this hard."
He placed his hand over hers. "I'm fine Juv."
She didn't believe him but didn't say another word.
...
"Erza, are you sure these disguises work?" Lucy asked, walking through the many people.
The red head scoffed. "Nobody has even glanced at you, of course they work." Lucy wore a black beanie, with large glasses and simple dark brown coat with darker boots. "Without your makeup and glittery sense of style, nobody will know its you."
The blonde grinned happily, and began to skip through the crowd. "I cant wait to see the bands play. I think they-"
She gasped when she was knocked to the ground by a body colliding with hers. She opened her eyes and looked up to spot someone she recognized, but he clearly did not recognize her.
"Hey you're that guy from Etherion... Natsu right?"
"I guess we are getting really popular." The pinkette mumbled, offering the girl a hand to help her up.
Lucy took it, smiling as he pulled her off of the ground. "I'm a fan. My name is Lu-igi... yeah.. Luigi..."
"Luigi?" Natsu repeated, confused.
"Luigi?" Erza, the woman behind Lucy, deadpanned.
"I cant wait to see you go on tonight! Good luck!" The blonde cheered, causing Natsu to grin.
"Hey thanks Luigi! I'll keep an eye out for you in the crowd." He began to run off. "See ya!"
"He's cute..." Lucy said to Erza. "Now lets make sure to get a good spot!"
...
"Why are you lying?"
Wendy sat crisscrossed beside Romeo, a frown in her face as she looked towards the river. They had escaped the festival, just a few feet outside of it so they could speak in private. Romeo looked over at the girl.
"You don't get it."
"I really don't." Wendy agreed. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. "You just disappeared from school, and now you're here? You're not 18, you're really 15, why are you lying to everyone?"
Romeo stood up, kicking at the ground. "It's hard to explain alright. I just couldn't be in that house anymore!"
"You ran away?!" Wendy gasped.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked to the ground. "I'm not going back. My dad hasn't even made the slightset effort to look for me."
"But I'm sure he loves you." Wendy said. "He's your father."
"Yeah... But he loves his new wife even more." Romeo mumbled. Wendy pressed her lips together while looking back at him. "You have to keep this a secret."
She shook her head and looked away. "I can't lie to everyone."
"Wendy you have to!" He knelt down and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Please, promise me you won't tell."
She looked into his eyes, seeing sadness mixed with anger. She exhaled a breath through her nose, staying quiet for a moment before she shut her eyes.
"O-okay... I promise."
He let go of her shoulders and stood up once more. "Thanks."
She stood up as well, clapping the dirt from the ground off of her body. "We should get back. Natsu-nii's band is about to go on.
...
"Ready guys?!" Natsu asked, yelling.
"We're right here! Stop yelling already!" Gajeel shouted back at the drummer.
Jellal walked into the scene, "I had no idea we would go first. Sabertooth is at the end of the list."
"Who cares. After we play they'll be begging us to sign our names next to that X." Natsu laughed.
A woman with purple colored hair walked onto the stage, getting the crowd hyped up as she introduced the band.
"I guess we're on." Gray mumbled.
Juvia smiled and him, placing her hands on his face pulling him towards her. "Good luck." She kissed his lips.
Natsu lifted a drumstick in the air, walking towards the stage while his bandmates followed.
"Remember the first time we went up, Salamander almost pissed his pants." Gajeel chuckled, strapping on his guitar.
"Hey shut up man! That was totally Gray!"
"It was you, idiot." Gray muttered under his breath.
Being in front of a crowd was a thrill they all loved. The screaming fans, the beating of your heart, knowing the people you care about are all there supporting you while you perform your heart out with your best friends at your side. Being a band became more than a hobby to the boys. It was now a part of their life. Even in the middle of winter, sweat dripped down their faces as they played with all they had. Natsu banged his drums, both Gajeel and Gray had a few new blisters on their fingers, and Jellal owned the mic, singing as gracefully as ever. Before they knew it their song was over, but the sound of the crowd was louder than they had ever imagined, but in the midsts of all this cheering, one of the band members began to feel strange.
Gray panted heavily, stumbling back a bit as his vision became blurry. The world appeared to be moving in slow motion. He turned to look at Natsu who had lifted his stick in the air, taking in the audiences applause. Jellal as well had caught his breath after singing his lungs out for the crowd. The bluenette waved at the crowd, and turned to look at his bandmates. Gajeel, Natsu, and Jellal all began to walk towards the exit. The sound of the crowd suddenly began to get faded out. Suddenly, all Gray could hear as he followed his friends was the sound of his heart beating... very slowly... and his breathes, which were becoming hard to do.
..
..
..
He spotted Juvia, Levy, Romeo, and Wendy all waiting for them backstage.
..
..
.
.
All he could hear was his heartbeat...
Until it suddenly stopped beating.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review. And yes, cliffhangers are my favorite :) More characters and more Lucy and Erza coming soon!