Because You Are Here…
… I can go forward.
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A/n: HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS MUST WANT TO KILL ME NOW. DDDX
I'm so horrible for making you guys wait about a month and all I give you is a stupid short chapter DDDDDDDX UGHH... I hate school. I wish it was summer now. The teachers must have meetings to plan projects to give out all at the same time because I swear, I got projects in like all my classes all at the same time DDX BUT I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THEM. But that wasn't the only reason why I took so long to update... I curse my laziness everyday I didn't work on this chapter DX
But thanks so much for the reviews, guys! I will truly try to update more often! (and to stop being lazy DX) I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter~
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If I wish on a star, what are the changes of it coming true?
Chapter thirteen: Small wishes, big dreams
"That's why I'm going to tell Hope the truth. I promise you."
That was what Lightning intended on doing, and as soon as possible. But with how the week went by before her knowing it, and with the next almost ending, she wondered how she was ever going to have the chance to tell Hope. All those chances she had in the beginning she should've taken were now gone and now that she had finally come to the decision of confessing, she couldn't find the right time to tell him.
She barely saw him and she was busy with all that cramming and studying she had to do, and from what she had heard from Serah, so was Hope. And after a very brief conversation she had with him the other day, he had told her that his father was coming to visit him after getting a few days off from work. Lightning had seen that wide smile on his face, knowing how much he had missed his father, and couldn't be any happier for him.
She couldn't find it in herself to tell him right then that she was Claire.
Dropping her pencil to her desk, she rubbed her temple and groaned. "When have I've become so soft?"
The door to her room opened as Serah appeared with a plate of food in one hand. "Sis, it's time to eat~!" she blinked. "What are you doing?"
Lightning got up from her chair and walked to the kitchen with Serah trailing behind.
"Did you tell Hope yet?" Serah placed the remaining food on the table while Lightning went to get the plates and quickly returned to the dining table.
"No, I didn't," Lightning sat in her usual seat across from Serah.
"You better tell him soon, the sooner the better."
She nodded. "After Hope's dad leaves on Wednesday, I'll find a time to tell him."
-xxx-
"I don't get why I have to hang out with you."
The tall blond jumped, turning to him with a look of false disappointment.
"I feel so insulted, Hope! Who wouldn't want to hang out with their favorite hero?" he said jokingly with a big smile.
Hope was so very tempted to punch the man in the face to wipe that idiotic smile from his features.
Hope scoffed. "Who in their right minds would want to?"
Other than being offended, Snow laughed. Hope started to debate whether Snow was ignoring his comment or he was just really that much of an idiot.
"You know, you could've said no…"
"No, I couldn't!" Hope pointed an accusing finger to Snow. "You kept insisting we hang out and wouldn't stop unless I said yes!" Because of Snow, Hope had missed out on a rare chance to spend time with Lightning. When would be the next time Lightning would be the one to invite him to hang out with her? Never. And because of Snow, he would never be able to experience that kind of joy again.
Snow reached out and grabbed Hope's outstretched hand and pulled him along. "C'mon, if we don't hurry we won't have a place to sit!" With Snow's monstrous strength, Hope's extra weight was nothing to him as they ran to wherever Snow had in mind for their little outing with Hope stumbling behind, dreading every minute of it already.
After a quick run across the beach, Snow released his tight grip on Hope's hand. As he got back on his feet, he followed Snow into a small stand off to the side of the beach. Hope could see a lot of people already seated there and wondered what kind of place it was.
Hope's eyes widened as his eyes met the sign of the place.
"Lebreau's beach shack and b-bar?" Now Snow was seriously out of his mind. "I'm underage!"
"Calm down, Hope, Lebreau also has drinks for kids like you," he reassured.
The two walked inside and Snow greeted the female bartender like they were friends of some sort. Hope guessed she was Lebreau since there was no one else handling the customers.
Her hair was cut short and black, the front of her hair tied back. She had a low shirt that could've passed as a bathing suit and a puffy-sleeved shirt underneath that slid off her shoulders. Lebeau stood behind the counter shining a few glasses.
She later turned to see Hope behind Snow's bulky figure, then back to Snow.
"Friend of yours?" she asked. Snow nodded.
"Think you can make something non-alcoholic for him to drink?" She nodded with a thumbs-up before Snow took a seat right to the counter with Hope taking the empty seat besides him. "And I'll have the usual."
"I'm guessing you two are friends," Hope pointed out once their drinks arrived.
She placed her hands to her hips. "Not just any other friends, childhood friends." She beamed. "Been with this idiot for as long as I can remember."
"Hero!" Snow corrected while she just rolled her eyes.
"Me and Gadot gave you guys the tickets to that festival a while ago." She stated proudly.
Hope's initial view on her changed once he heard that she was the one who kindly gave them the tickets. "Really? Thank you so much!"
She smiled. "No problem, kid. Sorry, I'll love to stay and chat, but I've got other customers so I'll talk to you guys later!"
Lebeau left as Hope was left with Snow. He didn't say a word as he quietly sipped his fruity drink, still slightly angry at the older man.
Seeing that Hope still had that slight gloominess on his face, Snow decided to say something. "Is something wrong, Hope?"
"Took you that long to notice?"
Snow quickly drowned his first glass in a single gulp before putting the glass aside. "So… there is something bothering you."
Hope placed an elbow on the edge of the counter, cradling his head in his hand, looking to the side. "Not really…" he mumbled.
Pondering, Snow rubbed his chin while staring at Hope, trying to figure out what had gotten him so down. The point of bringing Hope with him to the beach was to show him more of the Bodhum beachscape and to show him around town but it seemed that Hope wasn't going to cooperate very well.
Snow sighed, giving up, and leaned back in his chair. "Look, Hope, unless you tell me what's wrong, I won't have a clue on what's bothering you." He said while scratching the back of his head. "You can trust me, it's better than keeping it inside, right? Maybe I can help you out."
Hope looked up to Snow. Those last words of his were doubtful, but he could tell that he was sincere. "If you laugh, I'll ram your head into the table." He threatened.
"I won't!"
Hope looked to the floor and then to his shoes, avoiding all eye contact with Snow and to hide the evident blush he felt coming on before speaking.
"I… uh—I think I'm i-in love with Li-lightning…"
Out of all the possible things Snow expected Hope to say at that moment, right down to stating that he was gay, he never expected him to say such as thing as to admitting his feelings for Lightning.
"Wow… you, uh, really know how to choose them…" Sure, he was aware of a few number of crushes people had on Lightning, but they were just that, a crush, and went away as quick as they came. And plus, many of them were too afraid to say anything to her and only admired her from a far distance.
"I kind of thought you had a thing for Vanille, truthfully."
Hope shook his head. "We're only friends." He said calmly. "You're the second to say that after Sazh…"
"Well… I just expected you to be interested in someone your age" Snow paused for a second. "Wait, is that the reason why you're so upset?"
Hope wanted to tell Snow that it was his fault that he missed out on a chance to be with Lightning but he felt that it would be childish to continue to blame the man, and that the last thing he wanted to be. He needed to be a man and show Lightning and the others that he was not a kid.
"Not really… it's something else."
"Then say it, I'm all ears." He grinned that goofy smile of his. Even though most of the times that smile annoyed the crap out of Hope, it was what he needed the most now.
Hope stirred his drink while continuing to avoid eye contact from Snow. "I-I want to tell her but I'm scared of how she'll react and what would happen to our friendship if I did." His friendship with her was one of the most fragile ones he ever had with someone. But even so, he also felt that it was one of the strongest. "I don't to go back to how we were before… In her eyes, I'm just a kid."
Even though he was satisfied with how their relationship was with each other now, he still wanted to deepen it so that could be something more than just friends. But there was also the chance that she wouldn't feel the same and their friendship would become strained.
"Well… all I can really say to you is that I wish you the best of luck since this is Lightning we're talking about." Snow could see the slightest of hope he had in his eyes start to fade.
He ran a hand through his hair before continuing. "Listen Hope, I've known Light for at least four years and she still hates my guts for many reasons I don't know." He let out a short light-hearted laugh, thinking back to all the times where he had gotten bruises from Lightning. "It's been what, almost a year? And she's already taken a liking to you." Though he wasn't around Lightning all the time, he could tell that she treated Hope differently from everyone else. It was a little strange in Snow's opinion but still kind of cute and endearing. And he knew it was something he could tease her about later.
"What I'm saying is… if anyone has a chance at being with Light, it's you."
Hope stared wide-eyed at Snow as he finished. "Wow… that was… unexpected. I'm shocked, Snow."
"Hey, I can be deep and smart when I want to." He said with a small laugh as he reached over and ruffled Hope's hair. Soon, Hope couldn't help but smile as he spent the rest of the night having fun talking with Snow.
As the sky got darker and the beach got quieter, the two got ready to leave and return home. But before they left the beach, Hope took one last look at the starry sky and made a promise to himself.
I will tell Light my feelings… for sure.
-xxx-
As Hope entered the lobby of the apartment, he quietly made his way to the elevators but not before stopping after he saw Lightning nearby gathering her mail. He smiled widely but loosened his face once he thought about how much of an idiot he probably looked like at the moment, slowly approaching her.
Lightning soon noticed his presence besides her as she turned to look up at him, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"Hey, Hope," she said as he waved to her.
"Hey, Light. Why are you getting the mail so late?"
She turned to the letters in her hands before turning her attention back to him. "Oh, Serah and I kind of forgot to get it and she said something about waiting for a certain letter to arrive."
"Oh…" Hope simply said before silence came between the two as Hope scratched his hair lightly, a blush lightly tainting his cheeks.
Lightning stared at Hope's blushing face in amusement and couldn't help but think how much of a child he looked like, not that it was a bad thing or anything.
The elevator rang as the doors slid open as the two walked inside and waited without saying a word to each other as the elevator rode up the building to the sixth floor.
After a moment of silence, Lightning faced him.
"Hey Hope, do you want to stop by for lunch tomorrow?" she asked.
Hope almost choked on his own breath as he was caught completely off-guard with her invitation, his face reddening.
"To thank you for helping me out back then." She clarified. Even though Hope was a little bit disappointed in her reason, he was still nonetheless extremely happy.
Hope nodded frantically as the doors opened to their floor. "I-I'll be there!"
Lightning smiled as she stepped out of the elevator. "Okay, see you tomorrow then?"
Hope waved, "Yeah, see you, Light!", and headed to his door.
Once he was inside his room, he couldn't help but smile so big that his cheeks started to hurt. He probably looked like the most ridiculous person in the entire town of Bodhum.
But none of that was important. Tomorrow was his chance.
And this time, instead of running away from his uncertainties, he would run straight to it and hope to see the light at the end.
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Chapter thirteen [END]
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A/n: Okay... you guys must be wondering what was the point of this chapter... but it's to transition into the next chapter which I guess many of you are looking forward to XD (more of a reason why I shouldn't wait another month to update lol)
On another note, the whole "No, I couldn't, you kept insisting I..." Hope says was supposed to taken comically... so yeh...
On anoooother note, one of my many projects was to create a short story with a group and the main character's name was Claire. Yeh, I'm a total dork. I was tempted to make the fiancé name in the story Hope (since I was typing it) b-but I was outnumbered D'8
Preview: "Why didn't I notice it before?"
Please Review~!