Stand By Me by Fullmetal Pyromaniac
Chapter twenty-one
The next day, the club room was filled with anxiety, Elizabeth could almost feel it pouring out the room when she opened the door. Almost instantly, Diane let out a cry and wheeled herself at rocket speed towards Elizabeth, hugging her tightly.
"Gosh Elizabeth! You scared us all to death!" Diane said, her voice strained with hugging Elizabeth, "How are you doing?"
"I...I'm" Elizabeth started, not looking Diane in the eyes. Ban, Gowther, and King all took their seats in front of her. Meliodas placed his hand on her shoulder while she explained the past few days' events. After finishing her story, Diane looked like she would cry, King was silently snuffling away tears, Gowther looked more sombre, and Ban just looked plain sick.
Diane lifted her head, spun Elizabeth around and began pushing her out the room determinedly.
"We're going to have a bit of girl time! See you all tomorrow!" She yelled, giving the boys one last wave and completely drowning out Elizabeth's shouts of surprise. Meliodas, Ban, Gowther, and King just exchanged weird looks.
"So captain...we've been meaning to ask, are you and Ellie, y'know, goin' out?" Ban asked slyly, leaning over the back of his chair and giving Meliodas a feral-like grin.
...
"So. Whats going on with you and Meliodas?" Diane asked almost as soon as Elizabeth had sat on her bed. She blushed slightly and looked away.
"Well, quite a lot really, he found me after my big fall, so our relationship has changed quite a bit, I don't think we're dating..." She trailed off, Diane looked both exasperated and unpleased.
"You don't think?! Has he kissed you?" When Elizabeth shifted awkwardly, Diane nearly thrust herself off her chair, "Oh-my-god! When?!"
"It was only on the forehead" Elizabeth insisted, holding up her hands nervously, Diane calmed down a little and sat back, grinning smugly.
"He really likes you, it's official. I'd give it a week at most before he asks you out" and she winked, Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hands, embarrassed but hiding a wide grin beneath them. Then she turned to Diane, smiling triumphantly.
"What about you and King? You two seem to be awfully close" Diane turned a deep crimson and hid her mouth behind a thick pigtail. She seemed conflicted by something, then leant toward Elizabeth, shielding her mouth with one hand.
"Can I show you something, and can you promise not to tell anyone?" she whispered, Elizabeth nodded gently and sat back. Diane closed her eyes and scrunched up her face, gripping the arms of her wheelchair until her knuckles turned white. Elizabeth peered at her expectantly, then noticed her feet slowly moving, turning in slow, jerking movements.
"Oh my god Diane!" Elizabeth exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands, "This is amazing!"
Diane flushed, sitting back and relaxing, "Thanks, it's taken me ages, but I'm nearly ready to leave here"
At this, a sombre look came over Elizabeth, realising she might not make it out of the hospital. She braved a smile, however.
"I'm so happy for you, does anyone else know?"
She hid her smile behind of her hair, "That's the thing, I want to do one thing before I leave...I want to confess to King"
Elizabeth gaped, then smiled excitedly, taking Diane's hands in her own. Diane was a light pink colour, but sincerity shone in her eyes.
"Really? I'm so happy for you" Elizabeth told her, "How are you going to ask him?"
"I- I had something in mind, but I'll need your help to set it up"
Elizabeth grinned widely, "Of course, you're my best friend! I's always help you" her grin turned mischievous, "Now lets get planning!"
...
When the two returned to the club room a bit later, the guys were instantly suspicious. Diane was an odd shape of pink and avoiding eye contact with anyone, while Elizabeth couldn't stop grinning and was extremely chipper.
"How'ye feelin' Ellie?" Ban asked from his seat at the round table, Elizabeth nodded thankfully and wheeled herself to the space at the table that Meliodas had cleared for her, King did the same for Diane and the sins were reunited once more. Gowther brought out the book which seemed heavier than when Elizabeth had last seen it.
"I finished my chapter early" Gowther showed them pages and pages of his neat cursive writing, "So I decided to add character profiles and a magic spells book, then I added a section about the schooling systems and the neighbouring counties, then I added the other Knights of Camelot, and Princess Gwendolyn, and made up a dead language that was used before the goddesses were created"
Everyone sweat dropped, smiling fondly at Gowther who responded with two peace signs.
"Well, you've certainly been productive" Meliodas stated with a sheepish chuckle. Gowther fixed his glasses, then took them off checking the fragile glass in it.
"Hm, I also started planning for the next big arc in the story"
"Arc?" King inquired, "We hadn't planned on making another one so soon"
"I'm aware of that, but with Elizabeth's recent news, I was inspired for a new villain, one that we could keep incorporating into future chapters. He's an interesting character, to say the least, born a druid of the Eastern Forest he was in the crowd when the sins first paraded through Lyones -then known as Outer Edimbourg- he recognised Meliodas' demon power and was terrified by it. In an attempt to save himself and Britannia from Meliodas' power, he began experimenting with the demons blood, injecting it into the newer Holy Knights. Then into himself"
Diane sat up in her wheelchair, "Therefore, he'd instantly be on both Meliodas' and Ban's bad side because of the demon blood, Gowther that's genius!" she exclaimed loudly.
"The villain could also be used as a metaphor for Elizabeth's illness, with Elizabeth having the blood of a goddess he would use it to open the coffin of eternal darkness, rendering her virtually lifeless, unless she fought back, or we reached her first."
"He could then completely turn into a demon, escaping so we could use him in a further character arc" Ban added with glee, slinging an arm around Gowther and ruffling his hot pink hair, "You weird, freaky genius"
"He could also have used Vivian to aid him" Elizabeth interrupted, "She could have been the one to kidnap me, being a mage training under Merlin of course"
"The villain could have offered Gilthunder in return for bringing him Elizabeth" Meliodas shouted, "Gowther you're a genius!"
"What if he was part of the previous Holy Grandmasters assassination plan, and he came up with his demon-blood-plan after he discovered than we hadn't been imprisoned or killed?" Diane offered her ideas which were taken in with great satisfaction. Together they all began writing down the ideas next to Gowther's brief chapter plan. Elizabeth offered to write it all out, having so much extra time lately, she wanted to at least finish this before she left all her friends behind.
...
It was past tea time when Meliodas and Elizabeth returned to their ward, Elizabeth eager to begin writing, her legs were virtually useless. Meliodas was just excited for her to start writing, Elizabeth had a certain talent for her writing.
"So...what did Diane need you for so urgently today?" Meliodas asked with raised eyebrows. Elizabeth winked and tapped the side of her nose.
"Sorry, can't say, girls promise. You'll find out soon enough anyway"
"Oh?" He halted Elizabeth's wheelchair and pushed his face close to her own "Not even for a kiss?"
Elizabeth turned a bright shade of pink, "N-no"
"You seem uncertain" Meliodas mused, then he pushed away. Hurt and humiliation filled Elizabeth, she hung her head and began to push herself towards her room. She did want to kiss him, she did, but not over a stupid promise or dare. Elizabeth had gotten a little further when she realised that Meliodas wasn't next to her.
Elizabeth stopped then wheeled herself around. Meliodas stood just in front of her, hair messy, in his blue stripy pyjamas, his eyes smiling gently. His hand was in the pocket of his pyjama trousers, pulling out a bright yellow flower, like a daffodil but slightly smaller. Meliodas took small steps before Elizabeth, and gently held out the flower.
"What if I was certain that I wanted to be with you?" he asked sheepishly, his cheeks dusted with a light sprinkling of pink. Elizabeth took a look at the flower, it was beautiful, reminiscent the summers days that had long passed.
Elizabeth pushed herself forward, so they were almost face-to-face, then pressed her lips to his cheek, just next to the corner of his lips.
"I...I think I'm certain too" she whispered after she pulled away.
The evening turned to night, then Meliodas fell asleep in Elizabeth's room, the two wrapped around each other. In the white hospital room, for one innocent evening, it seemed like nothing could harm them.
End of chapter twenty-one.
A.N. Ay Caramba, chapter 25 took me so long to write! But hey, at least I got this one out. I have my exam next month, and another on the 22nd, so updates until then will be extremely slow, but on the plus-ish side we're almost finished! When we get 100 reviews, I will post a teaser of the prologue after the chapter...so, get reviewing!
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