Hey guys! Please forgive me for updating like a month later?! I'm so sorry, and again you can multiply my sorry by a million and then double it to the largest amount you can think of, and I'm even sorrier than that! I have been very, very busy actually, plus there are all these stuff cropping up at school; I didn't get much time but I managed to type this out over Saturday and Sunday :) And thanks so much to my new reviewers, favouriters and followers; Mjax76, lilangel25, ullnvrknw808, Samantta Hyuuga, Queen of Hearts, CaptainPopcorn6544, CourtneySoul, auliaa, Graluheartfullbuster, Kyto Touche, LostFran, Moka Kagamine, Narumi Jung, XDeathCloudX, xXIceMakeGrayXx, and BlackAngelJade.

Chapter Twenty One- Idiots

Take it easy; yeah, just like that. One deep breath, sitting up a little straighter and looking down at the floor. Nod and agree, nod and agree.

"So," Mom started slowly, and I concentrated on the living room floor-carpet, counting the number of loose threads in it. "So," she repeated, and I peeked up to see her glaring down at me.

"You got suspended from school, did you?" No, no Lucy! Don't worry; Moms don't kill their only daughters, just stop with that nervous smile and unstoppable fidgeting of the nails.

"And you have detention every day. You got suspended, you have detention every day of next week, and that's because you pressed the fire alarm, for a prank."

I made a almost non-committable sound, and nodded my head. I wish Mom would stop repeating everything, now I was actually feeling guilty even when I'm not supposed to! Huh, I was noble in movie language, weren't I?

"I have a good mind to ground you Lucy. Since when have you become this careless?" Finally, I raised my head to look at her face. She was leaning across the sofa while I sat cross-legged on the carpet. Way to start my Saturday morning.

Just great; Suspension, detention, and grounded. "Mom, come on! Haven't I had a punishment enough?" I clasped my hands together and batted my eyelashes.

Layla raised an eyebrow, and then answered very sweetly, "No honey, I definitely don't think you've had punishment enough," she paused and then finished in a slightly exasperated but amused tone. "But since I'm being generous today, you're not grounded."

I gave a shout of cheer and jumped onto her for a bear-hug—as a result, the coffee-table toppled over and Mom and I landed hard on the floor when she lost her balance.

"Sorry," I grinned sheepishly, and before Layla could change her mind about my punishment, I gave a quick salute and hurtled up the stairs and into my room.

"Oh that's alright; I'll re-arrange the living room all by myself!" Mom called up sarcastically.

I was already flopped down on my bed to doze off, when my phone started to ring; typical. Either it was the door or it was the phone that always ruined my Saturdays. Lazily, I dug it out from beneath my Biology book and checked to see Levy calling. Oh, no doubt she was going to question me about yesterday.

"Uh, hi." I mumbled, answering the call on the eighth ring a bit apprehensively. Levy could be scary when she wanted to, and I had honestly been evading her from Thursday. Where would I start?

"Luce, meet Erza and me near the café towards the school! And do hurry, alright? Mira's going crazy!"

Okay, that was not what I had been expecting, but I answered different anyway; "Sure, but why? Tell me Mira doesn't want us to find a boyfriend for Juvia today!"

I heard a half-amused, half-impatient laugh, before she replied; "Nope, that tragedy is still some time away. Now, come quick! Oh and wear something good!" Levy added, and the line went dead.

I looked down slowly at my oversized yellow T-shirt and denim shorts and then shrugged. This was good enough, and I was too lazy to find something better from my wardrobe which could rival a maze and win. Pulling my hair back into a braid, I went down the steps again and found Mom frowning at a magazine on the sofa.

"Can I go out for a bit, Mom? Levy just called." I asked tentatively, crossing the room to sit beside her. She nodded absentmindedly, before abruptly thrusting the magazine under my nose.

"Do you think the red one suits me better, or the pink one?" she demanded. I looked down at a catalogue full of dresses and silly women giving dieting tips—ugh, what did I do to suffer the horror of selecting dresses?

"Uh, how about the pink one?" I said, getting up hopefully to go out already. Layla thought for a while, before smiling broadly.

"I've decided. The red one it is!" I rolled my eyes; this was what she always did, she would ask me to choose something and then decide on the opposite of what I said. "Yes, you can go out for now. Oh and be back before two if you want to stay ungrounded!" she added.

I nodded and then came out of the house into the warm air. I started to jog a bit as I turned right and to the crooked little café with its forever smoking roof and windows with violet and pink flowers growing up till the sills—it always looked like some kind of magical little house in the middle of a story to me.

The deep rose roof came in my sight, and I walked closer, pushing the door open into the heavy smell of cakes and bread along with the sounds of tinkling cups and chattering people. But it was so hot today, the atmosphere inside was kind of suffocating.

I never got the point of coming to such a place early in the morning— but then, my friends were involved in this; they could be involved in launching singing slices of cheese and I wouldn't be surprised.

"Luce! Over here!" I had been examining a chocolate cut in the shape of a tree near the cakes, when I heard Erza's voice, interrupting my very much lady-like drooling.

A grinning Erza, Levy and disgruntled Mira were beckoning me from a round table near the tall, glass windows; I walked over to my friends and pushed back a chair to sit.

Why was the seat so soft? And warm? There was an annoyed hiss and yelp, before Candy leapt off the chair after I hurriedly got up, and perched herself on Levy's lap.

"Be careful who you sit on!" my best friend scolded me, glancing towards the manager to check that she hadn't seen the cat. She hadn't; she had earphones in her ears and was merrily squirting vanilla icing on a cupcake.

"Right, good piece of advice," I mumbled, sitting and turning back before continuing; "Now, why are we all wasting our Saturdays here?"

Apparently I was not the only odd one out, because Levy and Erza promptly turned expectantly towards a fidgeting Mira. I raised my eyebrows at my friend, absent-mindedly scratching my nose.

"Okay…so...I need-to-break-into-school-so-will-you-guys-please- help-me?" Mira blurted out real fast, before snatching up a discount card from the table and burying her face behind it.

"I didn't get a word." Levy stated slowly.

The eldest Strauss sister put the darn card down, took a deep breath and then said; "You guys, I need to…well I sort of have to get into school today…"

Erza put her cake down—wow, she must be getting serious to make such a huge sacrifice—and commanded; "Alright, spill."

"Yeah," Mira continued. "See; remember the fest coming up next week?" Levy and Erza nodded vigorously, while I frowned; "Which fest?" I demanded. Why didn't anyone tell me about anything at this school?

"It's on Monday; like day after," Levy explained. "Well, Mira and Juvia are going in for quiz, and there are only two teams for quiz…I think she's all worked up over something that involves that quiz thing." she turned back to Mirajane.

I worked hard to look curious—I love quizzes almost as much as I love Mia—while the 'big, big favor' question resumed.

"So, the other team is…Jet, Pete, Lyon, Rufus and Mia." I knocked Levy's coffee over and coughed pointedly—so loud that the kind-looking woman behind the glass counter glared at me not so kindly in spite of the earphones.

"And," my friend continued, ignoring my reaction while Levy tried to sop up the fallen coffee with the tablecloth edge. "I REALLY need to get the questions; it's vital, and—"

"I expected better from you Mira!" Erza and I exclaimed in shock simultaneously. But Mira held up a finger, so we waited for her to finish.

"Because technically, it's not my team that's cheating, it's theirs. The entire thing is organized by the school, right? So Prez Tora's going to be hosting it, and Mia and Rufus know him really well. Well enough to get the questions themselves, and it's not like they just want to win!" Mira added hurriedly. "There's been a bet, Makarov doesn't know about it."

"A bet?" Levy asked. She gingerly tucked the coffee-stained tablecloth somewhere in the bigger folds, and shot me an exasperated look while Candy licked the cloth. I realized it was my second time upsetting something today, and I wasn't usually that clumsy.

"Yeah; there was a bet the other day after school. Rufus claims that if they win, they get to order us around…for an entire day. And you know how those guys get!"

Before any of the others could get a word out, the only thing I said was; "I didn't even know Mia had brains for quiz to begin with."

"Sure doesn't want to miss the bet opportunity," Mira said grimly. "And I've seen her around that Tora boy; he's way too innocent not to get compelled by the demon, trust me. She's like a rubber ball; every time you try to squash her down she springs right back up with fresh demon ideas!" she ranted.

"Coming back to the point!" Levy trilled, banging her fist on the table and causing Candy to jump up.

I glanced out of the window while my friends shouted and negotiated over each other, watching the people hurry about with grocery-bags and cars zooming past the café. Three kids were playing with a half-deflated old football on the opposite pavement, and I as I watched one of them aim a kick so that the ball soared over the wall of a house, I remembered something with a start.

Had the match already started? No, it was supposed to start at ten, and it was…I checked my cell-phone and gulped; it was ten-forty five right now.

"Alright, alright, we'll help you!" Levy ended the major fight, and Mira and Erza heaved a huge sigh before briskly tucking into the cakes like nothing had happened. It seemed like the same case with Erza and her 'safe little party'. From whatever little I had heard with one ear paying attention, they were going in through the back gates, and if anyone asked anything…they were apparently going in for Saturday 'music-club practice.' That's when I remembered another thing.

"Ahem," I started softly. The three of them looked up at me, a piece of cake sticking out of Erza's mouth comically as she raised her eyebrows. I think none of these three had had any breakfast, otherwise they couldn't be tucking into all this so early.

"Uh, I forgot to mention I guess…I'm suspended, remember? I can't get into school, even if I say I belong to a non-existent music club."

There was a massive groan from Erza and Mira, while Levy tried to hide her pleasure at the prospect of ditching the 'Mission: Get Quiz Questions' with a; "Well, that's that then! If Lucy is not going, there's no one to depend on for sneaking in slyly!"

"Exact—wait a minute, what exactly do you mean Levy?" I said furiously. But even if I couldn't go, what was wrong in the rest of my friends going? Sure, Levy was pretty reluctant—okay, a lot reluctant—but if any demon was going to boss around my friend for an entire day, something definitely had to be done about it! And Juvia could help too. Speaking of which…

"Hey, where's Juvia?" I asked suddenly. Just in cue—like it happens in the movies—Erza's phone buzzed and she checked it before saying; "Juvia says she's already at the school. And…she's apparently determined to rather 'give her life than get humiliated by Mia."

The red-head made an impressed face. "Wow, that's deep." I rolled my eyes; if that was true in all cases, I should've died about four times.

But there was a sudden 'eep!' of excitement from Mira, and all of us turned to her to see her beaming at me brightly. Uh-oh; judging from her face, she just had one of her maniacal ideas, didn't she? And from the way she was looking at me, it involved me—again.

"Oh Lucy!" she sang. Oh boy, may I sing. "You're a really, really good friend, you know that right?" she said, leaning forward towards me with a hopeful face.

Nope, takes more than that to mollify me. "Cut to the chase, Mira." I said, crossing my fingers under the table.

"Okay! Now look, I have all my old props from last year's play, and my brother's coat will just about cover you completely, so that's one done. Your hair can't be dyed or anything of course," Mira mused for a moment while I could've sworn my heart missed two beats at the idea of dying my hair. "But I'm sure practically no one will notice if I use a wig! Pretty please, Luce!" she widened her eyes like an innocent Chihuahua.

I needed two minutes to process that incredibly bizarre idea, and even in that confusion I registered the fact that those two minutes as they slipped away were taking part of the match away with them. So many loose ends to tie, and I was stuck with wearing a guy's coat in the middle of summer.

But Mira and the others had helped me out so much whenever I needed it, and even though I didn't appreciate it enough, they had stayed by my side while I tried to work out all those problems in the past. It was not like they had ever neglected to listen to me or do something for me, and even if I had to break into school, it didn't matter. Heck, they broke through floorboards of a weird house in the forest full of people they had no idea about for me!

"Fine," I agreed wearily. "But I am not wearing a coat Mira! Do you want me to burn to death or something? And I don't think anyone could remember how a person's body shape is like, so I'll dress normal!" I listed my conditions, then looked impatiently at the time again. Almost eleven.

"With the exception of Loke," Levy muttered, smirking like a wee devil.

"Yeah, you wouldn't say that about yourself if you noticed half the guys in our class," Erza laughed, while my face turned into a cherry.

Five cake and coffee sessions later, it was decided; Levy and Erza would be heading straight off to school and try the Student Council's room first; Tora was its president from what I heard, while Mira and I would give me a whole new identity and meet them there.

It took about ten minutes to reach her house, and I was already boiling with the sweltering heat. I gazed jealously at a girl licking her ice-cream—oh so slowly—as we neared Mira's house and tried to ignore the thought of swimming-pools and beaches and popsicles.

"Alright," Mira announced, once we were both standing beside her bed in her room. Her mother had been taking a nap when we knocked, and she wasn't that happy to be woken up even though she was pretty nice to me.

Mira's room was a lot bigger than mine, naturally, with a deep pink floor-carpet. Her bed, under the window, was pushed up near the west wall like mine, and there was a black guitar lying beside her overloaded book-shelves and comparatively cleaner desk.

I looked back at the bed as my friend dumped three simple things on it; a hideous curly black wig, a pair of sunglasses that she dug out from under her desk, and a lip-gloss. I had managed to talk her out of the awesome idea on 'old props' on the way and reduced it to a minimum.

"Uh, what's the lip-gloss for?" I asked. Mira shrugged nonchalantly; "You didn't put anything on your lips today, I'm just trying to make you look a little better.

I groaned loudly, slapping my palm against my face. Seriously, beauty tips right now at this crucial moment? And when did I ever put any lipstick anyway? Stupid red stuff smeared on my lips!

There wasn't any time left to waste, so I quickly put on the wig. It was so scratchy and so uncomfortable, I shook it off the minute I wore it, but it came right back on when Mira did it instead. I could've roasted a chicken on my head now.

The sunglasses could be dealt with later, and I made a huge fuss over wearing it now—no one can blame me, it had cobweb strands on the rims—so Mira just swiftly made my eyes look bigger with mascara and a liner. The stuff on my lips felt weird too, and Mira even removed my earrings because they apparently didn't go with the 'hair'.

I gasped when I looked in the mirror. Artificial jet-black curls cascaded untidily down my shoulder and the bangs half-covered my left eye. My eyes looked intimidating and questioning at the same time, with the black lines around them making them even more prominent and huger than before. My lips were still fine, and thankfully the overlarge T-shirt fitted the new face perfectly.

"I don't look like anyone from school!" I protested. My friend contradicted me, however, ushering me down the stairs; "Nah, you look a lot like Madge Hunter! And don't worry; I'm sure hardly anyone you know will be there!"

"Lucy, why are you dressed up like Medusa?"

I gritted my teeth and tried to glare at Mira who was carefully ignoring me. Anyway the silly glasses were blocking my glare as well as half my vision.

Hardly anyone I know will be there. Sure; the school was PACKED with students because of the match and the fest prep, and Cana was currently staring at me impassively as she asked her question. From the looks of it, it was already half-time.

"Um…" I said wisely.

"Ah, don't worry! If you're looking for exam papers by the way, they're in the—" Cana started generously.

"No, it's okay!" I said quickly. "I'll get going then; just don't tell anyone you recognized me, alright?"

Cana agreed, and then sauntered back towards the match in her usual carefree way, hiccupping a little. Sometimes, I get the feeling she and Gildarts are related. But that can't be, I heard Gildarts was not married. I shrugged it off; it wasn't any of my business.

Mira and I looked at each other, and then nodded firmly. We were right behind the school building, outside the back gates, and we could hear the shouts and screams coming from the right. There was a separate basketball court and football 'stadium' as we called it, though it was really a huge grassy ground with people crowding around a solitary fence; the noise was coming from there now.

We silently climbed over the black gates and jumped down onto the dusty ground before picking ourselves up and walking like we were totally a part of everything happening today. We reached the building, and hurriedly raced around it and through the main entrance—we had successfully avoided anyone till now. I had wanted to come in through the main gates at first, but Mira said loads of people were there, so best to take a longer but safer route.

"Where're the others?" I asked, once we were behind the lockers in the deserted hall and I had stuffed the glasses in my shorts pocket. Mira texted one of us, and then after a few minutes I heard footsteps.

The both of us quickly tried to cram ourselves near the closest locker, but then I heard Juvia's voice; "It's Juvia and the others!"

Mira and I sighed with relief and I wondered why I had endured with the wig anyway if I was going to hide when anyone came near. Pushing that aside, I saw Juvia and Levy standing in front of us with serious faces which turned to temporary hilarity upon seeing me.

"Erza is going to Mia's classroom; I think we should split up. Luce and I can go to the Council room and you and Juvia can check out the art room." Levy said. I suddenly noticed she was still holding Candy, and the last time she brought Candy with her…

"Why's the kitten here?" I hissed furiously. Levy smiled meekly; "She refused to be left alone at home…"

"Why the art room?" Mira interjected, impatient.

"Last time all the stuff for the fest; even the quiz and the music things were there. Might as well have a go at it." The book-worm replied.

Nodding, the two of them took off and Levy and I began to walk fast to the stairs and up to the Student Council room. There was a particularly loud cheer from outside as either one of the schools goaled and I mentally sulked at not being able to come to the match.

"We couldn't go up the first time; Makarov was talking to someone near it for so long!" Levy complained as we reached the quiet, cool floor and looked up at the doors. "And anyway we're not supposed to be inside the building without special permission for practice at all, so we should better hurry—Luce?"

I was standing in the middle of the corridor, looking in through the little glass cut-out at the top of the wooden door marked 'Student Council President'.

"Tora has an entire room for himself? But...oh, he must've taken the old band-room!" Levy joined me, exclaiming out her realizations in a hushed whisper.

But that was not what had interested me; it was the people inside. I clearly saw a dirty-blonde, tall guy sitting on the desk—I recalled seeing his picture somewhere in our yearbooks so he could be Tora, and faintly, I also saw Amelia and another boy standing beside him.

There was a laugh from inside, then a mild scolding, before I noticed them heading towards us. "In the next room, now!" I ordered Levy, and scooping up Candy we rushed through the door beside.

Okay, not my best judgement so far; the minute we both came inside, I accidentally leaned back against the door, heaving, and there was a sharp click which didn't sound very encouraging considering I had never stepped into this room before. I looked around and saw that it had probably been left alone for longer than my—our—secret room up here, and the desks were older than Mira's sunglasses.

"Luce…what was that?" Levy enquired cautiously. I nervously tightened my braid under the itchy wig and then turned around to peek out of the glass cut-out first. I caught sight of Mia's elbow disappearing down the stairs, followed by a guy with almost waist-length hair.

I couldn't help myself as I started to laugh in spite of myself. He had grown his hair out so much it looked like he was a girl from behind, unlike Freed who looked way cooler when it came to his hairstyles. Levy glared at me as I said, "Did you see that other guy with Tora?"

"Rufus," Levy informed, pushing me aside to get a hand at the door. "Oh stop laughing Lucy; you look positively traumatizing with that wig." That sobered me up a little too well. Poor me, all my beauty lost in this horrible disguise.

I thought the door had been locked never to open again, but fortunately not. We examined it carefully once we managed to pry it open, and it was clear that it would fall down any moment if we lingered or messed with it too long.

The both of us slipped into the Student Council President room, and Levy started with the desk drawer while I checked the surface which was so spotlessly clean it literally sparkled.

"Ah-hah!"

I whipped around to Levy and came up beside her; there was one top drawer she had pulled out that was apparently jammed half-way through, but I could see leaflets of papers marked; CHS QUIZ, and then a bunch of random stuff which I couldn't read in the dim light of the room due to the undrawn curtains.

I tried to tug it open with both hands, coming in Levy's position; "Won't…come…out!" I grunted, sweating as I tried to pull it open.

Suddenly, I gave it a massive tug—and I fell back near the wall on my butt, with the drawer crashing a foot away. Papers, stationary, and a weird glass-ball tumbled down on the wood with loud bangs and crashes; the floor shook with the impact of the desk. Candy went out of sight under a desk in fright, hissing, and Levy had to coax her out.

"Oops." I grinned.

Levy was laughing and making exasperated sounds at the same time as she tried to pick everything up and de-demolish the place. All thanks to me of course; I know, I know, I'm proud of me too.

Finally everything was in place—or almost, since the drawer was askew and the glass-ball had shattered which I had to discard in the bin—and Levy and I hurried out of the room, clutching the questions in our hands.

Did I mention how much I hate that man in the Land of Idiots? As Levy was merrily texting the others that we were going to meet each other at the back gates again, and I was worrying that it was almost eleven fifty now, my friend abruptly pulled me back near the second flight banisters.

"What's wrong?" I asked, though I kind of knew the answer through my intuition.

She didn't say anything, but I saw the reason when I peered around a bit; the principal Makarov, chatting away to a tall man as he ascended the steps, and I began to think that if Cana saw through this stupid disguise why couldn't he? Plus it was not like we were supposed to be here in the first place.

"I have an idea…" Levy whispered excitedly all of a sudden. Without warning, she brought Candy near the mouth of the stairs, and let the tiny kitten go. "Wreak havoc!" she muttered to her.

We stifled our laughs despite the situation as we watched; Candy joyously ran up the other man's leg, and he screamed and toppled over Makarov. The principal regained balance by clutching the banisters like a life-line, but Candy had now crawled onto the man's head.

"Get this monster off me!" he shrieked, clawing at the air blindly before finding Makarov's neck for support.

Our principal turned blue when his air supply was cut off, and he tried to whack the man with his fist. I watched in fascination as the first guy made a sound you would make when you saw a tiger, and Makarov tried to shout it was just a cat; now the seemingly bored Candy ripped off part of the man's suit, pawed a bewildered Makarov's nose once, and hopped down the stairs, leaving them both in a horrified daze.

"Sweet." I mumbled.

"You should get out right now Luce, through the main entrance itself. I'll lie and say I chased my cat up here, if Makarov catches me," Levy whispered to me.

"You'll get in trouble!" I said. Levy shook her head; "Trust me I won't. Plus it's not me who's suspended…and I don't think those two will be recovering very soon."

She pointed to the two panting people at the bottom of the stairs, Makarov shouting profusely at the other man for behaving like a child, and I nodded gratefully. Giving her the remaining quiz papers, I quickly skimmed down the stairs while the two were distracted and disappeared like a whirlwind through the entrance once I was down near the lockers again.

Then with a split-second decision, I ran to my left and towards the now slightly subdued shouts of the crowd surrounding the football match instead of heading out.

I didn't care who saw me; I was going to the match though I hadn't initially planned it. And Gray wasn't knowing about it. Smiling deviously to myself, I checked my phone once again for the time and my heart sank into my boots…oh brilliant; it was a few a minutes past twelve already. The match was probably over by now.

I was right; the minute I neared the grounds, the noise became louder and louder, until I saw people practically carrying one of the teams on their shoulders. I squinted harder to see that it was our school which had won, and started to cheer myself with a broad grin on my face. Alright, I missed it. So what, at least they won!

Not having anything else to do, I decided to get back home now. I had successfully helped out Mira, hopefully got Mia in the 'loser bag' and Gray had won. And I…had an eventful morning I guess.

The sunglasses were still in my pockets, and I didn't feel like wearing them, so naturally if anyone looked close enough they would know it's me, but who cared? Makarov was perhaps still nursing his neck and cursing every cat in the world upstairs.

Bored, I began to walk out of the school and around the football grounds—the extension of the school—lazily, when I heard someone running towards me from the grounds. Instinctively I raised an arm, thinking the person was about to collide with me, but when they did not, I lowered my arm and I moved in closer near the secluded fence and bushes to avoid the sunlight falling directly on my eyes; due to my obstinacy with the glasses.

"Hey."

I looked up, and tried to shut off my surprised and somewhat uninvitingly pleased expression. Wow, he recognized me from who knows how far; some disguise Mira had given me. Resigned, I yanked the wig off, and balanced it neatly on one of the lowest jutting wires of the fence. I saw that the match ground was almost empty, with everyone near the main school area and a lone guy collecting bottles in the distance.

"Lucy?"

Still ignoring him, I concentrated on my nails as if they had sprouted very interesting little patterns. I thought we were done and we were even. Why was he talking to me, making things worse?

That rainy day was still fresh in my mind, considering it was just a day before, but now it seemed years away after I blocked it out. Now he just made it come tumbling out again. It wasn't exactly the first time someone left me; the first time it was not mine but Jude's fault. And the second time was my selfishness apparently. So why did people bother to make a commitment if they just wanted to break it off after some time anyway? It was stupid and it hurt.

"We won?" Nervous and trying to get me to talk. Oh very smooth; guess I couldn't expect anything better from him.

"I had no idea." I spoke at last, but with my usual mocking sarcasm that irked a lot of people I hated. I stole a glance, giving in to my curiosity…I felt like that day in the school assembly hall; him all mesmerizing like he woke up looking perfect. Even with a sweat-stained black and red T-shirt and weird shorts which suck even for my fashion taste. And the messy hair falling on his face. Disgusting.

"I'm sorry."

My eyes widened. I hadn't been expecting an apology, more of a 'thanks for getting suspended for me so I could play Lucy!' Trust me, I had watched enough movies to know how two people got back together again; this guy was surprising me. His words were not imploring or the tone that suggested I should talk with him, he sounded more resigned and self-ashamed if I wasn't wrong.

"Well don't be, or you'll be sorrier if you see me hanging out with Natsu ever again." I snapped rudely. Not because I wanted to, but because I didn't have the time to figure out what I wanted to say myself, or put it in words at all.

Gray's deep blue eyes filled with pain when I looked at them at last, and I noticed his left hand that was gripping the fence wires so tight I could see his nerves standing out; it must have hurt.

Irritated for no good reason and getting annoyed with the burning heat like a spoilt brat, I began to rub the mascara off with my fingers like a child. Or I think it was the mascara that was prickling near the corners of my eyes. I was thinking of leaving—there was nothing left to say—when I saw Gray take a big, determined breath.

His words came out so fast, it was almost incoherent, but I had spent a lot of time listening to that voice so I understood;

"Look, I was and I am, a completely stupid, selfish, delusional, jealous, confused, bitter, irrational, good-for-nothing, useless piece of junk, and I swear I'll never hurt you again! I swear that I will never, ever, be so harsh or so unimaginably wrong with you, and I'm so, so sorry for being the person I am! I'm sorry Lucy, and if you hate me, then you're right because I never had a proper reason for letting you go. And I do know I don't deserve you."

Gray paused for the shortest of breaths, and his voice cracked as he said the last words; "And I won't stop you or force you to talk with me if you do despise me, and I don't care if you do that either. Just...just say you forgive me, and then you can forget about me forever. I'm a jerk, and I know it. I was jealous." He repeated, as if that was the moot point all along and he had forgotten to mention it before.

I opened my mouth, but I just got one word out; "Gray…"

But he cut me off; "No, don't. Don't say you hate me now, I can't take it. It was so incredibly stupid of me, I should have thought about what I was doing! And I still... love you, I was just too jealous of Natsu and the way you were around him... and I was an insecure idiot. I'm sorry, Luce, I really am. I'm so sorry."

Gray shut his eyes very tightly for a moment, and then leaned his body face-first towards the fence. I saw his hands had become white with gripping them so tight, and his face looked like he was trying to control something very badly. Melodramatic little idiot.

And I knew now. Everything that happened; whatever had been going on in his mind.

"Over?" I said softly.

No idea how he interpreted that seemingly harmless word, but if he thought there was a double meaning—which actually there wasn't—then he answered both in an almost inaudible voice; "Yes."

Seriously, if he wasn't so cute, I would have punched him for his cheesy 'I love you' and 'I'm sorry' lines already. He was lucky he got saved from my wrath, which when it came to cheesiness on boys' parts, was a hell lot scarier than Erza's.

I was a fool to do it, since the resolve I had made for Gray was now dissipating pretty quickly, but I smiled a little and reached out my mascara-stained fingers towards Gray. His eyes were still closed, but they snapped open in shock when I grabbed hold of his T-shirt collar and pulled him towards me.

His hands left the fence—good, because his blood supply had probably been cut off already—and his face and the familiar minty breath were dangerously close when I pulled him near me; it felt cool in the hot weather. Then I crashed my lips against his, and vaguely felt his tentative hands grip the small of my back and entangle in my hair without hesitation.

My forehead was still pressed against his surprisingly cool and smooth one—considering he just came out of a heated football game—and I saw my right hand was unconsciously clutching the front of his T-shirt in a small fist when I broke away.

"I agree with you," I whispered to him. "You're a complete idiot. The hottest, cutest, sweetest, most caring, most annoying idiot in the history of idiots."

Without a word and with an almost angelic smile, Gray pulled me in to meet his lips again.

Eventful day? You bet.

Did I mention I am very nervous about this chapter? No, I guess not :D I'm actually worried if it was too boring or dragging in any way, and I hope that the last part was good enough! And that you guys liked it :P So pleaser review and tell me whether it was good or not, or I'll soon be left with no nails since I keep biting them with tension (though part of that's this performance coming up on Wednesday for our school fest :D) I'll try and update next weekend again, or hopefully by Friday :)