A/N: You guys have all responded pretty negatively to the last chapter. I'd imagine that, honestly. I just hope that you all have a little faith. It will all work out in due time. I just find it funny how many of you have been talking about Rogue. I mean Gray breaks up with Lucy for Cana and you're all worried about Rogue being OOC. Haha. Well I always find it odd how in the anime he is always quiet and portrayed as very respectful and kind. Just because he's quiet doesn't mean he has to be good, right? I mean why can't he be devious.
Please Review!
"Gray?" Wendy asked, knocking on her brother's door. "Mom wanted me to tell you that dinner's ready."
"I'm not hungry," Gray called back.
Wendy pouted and ran down the stairs. She couldn't remember a time when Gray wasn't hungry for dinner. He was always excited to eat with everyone. Many times he would be downstairs almost an hour before dinner, complaining that he was starving. It was odd that he wasn't hungry.
"I told you to get your brother," Ur said, setting the table for dinner. Ultear was helping her. Kyle was just coming into the room with a big pot of chili that would be their food for the evening.
"He said he wasn't hungry," Wendy said, sitting down at her usual place.
"He did go straight into his room after school," Ur said, thinking aloud. "Do you think he's upset about something?"
"I'll go talk to him," Kyle offered, kissing Wendy on the head. "You guys go on and start eating." He made his way up the stairs, wondering what on Earthland could be bothering his adoptive son. He knocked twice on the teen's door.
"I told you I'm not hungry!" Gray yelled out, his voice breaking a little at the end.
"It's me," Kyle said, jiggling the handle. The door was locked. "Can I come in?"
"Just go away," Gray faintly responded. He was curled up on his bed, seconds away from crying. He knew that he made Lucy cry at school, and he hated himself for it. He truly didn't know what to do. There was obviously something between himself and Cana the night before, and he did miss her, but he loved Lucy. But with Lucy he often felt like he was babysitting a child. Cana was a woman who could handle herself. She didn't need him there every second of the day, but she could entertain him and wanted him there. There were so many silent, awkward moments with Lucy. He didn't know how far was too far. She would be fine with him doing something one minute, yet hate him for it the next. It was too frustrating trying to be around her. But he still loved her, oddly enough.
Kyle could hear that Gray was either crying or close to it. "Gray, open the door," he said sternly. He couldn't bare the thought of something so severe happening that could bring his son to tears. He knew that Gray never cried or showed much of any weakness, yet he was breaking down by himself in his room.
Surprising Kyle, he heard the door click! as it was unlocked. He slowly opened the door. Gray was laying on his stomach on his bed, silent tears threatening to fall. It broke his heart to see him that. "What happened?" he asked, sitting beside Gray on the edge of the bed.
Gray was debating whether to talk to him or not. He may have some solid advice. He was the only family that knew that he ever dated Cana. Kyle had to promise not to tell Ur in order for him to know. It was their little secret, and actually the only secret they shared at that point. Sharing that between just them actually brought them together as father and son. Gray had fully excepted that he had a new family at that point and began to trust Kyle.
Kyle thought a moment. "Did something happen with Lucy?" He knew that the two have been dating for quite a while now, so he was just taking a wild guess. The girl hadn't come over since the disaster dinner they had, at least that he knew of, so he wondered if they were still dating. She seemed like an odd girl, not talking much and hiding under her clothing. He didn't really see how Gray could be with someone like that, since he was so outgoing, but they say opposites attract. He figured she was just nervous that night, anyways.
Gray began mindlessly playing with the edge of his blankets. "We aren't dating anymore," he said quietly, not meaning to sound sad. It came out that way, though.
"Did she break up with you?" Kyle asked. He figured she did, since Gray wouldn't be this upset if it was the other way around, unless, of course, he had to break up with her for some reason other than him wanting to.
"I broke up with her," Gray said with an offended tone. He's never been upset about a girl breaking up with him. Actually the only time he was ever upset about breaking up with anyone, no matter who ended the relationship, was with Cana. He mentally cursed himself for thinking about her again. He had thought about the possibility of getting back together with her many times, but not since Lucy arrived. Now he was thinking about it all over again, and that's clearly worked out for him so well already, considering he broke up with his girlfriend because of it. "It's really not a big deal."
"Then why are you so upset?" Kyle asked. He was considering the idea that Lucy cheated on him, but she seemed to shy to be in one relationship, let alone two at once. That made Gray's sadness all the more of a mystery.
"I'm not upset about that," Gray snapped before thinking. Was that true? Did he even care that he broke the poor girl's heart? He felt extremely bad about using Cana like he did, despite her being the one that started the whole thing. He felt bad that he put a wedge between Gildarts and Cana. She would probably ignore him for a while because of how much he was caring about the whole situation. It seemed like every time he tried acting like a father she got mad at him for it. But did he feel bad about hurting Lucy? The more he thought about it, the more he thought he didn't care. She's the one that can't decide what she wants, right? But wasn't that exactly what Gray was donig? A whole lot of not deciding?
Kyle could almost see the inner termoil inside of Gray. "What are you upset about?" If he wasn't upset about breaking up with Lucy, he must have done something. "What stupid thing did you do this time?" he asked, laughing, trying to lighten the mood a little. He noticed that Gray drooped a little. He did do something stupid. "Oh no, what did you do?" He could just tell it wasn't anything short of horrible just by the way he was acting.
Gray decided that he would tell his adoptive father. He wouldn't be upset about it. He would probably just make a joke then break out the good advice. That's what usually happened, anyways. "I was at Lucy's yesterday, right?" Gray asked, leading into the problem.
"Yeah, and you never came home," Kyle said sternly. "I hope you know you worried us sick." He thought a moment. "Did you stay at Lucy's? Don't tell me you slept with her and broke up with her afterwards." He hoped that wasn't the case. It was pretty obvious what that did to a girl. He's done it to a few in his day, and it never turned out well for anyone.
"Not with her," Gray said, not even thinking. He realized what he said the moment after. Kyle was giving him a look. He sighed and looked down at his bed. "I slept with Cana last night."
Kyle was speechless. How did he get from being with Lucy to being with his ex-girlfriend? Was he still dating Lucy at the time? And how exactly did he end up sleeping with Cana? He wasn't angry at Gray, though. He wasn't one to point fingers or get mad about what already happened. He was more of the type to explain why it was wrong and urge them not to do it again, that way his kids still trust him. It seemed to work for him so far. "Okay, you're going to have to explain more. I'm a little lost."
That's what was odd about their relationship. Gray could talk to him like he was one of the guys, and Kyle would act the same back. They wouldn't judge each other, and they would make jokes about whatever later. Sometimes they would even go into town and check out girls. That was just the bond they had, and they both loved it. Kyle was exactly like Gray when he was a teenager, making most of the same mistakes, so they got along quite well.
"Lucy and I were in her room and her dad just came in with Rogue, who's one of her friends from where she used to live. Jude just said that they have to go out on a date. It really pissed me off, but I didn't say anything to him. As soon as he left, though, I called Rogue out on it. He just said that they were just going to hang out, making Lucy think it was all innocent, then he told me that he was going to take her away from me and shit." He paused so Kyle could process what he was saying.
"So she left, just like that?" Kyle asked, a look on his face screaming confusion. He wasn't confused about what Gray was saying, though, but rather why Lucy would do that.
"Pretty much," Gray said, shrugging. "I just went over to Jellal's. When I showed up there was a party going on. We all got plastered." He noticed the pointed look he was getting. He knew that he could tell Kyle that he drank at parties because Kyle remembered going to all those parties himself as a teenager. He wouldn't yell at Gray for something he did. Ur, on the other hand, would freak. That's mostly why he was closer to Kyle; he was more level-headed. "When Cana said that I need to be with her one more time before anything get's too serious with Lucy I couldn't find a reason to say no. So we went back to her place."
"I'm surprised you remember so much," Kyle laughed. "Then again, I don't care how drunk you are; no one could forget getting with a girl like that."
Gray laughed with him. He didn't think it was odd that his dad just called his ex-girlfriend, and potential future girlfriend, hot. He was used to talking about hot girls with him. When they both calmed down, he continued talking. "I broke up with Lucy today after school." The image of Lucy's confused, crying face flashed in his mind. That was enough to make him want to cry all over again. "I didn't even give her an explain. I just told her the classic 'it isn't working' speech and walked away." His voice was cracking again.
"That must have broken her heart," Kyle said, judging by Gray's reaction. "You were her first boyfriend, right?" He recieved a hum in responce. "How far did you go with her?" Another good thing about them was that it wasn't awkward to talk about either of their sex lives, as long as they didn't bring up Ur. Past girlfriends were fine, but Gray wouldn't be able to look Ur in the face if they talked about that. He just didn't want to think about his parents doing that, anyways. It was okay to hear about when Kyle was younger simply because he wasn't as old and Gray didn't know any of the people.
"Second base," Gray said, shrugging slightly. He was still playing with the blanket. "I'm sure she isn't too upset about any of that," he said, meaning about how intimate she was before she was broken up with.
Gray's phone buzzed from inside his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that he had a text from Cana, asking him to come over. He said that he would be right over. He hoped out of bed, his sadness that originally brought Kyle into the room long forgotten.
"Gray?" Kyle asked. The boy turned around at the door. "If you love her, don't let her go."
Gray nodded and left.
He didn't have to ask which girl Kyle was talking about, because he wasn't meaning either one. He was leaving that for Gray to decide.