Scarlet

You'll be my Raven and I'll be your Scarlet

A/N: Heyo guys! :D Yes, I'm updating this chapter at 23:05, but let's just say that I was too invested in my music xD. I have this tablet my parents got me a bit after Christmas and a bit before my Birthday, so I don't really know if it's a Christmas or a Birthday present xD Anyway, I was just playing Crossy Road with the emo goose when inspiration came to me to download as many songs as I could so I could listen with by brand new headphones (which were given to be a while after my Birthday, but I don't know if I should call it a Birthday present xD). I don't really ask for anything because I don't expect stuff, so when my parents gave me these things I was so shocked and happy :o Anywho, I spent at least 3 hours just downloading music xD. But! I was also writing the chapter summaries, so you know, I was doing it for you guys :p Stay adorable and wonderful and I hope you guys have great days ;) Btw, I usually reply to reviews on your private account(if you have one) just because I don't want to spam you guys with my writing, as I usually like writing a lot xD This was long O-O... Enjoy :D

To Grayza forever(may I compliment your excellent choice of name ;) ) : Thank you so much! :D Ul is actually very important to the story line, and her life also has major importance to the story ;) I can't write too much but yeah, it was something that HAD to be written :p I will keep it up and thank you so much for reading :D!

Chapter XXVI: Playboy

Gray had been through a phase of crying randomly over and over again. It had been three years since Ul died, and Gray was coping really badly. His brother Lyon tried to help him, but it just made Gray feel worthless. Lyon cooked, cleaned and even worked as a paperboy all week so they could afford food, while Gray was acting like a waste of space just crying and thinking and moaning in an endless cycle. School had been unforgiving as ever, but there was nothing that could rouse him to man up a bit.

Gray woke up with the sound of an alarm ringing in his ears. Great, school again. And it was a Monday... Slowly, he got up from his bed, half naked, and jumped off it. He started putting on a new pair of boxers and a white school shirt that Lyon had washed by hand when he saw his guitar. He hadn't touched it since she had gone and now he glared at it, disgusted at how it remained unchanged while he was changing every single day from a happy boy to a broken one. Gray was about to kick it when suddenly his heart skipped a beat. For some abnormal reason, he thought that he felt Ul's presence - but that was impossible, right? Gray stared at the ceiling, knowing full well that he wouldn't see anything. He sighed, tired of his stupid speculation and began changing again. As he was about to open his bedroom door to exit, he stared at the guitar one more time. Gray had been wrong about one thing. It may have looked exactly the same, but he hadn't used it in three years, so it would probably be hard to tune back to its original sound. And since a very long time, that was the first smile he had actually made. Small, but genuine and child like, not like the brooding adult he had been becoming. The guitar was a bit like his brother Lyon, broken on the inside but still trying to keep appearances, unlike him.

The door suddenly flung back and Gray flew and dropped on the carpet in a daze, while his older brother stood in front of him with a huge grin on his face. "Wake up Gray!" screamed Lyon with joy, surprised to see his brother actually awake. Gray had plugged his ears with his hands while closing one eye, recoiling at the loudness.
"If you haven't noticed, I'm awake," he said in a cold, monotonous tone. Lyon smiled a huge, toothy grin, glad that his brother was finally making progress. Even Lyon missed Ul terribly, but as an older brother he had a duty to uphold and he would only cry if the emotions were too hard to keep away. He would never show weakness in front of Gray, because he wanted Gray to see him as someone who could help him in any situation and support him, not just his older brother who always competed with him.

Gray stood up and grabbed his bag before going downstairs. They ate their breakfast in silence, eating the pancakes Lyon had previously made. There was no need to speak, as they both knew that Gray would probably only either shake his head, nod or mumble. After breakfast, they took their bicycles and started cycling to school. Even though Lyon wasn't sure just how much better Gray was, he wasn't crying yet, so that meant that he could maybe still show his competitive side.
"Gray, I'll race you to school!" Lyon shouted excitedly while looking back at Gray before speeding off. Gray muttered something under his breath, commenting on his brother cheating, before pedalling as fast as he could to catch up and possibly defeat his brother. Lyon didn't know this, but Gray knew a secret shortcut that could lead him quicker to the school. Gray sped around the corner and started pedalling as fast as he could, making sure to avoid accidentally running people over. He reached the school gates uneventfully early, and Lyon was nowhere in sight. Gray allowed himself a small smile, glad that he could still do these silly competitions with Lyon so naturally. As he was getting off the bicycle, Gray spotted a little girl who had fallen over and was bleeding. Worried, Gray started approaching her. A tall woman reached the girl before him and as she wailed, the mother cooed at her and made silly faces to make the girl smile. Of course, every other person seemed to have a loving parent that would be there for them always. Gray would never have anything like that anymore...

Gray snapped in that moment, tired of living like some useless piece of junk. If he was a useless piece of nothing, at least he could try and enhance some of his talents. He could care less now about all those lucky children who didn't know what losing two sets of parents felt like. Gray was tired of trying to ignore the fact that Ul would never come back because she wouldn't, so she couldn't judge his actions now. Gray then decided that his best features were probably his looks. Girls had always tried to confess to him or something of the sort, but he had usually ignored it because he thought that they were too young and too fickle. Maybe he could use that to his advantage? Gray spotted a girl in his year who had left him a love letter in his locker, and he had politely refused. Now however, the offer was much more tempting. Without any second thoughts, Gray walked up to the girl and kissed her, full on the lips, but nothing more. After he was done, the girl had looked so shocked that it had almost made him want to laugh out loud. He wiped his mouth, trying to get rid of that chap stick sort of feel before kissing girl after girl after girl. It didn't matter who it was, he just needed to get his frustration out. Apparently, his new undiscovered talent of being an amazing kisser aided his conquest. By the end of the bell, he had kissed all the girls in his year. Satisfied, he went back to the gate to see that Lyon was looking at his watch. He already knew that he had lost, thanks to Gray's bicycle being there, but he didn't know what the hell he had been doing or where he had gone.

"Gray, why do you look so flushed? Did you run or something, your hair is all messy and your face is a light red?!" questioned Lyon, confused as to why his brother looked in that state, when just a few minutes ago he had been dressed correctly. Gray licked his lips before giving Lyon a crooked smile and slinging his arm around Lyon's shoulder.
"You'll find out soon," he said while laughing. Lyon stared at his younger brother, who was acting very strangely. After being overcome with grief, had he suddenly relapsed and become insane? Lyon would soon find out.

Rumours in school spread fast, and everyone knew about Gray's antics that morning, which had continued in between classes and at break time. By the end of the day, Gray had kissed almost every girl in the school. He didn't need to go through the process of making them fall for him, he just kissed them forcefully and in that instant, they would fall for him. It was kind of laughable to Gray at how easily after that, they would literally do anything for him.

From that day on, Gray became the playboy that was infamous, gaining a large fan base who were either victims or wanted to be victims (This sentence sounds so weird xD It sounds like I'm saying: They were either raped by him or they want to be O-O... Yeah no I'll shut up now, I'm creeping myself out...)

Present time- A day after the events of the last chapter 5.55 PM

Roxy (My alias! :D Haza! I'm in my own story :p) sat at the table for two in the restaurant, looking at her wrist watch. From the rumours, she knew he would probably be late. Roxy was the girl who had hugged Gray at the last second, and they had decided that today was the best date to get it over with as she knew that he didn't particularly care about anyone other than himself, but she saw him help his friends several times from a hardship on the sidelines. She wanted to know if he was really the jerk everyone knew him to be or if he was actually a really kind hearted, misunderstood guy.

Surprisingly, Gray had actually come on time. He was looking as casual as ever with a sort of regal presence about him, even though he probably looked like some sort of thug if you just looked at the clothes. He waved at Roxy with a big smile, and she waved back, glad that he hadn't stood her up. He took his seat and sat up straight. Roxy giggled and said,
"You don't have to be so serious, don't worry! I won't judge," she said while giving him a conspiratorial grin. He laughed hard, and Roxy smiled, pleased that she could make the apparently ice-hearted boy actually even smile. They talked for a bit, but he kept on getting distracted by his phone. Roxy didn't mind at all, as she was more curious about who the person was. From the way Gray was holding his phone like it was the most precious thing and how fondly he looked at his phone while cracking a smile or a laugh here and there, Roxy concluded it must be someone very important.

Every time he finished texting back with lightning speed, he kept on saying sorry, but Roxy just shook her head and said it was fine. She didn't have much of a social life, so seeing others have such close relationships always made her have hope that one day she could have something like that. The starter they ordered came, pasta, and they ate it while giggling and pointing out when they accidentally got the sauce somewhere on their faces. As the main course was being served, a call came from Gray's phone. He excused himself and took the call while going to a far corner. Wanting nothing more to eavesdrop, Roxy tried to get closer by holding various objects to her face or hiding behind customers, but that just led to a series of embarrassing events which will not be discussed because of the immense second hand embarrassment you will feel. One thing that I will mention however is that flower plant water is never supposed to be accidentally poured on the crotch of an expensive looking suit of a sour looking businessman. She rushed back to her seat, aware that Gray was about to end the phone call.

One thing that was clear from seeing his face during that conversation was that he cared very deeply for whoever was on the other side of the phone. As Gray took his seat, the atmosphere changed. He placed his hand on hers while drawing rings around them and saying sweet things with a fake smile. Most of what he said was filtered right through Roxy's brain as she was shivering from how creepy he was being. She pulled her hand quickly away, hoping he would get the message. But no! Apparently he was really dumb!

He moved his seat so that he was right next to her and put their arms really close together while ordering dessert. She even heard the words, "Babe," a couple of times, which made her inwardly shiver. She stood up suddenly, banged the table and screamed, "Stop! You are being so creepy Gray!" Everyone in the busy restaurant stared at the girl who might have been announcing a paedophilic man, but all they saw were two young people, so they quickly dismissed it with raised eyebrows. She sat down, calming herself after the outburst to speak more calmly.

"Gray, I think you're a great guy and all but no offence, what the hell is up with you? The day began fine and you were strictly friendly, which I preferred much more, believe you me, and then you suddenly start calling me weird names and acting so strange." She shivered to show just how uncomfortable she was.
"I'm sorry," was all he said, but he didn't look sorry at all and if she wasn't a paranoid person, she would think that he was actually moving even closer to her. Cautiously, Roxy took precautions to sit opposite him, where he had previously been, and stared at him. It was clear that he loved someone that wasn't her, and she knew it was probably the person on the other end of the phone before. She could either think of it as two ways: he was having a bet with that person to see if she fell madly in love with him or he was scared of admitting his feelings for the other person, so he projected it by doing it the only way he knew how to - by acting like a right jerk!

Slowly, so he would clearly understand, she said, "I will ask you some questions. You have to answer them, but do not touch me, do not call me a pet name and do not avoid the question, got it?"
"Anything for you babe," Gray said with a coy smile. Roxy glared at him, showing with her expression and the way she visibly shivered that he had to stop that or she would walk out and never want to meet him ever again. Gray slumped back in his seat, accepting defeat.

As he was taking a sip of water, Roxy said, "First question, are you in love?"
Gray spluttered the water in his mouth everywhere. Luckily, Roxy had expected it and had used her plate as protection (as she had previously finished the contents).
"So I'm guessing that's a yes? Next question,.."
"Whoa, whoa whoa!" Gray interrupted, incredulous that a girl he barely knew could insinuate something like that.
"Oh shut up Gray, it's so obvious! Now, please don't interrupt me or I will eviscerate you. Why are you acting like a right douche if you love this girl so much? Acting like you used to won't help! I don't care when you realised you loved her, but being like this is not the answer! How is she supposed to even think that you love her, if you keep on acting like some sort of play boy, huh? Look at me!"

Gray was staring at his hands, too scared to look into her eyes and see the blazing that would show how enraged she was, because he knew that she would also see his eyes, and they would probably be the only proof she needed to make conclusions.
"I..I don't love anyone. Can't someone act friendly?" whispered Gray in a tiny voice, stuttering only a bit. Roxy shook her head as he continued mumbling now incoherent words. She couldn't be bothered to listen to his stupid excuses. She stood up once again and gave him a hard slap.

He held his cheek, completely stunned.
"DO NOT EVEN DARE TELL ME THAT NONSENSE! GROW A PAIR AND STOP ACTING LIKE A MAN WHORE! JUST SAY YOU AREN'T INTERESTED IN ME AND STOP WASTING YOUR TIME AND GO TO THE PERSON YOU LOVE!" Roxy screamed with all the anger and forcefulness she could muster.

A huge clap emanated from the restaurant and whistles and short comments were made. Her truly motivational speech had moved everyone in that room, including the main and only person she had been trying to knock some sense into. They stared at each other's eyes, finally seeing eye to eye (quite literally, I might add) and they nodded at each other before he rushed off to go to the person he cared for. Roxy smiled before slumping down on her seat, exhausted.

She remembered that now she was all alone, so she ate her dessert in silence before walking home, glad that she could play matchmaker. Who knows? Maybe she would be needed again one day. For now, she would rest and live like a hermit in her house, being the ever introvert.

Gray ran. Now he realised something. He wouldn't admit it just yet, but he would keep it as his dirty little secret. He had probably always known it, but never had the courage to admit it. What he needed to do right now was to make sure that the Scarlet maiden in question could make her wish come true at all costs as soon as possible.
And he knew for certain that he would never give up for her.

Only for her.

Oki I'm done xD I had fun writing this chapter, music blasting in my ear and just the random plot xD Don't worry, next chapter you will know what they actually text each other :p And should my alias make another appearance ;) (probably not xD) Be happy my cute, adorable, amazing, brilliant, shining, funny and incredibly kind adorable chibis and I really hope you liked this chapter ;) \(*^-^*)/ Hugs!

Roxanne~