Gray and Claire
Fan Fiction Chapter #1
I'm going to try and make a proper fan fiction out of this. So this story is practically about Claire losing her farm house and having to live at the Inn with Gray and Ann. Cliff's moved away and Kai's not here for winter.
I had collapsed and was at the doctor's when it struck. And I didn't even know about until the next morning, when I woke up from my brief coma.
I opened my eyes and looked around, confused. The scene that greeted me was not my farm home, but a white hospital room. The dark-haired doctor was at the foot of the bed, Elli at his side.
"You're awake," Elli said, obviously relieved.
I tried to sit up on the lumpy hospital bed. "What happened?"
"Zach found you collapsed on your farm when he came to pick up your shipments," Doctor informed me. "You must've been pushing yourself."
"It's almost Winter," I explained. "I wanted to do as much as I could." That reminded me. "What day is it today? How long was I unconscious?"
"It's the second of Winter. You've been out for three days now."
"Three days?" I repeated, baffled. Wow, that was long.
"How are you feeling?"
"I feel great. Thanks. Um, can I go home now?" I really need to check on my crops.
"I'll just run some examinations on you, and then you can go home," he assured me.
"Okay…" I couldn't argue with the Doctor, after all.
I was finally allowed to leave, with strict orders from both Doctor and Elli, to not push myself any longer. Fortunately, the Harvest Sprites had taken care of my crops before Winter killed them. I was sincerely grateful to them. I would have to thank them later. Maybe buy them presents or bake cookies for them.
When I stepped out of the Clinic, a boy with a large cap that covered his fair hair was staring at me. His sky-blue eyes were wide with shock, but there was also relief in his expression.
"Claire!" he exclaimed.
"Hi, Gray," I smiled timidly. "What are you doing here?"
It was unlikely that he'd come this way. Since the sun was high in the sky, I assumed it was around one o'clock by now. Shouldn't he be in the library?
"Well, um, I was…" he pulled his cap down in an embarrassed gesture. "I heard that you've been out for a few days now, so I just came to check on you."
"I'm fine, Gray. Thanks for coming." Wow, I didn't think that anyone in town would come check up on me- much less Gray. But I guess he's a pretty good friend. Maybe he thought of me that way too.
"I knew you'd be fine," he said, smiling up at me. It looked smug. "You're the tough Claire, after all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Nothing…" he said innocently.
"Whatever," I shrugged. "I'm going back to my farm. Wanna come with?"
"Sure. Okay."
"Great," I grinned. "Let's go. I haven't been there in a while. I kind of miss it."
"You didn't even know that you haven't been there," he pointed out.
I pouted. "I hate it when you make sense more than I do."
He laughed once. It was a sound that used to shock me. Gray never laughed before. He was as grumpy as his grandfather when I first met him- and incredibly rude too. But I was a farmer and visited the blacksmith a lot, so we started to become friends. Now he's opened up to me a whole lot. I never thought I'd see the day.
"Claire?" he said.
I looked up at him. "What?"
"I'm glad you're awake," he smiled genuinely. "Really."
"Uh…" I searched for the right word. "Thanks."
How often did Gray say something like that? It was very unlikely. I didn't know how to react. Still, he's a nice person deep down. I already knew that.
My farm was a chaotic mess. If the Harvest Sprites hadn't saved them, my crops would not have a chance. There was weed everywhere, and huge rocks and tree branches had been blown all over the farm. A tornado must've passed while I was in coma. It would take weeks to clean this up. And in the middle of Winter? I shivered in the cold wind. Snow was piling up on the farm; it would be more work for me to clean them up. My barn, chicken coop, stable and doghouse was in almost perfect shape. It would be fine for the animals to continue living there and not get sick or cold. It was most unfortunate that I couldn't say the same for myself and my house. I stared at it, open-mouthed.
The whole side of it had been wrecked. The tornado had no doubt torn it apart. It looked like it had caught on fire, and then someone had run over it with a bulldozer. Something worse than that anyway.
"It's going to be okay, Claire."
Suddenly, Gray was comforting me. He was standing behind me and put his hands on my tensed shoulders in a very casual move. "Let's go get Gotz and see how long it will take for him to fix this."
I nodded. It was helpful to have him around in these times. He was always calm- unless he was angry- and that would've been enough.
"Come on." He took my hand and led me across the farm. "At least the rest of the farm is okay."
I nodded again. My house was wrecked though. I was practically homeless. What the heck happened while I was out? Why did this happen? There was no use to wallow in self-pity. I have to just get over it. And get over it fast. We reached the timber house where Gotz, the woodcutter, lived.
"It's going to take weeks to get this fixed," Gotz said, inspecting the damage of the farm house. "I'll say a month, at least."
"A month?" I echoed, my voice high with stress.
He looked at me in the eye. "I don't know, exactly, when I'll finish this by, but I'm going to go ahead and say that you can move back in after Winter, at the very least."
I processed the news. If I can't live in my farm for the whole winter, where am I going to live?
"You can stay at the Inn!" Gray suggested.
I had more than enough money to do that. Ann was also a pretty good friend of mine, and it would be fun to live with her for a change. Gray's going to be there too, so if she was busy, he could stay with me. It wouldn't be so bad. It might even be like a sleepover… for a month.
I pondered for a moment. "Alright. I'll do it."
"You're going to the Inn?" Gray asked.
"Uh-huh," I replied, then turned to Gotz. "One month?"
"I'll try my best," he replied. "But I can't be sure as to how long this will go for. It's really bad."
I winced, but smiled. "I'll be at the farm in daytime, anyway. How about I help you build?"
Gotz grinned. "You've got guts, kid. It would get the job done faster."
"I'll help too," Gray declared.
"Really?" I asked.
He smiled at me. "I haven't got anything to do. I'll come by after work."
"You don't have to," I objected.
"It's okay, Claire. I'll be here."
"We'll start tomorrow," Gotz informed us. "I have to collect more lumber."
"Let's go to the Inn now," Gray said. "You need to tell Doug."
"Right," I agreed, and let him walk me to the inn.
"Seriously, Claire. You have nothing to worry about!" Gray tried to cheer me up. It was out of his depth to do this, and I could sense that he was feeling awkward. "It's going to be fun at the Inn, I promise. Ann's your friend, isn't she? Maybe she'll even come sleep in the same room as you… if you ask her. Plus I'll always be by your side- literally."
I smiled at him. Gray really was a great friend. There weren't many friends like him in the whole world. I was really growing attached to Mineral Town.
"Thanks, Gray," I said, genuinely. "But you don't have to do this," I added for his benefit.
"No, it's okay. What are friends for, right?" he grinned at me reassuringly.
"You're a great friend," I stated. "You know that, right?"
He looked down, lowering his cap. I knew him well enough to know that this meant that he was embarrassed by what I said. It was, in a way, adorable.
"Um… sure," he muttered dismissively, like he didn't even think about it, and opened the door to the Inn. The inn was a two storey building. It had a row of yellow flowers growing beside the front door and it was built in white bricks. Small, blue windows stuck out from the rooms. It was probably here since Mineral Town was built by Mayor Thomas's ancestors… which was who knows how long?
Gray let go of the door once we were inside and it swing shut with a creak.
"Welcome!" Ann greeted us with the professionalism of a waitress. Then her big, blue eyes fell on me. "Claire!" she exclaimed. "You're fine! I was so worried!"
Then she crushed me in a bear hug. Admittedly, I was a bit touched. Had Ann really cared that much about me? We were friends, but I hadn't thought much of it. My old friends wouldn't have visited me or anything. I guess, though, that my old town was a lot bigger than Mineral Town, and people were busier.
I smiled at her when she released me. "I feel fine, Ann. Thanks for worrying."
She grinned back. "So why are you here with Gray?"
Gray cleared his throat, catching her attention.
"Whatever you're thinking, that's not it," he guaranteed coolly. "You may not have heard but…"
"But…?" she urged.
I quickly explained to her that I had lost my home in the tornado. I told her that Gotz was going to fix it, but I needed a place to stay for about a month. So I came to the Inn.
Ann was sympathetic, and just like Gray, she encouraged me cheerfully, telling me that we'd have so much fun here.
Cliff, a shy boy that Ann liked, had been Gray's roommate and their customer for some years, but he left Mineral Town not too long ago, and I knew Ann was still pretty sad about this. She tried not to show it though, since she was the cheery, tomboy girl. I'd known Cliff as well, and although he was shy, he was well-liked and accepted here. Maybe that's why Cliff liked this place better than his hometown. I could understand that.
Ann seem to be thinking about the same person as I was. She looked distracted, but she had a smile pasted on her face. As if it wasn't obvious.
"Sometimes, I do miss Cliff," Ann admitted in a low voice.
I smiled and patted her shoulder. "We all do."
Gray looked away, but not even he denied it.
Ann grinned up at me. "It's okay. I know that he's leading a great life somewhere. Maybe he'll come back for a visit sometime."
"Yeah," I agreed. "He'll definitely come."
Ann laughed. "I'll look forward to the day. But for now, come on, I'll show you your room."
"I think I know where it is," I reminded her.
Ann loved cleaning, and sometimes, I'd hang out with her while she cleaned the girls' room. Of course, no one ever stayed there, but she said it was better to clean it, just in case. In some ways, you've got to admire that girl's hope. It just never seemed to die.
"That's right, you probably do. But it's my job as the Inn hostess, to show you."
"Inn hostess?" I repeated.
She shrugged. "It's a cool title."
I followed her up the stairs, and we stopped in front of the first room. There were only two rooms. Gray's was beside mine. It was the boys' room. This was the rarely used girls' room. I was going to stay there for the first time.
Ann walked right in, leaving the door open, and I trailed after her. Gray stopped in the doorway. I could tell that he's never been in this room before.
"See? I told you that cleaning the rooms was a good idea," Ann grinned, rubbing it in my face a little. "You never know when someone might come to stay."
"Right," I agreed easily. "Thanks."
"No problem. I'm just going to leave you now. There are customers I have to serve. See you."
"Bye."
Ann skipped off, and I was wondering where all her energy comes from. Did she have her own, personal energy fairy or something?
"Can you believe, that all this years, I've been living next door, and I've never been in here once?" Gray asked me.
I laughed- Gray could make me laugh even in the worst situations. Just another good quality of a friend, I guess.
"Why not?" I wanted to know.
"I thought it'd be too girly," he admitted sheepishly.
I rolled my eyes. "Geez, Gray. What about your room? Is it so boyish?" I joked.
He laughed, appreciating my attempt at humour. "Actually, it's almost identical to this one."
"Hmm… since I'm living here now, I think I'll try decorating it to make it look girly," I teased. "Maybe I'll even redecorate the halls. I'm sure Ann would help me."
"Nuh-uh," Gray objected. "I refuse to come home after a hard day of work, to find a bright pink hallway leading up to my room- which you are absolutely not allowed to go in."
I mock punched him on the arm. "Oh, come on, Gray. Won't you let me paint your room pink? And then I can change the bed sheets into ones of the Disney Princesses."
"No thanks," he rejected. "Besides, I don't even think they sell Disney Princess bed sheets here."
I thought about it, and decided that he might be right. "I'm sure I can find some pink ones, though."
"That's it, I'm locking my room from now on."
"Do you even have a lock?"
"I'll install one."
"Good luck with that. When I tell Ann what my plan is, she'll be agreeing with me."
"Uh, I don't think so. I'm their better customer, so they can't afford to lose me," he countered. "Plus Ann's not the 'painting-boys'-rooms-pink-without-permission' kind of girl."
"Everyone loves a good prank."
"Great. I'll prank you."
I narrowed my eyes into a glare. "You wouldn't."
His answering smile was mocking. "Try me."
"I'll be on my best guard," I promised. "You'll never fool me."
"That's because you're the queen of fools," he laughed.
I laughed too. "I'm your queen then."
"I'm not a fool."
"You so are."
"No, I'm not. Don't include me in your kingdom of foolishness."
"At least I have a kingdom."
"I'd rather not have a kingdom if that means that I'd have to lead fools."
"Geez, Gray!"
He laughed, then ruffled the top of my hair playfully. "I'll let you settle into your new 'home' for now. You know where to find me when you need help. I'll be in my kingdom… you know, the one where actual people actually live?"
The course of the conversation had shifted the both of us closer to the first bed, so all I had to do was turn around, grab a pillow, and throw it at his face.
Too late. He saw it coming and dodged out of the way before it hit him. Then, sticking his tongue out like a five-year-old, he ducked out.
For a second, I wondered if I should even bother picking up the pillow. The answer was that I should. So I sighed and walked over to pick it up and threw it onto the bed. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn't bring anything along with me. Not my dog, not my clothes. Not even the tools in my tool box. Of course, I had the rucksack on my back, but when I pawed through it, I could only find squashed, three-day old herbs and a small bottle of milk I had freshly milked from my cow… three days ago. I emptied the contents into a trash can nearby and left to retrieve clean clothes from my farm.
That night, I tried testing out all three beds instead of choosing one. I sat on the closest one first. It was the one with the pillow I threw at Gray. It was big, but kind of hard and lumpy, so I decided to try the second one next. It had a green quilt, while the other two had yellow ones, so I figured that this one was special. The pillow was soft, but the quilts were too think for winter.
Part of my mind noted that this was close to what Goldilocks was doing in the three bears' house, and I half-expected three bears to come walking in while I went to bed on the third bed, which was almost 'just-right.'
To sum it up, I missed my original bed and couldn't remember or figure out the reason as to why Goldilocks would go through all that trouble just to sleep in someone else's house. What was she doing there anyway? Home is the best place to sleep. It feels like home.
It was somewhere around then- thinking about Goldilocks- that I fell into a dreamless sleep.
Sorry the chapter kinda went longer than I expected it to. I'm really not good with chapters. Actually, I'm not good at writing stories either, so I'm really grateful you read it.
