This is my first fanfiction so please go easy on it. If you like the story I'll keep chapters coming. If not keep it to yourself, please don't hate on it. If you find any errors, whether it be spelling, grammar or anything else please just let me know. I've been reading many of the fanfictions on this site but I just wanted to add my own to them.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Underland Chronicles or any of the characters, save the ones that I will be adding. Both the Underland Chronicles and the characters within belong to Suzanne Collins.
-Ssi
"I still don't see why I have to do this," Gregor said as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.
"Because if you didn't go to your concert we both know your mother would send more than just me after you," George answered as he turned Gregor towards him.
Gregor rolled his eyes, "I meant I don't understand why I need to dress up like a penguin." Gregor turned back to look in the mirror as George adjusted his bowtie. "I look like I'm going to a funeral."
"Well you're not, you're going to your concert and you're going to have some fun," George said as he spun Gregor back towards the mirror. "Did you call Kyle or Zoey and ask if they could bring your saxophone to the concert hall?"
"Yeah, Zoey said she'd bring it…" Gregor trailed off.
"Guessing she wasn't enthusiastic to learn about the royalty in the other room, huh?" George asked.
"I think she's just scared of who I was," Gregor tried to come to his own conclusion.
George gave Gregor a pitiful look, "You honestly can't tell me with echolocation you're still that blind?"
"What do you mean?" Gregor asked in confusion.
"I mean that girl likes you, no matter how hard it is for you to see it. And even if in your mind, you two are just friends, it can't have been easy for her to learn about you and Luxa," George responded bluntly.
"She doesn't know about me and Luxa, I never told her or Kyle" Gregor said with a bit of anxiety in his voice. This really wasn't the kind of conversations he was ever very good at.
"Really, Gregor? Anyone that has seen the two of you in one room before knows about Luxa and you," Hazard said matter of factly as he skipped into the bathroom to grab one of the towels off the rack.
"How long have you been listening?" Gregor asked as his face turned red.
"Long enough," Hazard responded before leaving the bathroom.
"He's right though, it's pretty obvious when you see the way you look at her," George explained.
"OK, I get it, I'm not good at hiding it but I guarantee you that there is no Luxa and me anymore and even if there was that's my personal life not Zoey's," Gregor said annoyed at how Dr. Phil this conversation was getting.
"Well she's your friend isn't she? That makes her your personal life too doesn't it?" George weaseled his logic into the situation.
"Ugh, why are we even talking about this?" Gregor asked.
"Because thus far your conscious has been less than useful and if you want your life and friends back you're going to need to do something about it," George responded.
"What if I don't want that life back? They're just a couple people that I didn't resent. Doesn't mean I asked for either of them." Gregor said, now thoroughly aggravated with this discussion.
George looked more than a little defeated by Gregor's outburst but simply said, "If you really mean that then so be it, but if you do want them to be a part of your life then you have to be open with them."
Gregor stayed silent in fear of letting his anger get the better of him again. To be honest he couldn't even think of why he got so angry about it. Maybe he just thought it was too awkward. Maybe it was being stuck in a room for the last week watching Luxa remain unconscious, or maybe it had something to do with his rager side. After all in the last couple of weeks he'd used his rager abilities more times than he could remember in years. Who knows, it could just be lack of sleep or nervousness of the concert he was about to head out for. Any or all of the above could've been messing with his mind, no doubt about it. Gregor felt like he was going crazy.
Minutes later Gregor and George had moved out to the car to head over to the concert hall. Gregor stayed silent for the duration of the car ride and only opened his mouth to thank his uncle for driving him before quietly slinking away into the large building. The teenager weaved in and out of long narrow hallways trying to find where he was supposed to meet up with Zoey and Kyle. Slipping his phone out of his pocket he dialed up Zoey's number and raised it up to his ear. Gregor listened to the ringing of the phone for a couple of seconds before realizing it wasn't coming from just his phone.
Following the sound of the ringing Gregor turned the corner of one of the hallways and entered the first door on his left.
"Wondering whether or not you should pick it up?" Gregor asked as he entered the room. Zoey was sitting alone in the room staring at her ringing phone. She looked up, startled at Gregor's entrance but kept her composure.
Sighing Zoey answered truthfully, "My parents always told me not to talk to strangers, I wasn't really sure if I knew who I'd be talking to if I picked up."
Gregor walked over towards Zoey. He was considering sitting down next to her, but he didn't really want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was, so he ended up spinning around a chair across from her so he could sit facing her.
"A little over five years ago my life changed entirely. The kid I was before falling down there doesn't exists anymore. He hasn't in over four years. But in those four years since I've been back I've changed just as much. Not in the same ways, no," Gregor had no idea where this speech had come from or where it was going but he knew he would have to finish it now. "But in many ways I've changed more in the last couple months than I have in those years. That's in no small part from you and Kyle. Whether you chose to believe me or not, the person I am around you and Kyle has always been the real me. I like you for you, I don't care about your past because I know who you are. I wish you'd understand that knowing about my past may change how you feel about me, but it doesn't change who I am today."
Zoey didn't look up at Gregor and kept her eyes glued to her phone. "How's that girl doing?"
"She's alright right now, she woke up yesterday and ended up ripping her stitches so we needed to give her some blood but she seems to be doing better now. Although I guess we won't really know until she wakes up for more than thirty seconds." Gregor summed up the highlights from his week.
Zoey looked horrified as she looked up at Gregor. "How did you give her blood?"
Gregor tried not to freak out Zoey any more. "George came to town and did it, he learned how in the military. Nothing bad or anything everyone is fine, we didn't get any shady doctors off the street or anything."
"Why didn't you tell me about that earlier?" Zoey almost shouted at him, "jez, Gregor, you couldn't even text me a frowny face or anything with that."
Gregor was completely flabbergasted, "What? I didn't think you wanted to hear about any of it."
"Come on Gregor! When you walk in on your friends carrying a bleeding girl it's only common courtesy to, at the very least, keep them informed." Zoey said as she swung out her leg to try and kick Gregor's knee.
Gregor's rager instincts made him dodge it without thinking, but immediately he wished he hadn't. He knew Zoey didn't mean to kick him in any hurtful way, she was just annoyed. "I'm sorry, I didn't really know that was a common thing," Gregor said still slightly confused, "If it make you feel any better, I promise next time I'll tell you."
"Next time?!" Zoey freaked out. "How often do you plan on showing up with unconscious bodies?"
Gregor almost cracked up, "You know what I meant!"
"I hope so," Zoey smiled at Gregor, "How's your arm?" she asked.
Gregor motioned to his bicep where he was cut. "George put new stitches in it so it should be good as new soon. Besides it won't scar nearly as bad as others I have."
"What do you mean? Those looked pretty bad." Zoey asked in disbelief.
"Among other injuries, I kind of nearly had my chest torn off so trust me these won't be that bad," before he finished Gregor already knew that was the wrong thing to say.
"Excuse me, your what torn off?" Zoey asked.
"Never mind, forget about it." Gregor tried to back off the subject.
"I can't forget about it now. Can I see it?" Zoey asked.
Gregor was starting to feel a little uneasy now. "Trust me you really don't want to."
"How bad it is." Zoey reiterated.
Gregor thought for a moment. He knew he wanted to be more open with his friends but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be that open. Guessing she'd find out eventually anyways, Gregor decided to tell the truth. Standing up Gregor unbuttoned the middle four buttons of his dress shirt to reveal the scars across his chest. The room wasn't brightly lit but the thin white scars on his chest were clearly displayed.
Zoey's jaw dropped as she stood up in front of Gregor. She hesitated for a second before she reached out to touch one of the scars with the tip of her finger.
"What happened?" was all she could get out.
Before Gregor could answer the door to the room swung open as Kyle walked into the scene of Zoey's hand on Gregor's chest. Kyle stopped and took in the scene for a couple of seconds before he very slowly and carefully walked backwards out the door and closed it behind him without making a noise.
Zoey's face was bright red while Gregor was an inch away from either turning red himself or just simply laughing. Of all the moments Kyle could choose to walk in that just had to have been the one he picked. Moments later there was a very distinctive knock on the door to the room.
Gregor buttoned back up his shirt and called out, "Come in here Kyle."
The door creeped open and Kyle peeked out of the side of the doorway to make sure it was safe to enter this time. "I'd say 'get a room' but you did technically have one." Kyle said with a matter of fact tone.
Zoey remained the same shade as a lobster while Gregor tried to keep from blushing himself, "It wasn't like that man, I was just showing her a scar."
"Please, I don't want to know what you were showing each other," Kyle laughed. "I'm just happy it's not Zoey sulking even more about-" Kyle couldn't finish his sentence before Zoey smacked her elbow into his gut. "-er ugh, I mean, you know. You two are talking again….yeah lets go with that." Kyle said before motioning to zip his lips shut and turn the imaginary key before he threw it away.
Gregor glanced back and forth between his friends in confusion. Zoey was still blushing and looking down while Kyle was staring right back at Gregor like he was going to say something but couldn't.
"Well, okay then. Keep your secrets, I think we've made the point that you need a couple more to catch up." Gregor cleared the awkward silence, "You guys brought my saxophone, right?"
Zoey nodded, "The concert starts in a little over an hour, we should probably find the rest of the band."
As the trio walked out the room and down the hallway, Kyle started to lecture Gregor and Zoey with a long drawn out joke involving a couple monks and a ton of stairs. Gregor listened with a grin. As lame as they might have been to some, Gregor was just happy to have both of his friends back.
Chapter 16 folks. (I accidentally uploaded this chapter to the doc manager and forgot to add it to my story... Oops). I know this chapters just kind of... eh. I needed some filler before getting back to Luxa's condition so i thought I'd put in Gregor trying to get back on Zoey's good side, seeing as Kyle is just too laid back to care, where as she wasn't too happy about Gregor's past. As always please rate and review. Any and all feedback is welcomed.
-Ssi
