Chapter Twelve: Raining Memories
"You actually want me to help you compose a song?"
Dan had been staring at Lucy with an appearance of astonishment the moment when Lucy had asked for his help on an entry for the contest. A struggling musician himself, Dan never quite imagined to have the opportunity to collaborate with a member of an independent group who were able to achieve success on their own terms - something he aspired to do in the future with his own music. "But, why me?"
"I'll be honest with you." Lucy directed her eyes straight at him; a look of uncertainty and guilt trembling over her face. "I didn't want to go outside of Fairy Tail. However, I'm only allowed to do this contest with one other person. I didn't want to do this without all of them, so the only other person who I felt confidence in… was you."
"Really…?" Dan's eyes soothed once he heard the words come out of Lucy's lips.
Nodding her head, Lucy smiled. "I loved 'Blue Neighbourhood'. That's the kind of vision and base I want on my song. You're an excellent producer and music-writer; it would be an honour to work with you."
"Honour to work with me?!" Dan shrieked, startling Lucy in return. "The honour is all mine. I'd love to work with you!"
A flush of relief shone through Lucy's face, as she smiled with excitement. "Thank you!"
"Thank YOU." Dan replied back, this time putting his arm out towards Lucy for her to shake. "So, when do we start?"
"Can I meet you here, say... after school tomorrow?"
After seeing Dan nod in agreement, they exchanged their contact information. Waving goodbye to each other, Lucy proceeded to walk away from the classroom, and towards the stairs that led to the main doors of the school. Just as she was walking, she passed a group of students standing idle next to a bunch of lockers. One of them had spiky salmon-shaded hair and a muscular built, and his arm was wrapped around a familiar-looking student with really short, silver-dyed hair.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Lisanna snapped as soon as the two girls met eyes, knocking her boyfriend's arm off of her.
"Do I know you?" Lucy turned around to face her for a brief moment, before smirking and turning away. Aggravated, Lisanna hit Natsu's shoulder once she caught him quietly snickering.
...
"So, how are you liking it in Magnolia High?" Dan asked, while wrapping the portable microphone wire around itself. The work desk he was stationed in had a desktop, multiple wire plug-ins, a keyboard, and a portable pad attached to the hard drive.
Shrugging, while watching Dan at his station, Lucy sighed. "It's been an interesting month so far."
Reaching for one of the shelves that stored other portable microphones, Dan turned back around to face Lucy at his desk. "It's been an interesting few months for a lot of us."
Noticing the confused expression on Lucy's face, Dan smiled sadly. "You heard about the accident, right?"
The feeling of being frozen in time rushed over Lucy's body. Seeing Dan's expression once he mentioned the incident slowly started to fill the memory gaps in her head - the ones that were beginning to disappear with every day that went by. Not being Lucy Heartfilia… she was crafting a whole new existence for herself. It was as if the former life she had lived was slowly becoming a myth. "Yea… yea I did."
"It's just not fair…" Dan's tone became a little more harsh once Lucy finished her words. The frustration was evident, and Lucy felt the urge to grab Dan by his shoulders and tell him that she was there… right in front of him. She was alive. She was still breathing. She was just… in too much pain. Before she knew it, a tear jerked out of Lucy's eye. Dan's eyes fell onto that single teardrop sliding down Lucy's blush pink cheek, his frustration soon morphed to concern. "I-I'm sorry… are you okay?"
Quickly sensing a cold breeze flying by her cheek, she rushed to wipe the tear away. "Y-yea… I guess.. I'm just… I'm so sorry."
Dan gave her a small smile. "If anyone has to be sorry, it should be me… to Lucy." Noticing Lucy jerking her head slightly at the name, he quickly rebuffed. "The lead singer's name was… is… also Lucy. She survived the accident… but no one heard from her after. I didn't even try to reach out to her… I didn't know how to."
Remaining silent, Lucy listened to Dan with a heavy heart of her own. "We were friends… but I let her down. I should've been there for her. I can't even imagine what she must've gone through - and what she's still going through. I didn't know how to approach her. I didn't know how I was supposed to comfort her. I just… I failed, in every account."
Frozen, all Lucy could feel through Dan's words were constant pounding in her body. Every word hit her like a brick. She didn't know whether to feel betrayed… or hurt for Dan. Her eyes evolved into expressing more and more pain, although she was trying her damn hardest to keep it inside. "I'm sorry about all this… but… I just needed to admit to all of it - at least eventually."
Lucy's eyes diverted from the floor, and refused to go back up to meet Dan's. She couldn't bring herself to look at him now. Trying to resist more tears from showing through her eyes, Lucy took a deep breath. "No… umm… thank you for sharing that with me." Taking a deep breath, she jerked her tilted head to the side. "She… she must've been someone special."
Although Lucy couldn't see Dan nodding his head, she was able to hear Dan sigh. "Yea. That's putting in lightly."
Soon enough, a crashing boom of thunder broke the moment of silence that was lingering between the two. Pulling her head back up, Lucy looked at Dan, and managed to squeeze out a fake-genuine smile. "I should go… before the weather gets any worse."
Nodding in return, Dan smiled back at her - only his was noticeably more sincere. "It was nice meeting you. I hope you come by the music room more often."
"Yea…" Lucy responded. "I'll try to."
Pulling her jacket hood almost over her head to conceal both her head and her face, Lucy proceeded to walk down the wet, rainy sidewalks. The rain wasn't as bad as it was about an hour ago, but the thunderstorm still had long ways before it would go away. As she took her steps forward into the pattering rain, she took her iPod out, with her earbuds attached to them. Placing those earbuds in her ears, she scrolled through a list of unopened songs… until she reached the one.
Hitting play, Lucy let the words of the song fill her head with both pain, and comfort.
I don't want your body
But I hate to think about you with somebody else
Our love has gone cold
You're intertwining your soul with somebody else
This was it. This was their song.
I'm looking through you while you're looking through your phone
And then leaving with somebody else
No, I don't want your body
But I'm picturing your body with somebody else
The theme that was needed to be taken account of was pain. Pain of lost, pain of betrayal, but going in and out of denial in accepting that pain. The one you loved - who you gave your heart to - has now seemingly and effortlessly moved on from you with another. Dan helped Lucy create that pain within herself, so she could put the words on paper. That, accompanied by Dan's heartbreakingly flawless production made what seemed to be a picture perfect replica of what needed to be represented.
Oh, I just don't believe that you have got it in you
'Cause we are just gonna keep "doin' it" and every time
I start to believe in anything you're saying
I'm reminded that I should be gettin' over it
Lost in the words she had put together many months ago, Lucy began to lose track of her steps. It was as if her destination no longer mattered - as she didn't even have a sense of direction to begin with. What was she doing? Did she really think it'd be this easy to erase Lucy Heartfilia from existence... just like that? Why didn't it register in her mind that there would be so many different roadblocks? Lucy's mind slowly went blank, bit by bit. She almost had no sense of her surroundings... she almost didn't hear the roar from the nearby motorbike that was just about to pass her.
"Lucy?!"
Turning her head around, Lucy's eyes were greeted with a familiar figure with his signature salmon-dusted hair. His motorbike was the same as ever - sleek and sexy. Removing his helmet, Natsu revealed his concerned and angered expression towards Lucy. However, that anger soon disappeared once Natsu noticed her red, puffy eyes; she had been crying, and it seemed like Lucy herself didn't even realize. "Luce... what are you doing here?!"
Song used in chapter: Somebody Else by the 1975