November 27, 2014
When his phone started to buzz on his nightstand in the middle of the night, Rogue was more than annoyed. He'd been lying awake for a while already, and with a dreadful day ahead, the last thing he needed was a distraction from his attempts to sleep. Besides, who would be rude enough to text him at almost 1 AM?
Gajeel, apparently, Rogue found out when he unlocked his phone and saw his name pop up on the screen.
You awake?
For a moment, Rogue debated whether he should answer or just ignore the message and pretend he was asleep, but curiosity got the best of him.
Yeah, what's up?
He waited for a response, getting both nervous and confused when 5 minutes passed without a single message popping up on his screen. After another 5 minutes, he gave up. He put his phone away and snuggled up to Sting again, determined to give sleep another try. Whatever Gajeel's deal was, he'd find out in the morning.
Sting groaned in his sleep, pulling him closer. His warm and secure embrace made Rogue feel more at ease, so he closed his eyes and tried to relax as best as he could. Just when he thought he might be able to fall asleep this time, his phone buzzed again.
Look outside your window.
Rogue carefully untangled himself from Sting's limbs and got out of bed, not knowing what to expect. It sure as hell wasn't Gajeel standing by his car, which was parked on the driveway, behind Rogue's.
"What are you doing?" Sting puzzled, gazing at Rogue sleepily.
"I have no idea, but it seems like Gajeel is here."
Sting jerked his head in confusion before turning over to check the time on his phone. "Now? In the middle of the night?"
Rogue's phone went off again.
Get dressed and meet me outside.
"He's asking me to come out," Rogue said as he went into the closet to grab a pair of socks, sweats, and a hoodie, "no idea what he wants."
Sting sat up and watched him get dressed, still in disbelief at the situation. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"Nah, I'll be fine, just go back to sleep. I'll be right back," Rogue walked over to the bed to kiss him and then left the bedroom, quickly putting on his boots and jacket before he went out the front door.
"What are you doing here at this hour?" he asked his friend once he was close enough to mind the neighbors and keep his voice down.
"I came to pick you up. Now, get in the car," Gajeel answered as if that was a perfectly reasonable and normal thing to say when showing up at someone's house at night, unannounced. He held the car door open, impatiently waiting for Rogue to get in.
"To do…what, exactly?"
"You'll see when we get there."
Rogue stared at him, wordlessly pleading for any clue about what he was up to. Much to his frustration, Gajeel wouldn't budge, so he sighed and just did as he was asked.
I'll be out for a bit, love you, he messaged Sting to let him know he wasn't coming back to bed as quickly as he'd thought. In the meantime, Gajeel had gotten in the car as well and started driving off.
Despite knowing his way around Magnolia, Rogue didn't recognize the part of town they were passing through after about 15 minutes. He knew it was around the outskirts, an industrial area he never needed to visit before, and that only raised more questions for him.
"Relax, I'm not kidnapping you," Gajeel snorted as he took a turn that brought them to a junkyard. He stopped to park somewhere on the side, in a dark spot a ways away from the entrance.
"Considering what day it is, I thought you needed to blow off some steam."
Rogue was surprised that he'd remembered today marked the first anniversary of his assault by Totomaru, the whole reason why he'd been restless and on edge all night. Gajeel was right in thinking that he could use a distraction, but he still didn't know exactly what he meant.
"So how do you blow off steam in a junkyard in the dead of night?" he questioned as they got out of the car.
Gajeel walked around to the trunk, opening it and pulling out two baseball bats and two pairs of safety glasses. He handed over one of each to Rogue, putting the other pair of glasses on as he led them to a spot where the wire fence was cut open. As easy as that, they'd made it into the junk-filled terrain.
He twirled his bat once, and without warning, he slammed into the first car on his path- an 80's Ford Fiesta that had seen better days - with full force. The sound of the headlight shattering was almost deafening in the night's silence.
"Like that-" Gajeel turned around and grinned. "Your turn."
Rogue walked through the maze of decaying cars and piles of scrap, for the first time in his life impressed by the sight of garbage. There were cars of countless makes and models, most but not all of them predating his birth. Some were more battered up than others, either by prolonged exposure to the elements or as the result of a brutal accident, but that's what made them all the more interesting. Each one had its own story to tell.
Maybe his imagination was running a bit wild when he tried to imagine how some of these cars had ended up there or what secrets could lay buried between all the junk. He must've been daydreaming about it, because the next thing he knew, Gajeel was nudging him.
Rogue swung the bat at a nearby Corolla without much force, still managing to knock off the side-view mirror.
"Is that all ya got?" Gajeel asked, unimpressed. "Where's all that anger you've got cooped up inside ya?"
Now that Rogue thought about it, he'd gone through a slew of emotions in the past year, from fear and anxiety to guilt and self-loathing, but anger wasn't something he'd dealt with a lot. It had bubbled to the surface when he'd lashed out in frustration, but he'd always repressed it or buried underneath the rest of his feelings. Too worried about its extent, he'd never fully unleashed it, but he realized that was precisely what Gajeel was trying to make him do now.
"Aren't you fucking pissed?"
Like he'd done so many times before, Rogue dug up the memories, and knowing that the only receiver of his rage would be the already broken down Corolla, he gave it free rein.
He swung the bat again, slamming it hard into the windshield of the car. Tiny fragments of glass sprang from the spiderweb-shaped crack, glistening in the light of the construction lamps like powdery snow. He struck again, delivering blow after blow.
For all the nightmares and sleepless nights...
For the marks he'd worn on his body for days...
For the relationships that had suffered, the tears he'd spilled, and all the pieces he was still trying to pick up.
He hadn't even realized he'd started screaming until he was out of breath. By the time he finally stopped himself, he had knocked out almost the entire windshield and all 4 side windows too.
"There's my anger," he panted as he found a spot clear of any debris where he could sit on the ground, leaned against the side of a minivan.
"I figured," Gajeel nodded with a mixture of approval and surprise. He joined Rogue on the ground, searching his pockets for his cigarettes, pulling two out of the packet. Once he lit his own, he passed the other and his lighter to Rogue.
They sat and smoked in silence for a while, listening to the crickets that were chirping in the bushes right behind the fence and gazing at the mauled carcass of the car. Now that the fury and adrenaline were starting to ebb away, Rogue felt an unexpected relief wash over him, like the restlessness had left his body.
"Thanks," he finally said. "I think I needed that."
"Yeah, no kidding," Gajeel commented as he put out his cigarette in the dirt. "Look, I know it won't fix anything, but I'm not good at that whole talking and comforting shit, so…"
"No, you're not," Rogue agreed with a snort. "Not at talking, at least. But you did show up with pizza, threatening to break down my door if I didn't answer, and you took me out for trespassing and property destruction in the dead of night, and I gotta say both were pretty comforting."
Gajeel responded with a wry chuckle, tapping the end of his bat in the sand and staring at the imprints it made.
"No, I'm dead serious," Rogue insisted. "Nothing anyone can do or say will 'fix anything,' but you showed up without being asked, and you're one of only a few people who refused to be pushed away. That's enough for me."
Their moment was interrupted by a voice in the distance, shouting "Who's there?!" and they looked at each other, knowing they were about to be in trouble.
"Shit, looks like we've got company, time to get out," Gajeel hissed as he grabbed Rogue by the arm and pulled him up.
They quickly hid behind the minivan and tried to peek around it to see where the voice had come from, but Rogue couldn't bear the stress of sticking around too long and risking getting caught.
He managed to locate the spot where the fence was cut open, which thankfully wasn't too far away, and decided to take a different risk. Pressing his finger against his lips, he motioned for Gajeel to stay silent. Then, finding a large screw, he picked it up and threw it in the opposite direction, as far as he could. It produced a loud clang as it hit something, just as he'd hoped it would.
"I know you're out there, punks!" the voice snarled. Footsteps were quickening but moving away from them, and that was enough to spur Rogue into action.
He beckoned Gajeel to follow him before sneaking out from behind the van. Slowly and carefully, trying not to make any noises that would give them away, they crouched across the terrain, sticking to the shadows for extra cover. As soon as they made it through the fence, the tension got the best of them. They made a run for the car and got in as fast as they could, not even fixing their seatbelts or turning the headlights on when Gajeel slammed his foot on the gas pedal.
Rogue's heart was pounding in his throat, his hands trembling as he finally reached for the seatbelt. "Okay," he said with a shaky voice, "slow down, put on your seatbelt, and turn your lights on before we get pulled over and have to explain why we're wearing safety glasses and have baseball bats with us."
Gajeel followed his instructions, calmly driving them back the rest of the way to Rogue's house. When he finally pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine, they hesitantly looked at each other, and all their pent up tension suddenly burst out in a shared fit of laughter.
"Never again," Rogue swore, taking off the glasses and throwing them on the back seat, along with the baseball bat.
"Yeah, gotta agree with you on that one-" Gajeel did the same and then lit them both another cigarette. "Not gonna lie, I could already see us spending the night at the precinct. That escape shit you pulled was fucking insane," he grinned widely.
"Can't believe that worked," Rogue breathed out in relief. "Ugh, I need a shower," he winced, noticing his hands and clothes were stained with dirt and who knows what kind of grime. "And you know what? Fuck it, I'm throwing pizzas in the oven as well. I'm starving."
"Are you coming or what? You can stay over if you want." He got out of the car, holding the door open while he waited for Gajeel's response.
"Not gonna say no to free pizza. But just so you know, I'll make you finish your plate this time, and then I'm kicking you back to bed." Gajeel nodded at the house, where lights could be seen shining from behind the curtains, which didn't surprise Rogue in the slightest, "I'll get loverboy to back me up too, if necessary."
Rogue smiled, thinking it wouldn't be. He no longer dreaded the day that lay ahead as much anymore. Sting would be there, and so would Gajeel, and knowing that was enough to convince him he'd have no trouble sleeping this time.