gray in a tracksuit *^*

Chapter Eleven

Shoots and misses

"There's something I want to confess."

I was surprised by the statement, mostly because it wasn't me who said it. Swallowing all the hope I had of telling her how I feel, I turned left towards the door of the classroom. My eyes darted from one blonde head to another, and I couldn't help but feel pained in my chest.

Lucy looked up as well, the tending to my wounds already forgotten. I watched her eyes widen with surprise as she faced our intruder. Sting Eucliffe. Of course, I should've seen this one coming. I should've known that he would jump out of nowhere and ruin everything I worked so hard to achieve. If I wasn't bruised all over my stomach, I would've probably been fighting him by now.

"Alone." He said, and I took this as my exit scene.

Sting Eucliffe
[walks into the room to steal the spotlight]:
"There's something I want to confess."
[smiles like prince charming]
"Alone."

Natsu Dragneel
[walks away from the stage to leave the main actors alone]:
"Yes sir."

Lucy Heartfilia
[jumps into Sting's arms]:
"My hero!"

I shuddered at that small drama scene in my head, but got up nonetheless. Alright, I'll leave them alone if he wants, since there's only so much I can do when I'm bruised and when I'm standing in front of the person I love. I'm a sore loser. If I lose in a fight—moreover while Lucy was watching me—I wouldn't live it down.

And even if he confessed to her, I was somewhat sure she would turn him down. I mean, she said so herself that she asked him to take down the picture, and that she didn't want to have people staring at her in the same photo with him. But still, the time she said he told her that it would snow, and that look on her face…

But Gajeel told me that she didn't want a boyfriend! No, wait… that can always change. Should I leave? Should I stay? In which situation would Lucy hate me less? If I leave, she might be angry that I left her alone with a person she didn't like, or she might think I was pathetic for listening to what Sting says. But if I stay, she would probably resent me even more. Not only would I intrude in their privacy, but I would also be controlling her life, something she made painfully clear she didn't like.

In this traumatizing dilemma, I decided that it would be best to leave them alone after all. I mean, I don't want to anger her any more than I've done in the past, since I wanted her to start looking at me properly. I wanted to leave a good impression of a cultivated young man, so if somebody told me to leave them alone, I would.

I moved towards the door, only to have my joints frozen solid when I felt some pressure. Somebody was tugging my shirt's sleeve, holding me in place. In truth, the pressure was so low I barely felt it, and if I moved now she would probably let go, but who in the right mind would move when the person they like had initiated physical contact first!? Nobody.

I looked down at her, and felt the blood stop in my veins. Her eyes were concentrated on the blonde intruder, but instead of having a shy look of embarrassment like I thought she would, she was instead gripping my sleeve and fearfully staring at Sting. Hold on, is she… afraid? Is she counting on me to protect her? Because if so, that's number 67 on my list of 100 things I want to do before I die: protect Lucy and engage in physical combat with a mortal enemy! And so, swayed by my astonishing good looks and my perfect fighting skills, she will fall in love with me instantly, and we will be together forever.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Sting suddenly burst my bubble. I was ready to jump and tear him to shreds, but the injuries on my stomach and the hold on my shirt told me otherwise. One look in Lucy's direction, and I was willing to fight again. But this was her decision. And I was letting her make it.

"I'll listen to whatever you have to say," she said, and I felt my heart sink, "only if you say it right here and right now." Wait, did she mean..? "In front of the both of us."

I felt my hands get a little sweaty, and I was thankful that she chose to hold on to my forearm.

"Alright," Sting surprisingly agreed vary fast, even though I was expecting him to pull a temper tantrum and rage all day. Glad that I could hear what they're talking about, I felt my arms relax a little, and Lucy's hold seemed to put less pressure than before. It seems as though she felt more relaxed too.

"Well," Sting started, "I'm not going to beat around the bush and I'm just going to tell you what I feel right away. Since I'm not one of those guys who says they have something important to say and then just keep talking without actually saying it, and then you end up asking yourself what they're going to say but it's a bit rude to interrupt them while they're speaking to tell them to just stop their unimportant rambling and talking about things that don't actually matter when they could just go right out and say what they wanted to say from the beginning instead of wasting your time for nothing when you could be doing whatever it is you were doing before they interrupted you when they told you they have something to confess like I did a while ago but I am being direct and not like those people I was talking about, you know those people you talk and go on and on and on about the thing without actually saying the thing and you can't just stop them to say to get to the fucking point already—"

"GET TO THE FUCKING POINT ALREADY!"

"Oh," he dismissed my interruption, "Well, what I meant was," One glance towards Lucy's side and his cheeks redden in an instant, "I guess I went about it the wrong way and tried to confess my love to you without actually confessing my love to you." Lucy's grip on my shirt tightened the same way my fist clenched in my pocket, "So, yeah, what I'm saying is I like you."

I had to tear my eyes away from him to look at her, and frantically searched for some sign that she was indeed interested in what he had to say, and that she harbored the same feelings. But to my advantage, there weren't any. She seemed to just be bothered by the confession, and didn't want to reply.

There was an awkward silence for a while, until she finally spoke.

"I didn't expect this." Her eyes were glued to the floor. Like, how? How did she not expect it when he's been painfully obvious about it from the beginning—Oh. Oh… I see. So she's slow at those kinds of things. Come to think of it, Gajeel did mention that she hadn't had a romantic relationship in a while, which meant she was a bit rusty, and kind of dense by the look of it. So… is that why she was acting as though she didn't notice my feelings? Was it because she actually didn't notice them!?

"Well," she spoke again, and both my arch nemesis and I turned to look at her, "Why don't you come pick me up after work tomorrow and we can talk about it? I'm sorry I made you say it in front of Natsu… I didn't expect that." She exhaled, "I thought you would ask for another picture or something." I noticed that her hand had long ago left the secure hold of my shirt.

And suddenly, all the confidence I had accumulated through these past few minutes seemed to drip out from my pores and splash to the ground.

I watched Sting smile coyly before taking his leave, and turned back to look at Lucy. And she finally blushed. Her cheeks were flaming red and she even held her hand to her chest. I couldn't bear to look at her at the moment, so I thought of walking away, but if I left her right then, I would've probably been miserable enough to run back and make a scene. And say just what I feel.

So I decided that it was safer to just stick to her like glue and try to get my daily dose of Lucy to calm me down. I noticed she was packing up her things, and waited. I knew she always went home before she went to her part time job, so this was an opening. "Hey," I heard myself mumble, "I will walk you back."

She didn't reply, so the answer wasn't no.

We left the school, and I was silent the whole walk home. She didn't say a thing either but that was to be expected. I kept staring at my shoes as we went, and couldn't help but wish something would've gone differently. Maybe if I'd just spoken earlier that time, maybe if I'd been a second earlier than Sting, and just yelled out my feelings in the classroom, in the sunlit room with the perfect atmosphere and the amazing timing. I could've made it work for me, and even if I was rejected, I still would have tried.

But wait, what is stopping me at this very moment?

I knew she must be confused from the previous one, but what if another confession hit her just now? She would have to choose, and chances are she'll say no to both of us. But at least her eyes will be on me for the moment, and her mind will only think of me. I will be the only thing occupying her.

I have to say it. Right this moment. Right as I'm watching her small back because she's walking in front of me, and I can't bring myself to walk alongside her. Right as her hips are swaying and her hair is flowing in the wind, her hands holding the backpack straps, and her expression hidden from sight. We're alone. It's perfect.

"You," I looked up to see that we've already reached her house. My eyes darted towards her brown ones, intently peering at my soul, tearing apart my will to live. We're already here? But I thought I had more time? I feel my hands clench into fists, and my mind is filled with thoughts about how unfair the world was, that it almost out-spoke the sound of Lucy's voice.

"Are you alright?"

I had to look around to make sure she was talking to me, since I'd never received such a question with such a concerned voice from her before. I didn't reply right away, partially because I was surprised, and partially because I wanted to preserve that moment when she's actually caring about my well-being.

"Yes," I mumble, unable to keep looking into her eyes.

"Are you sure?" she asked, and I felt I had to get out of there right that very instant. "You suddenly got very quiet." I felt my eyes automatically look back at her, and my breathing stop abruptly, "Since you always talk so lively."

I forced my lungs to continue working, and mumbled something along the lines of 'bye', before literally running away from there.

Since at that moment, for the first time in years…

I felt like I wouldn't be able to stop myself from crying.

"So you're telling me…" He threw the basketball in the hoop, scoring clean in one fine throw. "…you ran away?"

I ran a hand through my hair and dropped my backpack to the floor, "Think of it as a temporary distancing from the place I was standing."

"So you ran away." His hand bounced the ball like it was made for it, as he stared at me with a raised eyebrow, before dunking another throw in the hoop. "Pathetic."

"Oh come on Gray, it's not like you're dealing with your problems." I mocked, even though I secretly envied his situation, since it was basically the opposite of mine. Whereas I was the chaser, he was the chasee? Or something like that.

"Hey, at least I can face her properly."

"You literally make me check any hallway in the school before we take a turn."

"Well, if I did face her, it would be proper." He tried to pave his way out of it, but we both knew I was right.

After watching me stare at my hands in defeat, he suddenly threw the basketball towards me, and I barely caught it on time before it hit my stomach and I embarrassed myself by rolling down on the floor.

Truth is, I knew he would be here. He always stays way past his basketball practice with the basketball club, since he wants to perfect his skills and be the best in it, just like I try my best in everything. Maybe that's why we got along together.

I couldn't help but smile as I started bouncing the ball off the floor with my hand, knowing full well that I wasn't nearly as good at this as he was. After all, he could almost be called a professional by now. But that didn't stop me from enjoying myself as I played with my friend.

"So do you plan—" he snatched the ball as I tried shooting for the hoop, "—to tell her you love her or some shit?" He threw the ball and even though I tried to block it's entry, he still scored.

"I do." My hands shot up to take it before he could, "But Sting beat me to it, and I don't feel like I should burden her with my own feelings." I started bouncing the ball again, watching out for Gray's sneak attacks, "And she might just be tired from all the bullshit we're causing her with this and that, and just turn me down before I even say anything." I throw the ball.

A hit and a miss.

"Oh, so you're trying to give her some space?" He mocked as he made a run for the ball, "If you ask me, I think that's just your excuse for chickening out."

A three pointer.

I felt myself get angrier by the second as he continued to beat me both in basketball and in arguments.

"Yeah well fuck what you think," I shouted as I made my way through the court in the school's gym, reaching out to catch the ball that fell through the hoop from Gray's earlier shot, "I just fucking hate the fact that someone can just waltz in after I've been looking at her for three years, and just say he likes her so freaking easily! What the hell?!" Gray manages to snatch the ball right in front of me once more, "It's just not fair!"

"You're not making it fair!" he shouted as he managed to score another point, "Because you keep whining and not doing anything about it!" His hand flew past me as he caught the ball right the same second it left the net, "You keep feeling sorry for yourself and not trying to do anything!" Another point. Another score.

I don't even stand a chance anymore.

He flew past me with lightning speed before I even tried to make a run for the ball, "You're pathetic." He shoots the ball and it bounces off the backboard and into the hoop, "Completely pathetic."

I felt the rage overtake my senses as I dashed through the court, screaming when I finally managed to get my hands on the ball, and not wasting a second to let it hit the ground. My yelling echoed in the empty gym, accumulating power as it bounced off the walls, sounding inhumane, animalistic.

I threw the ball with all my might, "I FUCKING LOVE HER!"

A clean shot.

I smiled as I felt my legs give up on me, and fell down on the wooden floor, panting heavily when I noticed Gray's silhouette tower above me. He's not nearly as tired as I am, but he seems content with the outcome. I watch his crooked grin get wider as he kneeled down, using one of his hands to pat me on the head in a brotherly act. He almost looks like he's an older sibling.

"I know you do, man."

And we laugh. We laugh until our stomachs hurt, until the sound of our voices fills the air completely, until tears gather in the corners of our eyes, until I forget what had been troubling me when I first got here, and until we feel like we can't go on anymore.

The atmosphere falls silent, and we sit like that in the middle of the gym for a few minutes, just enjoying the fact that we didn't have to face it all alone.

"Well, I'd better get going." I said, grasping the outstretched hand from Gray as he pulled me back up on my wobbly feet, "I have to get a good night's rest before I beat Sting up after I follow him tomorrow."

"Now that's the Natsu we all know and love(?)" Gray laughed, hitting me on the back. "I'll come with."

"Sure."

We bid goodbyes, and parted ways, him headed towards the showers, and me towards my home. I couldn't help but thank whoever was up there for giving me such a friend, even though he's a handful most of the time and it takes a miracle for something like this to happen, although we still managed to throw some insults here and there.

But I was thankful for it. Thankful that I have someone to play basketball and fight love rivals with.

I watched him wave one last time to me as I made my way out the door.

"You're lucky we didn't keep score cause I mopped the floor with you."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah yeah…"

Author's Note: let's just pause for a second to appreciate the fact that gray is an athlete *^* a basketball player in a jersey that the whole school loves... aaah that sounds so cool

so anyways, here it is

DO YOU HATE ME, READERS?! MUAHAHAHAH that was not natsu confessing ;-; i feel like his confession is just not meant to be ;-;

i hope he gets back in the game soon! we're all cheering for you!

~With Keys, Through Flames! Aye!~