~CHAPTER 4~
Friends are always there for you.
It was late at night and Percival was alone in his chambers. He had just gotten back from the training field. It was a long day. His troubles hadn't left him alone. He kept thinking about how Taylor was always making his life hard for him. But for some reason, that made her even more attractive in his eyes. She was not playing hard to get. She was hard to get.
Since day one, it was very clear to him that she was not the type of girl with whom you could flirt. Quite the opposite actually. His first attempt at talking to her failed terribly as she barely even said hello. And whenever she caught him staring at her, she seemed annoyed. Maybe he should give up after all. It is no use if all she does is avoid him. Even now that they were all friends and spent a lot of time together, if and when she chose to talk to him, it was in a purely friendly way. She was not shy or reserved and there was never awkwardness like between Delilah and Leon. How jealous he was of that. His thoughts were interrupted by Gwaine and Leon who entered his chambers.
"Here you are! Why did you leave so early?" asked Gwaine in his cheerful voice as always.
"I was tired. Why, what was there to do?" he replied with a rather unexcited look on his face.
"We're heading to the tavern? Will you join us?"
"Not a chance. I'm still struggling to recover from yesterday. Besides, I made a promise to my commander…" he replied and looked at Leon, letting out a small laugh.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. You will have me to help you stay sober." Leon reassured him.
"That's right, you will have Sir Boring over there to keep you company! You'll be fine! A drink never hurt anyone." He said with his usual ironic voice and made Percival laugh out loud.
"Just because I have control over my life, Gwaine, that does not mean I am boring." Said Leon and started laughing.
"Alright, alright, calm down old man."
"Oh, shut up Gwaine." Leon continued and gave him a light punch on the shoulder.
"Fine, then. Let's go." Said Percival and motioned for them to leave.
When they entered the tavern, they took a look around and saw Merlin and Lancelot sitting on their usual table so they joined them. Quite some time had passed and they had already finished their first drink and talked endlessly about all sorts of matters but the entire time Percival didn't seem to follow any of the conversations. He just sat there, lost in his thoughts for once more.
"Percy? Are you alright? You haven't said a word all night. Where was your mind travelling again?" asked Merlin and seemed really concerned for his troubled friend.
"It's nothing really. I'm fine. Just tired." He replied without even raising his head to look at the others.
"Then why the long face?" asked Gwaine who for once more seemed almost drunk. What a surprise!
"Oh, leave him alone. He's just having a bad day." Leon stood up for him knowing that Percival was not willing to share his troubles with everyone at that point. Especially with Merlin around.
"I bet a woman is the cause of your troubles." Said Lancelot and giggled.
"How do you know?" answered Percival and finally raised his head, his eyes full of misery.
"Women are always the cause of troubles, my friend. Nothing new." Lancelot patted him on the back and laughed.
"This particular woman you want though can only cause troubles though." Gwaine continued trying to get his best friend to open up about it. Percival panicked for a while because he didn't want to mention her name since Merlin was present.
"Wait, you know who she is? Do we know her too?" Merlin surprised everyone by his ignorance.
"Of course. Especially you." Gwaine continued bringing Percival in an even more uncomfortable position.
"Gwaine! For God's sake! He obviously does not wish to reveal this lady's identity. Pipe down, will you?" Leon stood up for him again, trying to change the subject of conversation but his efforts were obviously a waste of time to the others.
"That's alright if you don't want to tell me. I just asked out of curiosity. I'm sorry if it made you uneasy." Merlin apologized. "But I thought it would help if you shared it with us, that's all."
"Don't worry, Merlin. You are right. The thing is…well…your sister. I've liked her for so long but now that we are actually closer as friends I seem to be unable to get her to even notice me." Percival started and put his face in his hands again.
"Wait, we are talking about Taylor, right? You? And Taylor? Why?" he kept asking startled that his friend was actually in love with his sister.
"Why shouldn't he? Leon fell for Delilah. It was time someone fell for Taylor as well." Gwaine barged in and surprised Leon, who felt incredibly embarrassed at the moment.
"Everyone knows? Even you, Merlin?" Leon asked cowardly and looked at him with shame in his eyes that he had not admitted it earlier.
"It was not that hard to notice" he giggled and continued "and I understand that but seriously Percy? Taylor? I mean, what could possibly be so attractive about her? Delilah is sweet and kind, she is beautiful, she's perfect. But Taylor? Even if she does respond to your feelings, she will make this a hell for you! And how could you possibly approach her? Even I don't know what it takes to satisfy her and I've lived with her all my life. May I ask what your plan is?"
"First of all, I think Taylor is beautiful too. Maybe not in a traditional way, but for some reason I like her. And I know she's far too complicated a person to approach but somehow that makes her even more attractive. But that is my problem. There is no plan. Every time I try talking to her or even flirt, she manages to turn me down. I even tried buying her flowers. It's like everything I ever knew about women does not work on her. So what am I supposed to do?" he said and the hopelessness on his face became more and more evident with every word.
"That's your mistake, my friend. You are approaching her the wrong way. Romanticism is not the key to her heart. Like you said, she's not like her sister and well…every woman in the world!" Lancelot suggested and laughed.
"Then what should I do?"
"If I have learnt one thing all those years from living with Taylor, that's that the only way she will want something is by not having it. If you stopped being so eager and started acting more relaxed around her, showing her you're interested in more practical ways, that would probably do the job. Trust me." Merlin advised him and continued "The most important thing to avoid in that process is believing she needs your help in any way. If you make her believe you consider her completely equal in every way, you'll get her." And then he smiled, content that he finally managed to help his friend.
"See? Everything can be easier if you just share it with your friends." Suggested Lancelot and they all started laughing and continued drinking now that their troubles were finally put to rest for a while.
The night continued mildly and Percival, now free of his troubles, enjoyed it quite a lot. He kept playing their conversation on his mind again and again, carefully planning his next move.
Alright! So here goes another chapter! I think I'm going to upload another one today later though…So now Percival has a plan! Isn't that exciting? The truth is I didn't really like the last two chapters (with this included) but I'm thinking from now on that everything is back in an order, it will get better. Next chapter we return to Leon who is now trying to approach Delilah! YEAH! Stay tuned! Kisses! ~xoxo~
