The Concept of Forever

~x~

Chapter Six: Girls' Night

Nervously, Elie paced around the mountain trail where she had asked Lucia to meet her. She just wanted this all to be over with, to turn away from whatever was going on here, but at the same time, she was nervous. She wanted answers, but she didn't want to get sucked into something more sinister than she imagined. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. She didn't want to know, not as much as she was creeped out.

"Elie!"

The brunette froze, turning in the direction of his voice. He didn't seem anxious or breathless, but had his usual calm exterior that he always kept at school. "Hello," she said softly, smiling at him half-heartedly. He approached her and gave her one of his half-smile, half-smirk's, blonde hair falling over golden eyes. "I was hoping I'd get the chance to see you today," he said, suddenly frowning. "You haven't been answering any of my texts. Why not?"

"I've been a little busy today, that's all," she said softly, not meeting his gaze. It wasn't a lie, not at all, but the look he was giving her was making the hairs on her arms stand straight.

Lucia stood before silently nodding. "No matter," he finally said, sounding mildly annoyed. "I want to ask you something, Elie." The brunette finally looked up, feeling her heart race. "I have been all across this world," he started, turning around to talk to the mountains around them, "And I have seen much of what it has to offer. Some of it, admittedly, is rather spectacular. But none more spectacular than you."

He turned to face her, positively beaming at her, but something was off. "Elie, you are the woman I want to be my girlfriend," he said, reaching for her hands. She allowed him to take them limply, her face pale with shock.

However, he did not continue. After a few awkward seconds, Elie realized that that was his way of asking her out. "O-oh," she finally stammered, cheeks reddening. "Um. Wow. Lucia that was, um, very sweet of you," she managed to choke out, feeling her heartbeat in her throat. "I actually, uh, came here to talk about something else –"

"Did Glory talk to you today?" he interrupted, his smile quickly replaced with a sour look on his face. Elie opened her mouth to speak, but the blond was not finished. "He probably told you that I came to him and demanded that he leave you alone, right? That I was no good for you. Let me tell you the truth about the sniveling piece of –"

"Lucia!" gasped Elie, growing annoyed for the first time. Was there no end to her friends speaking badly of her other friends?! "That isn't what I wanted to speak to you about!" He shut his mouth, but the bad look did not leave his face at all. "I want to give you back the cell phone. I just," she hesitated, pulling it out of her pocket, "I don't feel comfortable with this anymore. I don't like lying to my brother, and everyone else! That isn't how I am, Lucia!"

She had begun pacing again, moving away from him in her flurry of movements. He remained where he was, unmoving save for his eyes, which followed her path silently. "You are the woman I choose to be my girlfriend," he repeated slowly, his voice low and emotionless. "And you spurn my advances?"

That wasn't entirely what she had been going for. But maybe it was easier than trying to explain to him everything. Maybe she wouldn't have to confront him about anything. "How did you know so much about me?" she said, the words falling out of her mouth carefully. "How did you already have my number before I told you?"

Lucia did not answer, and judging by the way his jaw clenched shut, Elie suspected that he wouldn't tell her no matter how many times she asked. "That is why I'm turning you down," she said softly, walking in front of him and carefully taking his hand, dropping the cell phone into it. "Goodbye, Lucia."

Without hesitating, she turned away from him and made her way back down the path. She did not glance behind her shoulder, nor did she hear his footsteps following her, but she did not relax until she was once again in the town. Now in the early afternoon, more people had emerged from their homes and made their way around, checking if anyone else needed assistance. Judging by the cheerfulness of those that she saw, Elie guessed that no serious damage had been done.

The week passed without incident. The storm proved to have been more thunderous than damaging, and all those that had been out to sea made it home safely, so life had simply picked up where it had left off. For most people, anyways.

For Elie, it felt as if nothing had really changed. She no longer spoke to Lucia, and he passed her dirty looks when he did look her way. Julia hadn't told the others anything, as per Elie's request, so it was as if her entire meeting with Haru that day had not happened at all. Even Haru was acting like nothing had happened, though he had been avoiding spending any time with her without the other's nearby; something that neither Elie nor Julia had missed.

The only real change was the addition of Celia and Belnika to their circle of friends. It was a little awkward at first, but the girls were friendly enough and Elie could think of no reason other than her mild jealousy to honestly dislike the girl. So, she kept her mouth shut and welcomed them in like the rest of them.

In fact, Celia seemed to have taken to Elie like a magnet. She was constantly asking her what her opinion was about her outfits and such, always wanting to see her after school. Having grown up as the youngest, and essentially the only girl, Elie couldn't really deny that she enjoyed feeling like the 'big sister' for once, especially now that Niebel was not returning from the mainland.

During their last visit, Sieg and Niebel's mother decided that it would be in his best interest to return full custody to her, under the claim that Sieg could barely afford to keep himself and Elie off the streets, let alone a decent life for a child. His mother would be able to offer him the best education, a guaranteed three meals a day, whatever he wanted. A life that Sieg was simply unable to give him. As so Niebel and Sieg returned home early only to pack up the rest of his belongings and bid farewell to Elie before leaving once more.

As much as Elie refused to admit it, she knew that this was for the best. Niebel was a bright, talented young child and he deserved to have the very best that life had to offer. Besides, no longer having to take care of a child as well as his teenage sister gave Sieg the chance to really start looking for a job, without the restricted hours of ensuring that Niebel was not left alone. It was a terrible loss, but Elie could only hope that it would benefit her nephew in the future.

Though nothing seemed to have really changed on the surface, Elie couldn't help but feel that something was different. And maybe not in a good sense.

"What do you mean you guys have plans?"

Julia rolled her eyes, hands planted firmly on her hips. "We're having a girls night," she said pointedly, gesturing to Elie, Celia, and Belnika. "No boys, no exceptions."

Haru and Musica gaped at them, not used to the idea of their friends making plans that did not include all of them. "Why can't we come? I can bring over some of the old man's booze and –"

"No," interrupted Julia, just as firmly as before. "It's a girls night, not a get-drunk-off-Musica's-grandpa's-alcohol night." Next to her, Elie giggled and crossed her arms against her chest to show that they meant business. Next to her, Celia followed suit. "Besides, this will give you guys the chance to, you know, do whatever it is boys do when the girls aren't around for you to bother."

Predictably, the boys began to argue, but as they had reached the crossroads where they all split up, there was nothing really for them to say that would potentially change the plans. "See ya' ladies tonight!" called Julia, waving happily as she and Let headed towards the main part of town. Musica grumbled out a goodbye and left with Celia and Belnika towards the more residential areas of town, leaving Haru and Elie left standing alone.

For a few seconds, the two of them stood next to each other awkwardly, neither really knowing what to say. "Uh," started Elie nervously, unsure of what to say. She swallowed nervously; things had never been awkward between them before. "How have you been? It's, um, been a while since we really talked."

He nodded, hoisting his backpack into a better position on his back. "Good. I've, you know, been pretty good," he said, his voice strangely polite sounding. There's something he wants to tell me, Elie realized, but he doesn't want to actually say it. That's the only explanation for how weird things have been between us lately! Just as she opened her mouth to ask him if there was anything bothering him, he cut her off with a, "I'm really glad that you and Celia are getting along so well."

The question stuck in her throat and Elie had to remind herself to close her mouth and swallow before she answered. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound casual. He smiled at her and shrugged.

"Well, you're my best friend, and she's also a pretty good friend," he explained, shrugging, "I was just a little worried that maybe you guys might not get along."

Elie nodded slowly, feeling her heart sink. With a terrible sense of dread, she realized that there had never been any sort of real confirmation that Haru and Celia weren't some sort of long-distance couple, reunited by a stroke of fate when her eldest sister was transferred to Garage Island. The kiss might have been nothing, or he may have had some sort of conflicting feelings. An old crush rekindled by the prospect of another person. Whatever it was, the brunette was suddenly very certain that it had meant much more to her than it had to him.

On top of that, Celia was constantly hanging on him, wiggling her way by his side at lunch and when they were walking home. At first, he had protested a little bit, cheeks pink and eyes frazzled, but after a while, he seemed to stop caring and hardly seemed to notice her, a fact which only made her cling harder. "Yeah," she finally said, realizing that he had been staring at her. "Yeah, right, it's important that, you know, we get along. She's great. Real great," she said, starting to ramble, "Good for you. I gotta go, it was nice talking to you."

Without giving him a chance to respond, she took off, waving one hand weakly behind her as she made her way towards her house. It would be empty, Sieg was working, but it was still better than where she was. Oh, how could I have forgotten about that? She lamented as she walked home, tears burning in her eyes, threatening to spill over.

Was it stupid of her, to believe that perhaps the kiss meant some sort of future for the two of them? Maybe. She didn't know whether it was understandable that she had suddenly become so confused, or if she was simply hopeless. Either way, however, it really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. What was done was done. At the very least, she was happy to have shared her first kiss with Haru and not someone else.

As soon as she was home, Elie went to stand in Niebel's doorway, gazing into the empty room. Sieg had mentioned something about turning it into an office of sorts, but it had never happened and the brunette suspected that it never would. In the brief moments that she got to spend time with her brother, he seemed distant, as if his mind was hundreds of miles away. She guessed that he was thinking of the son that he could not see, though she could not bring herself to ask. She sighed, tearing herself away and heading into her own bedroom.

"Okay," she said out loud, hitting her cheeks lightly while staring into the mirror. "No more of this depressing nonsense! I'm going to go to Julia's, and we're going to have a great time!"

A few hours later, and she found herself sitting on Julia's couch next to her best friend and Belnika, a movie playing in the background. Celia was on the loveseat, sprawled out and painting her toenails. "If you want, Elie," she said, her head hanging over the armrest to look at her, "I can paint yours, too. I bet it'd be really cute!"

"I don't really wear sandals, though," laughed the brunette, shrugging. "Maybe my fingernails?" she added as her friend's face fell. Immediately, the younger girls face brightened and she nodded as enthusiastically as she could manage with her head hanging upside down.

The four of them sat in silence for a few seconds, broken only by the sound of Julia opening another snack cake and promptly shoving it in her face. "You know what's really cute?" she said through a mouth full of chocolate. The other girls all turned to her, curious as to what she might say next. "Musica's little crush on Belnika."

"H-huh?" stammered Belnika, dark violet eyes wide and cheeks turning red. "He-he does not have a-a crush on me!" Julia snickered and raised an eyebrow at her. "He doesn't!"

The blonde roared with laughter, reaching across Elie to push her lightly. "You're just saying that because you don't want me to be wrong and end up making it weird," she said casually, examining her own long nails. "But, don't you worry, you're own little crush on him is totally safe with me."

"Julia!" cried Belnika, followed by the laughter of Celia and Elie. Julia only laughed along with them, rolling her eyes as her friend frowned. "You said you wouldn't tell!"

The blonde pointed at her, eyebrows raised. "I said I wouldn't tell him," she corrected. "Besides, what does it matter if these two know? None of us are going to just run out and tell him about it or anything. This is what a girls night is, you know, we tell stuff to each other that we wouldn't normally tell people."

Elie glanced at Julia for a second, feeling that she was bringing this up for more than just to mess with Belnika. The blonde returned her gaze with a gleam in her brown eyes, confirming Elie's fears. Oh, no... "Now it's your turn," she said, pointing at Celia with a grin. "Who does our youngest little friend have a crush on?"

Elie found herself desperately hoping that the answer would be simple – no one. However, judging by her giggles and the way that her pretty cheeks turned pink, the brunette guessed that 'no one' was probably a 'someone'. "Oh, you knooooow," she said with a slight shrug, drawing out the word. "There's this guy," she continued, letting out a breath of air and a smile. "He's wonderful. Absolutely gorgeous, you know? And, he's a total sweetheart!"

"So, basically, he's got it going on?" asked Julia with a laugh, leaning back against the couch. Elie looked down at her hands, preparing herself for what was to come next.

"Totally!" agreed Celia with a happy sigh. "I'd give anything to be with him! But, well, he's not interested in me in that way. He's definitely got a thing for someone else, you know."

A nod of understanding went around the room. "That sucks, kid," said Julia softly, tossing her a snack cake. Celia caught it in her lap, and though she nodded rather sadly, she didn't seem as heartbroken to have this 'total sweetheart' interested in someone else.

"I thought that it'd make me sad, and it kind of did for a bit, but, like, at the same time, I can really tell that he'd do anything for this girl. And, I mean, she's so awesome! The two of them are so obviously meant to be that I can't even, like, want to get between them at all."

Another nod went around the room, save for Elie, who simply sat staring at Celia. The younger girl had been looking directly at Elie while she was talking, as if she was trying to convey some secret message to her through her description. "Celia, who is the guy you were talking about?" inquired Elie quietly, trying to calm herself down.

Celia giggled, rolling her eyes as if it had been obvious. "Haru, duh! He's so totally into you, silly!" she said, shaking her head. "You're so lucky, I wish he would look at me the way he looks at you."

Ever since she had hit puberty and her friends had reached the point of their lives where the opposite gender was more than just a playmate, Elie had been hearing that she and Haru would end up together. Their own siblings used to poke fun at them for it; even Haru's father would crack jokes at their expense! At first Elie had fervently denied it, once even considered terminating her friendship with Haru to make it all stop. After a while, she stopped worrying that he might start thinking that she had feelings for him and got used to it.

But hearing it from someone that had really only just met her, had hardly ever really seen Haru and herself together the way that the other's had for all those years meant something different, somehow. It meant that it wasn't just the normal thing for their peers to think; it gave it some sort of validity that had been absent before.

"No, he isn't...into me," she finally said after a second, leaning her head back against the couch. "Trust me, if he was, he'd have asked me out by now, you know? All these chances, and yet...nothing."

Julia was still the only one that knew that they had kissed, so she was the only one that really understood what Elie was talking about. "Maybe you need to initiate it," she offered gently, cutting off whatever Celia was about to say. "He might just not know how to tell you himself. He might think you already know."

"Yeah, because, believe me, he talks about you like you're some sort of goddess," chimed Celia, nodding along with her own statement. "Like, I was super excited to be here because it meant that I might get the chance to be with him, and that was totally blown away when we first hung out and all he did was talk about you."

Belnika nodded as well, obviously grateful the conversation had shifted away from her. "Have you ever told Haru how you feel?" she asked in her own gentle manner. "It's obvious you care for him, so why not just let him know?"

Elie laughed, starting to tell her that she couldn't just tell Haru how she felt, but stopped. What real reason did she even have at this point? If he rejected her, what would happen? Nothing. It might be awkward for a few days, but they'd get past it, and Elie would move on, just as she had been all these years. "You're right," she said softly, rising to her feet. "Yeah, you guys are right. I should just go and tell him myself."

Determination was swelling inside of her, along with something else a little bit darker. Anger. She was tired of waiting around for him, and it was about time he knew that. "I'm going to go tell him right now," she declared, moving her way around Julia's legs.

Rather than stop her, the three girls all cheered. "You go, girl!" cried Julia, whistling happily. "You let that punk know exactly how you feel, and if he's still too dumb to tell you he returns the feelings, beat him upside the head!"

Elie grinned at them all once before she disappeared out the door, making her way quickly towards his house. Oh, he'll know exactly how I feel, don't you worry.

~x~

Author's Note: Hello again friends! Sorry for the delay here, I went on a surprise vacation for about a week and a half and have spent the week getting myself back in order for school and such! I didn't really want to end the chapter right here, but it still works, so I'm okay with it! (Plus, I need to be up early tomorrow and I still have stuff I need to do before going to bed...)
But, yeah! I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll try to have the next chapter up quicker than this last one!