Hello guys! So I was just looking up the lyrics for Gray Flowers to put in the beginning of this chapter and I saw a link that brought me to an interview with the singer of the Gray Havens. I scrolled down until I found the part where he talked about his song Gray Flowers and actually realized it was practically a metaphor. Of course I saw this coming, but I couldn't figure out what the singer actually wanted to convey with the words. For the sake of this story, I took in my own little interpretation of the song and decided to make a story out of it. This is definitely based off the song, but it could also be looked at in many different ways xD

For those of you who're interested in what he said about Gray Flowers, I'll copy and paste it right here:

"The third track, "Gray Flowers," stands alone as a gospel narrative story about a town that does not allow "grays." Grays is really grace. The officials represent the Pharisees. The woman represents the church. The man represents Jesus. You'll just have to listen to it." ~Dave Radford(singer of the Gray Havens)

I don't know, I just thought that was cool :3

Anyway! Enough of my ranting and onto the next chapter! :D

I do not own Shugo Chara or Gray Flowers.

Chapter 3:

"Then one day they saw her in a dress,
A gift from him it was gray and red,
It stopped them in their tracks,
Ooo, they knew it matched"

Ikuto's P.O.V.

"Package for...," the mailman glanced down at the box he held, reading the name, "Tsukiyomi Ikuto."

"That's me." I smirked, excited now that the package had finally arrived. The man nodded and held out a brown clipboard for me to sign some paperwork.

"Just sign here, sir." He said, pointing to the desired blank line I was to write my signature. After I was finished, I handed the clipboard back to the man and in turn, he handed me my package. "Have a nice day!"

I nodded with a soft grin, "Thanks." I closed the door and smirked at the box, bringing it into the kitchen to get a knife. After sliding the blade through the unsustainable tape, I opened up the flaps to reveal it's contents.

Amu was going to love this birthday gift.

Amu's P.O.V.

"So Amu, how's Ikuto-kun?" Rima asked, leaning over the counter of the clothing store with a mischievous grin.

"H-Huh!?" Blood rushed to my face and a warm shiver ran up and down my spine. How'd she know about Ikuto and I meeting each other every day? "S-Shouldn't you know better than I? You work with him!"

Rima giggled, tapping on the counter in a rhythm. "Haha, you get all nervous when the subject of Ikuto-kun comes up, don't you?"

"I-I do not!" I attempted to defend myself, failing by the fact of my sweaty palms and red cheeks.

"So what is going on between you two?" She asked, completely ignoring my struggle for denial. "You've been in a really good mood lately, and so has he."

It seemed as though my face would start steaming and I was unsure if I wanted to tell Rima about what Ikuto and I have been doing when we met up in that alley everyday. About how Ikuto's been giving me bouquets of gray flowers every day, even though the policeman warned us not to... What if she got worried and called the police on us? I didn't want him to stop giving me the flowers... It may seem selfish and weird, but I loved it when he gave them to me and I believe that gray had become my favorite color. I used to hate it, but now each time I saw my newly received gray bouquet on my dresser, I couldn't help but feel warm inside.

The town's law was stupid. Why was gray so bad? Why did everyone have to be all colorful? I had to be honest... I had been thinking strange things lately like possibly moving to another town with Ikuto... I knew it was impossible, though, because I had my little sister, Ami, to take care of. My parents moved away a long time ago to take care of my aunt who had cancer. Her house was really small, however, so my parents couldn't take Ami and I with them. In return for having to leave Ami and I for so long, my parents continued to pay for our housing, food, and school supplies by sending checks in the mail every month. I wasn't angry at them for leaving, but now that my favorite color was gray, I envied them.

"Uh, hello? Earth to Amu..?" Rima stared at me while waving a hand in front of my face, causing my train of thought to come to an end.

"S-Sorry.." I tried to compose myself, fixing my hair distract myself from my thoughts..

Rima seemed to sense that I didn't want to answer her question, so she decided to leave it at that. I was kind of thankful, not wanting to have to explain the situation to her.

"Anyway!" She began, a smile taking over her facial features, "You can pick anything you want; free!"

"Huh?" I looked at her with a confused expression, not knowing what she was talking about.

"Aw come on. You didn't I think I'd forget your birthday present, did you?" She grinned. "Pick anything in the store, free of charge!"

"R-Really!?" I asked, my eyes brightening at the amazing gift.

"Of course! And don't worry, my boss will never know." She giggled softly and I laughed along with her, dashing around the store to find my most desired item. After a really cute jacket was picked out, I heard my phone buzz in my pocket as Rima bagged my present.

"Could you come a little early today?"

I blushed gently at the message sent by none other than Ikuto. He and I had been meeting up every day at 5pm in the alley; him giving me a bouquet, me blushing, then us talking for a little bit about our lives. He told me where he got the bouquets of illegal gray flowers(in an old, small, tchotchke shop at the edge of the town in the back room) and then we'd talk about ourselves a bit. We shared stuff about ourselves to get to know each other better, and I soon realized I'd slowly fallen in love with him. I assumed he felt the same way, but I was always insecure about it.

"Okay, I'll head over now. I'm at the clothing store right now so I'll be there soon." I hesitated to type a heart at the end of the message, then decided against it as I sent the text.

xxx

"Ikuto?" I called quietly into the alley, stepping forward.

"Amu." Ikuto answered with his deep, seductive tone. He stepped toward me and pulled out the expected bouquet of gray flowers. I flashed him a warm smile and took them, murmuring a thank you as I admired them.

"There's another thing," Ikuto said softly, standing over me. He slowly turned around, picking up a neatly wrapped box and holding it in front of me. The wrapping paper was dark blue with pink polka-dots, making me blush softly.

"W-What is this?" I asked, stuttering with nervousness.

"I heard from shrimp last week that it was your birthday today." He grinned softly and when I looked confused, he clarified. "Rima."

She always knew what was going on, even without me having to tell her. "Y-You shouldn't have." I said softly, my cheeks a light shade of pink.

"But then I wouldn't have been able to see you blush like you are." He chuckled and I blushed even more.

"P-Pervert..." I mumbled, trying my best to not let him see my smile by looking down at the box and beginning to unwrap it.

I pulled off all the wrapping paper and opened the box, smiling and blushing once I saw what it was. I placed the box down on the ground and pulled out a cute, mid-thigh length dress with red and gray flowers scattered all over it.

"I-It's so nice..." I stuttered, practically speechless. I was so happy yet so embarrassed at the same time and I couldn't control my raging heartbeat.

"I'm glad you like it." Ikuto smirked and stepped closer to me, running his fingers down the fabric of the dress. "Why don't you try it on?"

"Here!?" I blushed at his suggestion.

"I won't peek on you. Besides, you can just put it on over your shorts and shirt." He said.

"O-Oh," I was able to calm down a bit, "o-okay..." I slipped the dress on over my clothes, sliding my arms through the armholes and straitening the fabric out. After I had successfully put it on, I realized just how perfectly it fit me and how comfortable it was.

"Do you like it?" Ikuto asked, smirking.

"Of course! It fits perfectly... I-I love it!" I smiled looking up at him. "How'd you know my size?"

"I have my ways." He grinned and I blushed softly, realizing he must have asked Rima.

"Thank you, Ikuto..." I smiled softly and took a step toward him, my face a pink shade.

"Happy birthday, Amu. You look beautiful." He took a couple steps toward me as well, getting so close that we weren't able to step closer anymore. Before I knew it, our faces were inches apart, too. Ikuto gently placed a hand on my cheek, caressing it sweetly.

Suddenly, all there ever existed was us. We were no longer in an alleyway, and there was no longer any people on the street. There were no bright, happy colors popping out in every direction. Instead, everything around us had turned gray. I focused my eyes on Ikuto's, feeling my heart beat against my ribcage. He slowly pressed his body to mine and leaned closer. I soon felt our breath mingle together and felt Ikuto's other hand make it's way to my neck. I slowly held onto his shoulders, closing my eyes as if to grant him permission to kiss me.

And he did.

I felt warm lips press against my own, sending electric waves of warmth throughout my body. The tips of my fingers and toes tingled with heat and energy as our lips moved in sync with each other's. It felt like I was floating over a world filled with gray flowers. I couldn't think properly, and all I concentrated on was the feeling I was receiving. I was falling even harder for this boy I only met a few weeks ago.

Even though it felt like it was too soon to stop, Ikuto slowly parted from the kiss, breathing deeply. I was completely lovestruck, staring at him with my eyes half-closed still, wanting to continue. He seemed to want to as well, but instead just gave me a smirk and let go of my cheek.

"I love you, Amu." He murmured into my ear seductively with his deep, alluring voice. It felt like fireworks filled with warmth and happiness had exploded inside my chest and stomach, making me weak in the knees. With all my strength, I held myself up and looked into his eyes, feeling giddy.

"I-I love you too..." I squeaked, finding out that my voice wasn't working properly. He flashed me a large smile, which I'd hardly ever seen before. I'd only ever seen his grin or smirk, but never a genuine smile as big as that before.

xxx

I smiled like and idiot, my face as red as a tomato, as I walked back to my house. I couldn't even walk correctly; my knees were wobbly and I couldn't find my balance. I found myself constantly tripping over my own feet and tried to stay focused on my walking, not let my mind wander, but that didn't seem to work. I kept replaying me and Ikuto's kiss and our confessions over and over again in my head, blushing like a maniac and giggling like a school girl. Okay, I was a school girl, but I was still acting like a silly little girl in love. But that was the truth, anyway.

To be honest, I didn't want to leave Ikuto. I wanted to keep kissing him and I wanted him to hold me tightly, but I knew I had to be home before 6 to make dinner for Ami. I had told this piece of information to Ikuto during one of our previous meetings and he insisted I go home to take care of her today. If it wasn't for him, I would have completely lost track of time.

There was something, however, that I did forget and loose track of. I forgot to take off the dress Ikuto got me before walking home.

Normal P.O.V.

The policeman sat in his car, watching for speeders or other laws being broken. It was a slow night, and barely any cars had went by. He wanted to go home, but he was still on duty.

Suddenly the policeman saw a strangely familiar pink haired girl walking down the street. He narrowed his eyes to see a bit better and saw that she was wearing a dress that had red and gray flowers scattered all over it. He was about to get out of the car and go over to her when he remembered where he knew the young girl from. She was the one that tall blue-haired teenager was giving gray flowers too! The policeman had seen the boy pull out the flowers and hand them to the pink-haired girl, but the girl had seemed surprised. She obviously had nothing to do with the purchasing of the bouquet, so she must have had nothing to do with the purchasing of that dress either! It must have been the blue-haired boy's fault...

Without stopping her, the policeman let the girl go. He would have to be sure that it was the boy who was doing the illegal shopping before confronting anyone. Tomorrow, he planned to watch the alley he first found the two in; then surely he'd be certain.

~Chapter End~

So I was having writers block while writing this, but I think it came out pretty good... And it's long! I think it's the longest chapter yet! By far.. I just needed to coincide this chapter to the entire quote from the song Gray Flowers and it ended up being pretty long, haha! Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please review!~ =D

~AmuletFortune98