I am glad that so many of you like this story! I really hope you like this chapter. I'm sorry if it seems uneventful, but I really just need it to fill in the gaps.
"I hate cleaning."
"I hate Mom."
"I hate this stupid gym."
"I hate this town."
Lucy stopped her chants. She fell to her knees, dropping the rag to the floor. She blankly stared at the wall in front of her.
"I hate my life," she whispered. She spoke so softly she barely heard herself.
Ding!
Lucy jumped up to her feet, turning to the door. It was about seven at night, and she had been cleaning the dojo since she got off school. Layla said if she found one speck of dirt, Lucy would be out of the streets. She normally wouldn't have cared, but her credit card was taken away, leaving her with no money.
"What do you want?" she snapped, seeing who just walked in.
"It's not what I want, but what Layla wants," Gray said. Lucy rolled her eyes and continued scrubbing the wall.
"And what would that be?" Lucy asked quietly. Layla left over an hour ago, so she didn't think it would hurt to ask.
"Layla went out of town. She'll be back tomorrow sometime," Gray explained. Lucy stopped scrubbing, waiting for him to continue. He sighed. He thought she would understand. "I'm playing babysitter."
"Hell no," she spat out like the words were poison. Satisfied with the walls, she dropped her rag into the bucket of soapy water. She picked it up and walked over to the windows at the front of the dojo, ready to wash them. Water sloshed from the sides of the bucket as she walked. She'd have to mop later anyways.
"It won't be that bad." Gray magically appeared beside Lucy, holding a rag of his own. He dunked it in the water before washing the windows with Lucy.
They were silent after that. They started at opposite ends of the windows, cleaning towards each other. Every few minutes, one of them would put their rag into the bucket to clean it off. A few people recognized Gray as they walked along the street and waved at him. Lucy would roll her eyes when he smiled and waved back.
At some point, they both reached the center. Lucy wasn't really paying attention, and her hand brushed over Gray's. She dropped the rag and ran across the room, but not before he saw her red face. He chuckled to himself and finished washing the window. Lucy grabbed a mop and started on the floor. She made sure to stay on the opposite side of the room as Gray while she mopped.
X
Lucy hummed along to the song on her iPod. She was laying on her bed, stomach down, drawing a willow tree. She already sketched one for art, but she decided to make another one, but a little different.
Gray knocked on Lucy's door twice. When she didn't answer, he called her name and knocked again. She still didn't say anything. He wasn't going to wait all night to tell her dinner was ready, so he opened her door.
Lucy's hair was up in a messy bun. She was wearing baggy sweatpants and a blue tank top, giving Gray a pretty good view of her breasts. He didn't look, though. Honestly, he didn't. He was too busy looking at her concentrated face as she drew her picture. She had a pack of colored pencils beside her.
He walked and over and sat on her bed. She jumped, finally noticing him. She pulled her earbuds out and dropped her dark blue pencil.
"Who said you could come into my room?" she asked.
"Didn't you already draw a tree?" he asked, completely ignoring her question. He picked up her drawing and looked at it. It surprised him that Lucy didn't try to take it away.
A black willow tree was in the middle of a field. The detail of the bark and leaves was almost unbelievable. The grass and flowers in the field were dark, cool colors. Sitting against a tree, was a boy. The picture showed the side of his body. The knee facing the viewer was bent, his arm resting atop. His face was looking down. Headphones, although barely noticeable, were still there. Once again, the details on the clothing and hair were very exact and realistic. His face looked sad and even a little tired.
"This is really good," Gray said. He looked at the half-finished sky. The sunset, which she was currently drawing, wasn't normal. Instead of orange and reds, it was dark purple and blue.
"Thanks," Lucy said, gently pulling the paper from his hands. She sighed when she looked at the picture, specifically the boy.
"Did I interrupt your emo music?" he teased. He picked up her iPod to see what she was listening to. The song was Radioactive by Black Willow. (A/N: Song originally by Imagine Dragons; I do not own this song.)
"Did you think I listened to emo music?" Lucy asked. "Actually, if you are referring to heavy metal, I do. This band is the only one I listen to that isn't like that, though."
"I think I've heard of these guys before," he said. He stopped to think a minute. "Oh, I remember them," he said in a disgusted tone.
"Is something wrong with them?" Lucy tried not to snap at him, but she failed.
"I just don't particularly like them," he said, trying to put it nicely. He noticed her distress. He didn't take her as someone to like a band so much that she gets offended when someone doesn't like them.
"What don't you like about them?" Her tone was softer. She picked at the corner of her drawing, waiting for his answer.
"They do drugs, don't dress respectably, and they seem to get into trouble."
"We wouldn't want dinner to get cold," she said, clearly down with the conversation. "I'm not that hungry. You go eat."
Gray didn't understand why Lucy was so offended by his opinion. He didn't think she'd lose her appetite over it.
Even though she said she wasn't hungry, he made sure to bring her a plate of pasta back when he finished eating. He figured that if he waited, she would change her mind.
When he came into her room, he saw that she fell asleep. She was still laying on her stomach, lightly gripping her blue pencil, and still listening to music.
He set her pencils, along with her drawing, on her desk. Next, he pulled the earbuds from her ears. After stopping the music, he set her iPod beside her art supplies. He carefully picked her up and moved her so she was laying on her back. After pulling the blankets over her, she grabbed them and buried her face in them. He shut her light off before leaving the room.
X
"Haven't seen...been?"
"...how...competing...going?"
"...think I'll...cute girls?"
Lucy was very confused by the parts of the conversation she heard. She would wake up, then fall back asleep, but wake up a few seconds later. By the sounds of it, Gray was talking to another guy, whom Lucy didn't know.
When she woke up completely, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She looked around, trying to find her drawing and iPod. She sighed in relief when she saw ten on her desk. She didn't remember falling asleep, though. She brushed the thought away and made her way to her door.
"I didn't think you were ever going to wake up," Gray said when Lucy entered the kitchen. Layla was cooking something at the stove. A blonde guy was sitting on one of the bar stools. She assumed he was the one talking earlier.
"What time is it?" Lucy asked. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Almost three," Layla said. Whatever she was cooking sizzled.
Lucy never slept in that late, so she was a bit surprised. She could have stayed up late, for all she knew. In reality, she fell asleep around eight the night before, so she slept a lot more than she thought.
"Why don't you two introduce yourselves?" Layla asked. She figured it was about time the two blondes me each other.
"Lucy," the youngest blonde said before yawning again.
"Laxus Heartfilia," the male blonde spoke. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Lucy."
Gray wanted to laugh at Lucy's face. It was a mix between confusion, anger, hurt, and fear. Her face seemed to get more pale by the second.
"Lucy, Laxus is your older brother by one year," Layla started to explain. "When your father and I divorced, we each got a kid. I'm surprised that you don't remember Laxus. Then again, Jude probably never mentioned him."
"Never," Lucy said breathlessly. She couldn't believe that her father would hide her brother from her. That seems like something worth mentioning, even if just once.
"Laxus was away at a national biology tournament," Layla explained further.
"Mom, it was physics," Laxus sighed.
"That's right!" Layla exclaimed. "You are into energy and all that."
"Did you tell everyone you're back yet?" Gray asked. "I'm sure Mira will be happy." Layla chuckled.
"Mira will be just as happy as everyone else!" Laxus snapped. He had been shipped with Mira since he was in ninth grade, when he gave her a flower in Valentine's Day. In his defense, he gave one to all his other female friends, too.
"This is touching and all, but in going to my room," Lucy said. She yawned on her way down the hall. She jumped on her bed, and instantly fell back asleep.
Again, I hope you all enjoyed this. Laxus is going to be a good, smart kid in this story. Did you all catch the physics conference reference to his type of magic? I hope you all did.
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