Hello, everyone! I'm very sorry for not updating in awhile. I spent a lot of time catching all my other stories up and updating the story that hasn't been updated for the longest time, and my other stories sort of fell behind because of that. I assure you all that I'm not behind on this story in the least!
Lucy scowled. "You really need to stop randomly showing up, okay? I. Don't. Like. You." She pushed her finger into his chest to show her point.
Loke grabbed her hand and threw it back to her side. "Just to be clear, I don't like you either. Sadly, we both like Gray, so we need to put up with being with each other even a little bit." He let out a sigh. "Gray wanted me to send you over for a minute because he needed you."
She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I want you to stay here with Levy. I don't want to see you more than necessary." She began walking away and stopped at Gray's door. "Just don't touch anything," she hissed before going inside.
She hadn't actually been in Gray's apartment before, so she didn't know what to expect when she walked through the door. He was a man, so she assumed that his place would be cluttered. The living room had a sofa, coffee table, and a big TV on the wall, not a book in sight, which also didn't surprise her. There were a couple shirts laying around on the floor, as well as a pair of shoes being thrown at the door. The kitchen was fairly neat, but cereal boxes and jugs of juice were just sitting on the counter. His apartment really was just a mirror-image of Lucy's so she knew where the hallway was that lead to his room. She passed the opened bathroom door and was met with two closed doors.
Her apartment only had one bedroom, but his apparently had two.
Knocking on the first one gave her no luck, so she tried the next one. She could hear a shuffling from inside before the door opened, revealing Gray. He was fastening the buckle on his jeans and he didn't have a shirt on, so it was clear he was just getting dressed. That didn't stop him from smiling wide and hugging her, though.
"I'm surprised you came over so quick," he admitted. "I assumed it would take Loke longer to get you over here."
She laughed lightly. "No, I was eager to get away from him." She pushed back slightly and looked up at his face. "What did you want me for?"
He flashed a charming grin. "I just missed you." He brought his lips to hers, making her roll her eyes before falling against him.
Back in Lucy's apartment, Loke had just finished giving himself a tour. He didn't go into her bedroom since Levy was there, ready to report anything suspicious that he did. The blonde would know he went in, anyway, and he really didn't want to be yelled at any more than she does anyways.
"I'm going to get some coffee," Levy announced, getting up from Lucy's desk.
Once she left the room, Loke slid onto the chair she was just occupying. He wanted to know what she was reading since the small bluenette looked very consumed in the text. There was a text document up and the words didn't even fit half a page. Curious, he started reading.
Looking into his eyes, I realized that I had to be mistaken. There was no way that I, a normal girl, would be destined to be with such a man. He was everything I wasn't and everything I strove to be. I worked my whole life to get what I had, yet everything was handed down to him, better than I could even imagine.
How could it be that I was meant for him? How did a simple tattoo mean so much? Sharing a couple lines of ink hardly meant anything to fate, so why? Why does it feel like it's all so right?
The moment he intertwined his hand with mine and I saw the perfect heart that we created, all my doubts slipped away. Some force brought us together at birth, and I wasn't about to let that perfect fit go. Just because he was a prince didn't mean that he was invisible to fate, and the same went for me, a simple girl.
Loke guessed that this was a story that Lucy was writing. It was written very well, which didn't surprise him. She did strike him as someone who always talked properly and could write well, so no wonder she was trying to be a writer.
"The perfect heart," he mumbled, lifting up his right hand. He looked at the curved scar, wondering for the thousandth time how it got there. Fate, huh?
X
"Lucy, can you take this out to Happy and Natsu?" Mira asked, holding out a tray of food.
"Sure!" Lucy said, hopping up from her stool. She grabbed the tray and took it over to the requested individuals.
"Thanks, Luce!" Natsu said with a smile. He set the plate of fish in front of his cat, Happy, who started eating right away. "It's nice of you to help Mira around today. Sometimes she needs a break."
Lucy looked back at Mira, who was sitting at the bar, reading a book. "She really does work hard," she agreed. "She's paying me, though, so don't think of me too highly."
On her way back, Lucy heard a call. She rolled her eyes and went to a certain table, already knowing who it was. Loke smiled wide when she finally reached him. "How about another one?" he asked, holding out his empty mug. "I think I asked you, like, ten minutes ago. You're an awful waitress."
Lucy groaned and grabbed his mug, stalking back to the bar. He had been giving her a hard time all day, making her do ridiculous things for him. He never treated Mira that way. It was just more proof of his distaste for her.
After giving Loke his beer and punching him for smacking her butt, Mira told Lucy that she could go home. It was something she was glad to hear. Wasting no time, she hung up her apron, accepted her pay, and headed out. On her walk home, she watched the night sky, analyzing its colors.
"Lucy!"
A moment later an arm wrapped around her shoulder and cold lips kissed her cheek.
"Did you finish up at the guild?" Gray asked. He received a hum in response. "I was hoping you'd be there a little longer, but that's okay."
"Why's that?" she asking, letting out a small laugh.
"I was going to make us something for dinner," he explained, holding up a plastic grocery bag. "It wasn't going to take long to make, so after you let Plue outside and feed him you can come over to my place."
Once they got inside their building, they gave each other a kiss before going separate ways. Plue was excited when Lucy came home, showing his affection by rubbing against her leg and yapping. She played with him a couple minutes before letting him outside. She shut him in the fenced section of the yard, something she did many times. After taking a quick shower, she let him back in and fed him.
Lucy was wearing a pair of gray shorts and a blue button-up top. Her hair was down and still wet, so she ran a comb with the blonde locks. She slipped on a pair of slippers and padded over to Gray's, entering without knocking. She found him in the kitchen, stirring something on the stove.
"Boo!" she shouted, hugging him around the waist. He laughed and hugged her, not scared in the least. That made her pout. "You're so hard to scare."
"Well, you aren't that scary." He kissed her forehead. "I'm making tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches." He turned back to the stove and turned the heat off.
Lucy got two sets of bowls and plates down, as well as two spoons. Gray got the drinks. They ate in total silence, that is when they weren't making a contest out of who could sip their soup the loudest. Once the dishes were done, the two moved to his couch.
"Do you want to watch a movie?" Gray asked, opening up one of the cabinets on his TV stand. "I have a lot of different ones, even Chick Flicks."
"Romantic Comedies," Lucy corrected him. "How about The Diary of a Teenage Girl?" She kicked the door shut with her foot. "It's a new movie that just came out on DVD. Levy lent it to me. I can go grab it." She was out of his apartment before he could protest.
Gray sat back down on the couch and waited, oddly excited to see the movie that he had never heard of. Even if it was horrible, cuddling with his girlfriend would be completely worth it. It had been a while when he had someone do those sort of things with, and he was eager to relive the moments.
Not even halfway through the movie, Gray and Lucy both regretted the choice. Levy apparently didn't like good movies. They made popcorn and had challenges with it, such as trying to catch pieces in the air. Then they played I Spy throughout the room, which Gray was much better at since it was his apartment.
"Is it the light on the microwave?" Lucy asked, craning her neck to see into the kitchen.
"Nope," Gray laughed. "Guess again."
"This is so stupid."
Throwing her arms around his neck, she attacked his lips with her own. He was shocked at first but easily overcame his surprise. He grabbed her hips, pulling her closer. She didn't know what came over her, but suddenly she couldn't be close enough to him. She was sure that his grip was bruising her hips and her lips probably weren't getting the best treatment, but that didn't matter. She easily moved onto his lap, getting even closer. When she tugged at his shirt, he threw it off in seconds. Then he moved towards her.
It felt like a century passed between each button becoming undone. She whined, not liking how slow he was being. She reached down and quickly unbuttoned the shirt herself, being used to wearing things with many buttons. He smiled in approval, diving for her neck, showing it with nips and licks, meanwhile slipping her shorts off.
"You're so beautiful," Gray told her.
That was enough for her. She decided that she wanted him, and she wanted him now.
Lucy kissed him again, fumbling with his belt buckle, When she couldn't get in, she broke the kiss to watch what her hands were doing. The second the clasp was undone, she gasped. The makeup over her hand had worn off at some point in the day. Her heart began beating fast, threatening to jump out of her chest.
An overwhelming wave of pain and nausea hit her stomach. She gasped and leaned back the whole way on the couch, her back hitting the opposite armrest that Gray was resting against.
"What's wrong?" Gray asked. He could see the panic on her face and knew that something was severely wrong. "Did something happen? It's okay if you don't want this. I would understand. Just calm down and tell me what's wrong."
Lucy jumped off the couch and picked her shorts and shirt off the floor. She ran towards the door and threw it open as fast as she could. And, since he seemed to show up every time she opened a door, she wasn't surprised to see Loke. She simply hugged her bundle of clothing tight against her chest and ran towards her own apartment, completely forgetting her sandals.
"What just happened?" Loke asked, closing the door behind him. "Please tell me you didn't do something stupid."
Gray shook his head slowly, a mystified look on his face. "I have no idea what just happened."
Lucy didn't know, either. All she knew was that seeing her tattoo was too much for her. A feeling of guilt hit her hard, as if she was cheating on someone. It was if she was cheating on the person she loved the most, the one destined to be hers forever, the person with the other half of the heart. At that moment, she knew, as well, that she may never be able to have a serious relationship with anyone else than the man destined to her by fate.
Notice: I'm going to include this notice on the next update for all my stories, so if you have already read this, please feel free to exit this chapter. Also, note that a copy of this "speech" will be on my profile.
I understand that not everyone is going to like my writing. I welcome critique because it makes me a better writer. I have had people in the past leave mean reviews, which some people refer to as "flames." I will admit that initially I do get a little angry at the people, but then I realize that those people are probably just ignorant of themselves. This is why I wanted to take a moment to discuss what this guest wrote and why it was very wrong of them.
Let's Play a Game, Chapter 8, Guest: Disappointed this seems gayer ... disgusting…
Let's Play a Game, Chapter 9, Guest: This is so gay LOL
Let's Play a Game, Chapter 10, Guest: This story is rubbish as hell, i'm fell to read just bc some fucktard friends said it good... this story reak rubbish and full with gay ... it is lame and stupid suit for stupid ppl to read it...i cannot read anymore... please ! kill yourself !
Okay, let's dissect this. First of all, this guest used "gay" as a negative thing, which in itself is used improperly and can be very offensive. My goal is not to assess people's beliefs about being gay or what context "gay" can be used in.
My major issue is their review for Chapter 10 and their repetitive reviews. First of all, leaving three negative reviews is very much getting your point across. Many authors use writing as their outlets for themselves. Having someone dislike your story, your outlet, can be a little upsetting, but this level of hate and negativity can affect some people. Saying "kill yourself" along with that can really damage the author.
Also, saying "kill yourself" in general is terrible. Suicide is not a joke. I honestly find it a little ironic that this guest decided to leave this phrase in a review for Let's Play a Game, which has such a focus on self-harm and it's about Fairy Tail's main character's having committed suicide. Which also leads me to wonder why someone would give such hate to a story about such mature and strong topics, as well as a story that I hope some of you take advice and hope from.
Lastly, as a small side note, I dislike how the guest mentioned that Let's Play a Game is for "stupid ppl" to read. If I happened to be looking through the reviews of a story I very much enjoyed I would honestly feel quite offended. So not only has this guest put me inside this "box" of negativity, they have also subjected you, my readers, to it.
Some of you may have thought this note to be unnecessary or a waste of time, but I personally feel that this is a message that everyone who reads or writes stories should read. It can be a little scary to put yourself out there through writing or any other outlet, so a little respect is always appreciated. And if any one of you feel the need to leave a less than a supportive review, please, please, please review what you are saying and try to think about how the author feels to hear your words.
Thank you all for taking the time to read through this.