Hey everyone! I do apologize for the lateness of this chapter. If you read my latest Grayza Collection chapter, you know of my recent addiction to Pokemon Reborn...wowee it's a great game. I hope you all enjoy, and leave a review if you did! I'll be uploading the next chapter sometime this weekend, so stay tuned for that!
"Who has the skull, who has the skull?!" Gajeel shouted, aggressively slamming his fingers into the multicolored buttons that decorated his controller.
Lyon furrowed his brows in concentration. "Natsu, cover me!" he shouted.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Natsu shouted back, leaning forward in his seat.
"Natsu, you're on the other side of the village, you idiot." Gajeel snickered.
"I HAVE THE SKULL!" Gray cheered. He slammed a button on his controller, watching his box on the TV screen intensely.
"Not this time! We have you cornered, Gray!" Natsu countered, a victorious smirk on his face.
"Think again, Slant Eyes! Gajeel is right behind you; we're gonna win!" Gray responded, grinning proudly as he watched the events play on the TV screen.
As if on cue, the crack of a gunshot sounded through the speakers. Natsu stared at the screen in disbelief, watching as a burst of flames surrounded his character. "WHAT?! THIS GAME IS RIGGED!" he and Lyon shouted in anger, as Gray and Gajeel high-fived.
"Don't be so salty. I can't help being this good." Gray smirked, shrugging casually.
"Right. We'll see who's salty after this round." Lyon grumbled.
Natsu groaned in frustration. "This is why I hate videogame Saturdays!"
"Get out of here, videogames are the only thing you're good at." Gajeel admonished.
"Along with cleaning out fridges." Gray added, nodding to the several bags of empty food scattered across the table in front of them. They laughed while Natsu crossed his arms, pouting.
"Whatever. I don't care if I'm on a team, I'm taking you all down!" Natsu decided, and they began another intense round. But above the exploding grenades and helicopter whirring, another sound was heard: the friendly chimes of a ringing phone.
"Hey, what's that?" Lyon asked, his eyes still on the screen.
"Nice try, Lyon. Quit trying to distract us." Gajeel replied.
"No, really, someone is being called at this very moment." Lyon insisted. They quieted down just enough to hear the trill of an incoming call.
"I thought we agreed on silent phones during videogame Saturdays!" Natsu complained, eyes glued to the screen.
"Whose is it?!" Gajeel repeated, his annoyance obvious.
Gray nodded in agreement, "Seriously, whoever it is, they need to-" He looked down towards his knee. "Oh, shit." Resting next to his knee was his phone that was, in fact, ringing. And more than that, his screen was lit up with none other than a picture of Erza.
Erza's calling?
"It's still ringing!" Lyon continued.
"I-it's mine." Gray told them, hesitantly picking up the phone. Swiping a nervous finger across the screen, he held the device to his ear. "Um, h-hello?" he spoke, voice shaky.
"What?" came Erza's surprised voice on the other end.
Gray immediately jumped, frightened by her sharp exclamation. "Um, what?"
"Is this some sort of joke?"
"N-no."
"This sounds like Gray, why would I- oh, shit." She took a deep breath. "I didn't intend to call you, your name just happened to be next to someone else's."
"Well, while I have you here, I-"
"Gray, why the fuck are you standing still?! Help me out!" Gajeel shouted.
"Yeah, throw that, throw that!" Lyon shouted encouragingly to Natsu. An explosion followed immediately as the round came to a close. Gray stood up, setting his controller down.
"What the hell is this?!" Gajeel spat, stretching a hand out to Gray.
"Do the next round without me; this is important." he apologized, and left to the kitchen. Ignoring Gajeel's shouts and Natsu and Lyon's cheers, Gray brought the phone back to his ear. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I was really angry that day, but that was no reason for me to say any of those things about you. We're friends, and I'm glad Jellal makes you happy." he apologized.
Erza spoke after a while. "I appreciate your words, Gray." She sighed, "I was going to talk to Lucy, as I had a number of things to tell her, but I called you instead. I apologize for the inconvenience."
"It's fine." An awkward silence fell between them. "How have you been?"
"How have I been? Well, I've been just- "
Gray waited, but no response came. He frowned into the phone, "Erza, you good?"
"No." Her voice was suddenly shaky.
He jumped in fear once more, unsure of what had just happened. She sounded fine a second ago, but now her voice sounded small and worried. "W-what? Why are you talking like that?" he asked nervously.
"It's not good." Her voice was shakier than before.
"What? What's not good?"
"It's- it's Jellal."
Gray frowned. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not." A soft sniffle came from her end of the line. Is she... crying? "Can we talk?"
Fear immediately took hold of his body. Sure, he and Erza had been ignoring each other this entire time, but now she was crying? They had their disagreements, but she was still his friend. Filled with concern, he headed out of the kitchen. "I'll be there soon." he told her. He tucked his phone into his pocket, returning to the living room to grab his coat.
The videogame sounds suddenly stopped. "Where are you going?" Natsu asked, looking away from the TV.
"Yeah, it's only been an hour." Gajeel added.
"Something came up. I have to go." Gray informed.
"You have to go? But it's videogame Saturday!" Lyon pointed out.
"I know, I'm sorry. But this is important." he stated, putting his coat on. After mumbling a quick goodbye he stepped outside, closing the door behind him.
"Well, you win some and you lose some. Let's get back to playing." Natsu shrugged. He turned back to the TV, controller ready in his hands.
"Wait, hold up. That was kinda weird, wasn't it?" Lyon asked, a suspicious frown on his face.
"How was it weird? Maybe he had a food emergency. Anyway, back to the game, I-"
"No, you're right. That was weird. Gray was the one who suggested playing today, and now he's the first one to leave?" Gajeel agreed.
Lyon thought about it, but shook his head. "It's probably nothing. Let's just keep playing, yeah?"
"Wait, it's only fun with four players. No Gray, no game."
"Isn't there anyone else we can ask?" Natsu suggested. "See if Loke's home yet."
Gajeel paused, then pulled out his phone, swiftly dialing a number. After three rings, a familiarly cheerful voice picked up. "Hey Gajeel!" Levy greeted.
"Yo, Shrimp. We were playing videogames but Gray just left, so we need more players. You wanna stop by?" Gajeel asked, recalling Levy's appreciation for the assassination game that was paused on the screen.
"Works for me. Erza's not here, so we're not having movie night."
Gajeel frowned, mind immediately jumping to Gray's sudden leave. "Erza's not with you guys?"
"No, she called and said she wasn't feeling well. Which sucks, because she was supposed to bring the movies, but anyway…why do you ask?"
"No, it's nothing. See you soon." Gajeel hung up the phone, placing it in his pocket, only to meet the strange grins of his friends next to him. "What?"
"That didn't sound like Loke." Natsu smirked, brow arched in suspicion.
"No, it wasn't." Gajeel shrugged nonchalantly.
"You called 'Shrimp' awfully fast." Lyon continued, leaning torward him.
"Yeah, so?"
"Doesn't that mean she's important to you?"
"What? Gajeel? And a girl that's important to him?" Natsu dramatically put a hand on his chest. "Unheard of!"
"Oh, look at that! His ears are red!" Lyon snickered.
Gajeel smacked both their faces away from his, rolling his eyes. "Dumbasses."
"Hey, Gray!"
Gray looked up from shutting his car door to see Loke moving towards him, his friend happily walking down the sidewalk. "Loke, what's up?" he asked, recalling that Erza and Loke lived nearby each other.
"Nothing much, just taking a walk." He gave Gray a suspicious grin. "What brings you here?"
Gray shrugged. "Something came up with Erza, I'm just checking in on her."
"Wait, it's Saturday."
"Yeah, so?"
"Isn't it videogame Saturday?" Gray nodded. "So you wasted potential videogame time and gas, just to come here? To see a girl you've been fighting with for weeks?"
Gray shrugged again. "I wanted to make sure she was alright. It sounded really important."
"Well, okay then." Loke nodded. "See ya later."
"See ya." Gray called as he watched his friend continue down the sidewalk. Sighing, he turned and started walking up the stairs that led to Erza's front door. After a brief hesitation, he rang the doorbell.
The door immediately opened. Gray jumped back, surprised she had answered so quickly. "Shit, Erza, that scared m-" He jumped back once more, as he made eye contact with her tear streaked face. "Whoa, Erza, you're- ?"
"Come in." Erza mumbled. Gray stepped inside as Erza closed the door behind him. She started walking inside, Gray following her, when she suddenly stopped in the middle of the foyer.
Gray stopped just as abruptly, nearly running into her. "Erza…?" he started, when Erza suddenly burst into tears. He clutched his chest as soon as he heard her sobs, immediately running to her side. "Hey, what's wrong?!" he asked. Something about seeing a strong person like Erza cry was always unsettling to him.
"Jellal and I...Jellal broke up with me." she cried, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"What? But I thought you guys were doing well?" Gray asked, confused.
Erza shook her head. "It was just like you said that one day. I thought we knew each other really well, but he didn't think so at all and he ended it..." she bit her lip, "And worst of all, I kept seeing him with-" Gray watched as she covered her face, sobbing into her hands again..
Not knowing what to do he awkwardly reached out a hand to console her, but thinking of her possible reactions, he quickly retracted his gesture before she could notice. "Erza, that sucks. I'm so sorry, I-"
"-No, I'm sorry. I was so rude to you that day, but you were right the whole time. I shouldn't have acted like that."
"No, me too! I'm really sorry for all the things I said, especially on the phone...I was really embarrassed, but it wasn't right for me to say."
She looked up at Gray with tear-streaked eyes. "That really means a lot."
Gray shrugged, and without thinking, put an arm around her. "You know what? I think you should be glad you guys broke up. You deserve a new start."
"Thanks, Gray." Erza replied, giving him a small smile through her tear-streaked eyes. Gray smiled back, his happiness obvious as well. It was then that Erza realized that his arm was around her, but instead of shaking it off, she realized how nice it felt, and just how close they suddenly were-
Wait.
...what the hell?!
Gray suddenly drew his hand back, gulping loudly as a light blush dusted his face. Erza jumped back just as quickly, looking down at her hands. Gray looked at her slowly, only to make sure she wasn't staring back at him, when Erza looked right at him. He immediately took a step back, loudly clearing his throat. "Yeah, so, uh, I'll see you at school?" he asked, his blush getting redder.
Erza followed suit, curling a strand of hair behind her pink ears. "Uh, yes, at school. Yes. Education." she responded choppily, quickly guiding Gray back to the door.
After exchanging rushed goodbyes she shut the door behind him and turned around, resting her back against the door's cold surface. I'm glad we sorted that out, she thought, clearly happy that she and Gray had worked through everything. But she frowned, bringing a hand to her face, feeling the warmth of a slight blush on her cheek. But why do I feel so nervous? Her thoughts immediately jumped to Gray's kind words and smile- but she shook her head, and left to her room.
What an annoyance.
"So, why are we here again?" Lucy asked. Not that she minded hanging out with her friends- she was always glad to spend time with them. But the sudden meeting at Natsu's house and occupying every available space in the living room was just the slightest bit strange to her.
"Like we said, Erza wasn't bringing the movies to movie night, so we needed another form of fun," Levy explained, "And I love this game." As if on cue an explosion sounded from the speakers. She raised her controller in the air, cheering giddily.
"Of all people, Erza would be the last to ruin movie night." Cana laughed, intensely slamming the buttons on the controller in her hands as well.
"Same with Gray. He was the one that suggested playing games in the first place, but then he leaves. And for what? I'm not even playing anymore…" Natsu pouted, gingerly eyeing the controller in Cana's hands.
"Wait, Gray left too?" Mira asked from her spot on the floor.
"Yeah. That little stripping cheapskate…"
"Wait, guys, that's crazy!"
"Keep it down, I can barely hear the choppers." Lyon told her dismissively, eyes glued to the screen.
"No, seriously, this is insane!" Mira continued, jumping up in front of the TV to face her friends.
Gajeel groaned annoyedly. "Dammit Mira sit down, I can't see a fucking thi- "
"PAUSE THE FREAKING GAME!" Mira shouted. Everyone jumped in surprise. Eyes wide Gajeel clicked a button, and the sound effects stopped. Mira lowered her hands, smiling sweetly at all of them. "Now, as I was saying, I made a connection: Erza didn't show up to hang out with us because she wasn't feeling well, and Gray left you guys because of 'something important.'"
Levy shrugged. "So?"
"Yeah, why'd we have to pause the game for that?" Lyon added.
"Don't you guys get it? Don't you think they could be...together?" Mira prodded, eyebrows raised in excitement.
Gajeel wagged a finger at her, shaking his head. "Oh no no no you don't. This is just a funny coincidence, not another place for you to do that creepy matchmaking shit-"
"C'mon! They're definitely together right now!"
"But does that even mean anything? The game is definitely more exciting than this…" Natsu chimed.
"Well- " She was suddenly cut off by the ringing doorbell.
Natsu got up from his seat, making his way to the door. "It's just Loke!" he called from the foyer, and opened the door. "Hey man, they're in the middle of a round, but we can-"
Loke came in running, the excitement on his face clear. "-GUYS! You will NOT believe who I- oh, hello, sweet Lucy." He smiled at the blonde, taking her hand into his.
"H-hey, Loke, how's it going?" Lucy winced, chuckling halfheartedly. This was a normal occurrence for her and the orange haired boy, but it didn't make it any less weird.
"How have you been? I must say, you look more stunning than usual. Is that a new necklace?" Loke continued.
"Y'know for once, you're actually right. I bought it yesterday."
"Well I must say, it looks beautiful on yo- OW!" Loke dropped Lucy's hand, his own clutching the side of his head.
"You haven't formed a significant sentence yet. Please get to the point or I'll slap you again." Natsu interrupted.
"Jeez, okay! As I was saying, you'll never guess who I saw before getting here!" Loke gushed, his excitement returning.
Cana groaned, "Get to the point, we're in the middle of a round- "
"GRAY!" he announced.
Levy shrugged. "Apparently he just left, he could have driven by while you were on your way over-"
"No, no, he wasn't driving by or anything. I saw his car, and when he got out I asked him why he was here. And guess what he said?! That he was going to Erza's!" he revealed.
Gajeel frowned, looking between Mira and Loke. "Wait, that means- "
"-Isn't it obvious what it means?" Mira asked, her eyebrows raised enthusiastically.
Cana arched an eyebrow at the two of them. "So you think that Gray and Erza are some sort of...thing, now?" she asked.
"YES!" both Mira and Loke shouted excitedly. "Why else would they not say where they're actually going?" Loke added.
"That's impossible. They've been fighting for the past...I don't know, week?" Natsu pointed out.
"Yeah, but what if he's actually there? What if they made up? What if they're dating?!" Mira continued, hands clasped together eagerly. Loke nodded in agreement.
Gajeel scoffed, shaking his head. "Yeah right. I mean I haven't seen her with Jellal lately, but as long as she has him that will never happen."
"And this is Gray we're talking about. He wouldn't act on any feelings, not for Erza or for anyone. You know how stubborn he is." Cana chimed in.
"But hypothetically, let's just say that it's real. As friends, shouldn't we find out, so we can...y'know, help them out?!" Mira asked hopefully.
They others exchanged speculative looks, before shaking their heads in disagreement. "That's not our concern, and will not be our concern." Lyon decided, everyone nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, Gajeel's right: as long as Jellal's in her life, that would never happen." Cana agreed.
"And she wouldn't go to Gray, right?" Levy added, earning nods in response.
Loke sighed. "Okay, you guys are right. It's probably nothing," he shrugged, taking a seat on the couch next to Lucy, much to Natsu's annoyance. The game resumed, as though they had discussed nothing.
But Mira sat back down, her thoughts not as swayed as Loke's were. Her disappointment went unnoticed among the sound of crashing cars and firing machine guns. Her friends didn't agree with her now, but something told her that this was more than just a funny coincidence.
I hope y'all enjoyed! I wish you all the best in 2016. Spend time with the people that truly care about you, make your own decisions, and don't forget to indulge. Love y'all!
-Pinky