sea shells come and go, from one place to another. you lose them easily, and tend to find more beautiful ones as replacement. like many things in life.
love, opportunities, changes.
but not us.
take note: female reader
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•∞•
"Okay. Spill."
The Tavern was currently closed for everyone except Fairy Tail members. All the girls sat around the long table– huddling Jewels in their hands, and listening intensely to what Mira had to say. Of course, that also included me.
"Well, Laxus came to my door last night..." Mira started, looking much more refreshed than yesterday. She was wearing her usual glamorous clothes- this time, a long pink skirt with a cotton blouse tucked into it.
"During the storm?" Levy asks, dumbfounded but quickly quieted by the rest of the girls with a resounding 'shhhhh'.
"Yes, during the storm," Mira laughs, white hair bounces. It catches the light of the noon sun. "He was completely soaking wet, I was so surprised... I guess I was angry, but he had such as a look of despair on his face, that the anger just kind of faded. We looked at each other for a second, and then he asked if he could come in."
"Demanded is more like it," Cana snorts, having known Laxus for long.
"No, it wasn't like that," she shakes her head. "it was a genuine question. And I knew that if I said no, he would have left and tried again tomorrow. So I let him in."
The girls hold their breath, anticipating what would come next.
"And... well, he didn't cheat."
We were quiet for a second.
"Mira," Levy starts slowly. "if this is a case where you feel the need to forgive him because of your history and the feelings you have, then he's lying to you," the girls nodded their heads in agreement, looking very hesitant to say anything else.
"He didn't cheat," she repeats. "I know when people are lying. He didn't lie. We talked for so long, and he told me that Sherry approached him. Which he told me wasn't the first time. She made multiple advances on him the moment she got here. It started off with looking at him too long and evolved into flirting. Laxus was very aware of it, and started to avoid her."
"Why didn't he talk to you about it? Ask you to tell Sherry to leave him alone?" I ask, curious.
"We talked about that, too. He said his pride got in the way, which I believe," she laughs, and groans are emitted from the girls. Of course, his pride got in the way, it's Laxus for god's sake.
She continued. "she cornered him yesterday, really suddenly. He was so surprised; he hadn't sensed her at all. And the moment she did, I appeared, and then I left again. Laxus hadn't seen her and pushed her off immediately. Apparently, he was very angry. She left crying."
"Actually, that makes a lot of sense," Bisca whispers. "I don't like saying, but I think both sides overreacted. We should have talked about this."
"Yeah," Cana admits, stirring her straw in her mango Jewel. "I thought about it, and Laxus is not the one who would pull a stunt like this."
A guilty feeling shifts through the air, as the girls look down at her drinks. Mira was the only one who was smiling gently, love in her sapphire eyes.
"...we should probably go apologize later," Erza grumbles, still in her white harness from her fencing classes.
"I'm not looking forward to that," I agree. "I can already see Gray's and Natsu's smug faces–"
"Hey, hold up girlfriends!" Levy interrupts, raising her voice. "they said some pretty nasty stuff to us too. They will also apologize to us."
They cheered; 'hell yeahs' passing from one mouth to the other. Mira's smile broadened, but then she grimaced. When everything quieted down again, she started to talk again.
"The strange thing is that... Sherry knew I was going to go talk to him, remember? We were all there that day, and Laxus went ahead, and I openly said I would catch up with him in a second. and I can't help but think... Sherry wanted me to see this, like she did it on purpose. Like... her goal was not to take Laxus from me. But, maybe I'm overthinking things..."
"Well, whether you were imagining things or not, we are kicking that girl outta Fairy Tail," Cana concludes at the head of the table. I smile; it kind of felt like a coven of sorts. Always having each other's backs, and ready to protect when necessary.
*
I texted Natsu, smiling, and put my phone away.
It was almost dawn- and the sky had darkened from a light blue to a clementine. The Tavern was full and bustling- Fairy Tail members sitting on tables, holding up glasses of overflowing alcohol. We had reconciled, and now celebrating. Again. Only a couple of minutes ago, had Elfman made his third toast on Laxus and Mira's relationship.
Speaking of the couple, they were sitting happily in a corner. Mira had her head on his shoulder, and Laxus was gently holding her hands. They sat in comforting silence.
Of course, that changed when Mira scooted further down on his lap.
I frown. Natsu still wasn't here- and Gray wasn't either, which probably means they're off fighting on a rooftop somewhere.
You wanted to talk to him about this morning, desperately. You text him again, joking around about the food.
"Is loverboy not replying to your texts?" Cana joked, plopping herself down next to me on the couch. I roll my eyes.
"He will, he always does. Try not to become too drunk, okay? We have an LD meeting tomorrow morning," I scold. LD stood for Levy's Dream- not that she would ever find out, as we kept that part of the deal a secret. So far, we were at the stage of looking for a building that would accommodate our plans.
"Yeah, yeah, miss goody two shoes, I know," Cana stuck her tongue out playfully, and we laughed.
At that moment, Juvia shrieked and a loud crash followed, meaning Gray had entered the building.
I stand up, Cana says something about me going to see my husband, and I roll my eyes again before making my way towards Gray.
Frowning, I see Gray with the rest of the bachelorhood without Natsu. They're surrounded around Loke and Elfman, who is having an intense arm-wrestling battle. And Loke is definitely losing, but that was kind of a given. Have you seen the other guys muscles?
"Hey!" I yell to Gray, who holds a hand up in greeting, an easy smile on his face. "Where's Natsu?"
He looks at me, startled. "Flameface? I thought he was with you?"
A cold feeling settles itself in my stomach, or like someone had thrown icy water down my back. This was not good. "No, he isn't," I reply, anxious. I whip out my and try to call him. It goes to voice mail.
Gray and I exchange looks.
I text him again, and Gray calls out to everyone if they have seen Natsu. In the foreground, unfortunately, many shrugs and 'no's were passed around.
"Nobody's seen him since this morning?"
The question rings through my head. This morning, he left my house. This morning, he was fine and smiling and stealing my chocolate chips. The tension in the Tavern increases, the noise dialling down.
Ding.
My heart beats faster- wondering if it was Natsu. It wasn't.
