Fairy Tail

Vince’s POV

I woke up to the tunes of “6 months”, meaning Cassie was calling and I wasn’t surprised. She’d always been a morning person, which meant I often had the privilege to wake up in an empty bed.

Groggily I answered the phone, failing to use a word, making it sound more like a growl.

“Good morning sleepyhead.” Cassie greeted cheerfully. “Time to get that gorgeous ass of yours moving and come eat some breakfast. We’re leaving for Knoxville in less than an hour.”

“Time…?” I mumbled, still not fully awake.

“I’ll check… 11… Tired are we? I guess I should feel guilty since it’s partly my fault, but really, I don’t.”

“Mm…”

“Come on Vince. Hayles is sitting here all alone, just dying for some company. The rest of us have already eaten and are on our way out for some last minute shopping. Besides, your coffee is getting cold…”

“Yeah, yeah… Hold your horses, I’m coming.”

“Good!” she snapped and hung up.

I let out a yawn as I scratched my head, searching for my clothes. When I didn’t found them, I grabbed a pair of Cassie’s old gray sweat pants and put them on. I took a quick look under the bed and found my bra. On my way out, I grabbed a black tank top and pulled it over my head while I placed my feet in a pair of slippers.

I walked to the front of the bus and opened the door. The bright sun light made me take a step back as I raised my hand to protect my eyes.

“It burns…” I whined and took a quick step outside.

Hurriedly I made my way to the small café in the building where we’d been playing last night. I walked inside and found Cassie, Hayley and Mike sitting by a table in the back. They waved and I made my way towards them. Cassie got up and was about to give me a hug, when she stopped and placed her hands on her waist instead, giving me a typical “mother-look”, while Hayley and Mike giggled behind her.

“You could at least have taken some time to look in the mirror. Your hair… It looks alive…”

“And good morning to you too…” I sighed, giving her a kiss on the cheek before sitting down next to Hayley, who were still giggling, though trying to hide it by covering her mouth with her hand.

“Someone had fun last night.” Mike said with a big smirk and pointed at my collarbone.

I looked down and noticed a red mark, rather visible against my pale skin. I turned to Cass who did her best to look innocent, something that failed completely since she was smirking at the same time.

“Cass…” I whined and gave her an accusing look.

“I was caught in the moment.” She explained nonchalantly.

“Well, thanks to you I have to wear a scarf tonight…” I muttered.

“It’s not that visible…” Cassie muttered back.

“Hayley…?” I asked and pointed at the mark.

“Scarf…” she mumbled while Mike nodded in agreement.

“Especially since it’s not the only one…” Mike filled in and burst into laughter while this time, pointing at my neck.

I gave Cassie another accusing look, but she just shrugged her shoulders while her face cracked up into another wide smirk.

“Well, I’ve done my part…” Mike continued as he stood up, giving me a grin. “See you two later. Cass, I’ll wait outside…”

As he walked towards the exit, I cast a quick glance at Hayley who were staring intensely at the sandwich in front of her, looking like she was in the middle of a serious staring contest. She had been uncommonly quiet since I’d got here.

“Is there anything you need before we leave Nashville?” Cassie asked, interrupting my thoughts, as she placed a lukewarm cup of coffee in front of me.

“A scarf…” I muttered and took a sip of the coffee.

“I’ll see what I can do, dear.” She said sarcastically. “Hayles…?”

“No, I think I’ll manage. Thanks anyway…”

“Well then… See you later! And Hayles, make sure she eats something.”

“I can take care of myself, thank you.” I muttered.

“Sure you can… Bye now.”

She ruffled my hair and gave me a quick kiss before she followed Mike outside.

“Is she always like that?” Hayley asked and laughed.

“Pretending to be my mother you mean? Yeah, pretty much… Well, she’s not the only one. The others are the same though. It’s their favourite way to get on my nerves.” I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed the menu. “Though I must say, it’s quite nice from time to time, knowing that you have someone who looks after you when your real family isn’t around.”

“I know what you mean.” Hayley said and took a bite from her sandwich.

I waved the waiter over to the table and ordered a vegetarian sandwich. A few minutes later, he placed it in front of me. Hayley looked at me with interest as I took the first bite.

“How long have you been a vegetarian?”

“Hmm… About three years I think.”

“So you haven’t eaten meat for three years?”

“Well, I’m a bad example… I have my relapses from time to time. Though afterwards, I don’t eat for a day or two since I feel so guilty.”

“Wow… That sounds very religious in some way.” She said and let out a short laugh.

“It sort of is… Well, not according to me, but others would probably call it religious.”

“Okay, now I’m curious.”

“Well, I’m a Buddhist, kind of… Though for me, it’s more like a lifestyle than a religion.”

I saw her eyes wander to my left arm, which I’ve covered almost completely with a big tattoo, depicting a Buddha sitting under a cherry tree.

“Then you believe in karma and that stuff too?” she asked, still looking at my arm.

“Yeah, I do… Though as I said, I’m a bad example.”

She broke out from her trance and gave me a warm and gorgeous smile.

“I’m just fascinated about people with other beliefs than myself. I think that’s what makes the world go round…”

“I guess you’re right…” I said and smiled back. “Though, I’m not really that fond of religion in general… What matters to me is that you show respect and consideration to others. What goes around comes around, so to speak.”

“That’s what I mean. I love people with an open mind, no matter what their beliefs are. Just the fact that we can sit and talk about it, even though it’s way too early, is making you grow as a person.” Hayley said, emphasizing the “way too early” part.

“Loving people with an open mind, huh? Technically, you just said you love me.”

Hayley looked at me as if she’d seen a ghost, as a small blush spread over her face.

“It’s cool Hayles…” I continued, trying to repair my stupidity. “I love you too.”

This time her whole face went red and she quickly looked down, avoiding my eyes.

“Smooth Vince…” I thought, ready to disappear. “At least you meant it.” I heard a voice from the back of my head say, making me panic.

There was an awkward silence between us. Hayley was still looking at the table, while I cursed my own stupidity. After a while, I decided to break the silence, since it couldn’t get much worse.

“What do you say we get out of here? That guy in the corner has been staring at me since I got here and I’m not sure if he’s turned on or just afraid of me. Frankly, I don’t want to find out.”

Hayley’s POV

The silence between us was driving me insane. I was just about to say something clever, but Vince beat me to it.

“What do you say we get out of here? That guy in the corner has been staring at me since I got here and I’m not sure if he’s turned on or just afraid of me. Frankly, I don’t want to find out.”

I looked up from the table that I’d been staring at since Vince had said those magical words. She probably didn’t mean it, at least not like that, but it didn’t stop me from reacting like a complete retard. I cast a glance towards the corner and the man staring at us.

I turned back to Vince with a smirk and said something I never thought I would dare to say.

“My guess is that he’s picturing us making out in our underwear.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Vince agreed and gave me a mischievous smile. “Maybe we’ll give him what he wants then…”

Before I had time to react, Vince had leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. Every muscle in my body went numb and all I could think of were the warm and soft lips on my own. The lips I’d longed for in what seems as forever.

“Is this really happening?” I asked myself and at the same time, Vince pulled away with a wide grin on her face.

“That showed him.” She laughed and looked at the man.

I stared out to thin air, having a hard time comprehend what just happened.

“Hayles… Are you okay? I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or anything.” Vince said, after a moment of silence, and gave me a worried look.

I finally managed to pull myself together and turned my gaze to Vince, who were blushing slightly and looking at me with worried eyes.

“I-it’s okay… You just took me by surprise.”

“I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Don’t be…” I mumbled, meaning it more than anything.

The awkward silence came back, but this time I wasn’t the only one blushing and staring at the table. After a while, I decided it was my turn to break the silence.

“So… Maybe we should get going?” I asked, almost mumbling the words.

“I think we should.” She answered without looking me in the eyes.

We both paid for our breakfast and then made our way outside and towards the buses. Neither on of us said a word and when we came up to the buses, we walked our separate ways, getting inside our own bus while both mumbled something sounding like a “goodbye” or “See you”.

“She’s killing me.” I muttered once I was safe inside our bus.

I was relieved that the guys were out, I really needed some alone time to figure some things out. Though the only thing on my mind right now, was her soft, warm and absolutely perfect…

“Hayley, snap out of it.” I almost shouted as I banged my head in the wall.

To get my mind on something else, I threw myself at the couch in the back lounge and started up the Xbox. Killing nazi zombies in Call of Duty really was the best way to get rid of some frustration.

Vince’s POV

I was lying in my bunk with my computer, letting my finger drum on the keyboard, not being able to relax. I hadn’t even turned the computer on. I just stared at the black screen like it was the most interesting thing I’d ever seen.

“You took it too far Vince…” were the words I repeated in my head, over and over again.

I felt guilty, thinking about Cassie and I had a reason. The second our lips met, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach and my heart must have skipped a beat. It felt good.

“Boris, what should I do?” I whispered to the mini pc in my lap that I for some reason had named Boris.

I continued to stare at the black screen, waiting for a miracle to happen. After another five minutes, I gave up and started it, hoping that there was something interesting to occupy my mind with. I was glad that I’d taken the time to install Worms earlier, since it’s the most epic game ever. If killing some worms didn’t do the trick, I was doomed.