Day One

Prompt- Whispers.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Heartfilia."

"Lucy, I need to talk to you for a moment."

"Your mama won't... be able to see you anymo-"

Lucy's eyes snapped open, but all she could see was the dark. It was late... or, probably very early, considering that there was no light at all in her bedroom.

She felt something hot slide down her face, dripping onto her ear. Startled, she raised her hand and wiped at her skin, finding it wet. As she realized what was happening, she hurriedly rubbed at her face, drying the tears even though there was no one else in the room.

She brushed her hair back from her face. It was messy from tossing and turning in her sleep, and it was badly tangled, but she could at least keep it out of her eyes. She tried to rake her fingers through the golden strands, but there was no chance it would get untangled without some serious brushing... but it distracted her.

She hated those dreams. Nothing more than blurry, seemingly abstract memories, but the words were always clear, however quiet they were.

Those whispers.

"You have to go to the funeral, Lu-"

"Shut up..." Lucy muttered to herself. She could almost hear them, echoing around the room and not just in her head.

"Don't you want to say goodbye?"

She shook her head and lay back down on her side, curling into a ball and holding her knees to her chest. She could feel the tears in her throat before they hit her eyes, and a sob tried to escape her pursed lips. There might not have been anyone in the room, but she couldn't let herself cry, she just wouldn't.

"She'll always love you."

Lucy broke. She sobbed, her voice breaking and her shoulders shaking.

Every time... every time this time came around, it would start all over again, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't make herself not hear the whispers, the muttering that filled her ears from those memories. Her father, barely holding back his own tears as he told her that she would-

"-Never see her again."

Lucy gasped, trying to catch her breath. She shook her head violently. She couldn't take this, she couldn't be here, alone in this house, she had to move. She had to distract herself. Maybe she'd have dark circles under her eyes in the morning, but she had practice with covering those up after many sleepless nights on missions and the like.

She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The July air was hot and muggy, absolutely disgusting. Maybe it would be better outside, with the breeze.

She turned on her bedside light, and walked groggily over to her dresser, and pulled out a pair of shorts. She would have perferred a skirt, but she didn't want to dig through her drawers to find one. She looked down at her tank top and decided that it was fine to wear outside. There wouldn't be anyone around anyways... no one she would be hanging out with, at least.

She left her room, turning on the hall light as she went, and stopped in the mudroom. She pulled on her sandals and unlocked the door. Before she left, she took a look in the mirror she had beside the door. Her hair was a mess, tangled and slightly frizzy from the humidity, but she didn't have the energy or the motivation to do it now. Instead, she grabbed a hair elastic from off her wrist and pulled it back into a ponytail, not even minding, for once, that it was bushy.

She left the door, careful not to slam it, and hurried down the stairs, her sandals clicking on the wooden steps. She left out the front door of the apartment building, closing the door behind her and leaning against it as if she'd used all her energy getting out of her apartment. She sighed. 'Maybe this is a bad idea...' She thought to herself. She nodded and took a deep breath. It was definitely nicer outside, with a cool breeze blowing off the canal, but she had to sleep. She turned around to go back in.

"A-ah... might you be Jude-san's daughter?"

Lucy felt tears gathering in her eyes once more. Her hand was frozen on the door knob, as she remembered that day.

"It... pains me to have to tell you this..."

Lucy backed away from the door, her hands going to her face.

"Jude-san passed away one month ago..."

She shook her head wildy, before she turned and started to run, her hands dropping from her face as she blinked rapidly to make the tears go back, take them back... take them... bring him back...

Lucy gasped and pursed her lips, shaking her head again. No more of this, no more... she couldn't do this alone, she needed something, she needed someone, she needed a friend...

She knew she was going somewhere familiar, but she wasn't sure where, exactly. It was her body moving her, not her mind. Her feet pounded on the cobblestones, and she wasn't bothering to keep quiet.

Eventually, she slowed down. She was still in the town, but she didn't know how far from her house she was. Panting a little, she looked up to see where she was.

She blinked. Gray's house. Why did she...

Lucy allowed a small smile to touch her lips and she shook her head. "Don't try to fool yourself, Lucy, you know why you're here." She told herself. She smiled at the house, then looked around.

Now... what? She couldn't exactly go and knock on the door, she didn't know how early it was. And... it wasn't like he really wanted anything to do with her... not that he wasn't her friend, but coming over in the middle of the night because she had a nightmare wasn't something she had the right to do.

"Lucy, you have to go to-"

Lucy slammed her hands over her ears, and collapsed to her knees. "Stop... I don't want to hear anymore..." She hissed into the darkness. She sat there on her knees, her shoulders shaking, for who knew how long, before she finally made up her mind.

She got to her feet and shuffled up to the door of Gray's house. She was still hesitant, but she needed someone, she needed to talk to someone, to distract her from the whispers that seemed to be all around her, even if she wasn't in a closed room.

She raised her fist, paused, then knocked quietly on the door. She waited a moment, trying to convince herself that she had knocked loud enough, and that Gray was too deep in sleep to hear it, but she knew that Gray was a light sleeper, due to years of being a fighter, and having to always be alert.

She knocked again before she had time to change her mind. This time, it was louder, and Lucy was sure that it would wake someone like Gray up. She waited, trying to think of other things before the whispers returned.

She was trying so hard to distract herself that she didn't hear Gray coming to the door before it was opened, slowly. She looked up, a little startled.

Gray peered back at her, no shirt, his eyes wide, yet still glazed with sleep. He blinked and cocked his head a little.

"Lucy?" He asked, his voice cutting through the silence, strong and loud.

Just the strength and the volume of the familiar sound made Lucy's eyes tear up, and she hid her face.

"Wha- Whoa! What's wrong, are you-" Gray started to panic, and Lucy felt his hands on her slim shoulders. She shook her head.

"Can I come in?" She rasped, not lifting her hands from her face, not wanting to let him see her tear stained face.

"I- Uh, sure, just, um... come on." He said, finally, taking her shoulder with a firm grip and guiding her into the mudroom. She heard the door close behind her, and she gave up. The strength that was holding her up disappeared, and she started to fall again. Gray yelped and caught her under her arms, pulling her back to her feet.

"Lucy! What's going on? Are you hurt?" Gray asked, squeezing her shoulders gently.

Lucy shook her head. "No, I'm... I'm fine..."

"Well, you're obviously not fine, so come on, tell me what's up?" Gray said quietly.

Too close to a whisper.

"Please speak louder..." Lucy said, her voice shaking.

Silence. Then; "Lucy." She felt his hands on her wrists, and he pulled her hands away from her face. "What's wrong?" He asked.

His eyes glinted in the low light that came from the next room over, a deep gray, almost black. His hair was a mess as well, but that was normal for him. His mouth was set in a worried line, and he seemed a little tense.

Lucy took in a shuddering breath, and murmured. "I... I'll sound crazy." She said.

Gray watched her for a moment, before taking her by the hand and leading her deeper into the house. "Let's sit down." He said.

Lucy followed along, her head cast towards the ground. He sat her down on the couch, and sat next to her.

"We're all crazy." He scoffed.

Lucy felt a small smile creep onto her face. "That's true, isn't it...?" She replied.

"Yeah. So tell me what's up?" Gray pressed.

Lucy chewed on the inside of her lip, wondering how to tell him, where to start... After a moment, she spoke. "This is... yesterday was the day my mama died..." Her voice cracked, but she kept going, before she could stop. "Every year I... I start remembering what they said to me... my papa, and then... my papa died, and when I found out about it..." She hiccoughed, and curled in on herself. "I'm sorry, I'm-"

"And you hear them, right?"

Lucy's head snapped up. Gray seemed to be looking at a point somewhere in the distance, but he seemed to feel her eyes on him, and he smiled at her. "You hear them talking to you, and it seems like it's right there, right?"

Lucy hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah... and I... it just got too much this time, and-"

She was cut off by Gray's arm snaking around her shoulders. He pulled her to the side of his bare chest. He was warm, but he wasn't hot. And yet, Lucy could feel her cheeks heating up a little, despite the situation.

"I'm glad you came to me, Lucy."

Lucy glanced up at the man's face, taking in the sharp jaw-line, the tired eyes, the dishelvled black hair. "You-"

"I have... something to say..." He muttered, looking away.

Lucy sat up a little, but she didn't remove herself from Gray's side. "Yes?" She said quietly.

Gray looked at her, then shook his head. "M-maybe it's a bad time..." He said.

Lucy touched his hand, which was placed on his knee. "Please tell me." She said. Anything, anything to distract her further, to make her forget for a little while.

Gray bit his lip, then sighed. He leaned down until his lips were brushing her ear, and whispered, "I think... that I like you..."

Lucy froze, her heart pounding rapidly.

Then, after a tense moment, she giggled. She couldn't help it.

Gray watched her, looking a little taken aback. She looked up. "You think you do?" Lucy smiled, and this time, it was wide and purely genuine, not slightly forced.

Gray's cheeks were red. He opened and closed his mouth, looking for something to say, and Lucy realized with a start that he might have taken her response wrong. She hurried to amend that.

"I like you too... a lot." She giggled a little as she noticed that they both sounded like little kids. She shook her head. "I love you, is what I'm trying to say. And I don't think it's too soon to say that." She said. Gray's eyes were widening. "I've known you for long enough, I should think." She said.

Gray stared for a moment, his mouth slightly open. She...

He broke out into a smile, and lifted his hand to her hair. "I... yeah, me too." He managed to say.

Lucy smiled again, then pressed herself against Gray's side. "Hey, Gray?" She said.

Gray hummed in response, and she grinned. "I can't hear them."

She felt his hand glide along her hair, careful not to snag his fingers on the tangles. "I'm glad I could help."

After a few minutes of sitting in a comfortable silence, they fell asleep, Lucy's head on Gray's shoulder, and Gray's hand resting on top of her hair.

Pure silence.

.

.

.

So...

I'm not dead.

Yeah.

I'm back for Graylu week.

Sorry I haven't written shit in sooooooooo freakin' long.

Gawd. T^T

I'll get back to it eventually.

Anyways, the start of Graylu week! Hope you guys all have fun with all the amazing stuff that's going to happen this week! I can't wait to see what other authors/artists put out there!

Have a good one, guys!