A Simple Plan

So hey, you know the thing where you sit down and want to work on the many, many multi-chapter fics you have and then your brain goes 'Hey doesn't this sound like an incredibly interesting idea to work on?' and then you're all 'Please, no, I already have too much to do' and then your brain is all 'write it, write it NOW or you will lose that plot thread forever'

This is what happens when that happens.

Also? There needs to be more stuff in general on the Ram Village bunch because they are amazing and deserve protection and lots of stories about them.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"So, let me get this straight," Faye said as she lowered her coffee mug and took a deep, calming breath. "You want me to pretend to date you so you can make Celica jealous."

"Well, I mean, I wouldn't quite put it that way..." Alm raised and lowered one shoulder. "But, er... yeah. More or less."

Faye did not respond immediately. Instead she shifted her gaze to the rest of the Deliverance Cafe. It was past the lunch hour rush and the place was only about a quarter full. And as she looked at the people sitting and quietly sipping their coffee and tea and tucking into cakes and other snacks, she silently wondered if any of them had ever been unwittingly placed in situations as utterly humiliating as hers right now.

She had to concede that the answer was most probably 'yes'. Not that it made her feel any better right then.

Noting Faye's obvious discomfort (well, obvious to everyone but Alm), Tobin, being the third member of their little gathering, coughed and opened his palm. "So, er, I thought you and Celica were hitting it off pretty well? Why resort to something like this then?"

"Yes, but not dating well," Alm ran a hand through his hair. "The other day I was having lunch with her and she started talking about the kind of guy she'd like to settle down with. You know, smart and caring, strong yet compassionate. One who can listen to her and offer advice and a shoulder to cry on when she's in need. And well, I – I just don't measure up, I guess."

Yes you do! Faye screamed internally, which was at least preferable to screaming externally. Without thinking, she grabbed her mug and brought it her lips, gulping down a mouthful of the scalding brew. That way one could at least credit her discomfort to having downed coffee that was way too hot instead of... well, Alm.

"Anyway, so I figured I'd try... what do they call it? Playing a little hard to get? I want to see how she'd feel if..." Alm trailed off. "Well, I'm not gonna say 'taken', and I don't want it to look like I'm going steady with anyone else. Really, that's why I wanted to ask you for your help. We're childhood friends so it can look more like its on the border between dating and just hanging out."

No. Negatory. No way. No how. This is stupid and ridiculous and dumb and, and double stupid and you can just go ask someone else you big insensitive oblivious Alm was looking at her that way again, with that bright hopeful eager expression that never failed to turn her knees to jelly and she felt her heart skip a beat. ...jerk.

Slowly, hesitantly, she gave the tiniest of nods. Alm gave her a grateful smile and stood from his chair.

"Great! So, uh, I'll get in touch and let you know the time and place, okay?" Barely waiting for a response, Alm was already shrugging into his jacket and walking out of the restaurant. And in all honesty Faye was used to this by now. He could be thoughtful and generous all other times but when it came to Celica he'd get so caught up in thoughts about wooing her that he barely paid any attention to his surroundings.

Ignoring Tobin's worried look, Faye also stood. Mechanically, she raised her mug to her lips and drained the cup of the rest of its contents in one long pull, barely tasting the coffee or feeling the burning go down the back of her throat.

Slamming her cup onto the table with as much force as she dared, she turned and stalked out of the cafe as well.

"I just don't get it," Celica sighed and stared down at her drink. Her drink, predictably, did not say anything in return. Diet sodas were not often known for their conversational skills, after all.

"Aw, come on!" Mae, on the other hand, was more than happy to respond, and at a volume considerably higher than Celica's own voice. "He still hasn't gotten the hint?"

"Hints. Plural," she confirmed and swirled her straw a bit more. "I really don't get it. I keep telling Alm in so many words that I'd like to go out with him, and nothing! He just looks off into the distance and nods, or changes the subject, or something!"

"He's dense, Celica. Bismuth-level dense. Or maybe lead. You gotta be more direct!" Mae formed a fist with her hand and rapped the table with it. "Just go up to him and be all 'Hey, baby! I think you're hot! Wanna make out?'"

"Mae!" Celica couldn't help the flush that spread up her neck. "Don't be absurd! I could never say something like that! I'd just curl up and die, right on the spot!"

Mae shrugged before picking up a cookie from the table and biting down on it. "I'm just saying. Plan A not working? Go for plan B. Plan B a bust? Maybe you need a plan C, or maybe the guy isn't worth it."

"Oh, really," Celica raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "Just so we're clear on your level of expertise, Mae, how's Operation 'Get Boey To See Me As More Than A Rival' going?"

Mae turned as pink as her hair, "Wha-wha-what does that have to do with anything? Boey and I are getting along just fine, thank you! And I'll also thank you not to pry into private matters!" She jabbed the half-eaten cookie in Celica's direction. "And anyway, I only realized I kinda sorta maybe like Boey about a month ago. That's nothing! Practically yesterday! You've been making goo-goo eyes at Alm since, what, grade school?"

She sighed and conceded that particular point. Still, she had to wonder just what it would take to get Alm to notice her as more than a close friend.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the scream was muffled by the fact that the screamer had buried her head into a pillow, but it was still loud enough that Gray had elected to close the door to the room before continuing with his book.

"So, I take it Alm shared his brilliant plan with you."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

He nodded. "Yep, that's what I thought."

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Breathe, girl." Gray didn't look up as he flipped the page.

The scream broke off and Faye lifted her head, took a deep, gasping breath of air, before dropping her head back down into the pillow and continuing the scream right where she had left off.

After several more long moments had passed the noise died down, although Faye remained prone and motionless on her bed.

"Let me guess, you didn't tell him 'no'."

"Wanted to," came the muffled voice.

"And then what? You looked deep into his dreamy green eyes and found your willpower melting like ice cream in a blast furnace?"

Faye grabbed the pillow and hurled it at Gray. He absorbed the blow from the missile without complaint before closing his book and putting it on the reading table.

"Faye, look, I know Alm's plan to get hooked up with Celica is about as dumb as trying to nail clouds together, but y'know, it takes two to tango. You know as well as I do that you should have just shot him down. Right then and there."

"And I'm sure it'd be easy for you to turn Clair down if she asked something like that!" Faye fired back. But at least she was talking now instead of screaming, and had also rolled over onto her back so that she was staring at the ceiling instead of refusing to look at anyone.

"Well, not easy per se, but, er, for something like this? Yeah. No, not happening."

"And you think I didn't want to say no?" Faye balled her hands into fists, pulling at the fabric of her bed. "I went through therapy for this, Gray! Actual, fucking therapy because I was that moonstruck with him!"

That last yell appeared to have taken a lot out of her and she slumped back down, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

Gray sighed, "Well, one option was to go cold turkey..."

"Not meeting with Alm means I don't get to meet with any of you either," her voice was now dull. "And that's not a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Not now. Not ever."

Especially since she doesn't want Alm to know about it. Sometimes he wondered how much going through treatment with Ms. Silque and Mrs. Tatiana had helped her. Well, as of late she'd appeared happier and more outgoing even without Alm around...

And of course Alm just had to dump this into her lap.

He stood, walked over, and sat down the bed next to her. By now Faye had closed her eyes and gone back to being silent and miserable.

"Okay, look," He tried again. "I know this is hurting you. Hell, girl, it's hurting me too. You think I like seeing one of my friends get so wound up like this? The way I see it, you have two options. You can suffer through this fake date and be miserable the whole time you're there, or you can call Alm now, tell him that you can't do this and to find someone else or even better, just call the whole stupid thing off."

Faye remained silent for a long moment, just looking up at Gray before she sighed and she picked up her cell phone in order make the call.

"... Stay with me while I talk to him?" her voice was soft.

"Of course," he patted her shoulder once.

There was a silence in the room for several seconds as Faye dialled Alm's number and held it up to her ear.

"Hello, Alm?"

Silence.

"Yeah, it's me, Faye."

Another pause.

"Yeah, about that date thing? Actually, can we..." she trailed off and she frowned. "Wait, are you serious? Tonight?"

Ohhhhhh no. Gray pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

"But I – I..." Faye's voice faded into silence, and she had an expression of helplessness on face. "Oh for – you owe me for this, Alm. You owe me big."

She ended the call and tossed the phone to the corner of her bed. On hand reached up to cover her eyes.

"I'm weak."

"Sooooo... I take it we're not down with the whole 'cancelling' thing."

"He just heard that Celica would be on shift tonight at her job and he wanted to do this as quickly as possible. He sounded – Ugh! He sounded so hopeful, Gray! I can't say no to him when he's like that!"

"You're going to have to someday, and sooner rather than later," Gray sighed and stood. "But if you're going to be stuck on the S.S. Badplan tonight, let's make sure you at least go out looking fierce."

Faye sat up and rubbed at her eyes. After a long moment she blinked and managed a teary smile.

"Thanks, Gray," she sighed as she pulled herself to her feet. "Story of my life, huh?"

"Girl, we're not even out of the prologue yet. Don't do yourself a disservice."

With a weak chuckle, Faye walked over to her cupboard and pulled it open.

"So, what should I go with?" Alm frowned as he looked at his clothing options.

"Blue jeans and blue shirt?" Tobin said without looking up from the videogame he was playing. "Y'know, like what you always go with?"

"Yeah but..." Alm sighed. "I dunno, I figure I need to make tonight seem special. I want to make Celica notice me!"

"While you're on a pretend-date with Faye," Kliff reminded Alm from his spot at the couch. "Won't that give her the idea that you consider Faye worth dressing up for – Tobin that's obviously a booby trap don't touch it – whereas you dress as per normal when you talk to her?"

"Oh, darn, you're right," he cupped his chin. "Wow, this is more complicated than I thought."

He didn't notice the eye rolls Tobin and Kliff aimed his way. Just as well.

"I wonder how Faye's doing with her own dressing up," Tobin ventured after a moment. "I mean... you did kinda spring this on her at the last second."

Of course there were way, way bigger reasons to be worried about Faye going on a fake date with Alm than the timing of it but the girl of the group had went to each of them and made them swear a vow of secrecy not to let Alm know. Not about the crush (obsession, really, at least until recently) and never about the treatment sessions.

"Well she usually looks good in whatever, so I don't think it's a big deal," Alm shrugged carelessly. "I am glad it's her for this date, though."

"Oh?" there was a pointed edge in Kliff's voice as the youngest of their group shifted his gaze to Alm. "And why is that?"

"Oh, you never noticed? She had a bit of a crush on me when we were kids."

Tobin nearly swallowed his tongue. Or at least that was what it damn well felt like as he paused the game and turned to look at Alm.

"What. I. Faye. You. What."

"Oh, yeah. It's true!" Alm nodded as he dug out a shift and held it to his chest to look at it. "Not sure why it was me of all people but, well, you know how it goes. Anyway, she's grown out of it by now but I figure it'd help her act more natural about going on a date with me tonight, you know?"

Apparently deciding that the current pick wasn't to his liking, Alm replaced the shirt in the coat rack and bent over to peer deeper inside, leaving Kliff and Tobin to stare, flabbergasted, at each other over how their friend could be that perceptive and that oblivious at the same time.

"So tell me why I had to come pick you up?" Gray complained as he drove down the road. At least it was past the rush hour period and traffic was light.

"Look, Gray, you know as well as I do that there's a better-than-normal chance that somebody ends up in tears tonight and we should be there for... whoever it is that ends up that way."

"And I also knew you were not going to be busy with Clair tonight," Kliff explained from the backseat. "Which means that you would be available to give us a ride."

"Hm?" Tobin raised an eyebrow. "Do I detect hints that not all is sunshine and roses in your relationship with our boss' sister?"

"Oh, can it."

"I take it your big plan of blasting 'Uptown Girl' on repeat in the car radio during your last date wasn't a winner, then?"

"It was supposed to be a joke!" Gray snapped as he decelerated and pulled into the parking lot of the mall. "And yes, I'm going to make it up to her later but not with you stooges hanging around. Come on, let's just go."

Faye felt like it was all she could do to not start screaming.

Everything about tonight felt wrong, wrong, wrong.

And the thing that felt the most wrong of all was how right it felt.

They'd gone out together for dinner, at an outdoor restaurant that Alm knew Faye loved. Of course part of the reason was that it was located near the Social Worker's office where Celica worked and where it would be more likely for her to see the two of them. A few awkward jokes and lines about playing it cool later, he had relaxed visibly and began acting more like it was a real night out, for just the two of them.

And... it was so easy to drift into conversation with him. Talk to him about everything and nothing at all, laugh at his dumb jokes, discuss his latest projects and desire to go mountaineering someday. For brief snippets of time she could feel like she was genuinely enjoying herself during that date.

But at the same time, the dull, painful throbbing knowledge that he was just doing this as a means to an end was always there at the back of her mind, a dull roar that made her heart ache and her stomach churn.

Sitting at the outdoor table, looking at Alm's handsome face lit by the soft glow of the candles, Faye couldn't tell if she was happy or miserable at that exact moment and that feeling sickened her. A wave of nausea rose from within her and she had to fight to keep her face calm.

And then she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Celica walking down the road, her shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. Celica raised her head, caught sight of Faye, and the beginnings of a smile came onto her face.

And then she noticed who she was with and her expression froze. Alm, facing Faye and with his back to Celica, didn't notice.

Celica stood there for what seemed like an eternity. And then, far too abruptly, she spun on her heel and walked off in the opposite direction.

"Faye? What's wrong?" Alm seemed to notice something was amiss and turned around, but by then Celica had already vanished from sight.

Meanwhile, Faye sat there, still as a statue. She looked down at the table and realized her hands were shaking.

What have I done?

"I – I'm sorry, Alm," Faye stood, almost knocking her chair over from the suddenness of her movement. "I... this was a bad idea. I have to go."

"Huh? Faye! Wait!" Ignoring Alm's call and walking as quickly as possible, Faye turned and left the restaurant.

"Well, that was... uh... awkward," Gray said as he watched the scene from their observation point.

"Do we go after Faye or try to talk to Alm, then?" Kliff's eyes flicked in the direction that she had stormed off.

"..." Gray took a deep breath. "Let's go talk to Alm. Faye could use some kind words, but she could also use the alone time right now. And frankly, I need to go smack some sense into his stupid head."

"Good idea!" Tobin nodded. "Besides, the food they ordered earlier should be arriving soon too."

The other two boys slowly turned to look at Tobin and he shrugged.

"What? Come on guys, it's a joke!"

She wasn't aware how long she'd been walking. She'd barely even paid any attention to the direction she had been heading in, but eventually she realized that she had ended up in a field of flowers.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This field had been where she and Alm had first met each other, all those years ago. In the gazebo, located right at the centre of the field.

With slow steps she walked up under the roof of the structure and settled herself on one of the seats. She closed her eyes and let out a long slow breath, trying to expel the hurt in the heart in a similar fashion.

It only made sense, of course. Faye had been Alm's childhood friend from young and had always seemed oddly fixated on him. It was no wonder they would end up together.

It wasn't until the cool breeze touched her cheek that she realized she had been crying. Shaking her head, she reached up to brush the tears away.

Stupid. She shook her head. Mae was right. I should have talked to him sooner, and just been upfront about my feelings, and then maybe I'd have had a chance, not this-

"Celica?" the voice was soft, hesitant, and so very familiar.

She blinked, looked up. "Faye?"

The other girl was standing there, her form looking small and featureless under the cold moonlight. She refused to meet Celica's gaze, instead staring at the ground in front of her.

Celica rubbed at her eyes. "What are you doing here? Weren't you on a date with Alm?"

Something seemed to catch in Faye's throat and she opened her mouth to take a deep breath before speaking, "Celica, I'm so sorry. This was a dumb and stupid plan and I was dumb and stupid for going along with it too. I didn't realize – I didn't think about how much it might hurt you before I-"

"Wait, wait, slow down," Celica frowned. Faye wasn't making sense. "Plan? What plan?"

Faye sighed and slumped down onto the seat next to Celica's. "Okay, Alm was worried he wasn't measuring up to what you wanted in a boyfriend, so he cooked up to this plan about how it could look like I was hanging out with him on a sort-of date to gauge your reaction to it. And that's why I ended up at that restaurant with him. There's..." she paused and took in a deep breath. "There's nothing going on between me and Alm, Celica. So please, don't get the wrong idea."

Celica merely sat and blinked, trying to process this information. "So... Alm? Wants to be my boyfriend?"

"Are you kidding?" a shadow passed over Faye's face. "Sometimes it seems like that's all he ever talks about when he's with us. He's head over heels for you, Celica. You mean you haven't realized?"

"I... I had no idea," Celica murmured, almost to herself. But then she realized who she was sitting next to and turned to face her. "But, I thought – don't you like Alm?"

Faye's laugh was mirthless, "'Like' may be putting it a bit too mildly. Look, I don't really want to talk about it, but... Alm is never going to think of me like that, like he thinks of you. And I know you like Alm too, and I'm not going to get in your way. Really, it's... probably better that way... for all of... us," her breaths were coming in shorter and faster, and Celica got the distinct sensation that Faye was trying her best not to cry.

On an impulse she leaned in, wrapping Faye in a tight hug, pulling her close. A moment later, she felt Faye's hands grasping onto her as well, and she was silent, but with her entire body shaking.

For a long moment, they just stayed that way, until Faye stilled and Celica loosened her hold, letting her pull away gracefully.

"Thank you," the girl said softly. And then she smiled, her bright expression incongruous with the way she had been behaving a moment ago. "So! Shall we head back to the restaurant? We can sort this whole thing out there, and... well, then both you and Alm can know that you like each other and we can put this whole mess behind us."

Celica's smile was gentle and she leaned in to pat Faye on the shoulder. "No," she said. "Let's not."

A blink. "Huh?"

"If he's going to try to play mindgames with me like that, and use you to do it, then I say let him stew for a bit longer. There'll be time enough to sort all this out later," standing up, she reached out a hand to Faye. "Come on, after tonight, we both deserve to indulge a little. Deliverance isn't too far from here, so let's head on there and get ourselves some cheesecake. My treat."

Faye stared at the offered hand for a long moment before she smiled – a softer and warmer one this time – and reached out to accept it.

"That sounds lovely."

Story End

So yes, plot idea that fell into my head and doesn't look half as good when I'm rereading it as when it was just an idea.

This may or may not become a series depending on inspiration striking.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'd love it if you'd tell me what you liked or didn't like about the story!