Autumn Skies // A miraxus fanfiction

//Chapter 6//

Chapter 6- Gray

When I stepped out of the car and onto the pavement, what I saw shocked me.
Laxus had parked in front of the rundown play park I remembered visiting as a child every Sunday after church. At the time it had been new and magical, but age hadn't treated the swings and slide and climbing frame well. They were covered in graffiti, I didn't trust the swings to take my weight, and I'm pretty sure the slide leant a little to the left. The eery, sinister feeling was making me really uncomfortable.
Laxus lead me through the creaky metal gate and across the playground to the climbing wall. I could remember climbing up to the little platform, then looking out through the bars that prevented kids from falling and feeling like the Queen of the universe. When I tried to slide down the fireman's pole my hands would always get stuck at the top, and I'd have a moment of panic thinking I'd fall, but Dad would stand at the bottom and hold out his arms and when I fell he's always catch me.
Now though, there were no triumphant kids, just a teenaged boy huddled up against the bars with his arms wrapped around his legs.
"Gray, I'm coming up."
Laxus hoisted himself up with ease, and I followed uncertainly, terrified that the little plastic hand holds would come away at my touch. They didn't, and I made it up.
"I brought Mira," Laxus explained, as Gray glanced my way.
"Why did you bring her?" he hissed, and the words stung.
"Gray, mate, what happened?" Laxus slid down to sit next to him, and I awkwardly sat opposite them.
"It's all so god damn pointless."
Gray's words shocked me.
When somebody tells you they attempted suicide I don't think it's quite possible to believe them. Like you look at them and see this light in them and you can't picture them trying to extinguish it. How could anyone feel so broken, so lost, that they'd destroy whatever future lay ahead of them?
I felt so helpless watching him, so powerless, and suddenly I saw him in myself. When I wished it had been me who was killed that night, wasn't that the same thing?
"Show me your arms," Laxus instructed, and Gray rolled up his black sleeves to reveal bloody wrists and deep gashes. I gasped, I'll admit, whilst Laxus simply grimaced.
"Dad kicked me out again. Said he wouldn't have me dragging Wendy down too," he muttered, once again covering his arms.
If I was right, Wendy was Gray's little sister (well half-sister) and she meant the world to him.
"So you decided to come here and take it out on yourself?" Laxus sounded so angry but the anxiety in his eyes showed that he was really just worried.
"I'm a terrible brother. I screw up everything."
Gray's expression was blank, but it was in that emptiness I saw just how lonely he was.
"You're not, Gray, now lets go back to mine."

Laxus dropped me off outside my house, leaving me stood on the drive watching them drive away. When they turned the corner and disappeared from view I made my way into the house and to bed, telling Dad simply that my friend had been a bit down but I'd cheered them up. I changed back into my pyjamas and collapsed into bed, hugging my pillow and closing my eyes, hoping Gray and Laxus were okay. I had no idea why Laxus had brought me along, and I certainly hadn't been any use, but somehow I was grateful he'd picked me out of everyone. Maybe next time he called me it would be for a more cheerful reason.

Friday came and went without any excitement, though I didn't see the boys all day. Juvia invited me to come have lunch with her, Lucy and Natsu, but I rejected the offer and instead sat on a bench staring at my hands for the first half hour of lunch break. I was surprised when a pretty young dark blue haired girl approached me, nervously wringing her hands.
"You're Mira, right?" she asked, and I was surprised that she knew me.
"Yeah, that's right," I replied, brushing my hair behind my ear and giving her a slightly forced smile.
"I'm Gray's little sister Wendy, Gray wanted me to thank you for helping Laxus last night."
I was surprised to find that they were relates- they looked nothing alike.
"Oh, it's honestly alright. How is he?"
"Okay, I think, but he hasn't come home. Dad's starting to feel guilty for what he said but these things take time. Mum's really upset about it all and I just want my step brother back," she murmured, looking a little tearful.
Step brother?
Of course, it made sense. Gray hadn't said anything about Wendy being his blood relative, and their appearances were very different. I warmed immensely to the girl before me as she swallowed her tears and forced a little smile, straightened her back and took a deep breath. It made me do the same- I rearranged my hair and lifted my head with false confidence, rolling my shoulders back and sitting tall.
"Give him time, Wendy, and I know he'll be back. Gray never stops talking about you, it's kind of annoying, and it's easy to see how much he loves and would do anything to protect you. Trust me, your brother won't stay away for long so long as you're waiting for him. You're his home far more than any building."
Wendy's fake smile changed to one that was beautiful and genuine- it spread across her cheeks erasing any doubt she'd had and replacing it with a steadfast belief in her elder brother. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"You're right. He's a strong guy, he'll be okay."
With that she nodded her head in farewell and headed back to where her group of friends were waiting. I'd confirmed that Gray was the person she seemed to idolise even though, in reality, he was nothing but a teenaged boy stumbling cluelessly through life; he was no stronger than any of us are.
That same thought kept swirling through my mind as the rest of the school day blurred around me, an idea that played continuously in my mind and heart.
We're all the same, all just getting by in a world that throws endless hurdles in our already rocky paths until the day we die, either by fate or choice.
We are only human, and human's can break.