Starry Night Gift Exchange
// Hello! I see you requested some Gray x Claire! I’ve never wrote them as a couple before, so I’m actually scared of making them too out of character. Also, I’m really nervous because I don’t want to make you upset if you didn’t like the story… Then, I wrote one and thought ‘This is kind of short…’ so one turned into four. So you get four short stories! …I’m sorry I’m so awkward… ;_; I hope you enjoy! \
1. Nightmares
It was their first anniversary together.
The bouquet of flowers felt somewhat heavy to her, but perhaps it was just a trick of the mind. The moon drops tickled her nose slightly, occasionally moving in front of her eyes, obscuring her view. That didn’t matter, though. These flowers were a little bit pricy, considering it was Winter and flowers don’t normally bloom. Today, on this cold winter day, was their day.
Their day was the day where only Claire and Gray mattered. Everyone else seemed miniscule in comparison.
As Claire made her way to town square, she felt a sudden wave of nostalgia. In the middle of the square, Gray had proposed. When the stars were out over head, the snow was glistening, and the air was still. They were walking side by side, close enough to feel each other’s heat without touching. Gray was quiet, or, rather he was quieter than usual, prompting Claire to ask if he was okay. Suddenly, he had stopped. He paused for a minute, maybe two before saying how much Claire meant to him. And as he went on, she slowly began to catch wind of what he was going to do. With baited breath, she waited under he offered her the blue feather. Words left her, and she quickly nodded, hugging him tightly in response.
Things were perfect. So, so perfect. Her heart fluttered slightly as she entered time square, then came to an abrupt stop at the couple who were kissing in the middle of it.
And upon closer inspection of this couple, her flowers hit the ground. They didn’t seem to notice her.
That’s when she left. She turned heel and ran. She cried. She ran and didn’t look back. Her heart was broken. Spilt in two. And she had hoped those two had heard her cries. She wanted them to be as startled and confused as she was when Claire has realized that Gray was with some other girl that she didn’t know. She didn’t understand what she did wrong! She didn’t understand-
The very next moment, Claire is greeted by the startling sensation of arms wrapping around her and pulling her away from the edge of the bed and into a warm embrace. That’s when she noticed how fast her breathing had become, how fast her heart was beating. Her face nuzzled into his chest, seeking more comfort from her husband. Gray’s hand made its way to her hair, gently stroking it
“G-Gray…” She managed out. Her voice cracked.
“Shh… It’s okay, I got you…”
The young farmer looked up from his chest, and he leaned down enough to plant a quick yet sweet kiss upon her head. His orange blond hair was not in its usual hat, instead messily done. His blue eyes were trying to meet with her own, to let her know that everything is alright.
“What day is it?” She had tentatively asked.
“The morning of our anniversary.”
Her fears were slowly subsiding, yet not quite gone. She knew her husband loves her deeply, anyone could see that. Although, she was still scared. She could not remember the girl’s face, yet the thought of her husbanding loving another scared her.
“Claire…” When he spoke her name, her heart fluttered. No, he’d never hurt her like that. She knew this better than anyone.
Claire felt her eyes begin to flutter, and she pulled herself closer to her husband. Her head rested on his chest, and she listened to his heart’s lullaby.
Gray looked down to see if his wife was okay, if maybe she needed a drink or just wanted to talk. Instead, he found that she had fallen back asleep, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. With the softest of smiles, Gray leans down and places one last kiss on her forehead before drifting off to sleep.
Claire didn’t have a nightmare for the rest of the night, because she knew her husband was right there beside her.
2. Proposal
Maybe it wasn’t the way she did it, but perhaps how she did it that threw everyone, including myself, off. Maybe it was the fact that Claire, the happy go lucky farmer was on the roof of Kai’s Shack where he’d normally be working if it were Summer. Maybe it was the fact that just made sure the entire town was here to see what she did. All I knew was that she had something important to say, and she was going to say it.
“Do you know why she’s up there, Gray?” Cliff asked me in a whisper, almost if she could hear him from our position. We were a little far, but close enough to see her determined face. The way her blue eyes were slightly narrowed scared me a little. She only has that look when she has a devious plan…
“No idea…”
Claire’s eyes met with mine, and that seemed to make her happier. She cheerfully waved, causing me to go into near panic when she stumbled, losing her balance. Claire held her hands out to the side, but then just kept smiling when she steadied herself. I sighed and shook my head, yet wore I smile even as I did.
“She’s crazy!” Karen, the daughter of the couple who ran the supermarket yelped. “She could get herself killed!”
When everyone had gathered, she shouted loudly.
“Okay! I have an announcement!”
Mayor Thomas groaned and rubbed his temple with his index and middle finger. I can’t exactly blame him, Claire was rather reckless. That ambition can sometimes get her into trouble. This may end up being one of those times…
“So, I’ve been working on my farm for the past three years!” Has it really been three years already? “And… Most everyone here has treated me like family! But…” Claire’s face was suddenly drained of the confidence for a split second, then it went back to how it was. “I’ve finally decided that being alone on the farm was no life for me! I wanted to settle down with the person I love!”
Oh. Oh.
She was going to propose. On a roof. On the shack in the middle of Fall. In front of everyone. For her sake, I hope the person says yes…
Claire was a different girl than the others here. How, I’m actually not quite sure. But I do know this; I’ve fallen for her. I hate admitting that, but it’s true. She believed in me, even when my own grandfather didn’t. The day she walked into our store, I knew I did like her. Not to mention, she whipped that old and ratty farm into something that is almost unrecognizable.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt Cliff poking my shoulder with his finger. Well, maybe poking is not the correct term. More like stabbed. That’s when I noticed everyone’s eyes were on me. I looked around in confusion.
“What?”
“Get up here!” Claire called. I blinked. Wait. Is she going to do what I think she is?
I nodded slowly, trying hard not to get my hopes up just in case I’m simply misunderstanding this. Then again, the evidence is overwhelming.
“Gray…” Claire’s voice softens as I climbed onto the roof. “Need any help?”
I grunted ‘no’ in response as I managed to climb onto the room. How can she be so calm up here? The roof feels somewhat weak. I’m just waiting for her to do something and send us through the roof and onto one of the tables inside the restaurant.
“Yes Claire?” I was once again telling myself to not get my hopes up. Though when she filled the distance between us in a few steps and pulled out something blue did I know it was okay to actually get excited.
“What do you say?” Claire held the blue feather, rubbing the edge with her slender fingers. “Would you mind settling down with a farmer?”
With everyone’s eyes on me, I felt the strong urge to pull my hat over my eyes and ask if we can just go to her place to discuss this. Though, that doesn’t seem like an option.
“Depends, do you just want an apprentice black smith?”
“If I didn’t, do you think I’d being on this roof in front of everyone say we should get married?” Claire retorted with a playful smile on her lips.
I smiled and scooped her off the roof and into my arms, holding her in the bridal position. She yelped loudly, then laughed.
I leaned down and whispered into her ear, “It’s a yes…”
Claire’s eyes went wide, then she cheered, fist pumping. The town took this as a ‘yes’, and before I knew it Duke was offering everyone wine on the treat to celebrate our engagement while Doug was offering to hold the reception after the wedding at the inn. I helped her off the roof and I continued carrying Claire like this, even as we walked to her farm. I only let her go when we were inside, sitting down and planning a good day.
“Claire, why did you decided to propose on the roof?”
That’s when she looked at me sheepishly.
“Uh… It honestly didn’t start like that… You see, I thought I saw a cat stuck up there and tried to get it down. But then one of the boxes I used to get up there fell and I was stuck… After a while, I decided to just pop the question. Everyone was there any way! Lucky for me I had my feather on me…”
I chuckled softly, then leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. She turned red, then looked away stubbornly.
“D-Don’t do that!”
We planned for a wedding in a week (which I thought was crazy, but Claire persisted that we should. Who am I to say no to her?) and I left shortly afterwards to help spread the news.
Today was quite the day…
End
3. Tears
I think people noticed something was wrong with me. I haven’t exactly been what most would call ‘happy’, in a while. Everyone in town has known me as the farmer whose smile rarely ever leaves her face. Yet, after this discovery, my mood has been rather terrible as of late.
My father. I have never associated myself with him. He’d hurt my mom and I, saying the most horrible of words to us. I always hated him. My mother never left him, and I’m honestly not sure why. She claimed how she would always love him, even as she was covered in those bruises. When I first moved into my old apartment, my mother was in a car crash and that’s when I fully disconnected with my father. We had no reason to speak, for the woman who desperately wanted us to be a happy family for once. For the most part, we never talked. And I didn’t mind.
Until a week ago.
Gray spotted me walking slowly to the clinic, to try and ask Elli for any medicine for my frequent headaches. He tried to call me over, but I just ignored him. I really wasn’t in the mood to socialize with anyone, even… Even the person who I like so much…
He seemed to ignore my ‘good away I’m horribly upset’ indications and hints, because he could up to me fairly.
“Claire, you haven’t really been outside of your farm. Where on earth have you been for the past week?” Gray asked, and I huffed. He scowled slightly, or I think he did. I wasn’t facing him, but I could see him from the corner of my eye. “That’s not an answer.”
“So?” I growl. “It’s good enough.”
He seemed put off, but eventually walked away.
After I received the medicine from Elli (“One pill whenever your head hurts. No more, no less.”) I got home and collapsed on my bed. Getting up was really hard now. Especially when I had so much work to do. At this point, I was just so exhausted at all times.
Sleep almost claimed me until I heard a knock at my door. I groaned, pulling the pillow over my head thinking that if I ignore it, it’ll go away, whoever it is. I thought they had for a minute, until I heard the click of my front door unlocking. I sat up startled. Who the heck was breaking into my house? I quickly got up and held my pillow as if it were a weapon. Note to self, keep something that would work more as a weapon than a pillow.
Gray walked inside, showing me the spare key to answer the question of how he got in here. It was normally in my dog King’s dog house, but he never goes in there so I thought it was a good place to hide it. Gray is the only one I’ve told where it’s location was.
“We need to talk,” Gray said sternly.
Isn’t that what people say before they break up?
“Are you okay? Be honest.”
“I’m fine.” Well, that wasn’t really a lie. I mean, I don’t have a temperature or any broken bones. My money isn’t running low either. I can still pay for for lunch and dinner and seeds. Food for the animals… Emotionally, oh boy. I was a wreck.
His eyes narrowed slightly, before he took a seat beside me on my bed.
“Claire, I’m really worried about you. Please, please tell me so I can help you,” Gray mumbled softly. It’s almost as if he thinks someone can hear us.
“…I don’t know…” I sighed, finally giving in. “It’s just… Have I ever told you about my father?”
He shook his head ‘no’. I laughed rather dryly.
“I figured. My father was a hateful man… He’d hurt mom and me. We would cower from him. If his food was too hot, it’d be thrown on the ground. He wasn’t always like that, though. It started when I was born. Or at least, that’s what my mom had told me. I guess he was expecting a son? I’ll never know. As soon as my mom died in that accident, then I made sure I’d never have to see or talk to him again.”
“Okay… Is that why you’re upset, though? Did he try to talk to you lately?” Gray pressed on. I shook my head.
“No, it’s not like that… Okay, maybe it is… I don’t know!” I exclaimed. I bring my hands up to my head. “I don’t know why I feel so sad! He died. Some illness, the doctors don’t know what it was. I should be happy! Happy that he’s finally out of my life! That I’ll never get tormented again! And yet… Yet I feel so…” I removed my hands from my head and clenched them tightly. “…So sad…”
I began to sob, but I don’t know why. Why on earth am I crying over him?
Gray gently held me, coaxing me with soft and sweet words in an attempt to calm me down.
“Gray… I don’t get it! W-Why am I crying so much over him…?”
He paused for a second, then sighed.
“Because we’re humans. We all have emotions and they tend to overpower each other. So while you may hate him, you may also feel sad or lonely. Sad because although you hated him, he was your father and lonely because… He was all you had left…”
This made me cry harder, resulting in me clinging to Gray harder for more comfort. More support.
We spent hours there. Or who knows, it may of just been a few minutes. I couldn’t really tell, considering I was so overwhelmed. I had finally managed to calm down, and although it still I, I’m glad I let it out like that.
“Thank you Gray… I’m so sorry for acting like this…” I felt my face heat up slightly. I just cried like a child who’s favorite toy was taken away or destroyed.
“It’s okay…” He offered me a small smile while he tipped his hat down slightly. “I’m here for you when you need to cry, okay?” I nodded. “Good. I need to be heading back. Gramps is going to fry my hide when I get back…”
He slowly got up from my bed and made his way to the door before stopping abruptly. He turned around.
“Oh, and Claire?”
“Mmhm?”
“Please smile… I love your smile…” He seemed to get pleasure out of seeing me react how I did, which was hiding my very warm and red face in my hands. I didn’t see him leave, but I knew he was gone by the sound of the door shutting. When he was gone, I hid my face in my pillow.
Dang it Gray…
End
4. School
// Quick note, this one is an A.U of them in preschool. : 3 \
Claire tugged slightly at her shirt as they approached the large building. Today was her first day at school. She was very nervous, all things considering she was never away from her mother before. However, she would not cry! She has to be grown up for her mom!
Although, as her mom was saying goodbye, she found it harder and harder to act grown up. Claire begged her mom to stay, and even resorted to cling to her leg. Her mother managed to coax her into staying with her soft and beautiful voice. Claire nodded, then walked over to where the other children were playing. A shy girl with short brown hair offered to play with her, and together they played blocks.
When the lessons came around, Claire found herself somewhat bored. She’d just doodle on the pages in her little notebook with a picture of a cute drawn cow on the front. When lunch rolled around, she was about to happily munch away on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when she noticed a little boy sitting all by himself. He wore an oversized baseball cap, but she saw his eyes were blue and his hair an orange blond. He seemed so lonely…
She scooped up her lunch back into its lunch box, she walked over to him and took a spot right next to him.
“Hello!” Claire chirped. “I’m Claire!”
“G-Gray…” He said. His voice was so quiet.
“Where is your lunch?” Little did Claire know she had hit a sore spot. He looked down sadly.
“Someone took it from me…”
His eyes went wide when he saw Claire fuming. Her cheeks were puffed out and her brow was furrowed.
“Who did it? I’ll get it back for you!”
Shaking slightly, Gray pointed to two rather mean looking boys, happily eating Gray’s lunch. She frowned deeply before finding the anger again and storming over.
“Why did you take his lunch?” She yelled. Some other kids turned away from the blocks or the ones still eating paused.
“He didn’t need it!” The older looking one growled. She wasn’t scared though. They were bullies!
When they instead started to ignore her threats, it got personal. She ran over to the shy girl she had met earlier who was named Elli and grabbed a block from her. Elli gave her a small smile and then a thumbs up. Claire chucked the block at the bullies, and the one she hit began to cry. The teacher took notice quickly, then ran over. The boy pointed his finger at Claire in his messy wailing, and before she really knew it, she was sitting in the corner. She began thinking about her food, which the teacher probably didn’t know she didn’t get to eat.
“Um… Hey…” Gray whispered. Claire turned slightly, then gasped. He was holding her sandwich. He handed it to her before scurrying off, making sure he didn’t get caught. She smiled a big smile and happily ate away.
The day goes by somewhat fast, and before she knew it Claire was waiting for her mom to pick her up. She sat by herself on a chair, coloring a farm picture. A little before she finished, she felt something gently poke her shoulder. It was Gray.
“U-Um… Hey…” Gray pulled his hat slightly over his eyes. “Thank you for… You know… Helping me…”
“No problem! If they ever pick on you again, I’ll make sure they get hit with a fire truck!” Claire exclaimed. The teacher sent her a glare, causing her to squeak and quiet down.
“I hope we can be friends!” Claire chirped when she saw her mother walking in. She looked dismayed for a second before handing him the coloring book page. “To commemorate our friendship!”
He blinked about once or twice, then took the paper delicately in his hands. He watched sadly as she ran up to her mom, grabbing her hand eagerly. Gray overlooked the coloring book page and found himself smiling. He was a quiet boy, and she was a loud girl. Yet, Gray was actually looking forward to becoming her friend.
End
// If you read until here, thank you! I hope they were okay… Hope you liked them~ : ) \
