You slept on one of the couches downstairs. No one bothered you because you hardly even slept. If anything you took an hour long nap and went to walk around. You arrived at breakfast late because you were avoiding everyone in your room. You needed to make sure they were out of the room when you were getting ready.

Even then, you didn't talk to anyone. You sat next to Sting and ate away without saying a word. Sting didn't bother you either. He didn't say anything, but he let you know he was there for you by holding your hand under the table.

The gesture almost made you cry.

"Instead of skiing or snowboarding today, want to just sit inside and play cards?" Sting offered at the end of breakfast.

You shook your head. "That's alright, I want to ski one last time. You can snowboard if you'd like. I'll be fine."

Sting felt your sadness. He wanted to comfort you but you didn't want him being in more of your drama. You just wanted to make this trip a good one for him.

"Are you sure (Y/N)?"

You smile. "I promise I'm alright. You go have fun okay?"

"...okay."

You got ready, after the others of course, and headed out on the slopes. You spotted everyone in your room right away — Erza, Mirajane, Lucy, Minerva, and Yukino.

Erza and Lucy were skiing and Mirajane was skiing with another girl who had a similar colored hair to hers. Minerva and Yukino were talking. They were so far away, you weren't sure what they could have been talking about, but you guessed it was last nights events.

You didn't bother trying to ski. You went to the side lines and drew pictures in the snow with a stick. Maybe it would've been better inside, but you wouldn't have wanted to be cooped up in there when you had another four hour bus ride down the mountain.

You'd have to help Sting through his motion sickness too. That was going to be troublesome. It wasn't this bad before, but with time it seemed to be getting worse.

"I guess I could make another snow angel." You spoke aloud. "Then again, people might just stare at me again."

"Talking to yourself?"

Behind you stood the one and only Rogue Cheney. It feels like it's been years since you talked to him one on one.

"Well, someone's gotta do it." You answered halfheartedly.

Rogue walked over to squat down next to you. He picked up his own stick and drew his own pictures.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" He asked.

You wondered why he of all people came over. You expected Sting more than anyone. "I got into a fight with Yukino last night." You didn't want to go into the details and bore him to death.

"I figured."

You turned to him with an expression full of surprise. "You did?"

"I saw you sleeping downstairs. You woke up when I got there though so I didn't want to bother you." His expression was gentle and kind. He really wanted you to know he was there for you. "I thought I'd come over to see if you were okay."

You wanted to explode with emotion. Tears threatened to fall down your face in waterfalls. A moment later and they did — warming your face and hurting your head.

You hide your face in your hands and sob away. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to cry." You choked. "I just—"

Rogue set a hand on your head and ruffled your hair. "I know. You can cry if you want to. Just remember that we're here for you."

You cried harder, cursing the cold for making your face freezing with damp tears. "Thank you... I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

You kept wiping your tears and snot on your jacket, ignoring eye contact but keeping up a conversation to keep from making this awkward. "I'm surprised Sting isn't coming over here yelling about your hand on my head." You laughed.

Rogue's hand fell and he returned to his snow picture. "That's because he's the one who sent me over."

"Why would he send you over?" You questioned.

Rogue stood up and threw the stick, his picture was a cat that you were guessing was the one he owned — the one Wendy told you about.

"He thought you could use a friend."

~~~

"That bus ride was terrible!" Sting stretched his arms over his head on your walk home.

You comforted him on the ride and managed to make it back twenty minutes earlier. It was getting late thought. The beautiful sunset was almost gone and the dark night would most likely take over by the time you got home.

"Hey Sting." You said, stopping in your tracks and staring down at your feet.

Sting turned back. "Yeah?"

You told yourself after Rogue comforted you that you'd stop crying, but that promise didn't last.

"Thank you. For everything. Thank you for being you." Everything was blurry with the tears continuing to fall.

Sting took his bag off and set all his things down to walk over and give you a hug — wrapping you up so you could cry against his chest.

"Mirajane told me everything. I wasn't sure I could do anything to help so I... you know."

You shook your head and smiled up at him. "Thank you, I appreciate you doing that."

"Well, it was my fault that you fought." He said.

You felt bad that he thought that. He was just trying to help you and you knew he would never set you up for a fight on purpose.

"It's not your fault. It was mine and Yukino's. We were just acting like crazy jealous children."

Sting smiled, putting you off. "What?" You asked.

"It's just nice not being the only overly-jealous person in this relationship."

Yeah, and he was pretty jealous compared to you. "We need to work on that, huh?"

He shrugged. "Probably."

~~~

The school week after was tough. Rumors spread again, some saying that you and Yukino fist fought while others say she caught you and Sting together. It was all incredibly silly and nonsensical.

That's why, when the weekend came, you put yourself together, went shopping, and cleaned everything to keep yourself busy.

You had work off but Sting didn't. He added a few more hours to this weekend schedule since he was taking next Saturday off.

There was that holiday party for the publishing company up and you told Sting you'd go. Every time you thought of that party you thought of your future.

You still had no idea what you wanted to do even though you had so many options. You were lucky enough to have a successful father to help you out through college and to get a job.

But did you want to work for him? Succeed him? Maybe.

You had to figure it out soon.

The cold made it hard to go shopping. There wasn't any snow stuck to the ground but any day now you knew it would be just as bad as it was in the mountains.

You shopped for decent dinner foods that Sting could cook and some breakfast things you could easily make without him.

Then you got home to finish the laundry, vacuum, clean the bathroom, start some food, and shower before Sting got home.

He came home with his work clothes still on. It was adorable when he took off his shoes and just collapsed.

"I can't take this anymore. I just want to sleep for days."

You couldn't agree more. "I went shopping today so we can have a nice dinner together."

He was face down in the floor still. To give you a reply he gave you a thumbs up and turned over. "Let's just run away."

You walked over to give him a hand up. He was so heavy, he almost brought you down with him.

"We've got life to deal with, Sting. We can't just run, as much as I agree that we should."

After he stood up he sluggishly dragged his feet to the shower but stopped at the door. "Did you already take a shower?" He asked saddened. You smile with guilt and he drops his head. "I thought you might have."

"Don't worry, I'll handle dinner tonight so just focus on taking a shower and relaxing." You really hoped you could handle dinner, but you've been watching Sting cook and you think you could handle it for one night.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

Maybe you weren't one hundred percent sure, but you were sure enough.

~~~

There was a kind of aura in the classroom now that scared almost everyone. Mr. Jiemma never seemed to notice when teaching and Sting grew ignorant to it. It was the heavy air that sat between you and Yukino.

Neither of you tried to acknowledge each other and it showed.

When walking near each other, one of you would go the other way or go completely around just to avoid a shoulder bump or something. You never made eye contact and when someone would bring up your fight, neither of you choose to talk about it.

It was almost nice yet absolutely exhausting.

"Don't you think you guys are being a little over dramatic?" Sherry said when you two were getting juice downstairs. Your classes had a little break and you were enjoying it with Sherry as Sting messed around with his friends from class 2-B.

You got him a juice for his troubles.

"I mean, sometimes I pass by your classroom and it's terrifying in there. It needs more love, not hate."

You grabbed your two juice boxes and moved out of the way so Sherry could buy hers. "I don't think we're being over dramatic. I just think we're not ready to talk about it without wanting to yell at each other."

Sherry got her juice and the two of you started walking back. "I'm just surprised that it's gone this far. I didn't think either of you would be on such bad terms compared to when you were first hanging out."

You look down at your juice, sad with the truth. "I know, I'm just as surprised as you were. I had no idea either of us could shout at each other like that. It was terrifying."

"Well, I for one don't have room to hate you, so don't worry about a screaming match between the two of us, okay?" She hit your elbow and gave you a reassuring smile.

"Thanks Sherry."

You headed up the stairs, ignoring the crazy kids  running down them and walking around the gossiping girls on the sides of the hallway. "Tell me about this weekend. What kind of party are you two going to?"

You told her a little bit about it, but not much. "I guess it's a company party. Sting and I might be the only minors there so I'm a little scared. Plus, I have to cheer on Sting's future aspirations but every time I think about the future I get confused."

"I know what you mean. Me and Ren plan to get married after high school."

You stop in your tracks and almost screech throughout the hallway. "Your what!?!?"

She drank her strawberry juice casually. "Yeah. Didn't I tell you?"

"No you did not tell me! How did this happen?" You were flabbergasted. You couldn't think of what to eat for dinner let alone when to get married.

Sherry blushed, looking as love struck as ever. "We were talking about what to do after high school and he told me he's going to be working at a modelling agency called Blue Pegasus. He's already doing part time there now and as soon as he graduates they're gonna hire him full time. I'm gonna try to start a crafting business on the side to support him."

She had it all figured out. She probably already knows what kind of cake she wants at her wedding and who she's gonna invite.

And you?

You still needed to figure out what to do with your life.

"Don't worry hun, you'll figure out what you want to do. Just think about what makes you happiest and make a job out of that!"

...what makes you happiest?