Alone and Unwanted

5. A Small Conversation

Flare's POV

I just watched my former rivals walk away. They were talking about someone named (Y/N).

"They really care about you, don't they (Y/N)?"

Just by the shouting I heard, you could tell he was very dear to them. I looked up at the clock. It was going to be a few hours before they started letting people in. Deciding it was enough time, I grabbed the note and went off to look for this (Y/N).

After asking a few sources, I ended up standing in front of a shack. I could hear the ring of a hammer as it struck an anvil. Gathering up my courage, I pushed through a curtain.

(Y/N) wasn't how I expected him to look. Then again, I didn't know what to expect. He kind of reminded me of someone, but shorter and less beefy. That didn't mean he wasn't muscular, quite the opposite.

I cleared my throat to get his attention. "Mister (Y/N)?"

He stopped what he was doing and looked over at me.

"Well, well. If it isn't Flare." It didn't sound like he was mad at me. In fact, he sounded almost...happy?

"Come on in." He waved me over to a broken chair and a dirty couch. I accepted his offer and walked over. Once I seated myself, I looked back over to Anon. He put down his work and limped over to me.

"What's wrong with your leg?" He continued to limp to the broken chair. Once he sat down, he smirked and pulled up his pant leg. I gasped at the site of his wooden replacement.

"Besides it not being there, nothing. Damn person wanted a piece of me, and well, he got it."

He popped the leg out off of his stump. "Much better. So how have you been?"

I couldn't take my eyes off of the wooden appendage. It shocked me how a person worse off than I could hand me anything, let alone a sack of jewels.

"I've been worse. I just wanted to thank you for that sack of bits you gave me all those weeks ago." He raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't give you any jewels. Hell, I barely have any bits for myself." I knew when he was lying. The fact that Lucy said that it was his handwriting confirmed it. I pulled out the note from my purse.

"Lucy said this was your handwriting." His spirits crashed when you mentioned Lucy.

"Oh."

"You know, they are worried about you." He slumped back into the chair.

"Yeah, I know."

"Then why won't you go back?" He rubbed his eyebrows in frustration.

"Have you ever been in love?" He asked. There was my boyfriend, but it wasn't true love...for now anyways. I shook my head. "Neither have I, but all my friends have. In fact they all have husbands and probably kids by now." I sat there in silence and listened to his tale.

"Hell, I haven't ever had a girlfriend. And not from lack of trying, mind you. Anyways, their love bloomed, and I was stuck where I was as they moved on. At first it was just a little bit of sadness when I saw them kiss or hug. Then, it got worse when they started to talk about marriage. When Lucy had her baby, I almost lost it. I knew if I stayed, I would lose it. So, I packed up and left." He gave his wooden leg a kick.

"I ended up here after about a week or two. Found someone who taught me how to work with metal. He moved on while I stayed and made stuff for the little people." I sat there and let everything sink in.

"That doesn't explain why you gave me those jewels."

His frown turned into a small smirk.
"Just like it said. We all deserve a second chance."

"What about your second chance?" I caught him off guard with that.

"You are probably the sweetest and stupidest human I know. First, you torture yourself by putting your friends happiness before your own. Then, you have the gall to hide away the pain from those that care about you most. You let that well up inside you to the point where you are afraid that you might ruin that happiness. So, you ran, hoping that they will forget about you. And even when you are down on your luck and missing a leg, you still find it in you to help out a nobody like me with a pile of bits. Out of everything you have done, wouldn't that warrant a second chance?" He leaned forward.

"This was my second chance." He responded with a stoic face.

It was my turn to be caught off guard. "What do you mean?"

He gave another sigh. "Do you know how I ended up in Fairy Tail?"

I shook my head. "How?"

"I was walking down a street when a car came speeding down it. Some punk rolled down his window and began to fire a gun. I got hit in the chest."

Tears started to fill my eyes.

"I never made it to a hospital. I died right there on the ground. Then poof. I wake up in a field outside of Fiore. If you ask Lucy or any of them, they can tell you the rest. So that is why I don't have any chances left."

My tears threatened to come streaming out of my eyes, but I held them in.

"That's awful." He nodded his head.

"Have you told anyone else?"

"Never had the need to."

"Then why are you telling me?" He took a deep breath.

"Because someone should know. Someone who truly understands second chances." That hit me right in my chest. He trusted me with his story, and I was not going to let him down.

"Then give them a second chance."

"They did nothing wrong." I looked out the window and saw that sun was setting. I was out of time.

"Just listen to me for a second. Whether it hurts their feelings or not, they did mess up. They didn't mess up when they got into relationships. They didn't mess up when they decided to get married. They didn't mess up when they had children. They messed up when they couldn't see what was going on with you. Friendship is a two way street. You look over their happiness, and they look over yours. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I think all of you need some closure." He sat there in silence and took in my advice.

"I would stay longer but I have a show tonight. Thank you for listening." I got up to leave.

"Wait." I turned around to face (Y/N).

"Are you doing anything after the show?" He asked.

I bit my lip. He was in a vulnerable state, but I couldn't betray Kori like that.

"I am going to have drinks with...a friend."

He sunk back into the chair. "Oh... alright. Well, you have some fun." It broke my heart to see a person reduced so low. I walked over to him and gave a kiss on his cheek.

"Things will look up for you soon."

With that, I hurried back. I hoped that he would find the note I left on his couch.