A/N
Romance/Humor
NaLu, GaLe, Gruvia pairings
This is my first ever fan fiction so I hope you enjoy it! :)
I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.
Lucy stretched her arms up in the air, the sunlight warming her skin. Junior year had been tough but they had made it through. The last final was finally over, and today was the very first day of summer. The weather rewarded them for their hard work by breaking the hot spell that had haunted them since last week and gifting them a perfect summer day. Lucy had only just survived the five APs she piled into her schedule. If her three best friends hadn't been in them with her, she was sure she would've died. They were all standing around her right now.
Levy, her fellow book lover, reliable study buddy, and all around best friend since the two met in first grade, was smiling into the sun, a hand shielding her eyes. Her light blue hair had drifted in front of her face again and she deftly tucked it behind her headband.
Juvia was still in the front seat, fussing with the sun shade under the windshield. Juvia had gone unnoticed her first two years of high school, having been the silent girl in the back of the room. Lucy and Levy had just started talking to her this year and Lucy got the impression that they were among the first friends she had ever had. She was so sweet that it made up for any…eccentricities. In fact, the other girls loved her slight weirdness, it made her endearing.
The last of Lucy's close friends was running down the long driveway to them now, her white pixie cut bouncing around as she ran. Lisanna had just transferred into their school this year. She and Lucy had instantly bonded over their hatred of math in all its forms. Soon the four had become inseparable friends.
The huge house that Juvia had parked in front of was Lisanna's. Apparently, at the beginning of every summer Lisanna and her two older siblings threw a pool party to celebrate school being over and they all invited friends. This was Lisanna's first time having three girlfriends close enough to invite and she was thrilled. She got to the end of her long driveway and threw her arms around Lucy and Levy, squealing with glee. When Juvia finally got out of the car and joined them by the trunk, they wrapped her into their group hug. She blushed slightly, still unfamiliar with having so many close friends.
"So," Lisanna said seriously, stepping back. "You are all hereby ordered to have the time of your lives. Any boring people will be persecuted." Juvia's eyes widened until Lucy took pity and whispered to her that Lisanna was just kidding. Juvia didn't always get stuff like that. Levy saluted jokingly. "Sir, yes sir. We have acquired the supplies and rations, sir." She gestured to the trunk of the car which was packed with shopping bags full of food, three pool bags, and three overnight bags. Lisanna's smile widened, "Girls, you might just be prepared."
Lisanna threw open the gate to the backyard, the house towering over them to the left. She ushered them inside like a tour guide. The girls had been to her house a few times during the school year, but they'd never been in the backyard before. It was gorgeous. Directly behind the house was a large stone patio with tables, chairs, a grill, and an in ground fire pit. Then there was the pool/hot tub combo a little farther out. And past that stretched a rolling lawn with gardens and art fixtures scattered around. All the way around the yard were hedges and behind that, a tall fence.
Lucy turned to Lisanna and complimented the space. The two walked to the patio, twittering about how they had done on their last final. Levy and Juvia were too stunned to move. Lucy had grown up on an estate on the country even larger than this and was fairly unfazed by wealth and property. Levy and Juvia on the other hand, had never been in a backyard this big and were having difficulty forming sounds, let alone sentences.
Finally Levy managed to whisper shakily, "My entire backyard could fit in the pool." Juvia nodded. She felt the same. The girls were shaken out of their stupor by Lucy who was calling their names and waving them to the table where she and Lisanna had put all the groceries. The two girls hurried over, frantically complimenting the sprawling yard.
Lisanna laughed, "You should really tell all this to my sister. She maintains all of this by herself." All three girls stared at her, speechless, before their eyes scanned the immaculate grounds. There was no way one person could do all this themselves.
Just then a woman swept out of then house in a stylish summer dress. She was gorgeous, with long white hair and twinkling blue eyes. The sibling resemblance was obvious at once. The two sisters embraced happily.
"Guys," Lisanna made introductions. "This is my sister, Mira. Mira-nee, these are my friends, Lucy, Levy, and Juvia." Mira smiled sweetly and shook hands with each of them in turn. "It's so nice to meet you. Lisanna has told me so much about each of you. I feel like we already know each other." The smiled back. It was impossible not to feel at home under Mira's soft gaze.
"If you need to change, we have a bathroom just inside on the left." Mira directed sweetly. "I'm making some lunch right now so that'll be out in a bit, and I'll add these snacks to what we already have. Thank you for bringing them!"
Lucy was about to offer to help her get the grocery bags inside but before she could speak Mira had swept up the bags like they weighed nothing and glided back into the house. Lucy could only stare. It had taken both her and Lisanna to get all that up the drive and it hadn't been easy. She got the distinct impression that Mira was not to be underestimated in any capacity.
Levy and Juvia grabbed their pool bags and went inside to change. Lucy and Lisanna were wearing their bathing suits already under their clothes so the two sat down at the table in the shade of an umbrella to chat and wait.
Lisanna let out a huge sigh and relaxed backwards into her chair. "I'm so happy that I met you guys. I've never had such good girlfriends before." Lucy laughed. She felt the same. She and Levy had always been friends but they'd never had nice group like this. Lucy felt confident that with her three best friends in tow she was going to have the best summer of her life. She watched the the calm water of the pool, sitting in companionable silence with her friend.
She remembered vaguely that Lisanna had said that lots of people usually came to this. Surely there would be more than just the four girls and Mira? "Lisanna," Lucy asked. "I forgot about this earlier, who else is coming today?"
Lisanna's smile expanded even more and her eyes sparkled. "Oh you're going to love everyone! So first there's Natsu. We were best friends when we were really small and then we lost touch for a couple years but recently we've started hanging out again. He's so sweet and funny, you're going to love him. And then there's Gray, he can be a little standoffish but don't worry, he's really nice. And then Mira's best friend is coming too. She's…intense. But fun. I don't know if they'll hang out with us or not."
Lucy was excited. If Lisanna thought so highly of these guys, they must be really amazing. Secretly she wondered what the boys looked like. She hadn't had a boyfriend in a while and Levy had been teasing her about getting back out there. Shaking herself out of those thoughts, she focused. This was not the time to give in to her inner romantic. Adorable summer flings were only a plot device.
So three other people were coming. "Wait, don't you have a brother too? He's not going to be here?" Lucy wondered out loud. "Oh, Elfman," Lisanna said, remembering her brother. "He just graduated. I don't know if he'll be here, I think he's working on something with a friend."
Just then a howling yell startled Lucy out of her seat. She jumped up and stared around looking for the source of the noise. It had sounded suspiciously like a war-cry. When the shout went up again, Lucy pinpointed the sound to the very back of the yard, just past the tall wooden fence.
Suddenly something came flying over the fence at high velocity, screaming the whole time. Slowly Lucy realized that the something was a someone. He landed in a tumble in the backyard and came to a stop in the middle of the grassy yard, instantly jumping to his feet.
"Yosh," he cried out loudly. "Let's get this party started!" Before Lucy could get a good look at him, he noticed the two of them standing by the house. He raced around the pool and didn't slow down as he got close to the girls. As soon as he was close enough, he launched himself.
"Lisanna!" he yelled as he crashed into his oldest friend. They slammed into the ground and Lucy found herself convinced that this monstrous force of a boy had just killed her friend.
"Lisanna!" She knelt next to them. At first she thought Lisanna was crying but then she realized she was laughing, hugging the boy on top of her back. "It's good to see you too Natsu." Lucy fell back with a sigh of relief. Lisanna was alive, crisis averted. Wait, Natsu? This was the sweet, funny boy that Lisanna had spoken so highly of?
Natsu finally got up, pulling Lisanna to her feet beside him. Lisanna, in turn, offered Lucy a hand up, which she gratefully accepted. Natsu seemed to realize she was here for the first time and turned to face her. Lisanna did the introductions. "Natsu, this is my friend Lucy. Lucy, this is Natsu, one of the guys I told you about."
Remembering her manners, Lucy managed a polite "Nice to meet you." and Natsu shot back a "You too". Finally she was able to get a good look at him for the first time.
The first thing she noticed was his hair. It was a dusty pink, almost salmon and it stuck up in uneven spikes all over his head. Her eyes wandered to his body and she fought to keep her expression neutral. Tan skin stretched over tight muscles. He wore a baggy pair of pants and a small vest that hung open. She had to resist the urge to reach over and touch his stomach just to see if his abs were are hard as they looked.
Oh my god! What was she thinking! She had literally just met the guy and here she was, assaulting him in her mind. Angrily fighting the blush that was pushing towards her cheeks, she moved her eyes quickly back up to his face…and almost yelped! He had leaned in while she was appraising him and was now only a foot away from her face. His head was cocked to the side and his eyes stared into hers. Oh no. Did he realize she'd been staring? Oh no. She lost her fight to hide the blush and pink warmth slid into her cheeks. As she looked into his dark eyes, she started to get a little lost in them.
Luckily, at that moment, a loud crash startled her out of her staring. She jumped almost a foot in the air and yelped. Natsu burst out laughing. She turned back to glare at him and he laughed more.
"Lucy," he said between breaths, "you're kind of a weirdo, you know that?" She gaped. "Excuse you? I'm the weirdo! What about you?" He looked confused. "What about me?" She rolled her eyes and turned back to the crash.
A second boy was picking himself off the ground, having entered the backyard via the same fence that Natsu had hurdled. He was cursing steadily as he brushed grass and leaves off of his clothes. "Natsu!" he yelled as he caught sight of the boy across the pool. "You bastard! Why couldn't we go around to the front of the house like normal people?"
"You saying I'm not normal, Droopy Eyes?"
"What are you going to do about it, Slanty Eyes?"
And somehow both boys were in the middle of the lawn, rolling around, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dust. The occasional grunt punctuated the fight.
Lucy turned to Lisanna, at a complete loss for words. "Yeah, I get what you mean." Lisanna said, interpreting the girl's expression expertly. "They really are something else." Lucy could only nod. They certainly were something else. This was going to be an interesting summer alright.
Levy stood in the magnificent formal dining room wondering how she had gotten there. Mira's directions of inside and on the left were proving way more complicated than they had first appeared. Not only was she hopelessly lost, she had lost Juvia too. Now it was just her, standing alone with a small tote, dwarfed by the huge house.
When a hand came down on her shoulder, the tiny girl jumped two feet in the air. It was only Juvia, looking apologetic.
"Juvia is so very sorry Levy-san. I did not mean to startle you. Juvia has located the bathroom." She said politely. Levy sighed. They had been working all year on breaking the girl of her stiff and formal method of speaking but so far they had had no luck.
Recovering her breath, Levy gestured forward. "Lead the way." Juvia did, twisting confidently through the hallways. Levy was instantly lost again and she was glad that she wasn't the one trying to remember her way back through this maze.
When they finally stopped, Levy thought there must have been some mistake. The room they were standing in the doorway of was much too big to be a bathroom. For one thing, there was an entire furniture set-up including a settee on one side of the room. Levy decided not to touch anything for fear of getting it dirty or having it spontaneously combust under her fingers.
Juvia, while equally awed, did not seem to share her qualms as she placed her bag on one of the upholstered armchairs. The two girls started to dress quietly. Levy had just finished changing from her colorful romper into her favorite ruffled bathing suit when she heard a small cough from over her shoulder.
Once again, Juvia looked embarrassed. She was holding her bikini straps together behind her neck. "Would you mind…?" She murmured awkwardly gesturing to the straps in her hand. Levy rolled her eyes. What were friends for? She told Juvia as much as she took the straps and tied them securely. Poor girl, thought Levy, it must be crippling to be so shy. No wonder she hadn't made friends before.
Once dressed, they made their way back outside, Levy sticking close to Juvia so as not to wander off again. When they stepped into the sunlight, Levy's eyes automatically scanned the area.
Lisanna was in the pool already. Next to her was a boy with black hair that Levy had never seen. But more pressingly, her gaze was drawn to her best friend. Lucy was standing by the edge of the pool fully clothed and dripping wet. She looked furious as she yelled at a boy who lay on the ground in front of her, laughing.
She was about to go over and try to prevent what seemed to be the imminent murder of one of Lisanna's other friends by Lucy's hand when Juvia interrupted her. "Who is he?" Juvia asked. Levy was thinking the same thing. She'd never seen the pink haired boy before.
"I don't know, but Lu-chan looks pissed. I'll go see what happened." Levy told her. Juvia's voice hitched and when she spoke again, her voice sounded weird. "No, not him. The one next to Lisanna-san with the beautiful raven hair." Juvia whispered shakily.
Oh. Oh no. Levy hadn't been focusing enough the first time Juvia had asked to notice but now there was no ignoring it. When she turned to her friend, there was no doubt. Juvia's hands were clutched tightly against her chest and she looked slightly delirious. Crap.
One of Juvia's quirks was that she was never neutral about anything. Either she hated something or she loved it. Spicy food - hate. Rainy days - love. And the same held true for boys. No casual crushes for Juvia. She got obsessions. They hit almost instantly and were almost impossible to cure. Luckily the girls had only witnessed it once so far and it hadn't been too serious but this was gearing up to be the worst one yet.
"Lu-chan! Lisanna!" Levy shouted desperately across the patio. She waved her arms, trying to relay that there was an emergency. Lucy didn't notice as she continued her tirade. Lisanna saw her and got out of the pool. She grabbed Lucy and dragged her over.
Lucy looked like she was about to complain about being dragged around so roughly but then she caught sight of Juvia. Instantly, she adopted a look of horror. She tried to block Juvia's sightline to the pool but the blue haired girl just sidestepped her. Quickly, Lucy and Levy each grabbed an arm trying to hold her back but the tall girl was strong and just kept walking. Lisanna seemed not to understand the direness of the situation and was hiding a giggle behind her hand.
"Please, tell Juvia who this most handsome boy is. He has stolen Juvia's heart." she informed them. Lisanna followed her line of sight to the boy in the pool. "You mean Gray?" Lisanna said before the other two could stop her.
Hearing his name, Gray turned towards them. Levy could practically hear Juvia's heart speed up. He pushed himself out of the water and climbed out of the pool, walking towards them. Levy had to admit he was good looking. Not her type, but handsome enough.
She heard a crash and turned to find Juvia unconscious on the ground, obviously overcome with the sight of Gray rising shirtless out of the water. Lisanna was laughing while Lucy knelt next to the girl and tried to inspect the bump there was sure to be on her head.
Gray ran the last couple of steps to the girls, looking concerned. "Is everything okay over here?" he asked nervously, like he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. Since the others were distracted, Levy answered.
"She'll be fine. The heat just got to her for a second there. Nice to meet you, I'm Levy." She explained and held out her hand. He shook it. "I'm Gray."
Juvia was starting to stir, touching the back of her head tenderly. Knowing that she shouldn't, but unable to help herself Levy gave in to her mischievous side. "Would you mind helping us get her up?" She asked Gray sweetly. He agreed awkwardly, "uh sure." He was really out of his depth with the four girls.
And so it was that when Juvia opened her eyes, Gray's concerned face was the first thing she saw, making her fall back again. "Oi," he cried out, "are you alright?" He moved an arm behind her shoulders so that she was sitting up. When she had steadied herself again, he stood up offering her a hand to help her up as well. She took it daintily and he pulled her up. When she wavered, she unconsciously put a hand on his chest to steady herself and he caught the small of her back so that she couldn't fall down again.
Quickly, they both realized the position they were in and dual blushes burst onto their faces. Juvia looked like she was in heaven while Gray looked like he would be absolutely fine if the ground he was standing on opened itself up and swallowed him.
Levy was on the ground leaning against Lisanna, clutching the stitch she had in her side from laughing. Lisanna was in a similar situation. Levy couldn't get her breath back, that was so much better than she could have hoped for. She knew she would pay for it later when Juvia was talking her ear off about her obsession but she thought it had been worth it. Lucy had obviously noticed what she had done and did not approve. When their eyes met Lucy mouthed we'll talk about this later. Levy just nodded, feeling sheepish.
Obviously feeling left out, the other boy jumped into the middle of the group startling Lucy and breaking the spell on Gray and Juvia as they jumped apart. "Natsu!" Lucy admonished, "Don't do stuff like that!" Levy attached the name to the boy in her head. So this was Natsu. He and Gray must have been Lisanna's other friends. She remembered how Lucy had yelled at him earlier and wondered what he had done.
Just as she had the thought, Lucy answered it. She was backing away from the boy who was approaching her with a wicked smile on his face. "Don't you dare." she was saying. "Not again. If you throw me fully clothed into that pool again I will end you." Levy stifled her laugh, remembering Lucy standing in dripping clothes while yelling at Natsu.
Natsu had paused, maybe considering her threat, though he didn't seem worried. Levy wondered idly id Lucy had been serious. She was rarely violent though Levy knew she could be a force when she really put her mind to it.
"Okay," Natsu said thoughtfully "strip." Lucy's eyes almost bugged out of her head and Levy thought she saw steam coming out of the girl's ears. Though from anger or embarrassment she couldn't be sure. "Excuse you?" Lucy choked out. Levy waited with amusement for his answer.
He rolled his eyes and explained as if he was speaking to a child. "Well, I want to throw you in the pool. You don't want to go in with your clothes on. So take them off. You're wearing your suit underneath, right?" Levy watched her friend remember how to breathe again. Slowly Lucy's shock and horror melted into annoyance.
"Fine." she snapped grumpily. She pulled her shirt over her head and stepped out of her shorts. As soon as she was only in her bathing suit, Natsu stepped in and scooped her up. His strong arms wrapped around her thin waist as he lifted her off the ground. Her hands steadied her on his shoulder as she called him names all the way to the pool where she was cut off when he jumped in and submerged them underwater.
During their exchange, Levy's eyebrows had crept higher and higher on her face. She turned to look at Lisanna who smiled widely back at her. Both of them shared a secret love of mischief and Levy could tell that this summer there would be plenty of it.
Realizing that she was still on the ground, Levy stood up. She headed for the pool, excited to follow her blond friend into the gorgeous water.
Lucy sat on the steps in the shallow end of the pool trying not to sulk. She couldn't believe how irritating and immature Natsu was. She was glad Levy was here. It was nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't as close with the guys as Lisanna or as obsessed as Juvia.
Speaking of Natsu, she heard him yell out, "Chicken Fights!" Chicken fights? What were those? Wait, was that that thing where you got on each others shoulders and tried to knock another pair down? Before she could ask out loud, her question was violently answered.
She felt something on the back of her legs and suddenly she was rising out of the water. She looked down in shock as she let out a very undignified shriek. Natsu had swum underneath her and stood up. Her bare legs were pressed against his bare skin and she tried to breathe normally. The bones in his shoulders were digging into her thighs slightly. He tucked her feet under his arms so that she was held steady.
"Onward, Lucy" He yelled, attempting to run forward through the water. She was so busy trying to keep her balance that she didn't even have time to properly yell at him. "Please put me down!" She managed to squeak out as she got her breath back. He pretended not to hear her as he pushed on.
Across from them Levy was maneuvering herself onto Lisanna's shoulders. Gray had lifted Juvia up out of the water and deposited her on his shoulders. The poor girl was unbelievably red but Gray had seemingly overlooked it in his competitiveness.
Levy and Lisanna advanced on them, shorter than Natsu and Lucy but looking very determined. Lucy would have retreated had she had any say in the matter. As it was, her hands were on Natsu's head so that she didn't fall off. She was trying to focus on her approaching friends because it meant that she wasn't focused on how soft his hair was even with the chlorine in it.
As soon as Levy got close enough, Lucy removed her hands from Natsu and grabbed Levy instead. She meant to simply hold on for balance and perhaps lament to Levy that the boy she was trapped on top of was insane. Instead it became clear immediately that Levy was playing to win, trying to twist her wrists to throw Lucy into the pool. Lucy's eyes narrowed as her own competitive spirit was triggered.
She and Levy struggled back and forth. Lucy was stronger but Levy's lower center of balance meant that they were more steady. Still, Natsu did a good job of keeping her up as he and Lisanna passed jabs back and forth. From the way they talked it was obvious that they had known each other forever.
"You think you can beat me, ha!"
"Must I remind you, Natsu, that I have been able to beat you since we were tiny."
"I think you are the one who's tiny, Lisanna."
"Everyone knows its brain over brawn."
"There's no strategy to chicken fights!" Natsu seemed to have been proved correct as Lucy got in a good shove and Levy was thrown back, sending Lisanna scrambling backwards trying to keep her upright. They came back with momentum and it was neck and neck.
Juvia and Gray had finally sorted their situation (both balance and blushing) enough that they started walking towards the fight, intending to break in. Juvia looked very nervous and Lucy figured she had probably never participated in a chicken fight before. A small part of Lucy felt bad. But the majority of her was already overtaken with the spirit of winning and knew that there must be no quarter given in war.
Without taking their eyes off each other Lucy and Levy both reached out with one hand and together they rammed Juvia in the shoulders. She slammed backwards into the deep end, Gray losing his balance and going over with her.
Natsu managed to laugh as Gray came up treading water, spluttering, and annoyed. He muttered something that sounded like whatever before he retired to the side of the pool to watch the fight go down. He made sure Juvia was okay briefly and pulled her to the side with him, out of harm's way. She sunk into the water down to her eyes to hide her permanently blushing face.
Lucy and Levy circled. They didn't need words to see that the other was serious. Although as they stared, small smiles threatened to pull up the edges of their mouths. Just as Levy started to laugh, Lucy took advantage of the distraction and threw her to the side. The unexpected momentum pulled both Levy and Lisanna crashing into the water.
"Yes!" Lucy cheered, putting her arms up in victory. Natsu was practically dancing in the water chanting "yes yes yes, we did it, yeah!" He dipped under the water so Lucy was dropped back on her feet. When he came back up he jumped onto her, pulling her into a tight hug. With the adrenaline of winning rushing through her veins, she hugged him back.
He pulled away and held her an arms length away. "Lucy that was fantastic!" He said with a huge smile. She looked away, embarrassed and proud. Maybe he wasn't so bad. The excitement shining in his eyes was kind of addictive.
"You know," he considered thoughtfully, "you're kinda heavy." She just stared at him, openmouthed. Quickly the anger came rushing back to her and she started hitting his arm and chest and whatever else she could reach, punctuating it with words, "You. Asshole. How. Dare. You. Say. That. To. A. Girl."
"Ow! Ow! Lucy stop it!" He put up his hands to protect his face as she kept hitting him. "I meant like, it was a good tactical thing." Her eyes flared. "Tactics? My weight is a tactic?!" She screeched. "Yeah," he muttered lamely, trying to make everything okay again, "you know, being heavy means you're probably strong. I'm heavy too."
She wasn't even listening. He looked to Gray who was laughing hysterically (he was used to being the one who didn't know what to say) and then to Lisanna, who put up her hands in a you're on your own gesture.
Lucy continued to hit him as he whined excuses that just dug him a deeper grave. I was right, Lucy thought. Just a stupid, immature, idiot. She needed to learn not to fall for his excitement. Obviously, he was nothing but trouble.
Levy was having the best summer of her life and it was only day one. She watched the clouds and breathed in the relaxing fresh air. Her half asleep mind was shaken awake by a loud noise.
The gate to the backyard slammed open, shuddering against its hinges. Levy recognized Lisanna's brother from the last time she had been over. Elfman's loud voice preceded him around the corner. "Men!" He shouted as greeting, shooting a quick salute to Natsu and Gray in the pool. The two barely heard him over the epic splash war they had going. He walked to the edge of the pool to be heard but with devious smiles, the two in the pool turned on him, drenching him in a wall of water.
"A man never backs down from a challenge!" he announced stridently and with a running start, he cannonballed fully clothed into the pool. Levy supposed it didn't really matter since he couldn't get any wetter than Natsu and Gray had already made him.
Levy was sitting on the patio in the shade of an umbrella with Juvia. The poor thing was fidgeting in her lawn chair, her eyes following Gray as he moved through the water. The two girls had retired to the patio to take a break when they started getting tired. Lucy and Lisanna were still in the pool, trying not to drown in the middle of the splash war.
Levy settled back into her chair, letting the sun warm her skin and dry her suit. She was distracted by movement out of the corner of her eye. A guy was leaning against the gate to the backyard, having followed Elfman in.
Instantly, she found herself staring. He was tall and dark, with a long tangle of wild black hair. He turned slightly and silver piercings flashed in the sun. He had them not only in his ears but also over his eyes and down the bridge of his nose. They gave the effect that he wasn't altogether human. He was glaring at Elfman's back, massive arms crossed unhappily over his chest.
For a moment, Levy found herself fascinated. His chiseled body was so attractive and his rough look so unique that Levy felt like he had stepped straight out of one of the works of fiction she spent so much time reading.
But then he looked up and the effect was shattered. He met her eyes and the intensity of his gaze was like a physical weight had landed on her shoulders. A basic, prey part of her was whispering that he could probably snap her neck without even trying, or caring. She shivered involuntarily.
He caught her fear and his glower shifted into a sneer. She felt her own face shift as well, from fear to disgust. Forget everything she had said, he was just another asshole and she wanted no part of it.
Forcing her gaze away from him, she went back to watching her friends in the pool. She felt his eyes linger for a minute before he too turned away.
"Oi, Blondie!" he shouted at the pool. Levy smirked, his voice suited him. It was as dark and rough as his look. Over in the pool, both Lucy and Lisanna had looked up, wondering why they were being hailed so rudely by someone they'd never met. But he wasn't looking at either of them, he was looking past them at someone else.
Even at this distance, Levy could see Elfman's fists and teeth had clenched. "Gajeel, I told you not to call me that!" Elfman yelled back.
Levy put a hand over her mouth, covering a laugh that she knew was wrong. Elfman had white hair like his two sisters and so technically was a blond, but she doubted anyone had ever dared call him by such a belittling nickname before. At 6'8" Elfman was a literal tower of muscle and Levy found herself admiring the audacity of someone willing to mock him so nonchalantly.
No, she corrected herself vehemently, he was not to be admired in any way. He was just a rude asshole, end of story.
Gajeel, for his part, looked completely unfazed, either not knowing or not caring that he was poking the beast. "Tch," he rolled his eyes, "whatever. Let's go, we got work to do." Without another word or a look back, he turned and walked away.
Elfman grumbled under his breath but did as he was told anyway, wading to the side of the pool so he could hoist himself out of the water. As he stood by the edge trying to wring some water out of his clothes, Lisanna swam over to him.
"So," she asked, eyebrows raised all the way into her hairline. "Who's your friend?"
Some friend, thought Levy. Besides, that guy didn't even seem like he could have friends. "Friend might be a bit of a stretch," muttered Elfman, mirroring Levy's thoughts. "His name is Gajeel. We're working on a summer project together."
"Seems nice," said Lucy sarcastically, sidling up next to Lisanna.
Elfman rolled his eyes but didn't respond. Giving his wet clothes one more shake, Elfman turned and left through the gate just like Gajeel had, closing it carefully behind him.
Gajeel. Levy turned the foreign word over in her mouth. It had a jagged feel to it and she found herself wanting to whisper it out loud just to hear what it would sound like.
She was pulled out her unwanted thoughts by Lucy who was waving her over to the pool. Natsu had launched another one man splash war against Gray, Lucy, and Lisanna. Gray seemed to be taking the brunt of it but the girls were obviously struggling and could use a hand. Juvia, seeing that Gray was in trouble, was already halfway to the pool. Levy quickly got up to follow, happy to leave all thoughts of the studded boy behind her.
The party had gone on for hours. Lisanna smiled to herself, it had been such a success and everyone was getting along amazingly. She was standing on the patio finishing her glass of lemonade before she went back to the group. The sun was just starting to sink and the party would be breaking up soon.
Her sister Mira joined her. Together, they looked out over all the others in the pool. Levy was dangling her legs in the water, drinking lemonade from a curly straw and laughing happily. Lucy was trying to get out of the way as Natsu and Gray wrestled under water. And Juvia was cheering on Gray from the side of the pool. She took a rogue limb to the face and Lucy and Levy both hurried over to make sure she was alright.
Mira laughed at their antics. "So," she said, her eyes sliding sideways to her little sister, "how's your plan going?" Lisanna's content smile slipped into a slightly guilty one.
"Well actually, it's going perfectly." She confided in her sister. "Those two…" She pointed to Lucy and Natsu. Lucy was telling Natsu off for hitting Juvia and he was nodding, not looking even remotely guilty. "…are perfect for each other. Just like I knew they would be. I can't wait to see when they get together because they totally will."
Mira nodded excitedly. Lisanna had inherited her romantic tendencies from her big sister. In fact, Mira could be an even more meddling romantic than Lisanna was.
"What about those two?" Mira asked, pointing to Gray and Juvia. Juvia was trying to subtly slide closer to Gray along the wall but just as she got close, he dove forward to surprise attack Natsu. Lisanna tried to look innocent. "I didn't know anything would happen." She dropped her voice to a conspiring whisper. "But I had maybe hoped that something might happen. And just look!" "I know." Mira agreed. "They're going to look so cute together with that blue and black hair."
"And then of course, there's that!" Lisanna pointed to the edge of the yard, by the gate. Mira hadn't even noticed that anyone was there. But sure enough, a figure hovered at the edge of the yard, standing completely still against the fence. He glared at the mess of people laughing together but didn't say anything. His arms were crossed tightly and stiffly, metal studs glinting in his forearms. And if Lisanna was correct, his gaze was staying mostly on the short girl at the edge of the group. He followed her blue hair as she leaned down to talk to Lucy and sat back up.
Lisanna smirked. She hadn't seen that one coming at all, but she was certainly very interested in seeing where it would lead. From the look Mira was giving her, she shared that opinion. This was shaping up to be a very interesting summer after all.