.

you're the boy who
murdered love

[ ! ]

cold hands
and
a heart of stone

by: diana vickers

Prompt One: Cold

Out of all the days of the week, Gray decided to give her the cold shoulder today. She wasn't sure why, but she could tell he was. That morning upon arriving at the guild, she went and sat next to him as she handed him her newly finished and edited (curtsies to Levy) book. She still hadn't sent it to be published because Gray had been bugging her for the past year to be the first (well, second) person to read it but instead of grabbing the book, he got up and made his way to Juvia. Juvia. She had no problems with the girl, she was perfectly happy dating another guy (she still wouldn't tell them who) that she actually managed to form a close friendship with Gray after apologizing for her past behaviour.

She saw Gray say something to the girl, which must've been about her because she turned to face her before continuing her conversation with the Ice Mage. 'Fine,' she thought as she got up with the book in hand. 'Be that way.' At first she opted into going to the city library and checking out a couple of new books, but curiosity got to her that she decided to go to the park and read her own story.

Leaving the guild as quickly as she could, she arrived at the library in ten minutes after having walked as fast as she could. Sitting down at an empty bench, she opened up her book to the first page. While reading, she failed to notice how quickly the people in the park left after twenty minutes she arrived. It was until she felt a sudden chill and she managed to see her own breathe she noticed; there was a blizzard coming ahead. It was unusual for blizzards to hit Magnolia, the climate just didn't agree with it. Sure, it snows in the winter and rains in the spring, but never had a blizzard hit the city before, especially on the first day of September.

She walked as quickly as she could back home with her book tucked under her arm. If anything happened to it, her career was over. Well, it really wasn't, it just meant that she would have to waste another two years on writing a new book with another five hundred pages and she was sure she would be replaced during that time.

The wind started to pick up even faster and the coldness of it started to make her teeth chatter. The weather man had said that it was going to be sunny day, so she cursed to the heavens for wearing a short skirt and crop shirt. Her apartment was less than a few blocks away, and she would have made it hadn't the snow started to fall.

"—Shit," Lucy said as she started jogging, only to slip on the already frozen ground. She feel forward and she knew that this was it. She was clutching her book now at her chest and there was no way she could react as quickly as she could to stop the fall. Then she felt cold arms hold her back.

It all happened in an instant (or that's how it felt like to her, honestly). One minute she was falling forward after having slipped on some ice, then she felt someone (or something pull her back), followed by being inside a semi-warm room. She turned; ready to slap her kidnapper (right?) until she realized who it was.

"…..Gray?" she said, mostly to herself.

"You should know better than anyone else to not run when there's a blizzard going on." She heard him reply.

She watched him with avid curiosity as he paced the room. Wait, was this his place? It was the first time she'd seen it, and honestly, for a guy he did okay. At Natsu's (and Happy's) place was a total, chaotic mess until she took matters in her own hands and cleaned it up. Gray's place, however, was clean and well organized. She could see the kitchen from her left, a door to her right, and another door next to it a couple inches down. Straight ahead she saw a clear door (which she assumed lead to the patio) and she figured where she was standing was in his living room. She saw a simple plasma television with a few game consoles around it and two couches, those long ones and a love seat.

"Nice place you've got," was all Lucy could mutter. "I didn't know you were into video games."

She watched him sit in the love seat and let out a long sigh.

"Well, I've got to do something when I'm not at missions or at the guild." He replied to her. It took Lucy a moment to figure out that weird feeling in her stomach, the cold shoulder that morning.

"Hold up, why were you giving me the cold shoulder this morning? And how did you know that I was going to slip in front of you place?" she demanded, forgetting that if it wasn't for him, she would have probably died out there in the cold.

"I wasn't giving you the cold shoulder this morning, Lucy. I just—"

"Then why did you get up when I sat down next to you to give you the book that you've been demanding to read for the past year? Why did Juvia also turn to look at me when you got up?"

"You're overthinking things Lucy. One, I didn't realize it was you, I figured it was Erza who was going to saw something about the Strawberry Cake I owe her and two, I just told Juvia that I was waiting for you since I wanted to read the book. It was until she told me that you were the one who sat next to me you were already gone."

"Oh. What about—"

"I was on my way home since the blizzard started and I simply saw you starting to slip so I acted quickly and caught you before you hit the ground. Again, I would've let you go home, but the blizzard already picked up even harder than before. Even I can't go out there without risking my life."

"Now that makes sense."

At that moment, Lucy feel embarrassed for having reacted so towards him that moment. Everything her said made sense now, in a way. After Juvia had turned to face Gary again, she left the guild quickly. She had no idea that he was going to realize it was her that morning.

Oops.

"Oh, I have the book, if you still want to read it," Lucy said in a timid voice. She saw his face light up into a smile and walk towards her. 'Damn, he took off his shirt quickly' she thought to herself. "gray, your shirt."

"Right, sorry," She watched as he slipped it back on and got the book she held out for him. "hey, you might be here a while so I was wondering, could you read me the book?"

'Huh?' Lucy thought. She nodded her head, it was the least she could do now. He was the one who saved her, cleared things up, and had been anticipating this book for a year. "Okay."

She sat next to him and opened up to the first chapter. She tried her best to restrain the blush that was starting to form on her cheeks when Gray placed his head on her thighs. Damn she shouldn't have worn that skirt today.

"Chapter one, the beginning.

In a place far away, a murder had just been committed by the most wanted serial killer of all times, 'The Jackal'. As Jennifer Mendoza walked around the crime scene, she could help but pick up something the police men didn't, a clue for her….."