Gray's POV:
"Gray Samaaaaa!" Her voice carries through the forest, the vibrations bouncing off of every tree within miles.
"Gray sama! Where did you go?" I run even faster as I hear her screams. We had just come back to the guild from a job and what we walked into was a shocking scene. Now, as a member of fairy tail, when I say shocking it's meaning is pretty different to if someone normal were to say it. For a normal person, walking into the guild to find everyone in an all out brawl would be shocking. For me, that's normal. No, what was shocking was something totally different. As we walked into the guild Lucy was wearing a wedding dress, and Erza was holding down Natsu as Gajeel was forcing him into a tuxedo.
"What the hell is going on here?!" I questioned my guild mates. My voice reached through the whole guild and all four eyes turned to me as their owners all started talking at once.
"Oi, ice head! Come and help me get him into this!" The steel dragon slayer called out.
"It, It w-wasn't my idea!" A blushing Lucy stuttered.
"Gray! Perfect! Tell Natsu to stop being such a baby!" The fearsome Erza ordered me.
"Gray! Help meeee!" Natsu whined out while trying desperately to get away from the iron grip of Erza and Gajeel.
The scene in front of me was too shocking to come up with words. I'm sure that showed on my completely dumbfounded face. I looked over at Juvia for a second to see her reaction and what I saw did not encourage me. Her mouth was raised into a huge smile and I swear her eyes started shining. I could tell what she was thinking, after knowing her so long I could read her as easily as Levy reads a spell book. Oh my god! Why is she wearing that? Could my love rival be trying to seduce Gray sama? Is she trying to make him marry her? How dare she! Gray sama is mine! I should take the dress right off her and run away with Gray sama! This will be so perfect! And so she would think. I gave up on my questioning of my guild mates, I figured the answers would only urge Juvia on more. I knew that if I let it go on any longer Erza would probably tie me up or something and make me marry Juvia while she continued with whatever she was doing with Natsu and Lucy. Juvia reached out to grab onto my arm but before she could I turned around and ran out of the guild.
"Gray sama!" She screamed and ran out after me. And that brings us back to the now. I turn around and see Juvia still relentlessly chasing after me, flailing her arms and screaming my name trying to get my attention.
"Get away from me!" I yell back at her, even though I know it's pointless. She's so persistent, no matter what I can never stop her or change her mind. I realise that I must have taken off my shirt at one point while I was running. Oops.
"Neveeer! Just wait Gray sama!" Her response is so typically her that I could have said it myself before she did. She may be persistent but I have my stubborn side too. There's no way I'm stopping. On the contrary, I run even faster than before. Jumping over every tree root and almost flying through the forest. With every step I can hear Juvia's yells a little bit quieter.
"Gray sa-ow!" I look back as she cries out in pain. While I felt like I was flying figuratively before, Juvia is now literally flying through the air. How she managed to get herself into that position I don't even know.
"God damn it." If I wasn't so damn chivalrous I would have left her to fall and kept on running. I know the consequences of going back to her now but I can't just leave her. Damn it, why do I have to be such a good guy? I stop running from Juvia and start sprinting towards her. I can tell the exact moment when she realises I am coming to her rescue, the surprised look on her face changes to one of elation. Damn it. I'm only a few metres away but at this rate I won't catch her before she falls. I leap off the ground and catch Juvia in mid-air. When gravity catches up with us I turn my body so I take the brunt of the fall, shielding her from harm. As I land the breath gets knocked out of me for a second leaving me wincing and heaving for breath. When I manage to open my eyes I see Juvia mere centimetres away from my face, hovering over me, her hair falling onto my bare chest.
"Don't worry Gray sama, Juvia will give you CPR". She whispers as her mouth inches closer to mine.
"Ah!" I scream out in surprise, sitting myself up within a second and throwing Juvia off of me. I scramble away from her until my back touches one of the forests tree. Juvia looks hurt, but she knows I have boundaries, she must have known how I would react.
"Gray sama doesn't want Juvia's help?" Her voice trembles as she talks, water starts to pool in her eyes. Damn it, how is it that even though her body is made up of water, when I see it coming from her eyes I can't help but feel terrible.
"Look, I don't need help, ok? You're the one I had to save in the first place, all because you were intent on chasing me around like a stalker!" My emotions are fighting each other inside me. I am somehow both fuming with anger and filling up with sympathy for Juvia at the same time. She got herself into this situation in the first place, that's my bulletproof logic. But her tears must be stronger than bullets because they prevent me from being truly angry at her.
"Juvia didn't do anything! Gray sama just ran out of the guild, of course Juvia would follow him! Juvia would follow Gray sama anywhere!" The tears are starting to run down her cheeks now. Damn it!
"Why do you think I ran away? Because I knew that you were going to get all sorts of weird ideas from seeing that wedding dress! I don't know if you realise or if you're just trying to delude yourself but this love of yours only goes one way! You can't be so clingy with me!" I know every word I say is hurting Juvia more, but this is the only way I can react to her. When she says she loves me and hangs all over me, I get so embarrassed the only thing I can do is scold her. And times like now, when she starts crying I can never take the blame that I'm the reason she's crying, so I try to make it seem like it's her fault, like I shouldn't feel bad. I joke that I am, but I'm really not a good person.
"FINE! If Gray sama doesn't want Juvia around him then she'll go find someone else! Lyon's always trying to talk to Juvia, why not him?" By this point Juvia could not be speaking any louder. Although it's almost impossible to understand her as she talks while she cries. She may not be serious, but I'm still hurt that she would say that. I know I don't deserve to feel like that based on the way I treat her, but is it any more right to just deny my feelings?
"Why don't you go and hang all over him! I bet he'd be just as happy to have you as I would be to get rid of you!" I scream at Juvia before I storm off back to the guild. She responds but I don't look back.
"I'll go to Lamia Scale right now Gray sama! I really will!" She's clearly desperate.
"GOOD!" I yell back without turning around. I make my way back to the guild while Juvia goes to 'Lamia Scale.' She's probably just going to go home and mope for a few days before coming back to the guild as her normal, stalker self. I know she won't actually go and see Lyon, if she could switch who she loves so easily she wouldn't stalk me all the time even though I reject her. I walk into the guild and see that not much has changed. Lucy is standing timidly next to Natsu, who Gajeel and Erza somehow managed to get into that tux. For a second I'm surprised that Natsu is standing there in that outfit of his own will, but then I look above him and see about 20 of Erza's swords floating above him, ready to attack him if he were to move even a muscle.
"Gray! You're back! Come and watch!" Erza calls over to me, I'm still totally confused at this scene.
"I don't even want to know any more about what's going on here. I just want to find my shirt and go home." Unlike when I was talking with Juvia everything I say is true. I just want to go home and feel sorry for myself, it's pathetic, I know.
"We're having a practice wedding for Natsu and Lucy! I think they'd make such a good couple! Your shirt's on that table over there, put it on and come and watch!" Erza is so persistent in getting me to watch, but I really wouldn't expect anything less from her. I head over and put on my shirt, turning towards the door.
"Not today Erza, I said I'm going-" Before I can finish my sentence I am face to face with one of her blades, I look over and see Erza, then turn back to the blade. It's less scary. Her face of pure anger slowly changes. Her mouth opens into a smile but the level of anger doesn't subside.
"Gray, sit down." God, she's even scarier when she's smiling like that.
"Y-yes mam!" I walk over and sit down next to Gajeel.
"Gee-hee. You taking orders from a girl now ice head?" Gajeel smirks as he talks to me with his trademark laugh.
"Shut up, you're doing what she says too." After that encounter with Juvia I'm really not in the mood for his crap.
"Hey, I'm not judging. She may be a girl but she's one scary girl. Anyway, just sit down and watch. Don't you just love to see Salamander squirm?" Gajeel laughs again as he talks, when I think about it I agree with what he's saying.
"I guess it would be fun watching Natsu tortured by Erza." That flame brain is so dumb, he so deserves this.
"That's the spirit!" I'm about to respond before Erza's blades are at my face again.
"You two! Shush!" Both Gajeel and I instantly shut up. No matter how much he makes fun of me for being told what to do by Erza, he would never stand up against her either.
"Yes mam!"
Juvia's POV:
"Juvia!" I hear someone call out to me, could it be him?
"Gray sama?!" I spin around to see whoever was calling me. That's when Lyon appears before my eyes. I let out a sigh of disappointment, stupid Juvia. Of course it wasn't Gray, he's mad at you now.
"Juvia chan! It's me, your handsome Lyon. Not that idiot Gray." I try to cover up my disappointment, I shouldn't be rude to Lyon, it's not his fault he's not Gray sama.
"Hey Lyon! Juvia was just coming to see you, how come you're not at your guild?" I start to think about what I am about to do. Is it really ok to use Lyons feelings for me to make Gray sama jealous? It'll be ok if he doesn't know I'm using him, right? He likes Juvia, he'll be happy to help me! Yes, yes, that's got to be right!
"Looking for me? I must be having a lucky day! I was just on my way back to the guild from a job, I never thought I'd run into my lovely Juvia chan!" It really ticks me off when Lyon calls me 'Juvia chan', only Gray sama should be allowed to call me chan. But I deal with it, if I can't even put up with this little how am I going to make Gray sama jealous?
"Why were you looking for me anyway, don't tell me you wanted to ask me out? Well, you don't have to ask! I accept!" Lyon is giggling like a little girl, I can't do this! He's just so much lamer than Gray sama!
No! I have to do this! Gray sama won't realise he loves Juvia unless she makes him jealous!
"Oh, Lyon, can you really see through Juvia so easily?" I giggle like an embarrassed school girl, it gets results.
"Whaaat? Juvia chan wants to go out with m-m-me?!" Lyons face lights up bright red, he turns away to try and hide his raging blush but its impossible for me not to see it. It's so obvious he wasn't expecting me to actually agree with him. I start to feel bad for him, even though he likes Juvia so much my heart belongs to Gray sama. When I look at his blushing face I realise how wrong what I'm doing is. How can Juvia lead him on when she's never going to share his feelings? I need to remember why I'm doing this, It's all for Gray sama, I'm doing this for him. It's ok for me to do this.
"Don't blush so much, you'll make me embarrassed." What am I doing?
"I-I-I'm not b-blushing! You're seeing things Juvia chan!" When I see him like this he's actually kind of cute, he could never be as cute as Gray sama but still, he's not bad. Geez Juvia, snap out of it! What are you thinking? You can't be so unfaithful to Gray sama! As I am berating myself Lyon is standing awkwardly, looking likes he's trying to say something but can't find the courage. I guess he's all confident until he thinks I actually like him back. What a strange guy.
"S-so Juvia c-chan, do you want to go somewhere or something? S-sorry, I always dreamed about you l-liking me back but I guess I never thought about what would happen after that." Lyon gives me a goofy smile, showing of his blush even more. When I think about it, I'm kind of the same as him. I always hang around Gray sama and tell him how much I love him, but if this plan actually works, and he tells me he loves me too, I wonder what I would do? If he asked me to go out with him would I be as much of an awkward mess as Lyon is now?
"For now, why don't we just go grab someone to eat?" I know I'm doing this for the sake of Juvia and Gray sama's relationship, but I start to think that I might actually enjoy myself. Lyon isn't as bad company as I would have expected.
"T-that sounds great Juvia cha-, sorry, Juvia." He probably feels embarrassed calling my chan now, before I would have been happy he gave up on using the honorific but now it's makes me kind of disappointed. I realise that I liked being called chan, even if its not be Gray sama.
"It's ok, you can use chan for Juvia, anyway, should we get going, Lyon kun?" I don't even think about calling him kun, it just slips out on its own, but I don't really mind. I can see the affect it has on Lyon, his smile opens up and I can see the pure whites of his teeth shining. I wonder when the last time I saw someone this happy was.
"Lyon… kun? I like that, thanks Juvia.. Chan." He giggles again, this time I think it's pretty cute. "Let's go." We start walking together through the town, for a second I forget about Gray sama and why I'm doing this and just enjoy my time with Lyon. I reach out my hand to Lyon, and he grabs it with a trembling hand. When our fingers touch I feel a comforting warmth, spreading slowly from my fingertips throughout my body. I didn't think it was possible but Lyons blush grows even deeper, and it makes my skin feel hot as well, I turn away sheepishly just like he did before, but I don't separate our hands.
Gray's POV:
"Do you, Natsu Dragneel, take Lucy Heartifilia to be your pretend wife for today, through sickness and in health, until midnight do you part?" Erza is droning on and on and each word makes Natsu more uncomfortable, Gajeel was right, this is fun to watch.
"Like hell I do! I don't wanna get married! Gray, Gajeel, why won't you help meee?" After all this Natsu is till complaining, I can see Lucy's face drop as Natsu speaks, maybe she actually likes him? He looks over at me and Gajeel with pleading eyes. We both just shrug out shoulders and reply in unison.
"You're on your own bro." Neither of us would risk getting on the wrong side of Erza, she very clearly doesn't want us to interrupt. And anyway, even if she wasn't here, we don't want to give up our entertainment.
"Natsu, do I need to remind you what will happen if you keep on arguing with me?" The tip of one of Erza's swords pokes into Natsu's back, not deep enough to cut him, but definitely deep enough to warn him.
"Erza, you don't have to make him say it, you know he doesn't l-like me." From the tone of her voice and the blush on her face its clear that while she doesn't think Natsu likes her, she definitely likes him. Poor girl, falling for a loser like him, I feel for her. Then again, I can't really look down on her when I've got my own situation with Juvia, I wonder what she's doing now? Maybe I should visit her and apologise for before, I shouldn't have been so rude to her, I may be too embarrassed to ever tell her my feelings, but that doesn't mean I can be a jerk to her when she tells me hers.
"No Lucy, you can't back down now! Natsu! I'll ask again, do you take Lucy?" Sweat is pouring down Natsu's face, he is clearly nervous.
"I d-don't want to say it in front of e-everyone." Natsu speaks more timidly than I've ever heard him, his face is as red as the fire magic he uses, his head hung low, trying to hide it.
"There's no room for embarrassment here Natsu, I will make you say it." A small cut opens up on Natsu's face where it was clipped by Erza's blade. A tiny stream of blood starts trickling out from the wound, it's freakishly scary how serious Erza is about this.
"I-I, I do." His voice is so quiet I can barely hear him, it's clear from the look on her face that Erza didn't think his words were good enough, but when I look at Lucy I can see they were enough for her. She tries to hide it I can still make out the smile creeping its way onto her face.
"Louder Natsu, or else!" Erza is getting impatient at this point, I'm actually starting to get afraid for my life.
"Fine, you want me to be loud? I will you psycho! LUCY! I LOVE YOU! OF COURSE I TAKE YOU AS MY WIFE, HELL, STUFF THE PRETEND, JUST MARRY ME FOR REAL NOW! OK?" Natsu screams and the sound echoes throughout the guild even after he is done talking. Every face in the room is shocked, Erza's eyes are wide open, Gajeel is in complete shock and I feel like my jaw is about to hit the floor. Although, the most drastic reaction is definitely Lucy's. She is in shock, so much so that she can barely move. Her eyes start watering up and she collapses to the ground, her legs no longer able to hold up her weight.
"You, you." Her voice trembles, she can't even get out all of her words. Natsu bends down and grabs Lucy's hand. He pulls her up off the floor and into his arms. After that hell of a confession, he seems to have lost his confidence, I can see how embarrassed he is just be looking at him, I bet he never imagined he'd be confessing like this, in front of so many people. He leans down and whispers into Lucy's ear, I can't hear what he says but I can guess what it was. Tears stream down Lucy's face and she breaks into a huge smile. She leans closer into Natsu and buries herself in his chest, he reaches down and catches her tear with his finger, his face looks truly happy.
"I love you too Natsu! I love you so much!" I can't believe this is happening before my eyes, watching it all play out makes me think about Juvia again. I see how happy the two are and realise that I am jealous of them. I want what they have together, I want to be like this with Juvia.
"Erza, you don't have to bother asking me, Natsu, I do. I take you through everything." At these words, Natsu pulls Lucy's face to her and kisses her. I feel like I shouldn't be watching them in such a private moment, so I turn my head and focus on the ceiling, which seems more interesting than ever. I look around at Gajeel, his face is still as shocked as before, I get the feeling he won't be recovering any time soon. When I look at Erza she's just as bad, even though she was pushing Natsu so much I doubt she could have expected this turn of events. After seeing all of this unfold with Natsu and Lucy, I know what I have to do. I have to go and apologise to Juvia and tell her everything, all my feelings. Natsu and Lucy are so completely focused on each other, and Gajeel and Erza are too shocked to notice when I take my leave from the guild. I head straight for Juvia's house, walking with a new determination.
Juvia's POV:
"That was delicious Juvia chan! I can't believe I didn't know about this place!" Lyon beams at me. I have to admit that I've had a really good time with him, I smile back at him as I talk.
"Mirajane told Juvia about it, she said it's the best restaurant in Magnolia." We walk with our arms linked through the city. The cool breeze of the night is soothing against my skin, and my skin is tingling where his arm touches my own.
"I guess it's time to say good night." Lyon looks over at me and I can see the disappointed in his eyes. After longing after Juvia for so long he must want to spend as much time with me as he can.
"I-If you want you can come and v-visit Juvia. I wouldn't mind." I can feel my heart thumping inside my chest as I talk, the sound ringing in my ears.
"R-really? I mean I'd love to, but, only if you want to." Every word he says has such a nervous tone to it, he's so cute.
"Juvia was the one who invited you Lyon kun, I want you to." The more I say the quieter my voice gets. This is different than when I'm with Gray sama, I'm always so bold around him, but that's only because I know he doesn't like me back. I know Lyon likes me, which makes me even more nervous. I start thinking about Gray sama again and remember why I went out with Lyon tonight. To make him jealous. I feel like I'm betraying myself by thinking this, but maybe I should just give up on him. I've tried so hard to make him like me, I've confessed my feelings again and again but he ignores me every time, he's always rude to me and he's even told me he doesn't like me. But he still comes to my rescue when I need him. I can rely on him. I'm so confused! I just don't know what I should do, Gray sama is the one I've always loved, but it's pretty clear to me he'll never love me back. Lyon will love me, if I can be sure of anything it's that. And after spending the night with him I can say that I enjoy spending time with him. Is it ok for me to give up on Gray sama and rely on Lyon instead? I just don't know!
"Juvia chan? Hello?" I get pulled out of my trance by Lyons voice, he's waving his hand over my face and trying to gain my attention.
"S-sorry. Juvia was thinking about… stuff. Why don't we get going?" I look up at Lyon and give him a reassuring smile. He looks down at me and smiles back.
"Yeah, lead the way." I rest my head on his shoulder as we walk together, as we make our way to my house I forget about Gray and just enjoy myself.
Gray's POV:
I stand hesitantly outside Juvia's house. I stormed my way over to Juvia's house but now that I'm here I'm having trouble summoning up the courage to enter. My hand hangs in the air before the door. I'm so nervous about what I'm about to do. I don't think I can do it. Can I really go in there and tell her my feelings? Will I even be capable of it? I think back to Natsu and Lucy. Lucy reacted so happily to Natsu's confession. Everything went so perfectly for them. But would it be the same for Juvia and I? Will she accept my feelings for her? She's probably still mad at me, maybe she even went to say hi to Lyon. No! I tell myself that I can't overthink this. If I don't do this now I never will. I knock on the door and the sound resonates through the wood. I wait for a few minutes but there's no answer. Is she even home? I knock again but it's just the same. I dig into my pockets and bring out the key Juvia gave me. I push it into the lock and wonder if this is the right thing to do. She's not even home, is it alright for me to go into her house when she's not there? I push away my doubts and tell myself it's ok. I turn the key and open up the door. As I step through the doorway I hear a sound from the bedroom. Is Juvia actually here? Maybe she just didn't answer the door because she wanted to ignore me. I have to find out at least.
Juvia's POV:
Lyon's lips crush down on own, lighting them up and making me feel like I'm on fire. His arms are wrapped around me and holding me close, making me feel safe. I barely hear something that sounds like knocking on wood but I ignore it. I don't care about what ever is making the sound, I don't even care about Gray right now. All I care about is how close I am to Lyon. Every breath I take is a struggle, but not in a bad way. I entangle my hands in Lyons hair and pull him even closer.
Gray's POV:
I place my hand on the doorknob to the Juvia's room and compose myself. The sound I heard was probably nothing but the wind but I have to make sure. I take a deep breath and push open the door and take a step inside. When I see inside the room I stop mid-step, too shocked to do anything except open my mouth like an idiot and look wide eyed at the scene in front of me. I try to speak but words escape me.
"Gray!" Juvia turns and yells wildly, she's as surprised to see me as I am to see the scene in front of me. Juvia and Lyon and entwined in each other, before she screamed out in surprise their lips were locked. My shock wears off enough to let me move. I storm over and rip Lyon from Juvia.
"Dude, just calm down!" I pay no attention to Lyons words. I reel my arm back and punch him with all the force and strength I can muster. He goes flying into the wall from the impact, leaving a crack where he lands.
"Lyon!" Juvia gets up and runs to him, lifting up his head and looking into his eyes, totally ignoring me.
"What the hell is this Lyon?!" I scream as loud as I can at him. I walk over and pick him up by his collar, shaking him like a maniac.
"What are you doing to her you bastard?" I am shaking with complete anger, how could Lyon take advantage of Juvia like this? I know he likes her but how could he force himself on her? Especially after I rejected her this morning, she must be so depressed and he's taking advantage of that. Juvia grabs me from behind and tries to pull me off Lyon.
"Gray stop! Stop hurting him!" Juvia is screaming at me now, why is she siding with him?!
"Juvia, why the hell are you siding with this bastard?" I look at Juvia as I talk to see that she has started crying desperately. I turn away from her and punch Lyon in his dirty face. This time I'm holding him, so he doesn't go flying. I hit him again and again until his eyes roll back in his eyes. I drop him onto the floor and finally turn back around to Juvia. Her face is contorted in pain and shock.
"Gray, what the hell? Why did you do that to Lyon?" She scrambles to the floor where Lyon lies unconscious. She picks up his head and places it into her lap asking him again and again if he's ok, asking him to open his eyes. I notice that she's not using sama for my name anymore, has she really given up on me?
"I was saving you! He was taking advantage of you being depressed over me and forced himself onto you! You should be hugging me right now not that loser!" Juvia looks up at me, hurt in her eyes.
"He wasn't doing anything Juvia didn't let him! You think you can just burst in here and hit him when you don't even know the situation? You think you can reject Juvia but still not let me be with anyone else? Who the hell do you think you are?" Juvia spits every word out, I've never seen her like this. She's in love with me, she's always desperately trying to get my approval and she's always hanging around me. Why is she saying all this?
"What are you saying Juvia? I know the situation fine! You love me, not him! If he's all over you like that then of course I'm going to save you from him!" I don't understand why any of this is happening, I don't even know what is going on.
"Juvia told you I was going to see Lyon after you were so horrible to me! Did you think I wouldn't do it? At first Juvia was just trying to make you jealous but the more time I spent with Lyon the more I realised how much better he is for me than you. You'll never like me back, why would Juvia waste her time on you? Lyon loves me, and I think I might just love him too." Every word that comes out of her mouth is like another knife stabbing and twisting into my chest. How could she do this? I thought she was bluffing, I was so certain she was. And now she's saying she loves him? Does she think everything she's said to me has meant nothing? Does she think everything she made me feel is worthless? How can the kind, amazing Juvia I know do this to me? My legs give in and a second later I am flopped down on the floor, now at eye level with Juvia.
"Why, why would you say you love him? I'm the one you love! Has everything you've said to me just been a lie? You confessed to me every day, you said you love me!" Tears roll slowly down my face as I talk. I just can't handle this!
"Juvia does love Gray , I never said I didn't. But you don't love me! For every time I confess my feelings you reject them. Do you expect me to just keep chasing after you even though I know it's impossible? I can't keep deluding myself, you said so yourself this morning. I know I can't be with you, and I don't love him as much as I do you but maybe I'll grow to over time. At least he'll love me back." Is this what she really thinks? I know I'm always rude to her but doesn't she realise how much I care about her? Hasn't she ever noticed my overflowing feelings for her?
"Juvia, how could you think all those things? I LOVE YOU! I love you I love you I love you I love you for gods sake! How could I not? After all the time we've spent together, after every time you told me you loved me, every time you clung onto me, did you really think I could have not fallen for you? It would have been impossible! I love you more than anything else in the world, but you say you're giving up on me? You don't need to go to Lyon, I'm right here! You said you love me more, well, I'M RIGHT HERE JUVIA!" I start to sob uncontrollably. "I'm right here…" I mumble again. A single tear runs down Juvia's face, not again, I can't make her cry again. But no matter how much I wish her not to she starts to cry just as much as I am.
"Gray, is, is that true?" I feel hurt by how shocked Juvia is, I guess she never noticed any of my feelings for her, not even the slightest bit. Knowing this does nothing but depress me, especially since I know that it's all my fault that she didn't realise, my fault and no one else's.
"Of course it's true Juvia, every word, every single word. Do you need to hear it again? I love you! I'll say it a million more times Juvia, I swear it's the truth." Any simpleton could tell how much of an affect my words are having on her. She looks as if she's just seen something truly horrible, she looks like she's seen hell. I can only imagine what must be going on inside her head, I know her so well, I predict her thoughts just like I did when she was chasing me this morning. 'I can't believe Gray sama is finally confessing to me! He actually loves me! This is so perfect! But I'll have to turn down Lyon, I can't bear to break his heart, what do I do?!' Juvia is obviously happy that I told her my feelings, she's so in love with me it's the only possible thing for her to feel. But I know how kind a person she is, if she wasn't I wouldn't have fallen in love with her. I know she's going to be worrying about how to turn Lyon down without trampling all over his feelings, she'll want to still be friends with him. That's why I love her.
Juvia's POV:
I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe Gray just confessed to me. I had given up on him, I chose Lyon. I chased him for so long and now I'm going to have to turn him down, now that he's finally said he loved me, now that he's done what I begged him to do for so long. I can't bear to break his heart, what do I do?!
"Gray, I-I, I love Lyon. I spent the day with him, he was so sweet and kind to me, he listened to everything I told him about you, he cared about my problems. I invited him here because I wanted to be with him, he didn't make me feel nervous, he made me feel comfortable, safe. I can't deny that I don't have feelings for you, that would be impossible, and if you had told me any of this before today, even as early as this morning, it would have made the happiest person in the world, in the universe. But now, I can't accept your feelings. I'm so sorry Gray, I'm so so sorry. You never gave me any reason to think you'd love me back, you only ever rejected me. So, I gave up on my hopes of ever being with you. I chose Lyon. I finally had the guts to let go of you, and choose someone who will love me, I really am sorry Gray, but you're too late." The more I say the worse I feel. Gray's face descends deeper and deeper into total depression with every sound I make, he can't control his tears, nor the emotions being shown so clearly on his face. His eyes are devoid of emotion, just dark pools that resonate hopelessness and despair. He's shaking all over, but it's not because of the cold. Knowing that I am the cause of the look on his face makes me want to disappear. The man I loved for so long is unravelling in front of me, and I'm the reason why. I feel like it would be best if I just killed myself, removing the depression I caused in Gray's world. But I know that's not the right thing to do. The only thing that would accomplish would be more depression. Both Lyon and Gray would fall into guilt filled despair, both would think it was their own fault. I have to stay. In this world. My role is to be with Lyon, and to help Gray deal with his rejection. My job is to pull him out of the depths of depression and make him show me his beautiful smile again.
Gray's POV:
I feel everything inside me break instantaneously. I am physically unable of comprehending the words coming out of Juvia's mouth. She chose Lyon? Lyon, that's not my name, my name is Gray. She didn't choose Gray, she chose Lyon. I can't believe it, I just can't. After all this time, she rejected, me?
"Gray, it's ok, it's ok." I hear her voice rippling through the layers of my depression and piercing into my broken heart. Her warm gentle hands are around me, rhythmically stroking my back, comforting me.
"I'm sorry I couldn't accept your feelings Gray, I'm sorry." Her words sting like poison, but they also calm me down. Even though she chose Lyon over me, she still cares about me. She still cares. We sit like this for a while, neither of us talking. I slowly come to terms with everything Juvia has told me. Being around her calms me down and makes me feel capable of accepting my rejection. She's right, I was too late for her. I try to find someone else to blame, I try to blame Juvia for rejecting me, or Lyon for stealing her away. But in the end, I can't blame anyone but myself. Juvia rejected me because of how I treated her, because I stayed silent about my feelings and pushed her away more and more every time we meet. Lyon took her from me because she needed someone, and that someone couldn't be me. I'm not good enough for her, I don't deserve her, but Lyon does.
"Thanks Juvia, thanks for being honest with me." I may be hurt beyond belief at what she said, but I'm glad she said it. I'm glad she was brave enough to tell me the truth, even though it wasn't what I wanted to hear. Most of all, I'm glad she did what I couldn't. She told me the truth, how she really felt, which is something I wasn't strong enough to do.
"Juvia hurt you so much Gray, are you really glad that I told you the truth?" She sounds so worried for me, I don't blame her.
"I really am glad Juvia. You were strong enough to tell me the truth, something I was never strong enough to do for you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you." I really am grateful to her, even after rejecting me she's staying with me and making sure I'm ok. And for the first time since she told me she couldn't be with me, I actually do feel ok. As long as she's here to help me deal with this I know I'll be ok.
"You've really helped me realise a lot about myself Juvia. As long as I have you I know I'll be ok." The smile she gives me is as genuine as humanly possible, and it makes me smile along with her.
"You smiled! Juvia is so glad, I thought I really had broken you for good!" I can hear the relief in her voice, it makes me happy.
"You really think I'll break so easily? You know how strong I am Juvia!" I can't believe it but I'm actually laughing. I guess Juvia really did heal me.
"I guess Juvia forgot how strong Gray is. My mistake!" Now we're laughing together and it feels so natural. Maybe I can't be together with Juvia, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. And we make an awesome pair of friends.
"Uuuuh, Juvia? Gray?" Lyon mumbles out as he slowly wakes up. He must be confused at the scene in front of him, me in Juvia's arms. I feel like it's my responsibility to sort everything out for him.
"She chose you Lyon, aren't you happy? Don't worry about her hugging me, I'm not gonna try and steal her away from you. She's just trying to comfort me, I didn't really take losing to you very well, you know how competitive I am. And bro, I'm sorry for what I did to you. You didn't deserve it, you were taking care of her when I couldn't." Lyon's face breaks into a smile as I talk, if someone were to walk into the room now they would never suspect everything that just happened between the three of us. They would never suspect that I had beat Lyon up, that Juvia had rejected me and that I had fallen into the pits of despair. They would just see three friends, smiling together.
"You don't need to apologise Gray, you thought you were protecting Juvia, I get it. And anyway, I can take a punch or two, especially from a weakling like you." Lyon smirks as he says the last sentence. Usually I would fire up after hearing something like that and be on him in a second. But I'm calmer than normal right now. I can take his comment as the joke that it is instead of as a challenge.
"Yeah yeah, you're so strong Lyon." My voice is positively dripping with sarcasm. "But we should at least take you and get you fixed up by Wendy, you might not want to admit it but you're beat up pretty bad." It's clear to me that Lyon doesn't want to appear weak, but his also realises that he can't just shake off his injuries like normal.
"Ok, if you say I'm injured so badly I guess I'll go and see Wendy. But I'm telling you I'm fine." He just sounds so tsundere, trying to cover up the fact that he's hurt. Juvia giggles as he talks, a spark of jealously lights up inside me at the fact that she thinks he's being cute, I guess this is something I'll have to deal with from now on.
Juvia's POV:
"Ok, if you say I'm injured so badly I guess I'll go and see Wendy. But I'm telling you I'm fine." The way Lyon says this is so cute that I can't help but giggle at it. He just sounds like such a tsundere! It's adorable, and it makes me realise that I did make the right choice. I might love Gray as well, and he might love me back, but he wasn't the one there for me today, when I needed it most. Lyon was the one who was there for me. I still love Gray, but I love Lyon just as much. He makes me feel special, and truly happy inside. He's the one for me.
"Well you two, we better get going. If we don't get there soon Wendy will have probably already gone home. Gray, can you grab Lyons shoulder? I'll get the other one." The two men look at me, and Gray puts him arm under Lyons shoulder as I do the same.
"I really don't need help to walk there, I can do it myself." Lyon defies me with his words, but he actions do otherwise. The second he breaks away from Gray and I and tries to walk on his own his trips and collapses back onto his knees.
"I guess I could use a little help, not that I need it though." There he goes again, showing me his completely adorable tsundere side. I try to stifle another giggle but I fail miserably. I feel myself smiling as I laugh at Lyon's cute side.
"Ok Gray, let's help out our tsundere Lyon." Gray smiles at me over Lyons back.
"I was thinking the same thing Juvia." With that, the both of us lift Lyon up and make our way back to the guild. I look over at their faces and feel extremely grateful that these people are in my life. The man I love and my best friend in the world. I couldn't be more lucky.