Lucy, Cana, Erza and Levy danced and flirted like there was no tomorrow—especially not a tomorrow that involved Lucy getting married. They sat at the bar before the stage on either side of Juvia, downing martinis one after another.

Juvia kept her eye fixed on her own drink, still her first, blushing furiously. She laughed with Lucy and the others, but never once looked up. The shy, demure young woman was very uncomfortable with where Lucy's bachelorette party was held—the most infamous Chippendale in Magnolia, Fairy Tail.

"Come on, Juvy, let loose!" Cana shouted over the thumping music, grinning shamelessly at her friend. She took the hand of a passing stripper, taking him and grinding with him wildly.

Juvia blushed deeper and Lucy swung an arm around her drunkenly. "Come on, Juvia," she slurred. "Your cousin's got it in 'er." She laughed, pointing at Levy, who currently sat in the corner making out with a burly, muscled man with long black hair, clad in only a thong and a bow-tie. His arm was tattooed with the insignia of the strip club.

Juvia cast her eyes away quickly, not wanting to think about the fact that the stripper her cousin was kissing had been a security guard at Juvia's office for many years.

Lucy went off to dance with Erza and a tall, young man with white hair and a large scar over his eye—they were too drunk to realize that the stripper was their friend's brother, and would be attending the wedding tomorrow.

To avoid seeing her cousin and friends acting the way they were, Juvia stared into her drink like the glass was far deeper than it really was, losing herself in thought.

A smooth, teasing voice asked, "What's your pleasure, babe?"

Juvia glanced up and her cheeks flooded with heat. A very well-toned young man sat on the bar before her, shamelessly flaunting his perfect musculature. His dark blue eyes snapped with mirth and he leaned closer to her. She noticed with a rush of mortification that he smelled wonderful, intoxicatingly so. The blush crept down her neck and her fingers tightened on her drink.

A long silver pendant in the shape of a sword clinked against her glass as the stripper leaned in. "Would you like to dance?" he asked, his voice sultry and inviting. Her eye flickered to his perfect chest, where the club's insignia was tattooed.

Juvia quickly looked back down at her shaking fingers. No, a Chippendale was not the place for her.

His fingers found her chin and he tilted her head up. "Come on, babe," he crooned. "Have a good time."

Juvia, cheeks flaming, flinched out of her seat, away from his tender fingers, and snatched her purse off the back of the chair, fleeing the building like there was a murderer after her.

A glance back in as she left, and she saw the stripper turn to dance with another girl.

Lucy tugged on Juvia's hair, tying it back elegantly and pulling out a single blue curl to frame her face. "I can't believe you left last night!" she fumed, inserting pins maybe harder than she needed to.

"I—I'm sorry," Juvia stammered, a blush creeping up her cheeks again. "I was just so uncomfortable in there."

Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry, sweetie. It's the hangover speaking." She smiled lightly. "I'd hoped that after a few drinks you'd be sluttin' it up with the rest of us."

Juvia slanted her a small smile in the mirror. "I apologize for letting you down."

Lucy planted a single kiss on Juvia's head. "Pipe down, I forgive you already." She grinned and nudged Juvia out of the chair to do Levy's hair.

"Lu, do you want me to do your hair?" Cana called, finishing Erza's long scarlet braid, pulling a bottle of schnapps out of the fridge and taking a swig. She smiled, smacking her lips. "Aaaand there goes my hangover," she declared. She turned to Lucy. "Well?"

Lucy grinned. "In a sec." She tugged at Levy's untamable blue locks with a brush, making Juvia's younger cousin grimace. "Sorry."

Levy grinned weakly as the brush snagged again. "Do you have to pull so hard?"

Erza pulled her braid over her shoulder, twisting and turning in front of the tall mirror. She tugged the top of her dress down a bit, smiling slightly. "I love these dresses, Lucy," she declared.

Juvia self-consciously tugged on the split in the skirt, trying to cover a little bit more skin. The dress was not as concealing as she would've been comfortable with, but, as she caught a glimpse of her figure in the mirror, Juvia figured she looked damn good. The blue silk dress was held up only by a pair of thin straps over her left shoulder, thankfully held up by her bust, and stuck close to her figure. The split in the side began near her thigh, allowing her bare leg to show.

Erza and Levy's were shorter and Cana's even more so, and they all looked fantastic, but Lucy stole the show. Her dress was strapless, flowing, and utterly magnificent. It was, of course, the traditional white, but starting at her waist the skirt slowly faded into a deep sapphire blue. When she turned, the whole silky thing glimmered with secretive flecks of gold.

Cana came up behind Lucy and began tugging it into a style, even as Lucy worked on Levy's uncooperative locks. "Levy McGarden, grow out your hair," Lucy grumbled. She pinned it back deftly, not bothering to tie or straighten it. Her reasoning was that as long as it was untangled, it was allowed.

Moving gingerly as Cana held onto bits of her hair, Lucy sat in the chair before the mirror, wincing as her dark-haired friend mercilessly pulled her hair into a gorgeous mass of shimmering gold.

"Okay. Now you're free," Cana declared. She brushed her hair perfunctorily and left it alone, not even bother to pin it back like Levy's, instead allowing her luscious dark curls to spill over her shoulders.

"Ready?" Juvia asked her friend with a smile.

Lucy smiled, but Juvia noticed the nervous gulp before she replied, "As I'll ever be. Would you check on our gentlemen?"

Juvia nodded and left.

Stepping carefully through the halls, she bumped into a waiter bringing supplies into the reception hall. "Oh! I'm sorry," she stammered, helping him pick of the rolls of silverware he had dropped.

"No, no, it was entirely my fault," he asserted, taking the bundled silver from her gratefully. "Thanks."

She glanced up quickly. She knew that voice. "Oh—hello," she faltered, gazing once again into unforgettable dark blue eyes. "Again," she added lamely.

He blinked once uncomprehendingly, then a grin stretched over his face. She startled; he seemed so friendly, now that he was fully clothed. His black hair, spiky the night before, was somewhat more groomed, and he wore a bit more than a bow tie and a thong now, clothed in a white dress shirt, black pants, and a black vest. "Oh, hey! You're the shy girl I saw in Fairy Tail last night!" he crowed. Standing up, he offered her his hand.

She took it tentatively and he pulled her to her feet. "I'm Gray," he said, still grinning.

"I'm J-Juvia."

"Great to meet you, Juvia!" Gray grinned at her and she looked down. "H-hey, no need to be so shy!" he said quickly as heat flooded her cheeks. "I didn't mean to embarrass you last night—it's just part of my—"

"It's okay, I get it," Juvia rushed, cutting him off. "I'm just—not comfortable with…skin," she trailed off in a mumble, not knowing a better word for it.

He looked her up and down swiftly. "Well, you're showing some now," he pointed out.

She flushed in mortification and he hurriedly added, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! You look really nice!"

She looked at the floor. "I—I have somewhere to be."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Don't let me keep you!" They started off down the hall. Juvia had barely taken a few steps before she heard Gray yell, "Nice meeting you!"

Juvia's steps barely halted, but a blush, a nice one, tinged her cheeks. "You, too," she murmured.