Gray had finally returned from his solo mission as Lucy had wanted to stay at home as she was spending time with her female friends at the guild, to the point she practically barked at Gray to take a mission so they could get some more food in, bot that he complained as she always cooked dinner while every morning he made pancakes for her.
as his train had arrived back at Magnolia, tomorrow it was going to be Lucy's birthday and he had one thing on his mind, finding something perfect for her. It was about lunch time when he got back, he dropped his bag off at their house then made his way towards the guild.
When he got there the girls were missing and Elfman was running the bar
''Where are the girls?'' Gray asked
''Girls day, then sleepover'' said Natsu as he leaned on the bar not looking like his usual self
''I miss Lucy'' cried Happy
''Same'' smiled Gray
Elfman gave them both a drink as the friends sat at the bar in silence for a few hours
''Natsu?'' asked Gray
''What?''
''I want to marry Lucy'' declared Gray
''You sure?'' asked Natsu as he lifted his head from the bar
''Yep''
''Come on'' said Natsu who then downed the rest of his drink and stood up
Gray knew what Natsu was going to do as they both swore they were going to do this when one of them was going to propose. Before the guild knew it Natsu full blown punched Gray in the face
''Still sure?'' he asked as Gray was now lying down, the room spinning around his head
''Yeah'' smiled Gray
''Alright then'' smiled Natsu as he helped his friend to get back to his feet
The men of the guild stood silent, for once Natsu punched Gray and Gray did nothing back, no brawl, no insult, just one punch that was all. The master closed his eyes with a smile and a nod, he knew all too well what the single blow meant.
Gray dusted himself off then headed into town to find the perfect ring, Natsu watched and couldn't help but smile, waiting for the day that he felt ready to do the same.
The girls had an amazing girls day at the beach, granted it had helped that Erza scared any so called man who tried to approach the large group of bikini clad woman, but finally they were home and headed to the massive girls dorm rooms at Fairy Hills.
The girls apart from Lucy tossed their bags into their separate bedrooms, while Lucy pulled out her pyjamas and changed for the sleepover. They sat up for most of the night eating vast amounts of junk food and ice cream, laughing and even played a truth or drink, which lead to various revelations that they all swore would never leave the dorm.
The next day the girls got themselves dressed and headed to the guild apart from Levy and Lucy who choose to go shopping for books instead, not before Lucy quickly rushed home to find Gray fast asleep in their bed, she looked at the time and held back a laugh knowing that he wasn't a morning person she quickly wrote him a note saying that she was going to spend the day with Levy shopping and that she'll met him at the guild later for her birthday party
When Gray finally woke up he saw the note and couldn't help but smile, he left Lucy a small note back saying that he was going to help set everything up so her and Levy could get ready that their place if they wanted to, he then got dressed into a shirt and some formal looking trousers as Mira had ordered the boys to do then grabbed a small box that he had hidden in Loke's old room that was slowly being turned into an office/library for Lucy, then headed off to the guild early as he was dragged in to help, not that he complained after all Lucy meant everything to him.
As the day wore on everyone could tell something was on his mind, then he finally let it slip when Natsu asked if he popped the question yet? Mira wanted to hug Gray but this just made him more nervous.
Mira rushed off to create another sign as quick as she could with Lisanna's help and Elfman helped to put up the second sign underneath the Happy Birthday, Lucy sign
Once everything was ready Gray started to pace up and down nervously
''Gray calm down'' barked Erza
''Where is she?'' Gray quickly said. He stopped his pacing and looked up. Everyone had gone silent. The music was now muted and they all turned to see a spotlight on someone. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breathes as Mira had suggested and stayed at the back of the group
Everyone shouted ''HAPPY BITHDAY, LUCY''
Lucy smiled at everyone, tears in her eyes as she had never been to a party like this
Everyone had massive grins on their faces when the huge group slowly started to split in two as the guild doors slowly closed behind her, Lucy could feel Happy slowly pushing her forward and before he knew it she was facing Gray
''Hi and ... Happy Birthday'' he said nervously
''Is everything alright?'' she asked knowing that something wasn't right
Gray closed his eyes and took a deep breathe knowing it was now or a death by Erza.
''Lucy, I love you with all my heart and you should know by now that I would do anything for you, hell everything for you. I want you to always be by my side. Lucy I always want to see your beautiful smile''
Gray went down on one knee, taking out a small black, velvet box. Lucy gasped, seeing what Gray was about to do next, tears slowly gathered in her eyes as he opened the box showing a diamond ring , etched inside said ''My forever''
''Lucy, will you marry me?'' Gray breathed, smiling
Tears started to fall down her cheeks, but the smile on her face proved they were tears of joy
''Gray... Yes, yes I'll marry you'' she smiled
Gray stood up and kissed her more passionately than he had ever kissed her, he pulled the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger and kissed her once more, the guild now had another reason to party they way only Fairy Tail could.
Mira coughed which caught everyone's attention as she finally revealed the second sign
''Congratulations on your engagement, Gray and Lucy''
The guild started to clap and Gray and Lucy couldn't stop smiling, unfortunately they were dragged away from each other as the girls wanted to see the ring and they boys kept patting Gray on the shoulder as congratulations.
The guild finally settled down and they started having the birthday party they had planned
Gray and Lucy danced together as they looked lovingly into each others eyes, Mira was dancing with a very reluctant Laxus, Alzack and Bisca joined the dancefloor, Natsu had Lisanna, somehow Levy managed to get Gajeel on the dancefloor, while Happy and Charle were flying above
The music slowly calmed down and before Lucy realised it Gray lead her to a table, everyone started to sing happy birthday to her as Natsu and Gajeel carried a huge cake to the centre of the table as everyone slowly surrounded the happy couple. Lucy closed her eyes and blew out the candles as she made her birthday wish.
Natsu and Gajeel moved the cake to another table, so Mira could cut it for everyone
''Happy Birthday Lucy'' smiled Levy as she handed Lucy a small book shaped box
Lucy opened it to see it was a book called the Celestial Queen, written by Levy
''Oh Levy'' she sung as she hugged her dear friend
''Your welcome, with the novel you've been writing you inspired me and I wanted you to have the first copy'' she winked
''This is amazing thank you''
Before anyone else could give Lucy her birthday presents her spirits appeared before them with huge smiled on their faces
''Oh shit'' cringed Gray as he noticed Loke was smiling as he cracked his knuckles
''Do I want to know?'' whispered Lucy
''An agreement between friends'' he whispered back as he slowly stood up to talk to Loke, Lucy fearful of what was going to happen stood up as well, while the entire guild turned around to face the small group, while Natsu couldn't hide his sniggering
''So you want to marry Lucy, huh?'' asked Loke
''Yeah'' sighed Gray with a smile and one eye closed
Loke punched him, sending Gary flying. Lucy shouted but Loke ignored her, instead he marched over to Gray, knelt over him and asked again, thankfully Gray gave him the same answer and the spirit helped him to his feet
''I'm confused'' said Lucy
''Sorry Lucy, a few years ago me, Natsu and Loke agreed that when one of us wanted to marry a girl then we would punch each other to make sure it was what we really wanted'' Gray cringed as an impressive bruise was forcing his right eye shut
Lucy was stunned, speechless even.
''That's not a bad idea'' laughed Erza
All of a sudden there was an agreement between every man in the guild to do this
''I'm screwed'' said Natsu who was now no longer laughing
Lucy and Gray sat back down and Gray cringed at the bruise on his face, Lucy turned to Wendy with pleading eyes, so she walked over and healed it for her