No, not based on the video game. I just liked the quote and the meaning behind it (which is the summary), and it relates to my idea of how this story will end up, so I used it. I love the game though. Anyway, a University AU! I love these! So this is going to take place in college (obviously) and I was wondering if I should make this one super long story (because its college and shit happens in college, like this story could go on forever) or should I make separate stories sort of like a series? I was thinking separate stories. Let me know!

Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Awkward Reunions

Lucy groaned, pulling on her suitcase when it, once again, got stuck in the cracks on the sidewalk. "Natsu!" She whined, "Be a good boyfriend and carry my suitcase!" Natsu rolled his eyes, "Right, like I don't have my own to carry! Why are we dorming again?"

Lucy beamed at him, "I am finally getting away from my uncaring father." Erza shrugged, "Scholarship paid for it. Same applies to you Natsu." Natsu grudgingly wheeled his luggage and the huge bin containing his food inside. Erza and Lucy decided to mooch off of his bin and throw some of their food and other stuff in there as well. Of course, Natsu still had to take it upstairs.

"You guys know who your third roommate is yet?" Natsu asked as they made their way inside the building to the front desk. Erza shook her head, "No idea. We were told it was this girl named Sherry but she switched out last minute so now we have no idea." Lucy sighed, "I think Sherry went to our high school. She was so snotty and arrogant, thank God she was switched. I hope our new one isn't worse." Erza chuckled, "Lucy, you barely knew Sherry." Lucy just grinned at her friend and said nothing. Natsu and Erza put down their stuff and took a deep breath, tired from lugging all that around.

"You wait here Lucy," Erza said, "I'll get our room keys and try to find out who our third roommate is." Natsu went with Erza, getting his own as well, grumbling about not even knowing who his roommates were. Lucy rolled her eyes, leave it to Natsu to forget about having roommates until move in day.

Lucy was watching them as they waited on line when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw a familiar head of messy blue hair, "Levy! Oh my God, is that really you!?" Lucy threw her arms around her best friend, Levy McGarden. "Lulu, I've missed you so much! Emails are nothing compared to actually talking in person!"

"I can't believe you're actually here. Wait, didn't you and your family move to Alvarez after the whole... Gajeel thing?"

Levy's eyes saddened but she still retained a small smile, "Yeah, my family decided it would be best to leave here because they were afraid I was going through depression. They said I needed a fresh start. I told you, remember?" Lucy nodded, "Yeah, I was so bummed when you left!" Levy eyes became bright again, "I kept this a secret from you because I wanted to surprise you, but I made my parents promise that if we moved to Alvarez, I would only be finishing high school there and coming back for university! They agreed, and I came right back as soon as I graduated!"

"I'm not even surprised you knew to come here, considering how much we all talked about going to Magnolia University after high school." They turned and saw Natsu and Erza smiling at Levy. They hugged, welcoming the girl back home. Erza gave Lucy her key and held out another key to Levy, "How funny is it that we're roommates?" Lucy's jaw dropped as she stared at Levy, who beamed at her, "Surprise number two!" Lucy squealed and bounced around, not caring that other people were staring.

"This has to be the best day ever. I have my best friends and boyfriend all this in the same college. And we're roommates. I don't think anything can ruin this day!"

Natsu looked over Lucy's shoulder and frowned. "I would take that back, if I were you."

The girls turned and all frowned in unison. There stood a past friend, now complete stranger, Gray Fullbuster.

Gray saw their faces and chuckled, "I've miss you too?" Lucy snorted, turning away from the dark haired man, "What? Ran out of cocaine to snort?" Gray's features darkened and he took a threatening step towards Lucy, but Natsu stepped in front of her, daring Gray to make the first move. Gray stopped, then shook his head, "I guess I deserved that one didn't I?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, stepping around Natsu but lacing her fingers through his, "You deserve that, but from Juvia. But she's not here to tell you off so I'm just doing it for her."

Erza noticed him perk up slightly with the mention of his ex girlfriend's name, "So uh... how is Juvia?" Erza shrugged, "After her and Gajeel transferred back to Phantom High, no one has heard from them. Nobody knows why they left, we all just assumed you two had a nasty break up." Gray stayed silent. He knew the real reason but decided not to say anything. If Juvia didn't tell them, he wouldn't be the one too. Erza suspected it had something to do with Gray, but knew Juvia well enough to know that she wouldn't move away because of a break up. It just wasn't like her, she was too strong to let something so insignificant affect her so badly, even if it was with Gray.

"It's good to see you all again." Gray said, "Maybe it's fate trying to bring us together again." Natsu smiled, "There were a lot of good memories with our group, huh?" Lucy smiled, unable to stay mad, "Remember when Natsu accidently set Gray on fire with his lighter?" Levy laughed at the memory, "Or when Gray shoved a bunch of ice cubes down Natsu's shirt?" Erza laughed, "Which time?" They all burst out laughing at this, realizing they used to do that to each other on a regular basis.

"Those were good times, weren't they?" They all turned towards the new voice, shock written all over their faces. They saw a familiar blue haired man with a strange tattoo on his face.

"Jellal!" Lucy exclaimed. "You're out of juvie?" Natsu asked. Levy stared at him shock, not expecting him to go straight into the question everyone wanted to ask. Leave it to Natsu to be blunt. Jellal gave them all a small smile, trailing his gaze to Erza. She was blushing and staring at him in shock, her mouth opening and closing like she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.

"They found out I was set up by someone so they let me go. Sucks how I lost three years of my life though." Jellal sighed, glancing at Gray. Gray saw this and bowed his head, wondering why Jellal wasn't saying the truth of who set him up. Erza sighed, but said nothing.

"Do you all remember that day three years ago" Lucy asked. Gray rolled his eyes as Natsu scoffed, "How could any of us forget? It was when everything went to shit and our group was torn apart." Gray shrugged, "That's the past." He pointed out, trying to change the subject, "Besides, look now. Except for Gajeel and Juvia, we're all together again."

They paused for a minute, wondering if it was going to be one of those moments where they just pop in after being talked about. The group looked around suspiciously, sighing in relief when they didn't see them. Lucy shrugged, "I guess they didn't come back here for college like you Levy."

Levy tried to hide her disappointment. She was furious at Gajeel for the way he left her, without rhyme or reason, but a part of her missed him. A part of her came back for him. She wanted to make things right, find out the real reason for his parting. Even if they could never be in a relationship again, she at least wanted his friendship. She wanted Gajeel in her life again,

Gray, on the other hand, wasn't sure of his feelings. Was he bummed because he secretly missed Juvia and thought about her all the time? He wanted to apologize for so many things, especially for being a part of the reason her and Gajeel left Magnolia. He missed having a friend like Juvia. No, a girlfriend like Juvia. No other woman could compare to her. Gray sighed, aggravated that he sounded like a love sick teenager. But he was still a teenager, so it was okay, right? He shook his head, even if she never wanted to see his face again, he needed to apologize. If he could only apologize, that would ease the guilt that has been eating at his heart for three years.

Anyway!" Lucy perked up, trying to brighten the gloomy atmosphere, "Let's all go out for ice cream once we unpack! There's this little place called 8stone which has ice cream and milkshakes and stuff!" They all, except for Jellal and Gray, agreed and rushed towards the elevator, except for Erza. She nodded at Lucy who took off with the rest.

Erza gulped before turning towards Jellal, You should come too. Both of you." She added, glancing at Gray, "It'll be nice to catch up. And I'm sure we have lots to talk about." She stared at Jellal, a knowing glint in her eyes. Gray noticed it but said nothing. They both agreed and strode towards the elevator.

"We'll meet where we just where. Just go down when you finish unpacking."

Erza was the last one to show up, but everyone already suspected that would happen. The woman over packed every single time. One time they all went away for a weekend and she had an entire suitcase, while everyone else had a small duffel bag. A ridiculously large suitcase for three days!? The woman was insane and extremely high maintenance. Not like any of them would tell her that directly though.

"Why does 8stone sound so familiar?" Jellal asked as they were walking out of the dorm building and away from the college students trying to move in. Erza stepped a little closer to him, "We've been there a few times when it was all of us." Levy smiled at the memory, "That's where Gajeel and I had our first date." Lucy rubbed circles on her back, soothing her friend. Gray also added, "Juvia and I had our first kiss here." He smiled. It was silly, but it was one of the few memories he had left of her. Natsu grinned, "I always force Lucy to buy me ice cream from here!" Lucy just rolled her eyes and nudged him, but an amused smile formed on her lips. Jellal and Erza looked at each other, blushing. They had many dates here in the past but decided not to say anything. They didn't know what their current relationship was, if there was one.

They walked inside. seeing their friend Elfman Strauss behind the counter. "What's up MEN?" Elfman boomed, already preparing their usual. They were amazed at how he remembered after all this time. His older sister, Mirajane popped up from behind the counter, "You're all together again? Wow, I haven't seen that in a while." Mirajane had noticed that Gajeel and Juvia were missing but decided not to speak of it. She knew the events of that day three years ago.

Erza marched up to Mirajane and began talking excitedly. Mirajane talked about how her sister Lisanna was also attending the university while her and Elfman would be running the shop full time. Erza knew they didn't have much money and couldn't afford to go to college themselves, but they made sure Lisanna would be able too. Erza admired Mirajane and Elfman's sacrifices for their sister.

"So any of you got any jobs around here? I work at Fairy Tail! You know that coffee shop owned by the Dreyars? Luce and I are baristas." Natsu exclaimed. Erza nodded, "I work at Heart Kreuz! It's why almost all my clothes are from there." Lucy leaned towards Erza, "And mine too!" She winked, then turned to Levy, "Oh my God, we should all go shopping together. It'll be so fun!" Natsu and Gray rolled their eyes and turned to each other, "What about you?" Gray shrugged, "I haven't found a job yet." Natsu thought for a moment, "I think our place is hiring. You should check it out." Gray nodded before they both turned back to the girls. He was happy. He had done them wrong in the past and here they were, treating him as their friend. Sure, it was a bit more awkward as they were all getting used to seeing each other again, but Gray believed that things would really get better. All the bad moments of his past were gone and he could finally have a fresh start.

"Oh fuck no. This is exactly why I didn't want to come back to Magnolia. I fucking told you, Waterworks."

That deep, gruff voice. Waterworks?

They all froze, realizing exactly who it was that just spoke and who it was that person was talking too. Levy sighed, in all the books that she's read, it always happens like this. Unexpected and very awkward. Gray wanted to pull his hair out. Everything he had just said about his past not haunting him anymore was flushed down the toilet and he had no choice but to stare at the problem directly in the face.

Natsu, of course, was oblivious to the tension. "Gajeel! Juvia! I was wondering if we would see you guys!" He stood up and embraced Juvia and fist bumped Gajeel. Lucy, Jellal, and Erza also joined in, but Levy and Gray stayed at the table.

"When did you guys come back?" Lucy asked. Juvia shrugged, "Two months ago, Juvia believes. We didn't know if everyone was still... together. Besides we needed to settle so Juvia apologizes for not looking for you guys!" Erza waved off her worries, "It's not a big deal, really. Are you here for college or just a visit?"

"We're going to Magnolia U. Don't tell me-"

"Oh my God!" Lucy squealed, "So are we! I swear this is fate trying to bring us together!" Gajeel raised a studded brow, "All together? Does that mean-" Jellal sensed what he was going to say and titled his head in the direction of where Gray and Levy still sat, looking at their ice cream awkwardly. Juvia and Gajeel just looked at each other, Gajeel was screaming 'I told you so' with his eyes while Juvia looked at him apologetically.

"Anyway," Jellal cut in, "While we're all here, we might as well eat our ice cream together."

"We were just leaving." Gajeel growled, grunting when Juvia elbowed his rib. "We just walked in. Yes Jellal, we would love too." Juvia was lying, she wanted nothing more than to leave, especially with Gray there. "Only for a little while, Juvia has to go to work soon." Jellal raised a brow, "You work a night shift? So you take day classes?" Juvia laughed nervously, "A night shift? Yeah, you could say that." That confused Jellal even more but he decided to drop it.

As they all sat together, eating their ice cream, memories of that day three years ago began replaying in their mind. "So Juvia, Gajeel," Lucy started awkwardly, "You dorm?" Gajeel shook her head, "We share an apartment." Gray and Levy perked up. They live together? As in, one place? Surely they must have different bedrooms. "It's a one bedroom. All the two bedrooms were ridiculously expensive." Gray cleared his throat, "So you share a bed?" Juvia nodded, saying nothing. She twitched in annoyance, he finally speaks to her just to question if Gajeel and Juvia were sleeping together? Everyone knew their relationship was as platonic as it got.

They all sat in silence, eating their ice cream. They kept saying fate wanted them all together again, and finally, here they were. The group of friends that would never shut up, would always end up destroying something, and swore to never be torn apart now sat in silence. They were at a loss for words, even Natsu. They were physically together, but were far away in more ways than one. They should've known from the beginning. After that day three years ago, nothing would ever be the same between them.

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It's kind of dark, this story. I've never thought of something like this but when the idea hit me, I fell in love with it. I hope you guys do too. And don't worry, the personal drama between each of the characters later gets explained throughout the story. Duh, I can't put it all in one chapter! I bet you're shocked about Gray but it all gets explained as the story continues, trust me.

I hope you all liked it and follow along this story with me. It's going to be a wild ride! Leave a review telling me what you think!