Shack Up
It seems like the natural next step in their relationship.
Yeah, they've finally made it official. There wasn't any big, dramatic scene or anything—it just sort of happened and the two of them just fell into it. Well, he mostly fell into it. Juvia's been pretty clear about how she felt about him for a really, really long time. And even though Juvia likes to think that he decided to finally, finally get together with her because he's received some crazy, awe-inspiring revelation about their relationship, the truth is, he just woke up one day and realized that he loves her and wants to be with her and that he's an idiot for keeping her waiting for so long.
They've been dating for three years now and so far, their relationship has been pretty solid. Of course, they've had a couple of fights here and there, but they were all about something really stupid (mostly about him being really messy and leaving his shit everywhere and her being too jealous and suspicious at times) and they always made up on the same day (He loves it whenever they argue and then patch things up—the make- up sex is hot). They're easy and he likes that. It's all uncomplicated and there's no uncertainty, so all in all, he thinks that he's doing pretty well for a twenty-three year old.
Anyways, Natsu and Lucy are engaged and everyone in the guild throws them a big party that lasts for about a week. Gray was really worried at first, because he thought that the wedding would give Juvia ideas and that she would start pressuring him to propose or something. And it's not that he doesn't want to marry her. He does. He doesn't think that he'll be able to love anyone as much as he loves her—in fact, he's pretty sure that she's the only girl he'll be able to ever love. Period. And well, he'll be lying if he says that he hasn't thought about waking up next to her, every single morning of his life or thought about how cool it would be to have kids and be a dad and actually build a family. He can honestly picture spending the rest of his life with her and being with her for like, forever.
But the thing is, he doesn't think he's ready for that kind of commitment yet. He's still trying to sort through his own issues and there's still this part of him that's terrified of letting people get too close to him. He's lost a lot of people, time and time again and okay, maybe he is being irrational because it's not like Juvia's going anywhere. But he's been through a lot and he hasn't fully recovered yet. People don't just bounce back from things like that right away.
Luckily though, the wedding fever doesn't seem to have gotten to her. Yes, she's still acting all crazy helping Lucy pick out her dress and the cake and the flower arrangements, but she hasn't been dropping hints on him that they should get married or that he should propose. And if Juvia wanted that, he would definitely know. She's about as subtle as a bomb explosion.
The wedding is nice and Juvia and Erza and all the other girls cry when Natsu and Lucy exchange their vows. Erza, who got married to Jellal a few years back, keeps saying that it's just because of her hormones (she's massively pregnant) but nobody's really buying it. Levy chokes on her maid of honor speech and Gray insults Natsu when it's his turn to give a speech as the best man. Gajeel sings a really crappy song and the only people who bother to cheer for him are Juvia and Wendy.
The best part though is the first dance. Natsu keeps stepping on Lucy's foot and Lucy keeps yelling at him and loudly commenting on where his feet should move. But Gray can tell that Lucy isn't really annoyed—her eyes are crinkled up with this fond, affectionate look and the corners of her mouth are quirked into a smile.
The next week, Natsu calls him and asks if he and Juvia can help them unpack in their new apartment. They agree of course and basically, he and Natsu spend the whole day hauling shit up and carrying furniture around while the girls sit on the floor and unpack boxes, giggling and gossiping and talking about the best kinds of color schemes.
The apartment Natsu and Lucy picked isn't all that big but it has three bedrooms and a sizable kitchen. He can tell that the two of them are planning to start a family soon (because why would they need all the extra rooms?) and he's heard Lucy and Juvia talking about a nursery.
They all take a break in the afternoon and while Gray and Juvia sit in the corner and sip some water, Lucy and Natsu are arguing over where to hang the painting Erza had given them as a wedding gift. Natsu thinks that it's really ugly and should be hidden in the bathroom or closet while Lucy wants it in the living room because she doesn't want to offend Erza. They argue for about seven minutes before compromising on putting it in the guest room, where Erza can still see it but all of their other visitors won't, not unless they stay plan on hanging out in the guest room. Natsu gets a hammer and Lucy stands on her tip toes as she carefully holds the painting in place.
There's something in the way Natsu and Lucy are looking so happy together, as they hang the painting up, bit by bit building a home for themselves that makes his insides all warm. Without even thinking about it, he takes a small sip from his bottle of water, wraps an arm around Juvia's shoulders and casually says, "We could do that, you know."
"Do what?" Juvia says, a small, mischievous smile on her face.
"I don't mean we should marry or anything," Gray hastily says, instantly cringing at how defensive and insensitive he sounds. He knows that's one of the few things you should never say to your longtime girlfriend but he just doesn't want to raise Juvia's expectations or give her the wrong idea. "Not that I don't want to marry you. It's just that...I mean...well...what I really meant to say was that we could move in together..."
Juvia laughs and tenderly brushes the hair away from his forehead. "You don't have to be so nervous, Gray-sama. Juvia's not mad."
"I'm serious though," Gray says, after a moment of contemplation. He meets her eyes and gives her a serious look. "We really could do it. We could move in together."
He's surprised that instead of looking enthusiastic or blushing or squealing or generally just reacting with a regular Juvia response, Juvia just leans against him and starts playing with the hem of his shirt. She looks away and says in a nonchalant voice, "Yes. Juvia supposes we could."
He tries not to worry about the fact that Juvia sounds as if she's not too eager with the idea of moving in with him.
He's rifling through a magazine when he sees a listing for a two-bedroom apartment unit at an upscale residential area at the northern part of the town. It's a little far from the Guild Hall but Gray's bought a new motorcycle and he can always drive them there so the distance doesn't feel as important. And besides, the residential area seems very nice—there's a pool and a garden and a gym. It's a bit expensive but he's sure that they can manage the expenses.
They're both S-Class mages now and Gray's been working on his accounts, putting some money in the bank and investing. He's not a teenager anymore and he does want to be prepared for whatever plans he and Juvia have in the future. So he's sure that he can work out some sort of installment scheme with the complex manager.
"Hey, Juvia, what do you think of this apartment?" Gray asks him.
Juvia stops whisking the batter she's making and peers over his shoulder. She doesn't say anything for awhile, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip in that adorable way she always does whenever she's thinking about something too hard.
Finally, she leans back and says, "It's nice, Juvia guesses."
Gray frowns at her because he was actually hoping for a bit more of a response. Truthfully, the subject of them moving in together has never come up between them ever since Gray brought it up to her. He just figured, at first, that it was because they were both busy with their respective missions and that the time never really came up for them to discuss it. But now, he's given her an opening and instead of being more responsive, the only thing she can say is that "it's nice."
He doesn't know why it bothers him but it does. She's not obligated to move in with him because it's not like they're married. But them moving in together isn't a completely terrible idea.
They spend almost every night together anyways and her bathroom and closet is cluttered with his stuff and it's the same with his. They've both got keys to each other's place and sometimes he just drops in and out of her apartment without telling her and she basically does the same. If they live together, then he can watch out for her too. He worries about her sometimes because her apartment is located in a particularly seedy area (she bought it when she moved out of her dorm and was still low on cash and just decided not to move out, even when she started earning more money that could buy her a better apartment). She's his girl and he knows that she can take care of herself in a fight, but it's his job to take care of her and make sure that nothing happens to her. It just seems so convenient to him.
"But I mean...what do you think about the price and its location? 'Cause I think you and I could afford it and it seems big enough for the both of us—''
"What do you think of the batter, Gray-sama?" Juvia brightly tells him as she slides on to his lap and holds a finger up, its tip coated with the chocolate batter.
Gray pauses, momentarily distracted at the sight of his girlfriend's breasts, pressed up against his torso and the thick, chocolate batter swirled around her fingertips. He pulls her closer, drawing circles on the sides of her hips. Then, he meets her eyes and leans forward, his mouth enveloping her fingertip, his tongue seductively swirling around her skin as he licks the batter off.
"Mmm. Tastes pretty good," Gray says as he releases her finger with a pop.
"Yeah?" Juvia giggles as she presses her forehead against his, nose lightly brushing against his skin, her breath fanning across his lips.
He cups his hands around her ass and gives it a light squeeze before running his hands along her thighs and pulling her closer, gently shifting her position so that she's straddling him. Juvia cards her fingers through his hair and murmurs, "Gray-sama likes the chocolate batter?"
"Mmm...Gray-sama likes it very, very much," Gray murmurs as he starts planting kisses across her collarbone, his hands feverishly running across her legs. God, he's always loved her legs the best.
"Are you sure you're going to use it all for the brownies?" he says as he buries his face in the valley of her breasts, his hands quickly moving to unbutton her skirt. She rolls her hips against him and he gives a small grunt, grinding back against her.
Juvia gives a small moan when he swirls his tongue across her nipple through the cloth of her bra. "N-Not if Gray-sama doesn't want to. We can use it for something else."
Gray grins and pulls away from her breasts and Juvia shivers as he trails kisses along her neck and jawline before tugging at her bottom lip and giving her wet, open-mouthed kisses on her lips. He breaths against the tangle of their tongues, "Well, let's go and be creative then."
It's not until the two of them are lying on the kitchen table, gleaming with sweat, and covered with a mixture of their own come and chocolate batter that Gray realizes that Juvia, has once again, avoided the topic of them moving together.
Juvia comes by in the afternoon to see him after coming back from a long mission. For some reason, he ends up fucking her against the wall and she basically stays the night. In the morning, when the two of them are tangled naked in the sheets and she's curled up against his chest, he places a hand on her hip and gives it a little squeeze. She flutters her eyes open and lazily stares at him, her eyes half-lidded and groggy from the sleep.
"Good morning, Gray-sama," Juvia murmurs.
"Good morning," Gray says as he buries his face on the crook of his neck. He leans back and kisses her forehead, making her blush and sputter. Honestly, her being all flustered around him has lessened, especially now that they're dating but he loves it whenever she acts like this and makes it a point to get this reaction out of her as much as he can. He misses those days when Juvia would be like a blushing school girl around him.
"Juvia has to start taking a bath," Juvia mumbles as she fumbles for a robe.
Gray frowns and places his hands on her hips, gently pulling her closer to him and pressing his lips against her shoulder. "Stay."
"Gray-sama, you know that Juvia wants to but she has a mission today," Juvia says as she brushes the hair out of his eyes before leaning forward and grabbing his white sweatshirt.
"Then call in sick," Gray mumbles as he trails his fingers along the sides of her breasts to her hips.
"Juvia can't just call in sick Gray-sama. She already accepted the job," Juvia says as she sits up and pulls his sweatshirt on.
"Do you really have to leave now?" Gray complains, running his fingers along the insides of her thigh. He smirks when Juvia gives a small shiver of pleasure.
"Because Juvia still has to stop by her apartment to get her things for the mission. She wasn't even supposed to stay here for the night but then Gray-sama had to—''
"Do this to you?" he asks as he slips his hand in between her legs. Juvia's face turns puce and she gives a small moan as she instinctively grinds against his hand. Before Gray can start stroking her even further, she suddenly jerks away, eyes wide as if suddenly remembering her mission.
"Gray-sama should stop trying to distract Juvia," she says as she stands up and pads towards the bathroom.
Gray gives a small cry of frustration as he leans back against the bed. "You know, if we live together you probably wouldn't need to keep going back and forth from your apartment just to get your stuff when you unexpectedly stay over. You'd save up on time."
Juvia says something from his bathroom although he can't exactly hear what it is. He sits up, a frown starting to form on his face. He's opening up the issue of moving together again and he doesn't know what kind of response he expected but it was something along the lines of her emerging from the bathroom and saying, "You know what Gray-sama? That sounds like a great idea! Let's move in together right away!"
He did not expect her to change the topic yet again by mumbling about a half-price sale for perfumes at the department store. And look, it's not as if he's agonized or freaked out over it throughout the whole of their relationship but he just really wants to fucking know why she seems oddly resistant to the idea of moving in with him.
"Juvia," Gray says, standing up and heading towards his bathroom, not bothering to put a shirt on (she took it anyways) or boxers or pants. He's determined to get to the bottom of this, even if it means going through a big row. Juvia loves him and them shacking up together is one of the most romantic things ever and stuff like that is practically Juvia's bread and butter so she should be over the moon over this whole thing.
"Look, we really need to start talking about the possibility of us moving in together," Gray says in his usual blunt manner as he leans against the door and crosses his arms. "And if you don't want to then you could just—''
"Gray-sama," Juvia says, a stab of frustration creeping up her voice. She gestures at his side of the bathroom counter where there's a bit of toothpaste leaking against its container and dripping against the counter. His toothbrush is lying lopsided away from the toothbrush rack and there are uncapped jars and containers of hair gel and shaving cream. "Didn't Juvia just arrange this a few nights ago?"
Gray dismissively waves his hand. "I'll fix it later. It's not that big of a mess."
"But it is!" Juvia insists. "Look! Your hair gel is getting all mixed up with your toothpaste. And is this your boxers? How'd it even get here!?"
"This is the bathroom! I come here to change," Gray defensively says.
"But you don't have to leave your underwear on the bathroom counter!" Juvia crossly says. "How hard is it put them in the laundry bag? You always do this! And Juvia worked really hard in arranging everything!"
Gray heaves a long, controlled sigh as he pinches the bridge of his nose. "It's not a big deal, okay?"
"But it is! What if the shaving cream and toothpaste create some kind of new poisonous material? And what if you put some on your toothbrush without ever knowing?" Juvia's eyes are wide and she clutches at her cheeks as she becomes more and more impassioned with every word. "And then, when you gargle you accidentally swallow some of it and die and leave Juvia and she'll be so upset and sad that she decides she can no longer live without you and—''
"Juvia, I'm pretty sure that won't happen," Gray calmly interjects before she can plunge further into one of her crazy, imagination spiels.
"But still," Juvia insistently says.
"Look, can we go back to talking about the issue at hand and stop talking about this? It's not like I'm messing with your stuff," Gray says, desperate to steer the conversation back to the direction where wants.
"But you are!" Juvia argues. She gestures at the overturned bottles of perfume and creams on her side of the counter.
"I was looking for my comb," Gray says.
"And you couldn't have looked for it without demolishing Juvia's stuff?" Juvia demands.
"Come on Juvia, I said that I would fix it okay?" Gray says as he takes a step closer towards her and starts playing with the hem of her shirt. They've had this argument more than once or twice before and okay, he will admit that maybe he can tidy up and make a better effort to keep his place a bit cleaner. But it's his place and he can do whatever he wants with it. Who cares if he leaves his underwear in the bathroom? He could argue with her even more about this but he doesn't want to because she has a job to get to and he doesn't want to ruin their morning because it's been so nice.
Juvia scrunches her nose up as he starts running his hands up and down her thighs. She's so cute when she tries to be angry. "That's not going to work Gray-sama."
"But I'll give you a shower and soap you all up," Gray mumbles as he buries his face at the crook of her neck.
Juvia cards her fingers across his hair, her resolve waning. "G-Gray-sama."
He expertly pulls the sweatshirt she's wearing over her head before running his hands along her legs and scooping her up. She instinctively wraps one leg around his waist before following it with the other. Her cheeks are dusted with pink and she's chewing at her bottom lip and he can tell that she's trying really hard not to melt into her water body form (It's happened once. Or twice.). She's stuttering his name as she runs her fingers across his neck and hair. He really does miss blushing schoolgirl Juvia sometimes.
As he turns the shower on and starts lathering her hair up with shampoo, she gives him an adorable pout and says, "That was a dirty trick Gray-sama."
He just laughs and blows the shampoo suds off her hair.
Natsu and he go out for a drink a week later at this pub a few blocks away from his apartment. To be honest, he's excited for it because he's kind of been on the edge for the whole week. He's been trying to open up the discussion of them moving in together but she either diverts the conversation to something else or gives a really vague, noncommittal response.
Like one time, they went around this really nice neighborhood that had a great leafy atmosphere with the simple but clean balconies jutting out to the streets , the stone steps leading up to the houses and the trees lined along the pavement. He made a comment about how nice the whole place was and how it would probably be a great place for them to move in to and she just responded by saying something about how she thought that the area smelled kind of funny. He even tried to surprise her by taking her to a couple of apartment buildings he's shortlisted for her to see but she didn't really seem to be as in to it as he'd hoped.
If he's going to be honest, he's starting to get really worried. It's a little fucked up that he's the one who's really pushing for them to move in together and she's the one who's not interested. He knows that Juvia loves him and that they're pretty solid as a couple but he's still freaking out over it and every night, he just obsesses over the whole issue, trying to figure out how to bring it up to Juvia (for the millionth time) without sounding like a clingy, dorky idiot.
He finds Natsu at the corner of the bar wolfing down a huge sandwich and looking a little worn and haggard. Gray gestures at the waitress to get him a bottle of beer before making his way over to where Natsu is and taking a seat right next to him.
"You look like shit, Flame Brain," Gray comments as he thanks the waitress who brings the beer over to him.
"Me and Luce had another argument today," Natsu mumbles as he points at Gray's beer and gestures at the waitress to give him his own bottle.
Gray frowns at him. "Didn't you two just argue yesterday?"
Natsu shrugs. "She's been a bit moody lately."
"She's not pregnant is she?"
"Nah. I'd be able to tell if she was pregnant just by the smell." He scrubs a hand through his face. "I don't even understand how we ended up fighting again today."
"Maybe you accidentally set the furniture on fire again. Or smashed through a wall," Gray wryly says, silently laughing at Natsu's perplexed expression. The bastard really has no idea how idiotic or clumsy he can be sometimes
"No, it wasn't that. It was over something really stupid. To be honest, ever since we got married and moved in together, we've been having a lot of these arguments," Natsu says as he heaves a long, heavy sigh.
"Maybe you spent money on useless junk again."
"I don't spend money on useless junk."
"That flying bird toy thing you bought was pretty useless."
"It was cool! And we could use it for sending messages to each other!"
"You're going to use a toy bird to send messages to each other?" Gray says as he raises a brow.
"It's cute! Happy thought so too! I mean, I could roll the paper up and stuff it into the beak and send it flying towards Luce," Natsu defensively says. Fuck, Natsu really has an interesting mind sometimes.
"Okaaay," Gray says, deciding not to argue about it even further. "So what did you two argue about anyways?"
"Oh nothing much," Natsu guiltily mumbles. "I was looking for a shirt and I kind of threw all my clothes on to the floor and made a mess. But I swear I was going to put it all back!"
"I feel you. Juvia is always up on my ass about how messy I am."
Natsu gives him a surprised look. "You two live together? Since when? And hey! Why weren't me and Lucy invited to the housewarming party?"
"No. In fact my problem is that she doesn't want to move in with me," Gray says, the words slipping out of his mouth with a frustrated edge.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I've been asking her to think about the possibility of us moving in together but she doesn't seem interested"
"Well, did you really ask her?"
"What are you talking about? Of course I did!"
Natsu shrugs. "You can be really vague sometimes."
Okay, he will admit that he hasn't asked her point blank but it's only because he's embarrassed, ever since she showed disinterest that one time he did. Giving her little hints kind of seems like the only way to bring the issue up without losing face in the event that she says no.
"Of course I did!" Gray says as he lightly taps his fingers against the bottle.
"Maybe she's thinking that you guys can't afford a new place. Why don't you just ask her to move to your apartment?"
"It's too small."
"But she stays there a lot right? And there seems to be no problems, at least when it comes to the space."
"It only has one room and..." Gray suddenly flushes and looks down, his eyes becoming transfixed with the wood patterns. "Well, it's too small especially if we're planning to you know...have kids or something..."
"Maybe she thinks you smell and doesn't want to sleep next to you."
"What did you just say?" Gray irately says.
"I said that you might be smelly, that's what," Natsu smirks.
"You wanna go?" Gray hisses.
"Yeah, I'll go right—'' Natsu abruptly stops as if suddenly realizing something. He furrows his brows before leaning back and taking another sip from his bottle of beer. "Nah. Never mind. Fighting is stupid."
"Yeah," Gray says after a moment's pause. Fuck, they really have grown up. It's kind of scary actually.
"Well, maybe she doesn't want to live in sin," Natsu says.
Gray's brow twitches. "What?"
"You know, maybe she doesn't want to live with you while you're not yet married," Natsu says as he polishes off what's left of his sandwich.
"Gajeel and Levy are doing it."
"Yeah, but they're engaged. I dunno. Juvia's the kind of chick who's into romance and stuff right? Maybe she wants you to propose first."
"That's stupid. If Juvia wanted me to propose to her, then she would have made it clear. She's not the kind of girl who's into mind games."
"Yeah but she's still a girl and you know how girls are. They say one thing when they really mean something else."
Somehow Gray highly doubts that because Juvia's very open and she's not one to hide anything from him. If she wants something, she usually makes it very clear to him. Still, he can't help taking into account what Natsu's said. "There's nothing wrong with moving in together before getting married."
"She might not see it that way. She's probably thinking that you're not in it for the long haul because you don't wanna marry her," Natsu shrugs.
"If anyone should be thinking that, it should me. She's the one who doesn't want to move in with me. If she doesn't even want to make that kind of commitment, then I can't help thinking that she's already got one foot out of the door," Gray mumbles.
Natsu just shakes his head and gives a short, bark of a laugh. "I can't believe it. Five years later and you're still getting cold feet over something as simple as marriage."
"I'm not getting cold feet. Stop talking about it as if it's the easiest thing in the world."
"But it is. Trust me. Asking someone to marry you is a breeze. At least it was for me and Luce," Natsu brags.
Gray frowns at him and dryly says, "She nearly choked on the engagement ring."
"Well how was I supposed to know that she would drink the entire glass of champagne straight up? Everyone knows that you don't drink champagne that way! You take sips!" Natsu defensively says.
"She drank the champagne straight up because you kneed the maitre'd in the groin and ended up knocking the flower arrangement into the water fountain and setting fire to the curtains and ice sculpture," Gray says.
Natsu dismissively waves his hand. "Whatever. So there was a bit of a snag. Point is, it was pretty great when I got to the proposing part and Lucy kept on saying how romantic it was. She even cried and stuff."
"That's probably because she nearly died."
"Shut up. It was romantic and you're just jealous because you probably can't pull off something like that," Natsu says. He wipes the ketchup off his chin with a tissue and takes a swig from his bottle of beer. "You love her, right?"
"Of course I do," Gray immediately says, his voice firm and sure.
"And you wanna be with her forever right? Even if you annoy the fuck out of each other sometimes?"
"Yeah."
"And the sex is amazing right?"
"Shut up. I'm not telling you that."
"But that's important."
"Shut up, Natsu."
"And I know you want kids and a future with her because you want a bigger apartment or something."
"Yeah."
"And you stay at each other's places so you're practically living with each other already."
"I guess so."
"Then what's the problem? Just marry her already," Natsu says.
Gray scratches at the countertop with his pointer fingernail, deep in thought. Natsu's right.
What is he waiting for?
They have an argument three nights later and it's over the stupidest thing ever.
She comes over to his apartment because she's left her lotion and apparently it's really important for her nighttime routine. Gray gets a bit worried because by the time they finish talking and eating dinner together, it's late in the evening and he doesn't want her wandering around the streets at this time of the night. He tells her that she might as well stay over but she shakes her head and says that she needs to go home because she has a job request tomorrow and she still hasn't packed up. He makes a comment (again) about how they should just live together and Juvia (again) tries to steer the conversation to a different direction by avoiding the question.
Then, because he's a little fed up with her evasiveness, he asks her point blank if she has an issue with moving in with him.
"Is it because we're not married?" he says, the words slipping out of his mouth before he can stop them. "Because if you want to get married, then we can. Let's get married."
Juvia suddenly looks galvanized. "Wait...are you...are you proposing to me? Is this supposed to be your proposal?"
Quickly realizing his mistake, Gray shakes his head and says, "No, of course not...I mean I just...I'm just throwing the possibility out there. And what's with the face? Don't you want to marry me?"
"Juvia refuses to answer that question."
Gray gives Juvia a look of disbelief. "Are you kidding me? So you really don't want to marry me?"
"It's just because you're doing the proposal all wrong!" Juvia wails, her lower lip trembling and her cheeks puffing up in slight anger. "You are not proposing to Juvia late in the evening in your messy apartment while her hair is a total mess and she's wearing nothing but sweats and your t-shirt! Juvia thought that Gray-sama would be better than that! Even Natsu-san planned a romantic dinner for Lucy!"
"Lucy nearly choked on her own engagement ring! What's so romantic about that?" Gray says, annoyed at being compared unfavorably to his rival.
"Gajeel-kun proposed to Levy-san through song—''
"Yeah and he broke about thirteen windows in the process and shattered Levy's eardrums—'
"And even Jellal skywrote 'Will you marry me?'" A steely look suddenly crosses over Juvia's eyes. She folds her arms and glares at him. "Juvia will not allow you to propose to her in such a casual manner!"
Okay, in his defense, he had an amazing proposal planned for her and this whole argument probably wouldn't even be happening if he hadn't said something as stupid as "Let's get married." He's asked for Levy's help and she loved his idea and was totally on board with it. He planned to stuff the ring (which he made himself) into Levy's bouquet so that when the time comes for her to throw it to the bridesmaids, she'll make sure to aim it towards Juvia. When Juvia finds the ring inside the bouquet, then he'll get down on one knee and propose.
He loves his plan because it's not too dramatic but it's not too subdued either. It's got the right amount of creativity and planning and romance that will make Juvia happy but at the same time it's not something that's too flashy to the point of making him uncomfortable.
And on the plus side, there's little risk of Juvia's eardrums shattering or her throat clotting up. She'll just have to have really fast reflexes but he's pretty sure she'll be able to catch a simple bouquet.
"I'm not trying to propose to you!"
Juvia's eyes become watery and her lower lip trembles even harder. "So you don't ever plan on marrying me?"
"No! I mean, I do! I just—" He sighs and runs a hand through his face. "I'm just trying to understand why you don't want to move in with me!"
Juvia stares at him for a few seconds, looking largely pacified. Then, she just looks confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about!" Gray crossly says.
"But Juvia doesn't know what you're talking about. She doesn't recall ever telling you—''
"You don't want to move in with me!" Gray says. "I keep trying to ask you to but you keep avoiding the question!"
"You have never properly asked Juvia!" she defensively says. "She doesn't remember you asking!"
"Well, I made it obvious! You didn't even seem interested when I showed you the apartments."
"But Juvia was interested!" Juvia stubbornly says. "She told you that she liked it! Maybe Gray-sama wasn't listening—''
"Don't try to turn this on me. I want to move in with you but you're not even giving me a straight answer. I can't help thinking that maybe you're not in this for the long haul and it's really freaking me out—''
"Gray-sama—''
"Why don't you wanna move in with me? Because whatever it is that's wrong with me, I'll fix it. If you think I smell then—''
"Gray-samaaaa!" Juvia wails, looking stricken. Before he can finish whatever he wants to say, she rushes towards him and tackles him into a bone-crushing hug. He wheezes, trying to disentangle himself from her grip. "Juvia feels so horrible for making Gray-sama feel that way!"
He blinks at her, thoroughly poleaxed by her reaction. Only a few second ago, she was upset with him and now she looks like she's ready to cry. Honestly, even though they've been together for three years, he still can't get around with handling her dramatic mood swings.
"Juvia does want to move in with you!" Juvia says.
"But then why—''
"She's just afraid that we'll break up if we do!"
"What?" Gray says, completely confused.
"Juvia has just read a magazine article that says that one in every ten couples that move in together break up!" she says as she moves away from him and scrambles to get the magazine that's splayed across the coffee table. She flips it open a couple of pages before showing it to him. "Look! One in every ten couples!"
"Juvia, that's just an article. And that's not even from a reliable magazine," Gray exasperatedly says.
"It's Mage Magazine! It happens to be one of the most reliable magazines there is!" Juvia defensively retorts.
"It's the same magazine that keeps posting all those ridiculous stories about me cheating on you in missions!"
"Who's to say that it didn't have a basis of truth?" Juvia says as she folds her arms. Gray sighs, exasperated. He can't tell you how many arguments they've had over this stupid magazine.
"I am not going to go into this with you, right now. We're talking about a different issue entirely." He takes the magazine from her hands and tosses it aside. "And you shouldn't worry. We're not one of those couples."
"But what if we'll become like them? All our friends who've moved in together have been having problems."
Gray scoffs and folds his arms. "You're exaggerating."
"No, Juvia is not! Lucy told Juvia that she's just about ready to kill Natsu-san—''
"That's because Natsu is an idiot," Gray says as he rolls his eyes.
"Erza-san and Jellal-san kept on fighting when they first moved in together and they even almost broke up!"
"That's because they've both been through a lot and they're still working a few of their issues out together. And that only happened once! They're good together now. They're even having a baby!" Gray says. He remembers that time. Erza ended up staying over at his place for the night, crying and Gray had to keep assuring her (while simultaneously plotting to beat the living fuck out of Jellal) that Jellal loves her and that he doesn't mean to be a dick.
"Mira-san and Laxus-san have been arguing about money!"
"That's just because they just had their kid and having a kid can be pretty expensive. But now that Laxus is Guild Master, they seem to be pretty steady." He raises a brow at her. "And I don't think we'll be having that problem. We've never argued about money."
"That's because we don't have a shared bank account yet! But what's going to happen when we do? Gray-sama is already spending too much on clothes because he keeps losing them!"
"At least I don't spend it on a million baking and sewing implements—''
"Three packs of flour are necessary if Juvia wants to make bread, Gray-sama—''
"You don't need twenty one trays of bread every day Juvia! And I'm not the one who spent three thousand jewels on a seashell wall clock!"
"It was cute! And a seashell wall clock is practically a basic human right!" She folds her arms, looking impassioned. "What about Gajeel-kun and Levy-san? Gajeel-kun told Juvia that Levy-san is cluttering up their apartment with her books—''
"Well, at least she's not constantly blasting screechy music every morning," Gray says. Levy has mentioned it to anyone who would listen for weeks now.
"Metalcore is not screechy!" Juvia protests. "And how about Wendy-san and her new boyfriend? Ever since they started sleeping in each other's apartments—''
"They did what? Wendy is still a teenager!" Gray says, suddenly angry. He swears, he's going to have a long talk with the little shit that she's dating. "She shouldn't be having sleepovers in any boy's apartment!"
"The point is Gray-sama, being near each other too much causes a strain in relationships," Juvia says.
Gray sighs and scrubs a hand through his face. "Look, why are we even talking about this? We practically live with each other already and we're not encountering any problems!"
"Are you kidding me? No problems?" Juvia gestures at the heap of clothes and take-out containers piled near the sofa. "Gray-sama's messiness is driving Juvia crazy!"
"It's not as if it's something that I can't fix."
"Gray-sama has been telling Juvia that he'll fix it and put his clothes in the laundry bag or put away his pizza boxes or take-put containers for ages now! Do you have any idea how dangerous leaving take-out containers out for too long can be? You could get molds and then, the molds could spread and swallow you whole and take over your body—''
"Juvia, I'm pretty sure molds don't work that way," Gray calmly tells her before she can get carried away.
"And Gray-sama snores in his sleep! Really loudly! It keeps Juvia awake for nights on end," she says. He tries to hide how surprised he looks. She has never mentioned that before.
"Well, at least I don't steal the covers," Gray retorts. Juvia blinks at him, looking just as surprised.
"What would you even need covers for? You're an ice mage!"
"I get cold every once in a while," Gray defensively says. "And you know what? At least I don't get mad at you whenever I don't pick up your lacrima calls!"
Juvia flushes. "That was a low blow Gray-sama! You know it's just because she loves you and she worries about you when you're away on missions. And fine, maybe she could stand to be a bit less clingy but she only calls every other hour because she wants to know you're okay!"
"Yeah I know," Gray mumbles. He knows that she worries about him constantly. She's got a hell of an imagination and there have been times where she's gotten so worried just because he hasn't picked up her lacrima call that she nearly flooded the guild hall. Gajeel had to call him up and he had to talk to Juvia and assure her that he was okay.
"Juvia read in the magazine that all these little things could actually contribute to a break-up! What if...what if Juvia steals your covers one night and you get a massive cold and when you go to your mission the next day, you're so sick that you end up botching it? Then, nobody wants to hire you anymore and it causes tension between us and we become broke because we can no longer afford to support our seventeen children—''
"Seventeen?" Gray says, nearly choking on his own saliva.
"And then, we have a huge argument and one of us storms out of the house and we both never speak to each other again. Or what if you catch a cold and die?"
"Okay, I'm pretty sure that, that will never happen," Gray says, stopping her before she can continue her imagination spiel.
He sighs and draws her closer, tenderly running his hands through her hair. "Look, I know that moving in together or getting married or whatever is a big step and it's going to take a lot of adjustments on both of our parts."
She looks up at him from beneath her lashes and he places his hands on her hips and leans his forehead against hers. "But I really love you and I care about you and I want to wake up next to you every single day and sleep in during mornings after really hot sex—''
"Gray-sama—'' Juvia squeaks, embarrassed.
"—without worrying about you leaving early because you've left your stuff in your apartment. And I know I leave my clothes everywhere and never clear out pizza boxes and ruin your arrangements but I swear, I'll try harder. I'll do anything if it means being with you for every single day for the rest of my life," Gray says as he gently kisses her forehead. Juvia's looking at him, her eyes filled with so much emotion and for a moment, Gray is afraid that she'll cry.
"That's the most romantic thing Gray-sama has ever said to Juvia!" Juvia says after several moments of silence. She smiles at him and says, "You're right. Maybe Juvia did worry too much. And maybe she sould give you more space and stop reading Mage Magazine—''
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Gray grumbles.
"Juvia's sorry," she says. "It's just that, she loves Gray-sama so much and sometimes, she still can't believe that she's together with him and she's just so afraid of the possibility of losing him in any way that...that she sometimes overthinks things."
"You're never losing me no matter what," Gray says. He hopes that he's never going to lose her too. He wants to tell her that but he's already said a lot of sensitive, touchy-feely (and embarrassing) things for today, so he decides to keep it to himself.
He gives her a playful grin. "And besides, we're a better couple than all of our friends. The best even."
He's pretty sure that they can survive anything. She smiles back at him and for several moments, they just stand there in silence, wrapped up in each other's company.
Juvia suddenly looks excited, a fervent gleam in her eyes. "You're absolutely right, Gray-sama! You and I are an amazing couple! The best couple there is! And we should move in together!"
She suddenly bounds away from him, quickly opening his drawers, a look of concentration on her face.
"Um, Juvia—''
"Where are your papers? We need to make a list! And then take pictures and stick them on and talk about the pros and cons! And we probably need to look at everything again but this time, we're going to need to schedule a meeting with a real estate agent. Juvia's impartial to the one near Oakwood because it has more rooms although it probably still won't be enough for our twenty-seven kids—''
"Wait, what? Twenty-seven?" Gray says, stunned. He thought that he heard her wrong the first time but apparently she's dead serious about it. And did the number just get bigger? "You weren't kidding about that?"
"Oh, found it!" Juvia cheerfully chirps as she takes a sheet of paper out.
"Juvia...Juvia you're not serious are you? Juvia? Juvia?" Gray says, feeling more and more nervous.
Gray is seriously starting to worry right now.
But then he sees the way some of her hair is falling at the sides of her face and at the front of her eyes and how his sweatshirt is too big for her and is slipping off her shoulders and the way she's getting all excited at the prospect of them going house hunting and this weird, warm, wishy-washy feeling settles all over him.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turns towards him and jabs a finger at his chest and tells him that he better remember to propose to her and that he shouldn't keep her waiting long. And she also tells him that she's expecting a proposal that'll be ten times better than what Gajeel or Natsu or Jellal or anybody else did.
He teases her that, that was his proposal already and she makes a fuss and he wraps her in his arms and kisses her so that she'll stop being upset.
Honestly, he'd have twenty-seven kids with her if it means that every single day of his life will be like this, with her. He'll probably never admit it out loud but he wouldn't want her anywhere else but beside him.
Author's Note: So this fic has been sitting in my laptop for a long time and I haven't really gotten around to editing it up until now. This was inspired by a conversation I've had with my co-workers. I'm one of the only teenagers there so a lot of my co-workers are older. One of them recently got married and she's been telling us about how living together with her new husband is driving her crazy. It got me thinking about the different FT couples and what kinds of problems they might have once they started living together. The proposal idea Gray planned was how my co-worker's husband proposed to her and I thought that it was something that's along Gray's style.
Thank you for reading and please tell me what you think of the story if you have the time. Feedback is always welcome :)
Update (This is very important so please read): I completely forgot to put this bit in because I posted the fic before rushing off to work! (Didn't want to do it in between my break) If the twenty-seven kids and magazine-cheating thing is familiar, then it's because it's supposed to be. If anybody of you has guessed by now, they are both nods to randomteenager's AMAZING stories (the twenty-seven kids thing has been mentioned a couple from her collection of oneshots swimming in the frozen sky and the magazine bit was from her oneshot Clarity). Please check both of them out if you haven't already!