AN: Hello everyone! Soooo, this is my first attempt into the fanfiction world and what else could it be rather than my lovely Gruvia! English is not my first language so I'm really sorry in advance for any misspellings. Any comment is welcome, just take it easy with me, ok? Just kidding :D. Enough said, here we go!
*Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. All rights reserved to Hiro Mashima.
"You WHAT?" Lucy almost yelled not actually believing what she had just heard from her bluenette friend. That drew the attention of the nearby tables at the small café they were currently being seated after work.
"Lucy, can you calm down? It's not that big of a deal," said bluenette replied nonchalantly while taking a sip from her icy cold lemon tea.
"It's not a… excuse me? Earth to Juvia!" Lucy almost couldn't believe it, shock evident on her face. "You," she emphasized the word by pointing her index finger to the bluenette, "getting a driving license is not a big deal? May I remind you what happened the last time you tried the sport?"
That seemed to get her attention as her eyes focused on the stone wall behind Lucy recalling the outcomes of her first -and last- attempt to ever position herself on the driver's seat.
Flashback
If Gajeel Redfox had to choose the most terrifying moment of his life and the worst decision he ever took then both answers would converge into the same person, his childhood friend Juvia Lockser and the driving lessons he was currently giving her, or to be more specific trying to give her. When she announced that he wanted him to put her up to driving he incredulously asked her if she was a hundred percent sure of that. Seriously the woman couldn't walk up straight without tripping up, let alone drive. Eventually, after a lot of nagging, he gave in.
After he demonstrated the basic stuff and made sure to tell her at least hundred times to start up slow and under no circumstance speed up more than 20 km/h, his life threatening experience started. He had shown many people how to drive a car successfully, even his girlfriend Levy Macgarden had a hold on it, but this particular one seemed like she hadn't understood a single thing of what he had told her, despite her reassurance. The light-hearted, kind, cheerful, smart but extremely clumsy and stubborn friend of his might have plenty talents but when it comes to any metallic moving-on-four-wheels-or-two-wheels -or moving in general- object, she could be a complete disaster, a public danger.
Yeap, that's the conclusion he reached after she had bumped into every dumpster imaginable, almost run some stray and individuals - who were unaware of the danger coming their way- down, violated the red traffic light by accelerating like the devil himself was after her only to brake abruptly when the mood stroked her every now and then - making him want to empty all the contents of his stomach - only to speed up again before he could do anything. And don't get him started about the turns, oh no! It was one hell of a death race and the only thing he was capable of doing at the time, except holding the handle and praying -yes praying!- to come out alive, was yelling at her. If he had known better he would have kept his damn mouth shut, because that seemed to scare the living daylights out of the blue blob who in result made the one mistake after another.
When the blessed moment that she managed to stop the car finally came, he almost jumped out of the window, face redder than his eyes, the piercings all over it ready to come unstuck and his palm flat on his heart trying to catch his breath. With a better inspection on the car, he thanked the gods that he was the best mechanical throughout Magnolia and he could repair the scratches, dents and any other damages the indescribable excuse of the wannabe driver had inflicted to the poor object. And that was the moment that he decided that Juvia Lockser was to never ever catch a steering wheel on her hands ever again or he would personally sue her.
Back to the present
Harking back from her thoughts she cleared her throat and answered back perfectly poised "Well that was an accident and absolutely not Juvia's fault, not even a bit. In fact, it was all Gajeel's fault for not being a good instructor. He kept yelling at Juvia, and Juvia got stressed!" the girl reasoned out. "Also, there are not many options on what to do with the car she received all of a sudden," she said sighing. It was true that Juvia's uncle decided to buy a blue Toyota Yaris to his favorite 22-year-old niece as a present for her graduation, much to hers and everyone else's surprise –Gajeel actually asked the old man if he went nuts. "Selling it is not considered as an option because Juvia doesn't want to aggrieve Uncle Tony. So Juvia has to get a driving license, plus she will save time getting to work not having to wait for the bus every day. So Juvia will not be discouraged by a simple failure, she is sure that everything will turn out just fine!" the bluenette exclaimed cheerfully.
Lucy just smiled and shook her head to her friend's optimism. After all, once Juvia set her mind on something there was nothing in the world that could stop her. "So, have you checked on any driving schools yet?"
"Of course Juvia did, she enrolled yesterday, to be honest, and now she is studying the Highway Code, her exam is in four weeks from now. Once Juvia passes the test, she will be ready to start the driving lessons. And Juvia has already memorized the majority of them, it will be a piece of cake!" she said, confidence evident in her blue orbs. But her certitude was soon replaced by a feeling of dread. "Just, please, don't tell Gajeel yet," she said with widened eyes as sweat started forming on her forehead remembering her encounter with her best friend.
"Wow, you enrolled already? You really are serious about it, aren't you? And don't worry, I'm not breathing a word," the blonde girl responded to her laughing after seeing her expression. After all, she knew Gajeel would be more than eager to give his friend a piece of his mind about her loony arrangements.
Four weeks later
'Magic Drive' earned its place among the best driving schools in Magnolia over the years due to its great success rate under the leadership of Macao Conbolt. By virtue of his collaboration with Gajeel, Juvia was familiar with the man and couldn't think of a better option than to enroll in his school, especially when he promised to keep quiet about her little secret from Gajeel for the time being.
Passing through the front parking lot which was humming with incoming and outgoing training cars, Juvia entered into the driving school with a wide smile on her face greeting everybody there. She had successfully passed the test answering all the questions correctly and the moment she was dismissed she headed towards the school to handle her results. She knocked on Macao's office door and she stepped in when she heard the man's voice calling from the other side.
"Oh if it isn't Juvia! Tell me the good news," the blue haired middle-aged man asked gaily.
"Juvia got 30/30 Macao-san, she passed!" she happily exclaimed bouncing like a little kid on Christmas morning. "She can get in practice now, right?".
"Congratulations Juvia! I never doubted that you'd make it. The lessons start tomorrow at 18:00 pm, is that alright with you?" he asked turning his gaze at his laptop in order to fix her schedule.
"No problem from Juvia." After a brief conversation, she bid her goodbyes and left. Starting from tomorrow on she will be one step closer to accomplish her goal.
Distrait in her own thoughts she failed to notice the presence of a certain raven haired guy a few feet away from her standing by the water cooler, staring intently at her receding figure. The moment the door closed his stare was still fixed on her, intrigued by the fetching blue haired woman.
Τhe day after
Juvia hurriedly left the lab after she finished work at 16:00 pm so she could go to her apartment to refresh herself and get ready for her first lesson. Juvia's first official driving lesson, she pondered with a mix of enthusiasm and nervousness. Since it was a hot sunny day, she put on a comfortable, light outfit consisting of her favorite jean shorts, a blue T-shirt that embraced her curves and her favorite white converse. Her long azure hair was tied up in a ponytail leaving some bangs to hug her face. With a final look in the mirror, she eventually grabbed her bag and stepped out of her apartment.
To say that her trip from her apartment to her destination went smoothly would be totally wrongheaded. The bus was terrifically late by twenty whole minutes when it finally showed up Juvia boarded hoping that she won't be badly late, only for it to break down in the middle of the road. Juvia couldn't believe her luck and leaving an exasperated groan she sprinted towards the school. But her haste combined with her natural clumsiness resulted into her stumbling on every bulge there was on the sidewalk, let alone the people she bashed into murmuring small apologies, not daring to look back. By the time she finally reached the entrance she was already fifteen minutes late, sweaty like she was in an arduous marathon and utterly exhausted. What a great start Juvia, my sincere congratulations, bravo, her inner self sarcastically bragged her.
Mastering all the courage she had left, she timidly knocked on Macao's door, apprehension nagging her that her tutor must have formed the worst impression about her inexcusable delay. Because if Juvia Lockser hated one thing was not being duly at the appointed time.
Inhaling deeply she turned the door knob with trembling hands and got in. She immediately spotted Macao sitting behind his office while another man was standing in front of it, arms folded in front of his chest and his back facing her. "Juvia, here you are, we thought that you changed your mind," Macao said jokingly and Juvia wanted to disappear right there and then.
As she was about to speak the raven haired man turned to face her with a smile on his face and for a moment her heart stopped. There stood the most handsome exponent of male Juvia has ever set her eyes on and her mind only focused on him. Thickly raven hair with bangs resting disorderedly on his fine face, dark blue eyes that captivated her, perfectly shaped nose, protruding strong chin and a pair of full lips that wanted nothing more but to savor. Wait, savor? Get your shit together Juvia you don't even know the guy for god's sake, her inner self scolded her. Scanning his body more carefully it looked like it was sculpted to be a Greek statue, not even his clothes could hide the toned muscles that were projecting underneath the fabric of the plain white shirt. It should be considered illegal for someone so breathtaking like him to walk around freely. Seriously woman, what's wrong with you? Are you in heat or something? , inner Juvia questioned her sarcastically.
Lost in her own thoughts she failed to listen to Macao's voice that abruptly brought her back from her bafflement. "-ia? Juvia? Are you alright?" he worriedly asked eyeing her carefully.
"Juvia is sorry Macao-san, you were saying?" She was pretty sure that her face could be compared to a tomato. "Juvia apologizes for her delay but something happened out of the blue on her way here, Juvia is really really sorry," she repeated bowing slightly her head, catching another glimpse of the other man who was now grinning at her and she felt her face getting redder if possible.
"Don't worry Juvia everyone has his bad days, it's understandable, as long as you are ok. Now, let me introduce you two. This is Gray Fullbuster, your instructor. Gray, this is Juvia Lockser, I expect that you will take good care of her," Macao mentioned not having the slightest idea about the misconception his words held.
She blinked once. And once more and then another once until his words were engraved in her mind. Her instructor. He is Juvia's instructor. She is going to spend a good amount of time in a secluded space with him. She could practically hear her heartbeats in her ears and she was so much annoyed by this disturbing feeling that surrounded her all of a sudden making her lose her restraint. She must have lost track of time and space until a raised hand with a metallic bracelet came into her view. Following the hand, with her eyes, she eventually saw who it connected to. Her 'instructor'. She may be tall but he was about a head taller than her, towering her curvaceous figure. Inhaling deeply to calm down a bit, she turned her lips upwards into a small smile and shook his hand. Their little interaction sent chills down her spine.
"Nice to finally get to know you Juvia. I hope we'll get along well." Of course, he would have a deep, sexy voice, nothing else expected. And there you have it. The package was complete.
"Likewise… Gray-sama." She mentally slapped herself for the sudden honorific she addressed him with. He, on the other hand, smirked at her, eyes burning into hers until he positioned his hand on the small of her back, earning a small flinch from the bluenette.
"Shall we then?" He gestured towards the door and she followed his lead.
Her day started with the worst odds and it was getting more bizarre as the time passed. She had crossed paths with handsome men before on several occasions in her daily life –business or not- but she never lost her cool and would politely decline any invitations for a more private conversation when asked. But this particular one, a complete stranger for that matter, managed somehow to induce uneasiness to her and she wouldn't –no, couldn't- dare to put a finger on what that itching feeling was. Blaming it on the heat of the moment she appeased herself that it will fade momentarily.
Unbeknownst to her, said man had already taken the initiative –it wasn't fate that assigned him to be her instructor- and was now ready to take his sweet time to get to know the mysterious woman who had been occupying his mind since the very first moment he laid his eyes on her.
AN: I honestly lost control of the story, it was supposed to be a one-shot thing! Anyway, that is the end of chapter one. A little clarification about the driving license procedure: it is based on Greek legislation and my own current experience –author is getting trained to hit the road, wish her luck :D. I had hit a wall while thinking about the plot when it sparked me so I decided to give it a try. Please, leave a review so that I know your opinions. See ya!