A/N: This is a modern AU, and will feature Grayza, Jerza, and Nalu, mainly.

Chapter 1: Just a dream

It began when we were little. She was all alone, nobody dared to approach her before I did. Every time I tried to talk to her, she would push me away, tell me to leave her alone. And I probably should have. It lead to many wounds on my part, but something inside me wanted to continue, to pry further. Years passed until I finally got to talk to her without having to defend my habit of stripping and how I'm not a pervert. That was when she started to take me seriously. It was when I saw her crying, alone. I saw all of the pain hidden behind her eyes, all of the tears that she held in when others were around.

She was Erza Scarlet.

The sun was bursting orange and the sky held a lavender tint to it. There wasn't a cloud to be seen and the cool breeze made it a beautiful evening. Gray ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to make himself presentable for when his friend got there. It had already been 5 minutes since she was supposed to be there, what was taking so long? It wasn't like Erza to be late to anything. He checked his phone and found a message from the girl he was waiting for.

(1) New Message - Erza

He opened it up, hoping that she said she was on her way, but found the complete opposite.

Erza: Sorry Gray, I'm going to have to miss our dinner together. Jellal asked me to go somewhere with him at the last minute. Maybe next weekend? Don't forget to come by my apartment at 9, we need to study for the midterms. Sorry again, forgive me? :)

6:37 p.m.

Reading this made the onyx haired man upset. Jellal? I completely forgot that Erza was dating him. Well, it's been over a month, so more like I try to forget it. I don't really trust that guy. But I should be happy for her. She is my best friend after all, I should show some more support for her decisions. It's not like it really matters to me anyways, right? Besides, I'll get to see her later.

Gray quickly typed back "It's cool, see you later " before heading off to his house.

He could afford a decent one bedroom house even though he was going to school at Fairyworth University, an institute that was well known for its student prodigies. Most of his friends had a dorm on campus. He was able to get into the school because of his exceptional abilities at speed skating, winning the national competition two years in a row.

Before making it to his residence, Gray got a message from Natsu to meet him at the local café. Sighing, he turned back around and made his way to the Magnolia coffee shop.

Walking through the glass door, Gray was hit by a wave of aroma that smelled of freshly brewed coffee beans. The lighting in the small shop was dim, and the soft yellow lights casted a warm glow over the rounded tables that ran along the walls. Slow, soothing music encompassed the room and left a calming effect that could put you to sleep if you let it. The café was well-known for its ability to relax its customers and its signature blend of Fiore roast that continued to bring people back.

Gray saw his friend sitting at a table alone, sipping away at a steaming mug of cappuccino. He sat down in the wooden chair that stood across from the salmon haired man after ordering himself a cup of the famous coffee.

"What's up Natsu, I thought you knew I had plans with Erza," Gray impatiently asked his friend, wanting to know the reason why he wanted to talk to him in private all of a sudden.

"Plans? Well you're here now, and she obviously dumped you for Jell-"

"Shut up about that!" Gray's fist hit the table hard enough to draw attention from everyone in the shop. He calmed down when he realized his outburst and avoided any eye contact from the watchers.

"Did I trigger something? You know Jellal and Erza have been dating for over a month now, you're going to have to get used to-"

Gray cringed at those words. He wanted to change the subject. In fact, he just didn't want to talk about about those two at all. Especially not Jellal. "Natsu, if you brought me here to rub that in my face, then I'm leaving." He started to pick up his jacket when his friend grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back to his seat.

Natsu was purposefully pulling his chain to see how he would react. "Look Gray, first of all, you need to stop cutting me off when I'm talking. Second of all, that's not exactly what I wanted you here for. It does have to do with your best friend though." Natsu paused to see if his friend would still listen to him, then continued, "You need to tell me, do you still love Erza?"

Gray tried with all of his might to look indifferent to his question, but a faint reddening of his cheeks and his hesitation completely gave him away. Nonetheless, he answered bluntly, "What is it to you? And no, we're just friends."

"Really? Because you seem jealous of Jellal to me. You're already her best friend, so what other reason would you have to be jealous of him? And it's kinda my business because you were telling me how you felt about her the week before she started to date him."

Gray was surprised. Was it that obvious? It was okay if Natsu knew about that, but he certainly didn't want anyone else finding out. "Look, I really don't want to talk about this right now, ok? Can we just drop it?" Gray checked his watch and began to pick up his jacket again. "I gotta go, Erza will be mad if I get to her house late. See you later."

Natsu sat back in his chair and folded his arms, a smirk on his face. He knew his raven haired friend all too well. His face and the way he talked gave everything away, he had all the answers to his questions. The happy-go-lucky guy was surprisingly not as dense as he was made out to be. He actually knew a lot about the concept of love, however he had never been in it. Yet.

Erza stared into his golden-brown eyes, completely captivated by them. She couldn't think about anything else but there and now. Their faces were merely inches apart, her breath felt caught up in her throat, and she felt as though she could hear her heart pounding. The feeling was paradoxical; she wanted so badly to lean in and kiss him, yet at the same time she was afraid to.

The bluenette made the first move. He came in, closing the distance between their faces, coming closer, and closer, and closer. The scarlet girl couldn't take it anymore, and she reacted on instinct. She pulled out of his embrace and darted her head to the ground, blushing in the process. Erza stuttered as she tried to form words to explain her actions, "I-I, uh, s-sorry".

Jellal was surprised by what she did, but he remained calm and simply grabbed her hand and held it gently. He smiled at her, but it was pointless since her head stayed fixed towards the ground. He wanted to say something, but what? When he was finally able to come up with something to say to her, she got up and quickly began to leave. "Erza, I-" his voice trailed off as he realized that is was hopeless to continue to speak. He decided against chasing her down, feeling that it would only make matters worse, or at least more awkward.

Damn. Our first real date and I went and blew it. I shouldn't have made a move on her like that. It felt like it was the right time to do something like that, but I guess not. It's my fault that she left, and I have to fix things with her tomorrow. Jellal got up, grabbed his coat, and headed out of the restaurant. He still had to pay for the dinner, which he never got to since Erza left. Besides, he had completely lost his appetite after what happened.

Erza hadn't known what to do in that moment. She could only abruptly excuse herself, and as she rushed out the door she swore she could feel the eyes of other people burning into her back. What is going on? I've never felt like this in so long. It all feels new to me. Regardless, I can't let anyone see me look so awkward and nervous like that, it just feels weird... Do I regret it? I guess I was scared because I have never been in a situation like that before.

The redhead glanced at her phone as she was pacing through the city, trying to clear her head. Oh, crap! It's already half past 9! Late again with my plans with Gray! I won't hear the end of how tardy I was for at least a week from him. Erza quickly made it back to her apartment in the Fairy Hills complex, an off-campus apartment complex owned by the school.

Erza opened the already unlocked door to her apartment to find a shirtless, sleeping Gray on her couch. She smiled at the sight of her best friend's habit. He was probably waiting here for a while and ended up falling asleep. I'll sort out what happened with Jellal later, I have to take care of Gray, I owe it to him. She could hear Gray's stomach growling even though he was unconscious. And he probably hasn't even eaten dinner because I cancelled it with him earlier. Man, I am a horrible best friend!

Feeling guilty, Erza decided that to make it up to him. She would make dinner and they could eat here. The scarlet haired student hastily looked for an easy recipe online, wanting to make something fast as it was already becoming late. Having the necessary ingredients, she was able to throw together a simple pasta dish with some vegetables she had on hand. It took about 20 minutes to make, and considering this was her first time in a long time to cook something, she had to admit she was proud of her work.

Gray had woken up smelling some kind of food, but he wasn't sure why. He clumsily walked in the direction of the scent, his hunger now greater than before he fell asleep. Making it to the kitchen, he saw Erza putting some kind of food into two bowls. How long has she been here? And she actually cooked food? Gray had to hand it to her, she swore she'd never cook ever again after that incident involving very burnt pancakes and pink frogs years ago.

Sensing someone nearby, Erza whipped around to see her friend, still half-asleep. She greeted him with a smile and invited him to sit down. The two of them shared jokes and talked about how they weren't going to have any time to study. They decided that after their dinner, they would play some games and have fun together, like when they were kids.

Erza always beat Gray in the first-person shooter games, although the black haired boy played them much more often. Before they knew it, it was already midnight. Erza insisted that he stay overnight, and just about anything she said went.

The two stayed up late to do at least some studying before the midterm exams that were later that week. They tried review games, practice quizzes, flashcards, anything they could think of to prepare for the test.

Gray hoped that spending this time with Erza would make him forget about the fact that she was in a relationship with Jellal. But it was something that was on his mind the entire time. He never once brought up the topic of why she cancelled their plans for dinner, but now he had a sudden urge to want to know. He couldn't stand the curiosity any longer, so he decided to ask her. However, she looked up from her textbook and spoke before he worked up enough nerve to ask her.

"Gray,"

He looked towards the direction of her voice with slightly confused look on his face. "Hm? What's up Erza?"

"Kiss me." the scarlet haired girl stated as if it was a normal thing for best friends.

Gray's eyes widened in surprise, he could feel his heart beating faster. Did she really just say what I think she said?

"W-what? Why are you asking me that?" He couldn't believe those two words that came out of her mouth. In his confusion, he didn't even realize that Erza was now sitting right next to him.

"Oh, c'mon, Gray," Erza softly whispered as she leaned in towards him, holding his face in one hand, bringing him closer to her. Their lips barely grazed each other when he could feel himself being shaken.

"Gray! Gray, wake up! You're kissing the wall!" Gray's eyes shot open to see his face less than inches away from the wall. He quickly pulled away, recognizing that what happened was just in a dream. He kept his head down, trying to hide the fact that he was completely embarrassed.

"So what was that all about, lover boy?" Erza teased, slightly amused by what she saw.

"It was just some stupid dream… Don't tell anyone what you saw, it would be the death of me. This stays between me, you, and the wall." Gray laughed off the incident, and highlighted that he seriously didn't want anyone to know.

"I promise I won't tell anyone. You're obviously getting tired, we should go to bed now, it's about 1:30 in the morning. And we gotta wake up early to get to that new cake shop a couple of blocks down, they have a special deal on their strawberry cake from 6:00-7:00." Erza's eyes seemingly sparkled at the thought of having her favorite cake in the morning, and Gray could have sworn he saw her drooling.

Gray sighed as he went to the couch, he decided that he would sleep here for the night. Or at least what was left of it. There was a lot of junk that Erza kept there. She offered him to sleep in her bed, but he declined, saying it wouldn't be right. A truth in more ways than one.

After Erza had went to bed, Gray was having trouble falling asleep on the couch. It wasn't because it was uncomfortable, but because he was still thinking about Erza. He wanted so badly to tell her how he felt. This was the only secret he had ever kept from her, they were best friends after all and they could talk to each other about anything. But what stopped him today, and any other time, was because he was afraid. Afraid of not being her best friend anymore. Afraid of not having days like today, where they could have so much fun, just the two of them. Afraid that if he told her, things would get awkward, and that they're relationship could never get back to the way it had been.

Erza wasn't exactly able to drift asleep very fast like normal either. However, she was thinking about Jellal. She wanted to kiss him so badly earlier. But she too, like Gray, was afraid. Afraid because she remembered the last time she fell in love with someone. Not to say it didn't end well, but last time she felt love, it didn't work out. But this time it was different. She felt that she could open up to him and that he cared for her as much as she did him. She promised to herself, before she fell asleep, that she would make it up to Jellal tomorrow.

A/N: This is my first time writing an AU story, and making Fairy Tail a completely different atmosphere is still pretty new to me. Also Grayza will forever be my OTP (hey, that rhymes) and the main two things about it is that there is 1. Not enough Grayza love out there and 2. A pairing that is SO underrated. Ranting aside, this story will also have Nalu, Jerza, and Gruvia.

Huge shoutout to my beta reader, Relient City for all of her help and feedback in the creation of this story! This chapter wouldn't even be half as good without her proof-reading it!