Title: Take Me Home Tonight
Rating: K+
Prompt: mutual drunk friend called BOTH of us to pick them up from a party well this is awkward
Requested by: Anonymous
Author's Note: This is going to be a series of Gruvia oneshots based on requests I got from tumblr. This one has a little shoutout to my other fic, God Save the Queen. I hope you guys enjoy it and if you have the time, please tell me what you think!
By the time Gray got to Cana's party, Natsu was already shit-faced drunk and draped all over a girl with pale skin and dark blue hair.
Lucy was not going to be happy about this.
"Oi! Flame Brain!" Gray said as he squeezed past a couple that was groping each other. "If you don't want Lucy to kick you out of your apartment for good, I suggest that you not go to the bathroom with that chick!"
The girl whirled around and scrunched her nose in offense. Gray raised his brows. Now that he had gotten a good look at her, she was actually kind of pretty. And surprisingly, not dressed for one of Cana's wild parties. Her hair was up in a haphazard bun and she was wearing an oversized sweater over a pair of leggings and squishy boots. She looked vaguely annoyed as she supported Natsu using her right arm and tried to pull him up into a standing position.
"Excuse me?"
"I was just...um...trying to tell him not to...I mean..." Gray shifted in his place as he tried to not appear squeamish under her gaze. Her eyes were blue and sharp, like ice and she had a bland expression on her face. It was a little jarring considering how her sweater had a picture of a fluffy kitten stitched at the front.
He suddenly felt annoyed at himself for feeling even the least bit nervous. He squared his shoulders, saying, "What I meant to say was that he already has a girlfriend."
"Juvia knows that," she said. Gray blinked at her, surprised that she spoke in third person. Juvia just stared back at him with a defiant gaze, as if daring him to make fun of her. He responded with a small smile. To be honest, he found it kind of cute.
"Oh, I just thought that...you know.'' He made a gesture between her and Natsu.
Juvia flushed. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. "You can't possibly think that—Juvia and Natsu-san—''
She started to fervently shake her head. "You—you've got it all wrong! Juvia wasn't trying to screw Natsu-san in the bathroom. She came over her to pick him up."
"Pick him up?"
She nodded, pulled her phone out and after a quick series of taps, held it out to Gray.
"Stormborn!" Natsu's voice slurred out from the phone. "I'm calling you...you're probably...whatever. I just want you to know that...I think I can't drive so...you know...Waaaaaasssup?"
"Stormborn?" Gray wryly said.
"It's nothing—''
Natsu leaned forward and interjected, "Hah! Don't you know who she is? This is the queen of Moondoor, Juvia, House of Tusktides, Stormborn and Tamer of Wild Seas..."
The corners of Gray's lips quirked into an amused smile. Moondoor was a Live Action Role Play game his friend was extremely fond of. With her initially severe expression and imposing posture, Gray never would've thought she'd be the type to be into something like that. "Moondoor? Isn't that—''
"It's a dignified pastime!" she defensively said. She then straightened up and pulled Natsu closer to her. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you..."
"Gray," he supplied.
Her eyes widened. She suddenly took a step back and gave him a weird look. Gray stared back at her, confused.
"Er...right. Gray. Gray-sama. Um...yes. Okay." She then gave him a really strange once over.
"Um...Juvia? Is there anything wrong—''
"No! Nothing wrong at all!" Her bland voice suddenly became shrilly as she continued to scrutinize him. Then she awkwardly clapped her hands. "So! Juvia will just get Natsu-san's car and bring him to her apartment—''
"Wait a minute. Bring him to your apartment?"
"Yes. He's having a fight with Lucy-san so he can't exactly go home right now, can't he?"
"You know Lucy?" If she knew both of his friends, how had he never seen her before?
"Of course! She babysits for their cat sometimes. Don't worry, she and Juvia are good friends." She began to drag Natsu to the exit.
"Oi! Hold on. I think Natsu would be more comfortable if I brought him to my apartment."
She gave him the same weird look again.
"Um...no offense but...Juvia doesn't think that Natsu-san would want to be going off with...someone like you."
"What? Look, Natsu and I knew each other since we were kids and I'm pretty sure that he'd rather crash in my place than yours."
"But Natsu-san called me."
"He called me too!" Gray pulled his phone out and scrolled through his voice mail. Natsu's wobbly voice blared out as he crooned, "Roooooxaaannee! You don't have to put on the red light! Rooooooxanne—''
"He's not even calling for you to pick him up."
"Yes, he is. I would know because I'm his childhood and—'' He momentarily cringed. "—best friend."
Ugh. She just had to make him say it.
"Well, he called Juvia first."
"No, he didn't. It says here that he called you at 1:07. He called me at 1:03."
"You know what? Why don't we just ask Natsu-san himself?"
They both turned to look at Natsu who was snoring; his head drooped on Juvia's shoulder. She turned back to look at Gray to smile triumphantly.
"Looks like Juvia's bringing him home tonight."
Gray opened his mouth to argue but then stopped. Natsu looked exhausted and he figured that arguing with some random chick over who should bring him home would be the least helpful thing for his idiot friend right now. He didn't even know why Natsu calling someone else other than him bothered him so much.
"Fine. But could you at least give me a lift home? I took a taxi thinking that I'd be driving his car."
Juvia gave him that weird look again. She bit her lip and tried to shift her weight without moving Natsu. "Well...Juvia would really rather not..."
"Where do you live? Downtown? If you won't be passing by my apartment, you can drop me off by the mall so at least I could walk over to the station and take the train."
"Why can't you just take a taxi again?"
"Because I don't want to spend money when I could be getting a ride for free. Seriously. What's your problem?"
She suddenly started sputtering again, doing that adorable thing where her lips quivered and her eyes fluttered but didn't actually close. It was a little silly but he actually liked it whenever she faltered from her impassive demeanor. It made her seem less cold and unapproachable. "What are you talking about? Juvia doesn't have a problem."
"You've been giving me really weird looks the whole evening."
"Juvia has not—''
"You wouldn't let me bring Natsu home to my apartment—''
"Juvia just doesn't think it's right for two men to be alone in an apartment together—''
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
Gray sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Come on. Just give me a lift home."
"Juvia doesn't think she can really do that—''
"Why not?"
"Because she doesn't want to be alone in a car with a potential sexual predator!" she blurted out.
Gray blinked at her. She looked away, embarrassed by her outburst.
"What?"
With her free hand, she began to fiddle with the hem of her sweater. "Er...well...Natsu-san has told Juvia...a couple of things about Gray-sama...specifically about his habit of flashing women and little girls—''
"I do not flash women!" Gray hotly said. "Or little girls!"
"Natsu-san wouldn't lie about something like that. Plus, Lucy-san has confirmed it."
He was going to kill Natsu.
She sighed before smoothing her expression over. "Listen, Gray-sama...you seem like a nice guy and Juvia would be happy to give you a lift home. But she's just not comfortable being alone in a car with a pervert—''
"I am not a pervert!"
"Pervert!" someone yelled.
"Gray-sama, you're clothes!" Juvia yelped. Gray looked down and saw that somehow, in the course of their conversation, he had discarded his pants and his shirt, leaving him only in his boxers.
"Gah! What the hell!"
Juvia took a step back, sufficiently creeped out.
"Wait! I didn't do this on purpose! I swear!''
Before Juvia could respond, more people crowded around him. A couple of girls wolf-whistled and cat-called and some guys started to compare boxers while others blurted out expressions of disgust. Even Natsu had woken up out of his stupor to make fun of him and call him names. He whipped his head around as he tried to find his clothes but the close press of people and the litter of empty alcohol bottles and pizza containers made it difficult for him to do so.
Gray clutched the band of his boxers as he silently willed himself to not subconsciously remove it. "Take me home. Please."
"What?" she cried, incensed.
"Don't look at me like that, you know what I mean!" Gray irritably said.
"Well...Juvia supposed that she can't exactly let you walk home naked."
"Thank you," he mumbled.
"But you have to keep your hands to yourself."
"I will—''
"And keep your boxers on—''
"I wasn't planning on removing them!" he indignantly said.
"You just did, right now," Juvia pointed out.
"Gaaah!" He fumbled around for his boxers. "Stop looking!"
"Juvia isn't!"
"I can see you! You're peeking behind your fingers!"
When they had finally found his boxers and made their way to Natsu's car, Gray clambered into the back seat and tried to look unaffected as she pulled out of Cana's garage and into freeway.
"Just so you know," Gray mumbled after giving Juvia instructions to his apartment complex. "This doesn't always happen."
He tried to sound casual but he just ended up sounding defensive. He didn't even know why he felt the need to convince her that he was not some freak with a weird stripping habit. Usually, he didn't give a fuck about what people thought of him.
"Yeah. It only happens when he gets nervous or flustered," Natsu cheerfully interjected as he leaned forward and began to randomly tap at the window. He was still humming Roxanne from under his breath.
The corners of Juvia's mouth twitched upwards. Her smile was very pretty. It was her first genuine, non-awkward pr creeped-out one. He wasn't going to lie, she looked gorgeous when she was serious and frowny-faced but when she smiled, she just glowed. "Juvia makes you flustered?"
"No!"
Natsu started laughing. "Um yeah. She does. You've taken your boxers off again!"
"Gah! Dammit!"
Natsu leaned closer to Juvia and conspiratorially whispered," Don't worry. He just trying to act cool."
"I can hear you!"
Her smile started to grow and at that moment, Gray decided that he definitely wanted to see more of it.
"Oi! Stripper!"
"What!?"
"Aren't you gonna ask Juvia for her number?"
"What?" he spluttered.
"Eh?" Juvia said, equally flustered.
"What kind of friend are you, anyway? Don't you wanna check up on me in the morning?" He turned around to glare at Gray before shaking his head. "Asshole."
"I have your number dumbass. I can always call you."
"I'm gonna be passed out so, you know." Natsu grabbed one of the bobble heads at his dashboard and clumsily flung it at Gray. He dissolved into giggles. "Dude. Just ask for her number."
Juvia made a turn to the left and met Gray's eyes from the rear view mirror. Her eyes had somehow turned into a lighter shade of blue and they looked less severe. He figured that maybe it was because they were all crinkled up.
Now that he thought about it, he would be a really bad friend if he didn't check up on Natsu in the morning.
And he still hadn't convinced Juvia that he wasn't a perverted freak.
"You know what?" He took his phone out and grinned at her. "That's actually not a bad idea, Flame Brain."
