What I Live For

"To live is just to fall asleep. To die is awaken."

-Pierce The Veil

Please R&R.

Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Thoughts \ Flashbacks.

I. The Proposal

Remember that boy your father warned you to stay away from? The one who was no good, who would use you or get you into trouble, the one who would make you cry and end up breaking your heart in the end?

We were those boys. The ones who became so blinded by our ultimate goal we forgot to hold onto the people who cared about us the most. But a person can only be patient with you for so long...

It wasn't intentional at all, I swear. It's just when you've lived a life where almost nobody gave a crap about you, you don't know how to react when someone treats you like they actually care. I don't know, it just felt wrong. Like I didn't deserve it. I think my some of bandmates, or other people in this industry feel the same way.

But now we're here. We've gotten so far from where we began. I know I'm just a bassist, and my band and I have a long way to go. But as I walk here towards the stage, with my Les Paul in hand, watching Natsu twirling a drum stick, Gajeel checking the tuning his guitar and Jellal probably making sure his skinny jeans are as tight as can be, the only thing I can think about is the look in her eyes, her heart pounding for me, and the way she'll smile when we play our first song.

I know she'll be there, even if I have to imagine it.

- Gray Fullbuster.

...

If there was something Gray Fullbuster loved it was definitely the sound of his fingers cooperating with the strings on his bass guitar. Gray had always loved music, and had a deep passion for writing songs and sheet music to accompany his bass. It wasn't until his parents died he had given up on his childhood dream to be a rockstar. He now deemed it unattainable although, he still strummed his bass from time to time. The only person he believed knew about his passion for music was his girlfriend, but he continually told her, it was only a hobby.

The sound of the front door unlocking and locking woke him up. He opened his eyes and noticed from the open door that someone had walked in and flipped on the kitchen light. He turned and looked at the clock sitting on the nightstand.

"2:17 A.M." He mumbled, reading the green neon numbers.

He slowly sat up, removing the covers from his body as he got out of the queen sized bed, which took up most of the bedroom space. It was fairly small, as was their whole apartment, but they didn't mind. It was all the space they needed. He shuffled his feet out of the bedroom, rubbing one eye as he stepped out of the hall into the light.

"Babe, is that you?" He called out, awaiting an answer. He stepped into the kitchen, watching as his girlfriend took two aspirin with a glass of water.

The twenty year old woman glanced over at him with a small smile. "Sorry. Juvia didn't mean to wake you."

He walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning down to kiss her. "It's cool. I was waiting up for you anyways."

She moaned lightly into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck deepening it. "Gray..." She mumbled, softly pressing her lips on his again. "You need to sleep, you have class tomorrow, don't you?"

He groaned, lifting her up in his arms carrying her bridal style. "I know." He pressed his lips on her neck, as she shut off the kitchen light switch and they made it back into their bedroom. "It's just I don't like sleeping without you here. I feel like you haven't been around for the past week."

She pouted, wrapping her arms around him. "Forgive Juvia. It's just there's going to be a meeting tomorrow and many of the lawyers and marketers have been staying late in order to prepare for it." She began to explain, and with a smile, she added, "If Juvia isn't there to get them coffee who will?" She said sarcastically as he set her down.

"I guess you're invaluable to them huh?"

She kicked off her heels, removed her jacket and began to gather her wavy blue hair hair into a messy bun. "Juvia supposes." She said as she removed her grey pencil skirt and unbuttoned her navy blue blouse with short sleeves. She replaced it with a simple camisole and soffe shorts. Gray smiled when she finally climbed into bed with him, he wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning forwards and kissing the top of her head.

"I love you." He whispered to the pale woman in his arms.

She snuggled more into him, shutting her eyes as sleep began to overtake her. "Juvia loves you too."

...

"8:41 am..." He said as he checked his watch, finishing up getting dressed. He walked into the bathroom, and eyed his beautiful girlfriend. "You got anytime?" Gray asked, wrapping his arms around her and lightly sucking at her neck while she pinned her hair blue hair back. She had on black pants, a purple high collared top, and darker purple heels.

A sleepy Juvia smiled sweetly at him through the mirror, placing her hand on his cheek before pushing him away. "Juvia can't be late. Neither can Gray."

He chuckled, spinning her around with his hands on her hips capturing her soft pink lips. She moaned softly, giving in when his tongue slithered its way into her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, shutting her eyes as her head tilted to an angle deepening the kiss. She finally managed to pull away. He frowned, keeping his arms around her waist.

"You're working too damn hard. I mean you barely got sleep last night."

She pulled back, looking him in the eyes with a smile on her face. "It's okay, it's only this week. Juvia just wants you to worry about school right now."

He sighed, grabbing her hand and walking back into their bedroom. He sat on the bed, looking to the ground as he held her small hand in both of his larger ones. "I was thinking, maybe if I dropped out of college I could get a better job and help you out more."

Her brows furrowed. "No! Juvia won't let you." She stepped closer to him, squatting down and placing her hand on his cheek, rubbing it with her thumb. "Gray, you worked hard to get into college, you can't quit now." She pressed a kiss on his cheek before standing and walking to grab her purse off of the ground where she dropped it the previous night. "There are no financial problems to worry about, darling. So please just stay there until you've decided what it is you want to pursue, yes?" She placed her hand on top of his bass guitar, which sat in the corner of their room, and looked back to him. "If music is what Gray loves, Juvia will support him."

"Juvia..." He said softly, remembering when she had surprised him with the expensive bass. 'She's too good for me...' "Playing bass... Writing songs... It's just a hobby to pass the time. And it's not like the classes I'm taking right now will further a music career." He stood up slipping on his black jacket when she handed it to him. "I just want to graduate quick, get a stable job, then we can get married."

"Juvia wants you to be happy." She giggled, slipping on her own jacket. "Whatever makes you happy."

They walked outside their small apartment, Gray locked the door then they walked down to the parking lot. The two twenty year olds entered the car they payed for together and began to drive off. When they arrived at the building Juvia worked in, she unbuckled her seatbelt and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day." She said, getting out of the car and beginning to shut the door.

He smiled. "You too." He watched as she walked inside the tall building before driving off.

...

Gray arrived at Magnolia College (MC) about 20 minutes later. He found a parking space not too far from the entrance of the large building and sighed as he sat there, waiting to go in. His mind wandered back to his girlfriend, whom he had been dating ever since his senior year of high school when he lost his parents in a horrible car accident.

"There's nothing to fucking talk about!" The young man spat, crossing his arms glaring at the therapist. "I lost my fucking parents, I'm sure you know how I'm feeling."

The pink haired woman nodded. Kneading her pen on her chin as she watched the young man in front of her. "While I understand your relationship with your parents was not the best, I'm certain there's a part of you which is hurting. This is a safe place Gray, I won't relay this information to anyone."

The young man shook his head, balling his hand into a tight fist without her noticing. "I'm fine. I just want to get the fuck out of here."

The doctor sighed, checking the clock on the wall. "If you feel like these sessions are not helping you Gray, you are free to leave, just please, talk to me, or anyone you can trust for that matter, when you are ready."

He stood up quickly, turning on his heels to leave. "Right." He grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the room and making his way straight out of the building. As he walked towards the door, he didn't notice someone else walking towards it which caused him to bump into her. His eyes widened when he spotted a beautiful young girl with blue hair, whom he had just knocked on the ground. "My.. My bad." He apologized, offering her a hand which she stared at for a moment. She took it slowly, and her eyes widened when he tightened the grip and pulled her up.

"J-Juvia... Apologizes... It was her fault."

He rose an eyebrow for a moment, holding the door open and allowing her to step outside. She walked by quickly with her head lowered.

"Hey?" He called as she attempted to step away. "Who's Juvia?" He asked, earning a confused look from her.

The girl lifted her arm and pointed at herself. "I-I am Juvia..."

They stood in silence as the wind blew by them. Her wavy hair was blown with it, and his eyes just couldn't seem to leave her glance.

"Oh..." His response was fast after that. "My name is Gray. It's nice to meet you."

She seemed to look down at the ground with a small smile, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. "Well... Thank you, Gray-Sama. But not a lot of people feel that way about Juvia. She brings misery wherever she goes. She's forgotten everyone who she cared about and she scares a lot of people. That's why... Nobody has ever wanted her around. Juvia is a mess, a walking mess."

"That can't be true." He stated, stepping closer to her, making her back up a bit. She looked scared. Lost. Even a little broken. "Misery is a part of life, we can't avoid it."

She clutched onto her purse, looking down as her bangs covered her eyes. "Juvia's lost everything. She's crazy. She's always alone. She's bad luck. She's gloomy. She's the rain..."

Gray didn't know why he felt so drawn to her. It almost felt like a big cliche. Was he supposed to fall in love with her now? He shook his head, looked up to the sky and sighed. "Look, the sun is out, the sky is clear. Isn't it beautiful?"

She looked up at the young man before looking up at the sky. "Juvia... She's never noticed... How beautiful..."

Gray looked back at her watching her stare up at the sky with great admiration. He noticed she had bruises on her body, on her neck, shoulders and wrists. It wasn't hard to tell since she was only in a black tank top. He rubbed the back of his head, looking away from her, "hey you wanna grab a bite to eat with me?" He asked casually. "I'm getting hungry."

She looked at him with confusion for a moment before smiling softly. His face remained expressionless though.

"Yes. Juvia would like to join you. Gray-sama."

They walked off together, as he looked down at her. "Gray is just fine by the way."

Gray made sure he had all his notebooks as he got out of the car. He shut the door and pulled out his iPhone 5S. He smiled at his lock screen which was a picture of Juvia before he plugged in his earbuds and walked to his first class. Since Gray had moved away from his hometown the summer he graduated high school, he hadn't made much friends at MC.

He moved to Magnolia to get a fresh start. To be with Juvia and help her move on from a past she couldn't even remember. He had made a few friends over the first few months. He was now in his second semester, ready to find the career path so he could get a job and marry his loved one. She decided against college, and quickly found a decent paying job as a receptionist at a large firm.

Gray on the other hand, wanted to be able to support her and the future he imagined with her. So even though she was the one bringing in more money as of now, he would soon be able to spoil her just like he wanted. That was his goal at least. He kept that on his mind, as he listened to the boring lectures and dealt with the classes he didn't even want to be taking.

The day passed quickly for him as usual, given he was only enrolled for three classes this semester. He made his way back out to his car, settling inside it and searching for his keys in his black backpack. As he was digging through it, he found his keys, but noticed his math notebook was missing. He shut his bag, groaning as he debated whether to return and collect it or not. It was full of math notes, which he needed to study for because of a big test, but also song lyrics and sheet music he had worked on in class while he was in a daze. He got out of the car, and cursed to himself as he walked back into the building towards the classroom he was in for math. When he entered, his eyes widened slightly when he spotted three figures in the room. One of them had appeared to be there the whole time while the other two appeared to have just arrived.

He looked back to see a blue haired young man with a red tattoo on his face, holding his blue notebook up in his left hand.

"Well now that we are all here, I would like to speak with all of you about something." The young man with the notebook said.

Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox had been friends for as long as they could remember. From bickering over gram crackers in kindergarten to brawling in the eleventh grade, the two had really been a strange yet inseparable pair. It mostly had to do with the fact that they both grown up in the same orphanage after their fathers mysteriously disappeared, abandoning the two boys. They were the only ones who understood each other, since most of the orphans didn't know the warmth of a parent. They had been alone since birth, but Gajeel and Natsu had been abandoned. While at the orphanage, they discovered their love of music together. Natsu was a reckless drummer breaking every set of drumsticks when he would play. Gajeel had taken a liking to the guitar, practicing everyday for as long as they were there.

It was cut short though, when Natsu was adopted by an old man named Makarov and Gajeel by a man named Jose who also had adopted another little girl a year younger than him. The boys reunited in high school, but had both changed dramatically.

Gajeel Redfox was now a long haired badass who did what he wanted. Jose had died of a heart attack, his adoptive sister had run off after losing her memory in a car accident and he once again felt left alone. He had a cold exterior though, so acted as if it did not bother him, but he really did long for the day he would reunite with his lost sister.

Natsu had moved into a large home, with another kid that Makarov and his wife, Porlyusica, owned. Since they couldn't have kids of their own they liked adopting, and had the money and space for it. There was a little girl named Wendy. Natsu got along with the younger one, since she saw him as a role model, even though they weren't blood related, it was a nice home to grow up in.

After a reunion when they met at Vermillion High School, the boys finished their senior year together, Gajeel with his guitar and Natsu with his drumsticks as they rolled off into college. They spent the first year living in a dorm, then found a cool place on top of an out of business storage area and took it. It was close to Magnolia College so they could simply walk there. They never did pay much attention to pursuing a music career. Even though it was something they were both very good at. Gajeel was planning on becoming an engineer to work on cars and other vehicles, while Natsu was planning on getting an associates degree at MC, then transferring off to a fire fighting academy.

The two boys sighed as they walked towards the large school building.

"Geez, I really hope Jura-sensei doesn't give out that test today. I didn't study for it." Natsu groaned, knowing very well he was going to get it anyway.

Gajeel rolled his red eyes, stuffing his hands in his pocket. "Why are you even taking that damn class? It ain't like you even need it."

Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head. "Well it's an easy credit so it will help me graduate faster..." Her turned to look at his friend with a smirk, "but right next to it is the music storage room, so when the professor's not looking I could sneak in there and bang on the drums."

Gajeel gave him a confused look. "Oh yeah? And you never get caught?"

"I always do." Natsu said proudly. "But that's besides the point anyway. I'll see ya."

They made it to campus grounds, taking opposite routes to get to their first class. Gajeel had his earbuds in, nodding his head to the sound of the music when suddenly, he felt someone bump into him. He rose an eyebrow, removing one earbud and looking at the ground where a petite girl had been knocked down. She looked up at him with a glare.

"Watch where you're going, Redfox." She said angrily as she stood up.

He grinned, finding it hilarious to be glared by her. "Look shrimp, if ya weren't so tiny I wouldn't have trouble watching where I'm going."

Her cheeks huffed up in annoyance, "it's not me, you're so freakishly tall, Gajeel!"

"Yeah yeah." He grumbled, patting her head as he walked passed her. "Yell at me later alright, I got to get going."

She turned to stare at his back while he walked away for a moment. She pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes before running up to his side.

"Hey, you like playing the guitar right?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"What of it, shorty?" Gajeel replied quickly.

She messed with her fingers, looking off to the side. "Well... You see my grandpa used to play the guitar too for some band, but he moved into a retirement home and he wants to get rid of some... He offered them to me... But I'm no good at that... I'm more into the audio visual things like you already know..."

He rubbed the back of his head looking down at her with interest. "That's right, you're the president of that nerd herd right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Without the A.V club nothing would get done around here, we run everything." She smiled proudly, shutting her eyes. "But that's only natural since we are the brightest students on campus."

"Not to mention the most stuck up." He added quickly.

She then crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow. "Well? I have like 4 electric guitars in my dorm room and my roommate is being really annoying about me getting rid of them. You want them?"

He stopped and looked at her with his red eyes. "I'll have to take a look at them first, then we can discuss prices."

Levy shrugged looking down at the ground with a blush on her cheeks, "well I have no use for them and gramps just handed them over. If you want them I won't charge you. I mean... I know you're good... I used to listen to you play in high school." She mumbled the last part, not sparing him a glance as she walked away. She lifted her hand in the air waving at him, her voice strong again. "Just stop by my dorm room later tonight or something if you're interested."

He rubbed the back of his head, watching as she walked away. She was in a pair of black leggings and an oversized orange sweatshirt. 'She's pretty damn cute for a nerd.' He thought to himself as he turned and walked to class.

Gajeel's day passed by quickly, and he was currently preparing to leave. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, deciding that he had nothing to lose taking a look at the guitars Levy had offered him. As he scrolled through his contacts, searching for her number his eyes suddenly widened when he received a text message from an unknown number. He rose an eyebrow, looking around his area before he tapped on the 'open' icon. What he came to see, was a classroom number. He grit his teeth together, "who the hell is this from?" He asked himself. Part of him said to ignore it. To just walk away, but curiosity got the better of him. He placed his phone back in his pocket, and turned around to walk towards the designated classroom. He was a pretty strong guy, so he wasn't scared or anything.

As he was walking, his attention was caught by his pink haired friend.

"Yo Gajeel!" He called out, "I got this weird message on my phone."

Gajeel's eyes widened, "you too?"

Natsu rose an eyebrow. "Well now I'm curious. How come the number was blocked?"

"No idea." Gajeel replied, as they finally made it to the door. "Alright, here we are, classroom 1136."

"Ain't this a math class?" Natsu commented as Gajeel opened the door.

They stepped inside, and spotted a blue haired young man with a red tattoo over his eye. He gave them a friendly smile, receiving a glare and confused expression in return.

"Gajeel Redfox, Natsu Dragneel." He opened.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "Wait a sec. Ain't you... You're Levy's cousin... Jellal... right?"

The young man smirked. "That's right, I had almost forgotten you're fairly close to my cousin."

Gajeel crossed his arms. "She's a pain, but I'd say we're friends."

Natsu's confused look suddenly turned into a glare. "So what's with the shady messages, huh?! That ain't cool man!"

As he was going to respond the door made an opening sound, all three boys looked back to spot a dark haired young man step inside. He seemed to be shocked upon their appearance, but then looked even more surprised when Jellal held up his notebook.

"Well now that we are all here, I would like to speak with all of you about something." The young man with the notebook said. "My name is Jellal Fernandes, and I have decided that you three are the ones I want."

The three young men exchanged glances before looking back to Jellal.

"What are ya talking about?" Gajeel asked, growing irritated.

Jellal smirked and shut his eyes. "Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, and Natsu Dragneel, it's music that keeps this world running, and I want to create it with the three of you."

Please leave a review if you like it so I know to continue. This is my first fanfic. Some characters will be OOC. Thank you for reading!