Title: Christmas Present
Genre: Romance
Pairing: GraLu
Summary: She didn't expect any gifts from him, but Gray had always been full of surprises.
Note: A late Christmas one-shot!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. :)
Lucy stared at her glass of wine as she listened to the laughs of her family. They were happy while all she could think of was him.
Where was he? Why didn't he come? His mom was there, but why wasn't he? Was he somewhere else? Did he not want to see her?
She shook her head to tell herself not to think about him anymore, her blonde locks swaying to each side of her. It was Christmas Eve and she didn't want to ruin it for herself. Besides, her relatives were so happy to see her after a long time. She couldn't let them see her like this.
She'd been sitting at their sofa for quite a while now, blankly fumbling with her phone and her glass. Ever since she sat down, he was all she could think about. She hated to admit it but she wanted him there. She wanted to see him again, maybe for the last time this year.
Sighing to herself, she slowly shook her glass as she murmured, "Why isn't he here?"
Just as an arm crawled over her shoulders, she heard a low mumble. "Who's not here?"
Lucy almost shivered if not for the shock. Her head whipped around so quick, she faintly thought she'd get dizzy but she didn't. In fact, her sight was so clear and she could see him very well. It almost made her wish she had bad eyesight. She leaned backwards as her wide brown eyes took in the sight of him and his arm fell back to his side.
"G-Gray..."
"Yo, Luce!" He grinned at her, straightening himself up.
Luce. She missed that.
She squinted her eyes and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Gray glanced at her for a moment with an unreadable expression. She decided that it was not an expression of his that she liked. She couldn't understand him. She didn't know what he was thinking as he stared into her eyes. When the raven-haired boy suddenly smiled at her, her breathing faltered.
"You make me feel like I'm not invited here," he said with a chuckle.
Lucy avoided his eyes as realization hit her and guilt clouded her eyes. Her mom invited his family, she knew. It had always been like that for the past three years.
She tried to act calm by drinking her wine. She was anything but calm at the moment. She took a quick sip when she mentally cursed. Why did she even ask for wine? She cursed again when she felt another weight on the sofa cushion next to her.
He asked, "You don't mind me sitting next to you, do you?"
She replied calmly, "Of course. Why would I have a problem with that?"
She waited for an answer. When none came, she finally looked at him and was surprised to see him looking at her with that unreadable expression again. She almost faltered but she kept their eye contact and asked, "Why would I?"
Gray let out an exhale as he answered, "Maybe because you've been avoiding me."
That's when she faltered. Her eyes involuntarily closed, not wanting to see her reflection in his pained eyes anymore. She focused on her wine again as if it was more interesting. She shouldn't have asked, she told herself.
Her phone kept on vibrating as her social media notifications flooded her but she didn't even take a glance at it. She felt Gray staring at her and she wanted to dig up a hole and jump in it. She wanted to hide.
What was her mom doing? Did she not need her help? She badly wanted to be called by any relative now. In any case, she would lock herself up in her room not to get called by her family but this was not just any case. Her eyes closed just as her phone's screen turned off. It was loud around them but sitting beside Gray took the air out of her. It was silent between them when three months ago, they would be talking about anything.
She heard Gray cough beside her but that was not enough to open her eyes.
She heard him say, "You look beautiful tonight," and once again, her eyes involuntarily shot open, surprise quickly masking them. A smile made its way to her lips as her brown orbs twinkled with delight and a bit of surprise.
She whispered softly, "Thank you."
"Lucy, I have—"
"Lucy, sweetie!" Her mom.
The blonde who wore a red dress quicky stood up and looked behind them. Her face quickly lit up as her mom asked her to come over and greet some new visitors. Laila, her mom, could sometimes be a blessing in disguise of a human.
After giving her Aunt Laura a quick kiss on the cheek, she listened to their small talk a bit before going upstairs. She told her mom she suddenly felt dizzy. She went to her room and dropped on her bed.
"Maybe because you've been avoiding me."
That really took a toll on her. But maybe not as much as it did on him, her guilt confided.
Not even a minute later, a soft knock sounded on her door and she scrambled to sit up properly. Gray entered her room, looking uncomfortable.
"Your mom... asked me to stay with you since you weren't feeling well," he explained to her as he closed the door to her room.
"Oh," she murmured. She had thought he followed her to talk to her. She always assumed wrong. Looking at Gray, she found him still standing there and she quickly said, "Ah, you can sit on my chair."
Gray did as she said, sitting on the office chair and facing her. She did not expect that.
They stayed in deafening silence and she wished the awkwardness would just go away as she opened her phone. She didn't want to open her messages at the moment and she literally had nothing to do with her phone if not for her social medias.
Should she say she was feeling better now and go downstairs? Should she talk to him? She didn't know what—
"Say, Lucy..."
Her head turned to him and found him looking at the ceiling. She stopped herself from looking up as well as she knew there was nothing to look at above. She would only look stupid if she did and that was the least she wanted right now.
"Did I do something?" he continued as he now stared right at her, his eyes boring into hers.
Her pink lips slightly parted at the intensity of their eye contact. Her throat suddenly felt dry and her hands turned cold. What was she nervous about? He was only asking her a question.
"Why are you avoiding me?"
The thing was, they were not just mere questions.
She looked down at her cold hands and saw that she was shaking. What was happening to her? He was making her feel this way.
"I miss you, you know." Something was off about his tone. It was like he was holding something back. Tears? No. She'd never seen him cry.
Gray suddenly stood up and walked to her. She swallowed when he sat next to her and blinked once, twice, even thrice. Why was he doing this?
Gray seemed so hurt, so lost. She couldn't believe what she was seeing but reality was digging the truth into her mind. She'd never seem him like this before. He had always been happy, always smiling. He rarely became sad. Or did he not just show her? Did he just not open up to her? Was he like this during the first days that she ignored him? She wanted to know but at the same time, she was scared to know. She wanted to ask but her throat was too dry for her to speak.
"Where did I go wrong?"
The question tugged at her heart and all of a sudden, she felt salty tears come to the forefront. She knew what he meant, what he was asking.
"Lucy, I... I hated myself," he admitted.
Lucy gasped. How could he hate himself?
"I didn't know what I did to you. Why did you suddenly avoid me? What did I do wrong?" Gray grabbed her hand and squeezed it, letting her feel his broken state through his soft touch. "Tell me."
Tears streamed down her porcelain cheeks as she struggled to speak. "Y-You didn't do anything, Gray."
"Then why did you..." He let himself trail off.
Lucy looked away in guilt, not wanting to see his eyes. "I love you, Gray."
"I love you too, Lucy," Gray mumbled.
Hearing that set something off inside Lucy. She hastily stood up and roughly pulled on her hand, snapping at him. "You don't know anything!"
Gray blinked. "L-Lucy?"
She sniffed as more tears continued to fall. "I've been falling for you and you've never noticed. You kept talking about Juvia and I would get jealous but you never knew. All you ever saw was yourself and you never noticed that I was hurting because of you!"
Trust her to ruin Christmas for the both of them. Great!
Gray stood up and faced her, trying to grab her hand again but she stepped back. "Lucy, why didn't you tell me?"
She answered with a cold tone, "For what exactly? Just so you would avoid me? I would rather do it first to avoid my heart getting broken."
She took another glance at him and swallowed along with her dignity. "Of all people to fall in love with, I fell for you, my best friend. And what else? You were already in love with someone else. I've been with you, listening to you talk about this girl you liked, wishing that was me instead... but I will never be her."
"Luce, you don't understand." Gray tried to reach out to her. "I love you."
She stared at him until a smile cracked onto her face. "As a friend, I know."
Gray haggardly pulled at his hair and sighed but he suddenly let out a small smile, whispering, "Stupid."
Lucy didn't need to be told. "I know! You don't have to say it out for me—" She stopped herself when Gray stepped closer to her.
He gave her a gentle smile before saying, "I love you too, Lucy."
Lucy blinked, her right foot automatically moving backwards. It was her instincts telling her to move away from Gray. Finally, she said, "I have to go. My mom might need me."
She walked past Gray and when she was about to turn the doorknob, he grabbed her arm and gently pulled her. He cornered her on the wall.
"God, you're still avoiding me?" His voice was thick with pain and incredulity.
Lucy looked away as guilt, once again, washed over her. Yes, she was avoiding him again. She was a coward. She didn't think he knew what he was saying. Did he even understand what she was telling him? She didn't know. She couldn't understand him anymore.
"Lucy, it's been three months," Gray pointed out for her. She knew. "It's Christmas. Can't you give me this day?"
She swallowed, trying to gather her words but none came. She didn't know what to say.
Gray stepped closer but Lucy didn't feel violated. She stayed quiet as he started, "You've never noticed as well. I've listened to you talk about Natsu and you never noticed me. I thought you liked Natsu."
Gray gave out a chuckle and a small shake of his head.
"Lucy, I'm in love with you too," he finally admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't notice much earlier and—Hey!"
He grew alarmed as he caught sight of her tears again. She had stopped crying a minute ago. Why was she crying again? Gray didn't know what to do.
"L-Lucy? Why are you crying?" he asked in a tone he hoped was comforting.
Lucy suddenly chuckled at him. His breath hitched at the sight. Even with tears streaming down her face, the way she smiled was beautiful. She asked, "Is this a dream?"
As Lucy smiled while waiting for his answer, Gray knew then that they were going to be fine.
He chuckled, saying, "No. This is reality."
Without another second passing by, Lucy hugged him tightly, finally letting out all the tears. She cried out loud, like a baby. Gray held her tight against him, his face in her blonde hair.
"You don't know how much I imagined you saying that to me."
He laughed. "You don't have to imagine anymore."
Lucy suddenly froze. He felt it. She stepped back and Gray instantly missed her touch. "Um, Gray... Wh-Where does this put us?"
Gray leaned his forehead against hers and mumbled, "Whatever you want. We can take things slow."
"You haven't even asked me a certain question," Lucy hinted, giggling at him.
Gray's eyes were wide as he realized what she was saying. He closed his eyes at the same time he smirked. He leaned back and stared at her. "Well then, Lucy Heartfilia... Will you be my beautiful girlfriend?"
Lucy grinned at him, her tears disappearing. "Of course, Gray."
He instantly pulled her in a tight hug, wanting to make up for the last three months that he didn't hug her. He discreetly looked at his watch and saw the time.
12:07 AM.
He murmured against her hair, "Best Christmas gift. Merry Christmas, Lucy."
The blonde giggled and Gray found it music to his ears. Without the intention of letting go, she greeted him.
"Merry Christmas, Gray."
Tantrum Zone: So did you like it? I hope you did. I don't really know what to say but... yeah. New Year is coming soon. Probably another oneshot? Hihi.
Thank you for reading. Have a nice day. :)