A/N I'm so excited! My first multi-chaptered Fairy Tail fic! But before you read, just a warning, just because Gray and Lucy start off in love with certain characters, doesn't mean they'll end up with them. Although my story will be nalu for sure, just a head's up.

It was really a miserable day to start with. The sky was flooding the earth below it as women shielded their hair with their purses and men used their suits as umbrellas. Children splashed through puddles as resigned merchants packed up their stalls for the day.

Down at the guild however, the glum weather was contrasted with the cheerful and rambunctious atmosphere as bottles were tossed in the air and laughter echoed down the walls. As usual, the majority of the members were scattered across the tables in their usual unorganized matter as insults and jeers boomed from drunk mages' mouths. Currently, Fairy Tail's resident ice mage was thinking quite hard, his head leaning against a wooden pillar as his fingers unconsciously unbuckled his belt before discarding it haphazardly.

Where the hell did he put his wallet?

Threading his fingers through his spiky hair in frustration, Gray perked up suddenly as a light bulb flashed above his head. "Aha! Lucy!"

Dashing through the door, the ice mage ran through the wet streets, ignoring his dampening hair and soaked pants. Of course! How could he have forgotten! The whole gang had crowded Lucy's small apartment for lunch-which meant stealing her food- ransacking her place and hogging her bathroom while they were at it. His wallet must have fallen out after his brawl with that pink haired moron.

Oh that's right, Erza had kicked them out the window as punishment before she herself was thrown out of the apartment by a furious Lucy. Turns out Lucy was scary enough to make Erza run when you messed with her precious novel…which the three of them had managed to destroy.

Rubbing the back of his head with a grimace, Gray took a deep breath and pushed open the door slowly, peeking through the crack to make sure he wouldn't be attacked by a surprisingly stealthy Lucy. Seeing as the coast was clear, Gray thought nothing of it as he slipped into the apartment quietly, bending backwards and forwards to try and find his missing wallet.

Grinning, he knelt down under the couch and dug around before his fingers grasped the edges of his worn out wallet, but before he could celebrate a loud shriek exploded from Lucy's bedroom as the ice mage fell forward in shock. Rolling onto his knees, Gray jumped up from his position on the floor and burst through the blonde's room, eyes scanning for trouble. "Lucy! What's-!"

Stopping dead in his tracks, Gray didn't even know what to think as he took in his surroundings.

Scattered around the floor were piles of scrunched up tissues littered with chocolate wrappers and Instant Cocoa packs. Projecting onto the wall through a movie lacrima was a cheesy love scene from what Gray inferred was a rom-com, but instead of laughing, Lucy had quite obviously chucked things at the screen, her shoes being her weapon of choice as she scowled angrily. "Stupid prince charmings and their stupid, ugly princesses!"

Startled didn't even begin to cover it as Gray took a tentative step forward toward his blonde friend. "Lucy?" he called out hesitantly, not quite sure whether he should run or hide.

His normally collected and calm friend stared at him with such a fury that he blanched with mortal fear as he cowered behind the door. Lucy's soft brown eyes were tinged red with tears and her left cheek was stained with residue chocolate from the carton of triple brownie ice cream she clutched protectively to her chest. "Go away Gray! I'm trying to have a pity party!"

In that moment, she was so petulant, her cheeks all puffed up and her arms crossed like a child that Gray couldn't help but laugh as he made his way towards her, plopping down beside her and snagging a candy bar from a large bag.

"A pity-party? What are you? Twelve?" he teased her playfully, pulling at her hair and chuckling all the more when she scowled cutely.

"Oh shut up Gray. Like you don't go moping in your emo corner whenever Erza goes gaga over Jellal."

Reeling back as though slapped, Gray's fingers let go of her hair as he recoiled against the wall. "What are you-"

Twisting around, Lucy glowered at him. "Don't even try Fullbuster. As a girl going through heartbreak, I call the shots." To emphasize her point, the blonde grabbed the chocolate from his hands and stuffed it in her mouth angrily.

He flicked her on the forehead.

"Gray!"

"You deserved it Miss. I'm-going-to-eat-my-problems-away."

"So what! Every girl does it!"

"If every girl jumped off a cliff would you?"

"Oh my GOD. Shut up Gray. That's the oldest line in the book. It doesn't even make sense. Why the hell would I do that? The less girls there are in the world, the more chocolate for me!"

Gray shook his head incredulously before snagging the ice cream from her hands and taking a big chunk of it, his eyes grazing over the movie's hero-saves-girl scene. "We've saved the world a hundred times haven't we?"

Lucy gave him her signature "you're an idiot" look as she opened her mouth before Gray stuffed his spoonful of ice cream in it to shut her up. " Okay, okay, not the world, but still! We've been the heroes haven't we? So why haven't we got the girl?"

Stealing back the ice cream, Lucy shot him a glare. "First of all, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And second of all, I'm not a lesbian you freak!"

Scoffing Gray leaned his head into his arms that looped behind him. "Psht, like that ash for brains idiot can even be considered a guy. Does he even have hormones?"

Pushing his shoulder, Lucy smacked him. "Hey! Don't go talking about him like that! Natsu's great! He's strong and kind and, wait, you know what? He IS an idiot. I mean really? How dense can that guy be! I wear a mini skirt and a half top for how long and he doesn't even react a little?! Am I that unattractive? Does my sex appeal mean nothing!?" Now in a full on rant, Lucy turned to Gray, demanding a response but not getting any as the ice mage had now bit into the mood and gone into his own world of complaints.

"You think that's bad? I've hung around Erza for God knows how long and she still thinks nothing of it! I mean, I'm the one who really got her into Fairy Tail you know? She wouldn't even talk to anyone in the beginning. I mean did she really think I was trying to be friendly?"

"Why are the people we love just so dense?!" Huffing, Lucy collapsed against Gray's shoulder and curved into the crook of his neck, "Why can't I just be in love with YOU, you don't seem nearly as stupid as Natsu." She muttered, somewhat childishly as Gray chuckled, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"But then who would watch your dumb chick flicks with you and steal your candy?"

Scowling, Lucy moved away from him as she pouted back in her original spot. "Trust me Gray, I am SO not enjoying this."

They were quiet for a few minutes, just silently watching the movie before Gray's soft voice protruded the quiet. "What if it's always like this? What if… what if it never works out?" his question was soft. So, so soft and for a moment, Lucy wondered why she couldn't breathe.

To feel this heartbreak, to feel this loneliness and fear and dreaded darkness consume her soul, she couldn't live with that. She couldn't wake up each day knowing that the one she loved most, the one she desperately wanted to be with would never be hers. She couldn't do that.

It couldn't be like that.

Grabbing Gray's hand, Lucy squeezed it tightly, tears of determination sprinkling from her eyes. "We can't let that happen Gray. I can't…I can't let Natsu be with someone else. I love him."

Smiling melancholically, Gray squeezed back, "Well if things keep going this way then…"

"No! This has got to stop! We're Gray and Lucy! We're the only sane people in the entire guild! We're also incredibly attractive and ridiculously intelligent, not to mention-"

"Lucy…"

"Oh right, sorry. But seriously! If we can't make up a sure-fire plan, then no one can!" Jumping off of the bed, Lucy's feet crushed wrappers and strewn objects as her clenched fist soared into the air, her determination becoming infectious as Gray leaned forward in his seat.

"Listen up Ice-Boy, we're going to form a new team, make a sure-fire plan and get those idiots in our grasps before someone else scoops them up like ice-cream! It's me and you against the world Gray. You in?"

Letting out an amused breath, Gray smirked, bringing his fist up as Lucy bopped it with her own.

"Hell ya."

So of course, the first two hours of their new team forming was spent in creating a super cool, kickass name because, let's face it, everything is just more exciting with a super long acronym.

And of course, the two best friends couldn't agree on anything.

"It can't be a million letters long Lucy! Even Levy couldn't remember that!"

"What! Are you saying I'm not as smart as Levy?" Lucy's question was dripping with a challenge as Gray took the bait, leering at her offensively.

"Oh yeah, says the novelist whose main character's biggest problem is choosing between two Gary-Sues. I mean, have you ever heard of character development?"

Gasping, Lucy threw a stray tissue box at the ice mage's head, smoke puffing from her ears. "You take that back you talentless ice cube!"

"Hey! I have talents! I'm actually a really great singer!"

Eyes popping from her sockets, Lucy plopped on her butt and flipped the remote to the karaoke channel. "Prove it."

Nearly giddy with the excitement, Lucy couldn't help but bounce up and down at Gray's rising embarrassment, "What?! No way! I can't sing now! It's two a.m.!"

"Well that's not my fault is it?"

Sputtering, Gray scowled at her before leaning back to sit next to her. "You're really a handful aren't you."

Looking away, Lucy's eyes lost their shine as she glanced up at him vulnerably. "Do you think that's why Natsu doesn't notice me? He thinks I'm too high maintenance?"

Panicking, Gray hurriedly tried to correct his blunder as he shook his head profusely, "No, no! Are you crazy? You're great Luce, honest. He's just a moron. It's really just that simple."

Eyes glittering like stars, Lucy smiled brightly. "Really? So there's nothing wrong with me?"

Sweat dropping, Gray rubbed his neck, "Well…I wouldn't say thaaaat."

"Gray!"

"Sorry! Sorry! Ouch! God Lucy you didn't need to throw a dictionary at me!"

After running laps around the dining table as Lucy tried to tackle the much faster ice mage, the two settled back down on the couch as Lucy bandaged up Gray's arm. "Sorry for tripping you." She murmured, soft expression begging for an apology.

Sighing, Gray smiled before gesturing for her to sit down. "I shouldn't have pushed your buttons, so I guess that makes us even."

Twiddling with the hem of her shorts, Lucy grinned up at him. "Well, for the record, you're pretty great too Gray. And if Erza can't see that, well, then she's kind of a moron too." When Gray shot her a surprised stare, Lucy blushed before shrinking back fearfully into the armrest. "But if Erza asks, she's God's gift to mankind and she's smarter than Levy."

"Of course she is."

A few more moments of silence before Lucy started to snicker.

"You know you're a masochist right Gray? I bet you guys will be into all that weird stuff. Oh, Erza-sama please Heaven's Wheel my ass!"

Blushing profusely, Gray leapt out of his seat as he waved his arms around in a panicked motion. "Lucy!"

Guffawing on the couch, Lucy wiped a tear from her eye as she gave him a pointed look. "Oh come on Gray, you're in love with a girl who kicks your ass everyday." Lucy's mouth dropped in realization as she stared up at the still embarrassed boy with a horrified expression. "Oh my God, is that why you always fight in front of her? Oh my God! You get turned on when she beats you!"

Now darker than Natsu's fire, Gray probably would have straight over fainted if Lucy hadn't burst into more laughter as she pointed at him mockingly. "You're totally into S&M!"

"Oh yeah? Well…well… we all know you're just waiting for Natsu to throw you onto a bed," at this point, Gray's voice dropped to a low baritone and his body was now placed very provocatively over Lucy's own. "He'd look you right in the eye and say… "Come on Luce…I'm all fired up." "

Blushing like a fire hydrant, Lucy struggled to breathe as she shoved the ice mage off of her and hugged the closest pillow tightly against her chest.

Face palming, Gray laughed obnoxiously. "Are you serious? I was only guessing for that one. But seriously, I'm all fired up?"

Still blushing, Lucy peeked her face above the pillow as she muttered quietly. "It's hot okay. Have you ever seen a serious Natsu?"

Gray snorted, "Oh sure, every time I see him get all flame-y and shit, I get all hot and bothered."

"Oh shut up S&M."

Convulsing in his seat, Gray poked her. "Will you let that go? I'm not into that stuff!"

"Yeah, yeah-oh that's it!"

"What's it?"

"Our plan name! Operation SOS!"

"SOS?"

"Gray, use a brain cell would you? Operation Snatch Our Soulmates!"

"Where the hell did you come up with that?"

Lucy looked away. "Well when we were talking about Natsu, it reminded me of all the times he's saved me when I needed help and-"

"Oh, I get it, SOS, you need help. Uh huh, makes sense." Gray paused for a second, "Yeah, I kinda like it. So Operation SOS huh? Okay what's our first mission Lucy?"

Yawning, the blonde grinned at him wickedly. "Well, YOU'RE going to clean up and I'M going to sleep."

"What!"

"Hey! Erza's the tougher nut to crack here, I'll need my beauty sleep so I can be fully functional for when I make the plan."

"Why are you making the plan?"

"Because I'm a girl Gray, I automatically know more about love than you do."

Muttering under his breath, Gray kicked at fallen over décor piece. "So much good that's done you."

He never saw the dictionary coming. "Oh put a sock in it Gray."

Thanks for reading! Review if you liked it or have any funny scenarios I can put our two partners in love in :)