prompt: gray gets drunk and decides to call juvia.
note: i have written about this same prompt before, so you could say i'm just rewriting. however, i decided to add more to this one. enjoy~!
"I just don't understand why she'd go out with him!" Gray practically screamed, lifting another shot glass up to his lips and downing it within seconds. He didn't keep count of the amount of glasses he had drunk, but then again, he didn't care.
"I don't see why it's bothering you, you don't like her." Natsu stated simply, taking away the empty glass from in front of him. He'd decided to accompany his friend to the bar due to the fact that Gray makes so many reckless desicions as a drunk.
Gray huffed loudly, ushering the bartender for 2 more shots. "I still don't like the fact that she went out with Lyon, of all people. She knows how in love he is with her."
The bartender placed the drinks on the table, and barely seconds after did the glasses become empty. Before Gray could order any more, Natsu stood up and led Gray out of his chair.
"I want more drinks." Gray groaned, causing Natsu to laugh and pat his nakama's back. "You've had enough."
The pink-haired dragon slayer ushered for a taxi, placing the ice mage inside it and telling the driver his address and bidding a goodbye.
The moment Gray reached his home, he went straight for his stash of alcohol and pulled out two beers, popping one open and taking a hearty sip. He knew on the inside that he should stop, however his mind was consumed by a certain bluenette who was out with a guy that wasn't him.
The dark haired mage let out another sigh as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lacrima phone, and plopped himself onto the sofa. He had turned off his phone moments another fee he'd gotten the text from Lyon, informing him about his "date" with Juvia, and now saw that he had at least 3 missed calls from her.
He placed his phone beside him, deciding to ignore the calls, and drunk his beer in silence. He didn't notice however, that he had pressed the call button before placing it down, and practically had a heart attack when Juvia's voice filled the room.
"Gray-sama? It's 3 am, why are you calling?" Her voice was raspy and sleepy, as if she had just woken up, and Gray immediately felt bad. Though he had to admit to himself that Juvia's sleepy voice was by far one of his favorite noises. "Oh nothing, Juvia. How was your date?" He slurred out after chugging down his first beer, his voice getting bitter at the end.
She was silent on the other end, causing Gray to almost hang up, till she spoke up once again. "One, it wasn't a date. Two, you're drunk. Please go to sleep."
"I'm fine, Juvia. I'm gonna have another drink, or three." He retorted, his voice still slurring and barely coherent.
On the other end, Juvia had gotten up and pulled on a jacket. "Gray-sama, I'm coming over. You're drunk and planning to poison yourself, meaning you clearly can't be alone."
Gray huffed simply, then hung up. He didn't bother rejecting the idea, since a side of him was happy to see her caring, but he also wasn't in the mood to have her scold him. Regardless of both things, the minute Juvia knocked on the door then allowed herself in (he was terrible at keeping the door locked), Gray was downing the second beer.
The water mage tore the drink away from his grasp, giving him a furious look, which only made him smile. She was dressed in a way-too-big sweater and barely visible shorts, along with Uggs, which made her look innocent compared to the look on her face.
"I told you to stop drinking." She stated, turning away from him and walking into the kitchen, causing him to scoff.
"And I told you I'm fine." He followed her into the kitchen, where she had already pulled out a water bottle and placed it on his island counter.
Juvia gestured to the bottle. "Drink it all. Now." At this point, she truly was furious with him and was spitting out her words.
He complied to her words, but not before saying, "You have no right to be mad at me, it's not a sin to get drunk every once in a while."
"Yes well, it's also not a sin to care, Gray-sama." She retorted, pulling out a second bottle as she watched him down the first.
The ice mage took the bottle wordlessly, drinking half of it. "I was mad and decided to get drunk. Is that a problem?"
She gave him a blank look. "Yes actually, it is. If there's no valid reason to get mad, then there's no valid reason to get drunk." The blunette deadpanned, and anger flared inside Gray.
"No valid reason, huh? Do you even know why I'm mad?" He began, his voice rising slightly. Juvia looked like she was about to say something, but he cut her off.
"I'm mad because you had the decency to go out with Lyon. Of all people, you go out with Lyon! Then you come here and act like you care, when you were probably planning to spend the night with him." He practically spat out his word, venom seeping through them and into her heart.
She stared at him momentarily, then spoke up once again.
"You have ZERO right to get upset at me for going out with a friend. I don't care if he thought of it as a date, because I didn't. I don't know if you knew this Gray-sama, but I'm sure everyone else does; I love you. I don't care who asks me out on date because I will consider it it simple get together. NOTHING MORE! And yet you're getting mad and assuming that I'm some sort of slut that sleeps around and dates. Newsflash, I don't." She retorted, her voice raised and her chest rising and falling rapidly.
The dark haired mage stared at her, then he said, "I have every right to get mad."
"Oh, really? Please enlighten me as to why you do." She rolled her eyes, tossing her hands up in the air. He tried to control his temper, however his heart was beating irradicately and he was fuming.
"Because, Juvia, I'm fucking jealous."
She didn't comprehend his words till moments later, when her anger had slowly resided and was replaced with confusion. "You're what?"
Despite his anger, Gray smiled at her tone. Her once furious tone was replaced with a soft and weak one, and Gray decided it was best if he lowered his own voice down a notch.
"I'm jealous. I heard you went out with Lyon and I got pissed. I didn't like it, but you were happy." He eloborated slowly, his mind telling him that he really should shut up but then again, he was still drunk and it was probably the only time he'd admit it. "And before you say anything, just know that jealously doesn't happen between a friend. Read that between the lines, please, because I can't say it out loud."
Instead of a smile, or some sort of happiness that Gray expected, Juvia abruptly took a visible step back, as if she had been hurt, and her gaze stuck to the floor.
"You can't say that." Her voice shook, and when she looked up, her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "You can't do this to me, Gray-sama."
At this point, Gray felt himself slowly sobering, and realizing what he'd done. However he didn't understand what she was saying. "Can't do what?"
"You're drunk! You're not gonna remember this tomorrow, and you'd never man up enough to say it sober. I'll wake up tomorrow and remember it all, you'll wake up tomorrow hungover with no memory. Do you know much it'll hurt, huh? I'll be healing a broken heart as you heal a hangover." She exclaimed, a few tears escaping her eyes, making Gray feel like complete and utter shit.
"Juvia, no, I'll remember. I promise you, I'm gonna remember this all. I won't sleep if I have to, because I do fucking care, and I fucking like you. It's not that easy to forget my feelings for you- I mean, you make it impossible NOT to fall for you. So yeah, Juvia, I may be healing a hangover that'll make me feel like shit, but I won't forget saying anything to you." After his speech, he immediately decided the alcohol was speaking for him. He was Gray Fullbuster, he couldn't say any of this if he was in the right state of mind.
He heard Juvia sniffle, then watched her raise her hands to wipe away tears, which only caused Gray's heart to clench. You caused it and you know she's right, he thought to himself, despite the fact that he was arguing to prove that he was.
Suddenly, the water mage stepped out of the kitchen. "Where are you going?" His voice came out a bit harsh, however he chose to ignore it.
"Home, Gray-sama." She sighed, running her fingers through her hair after she had tugged on a jacket.
He didn't want her to leave. He's feel even more like shit if he allowed her to leave, thus leading him to drown himself even more in alcohol.
"Don't go Juvia, please." He practically begged at this point, his voice wavering.
She sighed again, glancing at him and taking in the sight. His disheveled hair, his flushed face, his stagger, all the way up to his eyes.
They looked so needy, so tired, and Juvia really didn't want to leave him in this state. That, and it was 4:30 in the morning and she really didn't want to get mugged.
"Okay." She sighed once again, hating how easily she complied to his words. She took off the jacket once again, pulling her hair up into a messy bun.
"You're staying?"
Gray's voice came out as shocked and confused, due to the fact that no one else he knew would ever stay. He was drunk and a mess, yet she plopped herself down on the sofa, giving him a nod.
He watched her curl up into a ball, letting out a tired sigh, probably he fourth one in the span of 30 minutes, and closing her eyes.
Gray knew it was wrong, completely wrong to allow himself to do this to her. He woke her up in the middle of the night because he was drunk and unstable, and then pratically tore her down and caused so many tears.
He ran his fingers through his hair as he made his way back to the kitchen, chugging down almost 3 more bottles of water to sober himself down.
He didn't know much for a fact, but he knew that in the morning, he wouldn't allow himself to forget.
Sleep didn't come to either of them that night. Gray managed to cover Juvia with a blanket and place a pillow under her head (it was really the least he could do), and then make his way to his bedroom.
He only got about 2 hours of sleep, same with the bluenette, but nonetheless he woke up with a hangover.
What he didn't wake up to was missing memories. It took him a moment to fully remember it all, but when he did, his headache just worsened.
When he stumbled into his kitchen, Juvia sat on the island, a cup of tea in front of her, and across from her, two painkillers, a mug of coffee, and a bottle of water.
He took them wordlessly, then sat down and allowed the silence to consume them momentarily.
But Gray could only stay silent for so long.
"I remember it all." Gray said, causing the water mage to freeze in her spot and let out a small curse under her breathe.
"I was hoping you wouldn't." She sighed, taking a small sip from her mug. Gray looked visibly confused, so she chose to elaborate.
"If you didn't, I could have made up some excuse about why I was here and would have pushed away everything you said, no matter how heartbroken. Now, you remember it and you'll say it's all a mistake, and it'll be awkward between us."
When she finished Gray could feel his anger rising, causing him to slam his hand down on the counter. She flinched, and Gray almost apologized, but spoke his thoughts instead.
"Don't say I didn't mean it if you don't know if I did. You always will doubt yourself, won't you? And you'll ALWAYS assume that I'll break your heart. Well I won't, Juvia, I fucking won't. Once again, I care and like you, and I'm not gonna let you sit here and fucking doubt."
He was fuming and furious, but Juvia sighed. "Why would you like me?"
"Because Juvia," He began, "if you didn't already realize this, you make it so hard to not like you. You say all the right things, you do all the right things, like today, and you stick by me through all my messed up baggage and bullshit. To top it all of, you're fucking gorgeous and my favorite thing about you is probably your legs that go on for days. So yeah Juvia, I'm fucking whipped on you and don't doubt it."
He didn't notice she was crying till he heard a sniffle, causing his gaze to snap to hers. "You're such a fucking idiot." She cursed, then wiped away a tear.
"I made you cry, I already know I am." He laughed slightly, and she smiled, standing up and placing her mug in the sink, then turning to him. "It's really hard to love you sometimes, you know?"
As she said that, he had gotten up as well to pour his now cold mug of coffee down the sink, and let out a laugh.
"I'm well aware, but we can work it out, right?" He asked, standing in front of her. She laughed, placing her hands on his chest, above his heart. He knew it was beating rapidly, and wished it would slow down, however said nothing.
"We'll make it work. We always do." She smiled, causing Gray to let out a visible sigh of relief, then chuckle, "I thought you were planning to walk out on me."
Juvia shook her head, a small laugh escaping her lips. "You should know by now that I'd never walk away from you."
Gray took that as a moment to wrap his arms around her waist, allowing himself to pull her closer to him, his laugh echoing through the room.
He never saw himself as the type of guy to fall completely whipped to a girl, yet here he stood: His arms around her, his heart hammering, and a grin that wouldn't seem to disappear plastered on his face.
The thing is, Juvia truly did stay true to her words, and never walked away.
~owari~
note: i'm not a fan of the ending, but i hope you enjoyed!