A/N: So, my original plan was to have a full story posted with my OC's back story before I included any of these short stories on the side, but I'm still working on the long version and I have a TON of one-shots in my files. I've been trying to sort through them and get a few posted to see peeps think of my Fairy Tail works, so leave me a comment and lemme know. Hope you enjoy and Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Fairy Tail characters, just the OC.

Cold Hearted Forgiveness

Gray and Larissa

His foot paused on the last step of the porch. He glanced away from the door, scowling as the rain fell in steady torrents on the empty streets of Magnolia. He pushed some of his slick hair from his eyes as streams of water ran in lines down his cheeks. His lips thinned into a strict line and he shoved his hands into his pockets, tendons standing out like cords in his arms when the bruises on the back of his right hand scraped against the rough fabric of his jeans. A low hiss escaped from his lips and he turned his face to the sky, muttering a curse.

The soaked cotton clinging to his back brought him to his senses as he tried to repress a shiver running along his arms. Blinking the rain from his eyes, he sighed at the door and stomped the rest of the distance towards it, reaching for the wooden panel with his good hand and hammering on it as a colorful stream of words slipped from the corners of his mouth.

The door opened quickly just as his patience had thinned to a mere thread. She stood in front of him in pajamas covered in silver stars; one hand on the doorknob, the other rubbing at her eyes.

"It's 3 in the morning…" she began groggily.

He shouldered his way into the house with a grunt, storming into the living room without taking his boots off, tossing his duffel bag on a chair and collapsing on her couch.

Gray reveled in her moment of silence, with a quick glance she threw over her shoulder at him before quietly shutting the door and turning the lock. He watched her with light grace as her bare feet brought her closer to him, as though to a wild predator. She looked so frail to be around someone like him right now.

She stopped in front of him, letting her eyes take in the sight before her. A sudden incandescent rage filled him to the brim and he wanted to tear apart every feature of her beautiful and grave face, to claw out the only pair of eyes that allowed themselves to hold his with such a pitiful taste.

Intending to hurt her, he opened his mouth.

Intending to hurt him, she reached out and touched his cheek.

"Who did this to you?" she murmured, her thumb gently outlining what he assumed to be the purple patch underneath his jaw.

His hand seized her wrist, but he couldn't bring himself to swat her away. Her gaze dropped to the back of his hand – too late. He remembers the injury. The sickening sound of his fist colliding with the brick wall after missing his intended target – and her lips began to part.

"I don't need your God damn pity!" he growled and tightened his grip on her wrist like a vise, hoping that it hurt her as bad as it did him.

Her lavender eyes found his again. There was not a trace of pain, not a trace of pity in them. She held his gaze, and he wanted to scream at her. Sneer and curse as his fingers increased the pressure around her wrist until the veins in them burst. I'm the stronger one, and nobody gets away with looking down on me! His mind screamed and he wanted to yell it at her. But he's caught in her gaze like a fly and can't bring himself to it. He swallowed hard a few times and his fingers loosened as he managed a low curse.

Conscious of his dilemma, the back of her hand slowly brushed down his jaw before she turned and walked into her bathroom. He watched as she moved through the dark before coming back and handing him a pair of dry clothes.

"You can use the shower if you want" she says in a soft voice. "I'll put on some tea"

He let her step away from him even though there is a small tug within him asking otherwise before he stood and went into the bathroom.

Sitting on the couch in dry clothes and smelling of her shampoo, Gray took small drinks from the warm cup in his hands as his eyes linger on Larissa while she rummages through the kitchen, humming softly as she tiptoed across the wooden floor. He watched as her dark hair tumbled in soft curls over her shoulder blades as she twisted from side to side, a subtle sashaying movement of her hips, an efficient fluttering of her hands.

Larissa noticed him looking – Gray being sure to retain enough of his ego refrained from looking away – and she smiled to herself. He came here to her. Of all places, it was her front door that he had found in the storm.

He saw her smile as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and something within his ribcage began to stir a little more. Almost as if a trapped bird caught in a suspense of wonder. The corner of his lip twisted downward in response.

She stepped back into the living room and reached for his hand before he could order her not to. Gray watched through heavy lids as she held the skin tight, examining the angry patches of torn skin around the knuckles with clinical attention. His jaw tightened; he's was trying to convince himself that he only came to her because of her healing magic. Nothing more.

Larissa moved to sit beside him. He sat very still as she placed a hand lightly over the top of his, watching as a faint glow shines from her palm. In searching for some distraction, he glanced down and noticed the outline of her nipples through her thin t-shirt, only for her to abruptly reach for his jaw and tilt his head upwards with a quirked eyebrow. He molded his face into the same slow seductive smile that has gotten him into beds belonging to the opposing gender, and she shook her head to herself. Setting back to her task, she lifted her hand from his, now fully healed and let it fall to his lap. Something akin to a blade seemed to stab between his ribs, and he scowled at the small bit of fringe hiding her eyes.

"Stay here for as long as you like" she says.

Larissa glanced up at him, and her eyes held that look, and he knew she was thinking about that day…which now seems like a lifetime ago. Once when he had tasted her skin, inhaled the scent of her throat, held her by the waist. When she let him shakily place his lips on hers, let him claim her as his own. He had frozen those thoughts from his mind, yet they still constantly haunted him. He was afraid to turn back to the place he had once deemed "home" because he knew what it could do to her.

Her hand skimmed close to his face, instinctively he flinched away, as it settled against his cheek, her thumb brushed soft circles along his jaw. Gray felt completely terrified of her right then, more than he had been of anyone in years.

He had torn her heart into bits shortly after she had given it to him.

Larissa had stood in the doorway, eyes wide as he proceeded to lay sloppy kisses down the throat and breast of the half-naked woman in his arms. Her batting her eyelashes at him and giggling loudly as his hand slid up her thigh. He knew Larissa was watching and threw her a haughty look as she turned and fled, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

Suddenly, Larissa looked away, perhaps she realized that he was thinking along the same lines. His healed hand curled around hers as he attempted to say something, anything – that he had kicked everything in sight that night on his way back to his apartment; he destroyed many of his belongings by freezing them and smashing them against the walls; that he refrained from taking jobs just to keep from seeing her at the guild; that for months he hadn't spoken a single word as woman after woman writhed beneath him, knowing that there was only one name he could utter.

But not a single syllable made it past his lips. He hung his head helplessly and dropped his forehead to her shoulder.

The scent of her is just as he remembered. She smells of honey and lilac and stardust. He inhaled and pressed his face as close to her throat as he dared. Her arms folded around him, greeting him as if he'd never hurt her before, and her fingers curl through his damp hair. Past the rapid crashing of his heartbeat in his ears, he believes she is saying something. Her vocal chords sing and swell against his cheek, and it's only after he feels the wet on his cheeks followed by a chocked sob and her fingers begin to rub against his spine to soothe him that he manages to understand.

His name.

Just his name on her lips, and a feeling of warmth washes over him as he closes his eyes and is soon asleep in her arms.

A/A/N: This is meant to take place after Gray has encountered his father had now has Demon Slayer magic. I always pictured him taking a darker turn and his personality being deeply affected by it, but it's just my spin. Thanks for reading!