Author's Corner: So just a warning you guys, I'm just kind of experimenting with this fic. I don't often write in first person, I rarely write romance, and I've written in present tense maybe once in my whole life. So yeah, lots of things I'm trying out so pointers would be great. Also the pairings in this are Gray/Natsu, Loke/Lucy, Jellal/Erza, maybe Romeo/Wendy and a few others I'm not quite ready to spoil. This story takes place a few months after this whole Tartaros arc is over. If you don't read the manga then there might be spoilers.

Also, I do not own Fairy Tail (I think this is the first time I've ever bothered to put a disclaimer)

-Gray Fullbuster-

Natsu would kill me if he knew how much I thought about him, but that's okay. It's his fault, partially. He's always so eager to go off on some big adventure or take some job or just hang out that it's rare we get times like this. When we're both on my bed in our shared apartment. I kiss him and he kisses back. The first time we kissed, it was awkward, wonderful, and burned. Since then though, like everything else about Natsu, I'd come to love it.

"What?" He asks, cocking his head to the side. I'm staring, but I can't help it. For all his recklessness and lack of romance, he's as close to perfect as I think is humanly perfect. It's amazing how someone who's such a badass fighter can be so cute. I kiss him again.

"It's nothing." I reassure him. He's still giving me that curious look he does when he knows he's not being romantic, but he's unsure of what to do. I love it. He's reclining on his elbows now and when our lips meet, I push slightly, just enough to put him flat on his back again. He offers no resistance, so I guess he's dropping the issue, which is good. He always gets weird when I start getting mushy. It's something I've learned to deal with.

Lucy must have walked into the apartment complex at some point me and Natsu were completely caught up in each other, because neither of us notices her until she's turning the doorknob and announcing she has a job for us. I'm barely able to get myself off of Natsu when she walks in. I can feel myself blushing and I really hope she just came by to drop off something we left over there.

"Hey Lucy, what's up?" Natsu asks. His voice is a bit higher than usual, but it's so faint I'm probably the only one who noticed it. Lucy didn't or if she did, she's ignoring it. I really hope she doesn't figure out what she just interrupted or notice I can't look her in the eyes. Blondes are supposed to be dumb, right?

"Nothing, I found a job for us to do. We keep saving the world, but we never get paid for it." Her voice sounds resigned when she says the second part, but I can't look her in the face. Thank goodness Natsu is here. Ironically, he's the cool one under pressure. At least, as long as fighting isn't involved.

"What are we supposed to do?" Natsu inquires. Lucy switches her weight to her right leg before answering.

"It's nothing difficult, just something to pay for this month's rent. Apparently just some illegal mages harassing one of the taverns a few hours south. I figure all we should have to do is show our faces and that'd be enough." Natsu reaches over to grab his coat and I inwardly sigh. I really wanted today to be for us, but Natsu won't let Lucy go off alone. He's assured me it has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with loyalty and I believe him. Natsu has literally gone through hell for his guildmates. Technically, so did I, but that's besides the point.

"Cool, go find Erza and we'll meet you at the guild." Natsu says.

"Alright," Lucy responds as she turns to leave. "By the way, Gray, it's really warm in here." She remarks. It's always hot in me and Natsu's room. He prefers it warm and I just strip. There's a few seconds of panic when I realize the door has yet to be close.

"Everything alright, Lucy?" Natsu asks and I when I look up, Lucy is staring at us. I watch as realization dawns on her and I can see the thoughts forming in her mind. It's warm in the room, so it makes sense that I wouldn't have a shirt on. But Natsu loves the heat. I mentally beg her to think that maybe he had just got out the shower. I curse, whether aloud or not I don't know, when I realize she might have saw me getting from on top of Natsu. Her face goes red.

"Lucy-!" Natsu exclaims before she bolts. He runs to go after, but I grab his wrist. I'm not sure what to feel as I tell him to let her go. I was hoping Lucy would have been okay with it - me and Natsu. My jaw starts to hurt from clenching it too tight.

"Hey," Natsu says, tilting my chin upward. His eyes are so full of conviction. "She's probably just surprised. But I mean, she's Lucy, she'll be cool." I really hope Natsu's right. Lucy's one of my closest friends and I'd hate to lose her.

-Mirajane Strauss-

Lucy was only gone for about ten minutes before she burst through the guild doors and made a beeline for the bar. I'm shocked, truthfully, since Lucy doesn't like to drink. She refuses to because she claims too many authors use drinking as a crutch to make their words flow better and she doesn't want to be like them. When she sits down, I can tell something is wrong.

"Are you okay Lucy? Did you find Gray and Natsu?" Lucy makes a strange sound and for the first time, I notice how red she is. Then it hits me; she must have caught Gray and Natsu. I look around for someone to fill my spot for a minute and find Cana. She prefers drinking the alcohol to serving it, but she's the only in such short notice knows where everything is. She frowns when I ask her to cover for me, but she does it regardless.

"Come on, we should probably talk." I tell Lucy as I guide her out the door. I can hear one patron ask for me to "teach Lucy my ways" and I roll my eyes. As much as I love these people, it's barely past noon. Far too early to be that drunk.

When we get outside, Lucy lets me guide her to the apple tree I often take Lisanna and Elfman to when we just want a family day. It's not particularly out of the way if you're entering the bar, but it's far enough away that it's obvious when someone is using it for alone time. When I look at Lucy, she's still madly blushing.

"I'm guessing that you saw Gray and Natsu, huh?" I say once it becomes it clear she won't initiate the conversation.

"I mean, I didn't mean to and it just-" Lucy stops and her eyes get wide. She puts her hand over her mouth and she suddenly looks horrified. "Oh god, I hope they don't think that I- I only wanted to give them some alone time. Oh my goodness Mirajane, they must think I hate them now!" At this point, Lucy is borderline hysterical, which brings a smile to my face. I'm glad that she cares more about hurting Gray and Natsu than about their relationship. I place my hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"It's okay Lucy." I tell her. Really, it probably isn't and Team Natsu is going to need to have a serious talk before they head out on their next job. But my words have their intended effect and Lucy begins to breathe. I sigh, trying to figure out how to continue the conversation. It's Lucy who speaks next.

"So Gray and Natsu are..." she leaves the sentence for me to complete. I nod.

"Yes, they've been together for a few years now actually." It's a surprise to me how long those two have been dating. Between their constant clashes (which we're pretty sure are mostly foreplay) and the fact Gray is so paranoid about keeping them secret, it's easy too forget how long they've been together. Lucy looks dumbfounded.

"That long? But they're always fighting and they're so different!" I can't help but to laugh at this. She has a very valid point.

"Well, I don't think they take their 'fights' too seriously to be honest. And in the end, those two really do care about each other, even if they don't show it." I see something register in Lucy's eyes.

"Does Juvia know?" Lucy can tell by my face that Juvia is a sticky subject.

"She doesn't know," I say slowly. "But Gray has told her that it's not happening." Lucy frowns as do I. Eccentric as she is, Juvia is still our friend and her unrequited love was something of a downer.

"But wait, didn't Lisanna and Natsu..." Lucy let her sentence hang again. This subject is much less depressing to talk about.

"Well they were only kids," I say with a laugh. "And when Lisanna came back, I think she realized that Natsu was happy so she didn't go after him." Lucy regards this thoughtfully and nods her head approvingly. There's a certain sadness in her eyes though.

"Why didn't they tell me though?" I sigh before answering, since I don't even the full answer to her question. I suspect only Gray does. Regardless, I suppose Lucy at least deserves to know what I do.

"I think, something happened with Gray when he was younger. A bad experience I guess. But he's always really private and secretive over his relationship with Natsu. And he gets really guarded around the people who find out." Lucy is staring hard at the ground.

"Gray...Oh man, I really should go apologize." I massage her shoulder and shake my head.

"Let him come to you, Lucy. I can guarantee Natsu is smoothing it over now. Like I said, Gray gets really defensive about it." Lucy is less-than thrilled about my response I can tell, but she takes the advice with a sigh. Thankfully, it was then that Lisanna sees us and jogs over.

"Hi you two," she says in her usual voice. I stand up to give her a huge as does Lucy.

"Hey Lisanna, what are you up to?" At this, Lisanna sighs and holds up two pieces of paper.

"I have to turn these in."

"You went on a job?" Lucy asks, mostly just to make conversation since it's fairly obvious.

"Sort of. I was chaperoning Romeo and Wendy since they're too young to take jobs on their own."

"I wasn't aware there was an age limit," Lucy says, which surprises both me and Lisanna. Sometimes I forget that Lucy hasn't been in the guild all that long. And we don't have that many younger members, so I suppose it's not surprising she didn't know.

"Well it's nothing official," Lisanna begins to explain. "But Makarov prefers the mages under 16 have a chaperone with them when taking jobs. Just in case a more mature head is needed."

"Yeah, I suppose that does make sense. Well what kind of job was it?" Lucy asks, this time legitimately curious. For the next few minutes, Lisanna describes the job -a fairly simple investigation in southern Magnolia that turned out to be an enchanted dollhouse- and how she had been "ordered" to hang back. Apparently Romeo thought it was best to "have a member in reserve", which, admittedly, is a good way to cover up showing off in front of your crush.

"I think it's so cute, Romeo trying to show off for Wendy." Lisanna squeals. At this Lucy, cocks her head to the side.

"You think he was showing off?" She asks, a look of slight concern on her face. Lisanna notes this and her smile falls just slightly.

"Of course he was!" She exclaims, her smile returning full force. "He has the biggest crush on her." Lucy's jaw hits the floor. Now it's Lisanna's turn to look confused.

"You never noticed?" Lucy shakes her head with a sheepish smile.

"I always figured he was just trying to prove that he could have been in the Magic Games too." She admits, causing Lisanna and I to giggle. Lucy blushes.

"I guess," she begins, her voice growing serious and thoughtful. "I've always seen you all as family, it never occurred to me that people in the guild would have feelings for each other." Lisanna flashes Lucy her trademark grin, her head slightly cocked the right, her eyes closed, and her mouth spread into as far a line as possible.

"I know what you mean, Lucy. But love is everywhere in this guild! It's beautiful." I smile at how taken Lisanna is with the romance in Fairy Tail. She had always been the kind of girl who loved epic romances and stories of true love. And while she was exaggerating a little bit, it's still surprising Lucy never noticed the love that was there. We all talk for a few minutes before Lisanna excuses herself to go turn in her job report. Romeo allegedly injured himself during the job and convinced Wendy to help heal him. "Boys," all three of us say before my little sister runs inside.

The wind starts to pick up, just slightly, as Lucy and I fall into a comfortable silence. Finally she turns to look at me.

"Mira, thanks for today. I really appreciate it." She's talking really formally, which is something of a surprise. No one is ever formal in Fairy Tail. Even Erza and Levy, while polite, maintains a certain level of crudeness in their ways.

"Sure thing, Lucy. I'm always here whenever you want to talk." She smiles and looks down. Lucy's being really shy and I'm about to ask what's wrong when the question flies out of her mouth like a bullet.

"Why aren't you with anyone, Mirajane? You're like the prettiest girl in Fairy Tail and you're smart and kind and strong too." I feel my face flush and I instantly see his face and my heart beats just a little faster. Honestly, I wish he'd just hurry up and get back.

"It's..." I struggle to find a word. "I'm happy with someone." The only one who knows the specifics is Lisanna and as much as I love Lucy, I don't know if I'm ready for people to know about him and me just yet. Lucy's eyes go wide.

"What about you?" I ask, cutting off the stream of questions I know are coming. It works and she laughs sheepishly.

"Nope, no one for me right now. But I guess I wasn't really looking to be honest. I'm just enjoying where I'm at now, you know?" I understand what she means. I realize, with a start, that I've never really talked about things like this with anyone before. It's funny, in a way.

"What is it?" Lucy asks and I realize I'm wearing a ridiculous grin on my face. I shake my head.

"It's nothing, Lucy. Let's go inside, I'm sure Cana is miserable right now."

-Gray Fullbuster-

I think about everything Natsu's said over the past few minutes as he lays asleep in my arms. His body is so warm, I've all but discarded the blanket and even without a shirt or pants I feel hot. I don't really mind it though, since I have other things to occupy my thoughts. Like Lucy. Maybe Natsu was right. Maybe she wouldn't hate us for being together. I mean, it is Lucy and she's seen us at some of our lowest points. Still part of me is nervous. The same part that's always nervous about someone new finding out. Finding out and hating us. Natsu, somehow, must sense my mood because he unconsciously curls up closer to me. I push the bad memory away.

I have this now. So fuck everything else.

Author's Corner, Pt. 2

So I think this turned out pretty good. Tell me what you think about it. Anything to comment on grammar-wise? A particularly OOC-scene (you know, besides Gray and Natsu, who I swear I'm gonna try to work on). Or hey, just leave a 'good job' or something, those are cool too. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.