Author's Note: Hello! This story is just a series of unconnected one-shots and perhaps drabbles focused on Gray and Juvia. I wrote this one for the Gruvia Fluff Fest 2015 (Tumblr). The theme is "milk and cookies", day five.

This is a real world AU in which Gray works at Fairy Tail, a business, and Juvia, who works in the same building, is his fiancée.

Summary: All Gray wants is to do something nice for his fiancée, but nope, life just had to get in the way. Alternately, in which Gray is pissed at snow and utterly fails at cooking. Good thing Juvia comes to his rescue. The irony of that isn't lost on Gray.

Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect recognizable as a part of Fairy Tail. I just own the the writing, nothing more.

Cookies and Kraft Dinner

The moment he stepped out of the building, Gray frowned before letting slip a very uncultured word. "Fuck."

It was snowing. Now normally, that wouldn't have bothered him very much – he was a winter person, but today was different. Most days, especially when snow drifted lazily for hours on end and even if a blizzard raged, he would watch with a sense of calm and mild pleasantness. Today though, the thick blanket of glittering white snow covering his car put him a rather terrible mood.

Well, worse than it already was. Of all days, the skies just chose to unleash twenty inches of snow today. He needed to get home, dammit! With all the snow, there was no way he would be able to arrive home at even his regular time, much less the hour early arrival he had planned for today! Plus, it was Friday, and everyone went crazy on Fridays and more traffic than normal ensued. Granted, Magnolia was on the smaller side as far as cities went, but still. Not to mention the slower speed most people will be driving at today. It really couldn't be worse – oh wait, he hadn't gone to change the tires for his car yet.

Belatedly, Gray realized exactly what day it was. It was Friday. December 13. He didn't really believe in superstitions, but with everything that had gone on today, both at work and home, he was really starting to wonder if the day really did have a legitimate bad luck trend. First, there was Juvia, then Natsu, getting whacked in the head by his supervisor, Erza, the snow storm, and Friday, and then forgetting to change his tires.

"Well, fuck my life."

Gray sighed heavily before trudging from the office building towards his car, mood progressively worsening as snow brushed against his ankles. His coat billowed in the biting winter wind – it was December 13, for god's sake; it shouldn't be this cold yet! – and his raven hair blew across his eyes in thick locks before he shoved it up in frustration.

Grabbing the snow brush, starting the ignition and slamming the passenger door before snow could find home inside his car, Gray started to methodically and harshly flinging snow off his (very precious) car while hoping Natsu or someone infuriating wouldn't come out until he left. He didn't need to be antagonized any further.

Fate must have thought his life didn't suck enough though, because just as he got into his car after minutes of snow flinging, Natsu Dragneel, the pink-headed bastard, exited the building with a few papers and started toward his car with an air of purpose and a very dangerous look. Not that Gray was intimidated, nope. Just flippin' tired and immensely irritated.

"OI! ICE PRICK! Where the HELL do you THINK you're going?!"

Gray slammed the driver's door and semi-calmly drove out of the parking lot, leaving his pissed off co-worker glaring twin holes in his bumper. He had far more important things to do than deal with a furious Dragneel.

As soon as he got home, Gray habitually removed his coat at the front door with so much a cursory thought before very quietly slipping into his bedroom, unknowingly stripping along the way. All the curtains were drawn, the only light being the strip that was flowing in from the open door.

Gray looked on at the sleeping figure in his bed, slim figure hidden under swaths of blankets. Juvia's blue hair was splayed out on the pillow, her body curled in on itself. Eyes closed, cheeks red and lips parted in troubled breathing, she still looked beautiful. He silently padded over. He leaned over the sick girl in his bed and brushed her hair away with a gentle hand. Placing a soft kiss on her fever red cheek, he turned, silently closed the bedroom door and went to work.

Whoever said that cooking was easy as long as you followed the cookbook totally and completely lied, Gray decided. Big time.

He stood staring at the disgusting looking pot of swirling… stuff on the stove and silently made yet another note to compliment Juvia on her cooking more. Because even though Gray loved cinnamon and Juvia disliked it, her cooking was nothing short of divine, and far more superior to the gloppy mess in front of him that was supposed to be spaghetti sauce. Between that and the fail of far overcooked noodles, Gray just decided to give up for the rest of his hopeless-at-cooking life.

He slowly clicked the stovetop surface to "off" when a hint of burning sent him into a frenzy. He jerked back from the stove like it grew fangs and was snapping them before wrenching the hinged oven door open and yanked out a tray of unrecognizable, distinctly burned things.

Gray hastily dropped the tray on the stovetop next to his fail of spaghetti making – the tray was burning his hands, damn it, and inspected the black, charred lumps on the cookie tray. They were supposed to be cookies, but… might as well be ashes now. Gray threw his hands up in frustration as he backed away.

"Fuck. Fuck it all! Fuck. It. All! I give up!" He grabbed the rejected cookie tray and set it on the table. Then, slumped into a chair, he proceeded to toss charred lumps of cookie at the wall in a despairing state of ever getting cooking right. He just wanted to cook for his girl, who was sick, damn it! Fate had a rather terrible sense of humour. He and Juvia always had cookies and milk on Friday nights! Now, on top of Natsu, there would be no cookies. Damn it all.

"Why is it that every single time I try to do something nice, it always get tossed back in my face with added terribleness," Gray muttered. "I just want to cook for her, but everything shitty just has to add itself to my futile attempts. Fuck. What a terrible day. I even messed up the cookies. Fuck, no one messes up cookies, except me, apparently. God, what am I going to do for dinner? Juvia won't want Kraft dinner, especially not when she's sick! What do I do?! Fuck!"

"Gray-sama?" A soft, tentative voice sounded behind as another burned cookie left his hands to sail towards the wall.

Gray jumped up and whirled around, eyes widening as he saw his fiancée standing there, blinking blearily up at him. "Shit," he exclaimed, as he did his best to shove the tray of failure behind his back and out of her line of sight. Then he smiled at her brightly, trying to hide his shame at having failed so badly and un-epically. "Hey, Juvia! How are you now?"

"M'okay…"

At her tired response, Gray rushed over, cookies forgotten, to pat her all over for any external signs of her fever worsening. To his relief, her body temperature seemed to have lowered, if only slightly. He smiled, leaning his cool forehead down to touch against her hot, fevered one. "Juvia… glad you're doing better."

Juvia smiled back in contentment, gazing at Gray through hazy eyes, though with all her usual adoration. She reached up a tired arm, her movement sluggish, to pat his face. "Gray-sama." Then, her eyes snapped wide open, a sense of alarm overcoming her. The overwhelming burning smell had finally reached his stuffy nose. "Gray-sama?!"

Gray stiffened momentarily against Juvia before pulling away and slumping back into the chair he previously occupied. "Sorry Juvia, I tried to cook for you, but…"

She gasped as she padded over into the kitchen. Gray threw an arm over his eyes in tiredness, not wanting to see her horrified expression.

Juvia stared at the two pots of Gray's attempts at cooking. Based on appearances, he had tried to make spaghetti but took a wrong turn somewhere. And looking at the ingredients spread around, she guessed he had also tried to make cookies. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, because they were her favourite. Because it was Friday. Juvia sniffed, affection and love welling up in her like a tidal wave. He… her precious Gray-sama thought to take care of her? That was so sweet! Of course, he didn't really do so well, but it was the thought that counted! And in Juvia's eyes, she didn't care about what anyone else had to say, everything Gray-sama did was wonderful. Even if he did burn the cookies and proceeded to throw them at the wall in frustration, she thought as she took note of black smears on the wall of the dining room.

Juvia sniffed again, and her face broke out into a large smile. She looked at her Gray, who was half naked and looking very spectacular indeed, with his arm over his eyes and concluded that he must be feeling terrible. She walked silently, ignoring the pounding in her head and the sway in her step as she made her way over to him.

"Gray-sama," she murmured, soft, warm hands pulling at his arm. Gray obliged and stood as she tugged at his hands. "Juvia wants to give Gray-sama a hug."

Gray stood as Juvia delivered one of her affectionate bear hugs, her slim arms wrapped tightly around his torso. Her strength surprised him. Her slim, sick self shouldn't have this much strength, but then again, if she derived it from the capacity of her love, then that strength would be limitless and very powerful indeed. Gray smiled gently down at the beloved blue head pressed against his chest. "Juvia…"

"Thank you for taking care of Juvia, Gray-sama. Juvia is very appreciative. Juvia wants you to know that Juvia loves Gray-sama very much!" Juvia lifted her head to look up at him, eyes sparkling. "Juvia loves you very much!" Suddenly, Juvia felt her discomfort melting away.

Natsu might call him an ice prick, but all Gray did was completely melt as the girl before him once again reminded him why he loved her. She was just so… adorable, lovable, affectionate, beautiful, caring, kind, a good cook; the list went on and on. And she didn't care that he burned her favourite type of cookie and ruined what was supposed to be their dinner. God, I love her.

"It's okay, Gray-sama. Cooking is not very easy. But since it's Friday, and we always have cookies and milk together on the couch together on Fridays, Juvia will solve this problem."

Gray watched a little confounded as she walked over to the cupboards and pulled out a package of chocolate chip cookies from the top shelf. Gray felt his mouth open in surprise. "What…?"

Juvia shot a sly sideways glance. "Juvia has been saving these for a day when Juvia is not able to bake them." She opened the packaging to reveal row upon row of chocolate chip cookies. Gray stared at her, greatly amazed by her planning and preparation for such a day.

"Juvia, you're – you're amazing, you know that?"

She blushed, before shoving the package at him. He took it, before moving to grab the milk from the refrigerator. Juvia took two cups and poured the milk. Gray put them in the microwave and handed a cookie to Juvia. She took it with delicate hands, mouth closing around it delectably. Gray stared.

He couldn't help himself. He leaned down and close to her face, causing another blush to erupt on her cheeks. Gently, he scraped his teeth on the cookie caught between hers, noses brushing up against each other, and took a bite out of her cookie. It tasted delicious.

By the time he stood back up, Juvia's face boasted a fierce blush. "G-G-Gray-sama!" Gray smirked. It was good knowing he could make his fiancée blush with little things like that.

The microwave beeped, reminding both of them that they still had evening plans. Gray placed the cookie container on the table reached to drag out two cups of warm milk.

"Juvia will put some cookies on a plate," Juvia announced, face still a shade of pink. Gray retained his smile as he nodded and walked over to the couch. She soon joined him, and in no time, they were cuddled comfortably on the couch. Juvia's body was warm, just slightly unnaturally so, but it was a rather nice contrast to Gray's own cool body. She was warm, while he was not. It was beautiful in its own way.

They lay there, curled up against each other, talking about work and friends, and then murmuring sweet nothings to each other as they dipped cookies into each other's cups and shoved copious amounts of soft, mushy cookie into each other's mouths.

"Gray-sama, thank you for trying. Juvia love you a lot for that too. Juvia is not hungry, don't worry."

It was Gray's turn to blush. "Y-yeah, no problem. I just wanted to help. I'll clean up later, don't worry."

"Mmhmm. Juvia will help."

"No. I won't allow it. You just sit and watch and be comfortable."

"If that's what Gray-sama wants."

"It is."

They continued like that for a while, until Gray's stomach decided to remind its owner that it hadn't been fed since lunch. Juvia giggled and poked his bare torso. "Hungry?"

Gray muttered a single word of "Yeah." He sighed, remembering the mess of spaghetti sauce on the stovetop. But he knew for a fact that he could make macaroni and cheese. He basically lived on that stuff during university years. They had a few boxes of it too… then again, it had been a while… anyhow…

"Okay, Juvia, I'm going to make mac and cheese, do you want some?"

"No, Juvia is not hungry. But Juvia will help you make it," she said as she lifted herself from Gray's lap.

"No, you stay here and rest. You're sick, so let me pamper you for once."

"Juvia insists." Juvia, with a pointed stare, had Gray reconsidering his options. "Juvia does not mean to sound mean, but you do not really know how to cook. Juvia will help."

Gray's resolve withered. She was right; he would probably find some ridiculous way to ruin even mac'n cheese, if evidence from recent attempts were anything to go by. Besides, he trusted that Juvia would know her limits, so…

"Okay. You can help me," Gray mumbled a little bashfully. Juvia nodded, blue curls bouncing, a grin making its way across her cute face. "Juvia gets to cook with Gray-sama!"

Juvia grabbed his hand and led him into the kitchen, almost empty cups and a plate devoid of cookies all but forgotten. She turned his smiled up to him. Gray smiled back.