Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima!

No Reason Why

You were looking at me like you wanted to stay, when I saw you yesterday

The first time he saw her, she was staring up at the bright blue sky. She'd been sitting alone, outside of his classroom. He'd watched for a second before he looked away and continued on his way.

He saw her again a week later. She was reading a book at one of the many tables of the coffee shop he and his friends went to every other week. He had just placed his order when his eyes locked on her. She was tucking a stray hair behind her ear, pushing her reading glasses up the bridge of her nose as she turned the page of her book.

"Juvia! Sorry I'm late!" A blonde girl approached her then and the pretty bluenette blinked her eyes up at the girl and Gray's breath caught as he saw her smile the prettiest smile he'd ever seen.

"What the hell are you staring at, perverted bastard?" Groaning at the annoying sound of his friend's voice, Gray finally broke his gaze away from the blue haired girl and looked towards his friend.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Natsu glanced over his shoulder and then smirked, "The blonde's mine. But I can get her to ask for her friend's number for you."

He bursted out in a fit of laughter and dodged Gray's fist with ease. "Don't get your panties on a twist! Anyone could see you drooling all over your face as you stared at the poor girl from miles away!"

It was a month after that, when Natsu, his childhood friend, and his girlfriend, Lucy, invited him for some drinks at a bar a few streets down their university, that he finally got to talk to her.

"She's in my chemistry class!" Lucy winked at Gray and he groaned while Natsu wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. That jerk! "She's a genius! Smartest girl I've met!" The blonde gushed and the blue haired girl beside her sweat dropped and waved a hand in dismissal, blushing in embarrassment.

"You're exaggerating, Lucy." She mumbled, her eyes catching Gray's for a second before she quickly looked away.

Rolling her eyes, the blonde wrapped her arm around her boyfriend's before she muttered, "No I'm not." Sighing, she then continued, "No one has ever gotten a perfect score on professor's Porlyusica's exams, not even that little genius, Wendy."

Flushing, Juvia began to stutter her refusal when Gray looked her way and said, "Maybe you can study with me later? I suck at chemistry."

Juvia blinked her eyes up at Gray, everything around them disappearing as her eyes caught his. Smiling softly, she whispered a faint, "Okay."

They met every Friday after that, spending hours studying and getting used to each other's company. Her hands trembled every time he'd get too close to her as they sat inches away from the other, a book lying in the middle of them, their eyes locking as they looked up at the same time and their faces flushing with color.

He felt stupid. Why couldn't he just ask her out like he did with every other girl before her? Why was she so different?

He sighed loudly as he lay in bed. Turning to his side as he stared out the window, his eyes closed as he remembered her sweet scent and the soothing sound of her laughter.

Covering his flushing face with his arm, Gray groaned. When had he become like this?! He didn't know. But he couldn't get her out of his head.

Maybe it was the way she smiled. Or the way she didn't give much care of what other's thought of her. Or the way she overthought everything, over studying for every exam until their brains felt fried. Or the way she bit onto her bottom lip while she concentrated on something. He didn't know. Maybe it was all those things and more.

They'd been perfect strangers, and now, they were so much more. Friends wasn't enough, Gray knew that much.

Getting up from bed, he grabbed his phone and called her number before he chickened out of it. Heart thumping madly in his chest, he waited inpaintaintly for her to pick up. And when she finally did, he felt his entire room spin.

His ears thumped madly as she whispered, "Is something wrong, Gray?"

He gulped almost audibly as he glanced down at his alarm clock, cursing himself for calling her at such a late hour. She was probably studying or just about to go to bed.

"Is this a bad time?" He found himself blurting out and he slapped a hand to his forehead just as the words left his mouth.

After a few seconds of silence, Juvia's calm voice finally came from the other side of the call, "No, I just put away my books for the night."

Letting out a breath of relief, Gray then said, "Oh… That's good." They were quiet for a few seconds before he finally spoke again. "Are you free tomorrow?"

And he just about wanted to slam his head on the nearest wall. What the hell had he just asked?!

The line was quiet for what felt like an eternity after that and Gray began to contemplate a way to move out of the country when Juvia spoke, "I think I am. I have to run a few errands in the morning but I'm sure I'll be done at around five. Is that a good time for you?"

"It's great!" Gray almost cheered from relief, his excitement all too apparent and he heard Juvia giggle. "Can you ice skate?"

"I… Uh…" He could just picture her biting onto her lower lip and he grinned.

"I can teach you, if you want?" She laughed into the phone and Gray chuckled along.

"Okay. That sounds nice. I'll be looking forward to the lessons." And they ended the call then, with Gray telling her he'd pick her up at around five.

Allthrouout the drive to Juvia's and Lucy's apartment, he kept chanting to himself that this was just his way of thanking her for all their study sessions and his passing grades, and not for any other reason.

When Juvia's blonde roommate opened the door, a suggestive smile formed on her lips as soon as she saw him, Gray grumbling out some excuse for picking up Juvia.

"No funny business, you hear me?" Lucy warned as she jabbed her finger on his chest and he gulped audibly, stepping back and rolling his eyes at her. "I mean it. She's not like all those other girls you've been with."

Watching Juvia grab her purse and jacket from behind Lucy, Gray's blue eyes met the blonde's, causing her brown eyes to widen as he spoke, "And I'm not the guy I used to be." He looked passed Lucy and towards Juvia as he smiled. "She's different… I know that."

Blinking her eyes up at him, Lucy then giggled, her small hand coming up to cover her grin. Slapping a hand on his back, Gray groaned and cursed her under his breath as she winked up at him. "Juvia!" She called, her eyes never leaving Gray's and halting her blue haired friend on her way, she then grinned and continued, "I approve of this one!"

Eyebrows twitching, Gray yelled, "The hell?! Are you her mother or something?!"

Juvia blushed madly as she watched an embarrassed Gray then glance her way and quickly look away and Lucy broke out in a fit of laughter as she watched them.

Grabbing her arm, Gray pulled Juvia out of the apartment, wanting to get the hell away from that blonde devil. "You're just as annoying as your idiot boyfriend!" He called back to the blonde and she rolled her eyes and flipped him off.

Turning into a fit of giggles, Juvia wiped the tears that gathered in the corners of her eyes before she whispered, "She's just worried." Grinning brightly up at Gray, making his heart skip a beat in the process, she continued, "That's what real friends do." She looked down at the floor then, her eyes softening as she did.

"Juvia?" He then whispered, his heart beating madly in his chest when her eyes locked on his.

"You know, Gray. Before I met Lucy, I didn't know what it was like to have real friends. I only knew from what I read in books." She laughed softly to herself. "I'm glad I met her. If it wasn't for her, I would have never had the courage to talk to you." Her eyes locked on his impossibly deep blue ones as she whispered, "I'd been so nervous to talk to you that time she introduced us, but I later realized there had been nothing to be nervous about. All those rumors about you were definitely all wrong. You're nothing like what they said you were."

Eyes widening, Gray took a step forward, his fingers combing through her hair as he whispered, "What if I told you all those rumors were true?"

Raising an eyebrow at him, Juvia whispered, "I'd say you're lying."

Gulping audibly, he muttered, "And if I weren't?"

Smiling warmly up at him, Juvia took his hand and answered, "Then I'd still be your friend, no matter what. I'll take the old Gray and this one equally. All of you, I want all of you Gray. I want to know everything about you."

And without thinking anymore, he cupped her cheek and tilted her head slightly upwards. Their eyes met, her hands trembling as he dropped his gaze towards her mouth and leaned in, kissing her like there was no tomorrow.

They didn't go ice skating that night. No, they went to his apartment instead.

"I've never done this before." She whispered between kisses, her fingers tracing his exposed chest, making a shiver run down his back.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asked and she flushed a crimson color, shaking her head as she urged him to continue.

"I told you, didn't I?" She smiled brightly up at him, eyes full of sincerity as she continued, "I want all of you, Gray. Always have. Always will."

And he smiled down at her, cupping her face as he captured her lips with his. His kiss was feather-light, unhurried. But the kiss completely changed gears when she opened her mouth to let him in.

He kissed down her neck, sucking just below her ear and making her breathe harder. Tracing a path down her jaw, Juvia's eyes rolled back to her head and her shallow breaths receded into short pants when he started using his tongue, and she whispered breathlessly, "I love you, Gray."

His chest burned as he stared down at her, his heart thumping madly in his ears as he kissed her, forgetting about everything and everyone, and even about those words she had just uttered.

So, when she lay in his chest, sleeping soundly with a soft smile on her lips, Gray looked out the window and frowned.

She loved him?

Covering his face with his hand, he groaned. What the hell had he just done?

No one had ever made him feel the way she did. Not even she had… He winced as he thought of her. Sighing, he looked down at Juvia, tracing his fingers down her cheek as she slept soundly. Could he… call this love?

Mouth thinning into a straight line, he realized he didn't want to. Because if he did… would she too hurt him like she had? Would he go back to how he used to be?

He didn't want that. He'd hurt so many innocent girls just to get back at someone who'd broken his heart. And in the end, she hadn't cared about it all. She'd still gotten married.

Closing his eyes, Gray curled his hands up into fists as he remembered her long scarlet hair flowing down her exposed back. Her hands curled on the folds of her white dress as she frowned at him, whispering words of apologies and regrets. "I love him, Gray." She whispered as she traced her cheek, "One day, you too will fall in love, and you'll understand."

"I already do. She's about to get married. To a man that isn't me." He muttered, her eyes widening as soon as he spoke those words.

Looking down, she breathed, "I'm so sorry." And she walked away from him, without giving him a second glance.

His heart ached as she smiled brightly up at him, up at a man who wasn't him. She looked at him in a way she had never looked at Gray. A look full of love and adoration.

He'd swore to never fall in love ever again. Love… it only brought pain and misery. Nothing good would ever come from falling in love… Yet… He looked down at Juvia, frowning as he realized that if he continued to let her in, he'd end up hurting himself and hurting her as well. Because she really cared about him. More than anyone had before. But, all the woman that had ever cared for him, ended up leaving him.

Could he open his heart once again?

The next morning, when her bright blue eyes caught his, he shook his head at her unspoken question, and the hope that had been shining brightly in her eyes, faded in an instant. He wasn't ready to fall in love. Not yet. Maybe… not ever. He'd been burned one too many times.

Holding the sheets around her body, Juvia looked down at her feet, her bangs covering her eyes as she breathed, "Gray?"

He looked towards her, his eyes widening as soon as he was met with her tearful smile. "I'll wait for you." She smiled such a bright smile that his heart felt like it'd jump right out of his chest. "I told you, remember? I want it all. The good and the bad. I'll take it all. No judgment or reprimands. I'll be here, so don't worry. I'll be waiting."

Gray stared at her for a few minutes, holding his breath as his eyes studied hers- eyes full of confidence and determination. And he then bursted out laughing.

Juvia blinked at him, unsure of what to make of his odd reaction to her sincere words.

Crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at him, Juvia muttered, "Those words were no joke, Gray. I do not understand what you found so funny."

Holding up a hand, Gray took a few more seconds to laugh off whatever he'd found so incredibly funny before he looked at Juvia, tracing her cheek and making goosebumps rise up and down her arms. Tugging a stray hair behind her ear, Gray whispered, "You are too good for your own good." The highly amused smirk tugging at the corners of his lips was irritating Juvia, and she was about to comment, when he leaned down to her ear and whispered, "And for mine."

And when their eyes locked again, she couldn't help tell him, "I love you."

Placing his forehead against hers, he chuckled lowly, muttering, "I know." And she pushed him back, making him roll over in laughter as she yelled that he was being a jerk and he pulled her into his arms before she could storm off.

They spent the entire day watching movies, taking turns choosing one as Gray scrolled through Netflix. She laced her hand with his, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as they watched one of the movies she'd picked. He really liked the facial expressions she made. Her laughter. Her smiles. Even when she frowned and covered her face in shock or fear.

Chuckling to himself, he pulled her closer to his chest, enjoying the feeling of her next to him.

It was three months after that day, while he was having lunch with Natsu at the usual coffee shop by their university, that a fuming Lucy approached stormed towards him. Any other day it would have been hilarious to see the blonde so worked up, if her anger was being directed at her idiot boyfriend, of course. But at that moment, it wasn't. She was looking directly at Gray.

"You idiot!" She yelled, slamming her hands down on their table and making Natsu jump in his seat as he blinked up at his girlfriend.

Gray raised an eyebrow and Lucy's hands curled into fists, breathing hard as she yelled, "When the hell are you going to get your stupid head out of your ass and tell her you love her?!" His heart stopped at her words and Natsu sweat dropped as the entire coffee shop fell silent, everyone staring straight at them. But Lucy didn't mind them. Her eyes never broke away from Gray's.

Looking to the side, Gray muttered, "That's none of your business."

Her lips were set into a hard line and he could see the stubborn glint in her chocolate colored eyes. "It fucking is! She's one of my dearest friends! And I'm tired of seeing that fake smile of hers! And it's all because of you!" She was breathless and frustrated, and Natsu grabbed her arm, telling her to calm down but Lucy shook her head. "No, he has to know this, Natsu. She's telling herself she doesn't care but she obviously does."

Narrowing her eyes at a frowning Gray, Lucy continued, "She didn't tell you, did she?"

Gray raised an eyebrow, only able to shake his head and Lucy sighed. "You two are such a pain in the ass. And you said Natsu was the dense one." Natsu smirked and Lucy glared at him, making that smirk of his completely disappear.

Sighing again, Lucy muttered, "A guy from our chemistry class has been pursuing her for some time now. She's been declining his invitations to go out, but… But she finally agreed to go out with him. She's ready to move on, Gray. Though, I'm sure she still has hope that you… that you will reciprocate her feelings, one day, someday… "

Glaring down at the annoyingly quiet idiot, Lucy snapped, "Whenever the idiot she fell for grows a pair, gets the hell up from his ass and goes after her!"

Closing his notebook, Gray sighed. His deep blue eyes then caught Lucy's. "Where is she?"

Smiling in triumph, Lucy yelled after him, just before he walked out of the coffee shop, "She just left to the bus station!"

Staring with raised eyebrows at his girlfriend, Natsu asked, "Is she really going out with some other guy?"

Flipping her long hair back, Lucy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course not. I told the idiot that she was taken and to back the hell off. I just said that to get your stupid hard headed friend up on his ass. It's been long enough. Juvia deserves to be happy."

Chuckling, Natsu pulled Lucy on his lap, making her yell out is surprise. "You little devil." She pushed him back but Natsu caught her wrist and pulled her in for a sweet kiss. "You know, I love you, right?"

"Of course. I put up with enough of your shit for you not to love me." Winking down at her sweat dropping boyfriend she then whispered in his ear, " And I'm not running off anytime soon."

"Like hell am I gonna let you get away." She giggled as he pulled her into another kiss.

Gray ran as fast as his legs allowed him to, ignoring the reprimanding yells of his peers as he almost ran into them.

Breathing hard, he finally stopped at the stop sign, waiting to cross to the bus stop. He searched for blue hair then and his eyes widened in relief when he finally saw her.

Her eyes found his then and everything seemed to stop for Gray, nothing existed but those large blue eyes looking straight at him.

Lucy was right. He really was an idiot. Shaking his head, he couldn't help chuckle. So what if he got burned before? That didn't mean he would again. Juvia was different. He knew that much.

He could just hear Natsu's annoying voice, telling him, "You know, she's not Erza."

And she wasn't. She was so much different. She was right for him. She got him like no one had ever. She wanted him, all of him. She didn't judge his past. She accepted him. Even when he couldn't say those words he'd been feeling since the moment he laid eyes on her.

He'd fallen in love with her that day. Watching her sitting in that bench under the tree. The wind blowing softly, making her look up at the leaves falling from the tree above, holding her hair back as she smiled at the clear blue sky. He had wanted to go up to her. Why didn't he? Because he was an idiot, that's why.

Their eyes met from across the street, her cheeks turning a bright red as he stared at her and she looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. And he chuckled as he watched the cars drive by, waiting for the light to turn red and for that damn sign to change so he could walk up to her. Because like hell was he going to lose her.

"Juvia!" He called, not wanting to wait until the damn cars stopped. Taking a deep breath as he tried to calm his thumping heart, he yelled without a second thought, "I love you!"

Her eyes widened as she watched him, the people standing around him and her looking at them with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

"W-what?! W-why are you saying this now, G-Gray?!" She stuttered, her hands covering her flushed cheeks as she blinked her eyes rapidly down at the pavement.

Grinning widely, Gray answered, "No reason why."

She glanced up at him then, raising an eyebrow as she regarded him and she sighed. "Of course you'd say that."

Smirking, Gray then asked her, "Do I need one?"

Juvia stared at him for a few seconds then, her hands falling to her sides as she smiled widely at him. "Of course not." An adorable half-smile appeared on her face as she shook her head. "It's something you can't explain, is it not?"

The cars finally stopped then and the light finally changed, the people standing around him crossing the street. He walked after them without thinking, his eyes never leaving Juvia's.

She smiled brightly up at him once he reached her. "Love I mean." She whispered and he took her face and kissed her.

Leaning his forehead on hers, he whispered back, "Yeah." Tracing her cheek he leaned down to hide his flushed cheeks on her neck. "All I know is that you're here with me now and I don't want you to go. I want you here with me. Forever."

Staring into his eyes, she nodded, "Okay."

Extending her pinky towards him, Gray blinked down at her as she grinned widely and said, "I know it's childish… " She blushed a deep red and looked to the side as she continued, "But let's pinky promise that we'll always be friends. That we'll always be together, no matter what."

Smiling down at her, Gray linked her pinky with his. Her eyes caught his just as he answered, "I promise, Juvia."

And she pulled him towards her, kissing him slowly. And they only separated when they felt the raindrops falling on them. Looking up at the cloudy and rainy sky, they both laughed as they rested their foreheads together.

She was different. There was no doubt about that. And that's what he loved about her.

Those wide, blue eyes full of wonder and amazement had captured him and he was not willing to let go any time soon.

So, as they run to take shelter from the rain, she breathlessly asks, "What secret will tomorrow hold?" She's grinning up at the rainy sky and he feels complete in their little happy bubble.

And without thinking, he answers, "We don't really need to know, now do we?"

She giggled softly and nodded. "I suppose that's true." Looking down at their still intertwined pinkies, she smiled warmly. "As long as you're here with me… Everything is perfect."

Eyes widening as she feels him pull her into his chest, Gray then whispers into her ear, "Forever. That was my promise, Juvia. I don't want you to go."

Wrapping her arm around his neck, Juvia tiptoed up, leaning towards him, she whispered against his lips, "Your wish is my command." She winked at him then. "I'll just warn you now, I'm not your everyday girl. I can get a bit out of hand sometimes. And I sure as hell won't go down without a fight."

"And that's why I love you."

Author's Note:

Hellooo everyone! Hopefully you enjoyed this one shot! I adore Gruvia and I just couldn't help writing this. It's completely random and I literally got the idea today and wrote it in my all time record: AN HOUR! I was listening to one of my favorite songs of the moment and this got the idea to write this story!

I know the characters are pretty OC, but I did this fanfic for fun and just to try and play around with one of my favorite ships ;)

Thanks for reading!

Song: Perfect Strangers by Jonas Blue ft. JP Cooper

~ Blue ~