Author's Note:
My final contributions to GrayLu Week 2016
Bonus Prompt: Vintage
This story can also be read on my tumblr page under Impracticaldemon. :)
CoverArt courtesy of whitefoxie on tumblr!
I hope you enjoy the story. This is a stand-alone chapter from the others. A short "might have happened"; modern AU.
All reviews, Faves and Follows very much appreciated. I have also posted this chapter separately, since it is complete.
~ All Shook Up ~
It was the classic set-up. Handsome tough-guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Sweet girl from a wealthy family. Black leather jacket, white t-shirt and jeans. Pink cardigan sweater, poodle skirt and bobby socks. They fall for each other, but their friends and families try to keep them apart. At a strategic moment, they decide to throw caution to the winds and end up necking in the back seat of a vintage car.
I wish, thought Lucy. Her so-called date for tonight's dance was a childhood friend who had noticed girls at about the right age, but had somehow missed that she was a girl too. On the bright side, he still seemed to prefer to hang out with her. Well, most of the time.
"Remind me why we're doing this?" Gray grumbled, staring at himself in the front hall mirror.
Lucy sighed. She'd worked hard to find the perfect outfits: a classic 1950s look, while letting Gray wear clothes that he was more or less used to. In fact, he was perfectly happy with his clothes. And he looked great, as usual.
"We're doing this because Erza is the president of the student council and our friend and she wants this dance to be a success. Plus we're raising money for charity."
"I thought we were doing this because Erza will beat me to a pulp tomorrow if I don't cooperate."
"That too."
Lucy swatted Gray's hands again as they strayed up to his hair.
"I think you used about half the jar of gel… I mean – I look like a total dork and you could bounce quarters off the poufy part at the front."
"It's called a quiff." Lucy tried and failed to stifle a giggle.
"See – you're already laughing at me and you created this… this monstrosity."
"No, no," Lucy assured him, "it's the word that's funny, not how you look."
"I look like a gangster. Or maybe a lounge lizard."
"You look fine."
Eventually, Lucy got him out of the house and they started off toward the dance. Fortunately, she'd made allowance for Gray to attempt – and fail – to back out, so they were only a few minutes late. Erza pounced on them at the door. She looked magnificent in a clingy white blouse and a black satin skirt with a narrow waist and three or four stiff white crinolines. Her hair was piled up and curls clustered around her ears. Lucy could tell that the bright red locks had been hair-sprayed within an inch of their lives. She was glad that she'd stuck with a simple high ponytail to complement her sweetheart look. Her straight blond hair suited the style.
Gray was right into his role as a surly '50s wannabe drop-out. He did look a bit dangerous, actually. Lucy hoped that he and Natsu would skip their usual sparring – well, fighting – for the evening. As he sometimes did, Gray surprised her by being more with it than she'd realized.
"I suppose you're worried that Natsu and I will re-enact the Jets and the Sharks?"
Lucy stared at him. She could have sworn that he was asleep during most of "Westside Story", one of the movies that she'd insisted that they all watch together earlier in the week. Gray and Natsu hadn't seemed very interested.
"Um… yes? You remember the names of the gangs?"
"Sure," Gray responded, dark blue eyes a little mischievous. "No idea what the characters were called, but the fighting wasn't bad." There was a slight smile on his lips now, which wasn't especially common. "You know, Luce, you look really nice."
Lucy blinked in surprise and felt her jaw drop a little. She wasn't sure what was stranger: Gray paying her a compliment or his conversational "I say things like this all the time" tone of voice.
"Thanks?" She waited for the inevitable caveat, but that was it. She felt her hopes rise a little; maybe Gray was fnally – finally – noticing her. In fact, he was studying her thoughtfully.
Erza had crossed her arms and seemed to be stuck on the first part of the conversation.
"Gray, I don't care who starts it, but if either of you damage my arrangements tonight you'd better both hope that your life insurance is paid up."
The dark-haired, James Dean look-alike turned to Erza.
"Sure thing, Miss Scarlet," he said politely. "Is there anything we can do for you right now?"
The tall red-head glanced suddenly at the entrance, where students – some in in vintage attire and others at least making an effort with 1950s hair-dos – were starting to arrive in greater numbers. Bobbing between them was a distinctive pink head of spiky locks. Erza frowned.
"Hmph. He was supposed to do his hair to go with the outfit I got him…"
People were giving Natsu lots of space – and a lot of stares. He might not have been able to tame his hair, but the white glitter, the fringe, the Elvis-ness of it all was truly impressive. Lucy was stunned. Natsu as Elvis? Seriously? Behind her, she felt Gray lean closer and mutter into her ear:
"Okay. You win. You didn't make me wear that. You are a true friend."
He may or may not have intended her to hear the last part, delivered as he straightened up again:
"And really pretty."
Lucy would have turned then, but Natsu came up and gave her a one-armed hug, beaming at Erza and ignoring Gray's sudden scowl.
"Sorry I'm late – I mean, I wasn't going to wear it at first to be honest – but then I thought what the hell?! And now I love it!" Natsu looked at the other three more closely and then nodded appreciatively at the girls. "Wow, you look great Erza – and you too, Lucy! Of course, Gray looks like he threw on what he always wears and then dumped grease in his hair, but whatever."
Lucy immediately grabbed Gray's wrist, but her friend wasn't moving; at least, not toward Natsu. Now that she had looked back at him she couldn't help but notice that he'd dragged his eyes off the pink-haired, Elvis-impersonator and was looking straight at her again. She quickly removed her hand, but Gray brought his hands together with an intent half-smile and suddenly Lucy found herself linked wrist-to-wrist with the Ice Mage by glittering ice.
"I don't want you to get swept off your feet by Flame-Brain in spangles," Gray explained calmly. When Lucy was quite frankly too stunned to say anything – although her wrist was cold – he pulled her closer and dissolved the ice. "Do you mind?" he asked quietly, putting an arm around her waist.
The blond girl shook her head, still speechless. Maybe there was something to this whole dress-up and pretend thing after all? Erza seemed to be trying to keep up with what was going on with her friends while still greeting people in costume as they came in. Natsu was chortling.
"So, Ice Princess! Does this mean you finally figured it out, moron? Oh man… that's too classic… All year she's been looking at you like that and now you realize? What was it? Were you so overwhelmed by my total awesomeness that it melted your cold, cold heart so that you could finally see – ERK!"
Whatever Natsu had been going to say was choked off as Erza casually put him into a one-armed choke-hold. It looked pretty bizarre, given their outifts, but nobody laughed – at least, not out loud.
"If you break anything here," she explained sweetly to the most destructive member of their group, "I will kill you. Since I don't want to lose a friend, especially one dressed like Elvis, I think you'd better shut up."
Natsu, with classic cartoon humour, squeaked: "Shutting up now, sir!" The squeak was only partly feigned.
Erza turned her charming smile on Gray and Lucy, completely ignoring Elvis struggling vainly to breathe in one arm.
"Why don't you two go for a walk while I look after things here? Come back in a bit, okay? I'll need help with the drinks."
"Sure thing, Miss Scarlet. Good luck with the Music Slayer." With commendable promptness, Gray swept Lucy – still speechless – out of the room and out of the school. Other students, used to their antics, just laughed and waved, but one or two of them smirked.
Not long afterward, they were standing in the shadow of a big tree that stood a little ways into the dark patch between the school and the sports fields. Lucy realized that because the dance had just started, nobody was here yet bent on either amorous or alcoholic pursuits. … Well, other than Gray.
The Ice Mage pulled Lucy around so that she was facing him.
"I'm sorry I didn't do this sooner. Natsu's wrong, by the way: I did know; I just didn't want to screw things up with us." Gray put his hands on Lucy's shoulders and gently walked her backward so that she was leaning on the tree and he was leaning on her, right hand braced on the tree trunk so that he didn't hurt her. His other hand caressed her jaw and neck and wrapped around the back of her head.
"Um… what are you doing?" Lucy asked, knowing the question was inane, but needing to reassert some control. Her cheeks were probably bright red.
"Well, I don't have a car, which is really too bad under the circumstances. But unless you object, I thought maybe we could neck for a while. I'd give you my letter jacket if I had one."
Lucy felt his warm body press even more closely against hers – although the hand at the base of her skull was actually a little cool. She felt her own body temperature rise quickly, and involuntarily moved slightly against him.
"Are you sure?" Lucy mentally rolled her eyes at herself as soon as the words left her mouth.
Ignoring this as the dumb question that it undeniably was, Gray leaned down the short distance that was left and kissed her, a little tentatively at first and then deeply, as though they'd been dating for months. Lucy's arms went around him and any semblance of space between them disappeared.
Back at the entrance to the gymnasium, unnoticed by the new couple, Natsu hastily squashed a small jet of flame. Fortunately for him and Erza, their vintage hairstyles were held in place by non-flammable, modern hairspray.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this! 'Twas the madness of late night inspiration!
All reviews, comments etc. are much appreciated!