"And then," Levy put her head down on the table as her friends gathered closer. "I heard myself say, 'Sure!''." She pulled her hair as she looked up at Lucy, Erza, and Juvia. "What am I going to do?"
"You," Lucy pulled her hands out of her hair and set them on the table. "Are going to go on a date! And we'll help you get ready, right?"
Erza stroked her chin as Lucy all but jumped up and down in excitement. "Hmmm. I've never been on a date, but I've got some jeweled daggers that you can use to accessorize once you choose an outfit.
Levy put her head back down as her friends. Why had she said yes to Shinyusha? Well, she knew why. Her favorite shoe-seller had met her outside the guild this morning with a small bouquet and, literally, his hat in his hand. He'd told her that he'd always noticed her and how he wanted to take her out to dinner that night. He had been so nervous and when she'd said nothing (because of the shock) his head had dropped and he'd turned away, sighing how a lowly shopkeeper shouldn't have bothered a great Fairy Tale mage. She felt so bad for him that she'd said 'yes' to dinner tonight.
But she didn't want to go on a date. Well, she did, but she didn't want to go on a date with Shinyusha.
"Juvia has a question."
Levy turned her head at the whispered statement and came nose to nose with Juvia. "What's your question, Juvia?"
Juvia looked over at Lucy and Erza, but they were engrossed in an argument as to what they each considered an 'accessory'. "Doesn't Levy like Gajeel-sama?" she whispered, concern apparent in both her voice and her face.
"What?" Realizing she'd all but yelled, she jerked Juvia closer and whispered frantically in her ear. "Who says I...that I like him?"
Juvia pulled back and looked Levy with something close to pity. "You should just tell him." She put her hand on her heart and looked over at the counter where Gray sat with Natsu. "Love should never stay inside the heart." She looked back at a gaping Levy and grabbed both of her hands in hers. "Juvia will cheer for you, Levy!"
"Shhh!" She looked around, but Erza had changed armor for Lucy to show off how fetching the right hilt could be with a skirt and they weren't paying them any attention. "It's not like that. I don't…," she trailed off under Juvia's knowing gaze and looked away. "He doesn't feel…," she trailed off again and finally shook her head, pulling her hands away as she straightened her spine. "You know, Juvia, this is a good thing. I can have a normal date, with a nice, normal guy, right?"
"When she says 'normal' it really means 'boring'," a slurred voice added from the table behind them.
Levy narrowed her eyes at Cana and raised a finger, ready to write 'water' in the air right over her head, but Juvia grabbed her hand and patted it with an emotional sniff. "Maybe Juvia is wrong," But she didn't think so. "And is so in love with Gray-sama that she sees love everywhere." She pulled a sad-looking Levy up off the bench and called out to their two friends, who had traded whip for dagger and were currently checking themselves out in a mirror. "Come. We will help Levy get ready for her date with the nice man."