I've been working on this one for a while and I finally feel that I'm happy with it. I love Gruvia so much! Hope you'll like it! This is a one-shot, but I might write a second chapter sometime.
Sacrifices
"Let's drink and dance all night! You've done good my brats!" 'Makarov was standing on the bar with a bottle of sake in his hand raised to the ceiling. The whole guild was gathered to a night of party and joy. They had been in court for the last five days, accused for massive destruction on public area. Somehow the guild had been sent off with a warning, Yajima-san had been of much help again, risking too much to save the troublesome guild's ass once more. Even though Yajima-san wasn't a member of the council anymore he was still a respected and trusted man in the matter. He knew the guild better than anyone and was always able to get them off the hook. Right before Makarov left the courtroom Yajima-san gave him a face that was hard to forget and said "This is the last time Macky! Next time, your guild will be in trouble!" Makarov had just smiled and promised he would make it up to him somehow, someday.
Now it was time to party and the guild was quickly turning in to the usual brawl. Punches were being swung and butt's was being kicked. Lucy watched it all from a table in the back. "Always…" she sighed.
"Juvia thinks it a good sign to see them fight. It shows determination."
"Juvia, I didn't see you there."
She didn't answer. She watched Gray as he was shielding himself from Natsu's burning flames with a bottle of booze in one hand. His shield was weaker with only one hand and he was soon smashed into the wall by the dragon slayer's hot breath.
Lucy looked over at her, she could see her eyes following Gray's movements. It was like a dance in her eyes, a dance of devotion and admiration. "You really like him don't you? Gray, I mean." Lucy was a bit jealous of Juvia's feelings towards Gray. She had never been in love before, but she figured it must be nice to care for someone like that.
Juvia nodded vaguely with a flushed face.
"Why don't you tell him what you feel? Like seriously tell him!"
Juvia removed her eyes from Gray's naked and sweaty body and looked deep into Lucy's eyes.
"Juvia loves Gray-sama, she really does, but she knows it would be wrong to demand anything from him" she took a deep breath and continued "Gray-sama knows of Juvia's feelings, but he doesn't know the depth of them. Ever since the first time we met, Juvia's been completely lost in him." Lucy sat up straight as the water woman went on. Did anybody really know her true feelings? They all knew she had a thing for Gray, but to what extent?
"Juvia knows that if she told him her true feelings the possibility of rejection is there, and that is more than Juvia can bear. Juvia is fine with just being friends, if that's what he wants. Juvia would rather have him just as a friend than not have him in her life at all." The seriousness in her voice made Lucy shiver, it was captivating listening to her speech. Maybe it was the alcohol that made Juvia so open, but no matter what it was all Lucy could think was :how beautiful.
As the night went on, the darkness fell over Magnolia. Lucy and Juvia were still sitting at the same table, Lucy hadn't said a word ever since Juvia opened her mouth. Juvia had told Lucy about the first time she had met Gray. It was during the Phantom Lord business. The way Gray had captured Juvia's feelings and rescued her from falling after she was defeated. He had spoken to her heart without knowing it, but Juvia was willing to lay her feelings to the side and be there for him as a friend. She told Lucy that she knew she sometimes acted like a lovesick child around him, messing around made it easier for her to let her feelings out without needing to hear much about it. When Juvia stopped talking she looked over at Lucy who had a tear running down her chin, she smiled. "What's wrong Lucy?"
"Nothing" she wiped away the tear and let out a little laugh "I'm sorry, it's just that hearing you speak of Gray like that… I never thought that you were this much in love with him. You really love this guy. It's kind of sad listening to how you suppress you feelings so that you can be a good friend to him."
"I've learned about the value of true friends. I don't want to make things bad between me and Gray-sama. The only way is to leave things as they are now. Please don't tell him about what I've just told you."
"I promise I won't tell him" Lucy raised her body from the table to go home, on her way out the turned to Juvia again "You stopped talking of yourself in third party." She watched Juvia's face realize what she had just said. "You are such a great girl, Juvia. I'm glad we're friends" with this said Lucy went home, she picked up a beaten and drunk Natsu lying on the floor. Better not leave him behind. I'll let you sleep in my bed tonight, Natsu.
Juvia was left sitting at the table alone. Most of the guild had gone home, besides Mira who was cleaning the bar and Lisanna and Elfman who were picking up trash from the floor. Juvia got up, no point in being here anymore. Gray had probably left while she was talking to Lucy. On her way out she heard a whimper from behind the door, it was Gray. He laid with his face down on the floor, legs up against the wall. It looked like his back was about to snap. Juvia quickly grabbed him and yanked him up by his arms. He was extremely drunk and couldn't even stand on his own. She placed his arm around her neck and stumbled out the door. His head was hanging down and the only sign that he was still alive was his occasionally coughing. She looked down at him and smiled. Her Gray-sama was so cute. She loved helping him, it made her feel of use.
She knew the way to his home very well. She had followed him a couple of times. Okay, so she was a little obsessed, but nobody knew about that. Gray's steps were swirly and it was heavy for Juvia to lift him up like that, nevertheless she didn't drop him to the ground even once. The stairs up to his apartment felt like climbing a mountain with an elephant on your back. When she finally reached the top she was exhausted, if it hadn't been for her body made of water she would be dripping sweat right now. She dug the keys out of Gray's pocket and unlocked the door. The room was cold and dark. The light was out so she didn't see much. She had never been inside his house before and now she stood in the doorway with Gray clinging to her shoulders, he had gotten a little more conscious and was trying to stand up by himself. Juvia guided him to the bed and laid him down carefully. His pants were wet with sake and god-knows-what so she decided to remove them. She hadn't seen his shirt since earlier that day so that wasn't a problem. She undid the zipper and gulped while dragging his pants down, his boxers where dark blue and also very wet. Should I remove them too? It feels kind of wrong when he's already sleeping. In the end she let it be.
She put him under the covers and brushed his black hair away from his face. She sat down beside him, he looked so peaceful, not like in the guild. He was always fighting and showing off somehow. She giggled at the thought of him acting cool. As she looked at him she felt a sad lump grow in her belly. The love she felt towards this man was so severe, yet she could never tell him how much she wanted to be with him in a way that would make him understand. She knew it was a risky road to let him know how serious she actually was. The road from friendship to disaster was short and a path she didn't want to take. A tear was growing in her eye, but she wiped it away. She leaned down and kissed Gray's head, a long and wet kiss.
When she got up to leave, Gray's arm reached out and grabbed her. She jolted at the cold touch and looked back at him. His eyes were still closed, was he dreaming? "Gray-sama?" she whispered.
"Don't go. Please" his voice was husky but still clear as day. Juvia blinked in confusion. Did he really just say…? She didn't know what to do. Should she leave or stay? Was he even awake, it must be the booze.
Gray's arm still had a rough grip on her wrist and he tugged her as a sign for her to sit back down. She obeyed.
"Spend the night, please. I don't want to be alone" Gray's soft and tender voice hit Juvia like a punch in the gut. She lost her breath for a moment and had to slap her self to see if she was dreaming. Why was he sounding so sad and lonely? He was never vulnerable, never showed much emotion. Was this his true feelings? Juvia had heard from Cana that men always spoke the truth when drunk. In that case, Gray really was lonely.
Suddenly Gray sat up, opened his eyes and looked at Juvia. She could she that his eyes were foggy, and he narrowed his eyes to see clearer. She sat on the edge of the bed stiff as a tree.
Nobody said anything for a while.
Gray leaned over to her and started unzipping her jacket. With his shaking hands it took him forever to get it done, and Juvia had time to think about what was really happening. She grabbed his hand to stop him. "What are you doing, Gray-sama?"
"I like the way you call me Gray-sama. It's sexy" he grinned at her and raised an eyebrow. Juvia didn't know what to say to that.
"You look hot. I just want you to be more comfortable. This is the castle of ice, and everybody should be cold." He gave her the most seductive look he could make while drunk and continued his quest to remove her jacket. This time she didn't stop him, not that she was going to take advantage of him in this state. It was just too hard to resist him like this.
He tossed her jacket along with her shirt to the floor. She suddenly regretted letting Lucy pick out her clothes for that night. She wasn't wearing her usual dress, Lucy had forced her into a top and skirt with a leather jacket over. Gray watched her almost naked body with a hungry face, but didn't move.
"God, you're hot!" the remark made Juvia blush and she tried to hide her body in her arms. "No, why are you hiding? Let me look at you" he took both her arms and pinned them down to the mattress. He forced her down on the bed and crawled over her. "Gray-sama, what are you doing?"
He still pinned her hands down and was looking down on her with a smirk. "You look too delicious to resist"
"Gray-sama, stop…" she begged. She didn't want this, not like this. He was too drunk to know what he was doing. Did he even know it was her?
Gray looked at her, deep into her eyes, it made Juvia shiver all over her body. He leaned down to her lips, but not close enough to touch them. "I'll stop when you stop"
"I stop what?"
"Stop being so fucking delicious" he said with a sly smile. "I just can't control myself, Juvia"
He does know it's me. It made her happy to hear him say her name. At least he wasn't fantasizing about Lucy.
Gray leaned even closer and kissed her neck with wet lips. The cold touch made Juvia arch her back up and she felt a tingling feeling throughout her entire body. He kissed her many times, gentle at first, but as he worked his way down to her collarbone he started nibbling on her pale skin. She knew he needed to stop, this was so wrong, still it felt so right!
His chilled kisses wandered further down, to her bra. He kissed on top of it, and his heavy breathing reached her skin underneath.
She gathered all strength she had buried within and pushed Gray of her and down on the bed again.
"I said stop. You're really drunk and you should sleep."
He put up a pouting face, but laid back down on his pillow. He had lost this fight.
Juvia sat up and put her feet on the floor, she didn't even make it up on her legs before Gray grabbed her arm again. "Please spend the night, I won't try anything else. Just sleep beside me. I beg you"
She smiled and laid back down. It can't hurt to just sleep here. As long as he won't try anything funny, then I'll definitely leave.
They crawled under the blanket together and Gray tugged her body closer to his. He held her tight to him. He snuggled his nose in her hair and sniffed it hard. "You smell nice. You smell like rain, I like it" he closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly. Juvia looked up at him with a conflicted face. She knew he probably wouldn't remember what had happened in the morning, but she let that be for now. She kissed his chest and closed her eyes with a soft smile on her lips.
The next morning Gray woke up by the sun shining through his window and straight into his sleepy eyes. He tossed and turned to escape the harsh judgmental light of day. His head was aching and his whole body was sore. That bastard Natsu, I'll get him back for these bruises!
After a few minutes of rest he glanced at the clock. Jeez, already noon? Wait a minute… how the hell did I get home last night? He looked around the room, no one there. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. As he did that he sensed a weird smell. Like the smell you can feel after a heavy rain shower during spring. He sniffed intently around the room. "It smells like… Juvia? The hell? Was she here last night? No way…" he walked to the bathroom and slipped in some water on the floor leading out the main door. "Juvia...?"
End of chapter one
I wanted Juvia's feelings to be the main focus of this fic. That even though Gray is drunk and horny it doesn't mean she'll use him like that just to satisfy her own desires. Thank you so much for reading :)
