Yo my fellow authors and readers. ShannyRawr here~ So I was reading through my old fanfics and even though I'm a full NaLu supporter, this was pretty cute. I wrote this way long ago after I watched the episode that's mentioned in here (Lucy's family company going kabloom and such). It's more just an implied romance than anything else, but it probably provides at least one or two squeals for all those GraLu followers! To be honest, I don't mind GraLu at all. It still gets me all excited. But, if I had to choose a favorite, that's where NaLu comes ahead of it. And of course, that's more likely (obviously) going to happen. ANYWHO. Enjoy~

Lucy ran down the street, ignoring the swelling tears that blurred her vision and dampened her skin. It hurt too much. The pain was much more than she would have expected; not that she had expected this anyway.

It was like him, wasn't it? To find her and demand for money; even after everything he had done to her. How did he have the nerve to do that? It didn't make any sense! People don't do that to each other!

She thought that maybe her father had changed; maybe he was actually here because he had missed her and he felt he was wrong. When he had removed his hood she was too shocked to say anything; but feelings had been sweltering inside her. Anger, of course; was it possible not to be angry? But a tiny bit of hope had somewhat peeked amidst the harsh emotions in her heart.

He had said that he didn't have any fortune; that he had seen what he had done to her was wrong. He had apologized and told her he just wanted to see his daughter's face; he wanted to see how his daughter was doing. Why did she believe him? Even just for a second?

When she asked why he was there again, he demanded that she hand over 100,000 jewel. Who had that kind of money, anyway? Certainly none of her friends; none of her new family. Maybe she could have dealt with it if he had just left; but he didn't. His eyes darkened and he appeared the same way he had as a child. It scared her so much.

And it hurt her so much. It hurt to send him away; to stand up for herself a second time. It hurt that she had let herself believe him at all. It hurt that he had come all that way to in no way repent for his actions. Did he intend to make the gap between them even larger?

Lucy was panting in front of her house after what felt like hours of running away from him. She fumbled for her house key, unable to make out anything through her tears. Suddenly, she froze. What if Natsu was in there?

Slowly, her hand covered her face and she took in a deep breath. With gentle glides she wiped away the tears and blinked until her eyes were white again for sure. Only then did she turn the key in the lock and open the door.

There were no sounds at first. It was kind of a relief, but another part of her yearned for her friends. She closed the door softly behind her and walked into the living room.

"Hey, Lucy," a low voice said casually. Her eyes, which were blankly staring at the floor, took a quick peek over at Gray. He was in just his boxer shorts; this didn't surprise her anymore. It normally made her angry, but she didn't have any fight in her. Having no response, he stood up and took a step towards her. "What's up?"

She couldn't bring herself to speak. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her entire body was shuddering slightly; one of her eyebrows twitched. It was nearly too much to keep everything in. She wanted Gray to leave before she broke, but instead, his cool arms wrapped around her and she let her head lie comfortably on his shoulder.

Her eyes began to water again and she found herself clinging to him tightly. This only made his grip around her more firm. She felt the dam break and sobs began wracking her body. A little bit of guilt stained the back of her mind at dampening Gray's shoulder. But it seemed that he felt no discontentment of her crying; only the stiffening of his back.

"Lucy," he said calmly and pulled away to look down at her. "The only people who deserve your tears are the ones who don't make you cry." Her lips curved upwards slightly in a small smile. He had a way of knowing exactly what she needed to make her feel better. One of his hands tilted her chin up gently and she watched him quizzically; his expression was rock hard.

"G-Gray," she whimpered but he shook his head slightly.

"Raise your chin; like you normally do. Confidence suits you much better." He smiled. She had to resist the urge to gape at him. It was only on a rare occasion that she caught the ice mage smiling earnestly at someone or something. But it seemed so genuine she found herself smiling brightly back at him. "That's more like it."

"This isn't necessary; you aren't responsible for this," she said softly and gazed at him. His chuckle was almost inaudible and he closed his eyes, tilting his head down towards the floor. Her eyes tracked him until he looked back at her.

"How long is it going to take you to realize that your friends want to make you feel better when you're down? You always do that for us, Luce. I mean, where would we – I – be without you? So it's only being unfair if you didn't let us help you when you need it; and that's hardly ever." He pulled her back into his embrace and she smiled even wider into his neck. "And I like your smile." This made her blush.

Suddenly a wave of happiness took over and she pulled away, glaring at him like she normally did when this happened, "Gray, your clothes." He just shook his head and laughed.

"I'm not completely sure I wore them over here." She laughed slightly but found herself just smiling at him. She was incredibly lucky to have him; not everyone got a Gray in their lifetime. He noticed and shot a questioning glance back.

"Thank you," she whispered, looking down at her feet. He shrugged and she could see how he was trying to cover up his flustered cheeks.

"It's really not a problem. Because you know what?" he said and smiled again slightly. "I would gladly do anything for you."

Yup, there ya go! Cute, ne? Whale, reviews are much appreciated, though this was more for fun than for anything serious. I'd still be nice to know someone enjoyed it. Maybe if I'm feeling up to it later I can add something. Or make this a series of GraLu oneshots! Woah, ideas. Okay have a nice day/night/morning/evening/noon.

Love you mean it,

ShannyRawr