A/N: First of all, above anything else...

oshirajinda

Hachibukai

ErzaScarlet17

thank you so much for the reviews! :') You can't imagine how they made me happy ^_^ So... here's the next chapter…

Note: Kay, Gray's is a bit rather quite, or...(uhmmp, nevermind xc) bitter in this one.

Chapter 2: And It Just Had To Be You

"Took you guys long enough!" Lyon exclaimed, boredom written on his face. "Who knows how long we've been waiting? Right, nee-chan?"

Ultear ignored her younger brother's question and immediately dragged Lucy away from Gray and towards the table. "Lucy~ Don't tell me you… with Gray" she smiled. A smile that was all too familiar with Lucy.

'She's teasing me!' Lucy mentally exclaimed. "Ultear-nee! It's not what you think!"

Ultear pretended to be extremely shocked, gasping with her hand over her mouth. "Don't tell me! You're pure feelings for Lyon-kun here vanished? Don't tell me, Gray threatened you? Or maybe.." she continued with her act. Of course she kept her voice as low as possible so that only Lucy could hear.

"Ultear-nee!" Lucy whined out, feeling her cheeks heat up from embarrassment. "Th-that… won't happen." She said hesitantly, taking a few glances at the guy called Lyon. "By the way, he might hear you, Ultear-nee!"

"He won't! Don't worry, Lucy." Ultear assured, patting Lucy's back gently. "When do you plan on telling him?"

"That…" Lucy paused with a smile written on her face. "Soon. As soon as I get the chance to."

"Oy, what are you guys talking about?" Gray asked innocently, his mouth still filled with food. This caught Lyon's attention. "Food's getting cold, you know." He continued.

"Gray, don't speak when your mouth is full." Lyon scolded.

"It's called girl talk my dear li'l brother." Ultear explained, waving her hand in the air as if she were driving a fly away. "And just to inform you, we already ate breakfast."

"How about you, Luce?" asked Gray. "Wanna eat?" he said, stretching out a spoonful of fried rice for Lucy in which the latter gladly took, or was about to, when Gray suddenly spoon-fed her.

"Thank you." She thanked Gray with a smile. "But, I too, already ate though."

"OIC." Gray mumbled, still munching the last bits of his breakfast.

"Gray, manners!" this time it was Ultear's turn to scold him.

'Geez, you're such a lady! Manners. Manners. That's all you guys think about!' Gray thought.

"I AM a lady my dear li'l brother. And I have to be." Ultear countered, making poor Gray choke the water he was drinking.

Lucy quickly stood up and ran soothing circles through his back, worried that he might die from the absence of air within his lungs. "You okay, Gray?" she asked, trying to control her laughter.

"Geez, are you a mind reader or something? What's up with everyone reading minds?"

"This scene seems a little bit too familiar for me." Lucy commented, sighing in disbelief. 'Can't he just realize he actually said that loud enough for us to hear?' She thought to herself.

"Hey there, Lucy-chii! Came to fetch your idiot of a best friend again, huh?" Lyon greeted, placing his arm over Lucy's head. Yeah, he still treats her like a child. And yes, he's as dense as he can ever be to not even notice how red Lucy is from the sudden contact.

"W-well, Papa said I can visit once in a while. I got up too early so I decided to drop by." Lucy replied, calming herself deep inside.

"Yeah, extreeeemely early. You even got Gray up just on time. Now, we're an hour early for school." Lyon answered back, laughing. "I'll go get our bags, where's yours nee-chan?" without even getting a response, Lyon was already out of sight.

"Huh? I thought we were running late, Luce? And Lyon, I heard that! Geez, you should learn the meaning of the word 'whisper'! And hey! Don't forget mine, it's in my room!" said Gray. A line that is all too familiar, indeed.

"You're one to talk my dear li'l brother." said the long-haired beauty, who was busy applying her cherry-colour lipstick on.

"What?" Gray whined out in a very, very childish way, too childish for his own age and… looks.

"Gray, it's quite funny seeing a guy as tall and as handsome as you act all childish like that."

The lad just rolled his eyes. "Says the girl who just stated that I AM handsome. Sorry Luce, I don't think I you like that way." He said in a teasing tone. 'Says the guy who's been in love with you ever since childhood.', is what he actually has in mind. Despite the cool front he gives, he's actually quite…. bitter.

"Yeah. Yeah. Sure you are handsome, that's a given, B-U-T! Not as handsome as Lyon!" Lucy countered back, emphasizing her point.

"*Sigh* Young love!" Ultear exclaimed from a corner.

Lucy just blushed, but kept her bright smile- an act that affected Gray badly for it meant not denying what had just been said. And it hurts him. It pains him, knowing that no matter what he does, she'll never feel the same way for him. He knew very well but… of all people… It just had to be Lyon. It just had to be his own full-blood brother!

He let out a scowl, unconsciously, catching the blonde's attention. Before he knew it, Lucy was already standing in front of him. "W-what?" he asked, somewhat shocked. 'Crap, did I just scowl?' he slapped himself mentally for being so… bitter?

"You're necktie is loose." She responded, again, with that bright, angelic smile. "Geez, I know you're in a crappy mood from lack of sleep. But you know, well, you should, lighten up a bit. The Gray I know doesn't frown like that!" she continued, poking the lad's forehead before fixing up his tie.

It took a couple of minutes before Gray could fully process what Lucy has said. And when he did, he burst into laughter. "It's your fault for waking me up that early! Luce, you're weird!" he exclaimed, still laughing.

"Huh? You're the weird one! One minute you're all giddy happy, then you're scowling and now you're laughing." answered Lucy, somewhat irritated.

Gray ran a hand through his jet-black spiky hair and gave out his signature smirk. "Nah-ah, Lucy." he mumbled, bending down towards Lucy. Good thing Lucy caught him just in time.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Just let me sleep for a while." Gray replied, holding onto Lucy's arms for support. "I feel awful."

"O-okay" Nothing more she can do, it was partly her fault after all.

"Baka-Lyon sure is taking his time. Gray here just fell asleep. Again." said Ultear, finally done fixing herself.

"Tch. I heard that. Nee-chan, I can't find your bag! Oy, Gray! Wake up and let's going already."

"Lyon…" Lucy gasped, seeing her crush.

"Duh, it's right here beside me, Baka-Lyon." replied Ultear, sarcasm obvious in her voice.

Gray pretended to yawn, stretching out his hands in the air. "Thank you, nii-chan!" he said, Gray style, meaning, in a cool, lazy voice. "And it just had to be you…" he softly added.

"You saying something li'l bro?" Lyon asked, placing an arm around his brother while the other did the task of messing up his brother's hair.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." And with that, he flashed them a smile.

Lucy's POV

"NAAATSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! You bastard!"

That was... loud... Was that Gray? Guess he and Natsu are having fun. While I, on the other hand...

"Lucy-chii, what's up? What brings you here?" There he goes again, calling me 'Lucy-chii' with that kind smile of his... And he just had to do it in a sweet way! Baka-Lyon. How can you not notice how happy I am whenever you call me by that name?

Aaaaahh! Not good! Not good! I did not go all the way here to stare at Lyon, I'm here to hand him something! "I-uhmm...well..that is..." Please Lucy! Do it right, will you? Just hand it to him! What to do? What to do? Where to start? Where to start?

"L-U-C-Y-C-H-II?~" Lyon hummed, waving his hands before me. "You okay, little girl?"

"Huh?" Little girl? Oh no, so much for that 'no spacing out' rule I made. "I just.. umm.. wanted you to have this." That's right Lucy. Do it right. Don't put Ultear-nee's efforts to waste! She helped you have some time alone with Lyon. This is no time to be shy!

Lyon took the box wrapped with cloth from my hands and smiled."A bentou? Thanks, Lucy-chii! You know I love your cooking!"

"It's nothing." I'm glad he liked it. "Then, I'll take my leave." I informed, taking a step backwards.

"Ah, Lucy."

"Yes?"

"Is that all?" Lyon asked, somewhat hopeful?

"Ahm.. yeah. Good luck with soccer practice." I answered, hesitantly.

And did I just see what I just saw? Oh come on Lucy, speak properly! Lyon's blushing! He's blushing? Why? How come? The guy I like is actually blushing in front of me!

"Oh, thanks. I thought you heard..." he smiled, scratching the back of his head. His cheeks are still painted with light shades of red. Can it possibly be?

"Hm?" I tilted my head slightly in confusion. What is he talking about? What does he mean by that? "Heard... what?" I asked, scolding my loudly-beating heart. It was just too loud, I'm getting scared that Lyon might hear it.

"Guess not?" He stood up straight and patted me on the head. "That's good then. I wanna tell you 'that' myself."

What do you want to tell me? I wanted to ask so badly but my voice just won't come out. I tried to speak but to no avail.

"You free later?" Lyon asked, leaning on their room's door frame. Yes, I'm here with him, outside their room to hand him the lunch I made him.

I casually placed a hand over my chest, feeling the intensity of each of my heartbeat. I closed my eyes for a while, breathing in and out to calm myself a little. Lucy, what are you doing? Answer him already! Now, Lucy started scolding Lucy. That's just... Wait! Did I hear right? "Ah, later?"

Lyon gave a slight nod.

"Yes! I'm definitely free!" I exclaimed in glee to which Lyon found quite amusing.

"I have a surprise for you. Can you wait for me at the park after practice? Around 6pm?" he asked, slowly retreating back inside the room. I guess he's just waiting for my reply.

"Surprise..? Park..? 6pm..?" I repeated, quite stunned. When I came back to my senses, I gave him an immediate nod.

He laughed, winking at me as he turned back. "Thank you!"

I fell on my knees, allowing my mind to process the situation. A surprise? At the park? I... "I'm not dreaming am I?" I can't jump to conclusions just yet, though. But… isn't this the perfect chance to…

"GAHHH! LUCY A LITTLE HELP!" I heard Natsu scream from behind. Chasing after him is… Gray? He quickly hid behind me, panting like crazy from all the running he did.

"NATSU! Get back here you bastar-" Gray yelled out, his fist raised up, ready to hit anyone. I was right. This one's Gray alright! I bet they had a fight. Again. "L-Luce." Slowly, his fist fell back to his side as he uttered my name.

"What exactly happened?" I stood up, composing myself. "I demand an explanation." I stated in the sternest way I could.

"Geez, Luce. Being mean really doesn't suit you!" Gray exclaimed, giving me that usual smirk of his.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Natsu who just pointed at Gray. The latter did the same thing. These two…

"He ate the cookies you gave me!" Gray finally said. "WITHOUT MY PERMISSION." He added, emphasizing every word he spoke.

"Well, you know! It's not fair that only Gray, Lyon, Ultear, Levy, Erza-err… cross that… Why is that only I wasn't given a pack of cookies? And we've been together since childhood, too!" Natsu explained, pouting like a puppy. "I have the right as your childhood friend!"

Cooking has always been my hobby, next to writing novels that is. And at times, I'd bake cookies for my friends to show how much I appreciate having them with me, except for Lyon though… he's a little bit more special.

I mentally laughed. Natsu can be really cute and childish at times. "What are you talking about? I have yours right here." I pulled out two packs of freshly baked cookies from my pocket.

The pink-haired lad gave out a grin at the sight. "Yey! Lucy, you're the best!"

"Since you already ate Gray's, he should have it."

Gray pulled out a tongue at Natsu, making him leave to challenge Gajeel for another fight.

"Thanks Luce! I was starving!"

We decided to walk back towards our room since its nearly time for class. I took the lead, Gray trailing behind me, happily munching on the cookies I gave him.

"Hey, Gray?" I called out.

"Yeah?"

"Lyon asked me to meet up with him later."

"…"

That's weird… not a single reaction? I turned around to see Gray frozen stiff on his tracks. He had an expression that seems vaguely familiar…I'm sure I saw it once before, when we were kids. It was so familiar yet I can't decipher what it actually meant. "Gray?"

"Ahh.. Yeah. So?" he answered back and returned to munching on the cookies. This time, he took the lead, passing by me and distancing his self a bit.

That was odd but I quickly shrugged it off. I have to tell him no matter what. "Can you come with me? Can you accompany me while I wait for him?"

"Nah. Sorry Luce. I don't think I should." He answered, not even turning around to face me. Is it just me or is he walking too fast?

I grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him towards me. "Please, Gray?"

He patted my head and smiled. "I'd just get in the way, right?"

"But… I've made up my mind." I gave out him a look, telling him that I'm determined to do what I was about to say. "I'd like to tell him how I feel. Please, Gray?" I pleaded. "I need you. I need my best friend with me."

'I need you.' Silly Lucy.

If only you knew, if only you'd notice. If I had met you earlier, would things still be the same? I can't speak them out. No, I can't voice them out. I'd rather hurt inside if I can see your… angelic smile. I'd bear the pain of being just a friend if that means I could also give you a little bit of happiness. I'd be a friend who stands by your side, no matter what the SITUATION...

-End-

A/N:

This one's kinda long ^^" Sorry about this one, I was in hurry to finish it. My shoulders hurt badly T^T I had to repeat the last part due to internet problems. That was absolutely tiring :( . I'll make up for it next time, if there's ever gonna be one xD

I don't wanna disappoint anyone with anything, so please do review and tell me what you think of it ^_^