It was a nice sunny Saturday evening, and Levy decided to go for a walk in a nearby park. She took her favourite book with her, some snacks and a bottle of orange juice. Levy wanted to clear her head and to get a rest from all the drama she had recently had in her life. She spotted a free bench under a huge oak tree and hurried there to make sure no one else would occupy it before she did. As soon as the bookworm approached it, someone bumped into her from behind. Levy turned around ready to snap at a rude stranger and suddenly realized that actually, it was someone familiar to her.

'Hey!'

'Oh, sorry…' Jellal unglued himself from his camera and smiled absent-mindedly. Then he noticed who exactly he had been talking to and continued in a livelier manner, 'Levy! Nice to see you here.'

'You'll break your precious camera someday if you don't pay attention to things and people surrounding you.' Levy pointed out.

'But I am paying attention! Look at the picture I've just taken…'

'Spare me, I've seen more than enough of them at work,' Levy sat on the bench and continued, 'only Lucy and you can watch them endlessly.'

'But you don't find them bad, do you?' Jellal asked worriedly. He was quite sensitive when it came to his photos.

'No, not in the slightest! Sorry if I sounded rude. I just… have a lot on my mind lately', the female bluenette confessed.

'Is it about your significant other?' Jellal sat next to his friend, putting his camera in a bag.

'How would you know?'

'Maybe I can relate,' the blue-haired photographer said ruefully. 'You know, my dream turned out to be such a mess.'

'I… I always thought you and Erza were a perfect couple.'

'We used to be until we moved in together. Sharing a home with your beloved can be hard. You have to change your habits and adjust to another person's lifestyle, and be understanding and forgiving and…'

'Not that I have ever experienced that,' Levy commented bitterly, 'but you made me think on the matter from Gajeel's perspective. I just don't understand why it's so easy for him to live with Juvia and not with me!'

'She's a friend, not a lover,' Jellal patted the young woman reassuringly. 'Friends tend to be less demanding. I used to share a flat with two ladies. I dated neither of them at that time and it wasn't that different from sharing a flat with my guy friends. Cleaner, yes, and that's about it. The problems started once I asked one of them out.'

Levy sighed. 'You're making me the bad guy, you know? Now I feel like I owe Juvia an apology. I snapped at her yesterday after I got to know Gajeel used to date her.'

'Did he? But it's the past, isn't it? I used to date Ultear and now we're just friends. I cannot picture is us being together as a couple ever again.'

'Isn't is because she doesn't swing that way anymore?' Levy inquired suspiciously.

'We enjoyed our time together just fine,' Jellal replied, slightly resented. 'By the way, why is Juvia living with Gajeel? Isn't she Lucy's flatmate?'

'Haven't you heard? Juvia broke up with Gray, and Lucy was sort of involved,' the bookworm explained.

'How?'

'Not like she did anything wrong. It was just a misunderstanding.'

'I see,' Jellal sounded relieved for some reason. He shook his head and continued, 'I cannot imagine Juvia of all people dumping Gray. It's so out of her character!'

'Loving someone and being someone's doormat are two different things. Juvia took it to extremes sometimes.'

Levy sighed again. She felt sorry for Juvia, but at the same time, she felt jealous and envious of her.

'I just wish the one to share a flat with my boyfriend would be me.'

'Levy, you're overthinking this. Juvia isn't trying to steal Gajeel from you. She has her heart in a right place.' Jellal comforted his friend reassuringly. 'Don't worry.'

Having said that, the blue-haired man stood up, waved her good-bye and continued his hunt for good pictures. Levy opened her book only to close it in a moment. She took her cell phone from a bag instead.

"Sorry."

"Juvia, I mean it. I am so sorry about yesterday"

"Don't hate me, okay?"

Juvia's phone beeped one more time before she finally found it in her bag and read the messages. She was shopping for grocery because it was her turn to cook dinner. The bluenette smiled. Maybe Gajeel wouldn't have any problems because of her this time.

"Of course, I don't hate you. We're friends :)"


Lucy felt miserable. The sleepover turned out to be a total disaster and she blamed herself for it. After Juvia had stormed out of the room and Erza followed her, the blonde had to comfort Levy, who started crying like there was no tomorrow and Gajeel was the last man on the earth. Instead of having fun, they ended up being a mess. But it wasn't what troubled Lucy the most. After Levy had finally calmed down and went to sleep, Erza told her blonde friend about her own problems and Jellal almost leaving her. And Lucy hated herself for suddenly feeling hopeful.

'I'm such a horrible person…' she whispered to herself. 'I have Natsu and yet I want another man. And a taken one. How can I be so disgusting?'

Lucy curled on her bed and took a look at her phone. Since when had she changed the picture on her lock screen? There used to be the one with her kissing Natsu. Now there was a picture of her only, taken by Jellal when she wasn't looking. Speaking of her boyfriend, Lucy still had to call him and tell about an open vacancy at Juvia's shop. The blonde rolled over and sighed. At least she got things sorted out with Juvia and the latter was no longer mad at her. The bluenette asked her to tell Natsu to drop over on upcoming Wednesday. Juvia worked irregular shifts and her schedule was different each week, so it was important to get the day right. Lucy unlocked the phone and dialed her boyfriend.

'Hello, Natsu!'

'Hi, Luce! What'cha doing?'

'Um… preparing for my business trip. I'm leaving on Wednesday and will be away till next Saturday.'

'Bummer! I wanted to take you out to the cinema next weekend. There's a premiere of…'

'Another action movie?' Lucy cut him off, 'no, thanks.'

'Actually, it was that romantic one you wanted to watch.'

The young woman mentally slapped herself for being harsh on Natsu. He wasn't at fault that her feelings started to dissipate.

'I see. Well, let's go next time. Actually, I wanted to tell you that there's an open position at Juvia's workplace. She asked you to come on Wednesday at nine-thirty in the morning.'

'Oohh! I'll be there! I have a couple interviews on Monday and Tuesday but working with Via sounds fun!' Natsu sounded quite eager.

'Please, do not forget about the appointment. Do you need directions?'

'Nah, I've been there a couple of times with Gray.'

'Good. I wish you good luck!'

Lucy hung up and stood up from her bed. She indeed needed to get prepared for her trip.

'At least I will be able to catch a break next week when I travel to Crocus,' Lucy thought to herself. 'More than a week without having to face either Natsu… or Jellal. Should be enough to sort out my feelings.'


~several days later~

Gray was painting at his usual place in the park, when he noticed forlorn Erza, wandering aimlessly around the pound. He didn't expect to see her there on Tuesday, as she usually spent her time in the studio any given working day and would often be there during her weekend. Surely, the actress could be just on a break, since the park wasn't that far from F.A.I.R.Y., Inc., but knowing her workaholic nature, Gray highly doubted that. As soon as the redhead approached him close enough, the man called her.

'Erza!'

She stopped and looked around until she noticed her friend waving to her energetically. She changed her direction and slowly made her way towards Gray. He couldn't help but notice how sad she looked.

'Erza, what's the matter?'

'He's gone,' her voice was barely audible. Even her red hair seemed to be duller than usual. Gray put away his paints and brushes, stood up from his chair and came closer to Erza.

'Tell me.'

The woman paused before repeating sorrowfully, 'he's gone without a trace. I came home yesterday, and it was empty, and silent, and dark… and then there was a note.' She reached out to her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. 'He left me because all I ever care is work.'

Gray took his friend's hand as said reassuringly, 'it's not true.'

'But it is,' Erza sniffed. Her lower lip quivered as she let the tears fall down her cheeks. 'I did work over the weekend because Bixlow called me and asked if I could listen to some new artists he had found. And then I came to the studio on Monday because I wanted to help and… I'm actually on break, you know?'

The black-haired artist sighed. He could relate to his friend better than anyone.

'Don't blame everything on yourself.'

'Huh?' Erza looked at him hopefully.

'Sometimes people aren't meant to be together. Sometimes it's better for both to move on. I'm not saying you shouldn't work on a relationship, but… it just doesn't always go the way you want it to.'

The redhead stared at her friend, suddenly feeling a bit better. She wiped the tears and whispered, 'thank you.'