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Auxilium

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Hi! (frantic waves) this was...again...later than I had intended, and certainly not as long and juicy as the previous chapter. The holidays are a rather busy time of the year at work for me, unfortunately. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and very Happy New Year! I hope 2015 brings loads of love and laughter into your lives.

Thank-you all, as always, for the absolutely wonderful reviews and commentary! I am always so blown away by the response and messages I get, I really appreciate it all.

HUGE THANKS to the ever phenomenal muffin-dragon227 - she is basically the reason why this chapter was written as fast as it was and essentially is the reason for the Gruvia season right now because holy cow did she provide me with amazing plot devices, ideas, and a stable direction. She basically wrote this chapter, I just filled in the cracks.

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Disclaimer/Warnings are listed in Chapter One.

There are no chapter notes.

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"Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art."

Susan Sontag

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Gray didn't remember much from his childhood.

Not that it had necessarily been a bad childhood – at one point he actually had parents, hell, even after they died and he was living with his godmother he still had it better than most. While he really hadn't been dealt the best hand of cards, in the grand scheme of things he also acknowledged that things could have been much, much worse – and he had always been good at poker.

Considering that he had a roof over his head for the entirety of it, not to mention food to eat, clothes to wear, money to spend on daily (exuberant) luxuries – these alone were more than what many people in this world had been privy to. Gray had been given all of this and then some…it was just that…every time he tried to remember certain…things…things that had happened before certain milestones, his mind blanked. Memories of childhood warmth and adventurous summer days were nonexistent, instead replaced by bright lights and ambulances, hospital beds, pediatric therapy, lawyers, nurses; too many stuffy court rooms and hushed voices, pens scratching against legal pads.

Everything was muddled and murky, like a lake full of silt. Was he awake? Was he asleep? Morning light poured from his window, its curtains pinned open to the side. Despite the sun, clouds still hung low, casting a dreary shadow. Gray blearily rubbed his eyes, blinking away the sleep as the drumming pain began to crest. God, there was nothing worse than a hangover, absolutely nothing. Had he drunk any water at all yesterday? What had he eaten? Where had he gone? He distinctly remembered getting lunch with Natsu, walking back to his apartment…things had been so beautiful and loud, colors whitewashed and dancing. He had made it back to his apartment and…

The edge of his bed creaked as a body sat at the end.

"Good morning!" Juvia chirped, cradling an unopened bottle of water in her hands.

Oh god.

They hadn't.

Ignoring his searing headache, Gray immediately flung back his covers to reveal his partially naked form, still clad in only a pair of boxer briefs. Without a second thought as to the company he was keeping, Gray began flinging his pillows, searching desperately for his phone and any, erm, used form of contraception, as to quell his raging suspicions.

Turning back to Juvia, he noticed the poor girl's face was flushed a dark red, blue eyes threatening to roll into the back of her head.

"Did we fuck?"

Juvia's eyes darted down to his briefs only to immediately jump back up, widening as she looked away and vehemently shook her head so hard that her hair flew around her like a typhoon, her entire face and neck the color of hot lava.

"Juvia, did we have sex?!"

"No!" she thrust the bottle of water in his direction, still refusing to face him, "you got drunk, and I brought you back!"

He was silent.

"…and I was worried about you. So I stayed."

Gray groaned inwardly, accepting the bottle, cracking open its cap and chugging the bottle's entire contents. He mumbled a guttural 'thanks', twisting the bottle in his hand.

"Y-you threw up in your sink, too."

Ah.

Before he could react, she stood up and flitted down his staircase, face still as red as anything.

God, she was…strange. What the heck did he do? It was like she'd never seen a shirtless guy before, for christ's sake. Wasn't she dating someone? Gray was grateful for the water, but he hated having other people in his apartment, especially when he was hungover. She could have at least brought him some painkil –

Oh, fuck. A familiar twitch signaled his attention down south, and Gray stared at his lap.

Well, that explains a lot.

Thankfully the master shower was located on the same level as his bedroom, and Gray ejected himself immediately from his bed once he saw his, er, flag at full mast, sprinting as if Juvia could still see him. While he was extremely thankful that they hadn't slept together, he was still confused as to why she was still here – even when Angel slept over, she more than often snuck out before he could wake up, leaving him some passive-aggressive note or text saying she'd call him later. Usually, she did call him later as she promised, but once their relationship had run its course the calls stopped coming, she stopped going home with him, and before he knew it, he was drinking alone (though not necessarily going home alone).

But Juvia…Juvia had actually stayed. Not like that was some grandiosely impressive thing, it was just…nice to know she had cared about a complete fuck up of a stranger, or worried enough to make sure he had been okay. Nobody had really cared that much about him to stay with him throughout the night, let alone a girl. Come to think of it, even in college they had always wanted something; usually sex in some dingy bathroom or broom closet, and on rare occasion just the chance to say they went home with Gray Fullbuster. More often than not it was to obtain bragging rights – he invited them out to dinner, and ate them out immediately after and oh, of course the rumor's were true, he was really good with his hands, god bless that pottery course, but it was his package that was the most impressive of all.

Gray rolled his eyes at the memory. He couldn't just lie and say that back then the rumors hadn't been ego-boosting, but they had also been somewhat damaging too – while he, like most young men, did enjoy sex, there was just something about one night stands…he just couldn't find enjoyment in them, especially not after college ended. He had slept with strangers, he had slept with girls he had been partners with, in fact he had been prepositioned for threesomes on more than enough occasions, but at the end of the day he really didn't want that type of relationship with human beings, even if he did tend to give into carnal temptation after a few shots.

Juvia was pretty. After admitting it to himself several times already, Gray could confirm that despite her peculiar…disposition, she was pretty. He could appreciate that much, even if her presence was a bit unsettling. The memories from the previous night came through clearer and clearer as the hangover and its haze drifted away from his brain. God, she had smelled so good…

Glancing down at his problem with a grimace, Gray realized that maybe if they had slept together, he wouldn't have this issue poking him in the figurative face. Maybe she could have helped him take care of it this morn –

'Shut it, Fullbuster.' Gray ran his hands through his dark mane, inwardly chastising his dirty thoughts. God, he barely even knew the girl, not to mention he kept forgetting about her asshole boyfriend that was more than likely still lurking around this city. Who knows, maybe if he took long enough in the shower, she would be able to collect her things and leave – in fact, maybe she had left already and he was just none the wiser…

Gently removing his boxer briefs, Gray weighed his options. At this point in time, he couldn't decide which route was better – attempt to urinate and deal with the consequences of cleaning up after, lay in the shower with the cold water beating down on his body before the blood drained itself out, or just knock one out and call it a day.

Gray entered the shower stall, shutting the glass panel behind him. All right. He could…do this, just…fuck it. Get it over and done with, pop some aspirin, and lay in bed the rest of the day. Turning on the shower, he felt the warm water beat against his chest as he gripped his member, running his hands up and down its

shaft with swift, long strokes. Just don't think about her, don't think about her, don't think about her, don't think about her –

He thought about her.

There were many things Gray disliked. Possibly, above all, the one thing he disliked the most was his stepbrother, Lyon. Next in line, easily, were unwelcome guests.

As he walked out of the shower, Gray heard several things echo across the expanse of his studio apartment: Lyon's voice, Juvia's (cringe) melodic laughter, and utensils clattering.

He had been in the shower, easily, for fifteen minutes, much longer than any shower he could remember taking for a good, long while, and had really convinced himself she would have been gone by the time he got out.

Maybe if he just dried off, got into bed, and pretended to be asleep they would just leave and he wouldn't have to worry about explaining anything just ye – FUCK!

Gray gripped his kneecap, hissing in pain, hopping across his floor, towel long discarded and forgotten.

"GodfuckingdammitALL!" He ground out, glaring at his damn coffee table. Since when had that thing moved?!

"Well, it sounds like someone's finally recovered from their drunken stupor," he heard Lyon croon as the knowing sound of a coffee cup was placed onto tabletop, "and here I was almost concerned you had lied to me!"

Juvia's voice was hushed as she replied, Gray could barely make it out against the pain of his head and his knee, but he could almost imagine the exchange they were having at his expense. Fucking Lyon…that goddamn asshole always had the worst possible timing. First it was Ultear banging down his door at some godforsaken hour, now it seemed that Lyon took it upon himself to come and torture Gray with his backhanded comments and flirting with his goddamn neighbor –

Not that it was that much of an issue, Lyon could flirt with whomever he wanted to, especially her, it didn't matter to Gray, but what really mattered was that asshole was in his goddamn kitchen drinking his goddamn coffee and entertaining his goddamn guest –

No, no not his guest, not his guest, she was just his neighbor, and he definitely hadn't thought about her as he had begun to create lewd fantasies with him pushing her up against bedroom walls or whatever.

Nothing of that sort.

Groaning, Gray finally bent his leg back out several times, wincing at the pain that seemed to connect between his forehead and his kneecap. Of all the goddamn times.

"Well, Gray – are you not going to grace us with your presence this morning?"

Lyon had that particular talent, a talent many had but few could truly access, of really fucking rubbing Gray the wrong way.

"I'm coming down now you fucking prick!" Gray shouted out, grimacing immediately after as his hoarse voice rang out. Not only did he feel like death, but he also sounded like death…

He heard a 'tsk,' followed by the scraping of chair leg against floor.

"My apologies," he lowered his voice several octaves, "you'll have to excuse my brother. His brash temperament is very unbecoming of a gentleman. How he was able to bring an absolute doll like you into his apartment is completely beyond me."

Gray couldn't tell if Juvia even replied to that fucker, he had already flung open his drawer and was rooting around for a pair of briefs and bottoms. Once secured, Gray flew down the staircase (still shirtless, mind you), skidding to a halt as he faced his two 'guests'.

Juvia's hair was tied up in a messy topknot as she stood over Gray's stove, strands escaping carelessly to frame her face as she turned to look back at him, a spatula clutched in her hand. She was in a different set of clothes from before, Gray noted, a pair of black leggings and a large, purple cable knit. Lyon was next to her, hand clutching a white coffee mug as he leaned against Gray's counter top, body angled perfectly towards the girl, damn pinstripe oxford shirt and all.

Of all the fucking things to see…

"Good morning!" Juvia called out, cheeks rosy, as she quickly turned her attention back to the stove's top. There was the sound of crackling coming from her spot, and Gray felt the need to crane his neck to see what she was cooking. It smelled really, really good, and he could feel his stomach start to tighten and lurch all at once.

"You know Gray, it's awfully impolite to not respond to someone after they've told you good morning."

Gray's eyes flicked back to his stepbrother, anger evident. He glared before turning his attention over to Juvia's back.

"Morning," he muttered, padding over to his fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water, drinking several sips before rooting through a drawer and pulling out a small bottle of aspirin. He took two and chased them down with the bottle's remaining contents.

He could really use a beer right about now…were there any left in the fridge?

"Morning to you as well," Lyon folded his arms across his chest, "you never told me you had such a cute neighbor you know, Gray…" he moved back over to the table before eyeing Juvia's form appreciatively one last time.

That bastard.

"Juvia was telling me that she just moved in several months ago, but only recently met you," he took another sip of his coffee before settling down into an empty chair beside Gray, "and here I was concerned after what Ultear had told me yesterday – I decided to check up on you, only to find a pretty girl answering your door, making you breakfast, and if I'm not mistaken it appears she's actually cleaned up your dingy rabbit hole."

Gray blinked, the atmosphere suddenly dawning on him. His apartment…had…seemed different, in a way. Flitting his head from side to side, he noted there were no more empty beer bottles on the kitchen countertop or table, not a single crushed cigarette pack as far as the eye could see, no lumps of forgotten clothes…

Was that his dishwasher going?! He had a dishwasher?!

"For once it doesn't smell like cheap alcohol, cigarettes, and regret."

"Lyon if you don't shut your fucking mou – "

"Who wants eggs?" Juvia called out, placing two plates in front of the bickering duo, adjacent to a pair of pre-arranged cutlery and napkins. He had cloth napkins?!

Lyon smiled appreciatively, but Gray deadpanned.

"I don't eat breakfast."

Juvia's eyes flashed with momentary hurt before she reached over to take Gray's plate back.

"Insolent child…" Lyon muttered.

Groaning, Gray glared at his stepbrother, reaching out to grab Juvia's wrist before she could stand back up.

"No, it's okay, I'll eat it. Thanks."

She flushed again at their skin-to-skin contact and nodded, leaving the plate.

"You really don't have to…"

"It's fine." He ground out, and Lyon kicked him underneath the table.

Gray seethed, but Lyon shook his head.

Not in front of a lady.

"I hope they taste good! I went back to my apartment this morning and brought a few things back with me to make them…"

Gray scowled, staring down at the eggs. It was a standard scramble, there appeared to be some combination of vegetables, cheese, and meat. He really wasn't big on breakfast, hell, he wasn't big on any type of food before noon that wasn't a beer and a cigarette, but it did smell really good…

Scooping a mound up with his fork, Gray tentatively tried some.

Fuck.

It was really good.

He ate another forkful. And another.

"Juvia, you are quite the chef!" Lyon exclaimed after swallowing, taking another sip of his coffee, "I really hope Gray's poor disposition isn't too off-putting, I still find it difficult to believe that you were the one that needed to be taken care of last night."

Juvia herself smiled, taking a seat across from Gray and next to Lyon, eating from her own portion.

"Well, I hadn't really planned on overstaying my welcome, but I really do owe Gray for being so kind to me…" she continued eating, stalling only to realize that she didn't have a drink and asked the boys if they wanted anything while she was up.

"Juvia was telling me that the two of you went out together," Lyon finished off his coffee, asking politely for another cup before turning back to Gray and continuing, "and she said you so graciously allowed her to spend the night after she had drunk too much. Very contradictive considering your penchant for alcohol and overconsumption – it does prompt why the poor thing has that split lip and bruise."

Gray stalled his eating.

"Honestly, I came in here ready to punch your lights out, banging on your apartment door after what Ultear had told me, but I'm feeling much better now that I see you've got some positive reinforcement in your life."

God he just wouldn't shut up! The man just kept going, and going, and going!

"The split lip is nothing, really! I told you already, Lyon," Juvia called out, brushing away his thoughts as she sat down again. "Gray actually…he really helped me out the other night. We only went out for drinks because I wanted to thank him, but of course I went a little bit overboard, I am new to drinking, after all…" she shifted in her seat, glancing down at her lap, "please don't think that Gray has done anything wrong, he's been a perfect neighbor and host."

She sounded…almost convincing.

"Maybe I should leave after breakfast, though…it seems I have overstayed my welcome, and you two probably have a lot of things you need to privately discuss."

Lyon's eyes widened slightly, but only momentarily, before he opened his mouth, prepared to speak. Gray beat him to the punch, his tongue moving on its own accord.

"No," he looked up at the girl in front of him, "you can stay as long as Lyon does. It's fine."

Gray couldn't decide if her presence made his stepbrother more or less of an incorrigible prick, but he did decide that she had covered for his ass, so he owed her some sort of compensation for that at the very least. Not to mention, Lyon wouldn't really get into the gist of everything in front of her.

Obviously, they were both thinking alike, as Lyon's eyes fluttered back to Juvia and then to Gray. The two locked glares, lightning crackling, and Gray dared Lyon to bring up Ultear again.

"Yes, don't feel like you have to leave suddenly on my accord," Lyon switched his attention back to Juvia, "whatever Gray and I have to discuss can most certainly wait."

Why was he being so nice to her? Lyon was an impossible pompous dildo half of the time! In the span of thirty minutes he had endlessly complimented her, apologized, and was now smiling at her, eyes tracing down her figure…

Oh, that rat bastard.

A swirling whirlpool of heat began to pool in Gray's gut, adrenaline pumping through his limbs.

He liked her.

Lyon, that was. Not him. No, definitely not him.

"So Juvia, what do you do for a living? You never told me." Lyon finished off his breakfast, placing his fork back onto the plate.

Juvia brushed a stray strand of powder blue hair back behind her ear, glancing over to Gray before she timidly answered.

"I'm a museum guide," she mumbled, pushing around the remaining bits of her breakfast around the plate.

Lyon seemed taken aback.

Gray wanted to slap him.

"Now that's interesting, so you must be aware of Gray's talent I presume?"

Juvia nodded ferociously.

"I…I absolutely love his work," another shy glance his way, "and I am a huge fan of Ur's as well. I wrote my senior art dissertation on several of her pieces."

Lyon laid back in the seat, his eyes widening in surprise.

How come she had never told him that?! Gray demanded inwardly, eyes flickering between the two. He…he had asked her what she did before, true, and maybe he overreacted a little…she had mentioned that she did really like his work, and Ur's as well.

"What is your favourite piece by her?" Lyon prompted.

Gray's breath hitched in his throat.

"Labyrinthine du Monde was of course very beautiful, it's no surprise it's really her most popular series, but I like a lot of the older work, her glass and mineral sculptures," she laced her fingers together, folding them in her lap, " most notably Aquiescere – the volume of pain it speaks is unfathomable and many overlook it because they think it's just a slab of glass.

"The beautiful thing is, though, if you look carefully enough, she beat the glass in an attempt to shatter the sculpture. She created it to destroy it, because her sculptures were the one thing in her life she knew she could control."

Gray's breath began to cough violently. Lyon stayed, for the first time since he had arrived, utterly silent.

Once the words had left her mouth, she immediately regretted them. This was becoming a poor trend these days, Juvia noted – she would relax and her tongue would dig her own grave for her.

The worst part was, that she was being completely and utterly honest. Those were her favourite art pieces by Ur, and she had written her senior dissertation on them.

She should have known that Ur was such a sore subject, especially with how Gray had acted the night prior. It should have been obvious that Lyon would react similar, and Gray…who knew how Gray would react. He began coughing the moment she shut up and Juvia wanted to punch herself repeatedly. This was not how she had planned this entire week to go, much less morning.

Her job was to convince Gray Fullbuster, to charm him, to sway him, and to form an alliance with him, but so far all she had done was awkwardly run into him bawling her eyes out (not to mention injured), get him unbelievably drunk, watch him puke his guts up, and make him breakfast while his stepbrother awkwardly (well, not so awkwardly) attempted to flirt his way into her figurative and literal pants.

This was not progressing, if anything she had taken three steps up and then been promptly shoved down the staircase.

Maybe it was about time she stuck with the pity route. Gray seemed to take to that more, though he had been rather harsh with her last night…Why was this so COMPLICATED?!

Neither of the males at the table had spoken – even Lyon, which Juvia found odd considering he had been consistently chatting her up since he arrived, leaving barely any room for her to speak. Gray, as usual, had come down being his grumpy self, but at this point Juvia really couldn't blame him; he was hungover, probably annoyed from the night before, and she had clearly overstayed her welcome despite him assuring her otherwise.

As if on cue, the cloud broke and a golden beam shot through the heavens, landing directly on her pocketed cellphone. Salvation came in a series of short, quick vibrations, which made her jump slightly, retrieving the device at the most opportune time.

"Excuse me," Juvia stood up from the table, answering the call as she promptly locked herself in the bathroom.

"Hel – "

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Juvia groaned, holding the cell phone away from her ear.

"Gajeel."

"Tell me right now. Where. Are. You."

"Gajeel, I'm in my apartment, calm down."

"That's cute, except you're not, because I'm at your apartment, and I've been banging on your damn door for the past ten minutes, so tell me where the fuck you actually are."

Oh lovely.

"I swear to all that is holy Juvia, if you are at Bora's, if you spent the night at Bora's, I'm going to fly down to his damn place and find you both and it will not be pretty."

"I'm not at Bora's."

He was suddenly very, very quiet.

"Well…" Gajeel coughed, "then, where are you?"

"Working."

"So, you're in that guy's apartment?"

"Yes."

"Did you sleep with him?"

"No."

"Are you going to?"

"No."

"Maybe you should."

"No, Gajeel." Juvia sighed, leaning against the locked bathroom door. If anything, she did want to – that much she wouldn't lie – but that just didn't seem plausible at this point. She still had the mess that was her love life to deal with, and Gray definitely wasn't interested in sleeping with her, not at all.

"All right, well, I came over to check up on ya and see if you wanted to get some coffee, maybe lunch in a few hours – let me know what you're doing, okay?"

Juvia nodded before she realized that he couldn't see her.

"Of course, that sounds like a great idea."

"Maybe we can also try and get all of your shit out of that loser's apartment sometime – he hasn't contacted you, right?"

Juvia bit her lip. In all honesty, Bora had been blowing up her cellphone, especially that morning. She had ignored the calls, the texts, and finally turned off her ringer to any call coming in from his apartment building and cellphone.

"He…may have tried. But I haven't answered."

"Good."

The nervous swelling began to build in her gut. It always did when she thought about how she was ignoring Bora – really, Juvia knew right now it was for the best, but not answering those calls had been playing with fire, and you know what they say about playing with fire.

"I'm almost finished up here, Gajeel. If you'd like to hold on a few more minutes, I can come back down there."

"Are you sure? Don't you want to hang around pretty boy and his garden of creepy ass sculptures?"

"I think it's good if I give him a break right now," it seemed logical – she did want to stay and stare at his face, but staring at him wasn't going to charm him, she needed to pull back a little bit, "I'll say my goodbyes and head down to my apartment."

"All right, I'll be here."

They both hung up simultaneously, and Juvia immediately sunk down to the floor against the door's back, mindful of its silver knob. She stared up at the ceiling, glaring at its singe fluorescent light. Best to let those two talk about some things – she knew that Lyon had come in guns ablaze earlier, and it wasn't her place to intrude on family matters, especially after stirring the pot as much as she had.

"She's cute."

"Lyon."

"I'm shocked you haven't tried to stick your dick in her yet."

Gray's grimace grew harder.

"Lyon."

"All I'm trying to say is I'm extremely shocked, considering Ultear had told me that you were still in contact with that ex-girlfriend of yours – what's that stupid name she goes by again?"

"Lyon."

"Is that why you didn't sleep with Juvia yet? Knowing you, you're still hung up on that drugged up, club kid scene. It's a shame, really. Looks like I'll have to take one for the team now – "

"LYON."

"Well, what is it?! Come out with it, you've been repeating my name like a broken record!"

Gray felt like he was about to pop a blood vessel. He could feel a twitch coming on.

"Why the fuck are you still here?"

"To give you a tongue lashing, in all honesty. Ultear's incredibly worried about you, and it seems the only thing you know how to do these days is drink your problems away and yell at everyone."

Lyon stood up from the table and began cleaning it off, picking up the plates and forks.

"You know, you are such a fucking – "

"What am I, Gray? Go ahead – enlighten me. I'm really looking forward to what you have to say, considering I'm well aware of what I am – you're the one who has an issue with what you are."

Gray closed his mouth, folding his arms across his chest.

"That's what I thought."

"Stop acting like my fucking parent, I'm old enough to take care of myself – "

Lyon's back was to him as he began rinsing the dishes. He flicked on the disposal and the loud thrumming drowned out Gray's words.

"DON'T YOU TRY TO DROWN ME OUT YOU BASTARD, I'M STILL TRYING TO FUCKING TALK TO YOU."

Lyon flicked off the disposal, sighing. He really hated caring so greatly about his younger brother – even if they weren't exactly blood-related, he did feel somewhat responsible for all of the shit he had been involved in. Gray constantly used the 'stop acting like my parents!' defense against any sort of valid points Ultear or Lyon brought up, and while Ultear allowed it to affect her, Lyon felt indifferent to the verbal punches. They all had lost someone – more than just someone. Each of them had lost people on a grand scale.

"Look. Admittedly, when I first came here, I really was ready to punch you square in the jaw," Lyon pocketed both of his hands into his khaki slacks, "but, there is a part of me – a real part of me – that does want to help you through all of this mess. You're my brother on paper, whether you accept that or not, and you are my – you are our – responsibility. Ultear and I…we want to see you succeed again, because we know you have talent, and we know the person you can be."

Gray was caught between rolling his eyes and actually believing the spittle pouring out of Lyon's mouth. Normally, neither of his older siblings opened up so readily – come to think of it, he didn't either – and probably hadn't spoken to him like this since he left for college many years prior.

"I spoke with Juvia very briefly," Lyon began, but then shook his head, walking back to the table, "she's very…unusual. In the best way imaginable mind you – I came in ready to rip your limbs off and she immediately jumped in to your defense. Tossing about how you protected her against some guy, paid her cab fare, so on and so forth."

Pausing, Lyon watched Gray's reaction.

He was scowling like a pitiful teenager, but he was staring at the floor, obviously deep in thought. Lyon continued,

"It's painfully obvious you were the one who got inebriated last night, though for whatever reason she sees you as a good enough person to cover for, despite knowing so little, so maybe you should start fitting that role."

God, Gray didn't know what was worse – Lyon chastising him like he was his parent or Lyon treating him like a human being with some sort of backhanded heart-to-heart. Normally he would have jumped across the table and punched that bastard right in his pointy ass nose, but his hangover was only beginning to subside.

"You don't have to say anything," Lyon continued, still hovering over the table, eyes boring into Gray, "but I think, personally, she would be a positive addition in your life – just stop being such a callous asshole and let someone new in for a change. You don't have to fuck her. Just…try to be nice. She seems like a sweet girl, and you could use some more friends. Ones that haven't convinced themselves they need multiple vices to survive."

Gray stayed silent.

Juvia could hear them shouting. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the garbage disposal begin, shooting up to her feet as if a bomb had gone off. Eventually her heart rate decreased as the disposal was turned off again, and she heard the hush of quiet conversation begin again.

She wondered if they had been talking about her. She wondered if Gray had gotten jealous with Lyon's proximity to her. She wondered if she was ever going to stop daydreaming with these crazy delusional thoughts.

Truth be told, she was surprised to even meet Lyon, and even more surprised when he took such a strong liking to her – nobody had ever taken to her so quickly, and so…forcibly.

Well, nobody else but Bora.

When Gray had gone into the shower, Juvia had begun rooting through his fridge. Normally when Bora was angry with her – and he was always angry with her – she would cook for him. Deep down, Juvia knew it was poor to associate Gray's behavior with Bora's, because they were not the same at all, but it was all she had really known of the opposite sex, bar her friendship with Gajeel.

Last night she did remember seeing a few odds and ends on the shelves, but after checking the expiration dates on several packages, soon came to realize Gray really didn't go shopping for himself. There were a lot of grocery delivery services in the city, but Juvia found it hard to believe he hadn't really gotten groceries in that long. Sneaking out with his key, Juvia had gone back down to her apartment, changed, and grabbed several ingredients for food. It was simply coincidence that an extremely forceful knock advanced on the door the second she re-entered the apartment.

Normally, in this situation, Juvia would have ignored it – normally, she would have probably tried to alert Gray that someone was there for him, but there was no way in hell she was going anywhere near him until he approached her again. Just…just thinking of his…oh god.

Moving on.

The guest's knocking only increased the longer she waited to answer – and then the guest began spewing threats.

Juvia had read about Lyon as well. She knew he had been involved in art but only as a critic, not so much an artist. He kept to himself most of the time, despite being photographed by paparazzi more frequently than his other siblings – it seemed he was very popular with the online community and his commentary was revered. He had critiqued Gray's work before as well – Juvia recalled reading the rather scathing review.

However, seeing him in person was a completely different animal from seeing him in photographs.

It was strange – while they didn't have any blood relation, Gray and Lyon still held this sort of air about themselves, almost aristocratic, even when they were enraged (or in Gray's case, hungover and/or inebriated). Their faces had to have been sculpted from the same marble slab because both had impeccable facial features that could only come from similar backgrounds.

Oh, and was he charming.

Upon seeing her he had immediately introduced himself, smiled a dazzling smile, hung his trench coat up, kissed her hand, and made himself at home as if he hadn't just been preparing to knock down the door.

It was almost too much. He was so charming, so engaging, but…

Sighing, Juvia leaned back over the sink, shaking the thoughts from her head.

This was getting out of hand. Her fantasies, her daydreams, her delusional way of thinking…she needed to head home. Gajeel was waiting, and she had stalled long enough.

Staring into the mirror one last time, Juvia reached up and undid her hair, admiring as it cascaded down, resting just at her collarbone in gentle, powder-blue waves. It was getting rather long, she noted, fingering several of the longer strands. Usually she kept her hair rather short, but recently she had been ignoring Bora's protests – he had always wanted it short and to her jawline, but now that she had let it grow out she definitely wasn't complaining.

After fluffing it up slightly, she smiled to herself and unlocked the bathroom door.

The table had been cleared, Lyon was standing up and shrugging on his large black trench coat, the same one he had hung up after he arrived.

"I'm sorry to leave so quick after a meal," he apologized, walking towards the girl, "but I have pressing matters to attend to."

His lips were feather-light against the curve of her cheek, and for a moment Juvia could have sworn she had imagined the parting kiss. Lyon walked back to the door, nodded at Gray, and promptly exited the apartment, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Neither said anything immediately following, but it was Juvia who spoke first, as customary.

"I think I'm going to head out," she began, walking over to the door and hunching over to slip her feet back into her boots.

"It's my favourite, too."

Juvia whipped her head upwards, her field of vision coming immediately in contact with Gray's bare torso as he walked towards her, last nights scenes from his apartment playing in her mind like a film reel.

'He's still not wearing a shirt,' her face flushed. Goddammit. How could he drink so much alcohol, smoke so many cigarettes, and still look that good?! It was so unfair! She straightened up as he came closer, forcing herself to look anywhere, anywhere, but his bare body and his…

'Oh goddammit, Juvia, get a fucking hold of yourself!'

"The piece," he clarified, "Aquiescere. She made it a long time ago, but it was…it is still my favourite. I've been fighting with the collector that bought it; I'd really like to own it myself one day. Ultear, my sister, has been really fighting for it as well. Lyon is indifferent, but I think he's only indifferent because he knows Ultear and I want it so bad, and he knows we'll get it."

'God say something, say something, you should say something!"

"I hope you get it."

'OH GOD THAT WAS SO LAME.'

He…smiled?

"Thanks."

'Say something else!'

"I – " her voice squeaked, dying almost immediately as she spoke – very smooth, "I didn't mean to sound presumptuous earlier," Juvia stared down at the ground, still scared to look back up in case her gaze trailed back down to his…ugh, "but…I really do like it. Well, I guess…I like my interpretation of it."

"That's how it should be. Good artists give stories to their work, great artists leave it up to their viewers," he smelled so nice, "that's why Ur's work was so popular for such a modern market. Everyone fit it into their own life story."

She knew this, but she wouldn't tell him that. This was the most he had said to her sober, and Juvia really didn't want him to stop.

Her phone went off.

"Oh shit!" Juvia's eyes widened as she fished the phone out of her pocket, checking the caller ID, "shit, shit, shit! I've left Gajeel waiting this whole time, he's going to kill me!"

Gray quirked an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side as the girl before him tapped on her screen, furiously typing out a message before she turned her attention back to him.

"I'm so sorry, I have to go, I've left my friend waiting down in my apartment, thank-you for letting me stay the night!"

Wait, what?!

"Hold on!" Gray grabbed her shoulder, thrusting her backwards with such velocity that she crashed into his chest.

Juvia spun back around, and further away from his grip, faster than Gray had ever seen anyone move, face beet red and clutching her phone to her chest.

Gray felt the heat begin to creep up the back of his neck. She had…felt…really good…even if it was just her goddamn back.

"Sorry," Gray apologized this time, "I hadn't meant to…be so forceful, I just really didn't want you to leave before I thanked you. You don't have to thank me for anything."

"O-oh," Juvia lowered her hands down from her chest, phone still locked in her grasp.

"Yeah," Gray gulped, "so, uh, thank-you. For, y'know, everything you've done…really. You didn't have to. I'm kind of a jerk to be honest, and you're way too nice for your own good."

Was that…a compliment?

"Thank-you," Juvia smiled regardless, deciding to take it as is.

Grays eyes flashed.

"Stop thanking me! I'm trying to thank you!"

Juvia burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?! I'm serious!"

"I'm so sorry Gray, it's just – " she laughed harder, "you walk around with such a commanding presence and…" her laughter drowned out her voice as she clutched her sides.

Maybe she had finally lost it.

"Goddammit," he huffed, folding his arms across his bare chest, "don't you have somewhere to be? Isn't someone waiting on you?"

"Oh, shit!" Her laughter ceased and suddenly her back was ramrod straight once again, "Gajeel! I am such an idiot!"

That was the second time she had forgotten about him, Christ, this guy must really not be important.

'Well, he seems rather important…' A slight voice taunted Gray, but he brushed it off. No. Fuck off. He didn't have time for this petty bullshit.

"Have a good day, Gray! Get some more rest!" Juvia waved as she exited the door.

All Gray could think about was if she had mentioned her boyfriend's name, and if it had been Gajeel.

Notes:

Thank-you for reading! Pop in a review if you have the time and let me know what you thought - I am not too sure about this chapter's end, it's a little blase, but don't worry, I promise the interaction will begin to pick-up! (think less blushing and awkward contact). Constructive criticism is always welcome with open arms, and love keeps the inspiration burning! xx