Oh my god guys I'm so sorry about the long wait! This was never my intention for it to take this long to finish typing! I was just having so much trouble with time and inspiration. T-T Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the next chapter in the story! Please give me your constructive criticism! (I can't stop saying that. XD) I also see we have some new followers. Welcome to the crazy! WE're happy to have you! Like, honestly, the characters know more about how this story is going to end then I do... WARNING: Long paragraphs of monologue ahead. And I hope you all enjoy. Thanks again for all of you wonderful people that stuck with the story by the way, it makes me so happy!

Oh yeah by the way I don't own Fairytail. (No! Really? *Sarcasm radiating out of my pores*) Just so you all know! Because you haven't all heard that eight million times from every other FT fanfiction writer on the planet.

She turned to Mest. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm already going to the dance with Romeo-kun," She explained, trying to sound honest. "He asked me shortly before you did."

Romeo had come up the stairs far enough to hear the last bit of their conversation, and his eyes widened.

Wendy blushed when she felt his arm around her shoulder, and turned back towards Mest, whispering "Sorry…"

Lucy, Gajeel, and Levy walked up the stairs next, closely followed by Natsu and Gray, fighting. "Oh hey Wendy, Romeo." Natsu nodded his head at them briefly, then blinked and turned back to them. "Romeo?" His voice was ice sharp, suddenly. "What are you doing?"

At this, Gajeel turned around as well, and paled. In one smooth move, he walked over to them, smiled his creepy smile at Romeo, and gently removed his arm from her shoulder. Then Natsu and he went back to what they were doing. Romeo shuddered. He had dodged a bullet here. If he had been anyone else… But he had forgotten how overprotective Natsu and Gajeel had been of her, and for the strangest reason, Laxus had also formed a close bond with the little bluenette. It was like she had three brothers instead of one.

Lisanna, Mira, and Elfman walked up the stairs next, Mira scolding Lisanna feverishly, looking close to tears, while Elfman protested to his tears. "Tears are a MAN!" he sobbed.

"Mira-nee!" Lisanna whined a bit, "I'm sorry I took a short walk, and I got lost! Lucy took care of me though, so I'm ok."

"But there are so many scenarios in which you would NOT have been ok!" Mira ranted, waving her hands wildly.

"How many times do I have to tell you Mira-nee, I'm sorry! It won't happen again! I promise!" Lisanna was clearly getting tired of being yelled at. She made a mistake, and she would never do it again. She stomped her foot again feebly.

Suddenly, she stomped over to Wendy and Romeo and plopped down to eat her lunch. Bixlow and Ever walked up the stairs, following Laxus up. "Hey guys!" Ever giggled a little, waving her hand up at them, bouncing happily.

"What happened Ever? You're acting much less manly than usual…" Elfman stared at her, trying not to blush at how cute she looked.

"That's because I'm NOT a man!" Ever sighed. "Anyways, it's because I made the cheer team!" she squealed and jumped around in a half circle.

Laxus sighed. "She's been like this all day… I mean, Mira wasn't half as excited about making cheer captain…"

Ever froze. "What?" She asked it slowly, like she must have misheard him. "Mira?"

Laxus grinned. He remembered that when they were little, Ever attacked Mira at one point over a petty thing and Mira had whipped her butt. Ever since then, their relationship had been rocky at best.

"Oh I was wondering who was in my squad this year." Mira walked over, smiling slightly. She clearly have given up scolding Lisanna. Ever gulped a bit and smiled nervously.

"So then." Bixlow shuffled uncomfortably. "If I'm not needed here, can I…"

Laxus waved him off with a nod. Bixlow started walking away from the group, making his way to Lisanna.

"You are good at cheering then, Mira-chan?" Lucy questioned her, interested in her new friend's hobbies.

"Oh yes!" Mira exclaimed happily. "Our last cheer went something like this;

Come on fairies! Beat 'em dead!

If you say you can't, it's all in your head!

We know you're rough, and you like to rumble!

Just remember not to fumble!

Gooooooo Fairies!"

"How'd you like it?" Mira was grinning happily. "I made up the 'beat them dead' part myself, and it's my personal favorite!"

Laxus nodded. "That's my Mira." He put a hand on her shoulder, clearly unfazed that his girlfriend was talking about murdering the other team.

"I-its original, that's for sure." Lucy struggled to find a good thing to say about the cheer. "I think it will really bring out the team's personality." She bit her lip. Now why did she say that?

"Yeah. Original." Evergreen was practically a statue, and rigid movements were the most she could muster. She was clearly terrified of Mira, or more like it, Mira being in charge of her. Because she wasn't stupid.

So as Lucy walked back to her lunch, sitting uneaten, she noticed Natsu sulking in the corner. When she followed his line of sight, she saw that he was looking at Lisanna and Bixlow, chatting. So he didn't like Bixlow and Lisanna talking then…

"Hey you ok?" She sat down next to him, smiling and letting her hair drape carelessly over her shoulder.

"I don't like them together." He frowned even more. "He's not a good influence."

"Someone's a little jealous." She poked him playfully, laughing a little.

"It's not like that! It's just, she's always been my friend, my best friend… Some boy like that isn't good for her! How do we know he isn't a nasty jerk?"

Lucy thought for a moment. "How do you know I'm not a nasty jerk?"

"Well that's different!" Natsu exclaimed, "I can tell you're a good person, and anyways, you haven't done anything to convince me otherwise."

She smiled at that. "Bixlow has been here much longer than I have, and he's never done anything, has he?"

"Well…" He muttered something she couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"I never really took the time to meet him…" he muttered, looking a little ashamed by that fact. "He always was just there. With Laxus, or he and Freed would go somewhere with Evergreen. He only recently began talking to Lisanna. And I don't like that shifty look in his eyes. Like he could devour your soul." He shuddered.

Lucy stared at him blankly. "Well I guess the hairstyle is a bit strange, but I really don't see anything else wrong with him," she admitted, looking over at him, grinning happily at Lisanna as she practically choked on her own laughter. "I'm just glad she's happy," she muttered, smiling.

"I still don't like him," he pouted, folding his arms over his chest. Lucy guessed that deep down, he really did love Lisanna, as a sister.

"Hey now… It's ok." She grinned at him. "Do you want the other half of my cookie?"

He brightened up almost instantly, the prospect of food overwhelming his sadness at the whole thing with Lisanna. "You really mean it?"

Lucy laughed at his excitement, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

A ways to the left, Gray sat there, sulking and glaring at Natsu and Lucy's interactions. A few MORE steps to the left, Juvia also sat there, stalking Gray unhappily, as she watched him watch Lucy. She was not pleased. Not pleased at all.

Gray sighed. Why did I ever say yes to Juvia? he growled to himself at his own stupidity. Dang it! He was head over heels for Lucy, so why couldn't he have told her before flame brain got to her and asked her out? Well, it was too late now… He was stuck with the yandere stalker while Natsu got the beautiful princess. That was when he began to get an idea…

Wendy and Romeo walked across the roof, finally sitting down across from Lucy and Natsu, slowly eating their lunch. "Lucy-nii?" Wendy suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" Lucy was lost in her own thoughts, but heard Wendy's voice and snapped out of it. "Sorry, what was that?"

Wendy let out a deep breath. "If you wanted to ask someone out, like, as more than a friend, how would you do it?" She avoided eye contact with Romeo, or Lucy for that matter.

Natsu looked up from his cookie. "Why does it matter Wendy?" He glared at Romeo for a quick second, not forgetting the fact that he had his arm around her shoulder when he came up. Romeo guessed that wouldn't be forgotten for a very long time.

"Oh I just have a friend who was trying to figure out how to talk to a boy that she likes." Wendy gazed up at him innocently, her big brown eyes sparkling, reflecting tiny bits of sun. Inside, her stomach twisted. She hated lying to anyone, and even a little white lie like this was hurting her.

Romeo stared at her. Maybe Chelia, her long distance friend from Lamia Scale Prep, wanted some help? But she never mentioned Chelia having problems with boys… Then again, she never really brought up boys in the first place.

"Well…" Lucy thought about it. "Natsu actually asked me, and he was actually very blunt. Most boys his age are though… Don't be too subtle, because they're all dense as a pound of bricks, but don't announce it to the world." She laughed as Natsu just stared at her for a minute.

"Ok, thank you!" Wendy smiled at Lucy as she silently contemplated how she was going to do this. She finally decided not to do anything super fancy, just to ask him without stuttering too much. Then maybe they could share her cookie or something. If she had learned only one thing from Natsu-nee it was that boys liked food. Also, she thought it looked cute when Lucy offered to share with Natsu.

As the end of the day rolled around, Levy made her way to her locker, and was surprised when she saw Gray standing there awkwardly. "Oh hi Gray," she started, "Can I help-"

"I need your help," he interrupted her. "I'm in love with someone else's girlfriend, and there's a stalker in love with me."

"Oh!" Levy shuffled her feet nervously. "Isn't there someone more helpful than me that you could talk to? Another girl?"

He laughed bitterly. "Who? Lucy is the one I'm in love with, I would have to be crazy to approach her with this. Juvia? Why she'd bite my head off! Erza would kill me and rant about how I am a horrible friend to betray Juvia like this. Lisanna is in no shape to talk to me, and she had another breakdown when Natsu approached her today. Wendy is hopeless at this stuff, and Ever would just scoff at me. Don't even suggest Mira either." He shuddered. "Am I forgetting anyone?"

"You could call Yukino…" Levy whispered. "I mean, I know she goes to Sabertooth, but she and Lucy are good friends, and she asked out Rouge, so she might have some ideas on your situation."

"I barely know her though," He pointed out. "Wouldn't that be an awkward conversation. Hi Yukino, I know we haven't met, but please tell me how to ask out one of your best friends who doesn't like me and is dating someone already. Yeah she'd think I was a great person…"

"Ok I kind of see your point on that one…" Levy admitted. "It was a stupid idea, sorry. But why me? You know I'm as bad as Wendy at these things."

"Because," he said, staring at her, blushing a bit. "Remember back in kindergarden, I was going to kiss Erza, just as a stupid little kid, on a dare from Flame Brain? And you pulled me aside and talked me out of it? The whole 'a kiss is not something to be taken lightly' thing, and 'think how this would make other people, not just Erza, feel'? I think that despite what you say to others about this stuff, and how awkward you get, deep down, you really do know what's right to do, and what's wrong. Please, I need your help."

Levy stood there, shocked. She didn't think that Gray would remember some insignificant detail from their childhood so vividly. In a way, she was flattered. On the other hand though, she had no clue how to help him. "Ok then... " She took a deep breath. "Why did you decide to go to the dance with Juvia in the first place?"

Gray looked at her sheepishly and mumbled something. "What was that?" Levy asked him, cocking her head.

"She's as pretty as she is crazy, if not more," he muttered. Then he looked up. "Natsu always had Lisanna when we were little. Now he has Lucy. I wanted someone that loved me for who I was, unconditionally. When Lucy came, I thought that maybe I could start a relationship with someone who didn't know anyone that well. It didn't hurt that she was also really pretty. But Natsu got there first. When Juvia and Gajeel came, a while before Lucy, I liked her a lot, got it into my head that they would be together, but she loves me unconditionally. And Gajeel is clearly head over heels for Levy but won't admit it." He let out a long breath as he finished his speech, and Looked at Levy, whose eyes were wide.

"Well I think you've found your answer then." She smiled. "It looks like you didn't need my help after all."

He looked at her for a moment, confused, then his face broke into a huge grin. "I never should have tried to replace her." He ran off suddenly, leaving only a "Thank you Levy!" behind. Levy smiled, happy to have helped.

Gajeel walked up to her, as she stood there unsuspectingly. Ok I'll try for a grin and a nice tone of voice, he thought, oh and I'll put my hand on her shoulder. In the past few days, Gajeel had been struggling with the fact that he thought he liked Levy, but was denying it.

"Hey Shrimp." His rough, scratchy voice startled her, and she whirled around before he could put a hand on her shoulder. She gasped a bit and jumped back at his creepy smile, as he had bent down to be face to face with her.

"Oh I'm sorry!" she gasped out, putting a hand over her fast-beating heart. "It's just you Gajeel. Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to be there."

"It's ok Shorty." Gajeel was equally flustered, but at least his voice had returned to normal. Dang these nerves! he silently cursed.

"Soooo…" Levy winced mentally at the awkward silence. "What are you doing the night of the dance?"

"I don't dance," Gajeel bluntly stated. "I have better things to do."

"Oh. Right." Levy looked so sad at that moment, Gajeel wished he could just hug her. "I understand completely. I just thought…"

Gajeel looked at her, and his heart did a little tap dance. Complete with top hats. And top dogs. And top 'o the mornings. And- "Shut me up," he growled.

Levy blinked. "What?"

"Nothing, sorry." He sighed, mentally preparing himself for what he was going to say next. "You know, I wouldn't half mind-"

"Levy-chan!" Lucy was running down the hallway to them.

"Yeah Lu?" Levy asked her, still on edge from her Gajeel jump scare.

"Oh nothing much…" Lucy grinned suddenly "Just the fact that the professor gave me this for you." She handed Levy a big thick book.

Levy gasped, looked at Lucy briefly, and then jumped up and down again and again, squealing. "How did he know?"

"That this one was the only one you didn't own in the series?" Lucy smirked. "I don't know, but he's giving you extra credit to write a report on it, and on top of that, you get to keep the book!"

Gajeel sighed as the girls and him started walking out, Levy and Lucy still feverishly talking about books.

Juvia was walking out of the school a few moments after them when she saw Lisanna going in the same direction, but something was off. Lisanna walked with a slouch, and there was no bounce in her step. Juvia walked over to her.

"Lisanna? Are you feeling ok?" Juvia put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned. Her mascara was smeared, tear tracks clearly visible. In her hand, she clutched her phone so tightly that her knuckles were white. There was a text from someone on the screen, but with Lisanna's fingers in the way, Juvia couldn't see who it was from.

"What is it Lisanna? Here, Juvia will help you." Juvia carefully pried Lisanna's fingers off of her phone. She looked at the text on the screen. It was from Natsu.

So yeah… another chapter for all of you wonderful, wonderful patient readers. (All six of you lol.) And I guess all of you others who haven't favorited or followed my story or whatever. *shrug.* If you haven't favorited or followed my story yet, feel free to! :) I also would really appreciate the constructive criticism. Cause yeah I'm not giving up on that. And another thing I like in the anime is Lisanna and Juvia's relationship, how kind they are to each other. So if you enjoyed and want to keep reading, please do stuff like that! So again I'm so sorry about the time, but I think every that two to three weeks is good during the school year. (Maybe I'll even add in a special Halloween chapter for you guys, regardless of the last time I posted. Tell me if you like that idea in the comments please!) So yeah please follow me and stuff. I'll see you all next chapter, bye!