Christmas with My Former Crush
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I own Fairy Tail–not! Hiro Mahsima-san does. Period.
Levy loudly sucked her lemon juice from her straw. The blue-haired girl squinted at the blonde. "What happens next?"
Lucy squinted back. "What happens next what?"
Her best friend groaned. "You know!" she exclaimed. "After Marco confesses to Luisa! What happens after that?"
"I'm still writing what happens next so…," the blonde stuck out her tongue teasingly, "You will have to wait."
"You're such a cliff-hanger, Lu-chan!" Levy said, pouting, making Lucy laugh.
The two were currently eating on the balcony of a small café that opened just a few weeks before. They first talked about Gray sleeping at Lucy's house. Levy really stressed the details out of the blonde. Now, they were talking about the latest novel that Lucy was writing. And that was when Lucy's phone rang, the chorus of the phone she, herself, wrote and sang playing.
*'All for him I fix my hair / Though before I really don't care / Now I wear / Pretty, little dresses that I used to never wear'
Lucy reached for it, frowning when she saw that the caller was just a number.
"What is it?" Levy asked. Lucy raised her phone to show the screen. "Want me to answer it for you?" she offered.
The blonde's lips formed a thin line as she shook her head. "No, I'll manage," she said. "Thanks, though." She held her phone to her ear as she pressed the 'answer' button. "Hello?" she said uncertainly.
"Took you long enough to answer," a familiar voice said in a bored tone.
"G-G-Gray!" Lucy stuttered, surprised. Levy's eyes widened before giving the blonde a face that was meant to tease her. Lucy blushed, avoiding her best friend's eyes. "H-How did you get m-my phone number?"
"I asked Layla-san to give it to me," he said. "Just in case we, y'know, got separated."
"Oh." Lucy nodded unconsciously as she blushed at what he said. "W-well, um, is–is there something wrong? 'Coz –'Coz y-you called a-and–"
"Oh, no, no!" Gray laughed. "I just wanted to tell you that you look pretty in a braid."
At this, Lucy blushed even harder, a hand flying to feel the complicated braid her best friend did for her. "T-thank you," she stuttered. She saw Levy wiggle her eyebrows at her. The flustered blonde furrowed her eyebrows at her best friend and placed a finger to her lips. Levy giggled. Lucy then remembered that she had her hair down when she last met Gray. "Uh, how did–how did you know that I'm wearing a braid?" she asked suspiciously.
The boy just laughed in reply. "Can I also have some of that chocolate sundae you're having?"
Lucy's mouth dropped open as she stared, bewildered, at her half-eaten sundae. How on Earthland did he know I'm eating?
"What is it?" Levy whispered.
Lucy shrugged and pointed accusingly at the phone she was holding. She stood up and leaned on the balcony's railing, searching for a certain male brunette. "Where are you?" she asked.
"You're looking the wrong way," he replied.
The blonde heard her best friend exclaim in delight before feeling a light tap on her shoulder. She whipped around and saw Gray grinning at her.
"Been a while, Gray-kun!" Levy greeted.
"You're still as lively as ever, Levy," Gray replied, smiling. He took a chair from a neighboring empty table and sat together with the blue-haired girl. He eyed Lucy's sundae before looking expectantly at the blonde, making her blush. "May I have some?"
Lucy nodded hesitantly. "I-I'll get you another spoon and– Hey!" she exclaimed, blushing furiously as Gray used her own spoon to scoop some of the ice cream and shoving it to his mouth.
"Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh," she chanted excitedly. "OMG, I'm fan girling! That was an indirect kiss!"
The boy raised his eyebrows at them as he took another scoop. "It's not as if there's something wrong, right?" he asked as he continued eating. "I mean, there's nothing malicious about me sharing a utensil with Lucy," he said before pausing as he took a look at the girls' reactions. "Right?" he added hesitantly when he saw Levy smiling smugly at him. He glanced at Lucy, noting that she was still red and was looking disbelievingly at him.
"You've got a hidden agenda, don't you?" Levy purred teasingly. "You were really gunning for the indirect kiss, weren't you?"
"L-Levy!" Lucy hissed, blushing harder. She caught the boy's eye and immediately looked away. Her cell phone rang again, the lyrics of her song playing, making Gray eye her phone in both amusement and curiosity. She blushed as she looked at the caller. It said, Gajeel Redfox. She frowned before showing her cell phone to her best friend who looked at her in surprise. She pressed the 'answer' button.
"I know that you're with that little shrimp, blondie!" Gajeel's gruff voice said threateningly, making a shiver crawl up Lucy's spine. "Why isn't she answering my calls?"
"I–I don't know!" Lucy squeaked in reply. "Honest!"
"Let me talk to her!" he demanded menacingly.
Lucy handed the phone to her best friend with a quivering hand. Levy accepted and held the phone to her ear. The blonde saw her blue-haired friend wince before retorting sharply. "I told you earlier!" she snapped. "I won't be able to tutor you since I'll be spending the afternoon with Lu-chan!" She then pinched the bridge of nose before sighing. "With your current performance, you're hopeless, Gajeel."
"Is there something going on between them?" Gray whispered.
Lucy giggled at his question. "Rumor has it that there is something going on between Levy-chan and Gajeel," she replied, smirking at her best friend who was quarreling over the phone. "Even before Gajeel asked Levy-chan to tutor him."
Gray pouted. "That bastard Gajeel would never tell us anything about himself," he complained childishly. He ate some of Lucy's sundae before commenting, "I like this ice cream's taste." He paused. "Its sweetness is… Abnormally sweet." He raised his eyebrows at Lucy, smirking. "I wonder why that is so." Lucy blushed, choosing not to answer him. Gray stuck out his lower lip. "I'd like to hear your ring tone again."
Lucy snapped her head at the boy, wide-eyed in disbelief as color drained from her pretty face. "You– You're kidding, r-right?" She chuckled nervously. "Right?"
"Is there something wrong?" Gray asked curiously. "Because if there is then I–"
"Oh, Lu-chan!" fumed Levy as she angrily handed the phone back to the blonde, getting the duo's attention. "That dim-witted Gajeel went and took Cupcake!" she complained. "He said that if I won't show up, he'd wring Cupcake's neck!" She cried comically as animated tears fell from her eyes. "Oh, my poor, poor Cupcake!"
Gray frowned at Levy in confusion. "Cupcake?"
"It's Levy-chan's Shi Tzu," Lucy explained. "She got her last Christmas."
"Oh."
"How did you know that Cupcake's really with Gajeel?" Lucy asked Levy who was swimming in her own pool of tears.
"Cupcake barked through the phone!" Levy replied in comical sobs. "And I know that it's her bark because of the timbre of her voice!"
The blonde laughed as she helped her best friend up. "All right, all right," she said, chuckling. "We'll go with you to Gajeel's house."
Gray's PoV
"Cupcaaaaaake!" Levy squealed happily as she squeezed her pup to death.
I raised my eyebrows at the scoffing Gajeel. "You really took the dog, huh?"
"She wouldn't come if I didn't," he grunted, glaring at Cupcake who was licking Levy in the face.
"Cupcake!" Lucy cooed sweetly, a few feet away from the Shit Tzu, arms wide. "Here, girl!" The dog turned from Levy to Lucy before jumping off Levy's petite arms into Lucy's, making her laugh.
"Where's your cat?" I asked.
"Lily?" he said. "Inside. Eating kiwis." Gajeel then turned to Levy. "Oi, shrimp!" he snapped. "Hurry up! End that cheesy reunion and freaking follow me inside before I really snap that damned dog's neck!" He then stormed inside, leaving me chuckling.
Levy whined in complaint. "You're so bossy, Gajeel!" she yelled at his retreating form as she scooped Cupcake up in her arms. "No wonder no tutor lasts long with you," she added under her breath. She then smiled sheepishly at me and Lucy. "I'm really, really sorry, Lu-chan, Gray-kun," she apologized. "But that bastard's being a bastard so…," she tried to bow despite her holding Cupcake, "I'm really, really sorry! I make it up to you two sooner or later. I'm really sorry!" She then looked teasingly at Lucy. "You enjoy each other's company, alright?"
Lucy blushed. "Yes, yes,yes!" she hurriedly pushed her best friend towards the door. "Just go and tutor Gajeel, okay?" She smirked triumphantly when Levy's face turned red.
"Lu–Lu-chan!" she stuttered. Lucy grinned innocently before closing the door.
We then started walking towards the town square again. I glanced at Lucy and saw that she was staring absently at the pink and orange sky. "Isn't it pretty?" she asked, not looking at me. "When the sun sets?"
I smiled softly. "Yeah," I replied. "It is." We reached the fountain. Its rim was far enough from the center of the fountain so it was dry. I sat on it before patting the space beside me, inviting Lucy to sit beside me. I smiled at her. She blushed before sitting beside me. After she did, I looked expectantly at her, making her blush again.
"Stop–Stop staring!" she mumbled as she turned to look away, making me laugh. "W-Why are y-you l-laughing?" she demanded cutely.
I shook my head. "Nothing." I smirked at her before placing a hand on her head. "I just like seeing you so red and flustered."
She slapped my hand away, mumbling about me ruining her hair. Silence then enveloped us as I turned and faced the fountain in an Indian-sitting position. I dipped my hands into the freezing water. It's amazing that the fountain isn't frozen yet despite all this snow.
"U-um, m-may I ask y-you a question?" she said hesitantly.
"You already did," I replied, grinning cheekily at her.
"Two questions then?," she said, pouting.
"You already did," I repeated, stifling my laughter as she tried to hold her composure.
"Three questions?"
"You already did." She splashed water on my face. "Just let me ask my question, dammit!"
"Alright, alright!" I said, laughing. I splashed back at her return. I immediately regretted it when she then sneezed loudly. "Crap–I'm so sorry!" I quickly removed my jacket and placed it on her shoulders. She shook her head as she took off the jacket. "You don't have to give this to me." She tugged on her blazer. "I have this anyway." She smiled sheepishly at me before sneezing again.
I frowned, standing up as took the jacket away from her. I held her wrist. And before she could even react, I quickly slipped the sleeve of my jacket in her arm. She opened her mouth to say something–to stop me maybe–but I looked at her sternly, making her shut her mouth. She obediently let me help her into the jacket, her head hanging in defeat. I buttoned the three lowest buttons before stepping back to marvel at her. I raised my eyebrows. My jacket was obviously too large for her, but since she looked cute in it, I let her be. I sat down beside her again.
"So what was that question you were talking about?" I asked her.
Suddenly, she was all red and stuttering again. "I-I-I-It's a-about Ju–Juvia."
The mention of my girl friend's name made me look away guiltily. "What about her?" I asked monotonously. I can't believe I forgot all about her ever since Mom mentioned that we'd spend a week at Lucy's! I'm the worst boy friend.
"W-W-What d-did you s-see in her t-that's not– that's not in o-other g-girls?" Good question you got there, Luce.
I smiled softly. "To tell you the truth, I was honestly creeped out with her stalking me at first, as well as the tons of love letters in my lockers, and sweets on my table in the classroom," I replied. "But, thank God, she had the courage to speak to me normally one day and I, well, I got to know her better. And as I did, I realized that I had feelings for her. And soon, those feelings grew." I grinned proudly. "I love being with her–it's fun and comfortable with her. And the way she acts, proves that she really loves me for more than an eternity, even if she can be really jealous and possessive of me sometimes. That's why I love her." I cocked an eyebrow at Lucy who was listening intently. "Does this answer your question?"
She blushed, nodding. "Y-Yes," she replied, meekly. "Thank you."
"No pro–"
Riiiiiing! Riiiiiing! Riiiiiing!
I dug into my pocket to check who the caller was. As I did, I saw Lucy staring emotionlessly at me. "Is there something wrong?"
"What a boring ring tone," she commented.
I smirked at her. "And you have an interesting ring tone," I retorted, making her blush and look away. Grinning triumphantly, I looked at my cell phone's screen. It read, Lockser ,Juvia. Yes, I'm an organized person. Even the contact name of my lover is on a last name-first name basis like all the others. My spirits lifted as I pressed the 'answer' button. "Juvia?"
"Graaaaaay-samaaaaaaa!" she squealed, making me laugh.
"Yes, babe, I miss you too," I replied cheekily.
"Kyaaaaaaa! Gray-sama called Juvia 'babe' again!" she exclaimed.
"And I will always will, babe," I said, grinning ear to ear. I could imagine her right now–all sparkly and flowery. " So
what made you call?"
"Juvia is wondering where Gray-sama is," she replied. "Juvia wants Gray-sama to spend Christmas with her so that she could introduce him to her family."
I frowned at Lucy. In turn, she looked at me in confusion. "What?" she mouthed. I shook my head and frowned at the snow-covered ground instead.
I really wanted to meet her family–except her really scary older sister, Aquarius. When me and Juvia weren't still together, I once refused to eat the bento box she gave me, leaving her crying. That was when Aquarius came up to me and, well, that's another story. Anyway, even if I want to spend the holidays with her, I just can't. Why? Because I'm already here at Lucy's. Mom asked me to come with her to Layla-san's as a favor. And when Mom asks a favor you only have three choices: you say 'yes', you agree, or you choose both. Unless, of course, you want to stay in a hospital for more than a week after being pummeled to the ground by her. I shivered at the thought.
"Juvia, I–I'm sorry I but I can't," I replied.
"Eeeeeh?" she exclaimed. "Did–Did J-Juvia do s-something wrong to Gray-sama?" Her voice was starting to quiver.
"No, no, no! It's not like that!" I sighed. "Mom asked me a favor to come with her to spend Christmas with her childhood friend, Layla-san. I had no choice but to comply."
"Wait," Juvia said suddenly. "Isn't Layla-san the name of Lucy-san's mother?"
"Y-yeah?" I mumbled. I then realized what she was talking about. Crap, Juvia might get the wrong idea. "Wait, Juvia, I–"
"GRAY-SAMA IS WITH LUCY-SAN'S COMPANY THIS CHRISTMAS INSTEAD OF JUVIA'S?" she screeched furiously into the phone, making me cringe. "LOVE RIVAL!"
I chuckled weakly. "Lucy's not your love rival, Juvia," I said. "You know that I only love you and you alone. Did you forget?" I missed the sad and longing look Luce gave me since I was too busy calming Juvia down.
Juvia gasped at my words. "No, of course not, Gray-sama!" she said hurriedly. "Juvia will never forget how much Gray-sama loves her and how much she loves him back!"
I smiled. "Good."
I know that she was smiling too, reassured. "Did Gray-sama eat already?" she then asked worriedly. "It's already late."
It was when I realized it was already dark. I checked my watch. 6:28 pm, it read. "No, I haven't," I replied. "How about you?"
"Juvia ate already," she said. "She's thankful for the concern Gray-sama is giving her."
I laughed. "And I'm thankful too."
"Ah!" she exclaimed "If Gray-sama still hasn't eaten yet, then Juvia must end this call for him to eat."
I pouted childishly even though I knew that she couldn't see me. "But I'm not hungry!" I whined. "I want to talk to you more and–"
"Gray-sama must listen to Juvia," she interrupted. "This is for Gray-sama's health. Call Juvia again if Gray-sama ate dinner already."
"You end this call and I will call you again," I challenged her. "I can easily say that I ate already."
Juvia laughed. "Gray-sama's tactics will not work on Juvia because she knows Gray-sama too well," she replied proudly. "Juvia will know if Gray-sama is lying."
"But, Juvia, I–"
"Eat well, Gray-sama," she said. "Call Juvia if he ate dinner already, okay?" The line went dead.
I grumbled, as I shoved my phone back into my pocket. I really wasn't hungry!
I opened my mouth to say something to Lucy as I turned to face her. I was surprised that she was not sitting on the spot where she had been earlier. I stood up to look for her. In the corner of my eye, I then saw a flash of blonde near the book store. I snapped my head towards its direction and saw Lucy walk in the store. I frowned. What the heck if she doing? I followed her inside. I saw Lucy crouching, busily searching the racks of the hobbies and entertainment section, carefully shaved eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
I silently stood behind her. "Care to tell me why you suddenly left without me knowing?"
She gave out a small squeak at my voice, obviously surprised. Her face flushed red as she looked up to me guiltily. "Well, I was bored!" she said defensively. "You were too busy talking to Juvia and I figured not to interrupt your conversation since you looked like you were enjoying yourself!" She glared hard the floor. "I thought that it was unfair that you were the only one having fun and all so I went to go look for some good books to entertain myself for a while."
"You could've at least gestured to me," I reprimanded, crossing my arms for more effect.
"I'm sorry, then!" she snapped at me stubbornly, causing me to chuckle. "It's not as if I'd leave you and go home straight away," she said before adding under her breath, "Mom would kill me if I did."
I laughed, holding out a hand as I helped her stand up. "Alright, alright," I said. "Let's just go home now and eat dinner, okay?"
She nodded. We then both headed back to the Heartfillia residence. I hurriedly finished my dinner and asked Lucy if she was going to use her room. When she said that she wasn't, I quickly locked myself up for privacy and called Juvia.
An hour and a half passed by really slowly when I was talking to her. It felt as if she was here beside me, making me wish that she was really was here. I had to cut the connection 'cause Aquarius stole the phone from Juvia, saying that I was the reason to why she can't watch a movie with her boy friend in the other room because Juvia was being noisy talking to me and that if I don't end the call in ten seconds, she'll force Juvia to break up with me. And since I definitely didn't want Juvia to break up with me, I ended the call with a heavy heart.
I went down the stairs, having nothing to do. Mom and Layla-san went out for a nighttime stroll so the living room was empty. I looked around and saw Keirin using the computer near the dining room. Lucy was nowhere to be found. I raised my eyebrows. Where is she?
"There's still some pizza in the fridge if you're still hungry," Keirin said suddenly, making me jolt. "But you still have to heat it 'coz it's bound to be cold." She was not looking at me since she was busy on doing whatever she was doing on the desktop, her eyebrows furrowed in the same way as Lucy's earlier. They looked so alike that it was creepy.
"I'm not hungry, actually," I replied, walking over to her. "Thanks, though."
"No prob."
I rested my hands on the back of her chair and looked at the screen, trying hard not to get dizzy for Keirin was scrolling up and down really fast."What're you doing?"
"Researching," she replied, not looking away.
"And you can research that fast?" I joked as she scrolled rapidly down the screen.
"No," she said. "It's because I can't find anything useful." She then hit her forehead on the table, sighing. "My head's not into table tennis lately when it's usually is."
I remembered Lucy telling me that her sister's a ping-pong player. "Why so?"
"I don't know," she said gloomily. "That's why I'm searching the net to why I'm like this so that I could be able to play again."
"Maybe it's because you're thinking too much of the twins?" I told her teasingly, making her flush beat red.
"T-That's not it!" she said, pouting. "Gemi and Mini were never a hindrance to my game…" she trailed off, her eyebrows furrowing in deep thought. "They were never a hindrance to my game," she repeated, mostly to herself than to me. She sat up straight, looking questioningly at me. "Right?"
I laughed, ruffling her hair. "I honestly don't know what the correct answer is for that question," I said, chuckling. "Maybe your sister knows," I suggested. "Besides, she knows you a lot better than I do."
"Yeah!" Keirin said happily. "Maybe Onee-san knows why I can't play seriously!" Her face then fell. "But I can't ask her," she said dejectedly. "Well, not at the moment, that is."
I raised my eyebrows. "Why?" I asked. "Did she go somewhere? I'll talk to her."
Lucy's carbon copy shook her head. "Nope."
"Where is she then?"
"On the balcony," she replied absently, turning back to the screen. Her eyes then widened in realization as she snapped her head towards me. "But you can't go see her!"
It took me aback. "Huh?" I said. "Why is that?" I headed for the back door.
Keirin ran in front of the door, arms spread wide. "You can't!" she repeated.
"Why, then?" I urged. I reached for the handle but Keirin beat me to it. My curiosity is overpowering me. What's with Lucy on the balcony and why can't I go there right now?
"Because," Keirin's grip on the door knob tightened, determined not to let me out, "she's singing."
*Okay, so I've written this already but it got erased and I'm too lazy to re-write it so I'll just make a summarization of what I wrote earlier. So it's about Lucy's ring tone that would always pop up in almost every chapter. So, yeah, it's written by Lucy. Now, why is she all flustered and afraid that Gray might hear her song when she's not like that to Levy? Let's just say that Levy has a part of the song and Gray... Has something to do with the song too. The thing is, the song will be further explained on the later chapters of the story so watch out!
Author's Note: I'm baaaaaaack! And since it's our sem break already, expect that I'll be updating much sooner for the week. Okay, so that's that and I'm out! Please tell what you think about my latest chapter and what you think about the other pairings I added: GruVia and GaLe. (Ahehe, I'm excited to upload the chapter already so I made the shortest A/N I can do!)
Oh, and before I continue with the acknowledgements, I'M REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SORRY FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE WHO MADE THIS STORY AS ONE OF THEIR FAVORITES! I'M REALLY, REALLY, SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! THAT'S WHY FROM NOW ON, I'M ALWAYS GOING TO PUT THEM FIRST NEXT TO ALL OF THOSE WHO READ MY STORY. NOW ON TO THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS!
Acknowledgements/Thank you to:
All of you lovely people who read my story
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Did forget anyone, again? Fuuuudge! I checked and rechecked it and I hope I got it all right. Thanks again, every one!
"Just because we're called 'humans'
Does not mean that we're above 'animals'.
Because we, under 'mammals',
are also part of the 'Animal Kingdom'."