Wah! Sorry about taking such a long time to update! A week after I last posted, some bad stuff happened and I wasn't able to focus on my chapter fics for a long time. ;.; And then school started, and I've had a good bit of homework even though I'm only two weeks in.

So, in somewhat of an apology, I present to you the longest chapter thus far! 4600 words before the author's note and all that jazz.
I dedicate this to my reviwers and readers. I love you all. :D

Enjoy!
-RD :)


13th Street

Chapter Seven: The Fall

.x.x.x.

Gray leaned back in the chair and glanced over at Erza, who was looking everywhere in the office except at him. He supposed that this was new to her and that she had probably never even been there before unless it had been for a good reason, being Miss Perfect and all.

He, on the other hand, had been in the dean's office a few times for various reasons, some good, some bad. A couple of the incidents were soccer-related and a couple were conduct-related. But Gray was sure that he had never gotten into as much trouble as he was in right then.

Goodness knew Erza hadn't.

"So," Gray began, trying to think of a topic. "What class are you missing right now?"

She turned to face him, looking very angry. "English."

"Ah. I'm missing physics." She just nodded and the awkward silence fell back over them. Gray honestly felt slightly sorry for her. He knew that Jeff had messed around with girls in the past, but he had never expected him to pull anything on a girl Gray knew or in an extremely public place like the cafeteria. The whole thing was stupid. Why were they the ones sitting in the dean's office and not the jerk by the name of Jeff? Sure, they beat him up, but he deserved it! It was harassment - or something like that. Gray was positive that if he presented his case correctly, he could get Jeff punished and get himself - and Erza - off the hook. Yes, that was what he would have to do.

"Hey, Erza," he said quietly, wanting to brief her on his plan.

The redhead opened her mouth and closed it again. She had been planning to say something rude and scornful, but then some words began to ring in her head.

"It'd be nice if you gave us some respect every once in a while."

Erza shifted uncomfortably in her seat. If Gray wanted her to be respectful, that's what he would get! She had been trying over the past few days, but it was getting increasingly hard, especially when she had to refrain from berating him for being shirtless.

"I have nothing to say to you," she said firmly. She crossed her legs and stared off in the opposite direction, leaving Gray to look at her confusedly.

"What's with you and your-" The next thing Gray knew, there was a finger in front of his mouth.

"Listen. I'd like to get through this with the least interaction with you possible. If we don't talk, we don't fight. So it's best if we don't speak to each other," Erza said seriously.

"But I have a plan to get us out of trouble!" exclaimed Gray, angry at her cold attitude.

"I'm not interested in your plan. Just stop talking to me!"

"If you would-"

"Mr. Fullbuster, Miss Scarlet, the dean will see you now," said the secretary, peeking into the waiting room of the office. Gray and Erza exchanged a worried look, and then stood up to head into the main office.

Gray was trying his best to keep his cool, but Erza was nervous. The last time she could remember getting in trouble in school was in the fourth grade when she got mad and poured a bottle of glue on Marty Brown's head for calling her hair a funny color. From that day forth, Erza had refrained from fighting unless it was necessary. She would only use violence off school grounds. But some guy touching her in inappropriate places had to be the exception. She couldn't get too much in trouble for this, could she?

The dean drummed his fingers on the desk as the two students each took one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Miss Scarlet, Mister Fullbuster, I hear there was a fight in the cafeteria today."

Erza was the first one to speak. "Sir, I take full responsibility for the fight. I instigated it." It may have been a lie, but at least it was a well put together one. If Erza could keep Gray out of trouble, she wouldn't owe him anything! Then her life could continue on in - relative - peace.

"I see," replied the dean.

Gray, however, wasn't going to go along with Erza's unspoken plan.

"No! Dean Johnson, it wasn't her fault at all!" The redhead's eyes shot open. Was her worst enemy actually defending her to the point that he could be punished as well? "Jeff touched Erza inappropriately. She was only defending herself. And if anyone should be in trouble, it should be Jeff! Or me, since I'm the one who punched him. But not Erza. She's innocent." Gray finished his rant to see Erza staring at him with a confused look in her eyes. He only smirked and sent her a wink, mouthing, "We'll get out of this together." Erza was only more stunned by this and blushed slightly, turning her attention back to the dean.

"Well, is it true, Miss Scarlet?"

"Yes," she replied with a nod. "I pushed Jeff to the floor because he had his hands on me and I felt uncomfortable."

"Alright then," the dean said, standing from his chair.

"Wait - That's it?" Gray asked incredulously.

"Of course. I know you two wouldn't lie about something like this. You're both off the hook."

At this moment, the two students beamed at each other. It was the first time - at least in his memory - that Gray had seen Erza genuinely smile. And upon seeing that, he decided that her smile was something he would like to see more often.

"Hey, Natsu?' Lucy asked. The two were currently lounging behind the main counter of Fairy Tail. The shop was fairly empty, and the people who were there were all immersed in their drinks or various other things they were doing.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a family?"

She noticed the hurt on his face when he answered, "No, not really."

"Hmm," Lucy sighed. "Do Gray and Erza?"

"Not that I've heard of," he replied. "Why?"

"Oh, I was just thinking. Thanksgiving's coming up-"

"Wait!" Natsu yelled, interrupting the blonde. "That's the holiday when you eat all the food, right?" When she nodded, he was suddenly five times more interested in the conversation.

"Anyway, Thanksgiving is coming up, and I was thinking… How about we have a dinner party at my place? Since I don't have a family I would want to visit, anyway."

"Sweet!" he cheered. Lucy giggled at his enthusiasm before turning to the door. The bell on top of it had just rung, so that meant they had a customer to serve.

"Oh, hey, Juvia!" Lucy called out when she saw who was walking into Fairy Tail.

"Hi, Lucy! Can you get me a mocha latte? I've got this book to read for British literature class and it's so boring," she said dramatically, holding a copy of Helen.

"Coming right up." After the exchange had been made, Juvia settled in at her absolute favorite table in the shop. It was right in the middle of the shop, and from there, she could watch all the people in the shop and the things they did.

Juvia opened her copy of and held it in front of her face. But right before she started to read, she noticed something. Juvia peeked above her book to see that someone was looking at her - a boy who looked about her age with chestnut brown hair. She found herself looking back at him, tilting her head to the side. Shaking it off, Juvia returned to her book. She had to read it for class. She had to focus.

"Who's that?" a voice asked behind her. Juvia jumped in shock and looked up into the curious face of Lucy.

"Who's who?"

"That guy you were staring at a minute ago," the blonde replied, pointing to said guy. "Is he anybody you know?"

"Um, no. I have no idea who he is. He looks kind of familiar, but I'm not sure."

"Oh. Well, I gotta get back to work." Juvia nodded as Lucy walked off, happy to finally be able to focus on her book.

But she wasn't. Her coffee cup was empty.

Juvia sighed loudly, trying to remember when she had drunk the thing in the first place. She stood up to go back to Lucy for a refill.

On the way to the counter, Juvia spotted Gray and Erza, coming in together, late. She couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, but she knew that it was most likely that they had been back at the college anyway and were only walking together since they had to go to the same place. However, Juvia was so distracted by Gray that she didn't notice she was walking straight into a table. Juvia tripped over the leg, tumbling over onto the floor. Her cheeks turned bright red when she realized that she had just made a fool of herself in front of Gray. But fortunately, he wasn't really paying her that much attention. Then again, when was he?

"Are you alright?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Juvia looked up to see the very boy she had spotted from across the shop before.

"Um, yes. I'm okay." He helped her up, causing Juvia to blush. "Thank you for helping Juvia," she said.

"Juvia? Is that your name?" She nodded. "Well, Juvia, my name's Drake. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Drake." She shook his hand, the smallest of smiles on her face.

"I say two weeks until they go out," Cana whispered to Mirajane.

"Cana! You shouldn't say such things!" But when Mira looked at the two college students, she couldn't deny that they were cute.

"Seriously?" Drake picked up a book on his table and showed it to Juvia. "We must be in the same English class!"

"Ms. Crawford, third period?"

"Same one!"

"Oh!" Juvia exclaimed with a smile. This guy, even though she had only known him for a matter of minutes, was funny and nice, and she had a feeling that they would be good friends.

Gray opened the back door to see Erza. And for the first time in a long time - well, the first time he could remember - he smiled at the sight of her. It wasn't one of his smirks that he usually wore. It was a genuine smile and it felt wonderful.

"Hey, Erza," he greeted.

"Oh, hi, Gray." He could hear the trouble in her voice and see it in her eyes when she turned to face him with a sad but stern expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't do it again."

"What?"

Erza bit her lip, looking away from him. "It was nice of you to try and help me back there, but you don't need to be concerned with me. Gray, I'd prefer if we kept our distance from now on."

"Erza, what the heck are you talking about?" Gray asked, not understanding.

"Ever since I've been around you more… My place on the student council is in jeopardy. I can't… be near you anymore." Not waiting to hear his response, she slipped out of the room, leaving Gray wide eyed and very, very confused.

"And then she said we need to 'keep our distance'. What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

"How should I know?" Lucy replied, scribbling on her notes for her upcoming history test.

"I don't know. You're the one who hangs out with her all the time." Gray sighed, sinking further into his couch. It was only about a half hour after his shift had ended, and he had called Lucy to explain his predicament with Erza and, hopefully, get some advice on how to deal with it.

"Maybe she's still mad at you for standing up to her."

"Nah, I don't think that's it. She said something about her place on the student council."

"Oh, yeah, she's really set on that position," Lucy said as she flipped through the pages of her textbook. "This is kind of random, but how did you get my phone number, anyway?"

"Natsu gave it to me."

"That IDIOT!" Gray had to hold the phone away from his ear to keep the blonde's screech from deafening him.

"Back to my thing with Erza…"

"Um, yeah, right. How would something at Fairy Tail affect how the student body votes for their leaders? She said her life had to be in perfect order…"

"It doesn't. The student body doesn't vote."

"What?"

"They don't," Gray repeated. "Potential candidates submit an essay and are evaluated by various teachers and students who have been on the council."

"That's weird…" she mumbled.

"I think the administration said there's too many students to do voting the normal way. It's kind of stupid, though," he said as he played around with a rubber band he had found on the couch.

"So, Erza wanted her life in order to look good in front of the council?"

"I guess so."

"And you threw her off by standing up to her at Fairy Tail."

"Yeah."

"…You're an idiot. How dare you ruin Erza's dream!"

"Hey! I didn't even know about her dream until today when she said all that stuff about staying away from me! It's not my fault!"

"You owe her, now," Lucy said with a nod, focusing more on the conversation than her studying by then.

"No, I owe her nothing. I try to help her out and she just wants to get away from me. I'm not letting this go. She is going to be grateful to me!"

"Gray, this is Erza we're talking about. Don't be stupid and expect her to actually listen to you."

"I'm not stupid! Wouldn't you be grateful if somebody did what I did for her in the cafeteria? You might not have guessed, but Jeff is pretty well-known around campus. My own reputation is gonna suffer from that stunt. But why did I do it? I was trying to be a good friend. But then she goes and tells me she doesn't want to be near me."

"I understand why you're frustrated," Lucy sighed. "But what you're planning - from what I know about you - is not going to end well. What the heck do you plan to do anyway?"

"I dunno," Gray replied as he played with a loose piece of string he had found on his couch. "I was thinking I could just annoy her until I get what I want."

"Why do you think that'll work, you retard?" the blonde yelled into her cell phone. Gray cringed again.

"Are you trying to make me deaf?"

"No. I'm trying to keep you from making up some idiotic plan!"

"I'm smart!"

"Could've fooled me."

"Shut up! I'll come up with something!" Gray could practically feel himself getting a headache as he wondered if calling Lucy had been a good idea in the first place. "Either way, Erza will learn to respect me if it kills her."

"Don't go around murdering my friends!"

"It's just an expression! But seriously, Erza is going to respect me."

"I doubt it."

"Can you stop that?"

"Stop what, Gray?" Lucy asked as she tried to turn her attention back to her textbook. "I'm just being realistic here. You and I both know that Erza is really tough. She's not the type to go around wanting help from others. Or admitting that people are right, even when they are."

"Does that mean you think I'm right?" he asked somewhat hopefully.

"I'm not saying anything, Gray, except that whatever you plan to do probably won't work. But you can go ahead and try, just for the heck of it. It'll make things interesting." Gray could almost hear the smirk on her face as she said so.

"I think I'm just going to bug her about it. If she wants me out of her life, she's not going to get what she wants for once."

Lucy sighed. "Alright. But I'll warn you: you're probably gonna get beat up."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"No need to fake coolness," she said back before laughing at the annoyed sound she heard on the other end of the line. "I'll see you tomorrow at work, okay?"

"'Kay. See you, Lucy."

"Later, Gray." He clicked the "end call" button and sat his phone down next to him on the couch. Gray sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

"The movies?"

"Yep!" Mirajane replied with a smile. "We're closing the shop early and all going out. You should come, Erza."

The redhead ran a hand though her hair. "I'm not sure, Mira. I should probably get home and study."

"Aww, come on!" cried Cana as she slung an arm around Erza's shoulder. "Live a little. You never come out with us."

Erza let out a heavy sigh. "I guess…"

"That's the spirit!"

"But I'm not drinking anything you give me."

Cana gave the other girl a pout, slightly disappointed. "You're no fun."

"Better believe it," Erza mumbled as she slipped out of the brunette's grip. She walked over to the counter where Lucy was standing and waiting for someone to enter the shop. "Hey."

"Hey!" Lucy replied cheerfully. "Are you going to the movie later?"

"Yeah. Mira just invited me. Do you know what we're seeing?"

"Umm…" Lucy placed a hand under her chin. "I can't remember. I think Cana said she wants to see Cowboys and Aliens."

"…What?"

"That new action sci-fi movie."

"Oh." Erza figured that as long as they weren't seeing some sappy romantic drama, she'd be perfectly fine.

Boy, was she wrong.

The ride there was the first problem. Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Mira had all piled into the back of Cana's old green van for the trip. How Cana got picked as the driver, no one would ever know. Personally, Erza didn't feel confident being in the car with Cana, let alone having her drive, but everyone else seemed pretty fine with it.

Gray had taken the passenger's seat. Lucy, Erza and Mira had squeezed into the middle row, and Natsu got the back all to himself. Since he had bad motion sickness, he was sprawled out over the seats and suffering the entire trip.

Gray and Cana talked just about the entire time, causing Erza to wonder why she hadn't noticed their friendship before. She shook off the thoughts of the two and leaned against the side of the car, watching the entirely familiar view of 13th Street from the window. Lucy chatted with Mirajane, who didn't seem to mind in the slightest. All of a sudden, a teeny tiny part of Erza wished she were more social and friendly. But the teeny part soon was told to shut up by the rest of her who didn't want that at all.

"We're here!" Mira sang excitedly. Erza jerked up, not even having noticed that they were already at the movie theater. She opened the door and slid out, stretching a bit. A small smile made its way to her face. If she was already out of that accursed van, the rest of the trip would be fine.

And of course, she was wrong.

The second problem occurred when they were inside the theater. Before they had even gotten in line to get their tickets, Natsu had rushed off to the snack bar with the intent of buying just about everything. Lucy had to go after him to reveal the horrors of movie theater snack bar prices. Natsu's jaw had dropped, and Lucy had ushered the sulking boy back to the rest of the group.

When the duo returned, Gray only laughed and dug ten dollars out of his pocket, giving it to Lucy.

"Thanks, Gray!" she exclaimed before dragging Natsu back to the snack bar. Gray gave money to both Cana and Mirajane, but when he turned to Erza, she was in for a bit of a surprise.

"You want it?" he asked.

She looked up at him confusedly before reaching for the dollar bill. "Um, sure…"

"Well, too bad!" Gray yelled, snatching the dollar away at the last second.

"What?"

"You can only have it if you admit that you're grateful to me!"

"What?" Erza repeated. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The cafeteria! Yesterday! I saved you and you act like that's a crime!" he shouted, causing movie-goers to give them strange looks.

"I never asked for your help. I had everything under control."

"Yeah, a guy you don't know touching you is so much control." Gray rolled his eyes.

"It wouldn't have been such a big deal if you hadn't punched him," Erza said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, it's my fault now. Erza, in case you don't know, I only punched him because he was about to get up and hit you. And I don't care if you kick my butt on a regular basis! I don't kick back! Jeff is big and I doubt you'd be able to take him alone if he really wanted to hurt you." By this time, he had grabbed her shoulders and was ready to shake the life out of her if she still wasn't getting this.

Erza looked up into the dark eyes of the boy who was showing more concern for her than she could remember anyone having ever shown her. Her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't need this. Neither did he.

So she pushed his arms away and gave him a serious look.

"I don't want your help." And with that, she whipped around and left the theater, not caring whether she saw Cowboys and Aliens or not.

"Erza?" Lucy knocked on the door of apartment 412 for the third time. "You in there?"

"Oh, hi," the disgruntled redhead said as she opened the door. "What's up?"

"I brought you leftovers from Applebee's," Lucy replied with a smile. "I thought you might be hungry."

"You and Natsu are always going out to eat together," Erza mumbled as she inspected the contents of the to-go box the blonde had handed her.

"We didn't go alone!" Lucy exclaimed as her cheeks went pink. "We took Gray and Mira with us. Cana left right after the movie, and you could've come if you hadn't left so early."

"Oh." The redhead recounted the events of the afternoon and sighed.

"What happened anyway?"

"Gray was being an idiot."

"Is that news?" Erza chuckled at her friend's comment and invited her inside the apartment.

Lucy glanced over at her alarm clock. It was ten thirty, and she wondered what had her waking up so much later than she did on the weekdays. But then, she remembered. Lucy had spent several hours in Erza's apartment talking about life in general and watching movies. But the good thing was that it was Sunday, and Lucy had nothing in particular to do. So she sank back into her pillow and fell asleep.

Lucy placed her head down on the table and stifled a moan. She was so exhausted. Due to her sleeping in on Sunday, getting to sleep that night had been much harder. And now, she had been fighting sleepiness all morning long. The good thing was that it was lunch and she only had one class left. Lucy sat at a table with Juvia as the blue-haired girl ate her lunch quietly.

All of a sudden, they heard the thump-thump-thump sound of someone rushing toward them. The girls lifted their eyes to see Erza, who was holding a letter in her hand.

"My student council letter is here."

Lucy let out a small squeal as she sat up and motioned for Erza to sit down. "Well, let's open it!"

"No," the redhead replied with a shake of her head. "If I open it now, I will hardly be able to contain my excitement." Lucy wondered how true that was considering the serious and not very excited expression on Erza's face.

"When are you going to open it, then?" Juvia asked.

"I will open it at work."

"Ugh," Lucy groaned. "You're making us - and yourself - wait like another two and a half hours!"

"Well, I don't need any distractions while I go to class." The blonde sighed and gave up. Erza had an iron will - that was for sure.

"Open it!" Lucy yelled the second she and Erza stepped into the shop.

Erza gave her a small smile. "Alright, let's see…" She ripped the envelope open and removed the letter.

"Erza? What does it say?"

The redhead didn't respond. She only dropped the piece of paper and made a mad dash for the door of the employees-only room. When she opened that door, it almost flew into someone.

"Going somewhere, Scarlet?" Gray asked in an annoyed tone.

She turned around, tears in her eyes.

Gray hadn't been so shocked in a long time. His head began to spin. Had that been Erza? Crying? He hadn't even known that was possible for Erza. She was always so serious, rarely showing any emotion except anger. Gray opened the door to see an equally shocked Lucy holding a letter.

"Lucy? What happened?"

"Erza…"

"What?"

"Erza!" Lucy exclaimed. "She… she didn't make the council." Gray's eyes widened and he was suddenly filled with understanding. "It must be really hard for her," the blonde continued. "She wanted that so much."

"Yeah… Lucy, do you know where I can get some tissues?"

The back door slowly creaked open. Erza whipped around, still crying a bit. When she saw who it was, she turned back, wiping her eyes when he sat down on the back step with her.

"Tissue?" Gray asked casually. When she didn't respond, he set the box down between them. "You know," he said after a minute of silence. He leaned back and, avoiding eye contact with Erza, gazed out at the orange sunset. "The Erza I know wouldn't let something like this slow her down."

"What're you rambling on about?" she asked with her face still hiding behind her knees.

"The Erza I know would get mad, confront the student council leaders and say something like 'How dare you idiots not place me on the council! I'm a great choice and blah-de-blah-de-blah,'" he said in a stereotypical girl voice, making mouth movements with his hand.

Erza raised her face and gave him a puzzled look. "…Are you trying to cheer me up?"

"Um…" Gray scratched the back of his head nervously. Even though this was, in essence, his worst enemy, he was still trying to make her feel better - and failing, apparently. "What… What I mean is," He caught her looking up at him and he stared back into her eyes. "That the Erza I know would fight something like this. She wouldn't sit around and cry about it. Because…" The redhead leaned toward him, wondering what he was going to say next.

"Because Erza Scarlet doesn't cry."

"I'm not crying," she lied, wiping her eyes to make sure they were dry. "It's… it's just… the weather. I have allergies."

"Yeah, right," Gray scoffed, trying not to laugh. "You think I'm gonna believe that? Besides! I was trying to be nice and then you go and ruin the moment with a stupid lie about 'allergies.'"

"Shut up." Erza gave him a firm punch in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he yelled. "Now that's more like the Erza I know. Violent and mean."

"Shut up!"


You guys may think Gray is OOC, but not really. The thing is, he doesn't have the respect he has for Erza in the series. What I'm trying to recreate is that time when they were younger. The time when Gray was super persistent and wedged his way into Erza's life even though she didn't want him there. See? I'm actually doing a pretty good job! *shot* (Don't you just love self-justification?)
The Gray and Lucy interactions are so fun. xD I really like their friendship and decided to feauture it in the fic.

And the next chapter is... Interesting. You're just gonna have to wait! But since I already started that one, it shouldn't take too long. :)

On a random note, last chapter I got 17 reviews. THANK YOU SO MUCH! That's the most reviews I've ever gotten on anything! You guys make me so happy. :'D

Shoutouts!
Kelley Splash - Natsu ftw! And thank you! I'm glad you like it. :)
HanaIchi Ikari - Yep! He's here! *squee*
(Anonymous) - Nice observation! The cards were important! Yes, everyone needs to know the awesomeness of Grayza. I must read the essay. xD
CheryChan09 - Yes, more love for Natsu. xD
Gerkyhen - Your reviews always make me laugh. xD I wanted to punch Jeff, too, but he's a good plot mover.
Elemental Dragon Slayer - Yep, she is. Glad you like it!
GhostStorm - Me too! *shot*
softasthunder - Well, soon, we'll see a lot more NaLu *excited!* :D
AkixYuseiGRL - Yep! I haven't watched 5Ds in forever though. I really gotta start watching again. Gray is doing pretty well! Erza hasn't murdered him yet. xD
yellowtulip - Nice idea! But I said he wouldn't come in person. I never said anything about him affecting the plot. ;)
Maifan4231 - You're right. I spent like two months planning out this fic. xDDDD
Somebody - Thank you~ It can be hard, but I'll do my best!
Luvandia - Nope! Juvia is too nice to make evil. I want her in here for comic relief. x3
Shadowangel98 - Haha, now I'm wondering what you thought of. xD
ReeVance - Well, here you go! Haha!
|Hypocrisy| - Do you mind if I steal that? It doesn't make sense now, but I want to use something like that later. xD Gosh, Gray and Natsu are just epicness.
lil'chrome-chan - I'm glad you like it! Writing Gray and Erza is so much fun. :)

Until next time, folks!