WEIRDO BLABBS: I can't seem to find time update… This chapter has been in my phone for ages now and because break has started (for most of us… I'm not sure I do have a break), I finally found the time to do a little tweaking here and there… Hope you guys haven't forgotten about this story and I'm really sorry for failing you in the updating department.

Read on, my fellows!


-CHAPTER SIX-
The ultimatum is that I take care of her and no one (specifically,
me) gets hurt…

Gray silently closed the door behind him, completely shutting out the sound of Lucy's snoring on the other side of the door. It was a real surprise he got when she immediately dozed off on him after eating; though he should have figured she would be tired. He watched the girl's pale, sleeping face before taking his leave a little after half past nine in the evening.

He sighed. He was tired too, but nonetheless joyous. So much so, in fact, that he couldn't find himself grumbling just before the eight-hour graveyard shift. It was strange that he felt weightless, and he was not the least bit stressed. Sure, he knows graveyard shift would be taxing—but, then again, it had always been taxing. He just felt so emptied... in a good way, of course. It was like the feeling you get when, after a hard day at work, you sink into a tub for a calming hot bath... Or, after hours of editing a university student's thesis, you would suddenly find it finished.

A movement on his left caught Gray's attention and he turned to see a pink-haired woman wearing a maid's uniform. She was carrying in her arms a basket of fruits which she dropped to her side upon seeing Gray. Nonchalant grey eyes met black ones. There was a moment's pause.

"You're...?"

The maid bowed, her free hand moving to her chest. "Virgo, young master," she said thereafter.

"Please, call me Gray."

"As you wish..."

She bowed, but her eyes never left his—they were suspicious, accusing, even threatening; but Gray looked back with dead eyes. It was like this the first time they met, too: Virgo had been less than friendly with him.

A silence too heavy to handle made Gray speak again.

"So, uh... You here to visit Lucy, huh?"

"If it is not apparent," and she nodded silently. "And it appears you have just emerged from the Princess's room, thus I would assume you were, too?"

"I, uh, I actually work here and—" her piercing glare stopped him. Why was she being so cold? "—yeah, yeah... I guess you could say I was visiting. There was a guy, Loki, who gave me an errand to run involving Lucy."

"An errand?" her eyebrows twitched the lightest bit.

"Yeah... Flower delivery. I also work at the flower shop he bought a bouquet from..."

Another pregnant pause.

"Uhm..."

"You seem to be running into the Princess quite often." An implication, he didn't know exactly what, was cutting deep into Gray's skin.

"Uh, I guess so?" he replied, brushing the hostility off. "Coincidence is a real funny thing, isn't it...?"

"Yes... Very much so..."

Virgo bowed without bidding goodbye and gracefully stepped towards the door of Lucy's room, the one at the very end of the hall. She knocked thrice, turned the knob and went in—and right before she did, Gray could have sworn he saw her glare.


Eyelids fluttered open slowly, revealing orbs of chocolate that stared at the pristine ceiling. Of course, Lucy realized this ceiling was not of her room; the smell of antiseptic and disinfectant gave away that she was still at the hospital, despite her previous dream taking place in the comfort of her own bedroom.

She groaned as she stretched and twisted in her bed, the flurry of sheets crumpling beneath her. She let out a relieved sigh after the satisfying pop from her joints; how long exactly has she been asleep? She didn't know. Quite some time, probably, judging by the remnants of dried saliva trailing down her right cheek.

"Awake, are we?"

Lucy turned hurriedly to the speaker who was now pushing a metal trolley into her room. There was a smile so small on his lips that the blonde thought it inexistent upon first glance.

Gray went closer to the bed, setting Lucy's medicines on the side-table first before taking her chart.

Maybe it was the fact that she was still feeling hazy as she just woke up but the nurse looked extremely good in his dark blue scrub suit. She was able to take in more details now that she isn't lying on her bed halfway through life and death while Gray was trying to keep her breathing. Now that she gets to look at him better, it suddenly became obvious that Gray is extremely good-looking—no, handsome—no, Adonis-like!

"See something you like?" he asked, feeling the girl's gaze on him like a laser beam. Lucy jerked in embarrassment and wiped the thin film off her cheek.

"S-Sorry, that was rude..." She watched as Gray checked some things on her chart.

"Have you had any attacks?" he asked, looking at the board.

"No," she answered. "What time is it?"

"Around seven in the morning... Had any difficulty breathing?"

"No... I was asleep like a baby... So, uh... Are you going to have a shift again tonight?"

"Yeah... Same time at eleven," Gray said. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing... It's good to have company, you know?" she smiled.

He groaned in reply. "Don't do anything stupid... Or crazy..."

"I never do!" she said.

"Uh, yeah, right," Gray did not hold back on sarcasm. "But anyway, you won't be needing me for a few hours 'cause your maid's here."

"Maid?" Lucy asked, "Virgo?"

"Yeah, her..." he answered. Gray took the bedside stool and sat on it. "What's with her anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean—" he looked at empty space, looking extremely incredulous, "—does she have trust issues or something?"

Taken aback, Lucy said, "I don't get your point..."

"She's... extremely cautious about me," he replied, "I mean, just last night she kept looking at me like she saw her arch nemesis or something!"

Lucy chuckled inwardly and smiled at him. "You talked?" He nodded and she laughed without holding back.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, Virgo doesn't usually talk to people..." she said in between girly snickers, "And what did she say?"

"Nothing bad... But she was insinuating a lot of things," he said and emphasized on 'a lot' with his eyes widening and his head nodding. "I mean, I think she was almost expressing that I was a bad influence on you!"

"Don't worry too much about it... She does that to people who get close to me; and that's almost everyone I meet!"

"What, I look like a fugitive?"

"Not really..." Her gaze was looking away from him now, "But... You do look a bit scary at first, and you did give me food that could potentially kill me last night—"

"Hey, hey, hey! A, I can't help if I look like this; and B, I didn't force you to eat it; to begin with, it was your idea!"

"I know, I know! But what I mean to say is that Virgo doesn't trust you because using her own logic, you're a threat... You don't need to subscribe to it."

"It's really unnerving when you get looked at like that. If her gaze shot bullets..."

Lucy laughed again. "Don't worry about her too much... She's family; she's just being protective of me."

"I think overprotective is the term." Gray stood up, took an apple from the fruit basket Virgo brought and ate it without warning.

"I'm the only person Virgo is emotionally invested in," Lucy explained, "and she's never left my side since we were five. To her, I'm like a fragile glass figurine that she needs to protect from anyone at any cost. And that aside, she's my treasured friend."

"You don't have many friends, do you?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, not too many. I've spent most of my time at home and at the hospital. And I'm at school only for around three of the ten months; classmates don't really grow on me much. They pretend I'm invisible, and I don't really mind."

Sadness was swimming in her eyes at the confession. That was another thing Gray had that Lucy didn't: social life. Sure, he wasn't keen on making friends (or being friendly) but at least people didn't ignore him. At least, he wasn't stuck in a place he didn't want to be. He was free.

Lucy wasn't. She was either at home, or in a white-walled cage.

An awkward silence as Gray chewed the fruit in his mouth. His values won't even bother, but society dictates that he try to make Lucy feel better.

So he did. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, I don't have many friends either."

She looked at him doubtfully. "Oh, really...?"

"Really... They want to, but I don't..."

"What? Why is that?"

"Why bother? I mean, at the end of the day, you're alone. And you'll probably die alone unless—oh, sorry..." Again, the taboo. "I didn't mean—"

"It's okay... Friends understand friends..." she said, smiling.

"And who said we were friends?" he asked rhetorically.

"But we are!"

Gray started to push the trolley and halfway out he said, "We're not friends!" He inwardly chuckled and took another bite of the apple as he closed the door behind him. He turned to his right to make his way to the nurse's station when he saw Virgo going straight toward him, carrying grocery items in a paper bag. She stopped, registered him, then when back and forth between looking at him and the (Lucy's) apple.

Her stoic face almost looked upset—almost.

Torn between saying 'hi' or just going on his way, Gray split his lips to give a friendly smile; though he knew if he had a mirror he probably looked like he was in pain with his cheekbones paralyzed.

Virgo walked gracefully and stopped just beside him to open the door to Lucy's room.

"Gray-sama..." she said menacingly, passing him by. The door clicked shut behind her and for sure his frozen half-smile was still there. All the while, his stomach turned and twisted, like it was being wrung dry.


Gray came by Lucy's room later that night just before his shift started. He was a little early and so he'd had the pleasure of bumping into Virgo as she and Lucy were about to have a late dinner. The blonde was kind enough to give Gray half her share which he took gladly, but not without alerting Virgo's deadly gazes. The next few instances that followed—he didn't want to think of them as visits, though; more like societal protocols—were no less hostile. Like when Lucy asked Gray to take-out another double cheeseburger and Virgo was staring daggers at him; or when they watched Pearl Harbor and Lucy ended up crying the whole afternoon, and the young man had to rub his skin to keep the goose bumps from appearing because, apparently, Virgo was peeling the apple in her hand as if it was Gray; and that one morning when he and Lucy were just talking about random stuff (skydiving, bungee jumping) and somehow Virgo was extremely cross.

Extremely cross, why? He didn't know.

"Gray, two more papers have just arrived for you!" Nowaki pushed the back door with his shoulder, having both hands full with the thesis of the two students who had just dropped by. He was glad that his apprentice was working hard to get by (it reminded him of himself way back then) but to see that Gray was editing engineering and psychology papers was going quite overboard. "You know, I'm quite surprised you know about this stuff—"

Nowaki stared; Gray stared back. Both their droopy eyes stopped blinking for a good thirty seconds before the older man finally spoke to break the silence.

"You're smoking..." he said. It was half-inquiring, half-announcing.

"Uh, yes... Yes I am," Gray replied. Then he took one final puff at the stick before throwing it on the ground and stepping on it. "I'll be taking that..."

"Are you okay?" Gray's boss' right eyebrow was shot up near his hairline.

"Yeah, yeah," the younger raven-hair assured.

It was strange of Nowaki to look so shocked to see Gray like that. After all, it was no secret that Gray was an occasional smoker. Although, admittedly, it ever rarely happened so it would be quite peculiar to see him as such, but still.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Gray-kun, but you only smoke when you're in deep thought," started Nowaki with an understanding tone of voice. "The first time I saw you, you were still deciding about whether or not to apply at the hospital. The next one was right before you asked me for an advance. And now—"

Gray looked at him incredulously, laughing. "I don't know what you're talking about, Nowaki-san."

Then he stopped and fell silent, and Nowaki took it as Gray accepting his case. "Something's bothering you?"

"Uhm... It's nothing big or anything like that—"

"But still it made you want to step out for a smoke—"

"Okay, okay, okay!" he was quick to concede. "It's bothering me quite a bit."

"And that is...?"

"There's this girl—"

"Ah, romance... I guess it's about that time..."

"It's not that kind of girl... I mean, it's nothing romantic! Can you please let me explain first?" Nowaki gestured for a yes. "You remember Lucy, right?"

"Ah, yes... Lovely Ms. Heartfilia."

"Her maid looks at me funny..."

"Funny how?" asked the man, eyebrows knitting together now.

"Like... Like—" Unable to explain, Gray tried his best to impersonate Virgo's stoic look (and quite well, too) and then spoke again.

"Is she always like that?"

"I guess… It's been like that since I've met her... Now, she's gotten worse like—like she wants to bite my head off or something!"

"Did she say anything?"

"Nothing relevant... Just some small talk. Lucy says she's just being protective but I don't know... It's just unnerving."

"Well, if you're sure that you didn't say anything offensive why don't you try confronting her?" he suggested. "Just to give your heart some rest..."

"Yeah, I'll do that... Thanks, boss." Nowaki held out a hand, which surprised Gray. "What?"

"I know you bought a whole pack."

"I'm not even going to smoke it all!" But his boss was relentless. In the end, Gray gave up to his guardian-figure's sternness and gave him the pack of cigarettes he'd bought. "Fine... here..."

The rest of the day passed and before Gray knew it, it was nine in the evening. He lazily grabbed all his stuff from his cabinet and headed out to the hospital after bidding Nowaki a goodbye. He walked slowly, taking the long way to the hospital that eventually leads to back entrance by the hospital garden. The whole while, he had been thinking about Virgo's hostility toward him.

Normally, Gray wouldn't give a side glance about what other people thought; but that's exactly why being bothered by what the pink-haired maid was showing bothered him. He wasn't that dense; he knew he must have done something to upset her like that. And it must have been pretty big if it's about Lucy.

He looked back to when they first met, maybe something he had said or done to Virgo. He could think of nothing except that Lucy told her she had an attack because of his taunting... No, that was too shallow a reason.

Maybe Gray reminded her of someone? But Lucy said she was like that to everyone. Gray was certainly bothered to no end. His almost-depressive episode and the sudden urge to smoke again was interrupted by the sight of a single yellow balloon flying up. It was followed by another; and yet another. A cold gust went past and carried them higher and higher until they were but small yellow twinkles... like stars.

He smiled beside himself.

Gray walked a little more forward past the zigzagging waist-level hedges to the center of the garden, a circular space surrounded by more shrubs, lined with park benches and lamp posts. At the very center was a fountain, a mossy marble marvel where water flowed quietly, steadily. Lucy was standing by the mouth of the basin three steps from the ground, looking up at the clear cloudless sky. She was already halfway through her mantra.

"—gone!" Gray heard her speak, jumping a little. Lucy almost lost balance, flailing her arms around to regain it and succeeded.

"Planning to join the circus?" he teased, and walked toward her, straightening his back. She turned to him and smiled goofily.

"Hello, Gray... I seem to be running into you a lot..."

He walked and looked up at her, "I work here."

"Oh, well, yes. I guess so..."

"So, uh... How's it going?"

"You know… Still hanging on…"

"Is that so?" he asked half-heartedly, still trying to wrap his head around the 'still hanging on' part. Deciding he shouldn't pry, he kept silent and let it go. "Come on, you should get back to your room. If I'm seen with you here and I'm not reprimanding you, I'll be reprimanded."

"Oh, you really are no fun, are you?" she pouted and walked, following the circular path of the basin's mouth.

"And you're far from obedient," Gray replied and tailed after her in a circular path of his own on the ground.

"I'm already in number 85 on my list, you know?" she said after a while. "I've achieved more this past four months than I have since the year I started."

"Well, congratulations..."

Lucy laughed, eyeing him sheepishly. "I wonder why..."

"I dunno... Maybe the universe is in a hurry for you to finish your list?"

"Maybe... It started since we first met."

Not sure how to react, Gray replied with a neutral "I guess."

"What I'm trying to say is," she turned to him hands on her back in a stereotypical way characters act cutely—but legitimately, "this is all thanks to you."

Gray stopped. And then he smirked. It wasn't a smirk-smirk; it was more of a shy smirk-smirk. "It can't all be me, y'know?"

"Yes, but you helped a lot. And I don't even know why you do this for me..." Her smile was warm and even he couldn't help but feel the heat swell in his chest like bread fresh from the oven.

For her? He hasn't really thought that he was doing all these for her. He wasn't altruistic like that—or at least, as far as he knew.

"I—"

Something moved by the bushes and Gray and Lucy turned to look. It was Virgo, in her hands a thick wool jacket, the color of the moss latching on the marble and walking elegantly toward them. But even the dark, Gray could not miss the signature glare directed at him. He smiled nervously at Virgo.

"Princess, it is time to get back inside," she said and helped Lucy down.

"Oh, is it? But I'm still having a conversation with—"

"Please, princess, I insist."

"Oh, okay…" Lucy pouted and jumped off the basin. "Let's go, Gray."

Gray nodded, and he followed behind Lucy and Virgo in a safe distance.


The walk to Lucy's hospital room was, if there was any subtle word to use, awkward. Every now and then, Lucy would make quick remarks about the weather or her day. Gray would hesitantly reply, his eyes on Virgo; looking for some confirmation of whether his answer was right or not. It was a good think Virgo's back was on him or else he would have snapped and just asked her what the heck was wrong. But Gray wasn't like that. He was tactful (sometimes) and he knew if he were to confront Virgo in front of Lucy, he would risk giving her an attack… and he didn't want that.

Why didn't he want that? He immersed himself in the thought and he couldn't find an end to it. It was like he was in thought limbo, not that he believed in such things. Deities, gods and goddesses; he wasn't religious.

Before he knew it, Virgo closed the door to Lucy's room and she and Gray were in the hallway… all alone.

Gray breathed in deeply and started to speak, "Look, I'm not dumb. I'm getting all the warning signals from you but I want to know exactly why I am."

Virgo turned around, her eyes as cold as the coldest winter night. "Pardon?"

"I know you don't like me hanging around Lucy but I would like you to explain just why."

The maid was silent and she was like that for a while. Gray didn't read minds so he didn't know whether she was thinking of what to say or she was just doing that to intimidate him on purpose. But that wouldn't stop him. Gray stood his ground and waited patiently for the young woman to open her mouth.

"The princess is pure and innocent" were the first words to come out of her mouth. Her gaze turned from staring into space to looking deep into Gray's eyes. "And she does not know how to discriminate between people who truly care for her and… people like you."

The nurse's eyebrow shot up at Virgo's remark.

"Hey, hang on a second there!" he said, fury starting to build up in his chest. "What is that even supposed to mean?"

Virgo breathed in and out deeply. "I will have to be frank with you, Gray Fullbuster-sama," she said firmly and without holding back. "Please stop giving the princess wrong ideas."

"I don't—What are you talking about?"

"Do not make the princess feel as if she is your friend. I do not know if the thought of surveying a sickly and sensitive girl amuses you or you are here for other reasons but whatever your purposes are, I ask you to stop now. Do not give her false hopes with this false friendship."

Well, that was unexpected. So Virgo thinks he's in it for the perks? That he was using Lucy to get stuff? His stomach churned again. But he isn't. That would be so sick. He was just being... nice? Just doing his job? Just did what came naturally?

"I… am not doing it for the money, Virgo, if that's what you're getting at."

"Then what are you doing this for? You do not seem to be the gallant prince type who rescues people out of the goodness of their hearts. And you said it yourself, you are not friends with the princess—or was that a sarcastic remark from you?"

"We—we're not friends but…" He stopped mid-sentence. What did friends do? He had few acquaintances back at school but they weren't chummy. Their relationships were purely academic; superficial, just like politics. He's never visited a friend's hospital room more than once or bought them stuff that could potentially kill them. And he most certainly does not dwell on what their maids thought of him!

Maybe, by some miracle or benevolent spirit that possessed him, he considered the blonde girl with only a few years to live a… friend?

"But…?"

"We're not friends but…" he looked up at her now, "I'm not a social climber or a gold digger or whatever it is you rich people think of us who aren't."

"And I must believe your word because…?"

"Because I've got nothing to gain if I lie," he said. "And I have nothing to lose if I don't.

"And I most certainly am not in the business of hurting people just for the fun or it!"

The two were silent for a little while, looking at each other as if they were in a staring contest. Gray could feel his eyes water but he knew that if he blinked, Virgo would think he was lying. And what made things extremely hard was the fact that Virgo wasn't blinking either, nor was she showing signs that she was wavering.

"I still do not like you," she said, "But the princess became happier since she met you, and I am not in the business of taking away her happiness either."

"Really? 'Cause when I heard it from her, it sounded like you scared away half her happiness back in the day—" Gray stopped when Virgo glared, "—right, right… Okay… Thank you…"

"But I will have to warn you that if you hurt the princess, I will personally see to it that you are punished."

"So it's like… If I hurt her, you're welcome to kick me in the balls?"

"I would not have chosen such crude words, but, yes. It is like that."

Gray's mouth hung open. "That's it?"

"I am afraid I do not understand the reason for your surprise. Should you not be happy because I agree of your friendship with the princess?"

"I… I guess, in a way, I'm relieved but… When I imagined it in my head, it had a lot more… drama."

"You may be watching too many television shows. I am a diplomat and must act as such. Scandals are lowly and unprofessional."

"Very well said," Gray muttered as he watched Virgo walk away from him and disappear as she turned the corner. He didn't really understand what was happening. His head was still in the moment when she kind of agreed to having him around Lucy. He was in thought limbo again and he was in deep thought indeed.

Ten-fifteen in the evening; Gray needed to smoke.


Lucy pulled her head away from being pressed so closely at the door. A smile made its way to her face. Despite things not having gone the way she played it in her head (in the words of Gray, she imagined it in her head with a lot more drama), she was relieved that the two had settled things by themselves.

And even though he wouldn't say it, Lucy was sure she's made a new friend.


WEIRDO BLABBS (AGAIN): I missed GraLu week… I'm not happy about that but my thesis and everything else in between has gotten me quite busy! Well, now that that's over with, what do you guys think? Too sappy? R & R to tell me what you think!

Please support my collab fanfiction with WolfieAnne, The Last Celestial Mage, and maybe my other FT fanfictions: Another Shot at Love, Good Taste, Massage?, Girls and Shopping, Starstruck!, Starstruck! Encore, and The Simple Life.

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