Previously...

Feeling the warmth of Levy's hand, Juvia lightly squeezes it back, "I feel that Gray is putting distance to me…I trust him, its just that he seems to be hiding something from me about his promotion."

"He hasn't talked to you about it?" Lucy asked as she stood behind the petite teacher

Juvia bit her lower lips once more as she contemplated whether to ask or not. But then she lets the question slip and just waited silently for his reply, "How's the promotion going?"

The call was silent for a minute which made Juvia even more nervous as she waited. To ease her anxiety, she tried to check if he was still on the line "Hello?"

"Its good…" He said quietly before continuing, "Hey, I got to go, I have a meeting to attend. I'll call you later. Bye" Then the call ends without Juvia even saying good-bye back to her boyfriend.

Being hanged up from the call, Juvia was left stunned because Gray never did that to her. This is the first time that Gray hangs up on her without even saying good-bye back. And to make it worst, he hasn't even said I love you at the end when it was their habit to say it every call.

As she pulled her phone away from her ear, she stares at her off phone and mumbled to herself, "What's happening to us Gray?"


Chapter 7

As the day reached its end, Gray heads home quickly as he was no longer in the mood to talk to any one. So when he left work, he went straight to his condominium. Opening his doors to his home, he was greeted by the darkness of his home and he instantly felt lonely.

"Damn this…" Gray curses to himself as he walks inside and switches the lights. Seeing the bowl sitting in the nearest table, he places his keys to it and walks further to his place. Laying his bag to the single couch, he slumps himself to the long couch and sighs deeply.

As he lies down, he didn't realize how tired he felt until his eyes began to feel heavy. So giving in to his tiredness, he places his forearm to his eyes and let sleep take him over.


"Gray-sama!" Juvia calls as she leans inside the classroom 3-C. Searching for the dark raven haired teen, Juvia calls again for him until one of the students inside the room talks to her, "Juvia-chan, Gray is not here. He just left the room…" A violet haired girl says as she walks closer to the blue haired girl. "Is that so Laki-san? Alright, if ever he returns here, tell him I'm looking for him." Juvia then bows before she waves good-bye to the girl.

As Juvia walks the hallway, she suddenly spots the guy she has been looking for. So without hesitation, she called out for him again, "Gray-sama!"

Upon hearing his name, Gray slowly turns and sees his stalker/friend. As Juvia strides closer to him, he patiently waited for the girl to stand next to him. "Juvia, why'd you call me?"

"Juvia just wants to give you this!" Juvia then raises a pouch full of moist cookies before she hands it to him, "Today in home economics class, we were told to make cookies. So I baked moist cookies, just like the cookies we ate with the others in the café! I saw how you liked those treats…" Juvia says blushing as she patiently waits for the boy to take the cookies.

"I don't like cookies…I hate sweets." And with that he turns his back and leaves the blunette stunned with his response. "Eh? But…" Juvia softly tries to stop him but he was no longer in ear shot. Staring at his back, she just watches him walk away, this is not unusual for her anymore since most of the time, Gray does ignore her. Soon enough, she sees Gray stop from walking when an older girl talks to him.

"Ultear…" Juvia, barely hearing Gray call onto the older girl, "Hey Gray, you can have these…I made them during home economics class…just thought you might like some sweet treats." Ultear then hands the small bag.

Hoping that the girl would receive the same treatment as she did with Gray, her hope was quickly shattered as she sees her friend accept Ultears' cookies. "Alright, fine…these are edible right?" Gray jokes earning a friendly slap from the girl.

Seeing the two joking around, Juvia suddenly clenches her uniform where her heart is close. Feeling the pinch in her chest, she starts to shake as she steps back and mumbles to herself, "Of course…Gray-sama hates sweets…"

The more Juvia steps back, the more she didn't realize that she was going to hit someone. The moment she slams into someone, she quickly turns and sees she bumps into a silver haired boy.

"Gomen!" Juvia quickly bows then looks back at the person only to see that the boy was smiling at her. "Its fine Juvia, just be careful next time."

"Lyon-san…sorry again. I'll be careful next time." Juvia bows her head before she gives a warm smile to the teen. When Juvia realizes she was still holding the pouch, she looks down to her hands then raises the package to the silver haired student.

"As a sorry gift, please accept these cookies!" Juvia then hands the goods to the surprised teen, "But, isn't this for-"

"No one owns that…Those are extra cookies I baked during class." Juvia cuts off the teen before looking away with a sad expression on her face, which Lyon quickly notices.

"Alright…I'll take these if you promise me you'll smile again." Lyon slowly takes the pouch making the blunette look at him in surprise. Seeing that the boy was interested in opening her treat, she felt a light feeling as if he was trying to make her smile despite knowing the real backstory of the cookies. As an effect, she slowly smiles towards him, "Okay…"

"Are you going home?" Lyon asks as he began to grab a cookie and pops it into his mouth, "I'll walk you if that will be fine?"

"I guess its fine…" Juvia says as she turns and walks side to side the silver haired student.

Unknowingly to Juvia, Gray who stood a far distance from her sees how she offers the cookies to Lyon, his neighbor. As he watches the scene, he suddenly felt a weird feeling but he brushes it off as quickly as it came to him. When Ultear says something again, he was unable to catch it so he ignores her again and instead looks back at his friend. Glancing at Juvia again, he was taken aback when Juvia walks away from where she stood and was now heading the stairs with a silver haired boy.

"Hey, Gray…you alright?" Ultear suddenly asks as she leans side ways to catch his gaze "Huh? What?"

"I said are you alright?" Ultear then places her hands to her hips before she peeks at the back of Gray, "You know that stalker of yours…she's pretty cute, I wouldn't wonder if she would be asked out by other guys."

"Other guys? What are you talking about? Juvia is not into dating anyone…" Gray denies as he looks at the smirking girl, "Right…cause she'll only want to date you?"

"I didn't say that…" Gray then walks away from the older teen. Seeing that the boy was no longer interested to stay, Ultear just states one more time, loud enough for him to hear, "She won't be stalking you forever Gray! Remember that!"


"Gray-sama!" Juvia cheers as she strides inside the classroom of 3-C and heads towards the raven haired boy. "What do you want?" Gray asks as he stands and starts to put all things in his bag.

"Well…" Juvia bits her lower lip before looking up again at the teen, "I was wondering if you could help me with a chemistry experiment." Juvia continues as she unconsciously taps the tip of her shoe to the floor.

"Experiment? Sorry but I can't. I promised Ultear that I'll accompany her to buy a rabbit for her science project." and with that he walks away from the blunette without giving a second glance.

When Gray was no longer seen, Juvia just kept her gaze to the opened door. "Right…of course, you have to help Ultear-san…" Juvia lowers her head, hiding her teary eyes before heading out, aimlessly walking back to the chemistry lab.

Meanwhile…

"Ultear! Are you ready to go?" Gray calls as he catches up to the dark haired beauty, "Gray? What are you doing here?"

"Didn't I promise you today that I'll go with you to buy a rabbit?" Gray inquires to the older girl as he gives her a questioning look "Oh! Right…I forgot! How about tomorrow instead, I promised mom I'd go home early for her birthday today." Ultear states as she smiles to him before turning her back "Bye Gray" Ultear then waves without looking at the teen.

When Ultear was out of the gates already, Gray thinks for a moment if he'd go home or not. When he turns to look at the main building of Fairy Tail Academy, he remembers a blue haired girl.

"Alright…I'll help her." Gray then begins to walk back inside the school and go straight to the chemistry laboratory. Reaching the fourth floor, he slowly checks every room. When he reaches the chemistry lab, he faintly hears a familiar laugh. Slowly checking the room, there he sees Juvia laughing along with a silver haired student. It was Lyon again. The two were doing some chemistry experiment, and that hits him hard when he realizes that someone else has offered help to Juvia.

Without warning, he felt the same feeling he had when he saw Juvia gave the cookies to the same guy. Just like before, he tries to ignore the feeling, trying to walk away without a care. But the more he tries to walk away the more he heard Juvia's sweet voice which only made the pain in his chest worsen.

"Damn this feeling…" Gray mutters to himself as he softly pounds his chest while heading down the stairs and decides to go home instead.


With the sudden pain he felt in his chest, Gray shoots up from his couch and places a hand to his chest, where his heart hides. "Damn it…it felt real…" He states breathlessly as he continues to rub his heart as if trying to relief it from the pain.

The longer he sat down, the more he felt the pain in his heart. As if he was reliving the past and the feelings he felt back then came rushing to him. "What is wrong with me? It not like Juvia and Lyon will be together…"

Gray then brushes his hair backwards as he slumps himself back to the couch and stares at the ceiling. "As if Lyon will suddenly appear again in our life and take her from me…"

Despite the words he tells himself, the feeling of pain in his chest wouldn't leave him. It only brought doubt to his words. Soon enough, he pulls his phone out of his pocket and calls the woman who has been bothering his thoughts.

"Hello!"

"Juvia." Gray says as soon as he hears her voice but taken aback when it became a voicemail, "This is Juvia! Sorry can't take your call right now, leave a message then I'll call you back soon!"

Beep

"Juvia…its Gray, just wanted to hear your voice. I'm sorry if I didn't call you the whole day, I was just caught up in work. Give me a call when you get this…I love you Juvia, bye" Gray then ends the call before placing the phone to the glass coffee table.

A few minutes later, a sound of notification in his phone rang, making the man quickly to respond. He grabs the phone and looks at it in eager. To his dismay, there was nothing from Juvia, but an email popped in his notification feeds.

"Who's this from?" Gray asks to no one as he presses the email app. As soon as he pressed it, a new email came making the man even curious. So without further a do, he opens the mail and there he reads a letter that changes everything.

Dear Mr. Fullbuster,

Good day!

This is Cassandra Mchovski, from FairyTail Corporation, Los Angeles. As you have been advised, you are expected in the new headquarters here in America two weeks from now. This is due to the early dated opening of the FairyTail. Being the new corporate manager, it is essential that you will be present for the opening of the new head quarter of Fairy Tail as part of its expansion project.

I, Cassandra Mchovski, will be your partner as corporate manager here in Los Angeles. We will be handling department together for a better leadership. With this being said, I am looking forward to meet and work with you soon.

Sincerely yours,

Cassandra Mchovski

Corporate Manager, FairyTail Corp., Los Angeles

"Cassandra Mchovski…partner huh?" Gray mumbles to himself before he closes the mail and turns off his phone. Knowing that Juvia wouldn't be calling anytime sooner, he picks up his blazer and walks off towards his bedroom.


As soon as the digital clock rings to 7:00 am, Gray turns it off and stands immediately from his bed. He didn't plan to lie down any longer because he knows he'll never get sleep again, just like last night.

As he walks away from his bed, he went straight to his bathroom, strips his gray lounge pants and reveals his toned legs. He quickly enters the shower despite the sprinkle of cold water and began to rinse himself.

Once he was done, he steps out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped to his hips as he walks towards his nightstand. Taking his phone, he turns it on and sees if there are any new messages. But to his disappointment, no new message or call even from his girlfriend. Feeling the lack of attention from his girlfriend, he presses her name to call her.

Placing his phone between his shoulder and ear as he waits for Juvia to answer, he continues to walk in his room and heads to his closet to take out the clothes he'll be using for today.

"Hello?"

"Hey…" Gray simply answers as he checks each long sleeve hanged, "I miss you…"

"Gray-sama?"

"Juvia, don't act so surprised…I should be asking you why you haven't given me a call or text again after you called yesterday."

"I'm sorry Gray-sama, I guess I forgot to call you back" Juvia's voice suddenly sounded sad which made the man guilty in some way after sounding like he was scolding her, "Alright Mi, you don't have to feel bad about it. I'm just worried that you didn't text me this morning. Usually you'd greet me first thing in the morning."

"Is my Gray-sama being clingy to me all of a sudden?" Hearing her voice cheer up made the man smile as he nods despite being unable to be seen by his girlfriend, "I guess I am..."

"Okay then, I'll drop by your house tonight and I'll cook for you! How does that sound?" Finally the thought that they were in a cold war disperses, Gray smiles to himself as he answers back. "That would be great…can't wait to see you tonight."

"Alright Gray-sama, I got to go. I have to start classes already."

"Okay, bye…I love you" Gray quietly mumbles as he waits for a moment before ending the call, "I love you too…"

When the call ended, Gray looks down to his phone and stares at the background photo. It is a photo of him and Juvia during their first year in college. Recalling the memory, it was the time Juvia surprised him by attending the same university as his. Juvia has mentioned before graduation in High school that Phantom University wanted to get her and that she was considering the offer. This news made Gray somehow sad because it was that time already that Gray was finally accepting the fact that he is attached to Juvia already. So when Juvia surprised him in a café within Magnolia University compound, he quickly asks the blue haired beauty for a photo. At this photo, instead of looking at the camera, he was intently looking down at the blunette. Juvia that time just smiled genuinely without the thought that he was looking at her.

"Good times…" Gray says as he puts down his phone to the bed before pulling his towel away from his hips. Soon, he dressed himself up, wearing a navy blue dress pants that fits perfectly to his toned legs accented by a brown leather belt. Then he wore a light blue long sleeve shirt that ends exactly to his wrist and a light blue blazer to give him a sharper look. Once done, he took his phone and shoves it to his pants' pocket and heads out to the front door. Soon enough, he was off to work.


It has been hours since Gray arrived at FairyTail Corporation and he still seems to be unfocused to his work at hand. A lot of things has been running in his head that he didn't notice that his friend/ enemy has entered his office.

"I know that you're an idiot, but I have never seen your face look so serious. What's up?" Natsu asks surprising the raven haired man as he snaps out of his trance. "What are you doing here?" Gray asks glancing at the pink haired man before returning his attention to his desktop.

"I'm here for the report you idiot. That should be done by now." Natsu then walks closer to the glass office desk owned by Gray. As soon as Natsu stood before the table, he began to grab a candy and pops it into his mouth before walking away again and seats himself into a pebble chair.

Gray's gaze follows Natsu as his comrade sits, "I know, but its not yet done…"

"Well then finish it now while I wait here…" Natsu replies as he grabs a magazine displayed in a small coffee table, "You're just making excuses so you won't work" Gray remarks as he began to type in his computer. "And your pushing me away because you know I'd be asking you personal stuff" Natsu counters as he glances at the pages of the magazine instead of the man he was having a conversation with.

"I know so just get the hell out of here…" Neither of the two responded again after Gray curses at the pink haired man. Even if Natsu ignored his comment, Gray didn't mind because he knows his friend wouldn't leave soon.

"So how are you with Juvia? Did you tell her yet?" Natsu suddenly asks as he breaks the silence from the office, "Lucy told me Juvia still doesn't know a thing about your fucked up decision…"

Gray finally looks at Natsu who did not return the action. Gray stared at the reading man and when he realize that Natsu was not going to look anytime soon, he returns to work. "I haven't mention anything yet…"

"So when?" Natsu asks again

"I don't know" Gray then falls silent even the sound of typing in the keyboard stops as he stares at the picture seating next to his monitor.

"Well its not new to you ice head that I'd call you a fucked up man, but seriously dude…you are" Natsu soundly closes the magazine and softly throws it back to the coffee table, "You've got to tell her now before you start making stupid decisions again."

Natsu suddenly stands and fixes his sleeves in his spot before glancing up at the silent man, "You're old enough to face your own problems." And with that he began to walk towards the glass door and left the raven haired man in thoughts.

As soon as Natsu left the room, the office has become erringly silent which bothered Gray aside from the lecture he just received from his co-worker. Natsu's words has made an impression to his mind and he knows he has to do something about it. He hates to admit it, but the pinkette was right, he has to do something about the problem already before he starts making the situation even worse.

And so with that, Gray pulls his phone and starts calling someone. After a few ring, he blankly greets, "Hey mom…"

"Gray? how are you?"

"I'm good…are you busy?" Gray suddenly grips his pen and starts tapping the end of the pen on the table

"Well this must be important for you to ask me if I'm busy…you know I'm not."

"Can I come over this weekend?" Gray then stops his tapping as he waits for his mother's answer

"Are you coming with Juvia?"

"No…I'm planning to go by myself."

"Oh…I was hoping to see her. But fine, I'll be waiting for you here."

"Alright. See you soon mom…"

"See you soon, my son"

"Bye" Gray then ends the call and places his phone back to his table

It is not so often that Gray calls his mother for an advice, because he is a stubborn man. But this time, he'll swallow his pride and ask for help. He does not want to mess this thing up.

To be continued…