Christmas with My Former Crush

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Sapphire Jinx only owns the plot but not the characters because Hiro Mashima does.


"… Then the teller's father turned to be the ticketing officer. And when he saw Loke-san kissing with his daughter, he gave us two economy tickets to Magnolia instead of the first-class tickets that we originally booked! And the punch he gave Loke-san on the face was enough to knock him out for five hours–making us take the flight that took off at night instead of the morning flight!" Sting wiped tears from the corners of his eyes as the small group erupted with laughter.

"The kiss was worth it though!" Loke chortled.

"You're such a flirt, Nii-chan!" Keirin said, laughing.

Layla shook her head, chuckling. "You should at least be cautious of your actions, Lo-kun."

"Oh, let the boy be, Layla!" Ur butted in as she laughed some more. "He's young and he's living his life the fun way–it ain't half bad!"

"You must've looked pathetic there, Loke," Lucy said, grinning from ear to ear. She turned to her child hood friend. "Where'd the girl's father punch Loke?"

"Right in the middle of the airport!" Sting replied, guffawing with Lucy.

"Really pathetic, Coz'." Lucy laughed

All seven of them were having their afternoon tea in the living room. They were gathered around the center table as they exchanged stories and caught up with each other.

The only person not laughing along was Gray. He had his eyebrows furrowed and was observing Sting and Lucy closely. He was silent ever since the blue-eyed young man arrived with the Heartfillia sisters' cousin. Sting's closeness to Lucy made the brunette uncomfortable. And to add fuel to the fire, he noticed that Lucy has been ignoring him since this morning, unnerving him even more. Keirin seemed to notice this and elbowed Gray on the side, making him turn his attention to her, an eyebrow raised in question.

"You're not laughing," the youngest Heartfillia said, frowning. "You're supposed to laugh at Sting-nii's story."

"You call Eucliffe 'Sting-nii', emphasis on the -nii," he began, feigning sadness. "Yet you just call me 'Gray' even if I'm a year older than him."

Keirin laughed. "It's because Sting-nii's Onee-san's childhood friend," she replied. "And he used to take care of me before when both Onee-san and Mom 's unavailable."

Gray raised his eyebrows at the new found information. He nodded.

"Ah, Aunt Layla," Loke said. "Tonight, we'll be eating in an 8-land branch here in Magnolia."

Lucy's jaw fell open. "I-Isn't 8-Island an exclusive 5-star restaurant that only rich people go to?" she asked, half-disbelieving and half-impressed. "You'll be the one answering the bills, right? Or else, we won't go."

"Of course, he'll pay!" Sting said, laughing. "So you can eat all you want and not worry about money." He paused before wiggling his eyebrows at the female blonde beside him. "I heard they have a diet-only menu."

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, blushing as she hit the young man in the head.

Sting laughed again, grinning at his childhood friend. "Nothing!" He raised his hands in defense, still chuckling. "But they really have diet-only menus, honest!" he added, making Lucy hit him once more.

"But, Loke-kun," Ur began, "Isn't 8-Island, a high class restaurant?" She then laughed sheepishly. "I'd feel bad if I were to go there in my casual jeans and blouse."

Layla nodded in agreement. "I don't think I have any dresses fit for such a formal looking restaurant."

Loke gave a sly smile. "That's why we're taking you out to go shopping."


"Onee-san, take a look at those heels! They're like, seven inches high!"

"Oh, and look at this purse, Kei! It's covered in diamonds!"

"Araaaa, what a lovely dress! Do you think that yellow suits me, Layla?"

"They're okay, but I prefer Ur when she's wearing something violet or purple. It matches your eyes. What about this blouse? Do I look good in it?"

"Come, come, come, Kei! That little rings costs fifty thousand jewels!"

"Eeeeeeeh? But it doesn't even look cute, Onee-san! I like that necklace! Right, Mom?"

"It's gorgeous!"

"I like the fifty thousand jewel ring that Lucy-chan pointed out. It's simple, at the same time lovely!"

A long sigh was heard behind the group of ignorant ladies. "Tell me again why I agreed to come here with you?" Gray mumbled, gritting his teeth as he shoved his hands into his back pockets. Of all the things that he wanted to do with girls, it's shopping. For him, it's a real pain in the ass, even if he's with Juvia.

"Um, because your mom forced you to?" Sting said just as dejectedly. "Now tell me why I'm here."

"Because Lucy made goo-goo eyes at you?" Gray replied, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Oh, right," Sting said sullenly. He then glared at the only male who's not thinking that buying a bunch of clothes with girls is hell. "Well, some one's happy," he said emotionlessly at Loke.

The college freshman chuckled as he pushed his blue tinted glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It's the first time I took my cousins out to go shopping," he replied, smiling slightly. "So why shouldn't I be happy?"

Sting rolled his eyes. "At least somebody can relate to me, right, Gray-san?"

Gray gave a nod. "Totally, bro."

Keirin walked up to them, grinning innocently. "We'd like to shop there, Nii-chan." She pointed to a large shop that had a big sign holding the gold plated words, 'Fairies and Statues'. Loke felt his jaw drop.

"Y-You'd like to sh-shop there?" Loke asked the younger blonde, his voice breaking.

"Yup!" Keirin said. She then pouted. "I mean, come on, Nii-chan! The clothes there are cute and stylish. Onee-san, Mom, and Aunt Ur thought so as well! Oh, look, they're already inside." She gestured before following them. "I'll go now too and enjoy myself!" She grinned deviously at her cousin. "And besides, you're the one paying, right?" She then walked off.

"What was that about?" Sting asked curiously.

"That shop they're going to sells women's clothes that costs twenty thousand jewels as their minimum price!" Loke bit back bitterly. "My exes would usually bring me here and ask me to pay for their clothes after–practically leaving me bankrupt after shopping." Animated tears fell from his eyes. "But how would I be able to refuse my only, lovely cousins and my aunt that I could consider as my mother already!" The part-time model looked pleadingly at the other two males as he said, voice cracking "Help me…"

"How could I when I'm just here to accompany the girls?" Gray snickered, grinning at the blue-eyed boy. "Right, Eucliffe?"

The said boy smirked at Loke. "Sure thing, Gray-san!" he said, laughing as tears forming in his eyes again as he watched the devastated Loke comically and dramatically fall on his knees in despair.

"Sting-kun!" came Layla's voice as she went outside, beaming. "Lu-chan tried on this cute outfit and wanted to know your opinion," she said. "But I'm afraid that you'll have to come inside since she's too shy to go out wearing it."

Sting nodded, grinning. "Be back in a while, guys," he told the two boys, not noticing the frown forming on Gray's face, before going inside.

"You two should go in too," Layla told them. "You'll get tired easily standing here. There are couches inside the store so you could wait there."

The two nodded, Loke sniffling. When the middle-aged woman went back inside the store, Loke looked sternly at the brunette, making him raise his eyebrows in confusion. "What is it?" he asked.

"Do you happen to…," Loke paused to narrow his eyes suspiciously at Gray, "…like my cousin?"

Gray's eyes widened, laughing as he shook his head. "Of course not!" was his immediate reply. "I already have a girl friend for, Kami-sama's sake!"

"Really?" Loke mumbled thoughtfully as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But why do you look so… uncomfortable whenever Sting's around Lucy?"

This took the young man aback. "I–I don't know the answer to your question, actually," Gray then admitted guiltily. He really didn't know.

The older of the duo sighed before giving him a brotherly pat on the back, smiling reassuringly. "But when you do know the answer that question," he started, "just be sure that you wouldn't be confused with your feelings after." He then grinned like they didn't have their conversation at all. "Now let's get going and see how my lovely cousins get any lovelier than they already are!" He then walked off, leaving a dumb founded Gray behind.

Gray furrowed his eyebrows, pondering on what the college freshman asked him earlier. Did he like Lucy? No. He already has Juvia. Why is he uncomfortable whenever Eucliffe is around Lucy? Now, that's the question. He was able to answer the first question so why couldn't he answer the second? He shouldn't be, quote, 'uncomfortable' when Lucy's with her childhood friend because, he already has, a girl friend. He said it himself. So why?


"I don't want to go outside!"

"But Lu-chan," Layla started. "Didn't you want Sting-kun to see you in your clothes?"

Lucy shook her head vigorously behind the curtain even though she knew that her mother couldn't see her. "I've changed my mind!" she said stubbornly.

She then heard her childhood friend chuckle, making her flush bright red. "Come on out now, Lucy," Sting said. "What's wrong?"

"You!" she exclaimed.

Sting laughed. "Me?" he said, feigning sadness. "But I want to see you wearing whatever you're wearing!" he whined.

"Well, I don't want you to see me wearing whatever I'm wearing!" Lucy replied, blushing furiously.
"Sting-nii, what do you think?" came Keirin's voice.

"Ah, Keirin! You, uh, look, um, like an emo?" Sting said uncertainly.

Lucy snickered silently. She just knew her sister was frowning. "I do not look like an emo!" Keirin retorted. "I look totally bad-ass!"

"What's bad-ass in wearing all black and purple?" Sting replied in obvious confusion. "And you're wearing too many chains, dude, too many chains."

"Well, I think black and purple is a really bad-ass combination," Keirin replied just as stubbornly as Lucy did earlier. "And chains are a fashion that's like, so in these days, right, Mom?"

Lucy heard their mother chuckle. "I'm sorry, Kei-chan, but I have to agree with Sting-kun," she replied kindly. "I honestly prefer my little Kei-chan in baby pink and white with a lot of ruffles."

"Mom!" Keirin huffed, flustered. "Then let's see what Onee-san thinks," she stated proudly. "Onee-san, come out and tell me what you think about my outfit! It's totally bad-ass, I assure you."

Lucy's head popped out behind the curtain to take a look at her sister, careful not to show any other parts of her body. She looked at Keirin from head to toe. The theme of the style that Keirin chose to wear was Gothic. And like what Sting said, she was indeed wearing the color black and shades of purple. And there were a lot of chains.

To Lucy's surprise, her sister looked good in her outfit. Lucy noted that if Keirin had black eyeliner and had her hair up in a high pony, she would look better. She nodded, grinning at her sister. "When'll be your concert, rocker girl?"

Keirin squealed in happiness. "See? See?" she told the sweat dropping Sting accusingly. "Even Onee-san thinks I'm bad-ass too!"

"But she never said you were bad-ass!" Sting retorted childishly. "She said you were a rocker girl!"
"It's the same!" Keirin pouted. "Don't you even know that those two are synonyms?"

"I know! And emo is a synonym of rocker girl too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Layla chuckled in amusement at the two bickering blondes before going inside Lucy's cubicle, much to the younger Heartfillia's dismay. Layla placed her chin on her palm and nodded thoughtfully at her first born. "It suits you perfectly, Lu-chan, " she commented.

Lucy blushed. "Am I going to wear this at the restaurant?" she asked. "It's embarrassing."

"It is not embarrassing, Lu-chan!" Layla replied, frowning. "Your dress and shoes were picked out personally by me and Ur," she said proudly. "Do you doubt our skills in dressing up?"

Lucy shook her head in defeat. That was when someone came swiping the curtains to the side, revealing the young blonde to the others. Lucy blushed furiously at Sting who was now ogling at her. "U-U-U-U-Ur-san!" she complained as she hid behind her mother.

"Gray! Loke!" Ur called, grinning deviously at the blonde. "Come and see Lucy-chan!"

"What is it again, Mom?" Gray said in exasperation. "I–" He stopped mid-way when he saw the young blonde lady. "Lu-Lucy, y-you're…"

The said blonde blushed even further, hiding behind her mother as much as she can. She didn't want Gray to see her of all people. And after the "incident" last night it was embarrassing for her to see the brunette.

"T-There is a goddess in front of me!" Loke exclaimed, making his cousins sweat drop at him, but made Lucy flush even more, nonetheless.

"Y-Y-You're over reacting, Loke," Lucy muttered. She was wearing a silver halter dress that showed off her whole back and some of her cleavage much to her liking. What more, it had a slit on the bottom part of the dress to show her right leg. She wore matching silver ankle gladiator heels. She then glared at Sting. "W-Well?" she snapped. "Is–Is it alright?"

Ur clasped her hand together in glee. "It's not alright!" she squealed. "It's perfect!" She grinned at Layla. "You chose the dress well, Layla!"

Layla nodded, grinning as well. "And the shoes you made her wear completed the look," she acknowledged. "All we need now is to buy some jewelry and put on make-up for Lu-chan, right?"

"I–errrr," Sting tried to start. "I-It's cold later t-this evening a-and I think i-it's best that you wear something to cover y-your back," he stuttered, a light blight adorning his cheeks.

Gray nodded slowly, eyes not leaving his batch mate's flustered form.

"Stop staring!" Lucy snapped, blushing madly.

"Onee-san, you should wear gowns more," Keirin remarked.

Layla nodded. "I'll go get a shawl to match," she told them. "You could change back now, Lu-chan. Kei-chan, change into the dress your sister picked out for you tonight. Then, if you like, tell the assistant to go take the clothes that you are wearing so that Lo-kun could pay for it as well."

"Then you five could go sightseeing around the place while we take our turn in choosing our evening dresses," Ur added. "We'll just call you when we're ready to go so that we could still have to prepare for tonight's dinner."

Then they separated ways.


Lucy shook off some snow of a bench before sitting on it, tugging on her jacket further as cold mist escaped from her mouth. She watched as her sister, cousin, and batch mate fuss over a new video game. She chuckled–Keirin was always into the latest video games. She gave a smile when she saw her child hood friend come out of Starbucks, two plastic bags in hand and finishing a croissant with the other as he walked towards her.

"Here's your café mocha," Sting said, digging out the said drink out of the plastic bag.

"Thanks," Lucy said gratefully as her fingers encircled the cup, warmth seeping through her fingers. She looked expectantly at him, taking a sip as Sting sat down beside her. "What did you get for yourself?"

"White hot chocolate," he replied, grinning. "Then there's hot chocolate for Keirin, espresso for Loke-san, and java chip frap for Gray-san."

"Gray ordered frappuccino?" Lucy asked, bewildered that the brunette would order something iced in the current cold weather.

Sting shrugged. "I just got what he asked," he said nonchalantly, drinking his beverage. He closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the taste, before offering his cup to the female blonde. "Want some?"
"E-Eh?" Lucy blushed.

"It's good," Sting said. "I doubt that you've ever tried this. Am I correct?"

"You are correct," Lucy replied sheepishly. She then flushed red as she offered her cup to her child hood friend as well. "You, um, you could taste some too, if you'd like."

The young man grinned, exchanging cups with the girl. "Y'know," he started, lifting Lucy's cup to his lips before taking a small sip, "I've been wondering what your relationship to Gray-san is."

Lucy's eyes widened as she tasted some of the white hot chocolate. She then held Sting's cup on her lap, looking sadly at the snow covered ground. "He's the son of my mother's friend," she said softly, "as well as my batch mate. We used to be classmates during middle school. He was once one of my best friends." She sighed.

"Once…"

Sting noticed his childhood friend's grimace and scooted closer to her so that their knees, hips, and shoulders were touching. He looked expectantly at the girl to see if she minded. When she didn't make a move of complaint, he figured that she didn't so he stayed.

"I, uh, I don't know what I could say to, um, make you feel better," he started awkwardly, "but remember that I'm always here to listen you, okay?" He smiled reassuringly at her as handed her cup back to her. "Thanks, by the way," he added. "It's good. But I still prefer white hot chocolate."

Lucy gave a weak chuckle. "I prefer my café mocha too," she replied. She then smiled at the other blonde. "Thank you, Sting, really."

Sting grinned. "Didn't I tell you that white hot chocolate is good.

"I didn't mean about the drink but," Lucy chuckled, "I thank you for that too." She then smiled sadly at her childhood friend before placing her forehead on his shoulder. "Sting, I–I'm lost," she said quietly. She wasn't going to cry and she knew that. "Gray, he's–he's become somebody important to me already but I–I know he doesn't feel the same way about me." She closed her eyes. "It hurt," she said sadly. Shethen positioned her chin on Sting's shoulder, not noticing how close their faces were to each other. "What would you do if you were in my shoes, Sting?"

Sting's eyes softened. "Then I'll try to be happy," he replied. "Even if that somebody important doesn't feel the same way about me and it hurt, I'll try to be happy because as long that somebody important is happy, I'm happy." He patted her head, chuckling. "Then my feet would have blisters because I'm still not used to your six-inch heels."

Lucy laughed, retracting as she started to finish her drink. "My heels are never that high," she retorted. "They're just around… three or four?"

"Still gon'na get me blisters," Sting snorted, grinning.


"Were they always this close?" Gray asked, putting the DVD he was holding down.

"Who?" Keirin asked. "Am I allowed to open this, mister?" She held up the CD case she was holding for the assistant to see.

"Eucliffe and Lucy."

"Um, yeah?" When the assistant nodded, she grinned and thanked him. "Why'd you ask?"

Gray shook his head. "Nothing," he said, sneaking a glance at the two laughing blondes outside.

Keirin's eyebrows met in confusion but she shrugged it off instead. "This game looks cool," she commented. "Right, Nii-ch–where'd he go?"

"Flirting with the store's clerk," Gray replied, sweat dropping at the part-time model that was, indeed, flirting. "Honestly, doesn't he even get tired with all the girls?"

"That's Nii-chan for you!" Keirin laughed. She then looked outside the window to see Lucy wiping whipped cream off Sting's mouth with a handkerchief. "Even if Nii-chan's like that," she began, "he really cares for us." She gave a small snort when she saw her sister place a snowball on Sting's face, laughing. "Especially when it comes to his cousins." She grinned at the brunette. "And we're his only cousins, mind you."

Gray rolled his eyes, chuckling, before moving it so that he could see what Keirin was looking at. He scowled after seeing Sting pounce on Lucy, placing a handful of snow on her head. This made the young blonde wiggle her eyebrows at him.

"I see that you're jealous," she stated.

"What?" Gray snapped his head to her. "Of course, not! Why would I get jealous at Lucy and Eucliffe together?" he blurted out defensively.

Keirin sweat dropped. "I wasn't saying anything about Onee-san and Sting-nii together, dummy," she told him. "What I was talking about was that they are outside playing in the snow while you're jealous because you're not playing too!" She snorted once more. You slipped! Again! she triumphantly said in her mind. You have feelings for Onee-san but you just haven't realized it!

"Oh," Gray mumbled, flustered that he got the wrong idea.

"Ah!" Keirin exclaimed. "I remember that we told Sting-nii to order drinks from Starbucks!" She then dashed to the door. "I bet my hot chocolate is already cold now!"

Gray sighed in relief. Good thing Keirin went out or else he'll have to handle the embarrassment. It was the second time–no, third time that day that a blonde caught him having such an expression when eyeing Eucliffe and Lucy. The twice did youngest Heartfillia and once did their cousin. Loke made sure to question him about Lucy but was kind enough to let him go when he said he couldn't answer. He knew Lucy's sister was sharp but he wasn't sure if Keirin noticed anything. He was hoping that she didn't. But because the young blonde never did ask anything about him staring, he figured that Keirin was just dense around that time–or so he thought.


Author's Note: Minna-saaaaaaan! How were you? We had our field trip the other day and I had so. Much. Fuuuuuun! We went to two of the Seven Lakes here in the Philippines and we went water wading on Pandin Lake! Y'know, people? You I recommend you to go there. It's an experience that you will never forget. I promise. Anyway, what do you think about chappie seven? I'm sorry if it's a little, um, y'know, corny? If that's the word. Ahehe, I don't know if it actually is but... I just hope you all like it! So, uh, yeah, I made 8-Island a high class restaurant. There were not much GraLu scenes but I hope the StiCy scenes were okay. Ahehe, sooooo on to the acknowledgements!

Acknowledgements/Thank You to:

All of you lovely folks who read and is reading my story.

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"When someone walks away from you,
That doesn't mean that your story ends.
What has ended,
Is their part in your story."