A/N: A flashback is described in this chapter, so when the narration switches to past tense that's the flashback.
I wake up the next morning feeling like I'm a grape being squeezed between two fingers. I already know that Gray is the culprit without having to open my eyes. He stops squeezing me when I wriggle a little and his grip on me becomes bearable again. I want to try to go back to sleep, but I don't think I will be able to with Gray constantly latching onto me. I might as well get up.
Today I actually manage to get out of his hold without too much effort on my part. I was lucky that he decided to roll over when I tried to release his hold on me and I didn't have to spend ten minutes wriggling and pushing him. I go to the bathroom to freshen up and when I return I see a ray of light across the floor.
The sun is already starting to rise and it's a beautiful day out as far as I can tell. You know what? Since I am up, I might as well watch the sunrise. I can't remember the last time I did, but there is something extremely therapeutic about seeing the sky change color. I grab a robe that I tossed onto the chair last night and put it on before I go out to our balcony. Maybe it's not too chilly outside.
Okay, it is pretty chilly, but I will live. We have a couple of chairs and a small table next to the door, and this is where I settle down to watch the sky brighten. It's such a captivating sight. I can feel the heat from the sun as soon as the light touches my skin, and gradually the night retreats and makes way for a brand new day. It lifts my mood a little knowing that there will always be a beautiful sunrise to watch, no matter how hard a day has been. Except if the world ends, there would be no more sun. Okay Lucy, we are not going down that rabbit hole. It's way too early to think about the world ending. Let's try and relax a little instead.
It's been a while since I've had some time for myself.
Lately I've spent all my time with Gray, and although I have my own room back home, by the time I go up there I'm so exhausted that I just want to sleep. I love his company, I really do, but I also miss being on my own. Scratch that – I miss not feeling guilty every time I look at Gray. I've been trying to suppress it, but I have to admit that I can't get rid of my guilt.
I hate this feeling. I can't get the memories out of my mind, no matter how hard I try. I've replayed the events with every possible scenario, but I can't think of any way that I could have avoided this situation. It's not as chilly now, and the sun warms my face, so I lean back with my eyes closed. And then I think back.
It's been, what, two weeks since I left to go see my father? And somewhere around three weeks since I found out I was being stalked. In the weeks that have passed, I haven't been able to let go of the resentment I feel for those two, and I'm starting to think I never will.
As you know, I wanted to settle things with my father on my own, but the rest of the team refused to let me go alone. In hindsight it was a smart choice to bring backup, but I can't help but feel it might have turned out differently if I were by myself. I know, of course, that it isn't true, but I can't help it. Anyways, so we travelled to the Heartfilia Estate to settle matters and the Creep was there, waiting for me.
My father was out on business at the time and had left him in charge. Natsu, bless his soul, pounced on him the moment he came into view and Erza had to hold him back. The Creep, whose real name is something else, was frightened by Natsu, but refused to end our betrothal and said that there was no way out of it. The team and I went to my old library and searched for any loopholes, but it seemed like the arranged marriage was unavoidable. Natsu was actually the one who found the solution without realizing it. We had been looking over whatever legal documents we had found for hours, when he groaned in frustration.
"Why couldn't you just be married to someone else, Lucy? Then he wouldn't be able to trap you like this." I remember freezing the second he finished his sentence. I could marry someone else and be free of my father and this creepy dude. It could work. Erza and Gray realized it at the same time as me, and we started planning right away.
It was perfect. We agreed that I had come to the estate to ask for my father's blessing, and since my marriage had already been arranged (without my consent) I had to elope. The only problem: who was I supposed to elope with? I didn't have a boyfriend, and the only other options were my two teammates with me, but I couldn't ask that of them. Still, Natsu volunteered right away.
"I'll do it, Lucy. We're already best friends, it's gonna be awesome!" I think he was trying to reassure me that it would be loads better than the alternative, but it didn't help. Gray shook his head at Natsu's statement.
"What do you think Lucy? It will certainly cancel the betrothal, but are you willing to get married?" Erza asked me. I wanted to run away and never come back. I wanted my arranged marriage to be cancelled, but I didn't want to marry someone else to avoid it. How was that fair?
"Natsu, are you sure about this?" Erza asked with a frown.
"I'll do it," Gray spoke, "we need someone who can convince them that it's the real deal and flamebrain here can't do that. He's too rash and will mess it up. It has to be someone level-headed." That of course led to a big argument between Natsu and Gray, and Erza had to pull them apart by force. By the end of it, Natsu had grudgingly admitted that he might be too hot-headed for the role.
"I can't…"
"You have to marry one of us Lucy, there is no other way out. I'd rather it be one of us than someone else entirely. How will you convince a stranger to marry you? And there's not enough time for you to find someone else. It's gotta be Natsu or me." Gray argued. He had a point, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself. How could I ask that of them? Natsu agreed with him.
"I can't do that to either of you." But I didn't want to marry the Creep. Gray pulled me to the side and spent a lot of time convincing me that it was the right thing to do. Even Erza took his side.
"Gray is right, Lucy. There is nothing else we can do. It's going to be hard to pretend with someone you are not close with, and you will have to keep up the act until your fiancé stops pursuing you." Erza explained to me. She asked Gray if he knew what he was getting into, and he just nodded.
"Look, we'll give it two years or something, and then we can get a divorce if that's what you want. The most important thing to all of us right now is that you are safe and away from that creep. We'll deal with everything else later." Gray said to me. I wanted to scream. I remember looking at Natsu, hoping he could just beat the crap out of my betrothed and save the day, and he probably figured out what I was thinking.
"Lucy, you don't have to do this, but it will get you out of this situation for sure. And the snowcone can't be all bad. It's just for a little while, you'll be okay." Natsu hugged me tightly.
It was those words that convinced me, and I accepted Gray's impromptu proposal. Since we didn't have a ring to show, he gave me the silver cross he always wore around his neck as proof of our engagement and Natsu and Erza were our witnesses.
After that it was only a matter of convincing the creep that we were engaged and had to elope since he wouldn't cancel our betrothal and I hadn't received my father's blessing. That's how I ended up as Lucy Heartfilia Fullbuster and that's why I will never be able to repay Gray for what he has done.
I just fear that we didn't convince him and that the Creep hasn't given up, even though I am legally married. Sigh. I have to stop thinking like this if I want to enjoy the rest of our vacation.
I don't know how long I have stayed out on the balcony for, but when I go back inside Gray is awake, I think. He is still in bed, but his eyes are open. Kind of.
"Good morning," I greet him and he blinks at me tiredly. Maybe he isn't as awake as I thought. I hope he isn't hungover. We didn't have that many drinks yesterday and Gray is usually good at holding his liquor.
"Sleep." He mumbles and burrows down under the covers. I see the perfect opportunity to get revenge for yesterday morning, when I was so rudely woken up, and I yank the covers away from him. He whines and tries to get them back, but I am standing too far away from him to reach me.
"Nooo… Lucy… Stop…" He curls in on himself and I laugh. Sleepy Gray is the best. He is trying to fall back asleep, but I won't let him. I shake his shoulder and try not to laugh again. He is looking at me sullenly.
"Come on, Gray. Let's go get breakfast. We have a long day ahead of us." I try to coax him up with promises of pancakes and pastries, but he doesn't get up until I promise we'll try more sweets in town. Today we have a tour of the city planned and that includes restaurants.
"Alright, alright. I'm getting up." He sighs and starts leaving the comfort of the bed. On the way to the washroom, he mutters something about 'evil woman'. It's my win.
Twenty minutes later we are downstairs and having our breakfast. The buffet has different options this morning for the hot dishes and I choose oatmeal. Gray, of course, sticks to pancakes. From his expression I can tell that they are good.
"When do you want to leave? We have all day to explore, but did you want to hit the spa first?" He asks me between bites. Oh that's right, we haven't actually utilized our resort's spa and wellness offer. Maybe we can squeeze it in later?
"When does the spa close? I don't think it's a good idea to get all pampered and get a facial if we are going to be gross and sweaty the rest of the day. If we make it back before it closes, we can go then." I tell him as he finishes yet another pancake. I have to try and change some of Gray's diet, he can't just live off pancakes every day.
"Sure. Do you think they have those massages with the coal or whatever?" He grins at me excitedly.
"Coals? Do you mean the hot stone massage? Most likely, but that's with lava stones as far as I know." I explain.
"Yeah that!" Now that he mentions it, I also want to try. We return to our breakfast and finish eating relatively fast.
Just as we are heading out of the dining area, I see that brunette who was checking Gray out at the pool yesterday. Her eyes are on him immediately and I make a big show of linking our arms and telling him how excited I am for our day. She rolls her eyes at me as we pass and I already know she is going to cause some sort of problem later.
We've been wandering around town all day and I'm so glad I didn't wear my new sandals, otherwise my feet would be killing me. It's pretty hot out and I want to get a cold drink soon, but first I have to choose a dress to buy. We are currently in a shop that sells clothing and I wanted to buy some things for both of us.
"Which one do you like better, Gray? The purple or the green one?" Gray has been waiting patiently while I tried on a couple of items and looks over at the two dresses in my hands.
It was so hard to narrow down my choices, everything here is so cute, but I have to be practical. Autumn is right around the corner and I should probably dig out my warmer clothes sooner than later. I can do that when I get back home, right now I have to choose a dress so we can find a café or something.
"You look good in both of them. I don't think I've seen you in much purple though?" Gray touches the fabric of both dresses and decides on my behalf that the purple dress will be more comfortable.
"I don't know, I think my wardrobe is pretty varied." It's a cute dress, with black flowers patterned along the hem of the skirt. The green one is cute too, but I don't like the neckline and sleeves on that one. Purple it is. "Guess I never noticed," he replies.
When we go to the register to pay, Gray surprises me by putting my dress on the counter and pulling out his wallet. "What are you doing Gray?" I ask.
"Paying." He looks at me like it is obvious, which it is, but you know.
"I can see that, but why?"
"I just want to treat my wife to something nice." He grins at me and I have the urge to roll my eyes, but it's sweet of him to pay so I don't say anything mean. The cashier is watching our interaction curiously. Either he has recognized us from somewhere or he is just nosy, but he is not hiding the fact that he's watching.
"Thanks." I muster up the brightest smile I can and wrap my arms around his waist. I also kiss his cheek for good measure, and I see the guy behind the counter smile and look down. Crisis averted.
We leave the shop in search of a café where we can get something to eat and find one just a street down. This is where we go for our late lunch. I hadn't even noticed that I was hungry, but as soon as we are seated and I take a look at the menu, my stomach grumbles so loudly that Gray snickers. As we wait for our food, Gray and I decide where we want to go next, and before we know it we are done eating and on our way out again. We've spent the entire day walking around town and checking out all the spots and by the end my feet are pretty sore. We probably won't make it back to the hotel in time to go to the spa, but we have the entire day tomorrow to do relax.
Gray and I were supposed to go on a guided tour of the city ruins, but we would rather go by ourselves so we cancelled that and now there is time for ultimate relaxation.
"Gray, my feet hurt!" I complain, not really meaning it. The atmosphere has been so nice and relaxed between us today, I'm so happy we came out here.
"Want me to carry you?" He offers with a laugh. His arm finds his way around my shoulders and he steers me to the side so an elderly couple can pass by us. They smile knowingly at us.
"No, but I think we should head back soon." I tell him when he lets go of me. I wouldn't mind if he kept his arm around me, it's getting kind of chilly.
"Yeah, you're only wearing a dress. Do you want to wear my jacket? I don't want you to catch a cold." It's like he is reading my mind. Before I can protest, he is already shrugging it off and draping it over me, but it's nice and warm, and it smells like Gray.
"Thanks, but what about you? Aren't you cold?" I ask and grab his sleeve. His shirt is pretty thin and also short-sleeved, he must also be cold.
He lifts an eyebrow and points to himself, "Ice mage, remember?"
"Yeah, let's go." I roll my eyes and start walking and I can hear his footsteps and muffled laughter behind me as we start the long walk back.
Before someone comes for me, I am aware that Lucy could also have chosen to marry Erza, which would give them a pretty good reason to want to elope, but I don't recall any gay characters in FT at the top of my head, and this is a GrayLu story that's why Erza wasn't considered. Until next time (=w=)/
