Today is a very special day for me, and I hope you all share the joy with me. One year ago, I published my first story here on FanFiction. (In the Woods, a Fruits Basket story.) It all really started when I had this dream. I thought about it and thought that it would be fun to see a story with the characters from Fruits Basket. I remembered that my one friend told me about FanFiction, so I decided to try writing. I really had no clue what I was going. It took me forever just to figure out how the website worked. But after I finished the story, I decided to write another one. And another and another and another... Looking back at old stories, I can't believe how much I've grown as a writer. I never even noticed that I became better. I guess practice really does make perfect.

So, in honor of my one year anniversary, I have a few special treats for you guys. First, I uploaded all my stories! (Not Meister and Reaper. It's still on hiatus.) So you may all enjoy reading updates on my stories in mass productions. The second prize for you all is a little more personal. I want to practice one-shots. If any of you have an idea for one, of just have a pairing request, PM me and let me know. I'll write it. And if I really like it and see potential, I'll eventually make it into a story. I'll write for any anime as long as I've seen it. Just ask me.

I really just want to thank you all for your love and support. I would have never imagined myself being this popular a year ago. I know I'm not super popular, but it seems like it when I write a story, wondering if anyone reads it at all. Just thank you so much.

Lucy blindly ran through the streets, not sure where she was running. She wanted to cry so much. Her body didn't produce tears, since blood was the only liquid in her body, so she physically couldn't cry. She wished she could go to sleep and wake up, pretending it was all a dream. She couldn't do that, either. She just kept running. Maybe if she went into the woods and ran as fast as she could, she would faint from dizziness. She wasn't sure if that was possible, but she really wanted to find out. Right when she was going to go to the woods, she heard her name being called. She realized she was looking at her feet, so she looked up. Gray was standing there, holding a plastic bag in his hand.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Gray asked. It looked to him like she was about to cry. He ran up to her and hugged her tightly around the shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Lucy buried her face in his shirt and hugged him tightly around the waist. He smelled like pine trees and vanilla, just like his hoodie. She was wondering if he just naturally smelled like vanilla and used pine tree smelling cologne. She's never heard of a guy using vanilla cologne, so she figured her assumption was right. She didn't know why she cared, at the moment. She just wanted to forget about Rogue, the man she loved, kissing Yukino.

"Why don't you come to my house?" Gray asked. He adjusted the bag in his hand. He broke the hug, but kept one arm around her shoulders. They were actually at the end of his driveway, so they were in his house quickly.

"Gray, is that you?" a woman called from the other room. She came into view. She had short black hair and was wearing an apron covered in flour. She reached out and grabbed the bag Gray was holding. "Now I can make the frosting," she said with a smile. She looked to Lucy. "Who's this?"

"This is my friend Lucy from school," Gray said. "She's going to hang out for tonight, alright?"

"That's fine," the woman said, wiping her hands on her apron. She held one out for Lucy to shake. "My name is Ur. I'm Gray's guardian. Just make yourself at home." Something started beeping. "Oh! The cake is done!" She patted Gray's head before running back to the kitchen.

Gray took his arm from Lucy's shoulder and grabbed her hand, silently dragging her through the house. Lucy saw a boy with black hair chase after a girl with blue hair. "That's Wendy and Romeo," Gray said. Upstairs, Lucy saw many doors lining the halls. She saw Ultear inside the first one. The second one had a kid with white hair. Gray told her that was Lyon. The next few rooms had closed doors. They stopped at the one. Gray pulled Lucy inside, shutting the door behind them. "Well, this is my room." The room was very typical. He had a bed, desk, and closet. He didn't have any personal touches at all.

"Ur said she was your guardian," Lucy said. She sat down on the floor so her back was resting against the side of his bed.

"You noticed that, huh?" Gray laughed awkwardly, sitting beside Lucy. "Ur isn't my mother. Ultear is her only biological daughter here. Everyone else is adopted. This is like the home for abandoned children. Kids come from all over, just looking for a home cooked meal. Some stay, some go." Lucy remembered the fight Gray had outside with Ultear. He said that she had family but he didn't. Now she understood.

"I know how you feel," Lucy said. She didn't have parents either. It was like Rogue adopted her, Kara, and Sting, really. She felt a pounding in her head. She remembered that she was dizzy earlier. She didn't expect her head to start pounding, though. That never happened. She groaned and put her head on Gray's shoulder.

Gray didn't even bother asking what was wrong. He felt like that's all he ever said to her. "Come on, you should lay down," he said. When he went to move, Lucy awkwardly wrapped her arms around him.

"No, stay there," she said. His scent washed over her. Her eyes were instantly red. She squinted her eyes shut, hoping he didn't see. She tried to calm down. It didn't seem to work, though. She was across the room in an instant, sitting against the wall. She didn't even bother being slow about it; she used her full speed.

"Okay, something is wrong," Gray said. He noticed that she moved really fast, but he just played it off as if he wasn't paying attention. He crawled over and sat beside her. He lifted her chin up so she had to look at him. "Open your eyes. I feel like you are trying to disappear or something."

Lucy thought that was the perfect idea. She wouldn't open her eyes. She honestly never wanted blood that bad before. If he found out about her, though, everything would change. She couldn't afford to tell him. She could feel herself slowly leaning towards him, though. "Get away," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Gray asked. He flinched when Lucy wrapped her arms around him again.

"You really need to go," she hissed. She was positive that if he didn't move, she was going to bite him. To think, the door wasn't even locked. "Gray, please leave. You need to just get away from me." He made no attempt to move. She wished he would just listen for once. She wasn't in control of herself any more. She didn't know that human blood would do that to someone like her. Yukino being around humans so much seemed like an even bigger achievement.

Lucy moved so she was straddling Gray's lap. She could feel his heart rate going up. That just made things worse. She rested her face in the crook of his neck. She felt her fangs come out. "Push me away," she managed to choke out. She felt him shake his head. What was going through his mind was a complete mystery to her. Her tongue left her mouth. She licked the skin on his neck, making him shiver. Then, without warning, her fangs sunk into his skin.

"Lucy!" Gray gasped. "What the hell?!" He gasped in pain. That just seemed to make things worse.

"Gray?" Lyon asked, knocking on his bedroom door.

Gray wasn't sure what to do. He didn't even know what Lucy was doing. He couldn't let Lyon come in. "Don't come in!" he called. That was probably the worse thing he could have said. That would just make Lyon want to come in more.

"Ur wants you two to come down for cake," Lyon said. "What are you doing?" Gray couldn't reply. He was too busy trying to calm his breathing down. The pain was almost unbearable. "Hey, I'm coming in if you don't answer. What are you doing?"

"I'm with a girl." Gray wanted to slap himself. That wasn't even an excuse! That was nothing!

"Damn, Gray," Lyon laughed. "Fine, I'll tell Ur you're busy."

Gray sighed in relief. Then he remembered that Lucy was biting his neck for some reason. He was actually starting to get a little dizzy. Luckily, she let him go. She licked his neck again, stopping the bleeding. She gasped and looked up into his eyes. He was more than shocked to see bright red eyes staring back at him.

"Gray, I-" Lucy didn't even know what to say. She just drank his blood! She had to say that was the best experience of her life. His blood tasted so pure and smooth. She felt creepy describing it in her mind.

Gray reached out and rubbed his thumb along along her cheek, surprising Lucy. "You're a vampire," he said. "I didn't know they were real."

"Vampire," Lucy said as if it was the first time hearing the word. "I couldn't remember what I was called." She figured Rogue had something to do with that. She could vaguely remember him telling her that you can never give their species a name or else something bad will happen. She figured the term was just offensive. Hollywood made it seem like vampires were creatures that sparkled in the sun, would die if you stabbed them with a wooden stake, and couldn't be around garlic. They were all, of course, just myths. They weren't true at all.

"That's why you run so fast," Gray said, completely shocked. He gasped and grabbed his neck. The wound was starting to hurt again. He was, once again, surprised by Lucy. She put her hand over his and smiled faintly.

"The first day I came to Fairy Tail Natsu fell on me in gym with a nosebleed," Lucy admitted. Gray's eyes widened. She laughed. "Yeah, it took me a while to calm down."

"So do you keep blood in those bottles you carry around?" he asked. She nodded. "You wear a hoodie to hide your eyes?" She nodded again. "You got dizzy because you needed blood?" She nodded a third time. He slapped his forehead with his free hand. "I'm sure lending you my hoodie didn't help you any at all. You don't get cold, huh?"

Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and put her nose on his chest. "No, I like your scent," she confessed.

"My scent? You can smell me?" He was suddenly feeling self-conscious. He was wondering if she ever thought he smelt bad.

"Mmhmm," Lucy hummed, nodded her head. "You smell like vanilla and pine trees."

"I eat a lot of ice cream," Gray laughed. He rested his chin on her head and hugged her. He couldn't believe that he was cuddling with a vampire. Now that's something he never that he would say. He didn't even understand why he was being so calm about it.

"You should go eat something," Lucy said. She leaned back far enough so she fell off his lap and onto her butt. "You have to feel dizzy."

"I'm guessing you can't eat?" Gray asked. Lucy shook her head. "Then I'll just bring two pieces up to my room. You can just tell Ur later you liked it." He went over to the door, Lucy right behind. Right when his hand touched the nob, he stopped. "And Lucy?"

"Hmm?" Lucy hummed. She noticed that her eyes were brown again.

"If you ever, uh, need blood," Gray said, nervously scratching his neck. He looked over his shoulder to her. "Don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

Lucy blushed and nodded. She happily followed Gray downstairs. She couldn't believe that a human knew her secret and actually offered her blood. It was Gray they were talking about, though. It made sense that he would ask. He was a nice guy, after all. She was just wondering how afraid he was. She had a feeling he wasn't one bit. Of course, Gray wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. That's what she liked about him, though. All her friends had little quirks about them that she just loved. Gray's just happened to be that he loved ice cream and was crazy enough to give a vampire blood anytime they asked.

Were you all expecting that?

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