Theme #10: #10

Her eyes blazed in fury. "Number ten? Why am I number ten on your list?" she shouted, cheeks turning as red as her hair. She waved the piece of paper with an angered flourish, fixating a glare on the stiff ice mage.

He could only watch her in conflicting feelings of fear and confusion. Why was she shouting at him? An angry Erza was not one to be messed with, he of all people knew that well, but he had the right to know why he was suddenly being victim to one of her tirades.

"Number ten for what? And what list?" he asked calmly, willing himself not to flinch.

But his efforts proved futile when the redhead's ire seemed to only heighten, Gray feeling her flames of anger at full force. Now she was truly dangerous, and he feared for his life.

"What list you dare to ask me Gray Fullbuster? This list!"

She threw the paper in his face with such power he was sure he could have been injured, had his quick reflexes not acted in time for him to safely catch the document. He looked down to scan the contents of the paper, words barely comprehensible thanks to the wrinkles caused by Erza's furious grip. But he could just make out the basic gist of the document, and he felt his incredulity grow.

This? This was why Erza was getting so pissed at him? While it amused him to no end that Erza was getting so riled up over something as petty as this, which might he add, had never thought it possible, he knew that she was truly hurt. The handwriting had definitely been his, but it had been written ages ago, long before they were romantically acquainted. Yet Erza had misunderstood completely, and it was his job as her loyal, doting lover that he appease her feelings of insecurity. This would be an easy fix he decided, as long as she decided to listen.

Meanwhile Erza fumed in front of him, foot tapping impatiently against the wooden flooring. She was too consumed by rage to notice that the male had finished reading, and had gotten up to make his way toward her. When she finally noticed his close presence, she fixated a cold glare up at him as he stared down at her, expression unreadable.

"Well?" she demanded, frustrated that he wasn't showing any obvious signs of regret or repentance. That bastard.

Instead of a vocal response, she received a chaste kiss that halted her off her senses. She hadn't noticed, but Gray had swiftly leaned down to capture her lips with his, nibbling softly on her bottom lip before decidedly pulling away. He had been with her long enough to know just what kiss to use to disarm her and unravel her completely, and this short, breathtaking kiss was it.

When he had pulled back, he lifted the paper up for her to see. "You're not number ten."

She looked incredulous. "What do you mean? It's clearly written there," she retorted, pointing to the sheet of paper. Her anger had fizzled dramatically, thanks to his use of that darned kiss. Now she was more mildly irritated, mainly because she was not supposed to have given in so quickly. Damn it.

His lips curved into a smile, Gray flipping the page upside down to reveal something else. "01, you're not tenth, you're first."

She blinked. "Huh?"

He grinned sheepishly at her. "Mira asked me to write a list of girls I would date. Since it was Mira, and you know how she can be, I put Juvia as first and you as tenth so she would get the wrong idea. I didn't want her to matchmake us, I wanted us to get together in our own time, with no external help," he explained earnestly, reaching forward to play with a strand of her red hair.

When the lightbulb finally flicked on at the realization of his words, she was downright confused as to how to properly react. Sigh in relief that she wasn't tenth? Happily smile that she was first? Or become irritated with both him, for doing something so ridiculous, or at herself, for acting so ridiculous.

So she settled on her perfectly schooled expression of nonchalance. "Seriously Gray? You went through all that trouble?" She sighed deeply, "You should have just placed me first then. For the first time, I would not have minded Mira's intervention. At least we would have happened faster."

Gray shrugged. "Either way, I still got you in the end."

At this she smiled widely. "That you did."