"Use force," Gray said.
"I am," Lucy said.
"Then why didn't the target make a sound?" he asked. She put her hands up and kicked the target again.
Layla chuckled to herself as she watched the two. She wanted Lucy to know martial arts, and she wouldn't participate in class, so she had Gray teach her. She could almost laugh at Gray's subconscious flirting alone, let alone how funny the two are. He would correct her, she would deny it and pretend to be mad, but do what he said anyways. It was truly a sight.
"You suck," Gray laughed.
"I'm new at this," she whined, crossing her arms.
"I did better than this when I started, and I was a lot younger than you."
"I'm not going to do this if you are just going to make fun of me." He held the target up for her. She sighed and kicked it, proving Layla correct.
"I'm going to run to the store real quick," Layla said. Lucy jumped, forgetting that Layla was even there. "That's enough for today. Lucy will be sore as it is. Gray, make sure she doesn't go anywhere."
Ding!
And Layla was gone.
"Thank god!" Lucy said, dropping to the floor. She had been kicking for over two hours. She, for once, agreed with her mother; she would be sore.
"Hey, try an actual fight," Gray said, sitting beside her. "It's exhausting teaching you." He leaned his head on her shoulder for effect. He wasn't going to keep it there, but he noticed that she didn't push him away, so he did.
"Am I really bad at this?" she asked. Yes, she was still thinking about it. She didn't really think she was bad, but he said she was.
No response.
'Damn,' she thought. She didn't realize that she was so awful he couldn't answer her. That's not why he didn't answer, though. She flinched when his head fell to her lap.
"You actually were tired," she laughed. He was nice enough to teach her, so she just let him sleep until Layla came back.
She got bored, so she started playing with his hair. She was surprised at how soft it was. Sting's wasn't that soft. She smiled, remembering how jealous Gray got. Layla was right about him liking her. Now that she was looking for clues, she started noticing it. The funny thing was, he didn't realize he was flirting with her.
Ding!
"I thought the window was playing tricks on us," Jellal laughed, walking in with Erza. The two sat down beside the blonde and sleeping raven.
"He fell asleep, so it's not my fault," she said. She noticed the smile of Erza's face. It was a little creepy.
"He doesn't usually sleep this early, though," Erza said. "I've never once seen him take a nap. What has him so tired?"
"He was teaching me," she said. She saw the smirk on Jellal's face. "Martial arts! He was teaching me martial arts!"
Ding!
Lucy sighed as another person entered the dojo. Of course, it was Layla. Why did it have to be Layla? Because the universe hated Lucy.
"When I said a break, I didn't mean cuddle time," Layla said. "Sorry you two, but you need to go. Lucy needs to clean."
"That's a Saturday thing!" Lucy whined. Cleaning was not a Wednesday task. Jellal and Erza left anyways. She sighed and gently shook Gray's head. He slowly opened his eyes.
"What?" he asked. He could clearly tell that he was on Lucy's lap, but he didn't really care.
"I have to clean," she said. He just looked at her. "Do you need a fucking invitation?!" She stood up, his head slamming against the floor.
"Be careful!" Layla blurted out. She didn't need him getting brain damage.
X
"Why did I agree to your stupid lessons?" Lucy asked. Her legs were killing her. She couldn't concentrate on painting when her legs were sore.
"Natsu, will you change my water?" Lisanna asked, holding out the cup of water she uses to clean her paintbrushes. "Gray, why don't you go with him and change Lucy's?"
"Sure?" Gray asked. Her water was clean, but he figured Lisanna had a reason for asking him.
"What was that for?" Lucy asked. She also knew that her water didn't need changed.
"I wanted to talk to you," she said with a smile. "You like Gray, right?"
"Excuse me?" Lucy asked. Lisanna repeated herself. "Uh, that would be a no."
"That's no fun," Lisanna whined.
"Since when am I here to entertain you?" Lucy snapped. She went back to painting the bark of her willow tree. The painting would be her first of a willow tree, but the fifth tree overall. She drew the two in class, and two more outside of school, but never a painting.
"Here," Gray said, setting Lucy's water in front of her.
X
"Hell no," Lucy said.
"You look so cute!" Layla cooed. Laxus tried to contain his laughter.
"I look stupid," Lucy said.
Layla made her wear the clothes she bought. She was wearing a frilly pink skirt that almost reached her knee. Her shirt was a white and long-sleeved, and she was wearing a charm bracelet. Her hair was put into a high ponytail, a pink bow holding it together. To complete the look, she wore heart earrings and pink flats.
"It's not that bad," Layla said. She put a white clutch in her daughter's hands.
To make it worse, they are standing in the middle of the dojo. Anyone who walked past could see Lucy through the window.
Ding!
"What did you need me for?" Gray asked. He was told to wear jeans and nice shirt.
"Laxus, grab Lucy," Layla said darkly. Before the younger blonde could react, she was picked up by the waist. "For you," Layla said, handing Gray two tickets and forty dollars.
"What is-?" He stopped talking and read the tickets. "An amusement park?"
"You two are going on a date!" Layla exclaimed. Lucy struggled against Laxus's grip. Gray just blushed and stared at his master.
"I am not going out in public like this!" Lucy yelled. "And I'm not going on a date with that ass either!"
"Ouch, my pride," Gray said, gripping his chest. Lucy glared at him. He thought his joke was funny, but apparently not.
"You two have fun!" Layla sang. She waved and walked upstairs. Laxus carried Lucy outside, Gray following. He didn't mind this at all.
Laxus set Lucy in Gray's car and buckled her. He waved at Gray before going back inside. The raven haired boy shrugged and started the car. He would steal glances at Lucy's pouting face as he drove. It was pretty funny...
...and cute.
"I am not going to enjoy this, got it?!" Lucy snapped. She got out of the car and slammed the door. Well, she tried to slam it. She ended up closing the door normally. Just because she is mad, she shouldn't take it out on her nice car, right? Right.
Gray didn't bother commenting. He gave the employee the tickets, and they got their hands stamped. He was glad they didn't say "have fun on your date", like they usually do. Lucy would have punched them in the face.
"What do you want to do?" Gray asked.
"Go home," Lucy replied honestly. She knew that wouldn't happen, so she sat on the nearest bench.
"Roller coaster it is!" Gray cheered. He grabbed Lucy's hand and started dragging her to the nearest ride.
X
"Was your day that bad?" Gray asked. Lucy ignored him and stared out the window of the Ferris wheel
She didn't understand why he even agreed to come today. He could have just driven around for a few hours, but he decided to actually come. She also didn't understand why he sat beside her when there is a perfectly fine seat across from her.
"Do you hate me this much?" Gray asked. He didn't know why he asked, but he did want to know. She always acted cold towards him, and never did anything with him of her own free will.
"I don't hate you," she said. She moved her vision from the mountains off in the distance to her lap.
"That's a lie," he blurted out before thinking. Maybe he only cared because he liked her. Maybe he only cared because she didn't have any friends, that she wanted. Maybe he cared because he was jealous of her carefree life, and wanted to know that she actually cared about something. Maybe he was just jealous that she kissed Sting for no good reason.
"I don't hate you, okay?" she repeated. She could tell by his voice that he didn't want her to hate him.
The ride ended, so they made their way towards the exit of the park. It was already dark out, so it was about time to go home. They got to the car, and Gray couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed Lucy's wrist and pulled her towards him, smashing his lips against hers.
Lucy pushed Gray away from her. She stared at him with wide-eyes. He just looked at her, waiting for her reaction. He had never kissed a girl that he didn't know that liked him back. He had never wanted to kiss a girl so badly, either. Every time he liked someone, they already liked him. He didn't have to wait.
Lucy clenched her fist. She pulled it back and punched him the face, splitting his lip. She jumped into his car, not bothering to open the door. It wasn't snowing at that moment, so the top was down.
Gray wiped the blood off his face and smiled.
Totally worth it.
X
"It is not adorable!" Lucy yelled.
"Fine, it's cute," Layla teased.
"Lucy can really punch, huh?" Laxus asked, laughing. He got the job of cleaning Gray's lip. Layla was afraid it could get infected. She was really protective when it came to the competition.
"Ouch?!" Gray asked and yelled at the same time. Laxus jabbed the cottonball against his lip a little too hard.
"You better not do that again," Lucy scolded her mother. "And you better not make me where such stupid clothing!"
"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving her off.
"Oh my god!" a girl squealed.
"Why do we always sit in the dojo?" Laxus asked. Everyone could see them, and they could hear everything that the people on the other side of the mirror were saying.
"I know! They are so hot!" another girl said excitedly.
"They better shut up before I make them," Lucy practically growled. She enjoyed hearing them squeal less than the girls at the mall. She started thinking about their smiling faces when Gray talked to them. She remembered wondering if that was the situation most people would get jealous. Her thoughts shifted to Gray being jealous of Sting. She smiled in delight when she remembered the cigarettes she had in her room.
Lucy ran up to her room and changed into her normal clothing. She put on her white jeans, a black tank top, and a zip-up gray hoodie. She quickly braided her hair to the side. After grabbing her phone, wallet, and cigarettes, she went back downstairs.
"I'm going for a walk," she announced, walking past her family.
She found herself in the park. She sat down at the bench along the small pond. When she pulled her cancer sticks out, she realized she didn't have a lighter. She decided to open them anyways. She smiled when she saw that Sting bought her the expansive kind that came with a lighter. She pulled one out and lit it.
X
"Lucy!" Gray gasped when she entered art class.
"Don't yell so loud," she groaned, plopping into her seat.
"Lucy, Gray wasn't yelling," Lisanna said, confused.
"I said be quiet!" she yelled. Lisanna and Natsu looked at Gray, wondering what was wrong with her.
"Lucy, you do realize you just disappeared, right?" Gray asked. "You went for a walk on Saturday, and we haven't seen you since. Layla was freaking out. She thought you ran away."
"Hm, Saturday," Lucy thought. She snapped her fingers, remembering what she did on Saturday. After she smoked the whole pack of cigarettes Sting gave her, she went to some liquor store she managed to find. She told some guy to buy her as much alcohol as he could with fifty dollars, and he could spend the other ten on himself. She found a nice, abandoned warehouse to hang out for the weekend, getting completely wasted. She wasn't a drinker, and she was starting to realize why she wasn't.
She was still drunk, but managed to have a hangover at the same time.
"I was just relieving some stress," she said. "Dont' worry about it."
"Don't worry about it?!" Gray yelled. Lucy winced. Her head pounded when he plainly spoke, and now he was yelling.
"Natsu, be a dear and go get my painting," she said, pointing in the general direction of the class' paintings. Lisanna sweat-dropped when he actually did it.
"Do you always draw trees?" Natsu asked, handing it to her.
"Yup," she said. She looked at the painting in front of her. She started giggling.
"What's wrong with her?" Natsu asked. Lucy started laughing.
"Lucy?" Lisanna asked. The blonde lazily looked up. "You're almost acting drunk."
Gray leaned over and smelled her. She smelled like beer and smoke. He remembered her hiding something behind her back that day she was outside with Sting. It was a cigarette. "Seriously?" he asked her.
Lucy giggled. "Gr-ay~," she said in a seductive voice. She started laughing the second after.
"Lucy, you need to go home," he said. She couldn't be at school when she's drunk.
"Oh-Kay!" she sang. She started giggling again. Gray stood up and grabbed Lucy's shoulders.
"Miss Molly, I have to take Lucy home," he told the teacher.
Lucy giggled the whole way home.