Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters.

Hey everyone! We've finally made it to chapter 10! So exciting xD Anyway, I really want to say thank you to everyone for all of the reviews. Hearing that you guys actually like my story really motivates me as a writer to keep going and I hope I won't disappoint as the story continues!

Oh yeah, and I was starting to wonder if I ever had Gray take off his shirt yet, but I just couldn't remember, but I have been imagining him without a shirt for the past couple of chapters while he was fighting, and I imagine most of you are too xD

Also, I have been having horrid writer's block and have been working on this chapter for what feels like ages. Sorry for the delay!

So without further ado, here is chapter 10! ^_^ Hope you enjoy!

As the guild doors swung open, the doorway was momentarily filled with bright light from outside. The silhouettes of three individuals were outlined in the bright light, and as the large double doors closed behind them, their forms became more visible. Many guild members gasped in shock at the sight of a severely wounded Gray, one arm slumped over Lucy's shoulders and the other arm held up in the air by Happy in an attempt to keep him upright. His chest and arms were covered in burns and gashes, some of them still bleeding. He simply dangled there, his body still and limp aside from the slight raise of his chest with each shallow breath he subconsciously managed.

"Lucy! Happy! What happened?" Mira cried as she ran from her position at the bar over to her guild mates. Her eyes swept over the horrifying condition of Gray's body.

Tears welled in Lucy's eyes as she dropped her gaze towards the floor. Her hand drifted up to her shoulder where Gray's arm was draped, and she squeezed his forearm tightly. "N-Natsu," she stammered, a tear rolling down her cheek, then falling from her chin. The entire guild was silent as the single tear hit the floor.

Mira's eyebrows furrowed. "You mean he did this to Gray?"

The guild rose back into a cacophony of chattering and discussion, throwing phrases like "love triangle," and "jealousy" back and forth amongst themselves. In the midst of the commotion, Juvia was bawling, maddened by the fact that her rival in love had won Gray's affection. Lucy's fist clenched at her side and her grip on Gray's arm tightened. Her body shuddered a few times as she willed more tears not to come. Happy released his grip on Gray's arm and drifted down to the floor, where he hid his face in his paws.

Mira watched the state of her friends, her brow now creased with worry. Quickly, she turned to face the rest of the guild. "Stop it! All of you!" she shouted. A shocked silence washed over the members and they all turned to face the silver-haired mage. "You're all just speculating," Mira continued. "They haven't even told us what's going on and already you all jump to conclusions. Can't you see they're hurt and you're only hurting them more?" Her lower lip quivered as she finished her last sentence. "Right now, what happened doesn't matter. Gray obviously needs medical attention so that should be the first thing on our minds."

"You're right, Mira-nee," piped Elfman from a few tables back. "If you are a man, you should show concern for your friends and help them during a time like this. A man is a man! (A/N: I just had to make him say that xD)" He walked over to where they were standing at the front of the guild and took Gray from Lucy, placing him over his shoulder. A sense of loss and emptiness washed over Lucy as she watched Elfman carry Gray towards the backroom. She stared at her now empty hands, wondering if it would be right to follow after them.

Mira sensed Lucy's hesitation and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the backroom as well. "First we will tend to Gray and make sure he's alright. We'll worry about the rest when he's stable. Wendy, would you mind coming to help?"

"S-sure," the blue-haired girl chimed. "I'll do my best." She got up from her seat and followed after Mirajane as Charle approached Happy.

"Are you okay…Happy?" Charle asked respectfully, placing a paw on his shoulder.

"Aye," the blue cat lied.

Lucy forced a weak smile as she trailed after the kind mage. Makarov was waiting by the door. "Lucy. Let us know what is going on once Gray has been taken care of. Remember that we are all here to help you," he said calmly. Lucy nodded as she followed Mira and Wendy into the backroom, and closed the door behind her.

In the backroom, Mira retrieved a rolled up mat from one of the corners then spread it out on the floor in the middle of the room. Elfman shoved aside a nearby table with one hand, then laid Gray down on the mat. Lucy remained by the door, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes glued to the floor.

Mirajane watched the blonde-haired girl for a moment before speaking. "We're going to need your help, Lucy," she said softly. "The medical supplies are in that container up there." She pointed to the shelf behind her.

Lucy nodded bleakly and made her way towards the shelf. She grabbed the supplies and set them down on the floor next to Mira, who was now kneeling next to Gray. Lucy kept her eyes focused on the wall before her, never once looking at the injured ice mage. She couldn't bear it. It tore her apart to see him like this. Because of her. She clutched her chest as a sharp pain settled there for a moment, a stinging pull eliciting from her heart as she continued to blame herself for everything that had happened.

Elfman began walking back towards the door. "I am going to go back out to join the others. I'll leave the rest to you." He nodded towards them, then opened the door, a large amount of chatter pouring into the room for a second before dying out completely as he shut the door behind him.

"I'm sure it's not your fault, Lucy," Mira said knowingly as they watched Wendy treat Gray's wounds with her sky dragon slayer magic.

Lucy's tearing eyes widened at her words. She stared at the silver-haired mage expectantly.

"Gray really cares about you. I gather you know that much by now. He just wanted to protect you," Mira continued. "He found you hurt. And he wanted to help you. Protect you. There was no way you could alter what has happened here today." She glanced up at Lucy for a second and forced a quick smile before returning her eyes to Gray. "At least, that is what I imagine has happened from the looks of things. Even if you haven't told me the whole story. From the way you are hurting, and how badly hurt Gray is now, it's obvious he was just trying to protect you. From what, I don't know, but don't think that wound on your leg has gone unnoticed."

Lucy's eyes dropped to the floor again.

Wendy finished treating the wounds and burns and by now appeared exhausted. She stood up slowly and turned to face Lucy. "I'm sure that Gray will be okay, Lucy-san," she smiled weakly. "I'm not sure why you're so sad. I think he would want you to be happy." Her eyes shimmered with kindness. She turned to Mira. "I'm a bit tired now, Mira-san, so I'll leave the bandaging to you."

Mirajane nodded and the air dragonslayer left the room. She then turned to the box of medical supplies, and searched through it for a moment until she found a round, tin container. She removed the lid then dipped a few fingers into the salve and began applying it to the burns on Gray's right arm. "Could you help me, Lucy? There are quite a few burns on his chest, and this will help when we bandage him." She thrust the tin in Lucy's direction.

Lucy blushed as she took the salve. She settled down by Gray's left side and scooped up some of the salve before setting the tin down next to her. She leaned forward slightly to begin applying the medicine, then stopped suddenly, her fingers hovering just a couple inches above his chest. Her cheeks turned a deep red as she stared at his chest for a moment, then at her own hand. What she was about to do became more prominent in her mind and she swallowed hard as she prepared herself to connect her fingertips with the feel of his cool skin, still blushing madly.

"Lucy, stop being a pervert and just apply the medicine already," Mira scolded, interrupting the spirit mage's thoughts.

Lucy stared at her wide-eyed, her cheeks now even redder if that was possible.

"I mean, it's not like you've never touched his bare chest before," she suggested.

"M-Mira!" Lucy stammered, her tone disapproving.

Mira found herself giggling slightly although the situation was serious. "Well after that little display there, it's pretty obvious to me that something happened between you two. I had my suspicions, but you just confirmed them. After all, you'd never seen him as anything more than a friend and a teammate before. Right?" She stared at Lucy, waiting for an answer.

"I…" Lucy broke away from Mira's gaze and began applying the salve to Gray's chest, a faint blush still staining her cheeks. She remained focused, trying to avoid the conversation.

"I see," Mira said. Switching sides so that she was now next to Lucy, she began to apply the ointment to Gray's other arm. "I can't say I'm proud of him for interfering with your relationship with Natsu," she continued, "but I'm really glad he was finally able to show you his feelings. That he was able to lift that thin veil that had been hiding them for so long."

Lucy finished applying the salve and turned to face Mira, her eyes curious.

"To everyone else, his feelings for you were always so obvious," Mira explained. "But that veil always concealed his feelings from you. And I don't mean the veil before his heart, his feelings, but the veil that covered your eyes from seeing how he feels. You were always so oblivious because of how you felt about Natsu." She retrieved some bandages from the supplies and began to wrap Gray's wounds. "But you know now. And the rest is up to you."

Lucy sat in shocked silence for a moment, her feet and legs tucked beneath her and her hands clenched into fists on her knees. Mirajane's words made so much sense. Too much sense. She felt foolish for never realizing how Gray felt. Even after he had confessed to her, even after she had given into the intense pull of his feelings that night, she had never truly realized the meaning of his words, of how he felt, until Mira had explained the whole situation. No. She had always been blinded by her knight with summery pink hair. The one who brought her to where she wanted to be, and helped her start a new life.

She stared softly at Gray now, her eyes sad and apologetic. She could never begin to imagine the pain and disappointment he felt every moment he spent with her. The struggle of his conflicting emotions, wanting nothing more than to be around her, but knowing he couldn't be with her. Without knowing it, she had made her feelings for a certain fire mage apparent to everyone, including Gray. Yet somehow, he always managed to act cool, casual around her when they went on missions with the whole team. And he would always do anything to protect her. Little did she know, he had been slowly breaking this entire time.

Mira finished wrapping Gray's bandages then stood up. "Just let us know what is going on when you're ready to. We're here to help you, Lucy. We're your nakama."

"Mira…" Lucy whispered, tears overflowing from her eyes. Her lower lip quivered as she brushed the tears away with the back of her hand. "Yeah." She nodded.

Mira smiled. "I'm going to go see how Happy is doing. Come find me if Gray wakes up," she before leaving the room.

Lucy watched as Mira closed the door behind her, then dropped her eyes back to Gray. He seemed so helpless as he slept, his brow crease slightly as if he worried even in his sleep. His lips were parted slightly as soft, stabilizing breaths left them.

"I'm so sorry, Gray," Lucy said finally, even though she knew he probably couldn't hear her. "Not just for you getting hurt for my sake, but also for never realizing how you feel. For never even giving you a chance." Her voice became a whisper as the last few words left her lips. She immediately regretted saying those last words. They felt so permanent, as if she never would give him a chance at all. But she wasn't entirely sure if she would. There was still Natsu to think about.

She exhaled slowly, her breath shaky. She reflected back on what Mirajane had said, particularly how she had said it was up to Lucy now. The blonde mage swallowed hard. It was up to her whether or not her relationship with Gray would progress and transform, or if they would merely be stuck at a standstill, never really being able to go back to how things were before she knew how he felt. How did she even feel herself?

She searched within herself, unable to decide as she found her judgment clouded by the intense feeling of guilt she had. Everything about him. She couldn't look at him now without feeling that familiar guilty pull. And she couldn't allow herself to pick Gray just because she felt sorry for him. Because she still loved Natsu, still worried about him this very second. But did she love Gray too?

Maybe she did. Otherwise, why would she continue to question herself? Why would she be so concerned about how she felt? Her hands flew up to her hair in frustration, grabbing fistfuls of hair. "I can't…" she said suddenly, quietly. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she shook her head. "Natsu. I have to go to him." Then she felt suddenly scared, uncertain of what would happen if she went looking for him. He wasn't himself, he was being controlled. And it was highly likely he would only hurt her again.

"But I have to help him," she said to herself. "I have to be brave for him." She felt she couldn't just sit here helplessly, concerning herself with feelings for another man, when the one she was certain she loved needed her help.

She sensed that Loke had not returned to the spirit realm yet. He was either still fighting, or in trouble as well. "I can't depend on my spirits to do everything for me. I have to help too," she whispered as she stood up and turned to leave, trying to disregard the fear consuming her as she made her decision. She took a small step forward and her eyes widened as she felt a small tug at her arm, keeping her from leaving the room. She turned to see Gray, now conscious, his fingers wrapped loosely around her wrist.

"Lucy, stay. Please," he muttered weakly, his eyes half-lidded.

Her eyes drifted down to where his hand wrapped around her wrist. She could easily break his weak grip if she wanted to. But somewhere inside her, she was conflicted. Her heart was splitting into two pieces, each halve threatening to consume the other. Like fire and ice. "Okay," she whispered dejectedly, thinking that perhaps she agreed only because right now this was the easiest choice. She sat back down beside him, his fingers still wound around her wrist. She smiled sadly as the fire within her grew furious at her decision, and she slid her hand down to meet Gray's, intertwining her fingers with his.

Gray watched her carefully, and it was obvious to Lucy that he didn't want her to get hurt again. He smiled weakly, glad that she had decided to stay with him, and Lucy managed to smile back. "Thank you…Lucy," Gray whispered. Lucy nodded and only felt guiltier as she waited for him to fall back asleep, the fire within her growing stronger.

A/N: As you can see, not much action in the chapter :/ Sorry about that. It's more that Lucy is trying to figure out how she feels. As far as we know now, she does love Natsu, she always has. But now she's confused about Gray too xD

I'm not too horrificly proud of this chapter since it was difficult for me to even write. And I hope it's not too disappointing or anything since it's been a while since I last updated!

Please review and thanks for reading! ^_^