Author's Note: LISANNA WILL NOT BE BEING A BITCH IN THIS STORY! Her motives will be explained later on in the story, and I'm pretty sure there will be some Lisanna x Bickslow. Do you guys want that? Let me know in the reviews. And as always, review/follow/favorite, and if you review, brutal honesty please! Xoxo and see you at the end lovelies!

Now, LET THERE BE GRUVIA (after some Nalu confusion ;) )


Lucy woke up next to Natsu again, comfortable and warm in the cage his arms made around her. She fidgeted a little, trying to free herself to check the time. She reached for her phone and turned it on, the flash of light on the screen made Natsu groan and turn, causing the phone to clatter to the floor before she could check the time.

"Natsu, let go of me!" Lucy hissed. The boy's only response was to moan and grasp her tighter, his thumb grazing the exposed skin of Lucy's stomach. Lucy stiffened and heat rushed to her face as Natsu's thumb dragged across her flesh and hooked into the waistband of her sleeping shorts.

Natsu peeked out from under his lidded eyes, checking Lucy's flustered expression. He was certainly not asleep, but Lucy didn't need to know that. Lucy's skin was cold and smooth, and Natsu knew he could warm her right up, but he removed his hand. He really shouldn't have done that, even if she thought he was sleeping he might have gotten loofah-attacked.

Blame the fucking ideas.

Natsu hadn't slept a wink that night, his mind going over and over what Lucy had said while she was sleeping. He was certainly getting ideas. A thought kept nagging at him, maybe she liked him too. This stunt was mostly to try to get the little voice in his head to shut up.

No weirdly-high pitched voice, Lucy does NOT like me. Stop making me have the urge to jump her bones.

When Natsu removed his hand Lucy let out a sigh of relief. His thumb just grazing her underbelly set a fire in the pit of her stomach that she didn't want to deal with at the moment.

She quickly grabbed her phone and checked the time. They had slept in again. On her own, Lucy was an early riser, but with Natsu here, she couldn't remember the last time she saw the sunrise.

She turned to face Natsu and she shook his shoulder gently. "Hey, get up Natsu. We're going to be late."

"Five more minutes…" Natsu muttered. Lucy brushed his salmon hair out of his face and saw his eyelids fluttering.

"You're already awake!" Realization dawned on her. "Where you awake when you groped me, you perv?"

Natsu shot out of the bed and made a beeline to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Lucy screamed.

"I gotta pee, weirdo!"

"You can run, but you can't hide!" Lucy ran after his, barreling toward the bathroom door with a firey passion, only to have it slam in her face as soon as she reached it. She pounded on it with small fists. "Natsu, let me in you pervert!"

"I can't pee if you're standing out there, and I really gotta go!"

"Well, too bad! I'm gonna wait here until you come out so I whip your ass, you nasty little pervert!"

"Fine, you're gonna have to wait a while though because I can't pee until you leave."

"Fine." Lucy leaned against the doorframe with a huff. Why had he done that? She hadn't exactly minded it, but what was the point? Just to mess with her?

Natsu sagged against the door, knowing he would have to come out soon, but not knowing what he would say. What could he even say? Your skin was calling to me, princess.

Yeah, that would totally end well.

Natsu blew out a sigh and looked around the bathroom. It was nice, but kind of plain. Lucy obviously hadn't had much time to adjust or decorate, she had just moved in.

Wow, she had just moved in. It seemed like it had been a million years, Natsu couldn't even imagine what it would be like without her.

Would he be back with Lisanna? And, what had Lisanna wanted to tell him yesterday? As scared as he was to talk to her, he was curious.

He ran his hand along the countertop, it was cold against the pads of his fingers. He raised his eyes to the mirror and looked at himself. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. How did he even think he had a chance with Lucy? She was a fucking goddess, and he was well… him.

With his onyx almond eyes and oddly pink hair (which was completely natural, no one believed him though) and strong build, he wasn't ugly, but he wasn't handsome. He wasn't exceptionally tall or strong or handsome or smart, and he had more baggage than most people could handle.

Lucy on the other hand… wow. She was so… ugh. He couldn't even describe her without his heart racing and his cheeks heating up. She was so perfect and beautiful and her eyes sparkled and her smile lit up the room and she meant the world to him and she made him think in run-on sentences. But honestly? It was probably hopeless. There had been a few moments when he thought maybe, maybe I have a chance. Maybe she likes me too. But that was obviously just wishful thinking. The only thing he could really do was make sure she didn't end up with some complete ass.

He resisted the urge to punch something. God, why couldn't he be good enough for the one person he cared the most about?

Lucy paced in front of the door, lost in thought. She could not believe he had done that. She smiled to herself. Maybe that was Natsu's weird way of saying he had feelings for her. Maybe he wasn't as fucking dense as Lucy thought he was. Maybe he was finally realizing how much those little almost kisses meant to Lucy. They weren't devoid of meaning. In those moments, in the car, with Levy, playing the Game of Life, Lucy desperately wanted to kiss the man who had appeared in her window on the first day in a new home. Nasty Natsu.

She kicked her feet against the floor, toe, heel, toe, heel. How did he not understand how much she liked him? It scared her how much she loved him, especially after Loke, and this dance exhausted her. Have awkward interrupted romantic moment, ignore brewing sexual tension, repeat often and with increasing frequency. But Natsu seemed to have no idea about how rapidly Lucy's heart beat when he randomly held her hand or hugged or even just brushed her arm to get her attention. That event this morning? Not fair. If this meant nothing to Natsu, if this was just a game or something he didn't register with meaning, Lucy didn't think she handle it.

Why did all of this have to be so difficult?


Lucy waited for a couple more minutes outside of the bathroom before losing patience and going to get dressed. She buttoned up her blouse and slithered into her skirt, then pulled up her socks, all the while wondering what the hell Natsu was doing in the bathroom. What was taking him so long? She had already finished getting ready and it was getting late. Gray was going to be pissed.

She grabbed a couple of granola bars from her pantry and Natsu's uniform from her room. He still wasn't out of the bathroom, so she knocked. "Natsu? Are you okay?"

Natsu wiped at his eyes, smearing his tears across his cheeks. He replied quickly, trying to make it sound like he hadn't been crying. "I'm fine, Lucy. I'll be out in a second."

Lucy frowned. Natsu didn't sound right. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, okay?"

"Oh, okay. I'm going to leave your uniform outside the door. Meet me at Gray's car." Why was Natsu acting so weird? She set the folded uniform in a pile outside the door then grabbed her backpack and headed toward Gray's silver minivan.

Natsu heard her footsteps receding and only when he heard the sound dissipate did he open the door to retrieve his uniform. He changed into it quickly, trying his best to avoid his reflection. He didn't feel like facing a failure, someone who Lucy could never love, in the mirror right now.

He already felt enough like shit, he didn't need another reminder that he looked like shit too.


The car was ridiculously quiet and tense, something Gray was getting fed up with. One day it's sexual tension, the next it's never-ever-gonna-get-together tension. If this kept up, Gray was going to have to get a different carpool.

Gray wished for the thousandth time that Juvia was there. She would lighten the mood. He missed her so much, more than he wanted to admit. He missed catching her staring at him, the obnoxiously silky blue of her hair, her dazzling smiles, and how she insisted on calling him Gray-sama. He missed her, so fucking much.

But, she was with Lyon.

Gray gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles whitening. Why couldn't he just tell her? How much she meant to him, how she kept him out of the dark, away from the knife? With her around he didn't even think about harming himself. But now she was gone.

Gray fidgeted uncomfortably with his shirtsleeves, trying to cover his bandaged wrists. Soon, he would run out of places on his forearms to hack away his problems, and then he would be in trouble.

How did his self-harming even start? As a kid he was depressed, especially after everyone around him dropped dead. His mother and father, gone. Ur, his guardian, his friend, his caretaker, dead as a doornail. He honestly didn't think about self-harm until a video in class about why you shouldn't self-harm. That night he stole a razor from Erza and slit his wrist in the bathtub, watching in fascination as the blood dripped, staining the porcelain of the tub scarlet. He didn't like it. It hurt, and it was hard to hide. But it was a release, and it was a good one.

He decided to save it for a rainy day.

Today was clear and bright, but Gray felt as if he had his own personal storm cloud.

Drip drip.


Erza sifted through the contents of her bathroom, searching but not finding. The only piece of evidence she found was the empty box. She held up the cardbox curiously.

I just bought this yesterday, how are all my razorheads gone?


Natsu ran from Lucy as soon as they reached Fairy Tail High, leaving Lucy in the car, still unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Jesus. Goodbye to you too." Lucy muttered as she stepped out of Gray's car.

"Don't mind him. He's just running off to think or something. He does that." Gray said, locking the car.

Lucy sighed. "Okay." She noticed Gray's bandaged wrists and frowned. "What happened to you?"

"Cooking accident." Gray grunted.

"On both wrists?"

"I suck at peeling potatoes. Is this interrogation over?" Gray didn't wait for Lucy to comment, he just stomped away, leaving Lucy angry and confused.

"Why is everyone so pissy today?"


Gray stormed away from Lucy and into the high school, coming face to face with the two people he wanted to see the least right now.

"Good morning Gray-sama!" Juvia chirped. Gray looked into her eyes and saw that they weren't as happy-sparkly as usual, they were dull, devoid of their usual luster, and her words rung fake-sweet.

"Hey Gray." Lyon smirked, throwing his arm around Juvia casually. She stiffened at his touch, and Gray noticed.

"Hi." Gray stuffed his hands as deep as he could into his pockets, trying to cover his wrists as much as he could. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

Juvia's mouth twisted into a frown. "What class are you going to next?" Juvia asked Gray.

"I have English." Gray peered carefully up from behind his dark hair. Talking to the two of them was torture, it was so awkward.

"I have Trig, you have English too, right?" Lyon asked.

"Mmhm." Nodded Juvia.

"Do you want me to walk you? Class starts soon." Juvia shook her head. "Alright, I'll see you after then." Lyon leaned in and went to kiss Juvia but she turned her head and the kiss landed on her cheek. Lyon frowned, but Juvia gave him a toothy grin and he walked away smiling.

"Gray-sama, do you want to walk to class together?" Gray muttered something unintelligible in protest, but he fell into step with her.

"So how are you, Gray-sama? Juvia hasn't talked to you in such a long time!"

Gray shrugged. "I guess so. I'm fine."

Juvia nibbled her lip. Must maintain conversation. "So, is Gray-sama excited for the fairy tale project in English?"

"Not really. We have partners for that, right?"

"Right, Gray-sama!" Juvia chirped. "Juvia thinks it will be fun, making up a fairy tale."

"I don't believe in fairy tales." Gray grumbled.

Juvia studied the boy who was walking next to her with careful eyes. He was deflecting all of her attempts at making conversation with him, and it was killing her. Gray-sama, I have spent the last hour avoiding Lyon's lips. And not because they are unkissable, mind you, he is quite kissable, but my interests lie elsewhere. Don't let this be for nothing! RESPOND!

"The point of fairy tales isn't to have you believe in them, Gray-sama. Juvia thinks that fairy tales are meant to inspire, and to help people see that there is more to life than this."

Gray's eyes widened. Stupid philosophical Juvia ripped his stupid heart to shreds, talking about fairy tales. This girl destroyed him. She tore him inside out, made his heart stop beating.

Yet the illusion of her, of them together? That was a fairy tale.

Gray had no time for make believe.

He held the door for her when they arrived at the English classroom, then sat as far away from her as he could, as if he could escape her sparkling presence.

He rubbed the bandages on his wrists methodically, thinking to himself, No time for fairy tales, no time for fairy tales.

The longer he repeated it, the closer he got to believing it, until the most were the teacher called his name and Juvia's, and he had almost set the mantra in stone. Untouchable, true.

Almost.


Juvia rapped her finger tips on the desk impatiently. The teacher was pairing up students for the fairy tale project, and Juvia desperately wanted to be paired with Gray. It meant she would have to spend a lot of time with him, toiling over a fairy tale universe.

She shook the thought from her brain. Strong. Independent. I don't need him.

If she was so independent, then why was she still dating Lyon, even though she didn't want to? Besides the obvious reason, not wanting to break his heart after leading him on, what was it?

She was afraid of being alone.

"Juvia and Gray." A voice rang out. Juvia lifted her head and saw that the teacher was assigning partners. Juvia with Gray. Fairy tales, fairy tales. "Talk to your partners, figure out when your going to meet. You need to write a fairy tale with a moral, a moral that matters, not something like eat your vegetables or you'll turn into a goat, by next week. Do your best, it will count to your final grade. Now, go talk. You have about five minutes before class ends." The teacher started pounding on the keys of her computer, leaving to class to talk to their partners.

Juvia gathered her stuff and raced over to Gray's desk, kneeling in front of him. He ignored her, tapping his pencil rhythmically against his desk.

"Hi Gray." Juvia smiled.

Gray looked up at her. "Hey Juvia."

"So we're working together on the project. Do you wanna meet tonight?"

"I guess so." Gray muttered.

"Great. I'll make dinner and you can come over at seven? Do you like dumplings? I really only know how to make cookies and dumplings."

"That sounds nice." Mmmm, dumplings. God, Gray loved dumplings. And dumplings a la Juvia? Yum.

No time for fairy tales.

"Okay, cool. I'll see you tonight."

Tonight?

Alone, with Juvia?

Working on a fairy tale.

No time for fairy tales.


Author's Note: Do you guys like self-harming Gray? If not, let me know and I'll redo this chapter without it. YOU, READER, ARE THE MASTER OF THIS FANFICTION. As always, review/follow/favorite, and see you next time lovelies.

Kisses,

Chattre