Touch [tuthch] – (2) to come into contact with and perceive (something), as the hand or the like does. (5) to come into or be in contact with. (27) to place hand, finger, etc., on or in contact with something.


Chapter 12

"Ready for your date with Gray?" asked Luna as she watched Cancer finish putting Lucy's hair into soft waves.

"It's not a date!" the blonde huffed as she inspected her new hairstyle. "Thank you, Cancer, this is perfect!" she said and turned back to Luna. "Why do you keep saying that it's a date, when it's not!"

"Well," said Luna as she counted off her fingers. "For one, you got your hair done. Two, you went shopping for a new outfit just two days ago for this very occasion. And last but not least, three, you said he invited you to a day out alone aka a date! Why won't you just admit it?"

"Because he didn't say the word date, hence it is not a date!"

"All right, fine," said Luna putting her hands up in surrender. "Say what you say, I will still think of it as a date, then that's fine. But don't forget."

"Forget what?" asked Lucy as she put on her make-up.

"The Nile is not only a river in Egypt," she said as she flipped through a wedding dress catalog.

"Luna!"

"What? It's true," she replied with a teasing smile. "Okay, fine! I won't tease you anymore. Geez, you're no fun…"

Lucy sighed. "I'm just nervous, okay? I haven't gone on a date date since Richard, and I don't want to mess this up."

Luna's eyes flickered for a second at the sound of Richard's name, but continued her conversation with Lucy none the less.

"You'll be fine," she said as she stood up from the bed and walked towards Lucy's vanity. She arranged the blonde's hair as she spoke. "Just remember, if anything happens, just call me and I'll be there, okay? You know I'm always here for you, Lu-chan."

"Thanks, Luna," replied Lucy as she stood up and hugged the older woman in a tight hug. When the two let go she said, "Well, time for me to go."

"Good luck," said Luna squeezing Lucy's hands. "And have fun."

"I will!"

The blonde grabbed her black purse and rushed down the stairs as she went over her last text messages.

Last night, she had gotten a message from Gray telling her that Wendy was borrowing his car to go her friend's house across town. He'd rather have her driving home instead of taking the bus late at night. He had told her to bring cash and comfortable clothes. Not being very specific, she went shopping for something that would be appropriate.

They had agreed on meeting at Hana Station and from there on they would go to the surprise destination. Lucy was a bit nervous; she had never really travelled through public transportation, so she was a bit weary of how this would happen.

"You okay, Lucy?" asked Loke from the front.

"Y-yeah!"

"Hey, if you don't want to go just say so," he said with a small smile.

"I-it's not that," she said. "I'm just a bit nervous…"

"If you want to leave, just call me and I'll be there in a blink of an eye."

"I'll be fine," she replied. "Why does everyone think that I can't take care of myself?"

"Well-"

"-it was a rhetorical question!"

He chuckled as the car came to a stop. "Here we are."

She gulped, now she was more nervous than before.

"Well…wish me luck," she said as she opened the door.

She took a deep breath and got out of the car. She closed the door and walked towards the inside of the station. She looked around and noticed many different people coming in and out of the station. She tried to look for Gray, but she could barely make out the faces of the people around her. She was just about to call him from her cellphone when she saw someone waving their hand.

"Hey, I thought we were going to meet inside the station," he teased her, his hands now on the inside of his brown jacket's pockets.

"I am inside," she said.

"No, you're outside," he pointed towards the area behind the automatic gates. "That's the inside."

"Oh!" she said, a small blush forming against her cheeks in embarrassment.

"What? You've never used public transportation before?" he joked, only to get a deeper blush as a response. "Y-you haven't?"

"There's never been a reason for me to since I have Loke," she said avoiding his gaze.

"Well, come on, Princess," he said taking her hand and leading her to one of the machines against the wall.

They waited in line for a brief 5 minutes until it was their turn. With her left hand still in his right hand, he used his left hand to press the buttons. She tried to pay attention to what he was doing but her mind couldn't focus on anything else except for his hand. It was as she started worrying that her hand might start sweating when he let go. She felt a bit disappointed when her hand went back her side, warm without the coolness of Gray's hand.

"Here," he said as he picked up a blue card from the pick-up area at the bottom of the machine.

Lucy took the card from him and looked at it confused. "What is it?"

He started walking as she followed him towards the automatic gates that led to the inside of the station.

"It's a day pass," he explained. "This card will work for all types public transportation for a good 24 hours." He pressed his own blue card on the large green circle. "Just put it on top of this and-" The gates opened. "-it opens and you go in."

Lucy cautiously stepped forward and pressed her own pass on the green circle. She quickly passed through the gates as they opened and joined Gray inside as she took in her surroundings. There was an elevator at the back and an escalator that went up with a set of stairs on either side against the walls.

"Come on," said Gray as he took her hand once more and led her to the ascending escalators. Lucy noticed that the colors were rather bland and it had a weird smell. It didn't necessarily smell bad, but it didn't smell that good either.

When they reached the top she noticed that there was another set of stairs and another escalator, however instead of there being another elevator there was a path for people to go to the other side. There was a sign on top of the entrance that said "Northbound Trains," while by the stairs it said "Southbound Trains."

"We're taking a Northbound Train," said Gray and led her to the path that led to the other side of the station.

When they reached the opposite side, she noticed that it basically looked like side they had been at. Gray once again led her to the escalators, and once they reached the top, he led them to the side and waited for the train, oblivious to the fact that he was still holding Lucy's hand.

"We'll wait for the train here," he said and looked around. "Sorry I can't find you a place to sit, Luce."

"I-it's okay," she said, rather self-conscious on how a group of teenagers were looking at them.

"You sure?"

"Y-yeah," she said and looked down, embarrassed by the fact that he had squeezed her hand when he asked.

Gray followed her sight of line and realized that he was still holding Lucy's hand.

"S-sorry," he said letting go and sticking his hand in his jacket's pocket as a light blush crossed his face. "I grabbed your hand without thinking. I normally come with Wendy and because she's so small, I grab her hand so I don't lose sight of her," he said trying to explain his actions.

"I-it's okay! Really!" she said waving off his excuse. "I didn't really mind!"

This caught both of their attention.

"Y-you didn't?" he asked, a darker blush crossing his face.

Unable to form words with her lips, she shook her head in response.

If there had ever been a time when Lucy had been the cutest, this beat them all. She was so cute he could just hold her and never let go – he would have too if it hadn't been for the announcement of the arrival of the train. He hesitantly took her hand in his – this time conscious of what he was doing and stepped on the train with Lucy in tow. He searched for two vacant seats, but found none, so he offered to stand next to Lucy. As she sat down, the train continued on its journey.

The two were rather quiet, that is until Lucy began her questioning once more as to where they were going. Gray, of course, was having none of that and would go back to his usual teasing, not letting a clue slip about their surprise destination. They continued with their playful banter until Lucy noticed an elder woman mount the train and not find a seat. The woman stood near the couple, and much to Lucy's dismay, no one seemed to get up and give up their seat for her. She had come to notice that the train had become rather packed, so it was only natural that no one would want to stand so close to other strangers. She cleared her throat a bit and caught the woman's attention.

"Excuse me, obaa-san, would you like to sit here?" she asked politely while pointing to her seat.

"Oh I couldn't-" said the older woman.

"-it's no trouble, really," said Lucy standing up, she had a bit of trouble keeping her balance in the moving train, but she managed.

The older woman smiled and said, "thank you," before taking her seat.

Gray smiled and looked down at Lucy. "That was a nice thing to do," he said.

"Well, someone had to," she replied with a smile. The train's brake could be heard as it reached the next stop, making Lucy lose her balance once more.

Luckily for her, Gray managed to stop her from falling by grabbing her waist and pulled her near him. He looked up from her and through the windows noticed that the stop had more passengers than the previous ones, meaning that he and Lucy would be squished if they stayed in their current spots. He quickly spotted a clear area where bicycles could be put in so they wouldn't take up too much space. He walked towards it, his hand still around Lucy's waist and leaned back against the windows of train.

"Um, G-Gray?" she asked when his hand didn't move from her waist.

"Yeah?" he asked as he watched people come in through both doors of the train cart.

"Y-you can let go of me now," she said.

"Sorry, but I can't," he replied.

"W-why?" she asked, her cheeks getting redder by the second.

"I saw how clumsy you are," he said with a smirk. "If I let go of you now you're going to fall."

"A-am not!"

"Oh really?" he said with a devilish grin and let go of her waist as the train started again. Although the train cart was packed, there was enough space for them to move around a bit.

The moment Gray's hand left her waist, she was so surprised that she almost went tumbling towards the person on her right. Luckily for her, Gray managed to catch her in time before she bumped into the person.

"T-thanks," she said as she pressed herself closer to him.

The two stayed that way for the rest of the ride, neither saying a word. It had gotten to the point that Lucy couldn't stand being closer to him without saying a single word. She wanted to make a conversation, but nothing came to mind, only the pounding of her rapid beating heart through her ears. It had taken her a couple of minutes until she could finally ignore her pounding heart.

"Hey, Gray, I-" she couldn't finish her sentence as she felt someone touching her, not by mistake, but on purpose.

He looked down at her when she didn't finish her sentence. Then he felt her tense against him, her eyes squeezed tight, and her body trying to get closer to him. He was confused as to what she was doing until he felt her shiver as she tensed once more. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the people around them. It could be any of them; he didn't want to make a scene, especially when he didn't know who the culprit was.

There it was again! If this kept up, Lucy was pretty sure she was going to find herself in a compromising position between her and Gray and she really didn't want that. She closed her eyes tighter and pressed her closer towards Gray, just when she was sure the pervert would escalate in his attacks, she heard Gray calling her.

"Hey, Lucy."

"Y-yeah?" she answered trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Look at the view," he said while strategically turning them around so that she would be facing the window and his back would protect her from any other pervert out there.

"Wow," she said. "It's so pretty."

"Yeah," he said. 'But not as pretty as you.' Gray shook his head, if this kept up, he might really not be able to stop himself from hugging her.

Before he could make another comment, someone bumped into him from behind making him push forward closer to Lucy.

"S-sorry," he said as he put his hand on the frame of the window to stop himself from crushing her small body with his larger one.

Lucy blushed as she felt the heat of his body on her back, ironic considering that before she could have sworn he was a walking cooler. The two rode in silence the rest of the ride, hoping to ease the awkwardness between the two would disappear, but sadly for the two, it didn't. The only thing the two could think about was the closeness between the two. When they reached their destination, Gray made sure that Lucy would be right behind him.

As they stepped outside of the station he said, "Welcome to Oak Town."

"Wow, it's so pretty," she said taking in the beauty of the natural historic architecture surrounding her. After taking in the beautiful sight she asked him, "What are the plans for today, Mr. Tour Guide?"

"Well, first we'll visit a nice small restaurant that's around here. Lyon told me from the last time he brought Juvia that it had the best sandwiches."

"Lyon and Juvia did?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "We've kept contact after-" he stopped.

The reason he, Lyon and Juvia were back to their little trio was because Lucy had gotten taken. He didn't know whether he should be telling her this with a smile or not, he wasn't ready to share his past with her yet. Luna had been an exception, but that may have been because she had shared something with him first.

"After what?" she asked him when he didn't continue.

"Oh, um, after what happened a couple of months ago," he said trying to avoid saying as much as possible. "Back in high school we had a falling-out," he said avoiding her eyes.

"Oh," she said squeezing his hand unconsciously.

She wanted to know what about what had happened between the three, but knew it was none of her business. For some reason there was a small pang in her heart, it's not that she was jealous or anything…was she? She had come to terms that whatever happened between him and Juvia was none of her business.

They walked for a while as Gray was told her a bit more about the town. She kept nodding every once in a while to show him that she was paying attention, even though every once in a while she would catch herself thinking back to the beautiful young woman Gray had dated before.

She had talked to Lyon before, only once, and that was because she had to give her statement to the police and her father didn't want a group of detectives at their home. He had seemed nice, and he didn't press her for answers when she remembered what happened, more specifically she stayed quiet when he asked her about what had happened to Richard. She had turned pale and even to a stranger they could tell that she was not comfortable with the topic.

When they reached their destination, they sat down on a table inside and waited for a waitress to show up and hand them their menus. When they ordered, they sat together quietly. At this point, Gray noticed his partner's unusual quietness. He thought that she would enjoy the little tour while getting to the restaurant, but for some odd reason she was quiet, and he didn't quite know why.

After a good five minutes, their sandwiches arrived and they took a bite.

"It's delicious," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah, better than I expected," he replied as he decided to take another bite.

She nodded before asking, "How's Wendy-chan?"

"She's good," he replied. "She won a scholarship for school."

"Really?" she said surprised.

"Oh come on, don't act all surprised," he said with a teasing tone. "The Celestial Scholarship? I know you know that she got it."

She giggled a bit. "To be honest I haven't really looked at the list recipients yet."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," she said with a smile. "I let Aquarius handle that since she's my father's P.A."

"P.A.?"

"Personal assistant," she answered before taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Either way, thank you," he said.

"What for?"

"You gave us new opportunities that we would never have had before."

She blushed. "I-I only did what any other person would have done."

"No, you didn't," he said as he shook his head. He reached forward and covered her hand with his larger one. "Not many people would have gone that far for someone who's just a friend."

She wanted to ask him what he meant by that. Did he mean like a best friend or something even more than that. Before she could even say anything, the waiter came back and asked,

"Excuse me, would you like a refill sir of your iced tea?"

Gray looked at him and nodded. "Yes, please, and one for her as well," he said, his hand still over hers.

She didn't mind. It made her a bit nervous to have his hand over hers, but at the same time, it felt reassuring. She was starting to get used to his cold hands, she normally didn't like the cold, but when it came to him, it felt comforting, just like when they met.

When the waiter left with their two glasses, he let go of her hand and she instantly missed the comfort from it. To distract herself, she decided to look around the small café.

It wasn't really small, it was a good neutral size, it had lots of windows so that natural light could enter and reflect the small crystal centers on top of the tables. The walls were beige and adorned with different paintings that held various colors within them. It was utterly breathtaking, even with the little decorations it had, the café managed to catch people's eye as they passed by.

"See something that caught your eye?" teased Gray when he noticed the awe look on her face.

She blushed lightly and ducked her head. "J-just observing the design of this place."

"You like interior designing?

She nodded with a small smile as the waiter came back and placed the two glasses on the table.

"Anything else I can get you?"

"No, thank you," said Gray, his eyes focused on the young woman in front of him.

Lucy waited until the waiter left to continue.

"I minored in Interior Design before I decided to focus on Restaurant and Lodging Management," her smile grew with every word she spoke. "There's something about knowing how the right furniture and color can make a room more welcoming to the people staying in them, even if it is for a short time."

He nodded in agreement. The atmosphere of a place is what makes a business prosper or fail, it's the reason why certain people go to certain places, because it will either appease them or not.

As they finished their lunch he asked her, "What would you like to do after this?"

"Hmm," she said in thought. "How about a bit of shopping?"

She saw him cringe a bit. "Don't worry, I'm not that bad."

"That's what every girl says," he said.

"Like who?"

"Well, there's Ultear, Wendy-"

"-Those are just your sisters," she said cutting him off.

"And they are the best example there is," he said in triumph.

"Okay fine," she said as he asked the waiter to bring him the check. "Maybe I do go overboard sometimes – but not today, I promise!"

He grabbed the small check book before Lucy could even glance at it and put his card inside and gave it to the waiter before he left. "You promise?"

She smiled. "Cross my heart and hope to die," she said as she made an X over her heart with her finger.

He smiled. "All right, fine," he said in response as the waiter came back with the receipt.

He opened the black checkbook, got his card and put inside a ten dollar bill before closing it and standing up.

He offered his hand to her. "Shall we?"

She smiled. "We shall," she said as she put her hand in his.


They walked around the town for a good couple of minutes, enjoying the sunlight and the clear blue sky. The sun was shining and the birds were singing…yeah, right.

While Lucy did keep her promise about not going overboard with the shopping, she did like to stop every time something caught her eye. So far she had managed to buy something for all her friends and her father, the only person missing was Lucy herself.

She didn't let him carry her shopping bags, saying that it was her stuff and she could do it herself. But after much persuasion he ended up carrying three of the four large bags. She still wouldn't let him carry all of them.

They passed a small jewelry shop that had a sale and Lucy stopped walking all together when a light reflected off one of the pieces on display.

Gray turned around when he noticed that she was not walking next to him anymore. He walked backed and followed the direction of her eyes. He spotted necklace with a sword pendant and did a double take on the blonde next to him. She didn't seem like the type to wear something like that, personally he would, but her? He expected her to wear something more elegant and girly.

"Come on," she said as she grabbed his arm with a small smile and led him into the shop.

"Welcome!" greeted a young saleswoman from behind one of the counters. "How can I help you today?"

She let go of his arm and approached the woman. "Hi, I was wondering if I could take a closer look at that necklace on display."

"Of course, ma'am, just one moment please," she replied and left to retrieve the item that had caught Lucy's eye.

"I didn't think you would like that sort of necklace," commented Gray.

"I don't necessarily," she said. "But it's not for me." She looked at him and gave him a small smile. "It's for you."

"What?" he asked shocked by her response.

"Here you go, ma'am," said the saleswoman as she presented the silver item on the glass. "This is a one of kind necklace so I'm afraid our sale doesn't cover this item."

The smile on Lucy's face didn't even falter one bit.

"That's all right," she said picking up the item with her delicate fingers and holding it in front of Gray. She looked between the necklace and Gray. "What do you think?" she asked the saleswoman.

"It looks good on your boyfriend," she replied with a smile. "It's as if it was made for him."

"Right!" she answered with a bigger smile, not really paying attention to the choice of words from the woman behind the counter.

"Lucy," said Gray as he grabbed the hand that held the necklace. She turned to him. "I can't accept this."

"You can and you will," she replied unfazed.

He looked directly at her. "I'm not taking it."

She pouted. "Please?" she asked giving him the puppy dog face she learned from Levy.

He would be lying if he said that she didn't look cute at that moment. Every fiber in his being said to hug her and kiss her senseless, but his brain said no and to focus on the task at hand. But that was a mission on its own, that pleading look was something he was weak to. Wendy used it on him whenever she wanted something and he wasn't budging.

'No, Gray. Come on, you can do it! You can-!'

"All right, fine!"

"Yes!"

"But-" he said cutting her celebration short.

"But?" she asked upset that there was a "but", a "but" was never good.

"I get to buy you something in return."

"No," she said straight out while shaking her head. "Absolutely not."

"Come on, let me buy you something," he said as he walked around the cases before he turned to her. "You bought something for everyone except yourself."

"Gray-"

"-Lucy."

The two stared at the other, neither willing to back down until-

"Okay, fine, but I get to choose."

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"You picked something for me, so I'm going to pick something for you."

"But-"

"But nothing," he said as he looked around the cases before stopping at one. "Excuse me, could I see this bracelet here?"

"Right away, sir."

"Gray-"

"-Come on, Luce. Just look at it and then tell me what you think."

"…okay, fine."

He smiled and took the gold charm bracelet in his hand and held it front of him. She lifted her left wrist and watched as he put it around her wrist and clicked it in place.

"It certainly matches you well, ma'am," commented the saleswoman. "Your boyfriend has good taste."

Gray nodded. "It does," he said making her blush lightly at the fact that he didn't correct the saleswoman.

She inspected the charm bracelet more carefully. It was gold and had the 12 zodiac signs as charms that adorned it.

"It's so beautiful," she said in awe of it.

"We'll take it - along with the necklace," he said as Lucy inspected each charm.

The saleswoman nodded and walked towards the cashier. She rang the price for the necklace and the bracelet. She took the security chip of the necklace and looked at Lucy with expectant eyes.

"Oh, sorry," she said as she started to take off the bracelet.

"There's no need," smiled the saleswoman as she asked for her wrist and deactivated the security chip that was in the bracelet.

Lucy went back to admiring the bracelet as Gray paid for both the sword necklace and the bracelet without her knowing it.

"Thank you for your purchase," the saleswoman said handing him two separate bags that held the cases for their items.

"Thank you," he said as he turned to Lucy. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she replied, still distracted by the beauty of the bracelet.

It took her a good ten minutes to realize that she had been walking with the bracelet.

"Oh!" she said turning around. "I forgot to pay!"

He chuckled.

"This isn't funny Gray! This is stealing!"

"It's not when I already paid for it."

"What!"

"Yeah."

"A-and your necklace?"

"Already paid for."

"But I was supposed to pay for it."

"Too late," he said as he smiled at her. "It's already paid for."

"B-but-!"

"Don't worry about it Lucy," he said turning around to face her. "I really didn't mind."

Thanks to the Sun's light, she was able to catch a gleam of the necklace she had picked out for him around his neck, it really did fit him perfectly. The silver chain, the small silver sword and the blue gem embedded into the hilt of the sword, it all screamed Gray to her.

She stepped forward and held the sword in her hand. She smiled a little.

"This was made for you."

He had to stop himself from putting his arms around her and pulling her close and crashing his lips into hers.

'She's certainly testing my self-restraint,' he thought to himself.

To his surprise, she closed the distance between the two and hugged him.

"Thank you, Gray."

He froze for a split second as his mind processed one thought. 'Lucy is hugging me.'

While this wasn't the first time they had hugged, it was certainly the first time it had happened with no heartbreak, need, or as friendly gesture. Her body was pressed directly to his and he could feel her warmth on his chest. Before she could process what she had done, he embraced her back and pulled her closer, as if that was any more possible.

"You're welcome," he said as he squeezed her into him.

She was small in comparison to him, he felt as if he could engulf her completely and not let anyone else hug her in this manner. The one thing that he would never forget from this hug wasn't the warmth she radiated, it was fact that she fit so perfectly into him.

When he felt her let go, he released his hold on her and resisted every urge to, once again, kiss her lips with his own.

"It's starting to get dark," she said looking up at the sky, her voice barely whisper.

"Yeah," he said, his eyes never leaving her. "We should start heading back to the station."

She nodded and let him lead her as he put his arm around her waist and hers on his. It felt so normal for the two, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. She didn't feel uncomfortable or nervous, she felt safe and at home having him by her side. As they walked towards the station she had one single thought cross her mind.

'I like Gray Fullbuster…'


When they boarded the train once more, Lucy couldn't help but notice how much colder it was inside in comparison to that morning. It was probably because there weren't that many people on this time. She never realized how long they had gone out shopping until they reached the station and saw that it read 8 o'clock on the digital screen. It had been because of Daylight's Savings Time that the sun had gone down so late, but then again she wasn't complaining.

She shivered once more in her seat. She was glad that now she had somewhere to sit with Gray, but right now she wished there were more people to provide heat.

She felt Gray shuffle in his seat for a moment and was surprised when she felt something warm cover her back and shoulders.

She looked at him questionably.

"If you're cold, just say so," he said with a small smile.

"What about you?" she asked him.

He gave her a small smirk. "The cold doesn't really bother me," he answered. He then wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her closer to him. "Besides, you seem colder than I am."

She blushed. She knew for a fact now that she was certainly warm. While the hand on her waist was cold, it still held some kind of warmth to them. She smiled a little and rested her head on his chest.

"Thank you," she said with a small smile as she closed her eyes.

This reminded her of the time he held that time she had found out about Richard. It didn't hurt to think about him now and she didn't get any nightmares anymore about what had happened. She remembered how she had clung onto Gray as if her life depended on it that night, and no matter how much time had passed, she was still embarrassed by her own actions.

With the sound of his heartbeat as her lullaby, she started to fall asleep until she heard his phone ring.

She heard him curse under his breath. "Shit," he said as he took out his phone with his free hand.

"Hello?...Hey…"

Lucy decided to stay in her current position for two reasons. The first being that she was comfortable, the second….well, there was no second reason, she just didn't feel like moving.

She didn't want to eavesdrop on the conversation, but if she moved now, it would be awkward. She remembered how the train ride to Oak Town was slow, but that may have been because they were so close to each other because of the people crowding into the train. Now, it felt like it was going too fast. Was it because she wanted to stay like this longer or…?

"-Yeah, listen, Lyon. I have to go. I'm not home now so-"

She could hear someone else on the other line speaking.

"Yeah, thanks buddy. Bye."

She lifted her head off his chest.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I kept thinking that we might miss the stop if I did fall asleep."

He smiled. She wasn't entirely wrong, they were getting near Hana Station, and he didn't have the heart to wake her up if she had fallen asleep.

She took off his jacket and gave it back to him. "Thanks again."

"It's no problem," he said as he put it on.

The two stood up as the train came to a stop and got off the train when the doors opened. They walked down the stairs and stopped on the second floor. He handed her the shopping bags from their trip and she took them from him, not fazed by the weight of what was inside. The two stood awkwardly staring at each other.

"So, I guess this is goodbye," he said after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Bye," she said staring up at him. "I'll see you later?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he said and lifted his arms slightly to invite in for a hug.

She smiled and closed the space between the two. The two separated after a short while and he looked down at her big brown eyes looking directly at his dark blue ones.

"I wish you didn't have to go," he said before he hugged her closer to him.

"I know, me too" she said as she buried her head into his chest.

When she pulled away, she couldn't help but blush at the way he was staring at her. She looked away from him, ready to go down the last set of stairs. But just as she started walking away from him, she felt his hand hold hers tightly, not letting go. She moved her sight from his hand to his eyes and as she did so, he pulled her back again, hugging her tighter than before.

"Gray," she whispered as she let herself be pulled in and hugged him back just as tight.

She could feel him pull away and held her face in his hands. He kissed her cheek, the top of her head, near her ear, and close to her lips. He looked at her with a certain look, a look she knew too well. He leaned closer to her, enough that she could feel his breath. She really wanted to kiss him then and there, but at that same time, she didn't. She looked down, as to avoid his intensive stare.

"Lucy," he said as he tried to get her to look at him directly.

She didn't though, she tried not to but ended up looking at his lips. Lips so close that she just wanted to allow herself to do what she wanted to. She tried hard to look away from them and to his eyes, but that was a big mistake. Once she saw them, she couldn't look away as he got closer and closer. Just when he was only a breath away, she said lowly,

"Please don't…"

He stopped, but didn't move. "Please don't what?"

He tried to close the distance but she pulled back.

"Just please," she said as she shook her head.

"Lucy…"

She pulled completely away from him, until only his hand held hers, but even then, he let her hand slip as she hurriedly turned away from him and descended the last set of stairs without looking back. She quickly pressed her pass on the automatic gate and passed through the gate, rushing to get lost somewhere between the crowds of people going in and out of the station.


And that is it for chapter 12, a good 6,000+ words for this one to make up for the long wait. But not to worry, this is isn't the end of Found :)

~Karie