Kyto's Special Writing Place: I wanted to update this earlier but I was on Vacation in Sydney. I saw all the NYE fire works...

And I've been addicted to Niam stories on wattpad... so i haven't found time to write this...

Oh, thanks for your reviews/faves/follows :D

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Disclaimer #2: This chapter contains a line from the manga Ao No Exorcist - Blue Exorcist, and it does not belong to me... so yeah.

~Chapter 21~

Lucy's lips were pursed and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she wondered what she should wear for her first date. Even when its merely a dance date, she still blushed at the thought of it.

Moving her left index finger up to the corner of her mouth, the blonde released a muffled hum.

"Whats up, Lucy." a sudden voice asked, startling the blonde. She turned her head around and let out a loud 'Eep' upon finding Gray sitting there shirtless with black suit pants and a red tie around his neck.

"TRESPASSER!" she yelled before aiming her well known kick to his face. Upon collision, he went flat into the wall behind him, again. Gray slid down the wall and rubbed his sore cheek.

"Oww.."

"How did you get in?" Lucy inquired, puffing her cheeks and blowing a single strand of hair from her face. Gray looked at her through his hand on his sore cheek, and using the other one he pointed at the window fully open above her bed. "I should have figured," She sighed quietly.

"Why are you here?" Through out the whole conversation, the blonde had been trying to control her raging heart beat.

"I came to see you actually." He spoke truthfully, his eyes slowly averting hers. Lucy felt her cheeks heat up and her heart beating even faster.

"...T-to see me? W-why?"

"Oh..." If anything, Gray was not ready.

"Uhm... A-are you still going on that date w-with Loke?" Lucy wondered why he wanted to know, though she shrugged the question off of her mind.

"Y-yes..." She replied with an unwanted stutter. "Why?" Gray's eyes widened slightly before they grew narrower as his expression turned into a force smile.

"Oh, no reason," He said before quickly making his way towards her window. "Well, uhm, I guess I gotta go... F-find my clothes! The p-party is tonight so i better be ready, right?" And before her reply, he jumped off. Lucy thought something was wrong with him since Gray never notices hes clothe-less until told otherwise. She wanted to follow him but he seemed to be running out at a very fast pace that she knew she wouldn't catch up to him.

'I'll ask him at the party' She thought before turning her head around and getting back to the task of picking her clothes for her very first date/not date with Loke.

Gray ran as fast as he could towards Fairy Hills. He needed to see Cana at that moment. He grabbed his left pecteral with 1 hand as he felt his heart continually clench and un-clench. After a conversation he had with Cana-

Flash Back - That Morning (Roughly the Time After the Kiss the Last Chapter)

"Gray, you like her." Cana blurted out as she saw his sad expression again staring into his empty glass cup.

"Like who?" He asked, wondering what the possible accusation was about, "As far as I'm concerned, I don't like anyone." He did not dare say a word about Lucy and his mixed feelings towards her.

Cana rolled her eyes at him. "Lucy of course." She said with a faint whisper so he would be the only one hearing her.

Gray's eyebrows furrowed as he felt his face slightly heat up. "I don't like her." He denied. "And even if I did, there would be nothing for me to do. She's already dating Loki anyway." His eyes saddened for the briefest of seconds before turning into a scowl. "She likes him, and not me. I don't see what the point of an unrequited interest."

Cana bit her bottom lip at her friend sadly. "Go visit her." She spoke quickly before an idea formed after her words. "Go visit her and check if she's still going on that date with Loke." She continued. "She probably canceled her plans with him."

"Pft." Gray rolled his eyes, "As if she would do that. She wouldn't do anything to hurt someones feelings." He spoke before crossing his arms across his chest, "And besides, if I go to her house and she had her plans with the said guy canceled, what am I suppose to do? Confess the crush I have on her and have our friendship awkward for the rest of our lives?" He asked before realizing the words he spoke and quickly turned his gaze away from the brunette in front of him.

"Oh, what's that I just heard?" Cana asked coyly, leaning in closer on the table. "Confessing the crush you have on her?"

"I-I said IF!"

"Did not."

"DID TOO!"

"Look Gray," Cana sighed. "If your still unsure of what your feelings are, I'm not gonna force you to notice them, though you need to realize them soon before it's too late for you." She stood up and was about to leave, though after taking a few steps she turned her head around. "If I were you I'd visit her and at least try to do something. You will either watch from afar or just tell her the truth and face the consequences head on." She then turned her head back around.

Gray pursed his lips before standing up and making his way to his house, he would want to think about the situation longer before jumping in like an idiot with no clue of what to say.

Flash Back - END

-The brunette boy had finally after so long admitted his feelings to himself and was willing to say them out loud.

He liked Lucy Heartfilia.

Too bad for him she was already asked out on a date and he could merely watch her from afar. He would not want her to hate him by doing something stupid like ruining her date out of jealousy. He just needs to stand back and hope his feelings would subside.

"This is too uncomfortable..." Natsu said as he desperately loosened the tie he was wearing. His face showed a look of annoyance, which was mostly a reaction that he had plastered on his face the moment Lisanna had told him about how he was supposed to wear a suit - one which he didn't own.

"Here, let me help." Lisanna said from beside him. He turned to face her and she focused on the red tie that was tied tightly around his neck. Loosening it slowly, her gaze switched to his annoyed eyes for a brief moment before going down to his lips and then down to the tie again. As she was done loosening it, she tucked it back down in his grey vest and stepped back. "Better?"

Natsu vigorously nodded. "Much." He replied before turning his head around and took a long look around the guild. Everyone was clearly dressed up. Most girls were in dresses while most of the guys were in tuxes. His gaze switched back to Lisanna who had moved from his side to talk to her sister.

He would be lying if he said she wasn't looking pretty that night. Her grey strapless dress along with it's fluffy hem went well with her skin tone - in his opinion. His cheeks heated up when he remembered the kisses they had both shared so he immediately switched his gaze from her and looked around the place for Happy.

He was sitting down on a bench eating a fish with his tiny suit. Yes. Even the cat was wearing a suit - much to his dismay. He walked up beside him and decided to grab a bite to eat, though as he was slowly reaching for the food buffet he felt a hand on his head. He looked up and grinned at Gildarts who smiled back.

"What's up?" The old man asked.

"Fight me!" He said, raising his fist in front of him and lighting it on fire. Gildarts sighed outwardly.

"Not now kid, I'm trying to get myself a few dates here." He said before adjusting his tie. "Don't need a mess happening."

Natsu crossed his arms grumpily before continuing his journey, muttering a few words of 'he's too scared' and placing some - a lot - of food on his plate.

Gray walked into the guild hall after his hour search for Cana. He had gave up looking for the said brunette when he realized looking for her would end up being pointless. He walked into the guild slowly, his eyes scanning everything around him with his hands in his pockets.

Lucy wasn't there, he noted, so he walked over to the bar stool and sat down, spinning slowly as he was dying with boredom. He had no idea why he was there in the first place. It wasn't mandatory, was it? So why was he there in the first place? He was never the kind of person who would just love parties like these.

Hic

He turned his head around as he heard an unfamiliar hiccup ring his ears. His eyes caught sight of Cana who was leaning on her elbow on the counter with her head supported with her hand, a wooden mug sitting in front of her on the bench. She looked out of it and Gray couldn't help but worry for his Nakama.

He got off his stool and walked over to the one closest to hers before sitting on it and facing her. She was wearing a dress, a very fancy one too. A golden coloured one that fit her perfectly. As he was slowly adjusting to his new seat, his nose picked up the smell of alcohol and his eyes widened.

"Cana, have you been drinking?" Gray asked worriedly. The brunette gave him a small smile.

"Me? Nah!" She swatted the idea away with her free hand, though Gray was no fool, he sniffed the smell of alcohol from her breath.

"Why would you drink?"

Cana shrugged her shoulders.

"Cana."

"Take a look around."

Gray did what she asked and looked around. His eyes widened as they landed on a tall orange haired man near the food buffet besides Natsu. He quickly switched his gaze from him to the brunette furrowed his eyebrows worriedly.

"If you're thinking about telling me to tell him..." She slurred. "Then forget it." She sighed before picking the mug up and taking another sip from it. "There's noway I'm going to tell him."

"You know you have to at some point though..." Gray muttered.

"And I will!" She said. "But not now... I failed the S-class exams twice already... Imagine how ashamed he will be when he knows this." Her gaze fell on the ground sadly. "The strongest mage in the guild... has a daughter who can't even pass a stupid test..." Her tone was full of shame.

"Cana... I'm sure he wouldn't care about that..." Gray assured her, placing a hand on hers.

She pulled her hand away from his and stood up, stumbling a few bits before regaining her firm composure. "Well I do!" She said and walked away stubbornly.

Gray sighed before leaning back on the bench. He wasn't going to follow Cana. For one, she was drunk, and two, he knew she was too stubborn to listen to him, especially when it was a conversation about her father.

He looked around the place again, his right knee crossed over his left thigh with his back pressed against the wooden counter behind him. His eyes landed on Erza, who was wearing a purple gown that wrapped around her neck and fell down to her ankles.

He was surprised to see her wearing a dress since he had never seen her in anything but armor. She had looked kind of... pretty, though he shook the thought out of his head and looked around more. A certain blur of blonde caught his eye and left him breathless.

It was Lucy.

Wearing the most beautiful dress he had ever laid eyes on.

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Talking to Loke.

After Gray had abruptly left her house, Lucy had quickly scanned through her dresses again and picked out 'the one'. It's true, before the Ice Mage had shown up she was worrying over what to wear, though the moment he left, she remembered when she was out with Levy and Erza on a mission earlier in the year, she had purchased a dress that resembled one her mother had owned greatly.

She quickly headed into the bathroom and took a shower before wrapping herself in a towel and calling one of her beloved spirits.

"Open, Gate of the Giant Crap! Cancer!" She chanted as she waved his key in the air. The moment a blue magic circle appeared, the blonde sat on a chair and gave him the orders. "Could you please give me a nice hair cut? I have a date today." She giggled like a little girl inwardly as she said those words.

Even when had just recently met the guy, she couldn't contain her little girl tingles. She was just too excited to experience something like that – even though inwardly she wished it was a certain raven haired.

"Okay, -Ebi." Cancer muttered and before she knew it, her hair was straightened perfectly and all her split ends had disappeared. She walked up to a mirror and smiled at her spirit.

"Thanks Cancer." She said and the spirit bowed before disappearing back into his own world. As the spirit disappeared, she went over to her closet and took out the dress.

It was a simple magenta coloured dress with light pink fluff around the hip area, above it were many heart-like shapes drawn in crimson. The hem of it reached her ankles, puffing out slightly.

She stood in front of her mirror and smiled in satisfaction before deciding to start heading to the guild. She quickly grabbed a cotton coat and wrapped it around herself to make sure her dress wouldn't get ruined on her way to the guild hall.

Upon arrival, a wave of nostalgia crashed upon her. The scenery was so familiar to her. The dresses. The suites. The table cloths. Everything felt like one of the parties she use to attend as the young Heartfilia heiress.

She sighed at the memory of her parents, quickly wiping her eyes that were slowly starting to water and walked in through the guild doors. She walked over to the nearest coat rack and took off her coat before placing it there and turning around.

The first thing she spotted was Lisanna doing something with Natsu's tie while his face was one of pure annoyance. She smiled as her feet shuffled towards them. As she was about half way through her journey, Loke came up and stood in front of her and smiled.

"You look Lovely." He complimented, pushing his glasses back across the bridge of his nose. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie.

Lucy blushed at the compliment and avoided eye contact. "Th-thanks... you do too..." She murmured under her breath.

Loke's smile widened slightly before reaching for her hand and pulling her outside of the guild. "It's getting a little noisy here, don't you think?" He asked referring to the mild amount of noise in the room.

"I-I guess..." She replied shyly. "Wh-where are you taking me?" She asked slowly, realizing that he had taken hold of her hand and they were both pushing through the crowds of people.

He turned his head back and smirked at her. "That'll be a sur-"

"PRICNESS!" A loud yell was heard through the crowd. Lucy recognized the voice right away and turned around, her eyes furrowed in confusion as to why her spirit came yelling for her.

"Virgo?" She asked confusedly, eyeing the pink haired spirit. "Why are you here?"

"Princess." The tone was as monotonous as ever. "You forgot your keys. We all thought you were in danger."

Lucy quickly reached for her hips and realized her keys weren't there. "Oh!" She said out loud. "Oh, uhm thanks for telling me."

Virgo placed the key chain in Lucy's hands before bowing slowly. "Punishment time?"

Lucy sweat dropped at her spirit's typical behavior. "N-no Virgo..."

The spirit pulled her head back up and gazed from her master to the man beside her. When their eyes met, both froze and Virgo's eyes widened.

"Virgo...?" Lucy asked, unsure of what was wrong with the spirit since her face was displaying more emotion that it ever had. "Is something wrong?"

"L-Leo...?" She murmured under her breath.

Loke gulped thickly before taking a step back, then another, and another, until he was out of the guild hall through the back yard.

"Loke! Wait!" Lucy said, reaching out to him, though he was already to far for her to do anything. She sighed before turning her head around and looked at Virgo, who still had her eyes widened at his retreating figure. "Virgo, are you okay?"

"O-Oh... yeah... sorry Princess..." And she disappeared into thin air.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips before following Loke. Upon reaching the massive garden, she started searching for the said guy with negative thoughts flying through her head.

Finding Lucy standing alone looking like a damsel in distress in the guild's back yard, Gray decided to walk up and find out what the matter with her was. As he took a few hesitant steps towards her, he started to realize how pretty she was looking that night. He felt envy rise up within him towards Loke for being her date.

As he approached her slender figure, he stood before her and cleared his throat to catch her attention. Lucy turned her head and felt her face heat up when she took a look at him wearing a suit up close. He looked very handsome in her opinion.

"What's up?" Gray asked casually, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking around the area as if he was had no cares in the world, when on the inside he was dying out of nervousness and was resisting the massive urge to strip at that moment.

"Oh... Loke just ran off somewhere... Not sure why though..." She put her hands behind her back in a playful manner before continuously shifting her weight from her heels to her toes.

"Well..." Gray bowed in front of her playfully. "I guess I shall keep you company then." He said with a royal tone, earning a giggle from the blonde, one that made him smile from ear to ear.

"Oh, Romeo, where art thou..." She said bashfully as she placed one of her hands on her collar bone and extended the other one towards him.

Gray decided to play along and took a hold of her hand. "I'm right here my love~" He replied before bringing her hand up to his lips and giving it a gentle peck, though upon realizing he immediately pulled away and blushed. "S-sorry... got way into character... HAHAHAHA" He laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his head. His hands reached for his tie, loosening it slightly as he was finding it choking him.

Lucy giggled at his action despite the massive blush that had coated her cheeks.

Gray looked back at her and his stomach did leaps all around. He was experiencing a rare case of euphoria, because he was the reason behind her smiles, giggles and blushes.

Slow dance music started playing inside the guild hall and Gray clenched his fists. He stood straight in front of her with a determined look on his handsome face. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at his sudden action.

"Lucy..." He muttered before taking a deep breath. The tone he used made her tense in her spot.

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"Dance with me."

The blush on Lucy's face deepened even more before. She felt as if a volcano had erupted nearby because of it. She quickly tore her gaze from his and looked down at her toes nervously. "W-w-w-with y-you?" She stuttered, unable to form proper words due to her shyness. "I-I... U-uhm..."

Gray refused to take that as an answer, so he quickly grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her into his chest, the blush on his face soon coating his cheeks as he nervously laced his hands around her waist. "I-I uhm..." He started nervously as he looked for words to say. "I-I'm not that g-great at danci-..." And before he finished, Lucy put one of her arms on his shoulder while the other grasped one of his hands from her waist, and pulled it to her side.

Gray's blush intensified as Lucy pulled away from his chest and looked straight into his eyes. "W-well, I-I b-better teach you then..." She spoke before her eyes closed from the really wide smile she gave him.

Gray nodded slowly before following her lead. Both of them danced for a few minutes. They resisted making eye contact, so they just rested their heads beside the other as their blushes kept on increasing by the second and the weather humidity ran up the scale like it's like depended on it.

Mirajane, who was getting very bored and tired of the party marched her way up the guild stairs into the S-class room. She was hoping for some peace and quiet before the big finale the master had planned in hopes of embarrassing Gildarts.

Walking towards a wooden door that led to the said room, she twisted the knob and walked in. The lights were already turned on and she was surprised to see the blonde S-class mage there.

Laxus was sitting on the couch comfortably. His hands were behind his head as he had leaned into the comfy sofa. His eyes were closed and his head was nodding back and forth to what Mirajane had assumed was the music beats. He wasn't wearing anything formal, just his typical clothing which consisted of a military striped shirt and brown cargo pants.

Mirajane avoided any possible conversation with the said man and walked towards the window in the room. She placed her arms on the window's ledge and gazed into the night sky. The tiny, cold gusts of wind blowing through her hair, allowing it to dance according to their waves.

Hearing foot steps behind her, the girl turned around and her eyes met with Laxus' confused ones.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, "Shouldn't you be down stairs, celebrating?"

The take-over mage shrugged before turning her face back and staring out the window. "I got bored."

"Oh, so the demon gets bored with things like that, huh?" He walked over and stood beside her. "Tell me," He placed his elbow on the wide window's railings and supported his head with his palm. "What entertains you then?"

Mirajane turned her head to the side and gazed into his -very- bored eyes. "Why are you asking? I thought it was a myth when the Laxus Dreyar gets interested in something." Her lips lifted on one side, showing a small smirk.

Laxus gazed at her with his bored eyes for a few seconds, a very tiny and short flash of hurt appeared through his eyes before rolling them and pushing himself away from the window. "You got me." He walked back to the couch and plopped down, leaning his head against the soft cushions and pulling his head set back on.