Christmas with My Former Crush

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail at all

Gray laughed as Juvia gushed over an exaggerated Russian-styled blue hat. Juvia had squealed when Gray bought a large-milkshake for the both of them. Gray glared at the man who had tried to hit on Juvia. Juvia snarled at the girls who had batted their eyes at Gray. Gray grinned as Juvia clung to him in the horror house. Juvia blushed as Gray shared an indirect kiss with her on the cotton candy.

Gray sighed blissfully as he held hands with Juvia, both of them staring at the sunset. He rolled on the picnic blanket they were lying on to move closer to Juvia. "We could stay like this forever and I won't ever get tired of this," he whispered sweetly in her ear.

Juvia smiled and turned to face him in such a way that their noses were touching. "Is Gray-sama happy with Juvia?" she asked, tracing Gray's jaw with her delicate fingers.

"I'm more than happy," Gray replied, dipping his head to plant a kiss on Juvia's lips before meeting her eyes. "I love you Juvia," he said kissing her again, "I love you so, so much." To his great surprise, Juvia placed her hands on Gray's shoulders and pushed him, shaking her head. His eyebrow met as he retracted, propping himself up on his elbow. She never rejected his kisses. "Juvia?"

"Don't you realize, Gray-sama?" Juvia began as she stood up. Suddenly, their romantic sunset was gone and it was raining as if there was a thunder storm.

Gray stood as well, covering his face with an arm as he shouted into the rain, "Realize what?"

Juvia smirked, seeming unaffected by the weather. "Juvia doesn't love Gray-sama anymore," she announced, her voice echoing so loudly in the storm. And to prove her point, she raised an arm and pointed an accusing finger at him. A lightning struck a foot away from Gray and he yelped. "Juvia never loved you!"

"W-What are you talking about?" Gray gasped, breathing heavily. "Why are you—Why are you saying that?"

Three more lightning bolts struck, each he barely missed by an inch. "Because it's true," a new voice said.

Gray looked up and saw Lyon position himself beside Juvia, a hand snaking around her waist to stay snuggly on her hip. He couldn't believe his eyes. "L-Lyon?" What was his brother doing here?

Lyon pulled Juvia closer to him, to which the girl responded to by placing her head on his chest and closing her eyes contentedly. Lyon sneered. "You were never loved."

A bolt of lightning struck again. But this time, Gray's mind was too blank for him to even dodge. He screamed as he writhed in pain. He reached an arm out towards the girl in his brother's arms, the lightning still continuing to hit him. "J-Juvia," he pleaded as his hand grabbed Juvia's arm desperately, which she irritably swatted away. "P-Please tell me this is all wrong." He cried in agony when the lightning's force doubled, making him drop in all fours. "Please tell me y-you still l-love me—"

Lyon and Juvia cackled as Gray crumpled to the ground, howling in anguish. "Nobody would love somebody as pathetic as Gray," Juvia hissed scornfully as she harshly wiped her lips. "Juvia's lips are already ruined from Gray's disgusting kisses!" she cried in distaste.

Lyon cradled Juvia in his arms and said. "It's alright," he said gently, casting a hateful glance at Gray. "I will get rid of his filthy kisses." To Gray's horror, Lyon placed his lips on hers.

Another lightning struck him and he screamed once more. "JUUUUUVIAAAAAA!"

Gray shot up, bead of sweat rolling down his temples and panting heavily. He looked around, giving out a sigh of relief the moment he realized that he was in the safety of the Heartfillia sister's bedroom. He ran a hand down his face and groaned. The dream had seemed so real. He recalled the way Lyon kissed Juvia, both in the dream and in real life, and he was crying again. It hurt. It hurt so, so much. He still couldn't understand why Juvia had done that to him. He recalled every moment he spent when he was still with Juvia and he couldn't remember doing anything that could have make her stop loving him.

Maybe what Lyon said in the dream was right. Maybe she never really loved me.

Gray visibly paled at the thought. He could almost feel the lightning hitting him again. What happened to all those moments he had shared with Juvia? What happened to all those proclamations of love he and Juvia exchanged so sweetly? Were they just lies too? He buried his face into his palms to cover his muffled sobs. He didn't want Lucy to wake up due to his pathetic crying, now, did he?

A few moments later, the door opened ever so slightly as if on cue. Lucy quietly munched on the cookie she had in her mouth as she tried to enter the room without making a sound. She had woken up in the middle of the night due to her stomach growling. She had planned on being quick in smuggling a few snacks upstairs, since Layla was sure to tease her in becoming fat if she got caught. Of course, her plan failed and she ended up emptying her cookie jar while drinking soda in the dining room. Now, she had her cookie jar back into her hands as she sneaked her way into the room, having refilled it with the candies her sister had gotten the other days. She'd continue eating in her room instead, before she really got caught.

She cursed when she accidently bumped against the wall, yelping in surprise when the force sent her cookie jar flying into the air. "Kyaaa!" she exclaimed, lunging towards the jar when her foot slipped on the rug. Both she and the candies fell on the floor. Lucy hissed as she scrambled to her knees, hurriedly throwing back the candies into the cookie jar. "Five-minute rule. Five-minute rule. Five-minute," she chanted to herself. She placed a candy cane to her already cookie-stuffed mouth, frowning thoughtfully. "Or was it called Five-second rule?"

She flinched when she heard a sniffle, already knowing who it was. W-W-Was Gray awake the whole time? She felt her face heat up despite the dark. She turned in to face him, movements turning mechanic as she struggled to explain what on earthland she had been. "G-G-G-Gray!" she squeaked, swallowing the sweets she ate. Of all the times he would catch her awake at night, she just had to be sneaking food up her room! "Y-Y-Y-You're a-a-a-awake! S-S-Since when have you been awake?"

Gray blinked at the flustered blonde, still quite overwhelmed with the scene he just saw Lucy perform. Normally, he would have laughed and teased the girl to make her blush even more. But then again, this wasn't normally. He sniffed again, reaching to take one of his towels from Lucy's desk to wipe his tears. "I should be asking you that, Luce," he tried to say in a manner that hid the fact that he had been crying. His hiccup betrayed him at the end. He cleared his throat, noting the slight alarm in Lucy's demeanor. He forced a smile, though from the girl's angle he doubted she'd be able to see it. "It's like—" He checked his phone. "—Three forty-two in the morning! What are you doing eating?"

Lucy blushed hard. "I-I-I-I-I was hungry!" she blurted out defensively. She then shook her head. "B-But let's not talk about my stomach," she said, taking her cookie jar in her arms and sitting beside Gray. "You okay?" she asked tentatively, because she knew that he clearly wasn't. She sighed as she took another candy cane from her jar and handed it to him, quite relieved when he accepted it. She was stupid to actually believe that he already got over what had happened yesterday morning, just because he was already laughing that afternoon. "W-Would it help if I stayed up right now with you?" she offered, "Would you like some company?"

"I-I don't know, exactly…" Gray began, hiccupping as he averted his eyes away. He didn't want to take advantage of her kindness and concern. He didn't want to bother her so early this morning. He didn't want her to think he was so weak. He didn't want her to think he was so dependent on her… But truth be told, he actually wanted her presence beside him. There was always something about Lucy that comforted him, that made him feel safe, that made him feel loved. Ever since. He didn't know why he only realized that now. And he felt so stupid.

"You… Don't know?" Lucy felt her head tip to the side as she eyed him in concern, swallowing the sweets in her mouth. She wasn't offended. Nope, not all. If anything, his reply made her worry about him even more. She sighed again, nodding in understanding. "I'll just be up here if you ever need me," she said, pointing upwards to her bed before heading up. She peeked below and reached down to hand him a candy. "Here. Sweets help."

Gray smiled sadly up at her, accepting the treat. "Thank you," he said sincerely. For everything.

"Gray? Hey, Gra-aay! Rise and shine, sleepy head!"

The moment his eyes opened and fell upon her bright brown ones, Gray didn't regret waking up earlier than usual. He smiled a bit, then blinked once, twice, before—"Five more minutes…" Okay. So maybe he wanted to sleep a little more, but one couldn't blame him, right? He stayed up until five in the morning, and what time was it now? He glanced groggily at his phone screen, squinting a bit at the light. Seven a.m! It was already seven a. m. and he barely slept for the last two hours. He ignored the nudges and pokes that were trying to make him get up. "Five more minutes," he mumbled again.

Lucy groaned, frowning as she plopped herself on the bean bag near the double decker. "I'm counting," she warned, still unsure if she should have just shaken the guy awake or not. This was the third time she let him have his five minutes now. Ur had originally planned to wake her son up herself, but knowing that she probably won't go easy on him, Lucy stepped in instead. Ur hadn't seen Gray so heart-broken earlier that morning. Ur hadn't heard Gray try to muffle his cries to seem okay. Lucy buried her face in her hands to hide her growing blush. Thinking that way made it seem like she was the only person who could understand Gray—which she clearly wasn't. She sighed again, looking up at her wall clock as she did so. She stood, taking a pillow and beginning to hit Gray repeatedly. "Five minutes are up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Gray stirred, before snatching the pillow from Lucy was hitting him with and hugging it instead. "Five more minutes."

"You've been asking for five minutes for the past fifteen minutes now it isn't even five minutes anymore!" Lucy snapped irritably, trying to pull her pillow from Gray's grip. "Get up!"

"So stingy, Luce," Gray muttered as he covered his face with the pillow, trying to sleep again.

Lucy harrumphed, letting go. "Fine!" she said, stomping towards the door. "Let me just call Ur-san—"

"I'm up! I'm up! I'm up!" Gray exclaimed in panic, suddenly on his feet. "Please don't call Mom!"

"Finally!" Lucy exasperated, turning to frown at him. "A second later and I would have called her."

Gray groaned, flopping back on the bed once more. "Why did you wake me up this early again?" he asked as he threw an arm over his eyes. He really needed some sleep.

Lucy sighed, walking back to Gray and crouching beside the bed. "You and Ur-san are going back to your house, right?" she reminded gently, "T-To, um, to talk to your brother, remember?"

As if getting hit by lightning all over again, Gray shot up to sit on the bed, eyes wide open. "Shit." He glanced at Lucy, who blinked in surprise. "Shit shit shit. Mom's gonna kill me."

"She probably would—if you still won't start preparing yourself," Lucy said as she looked up at the now frantic looking Gray.

"Preparing, preparing," Gray muttered as he dug into his duffel bag for a change of clothes.

Lucy managed an amused smile, nodding as she stood as well. "Alright, I'll be downstairs if you ever need me," she said as she closed the door behind her. She sighed. If she didn't know better, she would've thought everything was alright.

"We'll be hopefully back before four p. m. Layla. I am so sorry."

Layla shook her head as she opened the front door for Ur. "No problem at all, Ur," she assured, smiling sympathetically, "I understand."

Ur sighed, as the two of them hugged, "Thank you. We'll just be resolving this little problem between brothers."

Meanwhile, Gray and the Heartfillia sisters were talking outside.

"Why are you going home again?" Keirin asked Gray as she swung on the hammock, brows knitted together. "You never tell me anything." She turned to pouted at her sister. "You too, Onee-san!"

"It's because you're still too young to understand, Kei," Lucy reasoned from where she was leaning on the wall of their house.

Keirin groaned, letting her body drop to lie on the hammock. "Thirteen next September, remember?"

"Ooh, that rhymes!" Gray quipped as he rocked the hammock, making the younger Heartfillia glare at him. He chuckled, releasing the hammock to hold his hands up in defense. "Alright, alright. I'm telling; my brother and I got into a fight yesterday—nothing much, but our mother wants us to make up since it's the Christmas season and all."

Keirin narrowed her eyes at Gray. "I am honestly having this strange feeling that you are somehow lying to me…"

Lucy nibbled on her lower lip as she searched both her sister's and batch mate's faces. From Gray's shocked expression to Keirin's suspicious one, Lucy knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before her sister could actually get Gray to explain himself. And she planned to intervene. Keirin could know all about Gray and Lyon's issue another time, but just not now, when Lucy knew it was still a tad bit too hard for Gray to speak about it.

"Well…?" Keirin began, raising an expectant eyebrow at Gray.

The older blonde sighed, opening her mouth to interject when a loud revving of a vehicle entered their ears. The three looked up to see a familiar, sleek, red sports car park just behind Ur's own car. She blinked. "Loke?" was all that she was able to utter.

But it wasn't their cousin who went out, but Lucy's own childhood friend, Sting Eucliffe. "Hey, everybody," he greeted with a grin, "Sorry for the sudden appearance, but I just couldn't wait again 'till Christmas to see you all!"

Lucy grinned as well, momentarily forgetting about Gray and Keirin's conversation. She lifted herself from the wall and ran to open the gate for Sting. "What are you doing here?" she asked as she pulled him in for a quick hug, almost smashing the flowers her childhood friend had in his hands.

"Hey, hey, watch the Poinsettias, Luce, you'll crush them!" Sting chided lightly, chuckling, "They're supposedly for Layla-san's empty vase I saw on the counter." He then paused, glancing worriedly at Lucy. "It's still empty, right?"

"Yes, yes, it's still empty," Lucy said distractedly, "But you were driving!" She looked up to compute the numbers in her head, before looking at Sting wide, shocked eyes. "You're driving and you're still fifteen?!"

Before Sting could even retort, Keirin tackled him to a hug. "Sting-nii!" she cried as she wrapped her thin arms around the young man's neck, "What's up?"

"Yeah," Gray started dryly as he walked towards them, mood instantly dampening, "What's up, Eucliffe?"

"Hi, Gray-san!" Sting called cheerfully as he raised a closed hand to bump fists with Gray. When Gray just raised an eyebrow at the blond's hand, Sting chuckled sheepishly, retracting and just scratching the back of his head to save himself from embarrassment. "So, um," his bright blue eye scanned Gray's clothes, "You're going somewhere?"

"Yes, apparently," Gray retorted emotionlessly as he slugged his hands into his pockets. What on earthland was Eucliffe doing here? Loke had promised they'll be back on Christmas day and it's still, what, December twenty-three? "How about you?" Gray said, jerking his head at Loke's sports car. "What are you doing driving when you're still underage?" What are you doing popping up here just when I'm about to leave Lucy?

"In actuality," a deep masculine voice began, as a long-haired figure emerged from the other side of the car, "I was the one who drove him here." Rufus tipped his large elegant hat at them, a smooth smile on his face. "Good morning."

"Oh, Rufus-san!" Lucy greeted as she ushered him in the gate as well, "Good to see you again!" She then peeked over his shoulder to look at the sports car. "Is Loke here as well? You guys really should have told us earlier!"

Gray nodded. "True, true," he mumbled, still grieving over the fact that Sting would have solo time with Lucy while he was away sorting things up with his stupid brother.

Sting shook his head. "Loke couldn't come," he explained, "His manager called and he had to sort some things back in Edolas. He took the last flight last night. Nothing much, so I think we'll still be expecting him on Christmas, hopefully with Aries-chan as well." He then turned, grinning again. "Hi Layla-san, Ur-san! Sorry for the sudden appearance."

Yeah, you better be, Gray thought bitterly, and if his gaze could burn, there would probably be two holes at the back of Sting's head already.

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise!" Layla exclaimed as she hugged both Sting and Rufus in turn, Ur doing the same after. "Did Lo-kun come too?"

As Sting launched into explaining where Loke was once again, Keirin fell in step with Gray. "Someone's looking grumpy today;" she observed thoughtfully, "Mad Sting-nii came?"

"What? No!" Gray stammered as he took a step away to glance at the twelve year old. "Why on earthland would I be mad?"

Keirin shook her head, shrugging. "I don't know," she started, "Maybe it's because Sting-nii has his arm around Onee-san right now?"

"What?" Gray snapped his head to look at Sting's direction, and indeed, his arm was around Lucy's shoulders.

"What what?" Keirin said, "You're mad because of that. End of story."

Gray rolled his eyes, before head-locking the young girl and ruffling her wild locks. "I am not mad or grumpy or anything! End of story."

"Okay, okay! I give up!" Keirin exclaimed, laughing.

"Enough of that now, you two," Ur chided, though she was chuckling, "We better get going now, Gray."

The younger brunet let go of Keirin, smirking. "Alright," he said, as Keirin stuck her tongue at him. He then followed his mother out, giving a quick glance over his batch mate's direction.

Lucy, as if on cue, turned to see the Fullbusters' exiting their gate. She blushed a little when her gaze met Gray's, but she nonetheless still approached him, worry overpowering her flustered state. "Will you be okay?" she gingerly asked as Ur stepped into the driver's seat. She recalled how such a heart-broken Gray wept earlier that morning, and it made her own heart break.

Gray gave a nonchalant shrug, forcing out a small smile. "I hope so," he said, opening the door to their car's front passenger seat. "I mean, I'd have to face him sooner or later. It's inevitable, and we're still brothers after all."

Lucy didn't miss the quick flash of hesitation and nervousness pass his eyes, making her sigh. She dug into the pocket of her sweater and fished out a single strawberry lollipop. "Here," she said, blushing a bit as she remembered her embarrassing show with her candies that early morning. She dropped the candy on Gray's hand, giving out a shy smile as well. "There'll be more when you come back." She wasn't exactly sure if offering Gray sweets would help the guy out, but the moment he chuckled in what seemed like amusement, it almost made Lucy feel that somehow, in her own little way, she had helped.

And as long as she was helping, that was enough for her.

Gray gazed at the side mirror to look at Lucy's reflection get smaller and smaller as his mother drove. And it made him feel quite smug at the fact that when Sting came to usher Lucy inside, she refused and waited until their car finally turned by the fourth intersection.

"So, how are you feeling today?" Ur began conversationally, eyes never leaving the road.

Gray un-wrapped the lollipop Lucy gave him, before looking up glance quickly at his mother, then back to the candy once again. "Um, I actually have no idea what I'm supposed to say once we arrive there?" he offered distractedly, marveling at the fact that the candy he had in his hands almost had the same shade of pink Lucy's lips always were.

"How about, 'Lyon, my dearest brother, I forgive you for what you have done; let us all have a happy Christmas, okay?'" Ur said, making Gray look at her disbelievingly.

"You honestly expect me to say that?" he demanded in shock, "Because I won't be saying that so easily." He scoffed, a bit bitterly at that. "I don't think I can, in fact."

"Well, you should," Ur snapped. "You're brothers and one day or another you're gon'na end up forgiving Lyon anyway so why not make that day today?" The younger brunet opened his mouth to retort but Ur glared at him. "I mean it, Gray. We won't be heading back to the Heartifillia's until the two of you sort this issue out."

Gray shook his head, deciding to place the lollipop into his mouth instead of arguing with his mother. Aside from the older brunette's cursing whenever they were met by traffic, they drove the rest of their way in silence. In around more than half an hour (they lived in the opposite side of the city, see), Ur parked in front their midnight blue gates, where Ultear was waiting for them.

"Hey Mom, baby bro," she greeted as Gray and Ur stepped out of the car. "Long time no see."

"It's barely even a week, Ultear," Gray remarked as he got pulled into a hug.

Ur pecked her daughter swiftly on the cheek before stomping inside. "Where's Lyon?" she demanded as she slammed open their front door. "WHERE IS LYON?! I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU, YOUNG MAN! DON'T YOU DARE TRY HIDING FROM ME."

"Wow, I didn't think Mom was this furious over the phone," Ultear commented to the flinching Gray as they followed.

"M-Me too," he whispered back as their mother continued screeching for Lyon. "Where is he anyway?"

Ultear shrugged. "The bastard's locked himself in his room since I beat him up yesterday," she said as she headed to the kitchen. "You want tea?"

"No, thanks." Gray sat on one of the chairs in their dining room. He twirled the lollipop he had in his mouth with his tongue. It felt strange sitting inside their own house once again. He's been so used to Layla's girly but homey feel at the Heartfillia's residence, it felt like it's been ages since he was last here—but like he had said earlier, it had been barely a week since they were gone. He looked back at his sister, raising his eyebrow.

"You beat him up?" he asked, because he was starting his brother's strained grunts and desperate pleas towards their mother upstairs. He wasn't exactly sure whether he was gon'na pity Lyon or whether he'd think Lyon was getting what he deserved. But then the image of his brother kissing Juvia yesterday popped, and Gray felt guilty for finally settling that Lyon did deserve the beating he was currently getting from Ur.

Ultear sipped from her own tea cup as she settled on the seat opposite to Gray's. "Well, what he did was such a fuck-boy thing to do," she replied, before looking at Gray sternly, "And I do not have fuck-boys as brothers, got that?" Ultear's stare was just so much like their mother's that Gray actually flinched. He chuckled, nodding.

There was a sound of flesh hitting something hard, followed closely with a groan. Lyon gingerly pushed himself off the floor as he looked up, midnight blue eyes meeting midnight blue eyes. Lyon wiped blood off his cut lip with the back of his hand as he managed a small smirk. "Hey baby bro," Lyon said, "Have I ever told you how Juvia's lips taste so much like blueberries?"

Gray stood to land a blow on Lyon's cheek when Ur slapped him first. Ur took a deep breath as Lyon coughed, forcing a smile. "And so, let our apologies and explanations begin!"

Author's Note: First of all, I'm afraid that I was not able to accomplish my goal of finishing this fic before vacation ends. And I am sorry for everybody who has been affected by my month-long writer's block. School is starting in a few days aaaand yeah; all I could do is apologize to you all. I won't be saying that I would be going on a hiatus because I will be writing in my free time once all of my school work is done. So uh, yeah, I'm so sorry.

Acknowledgements/ Thanks to:

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