Synopsis: AU. They needed a girl that was pretty enough, smart enough, and immune enough to the 23-year-old hockey superstar's charms. Juvia was anything but the latter; the benefits alongside the offer, though, were too good to pass up, especially at her current predicament. So…pretending to be Gray Fullbuster's girlfriend wasn't that hard, right?

Proceed with caution.

Standard disclaimers are applied.

Act 6: Finale; Which is which

"Gah! Why do I have to be stuck with you guys?!"

"Sharing the same sentiments, Natsu." Loke sighed as he struggled with the list Mirajane left for them. Why was he having a hard time searching among the lines of canned milk while Jellal could fish out the ones on his list like he had some cheat?

He envied how Gajeel easily strolled through the isles while his astronomist for a grocery partner expertly fished out the items from their list.

"I wanna be with Lucy!"

"Well, you can but you'll have to dance your ass off while wearing tight pants and crop tops if what I heard them talk about was true."

"What?!"

What were these people fussing about that they had to do the very last thing they should be doing?

Fair Tail's annual founding celebration.

Or in their case, a week of partying their butt off courtesy of their scholarship sponsors – Fairy Tail Conglomerate. The festivity technically lasted three days, but Magnolia's yearly town festival was what immediately followed making it a week-long jubilee.

While his friends voiced their unending complains about the arrangement of work Mirajane had planned out, one certain hockey player was beyond out of anything – absentmindedly pushing the shopping cart as they walked through the isle.

It had been a month.

A month since he came back from Iceberg.

A month since he reunited with her.

A month since that one teasing he was now regretting.

While the magazine people he'd been dreading to avoid had enough material from all the semi -acts he and Juvia did – as they show Fiore all the hugging, and caressing and feathery kisses and other forms of PDA whenever the pretend couple can, they were not aware of the hostility once not a single camera was around; they weren't aware how little to none the contact was between the two of them; they weren't aware how she'd avoid him like a plague whenever they were alone.

And it made Gray very, very frustrated. The next season was still months away and Juvia's career had only started – he shouldn't be feeling this bitter at such sweet, anticipated moments and opportunities.

It had been a very tedious process for his brain to accept it, but after what happened to her during his absence, he finally had the answer – no, had accepted the answer. And just when he was planning on telling her, she had decided to avoid her like some epidemic.

"Ah~ I think I can go on my own now~"

Gray shook his head, exasperated as Juvia's voice rang through his head again. He had taken her to the rink, with the aim of telling her what he'd long discovered about him, and her…about both of them.

And, he thought the iced floor would be the most appropriate place to tell her.

So while he found it cute – yes, cute, the way she struggled as he put on the skates and assisted her wobbling legs through the ice, he reassured her he'd never let go.

It had meant much more than the literal sense. And just when he found himself telling her about it, she just had to say those words.

What did she mean she can go on her own?

Was it really just her skating her own way?

Or was it something else?

Was she able to find someone with the same wavelength as her – that can sing and make songs and perform that…that he's not needed anymore?

Crap. Where did all his confidence go?

When he did find himself recovering from her words back then, she just had to ask about his hands. There was no way in hell he could tell her. Well, not yet.

"What bothers me is how we're all roped together to do the shopping." Jellal said after placing the last item on their list on the shopping cart. "Did anybody do something to piss them off again?"

Ohh. Apparently, Jellal was pissed himself if he was using that language. Then again, he wasn't FT's scholar, so it was a mystery why he was part of the unexpected 'punished'group.

His question had hit several nerves as the guys flinched and stopped from their tracks.

"Natsu?"

"Woaw, Jellal, dude. Why's it always me?"

"That's coz you always piss off Bunny girl."

"I don't wanna hear it from the idiot that makes his cat walk ceilings and walls while yappin' about powers and responsibilities!"

"You're just jealous because your cat's a smurf."

"What was that?!"

"Cut it out, you two!" Loke frustratingly intervened as he separated the two hotshots.

As the pinkette was pushed to have a one-on-one talk with a lowkey pissed astronomist, Gray's co-cart pusher found himself reeling back beside him, his previous disposition set aside.

"So… another failure, huh?"

Gray sighed and nodded his head, leaning his arms on his cart. Gajeel eyed the man in his own distinctive, apologetic glance.

"I was this close..." he gestured with his fingers before hanging his head down low. "She just had to ask about my hands."

Gajeel's eyes landed on the obvious bruises on Gray's knuckles, the bigger man being aware where he got them…as well as all of his ex-teammate's failed attempt of confessions.

"Coulda at least told the woman it was you who beat the shit outta that asshole. She'd probably tone down with the dodging if ya did."

"Yeah but the old man went through shit with the cops just to save my ass."

"So telling her about visiting our folks in Oak's outta the table too?"

Gray just shrugged.

For the past month, he'd been trying to make it up to Juvia in his own way. The bluenette had been busy with Raijuu – being promoted and sent off allover Earthland while he also had his hands full with practices for next season.

But Juvia's level of engagement made Gray's that of a newbie.

Which meant that the man had much, much more time in his hands. Which also meant that he had nothing better to do. And when he had nothing better to do, he'd have all his thoughts focused on a certain bluenette. And because of everything that happened to her while he was gone, he found it frustrating yet again how he could not do anything during those times…and,

like Natsu before,

it was eating him alive.

He didn't want to be a man whose efforts spoke a higher tone than his actions. He promised to take care of her; so he had to do what needed to be done.

Even if it meant letting his demons consume him in the process.

"Those bashes ain't something easy to hide, even for Raindrop. How'd she not notice?"

Gray groaned lightly at the question and turned away, his cheeks reddening. "I–"

"Hah! I told you it wasn't me!" Natsu beamed proudly, startling all of them as he puffed his chest proudly. "I'm like super good with Luce."

Jellal sighed in defeat, even putting a hand on his aching temple. "Loke?"

"Doin' a fine job takin' care of Aries, bro. Not me."

"Me and Levy got nothin' to fight about."

"Then it's Icefreak right there!" Natsu pointed. "Dude! How can you still piss off Juvia when she ain't even always around?!"

Gray felt a vein pop in his head. He always wondered how in the world he knew this man.

Why was it him?

Why the fuck was it him when Fiore damn knows he's doing his best to not be part of this group?

Opening his mouth to bark back at the still-accusing Natsu, they heard another cart reel back to them. It was held by a certain eye doctor, his grocery partner walking back with him.

"Don't go blaming people blindly, Natsu." Reprimanded Bickslow with a bored look, making the others raise a brow. Did he know anything?

"But–"

"Enough."

Everybody flinched at the painfully familiar voice, a very expected reaction. What they did not expect was the sight of the owner that welcomed them: Laxus was looking away, grumbling as he placed a can on their cart. "It was me."

"…"

"Why I oughta –"

"Natsu! Stop it!"

"Lemme at 'im!"

"This is Laxus we're talking about!"

"Again!"

"It wasn't me this time!" a panting brunette's defense echoed through the halls as they retreated back to the first figure of their routine.

"S-sis… I, I can't go on. We've been at it for hours can we just take a break? Please?"

"Did I say we can?"

"No, but –"

"Did I?"

"No, Ma'am!" came their choruses as they stood perfectly straight from their positions.

A certain FBI agent wasn't going to tolerate her friend's spartan ways as she went towards the white-haired model. She placed a hand over her shoulder. "Mira."

"Erza."

The red-head sighed at the murderously snappy reply thinking about what in the world Laxus had done to this woman to drag all of them away from their peaceful lives to this…hell.

"Let them rest."

Sparkling, hopeful eyes began showing one by one as Erza's plea rang in their heads, shooting Mirajane the look.

But she only needed to squint her eyes to negate their hopes. "No."

"Mira, we'll just end up wearing out if you keep pushing them like this." Erza gestured to the other girls who found themselves on the floor as exhaustion hit them, sweating drums as they caught their breaths. "Whatever La– somebody did to you, it's not the best of ideas to pour your frustrations on your friends."

"You wouldn't understand because Jellal's always been careful." She spouted back, but Erza did not flinch and even rested both hands on her hips. The action only made the barmaid more annoyed.

"Let's not talk about them, okay?"

"But you started it!"

"Only because you started venting it out on everybody!"

The others found themselves on their feet and holding onto both girls. "Okay, I think we blew off some steam now. Let's not fight, alright?" Lucy awkwardly said as she patted Erza's shoulders while Cana and Levy held onto the red-haired.

"Lucy's right. Can you two just calm down a bit? Sis? Erza?" Lisanna seconded as Juvia helped her keep the older white-haired from where she stood.

A moment of silence passed with nobody wanting to break it. And while it was an opportunity for most of them to take a breather, the air was too thick to give them a chance.

Just a few hours ago, each of the six girls found themselves dragged off by a certain white-haired barmaid; the abduction was fast; phoning them to get ready in their sweats and dragging them via the bar/café's van then later dropping them off to a studio.

Juvia, who had been busy contemplating what happened yesterday between her and Gray at the ice rink and later that night finding something…off in the man's belongings, wasn't liking the turn of events. If anything, it was weighing on her even more.

"They're stupid, aren't they?" she absentmindedly murmured, making the others turn their heads to her. She immediately slapped a hand on her mouth as she tried coming up with excuses or clarifications or anything that could make them stop gawking at her.

"W-well, I mean –"

"Exactly!"

Everybody turned towards the voice, seeing a frustrated and tearing Mirajane.

The others took it as a green light and huddled towards her, even Erza whom she'd clashed heads with just a few moments ago.

Mira, too touched by the gesture, teared up and sat on the floor. "Stupid Laxus!"

Juvia watched as the scene unfold. A few moments later, they found themselves sitting in a circle, Mirajane finally opening up the reason for their…abduction.

Lucy was careful with her words as she huddled herself nearer in the circle they've formed.

"So you mean… he told you… you were too…old for this?"

She really did try to be careful but there was no other way to put it nicely.

Mirajane only nodded as she sniffled.

"And what does that make me? We're the same age!" An infuriated Erza exclaimed, wanting to stand up from her seat only to be pulled back by Cana.

The Demon and the Thunder God's warring state was enough of a mess already, adding the Titania in the story would just bring about everybody's demise.

"Sis, maybe he just wanted to say something but couldn't find the…right words?"

This was Laxus they were talking about – regardless of his, well, choice of wording, he'd never say something to offend his wife. Right?

"But his words were very, I don't know, Lis… very way out of the spectrum of rightness if you ask me." Levy argued in Mira's defense.

"I guess you're right on that."

"Wow, Lisanna yielded. I always thought you knew how guys' minds worked. You know, being cupid's lackey and all."

Lisanna eyed the brunette. "I'm no psychiatrist, Cana. I'm a vet." She obviously stated.

"And what makes it any different in this situation?"

"…"

The supposed air of tension immediately dissipated at the glitter of words Cana beamed as their laughter echoed through the studio. Ah. And they said girls were nice.

"Very savage." Lucy commented in between her chuckles, still holding her stomach.

Even Lisanna found herself agreeing as she rolled from one side to another, "Point taken."

"What? Don't tell me you guys don't notice it? Even I can't tell the difference between Groh and a Doberman! Levy?" Cana knew she was going too far but Bacchus was out of earshot and they needed to chill, especially if they want to pull this stunt off; it was for their Fairy Tail, after all.

Levy was quick to catch up to what the archeologist was up to as she shyly thought up an embarrassing story, praying that her boyfriend wouldn't find out.

"Uh… well, Gajeel really likes talking to Lily. And he always refers to people like they're some sort of animal, I guess."

"Natsu always imagined his dad was this really big red dragon which means he thinks he's a dragon at some point, so I can't say I disagree. What about your animal, Erza?"

Erza fidgeted "He…likes cuddling." She awkwardly answered, hoping it'd be someone else's turn because there was in no way she'd tell these girls how the man cleans her cheeks of the extra shortcake creams.

Mirajane pursed her lips before huffing, "Then Laxus would be Pikachu!"

Pfft. "HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Mira!"

"Sis! Oh my god!"

"What about you, Juvia? What animal do you have?"

Cana jeered, feeling the need to as she saw the bluenette spacing out. She argued that it was probably because of the sudden change of flow in her life, being famous and all. So if there was anybody needing a good laugh right now, other than Mira, it was this woman.

"Um… Well…" Juvia faltered. She couldn't think straight.

They just had to ask her about Gray; the Gray that had been messing up her mind and heart and soul for Fiore knows how long.

The same Gray that had something he shouldn't have. "I don't think Gray's an animal." She finally said, hoping they'll let it slide.

But they didn't.

"Aww Jubilee!"

"No fair, Juvi!"

"Come on, Juvia he's gotta be something!"

Juvia was huffing at the pushing her friends were giving her and she couldn't help the fidgeting as she thought of anything.

"Uh…."

Any animal, Juvia! Come on. She pressed her head to think harder until…

"A baboon maybe?"

"…"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Gray as a baboon! Ha! Hilarious!" Cana shouted, slapping Juvia by her back, much to the latter's demise.

Everybody else was rolling on the floor, thinking that it was probably because of the stripping habit that Juvia associated the man with one of man's nearest link.

Everybody, except Erza, of course. She was thinking…why? "But why?" she thought out loud.

"Because they look like they wear makeup."

.

.

.

.

.

What?

That was so not funny. Even if it was, it just sounded…off when Juvia blurted it out.

The girls got up from their previous positions as they charged towards the bluenette.

"Gray wears make-up?" Lucy beat them to it.

Juvia gulped. Was she going to tell them about it? It had been plaguing her mind even if she didn't want to think about it. While she wanted to think that it was possible for the opposite sex to use what they use…she just couldn't see where in the world Gray would use something like that.

It made her think it wasn't his to begin with.

It made her think that… what if it belonged to a woman? His woman? The replacement and trigger for the termination of their agreement?

A new wave of panic rushed through her. Ok, not jumping to conclusions. She told herself as she looked up to see concerned faces. Her discomfort probably gave her away. Sighing, she stood up from where she sat, earning questions from the others.

Juvia went to her bag and rummaged through the things. When she found what she was looking for, she went back and sat back down to her spot, later placing the item in front of everybody.

"I kind-of saw this on his bag when I was cleaning up after him last night." She explained.

The others turned to look at the object, blinking a few times as if they weren't believing what they were seeing. "I-it's not that I'm implying anything but –"

"What the fuck, Gray?!"

"Oh dear, I can't let Gajeel know about this but…"

"Or Natsu…"

"Nobody's letting anybody else know about this. Let me handle it."

"E-Erza, no! And don't curse him, Cana! And both of your boyfriends aren't going to gang up on him!" Juvia was up and stopping them, full force. She didn't know why but the thought of Gray getting in trouble because of her didn't sit well with her.

Gray getting in trouble in general wasn't something she was okay to begin with. Even if it meant confrontation for his alleged…affair.

"But, Juvia… why on earth would Gray have something like this? We should at least ask him about it."

If it were that easy for Juvia, she would have. She would have asked. She would have confronted him. But who was she to do all of that? Who was she to enter his personal life? Who was she to him?

She was nothing but a fake.

Lisanna pressed further, holding her hands in hers, "We thought you guys were getting there, you know. You can't blame us for worrying like this."

Juvia bit her lip in her flurry of emotions, making the others' turn sour even further.

Mirajane, who was still recovering from her husband's tactlessness, stood up from her seat; the others instantly turning towards her.

"Nobody's charging on anybody, ladies. Savor the frustration your men have given you. We're taking our revenge somewhere else."

End of Part 2

Keep safe, everyone! Let me continue hearing your thoughts!

So Mashima said it's fun reading what fans say about his work and I think every author's like that, too. You don't know how much your reviews mean to us. It really keeps the fire burning! So don't hesitate on letting us know if you're still there, our avid GrUvia shippers! Much love.

-nakneknik