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
It was already passed 3 when Gray arrived in their unit. After a few struggles in opening the main door and that of Juvia's room he was finally able to lay down the woman on her bed.
He maneuvered to her feet and gently removed her shoes and socks, even giving her light massages before covering her with her blanket. When all was said and done, Gray couldn't walk his way to his own room.
It had been a rough week of dodging from the woman. And right now…it would probably be the only time he can be this near to her, without the pretenses and shows, just be with her… sincerely.
Gray found himself brushing a stray strand away from her face, wanting to see more of her – more of the Juvia he'd yet to see.
This woman… the woman that had been thinking and living life like it was nothing just because she couldn't become something.
The same woman who can become so much more and is becoming so, who can provide for her own and still does, who has her own strength and couldn't let herself indulge in the care of others even until now.
This Juvia who seemed so serene in her sleep, as if she wasn't carrying anything on her shoulders.
He couldn't help but sigh at the peaceful sight. How many nights has it been since he was this close to her? Gray caressed her cheeks with his still-bruised hands, the guilt of his deed and the pleasure of her smooth skin over his rough, sinful, calloused hands mixing in his chest.
Gray was too burrowed in the strange feeling that he wasn't aware of the half-awake woman until he saw deep dreamy orbs looking back at him before travelling to his hands.
Juvia had stirred and leaned to his touch, the warmth; a familiar feeling she had been craving for what felt like centuries. She found herself disappointed as the man hastily retrieved his hand from her face.
Did he want to let go of her so badly?
It had almost felt like her mere presence was suffocating him.
"Do you…have anything to say?" she hesitantly asked, slowly sitting up as her eyes never left his.
The bluenette saw how he opened his mouth to answer but later closing it and repeating the same actions. His uncertainty clouded her already murky judgment and yet she still couldn't say anything about it to him.
Even up to their very last moments, he still came first for her.
She couldn't take it. Juvia slipped away from the bed, away from him and walked out of the room. Juvia felt him follow her.
"Where are you going?"
"Water." She simply answered and made her way towards the cupboard. She heard the bustle of a chair as she fished herself a cup and went to the sink.
For how long were they going to be like this? Juvia tried to keep up with her senses, she had too much to drink – but not that it could numb her radar of the man.
She drank a cup, followed by another. But it couldn't wash away the impending pain, the endless torture. And she couldn't face him while she was in such a state.
Gray couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to wait until tomorrow to tell her; but the more he stalled, the more it felt like there wasn't going to be any tomorrow. "Juvia, I need to tell you something."
"I have things to do." He saw how Juvia wobbled through the counter and settled on the sink, placing the cup there but never facing him afterwards.
He frowned at this. What did she needed to do? At a time like this? It made him feel like –
"Are you hiding something from me?"
His thought-out question may have been some sort of switch as Juvia whirled to face him; her somber disposition changing into a flurry of emotions Gray couldn't read, but he shivered at the look she was giving him.
It was as if her eyes were screaming at the audacity of his query.
"You're the one who's hiding!"
Gray was up the moment her voice cracked and rushed towards her, closing the gap between them. "Juvia, calm down. I'm not hiding anything." he excused, but the woman was struggling from his embrace.
"Yes, you are!"
"I am not!"
If there was anything he was hiding, he had wanted to tell it to her for some time now, but it wasn't something that she should shed tears of or show him such a painful expression.
"When I asked you what's wrong with your hands, you didn't tell me!"
Oh.
He stiffened at her retort, she fired another as she slammed her hands on his chest. "And then there was that liquid concealer I found in your bag!"
"You went through my stuff?"
He stiffly growled. But it seemed the woman couldn't hold up her bottled frustrations as she kept on hitting him. "That's not the point! The point is, if you already have someone else, just say so!"
"I've been trying to!"
She stopped.
"What…?" she choked, slowly fisting his shirt.
He ran a hand through his hair as his hoarse voice echoed in her ears, feeling the tight grip from her fisted hands.
"I've been trying to tell you since a few days ago, Juvia. But shit just gets in the way whenever I tried out in public, but when it's just the two of us, you shut me off."
"You…want out?"
"Yeah. I'm tired of making you pretend for me."
Juvia felt the splash of cold water at his words.
He was letting go?
And he'd been trying to?
"Oh."
Oh shit. Gray cursed after realizing just how screwed up he sounded. "Juvia I –"
But Gray couldn't finish his words as she sealed his lips with hers. She wasn't going to hear any more of what he wanted to say.
She didn't need it.
She knew already.
It was stupid of her to believe they could be so much more.
The unresponsive and even repelling actions of the man only wrenched her gut. With every ounce of strength she could muster, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, deepening their kiss.
She wanted more, she really did. She didn't want to part yet, she didn't want to let go yet – no. She never wants to let go. The painful thoughts rushed through her and she poured it into that one kiss, hoping he'd reciprocate, like he did before.
Like how they were before.
But it was different now. He was just too strong, and she felt the last of her hopes fading away as Gray successfully pulled away and held her by the shoulders. "Juvia. We need to talk about this."
She weakly shook her head. "No."
"Juvia, please… Listen to me. Let me finish, please?"
Juvia bit her lip as those three distinctive words.
Let me finish.
She wanted to fight back, she wanted to stop him. But there he was again, looking at her as if his life depended on her every word. They were in this world, in this place, in this time…and she still found herself surrendering to him.
Only this time, she let the hot tears trickle down her cheeks.
Gray thought he could finally sigh in relief but the moment he looked back at her, she was trembling violently, her hands in tight fists as she held her sobs. "Shit. Juvia. Don't cry. You aren't supposed to cry!"
"Juvia…Juvia couldn't help it! Juvia thought it wouldn't be over! But Juvia…Juvia's going to be all alone again!"
No.
Fuck no.
Gray caged her back in his arms, feeling her immediately hold onto his back as he planted soft kisses at the top of her head, gently caressing her back.
He knew this Juvia.
He knew how wasted she was, but she'd never talk this way unless…unless she was in a place she couldn't handle on her own.
Unless she was scared.
Pained.
Suffering.
"Gray doesn't need Juvia anymore. Juvia will leave now."
Shit. He cursed realizing he'd screwed up.
Big time.
He needed to calm down and think carefully of his next words. One wrong move and Juvia would really break down further. He didn't want this.
He didn't want any of this.
Gray continued to caress the woman's back as he carefully tried to come up with the right words. Upon feeling the woman's sobs and trembles subsiding, he wanted to pick her up, so she need not stand but Juvia held on to him too tightly. "Juvia?"
The woman set her puffy eyes up to him, making Gray feel guiltier at his poor – no, ass conduct. He travelled his hands from the small of her back to her shoulders, gently rubbing circles on them.
The gesture later proved effective as she loosened her hold on him. And, just like how he asked her months ago, he gently held her hands, rubbing his thumbs reassuringly. Only this time, he closed his eyes as he took her held hands and started planting soft kisses on them.
Here was the woman who made him breakfast every morning.
The same woman who would scold him for his carelessness.
The very woman who went out of her way to tell the whole Earthland he was hers.
The only woman he'd feel…so much as right there and then.
Slowly, he eyed her – his orbs were asking and hopeful as he said,
"Either you be with me or I be with you… for real this time."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"I love you, Juvia. So, which will it be?"
Gray saw how her lost eyes slowly seemed to light back up, searching his eyes for validation. But the woman did not answer him.
Instead, she burrowed her face back on his chest. Only this time, Gray knew those sobs were the least aching.
Juvia did not know how long she cried in his arms nor how Gray was able to move them to his bed.
But who was she to even think about such things? When all this time she had been misreading everything?
She felt her cheeks sore at the unfaltering smile adorning her features as she snuggled back to the now topless man. Again, she felt there was no need to question how he did so as she enjoyed the soft, fast beats his heart made.
"For real, right?" she confirmed again, drawing circles on his chest.
The gesture elicited a groan before the man rested his chin back at the top of her head, he answered, nonetheless. "Yeah."
"Then… what was this about your hand?" she asked as she found herself reaching for the free arm since the other one was wrapped protectively around her. She could make out traces of a fight from the lighter bruises she was seeing.
When Gray wasn't answering, she looked up at him, frowning. The man looked away in embarrassment, his other hand still playing with her hair. "I kinda…uh, wanted to be your superhero or something."
Her superhero?
Juvia recalled past incidences. But there weren't any times she'd call out his name, only those of her sleepless nights and constant daydreams. Unless…
"You mean… Bora?"
"Mm."
Juvia felt another wave of something fluffy and light in her chest at the honest answer before looking back at his hands. It was her turn to plant soft kisses on the injured fist. He went through and got himself in trouble just to…
"And the concealer?"
Gray may have turned his head away but Juvia saw how his ears reddened at her question.
"Loke thought it'd be too noticeable if I went with arm wraps, so his girlfriend suggested concealing it with that liquid stuff."
It was stupid. Really stupid. But she found herself still asking, "For real?"
"Yep."
"Oh."
Oh. Yes, oh. Another mistake just because she was too scared to ask. It could've saved her a lot of dazed and painful moments should she had only been more honest.
She didn't know why she hid from him,
Closed her eyes from him,
Messed up and lie to him,
When all this time Gray had been giving his all so she could cry to him,
Always confide to him,
Be herself with him,
With him – her love, her everything.
"Mm."
She saw how he shifted his body towards her, wrapping her in his warmth as he placed his forehead against hers.
Juvia rose a hand as her fingers traced the contours of his face, from that mysterious scar to his uptight brows, then his dreamy eyes, down to his sinful lips.
She couldn't help looking back at how they went with their dance of deception – the morning teasing, the drunken singing, the coups and arguing. Juvia lightly scoffed.
Pretending?
Who were they kidding?
Her hopeless romantic self squealed at the thought of their not-so-deceitful charades. She dived back to his chest, savoring his warmth, he responded by pulling her closer to him. She stifled a giggle before looking up.
"Gray?"
"Mm?"
"I love you."
Juvia saw how he seemed to have frozen at her words, processing them as he gazed at her. She swallowed an imaginary lump at the penetrating look. Even if they've been finally honest with each other, she still felt like he was killing her with those eyes – with his everything, to be exact.
Gray flashed her a grin, as if knowing if he didn't move, she won't be able to live another day.
"Right back at you."
"For real?"
"Yeah."
Juvia couldn't believe it, but she had to. Now that everything was real, was as she had wanted it to be, who was she to stop from believing? The dreamy realization had somehow made her feel the need to enter its rightful realm. She closed her eyes, savoring the warmth of the everything she had in her arms.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
End of Act–
"So."
Juvia was already near the entrance to dream world when she felt Gray shift from the bed. "Mm?"
"When can we get married?"
"H-ha?!"
"What? Aren't we going to end up there? I don't think I can sleep on my own after this. You're pretty addicting."
"B-but we just started really dating just now!"
"Doesn't mean we can't get married right after."
"You haven't even proposed yet!"
"Oh."
"Hmp."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"If I do, will you marry me?"
"H-hey!"
"Will you?"
"Uh…" Juvia felt lightheaded at the sudden jolting she did, but she managed to take notice of the shift on the bed again; Gray had sat up and reached for his phone, dialing a number.
Who on earth would he call at this time?
"I'm phoning the jewelry shop –"
"G-GRAY!"
" – to pick up the pace."
"Are you serious right now?!"
"Since Day 1, now that I've thought about it– Oh, hello? Is this the manager?"
The shouting had taken a toll on her as the surge of the alcohol kicked in once more, making her collapse exasperatedly on the bed. Gray was quick to catch her with a hand, caging her back in his arms; while the other was still busy holding up the phone.
And within those moments, Gray kept killing her… and probably will in the days to pass.
Slowly.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Surely.
.
.
.
.
.
Softly.
–story. For real.
QED
And that's a wrap! Yeah. I wanted to post the last Act in one go. I'm sorry if it's not up to your taste, the ending, I mean.
Thank you all so much for everybody who went with me on this journey! I don't have the proper words right now to convey just how much every follow and favorite, and of course, review, I was able to receive. Do know that all of you are all precious to me!
Considering that it's my first time writing a GrUvia, I was really overwhelmed with the love and all. Thank you so, so, uber, super duper much!
Keep safe, everyone!
For the last time, 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