Juvia was a bit impulsive. Alright she was a lot impulsive. She had the habit of saying what was on her mind and sometimes that wasn't a good thing. She also tended to overthink situations and jump quickly into conclusions. Those two combined resulted in embarrassing situations for Juvia that she would prefer not to think about.
"Please, would you be Juvia's coach?"
That was a pretty good example.
Why did she have to say that? Just why?! She didn't even want an ice skating coach it was only a hobby. Gray-sama would think she's such a weird person! She had to fix that immediately.
"Your… coach?" The poor man seemed really confused.
No, that's not it! "Yes!" Damn it Juvia!
Why is she continuing it? The only thing she had to do was apologize, explain that didn't mean to say that and everything will be fine. Then she could go home and drown in self-pity for the rest of the day. It was that simple.
Gray run his hand through his hair possibly even more confused about the whole situation. "Look… Juvia right? I don't know where this came from but I have to refuse. I don't even know you, I can't start coaching you out of the blue! You should go find someone else."
"Juvia doesn't want anyone else!"
That was partially true. Juvia only wanted someone to teach her how to properly skate. The idea of Gray Fullbuster teaching her skating was actually quite appealing… NO. She couldn't think like that, this is a terrible idea. She knew that yet the words were flying out of her mouth.
"I'm still a competitive skater just because I have to take a break doesn't mean I'll retire. I can't start coaching let alone for a complete stranger I need to focus on my own career!"
"Then only until you start skating again."
"Excuse me?"
"Coach Juvia until you start competing again."
"What? No!"
"But Juvia can…"
"NO! No way, this stops now! I don't have time to play around and coach you I have better things to do. If you want to get a coach that much find someone else. I can't do this and that's my final answer." Gray's voice was getting louder with every word.
Juvia's eyes widened. Now she'd done it. She had actually managed to make him mad with her ridiculous demands. The man must be really fed up with her. She felt her eyes sting a little. No, not again! Did she have to be so sensitive every time someone raised their voice? Now Gray would think she's a crybaby too!
"Juvia is sorry." She managed to let out, her voice trembling "Juvia didn't mean to be so rude, she'll leave you alone now. Juvia is sorry for disturbing your practice." She turned around and hastily headed to the edge of the ice rink.
"Ah, wait a second!" Juvia didn't stop to look back. If she stayed any longer she might really start crying from all the tension.
She then hurriedly took off her skates and rushed out of the skating area. That was enough embarrassment for one day she didn't need more. That wasn't how she imagined their first meeting at all! She just had to ruin everything with her stupid mouth.
Juvia ran all the way to the reception where she found the white haired woman from before reading a magazine.
The receptionist looked up hearing Juvia's footsteps. "Oh, hello again. Is there a problem I can help you with?" She said with the everlasting smile.
"No, no everything is great! Juvia just wanted to return the skates."
The woman raised her eyebrows "You're finished already? But you just came in, is there something wrong?"
"No, just… something came up so Juvia has to leave. So… yeah." She finished awkwardly. She was never good at coming up with excuses.
"Alright then, you can leave them on the counter. I hope you enjoyed your visit, you can comeback whenever you want."
"Juvia will keep that in mind. Have a nice day!"
"Thank you, you too!"
Juvia walked fast reaching the exit door in a few seconds. She wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible and dive right into the comfort and warmth of her blankets. There she could drink a good cup of hot chocolate and forget that day ever happened. Yes that sounded like a good plan.
Why, just why did she have to go say that? Hello, you've never seen me before but could you be my coach? Yeah that's a completely natural thing to say! Stupid.
Well… it wasn't like Juvia hadn't thought about taking skating lessons before. She did enjoy ice skating considerably more than swimming. However since giving up her swimming career wasn't an option at the moment, and she could neither take up both of them at once, she gave up on the idea.
That didn't mean she couldn't fantasize about her and Gray skating together with romantic music on the background, staring into each other's eyes. Like that could ever happen.
Maybe you didn't try hard enough. Maybe you could make your dream come true.
No, she couldn't afford to think like that.
Maybe you can be friends. You can try again.
If she started to believe that…
Just one more time.
Juvia looked at the Fairy Tail building which she wanted to get away from.
She may really go back.
/ - / - / - / - / - /
Gray stared at the marked surface of the ice in defeat. He couldn't get the sit spin right no matter how much he tried. It was all the blue haired girl's fault! After she interrupted his practice… well… it wasn't like he could do the spin before she came in, alhough that particular incident didn't help the situation.
The skater ruffled his hair in frustration. Who barges into someone else's practice and tells them to be their coach? Why did all the weird stuff always happen to him? Was he a disaster magnet or something?
And now he felt guilty about snapping on the poor girl. Her request was a bit unreasonable but Gray should have kept his calm, he recognizes his mistake. He could have just talked her out of this and make her understand why he wasn't able to do it. But he didn't.
In his defense he was tired from his practice and on top of that he was frustrated at himself for failing a number of times to do a basic sit spin. That girl, Juvia, had just come at the wrong time.
Gray had realized he was coming off as harsh and cold but before he had the chance to apologize the girl had fled off the room. He could swear he saw her eyes glistening before she left. That's perfect, now he could add making a girl cry to his daily achievements. What a gentleman.
If Natsu ever found out about this he would make fun of him for weeks. If Erza found out… he didn't want to think about that. The redhead was a good friend of his but she did tend to have a strong sense of justice. He didn't want to know how she would react to Gray making a girl cry. It wouldn't end up nice for him, that's for sure.
How did he manage to get himself into that situation again? Right… it was something about being a disaster magnet. He promised himself he would apologize if he ever sees her again. That would make a very awkward conversation.
Gray was now glaring at the ice like it was responsible for all of his problems. He figured it was time to stop that day's practice. It wasn't like he was making any progress. A break would be good for him. He will think things logically and he could get this whole situation out of his mind.
The black haired man reluctantly glided to the edge of the rink and pulled off his skates. He proceeded to put them in his backpack and walk slowly towards the exit door locking it on the process. He then turned to the reception area to drop the keys off to Mira.
As he was walking there's still a bit lot in his thoughts when he spotted a familiar blue from the corner of his eye. Gray froze on the spot and turned around to take a better look. And yes it was her. The object of his thoughts for the past 20 minutes.
The woman thankfully hadn't noticed him yet. She appeared to be… staring at the ground, 5 meters from the front door, with her brows furrowed like she was thinking. He observed her for a few seconds when she suddenly looked up.
Gray flinched, his mind immediately starting to think of things he could say to the girl when she noticed him. Then he realized he had been was standing behind a pillar so he was safe for the moment. But why did he have to hide again? He hadn't done anything wrong, she was the one who barged into the middle of his training. And he had yelled at her… which he was feeling very bad about. He didn't think he would meet her again that soon, he wasn't mentally prepared!
The figure skater curious of what the girl was doing hesitantly moved his head to take a better look at her. Juvia with a determined look was now towards the Fairy Tail building. Gray prepared himself; it was time to talk things out. However just before she reached the doors she sharply turned around on her heels and stared walking to the opposite direction. Not having walked 3 meters she changed her mind and headed to the front doors again only to pace back and forth the road as if she hadn't decided where she wanted to go.
After some time Gray carefully moved from his observation spot and walked to the reception desk where Mira had been watching the situation unfold.
"Has she been there for a long time?" He asked not bothering to clarify who he was referring to.
"Oh yes! She's been doing that for the last 10 minutes." She seemed amused by the whole situation. "Do you know her?"
"No. Yes. Maybe."
"Ohh interesting! Did she come here just to see you? She did leave pretty early…"
"What? Why would she…No! Whatever you're imagining let me stop you right there!"
"So why is it that you were hiding behind a pillar?"
Gray cursed inwardly. She saw that. "I wasn't hiding!" This was so embarrassing. "That was just a… very…umm…interesting pillar! Have you noticed the architecture of this place? It's pretty amazing!" He mentally slapped himself. Was that the best thing he had to say?
"Yes I have noticed. I'm glad you're appreciating the building." And now she was mocking him. Great!
"Now do you want to tell me what's going on?" Mira smiled innocently. That wasn't really a question.
Gray ruffled his hair in frustration "Nothing happened. She just accidentally saw me practicing and came into the rink. That's it."
He glanced at the girl in question who was now sitting on the front stairs hunched over. It seemed like she decided to wait.
"So… are you gonna go talk to her?"
The skater snapped out of his daze. "Why should I?" Because you were a jerk to her.
"Well, it looks like she's been waiting for someone and I'm almost certain that someone is you. My instinct never betrays me!" She exclaimed proudly.
"Should I remind you when your instinct told you I had a crush on Erza?"
"That was one time." Mira waved him off. "Besides, why are you so scared to go talk to her anyway?"
"I'm not scared! I just… last time I saw her I may or may not have been a jerk to her." He mumbled
"That partly explains the hiding. I knew there was something going on! Is that why she looked so miserable when she came out?"
"She was miserable?" Gray was slightly panicking. Could the situation be worse than he imagined?
"She did seem like she wanted to get out us soon as possible, I didn't expect her to come back. Wait… did she confess to you?" the receptionist gasped. "Did you reject her, is that why you're so awkward?"
"Mira no! Well, I did reject her but not in the way you're thinking. Please don't jump into conclusions by yourself." Gray knew his friend had an overflowing imagination and was keen to make up ridiculous scenarios.
"Fine, don't tell me! You should really go talk to her though. I still don't know what happened but if you thought you were being rude you should go apologize."
Gray sighed in defeat "I know, I know! It's just that the situation is really bizarre and I don't know how to handle it."
"You won't know if you won't try." Mira softly pushed him to the exit. "Come on now, you can do it!"
"Alright, I can go by myself." He complained
"Good luck!"
Gray slowly approached the automatic doors which opened soundlessly not alarming the girl sitting down the stairs. He could do this. He just had to go explain the situation politely and apologize without making it worse. That was easy.
Once he stood behind her he cleared his throat to announce himself. Juvia surprised she turned around and she visibly stiffened.
"Gray-sama!"
Gray awkwardly raised his hand to greet her. "Hey."
They stared at each other silently for a few seconds Gray's hand still half raised. Realizing his position he swiftly put his hand in his pocket.
"Yeah, so…" He started again. "Sorry for earlier. I didn't mean to sound so rude to you. I was just having a bad day overall and I was very tired."
Juvia waved her hands around shaking her head "No, Gray-sama shouldn't apologize! Juvia's the one who made that unreasonable request! She shouldn't have interrupted your practice anyway."
"About that, I really can't coach you after all. I'm not the right person for the job and I'm pretty sure I will be terrible at it. It's a big responsibility."
"Juvia understands, she didn't mean to be so demanding. Juvia admires Gray-sama a lot and she was extremely happy to be able to meet him. Juvia should get going now…"
Gray didn't feel satisfied from their conversation. He couldn't let her leave like that. "Wait a moment! I can't be your coach but if you're interested in figure skating Fairy Tail can help you with that. You can go ask Mira for more information. Oh, Mira's the receptionist, she's really sweet she can help you with anything you need."
Juvia shook her head "Thank you for thinking of Juvia but she doesn't think she can go to professional figure skating. She didn't mean to ask Gray-sama to be her coach, it just slip of her tongue. Juvia is more interested in skating lessons."
"The rink offers lessons too! I can help you with that. Ah, if you want to of course." He corrected himself. "You can come to the rink sometime and I'll see what I can do."
"So you will help Juvia?" She asked hopefully
"Sure, I don't see why not. It wouldn't be much trouble, that's what the rink is for."
The woman broke to an ear splitting grin. "Juvia is very grateful! She will visit again tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow?"
"Is it a bad time?"
"No, I'll probably be in the rink the whole afternoon."
"Juvia will see you tomorrow then! Juvia is very excited for her first lesson!"
"Yeah see you later." He waved at her and turned back to the building.
That went surprisingly well! Juvia wasn't so bad after all. She seemed very happy at the end and Gray had managed to explain the situation properly. He felt proud of himself. He would talk to Cana later to put her into a skating class and everything will be sorted out.
"So… How did it go?" asked Mira excitedly once she saw Gray approaching.
"It was fine. I think I handled it pretty well."
"Did you apologize properly?"
"Of course I did! What am I, a child?"
"Hmm, sometimes I wonder."
"Mira!"
"Yeah, yeah I know. So what happened? She looked pretty happy at the end."
"Nothing much, she just said that she wanted skating lessons so I… Oh no" Realization hit him.
"What is it?"
"No, no, no, no, this can't be happening! Stupid!" He continued by hitting himself in the forehead.
"Gray you're not making any sense. Tell me so I can help you."
The skater turned to look at her with a horrified expression. "I think I offered her skating lessons."
Mira couldn't contain a snort of amusement. "That's it? Well good for you, you get to socialize a little."
"That's not the point! And I socialize just fine."
"Oh yeah? That's why in the past weeks you've closed in to yourself? I think this will be good for you."
"I'm pretty sure it won't be. First of all I just met her today, and secondly I have no idea how to teach someone."
"You won't know unless you try it. Besides are you sure you promised her lessons?"
"Well I…" Maybe he had panicked for nothing. "I'm not sure."
"Look, if she really meant you will teach her you can just give her one lesson. It will be good for you too to go over the basics and teaching them to someone else will make you understand it better. If you really don't want to you'll politely decline." She explained.
"I'm not sure if I want to…"
"It's your decision. Do whatever you think is best for you." Mira smiled brightly.
"Thanks. I think I'll get going now."
"I'll see you tomorrow. It's time for me to close the rink too."
Gray secured his backpack on his shoulder and exited the building. Tomorrow he would have to deal his problems, for now he just wanted to go home and get a good amount of sleep.
/ - / - / - / - / - /
Hey guys, we hope you enjoyed the new chapter! We look forward to reading your thoughts about it! Again, thank you for all the faves, follows and reviews!
We have been focusing on finishing the first gruvia part of the story so Lucy hasn't got the chance to appear yet. However you can expect a lot of nalu next chapter now that the gruvia introduction is finished! From then on the chapters will be divided more equally between the 2 pairings.
On another note, the chapter was a little late because Ruby and I had been working on a nalu one-shot for the nalu fluff week called "Falling to Pieces". You can go check it out if you want, we're really happy with how it turned out!
See you next chapter!