Look who is on time this week. Things are progressing slowly, which is not my usual style, so stick with me to see where it's all going.

Gray

I heard the security system chime alerting me that someone had opened the gate and my stomach did a flip. She came, and I was more than ready to see where things were going to go. To be honest, I had trouble getting my mind off of her since Saturday, work today had been damn near impossible to focus on. It didn't help that Minerva was pissed beyond belief that I was leaving the show. She had made my day hell and that was a big part of the reason I invited Juvia back over, I just wanted to be around someone that understood me and even though I barely knew her I felt like she fit into that category.

The knock at the door was enough to pull me out of my thoughts, I quickly opened the door to see Juvia looking drop dead gorgeous. "Your hair..."

She touched her waves, "oh, right, they changed it at work today. They've been on me for a while to make the change and I finally gave in. Does it look okay?"

"You look amazing. You looked great before, but this change...is good." Damn my throat was dry, I swallowed hard. On top of the new hair she was wearing a short denim mini skirt and a bright yellow top, she looked fantastic. "I feel underdressed," I looked down at my athletic pants and tshirt.

"I told you I came straight from work," she sounded nervous, "we shot new promos today and I didn't change before I left."

"You look..." I couldn't put it into words, "wow."

A deep crimson spread across her cheeks, "really?"

"Really." I nodded, "Want to hang out in the arcade again? We could watch a movie or something too."

"I think that sounds amazing," her smile was beautiful.

"Great, I ordered some take out, hope you like pizza." I probably should have waited to make sure she liked it.

"That sounds good,"

"Great," I started walking toward the arcade, turning around to make sure she was following, "let's go."

Once upstairs she took a seat on the leather sectional and I sat beside her, "how was your day?" small talk killed me but here I was trying to get her to open up to me like she had before. I didn't miss the flash of sadness on her face before she plastered on a fake smile.

"It was good."

"Hey," my hand moved to hers without me even thinking about it. "don't do that, you don't have to lie to me."

Her smile crumbled, "We shot promos today and let's just say mine took a few too many shots to get it right. Hell, I can't even say I got it right, it was finally good enough and I was told to leave."

"Shit, I'm sorry," I gave her hand a gently squeeze. "My day wasn't the best either, there's a lot of animosity on set about me leaving the show, we still have to shoot the end of the series and things are really tense."

Her expression was strange, there was a hesitation in her voice as she spoke, "Listen, you don't have to tell me anything about your life, I know what I do for a living, and I want you to know that I won't ever share your life without your permission."

"What?" I hadn't even considered her as a threat to my privacy, and I hated that she immediately jumped to that conclusion. "I'm not worried about that. Plus, I didn't tell you anything that wouldn't be common knowledge. I trust you. I doubt you went into work and told everyone we were together this weekend. I actually saw the show today and the only mention of me was about Saturday and no one knew the mystery girl was you."

"You saw the show?" she cringed, "you don't have to watch it or anything. I know it's really awful."

"I wanted to see what it was all about, it's not that bad. But I noticed you weren't on air today." It was true that it wasn't the best thing on television, but the show served a purpose. Even if that purpose was to delve into my personal life sometimes.

"Oh, Mira and I usually do the evening show, we shoot during the afternoon and do the live show at six, then it repeats at nine. Mondays are special though, there is the post weekend wrap up and Sting and Rogue do that along with the weekends. I'll be on the show tomorrow."

"So, I will have to watch tomorrow then," I offered, "at six."

She blushed, "you really don't have to do that. Gossip news, or sorry, entertainment news is not for everyone. I am only doing this until I can get on at a real network."

"That's admirable, you're putting in the time and effort to make a name for yourself. I completely understand. I did television until I finally got an offer for a movie, and it still seems unreal sometimes." I hadn't had to put in all that much time at the show before I got the call for Hunting Season, but that was beside the point, I knew where she was coming from.

She looked cute chewing on her bottom lip as she thought, "Can we make a pact? Anything that happens between us stays between us. I promise you that nothing will end up on the show."

"I can agree to that, but I feel like that's all on you, what do you want from me?" it couldn't be that simple and judging by the look on her face the wheels were still turning in her mind.

"Keep our...relationship, whatever it may be, out of the public eye," she sounded worried, "I don't want to have to report on myself or have my boss press me for details. I like you, and I don't want to be turned against you just because they think I can get them information."

"That's fair," I completely understood where she was coming from, being in the spotlight was not for everyone and he definitely didn't want anyone harassing her thinking they would get close to him. "so I noticed that you hesitated when you talked about our relationship..."

If I thought she was blushing before I was shown just how red she could get, she was crimson and her eyes were wide, "I didn't mean to say that we are in a relationship, I just meant that whatever it is and whatever it may be...well that nothing changed either way...I just wanted to..."

"You're fine," she was cute when she is flustered, "We're friends, but it's not like I hadn't thought of the possibility of something more. It's been a while since I met someone that wasn't interested in getting part of my spotlight. You have your own celebrity status, so you don't need mine."

"I'm not really a celebrity," she defended, "I'm more of a D-list pseudo celebrity."

"But people know who you are, you don't have to be a movie star Juvia. So what would happen if I were to suggest that tonight be a date? Low key, just us, no cameras or paparazzi." I was taking a shot and hoping she was on the same page as me.

She wound the ends of her hair around her fingers nervously, "I'd say that sounds like a good idea."

"Good," I couldn't help but smile, "then let's eat this pizza and watch a movie, then maybe I will attempt to beat you at another game. It's the perfect night."

"The perfect date," she grinned.

"Exactly."