It was one dance that lasted a lifetime, at least, that's what Laxus thought. As much as he tried keeping his composure, the gawking from others bothered him. Ignoring it proved difficult. He wanted Juvia to get in a full song so she could stop pestering him, but it was hard.

He could see them, he could hear them, he could smell them.

So hard.

When the song stopped, both partners did the same.

"You're a great dancer, Laxus!" Juvia exclaimed. The last thing she expected him was for him to be a decent dancer. No, not at all.

There was a bright red that threatened to take over Laxus' face. Luckily for him, the lights were dimmed enough for him to blush without her noticing. He responded in a bland tone, "Thanks." And that was that.

Juvia shook her head. He always tried to be is stoic, even with an innocent compliment. Just like Gray.

Laxus squinted when he saw the corners of her mouth curved upwards. "What're you smiling at?"

Juvia clasped her mouth with her hands, stifling a laugh, "O-Oh, nothing!" Amusement danced in her voice. He was too adorable.

"Sometimes you surprise me," Juvia eased herself onto her couch. Kicking off her slippers, she took a sip from the tea between her palms while tucking her feet underneath.

Laxus took a sip of his, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Tonight. You really surprised me. I mean, dancing with me. And staying the whole night? I'm more than surprised."

He smirked, "Heh. If that surprised you, I won't even bother asking what you probably thought of me in the first place."

Juvia placed her cup onto the coffee table. She looked up at him, tilting her head to the side in amusement, "You know what I mean."

"I mean, I'm not the most...sociable person."

"That would be an understatement." She teased.

"Clearly you had a great time since you're in the mood to tease." His smirk never left his face.

Everyone was talking about it. The infamous Laxus Dreyar dancing. Indeed a strange sight to see. The only person that wasn't paying attention to Laxus was Gray; he was looking at Juvia. She was laughing and smiling and glowing.

Having a genuinely good time.

And he was happy for her. But one thing bothered him: since when did Laxus dance? Was he ever the dancing type? It gave him a headache watching.

Plotting his entrance, once he saw an opening, he made his way towards the duo. He noticed Juvia's laughing behind her hands. She looked cute.

Facing her-and only her-he offered his hand, "Would you like to dance, Juvia?" She couldn't believe it. Gray was asking her to dance? And he was being serious about it too? She found herself blushing. The man was full of surprises tonight.

Laxus was looking at the both them: Gray to Juvia, Juvia to Gray, and then back to Juvia. It wasn't as dark as before so he could see her blush.

He was witnessing her transformation into putty.

And he didn't like it. At all.

He knew what the other man was up to. It was obvious. Gray was jealous and Laxus was over it.

At first, he was against it. But when he looked over at Juvia, she was still in shock that Gray even acknowledged her. So he did what he thought was best: he acquiesced. He'd grant her this wish once.

"Go." His voice was restrained.

"What?" She looked at him as if he said something remarkable.

Laxus put his arm around her to level himself, "I said, go. it's what you wanted, right?"

Juvia looked over at him, almost jumping on him. She encroached him with her tiny frame, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Laxus smirked a little, "Go on, loser. He's waiting."

Observing the entire exchange, Gray's irritation worsened. Again. Far worse than what he felt earlier. But he held himself back. He didn't need any problems with Laxus, not yet anyway. Both men acknowledged each other with a simple "Hm." Juvia didn't seem to notice the tensions rising between the two.

"You're right. I did have a good time. And it was all thanks to you." Juvia gave him an appreciative smile.

"Nah, I think it's because of you. I barely did anything. You were having the time of your life."

"Oh, don't be modest, Laxus! If you hadn't taken me under your wing, I would've never danced with Gray!" Her eyes looked as if she were reminiscing.

"Oh, believe me, that was all you. Not me."

Looking to change the subject, Laxus spotted a foreign object on Juvia's table. The more he focused on it, the more he noticed the foreign object: a framed picture of a kiddie Juvia. Tiny with pigtails that touched the end of her chin, she clung to a disheveled teddy bear. She's always been quite the cutie, eh? Taking notice of the direction of his eyes, Juvia looked at the object of his attention and smiled.

"I was six here."

Laxus looked up. Her face seemed wistful. "I've never seen this picture before," he said.

It was true. Her table held tons of photo albums and scrapbooks, but never any personal pictures. It was his first time seeing it.

"I just found it the other day so I decided, why not frame it?" She shrugged to signal nonchalance but her quiet voice revealed a lot to him. It must have meant something to her.

"You know, I've never seen a picture of you before you joined Fairy Tail." He eased himself further into the couch.

"That's because I don't really talk about it."

"Why not?"

Her eyes were downcast. He could tell that it was something she still wasn't comfortable speaking about. He cleared his throat, "Nevermind."

"No." She looked up at him, "It's okay. Really, it's okay. I just don't talk about it much because no one ever asks." She tried to be cheerful. He looked at her, studying her many facial expressions as she attempts to find the words.

She finally speaks up. "I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents." Laxus nodded, letting her have her sort out her words.

"My parents died when I was a baby. It was an accident, at least that's what they told me. No one ever explained it further. I lived with my uncle until I was six years old. That picture was my first day at the orphanage. My uncle grew too sick to care for me, so a local orphanage took me in."

"Oh," Laxus responded. The room grew solemn. "You know, I'm somewhat of an orphan too. At least somewhat. My mother died when I was born. And my father-well, you probably know about him already."

Her eyebrow raised, "That he left Fairy Tail?"

Laxus looked at her. He could tell that she knew more, but she chose not to say. She always spared other people's feelings. It was her nature.

"That he forced me to swallow a lacrima to give me dragon-slaying powers and then left after he rendered me useless to his purpose." His unflinching honesty shocked her. She knew him to be blunt, but never this blunt, especially not about his life.

Before she could ask him what she meant, he continued, "The old man raised me from birth. My deadbeat barely paid attention to me until he wanted something."

Juvia felt empowered to talk. "Phantom Lord raised me. Master Jose found me while I was playing alone at a park. I didn't really have any friends so I created water clones that kept me company." She was softer, more vulnerable than he ever saw her.

"I know you hated Phantom Lord, but they were good to me. At the orphanage, I was alone. I was ostracized for being...different. I couldn't control my magic. I couldn't control my rain. And the kids never played with me. It was Master Jose that took notice of me, of my strengths. He didn't look at my magic as something of a curse, but a blessing."

Laxus could relate. Before the current generation, Fairy Tail was full of older mages. He didn't really have anyone to talk to, to play with. It was mostly him until Gildarts would come from one of his long missions. His grandfather became a surrogate father to every child that walked into the guild, but him.

"When I moved to Phantom Lord, I became surrounded by people that were like me. Orphans with magical powers like mine. And I made my first friend there: Gajeel." Laxus just looked at her. He couldn't imagine that Gajeel could even make a friendly companion to a young Juvia.

Laxus scoffed in amusement, "That loser, eh? I guess I understand. The old man took in everything and everyone. Showed them more attention than I ever got."

"Is that why you used to act all superior against the other members?"

He raised his eyebrow and chuckled, "I guess so. It was stupid though."

"You know, I don't blame you for wanting your guild to have a good reputation."

"I assume it was like that at Phantom Lord?"

Juvia nods, "Yeah. Phantom Lord was all about strength. But I felt like I had a place where I belonged, for the first time. To become a member, I had to fight Gajeel. He won, but in the end, I won a lot of respect from the members. They said I showed great promise."

Juvia inched closer to him, taking hold of his hand. "I never once hated you for the Magnolia festival thing. Not once. In fact, I did the same thing before you." She said with a knowing look. Laxus smiled.

"I hated you. But Gajeel more."

"For destroying the guild?" She asked.

"Mm." He nodded.

"I can understand that. But, you know, Gajeel isn't so bad."

"Really?"

"Yeah! He used to give me tips when we trained together. And we liked similar music. Don't let that metal head disguise fool you. He's really a sweetheart. I think you two would get along."

"Eh." Was all he could say. He felt annoyed hearing her praise him.

"But I'm glad that I'm here at Fairy Tail. It's a lot less gloomy now."

"It's better than being a nomad, that's for sure."

Juvia smiled. "I don't think I've ever listened to you speaking so candidly like this." Laxus looked at her, pulling his hand from hers, "Don't get so used to it."

Her smile grew. "I guess I'll cherish this moment forever." She sank back into her couch.

"I guess you will." His smile betrayed him.

"Oh, Laxus. You don't have to tell me anything now. I'll wait." His smile never left his face. She was something else.

Just because Laxus wasn't dancing with her, it didn't mean that he wasn't looking. He observed their every moment. The song was mid-tempo. Not exactly the slow song she imagined, but Juvia made do.

"You're a great dancer," Gray compliments.

"What?" She couldn't hear him over the loud music.

"I said, you're such a great dancer!" Gray said louder.

Juvia smiled, "Thanks! So are you!"

"Nah, not as good as you. And you look nice."

"Thanks." Juvia gushed.

"Would you like to-" But before he could ask her if she would like to hang out sometime, Gray felt a sharp zap on his foot. He immediately jumped up in pain, "Ow!"

"Gray, are you okay?!" Juvia cried, concerned at his sudden outburst.

He looked around for the source of the pain. But on the crowded dance floor, it was hard to discern.

Laxus, with his back turned, smiled to himself as he sat alone at his table. In the distance, Evergreen and Erza stood on the balcony, watching the pair. She adjusted her glasses on her nose with an amused look on her face, "Getting too close for comfort, if you ask me."