Awkward.

It was the only word Juvia could think of to describe the situation. She had followed Gray to his car, and being the gentleman that he apparently is, he opened the car door for her before making his way to the driver seat. It had all been well until that moment. But now they were sitting in the car, Gray with his focus on the street, neither of them talking. There was only the low tune of the song playing on the radio right now. Which brings Juvia back to her thought: This was way too awkward.

Was he waiting for her to say something? What do you talk about with your boss? Work, probably. But what about it? She hasn't worked a full day yet, there's not much she could say. Maybe she could talk about her earlier job? Would that even interest him? Probably not, she'd bore him to death.

"..Phantom?"

"Huh?"

He must have been saying something and here she was deep in thoughts. Great way to make this even more awkward.

Gray chuckled, seemingly unbothered by her lack of attention. "I asked whether it's right you graduated at Phantom?"

"Oh. Yes, that's right."

"I heard that Phantom sucks."

"That's not true. It might not be at the top, but it's good enough."

"Mm, right. You must know."

"I do."

"I think you should have went to Fairy Tail. You would have liked it there. Also it's much better than Phantom, trust me."

"I take it you graduated at Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah, and look at me now." Oh, she was looking, but for quite a different reason. It wasn't fair, really! How could this guy look good from any angle? She was so focused on her thoughts about how fine that man in the seat next to her was, she didn't realize what she said next until it was too late already.

"Right, and that has nothing to do with the fact that your rich daddy's little boy?"

The silence that followed was indescribable. Juvia could feel her face turning so red, it could challenge any tomato. And why was it suddenly so hot in here? God, why can't the floor just swallow her on the spot? Or maybe she could just jump out of the car? If she's lucky her misery might end right away.

"Well, that was unexpected." Gray glanced at her before bursting out in laughter. Juvia really didn't think she could turn any redder and she felt herself sinking deeper into her seat.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- I don't know why I said that, I wasn't really thinking and- I feel so terrible."

"You should."

"I- you have every right to be mad. I understand if you fire me- Oh God, you're going to fire me, aren't you? This will probably be a worldwide record. Fired after half a day, damn it Juvia!"

Juvia went silent after realizing that she was rambling. She didn't even realize that Gray had already parked the car and they weren't driving anymore. An awkward silence followed before he broke out into laughter again.

"I was just messing with you, Juvia. It's fine. You know in a way, you're right. Even if I had failed back then, it'd still be rich daddy's little boy. I can't be mad at you for speaking the truth. But just so you know, I was one of the top graduates, so don't go underestimating me. I like to think I'd managed to be successful even without my dad." He winked at her before removing his seatbelt. Great, not only was he good looking, kind and chivalrous, apperantly he was pretty smart too. Talk about the whole package.

"Besides, I'm too intrigued by you to fire you. So don't worry. Also, Cana would kick my ass. She seems to have taken quite the linking on you and theres no way I'll risk getting at her bad side."

Honestly Juvia wasn't listening after his first sentence anymore. Out of all people, he was intrigued.. by her?

Gray had decided on a nice but small restaurant a little outside the city. It seemed to be a small family business. Juvia was glad. She had worried he was too luxurious, being a rich and famous guy, and would take them to some snobby rich people place, but this little restaurant was really nice and cozy and Juvia didn't feel out of place at all.

"Ah Mr. Fullbuster. We missed you around here!" An older, small man came up to him, a wide smile on his face.

"Hello, Mr. Yajima. I'm sorry, it has been a while since my last visit. I've just been too busy."

"Yeah, I figured. You can't miss the news about the rapidly growing company. I'm proud of you son."

"Thank you."

"All right, your usual table?"

"No, actually. I've got company today.." Gray glanced over to Juvia.

"Oh, and beautiful company too. Don't tell me you've managed such a catch?" He turned to Juvia, giving her a huge smile. "Congratulations, I was afraid this boy would never find himself a girl."

"It's not like that. She's my new employee."

"Oh, really? Well, your lose. Come on, let me get you to your table."

Juvia couldn't help the smile on her face while Gray just shook his head at the old man. They made their way over to the table.

"You know, he usually comes here alone. He prefers the table on the corner where he's unbothered." Yajima told Juvia.

"You make me sound like I'm a total loser."

"That was not my intention. There's nothing wrong with eating by yourself."

"Just take our orders already."

The old man did just that and left them behind in order to prepare their food.

"It's not like I don't have anyone to take with me, I just- I prefer to be alone sometimes." Gray felt the need to excuse himself. Juvia just smiled at him in return. She wasn't judging him.

"It's alright, really. I understand that."

"Really? You go out to eat out by yourself too?"

"Well.. no." Gray gave her a look and she just shrugged, a grin on her face. "I don't do that. But that's simply because I don't usually eat outside."

"You don't?"

"No, I prefer to cook at home."

"Oh, that's nice. I haven't had a home cooked meal in a while."

"That's.. kind of sad."

"Yeah well, there's no time for cooking with the schedule I have. Besides there aren't many dishes I know how to do. So I eat out most of the time."

"But a home cooked meal is special!"

Gray just chuckled. "You'll get used to it after a while."

Juvia was about to respond when Yajima came back with their food. Deciding to drop the topic, Juvia admired the delicious food in front of her. It wasn't until now that she realized how hungry she actually was. Digging in, the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. Before she knew it over an hour had passed. The food was really good and Gray managed to keep finding new topics to talk to her about. Juvia was glad because she didn't have to deal with anymore awkward silence and if she only answered his questions, she couldn't say something wrong again either. She realized she was getting along with him quite well, a little too well maybe. The only thing they couldn't agree on was the bill. Juvia insisted to pay half, or at lets her order, but Gray just shrugged her off and told her to not be ridiculous before paying the bill, leaving a generous tip behind as well.

The ride back was fun too, any awkwardness from before had vanished and Juvia found herself liking spending time with him a little too much. She had to remind herself that he's her boss over and over again.

"It's been over an hour. She's late, the break is long over."

"Chill down, Daphne. She'll be here soon."

"Of course you'd try to excuse her, failures stick together."

"What the hell is your problem!?"

"My problem is that she doesn't deserve the spot. She should get fired this instant."

Gray and Juvia stood at the entrance of the room, watching the fight in front of them. Daphne, the girl who was so rude to Juvia this morning and sent off by Gray was back at their department again, throwing around accusations and obviously testing Canas last nerves. What made Juvia really nervous though was that Silver was there too, seemingly to deep in thoughts to realize what was going on around him.

"What's going on here?" Grays expression had turned from the kind one to a cold one immediately. It was like he was a whole different guy from the one she had just spent the break with. Daphne immediately turned towards him, a fake smile plastered on her face. That was until she realized Juvia was standing next to him. Her face turned sour instantly and she send Juvia a look that could probably kill. Seeing that, Gray took a hold of her hand and pulled her closer to him, in a protective manner. Juvia could feel her heart pounding out of her chest. He probably didn't think much of the gesture, but for Juvia, it meant everything. He was protecting her. He was actually protecting her. She was freaking out so much over this, Daphnes death glare was the least of her worries after. Especially when she realized that Gray was giving her an even deadlier glare back. Juvia could feel Silver watching the two of them, a curious look on his face.

"Ah Gray, you're back. Daphne was informing me about how our newest employee was doing." Silver stepped forward facing his son.

Grays mouth twisted and he glared at the girl before turning his attention back to his father. "Daphne has no idea about how our newest employee is doing."

"Well, she informed me that shes been on her break longer than at work." Juvia glanced at the watch. It's been two hours!? She had so much fun, she didn't even realize how the time had passed. No wonder she was in trouble. She escaped getting fired by one Fullbuster, only to end up getting fired by the other.

"Juvia was on her break as long as she should be. As you can see we came in here together which is because she was with me. If you forget, Ms. Daphne being an office manager also means being the assistant. She was doing just that. I asked her to come along so if anyone is to blame, it would be me. Are you going to fire me?" He raised an eyebrow, while the corner of his mouth turned up. Daphne grew uncharacteristically quiet and Juvia could swear there was fume coming out here ears.

Silver cleared his throat. "Well, if that's the case, I dont see why we should bother you any longer. Go back to work, all of you." Silver smiled at Juvia before turning around.

"Actually, if you have a moment, I'd like to talk to you about another employee of ours while we're already at the topic." Gray glanced at Daphne before pointing towards his office.

"Very well." Both men went inside, leaving a confused Juvia, a smug Cana and a scared Daphne behind.

"This is all your fault. Why the hell are you even here?" Daphne kept rambling about how Juvia was so terrible and no good and so on. Honeslty, after Gray had made it clear that Juvia wouldn't suffer any consequences and that Daphne was the one in trouble, Juvia couldn't care less about what she was rambling about.

"Please be quiet, I can't even hear myself losing my will to live." Cana dramatically declared before making her way to Juvia. She draped an arm around her before coming closer and whispering in her ear.

"So.. how was your date?"

"What are you talking about?" Juvia blushed, not sure how to respond.

"Come on, he doesn't just invite anyone to join him on his lunch break."

"Really? I mean.. are you sure?"

Cana grinned, a smug look on her face. "Trust me, I've been here from the beginning and I've never seen him this way. Can't say I'm not excited to see where this is heading. You're welcome by the way."

"Welcome for what?"

"For my wonderful acting skills. You think I was actually asleep? I was a little unsure whether to pretend or not considering I was missing out on food but you got to risk some things for the greater good." Juvia couldn't help but laugh. Cana was really something else.

The two went back to work until Gray came out of his office, Silver following behind.

"Daphne, please follow me to my office upstairs." Juvia could see the girl gulp before following Silver who didn't bother stopping.

"Please, tell me we're getting rid of that witch."

"Yep, I hope for good this time."

"Finally, I wasn't going to be able to hold back my fists much longer."

"Of course you weren't." Gray shook his head, a smile on his face. "I was really done with her messing with my employees."

"Right, your employees.. you never bothered before, but I guess Juvia is quite the special employee, huh?"

Gray decided to simply ignore the second part. "Everyone else quit before I had the chance to do something. And as for you, you're quite capable of dealing with her yourself as you have proven multiple times already. Don't pretend the blue eye wasn't your doing."

Cana didn't bother hiding it. The proud look on her face said it all. The fact that he ignored her second sentence didn't go unnoticed by her and she decided to bring up the topic again. One way or another, she'd get something out of him.

"Anyways, how was dinner, Mr. Fullbuster? Enjoyed yourself?" Cana raised her eyebrows suggestively. Juvia was glad she couldn't see Grays expression since he had his back turned to her. He probably wasn't amused about Canas way of thinking. If she kept this going, he might never talk to her again. Juvia can't handle more of the awkwardness she had to dealt with at the beginning. To her surprise though, he reacted quite differently from what she was expecting.

"Enjoyed it very much. More than I should, probably." He turned around and winked at Juvia before making his way to his office. Cana was left speechless, a look of disbelief on her face. Juvia on the other hand, was back to challenging a tomato. She couldn't help but think back to what he had said earlier.. I'm too intrigued by you.

Oh, Gray. If only you knew..