Chapter 9: Matters of the Heart

Lexi walked around Magnolia aimlessly, she felt pretty empty inside. She wasn't mad at Lucy, but there was a small spark of jealousy that ignited when she saw them kissing.

Soon she found herself on the outskirts of Magnolia, she glanced back at how far she'd come. She was right next to the train station.

She decided then, she would leave, but not forever. She walked to the ticket booth. "Ticket to Hargeon please."

"One way or round trip?"

"One way," she replied. Once she had her ticket she hurried to the appropriate train. She didn't noticed the blue cat soaring over her as she boarded.

xX Xx

Happy flew back to Lucy as fast as he could, a worried look etched on his face. He found her as she walked to the guild.

"Lucy!" He fell into her arms when she turned toward him.

"Happy, did you see her?"

"She's going to Hargeon!" Happy's lower lip quivered slightly. She realized that he too had become quite attached to the elemental wizard."She bought a one way ticket!"

"Did she have bags with her?"

"No," he sniffled.

"Then she isn't running away, she's just gone to cool off."

"In Hargeon?"

"Yeah, she'll be back don't worry." Lucy pet Happy's head. "Are you gonna come with to the guild? I'm pretty sure Natsu is there."

"Yeah," he let her carry him the rest of the way.

When they got to the guild, they found Natsu right away, fighting with Gray. It seemed the two had made up, considering the insults were the normal ones.

"Hey Luce, Happy!" The dragon slayer waved, only to be knocked back by the force of Gray's punch.

"Shouldn't take your eyes off your enemy," Gray taunted with a boisterous laugh.

Lucy was joined by the two idiots, after they stopped bickering. "So did you find her?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, Happy did." Said exceed nodded sadly.

"She went to Hargeon." Natsu was confused.

"Why there?"

"She went to see a friend, I presume." Lucy shrugged.

"Who did?" Gray asked, not realizing he was sitting in his underwear.

Lucy shared a nervous glance with Natsu. "Um...I may have upset Lexi...and I think she went to Hargeon to talk with a friend who would understand what she's going through."

"What did you do?" Her face turned redder than Erza's hair, as she spluttered nonsense. "You act like you had sex in front of her."

"No!" Both her and Natsu shouted, their faces now matching.

"Why would Lexi need to go to Hargeon?" Gray wondered. A sinking feeling appeared in his gut. "She went to see Lyon…" The temperature around the table dropped. He glared daggers at Natsu. "You told me she didn't...I can't believe I listened to you." He shoved away from the table and stormed out of the guild.

"What's his problem?" Erza asked as she came to sit with her team. "And where is Lexi?"

Lucy groaned, knowing she'd messed up her friends chance at happiness.

xX Xx

Lexi sighed heavily as she made her way to the impressive looking guildhall of Lamia Scale. She walked in and found it to be quite nice, there weren't any random brawls to watch out for and it was quite peaceful.

"Hello there!" A young girl with dark pink hair appeared next to Lexi. "Looking to join?"

"Oh no, I belong to Fairy Tail….I'm just looking for someone." Lexi smiled at the girl.

"Oh, well if I know them I could help you find them faster!" She said brightly. "I'm Sherria."

"Lexi," she shook the girl's hand. "I'm looking for Lyon?"

"Oh, he's not here at the moment," Sherria said politely. At the crestfallen look she added, "I could take you to his place."

"If it's not too much trouble."

"None at all," Sherria replied leading her out of the guild. "How do you know Lyon?"

"We met at Rave last night," Lexi said with a small smile, it was almost sad. "I need to talk to him."

The rest of the journey to his apartment was quiet. Sherria knocked.

The door opened moments later, a disheveled Lyon stood in the door. "Sherria I told you...Lexi?"

"Hi, can we talk?" Lexi asked trying to hold back the tears now.

"See ya," Sherria called over her shoulder.

"What brings you to town?" He gestured her in. She sat at the table in his kitchen. "Would you like anything?"

"No I'm fine." She smiled at him. "I can't really talk to anyone else…" Her voice quivered. He sat down next to her and put an arm around her.

"What happened?"

"Well this morning Gray and I had a huge fight...he blatantly accused me of just wanting to sleep around." Her fists clenched the fabric of her skirt. "Then I was with Lucy, I must've fell asleep for a bit and when I woke up I found her kissing Natsu."

Lyon's eyes grew huge at that statement.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy they finally told each other. At the same time I'm so jealous...because she got her idiot." She gave a small laugh.

"He doesn't deserve you," Lyon said sympathetically. "You deserve the world and more. But, I suggest you follow your heart, they're usually right."

"But what if my heart is too broken to listen to?" She asked, her tears finally slipping out. "I'm sorry I didn't come here to cry…"

"It's fine, let it out, I can be your shoulder for now." Lyon smiled good naturedly.

Lexi laughed. "Thanks." She wiped at her eyes. "Do you think it would be a good idea to tell him everything?"

Lyon put on a thoughtful look. "What is that heart of yours telling you."

"I can't hear it," she admitted. "I haven't...since Akane."

Lyon stared into her fire colored eyes. "May I try something, to see if we can get it talking again?" Lexi nodded, taking a gulp. Lyon leaned forward until he was inches from her, now red, face. "What does it say now?"

"Um," she felt it stutter slightly. "I don't-" he pressed his lips to hers briefly, before pulling back and moving to his original position. "It says I should move on...before it breaks completely."

Before he could open his mouth she shook her head.

"Now it's confused...I'm torn," she felt like her heart would explode. "I-I should go." She ran before he got a chance to call her back.

Lyon couldn't pretend he could give her what she truly wanted, but he wanted to give her what she needed right now. So he got up and followed her.

She was really fast, he hadn't anticipated having to chase her all the way to the train station. She was already on the train back to Magnolia when he finally caught her.

He'd had to buy a ticket as well, so he could get on and talk to her.

"Lexi," he sat in the seat next to her. "Please...I'm sorry for earlier...I shouldn't have assumed…"

"It's ok," she replied, avoiding looking at him. "I'm just not sure."

"It's ok to be confused," he replied. "And trust me, it won't hurt that badly if you choose him."

"But how can I choose, I know your feelings...but I don't know his." She clenched her fists again. She looked him in the eyes. "I want to find out what he wants."

Soon they realized that the train was moving, so Lyon decided he had to ride the train to Magnolia.

"Well you know where to find me," he gave her a friendly smile. She took his hand and squeezed it.

She rested her head against his shoulder for the ride back, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

When they got to Magnolia the sun was setting. He lead her off the train, where he was relieved to see her friends.

He handed her over to Lucy, who gave him a grateful smile.

"Remember what I told you, flower."

He turned to leave, before Lexi ran over and stopped him. "Thank you." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. She let herself be lead away by Lucy, glancing over her shoulder to see Lyon watching them leave.

"You scared me to death!" Lucy told her, once they were back at Lexi's place. Said girl was laying on her couch, an arm thrown over her eyes. "Did you get what you needed?"

"No." Lexi stated. "What I got was a whole lot of confusion."

"Hey, it'll work out the way it's supposed to." Lucy smoothed her friends hair. "I'm sorry about before…"

"Don't be, i'm happy for you!" Lexi smiled, looking up at her best friend. "It was just overwhelming to see it, when I was feeling the way I did."

"I totally get it," Lucy replied, she lifted Lexi's legs and sat on the couch with her.

xX Xx

It was a couple days later, when Lexi got a small bouquet delivered from Lyon. She'd laughed, since they were violets.

There was a card, so she opened it. "Good luck beautiful violet." She smiled lightly as she set the card down and smelled the violets.

There was a knock at her door. She went to answer it, still absentmindedly holding the flowers.

"Hey I was just gonna-" her world froze when she looked up. "Gray-" she gasped, her heart pounding in her ears.

"Nice flowers," he said, his voice was strained. "From Lyon?"

"I-" he held up a hand to stop her.

"Look I get it...I messed up. I'll leave you alone."

He was already out of the complex when her brain caught up, she dropped the flowers and ran leaving the door wide open.

"Gray wait-!" She didn't notice him stop until she ran face first into his back. She hit with too much force and fell down. "Please I-"

"Why should I?" He snapped. "You seemed pretty happy getting them flowers from your boyfriend."

"My boy-what?" She stared up at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about before, those are obviously from Lyon." Gray scoffed.

"God you are so frustrating!" She stood up and thrust a finger into his chest. "Do you even know why I went to see Lyon?" She didn't wait for an answer, "because he actually listens without making stupid assumptions. I mean sure I'm confused...but-"

"Why are you wasting my time? You obviously like him more!" Gray replied harshly, turning to walk away again. He didn't get far when she grabbed his hand to stop him.

She released his hand, afraid he'd snap at her for it. "Wasting your time?" She scoffed, the weeks of hurt that had built up starting to overflow. "If anyone's time was wasted it was mine! Do you know why I'm confused?"

"You're not making sense."

She gave a hysterical laugh. "I'm confused because one second you seem like maybe you actually want to be with me, then you do this!" She pulled at her hair, angry tears beginning to leak from her eyes. "And then there's this really great guy, willing to give me what I want...but I can't because my heart still wants you for some stupid reason!"

"I told you I can't-!"

"Oh right, the dreams," she scoffed, her chest beginning to hurt. "You're such an idiot."

"If you're only here to yell at and insult me I'm-"

"Wait, please," she said tears brimming in her eyes. He looked deep into those fiery colored eyes.

"What." His voice was void of emotion.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger and hurt swelling inside. She stared down at her hands. She fidgeted with her fingers.

"I like-I mean-," she said quietly, to which he scoffed.

"I'm out-"

"Please this isn't easy!" She could feel her heart clenching, it was time to make a decision. "I need you to understand. And please don't interrupt until I finish." She looked at him pleadingly. "Since the moment I came into this guild, I fell for this crazy, amazing person. I fell so hard that it physically hurts me to know, he doesn't feel the same way.

"That day I went to Hargeon, I let Lyon kiss me-"

"You what-!"

"Please I need to get this out. I didn't know it then, but I'm sure now. My heart didn't flutter the way it does when that certain guy so much as looks my way, or touches my hand." She could feel more tears falling the longer she talked.

Lexi felt a weight near her throat and fingered the necklace he'd made for her, her first night here. "I thought maybe...I had a chance since I got this. But I mean obviously it was just a gesture of friendship."

"Why do you say that?" His voice had softened, but she still refused to look at him.

"Because even with everything we've dealt with for the past couple weeks, I've seen you with her."

"Who?" Gray asked, beginning to realize what she was saying.

"Juvia, she looks at you with the same adoration I do. But I could never compete with her, I mean she's so beautiful and strong-"

"She's just a friend, our magic compliments each other that's all." Gray shrugged. "I guess we're both idiots."

"What?" She looked up at him then, surprised. He smirked at her, taking hold of her fidgeting hands. Her heart skipped a beat.

"It should have been obvious, I like you too," his cheeks turned pink with his admission.

"R-Really?" A smile slowly spread on her face. "You're not messing with me, are you?" the nagging fear in the back of her head, clouding the moment.

"Course not, what kind of guy do you think I am?" Gray said pulling her closer, smirking.

"Wh-What are you-"

He put a finger to her lips, his other hand threaded into her hair. "Just relax, it's my turn now." He leaned forward until their foreheads touched. "I think, since I figured out who you are, I fell too. Fell into despair thinking you're too good for me. Fell in love with the way you look at me, the way you smell, the way you feel," his free hand slipped down to her waist, pulling her flush against him. She felt like she was drowning, but what a way to go! She thought to herself.

Without another thought, she pushed herself up and kissed him. All their pent up emotions went into the kiss, his fingers dug into the skin exposed by her shirt.

When she pulled back, she couldn't breathe and her heart soared so far above her she'd never bring it down.

"Gray I-"

"Get a room!" Her face burned hotter than Natsu's roar. Without thinking she took off her shoe and threw it at the idiot dragon slayer as hard as she could.

It turned out to be pretty hard as he fell, unconscious next to Lucy who looked shocked. "I-I'm sorry...obviously you're very busy, we'll come back later." Lucy dragged the unconscious Natsu back into the complex.

"Well that sufficiently ruined the moment," Lexi said her face still burning. Gray pulled her into his chest.

He laughed, "looks like you got your revenge." She smiled despite herself. "Let's go inside." He said with a chuckle, she nodded against his chest. He stopped briefly and picked up her shoe.

AN: I know this isn't my most reviewed story, but I love writing it anyway. I hope everyone who reads it likes it. Leave a review, a favorite or a follow and make this author super happy ;P. I'll see you, in the next chapter BUH-BYE!