AN: I bumped into 'Runnin' by Adam Lambert at random a few days ago and it just stuck in my head. Kept pressing the replay button until I finished the chapter XD.

*Disclaimer: I don't own FT.

The light breeze that hit her face soothed her preoccupied mind a little as they stepped outside the exit. The uneasiness she felt towards the new person in her life was starting to lessen as she expected. After all, it was nothing more than a simple astonishment for his physique. Or that what she was telling to herself at least.

"So Juvia," he started while they were heading towards the front parking lot, "do you have any experience with driving?"

"Ask Gajeel," she muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry?" He wasn't sure whether she talked to him or to herself.

She cleared her throat and answered for him to hear. "Juvia means, she's not that familiar with it, unfortunately. But, hey, she knows the basic stuff, like where the steering wheel and the pedals are." She stopped and pondered for a while only to add hesitantly, "Although she may confuse them a tiny bit."

"Tiny bit? That is to say..?" he asked amused, leaving his mid-sentence wafting.

Great, he's making fun of Juvia. Jerk. Panicking a little she tried to find her composure. "Well, w-what J-Juvia meant is, umm, is," she was stuttering trying to find a good excuse but the point was that she could find none at that point. Why? Because there simply wasn't any. She was that bad. Thankfully, he caught the change in her mood and was quick enough to take away the awkwardness.

"I was just kidding, sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or anything, truly." He gave her a cordial smile and she suddenly felt bad for calling him names. He had zero intention to embarrass her and she felt slightly relieved. "No need to worry about trivial things. After all, that's why you are here, right? And it's my job to make sure that you learn all about it, no matter how many times I'll have to do so," he continued while trying to spot their car. They were at it by the time he finished talking and he was about to say something when she suddenly cut him off.

"Thank you," she said in a low voice, facing her white converse which seemed very interesting at the moment.

"Er, you're welcome, I suppose, but what for?" Seriously, he couldn't recall anything the last ten minutes they've known each other that would make him earn such a response.

Instead of answering, she brought her face up and looked at him. She smiled a little and just shrugged. It's not that she didn't know why she thanked him, the contrary, she had a good reason actually. It just happened to be quiet complicated and time-consuming to explain it to him at that moment. Even if she did, he would pay her no mind, she knew.

Taken aback by her reaction he just chuckled and shook his head. "Ok, whatever floats your boat." He was into pushing it further but if she wasn't in explaining mood, he would just let it be. For now. "Before anything else, the first thing you must do is the outer checks."

She tilted her head to the side and looked at the car. "Outer checks?"

"Yes. I'll start with the easy ones." He moved to the back of the car and motioned her to follow him. "First of all, make sure that the car plate, the windows, the lamps, the windscreen wipers and the mirrors are all clean and inviolate."

A gasp escaped her mouth and she looked very affronted. "Juvia always keeps her belongings neat and in a good condition. What did you have her for? A sloppy? Her car is Juvia's baby and she's all eyes about it. Hm." She folded her arms over her chest and turned her back on him. The sound that reached her eardrums though baffled her. Is he…? She turned around and the scene ascertained her suspicions. There stood Gray, who burst out laughing. At her.

He was just pointing out the basic checks like he's done a million times before and there she was, getting all worked up because she thought that he was questioning her cleaning habits. She surely is something! he thought while catching his breath. "Alright Mrs. Grumpy, my sincere apologies. Again. Shall I move on now?" Grumpy? You are in so deep shit now Gray.

The nerve that man has calling Juvia 'Grumpy'. She swears she felt a vein popping out on her forehead. All her life Juvia has been a reserved, well-behaved girl and has never been the one to backtalk, let alone to a stranger. But that man seemed to have ticked all the rights boxes for her to behave so out of character. "Grumpy? For your information Mr. Smarty-pants, it's the first time Juvia acts so improperly and you are the reason for it. How is this thing going to work out is way above Juvia's head." She rested her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look.

He faked offense and put his palm flat on his chest. "Come on, you are hurting my feelings. Are you not having fun with me?" He saw a small blush on her cheeks and smirked. "By the way, it seems that you had it in you." She frowned a little and he gestured idly towards her. "Your vigor I mean. I had you for a low-key but you don't mince your words, do ya?" Keep adding fuel to the fire, Fullbuster. He readied himself for another scolding but it never came.

Recalling her previous stance Juvia now had a mortified expression on her face and her mood had taken a somersault. How she allowed herself to act so daringly she didn't know. What is he thinking of Juvia now? That she has no manners? Dear Mavis, this is so embarrassing. She slowly shifted her eyes up and saw him staring at her with a smirk on his face. She bowed lightly and tried to sound as frankly as she could. "Forgive Juvia, Gray-san, she's the one at fault here and she didn't mean to get mouthy with you. Please resume your teaching."

To say that Gray was completely dumbfounded at the moment would be an understatement. No. Way. In. Hell. Did she just apologize? And Gray-san? She left no room for arguments though, so he'd better do as she said. Moody enough, aren't we?. "Well, where were we?" He thought for a moment and then it hit him. "Oh yes, tires. There is a simple thing to do to find out if they are functional. Just kick them slightly to see if they are deflated. Try it."

She pouted and stared at the tires. "J-Juvia doesn't feel like doing it. She hates violence."

For real? "Think that my face is pictured on them, that will make things easier right?" He wanted to lighten up the atmosphere but instead, he elicited a blush colored in a light shade of red. She is cute, he thought smiling.

"Juvia can't see why you assumed that kicking you in the head would make her feel better Gray-san. It's not that we are at loggerheads, are we?" She finally met his gaze and gave him a small smile.

"Nah, it's just fun teasing you. Let's start from scratch. Truce?" He extended his arm and grinned at her.

"Truce" She shook his hand and they both laughed. He had an unmatched talent to make her feelings alter from awe to irritation and then to perky in a short period of time, she could give him that.

"By the way," he started and she turned to face him, "I kind of fancied that 'Gray-sama', feel free to call me that anytime," he winked at her and her eyes widened.

Of course, he would bring that up. She wanted nothing more at the moment than to bury her head in the sand. "S-Sorry, t-that was-"

"New," he pressed on, "I've never been called that again. It'll be our thing I guess" he chuckled and looked back at the car.

Our thing huh?

Juvia closed her eyes and took a big breath as the light breeze of the ocean entered her nostrils, leaving a salty scent that she could almost taste in her mouth. The water always worked as her own anxiolytic, calming her down. With hands resting on the white railing of the balcony she felt relaxed and wished for that moment to never end. Feeling him approaching from inside the house she opened her eyes and looked at the small waves that hit the shoreline. "I love it in here."

He circled his hands around her waist and held her close against him. "I know." His lips followed the curve of her neck and lingered on her jaw line. "A little bird blew the whistle on me about your infatuation with water."She giggled and spun around to face him, putting her hands around his neck.

"And you bought a beach house? Juvia is so fluttered." He kissed her tenderly and brushed her cheek with his thumb.

"Anything for you. This is going to be our little nest. Our thing." And she believed him. Because for once in her life, Juvia felt loved. And she loved it. She loved him.

"Hello? You there?" He snapped his fingers in front of her face and she was startled.

"Oh. Um, yes. Sorry, Gray-sama." His eyes lit up at the name and gave her a wide smile.

"You zoned out for a bit. I bet you didn't hear a word about tail lights, did ya?"

She wanted to kick herself at her giddiness. "Juvia just remembered about something. It won't happen again Gray-sama."

"Good or bad?"

"Huh?" She frowned trying to understand what he was referring to.

"The thing you remembered," he shrugged. "I'm just curious."

Oh! Realization finally went to her head. She raised an eyebrow and replied tongue-in-cheek. "Curiosity killed the cat Gray-sama."

He just snorted at that. Most of the women he had associated with would give their right arm to open up to him, no questions asked, and he listened to them. Most of the times. Surely, there would be a 'hard-to-get' little stunt for the pretenses but it would break down easily and they would play out at rather more interesting late night activities. He was a 25-years-old guy with a healthy sex life and had his flings every now and then, thank you very much. There was something indefinable that emitted from that particular bluenette, though, way different than a simple play-acting. "Am I the cat?"

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Figure of speech, Gray-sama. Anyway, you were saying something about tail lights?"

"Right, the tail lights. There are six in total, three red: breaks-position-mist, two white for the reverse and the car plate and one yellow for the flash. Any questions?" She put her index finger under her chin canting her head and stared at the lights. "Is something troubling you?" He was shifting his gaze from the lights back to her while waiting for her reply.

After a moment she finally spoke. "Gray-sama, these colors are not exactly red or yellow or white you know. These," she pointed at the red lights, "are more like wine red and burgundy, while these," she was now pointing at the white lights, "are more like beige, and that," she gestured towards the yellow light, "is ochre, see the difference?"

Gray blinked at her and let an exasperated groan while running his palm over his face. "God forbid me from your crazy women's antics." There he thought that she didn't get to grips with the correspondences, and she was actually worried about the colors!

"But Gra-" she tried but he piped her down.

"No buts. Let's clear some things out, shall we? I don't care if you call them wine, or whiskey or vodka or whatever. As long as you know which one corresponds where that's fine by me. In no case will I try to guess what's going on in that crazy little mind of yours, yes?" He answered his own question not giving her time to reply. "Yes. Now, get in the car."

In one swift motion he threw the car keys her way but as expected she stumbled with them and failed to catch them. She let out a weak sigh, picked them up and made her way towards the driver's door. She was about to open it, but he approached her from behind and turned her around, startling her.

"Rule one, never enter the car without facing the traffic. You are more likely to end up with a door less, in the best case, or be carried away by the incoming cars, and we sure as hell don't want that."

He was standing beside her, his large, warm hands left forgotten on her waist as she was looking forward at a loss at their sudden intimacy. "You could have just said so," she muttered, hoping that he would catch the hint and release her.

"I wanted to make sure it will be etched in your mind. What? Too bold?" Truth be told, it was intentional. Definitely, a far cry from a proper 'instructor-trainee' behavior and he had never crossed the line before, but he just couldn't keep his hands to himself with her. Said girl though seemed quite uncomfortable with the whole situation so he let go and cleared his throat. "Umm, we should get inside".

She nodded and did as he said. Her mind was yet to explain why she felt bothered by such a small feel but now wasn't the time nor the place for demystifications. Instead, she concentrated on what he was telling her about the inner checks and her chest heaved with such pride when she repeated successfully all the steps, the same way he did. When the attention came to the pedals and the gears though, her pride went out of the window. Not too long ago she admitted that she mixed up those and, despite his apology, her lack of division surely tickled him.

"Turn off that bothersome little voice in your head which screams that you'll screw up because you won't. I have exactly the same pedals as you," he pointed down at his feet, "and I'll step in if anything goes wrong. I said I'll help you out, didn't I?" She gulped nervously and nodded. "Now, on your left is the clutch, in the middle are the breaks and on your right is the accelerator. Every time you need to change gear you step on the clutch. So far so good?" She genuinely seemed like a fish out of the water with that much of information. "Juvia?"

"C-can you repeat again?" Her eyes more than pleaded him.

"Of course. But this time you'll practice them the same time I speak. It'll be more understandable that way, trust me." And so, for the next twenty minutes, Juvia followed his injunctions until he packed her in.

With a cunning smirk painted on his face, he wiggled his eyebrows and leaned towards her. "Pedal to the metal, Juvia".

She looked at him in disbelief and blinked, not quite sure what he wanted her to do. "Pedal to what?"

He turned over the ignition without turning his face away from her. "Your jig is up. You are driving."

Her jaws fell and her eyes widened in pure fear. "T-T-Too soon. Juvia c-can't yet. She will kill us!" she almost shouted but that didn't seem to move him.

"Is that lack of trust in your instructor, Mrs. Lockser?" He faked annoyance, adding now guilt to her -already stuffed with negative thoughts- conscience. Οh, stop torturing the poor girl you bastard. He softened his eyes and chuckled. "Relax, I'm kidding. I told you that nothing's bad going to happen. Calm down, concentrate and go. You've been practicing for twenty minutes, you know what to do."

She was taking deep breaths in and out and she repeated the steps inside her head. You can do this Juvia. Her first attempt wasn't crowned with success and she was on the verge of crying. Gray, on the other hand, calmly pointed what was her mistake and encouraged her to try again. Finally, after her fifth attempt, the car finally moved smoothly. Αs the car kept moving her whole face lit up, and she was making incomprehensible sounds of joy. "Look Gray-sama. Juvia did it. She did it!"

"I can see that. Good job." Something clicked inside him as he watched her getting all excited for something as small as that and couldn't help but smile. "Start and then stop the vehicle a few more times to get used to it and we're done for today."

Once they stepped out of the car, Juvia's goofy smile was yet to faint. "A small step for Juvia, a huge step for humanity. She actually moved the car without rocking it as if an earthquake was occurring at the moment. Thank you for your patience Gray-sama. You are the best instructor ever!" She cupped her cheeks with her hands and kept prating in absolute bliss.

"Am I now?" He raised an eyebrow in question. "Thought we had a rough start."

She smiled sheepishly and waved him off. "We are in good terms now. Juvia was in a sentimental roller coaster, forgive her."

"Should I ask or will I receive the cold shoulder again?" He shook his head when she didn't reply. So much for trust.

She looked at her wristwatch just in time and squealed. "Sorry Gray-sama, but Juvia has to go now or she'll miss the bus back home."

"No need, I'm with my motorbike and I'm going anyway. Give me a few minutes to go grab my things from my office and we're off." He left without waiting for an answer.

When he was out of her sight, she was in a huge dilemma on what to do. She didn't want to bother him, let alone get on a motorbike –with him- so she decided that the best way of action was to go catch the bus. Juvia can't handle any more thrills in one day. And with that she took her leave.

"I didn't take too long, did I?" he asked but was met with absolute silence. When he lifted his head at the direction she was supposed to be waiting, he found none there. Narrowing his eyes he started looking around and he finally caught a glimpse of blue hair not too far away from him. What the hell is wrong with that girl? He put on his helmet, leather jacket and gloves, hopped on his beloved black Harley and went after her.

Being in rush she didn't notice the sound of a motorbike approaching her. Only when it abruptly blocked her way she stopped dead in her tracks. Her instant reaction was to hold tighter in her bag, thinking that the man was probably a snatcher. That's why she blinked in confusion when he started taking off his helmet, getting more nervous at his aberrant act. The identity of the 'snatcher' was finally revealed and the bluenette's mouth was now agape. "Gray-sama?"

The serious look he gave her indicated that he was not pleased, at all, with her departure. "I'm pretty sure that I told you to wait for me". He folded his arms and the bluenette fidgeted in her place. "Well?"

"Well, you see Juvia didn't want to bother you. It's that she lives far from here, and the bus stops quite close her place. So, it's all good." She timidly looked at him and found him staring back.

"It's not that I was going to piggyback you. And I was the one suggested it, I wouldn't do it if I had a problem. Just tell me where you live and let's go." She hesitated to answer and he groaned in frustration. "You Doubting Thomas. You know my name and where I work, if I try anything funny, sue me."

She let out a chortle and decided to tell him the real reason she left. "Ok, Juvia will tell you why she left, but promise not to mock her." He fixed her with his dark eyes while waiting for her reasoning and she continued." "Juviaisafraidofmotorbikes," her voice equal to a cooing.

He hunched ahead to have a better hearing. "Louder if you please."

"Juvia said, she is afraid of motorbikes. She never rode one." Juvia expected a round of laughter but instead, he grinned crookedly.

"That's all? There's a first time for everything. Get on."

She instinctively took one step back but he repositioned her by pulling her elbow gently. How many firsts is Juvia going to experience in one day?

"How will you get past your fear if you don't face it? Put that helmet on. I'm not negotiating here, Juvia." Leaving her no other choice she played along with him. He helped her put on the helmet and be seated on the back, as she was struggling with both of them. "There is an intercom fixed on the helmet, just press the button if you need anything. Now, where do you live?" She told him her address and he whistled. "Pretty far from here, huh? Is it safe to guess that you always move by bus?"

"Juvia does. That's why she was late today, it ran late and then it broke down, so Juvia had to cover the distance on fοοt. Gray-sama, Juvia still has time to catch the bus, don't get out of your way."

"First of all, you are on my way, and second, forget it. After all, buses don't seem to cooperate with you today." She couldn't agree more with that.

He finally put his own helmet on and started the engine. As he was about to get moving she called him. "Umm, Gray-sama, where is Juvia supposed to hold?" Stupidly as that sounded, she preferred to go home in one piece than end up rumpled on the highway. Now, that would be a good top story at eight o'clock news.

"Support your self on me." He could almost sense the rising reddening on her jowls. "I don't mind." Hesitantly she scooped closer to him, leaving a small space between them, and laid her palms on his shoulders. Well, he might or might not forget to tell her about the grips jutting on each lateral side of the vehicle. What you don't know won't hurt you, his lips forming a devilish smile. He kick-started the motorbike and Juvia's heart went to her stomach.

She was normally a scaredy cat, but nothing could compare to what she was feeling right now. Even though he was riding in a medium speed, the air around her thickened and it was like an unseen force was trying to pull her back. In a frantic attempt to keep herself straight, she circled her arms around his waist and literally glued on him, tightening her grasp like her life depended on it.

After a while, she thought she heard someone calling her name. Opening her eyes, that she didn't perceive they were hermetically shut until that moment, she realized that indeed, someone was calling her. More specifically, Gray. "Juvia, not that I'm not enjoying our bonding, but you see, it's a little bit, suffocating. Would you be so kind to, umm, I don't know, slacken perhaps?" It took all her willpower to relax her arms the least she could and she found out that the muscles there had stiffened. Unable to speak she made a mental note to apologize to him properly later. "That's better." The color on his face turned to normal and he was able to breathe again.

Gray parked his motorbike outside a typical light blue colored, ten-floor condominium with disjunctives made from steel among the floors and between the apartments. A large, iron gate, settled between two marble pillars, separated the street from the main entrance. There was also a ramp on the right side of the building, probably leading to an underground parking. The only sounds that disrupted the silence of the neighborhood came from the occasional passing cars and the rustle of the trees on each side of the road.

Slowly, Juvia slid off the vehicle, taking a few unstable steps. She wanted to bend down and kiss the ground but she didn't trust her trembling legs at the moment. They didn't seem to be the only trembling thing of her anatomy, though, as her hands were following the same pattern. Her eyes had to adjust to the sudden glow that surrounded her, indicating that Gray had taken her helmet off.

Upon seeing her pale face he snorted and brushed away a few tufts that were stuck on her brow. "Please, it wasn't that bad, I barely reached the speed limit."

The buzzing inside her head provoked a bad migraine to her. "Juvia has seen better days." She vaguely looked over his shoulder wondering why she agreed to such a demented idea. She on a motorbike? Never. Again.

"I doubt that. You said that you hadn't done this before, and riding a motorbike for the first time made your day even better. After all, it seems to me that you don't kick up your heels often. Am I right?" He offered her a sly smile and she felt a cold shiver overcoming her.

Being able to see right through her after only a few hours of interaction was daunting. "Is Juvia that predictable?" She hated to admit it but she was an open book to anyone.

"Predictable?" He snorted and she crooked her head curiously. "The last word I would use to describe you would be that. Ι honestly don't know what to expect from you. You are rather intriguing, ya know?"

She watched him utterly bewildered. She? Intriguing? Has the world stopped moving on its axis or something? It was really time for her to bid her goodbyes before her ached head worsened. "Juvia thanks you for bringing her home Gray-sama and she is terribly sorry for suffocating you, it wasn't intended, trust her, but she has to go now. Have a safe ride back home." She gave a small smile and went towards the gate.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" She turned back frowning. "Your phone number."

"Why do you want Juvia's phone number?", a wary look shaded her face.

"Prank call you." However, she didn't empathize his humor. "For your lessons silly. How am I supposed to keep in contact with you to notify you of the time?"

"Macao-san already did that."

He was ready to burst with her mistrust. "Well, I never needed a spokesperson and I don't plan on having one now. Can you give a rest to your suspicions before sunset?" She wasn't fully persuaded but gave him her phone nonetheless. "Here, you have one missed call. Save it." He sat straight on his motorbike and before he put his helmet on, he gave her one final look. "We really need to fix your issue problems." Juvia watched him until he disappeared from her sight and walked her own way up to her apartment.

Once she was in, she took off her shoes placing them in the shoe rack near the door, threw her keys and bag on the kitchen's counter and proceeded to take a bath. That was exactly what she needed at the moment.

Resting her palms on the tiles against the wall, she let out a sigh of relief as the hot water streamed down her body. A mix of flower scented shower gel along with the produced steam that overcame the cabin, sent in her mind scattered fragments of a raven haired man whose words disrupted her longtime uneventful routine. 'It's my job to teach you'… 'It seems you have vigor'… 'I liked that 'Gray-sama'… 'Our thing'... 'Too bold?'…'I'm here to help you'… 'You don't bother me'… 'There's a first time for everything'… 'You're intriguing'… 'We need to fix your issue problems.'

Her bitter laugh echoed in the confined space. Turning off the spigot she wrapped a towel around her body and grabbed another one to dry her hair. Passing her hand over the blurry mirror she took a good look at her forlorn face. "You can't fix a broken glass, Gray-sama," her voice trailing off.

AN: Phew, it's finally finished. I hope I didn't write 11 pages of nonsense! Anyway, the tables have turned here as Gray is the one taking the first step instead of Juvia. And a man from her past owned her heart as it seems. That's all for now.

Thank you to all the people who took interest in this story. See ya in the next chapter!