"Catch me, if I fall in love."

After a long mission between Lucy, Erza and Natsu, Lucy finally came back, lazily going through the door before dragging her feet to her bedroom, flopping face first onto the bed.

Gray was on the bed, reading a book with a pair of glasses on his face. "Mm, tired?" She nodded and he chuckled, closing the book and set it off to the side, along with his glasses as he helped the blonde up. "Yeeesh! Luce, did you shower at all?"

"Nuhuh.." She shook her head weakly, leaning against the ice wizard. "We were too busy.. and there wasn't a shower around, or a bath house." The last parts were mumbled off as she buried her face into him, inhaling the lavender scent he wore.

He sighed gently, sliding his arms under her legs and her back, lifting her up as she lolled her head on his chest. "You need to get clean before you shower, or you'll stink it up in there!"

Gray carried her to the shower, setting her down on the toilet seat. He shook his head, humming under his breath as he turned the shower on to a warm setting, turning to the half-asleep wizard.

He smiled and leaned down, tilting the girl's head up and pressed his lips to hers very gently. She watched the girl turn red before pushing him away. "H-hey! What the.. what was.. why!"

He chuckled and motioned to the shower. "I'm helping you shower."

"Hell no, pervert!"

"Luce, you're about to fall back asleep." She sat up straighter, her face pink. "Take your shirt off."

She shook her head again then he sighed, lifting her arms and keeping them there, lowering one hand down to lift up the hem of her shirt slowly then up over her head.

"I-idiot.." She closed her eyes, yawning as she lowered her arms onto Gray's. "I don't wanna!"

He sighed softly quickly smiling after it. "Pleasee! All you have to do is get undressed and climb in the shower!"

She pouted, crossing her arms over her laced bra. He stuck his tongue out. "Seriously, Luce, you smell."

Her breasts were large, and even though she was crossing her arms over her chest and wearing a bra, the way she stood; wobbling on her feet, he could see the skin wobble. "I don't need help." She mumbled under her breath, turning a shade of pink. "I'm old enough to shower myself."

He chuckled gently, keeping his eyes up on her face. "I'll knock every few minutes. Don't fall asleep, or I'm walking in, showering and drying you." He winked at her, making her stomp on his foot in habit.

Gray smiled before he slipped out of the bathroom, a grin plastered to his face as the half-awake girl stumbled into the warm shower, grumbling and huffing.

He smiled as he sat on the bed, leaning back into the fluffy embrace as he heard the blonde swear as things dropped.

"Fucking Gray and his stupid ass idea.."

"I can hear you over the water!"

"Fuck off, ice princess!"

He smiled to himself as he heard bottles pop open over the course of ten to fifteen minutes.

The blonde stepped out of the bathroom, her wet hair plastered to her neck and cheeks, a towel wrapped around her as she slowly leaned back next to him, holding her towel in place.

"Gray?"

"Mm?"

"I'm tired.."

"No, really? I assumed you were ready to run a mile at three in the morning after a mission." He rolled over the toweled teammate, propping himself up to they were face-to-face.

She smiled gently, closing her eyes. "I really am tired, though."

"Lucy?" She replied in a soft hum. "I.. uh." He blushed and shook his head, lowering his lips to hers slowly and gently.

She opened her eyes after a second and blinked when he pulled away, his face almost as red as a tomato.

"Gray, d-do you have a fever?" She raised her hand to his forehead, placing it against him. "You don't seem to be warm, are you feeling ill?" She rushed, looking worried.

He shook his head and moved off her. "No, no. I'm fine, just tired too."

She sighed, relieved. "Good. Let me change, and we can sleep." She sat up, placing her feet on the ground as Gray looked away, peeking slightly to look at her back.

To his surprise, Lucy slipped on pajama pants and a long sleeve shirt over her, oddly, plain undies, before she looked back at him.

Gray was blushing again, but was already under the covers, without his shirt.

Lucy smiled at him gently, wobbling over to her side of the bed, crawling into it, next to his warm body.

"Graaayyy..?" She sung softly, cuddling into him as her exhaustion finally waved over her.

He wrapped his arms around her hesitatingly. "Yeah..?"

She snuggled up into him, purring. Keeping her eyes closed, she slurred. "I love youuu.."

He blushed a deep shade of crimson. "I.."

Lucy snored softly, a soft blush across her face. Gray noticed that her hand somehow got in his, and was holding it tightly as she snuggled close to him.

"..love you too." He finish silently, leaning down to brush his lips against his forehead. "God, I really do.."

Gray felt her heartbeat slow as she fell into a deeper sleep and he slipped down into the sheets, falling asleep with her in his arms.

She and Gray were sitting in the kitchen, each sipping their own cup of hot cocoa.

"Lucy." She glanced up to see the seriousness in his eyes. He lunged his body over the table, crashing into her and tipping her chair over.

A fiendish grin spread across his face as she was pinned into the floor, still stuck in the chair. His hair changed colour, turning from a raven to the blue she hated.

"Don't you love me?" His voice turned dark. "You said you loved me." The grip tightened on her wrists. "Give me your body, Luce. Show me that you love me."

She screamed, struggling against him as he tried to pin her with one hand. When he succeeded, he began to rip at her shirt. "Take it off! Come on, you love me. Let me have a taste.." His voice was no longer his, but Jellal's. "Come on, Luce. Don't you love me.."

He chuckled again, as he ripped the shirt off.

She let a scream ring out. "No one's going to hear you scream!"

"Lucy!"

"Let me go!" She screamed, trying to kick at the being holding her body down.

"God.. goddammit, Luce!"

She began to sob, trying to push the thing away. "Get off!"

A hand went across her face, hard. "Lucy!" She opened her eyes to see Gray over her, shaking her with wild eyes. "Lucy!" He called again, holding her shoulders tight.

She moved to push him away, but he didn't move from his position. "Lucy, look. It's me. It's Gray. Really, look." He cupped her cheeks gently, making her look at him.

"See, it's me. Look." She nodded slowly, a sob slipping out again.

Lucy tried to speak, but only sobs came out as she shook. Gray hugged the crying girl, sitting them up and stroking her hair. "Shh, it's okay. Just.. relax."

She nodded, burying her face into the ice wizard's shoulder, sobs shaking her body.

Once the blonde calmed down, she nuzzled his shoulder, taking a slow, deep breath. Her voice was barely audible as she spoke. "I'm sorry.."

He blinked and held her tight, still tangled in the mess of blankets. "You didn't do anything." He replied, dumbfounded.

"I did.." She kept her head in his shoulder for another second before lifting it up slowly, meeting his eyes with hers. She pulled away and looked down, lifting up her shirt slowly. "I-I never gave you-"

"Luce!" He flushed and moved her hand quickly, putting her shirt back down. His face kept a light blush as he held her wrists gently. "Listen. I don't know what happened, but whatever happened, it wasn't real." She nodded slowly.

Gray sighed slightly. "It's New Year's Eve."

She blinked. "It is..?"

He nodded slowly, standing up from her and moved the black-out curtain to allow some sunlight to hit her. "You were gone for two months, idiot. You missed Christmas."

She replied very a very small, oh.

"The Guild is having a party. But you missed that meeting." He sat on the bed with her, ruffling her hair gently. "I still have Jewel left over from my mission, and it's still pretty early." She looked up at him, which sent shivers down his spine. "Maybe we could get go shopping, and get you something nice?"

She looked away quickly and nodded. "I'd be fine, but-"

"Nope! It's a formal event and you're going dressed up!" He stuck his tongue out at her playfully. "Come on." He grabbed her arm and moved to tug her off.

Lucy looked away quickly. "Gray, you're not even wearing pants. And I'm not even dressed."

He cursed under his breath then moved away, pulling his pajama shorts back up. "Yeah, yeah." Smiling cheerfully, he wrapped his arm around her. "At least you got over your spell."

She nodded and ducked under his arm, taking a change of clothes and slipping into the bathroom to change while he tugged on a fresh pair of boxers and a somewhat clean pair of jeans, and his usual black shirt before fixing his hair slightly.

"Ugh. It's way too early.." Lucy growled as she stumbled out of the bathroom, her hair put in a messy bun. "Stupid nightmare.. not letting me sleep.." She grumbled as she sat on the bed, stretching her arms out.

"Seriously?" He chuckled, adjusting the belt so it would fit just right. "It's like.. what? One in the afternoon?"

"So.." Standing up, she sighed. "Where are we going?"

Gray half-hugged the blonde. "You know that new dress shop?"

She gasped. "No!"

"Yes!" He grinned, fully hugging her tightly. "We are getting you a new dress!"

"No, no! Gray, that place is expensive!"

"So? I'm paying. Besides, you need something new for the party."

"No!" She huffed, stomping her foot.

"Lucy, yes! If it makes you feel better, I got a special something for later, too."

"Ugh!"

Despite her grumbling and arguing, she was dragged across the city for dress shopping. "Jerk.." She kept saying under her breath.

"Yeah, yeah." He'd reply until they arrived at the new shop.

She looked up at it. "It's huge.."

"Yeah." He replied.

"So, uh.." Her voice went from low to a squeak when Gray grabbed her wrist, tugging the girl into the store.

She ended up getting dragged to the dress section right away. "Luce!" Gray threw a dress at her. "What's your size?"

Lucy put the dress away calmly and looked at the wall of dresses, finally grabbing a blush-pink tea length dress. "Uuh.. I want to say maybe a five?"

She took the dress into the changing rooms nearby and slipped it on, zipping it up with some struggle. "Gray?" She called softly, pushing the door open.

Gray turned to face her and blushed lightly. "Pretty.." She puffed her cheeks. "It really fits you."

She held out the skirt of the dress. "It feels.. odd."

"Well, you do look formal." Blushing, she turned away to change back into her regular clothes.

Finally, after a while, she picked out a dress.

But, she kept it a secret from Gray.

"Lucy!" Gray tried to grab the bag. "I wanna seeeeeeeeee!"

"No!" She protested, holding it away from him, "you can see it later! We have, like, two hours!"

"So? Give me a peek!" She set the bag down and pushed him away gently.

"Idiot." She mumbled.

"I am not an idiot!"

"Are too!

He sat on the bed, eyeing the bag. "I wanna open it now."

"Nope." She hesitated for a moment before sitting on his legs. "Not allowed to, even if I have to sit right here."

He blushed then tugged her down. "Really now?"

She nodded slowly, sticking her tongue out."

"If you can't wait two hours, goodness."

He pouted, hugging her.

"I wanna see.." He mumbled into her ear.

It was an hour before the party, and Lucy was still getting ready in the bathroom.

Gray rapped on the door. "Luce, we have to get going soon."

She couldn't hear him over the music Lyra was playing. He had to admit the song wanted to make him dance around and sing, but he resisted the temptation and went to finish getting ready.

He was finished buttoning up his grey suit, and adjusted the tie that Lucy picked out earlier. It was a deep purple that matched the darker grey he wore. He kept his hair as normal as he usually had it.

He glanced at his watch and sighed. Time flew by fast. "Luce! We have half an hour!" He called, pacing over to the door and knocked on it with the back of his hand.

"Luce! Seriously," he heard the door unlock, "we're already late.." he trailed off as he took the blonde in.

Her dress was the dark purple that matched his tie, the dress was mid calf and was a one shoulder. Her hair was styled in a elegant bun, which showed her dark purple earrings off. A quick flicker to her neck then he turned slowly, walking to the dresser and pulling out a thin silver chain.

"Uh.. this.." He blushed then looked away. "This was Ur's." He whispered softly.

"No, no! Gray, I.." He smiled at her warmly, which set her off. "Are you sure?"

"It's New Years." Gray reminded her gently, stepping up and hooked the thin chain around her. "I'm sure."

She looked up into dark blue eyes then smiled. Gray's face reddened as he lowered his face to hers, barely inches apart.

Then a knock came at the door, breaking them away from each other quickly. "Gray! Lucy!" A small voice called out.

"Stupid cat.." he growled before marching to the door, aggravated with the blue cat. "What?"

"You guys are gonna be late!" He looked at up the ice wizard. "Natsu and Erza got worried, so they sent me."

He sighed and turned to go get Lucy.

They arrived late, as to say, but it was only 11.

One hour left, he noted mentally.

They walked in and was immediately greeted by Mirajane, who handed them both a drink, which Lucy refused.

Gray kept a hold of it as he was lead by Lucy to Erza and Natsu, who were in the middle of their own drink battle.

"You won't win!" Natsu slurred, leaning over to the red head.

She sneered at him, taking a quick shot before placing it upside down. "I'm not even drunk."

He growled then grinned ear to ear when he saw Lucy. "Hey! Looking hot!" Erza smacked him. "Ow!"

Lucy giggled at the compliment. "Thanks, Natsu." She leaned a bit, giving a small wave to Erza. "Hi, Erza!"

She smiled gently. "Hey! I really like your dress. Looks perfect." She glanced to Gray in question and he flushed, taking a sip of the drink.

Already embarrassed, Natsu added in. "Ice Princess! Doesn't she look beautiful!"

Gray mumbled in agreement. "C'mon!" Natsu made his way to his feet, draping an arm around the blonde. "I mean, woah." He leaned up to her ear and whispered too loudly. "Do you want to go find an empty room?"

The ice wizard shoved Natsu away, setting his now empty drink down and wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Screw off," he growled.

Grinning, the dragon slayer laughed loudly, raising his voice. "Look at that! Gray finally has a girlfriend! I mean, you are living together!"

"Natsu.." Erza's voice was strained and sounded dangerous.

Lucy whined softly and Gray responded by hugging her tighter. "Natsu, stop."

"Yeah, yeah." He growled and shoved past Erza, disappearing into the back.

Mirajane sighed, making Gray jump away from Lucy. "He's been temperamental for the past few months."

"Why?" Lucy asked softly.

Erza was making 'stop' motions to Mira.

"Uuuh. The girl he liked rejected him, and he's jealous Gray moved in with his best friend."

Lucy laughed. "Oh, that idiot." She commented, shaking her head.

Happy appeared on the counter. "Aye!" He pointed his paw towards the big clock they had up for this occasion. "Half an hour! Unbelievable!"

"Another year of you bastards." Gray joked.

"I've been an official member for four years!" Lucy smiled. "I love it here so much, and the time flies."

They all nodded in agreement, and then the group fell silent.

Erza broke the silence. "So, how's the house been, you two?"

"Uh, pretty good." Lucy turned to her. "It's really big, you should come visit some time." She offered, smiling.

"Sure! Girl's night in, I guess. Movies and snacks."

"Mira, you should totally come too!"

"Sure!" The white haired girl replied.

Gray looked off into the crowd, tuning the girl talk out.

20 minutes.

Mira placed another drink in his hand, which was gone within a minute.

"Gray, slow down!" She commented, tilting her head. "I'll cut you off if you start drinking like Cana."

"Hey!" Came across the guild, the brunette scowling.

They both laughed at the drunken girl.

"Graaayy! Luucyyy!" Levy wove her hand up high and motioned towards her. "Come sit!"

Cana said something to her causing Levy to giggle and Wendy to blush.

Lucy smiled and grabbed Gray's arm, dragging him over to the girls.

"Lucy, we're talking about your book!"

Lucy gasped then crossed her arms. "How rude! I told you to keep quiet about it!"

"But Lucy!" Wendy whined. "Levy told us all about it, I wanna read it!"

Gray chuckled. "It's a different book, I'll tell you."

"Gray!" She threw her hands up. "Goodness, I can't get any privacy!"

"Of course not!" Gray swiped his finger behind her ear, causing her to shiver. "You're friends with us!"

She huffed then Cana grabbed her arm. "I need help.." She mumbled. "Makeup.." Lucy blinked and nodded. "Wendy too."

The girls walked off to the bathroom, connected by the arm.

Gray shook his head and sat next to Levy, who was bouncing a bit. "Let it out."

"Are you and Lucy dating? Is that why you moved in together? Oh my god you guys would be so cuuute!"

"No, we're not dating. And we moved in together because she, uh, needed a friend. And she trusts me. So does the guild."

"Well, why don't you ask her out?" His heart thumped faster, as to agree with Levy. "You guys would be a really cute couple, most of us think so."

The girl leaned against him. "Oh, c'mon!"

Gray blushed and looked at the bottles Cana's been drinking. "I'll ask her out when I ask her out, alright?"

"But, Gray." Her voice lowered. "She is wearing Ur's necklace. You never let anyone touch it, let alone wear it."

He sighed. "I will ask her out when I want to."

"So you admit it! You like her!"

"Shut up, Levy! What about you and Gajeel!"

"At least I asked him out first!"

Lucy came back ahead of the other two. "What are you guys talking about?

"Nothing!" They said in unison, Levy more cheerful; Gray embarrassed.

"Mhmm." She sat between them, glancing at the clock. "Ten minutes guys."

Gray chuckled. "I know. It's weird how fast the year went."

Levy nodded in agreement. "Another year for us Fairy Tailers!"

They all laughed and hugged once.

Time flew by as they chatted. Well, more of Levy and Lucy chatting.

Makarov called attention to the big clock. "We have two minutes!" He announced, pretending to wipe a tear. Lucy tapped Gray's shoulder and nodded over to the area where Natsu just came from before he sat at the bar, hunched over.

He followed the blonde as Makarov spoke. "It's been a glorious year for the guild Fairy Tail," cheers agreed with him. "We're all a family, but we all are individual. We have our ups and our downs, our good days and bad days. We will never be alone for either of them!" More cheers and Makarov had them die down quickly to continue. "A minute before our new year, let me say, I am very proud of our guild! New friendships and new members, but most of all. We have created new bonds, and I hope we continue that! To Fairy Tail!"

The door closed behind Lucy and she sighed as they started counting down.

"Gray."

"Luce, what about the countdown?"

"Screw the countdown!" She huffed, hugging him lightly.

"Then why are we here?" He asked lightly, looking down at her with worry.

"I.." She stumbled before looking up at him.

10 seconds.

"I love you!" She exclaimed, leaning up to press her lips against his as cheering and the sound of poppers went off along with 'happy new years'.

Shocked, he took a moment to collect his thoughts before kissing her back, holding her.

He pulled her closer as she stood on her toes, kissing him deeper as she tangled her hands into his hair, pulling him closer.

His hands moved up and playfully tugged at the shoulder strap so it exposed her shoulder more. He pulled away from her lips, looking into her eyes.

Lucy blushed and closed her eyes.

Gray took that to continue, so he did. He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder up to her neck.

It felt like ice formed where he kissed, but she loved it.

He playfully nipped at her neck, causing her to shiver with a small squeak.

"Fuck, Luce." He squirmed, slowly sitting them down on the floor. "You had to pick a time like this." He looked at her disheveled appearance and blushed.

"I-I really do love you!" She rushed, blushing just as bright as him before covering her face. "I'm making a fool of myself, aren't I?"

He grabbed her shoulders and shook his head. "Not at all."

She opened her mouth to protest but Gray kissed her then pulled away. "I love you."

"Is it bad that, uh." She leaned up to his neck, licking where it meets his shoulder.

He gasped and squeezed her shoulders. "Lucy! N-not here!"

A small grin played on her lips. "But you look so hot like that!"

"Shut up!" He fixed her strap, glaring at her.

"What?" She teased. "Upset I made the first move?"

Gray groaned. "Luce, I swear to Happy.."

"What? Are you gonna bang me?"

"Gross!" He joked.

They laughed before standing up slowly.

"Uh, Luce. Look away for a second." Lucy raised her eyebrows but looked away, giving Gray a little bit of privacy he needed to tuck his problem into his waistband.

After they made each other look presentable, they both stepped out of the closet.

Lucy slipped her hand in his slowly. "I guess it means we're.."

"A couple." He finished gently, his jaw hard. "Juvia isn't gonna be very.. happy."

"Nor is Natsu. I'm not stupid." She added when Gray looked at her.

"Well, I should break it to Juvia tonight before we leave."

"And I, Natsu." The hands slipped away just as slow as they met, then Gray placed a gentle kiss on Lucy's forehead.

They peeked over the corner of the busy guild then separated.

"Juvia?" Gray sat next to the rain women.

"Gray-Sama!" She threw herself against him, hugging him. "Oooh. Is Gray here to tell Juvia that Gray is going to date her?"

He pried the girl off carefully. "It's more of the opposite."

"That's preposterous! Gray-Sama loves Juvia!"

"Juvia, no." He nudged the girl. "I'm with someone now."

"Love rival!" She screeched. "Who is it? Is it Erza? Or Mira? Or is it-"

"Juvia. Stop." He commanded. "It's Lucy, and I love her."

The rain women's eyes instantly welled up. "But! I love you!"

Before he could get another word in she ran out, crying and it already started pouring outside.

Gray sighed and sat down, watching Lucy and Natsu.

Lucy found the pink haired, loud mouth fire breather sitting at the bar, downing drinks one after another.

Slowly sitting down next to him, she put her hand on his shoulder gently.

"You smell like him." Natsu spat sourly.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! You smell like Gray!"

"Ah. That's right, you can smell like a dog.." Sh squeezed his shoulder. "I'm sorry for turning you down."

"Whatever." He grumbled, downing half of his bottle.

"Natsu.."

He growled again, causing her to flinch. "You're the one who was trying to push me when I wasn't ready!"

Natsu mumbled a reply.

"God damn Natsu!" She turned him in his stool and moved her hand until it made contact with his cheek. "I am sick of you being a child." She kept her voice low, as to not attract anymore attention from their guild mates. "If you'll respond to violence, so be it."

The dragon slayer was dismayed at her sudden lash. "Luce.."

"No." Came a firm reply, taking the half full bottle and poured it on the floor, then released the bottle and let it impact to the floor. "Go home, you look tormented. Get some rest."

She turned to see Gray watching them from across the guild. She nodded her head to the door and turned, leaving Natsu to sulk.

Gray met up with the girl, locking his arm in hers. "So, home?"

"Home," she agreed, pushing the doors open to reveal rain.

"Oops. Forgot about that."

"Gray.." She groaned as they walked home.

"You couldn't have let her down easy?" She teased him lightly as she sat down on their couch, him following but leaning towards her.

"Oh, shut up. Natsu looked like he was about to rip our heads off."

"And that's my fault?"

"Obviously!"

She rolled her eyes then stood, "Unzip, please?"

"How in the hell did you.. okay.." He shook his head and leaned up, tracing his fingers along the parts of exposed back the dress had before unzipping the girl slowly, dragging a finger behind the zipper.

She shivered and moaned softly, causing heat to pool within Gray. "Luce, make that noise again.."

"Or what?" She giggled as the let the dress drop, her in matching black lace underwear as she flopped on the couch, stretching out until Gray moved her legs so he could settle back down.

He closed his eyes and relaxed against the cough, sighing. "So, I guess we're going out?"

"It's really a step for my recovery."

"What-oh." He caught himself. "That's right."

She smiled gently and leaned against him, yawning.

"I'm tired.." she mumbled, snuggling against the male before dozing off slowly.

He chuckled, "and I'm in love."

I got busy with studying and thus why it's 3 days late and only at 4,600 some words.

This is the first part of it, otherwise it'd be even later (and longer), so please accept this longer chapter as my apology !

Until next time,

Kit.