AN: Well, I particularly like this one because I started writing this about a year and a half ago and when I was searching what to do for Gruvia Week, saw this in my "Stuff" folder (Yeah, I have a folder with that name) and decided to finish it! I hope you find entertaining!
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rebound = To recover, as from depression or disappointment.
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"Juvia..." Cana, already a little drunk after drinking three barrels of beer, called the younger girl, who just looked up from the magazine she was reading. "You had a boyfriend before, right?"
"Yes." The blunette nodded and sighed, already used to handle a drunken Cana.
"And after you got dumped," 'Sure, Cana, don't sugar coat it or anything' the water mage sweat-dropped while the brunette continued to speak, "have you dated anyone else?"
"No." Juvia shrugged; she was in love with Gray and didn't have any reason to date another person. It had been three years since Bora broke up with her and if the Water Mage couldn't get Gray, she didn't want to date at all.
"Well, that's why Gray has been holding himself, then." The brown haired woman nodded, as if something just made total sense inside her head.
"What?" Juvia asked, confused. What she was talking about? Why would her Gray-sama be holding himself because she didn't date anyone after Bora?
"If you didn't date anyone ever since your ex, it means that the next guy is the rebound." Cana said and the Water Mage frowned.
"Juvia's feelings have nothing to do with her ex."
"Yeah, right." Cana laughed. "Maybe you still have feelings for him. Should I go tell Gray?" Cana made mention to get up, but Juvia held her in place.
"What? No!" She exclaimed. "Oh, god!" Juvia started to sweat. "Does Gray-sama think that Juvia's not over her ex even after all that time?" She grabbed her cheeks.
"He could." Cana shrugged and winked to Mira, who tried her best to hide a smile. "Maybe you should go on a date with someone else."
"Juvia couldn't..." The Water Mage bit her lower lip. "She's in love with Gray-sama."
"A date, Juvia." The brunette laughed. "I'm not telling you to marry the guy. A kiss or two, so everyone knows you're over your ex."
"But..." Her deep blue eyes were suspicious in a moment. "Wait a second. Are you...?"
"I do not want Gray, Juvia. If I wanted him, I would've got him by force if necessary. You're too nice." Cana scoffed. "I am not planning on breaking your guys up; I want you two together."
Juvia was indecisive for a moment, before nodding. What could go wrong? She just needed to show that she was more than ready to return dating. "Okay." The blunette sighed. "Where am I going to find a guy to..."
"Luckily for you..." Cana smiled and for a moment, Juvia thought of herself as a mouse being played by a cat; no, a hungry lion. "I am going on a date in a couple of days from now; I can ask if he has a friend."
"What if Gray-sama...?" Juvia started, but Cana stopped her by raising her hand.
"You're doing this for him, right? He'll understand."
"Hm... Juvia's not sure." The blunette tried to make up her mind. "A blind date?"
"Juvia, you are my friend: I would never, ever try to set you up with someone not worthy. I'll meet him first to make sure you'll like him."
"Fine." She sighed. "But... does Juvia have to...?"
"You should make out with him for a while, exchange a few kisses, so he can be the rebound guy." Cana shrugged. "If you want, of course."
"Kiss." Juvia's face became as red as a ripped tomato: she wanted to kiss her Gray-sama, not some random guy Cana chose, but if it meant that Gray could be hers, it was worth it. "It's been so long."
"Time to put those lips back in action." Cana smirked and then wrapped her arm around Juvia's neck and then laughed. "Let's drink to that!"
#
"Hey, Mira." Gray said when he arrived at the Guild. "I want a beer, please."
"Sure." The barmaid smiled and went to grab a special cold one for Gray, just the way he liked it. After handing it to him, she sighed. "Everyone is so focused on getting missions these days that I barely see them all together."
"Yeah." Gray nodded and looked around to the almost empty Guild. Levy was talking to Lucy, while Natsu and Happy were trying to catch a fly (without using magic) and Lisanna was being the judge. Jet and Droy were talking with enthusyasm about something Gray couldn't get. Elfman was cleaning the table Master Makarov was seated on, and it was about it. Everyone else wasn't there. "Where is everyone?"
"Missions." Mira sighed. "They work too hard."
"Riiiiiight." Gray scoffed. "Any S-class?"
"Erza got one and Rainjinshuu got another. The Guild is receiving better missions, thankfully. And everyone is glad, because we can go to better places too." She smiled happily. "Wendy got one around a town that is known for its medical herbs and decided to stop by, learn and bring some seeds."
"Good." Gray nodded and then frowned when noticed more Guild mates missing. "Gajeel and Juvia went on a mission too?
"Gajeel did. I think Lily wanted to get payment in kiwi juice, or something. It was a funny argument." Mira giggled and then grabbed a cloth and started to clean some glasses, while humming a song. Gray stared, waiting for her to continue, but she didn't.
He really, really didn't want to ask about Juvia; even Erza talked to him about the water mage and it was getting on his nerves. The truth was that he didn't know what he felt, and everyone kept bugging him about it. If he asked where Juvia went, Mira would probably think that he was ready to propose to the girl while Gray was not sure he even saw her that way.
The truth was that the Guild didn't feel like itself when Juvia wasn't around, stalking and talking nonsense with him.
"And Juvia? When did she leave?" Gray asked nonchalant.
"She's not on a mission." Mira shrugged, but in her mind, she was gleeful: the plan was working! Gray waited, but again the white haired girl didn't say much to ease his curiosity.
"Where is she, then?" He frowned. "She's always here when she doesn't have a mission."
"The hair salon, I bet. That reminds me..." As if she remembered something, Mira turned looked to the other people at the Guild. "Hey, girls. I think it's four pm. Juvia's probably getting home."
"Okay." Lisanna said and got up from her chair, like Lucy and Levy.
"What's going on?" Gray was confused.
"Hey, Gray." Levy greeted.
"We're going to help Juvia out." Lisanna said nicely.
"And I thought that I would have to deal with her worrying about a date when you were the one who asked her." Lucy sighed and then giggled. "Stranger things have happened to us before, though."
"How long has it been since she went on a date?" Lisanna asked and if Gray was a dog, his ears would have lifted in a second at the moment he understood the implications of what the white haired girl was saying; it sure got his attention.
"I don't know. Do we even count the years we spent at Tenroujima?" Levy was saying when Gray shook his head.
"Wow, hold on, wait a second." He said. "Who's going on a date again?"
"Juvia." Lucy said simply. She was in Mira's plan, as it were the other girls. The blonde thought it was about time and that those two needed to get together.
Gray blinked once, did it again, before bursting into laughter. "Yeah, right."
"Hm... She is, Gray." Levy said, frowning and pretending to know nothing about the set up. "We're gonna help with her make-up and outfit."
"Which I think: she has to go with the black tube dress. No man can resist it." Lisanna was looking to the other girls. "I know she said that she would look like a ho, but I've made her put it on, and let me tell ya... I like men, but if someone could flip me, it would be her in that dress." She laughed and the girls nodded; it was a pretty good dress indeed. "I think that that dress was magical, because when I used it, my first date with Caleb was so good. I mean, it makes the access easy. We were in second base before I knew it..."
"Whoah." Gray interrupted. "Are you guys serious? I mean... It's Juvia!" He reasoned. "She won't... She can't... It's not..."
"Oh, she can." Levy said. "And she's going. Cana set it up for her."
"What?! Cana?" Gray was dumbfounded. "That woman is hardly sober enough to set..."
"He's a nice guy." Mirajane said and shrugged. "Handsome, polite. She could've done worse."
"...someone up to-what? You met him?" The Ice Mage frowned and couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes. He was here earlier with Jacques, Cana's date." With a big smile, the barmaid let out a sigh. "He is a Water Mage as well. I hope they get along."
Gray opened his mouth but Lisanna beat him to it. "Me too. He has blonde hair, right? I think that it would be a nice contrast, much better than black." The white haired girl wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Yes." Lucy agreed. "Much, much better." Gray looked at the Stellar Mage with a frown: where was the girl who teased him about Juvia's interest on him?
"He is also polite." Levy agreed. "He greeted me very sweetly. Plus, he is very handsome; I wouldn't mind to wear Lisanna's dress so he could put his hands right on my…"
"What are you talking about?" Gray finally got their attention once more. "Juvia wouldn't let some guy feel her up."
"I heard her talking with Cana about kissing him." Lucy said in a low voice as if she was telling a huge gossip. "She said she was nervous about it; do you know what it means?" The Ice Mage shook his head. "That she is planning on doing it."
Gray's mouth hanged open. "Bu-Bu-But…"
"Oh, is this the time?" Levy said looking down to her wrist – which had no clock on it, by the way – and grabbed Lucy's hand (who grabbed Lisanna's). "We have to go. Only two hours before date time. We have to go."
"Bye, Gray." The girls said together and left the Guild, leaving a baffled Gray behind.
The man watched as they left before turning back to the white haired barmaid. "What the hell is going on?"
"Well… Juvia is moving on. I'm happy for both of you." Mirajane shrugged.
"Both of us?" The Ice Mage asked angrily. "How is Juvia going on a date with some random guy Cana picked up – from the gutter for all we know – good for me?"
The barmaid frowned (it was fake, of course; it was all part of the plan). "Well, you never did anything towards her obvious feelings she had" Mira made sure to use the word in the past and Gray frowned "for you, and now she's moving on with her life and you can do the same."
"But…" The Ice Mage looked to the floor, thinking about what his friend was telling him.
"Think about it; if everything goes according to plan, she will have a nice boyfriend and forget all about you." Mira said happily. "Wouldn't it be great?"
"Yeah." Gray frowned. "Great."
#
'This is ridiculous.' Gray thought as he waited outside Fairy Hills, on the side and hidden enough so no one could see him, especially Juvia; who needed to be coming home alone. Of course she was. It was Juvia. There was no way she would bring the guy to Fairy Hills to make out. She was coming home alone and going inside to sleep on her own.
He had been waiting for two hours; Gray couldn't just drop in the before the date since the girls were there, he couldn't drop by middle of the date otherwise Cana wouldn't let him live it down so, his only option was to wait for it to be over.
Hearing laughter, the Ice Mage peeked and saw that Juvia was giggling alongside with a blonde man and Lisanna had been right, that dress molded Juvia's body like it was made for her costumed sized, showing all of her curves.
The man, though, was an ugly son of a bitch in Gray's opinion. If you liked tall bulky men with curly blonde hair, deep green eyes and dimples when smiling, it could be interesting, but Gray still thought the man was ugly.
Gray narrowed his eyes when he saw the man put an arm around Juvia and when she didn't squirm away from his embrace like she did when it was Lyon who hugged her and it bothered the Ice Mage.
"Are you cold?" Gray rolled his eyes; of course the man had a deep husky voice – so cliché.
"No, it's fine; Juvia never had too much trouble with cold." She giggled.
There was a moment of silence. "I had fun tonight." The man said and Gray's eyes narrowed again with the casual touch as Mr. Ugly put his hands on Juvia's hips.
"Juvia did too." That was not going the way the Ice Mage thought it would; she was not supposed to like going out with that random dude!
"Maybe we should do this again." Ugly said and Gray listened attentively.
'Say no.', his mind yelled against his best judgment, but Juvia's answer was nothing like he expected.
"Maybe." The blunette's tone was playful and much flirtier than Gray thought she would and that bothered him a lot. She was never flirty with him, the Water Mage only told him that they would get married, have babies and some nonsense about getting old together, but never flirty (for god's sake he was the one who had to sneak into the hot springs to watch her naked – don't judge, he's male and with blood in his veins and he did notice that Juvia was very beautiful).
He saw Ugly lean to kiss her, closing his eyes and saw the woman do the same and before he realized what he was doing, one of the Thief's Hands he made somehow, and pushed the man's feet so Ugly fell on his ass. Gray grinned as he hid once more behind the house.
'No kissing tonight for you, Ugly.' Gray thought smugly.
"Are you alright?" Juvia asked.
"Yes. Sorry. It might sound crazy but it felt like a hand grabbed my ankle." Ugly said, confused. "And now the moment we were having is gone. Awesome." Ugly's tone was annoyed and Gray grinned.
"Not entirely." Juvia said and Gray's eyes widened and peeked once more just to see Juvia kneeling in front of the man and kissing his cheek. The Ice Mage felt a wave of possessiveness wash over him and had to stop himself from going there and pull them apart. That peck on the cheek was so wrong.
Ugly got up from the ground and helped her up. "Well, at least I have something to look forward to. The next time you are around Wajes, you should come and see me. I'd love to."
"We'll see.' Juvia chuckled. "Thank you for the lovely evening."
"Thank you for being a great company." This time Ugly was the one who kissed the woman's cheek and in Gray's opinion it lingered a lot longer than necessary and then he saw Ugly go away and Juvia stayed outside until the man was no longer in sight, the Water Mage let out a giggle (which bothered Gray) and smiled as she was about to enter the house.
Not satisfied at all with the outcome of the night, Gray stepped away from where he had been observing the not couple interact. "Hey, Juvia."
The blunette jumped, startled. "Wha-? Gray-sama? What are you doing here?"
"Never mind that…" The man waved her off. "Who is your friend?"
"Oh, that's… Julian." She cleared her throat. "My date for tonight."
Gray was certain that Juvia would deny even meeting the man (like she did when she told him that she was Gajeel's friend and Gray didn't even asked) and when the woman didn't deny knowing the man and actually informed the Ice Mage that Ugly (also known as Julian, apparently) was her date, the Ice Mage scowled.
"And you were in a date with him?"
The Water Mage blushed but did her best to keep her eyes on his. "Yes."
He narrowed his own eyes and stared at her. "You didn't even know him, Cana picked him up. Why were you out on a date with him?"
It took her a moment, but she answered. "Juvia was doing that for you."
"What?" Gray asked in disbelief. "How on earth kissing another guy is for me? Why would I ever want that?"
The blunette frowned not understanding that Gray hadn't picked up on what she was doing. "Cana-san said that Juvia needed to be with another man so he could be Juvia's rebound guy."
"What are you-?" Gray passed a hand through his hair. "Why would you hear Cana of all people?"
Juvia looked down in shame. "She sounded reasonable."
The Ice Mage sighed. "Have you ever thought that you finding a rebound guy weren't okay with me?"
"And why wouldn't be?" Juvia tilted her head to the side.
Gray let out a groan before grabbing her face and crashing his lips on hers; it took her a moment to close her eyes and kiss him back with as much passion as she could possibly gather. Not too long after their lips met, she felt her back hit the wall and Gray's body pressing itself on hers.
When they came up for air – after a long time making out – both were panting and the man rested his forehead on hers. "A kiss on the cheek was all your 'Rebound Guy' will have. And since you went through all this trouble…" He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the city. "Let's go eat Frank's Caramades and if we meet Ug-Julian, you can tell him that you are not interested."
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AN: So, I like Jealous!Gray, sue me! LOL
Thanks to: Ariel Tran, sparkles princess, LilTimy, opft12, Aya-himexX, IndigoHailstorm, AleniaDark, Duchess K, MrsGooglyBear, Bubblycutie and Awesomnessdude, Shadow Mystery, NelielNyx, siriuslight, Anani00, guest, BookProf101, Coka Cookie Cola, NollyLvn, ColdBurn-3, Jeimii-chan2009, YamixTeaLover (so many nice reviews!), Topyra, XxlighterxX, Mrs Murasaki-sama and otaku03. You rock!
04/05/14 ~ BonneyQ