"WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO UPDATE"
"UPDATE?"
"DID YOU ABANDON THIS STORY"
Nope. My friend writers block came to visit and then he stayed for like... two months? yeah. Anyways...
Hey friends! So unbeknown to you guys, my birthday was a while ago (May 5th) and I got some SUPER nice and amazing reveiws on my birthday and they made me smile so much so I just wanted to thank you guys so much, it was really awesome. And as always, thanks for reading! ~Hana
"Shhh!" Mira giggled at Freed as they carried a sleeping Juvia up the front steps to Gray's house. "Erza and Jellal should be inside already."
"And why are we doing this again?" Freed asked sheepishly.
"Why not?" She shrugged. "It's fun."
"It wouldn't be very funny if this were you, Mira," Freed replied.
"I'm already in a relationship, so you're right, it wouldn't be very funny to wake up spooning you because that just so happens to be an actual everyday occurrence." She stared at Freed unamused.
"Well..."
"It'll be great." She waved off his worries as they made it to the front door. Mira knocked lightly as Freed struggled to keep Juvia up. It took a few moments, but Mira could hear a few bumps and the skitter of feet across hardwood floors before the door was swung open.
"I was starting to think you wouldn't come." Erza crossed her hands over her chest as a breeze of cold air wafted out of the apartment.
"And miss this?" Mira laughed, "Not ever!"
Erza smirked and moved aside to let them in. "Jellal threw Gray on his bed."
"Why does Gray always keep his house so cold?" Mira shivered as soon as she stepped inside.
"I would ask him, but he's not going to be up for a few hours..." Erza trailed off.
"Think we should turn on the heat?" Mira questioned as she moved into the house after removing her shoes.
"No way! Then they won't snuggle together," Erza snapped quickly.
"You're so right." Mira playfully hit her head. "What would I do without you?"
"Probably not torture our friends." Erza shrugged her shoulders.
"No, I did it when you were away on business that one week.. remember?" Mira smiled.
"How could we forget The Great Glueing Indecent of Christmas 2012?" Erza laughed lightly remembering waking up in Spain to a Skype call from her friends with Natsu and Gray fighting in the back. Sure she was away for Christmas, but it felt like she was right back at home.
"It was some of my best work," Mira giggled. "C'mon Freed, this way." Mira ushered her boyfriend through Gray's house with Juvia in his arms.
"This is one of the strangest things I have ever done," Freed sighed. "Remind me why I do these things?"
"You love me?" Mira offered.
"Oh right," He let out a light breath. The things he did for love.
"So should we just throw her on there too? Or..." Erza questioned.
"We could do head to toe."
"Or head to head." Erza winked.
Mira laughed slightly before suggesting, "Or spooning right off the bat..."
"Which one do you think, Freed?"
"M-me?"
"Yes you."
"Uh..."
"He cant decide!" Mira interjected. " Lets just put their heads on the pillows, and let fate decide!" Mira clapped her hands together.
"Isn't the whole reason we're forcing this to happen, is because you think fate works too slow? What if Gray roles off the bed, or wakes up and leaves for work before anything funny happens?" Erza offered.
"Lets just cross our fingers then," Mira smiled.
"If that's what you think is best..." Erza sighed before fixing Gray's head under his pillow.
The morning turned out to be a beautiful one. One of those mornings where birds chirped, and the sun shined, and the warmth of the breeze forced a smile to cross your face without you even knowing. Families with children littered the local parks with picnics while dogs fetched sticks. It was going to be a lazy Sunday, and one of the most eventful they would have all summer.
Back inside a small house, Gray could feel the sun warm his face as he was roused from his unconscious sleep. The light shined through his eyelids, making him squeeze them tighter in hopes of falling back to sleep for few more hours.
Why didn't I shut the shade last night... He groaned to himself as he moved his legs to stretch. What he wasn't expecting was another pair of legs to be intertwined with his. Wait, what? He opened his eyes, only to first reveal the blinding sun, which was not how he planned on starting his day. Fuck, that's a strong hangover... As his eyes tried to focus, they fell upon blue hair cascaded over a pair of delicate shoulders that moved up and down slowly as they breathed. Gray smirked to himself as he nuzzled into the nape of the girls neck before falling back into the darkness of his subconscious.
Juvia was roused from her sleep by the incessant vibrations of her phone from her back pocket. She blearily opened her eyes to be met by the sun's rays immediately burning her corneas. Nope. She thought as she attempted to roll over and escape the unwanted wakeup call.
She realized halfway through her adjustment that there was an arm slung over her waist, hindering her moves. Once she finally made it onto her right side, she blinked a few times.
There's no way that's actually Gray, Juvia is just dreaming again. She rolled her eyes as her brain played tricks on her. But he didn't leave.
So she blinked again.
Yet he stayed.
She rubbed her right eye.
Nope.
She tried her left this time.
Still here.
Alright, alright. That's enough Juvia, you're just in a very deep sleep. She moved her right hand slowly to her left arm and gave herself a pinch.
WHY ISN'T HE LEAVING. OH JUVIA, WHAT DID YOU DO.
Juvia's eyes scanned her surroundings frantically, and she realized she recognized absolutely nothing about this room aside from the man sleeping soundly next to her. The bed was large and covered with soft silver sheets that reflected the sun's unwelcomed rays. The floor however, was littered with articles of clothing that looked as if they were thrown off. Everything about this room was a bit disheveled, although the nightstand stood orderly with bottles and papers stacked neatly in rows. Directing her gaze to the door, she contemplated her escape.
Attempting to be as smooth as possible, as not to wake Gray, she slithered her left hand to the pocket where her phone rang just moments ago. Does Juvia sneak out and try not to wake him... Oh but what if he wakes up when Juvia is half out of bed! Then that's just a terrible conversation waiting to happen... On the other hand, Juvia could stay with Gray in bed and stare at his jaw bone for hours, or maybe finally get a look at his long eye lashes that just flutter when he laughes at Juvia... Oh Juvia cant stay here!
After a few more moments of inner dialogue and going back and forth with her options, Juvia decided that her best option would to be texting one of her friends in hopes of remembering what happened last night. Although by the obvious fact that she was still wearing pants, nothing too crazy could have happened, however that did nothing to stop the blush burning on her cheeks.
She ran her finger across the screen to unlock her phone as she cursed her white wallpaper for shining in her eyes. She quickly opened the down bar and swiped the brightness from the highest setting down.
As she slowly became more awake, she realized that she had some texts and missed calls.
Two missed calls from Erza, one text from MiraJane, and a snapchat from Cana.
Deciding that calling was completely out of the question, Juvia decided to read Mira's text.
Hey Juvia! Gray and Natsu let loose last night, so Gray probably be sick all morning.
We were going to bring you home but ran into some trouble and had to leave you there!
Sorry for the inconvenience, but it looks like you'll have to watch over Gray!
-Mira ^-^
P.S. There's a bucket under the sink for vomit,
and all the cleaning supplies are in the hallway closet next to the bathroom.
Juvia re-read the text a few times to fully understand the situation. So she was supposed to stay at Gray's house all day and take care of him? Juvia's eyes grew wide at the though of having to be around Gray all day, there's no way she could survive that! What if he were to look at her? She would feint on the spot! Taking to him? Completely out of the question. With her thoughts racing almost as fast as her elevated heart rate, Juvia furiously typed out a message to Mira, begging her to have anyone else come over to assist her. She pressed send, and prayed Mira wouldnt make her go through with this.
Trying to hold herself back from screaming, crying, or reacting in any other sort of way that would awake Gray, she opened the snapchat app on her phone and waited a bit for it to load. Cana always sent her weird videos at all times of day. Making sure her volume was at a low setting, she held her finger over the name.
"JUVIAAA!" What Juvia was not expecting was a video of Cana, bouncing and laughing, as music blared in the background. No doubt her and Laxus were out at a club somewhere getting sloshed. Her finger immediately retracted, and she crossed her fingers that the noise wouldn't rouse Gray. Looking over at him, he looked like it didn't bother him, he still had a peaceful look on his face and his breathing remained regular... Not that she was listening to his breathing or anything like that! She wasn't a stalker, after all, Mira told her she was there for a reason! Its not like she came over to Gray's and climbed in his bed, and stayed for a while all on her own.. that was just preposterous...
She watched him for a moment more until she came to the conclusion that he was still asleep, she rolled over again. After all, if he woke up he might kick her out or vomit on her, and those options were both equally mortifying. Deciding that those two options were unavoidable, Juvia figured that this was the perfect time to get closer to Gray. And that's exactly what she did. She tossed her phone behind her back, and snuggled into Gray's collarbone. She let out a long sigh as she felt him move a bit. She held her breath. And tried to lie completely still as she felt his arms move. Oh no... what am I doing? She thought to herself. Stupid Juvia, you should have left when you had the change!
Once he stopped, she realized that his head had fallen to rest on hers, and his arm was slung over her waist as it was ten minutes ago. His arm is touching me... HIS ARM IS TOUCHING ME Juvia tried her hardest to control her urge to giggle out loud, but it was hard feat. She could feal her blush deepen and swore it spread all the way down to her toes. Closing her eyes, she decided to relinquish in the feeling of her beloved Gray wrapped around her, and before she knew it she dozed off once again.
"This is the perfect morning!" Erza practically sang as she walked through the big doors to the gym. She wore her classic work out outfit as she sauntered up the the desk. Mira smiled at her as she waved goodbye to the yoga class leaving. "How's Juvia doing?" Erza asked as she rifled through her gym bag for her membership card.
"I haven't heard anything from her yet..." Mira pouted.
"Maybe they're still sleeping," Erza pointed to the clock. "It is only nine in the morning."
"Juvia is a morning person though." Mira let out a fast breath as she scanned Erza's membership.
"Call her?" Erza offered.
"What if her phone is off?" Mira asked.
"It's worth a shot," Erza shrugged. "I'll be at the elliptical if you need me." She waved before she left Mira alone at the front desk.
"She opened my snapchat," Cana offered as she leaned against the bar, playing on her phone.
"Cana, you shouldn't be on that at work."
"Please, I'm the owner's son's girlfriend. I could show up naked and not be fired." She rolled her eyes. "Not to mention it's nine in the morning!" She slammed her hand down on the bar. "No one comes to the gym at this ungodly hour, why are we even open!?"
"We have morning classes starting at 6," Mira reminded her. "The bar opens at 8, so you're not even here as early as everyone else," She rolled her eyes at the lazy bar maid.
"Still, its kind of ridiculous," She finished her rant. "Back to what I said, Juvia opened my snapchat like twenty minutes ago."
"She probably is awake then." Mira's hand darted out to her phone nestled behind the counter next to the stapler. "I'll just give her a quick call then..."
Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...
"Who is it…?" Gray's voice cracked as he roused from sleep again. This time, he was fully aware of the sun's presence and opted for blindly feeling for the phone that was vibrating for the past three minutes. Once he finally grabbed it, he opened his eyes slightly only to see Mira's smiling face and the answer button. He groaned before sliding the green circle.
"Hey Mira," He breathed out ruggedly.
"Gray?"
"No, this is Patrick." He replied in a monotone.
He could hear Mira laughing on the other side. "It's good to hear your voice, I thought for sure you'd be hungover all day."
"Oh no. I'm definitely hungover," He sighed. "My throat is killing me too."
"Why don't you ask Juvia to get you some water?" She suggested. "Maybe some pain killers too..."
"Why would I ask Juvia?"
"Well, she's there with you, isn't she?" She asked. "We dropped her there with you last night."
"Juvia..." He said out loud to himself. "She's here?" He asked.
"Who's phone do you think you answered!?" Mira asked.
"Mine?"
"You have a light blue phone case with sparkles on it now?"
"Listen, I just woke up super hung over and do not appreciate this sass," He breathed out. "If Juvia
is here where the heck did you put her?"
"On your bed."
"Where?" He asked again.
"She's in your bed. We threw you two down and had to leave so she's there. If you can't see her, check the floor." Mira suggested.
Realizing his fingers had been tracing light patterns on someone's hipbone, he connected the dots that what he assumed was his last bang, was in fact Juvia Lockser.
"Yeah Mira," He gruffed out, his voice was starting to strain even more. "I'm going to have to call you back."
"Oh? Is something wrong?" she asked as he shifted on the bed, lifting up the sheets to leave.
"Nothing too major. I just got to puke real quick." He hung up the phone before he could hear Mira's reply. Taking a deep breathe, he stood up and wobbled. His legs were going to give out in mere seconds if he didn't run for it, so he did just that. Turning back, he threw Juvia's phone onto the bed, and booked it to the bathroom. Having a bathroom attached to his room would have been extremely helpful in this situation, however that wasn't the case.
As he ran, he could feel his stomach burn and rumble angrily. He barely made it into his bathroom before he heaved into the toilet. Thankfully he's a man and leaves the seat up basically all the time. As a result of this, he was able to get all of his stomach's content into the porcelain bowl.
"G-gray?" He heard a light voice say.
He would have responded, if not for the massive force of last night making its way up his throat. Before she even made it to the door, she knew what was happening as she could hear the echo of vomit reverberating through the bathroom.
"Are you alright?" She said as she finally made it to the door, peeking her head in timidly to look at the man hunched over on the floor. .
"I-" He tried to speak, but his voice was too hoarse and painful. Instead he opted for a classic thumbs up.
"Juvia will go get you a glass of water..." She turned before he could give her another sign, but she knew he would be thankful.
She stomped her bare feet on hard wood floors as she made it through the house towards the kitchen. She had been in his house a few times before for staff parties but nothing for a personal visit. He didn't have any pets that ever needed watching, and they never did anything together outside of work. Gray always went out with Natsu, Laxus or Gajeel for drinks after, but he nearly always came home alone. He didn't have a girlfriend and his brother, Lyon, barely came to visit. The only guests he ever had were drunken dates, to which he always felt bad after.
From an outsiders point of view he would look lonely, but Juvia knew there was more to it than that.
When she finally reached the kitchen, she fished through the cabinets in search or a glass. When she found it, she opened the fridge to check out what he had. There were all the basics such as milk, cream, butter, eggs, vegetables, and salsa. There were some other things here and there, but she knew she could always run out to grab something if he needed it. Juvia should cook a meal for Gray...
"Juu-" She heard a rasp and felt her body spike millions of bumps as the chills ran up and down her spine.
"Juvia is coming!" She yelled, hoping he wouldn't try and talk again. Oh Gray... Please don't be sick again. She closed the fridge, and pushed the glass into the water machine attached to the fridge. His house was already pretty chilly, so she didn't add that much ice before rushing back to the bathroom.
"H-here," she held out the water timidly, "drink this."
He took the water gratefully, drinking the whole glass in one go. He opened his mouth to thank her, but she waved her hand out to stop him.
"Please don't say anything!" She blurted out quickly as she blushed. "Juvia doesn't want you to abuse your voice any more than you should." She explained quickly as to avoid any questioning looks.
He nodded at her.
"Are you hungry?" She asked.
He looked at her and thought for a moment. He held out his hand and put his first finger and his thumb together so they almost touched.
"A little?"
He nodded.
"Okay well Juvia doesn't want you to puke up anything harsh, so how about..." she looked away, half in thought and half in embarrassment, as she thought, "soup?" She offered.
He smiled before nodding again.
"D-do you want to go back to bed?" She asked. He didn't do anything for a moment, but deciding he
did want to go back, he grabbed the corner of the sink and tried to lift himself up. He made it to his feet, and Juvia held her hands out timidly, in fear of him falling and giving the floor a hug. "Do you want help?" She asked him.
He tried to take a step, and stumbled into the door frame. Giving up, he lifted his arm up, and Juvia understood. She scrambled under his arm, and quickly did her best to support his weight. Being a yoga instructor came in handy at times like this. She wasn't very strong compared to Laxus or Gajeel but using the right body mechanics she could lift something just as good as the two of them.
"C'mon then... let's head to your bedroom," She said as they stumbled into the hallway. His arm is around Juvia's shoulder... She could feel her blush return, and it was just as strong as ever. After a few minutes of awkward walking, they finally made it back and she helped him sit on his bed.
"Oh you got something on your shirt!" She noticed that it was slightly wet and discolored at the bottom. "Juvia will grab you a new one." She offered as she turned quickly to his dresser. She pulled out the second drawer- it was always the safest she found- and grabbed the first shirt she saw. It was a simple black v-neck, nothing that he would mind completely covering with bodily fluids if an accident were to happen. She turned back and, to no surprise, Gray was down to his underwear.
"Here." She tossed him the shirt. "Juvia will be in the kitchen. Please don't yell for me or anything,..." She rubbed her arm lightly. "If you need anything you could, um.. Maybe you could... Just don't yell for me." She held out her hands in front of her, almost as if she were telling a dog to 'stay'.
"Mm," He made a little noise and nodded his head as she turned to leave. Shutting the door quietly,
Juvia let out a sigh. Juvia is taking care of Gray. Juvia just saw him without a shirt- okay Juvia has seen him before but not on a BED with no shirt. This is not the time to mess stuff up, Juvia! This is what we've prepared for! All those Cosmo's we bought will finally pay off! Now, get ready for battle. She smirked to herself as she walked towards the kitchen, prepared to make the best damn homemade soup the swimmer will ever eat in his life.
*Find the reference, and get a cookie*
There we go! Some Gruvia, finally. Am I right? Anyways, sorry for the late update (Per usual) I'll try to be quicker next time, blah blah blah. IT'LL HAPPEN. If you've been following this story for a while you'll know im a bit slow at updating. So. Sorry. BUT! That doesn't mean I don't love you all who read! Your comments are the best, and I thank everyone for reading! Thanks for following, reading, and favoriting! Till next time! ~Hana
P.S. Lets all thank my wonderful editor who edited this chapter in basically 1/2 the time! *snaps in appreciation* Yay for editors who make my story make more sense because if you just let me go for it... its a mess.