Bam! I bet you all thought I had abandoned this story long ago, am I right? Well finally, after a VERY long time, I've gotten round to updating :O
I'm trying to write this in class instead of doing my stupid assignments since all I can think about is this story right now.
Thank to everyone would has reviewed, followed and added this story to their favourites. You guys are my inspiration!
Hope you enjoy this latest chapter :)
Chapter 14: Sweetly sandy
Lucy's POV
I awoke to the sound of Laxus' booming voice echoing throughout the entire hotel room. Followed by a bunch of comments mostly consisting of "oh really?" and "are you serious?!", then a loud laugh that only added to the headache that had worked its way into my mind within the few moments I had been awake.
"Ugh... Why the hell are they all being so noisy?" Gray grumbled, throwing an arm over his eyes and scowling.
I sighed in reply, pushing myself up against the headboard of the bed, tilting my head back to stare up at the ceiling.
I saw Gray shift his position from the corner of my eye, rolling onto his side to face me, propping himself up on his elbow and leaning his cheek against his hand.
His raven coloured hair was mussed into an attractive mess, sticking up at odd angles. His lips were slightly parted as he regarded me with half lidded cobalt eyes.
"What?" I asked, hugging my knees to my chest self consciously.
He smiled gently and my heart gave a little flutter, "You're beautiful..." he whispered, leaning forward and brushing strands of my dishevelled golden hair out of my eyes.
I blushed and gave a shy smile to my lover.
He was mine. Gray was my boyfriend.
Although he has a lot of problems to deal with, I want to help him through them so he can find true happiness. So he can be free to move on and find joy in his life once again.
Cheesy, I know. But it's almost as if my sole purpose in life is to make this man happy.
I took a deep breath inwards and leaned forwards to do something I knew would shock him. I gently grasped his arm and pulled his wrist up towards my face and ever so lightly I brushed my lips against the scarred skin.
"Lucy..." His breathing hitched and I felt the muscles in his arm tighten under my kiss. He attempted to pull away but I held fast and continued to kiss my way along the scars that marked his pale flesh.
When I finally drew away to look him in the eyes I saw that the expression on his face was one of pain. Those bright cobalt eyes were shiny with tears that refused to spill. His bottom lip was drawn upwards by his front teeth and his shoulders were shaking ever so slightly.
But I simply smiled warmly at him, grabbing the ebony haired man by the nape of his neck and pulling him towards me until our lips were close enough to touch.
One kiss and he melted in my arms, losing all the tension that had previously wracked his entire body and relaxing into my embrace.
It was then that Natsu decided to burst in on us and spoil our tender moment.
"Oi, you two!" the pinkette shouted causing Gray and I to spring apart almost instantly, "Stop making out and get out of bed. Today we're going to the beach~!"
And just as quickly as he came, he vanished, sprinting off to wake the rest of the group and probably the rest of the hotel.
I giggled lightly, wriggling closer to Gray, seeking out his warmth.
His lips quirked in an attempt to hide his oncoming grin as he stroked my cheek and leaned in to gently capture my lips again. I smiled into our kiss, savouring the sweetness of his mouth.
Slowly we broke apart, lifting the covers of the bed and exiting his bedroom.
We were greeted with a number of cheeky looks, giggles and smirks are we came into the shared dining room. It made me slightly uneasy but I suppose I was too caught up in the overwhelming happiness that enveloped me whenever I was around Gray.
"Oi, Lucy." Cana said in a sing-song voice, "You snuck off in the middle of the night and never came back. Just what were you and Fullbuster doing so late at night?"
I blushed furiously, embarrassed, even though Gray and I had done nothing like what Cana was implying, "N-nothing..." I stuttered, "It wasn't like that!"
The brunette giggled and tossed me a sly grin, "Right-o, I'm sure that you just got lonely and decided to sneak into his bed. And you only wanted to lie there and sleep right? Nothing else? Pfft! Yeah right!" Cana chuckled loudly, Laxus and a couple others who were sitting in the dining room joining her soon after.
"Hey, didn't we have more people when we first came here?" I asked once everyone had settled.
"Yeah," Gray agreed, "Where is everyone?"
"Oh, right. We forgot to tell you guys." Levy remembered, placing a finger to her bottom lip, before explaining the situation, "Well Ren got called away to an emergency meeting by his boss at Blue Pegasus Inc. You know that toy store down south? Yeah, well he left and Sherry went with him. And Bickslow, Freed and Elfman ordered Chinese late last night and there must have been something wrong with it because the three of them started puking their guts up. They were still unwell this morning so Mira and Evergreen decided to escort them home. So there are about 12 of us left I think?"
Erza held up her fingers and started to count the group members on her hand, "Well there's me, Jellal, Juvia, Lyon, Levy, Gajeel, Natsu, Lisanna, Lucy, Gray, Cana and Laxus. Yeah there are 12."
"Ooh this'll be fun," Lisanna clasped her hands together and grinned, "We can have a couples day at the beach!"
"Hell yeah!" Natsu cheered, probably only tuning in at the last second with the mention of the word beach.
The group watched as the pinkette jumped around the room, ripping off his clothes and running around in just his swimming trunk, tying his white scaled scarf around his head. He was grinning like mad and it was hilarious to watch.
"And people say that Gray used to be the exhibitionist." Laxus chortled, "Looks like someone has taken over your roll now, ba ha!"
"I don't mind," Gray moved behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck, "My role now is to be the perfect boyfriend."
My cheeks flushed and I found myself smiling like an idiot. "Well you're doing a pretty good job now." I twisted around in his embrace and draped my arms around his neck, linking my fingers together at his nape before tilting my chin upwards so our lips could meet.
When we broke apart Laxus was laughing that booming laugh of his, Cana was cheering, Juvia and Lyon were nowhere in sight, Levy and Lisanna were giggling, Gajeel was making puking motions and Natsu was making gagging noises.
But we didn't care.
"Ugh...I'm so bored!" Juvia complained, flopping back onto the couch with a sigh.
The bluenette finally made an appearance after Gajeel caught Lyon and her making out in the laundry cupboard.
"When's Cana getting back?" Lisanna asked, fanning herself with a book she'd found in one of the draws.
"I don't know. She said she'd be back soon but it feels like she's been gone for hours! We're all sweating like crazy while Cana's probably in some nice, air conditioned surf shop, leisurely strolling down the aisles." Erza groaned, lying face down on the carpet and pushing her long red hair to the side so it no longer stuck to her neck.
"It's too hot! She needs to hurry up so we can get down to the beach already." I whined, pressing my face as close as I could to the only fan in the whole room, "The boys are already down there enjoying themselves and we have to wait here until Cana gets back with our swim suits!"
"Lucy, it's my turn with the fan now. You can go stand over by the window to try and keep cool if you like." Levy suggested, taking my place in front of the small fan, tilting her head back as the cool waves of air glided over her smooth skin.
I took my seat on the window sill, leaning as close as I could to the cool air that was coming into the hotel room without falling through the fly screen and landing on the cement five stories below.
We had been waiting about 30 minutes for Cana to return from her trip down to local surf shop to buy us all bikini's – since we'd stupidly forgotten to bring ours despite the fact that we decided to drive to a beach town – and honestly, we were just about ready to pass out from heat exhaustion.
"That's it! I can't take this anymore!" I shouted, "I don't care if I have to go swimming in my bra and panties, I'm going down to the beach to cool off and I'm going now!"
"Hell yeah!" The girls cheered, jumping up and marching towards the door with myself in the lead.
It was at this moment that the brunette finally decided to make an appearance.
The door opened abruptly, making everyone except the fearless Erza jump back with a girly squeal.
"Hey everyone! I'm back!" Cana cooed, giving us a goofy, yet apologetic grin, "Sorry I took so long. I know the surf shops are only just down the road but I'm in a seriously picky mood today. I wanted to find the perfect bikini's for all of you."
"That doesn't excuse the fact that you left us in the heat for ages. I felt like I was going to melt." Lisanna sighed heavily, wiping her sweaty brow with her forearm.
"Too right! My whole shirt is drenched in sweat now." Levy complained.
"We were about to head down to the beach and swim in just our bras and panties. It's so hot we didn't even care." Juvia told her, pulling on the front of her loose singlet shirt to try and get some ventilation.
"Sorry, I'm sorry! But seriously, when you see these swimsuits you'll forgive me." Cana smirked, opening up the large bag and revealing the items she had purchased.
Erza's mouth formed and 'o'.
Juvia clasped her hands together.
Lisanna gasped.
Levy even squealed.
"Oh...wow." I breathed.
I felt a huge smile spread out over my face as I looked out over the ocean. The scenery was absolute perfection; that vast expanse of deep blue, glittering under the sun like thousands upon thousands of sapphires
I ran down the beach, my blonde hair streaming out behind me as my friends struggled to keep up with me. I screamed out in happiness as I twirled and jumped and laughed. The feeling of the sand under my feet, heated from the sun's rays, but not hot enough to burn my soles.
The salty smell of the ocean and the sound of people's laughter. It was like a beautiful melody of senses all colliding into a single song of happiness.
This day couldn't be any more beautiful.
And to make it even better I now had a brand new swim suit to show off to my boyfriend.
I easily forgave Cana once I saw the bikini's that she'd picked out for us.
The brunette herself was wearing a strapless bikini. Miscellaneous shapes danced their way across the material in all different shades of purple; from violet to mauve to royal.
She had picked out a number of flattering swimsuits for the six of us and the moment we saw them we could have melted with happiness.
My blonde locks whipped my face in the wind so I turned into the breeze, letting my hair stream out behind me. When I turned I saw Levy being swept up into Gajeel arms. The tall, muscular man spun her around and around, making her squeal and struggle and laugh. The silver threads woven into her swimsuit sparkled under the brilliant sun.
Her bikini was a standard tube top and a pair of plain, matching bottoms. It would have been rather boring had it not been for the spectacular array of faded from yellow to topaz to orange to coral and crimson and a dark bloody red, complete with silver forget-me-not patterns swirling everywhere. It looked like the sun was setting all over her body.
I then turned to Lisanna, who was modeling her new swimsuit for Natsu and pulling poses very similar to the one's Mirajane would pull in her photoshoots. I guess talent runs in the family.
Her swimsuit was a navy blue with straps spawning from the centre and tying at the base of her neck. White frills ran along all the hemlines of both the top and bottom parts of her bikini and there was a pale blue dragon dancing it's way around her torso and hips.
Natsu sat back on the ground admiring her as she ran a hand through her short white hair and took up another provocative pose.
"Do you like my swimsuit, Natsu?" She asked, leaning over him with her hands behind her back, her breasts straining against the material of her bikini top.
Natsu grinned and blushed and wiped his mouth to make sure he wasn't drooling, "Uh huh." He nodded furiously and I couldn't tell if he was excited over her breasts or the dragon gliding across them.
"JUUUUVIAAA-CHAAANN!" I heard Lyon exclaim as he bounded towards his blue haired lover like a labrador would hurl itself towards it's master.
"Eep!" She squealed as the silver haired man grabbed her tightly from behind.
"You look gorgeous my love~" He cheered, spinning her around to admire her bikini clad figure.
She wore a pale blue swimsuit decorated with fading shades of blue material arranged in such a way they looked like the ocean was rippling across her torso and hips.
The bluenette blushed bright red and turned away from Lyon in embarrassment.
"Ezra~" She cried out, heading in the direction of the redhead who was accompanied by Jellal, "These swimsuits are embarrassing! Lyon won't stop staring at me."
The redhead crossed her arms under her chest and blew upwards, shifting a wayward lock of scarlet hair out of her eyes, "Hey, it's not my problem! I wasn't the one who bought them. If you've got a problem go talk to Cana." She rolled her eyes before giving a little twirl to show off her bikini to the blue haired man before her, "Though I rather like mine. It's nice. Don't you agree Jellal?"
She ran a hand through her luscious red strands and placed a hand on her hip. Jellal nodded frantically, trying to hold back a nose bleed as his widened eyes fixated on her lovely curves.
Her swimsuit was like a painting of outer space. Predominantly black with a scattering of colours forming stars, galaxies and supernovae. It was almost as lovely as the red haired beauty herself.
I felt a little self conscious since everyone was wearing such beautiful swimsuits. All my friends are so stunning and I just feel so plain, even with this gorgeous swimsuit. Mine was a number of white ruffles flowing over my chest and hips, each ruffle flattered by a pastel pink trim and extravagant flowers. It was similar to the swimsuit I usually wore up this one just seemed more flattering. But compared to the other girls, I felt a little shy showing off my body like this.
Suddenly a pair of warm, strong and unfortunately scarred arms wrapped around my abdomen and pulled me against a well toned chest "You look beautiful."
Gray whispered in my ear, giving a quick kiss to my neck before turning me around so I could face him.
He admired me with flushed cheeks, no doubt noticing how my breasts bulged against the pale fabric. He leaned down to peck his lips against my forehead and I smiled gently, waiting till he pulled away so I could capture his lips briefly.
It's strange how the moment he touches me all my anxieties just fly out the window. What's stranger still is how much everything has changed!
I was a mere nurse looking after a tortured and scarred man who was so alone in this world despite all his friends seeking to support him. I broke down his walls, forced my way into his heart and made myself a significant person in his life. I grew close to him, got to know so many things about him and formed friendships with his friends as well.
Especially over this trip, the changes within all of us have been dramatic to say the least. I think each one of us has been affected by Gray in some way or another.
It seemed to be a negative impact upon us all at first but...as time has gone on, as we've all grown closer together, I believe we've all become more open minded and accepting of these situations.
We've all come to terms with our issues amongst ourselves, regained things we thought we would never get back (my memories included) and it truly has benefitted the lot of us for the better.
Well it certainly has been a long time since I've updated this story. It's been over a year! Damn that makes me mad at myself.
Anyways, reviews, favourites and follows are all much appreciated and I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter which has taken me way too long to write.
Oh and just letting you all know that this story will indeed be coming to a close soon, in fact I believe there may only be one more chapter left of this story. Unless you guys think otherwise? But I don't really see how I can go on now, there's not much else to say for Lucy and Gray. I do hope you've enjoyed this story so far and I look forward to posting the very last chapter in the near future.
Thanks for reading :3
- LW
Feel free to have a read of some of my other stories on here, like: 'Counting the Stars', 'Those Lost Years' and 'Have Faith in Me'.