When it was just January, the weather was cold and frosty as it always can be. There was still snow here and there and there was reporting's about how it was going to snow till maybe mid-February but that didn't stop her, Gray, and Natsu from jogging around every day for at least an hour.

Soccer tryouts were just in two and a half months and the boys were fired up like always.

Lucy was their training coach and she could say she was a pretty good one at it too. She pushed them hard-core and she was serious about it which made it worse. Sprinting, jogging, running, and jumping took the life out of them but she was just helping—at least they were faster and working hard for the Varsity soccer team. She heard only the best went on the team and she was going to make the two boys work hard for it.

After all, she did sign up to be managers for soccer—she couldn't do that when those two weren't around!

"C'mon slow pokes! Move! Faster, faster—you're not getting into soccer like that!"

"Geez, when did little miss Lucy be the athletic type?" Gray muttered under his breath as the two males panted, squirting water into their mouths. Natsu shrugged as he looked on over at his girlfriend who wore some boy shorts and a t-shirt, a megaphone in her palms as she glared at them.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"L—Luce... can't we rest for a bit? We've been training for hours..."

"There's no time!"

"N—Not to be rude or something but," Gray panted as he gulped. "Do you even do some kind of sport?"

"Yes, I have, excuse you." She scoffed as she planted her hand on her hip and shifted all her weight to one leg. "I used to be a track runner, volleyball player, and I did swimming during the summer. I know how to play hardcore." She said proudly making the two boys exchange glances.

They jumped when Lucy blew a whistle by their ears, making them run another lap.

"C'mon ladies!"

—X—

"How's workouts, boys?" Lisanna asked as they waited for Lucy to bring back food and drinks as they sat by Lucy's dinner table, dead. Natsu groaned out a reply as he had a towel over his face, trying hard to stay in one piece as his body ached everywhere.

"Somewhat okay."

"Thanks to her, we don't have to go to school's workouts."

"Is she that good?"

"She's more than good... she's Satan's daughter, I tell you."

"I heard that, Gray!" Lucy called out from the kitchen making Lisanna giggle while she watched Natsu sip on his straw of juice while Gray looked dead. He groaned and enjoyed the peacefulness as Lucy came back with food and drinks, the male reaching forward to grab and nibble on a small square sandwich.

"Not to be mean or anything but why are you here, Lis?" Natsu asked as he ate the complementary sandwiches his girlfriend prepared.

Lucy and Gray looked at Lisanna to see her expression as they waited for her response.

Noticing how she only shrugged, she smiled. "I don't know—I was planning on going grocery shopping because Mira-Nee asked but I saw you guys coming home so, here I am."

"You're procrastinating. Go to the store," Natsu ordered, flicking the forehead of his friend who only cried out and frowned, pouting at the rosy-haired male who had the sandwich between his teeth. He gave her a lazy look as she gave him a glare. "This isn't your house, you can't kick me out."

"I technically live here so, uh, I believe I can."

"Natsu, stop being so rude. Lisanna is allowed to stay as long as she likes." Lucy stated making Lisanna stick her tongue out at the male who did it right back.

She rolled her eyes at their actions as she looked at Gray who was silently eating one sandwich at a time. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit tired."

"You can't go to sleep, yet, mister!" Lisanna suddenly said earning their attention. "We all have somewhere to attend tonight."

"Where do we have to go?" Lucy asked making her eye the clock before looking back at her. "Juvia has a swim competition today at three and she wants all of us to attend." Lisanna said, giving Gray a hard stern look before looking back at Lucy who gasped and nodded. She smiled and agreed as Natsu shrugged, continuously putting sandwich after sandwich in his mouth.

"Wait, what? What does her stupid swim competition have to do with me?"

"We're going to go and cheer her on."

"Why? She'll do fine with or without me. It doesn't matter if I attend or not."

"Stop being so cold, Gray! Do it for Juvia!" Lucy nudge the male who only stared in confusion. He shook his head and denied the idea as the two girls pouted. "Why not?"

"Because I'm tired and I rather sleep than go to and watch people swim."

"C'mon Gray!" Lisanna whined making him still shake his head. "I pass."

"Juvia will be disappointed when she sees you didn't make it!"

"Well, life is full of disappointments. I'm going to head out—you coming, flame-head?"

"Huh? Wh—yeah, why not." The rosy-haired male said as he stood and stretched. "Where are you going?" Lucy asked as he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers for a bit before pulling away. "I'm going to go home and change. I'll come to thing, if you want."

"Yeah, come." Lucy murmured as she pulled him down and kissed him softly. "And try to convince Gray to come too, hm?"

"I'll try." He shrugged as he pulled away and walked where Gray was. He ruffled the silver hair of his childhood friend as he grinned, following his friend out the house as the door silence the house with a slam.

The two females merely just stared before sighing in defeat.

Meanwhile, the two soccer players both walked down the street of Lucy's neighborhood as the two yawned.

"Can you believe them trying to make me come to some swim thing for Juvia? Fuck that—I'm beat."

"C'mon, you should go and cheer your girlfriend on." Natsu snickered as he just received a glare. "She's not my girlfriend."

"She kind of is. Why don't you just make it official and ask her out?" Natsu suggested as they turned a corner and crossed the street to the next neighborhood. Gray only sighed as he felt like punching his face in for being asked this the millionth time in his life.

"Because... because... I don't know!"

"You do know. Just grow some balls and ask her out. You can't get rejected cause she's been crushing on you since day one." He said as he tried remembering when Juvia came to where they lived. "Err... almost five years?"

"Shut up—I don't like her."

"Yeah but you obviously care for her." He said making Gray press his lip into a tight line and look away in embarrassment.

A light blush painted his cheeks as Natsu smirked to himself, stuffing his hand into his pants pocket as he yawned.

"I'm sure Juvia would really like it if you at least came to this swim competition."

"Whatever..." He muttered before the two went separate ways.

A loud whistle was blown and multiple people including Juvia dove right into the pool, screams and cheers echoing through the large indoor pool. The swimmers, using all of their strength, swam through the choppy cold waters as they touched the other side and flipped, swimming to the other side. Juvia was barely first place as someone in front of her swam just a bit faster, her swim coach, Aquarius, screaming at her to swim faster.

Soon, the sound of a whistle was heard to see that Juvia came right in second place while the others still struggled to swim to make it to the end-side.

Juvia panted as she pulled herself out of the pool and grabbed her towel, drying her face off as she looked to see she came in second place. She frowned slightly but didn't give it much thought as she looked for her friends or a certain someone.

When she noticed her friends by the bleachers waving, she smiled and went on over towards them, pulling her swimmer cap off. Her blue wavy hair fell right below her shoulders and she ran her fingers through them, combing them as she approached them, smiling.

"Hello friends."

"Juvia, you were amazing!" Lisanna gushed making her blush slightly. "Juvia failed to come in first place, though..."

"Ah, who cares about first place? First is the worst, second is the best!" Lucy reminded making Juvia laugh slightly, giving Natsu a silent greet. He nodded in her direction as he smiled, the blunette looking around for a certain someone.

"Is Gray-Sama not here?"

"Oh, uh..." Lisanna frowned as she glanced at Lucy who laughed sheepishly. "Gray's going to come! I promise—he's just taking care of some business." She liked making Juvia stare in confusion. "Business?" Sheasked, tilting her head to the side as Lucy smiled. "Yeah! He's doing something for Erza, he'll be here soon."

Juvia was silent for a moment before she smiled widely and nodded in understanding. She told them goodbye as she left to go prepare for her next swim, the three all watching as they sighed sadly.

Natsu nudged his girlfriend as Juvia was away from ear-shot distance, the blonde turning to look at her boyfriend who gave her a look. "Gray's not coming."

"Why the hell is he not coming? I thought I specifically told him to come," The blonde growled as she slapped the back of her hand against her palm as Natsu shrugged. "I don't know—he said he was tired. I tried to convince him but he said it's not worth it."

"Does he not care about Juvia at all?! Why is he so heartless?!" Lucy stressed out making Natsu shake his head. "He does care, a lot."

"If he did, he would be here right now. Does he not know how much she's willing to give up for him? He's a major ass for standing someone like Juvia up!"

"Hey, who're you calling an ass?" A new voice popped up making the three all turn and look.

It was the one and only Gray Fullbuster wearing nothing but shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, walking towards them as he gave them a lazy look. He greeted Lisanna and Natsu with nods as Lisanna waved and Natsu nodded back. Lucy, on the other hand, just glared as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Where were you, mister? You're thirty minutes late."

"I wanted to be fashionably late." He announced, smirking as Lucy huffed in irritation. "You're lucky you showed up or else I would have killed you."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"What made you change your mind?" Natsu asked making Gray look at him. He gave him a shrug and turned to look for the blue-haired swimmer he came there for. "I don't know, really. I was lying in bed and then I thought about how bright she gets when she sees me and I wanted to see that." He admitted making Lisanna coo and Natsu snicker, saying how soft he was turning.

Lucy only stared in confusion, wondering if he actually meant that or he was just joking.

"If you think like that... why don't you just ask her out, already?"

"I just don't think I'm ready for a relationship."

"You haven't been ready for five years, Gray." Lisanna pointed out making him scowl at her. Lucy raised a brow at him and crossed her arms, giving him a look as he cringed slightly.

"You kept her waiting for five years?"

"Well no—"

"What do you think you're doing letting someone like her wait that long?! Girl's are impatient! You must be pretty fucking important if she's going to wait for you for five years!" Lucy barked out as Gray raised his hands, backing away slightly. "Calm down, sweetheart."

"Don't you tell me to calm down! I'm trying to be nice and I'm asking you to grow some balls and ask her out for Mavis sake! You're keeping her waiting for what?! To fucking propose?! NO! You're just lying around to break her heart and I swear to god if you're doing that, I promise you I'll make you run across the entire country if I have to! You won't be walking for months!" The blonde threatened as she stepped forward and scared the poor male.

He backed away at least two meters as he gave her a half nervous wave. "Well, looks like I have to go—I'll see you guys later!" He cried out as he made a dash for it, disappearing outside as Lucy groaned.

"You ass! Get back here before I—"She growled as she was about to chase him down but Natsu grabbed her, laughing softly. "Whoa there, calm down, Lucy."

"How can I be calm with something like that is roaming the streets?!"

"Geez, you're so rude." He commented earning a glare from his girlfriend. "Anyways... you need to give him some time."

"Some time?! It's been five years!"

"Lucy, you can't force a guy to like someone." Natsu said making Lucy whimper and sigh. "But... Natsu, it's been five years!"

"I know it's been five years, Luce. But it's their choice weather or not if they want to date. Gray will eventually ask her out and they'll eventually get married and have four kids. Don't worry—I promise everything's going to be fine." He reassured as he placed his hand on her head and kissed her forehead, smiling as the blonde huffed in annoyance.

"I still don't understand..." She murmured as she pouted and narrowed her eyes. Natsu only chuckled as he brought her in his arms and hugged her tightly, rocking her back and forth, gently. "Yeah, I know, babe... I never knew you were so protective over Juvia."

"I'm protective with every one of my girl-friends. Juvia might not be my number one but she still is one of my good friends. She deserves an happy ending too," The blonde huffed as Natsu nodded and kissed her cheek. "You're so sweet!"

"Shut up, Natsu."

Juvia closed her locker door as she finished buttoning her shirt, sighing sadly as he really didn't show up to the swim competition... it wasn't like she was expecting him too, anyways. He probably had lots of stuff to do so she could have understood... but she really wanted him there.

Juvia grabbed her belongings as she slowly dragged herself out of the locker rooms, finding her way to the front entrance as she really wanted to head home.

She stopped by her shoe locker as she pulled out her walking shoes and put her school shoes inside, locking her locker to slowly walk with her head dangling low. She dragged her feet against the dirt ground as the sun was setting ever so slowly.

She even failed to notice someone leaning against the school's gate pillar as she approached him slowly.

She soon noticed him when she was right in front of him, the swimmer looking up to see the one she loved dearly, Gray Fullbuster.

He looked pretty tired with all the bags under his eyes but the only thing that registered through her mind was: he's here!

Her entire face lit up and she smiled brightly, walking right up to him. "Gray-Sama! What are you doing here? It's very late!" She said while he only gave her a nod and soft smile. "I was waiting for you."

An instant blush painted her pale cheeks. "M—Me? You were waiting for me?"

"Yeah—sorry I couldn't come to your swim thing. I was kind of busy but I waited so I can at least walk you home."

"Oh!" Juvia gasped as she fidgeted in her spot, blushing bright. "J—Juvia would appreciate that..." She said as Gray nodded and pulled himself to his feet.

He stuffed his hands in his pocket as he started to walk away, Juvia quickly following suit as she trailed behind him, staring down at the gap between them as that was the best she could do.

It was a silent walk all the way to her house and Juvia couldn't ask for a better one. She was very happy her beloved Prince Charming waited for her and she hoped he couldn't hear how loudly her heart was racing! It felt like a dream and she silently hoped it wouldn't end.

But it did when she realized they were already in front of her house, the male standing patiently in front of her.

She merely fidgeted in her spot as Gray raised a brow, wondering what in the world she was doing. He waited for her to speak and when she did, he was a bit surprised.

"J—Juvia does not want to leave so soon... she wants to spend time with you, Gray-Sama..." She confessed, blushing as she couldn't bare look into his eyes. Gray only stood there as he eventually smiled. "Yeah... I want to spend time with you too, Juvia."

"E—eh?" The swimmer looked up in shock, looking at the male who smiled softly. "Juvia, can I ask you a question?"

"Y—yes?"

"Do you like me?"

"Like you?" She squeaked as he nodded slowly, the blue-haired teen blushing harder. She looked away as steam rolled out of her ears and her blood rush through her body. "O—of course Juvia likes you... Juvia has admired Gray-Sama for a long time now..." She muttered under her breath as he silently watched.

He stared at her beautiful face for a while as the sun dropped slowly behind her, he orange beaming sun-light shining against his pale face.

"Hey Juvia, I think I like you too."

"E—eh?"

"Would you like to be mine?"

Juvia only stared in shock as she blinked rapidly, looking up at the male she liked for so long, finally asking if she wanted to be his.

She didn't freak out or cry or scream... she only smiled and finally said the words she rehearsed to say since day one.

"Yes."

a/n: this one is for those Gruvia fans! I don't know—i had to add gruvia at some point so why not now while i'm in hotel arrest lmao
sorry for the wait

leave a lovely review, won't you? ;*