Author's Note: I've come around to update, yay... I've been really busy with my college work lately so it drove most of my focus there and I had a small case of writers block too :P, but I've finally got this chapter done. I'll try to update as fast as I can so I can bring you more EP and AIM, by the way this is a pretty long chapter just for you guys as a sorry. Now with that out of the way please review and enjoy!
Chapter 13
Gray groggily sat himself up as he finally woke up again after he blacked out behind the guild, which drove him to question how he got himself into an infirmary bed. He looked around to see everything was just fine save for the quiet snoring he heard right next to him, which surprised him to see who it was. Sleeping at his side with her arms crossed under her head was Lisanna and Gray was confused thinking that Cana would be there beside him. He thought back to what happened before and slowly became warm in his face as he remembered Cana kissing him, telling him to forget what she said all those years ago.
Not long into his recounting did Lisanna begin to stir bringing Gray right back to the present as she scratched her eyes like a young child would do after a nap. It took a little for her eyes to focus again before she saw Gray fully awake and sitting up, looking at her questioningly.
"Well hey Lisanna, didn't expect to see you here." Gray said, a little unsure how to talk to her since he rarely got the chance to speak with her alone.
"Hi Gray, sorry if I woke you up in any way." She apologized realizing that her snoring might of woken him up and a small tinge of red appeared from her embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it's okay." He said, pausing a bit to get his thoughts together. "Do you know how I got here?" He asked since it was the obvious question he had on his mind.
"Mira-nee told me that you passed out outside the guild hall and got Elf-nii to bring you up here." The animal soul mage explained as the ravenette processed this information, but the next question had put Lisanna to the test.
"What happened to Erza and Cana? They were pretty mad about something, but I can't remember what it was." Gray did remember the look of anger Erza had when she was yelling at Cana, but it had to do with something that kept escaping him.
"T-They um... had a small disagreement on rum cheesecake is all." This was a blatant lie that Lisanna had made on the spot, but the young Strauss couldn't be a great liar for the life of her. It's just something she couldn't do, but her sister was counting on her to try so she'll give it her best shot.
"Rum cheesecake?" Gray has heard of the multitude of cheesecake flavors from Erza and rum cheesecake was one he had never heard of.
"It's like regular cheesecake, but one ingredient is rum, so it's like an alcohol mixed cheesecake." She had to pull all the stops of her imagination so this lie could be believable, she internally wondered how other people could do it so easily.
"They were arguing over that?" Gray would've thought it weird for them to be nearly fighting each other over it, but gave it some more thought and saw that it was likely they would fight for it. "Actually never mind; Erza loves her cheesecake and Cana loves her booze so it does make sense."
"It does?...I mean, yes it does, so that's why they were arguing." Lisanna laughed nervously as she couldn't believe how difficult it was to talk to the ice mage.
"Well if that's the case, then why are you here?" He sounded straight forward at that point and blamed it on the lack of talking with her, especially if it came to a one on one.
"I uhh...well I was asked to look after you by Mira-nee, you know...just in case something happened while you were asleep." In truth she was having a hard time speaking with this Gray since she was so used to the love struck Gray Surge back in Edolas, but she hoped that this Gray was like him too. Not the Juvia wanting part, but the nice and caring part of him.
"Well thanks for looking out for me Lisanna." He replied getting out of the bed, ready to get back downstairs until he looked out the window. He had noticed that the sun was pretty low compared to the last time he was awake. "How long was I out?"
"About three hours give or take." Lisanna replied as Gray couldn't believe he was out for that long, but then again he hardly remembers anything about the previous night before he blacks out when playing with Cana.
"The day's already gone, guess I could head home now. Better than getting into another game after the last one." Gray said as he picked his coat up off a chair nearby ready to leave, but Lisanna tapped on his shoulder before he left the room.
"C-Can I ask for a favor from you?" Lisanna wasn't that shy when it came to her guild mates, but this Gray can be as intimidating as Gajeel and Laxus at times. Plus he had somehow got her heart ready to leap out of her chest just by looking at her.
"Sure why not?"
"Can you c-come on a request with me?" This was the moment, Mira had given her specific instructions to get Gray to tag along on a mission so the meeting could be conducted. This could be very awkward since they hardly talk to each other, but she wouldn't hesitate to try and start a conversation.
"I won't mind going, but why me?" Gray was willing to go sure enough, but he didn't understand why she'd pick him as a partner instead of someone that she's already used to.
"You see I've asked around, but everyone's really busy lately. Natsu has something planned with Happy, Elf-nii's got to help Mira-nee with a delivery coming in and most of the others are taking a small break from going out on requests for some reason." Of course this was rehearsed when Mira came into the room with her, but it would be enough to work on Gray, maybe.
"Then what about any of the girls? Couldn't you go with one of them?" Gray hardly turns his back on his comrades, but he just didn't want her to feel uncomfortable with him around.
"Are you trying to avoid going with me Gray?" Lisanna was quick on the uptake and Gray had to give her that, she had eyes that could see through you easily just like her sister's and he hoped that she wouldn't become just like her too.
"N-No, I'm not trying to avoid you Lisanna, it's just that I think you'd do better with someone you're more comfortable with." Gray explained the very thought he had about this and waited for the white haired girl's reply.
"Thanks for thinking about what would be good for me Gray." Lisanna had now put more faith in her idea that Gray was sort of like Surge in a way, hopefully there's still more of that to come. "Also to answer your last question, I can't because this requires one male and one female mage to...um...portray a couple."
"Oh..." That helps clear everything up for him, but Gray was still unsure if he should do this and knew someone else that was suited for this position. Then again that person would just wreck everything in sight so he was a no go.
"Yeah, but don't worry about it. We only need to be that for the main celebration and we'll learn more once we make it to the town." Lisanna was hoping for a yes and at the same time he heart yearned for a yes. Though there was still a part of her that wanted a certain pink haired slayer to take the position instead.
Gray gave it some thought, there were both cons and pros to this 'portraying as a couple' request with Lisanna. The cons were that the awkward silence between the two during their trip there would kill him, along with during the request, pegged as the next unexpected couple in Sorcerer's Magazine and have Mira hounding on him to get with Lisanna or stay away from her.
That Mira bit sure as hell scared him, but the pros to the request would be getting away from the guild, no need to come across his team for a bit and to a better note he didn't have to over think everything he was doing around either Cana, Erza and Lucy. He knew that some of the cons scared the shit out of him, but getting some time away from his little problem was much more worth it."A request would do me some good"
"Alright I'll come with you Lisanna." Gray gave a small smirk as she let a breath of relief out, one that she didn't know she was holding back.
"That's great to hear Gray, meet me by Magnolia station tomorrow so we could get going." Lisanna was glad that Mira's plan had worked and he saw him give a small wave of goodbye to her as he exited the infirmary.
Back at the guild's main floor things haven't improved much, atmospherically wise, as the air around everyone was thick enough to cut with a knife. Things had returned to normal after everyone watched Gray get carried away to the infirmary, but the small glares between the main groups fighting for him had created a choking atmosphere.
Team E.L.L.N. kept an eye on Mira, while she had her team keep an eye on them and the Phantom Team. As for Phantom Team, Gajeel had his ways of working a network of guild mates to watch both teams' movements, however Juvia kept her stare concentrated to the biggest threat of them all. Lucy.
Said blonde was getting both irritated and self-conscious about the strong glare she was receiving from Juvia. Things had taken a pretty rash turn when she said all those things, but Lucy knew that the time for apologies was over and she wasn't going to back down. She'd expressed how tired she was of being accused for liking him even before she did, however her claims of not liking him turned to lies as she slowly started seeing the ice mage in a new light. Even so, Lucy couldn't necessarily blame anyone for slowly falling for the ice mage because that happened after so much time had passed Between them. Along with her wanting to break free of just having a strong friendship with him.
"How was I ever the first to be accused of loving Gray?" The celestial mage thought to herself, remembering how even back when she was getting to know Juvia that the water mage had this mind set of her being a major problem.
"What do you think Lucy?" Levy asked as the blonde barely returned to the conversation here team was having, although she missed over half of what they were saying.
"Sorry, could you repeat that?"
"Erza said that this meeting that's been planned out may be a good idea, but the problem is what will happen if we settle all of our differences. Natsu and I agreed that it could be troublesome if the odds are stacked against us and we asked you for your opinion." Levy recapped as the blonde gave the situation a deeper thought as she too saw a few problems that could come of this.
"Yeah you're right, the whole thing can get out of our favor if we're not careful." Lucy could see how difficult it could be to have some alone time with Gray if everyone didn't settle this right. Although during her musings she had noticed that the youngest dragon slayer wasn't with them. "Where's Wendy you guys?"
"She left a while ago to hang out with Romeo. Lucky for us so we can talk about this without getting Wendy involved. " Levy replied and Erza was about to add to her comment when Natsu jumped up in joy as he saw his target of affection.
"Oi ice princess get over here!" Natsu called out as Gray turned to look at them before he made his way over.
Needless to say Erza was beginning to feel giddish as he came closer, Lucy's heart began to beat faster and Levy was trying her best not to stare so hard at him. Then there's Natsu's happy-go-lucky self that wouldn't mind tackling the ravenette once he got close enough just to have him in his arms. As for Gray, he simply wanted to say his good byes for the night and head home to avoid any awkward moments between him and Erza.
"You haven't been with the team for a while today." Natsu added as the mage stood by at their table, even though the girls had made space for him to sit.
"I've been busy, but I'm already heading home for today. I swung by to tell you guys goodbye." Gray replied looking at the guild doors, although he was caught off guard when he was answered by a simultaneous "Why?"
"It felt like you just got here, we haven't seen you all day snowman" Natsu was starting to feel his heart ache as the mage just turned his head at him and focused else where.
"He's right Gray, you need to communicate with your team." Erza spoke up, hoping that her voice didn't sound the way it does when she's in a cheesecake shop.
"Sorry guys, like I've said I've been busy and I'm going home because I've got a request to do tomorrow." Judging by the stare he was getting from everyone, Gray knew he had to explain at least a part of it.
"It's a two person, body guard request for a celebration tomorrow night." Even after he explained it, Gray still got expected stares and didn't know what they wanted from him. "What?"
"Who are you taking on this request Gray?" Erza asked as the others all nodded their heads in agreement which the ice mage had no idea they could be all in sync like that.
"A-Actually I've been asked to be the partner on this one." The entire table immediately froze and wondered who had asked their Gray to go on a request with them.
"Who asked you Gray?" Levy asked as the mage in question was surprised that she wanted to know.
"It was Lisanna, anyways I'd better get going." Gray waved his hand, but was grabbed by none other than Natsu who held onto it with a strong grip.
"Then let me walk with you ice boxers." Gray yanked his hand out of his grip and was surprised that Natsu had a look of hurt across his features after he did that.
"Sorry fire freak, not going to happen. I'm happy with my privacy and I don't need you showing up to my house out of nowhere." He said as Erza took this time to stand next to the ravenette, which got his heart beating faster as she placed her gauntlet hand on his shoulder.
"Now Gray we all must be fair. We've all visited Natsu's home before, we occasionally go spend time in Lucy's home and now it's your turn to let us visit your home." Erza had made a point about it, but he was still skeptical about giving an answer.
He could say no to them, but Erza would still tag along on his way home and receive so many glares he'd have to sleep with one eye open for a while. On the other hand, he could say yes and have them only visit once and not come back since they're most likely going to Lucy's house more often than not. Either way they all would know where he'd live and his personal home of solitude would now be public to the guild. With a bothered sigh, Gray made up his mind and hoped it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass later.
"Fine you guys can come, but make sure you tell no one where I live, okay? I like to have my privacy." With agreeing nods Team E.L.L.N. followed Gray out of the guild hall and onto the streets leading towards his home.
The walk had lasted for a while, the scenery changing from large apartment homes and shops to single floor homes and the occasional town home. The team had realized how significantly quieter the neighborhood was compared to the main center around the guild and Lucy's home. They enjoyed the quiet environment until Gray made a sharp turn and was making his way up to a two story house.
It had a bricked walkway leading straight towards the door, trimmed grass on either side with another path leading towards a small garage attached to the main house. Interestingly enough for Team E.L.L.N. they did not see one piece of Gray's abandoned clothing anywhere on the lawn, which disappointed a few of them who were hoping to take a souvenir with them after their visit.
Once at the doorway and Gray had unlocked it, Lucy was the first to barge right past him and enter his home. She was soon followed by everyone else and Gray had the slightest notion that Lucy slightly enjoyed barging into some else's home for a change. With yet another tired sigh he walked inside himself and closed the door behind him, only to be caught with the sight of everyone just standing in his living room.
They all took in the entire view, Gray had a well furbished home like any other home however it was still different in a way. It actually reminded both Lucy and Levy of one of those homes you tend to see in magazine catalogs, and to their amusement the ice mage even had a fire place in the center wall of his living room. Although that didn't stop the small romantic day dreams the whole group had, except for Natsu who simply thought of eating all the flames it would have if it were ever lit.
"There, you guys have now been in my house, so could you please go home now?" Gray didn't want to kick them out, but he had a request to go to in the morning and wanted to at least have some peace and quite before he went to bed.
"Aw c'mon Gray could you at least give us a tour of your home?" Lucy asked attempting her puppy dog eyes on him, a trick Cana told her about a while ago that usually works on him.
Gray gave it moment to think it over and would've said no even if she was doing the eyes, but now that he likes her it was pretty difficult for him to say it out right. It didn't help it either that Erza stood nearby her in a waiting stance that he knew meant it was going down her way no matter what.
"Alright I'll give you a tour..." They all followed him out of that room and down his hallway, but what caught Erza's interest was the bare walls.
They were painted dark blue, a color she knew Gray liked, but they felt empty due to the fact that he didn't seem to have any photos on his walls save for some artworks here and there. It bothered her for some reason, as if Gray's home signifies him in a way; almost empty and secluded.
"What's bothering you Erza? You seem troubled." Levy lagged back so she was walking alongside Erza, while the others walked ahead, wondering what seemed to be going on in the red head's mind.
"It's really nothing Levy, just had a strange feeling is all. We should hurry, Gray looks like he's waiting on us." Erza replied as they caught up to Natsu, Lucy and Happy.
"When did you get here Happy?" Natsu asked as he realized his blue best friend was walking alongside him.
"You're mean Natsu, I was here the whole time!" Happy cried anime tears as he flew off into a random room they past not too long ago.
"Be careful in there!" Gray yelled to the retreating blue cat as he closed the door, now leaving the group wondering what was in there. "It's just a storage room, but I like to keep things clean and in order."
Gray showed the group around, walking past his personal bar counter in a den he had near the back, his medium sized kitchen that he made sure Erza kept Natsu under wraps so he wouldn't eat anything when he wasn't looking, followed by his personal library filled with the books Levy heard him buy over the past years from Micheal. He had also shown the upstairs of his home as well, however he made it clear that nobody was allowed into his room and finally ended it by leading them outside onto his balcony under the stars above.
"I've shown you guys around my whole house, now if you...where's Natsu?" Gray could already feel the mess in his kitchen that he was going to clean up, but when he went to check for him the dragon slayer wasn't there.
"We'll help you look for him." Erza said as she turned to the other two mages behind them, "Alright, we'll split up and search for him. Gray's home isn't so big, so that helps us in finding him."
The girls and Gray all went to search for the missing dragon slayer, but when he went off on his own the girls all had a quick agreement that no one was allowed to be alone with the ice mage. As for Gray, he still felt uneasy having the two girls he's having an intimate reaction with in his home along with a destructive dragon slayer as well. As for Levy, he was just glad that there was someone he could at least not fret over. For the moment he'd keep his focus on finding that pink haired idiot of a team mate that was missing somewhere in his house.
"He's around here somewhere, I know it." Gray had went back upstairs to continue his search when he remembered that Happy had gone into a room and hasn't been seen yet.
As quickly as he could he rushed towards the room, hoping that he was wrong and those two morons hadn't torn apart that room. He opened the door hastily to see a surprising sight in front of him, one he hadn't expected at all.
Almost everything was still in it's right place, nothing wrecked or destroyed with just a few boxes opened here and there and as for Natsu, that surprised Gray the most. The dragon slayer sat on the floor looking at one particular box, awe struck in his own world while Happy for some reason was knocked out right next to him. He walked up to him, sighing with annoyance that the pink idiot had gone through his stuff and clamped a hand on his shoulder.
Natsu jumped up to his feet and turned so fast that Gray wondered how he didn't suffer from whiplash and guarded himself until he realized it was just Gray. He dropped his stance and suddenly became self-conscience as the ice mage kept staring at him.
"Dude what in the hell are you doing and what happened to Happy?" Gray question as he stepped forward, but Natsu unconsciously stepped back from him.
"W-What's up with the stuff inside the box droopy eyes?" Natsu replied with a question and Gray didn't understand what he was getting at until he checked the box himself.
Inside were a number of old requests. photos and items dating back to the first few months of Natsu's joining of the guild and Gray was feeling a little irked that the flame eater found that box out of all of them in the room. He closed the distance between them and gripped on the sides of his vest, glaring at him as hard as he could. Natsu on the other hand was feeling quite giddish now that the ice mage was holding him.
"You better make sure this gets through your thick skull flame breath," Gray was trying to pick his words accordingly, knowing that Natsu could ruin his rep easily if this caught wind in the guild. "What I'm about to tell is to be kept quiet, understand? If you tell anyone then we're going to have a problem on out hands...maybe I'll even try to forget about you too."
"Don't worry your secret is safe with me and Happy when he wakes up!" Natsu was worried to what may happen and knew that Gray would easily follow through with whatever he says. With that, Gray let go of his vest and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"This room...it's a place where I hold all the memories I've made with the people I've come across and cared for." Gray said in a calmer tone, picking up and placing some of the boxes that were lain misplaced about the room.
"So this room's like a giant scrapbook or something?" Natsu couldn't believe that Gray was doing something like this and he felt very warm inside knowing that Gray had a box full of memories they've made together.
"Yeah something like that, but this is something I use to remember those who've come and gone or for later on in life when I want to think back." Gray had an invisible smile as he continued to place the final boxes onto their shelves or space.
"Didn't think you'd have something like this, but don't worry we'll keep this to ourselves." Natsu replied with his signature grin as the sound of his own beating heart grew even louder in his ears as he watched the ice mage."Still I didn't know you had one for me."
"Even though I can't stand you most of the time, you're still my nakama after all." Gray replied as Natsu grew even more fuzzy inside, the strange sensation wanting to draw him closer to Gray like never before.
"I've been meaning to ask again, but what happened to Happy?" Gray was curious to know why the blue cat was knocked out beside the dragon slayer.
"O-Oh he was looking through some of these boxes when I came in and I just came up behind him and scared him. He jumped pretty high and hit his head on a shelf pretty hard." Natsu explained as he watched the mage walk closer, his raging heart trying to reach for the target of affection who was so close he could feel the cold aura.
"Huh, didn't expect Happy to be that scared from just a jump sca-" Gray couldn't finish his sentence as he was tackled to the ground by the dragon slayer right out of the blue.
"I don't want to let you go Gray..." Natsu said in a low tone as the ice mage continued to struggle in the bear hug he was caught in.
"Oi you flame eating moron, if you want to fight me so bad than lets settle this outside and not in here!" Gray hadn't expected to be tackled inside his own home, but nonetheless he wouldn't lose to the dragon slayer.
"What the hell did you do to me?" Natsu ignored Gray's claim and made his grip on him even tighter as the ice mage tried to pry him off.
"What in the hell are you talking about?!" Gray questioned applying even more strength to get Natsu's arms off him.
"Everything was fine until yesterday and it was all because of you and now I can't get you out of my head." The pink haired teen continued on without acknowledging the ice mage's words at all.
"Oi flame brain, what do think you're doing?" His grip was getting even tighter and Gray couldn't tell if his words were even reaching Natsu, but he'd be damned if he was about to quit now.
"I asked Lucy and then I got an answer from Loke, telling me what's been happening to me and now I know." He drew closer to the mage, while Gray could feel Natsu's hot breath on his neck as he moved his mouth towards his ear. "I like you Gray."
Gray's mind stopped all other activity once he heard what Natsu said was beyond any form of comeback, how do you even come back to a confession? Did Natsu really confess to him and why in all things him? This wasn't at all what he expected and Gray continued to struggle to break away from his grip.
"You took my first kiss and I really liked it, I can't stop thinking about it and I've been wondering if it will feel the same a second time?" Gray was thinking that this was all a prank and Natsu was toying with him, until he saw his face.
Natsu's eyes held a look of longing, a noticeable pink blush that rivaled his own hair was on his cheeks and the slayer was trying his hardest to avoid eye contact. Gray was actually shocked that Natsu was being genuine with his confession, that he liked him in that way. Gray's head was filled with so many questions, but they were put on hold when he realized what Natsu was doing.
He was gazing into the ice mage's dark blue eyes, looking for something that the mage had no idea what it could be as he drew his face closer to his. Was Natsu planning on kissing him again!? The first time was by accident, but this time he was doing it willingly and his grip wasn't letting up. Gray used all his might to squirm out of Natsu's grip but the teen held on tight like never before, then he swiftly pinned one of Gray's hands with his own. This wasn't right, something was going on with Natsu...he couldn't like him of all people, right?
Pushing everything he had, Gray managed to free his hand and shoved Natsu right off of him, getting back onto his feet and taking a guarded stance. Natsu seemed to comeback to reality when he realized what had just happened, but Gray wasn't going to let his guard down so easily yet.
"The hell is wrong with you?!" Gray was careful of Natsu's movements, wondering if the mage would pounce on him again if he wasn't careful.
"I don't know what happened to me Gray!" Natsu was worried now about the actions he had just done, what possessed him to go to that length? Was he truly wanting Gray so bad it left him with the only option of tackling him and having his way?
"I don't know what you're trying to pull here, fire eater, but I won't let this go any further!...I thought we could have something special, I guess I was wrong." Natsu was beyond stricken when he heard that from Gray. Was this truly the end before they even had a beginning?
"W-Wait Gray, I'm sorry I didn't know what came over me! Let me exp-"
"I think it's time you should leave, I need my space...now!" Gray was more confused than he was angry with Natsu, still trying to process the fact that Natsu was actually trying to forcefully kiss him.
"Look Gray, it wasn't on purpose, I swear! Please you got to let me expl-" Once again the dragon slayer was interrupted and his heart was aching to what the consequences his actions had left onto him.
"I said leave Natsu!"
Natsu felt hurt, more over he felt angry but with himself and not Gray. He messed up royally and now he was paying for it, he had ruined a great moment between them and his heart yearned for the forgiveness of the ice mage. The man with a frozen heart who wouldn't show mercy to those who hurt him or his guild mates. He quickly rushed to grab Happy and made his way towards the door, stopping in the frame to look back at Gray. Said mage had his back to him with arms crossed and Natsu, though dense he may be at times, knew that Gray was upset and wanted nothing more to do with him tonight.
"Again Gray, I'm really sorry..." Like that, Natsu closed the door behind him and quickly made his way out of the Fullbuster residence.
Gray sighed, for who knows what time today, and continued to finish putting away the last of the boxes; Natsu's being the very last one. With everything back in it's place he gave the room a look over before leaving only to bump right into something hard and metallic. Gray wasn't expecting to bump right into her of all times and wasn't ready to deal with another encounter so soon.
"There you are Gray, I came to tell you I found Natsu, but he seemed to be in a rush and left already." Erza said as she witnessed how he tensed a little when she mentioned his name, but let it go as her eyes caught the look of a troubled man from the way Gray's face seemed to look.
"Yeah I know, he told me he had something to do and grabbed Happy." Gray replied feeling really awkward around one of his old childhood friends, a small moment of awkward silence passed between the two until Erza spoke again.
"L-Look Gray, you and I need to talk about...well us." Erza knew that she shouldn't discuss this matter...not yet anyways. However, she couldn't stand feeling this strong want for an answer from Gray, one that could bring her great happiness or utter sadness.
"What do you want to talk about?" Gray was trying his hardest not to appear panicked, this was his first time having feelings for someone else that run this deep and it bothered him that it extended to not one, but three people in total.
"I h-have spoken my true feelings towards you G-Gray. You are someone I don't think I'll be able to live without and in a major way, you changed me for the better. I w-wish to know what are your feelings about m-me." Erza may have only confessed to him just last night, but her mind was now carrying the weight of the hidden love for her friend after the past ten years (seventeen counting the time skip).
Gray knew where this was leading to and he didn't want to answer for lack of truly explaining himself, but how could he say no when Erza was blushing like a school girl in front of her crush. If there was one thing he envied about other people or even Juvia for that matter is that they could express how they felt so easily without reserves, something he couldn't do after what happened to him.
"Erza...you well, you mean a lot to me. I just...I um, don't really know how-" Gray was hushed by a finger placed onto his lips, Erza smiling up to him kindly with understanding eyes.
"I understand Gray, I know it's a little too much of me to ask you to express your feelings. That's something you haven't been able to do, but no matter what happens I'll be waiting for your answer." Erza knew how Gray had the greatest trouble when it came to his feelings and understood that this was something that would take time, but she could wait. After all, she was in love with him for so many years without knowing it, what's a little more time going to do?
"Thanks Erza"
"No problem Gray, by the way, could you tell the girls it's about time for us to go home?" Erza said giving Gray a quick peck on his cheek as she walked back downstairs to wait for Lucy and Levy in the living room.
Erza knew that she needed to be fair with the girls and for those at the meeting tomorrow, but this was something that seemed special between her and Gray. Besides there are two tough rivals in this race and one has a higher capability to steal Gray for herself, for this is now a battle between her old rival and another one of his closest childhood friends.
Gray had a pretty good idea where Levy would be, obviously looking into his personal library and seeing what books he had and as for Lucy, he wasn't too sure where she would be. Nonetheless he set out to tell Levy that it was time for them to get a move on, of course on Erza's orders. He just wondered what she thought of it, honestly he's read each book more than once and learned a few of the writing styles, but they are still entertaining to read. Surprisingly enough, he was expecting some sort of criticism for having not updated his library recently or something of the sort.
Levy on the other hand was enjoying the various titles she was seeing, they ranged from obscure authors she hasn't heard of to much more classic ones that she absolutely loved. It was exactly like Micheal had told her about when he had widened his reading field, but what surprised her was that a large section of one of the room's walls was purely made of ice magic books. His library, though simply a very large room, housed more books than her own room and not to mention that they were so neatly stored with the small stack of books here and there.
"If boys could be at Fairy Hills, I would've asked Gray to help clean up my room." Levy said to herself as she continued to walk through the room, although a desk had caught her interest that was facing a nearby window.
The desk had a great view from the window, over looking the rest of the calm neighborhood and the landscape surrounding the back of his home, but what drew her more was what was on the desk. There was a book, the same book Micheal spoke about; Passion Beneath the Moonlight, the same book that left Gray a blushing mess.
"So Gray actually kept it,huh."
Levy continued to look at what's on the the desk and besides a few drawn sheets of paper there were picture frames, actual pictures of people rather than the usual paintings in his house; one had a younger version of him around his early teens next to a family with bright smiles on their faces and another one with him, Micheal and Micheal's father. The second one she had seen, was the picture of a beautiful woman with short dark hair and a kind smile that had two more small pictures next to it. These had a picture of the woman she recognized as Ultear and the other small one was that of both a young version and older version of Lyon, as for the last one it struck her as quite interesting.
It was a slightly charred photo of a couple; another beautiful woman with long raven hair who wore a very familiar cross necklace and a man who looked a lot like Gray only older with matching hanging cross earrings. Levy deduced it to be his parents, however she was confused as to why it was charred. She was reaching out for it until a hand clamped down on her shoulder, eliciting a squeal of fright from her.
"Whoa Levy, I didn't think you'd scare so easily." Gray felt slightly better as he chuckled at Levy's reaction, while she puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
"Geez Gray, are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" She said as she lightly punched on his arm, which surprised her for being so playful with Gray.
"Sorry, sorry I'll try to scare you less intensely next time." He laughed a bit more before he settled himself down and noticed what Levy had been looking at, a look of uncertainty had ghost his face before disappearing into a neutral look.
"So did you find Natsu yet, I heard a scuffle coming from another room." Levy asked as she moved on towards another shelf leaving Gray at his desk.
"Y-Yeah I did, he already went home plus Erza asked for you to meet her downstairs, saying that it's about time to go home." He replied, yet he didn't move his gaze from the pictures on his desk.
"Guess I should meet her before she gets angry." Levy joked as she looked back at him although he looked to be in his own world, but the look in his eyes told her it wasn't that happy of a place.
She walked behind him and nervously placed a hand on his shoulder; they may not talk to each other much but he was still her guild mate. Levy's always seen a smirk or a cocky like attitude from the mage, but to see him so melancholy wasn't something she expected. The difference between the types of attitudes he has showed Levy how little she knew about the mage, even after being in the same guild as him for all these years.
"Hey Gray, you all right?" Levy was concerned for him and the cold aura around him was cooling her over heating face which helped her keep her cool.
"I'm fine Levy, sorry for holding you back." Gray came back around and realized that he left "that" book on his desk which he hoped Levy wouldn't say anything about.
"No problem Gray, but I was wondering why you still have that book Micheal's father gave you?" Levy had a mischievous look and Gray knew it was too much to hope that she would leave things be.
"Alright what do I have to do to make sure you won't say a word to him, as far as he knows this book isn't in my possession, but in his father's." That was an old tale he told to Micheal during the week he was upset after what happened.
"Now Gray I didn't think you'd resort to bribery so fast, but if you insist then I'll humor you." Being very playful with people wasn't something she normally did, but for some reason she felt it so easy to get out of her comfort zone with Gray.
"I guess I jumped the gun on this one. So let's hear what you want." Gray was so unsure of what Levy might do so he used the more prevalent thought of using bribery since it usually worked with the others.
"Well, t-there's my book club in a few days, so I'm a-asking if you'd come with me." Levy was slightly blushing to herself looking at the door avoiding the ice mage's gaze, knowing that she'd ironically melt under his stare.
"If that's what you want, then I'll come along with you." A simple request and it wasn't over the top like maybe Cana or embarrassing like Natsu's, so he easily agreed to what Levy asked for.
"R-Really!? It's a date then, so you then Gray!" Levy excitedly said as she was leaving the room in a rush and Gray nodded in agreement, until he realized what she said.
"Wait Levy, a dat-" Gray couldn't finish what he wanted to say for the third time that night since Levy had left his library.
"A date with Levy!? Oh man, what's Erza going to do to me if she finds out!?" Gray was losing his mind, constantly thinking of the things Erza was capable of and her methods of revenge.
He calmed himself down and refocused at the task at hand, he needed to find Lucy before Erza became impatient or Levy let something out by accident. If those two were downstairs and haven't met up with Lucy, then she was still up stairs somewhere. He went room to room, but he still couldn't find her anywhere until he noticed the door to his balcony was left open.
He stepped outside in the cold air and was welcomed by the sight of a beautiful blonde looking up at the stars near the railing. She had a fond smile as she watched the many constellations of her friends and the nightly breeze swayed her hair, adding more to her beauty. Lucy turned around at the sound of footsteps and smiled at seeing Gray who was leaned against the door frame, his own smile present as he waved his hand.
"You enjoying yourself there Lucy?" Gray asked as he pushed himself off and decided to lean on the rail beside her instead.
"It's a clear night and I wanted to look out at the stars, it's a little hard to do so at my house." She replied as the ice mage turned around and propped his elbows on the railing, his back towards the landscape.
"Hmm, yeah it sure is a nice night out here. I've been looking for you, Erza said that it's time to get going." The ice mage was playing on his cool persona as hard as he could because he's already starting to feel odd inside with her so close.
"Wow, it feels like we barely got here, but I guess Erza's right. Thanks for showing us around your house Gray. Maybe we could start hanging around here now instead of mine." Lucy joked as she stepped back from the railing and her heart beat quickened when she caught sight of Gray's smile. His rare true smile versus the smirks he usually had or his grin.
"I doubt it Lucy, your place is much closer to the guild and it's fun being there than here I'm sure." He replied as the blonde sighed in defeat, it was worth a shot to see if that could happen.
"Yeah you're right, anyway thanks again Gray we'll see you when you get back." Lucy said as Gray offered to see them out, but before he stepped through the threshold back into his home Lucy called out to him. Even if Loke told her that Gray liked her back she just wanted confirmation, whatever Natsu did or Erza for that matter didn't concern her at this point.
"What's up? Is there something else you need to say?" Gray was hoping not because his night went for a downward spiral with his heart increasingly beating faster and faster with each conversation he had.
"Gray do you...like me?" Lucy was trying her hardest not to blush just yet and hoped that her knees didn't give away while she was being looked at by the ice mage.
"Sure I do Lucy you're my guild mate and team mate after all." Lucy inwardly faced palmed, sure she was trying to suppress her blush that took all her mental power to do so, but that question was to broad to ask that anyone would answer it like Natsu.
"N-No that's not what I meant Gray. I-I mean in a, uh...romantic way." She gave up on holding back her blush and prepared herself to be denied. Maybe Loke just said that to protect Gray's image, if so than that was a cruel trick he pulled on her.
Lucy waited for a reply from the ravenette, but didn't get any and she slowly started to notice the faint pink tinge that was beginning to spread across his cheeks. The blonde wanted an answer, but she hadn't taken into account how hard it was for Gray to speak his emotions. She knew he wasn't that much of an introvert, but such complicated emotions are ones he hasn't been able to deal with in his past. The wait was beginning to get to her and she was ready to cry, believing that he was trying to think of the nicest way of saying he wasn't into her like that.
Gray on the other hand, had no idea of how to reply to her or why she threw that question at him in the first place. He could deny it, but Loke had told him that the feeling is mutual and it would break her heart if he did. However, he never really confessed to anyone before except for Cana and that only left him with his own heart broken. Is it worth it to take a leap of faith? "Please don't come and bite me in the ass later!"
"I do...I do like you Lucy, in that romantic way..." Being true to his word was something Gray always followed, but now his troubles had multiplied again. His heart went out to three girls now; his slowly budding romance with Erza, the possible return of the lost feelings for Cana and the originally standing feelings for Lucy.
"You really mean it Gray?" Lucy felt like she was among the stars now and speaking of stars, her gate keys could feel the great happiness that radiated off their master although they still weren't out of the woods yet.
"Yeah I mean it, but I...there are things I need to deal with myself first." Gray wished the blonde would understand, these feelings he had were so new to him and he himself had no idea how to deal with them properly.
The ravenette was thankful for the advice he was given, but he was still lost in this strange feeling emotion. He cared for all of them, but knowing that to two of them he was going to be the root of their pain didn't sit right with him. He had wanted to be with Lucy, something that he hasn't wanted to do with anyone after Cana, but now he had became aware of the underlying love that he had for Erza which stopped him in his own tracks. Was romance always this difficult to handle? Or was Mavis testing him for who knows what he had done?
"I understand Gray, there's something I have to deal with too..." Lucy said as a quick thought of Juvia popped into her head, followed by her possible opposition and her team.
"Glad to hear it now come on, I'm sure Erza's patience is running really thin right about now." Gray and Lucy soon made their way downstairs as Levy and Erza were speaking to one another about something he couldn't catch clearly.
Gray waved good bye to them as the group of three had decided to walk back to Lucy's apartment. The ice mage plopped himself onto the couch, exhausted by all the events of today that made it seem so much longer. Hopefully this request was going to let him catch a break for once and enjoy his time away from everything. Things are getting out of control and Gray was unsure if he could keep everything in order if this continued, he just wished things would move smoother and faster so this "romance torture", as he now called, it would leave him alone.
As for the girls, they were talking about what may come up at the meeting the next day until the conversation looped around to the disappearance of Natsu. Lucy had taken notice that the pink haired teen and his annoying blue cat were not walking with them since they left Gray's home.
"Gray told me that Natsu had something to do so he had to leave ahead of us." Levy explained to Lucy as Erza nodded her head in agreement.
"But I'm not sure that's the case..." Erza said thinking back to when she saw Natsu rushing past her and out the front door.
"What do you mean Erza?" Lucy asked as the red head had a pensive look on her face, recalling exactly what she saw.
"Something had happened between Natsu and Gray, that I'm certain of, but what concerns me the most was that I could've sworn I noticed a tear on Natsu's face as he left." It bothered her that Natsu had a tear in his eye, it's unlike Natsu to cry and it rarely happens. The first time she ever saw him legitimately cry was after Lisanna's death.
"A tear? What happened between them?" Levy knew that those two could bash each other's skull for hours on end without really showing any signs of tears, but something must have hurt Natsu pretty bad for that to happen.
"I hope he's alright." Lucy was worried for her friend, he was always a bright flame in the depth of the darkest times for the guild, but for him to shed tears was something Lucy worried about.
"I do too, we'll ask him what happened tomorrow morning. I'm sure he's already home by now." Erza said as Lucy and Levy agreed, however they had a slight hope that it didn't involve Gray in any of this.
The next morning Gray got up with a start, already packed and ready to go for the request with Lisanna. He walked through the early morning commotion of children running off to school, stores opening and bakers already starting on the first loafs of the day, but he felt a certain uneasiness when he thought about the guild and paid it a little bit of his mind before focusing on making it to the train station.
He had made it earlier than Lisanna and took the time to get a few more minutes of sleep, until he was woken up by the white haired mage when she finally arrived. "Sleeping still Gray, I hope you're ready to go." She said as he stood up from the bench he was napping on.
"Yeah I'm ready, let's get going." With that the two Fairy Tailers waited for their train, making small talk to pass the time until it pulled up into the station.
The two soon boarded taking a booth for themselves as Gray looked out the window towards Fairy Tail. That odd sensation returned to him as he looked out to the guild building, but he was sure that nothing was going to happen so he turned back to Lisanna. He just hoped he had something to say to her, else this was going to be one of the most awkward rides he'll ever be on.
