A/N: As promised, I'm back with the next installment of FwB! Please read and review – it helps me understand what you think about it, and please note that I know flames/trolls when I see them. I've got a lot more experience than you would think.

Oh, and:

Unknown: Clearly an anon troll, I see. Well, I wouldn't go through the bother of reading a story when you should already know that it's going to be GrayLu. So please, enjoy the ride or just go away. I don't have the time nor patience to deal with people like you :)

Misha (can I call you that?): Thanks so much! :3

Beauty (I like nicknames, tell me if I can't use them): I'm so glad you like it! Unfortunately this will be my last update for today :c Be sure to watch out for other chapters soon!

I don't believe in the power of love,

when the world is crumbling down.

"Why do relationships always start off so fun, and then turn into suck-a-bag-of-dicks?" Gray didn't even know who the hell he was talking to, he had just grabbed this random dude who told him his name was … Al? Albert? Alzack, that's right. Whatever. He was just moping anyway. Nothing important.

"You really have to stop this bullshit Hollywood cliché of true love." Lucy herself had believed in true love. Deep down, she still did, but she didn't want to think about that anymore. She thought that she had finally gotten it right with Natsu. They hit it off so well, and then when their friends egged them to get together, they did. She thought that they were perfect for each other; that he was her knight in shining armour. Obviously not. He did just dump me. The blonde had just grabbed this woman she vaguely recognized ('Erza, is it?') and started complaining to her about her stupid failed relationship. As the pair passed by a wall of posters advertising 'The Ugly Truth', acted out mainly by Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, Lucy finally snapped. "Shut up Katherine Heigl, you stupid liar!" Stomping off angrily, she didn't care where she went as long as it was to a nice, comfy bed.

"I'm just gonna work and fuck. Like George Clooney." Gray stared ahead, too messed up in his head right now to even notice the other people.

"I'm just gonna shut myself down emotionally. Like George Clooney." Her voice was confident, fully conveying the nuances of pain and completely feigned uncaring attitude.

And now he was on a plane, flying by himself in business-class. Nonchalantly reading an issue of the GQ magazine, Gray looked up. An attendant had approached him, talking in a soft, almost seductive voice. But she wouldn't do that, would she?

"Ah. Seat up please, sir."

Pointing to the window, currently showing a scenic view of some kind of river next to the city, he smiled and asked her, "Is that the Hudson River?" The flight attendant bent down and smiled back at him before replying.

"Ah, no. It's the East River."

"Oh, so we won't be landing on it then like that uh, flight. You know. With that Captain they keep giving medals to." The attendant's alluring expression changed into a contemptuous grimace.

"That pilot was a hero," Pushing the button that reclined and straightened his chair, she retreated with one final word as she brushed her chestnut hair back with a hand. "Asshole."

Huffing, Gray only looked back down at his magazine. "Plane actually did a lot of the work." He said under his breath, not quite sure what was wrong with the people around here.

As Gray's flight was landing, Lucy was in a cab, talking to somebody from her company. "I think I found the perfect guy to fill that job at GQ." As she did so, she not-so-discreetly pulled off her skirt. "He's landing and I'm scrambling." Sitting back down, she pushed back her flaxen hair and then started chatting again. "He's not sold on the job yet, but I'll get him there. I always do." Lucy looked out the window, paused and then replied. "Yeah, I'm even picking him up in a hybrid. He's from LA, I figured he was into all that bullshit."

Glancing at the mirror, she realized that the driver kept glancing back at her. Pervert. Leaning forwards, phone still glued to her ear, Lucy thought of the perfect plan to get his eyes off of her.

"Hey sir, what's that tall building over there?" Placing her cellphone down, she lifted up her light lavender shirt and pulled it over her head. The driver's attention was focused on the building, not her. Great.

"The Empire State Building." Popping up in the mirror again, only Lucy's head showed.

"No, no, no. The other one. The really, really tall one with the … antennae on top of it. The windows ..." She was almost done! Pulling her new shirt down, she smirked inwardly. Ah, the disadvantages of being cute and desirable...

"That's the Empire State Building!" Trying to keep up her facade, Lucy leaned forwards and then confirmed his statement.

"Oh yeah. You're right. King Kong."

Placing the phone back next to her ear, she resumed conversing as if nothing had happened. "Hey."

Finally at the airport, Lucy looked around, and then went to take a sign from another man who seemed to have found who he was looking for already.

"Oh, hey, are you done with this? All … met up? Great, welcome to New York, Ms. … Renderghast." Holding the placard in one hand, she used the other to dig around in her purse. It's gotta be here somewhere. There! Pulling out a tube of lipstick, Lucy stuck a tongue out cutely as she scribbled a name on it. 'GRAY FULLBUSTER.' However, once the doors opened once again a strong gust of wind blew the paper right out of her hands (Why was it paper? I should've gotten a piece of plastic!).

Gasping, her stunned hazel eyes followed it to the baggage carousel. "Oh no. Oh! Excuse me. Sorry. Okay. Mwah!" Exclaiming at her bad fortune, she took off her shoes and stepped up onto the carousel. As if she did this every single day. Rushing at a brisk pace, Lucy tried to keep up with the piece of paper, but darn it; she was up against an automatically rotating piece of machinery!

"Can you get my bag?"

And now they were asking for her to get their luggage too. Too nice to refuse, Lucy replied with a firm "Sure.", and went backwards to get it.

"Which one?"

"The one with the straps."

"Okay."

"Yeah."

"Okay!" Lugging it carefully to him, she beamed and added a cheery, "Welcome to New York, sir!"

Chasing after the piece of paper again, she jumped over a piece of luggage just as Gray moved towards it. At the same time, Lucy had grabbed onto it as well.

"That's me."

"Which one? The blue or the yellow?"

"Oh, no, the makeshift sign made out of lipstick? That's me."

"You're Gray Fullbuster." She smiled, feeling just a tad foolish.

Pointing to the sign, the handsome dark-haired man nodded.

"I am."

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

"You're picking me up from the airport."

"Ah, yes! I am!" She was still on the carousel.

"You always pick people up like this?" Gray was, suffice to say, just a little amused and confused.

"Oh, you know, I like to keep things interesting." Finally stepping down, Lucy could only imagine how silly she must appear. "Welcome to New York."

"Thank you. You're not exactly what comes to mind when you think, 'head-hunter'."

"Yeah, I prefer executive recruiter. Head-hunter sounds a little creepy."

"You stalked me for six months. Creepy." His tone was playful, light-hearted. Chuckling, Lucy saw Gray take his heavy bag and took it herself.

"Oh here, let me take it."

"You're really gonna carry my bag. You're that girl?"

"No. I'm going to change your life. I'm that girl." Beaming merrily, she wondered what had gotten into her. Sure, she was optimistic, but going this far? Wow.

"My life is already pretty great."

"Oh really? 'Cause you wouldn't be here if your life were already pretty great." While saying the last few words, Lucy's pitch had risen, as if mocking him.

"A free trip to New York! I'd be an idiot to turn that down."

"Well then I guess you must've been an idiot for the past six months."

"Ooh. Yeah, a lot of people would say longer than that."

As the duo exited the airport, Lucy laughed, feeling her worries drift away.

"It's a huge opportunity, Gray. Art director of GQ magazine, this is the big leagues! I mean, no offense to your little blog on the internet."

"Which got six million hits last month."

"I could put up a video of me mixing cake batter with my boobs, and it would get eight million hits."

"It's been done."

She could only stare at him. He can't be serious.

"... ."

"Really?"

"Mmm." Gray looked out the window, seeming bored. Lucy was desperate to garner interest, for her salary depended on this. So she was rich, yeah. But it wouldn't sustain her forever.

"Look, there is no question that you are talented at what you do, but this is GQ!"

"New York is so crowded. Look around. I'm from LA, okay? I like my open spaces." And there he went, changing the subject. Laughing at this messy state of affairs, Lucy put out a rhetorical question.

"What are you, a gazelle? What's really worrying you about this?"

"I don't know, I don't want to be the guy who took something legendary and shit the bed with it. Excuse the expression." Averting his eyes, Gray hoped that Lucy wouldn't mind.

"Well then, don't be the guy who shit the bed – excuse the expression. Be the guy who made the bed legendary again."

Nada. The guy just looked at her blankly. Frustrated, Lucy leaned closer and offered him some encouragement.

"Listen, we'll get some coffee before the interview. You'll be fine." Reclining back to her original position, she reconsidered that thought. He was from LA. Perhaps he wasn't into that kind of stuff. "Oh, I'm sorry. We can get some green-tea-soy-organic-hemp bullshit." Gray only smirked at her, secretly happy that she was going through all this effort just for him. Well, maybe not him exactly, but it still counted, right?

"It's really hot in New York." They were walking towards the classy building where Gray was having his interview, and he was rapidly becoming more jittery. Lucy only watched, faint hints of amusement showing on her face.

"It gets hot in LA."

"Yeah, it gets hot in LA, but it's the humidity. In LA, if it's ninety degrees it feels like ninety degrees, but-"

"Right."

"When it's hot in New York, ninety degrees is like a hundred thousand degrees-"
"Uh, this conversation about weather is really fascinating, but lucky for me, we are here. So … good luck."

Glancing at the building, Gray forced down a gulp. I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous. He chanted silently inside his head.

"Whatever happens … happens. Remember, I don't really want it."

"Just do me a favour, act like you do so that I look good."

"Right. I can do that. By the way, this is really good."

And so he went in. Lucy looked dubiously at the dark green drink in her hand and then shrugged. Gray wouldn't be that immature, right? Taking a sip, a muffled 'mm!' escaped from her as she spit it out, and then took another sip of the other drink in her hand, gurgled and then spit that out too. "Watch out!" A woman, who had almost got caught by the flying liquid, screeched.

"Ugh!" Gray, who had been watching the affair with some trepidation, wasn't quite sure what to make of Lucy. She seemed elegant, what with her tidy clothes and all, yet her behaviour could only be described as disgraceful. Yet she made him laugh, and not in a bad way either.

As the hours passed and day turned into night, people went in and out of the plaza – where Gray was being interviewed. It was, after all, a stately, gleaming building and attracted many visitors. However, there was one particular lady lurking around, waiting for a certain man.

When he finally got out, Lucy instantly saw him, and strode towards him.

"Hey!"

"You still here?"

"Uh, yeah! Welcome to my job."

"Nice."

"So? Tell me, how'd it go?" Was she too eager? She was pretty sure she was being too pushy.

"They bought it. You're safe for a little while longer."

"Oh, thank you. I owe you one."

A beep sounded from his jacket pocket, and Gray picked up his cellphone. Another beep as he checked his new messages. Lucy's wide eyes were anxious as she bit her lip, placing her own phone back into her bag.

"Uh. This is from you."

"It's your offer."

"Wait – I got it?"

"They called about five minutes ago." A smile, this time sincerely happy. "Congratulations! Offer expires at midnight."

Looking towards the building, Gray rolled his deep blue eyes and then faced Lucy again.

"Why didn't you just tell me instead of texting me?"

"Because it's more dramatic." Gray smiled at her childish side before looking at his phone again, unsure of what to do. Sighing, for Lucy had noticed this, she glanced at him and tried to uphold his flagging spirits.

"Gray. Look at me. You are not going to shit the bed. I've seen your work, it's amazing." Turning back to her, the raven-haired man could only gaze at the woman. She was so interesting, in the way that she was confident but insecure, serious yet funny.

"It's a huge move. Would you uproot your entire life for a job? Be honest."

"For a job? Probably not. But for New York... yeah, I would. Which is why I'm not going to try to sell you on the job, I'm going to sell you on New York."

"It's New York! I've seen Seinfeld." Crossing her lithe arms, Lucy cocked her head at him.

"Not the bullshit tourist version." Her chocolate eyes only grew larger, silently trying to persuade him.

"... Puppy dog eyes. Nice touch."

Giggling, Lucy nodded.

"Yes! Come on. Let me buy you a drink." She walked a few paces before noting that Gray hadn't followed, and turned back around. "What's wrong? What- what are you waiting for."

"Light to change." He gestured to the traffic light, which was currently green.

"You LA folk are so cute." And there she was with that baby voice again. "Come on!" Lucy linked his arm with hers, and walked him across the street. They narrowly avoided a cab, and Gray took the chance to highlight his uncertainity.

"See? I'm gonna die."

"Here we have Brooklyn bridge, downtown Manhattan... and right in front of us, an outdoor bar." The two had reached a dimly illuminated place, the bridge providing a strangely beautiful light-studded environment. It was nearly midnight, and the sky was jet-black, fringed with a stunning navy blue that simply refused to let go just yet.

"Aha! Alcohol! Now you're talking." Laughing, Lucy leaned against his shoulder, a grin on her face.

When they were seated, she cupped the side of her face with a hand, one foot swinging from side to side.

"You know, I like you. I'll give you a choice of closes."

Intrigued, Gray picked up his glass, looking expectantly at her.

"What?"

"How I close you on this job."

"Okay." He was really curious now, and a smile graced his normally stoic face.

"So we have the flattery close: 'Gray, you are so good at what you do.'" Chuckling lightly, Gray was surprised that Lucy seemed to be taking this seriously. Or maybe it was just the alcohol talking. The blonde continued, oblivious to his amusement.

"The take-it-or-leave-it close: Man I don't care if you take it, I get paid regardless!'" Ah, now that was funny. She had even paired it with a bobbing head and accent (bad, but regardless, still an accent). Laughing more openly, Gray nodded as a signal to go on.

"The sympathy close: 'You see, my kidneys are failing...'"

"Why is it that a woman thinks that the only way to get a man to do what they want is to manipulate him?" Here he interjected, finding Lucy's fake tears funny, but Gray was just the kind of person to ask those kind of questions. Just like with that pilot guy.

Gazing behind him, Lucy smiled. It was a bittersweet gesture, really. But how would he know?

"History, personal experience, romantic comedies." Gray let out a chuckle that just told her, 'Yeah right.' "Look, you're here for a reason, whether you admit it or not!"

"Yeah, to explore an option. Who wouldn't want to know their options?" Leaning back in her seat, Lucy smirked silently to herself.

"Someone who was in a perfect situation."

"Are you in a perfect situation?" He retorted, brows raised.

"Job? Absolutely. Everything else? None of your business."

They grinned at each other for a heartbeat, before Lucy turned away and saw somebody she recognized.

"Loke!"

"Lucy!"

"Hey!"

"What's up, man?"

"What are you doing here?"

"You look great! You been working out?"

During this exchange, Gray had been staring at Lucy, unsure of how to insert himself into the situation. When the orange-haired man had released Lucy from his embrace, Gray simply mouthed the words, 'You know him?' Ignoring him, Lucy continued her conversation.

"Nope. Just been eating a lot."

"Ah, okay. You want a drink?"

"Yeah!"

"I'll get you a drink, 'kay?"

Of course, Gray hadn't expected for Loke to fall face-down into the table. Lucy hurried over and pulled him up, as if this happened every time. "Careful!" They both grinned, laughing a little to themselves. Finally deciding to stop sticking to the sidelines, Gray pushed himself into their little gathering.

"Hey bro, that was like a double McTwist 1260."

"Oh, yeah, like the trick."

"Yeah, yeah yeah! Gray."

"Lucy, you wanna get this guy out of my face before I break his fucking skull?"

Gray stared at Loke, truly surprised and just a little scared now. Midnight-blue eyes darting to the side, he met Lucy's melting bronze ones. Unsurprisingly, she offered little help.

"Sorry bro, no disrespect. I mean, I'm a huge fan."

"You don't fucking know me man. Don't talk to me like you know me! What, you think I'm all chill because I snowboard and shit? One more word – fuck you up like dynamite!"

"... Dynamite."

Lucy actually seemed as if she felt like she might have to intervene, anxious eyes locked on Loke. Gray leaned back a little, not wanting to get hit. Or spit on. Or injured.

"Oh, nah, I'm just playing, bro. Any friend of Lucy's is cool with me. It's all good, man." Lucy let out a relieved sigh, though Gray was fully unconvinced.

"All good."

His suspicions were only confirmed when Loke leaned in under the pretense of hugging him, and whispered in his ear.

"I'm whispering in the ear of a dead man."

Backing off, Loke waved and left it at that.

"See you later."

"Bye, honey."

Gray could only stare.

They say, L.O.V for you and me

That's just the way it gotta be

/ Alright! Sorry for not updating sooner, I have a lot of work to do ^^; As mentioned above, last update for today. I wish I could lengthen this but it's pretty late and I'm not sure if I can finish this chapter at the scene I wanted to if I continued. I will definitely have longer chapters next time! :)