Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

Title: Snowball

Prompt: Dancing

Rating: T for potty-mouth, mild violence, and threats of a sexual nature

Word Count: 1,659

Genre: High school AU

A/N: My first AU, so of course I pick the most cliched one out there. Please note I do not at all intend to bash Laxus. I've set this story in a time roughly analogous to the Battle of Fairy Tail arc (though I couldn't resist throwing in some post-Nirvana Jellal) and Laxus was kind of a dick at that point.

"Hey, Gray, the new girl's staring at you again!"

"How do you know she's not staring at you?"

"Oh! That's a good point! I mean, I am far more attractive than you, smarter, friendlier…" Cana's craned her neck to get a better look at the girl with skin as pale as cream, and hair as blue as a sage flower, evaluating her in a new light.

"No, she's staring at Gray." They both snapped their attention to Erza. She seemed absolutely certain. "I sit behind her in Chem. I can see her notes and the only reaction she's been writing down is "Gray + Juvia – Love. The first day of class, she asked every one of us if we knew you, and…"

This made Gray slightly uncomfortable. He knew the reason she'd transferred was because she'd fallen in with a bad crowd at her old school. And the reason he knew this was because he'd been the target of her "initiation." Her so-called friends had sent her off into the park in the middle of the night to pick a fight with the first person she met wearing a Letterman's jacket from FTHS. The night had been balmy for late fall and if she'd walked past a second later, he likely wouldn't have been wearing his, but he had been. Gray wasn't one to discriminate, so he took her challenge seriously– everyone deserves the courtesy of being taken seriously– and she was pretty good. Really good. It was obviously painfully important to her that she fit in with whoever she was doing this for. Both of them turned up to class the next day with their fair share of bruises. But Gray hadn't been paying enough attention to his surroundings and ended up throwing her out into the lake. He had jumped in after her, the dip had cooled her off, besides which she had been overawed by what she called his chivalry, and they ended up sitting on a bench and talking until dawn.
So while he was aware of the creep-factor, he wasn't taking it too seriously. Then he noticed that Erza was still talking.

"If you'd like, I could introduce you."

"Isn't that Jellal in the corner over there? Boy, he sure looks lonely. And hey! Only two pieces of strawberry shortcake left on the dessert table! Maybe I should go grab one." In a crimson flash, Erza was sitting in a dark corner of the gym with two pieces of cake and a brooding boy who was wearing way too much black.

"I still don't get why she likes him so much." Cana shook her head. "He's so depressing. And he wears more eyeliner than I do."

"It's because she's Erza." Gray shrugged.

"Well, I'm blowing this popsicle stand. There isn't even any punch to spike, just cans of pop." This was because Cana had spiked the punch at the last three school dances.

"Need an escort?"

"I'm a big girl, Gray, I can handle walking home at eight at night all on my lonesome. The sun's not even down yet. Have fun. Maybe, you know, actually dance for once? It looks like there's finally someone at this school lame enough to be your partner." And with a wink she was heading towards the doors.

But that reminded him of the new girl and he looked over his shoulder to see if she was still looking at him.

No sooner had he done so than the principal approached. It was as if he'd been waiting for Gray to look in her direction. Gray was sure he had been.

"Mr. Fullbuster, I see you've noticed our new student. Now, I want her to be made welcome. We don't want her to have a repeat of what happened at her last school, now do we? Why don't you go introduce yourself and show her around. Have her meet some nice people. Nice people, Mr. Fullbuster. Go on, now."

So he went on. Not like he had anything better to do.

Gray sidled up beside Juvia, avoiding her eyes as he spoke. "Yo, Juvia. How was your first week?"

"Good evening, Gray-sama!" He could hear her eyes lighting up. "It has been wonderful! Everyone here is so much nicer than…" Juvia trailed off and Gray figured she didn't want to think about her old life.

"So, you're fitting in alright? Anyone you've been wanting to meet?" Orders were orders, after all.

"Who's that over by the door?"

Gray was honestly more than a little shocked by her taste in men. "Laxus Dreyer, the quarterback. Weird, usually he doesn't come to these things. He's the principal's…"

"And… and the girl with him? I thought I saw her speaking with Gray-sama…"

Laxus had waylaid Cana on her way out and, as Gray watched, was backing her against the wall and boxing her in with a meaty hand on either side of her head. Gray instantly mobilized.

"…misheard. I invited you into my backseat. This is an honour that a drunken slut like you should be flattered to receive, and I know you want it, you fuckin' cocktease. So I'm gonna ask you again. And either your answer changes or I slap some sense into you."

Cana was gamely trying to keep her smirk plastered to her face, but you could see the "Do not want" rolling off her like sweat. Understandable, as the air surrounding Laxus was crackling with threat. Her knee was clearly itching to connect with his balls, but she was outnumbered. Two cheerleaders and the running-back stood off to the side, arms crossed but ready to block her if she tried to escape.

Gray was finally close enough to make a grab for Laxus. But Juvia was faster. Gray hadn't noticed that she'd followed him but as the big blond raised his right arm in preparation for a backhand, Juvia snaked hers under and pulled Cana out, getting clipped by Laxus' follow through in the process. The smack echoed over the music, making Gray wonder just what kind of damage it would have done if it had landed with full force. Immediately, the attention of the entire gym was on their little corner by the door and if there's one thing you could say for sure about this school, it's that the general student body does not cotton to bullying. Faced with an encroaching mass of glares, Laxus and his entourage had no choice but to flee into the night.

Juvia and Cana had somehow ended up hugging and while that was sweet and admittedly kind of hot, Gray could see that Juvia's cheek was starting to swell, shiny and red, where Laxus had struck her. Gray extricated her from Cana's embrace and led her off by the hand, pointedly ignoring Cana as her face shifted from shock to a sly smile.

"Let's get some ice on that."

He led her back to the refreshments. What was usually the punch bowl was filled with canned sodas on ice and Gray stripped off his shirt, filled it, and handed it over to Juvia. The girl looked like she couldn't believe her good fortune.

"But won't Gray-sama get in trouble for not wearing a shirt?" There was a layer of concern somewhere amidst the joy, confusion, and daydreams that filled her eyes.

"Nah," he shrugged with an air of only slightly affected nonchalance, "I usually change in the halls on the way to and from football practice anyway. Most of the teachers have given up on seeing me fully clothed for an entire day."

Meanwhile, the DJ was floundering. He'd noticed that he'd entirely lost his audience, most of whom were now engaged in loudly whispered gossip about Laxus, Cana, and the new girl. He had one more trick up his sleeve and if that didn't work, he might just call it a night.

"Alright, folks, now we're gonna slow it down… for a Snowball." He fiddled with the spotlight before letting it land on what he figured was a likely pair: Gray and Juvia.

"I don't dance!" Gray tried to yell, but Juvia was already pulling him to the centre of the circle slowly being formed by their classmates.

She latched her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest, keeping the make-shift ice-pack in place between them. It was kind of chilly against his bare skin, but Gray didn't mind. He'd always liked the cold and with all the dancing, the gym was starting to get awfully stuffy.

Before he heard her voice, he felt Juvia's breath tickling across his pectorals. "Don't make such a fuss, Gray-sama. We have been chosen and it would be rude of us not to participate."

Gray was frankly shocked by the sudden physical intimacy. He had just met this girl! She hadn't seemed like the touchy-feely type! He didn't know what to do with his hands!

Juvia seemed to realize this. "Your hands go on Juvia's waist, Gray-sama. And just sway back and forth. It isn't really dancing at all."

Gray began to relax. She felt quite nice here in his arms. And if he closed his eyes, he could ignore the fact that everybody in the school was looking at him. He felt his face flush and the blood rushed through his ears.

The DJ mustered the sultriest voice he could. "Snowball."

That was the cue to release Juvia and find another partner from the spectators. The pattern would repeat until, theoretically, everyone was dancing. He half expected Juvia to cling to him even tighter, but apparently she was a stickler for rules. With a whispered "Thank you, Gray-sama," she went to ask someone else to dance. She chose the only person who she'd convinced to transfer to FTHS with her: A hulking and frankly scary looking guy who was so taciturn that Gray hadn't even learned his name yet. He couldn't help but notice that Juvia wasn't clinging nearly as tightly to this guy as she had to him, placing one hand on his shoulder and using the other to ice her cheek. They were also doing a bit more moving than just swaying back and forth, executing a simple box-step with an easy familiarity. He hadn't needed to hear Juvia's voice calling over the music that "Gajeel-kun is just a friend!" to figure it out. And he didn't particularly care. The sudden feeling of okay-ness in his gut was just from finally figuring out what the guy was called.

Gray had been planning to sneak to the back of the gym again, but decided it would be too glaringly obvious when Juvia and her partner were the only ones left dancing. Next round, he would. But for now, he settled on Lucy. She was new this year, pretty cute, and liked hanging around with Natsu, who Gray guessed might be his closest guy friend but not really because he was an irritating little shit who wouldn't just admit that Gray was the better athlete already. Unlike Juvia, Lucy didn't bury herself in his chest. In fact she seemed to have difficulty even looking at him and seemed more comfortable dancing with a fair bit of distance between them. That's when Gray remembered that he was still half-naked.

As their dance path drifted towards Juvia and her partner, Lucy remarked that she felt a chill run up her back and Gray could've sworn he heard a whispered hiss.

"Love Rival."