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I do not own anything but my own storylines.

I'm so sorry, everyone! Chapter 15 came late and I know you all were looking forward to it. So here's the new chapter and I hope you all like it :)

Chapter 15

Sneaking and Updates

Gray's POV

This. Is the most. Ridiculous thing. I have ever. Done. In my life.

I, Gray Fullbuster, one of the most popular guys in Fairy Tail High, in Magnolia for that matter, am hunched down, so far down I'll turn into an eighty year-old in about five minutes, behind. A. Freakin'. Bush.

With Juvia Lockser.

In. A. Freakin'. Bush.

"This is not how I wanted to spend my weekend," I grumbled with irritation.

"Keep your voice down, Gray," Juvia hushed.

I ignored her. "If I don't freakin' get out of this freakin' bush in freakin' ten seconds, Imma freakin' jump out and freakin' attack the closet freakin' person!"

"Mira will find out."

"That lady's got eyes everywhere," I said as I nervously glanced around, eyeing anyone who appears suspicious of being under Mira's spell.

I groaned, "Why do we even have to sneak around? It's just them."

"Exactly. It's them," Juvia nodded her head towards the people we were ordered to follow. And I repeat. Ordered to follow. "We can't casually hang around them because what if they act differently when we're around. We have to watch them in their natural environment, see how they behave."

"You make it sound like we're in a wildlife show," I deadpanned, "or you're naturally a stalker. Knowing these things." I narrowed my eyes at her at that.

Juvia grinned very widely, "I don't know what you're talking about, Gray-sama."

"Don't call me that," I grumbled.

So back to the situation here. To recap, I am in a bush outside of the mall with Juvia following someone that we were ordered to follow. And you can guess, by Mirajane Strauss. Who and why?

It happened something along the lines of this:

The Friday of the week that Sabertooth visited, Mira called a meeting at her house. Which can only mean one thing, and Mira liked to get to the point quick with as few words as possible that contains all the details.

"Tomorrow, Saturday. Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, mall. I need data on how their relationship has progressed after all those happenings recently. Gray, Juvia, out on the field. Get me info. Don't let them see you. Give me every single detail. Capisce?"

And that explains why I am breaking my back. "They better start moving before I move them," I growled, my head slowly moving upwards. I was itching to straighten my body.

Juvia placed her hand on my head and nudged me down. "Gray, don't let them see you!" Apparently her nudge became a push and my head ended up squished into her lap.

I gulped loudly. Why do the hell do you have to be wearing a freakin' skirt, Juvia? Is that even one? And is that…?

She noticed and red bloomed on her face. I covered her mouth quickly before a squeal could be let out.

"Did you hear that?" That's Natsu's voice. Curse him for having keen hearing.

"I didn't hear anything," Lucy said. "Whatever, off to the next store!" I mentally thanked Lucy. Once I was sure they were gone far enough, I let out a breathe I didn't realize I was holding.

"Um, Gray…?" Juvia squeaked through my hand. "Can you...uh…?"

"Shit," I muttered, realizing I was still in an awkward position. I sat up, looking away. "Sorry." I rubbed my neck. It was unnaturally hot in here…

"I-it's okay," she stuttered. "L-let's get going. They're getting further away."

I was more happy to get out of this uncomfortable space. Shaking out that awkward moment and the image that was stuck in my brain of Juvia's blue panties -I mean, no I didn't see anything- I got up.

This is just going great so far.

Wendy's POV

You know how when you're twelve, people think you're a kid?

Well let me tell you something. I am probably the most mature one here right now. Take this scene in front of me as an example.

"What do you know about fashion?"

"Puh-lease. I'll have you know that color matching is something I excel at. Thanks to these good eyes of mine and these stupid mall trips."

"I look horrible in red!"

"You look disgusting in orange! That's more Levy's color!"

Every single thing. They argue about every single little thing. And right now it's about which color top looks best with Lucy's blonde hair.

"Oh and suddenly you're a color expert?" Lucy rolled her eyes.

"For your information I have a natural eye for color matching," Natsu countered. Then began to give a lecture and I use that term very loosely. "Levy's hair is blue so orange goes well on her because blue and orange are complementary colors so the contrast is perfect. You have blonde hair and the complementary color for that is purple."

"So why are you saying red?"

"Because red, yellow, and blue are the triadic colors and look good with each other. I chose red because it's my favorite color and that's one of the choices."

Lucy narrowed her eyes, sticking out her bottom lip a bit. "I hate it when you have a reason for things, and that is rare."

"Hey, you're the one who asked. You got my opinion." Natsu lazily took out his phone. "It's almost one o'clock. Pick one so I can eat."

Lucy turned to me and bought up the same top with different colors that she liked. "Which one, Wendy? Blue, orange, green, or red?"

I could tell that she was favoring the red one, but could I also tell she didn't want to admit it or Natsu would be right. "Well, Natsu's right. Orange doesn't look that good on you. You already have a lot of blue and green. So get the red."

Lucy beamed, "Okay! Thanks, Wens! I knew I could count on you. I'll take the red," -she pointedly looked at Natsu- "and it's not because you told me to."

"But you were agreeing with me," Natsu smirked.

I mentally told Natsu to just shut his loud mouth for once. He doesn't have a filter and everything he says is to provoke Lucy. And Lucy should be able to control herself but she lets her temper out which in turn satisfies Natsu that he has successfully annoyed her.

They didn't used to fight like this all the time years before. I smiled at that. Sure, they had a few friendly arguments here and there with some teasing but nothing too harsh. People would say that it's because they're teenagers now, but I know better.

And it's personal.

I looked between the two still argueing as we walked to get ice cream. They're fighting, but I can see that they're enjoy it, because at least they're talking. Sure I find it annoying sometimes but it's funny and I prefer it this way rather than see them barely acknowledging each others presence.

I thought sadly, And part of that is my fault.

"Hey, Wens, you okay there?" I snapped out of my thoughts to see the two looking at me concerned. Natsu was the one who asked. "Huh? Yeah, I'm totally fine. Why'd you ask?"

"Your head was down and had a small frown," Lucy pointed out. "You do that when you're thinking. You sure you okay, sweetie?"

They know me too well. I smiled, trying my best to cover up any pensive expression. "I'm sure. No worries." I can see Natsu's suspicious look. I grabbed both their hands and transferred to my perky, cheery self. "Now let's go get some ice cream!" They couldn't help but laugh and smile with me.

...

As soon as the ice cream store was in view, something else came into my line of vision. And I froze. "U-uh...maybe we should go to some other ice cream shop," I made up a random excuse. "I don't like this shop's ice cream anyway."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, confused. "Eh? But you always love this one, Wens. You okay there?" He poked my shoulder but I still didn't move. Maybe if I didn't, I wouldn't be noticed. Unfortunately, Lucy was the smarter one.

She followed my gaze and eventually landed on what made me freeze in fear. And she smirked.

There was a group of kids my age, hanging around in the mall. A girl with bright pink hair who's my best friend with the most popular boy in my school and lastly the new guy in my school.

"Friends of yours, Wendy?" Lucy asked, even though she knew my best friend already but don't know the other two.

"U-uh, yeah," I stuttered.

"Well then go say hi to them." Lucy grabbed my shoulders and nudged me towards them. "Oh come on, Wendy, you're thirteen not three. Don't you want to hang out with your friends?"

"Hey, mini-me's over there. And I think that pink haired one came over our house sometimes," Natsu pointed out. "Some kind of fruit...orange...cherry…?"

"It's Sheria, Natsu," I sweat dropped. "Sherry's her cousin."

"Right. Hey, Sheria!" Natsu called, completely oblivious to my frozen state from before. I quickly shushed him. "No! Not so loud!"

But it was too late. Sheria turned around and spotted me. She waved and cheerfully skipped towards me. "Wendy! Oh, great, you're here! Hey, Natsu! Hey, Lucy!"

"Hey, Sheria!"

"Heyyyy, Sheria," I greeted nervously. My best friend can get very loud and rambunctious and cause attention. Sometimes unwanted attention. "What are you doing here? With them?"

"Hm? Oh, Eve and Romeo, we're just hanging out. Wanna join?"

"I thought you hated Eve and how do you know Romeo?" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Lucy had dragged a still confused Natsu away with a smirk still apparent on her face.

"Eve's my neighbor and you know Romeo, so I know him," Sheria explained. "Hey, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy's coming with us!"

"Sure! No prob!" Natsu approved.

"We'll see you in a bit, Wens!" Lucy said, dragging Natsu away. "Have fun~ Then tell me all about it!" With that, they disappeared into the crowded mall. I sighed, now I was alone with my best friend who's the complete opposite of shy me and two guys who are like, the top of my school.

"Ohhh, I see what's happening here," Sheria nodded her head slowly, smirking. "I had a feeling. This is perfect then."

"Ohhh no," I shook my head, knowing her all too well. "You can't make me go over there."

"Wens, they're like twenty feet away from us. It'd be rude not to join." She's playing with that card knowing how too nice and good I am to do anything "rude", like leaving someone who expects me to join.

"Well then just say you want to hang out with me, a girl to girl thing."

"He's gonna come over to talk to you. At least say hi." Her eyes shifted to behind my back and a spark flashed in her eyes.

"Yeah, like I could get a word like that out of my mouth before I-" Sheria abruptly cut me off and spun me around- "oh, heyyy, Romeo." The dark purple haired boy was standing right in front of me, grinning, half because it's the friendly thing to do and half because he's amused. Eve was right behind us. "W-whatcha doin' h-here?" Dang it, curse my stuttering.

"Nice to see you here too, Wendy," Romeo smiled that half smile that I find unbearably cute. "You wanna hang out with us?"

No, because I'll look like a fool and a clutz in front of you, I thought in my head. But before I could answer, Eve interrupted. He pushed Romeo aside and shook his head in disapproval. "Oh Romeo, Romeo, Romeo. Given the name of a famous character from a romantic Shakespeare play should have made you great with the ladies."

Romeo only rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands in his pockets, his hair flopping over his eyes, giving that look that said "Dude, I don't really care."

I was all like, "Dude, really?" Eve was also my school's playboy.

My hand was suddenly grabbed by Eve. "Wendy, you look absolutely beautiful today."

Thanks to my sensitive ears, I swear I heard Romeo mutter under his breath quietly, "Only today?" I forced myself not to blush.

"Would you care to join us?" Eve smiled, pulling my hand closer to his lips.

"U-uh, w-well…" This was awkward.

Romeo snorted, "Dude, we are not asking her to go to some ball." He took my hand away before Eve could kiss it and pushed him aside. "So, you wanna hang or what, Wendy?" The way he asked was casual but a lot more comfortable.

I smiled, relaxed now. "Yeah, I'd love to." Yes, success! I didn't stutter in front of Romeo! Even though he's still holding my hand!...I better not have sweaty hands.

Mira's POV

I was pacing around my room, getting a little antsy. I'm expecting big news and I can't wait to hear them.

"Mira, you gotta calm down, babe," Laxus said. "This anxiety can't be good for you. You don't even know if there's anything new."

"But I can feel it, Laxus," my eyes sparkled. "I can feel it. Ahhh, when are they coming back?"

I had called another meeting so we can all hear the news when Gray and Juvia came back from their little mall experience.

"Gray's car is driving down the street," Gajeel stated, looking down the window.

"They're getting closer to your driveway," Jellal continued, and they each took turns narrating the whole scene. That's just great for my anxiety. Note the sarcasm.

"He's pulling into the driveway."

"Gray is taking out his keys."

"Juvia opened the door first."

"Now Gray is opening his door."

"They walking up the steps."

"Gray's holding up his hand to ring the bell-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," I snapped at them to be quiet. Before Gray got the chance to even ring the bell, I pulled the door open, grabbed their wrists and pulled them in. In the process they stumbled into each other.

"They're acting perfectly normal so calm your face, woman!" Gray exclaimed.

"They still argue about the tiniest little things," Juvia added, "so nothing's really changed, Mira. But I did notice that they walk really close to each other sometimes. I even saw Natsu glare once at a guy who was checking Lucy out."

I calmed down and sighed, sitting down on Laxus's lap. "Well, I'm still happy. I'll let them recover from all the shock of last week then really work on my Nalu plan."

"We broke our backs giving you useless information and you're not going to do anything about it," Gray deadpanned. "You're welcome." He flopped down on the couch with Juvia right beside him. I noticed her cross her legs carefully and folded her hands over her skirt. Huh, I wonder what happened to make her feel so cautious…

"Oh, hey, I forgot to mention something," Juvia said.

I immediately perked up, "Oh?" I smell some juicy details arriving.

"Wendy left Natsu and Lucy to go hang out with her friends at the mall."

"And this interest me because…?"

"Apparently her best friend, Sheria, is there and her school's playboy who was hitting on her but then this kid saved her and asked her to join them. Wendy was blushing and I found it adorable. I also heard something from Natsu that Wendy likes that kid. Romeo was his name."

"Awww, young love!" I squealed. "This is precious! I can work on Nalu and see if I can add in some Rowen!"

"Here we go," Laxus sweatdropped. "There's no stopping her now." They all know better than to stop me when I'm in matchmaker mode.

"Oh I almost forgot to give you my news," I changed out of the mode. "My little sister, Lisanna, is coming over to visit."

(A/N)- And I'll end it right there! The Rowen thing is an extra bit that I added in, I thought it'd be cute.

And BAM! Lisanna is coming! Who knows what'll happen...hehe