Chapter 8
"But won't it spoil everything we've done till now?" Natsu whispers in Juvia's ear.
"But if you don't go after her, all this could come back to bite us in the ass." She whispers back.
Gray looks at them dubiously.
"You think we went too far?"
She taps her chin with her index finger, "Slightly."
"Okay. I may have to reveal everything to her." He informs her.
"Maybe, it is time, Natsu-kun."
They nod to each other. Natsu sniffs around to catch her scent. He dashes off into the forest. An awkward silence hangs in between Juvia and Gray. Gray goes back to cutting wood.
'Gray-sama looks so hot. Look at the way Gray-sama's body moves.' She sighs.
"So…" Gray tries to sound as nonchalant as possible. "So, Natsu and you seem to be doing pretty good."
When Juvia realized that Gray was trying to make conversation with her, she felt happy. But with every word that came out of Gray's mouth the happiness kept decreasing.
"Is Gray-san just stating something or is Gray-san asking Juvia something?" She snaps at him.
Gray rises an eyebrow at her tone, "What's with the tone?"
"Nothing." She exhales and decides to go back to work to distract herself.
Gray watches her intently. "Are you going to say anything?"
"About what?"
"About you and Natsu?"
"What does Gray-san want to know about Natsu-kun and Juvia?"
"You both are doing well together, are you not?"
"We are." She says curtly. 'It is not entirely false. Natsu-kun and Juvia are doing well as friends.'
Those two words made Gray angrier than he'd ever been in life, "So, you admit that you both are dating? Then why the hell were you chasing me all over town? What was all that crap about being in love with me? Were you toying with me?"
Juvia thinks about what she wants to say. Each word out of his mouth had stung her. "How dare Gray-sama say something to like that to Juvia! Juvia has never lied about being in love with Gray-sama. But it is Gray-sama's indifference that hurts more than his words. While Lucy-san was all over Natsu-kun to get his attention back, Gray-sama hardly cared." She finds it hard to hold her anger in.
'Why did I have to kick the hornet's nest?' Gray rebukes himself. "Whatever, I'm done." He turns around to walk away. He, suddenly, feels something hit hard on his back and push him at a great speed. He crashed into some of Natsu and Happy's old things. He realizes belatedly that he was hit by one of Juvia's water attacks.
"What…t-the… hell, Juvia!" Gray says while catching his breath.
"Gray-sama better not walk away from Juvia today!" She says angrily. "Gray-sama can't just say what Gray-sama wants to say and then walk away. Maybe, sometimes, Gray-sama needs to listen to what others have to say. Juvia is not saying that Gray-sama has to love Juvia back. But Gray-sama at least needs to make up his mind. Either Gray-sama loves Juvia or not. One day, Gray-sama can't just die for Juvia and the next, be completely indifferent to her. If Juvia means something to Gray-sama then he should say something and let Juvia out of her misery."
"Juvia…." He's ashamed of himself.
Juvia shoots another jet of water from her left hand but this time Gray manages to dodge the attack. "No, Gray-sama! Neither does Gray-sama say anything nor does he let Juvia say anything. Not today. At least have to courage to tell Juvia what Gray-sama wants. If Gray-sama doesn't want Juvia, say it. Although, it'll hurt at first, but Juvia will deal with it. All Juvia wants is for you to say something. Because Juvia is tired of waiting. Juvia has never wanted to be with another person more than Gray-sama."
By this point, big tears spill out from her eyes, but she wipes them quickly, "Juvia has never been more in love with anyone else. Juvia is not sure if there is anything more she can do to make Gray-sama believe in her feelings." She wipes the tears escaping her eyes.
Gray walks up to her. He wants to cup her cheek in his palm but stops himself midway. "Juvia, I… I… I…" Gray stops himself from saying whatever is in his mind.
All the hope in her eyes is replaced by anger, "Arigatou, Gray-sama!" She hit him with successive water attacks. Gray doesn't even try to dodge this time. After taking one last look at him, she runs out of the forest as fast as she can.
"Baka!" Gray hisses. 'I should have just said it. Why is it so difficult to tell her?'
"What the hell happened here?!" Natsu yells when he goes back to his half constructed house. The entire area is soaked.
Gray looks like he fought a wave of water. "I…I think, I… screwed up." He says in between breaths.
The fire mage sits down next to the ice mage, "I think, I did too."
After some moments of silence, Gray says, "Wanna go to the guild? We'll get some drinks."
It started drizzling by the time Gray and Natsu make their way to the guild. Everyone looks in shock as Gray and Natsu walk in together and sit at the bar.
"Two beers, Mira." Natsu says.
"I would like something stronger, Mira-chan." Gray sulks. "Doesn't matter what, just something stronger."
Not wanting to be left behind, Natsu says, "Me too."
"Well, you both look down. What's the matter?" Mirajane asks with concern as she places their glasses.
Gray drank it all in one gulp. "One more."
Mirajane and Natsu stare at Gray.
"Not until, you tell me what is going on, Gray." Mirajane asks.
"Yeah, what happened in between you and Juvia?" Natsu asks.
"Just pour me another drink or else there are other bars in this town, you know."
Mirajane gives him a death stare and he gulps in fear. "That'll teach you to threaten me. Natsu, you tell me."
Not wanting to be given such a look, he starts spilling, "Juvia and I have been pretending to be close to annoy Gray and Lucy. To get their attention. It's not like it was not obvious that I've been in love with Lucy for a long time. And Gray has been extra rude to Juvia all this time. So, I guess we needed to do something make them realize what would happen if we stopped paying them attention."
"For some reason Juvia felt that we needed to put it all to an end today. So, I confessed everything to Lucy and while she looked a little relieved, she said she wanted some time to think over it. I don't understand why she is hesitating."
'Well, I actually meant what happened in between Gray and Juvia but this is interesting too,' Mirajane chuckles to herself, "Natsu, don't worry. I think, Lucy is just trying to clear her head. These past few weeks, you and Juvia were pretty convincing that something is brewing in between you both. She's just a little confused. She'll come around."
"You mean it?" Natsu asks hopefully.
She chuckles, "Yes. So, what happened with them?"
He shrugs, "Not sure. When I found him, he was drenched and she had already left." He gestures to his empty glass and Mirajane fills both of their glasses.
"Gray are you going to talk now?" She asks dangerously.
"She said she loves me." He says in a low voice.
"That is nothing new." Natsu says.
"Why on earth did you have to play this sort of trick on me and Lucy? What were you thinking? Messing like that with us." Gray says angrily.
"Well, you shouldn't have ignored her for so long." Natsu states angrily. "I'm surprised she stuck around this long."
"You both, stop it! Arguing with each other will not give you any solutions." Mirajane tells them. "Gray, what exactly happened? I could help you."
"I couldn't say it back." He mumbles.
"I couldn't hear you, Gray. Say it again." Mirajane says gently.
But Natsu heard it. "What the hell is wrong with you, Gray?"
He fists his palms, "I tried. I just couldn't say it back." He strains each word out.
Natsu folds his hands on his chest, "I didn't expect this from you, Gray. The least you could do is tell her something. She deserves to know. More than that she deserves your best, Gray. You are just being cruel to her." After a beat, he adds, "Actually, after getting to know her, I think she deserves better." Natsu downs his drink in one gulp and leaves the guild angrily.
"Gray, why didn't you say anything back?" Mirajane asks gently.
He looked at her with pain in his eyes, "I don't know how to love her. She looks at me and I know, she's in love with me. But I can't be like that. I can't be as open as her with my feelings. I'm not like her."
She smiles kindly at him, "Gray, I'm sure Juvia knows that already. Have you ever thought that maybe she likes you just as you are? All she wants is for you be honest with her about your feelings. It's never good to make someone wait for so long."
Gray looks at her hopefully.
"I'm sure she'll understand if you explain it to her. Now go find her."
"Yes." He gets up from his seat. "You're right, Mira-chan." He leaves the guild.
It is raining now. He zips his jacket. 'Where could she be? My guess would be Fairy hills. There's no other place I think off.' I starts walking in the direction of Fairy Hills. 'Wait… What if she went to Gajeel's place? … It's highly unlikely.' He continues walking towards Fairy Hills. He stands at the gate and looks at the building. 'Now or never.'
He walks back a little and produces a large ice pole to pole vault over the wall. Everyone knows there's a barrier spell on the gate. Over the wall in the only way for boys to get in. 'Which is Juvia's room? Tch, I'll have to peep into all the rooms. I know, first floor is Erza's so I can skip it.'
Gray climbs a tree and jumps on to the ledge of one of the windows on the second floors. He peeps in and sees a lot of stone statues. 'This can't be it. This must be Evergreen's room.' He jumps on a couple more ledges and balconies, finally reaches the last room on the third floor. He sees blue curtains. 'This has to be hers.' He climbs in as quietly as possible.
His eyes land on Juvia. Juvia crying.
Juvia crying, wrapped in Natsu's embrace.
Please read and review! I like this chapter, but i want to know if you guys like it as well! Thanks for all the support and for waiting patiently (or impatiently) My description of Fairy Hills maybe a little off but please bear with me!
What do you guys think about the Alvarez Empire arc. I think the next few chapters are going to be crazy.
Enjoy! Neepa :-)