Seven Days

Chapter 7-Thursday

Today was the day of several things.

It was Thursday, first of all. It was also the 173rd day of the year, more commonly known as June 22nd. In 1894, it was the day that Harry Houdini married Bessie Rahner. In 1991, it was the day that an underwater volcano called Mount Didicas erupted in the Philippines. Several years ago, it was the day that the author of this fic was exactly three months old.

But most importantly, it was the day that Gray Fullbuster realized something terribly amazing, extremely important, life changing, even.

But more on that later.

It had all started, Gray thought, in the late afternoon. The group had spent a long day swimming in the weak rain, and now Gray was sprawled out on the couch, indifferently skimming through a magazine. Natsu lay on the other couch, a thoughtful expression on his face. Gray opened his mouth to ask Natsu what he was thinking about, but then rethought his decision and closed his mouth.

The girls had gone on a beachside walk, apparently. At least, when Gray had asked to join them, he had rudely been pushed aside because they needed to 'take care of some girl talk,' whatever that meant. Gajeel had disappeared soon after that, and Gray wasn't sure he wanted to know what the gruff man was doing.

I wonder if she's talking about me...

All of a sudden, Natsu jerked up and veered his head sharply to the right to stare at Gray. Gray jumped at the sudden movement, and turned to face Natsu's intense stare, vaguely terrified.

"Is something wrong…?" He asked hesitantly, ready to pounce off the couch of necessary.

"Onion rings are just vegetable donuts."

The boys stared at eachother for a long time. Long enough, in fact, that Happy had wandered into the room and curled up on Gray's feet before either of them moved.

"...Is all you ever think about food?"

They were then interrupted by the door swinging open and Lucy parading into the cabin, a mischievous grin on her face. Natsu smiled at the sight of her, and immediately pounced off the couch to follow her into the kitchen.

"So, guys, did you know that Gajeel can sing?" Lucy exclaimed from the kitchen. Both boys immediately burst into laughter; Gray jerking up and startling Happy, and Natsu leaning on Lucy, wiping his eyes.

"Guys, I was being serious," she continued, grinning. "And he said that he wanted to play for us in his cabin, tonight."

Natsu giggled. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am," she answered, gathering random snacks and tossing them in a basket. "I'm heading over there now, do you guys wanna come? Gray, I'm pretty sure Juvia is over there," she added, waggling her eyebrows. Gray simply rolled his eyes and sank back into the couch, though he couldn't help but notice that his heart did throb a bit at the mention of Juvia's name.

But if Lucy finds out, she'll never leave me alone.

Despite that thought, Gray still desperately wanted to see Gajeel sing (and maybe hang out with Juvia too... but that wasn't the main reason why he wanted to go to the other cabin, obviously). So, he waited until Lucy had finished packing her snacks, and once she and Natsu were stepping out of the door, he rose off the couch and tumbled after them. Together, the three made their way to the cabin.

•••

Gray dug his fingers in the wet sand. It was late in the evening (or early in the morning, he should say) and things were finally starting to slow down. Gajeel had been playing for a while, and Gray had learned that Gajeel could not sing. At all. However, when he was just strumming the guitar with no vocals, it sounded pretty nice. On the plus side, Juvia had been dancing to his music, and when Gajeel sang, she sang along with him. It was pretty cute.

Juvia was sitting beside him now, close enough that their arms were brushing. Juvia, who was wearing that loose green sundress again, despite the darkness of the night and the light drizzle that sprinkled them with rain. Juvia, with her warm indigo eyes, her rolling cerulean hair, her soft skin, her curvy- Gray, chill.

Beside Juvia sat Gajeel, mindlessly strumming his guitar. Levy had already gone to bed. Natsu sat across from Gray, Lucy curled up in his lap, softly snoring. Natsu kept running his fingers through her silky blonde hair, and the girl had a soft smile on her face.

"Well, Juvia, I'm gonna play one more song, and then I think it's time for us to go crash. Do you agree?" Gajeel interrupted Gray's thoughts with his gruff voice. Juvia nodded, but Gray rubbed his ears.

My poor ears can't handle much more of his singing…

Gajeel smiled at Juvia and glared at Gray, as if telling him to do something. Then he started strumming his guitar. The song was soft and slow, and quite beautiful. And even better, it was instrumental. No more ear murder. Juvia perked up at the first few notes, a bright grin on her face.

"What's up?" Gray murmured softly to her, noticing her excited reaction.

"Nothing, I just really like this song," she answered, looking back at him, practically glowing. Gajeel shot Gray another look, this time with Natsu backing him up.

Oh… They want me to… Oh…

He glanced back at Juvia, who was slowly swaying in her seat, humming along.

If I don't, Gajeel might kill me… And it's not like it's the end of the world or anything, in fact it sounds kind of nice… Wait, what am I thinking?

Well, it wasn't like he had a choice, anyway.

He awkwardly stood up, earning a confused look from Juvia. He could feel his cheeks burning. He paused to wipe the sand off his hands, and then reached a hand out to her.

"Say, Juvia… May I have this dance?"

She gazed up at him with wide navy blue eyes, her lips slightly parted with surprise in the cutest way, but then grinned and took his hand. "Of course," she answered sweetly as he helped her up. He placed a hand on her hip, pulling her close, and she gently laid her hand on his shoulder in response. His skin tingled at her touch. He guided them, softly turning her to the beat of the music, unable to look away from those beautiful blue eyes.

He could feel Natsu and Gajeel's approving stares piercing his soul, but honestly he didn't really care. All that mattered to him was this moment, this soft sway with Juvia in the rainy night, the wet sand underneath their bare feet and the gentle strum of guitar in the background.

The world was at peace for one long moment.

But then a huge clump of hair fell into Gray's face, and no matter how many times he tossed his head to the side, the strands simply fell back right into the middle of his face. Juvia giggled, and he snorted in response.

"Here, let me get that," she murmured, a sweet smile on her lips. Gray held his breath as she removed her hand from his shoulder and gently brushed the strands of hair out of his face. His heart was throbbing in his chest; it wouldn't surprise him if Juvia could feel it. All he could do was stare at the beautiful girl in front of him, and wonder why he ever though dancing with her was a bad idea. She gazed back at him, her eyes soft, and then pulled herself closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head in the crook of his neck.

If he thought his heart was pounding before, now it was creating a small earthquake.

He carefully placed both hands on her waist, gently keeping her body close to his as the pair continued to slowly spin to the music. He rested his head on hers, his eyes gently shut in the bliss of the moment, and he felt her arms tighten in response.

Gray's mind was surprisingly calm. All he could think was how amazing this was, how right it felt, how he never wanted this moment to end. In fact, he didn't even know that the song was over until she pulled away. However, she lingered for a moment, her cheeks stained red.

"Gray…." She started out quietly, her eyes wide and staring into his, as if they were searching for something.

"Thank you," she murmured quickly, before reaching up and kissing his cheek. It was brief, but he still froze at the feeling of her lips brushing his cheek, and he remained frozen until she had already scampered away and was safe in her cabin.

One thing was for certain- Gray was no longer calm.

In fact, he didn't move until Natsu's voice jerked him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Gray, you know what? I really want some hot wings," the pinkette exclaimed, breaking the silence. Gray turned to stare at him, still in a little bit of shock.

"And you know what else?" Natsu added, hugging Lucy close, "Lucy just slept through that entire moment you guys had. But, I'm sure she would absolutely love to hear all about it tomorrow morning."

"You wouldn't…" Gray muttered, starting to get the idea. If Lucy found out what happened, Gray would never hear the end of it.

The sparkle in Natsu's eyes said that he would. "But, she would never have to know about your little dance, if only I had some hot wings."

"... I'll get you the damn wings, asshole," Gray growled, and Natsu grinned successfully.

"Great! The keys are in the car," he exclaimed, slowly rising off the ground, carrying Lucy bridal style. "I'm gonna tuck her in, see you in a bit!" With that said, Natsu made his way to the cabin, leaving Gray to grumble over to the car. It was beginning to rain harder.

He pulled open the door of the red SUV and slipped inside, turning the keys and pulling out of the driveway. His mind was racing.

Juvia.

All of these thoughts, these feelings, these cravings… They were so strong, much stronger than he had ever experienced. Obviously he had crushes on other girls before, but this was so much more intense…

Figuring that some music would help to clear his mind, he turned on the radio. A soft song came on, one that sounded familiar. Very familiar, actually… It had other instruments tossed into the mix, but it did not take long for Gray to figure out that this was the song he and Juvia danced to.

Only this time, it had words. A girl was singing, her voice smooth like water in a stream running over stones.

But don't you run away, run away, when you get tired

Ever since the moment he first saw Juvia, everything had seemed different. Everything had more meaning, almost.

Cause this will slip away, slip away, and start a fire

He thought back to their first adventure; the hunt for the osprey nest. He thought of the seashell she gave him, the same seashell that was currently in his pocket. Of climbing the rocks and playing tag, of wrestling in the ocean and falling asleep on the beach. Of the long conversation they'd had last night. Of the dance, the kiss...

That can never be put out

All of these emotions that he had been trying to contain came rushing to the surface, and he could barely focus on driving. It was like there were a million different tiny voices in his head, and all of them were shouting different things at him.

Oh hurry, time is running out

His mind strained to focus on the road ahead of him, but he found that he couldn't. He couldn't put off these feelings any longer, it was time to act. There was no way he was going to let this amazing girl slip through his fingers.

But don't you run away, run away,

He felt overwhelmed with thoughts and desires. He never wanted to leave her side, and he would gladly travel to the ends of the earth just to be in her presence. He'd never felt that strongly about anyone else. But it couldn't be…

Before you tell her,

Oh, but it was.

You love her

And at this moment, while driving to the store at two in the morning in the pouring rain to get Natsu his dumbass hot wings, Gray realized something. Something vitally important, terribly amazing, life changing, even.

Gray Fullbuster was in love with Juvia Lockser.

And he had no idea what the hell he was gonna do about it.