"Gray still isn't home," Ur said. She let the kitchen curtains fall back into place. His car wasn't in the driveway.
"Where do you think he is?" Ultear asked. It was almost nine o'clock PM, and he still wasn't home.
Lyon came into the room. He set the house phone on the counter. "Layla said she couldn't find him either. I guess Lucy is still missing, too."
"What happened, anyways?" Ur asked. All she heard was that they both ran off.
"They got into a fight," Ultear said. "Lucy ran off and Gray followed after her. Layla said he ran out a few minutes after her, so he wouldn't have found her right away."
"They had a fight?" Ur asked.
"Layla said they were yelling about her kissing someone. She said a few guys were there, but they left pretty quickly," Lyon explained
"Wendy!" Ur yelled. The little girl came running into the room. "We're going to go search for them. Get Laxus to call their friends to help."
X
Gray walked as fast as he could. He wasn't even sure what time it was, since he left his phone in Lyon's car. He's been running around for a few hours, and he still couldn't find Lucy. He wasn't even sure what happened earlier.
He stopped to think. Last time she ran off, she hid somewhere to drink. If she was going to do that, where would she go? She would surely go to an abandoned area so she didn't get caught.
He knew just the place.
X
Lucy took another drink from her bottle and sighed. She just couldn't stop thinking about the fight. Usually when she got drunk, she forgot everything. The three empty bottles beside her proved that her theory was wrong. She still had two more, plus the one she was drinking, so she had hope.
"Damn," she mumbled. She threw the fourth bottle to the ground. She looked out to the ocean. She discovered this cliff a few weeks before. Everyone knew about it, but it didn't seem like anyone went there.
She opened the next bottle and started drinking it. She wished she knew what time it was. She already threw her phone over the cliff, so she had no clue. It wasn't the smartest idea, but neither was drinking. She knew it didn't break or hit the water, though, because she would hear if ring every few minutes. Or maybe every hour. She lost track of time two bottles ago.
X
"Where could they be?" Gajeel asked.
"It's all my fault," Levy said. She started crying again. "If I didn't take them."
"Hey, don't cry," Gajeel said. He pulled her into a hug. She squeaked in surprise. "You're smart, where would they be?"
X
"Gray! Lucy!" Wendy cried.
"Shh, don't cry," Ultear said, picking the girl up. She started rocking her. "We'll find them."
"How do you know?" Wendy tried to stop her tears, but her plan wasn't working that well.
"I just do."
X
Lucy yelled out in frustration. She was out of alcohol, and she was still thinking straight. She stood up and grabbed one of the bottles.
"Stupid Gray!" she screamed, throwing it over the edge. She picked up another. She threw it harder. She threw the others, but left one. She clenched the neck of the bottle. She threw it so hard she fell backwards.
It started to rain. It didn't sprinkle; it poured.
"Lucy!"
She screamed. She didn't want to hear his voice. As gripped her hair tightly, as if debating whether or not to pull it out. She let out another scream. Maybe if she screamed enough, he would disappear.
"Lucy," he said. He was closer. She looked up and saw him standing behind her. She snapped her eyes shut and looked away.
"Go away," she said.
"Come here," he said gently. He lifted her up and hugged her.
"Stop it," she said. She found herself hugging him back, anyways.
"I love you, Lucy. Please don't leave me," he said. She felt her face heat up. He's never told her he loved her before.
She felt her stomach turn. She pushed him away as hard as she could. She broke free from his grasp. She quickly ran over to the bushes. Not a moment after, she started throwing up.
"And she says I make things awkward?" he laughed.
X
"Gray!" Ultear gasped. Everyone turned to look. Gray came walking up to them, Lucy on his back. They didn't understand how he managed that, since he was using his crutches.
Everyone regrouped to try to figure out where they could have been, and tell each other where they have looked. They didn't expect to have Gray find them.
"Why is Lucy sleeping?" Layla asked. Everyone else exchanged glances. They all could guess that she was drinking. Layla still didn't know that she drank, though.
"Lucy should spend the night at my house," Ur quickly said. "It would be good for them to talk it out some more."
"I guess I can yell at her during gym tomorrow," Layla sighed. She let a smile creep to her face. She was glad that Lucy was found. She ran away before, but this time was just as terrifying.
"It's getting late. Let's all get home," Ultear said. She led Layla back to her car. She was starting to smell alcohol, so she figured Layla would if she stayed a second longer.
"You better not scare us like that again," Erza said. "You better pick up your phone next time I call!" She shot Gray a death glare.
"And my car is at Layla's," Lyon sighed. "I better start walking."
"Gray, let's go home," Ur said. She pulled Lucy from Gray's back and put her on Ultear's. "We've had a crazy night."
X
Lucy woke up to a dark room. Surprisingly, her head didn't hurt. She wondered if she just dreamed of drinking more than her weight in alcohol.
"Gray?" she asked. She gently nudged him. He mumbled something. She pushed his back harder. She found it odd that he wasn't facing her.
"Hmm?" he asked, rolling over. He rubbed his eyes to wake himself up. "What's wrong?"
"I'm awake," she said.
"I can see that," he laughed. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He put his face in her neck and tried to go back to sleep.
"Gray," Lucy whined. She was wide awake and didn't want to be alone. He was still there, but it wouldn't count unless he was awake.
"Okay, I'm up," he said sleepily. He yawned and closed his eyes. He instantly fell back asleep.
"You are not awake," she said. She reached over and turned his lamp on. She waited for the light to wake him up. She ended up looking out the window. Snow was blowing around rapidly. It rained earlier, so if was probably icy outside.
"Turn the light off," he mumbled.
"It's snowing!" she said excitedly. He didn't seem interested. She never woke him up in the middle of the night before, so she didn't know he would be so difficult.
"Why do you hate sleep?" he asked. He rolled on top of her and reached for the lamp. She quickly grabbed his hand.
"I'm not tired," she pouted. "You need to stay awake with me."
"You realize it's three in the morning, right?" he asked. He let out another yawn.
"Don't fall asleep," she said, poking his cheek.
"Hmm, stop that," he mumbled. She could tell he was about to fall asleep. She turned the lamp off and rolled him off of her.
"I'm just going to go to Ciel's," she said. She silently got off the bed.
"What?" Gray asked worriedly. He felt the bed beside him. "Lucy!" he whined. He really thought she left. He turned the lamp on.
"You're awake!" Lucy said happily, jumping on him.
"That was a mean trick," he tsked. He grabbed her hips so she didn't move off of him.
"It was a clever plan," she corrected him. She kissed him quickly on the lips before laying her head on his chest. "Love you," she murmured before falling asleep.
Gray smiled. 'Love you' wasn't as serious as 'I love you', but she still said she loved him.