Author's Note: Just as a promised, here is the Gruiva chapter. Merry Christmas guys, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, or if you don't celebrate anything at all, have a fantastic day tomorrow. As always I own nothing, Hiro Mashima owns the characters. Thanks for reading and feel free to review or shoot any ideas my way. Enjoy.
Gray fixed his tie in the mirror and took a deep breath. This was it, today was the day he was going on his first date with Juvia. He has asked her out at the Christmas dance and of course she excitedly said yes. In fact she was so excited that she nearly fainted with happiness and Gray had to hold her up. Her excitement added to his nervousness, he didn't want to screw things up on their first date.
It was only recently that Gray realized that he liked Juvia as much as he did. He couldn't pin-point the exact moment it happened, but one day at the guild, as he was watching her talk to some of the other guild members, it hit him. Gray couldn't picture himself with anyone else but her. They had been through so much together, she had always stood by him, even when he was being a jerk, she stayed with him. He really loved her and it was time that he stopped denying what he felt. It was time to let her in and love her back.
Gray made the finishing touches to his hair, turned around, and walked out of his bedroom into his living room.
"What do you think?" Gray asked.
"You look very good." Jellal responded, looking Gray over.
"Not bad, but you better not mess this up for Juvia or I'll mess you up!" Gajeel growled.
Gray would have preferred to get ready by himself, but Gajeel insisted on helping Gray get ready to make sure everything would be perfect for Juvia and Erza sent Jellal along so that he could get acquainted with her teammates.
"Thank you Jellal." Gray replied while pointedly looking at Gajeel who glared right back. "I will do by best with her. I am a gentleman after all." Gray bowed sarcastically.
"Uh…Gray, most gentleman don't strip, though I don't think Juvia would mind." Jellal chuckled as he pointed to the red sweater shirt that Gray was currently pulling over his head absent mindedly.
"Crap. Sorry Jellal, it's an old habit that gets worse when I'm nervous." Gray pulled the shirt back on and fixed the tie again. Believe it or not, Gray almost wished Natsu was there. These two were making his nervousness worse, not intentionally, at least on Jellal's part. Natsu would crack a joke or two, pick a fight, anything that would distract him. Unfortunately, Natsu and Lucy were still out on the job that they took the day after Christmas.
"Ok, I think I'm ready. I have my communication lacrima, I have my wallet, I have our reservations…."
"Flowers!" Jellal interjects as he passes him the small bouquet that Gray picked up earlier.
"Flowers, got it. I think I'm good to go. Time to go guys, thank you for all your help." Gray opened the door to let his teammates out.
"No problem, anytime." Jellal smiled and shook his hand. Gray smiled back, Jellal is trying way too hard, but I appreciate what he's trying to do.
"Don't screw this up, ya hear." Gajeel glared at Gray and then his face softened a little. "Juvia's been through a lot. The only reason I'm allowing this date to happen is because I know you are the one who can look after her."
"Thank you Gajeel. I promise that I'll do right by her." Gray followed them out and locked the door. "Wish me luck guys." With that Gray started walking to Fairy Hills.
Gray made it to Fairy Hills in 15 minutes. In that amount of time, Gray practiced what he was going to say to her at least 500 times. Once he was outside of the dorm he rang the bell and waited for Juvia to come down. The wait which took a few seconds, if not a minute, felt like eternity. Finally the door opened and Juvia stepped out. She was wearing a black dress that came to her knee and a matching jacket. Her hair, slightly curled, fell onto her shoulders to complete the look. She looked incredible.
"Uh, hi." Gray said 'elegantly'.
"Hi Gray-sama." Juvia said softly.
"I, uh, brought you flowers." Gray stuck out his hand to give her the gift.
"Thank you. If you give Juvia a minute Juvia can put them in water and then we can go." Juvia turned to walk back into the dorms. "Juvia would invite you in, but Erza would probably get angry."
"It's ok. Take your time." Gray smiled at her and then shook his head. This wasn't him, he was acting like a complete idiot. He needed to relax with his awkwardness or she wasn't going to have a good time.
"Gray, what the hell are you doing? You're being a complete moron." Gajeel poked his head out of a nearby bush.
"What are you doing here? We're getting ready to go to the restaurant." Gray growled.
"I'm coming along to make sure you don't mess up and good thing I did, because you are definitely screwing this up. You need to chill out or she's going to think you don't want to be here."
"I know, I'm working on it. I'm not exactly an expert at this." Gray face palmed. This is the last thing he needed, but he could hear Juvia's footsteps coming down the stairs and he was out of time. "Fine, do what you need to, just stay out of sight."
"Gray-sama, who are you talking to?" Juvia asked as she walked out of the dorms.
"Nobody." Gray glared at the bush that Gajeel disappeared into. "Ready to go? We have reservations at The Blue Moon Inn." Gray reached out to take her hand
"That sounds lovely, Gray-sama. Juvia has never been there, let's go." Juvia blushed, took his hand and they both began making their way to the restaurant.
Gray gave his name to the hostess at the restaurant and they were quickly seated at a private table. Gray took Juvia's coat and pulled out her chair for her to sit. He was careful to use his best manners and to be the perfect gentleman, not because he was being watched. He couldn't care less about what Gajeel thought, the only thing that mattered was that Juvia had a great time.
The waitress came in and took their drink and meal order while Juvia took in the restaurant around them.
"This is a very pretty restaurant Gray. Have you've ever been here before?"
"No. I've never really had a reason to go out to a restaurant, if I wanted to eat somewhere, I just went to the guild. I've never really had anyone I wanted to go out and eat with." Gray looked at his hands. "At least before you."
"I'm happy to be that person for you, Gray-sama."Juvia took his hand from across the table and smiled at him.
The waitress then came in and served them their dinner. The meal was one of the best Gray had ever had at a restaurant (the guild was on a different level), but the food could have been awful and Gray would have enjoyed it just because he got to enjoy it one on one with Juvia.
After dinner, the two grabbed coffees and wandered the streets looking at the shops that were decorated for Christmas. Neither of them wanted the night to end, but even the best of things have to come to an end. Eventually the two started walking back towards Fairy Hills.
"I had a great night Gray-sama. I would like to do this again soon."Juvia said softly.
"So would I." Gray replied. "May I kiss you?"
"Yes, I would like that."
Gray took her hands and pulled her into him. He kissed her gently on the lips and stepped back. His heart beating wildly even though it was just an innocent kiss. He felt like he could fly and by the look of Juvia's face, she felt the same way.
"Thank you, Gray-sama. Will I see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely. Goodnight, Juvia."Gray smiled.
"Goodnight, Gray-sama." Juvia smiled back and went into the dorm.
Gray walked away from the dorm about 20 feet before he jumped up and yelled.
"Yes!" He couldn't believe it. Tonight went incredibly, well and they were going to go on a date again, soon. He was so happy.
When Gray arrived at home he opened his door to find a message that was dropped through the mail slot. It simply said:
Well done. I approve.
Gray smiled. He won the favor of his girlfriend's family.
Author's Note: Merry Christmas. I really like the brotp between Juvia and Gajeel. Sorry it's so short. I wasn't sure where to go with this, but I gave it my best shot. Also I love the idea that Erza wants Jellal to fit in with her friends so she has him tag along. Jellal is so cute!
Question for you guys. The way I ended the last chapter, it left it opened for another adventure. Should I continue that story or should I leave it where it is? Let me know what you think. Thanks for the support!