Author's Note: This was inspired by a Gruvia fanart (drawn by yuuba on tumblr) showing a beat-up Gray and blushing Juvia. Something about that stuck in my head, so I woke up one morning and wrote this thing! Sorry it's short, I had posted it to my writing tumblr but I wanted to share it here too. I hope you like it! :)

title: love hurts
rating: T
summary: But sometimes it's a good hurt and it feels like I'm alive.

She didn't understand how he could just stand there, grinning that cocky grin with a proud gleam in his eye while his face was covered in cuts and bruises. She didn't understand why her heart raced at the sight, or why her heart was still racing when he'd already come to her like this a few times before.

Juvia glanced away, avoiding his piercing eyes as she tugged her fur-trimmed hood over her head.

"Stop looking like this, Gray-sama," she said, trying vainly to hide the pink blush on her cheeks.

Stop looking so rugged and masculine and so pleased with yourself—

"Why? It looks cool."

He flashed another handsome smirk, making her toes curl.

Timidly shifting her feet, she asked, "Why do you keep coming to Juvia?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Because," he said, nodding to the antibiotics lying idly on the table, "you patch me up good."

The girl blushed, fumbling the medicine as she gathered it and began cleaning his cuts with gentle dabs.

"And also," Gray continued, and she squeaked when he stepped forward and trapped her against the wall, "you love it, don't you?"

He brushed her flushed cheek with his thumb and Juvia blushed darker, stammering incoherent words as the medicine clattered to the floor.

"Right?" he prompted, leaning closer as the girl's breath hitched in her throat.

Her head was spinning while her heart pounded, and her hands urged to slip in his hair and kiss that knowing grin off his face—

Gray snickered. "You're so easy to read."

Just as he was about to lean off of her, she tugged on his necklace and pressed her lips to his.

His eyes widened before he hissed—he had a sharp cut on his lip from the fight—and Juvia flinched at the sound, immediately pulling away.

She gasped as Gray swiped his thumb across his lower lip, her hands flying to her mouth. "S-Sorry! Juvia's sor—"

"Don't be," he said, looking at her and flashing another grin that sent her heart racing. "That's a good kind of pain."

He leaned down and kissed her once more, and her heart fluttered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her tongue swept across his lip, brushing the cut in a tender, soothing manner. He grunted, pulling her closer as she tilted her head and rested a hand against his cheek.

She gently pulled away, eyes slowly lifting to his half-lidded gaze. "Gray-sama should stop getting hurt," she murmured softly, caressing his face.

"Hm," he said, chuckling as she pressed kisses to each bruise and cut on his face. "I might get hurt more often if you're gonna lick the wound all better for me."

She leaned back and pouted, lightly smacking his shoulder. "Juvia worries about you."

"You don't have to," he replied. "I can take care of myself." He tilted his head back and tapped the corner of his jaw, pointing to a cut she missed. She pouted again, but she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes as she leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss to the wound.

"Better?" she asked softly, meeting his gaze.

"Almost."

The girl blinked, tilting her head inquisitively. Gray smirked, eyeing the hickeys scattered across her neck, shoulders and chest before returning to her eyes.

"Can I kiss yours too?"