Disclaimer: Fairy Tail does not and sadly will never belong to me but this plot does! I'll sue you if you attempt to steal it haha ^w^ *LOL*

(A/N: Welcome back to D2L Minna! ^.^ Thanks for reading this story and you having reached the 8th chapter only means that this story was worth reading so thanks a ton for that ;) I hope you all will continue to support this story. PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!)

LAST WEEK: "Luce! Luce wait! Please!" Gray shouted out to her. He followed her till she finally slumped down on the grass with her back leaned against a tree. This part of the park was empty… This fact made it easier for her to finally cry out her tears…

CONTINUE:

Gray took a seat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder softly, trying to comfort her. Lucy looked up at him with teary eyes and he pulled her close so that her head rested on his chest. She cried on his chest for a while as he stroked her blond locks before finally pulling away.

"I'm sorry Luce… I don't know what happened back there" He began explaining himself.

"No…it's okay. It was my fault too." She said and Gray couldn't believe his ears! Was she really saying it was 'okay'?!

"Um, we better get going then… The bell's going to ring in a while and I don't think you're interested in detention with me again" Gray joked, trying to lighten up the mood. He stood up and held a hand out to her. Lucy looked at him first, then at his hand and back at him before finally taking it.

"Gray?" Lucy said.

"Yeah?"

"Can we…go somewhere else? I don't really think I can handle any classes right now" She said while rubbing her arms partly nervously and partly due to the cold. Gray took off his jacket and began helping Lucy into it.

"Gray it's okay, I'm –" She began to say.

"Just wear it" He interrupted her and she didn't protest further. They began walking together to nowhere in particular… and Lucy then decided to break the silence.

"So…the 'Fairy Tail Gang'…you guys have known each other for really long it seems…" She said casually and Gray lightened up a little.

"Yeah… there are a lot of us who've literally grown up together. Like Erza, Cana, Natsu, Mirajane, Lisanna and I have known each other since we were in kindergarten. Jellal and Erza have also known each other since childhood but other than Erza, Jellal is pretty much new. Gajeel too is new… Loke came in when we were still in the last year of primary school and Levy since grade school." Gray began to explain as they walked; Gray with his hands dug deep into his pockets and Lucy clinging onto Gray's jacket.

"What about Ultear?" Lucy asked trying to sound as nonchalant as she could.

"Ultear since two years, but she doesn't stay very often." He replied.

"So you two have been going out since –" She started to ask but Gray quickly interrupted with a laugh.

"Hey! We're not 'going out' or anything. She's my step sister" Lucy's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed bright red with embarrassment. How couldn't she notice how brother-sister like they were?!

"O-oh… U-um… sorry for misunderstanding…" She apologized.

"Oh don't worry about it. Wanna sit on that?" He asked her pointing at a large Ferris wheel. Lucy looked at the sign board placed in front of the Ferris Wheel where couples were lining up to get in on the wheel. It was already the late afternoon and school was long over – detention the next day was completely inevitable unless no one had noticed their absence which was clearly next to impossible.

"B-but that sign says it's for couples" Lucy said blushing the deepest color of red. Gray smirked.

"So what? Come on…there's no harm" He said, holding her hand and pulling her along.

'Warm…' Lucy thought, 'his hands are so warm…It's like with you, Gray, I can return to my old self… the me before I came to know of betrayal, rejection and despair…' She said, looking up at him as they walked towards the queue.

They waited for a fair amount of time before they got to the front of the line.

"Awww! What a cute couple! Two passes?" The lady standing at the stall where the passes for getting on the ride were being sold. Her comment left Lucy completely flustered and she tried her best to deny it but Gray on the other hand, seemed to be pretty calm and indifferent towards it.

"We'll take six passes… We're not getting off until those six passes are done." Gray said to the lady. The Lady seemed really pleased as she handed over the six passes and collected her cash.

"SIX?!" Lucy asked incredulously. Gray smiled again.

"We're two people so basically I bought us passes for going on the ride 3 times." He explained to her, "Now come on" He said, helping her into one of the seats and taking a seat beside her. The Ferris wheel began to turn and take them upwards. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was now a blend of different colors. Lucy just stared with awe until her gaze was interrupted.

"Beautiful right?"

"Yeah…" She replied, still in a daze.

Gray couldn't help but think about how different she acted the past few days. She was almost like just an ordinary girl but yet, a little more than ordinary… Before, the only impression you could get from her would be that she was closed away, indifferent, rebellious but in a silent manner and well, plain. But now he came to realize that that all was just the 'Lucy' that she showed the world. The real Lucy was gentle, jumpy, energetic, innocent and humorous. She was an ordinary girl who had probably been through a lot. There was a lot more he was sure that he still had to know of her but most of all, he wanted to know what it was that forced her behind that mask…what was it that locked away the cheerful Lucy?

Over the past days that he had come to know her, he was beginning to care about her more and more. She was becoming an important friend to him and he knew that. The part that made all this hard was that he knew also that sooner or later or rather more specifically, after the valentine prom, he was going to hurt her and that after that, he might even be the cause for her to hide her true self away even further.

"You know Luce…I'm going to protect you…even if some day you might end up hating me" He said out of the blue and Lucy looked at him with a stunned expression.

"W-what do you mean…?" She asked stuttering and a tinge of red on her cheeks.

"You don't need to know… It's just a promise I'm hoping to keep" He replied, breaking the seriousness with his one and only billion dollar, heart-melting smile.

Lucy didn't know what to make of him… Gray Fullbuster… He was someone she wanted to avoid yet here she was sitting on a Romantic ride with just him. No matter what her brain told her, she still felt like he was different. He was different from the others…from the ones who had hurt her; from the ones who didn't care.

'…I'm going to protect you.' That one sentence had left an unsettling feeling, one she couldn't describe with plain words.

"Hey why don't we continue our little game" Gray suggested and Lucy who'd been dragged out of her daze nodded.

"So um…favorite holiday" He asked casually.

Lucy: um, Christmas

Gray: Oh…

Lucy: Why? You don't like Christmas?

Gray: Well…I guess not.

Lucy: Why?

"Let's just say I never got the traditional Christmas tree and presents as a child. What I got was an empty, long table filled with empty chairs and lots of food and…me alone." He replied. Just then, the Ferris wheel began lowering down.

"Your three passes are done sweethearts" The lady informed them and they both got off the wheel.

Gray walked, hands in his pocket and Lucy followed suite…the sun had already set and it was almost dark. Right then, Gray's phone buzzed. He pulled his cell out of his pocket and saw that he had received two texts; one from Erza and one from Ultear.

FROM: DemonErza 3 ( 6:03, today)

EMERGENCY! Mirajane is landing in Magnolia TODAY! Be at the airport by 8. We're all going to receive her.

-X-

FROM: GrimoireUltear (a few minutes ago)

You remember that you're supposed to be headed to the airport right?

xXx

"Shit!" Gray exclaimed reading the messages. He had just 35 minutes to get to the airport!

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked quickly, a bit shaken by the sudden raise in tone. Gray quickly began checking his pockets for his car keys as he walked faster towards the lot where he had parked the car.

"Mira's coming back NOW. I need to get to the airport in the next 35 minutes" He said hurriedly. Finally he found his keys and next, he grabbed Lucy's hand and began pulling her down the street.

Trying to keep up with Gray's speed, Lucy breathlessly asked, "Hey, am I supposed to even come?"

Gray didn't even bother to look back but just answered while continuing to run towards the car that was now coming into sight, "Can't drop you home now because that'd take another 10 minutes or so and I can't let you go home alone at this time either. If we hurry without stopping for a second, we can still make it 10 minutes in earlier. Airport's not as far from here as it is from home." He stopped finally, opening the car doors, letting Lucy get in first, then getting in himself and driving full speed down the road.

"Besides…you're part of the gang now so don't you think meeting our gang's supermodel stroke matchmaking beauty should be on your priority list?" He joked. Lucy noticed his change of mood since the Christmas thingy came up; it was relieving that he was lightening up but something about this Mirajane being the cause, just left a kind of load on her chest – something she couldn't quite explain as well with words.

"Mirajane as in Mirajane Strauss of Teen Magazine AND Lisanna's older sister?" Lucy inquired. Gray nodded, "You forgot to mention that she is also the original occupant of the seat you sit on at our table in the cafeteria." Gray added humorously.

"Yeah…and that." Lucy admitted, "So she's also into clubs and school activities?"

"Yes. Mirajane is the dramatics society's president and she is also a member of the student council. Lisanna fills in for her while she's absent but actually that's her slot."

"So Lisanna isn't actually part of the student council?"

"No she isn't… She just volunteers to help and takes over Mira's post whenever she's out of town." Gray said as he parked the car in the airport's parking lot. He got out of the convertible and held Lucy's door open for her as he checked his Rolex time piece.

"Great… we've got fifteen minutes to spare. Let's hurry and catch up with the others" Gray said and they began walking hurriedly past the bustling crowd.

"Considering how speedily you drove, I wouldn't be too surprised that we managed to get here in such a short amount of time" Lucy added in, clinging desperately to Gray's jacket which she had become really comfortable in, due to the cold.

Finally members of the gang began coming into view; not everyone was around…Just Erza, Cana, Lisanna and Natsu. Gray and Lucy slowed down as they approached the four. Gray of course made do with his usual greeting and ruffled the hair of each of the three girls and then bumped fists with Natsu.

"Where's Ultear?" Gray inquired as he took Cana's cup of cappuccino and took a sip.

'Did he just give her an indirect KISS?!' Lucy's thoughts began going wild and it was noticeable from her shocked expression. Erza. who was standing beside her, noticed this and whispered into her ear saying, "It's no big deal for him. He does it all the time"

Lucy nodded in response and couldn't help but face-palm in her mind. Why'd she ALWAYS manage to make a fool of herself? Of course in her previous schools, a guy drinking out of a girl's cup was mostly made a big deal out of so it wasn't really her fault.

"There she is. Jellal and Loke are carpooling with the others and Jenny from Blue Pegasus high might show up." Lisanna said and everyone turned to look at Ultear in her usual gothic but cute and extremely ravishing get-up. Lucy felt a bit out of place mostly, in the gang because the girls were all just too beautiful to be true! There was the scarlet beauty Erza, the brunette chick Cana and the ravishing Ultear…where did she come in in all of this? And how could she forget, Mirajane Strauss, a SUPERMODEL in their gang?

"Gray! You made it. I thought you would be in one of those moods and ignore all the texts. But I guess when Mirajane's about to land, Gray Fullbuster just get's pulled along by some kind of force of attraction… How is that?" Ultear began to giggle as she said. Gray began to make a face… A face of something similar to embarrassment. But the look on Lucy's face was better – she looked a bit… jealous.

"Enough Ultear. I've clarified this a million times that Mira and I are NOT dating!" Gray shouted.

"Okay, okay. We'll accept your claims, regardless of how close you two are. You always deny any pairings I form for you. It's really unfair!"

"Well then, you should just stop forming them" Gray retorted.

"You know Gray… it's hard to stop considering how you're close to so many GIRLS" Ultear replied. Gray opened his mouth to say something but Lisanna interrupted him,

"Actually Gray she has a point. You're the guy who people form pairings about the most because you hang around a lot with 'particular girls'. Like if we look at the most popular pairings that go around Fairy High, we have –" Gray was now leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and Cana at his left, Erza at his right and then opposite them was Ultear with Lisanna and Lucy at either side.

Lisanna continued with the list, "Gray and Cana" and at this, Cana coughed suspiciously and Gray tended to give no reaction.

"Gray and Erza" Lucy noticed Erza blushing slightly which was a really rare sight.

"Gray and Mira-nee" Lisanna went on. Natsu was busy giggling as the list progressed.

"So far these three are your most popular. Out of the three only one has been confirmed as true." Lisanna stated. And that was when Gray cut in.

"Well, from the top five popular pairings at Fairy High, there are three important ones you missed out on" Gray began, "Natsu and Lisanna but you guys are already out in the open… Then there's Gajeel and Levy as well as the number one, Jellal and Erza"

Erza almost choked on her coffee and Natsu's giggling had stopped and he was now blushing slightly. Lucy was a bit lost as all of this went on. Her mind kept getting stuck on the statement, '…out of the three only one has been confirmed as true" What was that supposed to mean?

Just then, the rest of the gang arrived along with another girl who was a local teen model, Lucy recognized, Jenny.

"You never did tell us where you ran off to after fourth period. You weren't there at lunch" Erza questioned Gray casually.

"I just went out for some fresh air… I didn't feel like coming back after that" He said.

"That sounds just like you" Loke who had just arrived said as he bumped fists with Gray.

"That's some serious slacking off man… You do that almost all the time and still manage to get such good grades?! How's that even possible?!" Gajeel began complaining.

"What about you Lu-chan? I didn't see you around either" Levy added in and Lucy began to nervously rub her arms. It was then that Ultear noticed the jacket Lucy was wearing and that Gray was without his. She smirked triumphantly and Gray didn't miss it.

"So Gray…new pairing?" Ultear winked.

"THAT is FAST" Gajeel exclaimed noticing too and then eventually everyone got the message.

"Talk about mountain out of a molehill… We just hanged out for a while because neither of us felt like attending class" Gray tried to explain but it didn't seem like anyone was taking in a word.

"Wow… Way to go Gray… you just added another pairing to your pairing list" Lisanna laughed and Lucy was way too embarrassed to say anything.

(AND, CUT! That's it for today guys. This chapter was ready but due to issues with my wifi connection, I couldn't post it sooner. Hope you'll understand This chapter was like a preparation for the upcoming chapter which is a total VALENTINES SPECIAL!)

NEXT CHAPTER: Too Good To Be True? (VALENTINES SPECIAL)

This is a chapter to be excited about :D

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A REVIEW AND JUST MAYBE I MIGHT DECIDE TO ADD SOME MORE PAGES :P (Yep, I'm trying to bribe you guys )

Until Next Time,

Ja'Ne Minna!