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
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**THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO Esmika, khybrd90 AND LanceDamico91, OUR NEW D2L READERS**
(A/N: And…D2L is back after another long, long time but be warned, it's going to go on yet another long, long break even after this! For now, enjoy the chapter!)
Previously on D2L: …suddenly he felt her head against him as she constantly punched his chest…of course as delicate as her hands were, there was no way it could hurt…
"What kind of idiot continues playing when he's injured?!" She shouted. And all his worries just vanished. Wait what?! He exclaimed. So that was it?! She was just worried about…him getting injured? He felt his lips quirk up a bit…
"Were you…worried about me?" He asked smirking slightly.
"No not at all, idiot" She replied softly in utter sarcasm.
Continue:
"Stay still…it'll hurt if you don't" Lucy warned as she bandaged his wound carefully and gently. His gaze remained stuck on her and she could feel it…that penetrating gaze...
"Luce…?" He called to her and she turned her eyes to meet his... "Do you…trust me?"
Her eyes widened a bit…it was surely a question that took her by surprise. Why was he asking this all of a sudden?
"…more than myself" she heard herself respond in a far from the present tone… 'oohps…' she thought. But she was used to it now…used to words just leaving her of their own accord…used to getting lost when he was talking to her…used to getting all worked up on the inside when he gazed at her like that…
It had been difficult to cope with before…because it evoked so many emotions inside of her…it took her into a mayhem of feelings and thoughts that she knew the answer to but couldn't say it… But now…despite all that, she had begun to like it… she had begun to like the feeling of uneasiness…the feeling of her pulse going high…the feeling of the heat creeping up her cheeks...the feeling of euphoria... the feeling where it felt like it was just the two of them and no one else mattered…the feeling of thinking only and only about him…anything…anything that had to do with Gray…
xXx
"…more than myself" she said. Gray gasped softly… Her words…the way she said it with no hesitation, yet at the same time, it felt like a stab in the chest…painful…the deeper her trust for him was, the more bitter the truth would turn out…
"Gray," she began…this was it…she thought…her chance to tell him, "I –"
"Gray! I can't believe you played while you were injured! You're really not human are you?!" Cana exclaimed as she stormed in, breaking off the conversation between the two… Impeccable timing…
"Oi, calm down. I'm still alive, am I not? Also, this was an important match…If I didn't do that, we'd have lost" He defended himself.
"Well anyway, at least we got to see another amazing match! Congratulations captain" She said cheerfully as she ruffled his raven hair and he laughed along.
"Yeah, I bet you're just all excited because you've probably done a lot of betting on this match" he joked.
"No kidding! But it's not a bad thing right? It just shows how confident I was that you'd win…" Cana giggled. Suddenly, Lucy felt a bit out of place… They were just so…close…Was she like – in the way?
"Before I forget, you've got to go to the council office… Erza's orders. You've not yet finished with the preparations for prom? It's day after tomorrow!"
Gray sighed. Lucy wondered how much work he really did have to do at this council! It was almost never ending!
"Everything's set…I just need to organize stuff with Mira's department and a bit of calls to the schools that we're inviting. It's not much but…for now I guess, I'll catch you guys later then" He said as he got up and for a moment he flinched again in pain but still continued walking.
Lucy reached out for a moment…her hands reaching forward – but midway, she felt them drop back to her sides…once more, she was unable to say it. Was it bad timing? Her luck? Whatever it was…the fact remained that she had lost yet another chance to convey her emotions.
She snapped out of her thoughts only to be greeted by the smirking expression of a brunette who'd been observing her all along…
"You have it bad don't you…?" Cana joked, raising an eyebrow, obviously waiting for an explanation.
"H-huh?" Lucy stuttered speechless. Cana eyed the blonde carefully for a moment and in the next, she had burst into a fit of giggles. She patted Lucy on the back, "You two should hurry up a bit… tardiness can be costly" She said, this time with seriousness.
"Cana…" Lucy began; she didn't know why she was asking this but she just wanted to know, "why did you and Gray break up?"
Cana was a bit shocked at the question but smiled eventually, "it didn't feel right…We were and still are very close, that won't change…and perhaps, even if just a bit, I still like Gray. But we didn't have the 'x-factor'. You know what I mean? There was no…" Cana explained, searching for the right word.
"– magic?" Lucy completed and Cana smiled thankfully.
"Yeah, that's it… there was no 'magic'…no…passion..." Cana said wistfully. Lucy wondered... had they been serious about each other?
"Was it hard…the break up?"
"Not exactly…we never did have that official 'break up' scene. It was just kind of understood. We didn't have to say anything to each other to know." Cana replied. Personally, even Cana had never really put much thought into all this. It had all just happened and passed by… it was nostalgic of course. Now that she thought about it, it really had been fun when they were together.
"Do you think…you two could ever get back together?" Lucy asked meekly.
"You're really thinking over this a lot aren't you?" Cana asked with amusement in her tone, "I'm happy that you're talking to me about this Lucy and that's why I want to tell you…such things are not meant to be thought over so much. What good does it do to think so much about it?"
Lucy's eyes widened a bit at how straight-forwardly her feelings were mirrored in front of her.
"When you like someone, you don't think. But when it comes to taking a step forward, this annoying thing called 'thinking' just gets in the way. Even if at the end of all this 'thinking' you do decide that the person you like is not right or maybe for some reason taking a step forward is not right, it's not like your feelings are just going to fade away or vanish into thin air."
Lucy remained silent. It was all true… it was exactly what she had been doing for so long – 'thinking'.
"You look like you've taken what I've said into consideration" Cana smiled.
"You guys have dragged this thing on for too long… do you know what tomorrow is?" Cana asked
Lucy's eyes widened in realization, "…February…14"
"In other words, Valentine's day" Cana completed, "I think someone'd be expecting chocolates from you" She winked as she placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder before taking her leave.
"Valentines…huh?" Lucy wondered aloud.
"You're here to make chocolates for Valentine's aren't you?" A very pretty lady of around eighteen asked cheerfully. She really was beautiful with her long, and from the looks of it, soft hair that was fringed at the front and her attractive features. She had what one would call the perfect lips!
Lucy nodded, "Yeah and you?"
The lady smiled, "same…I think I'm finally going to confess to the guy I've been crushing on since high school" Lucy felt a bit amused at the coincidence… wasn't her situation the same?
"Me too" Lucy said softly. It felt nice to talk to people about it…it felt like releasing all the emotions that had been locked up inside of her…If only she could tell him once and for all, maybe she would feel even more relieved…
"Really?! It's kind of hard huh? To confess right to the face…" The lady said and Lucy nodded while sighing.
"But this time we'll both do it ne?" The lady smiled as she said and Lucy smiled back… "I'm Bisca by the way and you are – ?"
" – Lucy"
"Ok everyone, your ingredients are kept in front of you. We're going to make simple truffles since this class is full of beginners. If anyone has any difficulty in following the steps which we will follow together, they can always ask for assistance…" The 'chef' began to speak. Lucy had thought over it a lot and decided that handmade chocolates were what she had to make but since she had no idea how, she decided to come to this culinary class that was being held specially for the upcoming Valentine's day…
Lucy followed every single step with extreme carefulness and attempted accuracy.
"Wow…you're really trying hard! Are you a perfectionist or something?" Bisca asked as she turned from her own chocolates to Lucy. Lucy paused for a moment.
"No…but he is…he's even perfect when it comes to cooking and I'm terrible at it...I'm just trying to do my best to make it good… I just want him…to like it…a lot…" Lucy explained and for some reason or the other, she was smiling a lot. She knew it inside, she was enjoying this…enjoying every bit of it…she liked it…doing something for Gray…
'but wait…would he even like something like this?' She thought
Lucy walked towards the classroom nervously, clutching onto her neatly packed, handmade chocolates which she had decided to make heart-shaped… she'd have done something fancier but she found that even doing that much was already hard for her…
On a normal day, Lucy wouldn't be in school by this time. It was still a bit early for her. But she knew one thing, Gray was always early. She finally reached the classroom and took a deep breath before sliding the door open but the moment she did – Lucy gasped in horror. The entire classroom was filled with people! Girls to be more specific. Lucy's eyes wandered over to the center of attention – Gray. Her heart clenched…well of course…there had to be over a billion girls who wanted to give him valentine gifts…
"I love you Gray-sama!" One of the girls said to him and Lucy felt her fists clench a bit. She watched his impassive expressions. He hadn't even noticed her yet…but she didn't even expect him to…the classroom was way too full… He didn't need her…he wasn't expecting anything from her either…She felt a bit hollow on the inside…yet, her chest felt all heavy…slowly her vision began to blur.
'My gift would mean nothing…' she thought, 'when he already has so many…'
She felt the tears threatening to escape; hurriedly she turned around. She paused for a moment and then began to run out.
xXx
Gray walked through the school gates, early as always… his wound from the match yesterday stung him a bit but since his endurance was great enough to continue playing a match with it, surely going to school was a piece of cake.
He did everything the way he usually did every morning…He opened his locker to take out the books he required but just as he did so, loads and loads of boxes, bags and cards, all fancy looking, in all sizes and of either red or pink color came crashing on him, sending him down straight, butt-first.
"That had got to hurt" Loke who had witnessed everything laughed as he extended a hand and pulled Gray up.
"The HELL is this?!" Gray said in annoyance, pointing at the heap of fallen boxes and cards.
"Um…today's February 14" Loke reminded him and Gray face-palmed in realization.
"Shit…" He sighed. Loke helped him pick the heap of valentine gifts but the very next moment –
"It's Gray!" Some girl exclaimed and an entire flock of females from god-knows-where came running towards him. Usually the school was pretty much empty by this time…what on earth was the entire female population of Fairy High doing there then?! Gray couldn't help but wonder…
The entire time, from the hallway till the classroom, Gray dreaded ever coming to school. This day of the year really was tough… It was the day he usually came late and left early. He wondered how he had forgotten this year.
Time passed and more and more girls came and went…the crowd just never seemed to disperse! Then…he noticed a dash of gold… 'Luce?' he thought, and for the first time that entire day, he smiled. Had she come to give him a Valentine gift too? Immediately he stood up from the table he had been sitting on, "please excuse me, I'll be right back" he assured before running out the classroom.
He didn't take long to catch up to her and just then and there in the empty hallway – he grabbed her waist and pulled her against him… Lucy's heart stopped for a moment and her stomach tightened…She recognized this strong embrace…these strong but gentle arms… this scent… His hands dropped from her waist down to meet her hands which were in clenched in a ball… he wrapped his hands around hers; she closed her eyes out of reflex as she felt his breathing dawn upon her, inching closer by the moment…she knew she was blushing but didn't bother to hide it since she was with her back against him. Then he whispered, "Aren't you going to give me a Valentine present Luce?"
He noticed that the girls from the classroom were beginning to come out and so he released her…He didn't want to risk anyone seeing them like that because he wasn't sure how Lucy would take it…
Lucy turned around nervously and held out her wrapped box of chocolates to him with averted eyes. Gray chuckled, "You need to be more proper than that Luce" he joked as he tilted her chin so that she was facing him. Her blush deepened as she stared into his teasing midnight orbs…
Gray took the box from her, making sure to keep his gaze at her, "I'm glad you're still wearing that…" He smiled when he noticed the 'L' necklace he had given her on her birthday.
Lucy remained silent and simply blushed…Gray chuckled.
"So, miss Lucy Heartfilia…will you accompany me to prom?" He asked jokingly and Lucy didn't know why but she could do nothing more than just stare at him with a shocked look. Gray ran his hand through his hair nervously, "so…is that a yes?"
And Lucy finally nodded, still utterly speechless. Gray laughed lightly and patted her head like he usually did, "see you later then…Luce" He said before leaving.
"So he finally asked you?!" Levy squealed in delight.
"Yeah…" Lucy replied smiling…she was really happy about it all…it was like everything was finally coming into place…She felt like nothing could go wrong! It was all like, meant to be… She felt like all the heartbreak from before was just because things were never meant to work out with any other guy…maybe it was just destiny because maybe, Gray and her were 'meant-to-be'. At least that was what was on her mind.
She finally felt like love wasn't just a fantasy…it was real…and it was precious. Maybe she was a bit immature to be speaking of something as big as 'love' but no matter what, she knew it – this was love.
"So are you two going out now?" Levy asked excitedly.
"Um…technically…no" Lucy replied awkwardly. It really was something to think about… It definitely felt like they were sometimes…but she hadn't even confessed to him yet and neither had he ever told her in words that he liked her…
'Tomorrow…' she thought… tomorrow all those formalities would be cleared…this time nothing would get in the way.
Out of the blue, Lucy's phone rang and she sighed heavily as she saw the caller…
"Lu-chan?" Levy said in concern, "is it…him again?"
Lucy nodded as she answered the call, "Yes father"
"Father I've told you before, I am not leaving Magnolia. You can't expect me to be moving from place to place and school to school all the time as per your convenience" she spoke in reply to whatever was said at the other end of the line.
"You may put it that way but you and I both know that just like last time, you're refusing to leave because of some boy. Don't be silly Lucy. All these things are a waste of time; you should have learnt that from what happened last time. I want you back here in Hargeon on the 16th. That's all I'm going to say. I believe you'll be able to come to the right decision eventually. I'm just going to let you know that the train leaves in the morning sharp 9 am on the 16th" Came the response and the call ended. Lucy sighed again. He just kept telling her the same thing over and over!
Why did he suddenly want her in Hargeon again? Why did he have to keep reminding her again and again of what happened the last time?
"Lu-chan…you're not going to go are you?" Levy asked sadly. Levy had been the only one Lucy had confided in about the constant calls she received from her father. She hadn't even mentioned it to Gray ever before…yet, she knew, even if he wasn't the only reason, he was probably the main reason that she just couldn't afford to leave Magnolia now.
"No Levy-chan…I don't want to leave now. I can't possibly leave now" Lucy replied. How could she leave now when her story with Gray had only just begun? She didn't want to be away from him now…there was no way she was leaving and she was sure. Even if her father still believed she'd finally end up coming back anyway, she'd prove him wrong. She'd prove to him that this time she was right…this time there was no mistake…this time, she had chosen the right guy.
(A/N: ~END!~
Itami(chan/san)/SDQueen: CUT! Ok then! It's finally here! The Valentine Prom! After the long, long wait…the time has finally come!
Levy: And I finally got some screen time too :3
Gray: so that means season one of D2L ends in chapter 24?
Lucy: No silly, there's more than just the Valentine Prom in season one…
Itami(chan/san)/SDQueen: That's right! Season one is scheduled to end in chapter 25
Erza: I heard there's going to be a change in the cast?
Itami(chan/san)/SDQueen: Well of course! A few members of Sabertooth are going to make their debut of course! They're going to replace some of the existing cast crew.
Loke: - in other words…some of us are no longer going to get any screen time at all?
Itami(chan/san)/SDQueen: That's right! ^.^
Jellal: as in…some of us will get 'fired'?
Itami(chan/san)/SDQueen: Correct :D
*murderous glares*
Itami(chan/san)/SDQueen: (-_-") Um…did I say something wrong?
NEXT CHAPTER: THE VALENTINES PROM! Where confessions flow all over the place but at the same time…certain revelations lurk behind the scenes… Will Lucy and Gray finally speak their feelings? Will Gray finally be able to complete the dare and fulfill his promise to Wendy? Will Lucy find out the truth behind the dare? Don't miss it!
KINDLY LEAVE A REVIEW! QUESTIONS OR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OR SIMPLY JUST YOUR OPINION…ANYTHING WILL DO! ^.^
Until the 24th of June, (I have exams dudes! You won't be seeing me until this date!)
Ja'ne!