Chapter 3: Days of Mistakes

Has there been a single time of peace since the day he gave her his phone number? The answer is no. Juvia kept texting and calling him even though he never replied. In the campus she was always dragging him around talking about horror books, it was basically an annoyance. Deep in his heart he couldn't help but miss the days of silence and peace he had before meeting her.

His sighs were longer now more than ever. Every time he did sigh next to her she would always stop and stare at him for a second, but he would never notice. She might have noticed that she was a bit unwelcomed yet she didn't want to leave him alone. His long faces were making her sad, reminding her of a time she, herself, was exactly like that: sorrow and disappointed. If she could even make him smile, that would have been enough.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked him and tried to bring his eyes to look at hers. Impossible. His gazes seemed lost.
You clinging on me that's what's wrong. Gray thought, but didn't say it; instead he just kept silent. She didn't continue talking. In her head the only thought was to find something to catch his interest. In his, there was only finding a way to escape.

Suddenly Natsu and Lucy waved them from afar, noisy as usual. Gray has finally found his way out. Without delay Juvia waved back at them and with a lame excuse she stood up and left quietly. Gray has noticed that she wasn't very good at interacting with people. She was always cheerful when being with him or her friends, but when others approached, she always kept silent or just left. To him that was extremely weird, yet a bit adorable. Seeing her awkwardly trying to find her way out of socialization put a big smile on his face.

"What's with her" Natsu commented a bit annoyed "She never stays when we come, are we scary?"
Gray didn't reply. It's not like he knew the answer himself, not that he has ever bothered asking. The feelings he felt while watching her for afar were so different than when she was near him that he forgot to actually ask her anything about herself and always focused to how to shove her away.
"Well-well…" Lucy tried to calm Natsu down "She might be a bit shy…"
"Shy or whatever, you can't argue she is weird." Natsu continued. His personality totally didn't match hers. Well, maybe if she actually tried talking to him like she talks to me, they might've got along pretty well… Gray thought but didn't say it out loud, cause at the exact moment he pictured them together he felt a strange throb in his heart, like he didn't like it.

With Natsu continuing nagging the sound of his phone ringing caught his attention. It was no one other than Juvia. It hasn't even been 5 minutes since she left… he thought a bit annoyed. "IM SORRY I LEFT TO SUDDENLY, IT WAS RUDE." She always did that, texting him pointless stuff like "goodnight" or "what r u doin right now?"

Of course he rarely replied. He shoved his phone in his pocket and continued staring at Natsu who was still nagging.

Juvia checked her phone, but it was still the same. No calls, no texts, nothing.
"Why don't you give up on him already?" Gajeel commented a bit salty with the whole situation. He had already understood Juvia's feeling for that guy, called Gray and he didn't like it at all. In fact, he was reminded things of the past that haven't ended well for her, that's why he wanted to help her beforehand this time.

Unlike any other he knew Juvia since they were in high school. Back then, they used to hang out, but you could not say they were close. She was always a bit shy and had an emotionless face, making it hard for others to approach her. From their circle, he was the only one that went at the same university as her and after the incident in high school, since he was the only one who knew what had happened to her, seeing her sinking to the bottom made him feel guilty doing nothing. He was her savior and first real friend, that's why he couldn't leave her alone, making again the same mistake.

"I… for some reason I keep following him around…" she replied with a low voice. That's how she normally talked. Gajeel had noticed that when she was talking about things that she liked, her face turned alive and the tone of her voice different. She seemed like a completely new person. That's how she was usually while talking about Gray. He made her happy, that was true but, for some reason, Gajeel still didn't like him.

He clicked his tongue. "Keep doing that and you are gonna get the reputation of a stalker, ya know" He immediately regret saying that. Juvia was a bit sensitive with rumors and reputations. Her face turned white, but he couldn't find a word to fix his mess.
"You are right…" she said without giving his the chance to continue his previous thought "I am annoying, aren't I? Maybe I should stop…" She felt a throb in her heart while saying those words, but she didn't want to feel like a nuisance. She was obsessed with Gray, that she could admit. Although, she couldn't really understand why she liked him that much, it felt like he was making her world prettier. All she wanted was to help him banish the darkness of his heart, just like she had done herself. She was sure Gray didn't find her annoying, she was certain he held feeling for her as well. That's why she couldn't stop.

"I will confess my feeling tonight at the party" she confessed to her friend "If he says he finds me annoying, I will stop bothering him"

"Are you really going to stop hanging around him, if this doesn't work?" he asked her.
"I am. Though I'm positive that it will work. I'm sure he feels the same way as me. I can't really explain, but there seem to be something that draws us to each other." Gajeel didn't reply. Just nodded and wished for the best.

Gray was at home watching TV in the living room. There was nothing good playing, so he was just changing the channels hoping to find something worth watching. Lyon was at the bathroom, fixing his hair and putting on lots of cologne, like LOTS of it. It was Friday and his university was throwing a party to celebrate something he didn't really care for. He wasn't going anyway. Lyon was not a student there of course, but it was an open party and his brother wouldn't miss the opportunity to hook up with college girls.

His phone vibrated. Again, it was a text from Juvia. "I HOPE I'LL SEE U AT THE PARTY TONIGHT. I HAVE SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT TO TELL U. TEXT ME BACK WHEN U GET THERE"

She will be at the party too? That was a first. She didn't seem like the type who enjoyed partying. If anything, he would have sworn that she was the type who liked chilling at home, reading creepy books.

His mind turned into a big mess filled with thoughts. What does she want to talk about that can't wait until Monday? What has gotten into her all of the sudden? What is that important and why now? The answer was a bit obvious considering her whole behavior. She would probably confess her love. The thought made him shiver. He was not ready for something like that and this kind of thing was really not welcome. He didn't want to commit himself into a relationship and he hadn't given any thought to something like that. Juvia was obviously serious and he didn't want to let her down, but honestly he wasn't sure he liked her.

He felt his stomach tightening up. His fingers got numb. Another text interrupted his thoughts. "PLEASE COME NO MATTER WHAT TONIGHT"

What should he do? He wasn't ready to comfort her. He stood up and started walking in circles. He got into his room, opened the closet and looked around. What should he wear? He didn't really have any clothes fit for parties. Should he borrow something from Lyon? He took out a ripped jeans and a plain white shirt. Fixed his hair a bit, making them maybe messier and put a little cologne on. What was he even doing, he wasn't sure himself. His heart was beating so fast. As he opened the door, Lyon was sitting at the entrance putting his shoes on. Suddenly, he stood still. He had completely forgotten all about his brother. "Wow, that's surprising. Are you coming to the party as well?" Lyon asked him. "Are you really going to wear that?"
"No…" Gray replied without thinking. "I'm just going to buy some snacks, that's all"
They both stayed silent for some seconds. "Okay, I guess…" Lyon then said "Goodnight, then". He closed the door behind him.

Gray stayed staring at the closed door for a minute. He looked himself in the mirror. What was I doing… he thought to himself and turned his phone off so that nothing bothers him again. Juvia would get her answer with or without him there. On Monday he would she her at the university, apologize using a lame excuse and everything would turn back to normal. He wouldn't need to reject a confession, if there was no confession heard. He laid on the bed and closed his eyes trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing. If only he had known how much he would come to regret his action back then, he would have gone to that party even with his pajamas on; but you can't turn back the time.

That night he had a bad nightmare and was sweating a lot in his sleep, turning around, but he couldn't remember what he saw when he woke up by the sound of the slamming door. It was around 2.00 am. He stood up and opened the door to his room slowly. As expected, it was Lyon, a bit drank trying to take off his shoes. "BROTHER!" he shouted as he spotted Gray and hugged him. "Get off me, drunk-ass" he complained and tried to push Lyon away.

"Listen up, little brother" Lyon ignored him and hugged him tightly. "Your big brother is happy because… Tonight… he met a girl so unique, so beautiful, he thinks he wants to spend his whole life with her… Isn't that crazy?" He laughed "She looked so sad and lonely, yet to unbearably pretty… I think I fell in love at first sight with a fairy…" Lyon felt asleep at the hands of his brother. Gray, while holding him, recalled the feeling he had before, while sleeping. It was a bad feeling, like his whole body was numb and hurting. The person his brother had described seemed painfully familiar with someone he knew. Was that even possible? What were the odds? He really wished the next morning would never come.