A/N: Hey guys, hope y'all enjoyed the end to Remedy. Here's another one-shot update.

Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. If I did, GraLu would've been endgame.

• Red String of Fate •

First Date

"Uh, miss, how much longer would you like to wait?" a waiter asked her tentatively, almost pitifully.

Lucy grit her teeth, forcing a smile on her face. "Just a few more minutes. Thank you."

The blonde chewed her lip in silent anger and humiliation as the waiter nodded and left. She had been waiting for the past thirty minutes for her supposed date to show up. She was probably stood up, but she refused to believe it. The guy she met seemed to be a decent man, someone worth her time, but maybe she was wrong and that frustrated her. But then again, men and relationships were not really her specialty considering her past luck and tries with supposedly "good" men.

Lucy thought this would be different because he was a long time friend of hers. They'd been dancing around each other for a while and decided to give it a go.

She was currently seated in a nice, expensive five-star restaurant called 8-Island. The lights were lowly dimmed with scented candles and fancy lighting. An aquarium of several different kinds of fish took one section of the restaurant wall while alcoholic drinks took another section, which added a high-end feel to the place. While it had a nice city feel, it was still romantic in the sense that it was private.

As for her currently no-show date, he could apparently afford the place. Lucy had almost choked when she saw the menu prices and was thanking the stars that she wasn't paying because she could only make so much as an editor to the Sorcerer Weekly magazine.

Lucy downed the rest of her wine and was about to get up and leave when her phone rang with an unknown number. Confused, she answered.

"Uh, hello?"

"Hey Lucy, this is Gray."

The deepness of his voice almost made her shiver, but she quickly shook it off. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but then he immediately started apologizing without giving her the chance to speak.

"I'm so sorry, Luce. I know that we had a date, but...something came up, and I'm currently in the hospital downtown."

Her eyes widened. What the hell?

"Oh my god, Gray! What happened? Are you okay?!"

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, yeah, I'm in one piece."

"I'll be right there!"

"Huh, wait, Luce! You don't have to-"

She hung up and stormed out of the restaurant to her car. The waiter gave her a questioning glance, but she paid him no heed because she had more pressing matters at hand. Lucy expertly weaved her way through traffic, quickly stopping by a small restaurant to pick up some Chinese takeout before heading to the hospital downtown.

The frantic blonde entered the hospital and headed toward the nurse's desk.

"Hi, um, I'm looking for Gray Fullbuster?"

"Are you family or a close relative?"

"Uh, no, I'm not," she said with a frown.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but-"

Another nurse walked in with a clipboard.

"Are you Miss Heartfilia?"

"Yes, that's me."

"You're Mr. Fullbuster's emergency contact. He's room 1011. I'll show you to him."

The other nurse gave a small apology. Lucy nodded in acknowledgement before following the other petite nurse. She couldn't help but wonder why she was his emergency contact, but it wasn't like she really minded anyway. What seemed like a maze later, they finally came across room 1011. She muttered a "thank you" and the nurse smiled before leaving her standing in front of the plain door. She knocked and heard a faint "come in."

Lucy entered, softly closing the door behind her. She almost dropped the food in shock when she saw Gray. He was currently sitting up as an elder nurse changed the bandage on his forehead. She could clearly see the stitches, but it was the bandages wrapped around his shoulder and torso that got her worried.

"Hey Luce," Gray greeted, wincing as the nurse applied the fresh bandage.

The blonde sat down in the chair next to his bed with a concerned face.

"Goodness, Gray, did you get into a bar fight or something?"

His eyes twinkled, amused. "Something like that."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Well, I brought Chinese takeout."

He gave a crooked smile. "You're such a saint. Thanks, Luce."

"Of course," she smiled. "You know, when I heard your voice I was about to give you a piece of my mind but then you freaked me out when you said you were in the hospital."

Gray swallowed a bite. "Yeah, this wasn't exactly how I planned our first date to go."

Lucy giggled. "Unexpected turn of events, but I'm just glad you're okay."

Gray paused mid-bite and stared at his food for a few seconds, as if deciding something. He then snapped his intense gaze to her, scrutinizing her for a moment before sighing.

"This...won't exactly be the last time."

"What do you mean?"

"Has Natsu told you what I do?"

Lucy chewed on her lip. "Um, he didn't really mention anything."

"I work for the government, Lucy."

Lucy eyes widened slightly, but now that she thought about it, she supposed it made sense. Whenever she tried asking Natsu about it, he was always very cryptic and vague. Same about Erza. Both were in and out of the hospital usually, so she assumed some type of law enforcement but never saw them carry guns or anything.

"I wanted to tell you because it wouldn't be fair for you, not knowing what you'd be getting in to," Gray began to ramble. He only did that when he was nervous, and Lucy realized she was probably silent for a while and didn't react.

So, she did something that surprised him for once.

She kissed him.

Lucy pulled back and was please to see the shocked look on his face.

"Nothing you say or do will scare me off, Gray Fullbuster." She smiled. "Got it?"

He slowly smirked. "Crystal."

"Good."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! If you have an specific requests, PM or just leave a comment about something you think I should write about! Anyway, have a nice day! Also wanted to apologize for not updating in a while. Life tends to do that.