Hey guys! So yes I know it's been a couple weeks, and for that I apologize. Between difficult chemistry tests and school events I haven't had time to write. I'll try updating faster next time, eek!

Seeing as Thanksgiving just passed, whether you celebrate it or not I wanted to say that I'm thankful for each and every one of you, and your follow/favorites/reviews! Each one means a lot. Thank you for your patience as well. Y'all are the Grayza fans and readers a girl could ask for. I hope you all have a great week, and without further ado, here's Chapter 2!

"Yo, Scarlet, you listening?" Gray repeated, poking the eraser of his pencil intrusively into Erza's arm.

She flinched, but didn't turn around. "No, I'm not." she spoke coldly.

Ignoring her, Gray continued. "What'd you get for number two? I think it's 439.8 Joules, but I don't-"

"I'm not helping you." she stated dismissively.

He frowned. "It was just a question, I don't see how-"

"I said I'm not helping you!" she snapped.

"What the hell, why are you so angry?" Gray's frown deepened. Erza, on the other hand, remained face forward, completely disregarding his question. "Was it something I did?" Still silent. "What?" More silence. "Whaaaaaat?" Gray drawled, gently nudging Erza's arm with his fist.

She flinched once more. "Gray, could you stop talking to me?" she hissed.

He scoffed, crossing his arms. "Alright." he huffed, walking back to his seat in the corner of the room.

From across the room Lyon shook his head, having viewed the entire interaction. He had never seen his friends act like that; sure, Erza always got mad at Gray and Natsu from time to time. But this was different: it seemed like Erza actually had a reason to be mad at the dark haired boy. He turned back to his homework, when he heard a frustrated exhale beside him.

He looked to the right and saw the girl in the seat next to him, Juvia, staring indignantly at the same couple across the room. Lyon was best friends with Gray, and well aware of Gray's extremely brief thing with her. But beyond all the complaints, rumors, and stories, he had never talked to her himself.

"You okay?" Lyon asked cautiously, noting the intensity of her glare.

Juvia's lips pressed into a tight line. "No. Juvia isn't okay."

He sighed internally: the rumors about her 3rd person speech were true. "Why?" He followed her glare. "Gray and Erza? What about them?"

She shook her head, turning her gaze to Lyon. "Juvia does not like them. But she knows Lyon is friends with them, so she won't continue." she nodded.

"Why does it matter to you?" Lyon shrugged.

Juvia rapidly shook her head. "Juvia sees how Gray flirts with her. Juvia is well aware. Soon Gray will ask Erza out, and they will get married and have seven babies-" She paused long enough for Lyon to see the genuine concern on her face, "Juvia can't bear to see it happen."

Lyon leaned forward expectantly. "So…? What's it to you?" he repeated, confused.

"What's it to Juvia? Excuse you, but Juvia dated him!" she spat angrily.

"Dated." he repeated.

Juvia frowned in confusion. "What?"

"That's past tense."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I don't know what it means to you, but it's past tense." he shrugged, nonchalantly turning his attention back to the chemistry problems Mr. Conbolt had assigned.

This time Juvia was staring, casting a scrutinizing eye over the white haired boy while he remained unaware of her inspections. She had only known him as Gray's friend, and she hadn't even really talked to him till now- yet he had the nerve to question her love life?!

Nevertheless she gave him a final, curious stare, before turning back to her work.

"Alright, it's been four days. Where could Erza even be?" Lucy asked, concerned, as she joined their lunch table.

"She was in Calc." Natsu spoke through his stuffed mouth.

"Yeah, she was in English too." Lyon added, Loke nodding in agreement.

"Well if she's here, why hasn't she been eating with us?" the blonde pointed out.

"I texted her, but she hasn't replied." Mira shrugged.

"They don't have a debate meeting today. And I saw Jellal before getting here; she's not with him." Levy added.

"Who knows, maybe they finally broke up." Gray added, his tone clearly negative. While his friends were pondering Erza's whereabouts he was fuming. The redhead had not only sent him more glares than usual during their morning classes, but also flat-out ignored anything and everything he had tried to say to her.

"Jellal and Erza? Yeah right, she wouldn't let it get to that point." Gajeel joked.

"That's true, but haven't they dated and broken up several times before?" Levy pointed out.

"Three freakin times." Gray nodded. "You'd think she'd realize something this time around." he muttered.

Natsu scrunched his nose. "What's your problem? Did you lose your favorite shirt again?"

"Shut up, barf bag."

"What's that, droopy eyes?!"

"I said I'll punch you if you say that again!"

"Oh really? Well go right ahead-"

"HEY!" Cana interjected, holding her hands between the two of them. "Jeez, where's Erza when we need her?!" she sighed, and then turned to Gray. "Really, what's wrong with you? It sounds like you're gonna talk shit about Erza."

Gray shook his head. "I'm not, we're just...not seeing eye-to-eye right now." He continued, explaining the harsh words Erza had spoken to him the other day. "And she told me I should act like Jellal." he concluded with a frown.

Cana arched an eyebrow at him. "So you're mad at Erza because she compared you to...her boyfriend?"

Gray looked down at his lunch in embarrassment. "...Yeah." he murmured.

The brunette cackled loudly. "Gray Fullbuster, that is by far one of the stupidest things I have heard you say!"

"No, it's rude. What's so good about that guy anyway?" he grumbled, forcefully ripping open the bag of chips in his hands.

Gajeel leaned forward, stealing a chip, "We could start with his good grades-"

"-mine are just as good!" Gray countered.

"He dresses really nicely." Lucy commented.

"So do I!"

"Gray, you still wear that stupid purple Hawaiian shirt." Cana snickered.

"And it's not just that, it's just...his clothes stay on." the blonde explained, referring to the dark haired boy's unusual stripping habit. She nodded to Gray's torso, calling attention to the absence of the dress shirt he had had on earlier.

Realizing it as well, the dark haired boy crossed his arms over his white v-neck, annoyed. "That's a dumb reason anyway." he grumbled, hoping to dismiss the subject, but his friends continued.

"He's good at soccer." Levy added.

"And really nice to people." Loke nodded.

"He's also very organized." Levy agreed.

"And I'm not any of those things?!" Gray pointed out.

"I don't know Gray, he probably has a huge dick." Cana chimed in.

"And I don't?!" Gray responded on impulse, but immediately smacked himself in the face as soon as the words left his mouth. Their table erupted into roaring laughter as Gray's face reddened in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to say that- well, it's not true, er, or false, but..." The laughs got louder, and Gray shook his head. "What does that have to do with anything anyway?!"

Cana shrugged. "I guess you can ask Erza, huh?" She stuck her hand out to Gray, his blue phone in her grip. "You call her."

Narrowing his eyes at her haughty smirk, Gray snatched the device from her hand. "Fine, I will. And you'll all see that everything Jellal has, I have too!" he nodded, putting the ringing phone to his ear.

"Wait, I don't get it," Lyon interrupted, "Don't you not want to be like him?"

Gray thought on his comment, and shrugged. "I just need to prove a point."

Lyon shook his head, "But I don't get it. Why are you getting so worked up about Jellal and Erza? Erza's like..our friend." he pointed out, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I value her opinion! I don't want her comparing me to that blue haired weirdo-"

"-Yeah, I mean we're all close to her, but why would you go out of your way-"

"-Oh my god! You don't like her, do you?" Lucy gasped, her eyes wide.

Gray choked on his spit. "I- what?! Me? Like...Erza?" he spat, shocked. He shook his head vigorously. "She's crazy!"

"That's why you're always messing with her in Calc!" Natsu nodded, wagging his finger at Gray.

Gray shook his head frantically, "No-"

"-You always talk with her after class." Lyon pointed out.

"-And you guys fight like an old married couple!" Mira squealed.

While Gray stared at his friends in disbelief they stared back in anticipation, waiting for him to admit his feelings for the redhead. His face reddened, "She's our friend, I don't…" He shook his head. "I don't like her. Seriously!"

He was faced with a table of questioning stares. But after a while, Lucy spoke up. "I guess that's true. Besides, she's dating Jellal." the blonde decided.

Gray felt his blush recede as he nodded in agreement. "She's dating Jellal! Exactly!" he sighed, relieved. The confused emotions he felt earlier disappeared completely: Erza was his friend, and always would be.

"But Gray and Erza would be hilarious, am I right?" Natsu joked, earning a laugh from everyone else.

"And impossible. It's hard enough to like her as a friend, right?," Gray responded, shaking his head, "I mean, let's be real: she's always angry, bossy, loud, and just fuckin' crazy." He laughed awkwardly at his words, but Lucy gave him a frown. "What?" he asked.

Lucy opened her mouth, her eyes angry. "You're a fucking asshole, you stupid, stripping idiot!"

Everyone flinched in surprise. They exchanged confused expressions: the voice that had spoken was not Lucy's bubbly voice, but rather an electronic, but just as angry, one.

Gray paled as his gaze shifted to his outstretched hand that rested on the table.

His phone was on, and worst of all: Erza had answered.

Fuck.

"E-Erza, hang on-" Gray stammered, but he was cut off by the dissonant tone that told him she had hung up. Gray stared at the blank screen in disbelief.

How long had she been listening for?

Levy sighed exasperatedly, clicking her red pen closed. "Gajeel, this analysis is shallow at best. You're supposed to explain your findings, not simply state them." she reviewed, handing Gajeel back a smudgy, crumpled loose leaf paper. "And take care of your homework. Folders are only 25 cents."

"I think someone had a little too much critical juice this morning." Gajeel grumbled, taking the paper back from her. "And besides, this paper is extremely well taken care of!"

"It's ripping in four different places."

"That's six less than ten."

"What- that doesn't make sense!" Levy frowned, but shook her head. "Enough of that. Onto more important things: as my peer editor, what were your thoughts on my paper? she asked eagerly.

Gajeel nodded, handing Levy's paper back to her. "Well, it was insightful, well analyzed," Levy nodded appreciatively at each compliment, "...and definitely not about Gray and Erza's drama today."

She groaned frustratedly as she leafed through the pages of her essay. "Gajeel, you didn't make any margin notes!"

"That's not important." He leaned forward. "Talk about awkward, huh?" he snickered.

"We're not discussing this now. Gray and Erza can figure out their own issues; it's none of our business."

"But he told her off! Who even does that, to Erza of all people?! Freakin' HILARIOUS!" Gajeel erupted into a loud laughter.

Levy, on the other hand, didn't find the earlier encounter as funny as Gajeel did. "Well, now that you mention it, wasn't Gray oddly...aggressive?"

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He's a pretty laid back person. But when he was talking about it today, I don't know...it sounded like he cared about Erza's thoughts on him."

"Like he cared?" Gajeel repeated. He stared at her thoughtfully, but then shook his head, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Okay, we're getting back to work." he stated, turning back to his desk.

"What? I was agreeing with you! And besides, you were the one that wanted to discuss this!" Levy protested.

"Yeah, but you're getting into...feelings and stuff. I don't do that shit."

Levy watched as he turned back to his paper, the disappointment on her face unnoticed by the black haired boy next to her. You never do, huh?

He turned back to her, nodding at his paper. "So, what can I do for next time?"

"You could start by using a dictionary."

"Hey!"

Lucy sighed in relief as she heard the familiar chimes of the ringing school bell, thankful that the long day was finally over. Books pressed against her chest she walked briskly to her locker, hoping to leave the building as fast as she possibly could. She had not only gotten a C- on her calc quiz, but also a stomach ache from the stash of chocolate in her backpack, a stern scolding from Ms. Porlyusica during Earth Science, and above all that lunch was a disaster-

A hand tapped her shoulder. "Hey Luce, can I get a ride home?" an ecstatic voice chirped behind her.

Right. He was here too.

Lucy watched as Natsu stepped beside her, unlocking the locker next to hers. While she had control over most parts of her life, Natsu was her unpredictable variable. Whether it was his infinite appetite, his loud talking, or his unclear feelings for her, she never knew what to expect from him.

Wait.

Unclear feelings?

Shaking off her light blush she turned to her own metal door. "Natsu, you live two blocks away from school." Lucy pointed out, spinning a finger around her lock. "Besides, don't you get like...carsick?"

The pink haired boy turned to her. "Well, yeah, but my ankles hurt from practice yesterday, it's too bright outside, and your car has so many snacks-"

She turned to him, eyes wide. "What snacks?! My car doesn't have any!" she asked, hoping he wouldn't catch her lie.

"The ones in the trunk!" He chuckled to himself, dumping several books into his locker. "I did think they were a little out-of-reach, but I figured if I had granola bars that good, I'd hide them too!" The pink haired boy laughed to himself once more. Lucy groaned internally, realizing that Natsu had found her well-hidden box of mint chocolate Clif bars.

"Natsu, those were mine! I thought we agreed on not taking food from my secret stashes!" she complained.

"I know, I know, but I wasn't the only one who was hungry. Gray was too!"

"Gray?"

"Well, after lunch we have history, and he said he was starving." he shrugged, "And seeing as your car was parked close to school, I decided to take things into my own hands and get us snacks."

"But Gray ate during lunch."

"I guess he lost his appetite after that whole ordeal with Erza."

Lucy pursed her lips. "Speaking of which, what even was that? Gray sounded really angry, and then Erza heard everything…"

Natsu shrugged. "It's just more of the same. They've fought like that since we were little."

"But didn't Gray seem…I don't know, angrier than usual about the whole thing?"

He furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What are you saying?"

Lucy shook her head. "I don't know, the whole thing is pretty weird to me. Gray never gets caught up in little things, but he seemed really angry that Erza compared him to Jellal, which isn't even that big of a deal. And he and Erza usually get along really well, so I-"

"Hey, Luce? You're babbling."

Lucy's brow twitched in annoyance. She pinched her nails into her palm, fighting the urge to smack Natsu right then and there.

"So? Can I get a ride or what?" Natsu asked again, eagerly looking into her eyes.

Lucy sighed internally, before turning to Natsu with an unamused expression. "Fine. But only if you stop taking my snacks!"

He pouted at her, and for a second, Lucy felt in control. She was making the rules, and he was following them! She almost smiled, but as soon as she did Natsu reached out and grabbed the car keys that were hanging from the hook in her locker. "Sweet, I'll meet ya there!" he decided, and ran off.

Lucy smacked her forehead. Natsu was definitely the unknown factor in her life, but one thing was certain: he always found a way to annoy her.

So there it was, the debut of Lucy, Levy, Gajeel, Natsu, Cana...basically most of the gang. I hope you enjoyed the little bits of Lyvia, Gale, and Nalu, and don't worry, their stories develop too! Anyway, do leave a review if you enjoyed, and I'll see ya next chapter! :)

-PinkKoala213