"When did you move?"
She was sitting on the newly unpacked rug, desperately trying to assemble one of the coffee tables she had had delivered. She knew she would have opted to buy furniture that didn't require assembly. She was fuming over the instructions while Grey was calmly thinking of a way to attach the floating shelves she had asked him to install in the alcove-shaped recess in one of the living room walls; she had planned to make a bookcase.
She hadn't planned for him to spend the day with her to help her move in, but they had crossed paths that morning when she arrived at the guild to make her report. It was surprising because, although he was an early riser, she very rarely saw him there before ten o'clock.
This morning had been an exception; they had breakfast together with Mirajane, and she had talked about the furniture she had to assemble. It had come naturally in the conversation while Mirajane asked how she was doing and complained about not seeing her before going to bed, as she was used to doing.
They had known each other since childhood, and they were long-time friends now, although their relationship had started under bad auspices. It was Lissana's death that had precipitated their relationship; Mirajane had needed a friend, and Erza's door had been the first to open. They had become close in a unique way. Erza had become like a sister, to whom she could tell everything without ever being judged, a constant in her life when everything was going downhill.
So it was only natural that she complained about her absence and offered to come help her if the bar could do without her for the day, but Macao had arrived at that moment to order a breakfast, and she had understood that she could not abstain. Finally it was Grey who had offered to come help her, and Mirajane had encouraged him by arguing that it was a good idea so she would feel less guilty about not being able to help her herself. She knew how much Erza hated DIY. And there they were.
"Not so long ago, I needed my own place, and this apartment was literally a bargain. I assumed it was a sign, so I bought it. I ordered some piece of furniture, but finally I never really found the time to move in until last week, and then we left for our mission, and I never finished."
"I see; that's a rather nice place, well located and sun-filled. You chose well.
She sighed deeply and abandoned the screwdriver she was holding. She really hates DIY.
"May I be helpful?"
She liked that he offered his help because she was too proud to admit she needed it, so asking for it wasn't even an option unless it was a matter of life and death. And he had understood it because he knew her well.
"If you know how to assemble this piece of furniture."
"It will be hard to do worse anyway."
She glared at him with a feigned anger, and he smiled, approaching her. He took the screwdriver while she was finally deigning to read the notice entirely and suddenly set up tables; the couch and sideboard were not so terrible anymore. They continued until hunger forced them to stop.
"So what do you prefer, pasta or …" she was looking for something else in one of the few cupboards. The kitchen was semi-equipped: three cupboards, drawers, a sink and even a countertop were installed, so until she chose and ordered the rest of the household appliances, she would have to do without an oven, hotplates or refrigerator. All of the cupboards were empty; she only found two bowls that she had bought a week ago but no alternative for pasta.
"…well, pasta?"
"Do you have something to mix with?"
She just looked at him with a dazed look and an apologetic but still optimistic smile. He snorted.
" Pasta with pasta sounds like a good option."
"Perfect."
He smiled as he watched her bustle about boiling water as he searched for cutlery and glasses among the bags scattered around.
" Couch ? "
They looked at the stools still packed in their box and then at each other. Couch.
"I'm sorry; I didn't think it would take so much time."
She sighed before taking a big forkful of dry pasta.
"Don't worry; it 's a move. I knew it would take us at least the day."
"But it's your birthday."
"And I spend it with you, so I'm happy."
She looked at him; she knew he was honest, but still he always did it at the guild, Natsu took on him to not be insulting, and Mira made a cake. The cake. She didn't even have something to give him except a plate of pasta without blandness.
"You should go; I'll finish alone. I don't want you to waste the rest of your afternoon over this, even if I had appreciated your help."
"Are you kidding? There are at least three pieces of furniture left to assemble, not to mention the shelves I was supposed to fix earlier. I won't let you now."
"That's okay. I can do it.
"Oh, without losing any fingers or breaking anything?"
She glared at him, falsely offended, but it only amused him more, making him laugh. Nevertheless, he rarely laughed, and she was glad it was because of her for once, even if it was because he was making fun of her.
"How dare you?"
She had set the bowl on the coffee table and was about to punch him in the arm, but he had anticipated this and set his own bowl on the floor so that his hands would be free when she reached out, and then he gently grabbed her wrist and quickly pulled her towards him, his arm wrapping around her waist. He had been too quick for her to understand what he intended to do, and now she found herself half lying on his lap as his arm held her against him.
"fallen under my spell?"
"Oh, just shut up and let me go."
She sighed and rolled her eyes as he assumed a mock-surprised tone to mock her, then she turned her head towards him, locking his gaze, still trying to escape his grip, but his arms stayed possessively locked around her.
"Not even a little?"
"When will you stop flirting with me?"
Answer with a question. Typical of her.
"I've been doing it since I was a kid, sweetheart; it's almost in my DNA now"."
She hadn't expected this much honesty, and she didn't know how to interpret his answer. He had said it in a humorous tone; it was flirtatious, but she could sense a latent truth. It was enough to scare her.
"Grey, please."
"You shouldn't beg me like that."
"Oh, and may I know why?"
He didn't answer, only looking at her.
"Okay, forget I asked."
She stood up and picked up their bowl before heading into the kitchen to do the dishes while he resumed assembling the living room shelves. They resumed the move but were careful to keep their distance this time. Eventually, she had managed to convince him to come by the guild when they would have finished assembling the furniture that required two or more assembly steps. They finished by five o'clock.
"You should go now."
"Come with me."
"To make sure that everyone knows that we had spent the day together?"
"Because you think there's still some ambiguity about it? You never miss a day at the guild, and Juvia must have pointed out to everyone that I was absent. No need to be a rocket scientist to understand."
"Juvia will either kill me or hate me for stealing your attention all day."
"As if it wasn't already the case every day."
He had spoken before his mind caught it. She looked at him, surprised. She wasn't used to him being so spontaneous. Usually, he was careful not to let his true feelings show.
"Be careful; you start to become cheesy, Grey."
"Be careful you start to appreciate it, Erza," he smiled.
He was right, but she would have preferred to die than admit it to herself.
"Okay, Casanova, and this is the moment when I say you to really go." She was smiling, but her smile had slowly faded. "Say hi for me to the others, and get your gift before she thinks you forgot her."
Suddenly he stopped acting so nonchalant; he liked teasing her because she teased him back, but he really cared about their friendship too much to risk losing it by pretending it was only based on attraction and that she needed to put some distance between them. They had been friends for years precisely because they had always known how to find the right balance between intimacy and privacy.
"I'm serious, Erz. Come. We are friends first, and I want to be with my best friend for my birthday."
She nodded reluctantly. He had helped her all day; she owed it, and they were friends anyway. Of course she wanted to be with him for his birthday.
"I just need to take a shower and fresh clothes."
"Okay, I'm going home to do the same. I'll come back here to get you."
"You don't have to."
"I want to make sure you come."
She waited for him to leave to close her eyes and sighed deeply. She was lost and hated it. The shower didn't really help; she just let the water run over her as she wondered where to draw the line. They were close; they always had been, but lately it was becoming more and more intimate, and she was forced to admit that she no longer saw him through the prism of friendship.
She thought about him too much to deny that she was starting to see him as more than a friend. He stirred up too many doubts, feelings and battles with her reason for her to turn a blind eye. On the other hand, she didn't want to lose his friendship; he had always been there for her. She needed him, and she couldn't risk ruining everything because she couldn't keep certain thoughts at bay. She didn't want to.
That was the conclusion she had reached when she had turned off the water and wrapped herself in her towel. She had wiped the steam off the mirror as if she had chased away her doubts. Just friends.
She searched through several boxes before finding the backless top she was looking for. She donned a black bralette made of thin lace, then she put on the dark plunging cowl neck top, and she slipped into sheer thighs and a tight leather crimson short. She chooses different bangles, bracelets and a golden belt before going back to the bathroom to brush her hair and tie it into an effortless but still elegant bun. She let out a few wavy strands and was spraying her perfume when someone rang the bell.
She picks up the intercom and unlocks the door, then goes back into the living room looking for her heeled boots. When he comes in, she finishes zipping up the boots.
" You are stunning."
"I know, but thanks; you are handsome too."
He smirked.
"Take a coat or you'll catch a cold."
She did, and they locked the door before going out. The air was colder than she expected, but it was already seven o'clock, so it was not really surprising. The sun had gone, and the sky was preparing to receive the moon, drawing over it this veil of night that plunged the atmosphere into semi-darkness.
" So how is Juvia doing ? "
"And I'm the one that you knew being more subtle? This is already the second time you've brought up the subject of Jubia. If you want to ask me something, just do it."
She smiled bitterly. Yes, she was not subtle, and it annoyed her that he currently noticed it. She was not accustomed to letting her words betray the flow of her consciousness like that.
"I don't have anything in particular to ask; you just used to confide in me about her, and it's been a while since you did. But if you have nothing to say, I have nothing to ask."
"Do you want to talk to me about Jellal?"
" There is nothing to say "
"Nothing more than for Jubia."
But Jubia loves you, and you have a soft spot for her. You know she will want to spend the evening with you, and then you go anyway. And hell, she hated being in the middle of two people! She snorted for herself. Finally, it seemed that she still succeeded in keeping some of her thoughts for herself.
She didn't talk much after that conversation. Using all her energy to chase away her most intrusive thoughts. It was too much for her. She didn't want to be jealous of one of her friends; she was selfish like everyone else but not selfish enough to interfere with someone else's feelings.
Besides, she deserved better than to torture herself with hours of introspection to figure out if she had crossed a line or said something she shouldn't have. She had too much pride to fight for crumbs of attention and be second choice. Just friends – it was her promise, and the more she thought about it, the more it appeared to be the better choice.
So she gave herself the time of the walk to the guild and an hour of the party that awaited them to ruminate on her annoyance and her vexation, and then she would move on to flirting, just their friendship.
But for now, she was still annoyed and didn't try to hide it. She kept an impassive expression that she could make affable when necessary so that no one would notice her annoyance, but she didn't try hard enough to hide it from him; she knew he would notice if he hadn't already, and that was enough. She could torture him for an hour given the time she had to ask herself unanswered questions because of him. A little revenge for a friendship without rancour. She almost congratulated herself on the healthy aspect that her decision was taking.
They arrived at the guild and sighed deeply. She closed her eyes briefly as he stared at her stupidly. They had forgotten the theme of the party or, more accurately, they had misunderstood it. Mirajane had told them about the surprise she was planning to throw this morning, but she hadn't gone into detail. She had only talked about a big party she wanted everyone to attend, and they had naively assumed it was for their return from the mission or Grey's birthday. Laxus' team had also recently returned from a month-long mission in the Arctic Circle, so it could have been for them.
"Erza! You had come to help? Oh, and you come with Grey. That's so sweet. I thought Mirajane wanted to keep the surprise. I didn't know you were in the secret."
They smiled with a forced smile.
"Actually, we were not, but we will be ravished to help."
Lucy smiled as she handed them a bag of heart-shaped balloons to inflate and explained the plan to build an arch at the entrance. Mirajane cried as she came back from the cellar where she had gone to get the red ribbons she had hidden and which she intended to hang on the railing of the upper floor and along the stairs. After the screams of horrified amazement and the diatribes against the lack of professionalism of Panther Lily in charge of prohibiting access, she regained her calm, and the fear that her surprise would be spoilt flew away as she saw in them two extra pairs of hands to help her.
"So you came together."
"Yes, Mira, you remember Grey helped me to settle down."
"Ah yes. Not really fun; anyway, I need someone to prepare the drinks and the different mixes for the love cocktails with Wendy. Then someone else to set the white napkins with the lace table runners, a third person to set up the dance floor, and arranging the tables. The stage needs to be decorated, and balloons placed all over the guild. And I want dim lighting and a lot of flowers."
They looked at each other, then at Lucy and Wendy, who looked exhausted but used to the crazy demands. Cana had already proposed to help Wendy with alcohol. Carla was in charge of the presentation of the buffet, helped by Wendy, who tied little bows with red ribbons around stemmed glasses.
Grey was in charge of the fairy lights that he was wrapping around the bars of the staircase railing while Loki went behind him and decorated the bannister with a satin ribbon.
Erza was working with Lucy on the balloon arch.
"So since when are you here?"
"Two hours, but it seems more like an eternity."
Erza smiled. Mirajane could be really despotic when she had a specific idea in mind, and to top it all off, she was a perfectionist.
" Torture ? "
" Hell yeah. She is a real angel, but she is so devilish at the same time. She always asks smiling, but her demands are crazy. We had spent thirty minutes finding the perfect shade of red for the decorations, and after that, she hesitated for twenty minutes on the table layout and the room plan. We moved the tables for the buffet about ten times, and each time we had to put the decoration back so that she could see the whole thing. Then she had the idea of tying knots around the glasses, and it took about twenty tries before she was satisfied."
"Well, I see you are traumatised."
Lucy didn't even laugh, but a smile broke her gloom. She was exasperated, and her natural enthusiasm was hardly taking over.
"If only you knew. And the worst part is that I haven't taken my outfit for tonight, so I will have to explain to her that I need to go in less than twenty minutes if I want to have time to make my hair."
"Don't worry; I will finish and help her. She won't see you are left."
"Oh, you are the best, and by the way, you are absolutely gorgeous today. I love your top."
"Thanks."
"So you were with Grey? What did you do?"
"He helped me; I had moved."
"Oh really? Why didn't you ask me to help? Or Natsu ?"
They looked at each other before laughing. Well, not Natsu.
"I was planning to do it alone, to be honest."
"Okay, but we are friends; don't hesitate to ask if you need help. Basically, friends are made for it. Don't forget it.
"Thanks, Lucy. By the way, I think you did your part. You should go.
Then Lucy quickly gathered her things and slipped out the door as quietly as she could.
"Erza, did you see Lucy? I assumed she was occupied somewhere, but I don't find her."
"She had an emergency something with her apartment, but I can help you; just ask."
Finally, one hour later, all was ready, and Grey and Wendy gave the room a final sweep while Erza and Carla finished lighting the candles on each table and the ones in the buffet chandeliers. Mirajane finished putting some decorations back and hung a banner wishing a happy Valentine's Day.