Our Forty Days ; Gray

➳ Gray

I glanced at the Request Board where (Y/N) stood, waiting and looking as if she was in deep thought. I was pulled back into the present when Mirajane murmured, close to my ear.

"I think (Y/N) likes you-"

"Mira!" I hissed, "I have a girlfriend!"

She hopped away, a guilty expression. "I guess I can't tease you, now." The model breathed out a sigh before she left.

My eyes shut, and I mulled over these past few days with Juvia.

I did like her, truly. Now, I feared that adoration had turned into brotherly appreciation.

Remembering how she had acknowledged my relationship with a bright, bold smile just twisted my insides.

Ugh, I'm seriously gonna die.

As I mourned for myself, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.

I looked up, and standing there was the water Mage. Her eyes reflected myself in them, and they shined bright and healthy.

"You have been acting distant, lately." Juvia softly said, letting her hand slip away, as her arm fell back to it's place by her body.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

I felt guilty, I really did, no one would want to hurt Juvia. I didn't want to hurt Juvia. She was too kind, too lovely, too sweet and innocent.

Allowing my hand to lift was by my own surprise. My fingers drifted through her marine blue hair, watching a lovely shade of red spread to her pale cheeks.

"I'm fine."

I lied straight through my teeth; it seemed too easy, now. Lying, that is. Juvia might have sensed it, but she just smiled, tilting her head. "Okay, Gray-sama."

___

"Come in," I took my shoes off as I stepped into the apartment building, peering behind me at the woman standing in the doorway.

"Juvia is entering..." Juvia hesitantly called out, before stepping into the small foyer, a bag clutched in her hands.

As I took the load off of her hands, I walked into the kitchen, "help yourself to a chair, don't just stand there." I glanced at her.

My girlfriend let out a small gasp, and looked around herself in wonder, as if it was her first time being in an apartment. "T-these walls have seen Gray-sama naked..."

Two small spoons in my hands, I returned and looked at her in disbelief and embarrassment. "Don't say things like that!"

"Sorry, Gray-sama." She chirped.

I set down the spoons on the table as she opened the small bakery box, revealing a vanilla cake with a simple design on the top. Settling down in the hard chair, I watched as she carefully lifted it from it's chrysalis.

She handed me a spoon, offering the first bite.

"...thanks," I took it from her and allowed myself to indulge in it's sweet flavor. The chocolate bits surprised me, but I welcomed them warmly.

"It's good!" I said, my eyes widening.

Juvia pouted, "why do you say that as if you're surprised?"

"How was I supposed to know you could bake cake?"

"Figure it out, Gray-sama, jeez!" Her eyes averted away, sparkling and crystalline. She was effervescent and everything anyone would ever want in a girlfriend.

...anyone except me.

I wish it could be Juvia. (Y/N)...she's bold, cocky, courageous, daring. She's impulsive, halcyon. Sometimes, she can't read the atmosphere- the opposite of my dating preferences.

But that girl was also ethereal; the epitome of independence. Incandescent.

I've even heard rumors of her Memory Control. It's dangerous to date a woman with such high powers that can easily control you.

...that's right, it's dangerous.

Dammit, but for some reason, that just makes me even more attracted.

"...ay-sama?"

I snapped back into the present, finding myself staring at a wide-eyed Juvia. She held her spoon in her hand, a small part of the delicacy had fallen onto the table.

And for some reason, a crystalline tear formed at the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill. She set down her spoon, gently.

"Oh goodness, Juvia's a bit unsettled," she quickly wiped the tear away, and turned to me with an easy smile. "Sorry, Gray-sama!"

In my head, I panicked. I'm going to Hell for sure, now.

"I-I don't..." She stared at her hands, stained by her tears. Juvia looked confused, when I stole a look at her expression. 

Juvia laughed, her voice shaky and scared, "I-I don't know why these tears are falling." She turned to me, an attractive curve on her lips. 

She was like calamitous, but not, for she was like a storm that would drift overhead; she wiped her tears away as soon as they appeared. 

Her conspicuous, cerulean eyes moved away from my sight, away from my body, away from me. They focused on the window, still cloudy from her tears. 

At that point, she seemed fastidious; delicate like a glass figurine. 

How could I ever forget that?