The Secrets We Keep

5

Lucy's POV

Juvia's voice rang through my head as I looked at Gray, smiled pleasantly and walked away from him and towards the table in the back of the guild. Where Levy sat.

The guild was just as loud and rambunctious as it always was, everyone was doing what they normally did and the atmosphere was the same as always.

But something was different.

The air was . . . tense. I could feel someone's eyes on me and I didn't have to turn to know who. 

It made sense he was still looking, glancing at me. He didn't really know how to control himself, he was still an immature child at heart. My immature child.

He didn't have my history, he didn't know how I was forced to be someone I wasn't. Someone everyone wanted me to be. Someone everyone expected.

I reached Levy's table, where the only thing present was an abandoned book. There was a note on it, it read "Lu-chan, I'm on a mission with Natsu, Erza and Happy right now, I'll be back soon. Read this book in the meantime. I read it whenever I missed you. Tell me all the details when I return, alright? You know what I'm talking about."

I chuckled. Levy really was the smartest person ever, wasn't she? She could pick up on my feelings before I even knew they existed.

I sat down then looked at the book. The cover was plain black, the only thing standing out was the title. "The Thoughts We Share". My favourite book.

With a smile, I opened the book and read the words, "Someone is in my head."

Someone is in my head too.

Gray's POV

Right after the doors opened and the familiar sight and sounds of the guild appeared, Lucy smiled at me then drifted away, into the crowd.

I could see the dullness in her eyes, though it didn't really make sense to me. It was her idea to pretend, why was she acting . . . like this?

Something touched my arm. I jerked and looked at the perpetrator. A mess of blue hair met my eyes. 

"Juvia," I started, as the water mage held my arm firmly with both of her hands," What are you doing?"

Her eyes were pleading as they met mine. "Gray-sama, it's been so long. And you've been alone with Love Rival the entire time, Juvia needed to be close to you."

"It's been a few days." My statement went ignored.

"Let you and Juvia sit together, Gray-sama!" She led me to an empty table and pushed my arms gently until I sat down. "You can tell Juvia about the job you went on." Faced with eager eyes, I sighed and recounted the story, excluding the parts where Lucy and I . . . did things.

Levy's POV 

"Finally!" Happy cried, his wings dragging on the ground behind him. "I can eat!"

"We get it, Happy. This is torture, you need food, yadda yadda yadda." I groaned, breathing heavily. My eyebrows were creased, my mouth set in a grimace and my muscles were aching.

Natsu, Happy and Erza had asked me to join them on their job, as they needed someone that could decipher ancient languages. I had happily agreed, as Gajeel and Lily were nowhere to be seen and Lucy was on a job with Gray. The boy Lucy had been crushing on forever. Yeah, I wore glasses sometimes but I wasn't blind. I could see what wasn't said, read between the lines. 

I was smart that way.

I had expected to read some old text, help whenever I could and fight along with my friends. 

I hadn't expected to spend most of the day in this bone dry desert without an inch of water, wiping sand off of pages and panting until I sounded like a dog. Then, we had to use the information we read to find the cave of this big monster that was terrorizing the locals and fight it. I had fought well, but by the end of it, I was nearly collapsing from exhaustion. My teammates seemed to be faring the same. Except for Erza. She was still somehow standing perfectly upright, walking on the street with her usual composure. The only sign she was weary was the slight stagger to her steps.

Natsu slammed the doors open and accompanied Happy to Team Natsu's usual table, where no one was sitting. Erza handed me one fourth of the compensation before walking out of the guild, towards Fairy Hills. 

My eyes swept the guild hall, looking for the girl I knew would be there. Blonde hair. There she is.

I made my way over to her table and sat down across from her. She hadn't noticed me, too engrossed in the book in front of her. I knew the feeling.

"Hey," I whispered,"Lu-chan?"

Her eyes flicked to mine then widened."Levy!" Her arms enveloped me in a hug.

I smiled and returned the embrace."So, how's it going with Gray?"