Gruvia Stories

Bedside

Finally back on Earthland ! What a relief ! The trip has been hard on both the body and the mind. The fight was harsh of course but the things they had seen and the problems they had faced was way harsher. They all had some big thinking to do.

Some more than others. Gray had returned to a very worried Juvia and it was legit. They all came back not a 100% well. Fighting one of the strongest dragons they had to defeat so early in their missions had been extremely complicated. He would lie if he said he didn't thought that maybe they wouldn't make it this time. But here they were with all their friends around to make sure they were alive and would still be tomorrow. The first thing they all did when they came back was to check if they were able to use magic again. And yes, only it was so low they only could make tiny things appear. Nonetheless Erza had a sword in her hand, Lucy's spirit Plue appeared at her feet, Wendy created a breeze, Happy and Carla could fly again, Natsu raged when he made only a tiny flame burst at the top of his fingertip and Gray had snowflakes fall all around him. It was enough to make them sigh of relief. They were okay. Even though it wouldn't be the word the rest of the guild would use to describe them as they were all stuck in bed right now.

Gray woke up one day with a sleeping Juvia next to him, half on the chair, half on the bed. He smiled at her sight, she didn't leave his side since he came back nearly dead. And he was glad. He brushed her hair mindlessly as he thought. He got all the messages the universe was trying to send him. He wanted to take the warnings, the lessons, the pushes. But he wouldn't take them now. He could not, this was not the time. He knew he could die during this mission and fuck, she could too, on any missions. And he would have regrets. He was aware of that. But he could not just tell her in a middle of this quest ! He wanted that once he'll tell her he will be able to stay with her inside for a month and that he could stick with her so much that she would tell him to go away for a while. Once he'd tell her, he will be with her 24/7. He will not loose any time anymore ! Even if he can't do it right now, he can still send her hidden messages. That's why he tells her tiny things which all means "I love you." in different ways. Then all he does is hope. No, he knows that she understands. She understands him like no one else does, that's a reason why he loves her. They didn't really need words, one look, one touch, one smile and they knew. That was that easy with her. Of course they would need words, real words. Later, but not now. They both know that.

He doesn't know how long he stayed there, brushing her head, looking at her, but it was brighter outside when she started to move and wake up. She took a deep breath and moved her head to the side. When she opened her eyes, their gazes met and she instantly smiled at him.

"Good morning." she said lowly, standing up on her chair.

"Morning." he responded in the same tone.

"Are you rested enough ?" she took some of her hair away from her face and robbed her eyes.

"Probably more than you. You should have a proper sleep." She shrugged him off with a sign of her hand and checked all of his bandages carefully. He was following all of her movements, trying to meet her eyes sometimes, but she would not budge. Once she was done, she sighed.

"I'm fine." she said, looking at him pointedly.

"So am I. So you can rest in a proper bed and have a proper sleep, at least 8 hours, I'll still be here." he tried to reassure her.

"You nearly died." she whispered an "again" underneath her breath but he did not heard it.

"But I'm alive and healing pretty quickly." he raised his eyebrows and kept their eye contact steady to push his point. All she did was roll her eyes and sit on the bed with all her weight next to him then placing a hand on his mouth.

"Shut it now." she said, a little smile on the corner of her lips. He took her hand away from his mouth and enter twined their fingers together. The way she was looking at him said everything she was thinking.

"I know." he whispered "I feel the same. That is why I'm worried. You know I'll always care and worry about you. Even if we aren't together and even if we are far, far away from each other." she smiled as she hardened her grip on his hand. "But I'm okay and you need rest."

With her other hand, she touched his face. Her touch was as light as a feather, she took a stray of his hair between her fingers and pulled it away slowly then brushed his cheek with the tip of her index. Then she kept her hand there, rubbing his skin with her thumb. Still smiling and looking into his eyes. She chuckled after a moment. He didn't move one bit when she leaned in to kiss his other cheek and placed her forehead on his for a minute, brushing their noses together, eyes closed. Then she moved back, leaving his face with only the sensation of a touch.

"Fine." is all she said before she let go of his hand as well and left the room. Not without smiling and looking at him with the most loving features.

He loves her. He will tell her. No matter what.

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•Art by giushia