Lucy needed 10 minutes to calm down before we did anything. I understand her... We were two hours late, they waited two hours for us and on top of that, Natsu didn't answer her calls till one hour after she called so... Yeah, I think I get her point.
"Lucy, please! I already apologized! We are at the beach let's have fun!" she looked at Natsu and took a deep breath.
"Fine! But I swear: if you ever repeat that you'll never want to leave your apartment again."
"Lucy, calm down, he is right, we aren't here to watch you arguing with him. And besides..." Juvia whispered something in Lucy's ear. I couldn't hear what it was, I was too far away from them.
"O-Ohh... Yeah, you're welcome." Juvia sighed hearing her friend's answer.
We put our things on the floor, me and Natsu took our shirts off and the only thing it took for me and him to start fighting to see which one would win in a race from here to the sea and back was one look.
"Oh come on! You don't really think you can win against me, right?"
"I don't think. I'm sure!" we were inches from each other when we noticed the girls looking at us. Lucy face-palmed and Juvia sweat-dropped. I think they understood fast that we weren't going to shut up because they exchanged a look and then Lucy said
"OK. Let's do this fast. You guys have to run to the sea, swim till you reach that float and come back. The first one to touch one of our hands wins. Natsu you have to touch my hand. Gray you have to touch Juvia's."
I tried to ignore the fact that Juvia was smiling at me and that I would touch her hand so I could focus on the race. Natsu and I looked at each other. And then went to the 'starting line'.
"Good luck, Gray-sama!" Juvia was beside me while Lucy started the countdown. I don't have time to worry about my blushing now.
"I'm all fired up!!" I heard Natsu say.
"3...2...1...Go!" I ran as fast as I could. People around us looked at us like we were complete idiots. Maybe we were but we liked challenging each other so I don't see what's the problem. We reached the sea at the same time, I think. The rest of the race went by really fast. We were both already tired when we got out of the sea, the distance we had to swim was still long. We sprinted to the 'finishing line'. When we looked at the girls they were both in their bikinis but I didn't let that distract me. I finally touched Juvia's hand and lied on the floor panting heavily waiting for them to say something.
"How the hell did you manage to tie?"
"What?"
"What?"
You gotta be kidding me... I sighed. It was meaningless in the end... Then again, most of our fights were... I looked at Natsu. He was pestering Lucy saying there was no way he lost. Idiot. I looked at Juvia and she sat beside me. I sat too. I did my best to ignore the fact that her legs were absolutely perfect, so I wouldn't blush. I know, weird, a guy staring at a girl's legs instead of... Whatever but... Hers were just amazing.
"Gray-sama, Lucy said you and Natsu fight a lot. Is that true?" she wasn't mad or anything of the sort. She just seemed curious.
"Yes. I guess we've always been like that." she giggled. I closed my eyes for a little bit. It's been so long since I did something like this. And I missed it. Oh I did. I should thank Natsu later. He may be a jerk but sometimes he can do pretty nice gestures. I think that's why Lucy hasn't got rid of him yet. I smiled a little at my own 'joke'.
"Why are you smiling?" I opened my eyes. Juvia was closer than before which made me blush and look away.
"I-I was just... Lost in my thoughts. Never mind me."
"Hey! Ice Princess! Why don't we play volleyball?" that is the perfect example of terrible idea. I like volleyball, yes. But play that with two girls in bikinis doesn't look like a good idea... At all. I wanted to leave this place with dignity and not with a massive nosebleed. Juvia was about to get up when the thought of someone looking at her while she was playing crossed my mind. I put a hand on her shoulder and answered Natsu. I didn't even asked her if she wanted to but no guy is going to have a great view today. Not from her.
"It's not a good idea." however, I couldn't help but try to do something different. "ask Lucy." my plan wasn't to get other boys to look at her but to get Natsu to do it. And I know he will. Don't judge me, he needs a little push.
"Fine I'll play." Lucy walked with Natsu to a place without people so they could play without hitting anyone.
"Why did you let Lucy play but not Juvia? What's wrong, Gray-sama?"
"In the first place, believe me, it's for your own good, and second, watch them and you will see." she didn't look convinced but she watched them anyways. When Natsu threw the ball at Lucy and she jumped to throw it back he paralyzed. He just stood there looking at her. I couldn't see exactly where he was looking at from where I was but I have a good guess... The ball hit him straight in the face.
"O-Oh... Juvia got it... But even so, couldn't Juvia go play too? Even if it was two against one but... Natsu doesn't like Juvia so it would be alright, right?"...
"That's true but... T-There could be a lot of jerks here and I-I just don't want them t-to upset you..."
"Oh, ok." she blushed a little. Lucy was coming this way with Natsu. "Ah! And Juvia has your jacke-"
"I said it would be a bad idea." Natsu simply 'growled' at me.
"It's not my fault!" perfect opportunity.
"Oh yeah? Then whose fault is it?" he just became red again.
"Gray-sama... Poor Natsu... " I sent Juvia a 'seriously?' look and shook my head before hearing her giggle again. I wanted to hold her in my arms every time she did that so I could be sure she and her giggles were only mine... Of course I didn't, I mean, she doesn't even like me.
The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Sometimes some guys sent Juvia looks but I would send them death glares which made them back away. Natsu did the same with Lucy. It was getting late and we decided to walk around a bit. Obviously the girls' idea. But... It wasn't that bad for me. But to Natsu and Lucy, it must've been perfect.
The moon was full and with its reflex in Juvia's hair she was... Stunning. Well, more than that even but I simply can't find the right words. At some point, Natsu and Lucy were a few meters ahead of us. Juvia had her feet in the sea while I didn't. The tip of her jeans was getting wet but she didn't seem to mind. She was happily humming a soft tune which, even if I've never heard it before, was beautiful and relaxing. Somehow, this moment seemed stunning too. And I was trying my best not to end my beautiful view of a cute girl walking with her feet in the water and humming. She finally realized that I was looking at her and she stopped, and so did I.
"What?" I shrugged without knowing exactly what to tell her. I couldn't say that I was watching her cause she was cute, right? Suddenly our attention was drown to Lucy who seemed to be screaming at Natsu. I've no idea what he told her but it definitely made her mad. They stopped in their tracks and turned to each other. While Lucy was cursing he stayed there without saying anything. I knew it meant that he was thinking about something important. Not five seconds later me and Juvia looked at each other for we had the same reaction when we saw Natsu kissing her.
Lucy instantly calmed down and put her hands on his neck. We could only smile at them.
"Took them long enough." I looked at Juvia after she said that and smiled at her. We didn't want to ruin their moment so we stood there and let them finish. When they did, they looked at us.
"You stayed there watching?"
"That's for spying on us yesterday."
"That's for spying on us yesterday."
We looked at each other and looked away embarrassed. So it wasn't just Natsu, huh? Well, we got our revenge so I think it's fine. They started walking again hand in hand while me and Juvia were still a few meters behind. They seemed happy. I'll have to congratulate Natsu. Who would thing that Flame Brain would get a girlfriend? I turned my attention back to Juvia, who seemed like was looking at me and thinking at the same time.
"Oh Gray-sama, Juvia has been meaning to tell you that she has your jacket." yeah. I've already noticed.
"Oh, really? Well, it's okay. Keep it."
"What? But Gray-sama it is YOUR jacket! Juvia can't ke-"
"I said keep it" she just stared at me. I guess she understood that I wouldn't give up. She was just too cute in my oversized jacket to take it from her.
"Gray-sama, can Juvia ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Will you be at the bar tomorrow night?" I was a bit surprised with her question.
"Uh, yes."
"Then Juvia will be there too!" her smile was bright. How could anyone beat this girl? If I ever found that man who 'took care' of her in that orphanage I will kill him. I nodded to her question.
We decided to finally go home. When we arrived I looked at Natsu obviously asking for an explanation. He sighted and started to talk.
"I-I really don't know why I did it... It just felt like I needed to... And I was right. I don't regret it one single bit. And see her smiling after I kissed her was the happiest moment of my life." I tapped him on the shoulder and walked away but he grabbed me by my shirt before I could go anywhere.
"So, when will you kiss Juvia?" that caught me off guard.
"W-What? Are you crazy? I'm not-"
"Quit lying to me about Juvia." I knew that lying wasn't going to cut it since the beginning but... It was worth a try...
"Look, ok, I like her but she probably doesn't feel the same way." he face-palmed and looked at me like I said the stupidest thing in the world.
"You just said the stupidest thing in the world. For God's sake, are you blind? She didn't leave your side for one moment!"
"That's because Lucy was busy with you."
"No it wasn't." I sighed. "Oh, and Lucy said Juvia asked her to give you this." he grabbed his phone and not ten seconds later I received a message from him with a number. Probably hers. I looked at Natsu and he just went to his room. I looked at the clock. 11:11pm. It's not that late... But... I think I'm going to sleep anyway. So, what am I going to do tomorrow? Will I wait till night to go to the bar again? Like in every other day? Maybe I could break the habit... I looked at my phone thinking.
Maybe, just maybe, I'll invite her to go somewhere.