"Gray, do you have any idea where Juvia is right now?" Lyon couldn't stop bothering me, could he?
"I don't know... It's 9:00 so... I'm guessing her home?" He rolled his eyes at me.
"As if I knew where she lives... Wait! You must know! Tell me!"
"Absolutely not, how will I explain to her that I gave her address to her stalker?"
"I'm not going to stalk her, I just want to... " I didn't hear what he said next, I was too surprised when I saw that I had a message from Juvia.
Juvia is near your house. Are you home?
Lyon was still talking when I interrupted him.
"You're right. I think you should go talk to her. Go get her, she lives next to the book store, good luck!" I stormed out of the door before I could hear his answer and saw Juvia walking on the other side of the street. She waved and I told her to hurry up to get here and she did, even if a little confuse.
"Gray-sama, what's wrong?" I heard my door open and I pushed her into the café that is next to my apartment so that Lyon could walk past us and go to where I told him... He was far enough when I turned to Juvia. She had her arms crossed. I owe her an explanation.
"Sorry. Don't want you near Lyon." She sighed and shook her head.
"Fine. But you won't be able to keep him away forever. You know that, right, Gray-sama?" I walked out of the café followed by Juvia.
"Yes, but let's appreciate the time while I can still do it." Oh, that's right! "Juvia, when was the last time you've been with your friends?" She didn't look surprised by my question at all. She simply thought for a little before answering.
"Now that you mentioned it, its been a few days... But Juvia'll make it up to them. Don't worry Gray-sama, Juvia knows what she's doing." I kept looking at her. I'm not sure that answer is enough to satisfy me. She seemed to notice that. "Fine, Juvia'll call Erza." She grabbed her phone.
"Now?" She nodded. Her friend answered it. Erza... Where have I heard it before... It only took Juvia one minute before she finished her call. She looked at me.
"Erza is close to us, at Lucy's bakery. Lucy is not there tough... Maybe Lisanna is..." She said that but I think she was talking more to herself than to me, I had no idea who this 'Lisanna' was. I started walking. "Gray-sama where are you going?" I looked at her like I didn't understand her question.
"We are going to the bakery. Obviously." At least she'd see one of her friends. She smiled and walked besides me. I hadn't notice till now, but this was the first time I saw her with her hair in a ponytail. A high, wavy ponytail, with a few locks left out, adorning her face and a yellow summer dress. She was beautifull. It made me smile unconsciously.
I wonder how 'Erza' is. Well, she's Juvia's friend so she should be a nice person. But... Erza... Erza... I know I've heard that name before...
"Hi, my name is Erza, you must be Natsu, right?"
Oh! She's the scary-looking redhead! I shiver remembering the strength she used just to knock on the door the day after I met Juvia... And we're meeting her now... Oh great... I should've thought better about this... Well, now there's no turning back.
"Gray-sama, let Juvia warn you..." Oh my... "If Erza's eating strawberry cake, which is probably going to happen, don't ask her to share, don't insult it in any way and absolutely, be careful not to destroy it." Her expression showed a mix of worry and fear.
"Why?" It's a strawberry cake, it can't be that bad, right?
"Because Juvia doesn't want you in the hospital." Ok, don't do anything to the strawberry cake, noted.
"And, if she talks about 'Jellal', same thing."... Ok, don't do anything to... Jellal... Noted...
I could see the bakery when we turned a corner. Erza sat at one of the six tables that stood outside of the bakery alone. Her red hair was what made me know that was her in the first place, even if she had her back turned to us.
"Erza!" Juvia called her. When Erza turned around, I was able to see the strawberry cake Juvia talked about. She introduced me to Erza and she told us to sit. We did, even if we weren't going to stay here for too long. "Erza, Juvia and Gray-sama just came to say 'hi', since she's not been with you guys lately." When Juvia said 'Gray-sama', Erza looked surprised but let her keep going.
"It's okay. Hey, can you do me a favor?" Juvia nodded. "Get me another slice, please. Lisanna is inside" Juvia smiled at her friend, answering her... I could swear that slice was untouched when we arrived...
"Of course! Juvia'll be right back." As soon as she entered the bakery I stopped following her with my eyes and my gaze fell on her friend, who was smirking at me. Damn it, first, it was Lucy and Natsu, then, Erza, who's next?
"So, Gray, you like her, right?" I had no time to think about it, I wasn't expecting that question. I simpy blushed slightly and tilted my head, looking at her as if asking 'how did you do that?'.
"N-No! J-Juvia's just a friend... " Her smirk was still there.
"Yeah right, keep telling yourself that, but I know she likes you." I looked everywhere but her and tried to keep an emotionless expression. "Oh, come on! Isn't it obvious? She loves you!" I opened my mouth to answer but she interrupted. "Think about it, now I know why she hasn't been with us, she's been with you, right? And, I've never seen her calling '-sama' to anyone." Again, I was going to talk and she didn't let me. "Voluntarily." Wow. How did she do that? "I would hurry up if I was you."
"Why?" She raised an eyebrow at me. Ok, my question was stupid, I admit. "Nevermind. But how can I do that?"
"Well," her smirk was replaced by a smile. "You don't need to do anything big, Juvia likes to let the moment create itself."
"Then how can I hurry up? And how can I be sure that'll happen?"
"Spend time with her. If the moment has to come then it will. And then you kiss her." Might as well take her best friend's advice, right? I blushed remembering I almost kissed Juvia, back in my apartment, it wasn't planned, but it still felt like it should happen... Well, if Lyon wasn't there... "You know, Juvia likes that kind of stuff, when your trapped in her gaze and she's trapped in yours, when everything around you doesn't seem to matter, and you unconsciously lean in closer to her, waiting to close the distance, when the only thing that seems to be real are you and her, and it all happened, not because it was planed, but cause it had to happen, you have your hand on her waist and her arms are wrapped around your neck... And then... HE PUSHES YOU AWAY AND TELLS YOU HE HAS A FIANCÉE!"
... Okaayy... She was obviously thinking about someone else... She had a sad and angry look on her face which faded when Juvia got out of the bakery with a slice of cake in her hands.
"Erza, Juvia brought your cake." She placed it in front of the redhead, who suddenly had the look of a child in a candy shop. "We'll go now. Juvia'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
"Oh, you don't need to, just enjoy your time with Gray, I'll have to do something, so... "
"Oh, okay then, enjoy the strawberry cake!" I waved at Erza before walking away with Juvia.
"Has Erza ever told you something about someone telling her he has a fiancée?"
"Yeah... That's Jellal... " oh, so he's the one. "But, he didn't mean to upset her, he just thought that it would be better if they didn't got that close. They... Had a rough childhood... " I didn't ask any more questions. "How do you know about that? How did you guys get to that topic?" I looked away.
"It was nothing, she... Just remembered... " she didn't look convinced but let it go anyway.
"Juvia!!" Oh no, not him... I took a deep breath.
"Lyon-sama, what are you doing here?" He was running towards us and he got here breathing heavily.
"I was looking for you actually." He was just referring to her. I just stood there, with my arms crossed, waiting for him to, either go away or say something that makes me go away with Juvia. "And I was hoping you could join me, we could eat lunch and then go anywhere you want! So, what do you think?" I was barely able to keep my rage to myself. Juvia looked at me before looking back to him and smile.
"S-Sure, but... What about Gray-sama?" Both of them looked at me. I don't want to leave them alone... But I don't wanna be a jerk, I should let them hang out, right? Even if that annoyes me...
"Go ahead. I'll head home."
"Great! Come on, Juvia" he put an arm around her shoulders before start walking and I figured I should go home before I explode. But I can't help but be nervous about them. About what he's gonna try to do, and I won't be able to stop. But I should let Juvia be happy, if she likes him...
"Oh, come on! Isn't it obvious? She loves you!"
I remembered Erza's words. I hope she's right and that Juvia doesn't fall for Lyon's gestures. Sometimes he can be what people call a 'gentleman'. I've never seen him like that though.
I reached for the door knob in my apartment's door and twisted before finding no one in there. It was empty and death silent. I sat on the couch trying to think of what to do, but my mind would always go back to Juvia and Lyon. I seriously hate being jealous. It feels like something is burning inside of me and I feel anxious to make it stop. But even so, I can't, not only because I have no idea where Lyon and Juvia are, but because I don't want them to think of me as crazy.
I ended up eating whatever I had in the kitchen for lunch. Natsu was out the whole day too so I spent the whole time alone. And now that I was getting used to be with someone the whole time, being alone started to be... Lonely. I didnt use to feel like this, I used to like it, even. Now I can't even imagine how.
I kept looking at the clock every now and then only to sigh when I'd find out it had only been 10 minutes since I last glanced at it.
'Are they going to take long?'
From my window, I saw Lyon and Juvia near the door. They were just talking until he grabbed her arms and came closer to her leaning in. I didn't think twice as I ran downstairs hoping to stop him. I didn't have time to make sure I was doing the right thing, probably not, but I simply didn't care! My heart was beating faster, not only because I was running as fast as I could down the stairs but because I was yet again afraid to lose her, mixed with rage.
I finally reached them, after what felt like hours, panting heavily. Lyon stopped to look at me and smiled.
"Told you so." He said to Juvia.
"Guess you were right, Lyon-sama." They glanced at each other before looking at me again. They seemed pretty amused just watching me there struggling a bit to catch my breath.
Just... What was happening?