“I think I have a plan.” Lucy said while fiddling with her ice cream. Juvia was surprised she was getting to eat anything out of the banana split she was “sharing” with Natsu. He grabbed a spoonful per second, avid for the sweetness, but it was clear that he was holding back so that Lucy could savor the dessert. It was cute to see how he managed to be mindful of his special someone in his own, chaotic and fiery way.
It was unclear to her why the best friends hadn’t made it official yet when everyone was aware of their feelings for each other. Juvia knew that she was way more open about matters of the heart than most people, but still, she had no idea what was holding any of them back.
Perhaps their fear of losing their friendship… She recalled reading a few novels that portrayed similar situations as the one their friends were in. She could understand where it came from, but were Natsu and Lucy so afraid of rejection that they became oblivious to the clear signs that their love was reciprocated?
After a pause to grab a napkin and clean some ice cream from his face, Lucy went back to explaining her idea. “We could go to Bora’s place and search for proof of his blackmail and plagiarism. There must be something there.”
Their visit to Olga’s house a few hours prior had been very productive. When searching for documents at her office, they found some letters from Ludovic - the name people of Aster village seemed to know Bora by -. After taking a look, some pieces of the puzzle started to fit. He had blackmailed the editor into providing him a random draft one of the authors she worked with had written and enhanced his act during interviews. It wasn’t clear what he was using against Olga in that threat, but he did mention her daughter once in the correspondence, so they guessed it had something to do with her.
After putting the letters back into place and waiting for the woman to go back, Lucy started the interview. She took her notebook and started taking notes of everything Olga said, which wasn’t very useful in the end. When asked about Ludovic’s latest novel, she made some comments about the book itself, then talked a bit about how she came to know him in the publishing field and became interested in his very promising draft.
Lucy tried planting some seeds here and there with her questions in order to gather any information, but it became clear soon enough that Olga’s lie was well structured and it wouldn’t be easy to find holes in her story. Then, Erza mentioned if she had any children.
Her face grew stern for a second, but it softened quickly. “Yes, two.” She had said. “Dake, my oldest, got married a year ago and moved to raise his children closer to the city. Never quite enjoyed life in a small village, I guess… And there’s my youngest, Zayra.” She made a quick pause to take a sip of her tea. Juvia had noticed her hand was shaking slightly. “Zayra just turned nineteen. Such an amazing young woman, she’s my treasure. She wished to travel all through Fiore before deciding what career she’d choose, so her and her father are not here for the next few months. I miss her dearly.”
Soon after, sensing the weird mood, Lucy deemed the interview done and they all left her house. Natsu’s stomach grumbled and there was an ice cream shop next door, so they decided to go eat something as they discussed the next steps to be taken.
“That’s a good idea, but we need to find out where he lives first.” Gray said, taking a sip of his blueberry milkshake and offering it to Juvia. She tilted his head to take a sip and hummed, approving his flavor choice.
It had become a habit for him to offer her a bite of whatever he was eating. The first time she asked, his answer was “If you wanted to eat this one, why did you order something else?” But after some time he became used to it. It was cute how intuitive it had become for him to the point he didn’t even ask anymore if she wanted a taste, just handed it to her directly.
“Gray has a point. Besides, how can we make sure we won’t be there early?”
A thought came through Juvia`s head. It was a great manner to make sure they successfully found where Bora lived, went through his stuff and escaped without being caught. Besides, it had been Erza`s first idea when they talked to Bora. Still… it would be very uncomfortable for her to be put in this situation.
She could talk to him, say that she would like to go on the date he suggested, that they could hit him up at his place, get his address, then stay with him far away from his home until it was safe to end things, wave him goodbye and forget this all happened. Easy, right?
She felt a pit in her stomach, but it was their best resource at the moment. Also, maybe it could be a good way to get closure on that part of her life. It would be good. It would all be okay.
“Everything alright, Juvia?”
She nodded, eyed the group and told them what was on her mind.
“No.” Gray’s answer was quick and dry. “Why would you put yourself through this? We can come up with something else.”
“Gray’s right… I don’t feel good about this. With all the respect to you, Juvia, but this man’s the worst. You shouldn’t have to see him ever again.” Erza was firm on her view of the situation. Lucy agreed, adding that he shouldn’t be let near women ever again.
“Juvia knows, but do you have other way to go through this?”
“Anything would be better.”
She was tired of this conversation, but also wouldn’t back down. Her determination was strong and she didn’t want to back down on that perfect plan because of her past with Bora. Looking into her darling’s eyes, she put a hand on his shoulder.
“Juvia promises that if anything goes wrong during it she’ll let Gray-sama know.”
The door to the shop suddenly opened and, in a crazy coincidence that only happened in the novels Lucy read, Bora had come in. He was dressed in fancy clothes, hair in a slick back. As she watched him walk to the cashier, she heard Gray curse from her side. Lucy, who had her back to the cashier but saw their reactions, widened her eyes and told Natsu that she wanted to go to the bathroom and asked him to accompany her. He tried to ask why and argue, leading to a banter between the two. Juvia knew what Lucy was trying to do. If Natsu saw Bora again, things would go down in a second.
“Wait, wait! I smell something wei-”
Without letting him finish his sentence Erza knocked Natsu in the head, blacking him out in a second. Bra approached their table.
Everyone - apart from an unconscious Natsu - looked between him and her with wide eyes. Juvia noticed how each member of the team sent her a different message with their eyes, but all of them were within the idea of No, don’t do it!
Ignoring her friends, Juvia did her best to look as friendly as possible.
“Yes, Yes Ju- I mean, I am Julia” Her laugh sounded so strained and fake and it felt weird to talk in first person, but Bora didn’t seem to notice, so she continued. “
“I’m sorry for not talking to you since the party.”
“Don’t worry about that. Well…”
Gray put his hand over her thigh from under the table. Juvia tried to ignore it - even if her whole body was almost melting - and listened as the weird man continued with his very obvious flirting.
“If you’re still up for it, tonight I’m free.”
The hand over her thigh squeezed her. Gray sent her an agonized look. She did her best to keep ignoring him and answer “Sure, can we meet up at your place?”
“Sure!” It was only then that he looked at the other people that were at the table. His eyes landed on Natsu’s head resting against the table. His posture immediately changed.
“Um, so, I should get going. Bye, folks.
After he left, Juvia had to hear a lot from her friends.
Erza was almost done with the eyeliner on Juvia when someone knocked . Too concentrated on her mission to hear it, Erza continued slowly evening the wings. Another knock. This time Juvia tried to tell her, but Erza just shushed her and said she needed a steady model to do this makeup as it should be.
Juvia opened her eyes, looking at Erza as she examined her work.
“Looks good, I think it’s symmetric.”
From the outside, Juvia heard Lucy. “Are they still there, Gray?” She said
“Yep. I knocked twice but they won’t answer.”
“Just a second.” With that, the girl opened the door a few inches. Upon seeing them all dressed, she and Gray entered the dorm room.
“Everyone’s downstairs, are you ready?”
“Gray, we don’t rush an artist.”
“This is not necessary! It’s not a real date! She doesn’t need to get all pretty for him.”
Gray tried to look as casual as possible when he said this, but it was clear as day that he wasn’t liking any of it. Erza rolled her eyes and grabbed Lucy’s hand, leaving for the hall. Juvia motioned to follow suit, but Gray held her in place.
Juvia felt like she would turn into water as he closed the door and looked at her with those beautiful, dark and piercing eyes.
Gray was pissed as hell. He didn’t want Juvia to go, and he knew he couldn’t hide it from anyone. Everyone kinda understoodJuvia’s decision as the day went on, but he was having a hard time accepting. He knew it was jealousy, but he didn’t care. That dude was a dick and he won’t let his Juvia get near him.
Juvia’s brows furrowed adorably. She looked beautiful that night, which left him even more annoyed. Why was she looking so pretty in that long blue dress for a fake date with that prick! He should be the one taking her out that night.
“Gray-sama… Juvia needs to.”
“You don’t have to relive these bad memories. Stay here. We can think of another plan.”
He took a step closer, cornering her against the edge of the bed. She blinked up at him, so adorably cute as she seemed to give it a thought.
“Gray-sama, it’s no big deal.”
He took another step closer, forgetting there was no space behind her. Juvia let a cute gasp as she fell backwards and Gray’s first instinct was to catch her. However, in the fall, her knee hit his leg. They fell together over the mattress.
They stayed there for one, five, ten seconds. Gray was on top of Juvia, staring down at her. The sunset light through the windows painted the whole room in gold. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him as profoundly as he stared at her back. In that moment, everything he wanted the most was to kiss her.
What did the books say about this moment again? Did this situation count as special enough? Juvia’s arm had hooked around his neck as an instinct reaction to get balance. So their faces were very, very close. He moved his arms, still hovering above her, one arm supporting his weight and the other taking a strand of hair away from her eyes. After that, his hand found its way between her face and her neck. He wanted to kiss her so bad. What stopped him?
Her voice was more of a raspy sigh, like she was too afraid to speak and break the spell they were in. Gray dipped down an inch. His lips brushed against hers this time, but he kept himself from finally talking them as his own. He wanted to look at her for a second before closing his eyes and dipping down more.
Juvia’s lips were so soft… Gray needed more of her. His whole body begged for him to touch her, feel her whole body against him, but all those emotions managed to be controlled by his determination to keep intact the chastity of the moment they’re sharing. Juvia finally moved her mouth, capturing his bottom lip between hers and tilting her head to the right. She sighed and it became unbearable to keep steady.
Then, he finally gave into his desperation.
