Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!

Like I said, I've started re-writing this story. I'm not sure if you guys would get notifications or not, but that's okay. This can be for new readers. I THINK I've ironed out spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, but this is also to make the story more consistent.

You know the drill, I don't own Fairy Tail! Apologies for spelling and grammatical errors!

ENJOY!

I don't dance

Chapter one

This must be a dream come true! This is the moment I've been waiting for! I mean, I love dance and dance class, but when I set my eyes on my crush being here, I knew that this was going to be a class to love! Although I was a little skeptical at first because the Queen bee, the girl that everyone loves, Lucy Heartfilia was also going to be in this class and I had the sneaky suspicion that Gray was in love with her, I just had to think of ways to woo him.

Making him bentos was one, watching his every move was another. My best friend, Gajeel-kun had told me that stalking him was a little too much. "If he finds out that you stalk him, he'll put a restraining order on you, so stop being creepy." Okay so maybe what Gajeel had said was true, but sometimes it wasn't on purpose! Sometimes he was where I was going and it was just a coincidence...sometimes...

So when Gray said he couldn't be at the showcase, my whole world came crashing down. Was it because of me? Oh no, he found out about my stalking and he was creeped out! Luckily, Lucy had asked and his answer wasn't any of the above. "Nah, it's just that my Aunt Ur has died after battling cancer for about a year. It's her funeral that night." Everyone began comforting him even though he clearly didn't want it. I pushed through them all, sad that he wouldn't be able to dance with me, but sad about his Aunt. I couldn't be selfish here.

"Juvia is sorry to hear about that Gray-sama. Juvia sends her condolences." He just shrugged at me with a quick 'thank you' before he fell into Lucy's hug as she consoled him. My eyes fell down to the ground. Any other time and this would have sparked fire within me to remove her from his hold, but it was clear as day now. I had been trying for the past two years ever since I had transferred here but every time I wanted to confess to him, he never gave me the time of day. Plus he called me creepy, and not just on one occasion too.

I just sighed and turned my back before the dance teacher called me over. "It would seem like you have to find a new dance partner and maybe even try a new dance." My eyes widened.

"But Mira-sensei! The only dance that Juvia knows is 'The winter' dance and that was better done with Gray-sama! Juvia will just drop out of the dance." I flinched. Dropping out of a class wasn't something I did. I saw the woman's eyes flash at me.

"I'm afraid that if you quit the dance production, then you fail the class." I flinched. I hated failing. I liked my good grades and if I failed this class, then Levy would beat me this year and I have to do whatever she wants me to do for her for a week. I knew that meant that I was going to have to find a new dance partner, but the showcase was in three days time. I didn't have enough time to start looking for someone and everyone was already paired up.

I sighed with a simple nod. "Fine, Juvia will find someone." But who? My mistake was that I didn't bother getting to know many people because I was so hung up on Gray.

I took in a deep breath. When I turned back around, Lucy was in front of me and I almost stumbled backwards. I gave her a subtly annoyed look as though I didn't have time for her. I know that everyone liked her, but I wasn't just 'everyone'. She annoyed me to the core with her overflowing happiness and her good looks. She also wasn't stupid either. She was smart, beautiful and likeable. She was my exact opposite.

"I have a friend that would be able to dance with you! I mean, it may have been a while since he danced, but he's extremely talented!" My spirits were lifted completely as I thanked her. She laughed and said not to worry as she gave me her friend's number before jumping over to Gray and her dance partner, Loke. Seeing her bounce back over to Gray made my dislike for her come back.

I stared at the number in my hand and rolled my eyes. Probably an ex-boyfriend of hers no doubt. So while everyone was rehearsing, I left seeing as I didn't have a partner to dance with and Gray was just sitting at the side waiting for Loke and Lucy to finish up. I got out into the hallway and saw that there was no one at school, only a few people in detention. Then I dialled the number.

The guy answered on the third ring and he sounded annoyed. "Hey! I'm in detention! Just be lucky that there's no teacher in here, otherwise I'll find you and hurt you for getting my phone taken away." He sounded really angry, but almost like he was relieved that I called, as though he was bored out of his mind. Even though I couldn't picture the person talking to me, I took a note of how attractive their voice sounded. It was quite deep, but also very familiar.

He sighed when he realised that I wasn't talking. "Anyway, who is this?"

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat.

"Th-this is Juvia, Lucy-san gave Juvia your number. But who is this? Lucy didn't tell Juvia." The guy on the other end of the line chuckled softly and my heart was fluttering. I scowled at myself. Was I really this easy? How could I be attracted to someone's voice? I knew I had a problem, but I didn't know it was this bad. Just because I was slowly giving up on Gray doesn't mean that I was completely over him, yet I felt like I was cheating on him, EVEN IF WE WEREN'T GOING OUT!

"You're funny Juvia. This is Natsu."

Then the illusion died down. NATSU?! Was Lucy seriously playing a bad prank on me? Why did she think that Natsu could dance, talk less of wanting him to dance with me? Okay, so maybe I've never in my life spoken to him, but I've heard of him through Gajeel and I've heard that he gets in a hell of a lot of fights, more than Gajeel has ever started which is a lot! I think that the difference between the two of them was that Gajeel looked scary. If someone started a fight with Gajeel, it was like planning a death wish.

"But Lucy's got it all wrong. I don't dance. Never have and I never will, so sorry Juvia, you might have to find yourself a new partner." I thought he would hang right up, but I could still hear him softly breathing on the other end of the line. I guess he was waiting for a reply.

It wasn't like I was disappointed in him. From the moment he told me who he was, all my expectations had been thrown into the bin anyway.

"Oh, then Juvia is sorry for disturbing Natsu-san." He laughed again which set off butterflies in my stomach, no matter how much I tried to kill them off with the thought of the guy talking to me was Natsu.

"That's fine. Just tell Luce I said no. Maybe I'll even see you around." Then the line went dead. He said he'll 'see you around.' I don't know why that made me feel like squealing, but I wanted to. Then I thought of Gray and his Aunt and I became depressed once again. No one could ever replace Gray! I'll make sure he loves me!

I didn't even believe in myself anymore.

~x~

"He said no?! He was supposed to say YES! Ugh, what is wrong with that boy?"

I shrugged. Was I supposed to know that? Lucy looked really angry. Then her face softened. "I guess it was expected. I shouldn't have expected him to say yes." Something happened? Judging by the look on her face, there was more to Natsu than what meets the eye, but I knew more than well enough that I wasn't going to be told. I'd never spoken to him face to face for crying out loud!

"I'm sorry Juvia, I've let you down." I smiled, shaking my head. It wasn't really her fault. I'm surprised that she was even talking to me considering my obvious dislike for her.,

"It's fine, Juvia will find a partner herself." She smiled, obviously thinking that I liked her before I turned on my heels and walked out of the hall again, only this time I was going home. I rolled my eyes when I thought of Lucy. She could get any guy she wanted, yet why did it have to be my guy?!

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I got round a corner and almost flew into someone, only to have that person sidestep out of the way. I stumbled a little bit before catching myself. "Woah, sorry there, didn't see you until the last minute." My eyes widened as I straightened up. That voice was awfully familiar. I didn't really want to turn around in case I was wrong, but he called out my name which made me stiffen.

"Yo, Juvia? You okay?"

I turned on my heel and gasped softly. I met a guy with onyx black eyes, soft pink hair that although it was messy, it really suited him. He looked to be about the same height as Gray, but with the lack of his school blazer, I could tell he was probably just as ripped too. It took everything in my power not to let my jaw drop.

"Natsu?"

He nodded with a big grin on his face. "That's me."

He seemed to eye me up and down and I suddenly felt self conscious, wanting to bury myself into the wall. I wasn't really known for my looks, most probably because I didn't have any. That was reserved for Lucy, Jenny and even Erza. There were many other beautiful girls in the school and I was waiting for the look of disgust to wash over Nastu's face.

"Wow, a beautiful voice for a beautiful girl, right?"

I blinked at him before my face was on fire. I was so not expecting a compliment, talk less of being called beautiful! I had never received a compliment like that before, it was always along the lines of how smart I was. I wanted to melt into a puddle right now.

"E-er, why um-er, thank you..." He laughed again.

"I'm guessing you're not used to compliments?" I nodded, suddenly feeling shy. He grinned before we started walking out of the school together. Then it was like his happy go lucky exterior was lost and he sighed while running his hand through his hair. I looked over at him wondering what had just gone wrong in the last 30 seconds.

"Look, I know that you care a lot about dance and I'm probably the best candidate for your dance partner, but I just can't."

I nodded, sighing as well. Clearly, Natsu had been in the dance class before. Maybe before I had joined the school. There was no way Lucy would recommend him to be my partner if he has no experience in dancing. Even now, he was admitting that he's probably the best candidate to dance with me.

"Is it stage fright?"

He blinked before shaking his head.

"Nah, not stage fright. Just bad memories. Really bad memories."

I flinched as I had probably brought back those bad memories.

"Oh, Juvia is sorry. She didn't mean to..." He laughed.

"You? You didn't do anything. It's been over two years...People say I should get over it and hey, I might just have to! I might go home and sleep on the thought a bit more. I'm gonna guess that this is for the back to school dance showcase?"

I nodded my head and he looked like he was thinking about it deeply.

"Okay. Like I said, I'll sleep on the idea of it a bit more MAYBE I'll change my mind and be your partner."

I squealed in happiness at him thinking of changing his mind. If he did, he would have probably the nicest thing anyone at the school would have ever done for me. I took dance very seriously. I want to do it for college too.

"Thanks Natsu, you're the best! Well Juvia has to get home now!" I waved at him while heading back to my house.

I got home to see Gajeel talking with Levy in the front room. I smiled at the pair of them "Hi Levy-chan!"

Gajeel and I both lived together as siblings, seeing as we didn't have parents of our own and Levy was his girlfriend. Levy waved at me and I threw my bag lazily on the opposite couch. Levy was the only friend I had in that school. I hung out with the pair of them on many occasions, but I always felt like the third wheel.

"You're home early. Did Gray ditch you?" Gajeel started laughing at his own joke and Levy slugged him in the shoulder. I just glared at him harshly.

"No, he said that his Aunt died and that he won't be able to be at the showcase." Levy gasped and Gajeel just grunted.

"Ju-chan! You were so waiting for that dance! You practised so much for it and you were going to ask him out!" Levy left Gajeel to come and hug me and I smiled at her simply. My heart did hurt a bit, but I knew that this was probably for the best. Gray didn't like me and it was time for me to understand that.

"It's fine Levy-chan. Juvia has decided to get over Gray-sama and she will just have to find herself a new partner."

Levy sighed as though she was relieved about something. I looked at her weirdly and Gajeel spoke for her. They clearly felt the same way.

"Shrimp is just happy that you're no longer going to be hung up on that bastard. So am I. If he ever did give you the time of day, you'll end up heartbroken."

Levy looked like she was ashamed to admit it, but I just hugged her again. "Thank you for being such a good friend to Juvia. Although Juvia may have never listened, she's glad that you care about her being heartbroken one day."

Before she could reply, my phone went off. I excused myself before going out and up to my room. I saw the caller ID before I answered it.

"Natsu?"

"Juvia...I'm sorry. I can't do it..."

I gasped quietly. There was some sort of pain in his voice that made me want to ask him what was wrong. That was the worst part. Natsu and I weren't friends. We didn't know each other and I wasn't able to ask him what the problem was. I may not have known Natsu, but what I knew of him was that he was loud, boisterous and crazy. His voice never cracked and it didn't sound like he was about to cry.

To think that he was going to become my dance partner despite the memories it brought him. I couldn't be selfish. I didn't want him to feel bad because of me, so I sighed.

"Natsu-san, it's okay. Please don't worry yourself for Juvia." Usually, I would have been worried about my grade, but I couldn't care less right now. There would be many other showcases throughout the year where I would get to dance with a partner. I still had a few solo and group performances, so it's not like it was all bad. I heard Natsu sigh.

"No, it's not fine. I can tell that you really wanted to do this dance and I'm letting you down. I'm really sorry, but I don't think my sorry makes up for it."

I giggled a little bit. "Natsu-san, it's fine. Juvia doesn't want to force Natsu-san to do something that brings him nothing but bad memories. We may not be friends or anything, but Juvia knows how to be a decent human being. Please don't worry about it."

He sighed again and I waited patiently for him to answer.

"Juvia, before you transferred to our school, I had a dance partner called Lisanna. But she died...From then on I haven't danced again. I just couldn't bring myself to do it without her."

My heart was caught in my throat. That sounded so horrible! I even felt like crying into my phone. "Natsu-san shouldn't force himself okay? Juvia will be fine."

We were quite similar, stopping out favourite hobbies because of a death. It also made sense as to why Lucy suggested that he be my partner, but was also sad and understanding about him saying no.

"Thanks Juvia you're the best. Maybe I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Yes, maybe. Bye."

With that, we both hung up and I went on thinking about this Lisanna girl. It must have taken him a lot to tell me about her, but then again, the whole school probably already knew. I sighed deeply and I pushed my phone on the floor and sprawled out on my bed. I guess it wasn't too bad. It would be hard trying to teach him a dance in three days.

I went into school early the next morning to tell Mira-sensei that I wasn't able to find a partner, when I heard some music coming from the studio. It sounded like salsa music...No! That was tango! But no one was doing the tango in the dance production because it was an intense dance, so who the hell is that? I walked through to the dance hall and opened the door to see...

"Natsu-san?" He couldn't hear me. He looked like he was locked up in his own little world. Eventually he saw me in the mirrors and stopped dancing sharply. He turned to me and gulped. I stared at him in awe as he tried to laugh it off.

"Oh, hey Juvia, nice morning isn't it?" He was trying to divert my mind, but I wasn't falling for it. I was so excited watching him. He really was a good dancer! In fact, he had been really breathtaking to watch.

"Natsu-san really IS an amazing dancer, especially at the tango! Juvia can't tango to save her life!" His face went dark and I realised what I had just said. "Oh, Juvia is sorry Natsu-san!" Why was I such an idiot? Here I was saying I couldn't save my life yet here he was with a dead friend. Am I really that heartless?

"It's okay. Maybe I can...Show you?" I looked up at him and he looked away, a small blushing settling on his cheeks.

"Is Natsu-san sure? Juvia doesn't want to push Natsu-san into something he doesn't want to do." He nodded his head at me and a new track began playing.

He started walking away from me and I followed the beat. I had seen people tango, but I'd never done it myself. It didn't seem like my sort of dance, but more rather someone like Lucy. She was more open about her body than I was so it was perfect for her. It was hot and sexy and very fast with vigorous movements. Also, the dance was very intimate and sexual looking. That wasn't the dance for me. I like slow things with minimal movement, like the waltz and other dances like that. They just screamed 'me'. I took a deep breath. It was all in the hips right?

I walked in time with the beat towards him with exaggerated movements, hips swaying and arms moving by my side. I remembered a routine that I had seen many times and began to circle him. Then he grabbed my hand, pulled me away and then back into him so that my back was up against his chest but he still held my hand. I blushed at how close we were and his arm slid down to my waist. I had to resist the urge to moan.

Then he had his hand on my thigh and the fire was rekindled on my face as he brought my leg up. I had no idea that he knew I was flexible. I could tell that he had done the tango many times because he knew the moves too. Then he pushed my leg back down and I moved away from him while twisting side to the side.

He smiled at me, but there was something about this smile. It looked sexy... Oh Kami, did I just say that about Natsu? Then the real dance began. He came closer, put his hand on my hip and grabbed my other hand before we started twisting and turning, dipping and raising me up into the air as I twisted over and around his shoulders. I never knew he was this strong! By the time the song ended, my right leg was around his waist, his hands were on my butt and my hands were around his neck as we were both close to each other, our breaths mingling.

"Natsu-san, that was amazing," I panted. He grinned at me yet again and my heart just felt like jumping out of my chest. We were so close...too close...

"Not so bad yourself for someone who has never done the tango." I should have been thinking about Gray, not Natsu. I just couldn't get him out of my head. In Gray's case, he was more or less forced to join dance class as he had lost a bet to someone, but Natsu danced willingly with so much passion! He was like a flame that couldn't be put out.

I just didn't want to let him go because I knew that if I did, there was no way he was ever going to dance with me. At least I could savour this moment. But then I thought of his dead dancing partner and I immediately pulled away. As soon as I did, he gave me a hurt look before masking it.

"Juvia is sorry Natsu-san, Juvia shouldn't have forced you into dancing with her." I turned away from him as I picked up my school bag. I remembered that I still needed to speak with Mira-sensei about the showcase when Natsu's voice stopped me.

"If anything, I forced you into dancing with me. It was...fun. I had forgotten how great it was to dance and for you to know one of the fastest tango routines there is, you made it even better. As for Lisanna... Well I know she wouldn't have wanted her death to cause the death of me dancing. I'll dance with you at the showcase. We can even do this routine if you want."

I turned to face him in surprise as he grinned at me. He must have really enjoyed himself now to overcome his dislike for dance.

"Meet me at the school gates after school. I wanna show you something." He grabbed his bag and the school bell went. I blinked. Beginning of school already?

"I'll see you later, Juvia."

There was something about the way he said my name that just made me blush. "Sure thing Natsu-san." Before he left me in the hall, he turned to me one last time. My breath was caught in my throat. His pink hair was falling in his face at all the right angles. I was glad he wasn't one of Lucy's little love boys.

"You can drop the -san you know. I don't need that sort of respect." Like that, he was gone. I quickly grabbed my bag and headed out of the opposite door and headed to my first class. I felt hot and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of the dance.

So how was that? I've definitely added more words and things flow better now.

Please don't forget, rate or hate, flames or floods!

Lolita-chan