Gray tapped his foot on the floor impatiently. It's been two fucking hours. Where the hell is Levy and why didn't she give me a call? Did she forget? No, she's Levy. It's impossible for her to forget. Did it go wrong? Oh no––oh no. But Levy isn't one to join fights easily, and well, maybe Juvia is another story when the topic concerns him, but– no, fighting is impossible... right?

Still, he stood up, cussed, and wore his shirt (he didn't know why he even bothered, considering he will strip this later on) before slamming his door shut. He prays for the two blue haired girls to be just fine, and not fighting, when he arrives.

Gray knows all too well that boys aren't allowed inside Fairy Hills. He knows, because Natsu tried entering once, and he got beaten up by Erza pretty badly. Gray braced himself for what to come – he'll just plead to Erza that he needs to know what has happened there. He's worried for a certain blue haired mage.

For Levy. Yeah, right––for Levy. He rolled his eyes. As if.

Before he gets inside, another blue haired mage entered his vision, and came out of the door. Gray frowned, "Hey. What're you doing here?"

Aren't guys forbidden to enter Fairy Hills? What the hell is Jellal doing here, then? He eyed Jellal suspiciously. The latter's eyes looked drunk but not with alcohol, his hair is messy, like he just got up from bed, and his lips were swollen and red. His clothes were wrinkled and messily put on.

Gray only had one conclusion with this. "You had sex, man?" and Jellal looked at him in disbelief. "Almost, if not for Lucy walking in our private make ou––"

"Okay, okay. Too much information. I didn't need to know about that." Gray cleared his throat. "How the hell did you even enter here?" he asked.

Yeah, maybe Jellal was Erza's boyfriend, but Erza isn't really what you could call "biased". She is someone with pride and dignity, and wouldn't be unfair to anyone else. She wouldn't let a man, let alone Jellal, enter Fairy Hills just because she is the caretaker and Jellal is her boyfriend. She is justice herself. So... why?

"I just drove her back here, and I kissed her good night, I was about to walk away when she pulled me and we got carried away––"

Gray grunted. "Man, I told you already. Too much information!" he just couldn't bear listening to this kind of Erza. It kind of irked and disgusted him in different ways – and to think that Jellal is more than alright with sharing their private time, that's trouble for Erza. She wouldn't let them see tomorrow if she knows about this.

Jellal just gave him a nod and signalled that he'll be taking his leave, when Gray called him. "Do you know where Ju–Levy's room is?"

Jellal looked confused for a while, but in a blink, his face returned to being blank and expressionless yet again. "I heard from Lucy that Levy went to Juvia's room."

Gray sighed. So he still has to go to Juvia's room. But it's not like you didn't think of going to hers first, before Levy's – Gray wanted to slap himself. "Third floor, second to the right." Jellal waved his hand and walked faster, muttering words Gray deciphered as "Meredy is so gonna kill me" as the blue haired man faded from his vision.

He gulped and entered Fairy Hills, not knowing why his heart was beating faster at every step. I must be scared of getting caught by Erza. You sure it's not anticipation you're feeling, Gray? The voice called at the back of his mind and he wanted to stab himself. No, of course not. I'm just scared of Erza, that's why.

He continued walking, and when he reached the third floor, his heart was drumming so fucking fast that he had to breathe in deeply to calm it down. His hands were cold (unlike his usual coldness, it has a hint of nervousness) and his mind is blanking out. Come on, Gray. You've got this. Fucking knock.

He forcefully put his fisted hand onto Juvia's door and hesitantly knocked. When his hand reached the door, not even a few seconds later, he heard it click and next thing he knew, he's standing in front of the familiar blue haired water mage, meaning the door must have opened. Her eyes were wide and in her hands were an unfinished handknitted sweater.

"G-Gray-sama?" her voice was soft, taken aback, and nervous. Gray fluttered his eyes shut – Jesus, why the fuck am I feeling nervous? It's just Juvia, and there are even no signs of Erza yet. What is happening to me?

"Hey, have you seen Levy?" he tried to play it cool, like the awesome guy he is, and Juvia opened her mouth, only to close it again. "Y-Yes. She was just here a while ago, but..."

With that, Gray's eyes widened. "What happened? You guys okay?" he wanted to ask if they fought but that would be too much. Juvia did not know what to answer. She's most definitely not okay, and Levy isn't too, but from the looks of it, since Gajeel already ran off to find Levy, it's possible that she'd be fine later. Her, though, not quite.

"O-Of course we are, Gray-sama." Gray squinted his eyes at the hesitant answer; something was bothering Juvia, Gray noticed. From the years they've spent together, he already knew about Juvia's mannerisms, and the way she talks whenever she feels uneasy. There's no doubt she knew things about him, too, though.

Ask her if she's okay, Gray. His voice was in his mind, but he shrugged. He's not gonna ask it. "Where did Levy go?"

Of-fucking-course, because he's a damn coward, he couldn't ask Juvia directly if she was dating Gajeel. The reason why is what he doesn't know – or, what he already knows, but doesn't want to believe. From the side of his eyes, he noticed how Juvia's expression changed to a sad one, as if she was disappointed. It changed back to a happy one in just a second, though, like she didn't want Gray to know that she's not feeling okay.

"L-Levy-san ran off. With Gajeel-kun running behind." she answered honestly. With the mention of Gajeel's name, Gray immediately furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. How can she speak Gajeel's name so friendly and lovingly, yet stutter in speaking mine?

"He left you?" his jaw clenched. Juvia was confused, so she did not answer. "Which way did they go?" at this point, he didn't even care that he's still on the doorway, that Juvia doesn't have plans on making him enter her room – which was understandable. Gray just couldn't help but think that maybe the reason why Juvia won't let him, is because pictures of Gajeel are scattered everywhere.

God, he does not want to see that. He rolled his eyes, and when he came back to his thoughts, saw how Juvia's eyes widened. "Why do you care, Gray-sama?"

It was like she mustered every courage she had to say those words. Juvia bit her lip, it stung a bit to know that Gray cared more about Levy than her. Does he like Levy, too? Juvia couldn't even count the number of love rivals she has with Gray, but with Levy added... she doesn't even know now.

"What do you mean why do I care?" Gray repeated her question, wasn't it already obvious? He doesn't want Gajeel to play with her feelings – with their feelings.

"Of course I care a lot. It's Levy we're talking about here." And most importantly, you, but of course he couldn't say that – he could never, now that he was too late, that her "infatuation" had already gone to ashes and she's now obviously in love with Gajeel. Silence was there for a whole minute. Juvia felt the tears coming. Gray saw this and clenched his fists.

Fucking Gajeel, how dare he leave Juvia when she's like this. His eyes trailed downwards and saw Juvia clutching the sweater tightly. Accidentally, he saw how a name was sewed on the bottom part of the sweater, reading it as "Gajeel". Gray was furious.

Juvia wiped her tears and faked a laugh, "Oh, Gray-sama, they went over there!" and spoke out some directions she had recalled from earlier. Gray gave her a slight nod, and after a quick glare at the unfinished sweater, he ran away from her, ready to give Gajeel a piece of his fucking mad ass mind.

Juvia bit her lip and stared at the Gray plushie on her bed. "Seems like up to this day, you still get zero chance, huh, Juvia?" she laughed painfully, thinking about how Gray had possibly fallen in love with Levy, and why it couldn't be her even if she tried so hard.

/

"Oi! Shrimp!"

"What are you doing, Gajeel?" Levy asked in total disbelief. At this point, she didn't even bother hiding her tears. He already saw it, so what's the point?

"Stop running away from me, dammit!" he spoke, obviously frustrated with Levy. He just doesn't understand why she's doing this. It frustrated the hell out of him.

Levy doesn't comply and just continued running, trying her hardest to lose him from her vision. She's small, she should be able to run faster, but how is Gajeel still catching up with her pace? She's almost only a few steps ahead than him.

It was like God had granted her wishes when she stumbled upon two familiar people who'd been close with her ever since she was a kid – Jet and Droy. She hurriedly jumped on Jet's back, the latter looking very alarmed, when Levy just signalled for him to run. Still not understanding the reason, Jet complied and ran as far as he could, holding Levy by her thighs and Levy's hands wrapped tightly on his neck. Droy was left from the spot before, Gajeel running fast and easily caught up with him.

"Oi, Gajeel, what's happen–" Droy was cut off when Gajeel glared at him deadly. "Let the fucking shrimp go! How dare he touch her!" Gajeel snapped, tearing his eyes away from Droy and ran after Levy, blood boiling and fists joined, leaving poor Droy alone, still not knowing what just happened.

"Levy, what's going on?" Jet asked, still running but not that fast now, since they seemed to have lost Gajeel on the run now. Levy sniffed, "just running away from Gajeel."

"You rarely run when he chases you – heck, he rarely chases you. What happened?" Jet rolled his eyes, putting Levy down on the rock, since they're by the lake. Levy bit her lip and wiped her own tears, realizing that Jet was right. Gajeel and Levy always got along together, well, save for their first meeting, but ever since problems have been solved around Fairy Tail... they've been pretty much okay.

Well, at least until now, that she realized Gajeel was dating someone else.

"Is this about Juvia?" Bullseye. Levy couldn't look directly in Jet's eyes, and it was enough for him to know. His sigh was also enough for Levy to know that he knew. He laughed a little, "To be honest, I still couldn't believe that. I just... don't."

"Why? They're both strong. Juvia's beautiful. She's talented. She gets along with Gajeel so well... what's there not to believe?" she spoke as a sad sob escaped her lips yet again. Flashbacks about Gajeel staying in Juvia's room filled Levy's mind, and it just hurt more.

"I got two answers for that, Levy." Jet chuckled, also sitting to the rock next to her. "You, and Gray." he added, making Levy furrow her brows in confusion.

"You and Gray are the very proofs that they can't happen –– at least that's what I think. Juvia is pretty much head over heels for Gray, and I can't say he doesn't feel the same, because, God, Levy. That asshole almost froze the whole guild after Gajeel and Juvia left together. Thankfully, he only broke three wine glasses, which displeased only Cana and Mira."

Levy nodded when scenarios of a pissed off Gray came to her mind. The ice haired mage was clearly very uncomfortable with voicing out his own opinions, it was like he was very determined to keep everything inside, but sometimes, his emotions get the best out of him that he can't control it anymore. His actions were proof of what words couldn't say. That's why Gray's actions say a lot.

But then again, that would perfectly match Juvia and Gajeel, too. Their actions showed how much of a private time they had with each other –– it hinted the intimacy of their relationship; Levy wasn't sure if she could handle any more information other than that. She'd rather get frozen by Gray's anger.

"Are you listening to me, Levy?" Jet spoke, and she was out of her thoughts. She gave him a confused look, and that was enough for Jet to start over again. He cleared his throat, "As I was saying, stop lowering yourself, Levy. You're strong, too. Very beautiful. Also talented. Most of all, you get along with Gajeel so well. You, of all people, should know that..."

"Honestly, I couldn't see any other person fitting for Gajeel rather than you." Jet smiled a little. "I mean, Droy would kill me for saying this, since that guy still hasn't moved on – don't look at me like that, I've moved on from you and is currently dating this girl––ah, I'm getting off topic. As what I was saying, you and Gajeel look good together. So, you should be together." Jet gave her one warm smile before standing up to hug her.

"And if it is really true that they're dating, so what? You're Levy, the beautiful sweet Levy, you can get more than that. Why not Gray, if he's heartbroken too." he laughed. "I'm just kidding, I'm pretty sure they're not dating," Jet patted her back and Levy just tightly returned it. She didn't want to admit, but Jet's presence was one of those few where she gets comfort and warmth from. It was nice.

"Tell me a thing or two about that girl of yours soon." she smiled lovingly at Jet who just winked at her and patted her head. A few seconds later, Jet felt a heavy pressure on his back, and realized he was attacked. By none other than a furious Gajeel, of course. A fuming Gajeel is making his way towards her, eyes dark and lips in a grim line. Hell is coming.

"Whoops, I think I've gotta go now, Levy. Mr. Jealous is here!" he chuckled, massaging his back that was hit by one of the iron dragon slayer's attacks. He made a note to himself to pay him back for that later.

Jet walked near Levy and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, whispering, "You're gonna freaking thank me for this." before completely leaving, grin on his face.

Levy just stood there, taken aback, and face red. Jet hadn't done that to her in a while and she's just completely shocked.

"Can I just fucking wipe that smile off your face?" Gajeel's voice sent her back to reality, and then, in just mere seconds, her smile was changed to a frown. Gajeel took note of that and smiled slightly.

Levy was starting to walk away again, when Gajeel held her by her shoulders to help him face her. Forcefully. Their eyes met, and swear to God, this isn't the time to be blushing, Levy! Gajeel stared at her for a little while, examining his face, and sighed.

"Juvia and I aren't together."

Five words. Levy didn't know that these five words would mean the world to her until now. It was when Gajeel held her hands that she realized she had been shaking, scared that what he had just said was a dream. His hand held hers tightly, and the blush on his face told her a lot more than he could ever say.

"S-Seriously. How dumb can you be for assuming that shitty rain woman and I are in some sort of affair or somethinʼ," he tried to play it cool, but the redness in his face wasn't going away. Levy bit her lip in response, still not knowing what to say to him.

"Don't you even see how she looks at that stripper? It's almost disgusting – no, it's not just "almost" but really disgusting." he emphasized, rolling his eyes while remembering one of Juvia's antics. "But that idiot... she's so important to me. Even if she's like that." he added, now with a hint of seriousness.

Levy's eyes widened in understanding – this tone was the one Juvia used earlier to tell them about her relationship with Gajeel. Levy's heart swelled at the sweetness the two has had with each other. At this point, she doesn't even know whether to feel jealous or happy for them. She just continued to listen.

"Y'know, Levy... that rain woman and I, we've only ever had each other's backs ever since," Gajeel spoke, recalling memories of the past that he promised Juvia not to tell anyone. "When she cries, I get mad and beat the shit out of those who made her cry. When I get beaten, she tends to my wounds, fucking crying yet again. That's when I realized I can't do anything with those cries of hers... especially if it happened because of me."

"The rain was one thing she was always insecure about; and I am the only person who didn't mind that – let's just say, I was. Until stripper and the guild came. We grew up, joined Fairy Tail, still together, but it was mutual agreement to not let anyone know of our relationship together. It wasn't like we were hiding it, though. We just aren't fond of showing it off to everyone, like how the Salamander does with Bunny girl."

"Gajeel, that's so––"

"I'm telling this so it's clear for you. I don't want you replacing me with that fucker Jet." Gajeel blushed, muttering cuss words for Jet, and Levy's eyes widened. Not because he cursed Jet's name, but because he... just referred to himself as hers.

Levy buried his face into her hands, releasing it from Gajeel's hold, and the dragon slayer looked down at her and immediately came by her side. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" Levy cried out, though these cries were a lot happier than before. "Seriously, shrimp, what the hell is wrong with you?" Gajeel asked, back to his original harshness, as Levy took his hands and intertwined it with hers. Gajeel looked at her, confused but did not let go.

"Y-You're mine?" Levy hesitantly asked, face falling into different shades of red.

Gajeel nodded. "Yeah, thought you already knew? I'm yours, right?"

And that's fucking it. Levy McGarden is just about to explode because of these overwhelming feelings consuming her. She felt her heart beat faster when Gajeel moved closer to her, leaning down and pressing a kiss on her forehead. He pressed the kiss down on her for a long time, as if erasing Jet's kiss from before.

"Next time, don't let anyone kiss you like that. I don't let anyone touch what's mine." Gajeel grunted, his breath fanning Levy's ears that immediately turned red.

"What's that look? I'm yours, so it's very much certain that you're mine, too, right?" he grinned, his usual grin that Levy just loves oh-so-much, and the solid script mage giggled. "Yes!" as she jumped on Gajeel so he was carrying her.

Thank you so fucking much, Jet. Levy made a note to bow down before Jet when she sees him next time.

She lowered her face to his, stared into Gajeel's beautiful set of eyes, and is about to kiss him, when a punch stopped them. Levy looked horrified, as she released herself from Gajeel's hold, looking at her "boyfriend" on the ground, and this other person, who was nothing but mad, only in his pants, with clenched fists, and a dark expression.

It was none other than Gray, and he looked scary as hell.

"Aw, what the fuck stripper! What's your fucking problem?" Gajeel spoke, standing up from the ground where he landed after that hard punch. His lips were bleeding from the impact.

Levy was shocked to see the amount of coldness from the ice emitting on Gray's body –– he's unconsciously using magic again. Seriously, what the hell happened to him?

"You motherfucker!" Gray lashed out, sending ice straight to Gajeel's way, which he immediately dodged. Levy frowned and tried to talk, "Gray, what's wrong with you?" and Gray eyed her with eyes she didn't recognize. Scary and a different set of angry eyes met her instead. The comfort he always had in his eyes was gone.

"Get away from Gajeel," Gray hissed. Levy was still frowning, and Gajeel attacked Gray, willing to get himself payback. The ice mage did not let him, of course. "Get away? What? Why?" Levy asked, confused.

"Just get away! He's not good for you!" Gray was annoyed that Levy wouldn't listen to him. He's had enough of one blue haired mage crying for Gajeel – he didn't need one more. Still, Levy didn't show any sign of following him so he neared her, only to be punched by Gajeel on the face.

"Idiot! Don't get near her while your magic's still unstable. Control it first, Fullbastard," Gajeel muttered under his breath, satisfied that he made a cut on Gray's lips. He got his revenge and he's okay now, though he'll probably be dead if Juvia knew. Gray was silenced for a minute, taken aback by how his magic was draining him, and tried to take control over it.

While he does so, Gajeel couldn't help himself. "What's with that, though? Don't tell me you got feelings for Levy, too?"

Levy wanted to slap her "boyfriend" for the nonsense he's spouting, when Gray looked at them, his eyes still scary, but it lessened quite a bit, at least.

"I don't! It's just... make up your fucking mind. Don't play with a girl's feelings!" Gray snapped, recalling the tears he saw in Juvia's eyes from before. He can't just ignore that. Gajeel needs to know his lesson.

"W-What? Come again, stripper? Am I really hearing this correctly? I'm being lectured about girls... by this bastard... who doesn't even know how to treat one?" Gajeel was stuttering due to his laughs. Soon, his laughter filled the entirety of the place, and it was good that not a lot of people were passing by, because that will be so embarrassing.

"And I'm not playing with Levy's feelings. I came here to explain, if that's what you wanna know, popsicle," he said simply, the humor in his eyes still not fading.

Gray still had his lips set into a grim line. "I'm not talking about Levy –– not just Levy. I'm talking about Juvia."

And that, made both Levy and Gajeel's eyes widen. Levy was too shocked she couldn't believe if she heard his words correctly, and Gajeel was far too amused that he started laughing yet again.

"That rain woman? What... that's so... oh my fucking god, Fullbuster, stop making me laugh so much... I can't contain it..." and series of laughter erupted yet again from the iron dragon slayer, that Gray was starting to get irritated.

"What? Do you think laughing at her feelings for you is oka––" Gray was cut off when Gajeel spoke. "Her feelings for me? Are you pretty dumb or just amazingly stupid?" he laughed his ass off.

"I can't handle talking to him seriously when he's that dumb, holy shit that was hilarious." Gajeel turned away from Levy and Gray. "If you think I'm in love with Juvia, then you got it wrong. If you think Juvia's in love with me, then... pfft... sorry not sorry, you're just fucking no doubt, the dumbest guy ever in this planet."

Levy wanted to tell Gajeel to tone down with his words, but she too, was taken aback with how Gray reacted. Did he seriously think that Gajeel was playing with their hearts? Levy can't deny, she also got jealous a lot, but not to that extent. She slightly smiled in understanding when she realized.

It was nice to finally see Gray in love.

"Bye, Gray!" Levy spoke, a faint giggle escaping her lips as she caught up with her favourite dragon slayer. "Don't spoonfeed him with anything, shrimp, and let the stripper figure things out on his own!" Gajeel shouted from afar and Levy just nodded.

"Wha..." Gray trailed off when Levy just sent a wink on his way, running away to get to Gajeel's side fast.

Gray scratched the back of his head, and looked at the water in the lake, as he thought about one special person who made her way inside his broken heart. That no matter how many times he tried to push her away, she still managed to get in. He cracks a smile at the person that runs inside his mind whenever he hears the word "love".

Juvia.