I am the absolute worst! Sorry for the delay. Enjoy.

Chapter 4: Some Soup for the Soul


Juvia's lips curved into a small frown as she fixed her gaze on her half-written French essay that was filled with nothing but crossed-out scribbles, and random doodles. She had spent the last hour coming up with ideas that were idly hanging over her head, but every time she would reach for one, they would quickly disappear.

And she had no one but Gray Fullbuster to blame.

Earlier that week, both Juvia and Lucy had made the terrible mistake of agreeing to meet up at Lucy's apartment, the morning after Mira's party to work on their essays, not keeping in mind the potential repercussions of a wild party.

Juvia released a small sigh, twirling her pencil with her fingers as her thoughts floated away from her schoolwork, and onto recollections from the night before, that included a certain raven-haired boy. One moment he was yelling at her, and the next, he was pulling her off to the dance floor.

Of course, by then, Gray was already pretty intoxicated, but she couldn't help but think about the way he grabbed her close to him, his chiseled body pressed against hers…

Juvia bit down on her lower lip, her entire body blaze with embarrassment as she tried to shake those thoughts from out of her brain. No one had ever made her feel this way, not even her ex. Was this even normal?

"Conjugating French words are a total nightmare, especially while hung-over. Do you mind checking my essay, Juvia?"

Startled, Juvia dropped her pencil as she looked over at a questioning Lucy, who was trying to hand her, her essay.

"Um, what?"

"I asked if you could check my essay," Lucy repeated, her eyebrows knitting together with concern. "You okay there?" her chocolate-brown eyes glanced over at Juvia's barely written paper.

"Er-Yes! Juvia is so sorry," she replied, straightening her posture and grabbing the sheet of paper that was offered to her. "Juvia wasn't paying attention."

"I see. You've been spacy all morning, is everything okay?"

Juvia shifted her eyes down at Lucy's paper, though, not really paying attention to the words that were written on there.

"It's nothing really," but when Lucy gave her a pointed look, Juvia couldn't help but give in. "Okay, there is something that is bothering Juvia…it's about Gray-sama."

Lucy's forehead creased, leaning closer to Juvia. "Did he say anything weird to you?"

"No, it wasn't anything weird..."

"Oh!" Lucy gasped, clapping her hands with realization. "Was it the dancing and stripping? I'm sorry! I forgot to warn you about that! I swear, Gray normally doesn't behave that way. He just tends to be a bit more loose when he's drunk."

Juvia released a small giggle. "No, no. It wasn't that. Something else happened before all of that…"

She then told Lucy about her earlier encounter with Gray, and how upset he had been with her.

"And Juvia swears she wasn't try to pry!"

Lucy offered her a soft smile, placing a hand over Juvia's arm. "No, I know, believe me," she told her. "I'm very sorry he acted that way with you, and when I see him, I'll make sure he'll hear it from me!"

"No, no! Juvia didn't say all this to get him in trouble. Juvia was just concerned, that's all."

Lucy sighed. "He'll be okay…I think. Gray is just having a hard time coping with the death of his step-mother, whom he was very close too."

"I see, that's what Juvia figured…and Juvia isn't angry at him, or anything," she clarified. "But…does Lucy-san think that he still might be upset with Juvia?"

Lucy crossed her arms over chest with a slight scoff. "I doubt it. Not with the way I saw him dancing with you last night," she gave Juvia a wink, and Juvia could have sworn she felt steam coming out of her ears.

"Which is why Juvia is so confused!"

"Oh, don't worry. Gray is normally a laid-back, kind of guy. You just happen to catch him in a bad time," she gave her a reassuring smile. "Beside…I actually think he might have a thing for you."

Juvia nearly fell out of her chair. "What?!"

"Yeah, remember back at the café? He didn't exactly tell me, but I've known Gray for quite a while to know when someone's caught his attention."

Juvia groaned. "Lucy-san! That's not very convincing…"

"But you don't know Gray like I do."

That fact, someone how annoyed Juvia. "Okay, what's your point?"

"Do you have a thing for Gray?"

If Juvia's face wasn't flushed before, it sure was now.

"Well …Juvia can't deny and say that she isn't attracted to-" her bright-blue eyes, then grew wide with realization. "Why? Does Lucy-san also find Gray-sama attractive?!"

Lucy's face immediately blanched at the suggestion, nearly falling out of her chair from shock.

"What? Hell no! It's nothing like that! Gray is like brother to me," she half-yelled, looking at Juvia as if she were crazy.

Juvia eyed her suspiciously. "Juvia was just making sure…"

"Right…"Lucy then paused, wearing a dubious expression on her face, almost as if she were trying to figure out what words to say.

"I really do like the potential between the both of you…but as your friend, and knowing everything that you've been through, I feel the need to tell you that Gray hasn't been in a serious relationship in almost two years," Lucy confessed. "Sure, he'll go on dates or whatever, but none of them are ever serious."

Juvia chewed on her lower lip, feeling let down by the revelation. "Oh," was all she uttered, before clearing her throat, and idly looking at Lucy's essay, trying not to look so disappointed.

"It's been hard for him to trust anyone since his last ex, Briar," Lucy explained. "She not only cheated on him, but after their break-up, she ended up hooking up with his brother."

Juvia looked up at Lucy so fast, she was surprise she didn't get whipped lashed. "She cheated, and slept with his brother? That's terrible!"

"Yeah, it is," she nodded bitterly. "Which is why his outlook on relationships aren't so great right now."

"Well, Juvia can see why."

Lucy sighed. "Please don't take this the wrong way, Juvia. For all I know, you could be the one that changes his mind!" her lips curved into an encouraging grin.

Juvia gave her a weak smile. She suddenly felt sluggish, her mind fogged up with all this new information.

"Cana-san failed to have mention any of this to Juvia," she muttered with a slight pout.

Lucy tilted her head with a raised brow. "Oh, playing cupid, is she?"

Juvia released a heavy sigh that she had kept in. "Yes," she muttered. "Cana-san asked Juvia to check on Gray-sama since she knew that Juvia was going to stop by Fairy Hills to turn in some paperwork."

"That's right! You told me you were getting an apartment at Fairy Hills, congrats!"

"Don't congratulate Juvia, just yet. She still hasn't moved in."

Lucy emitted a small chuckle. "Well, if you would have told me how stressed out you were, I would have let you crashed here ages ago."

"Natsu-san had just moved in with you. There was no way that Juvia was going to ruin it all by being the third-wheel."

"He wouldn't have cared."

"Oh believe me, if Juvia was going to have to squeeze in between the two of you at night, then yes. Natsu-san, would have cared."

Lucy shrugged both shoulders. "We could have made him take the couch," she grinned.

"Right," Juvia gave her a doubtful look. "I'm sure Natsu-san would have definitely agreed to that."

They both fell into a fit of giggles.

Lucy leaned back on her chair, released a deep breath. "So, back to Gray. I'm not telling you to forget about him or anything. He's a great guy."

"Juvia has a feeling that there's a but."

"But, whether he believes it or not, he's an emotional mess right now, and when he's like that, he tends to stubbornly close up," Lucy told her. "He just needs a little patience, and well if you're interested, stick around."

"Good. I don't need you running off like last time," she gave her a firm look.

Juvia shook her head. "No, I think this time I'll stay." Juvia smiled at her.

And if it was patience that was all Gray needed, then Juvia would definitely stay.


After drinking his way through what felt like an entire bottle of whiskey, Gray woke up the next day, sprawled out on the floor of an apartment he knew wasn't his own.

What the actual fuck… A deep groan ripped through the back of his throat, as he turned over on his back, quickly shielding his dark eyes with the back of his hand, from the sunlight that came creeping through the blinds of the living room windows.

Where the hell was he?

Gray slowly pushed himself off the floor and sat up, wincing at the sharp pain that surged furiously through his skull. For some reason, the left side of his head throbbed more painfully than the rest. He kept his eyes shut as he felt his head spin from his sudden movements, bile threatening to rise from the back of his throat.

Never again, he fumed bitterly as he sucked his breath in, wondering why on Earth he drank so much. He felt like shit.

Gray opened his eyes, blinking several times before taking a moment to inspect the apartment.

Coffee-colored sofas…random tarot cards…empty wine bottles – this was Cana's place, and by the looks of it, it didn't seem like anyone was home.

He let a sigh escape through his nostrils, as he leaned back on the sofa that was right behind him. The only time that Gray would crash at Cana's place would be if he had gotten blacked-out drunk at Fairy Tail the night before, and by the raging headache that he was nursing at the moment, it seemed to have been the case.

His face screwed up into a frown as he tried to recollect his memories form the night before. He definitely remembered Cana's obnoxious pestering…his small talk with Mira…and then…

Juvia.

Unsettling guilt gnawed the pit of his stomach as flashbacks of him lashing out on the bluenette, plagued his thoughts.

It wasn't Juvia's fault that Cana had put him in a shit mood that evening. He had no right to lash out on the poor girl, especially since he didn't even know her.

Gray sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He became defensive and brash, assuming that Cana had sent Juvia out there to pry on his business, after all it wouldn't be the first time Cana pulled a stunt like this on him.

However, the look in Juvia's eyes after he had yelled at her told him otherwise, only furthering his remorse.

His mouth twisted into a sideways frown. He felt like everyone was suffocating him with pity, coddling him, as if he were to break down any minute. Why couldn't Cana and the rest just let him deal his problems on his own? Why did they feel like he needed to be set up with someone?

He was perfectly satisfied with being alone. Or at least, that's what he had convinced himself. Besides, given on what he's been through, she didn't deserve someone like him.

After his encounter with Juvia, the last thing that he could remember was going back inside, and wallowed down his sorrows with more whiskey. Everything else was just a blur.

With his head still pounding, Gray closed his eyes as he released a deep sigh, placing his hands over his lap. He lost track on how long he stayed there, but after a while, he felt his head jerked upwards when he heard a pair of keys jingling outside the door as it swung right open.

"Oh! Um…Good-afternoon, Gray-sama."

Gray's eyes went wide, quickly recognizing that voice as his gaze fell on a certain bluenette.

He drew his eyebrows together, feeling confused as he saw her greeting him with both hands covering her face.

He gave himself a once-over. That's right. He was half-naked.

Gray quickly scrabbled off the ground, nearly falling in the process, as he reached for his pants and shirt that were laying haphazardly on top of the couch.

"Juvia is so sorry! She should have knocked! But, Cana-san told Juvia it was fine if she just went in…"

Gray's face tightened into a grimace. Of course she did.

"No, – It's fine, Juvia. I should have been dressed already," he said, then paused. "Although, not to be rude, but what are you doing here?"

With both hands still covering her eyes, she then said, "W-well, Juvia had told Cana-san that she was heading to Fairy Hills to turn in some paperwork, and Cana-san asked if I could check up on you." And Gray couldn't help but quirk his lips into a small smirk, finding her embarrassment over him kind of cute.

He tugged his shirt over his head. "You can go ahead, and look."

Juvia brought her hands down from her face, and gave him a shy smile. "Cana-san wanted to make sure that Gray-sama didn't - um… choke on his own vomit."

Gray gave out a snort, making his way over towards her. "How thoughtful."

"Those last words were Cana-san's, not mine," she said with a chuckle, making her way over towards the kitchen. She then pulled out a small container from her tote bag, and places it on top of the kitchen table.

"After last night, Juvia figured that you might have woken up a bit hung-over, so Juvia brought you some soup," she said. "It's chicken broth with veggies. Juvia hopes that's okay."

He felt himself shift uncomfortably as an overwhelming feeling of gratitude washed over his chest. Even after being a huge ass to her, she still manages to go out of her way to be nice to him.

"Juvia…" was all his brain could produce. "You…You didn't have to do that."

The corner of her mouth formed into small smile. "Juvia wanted too," she answered simply. "Now, do you know where Cana-san keeps her bowls?"

She doesn't wait for him to answer her, and instead, walks over to the cupboards, in search for a bowl.

Why was she so nice to him after he basically ran her off last night? Did she just feel sorry for him like everyone else?

"Why?"

Juvia looked over her shoulder, wearing a puzzled expression on her face. "Sorry?" she then turns around to face him. "Does Gray-sama not like veggie soup? Juvia should have-"

"Why go outta your way to bring me soup after I was such an ass to you last night?" he questioned her, his tone coated with disbelief, though not sounding harsh.

She shook her head. "Juvia doesn't understand-"

"I mean, you barely know me," he tried to reason, though at this point, he seemed to be talking to himself, rather than her. "If you're doing this out of pity-"

"I'm not."

Juvia looked up at him with a firm look on her face. She then releases a small sigh, her blue eyes softening.

"Juvia knows and understand the pain of losing a loved one," her blue sapphires sink in with his onyx ones. "We get consumed with different ranges of emotion, some we don't quite understand..."

"Some days you think you're fine, that you're handling it all well. Other days will feel like you're not in sync with reality, and feel like you just want to die. Juvia knows how overwhelming theses feelings can be, how they're not always so easy to process…"

She trails off with a solemn expression etched on her face, her gaze zeroing down into the bowl in her hands.

Gray felt himself swallow a deep lump that had unknowingly formed in his throat. She had perfectly described everything that he felt the last couple of weeks, and he didn't know whether that comforted him or scared the living shit out of him.

Silence consumes them both, though it didn't feel awkward between them.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, watching her brows knitted together, looking confused. "For you to say that, you must speak from experience," he explained.

She shifted her gaze to the side. "Unfortunately," she offered him a faint smile and nothing more.

After a moment, Gray cleared his throat.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night," he apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. "Cana had been giving me shit all night about-" he then stopped himself, feeling a blush linger on his cheeks. "Doesn't matter. The point is, she's a pain."

"It's all forgiven," she waved her free hand dismissively, setting the bowl down on the table. "Besides, Juvia has learned that Cana-san can be quite…persistent, at times."

Gray snorted. "Persistent doesn't even begin to cover it," he told her. "So, we're good now?"

"Yes," Juvia beamed him a wide smile, and he didn't fail to notice the rosy hue on her cheeks. "Juvia would even daresay that we're friends."

He smirked. "I would hope so, seeing as you're already friends with my friends," he pointed out. "That, and we did just have a heart-to-heart."

"Well," she said, her eyes glancing up at the ceiling. "Then as your friend, Juvia should inform you that- well- Gray-sama's zipper is down."

Gray's eyes went wide as he look down, muttering a curse.

"Juvia swears that she didn't mean to, um, look down there."

There she goes again, looking all frazzled, he thought.

"Right," he throws her a wolf-ish grin.

"In Juvia's defense, it's hard not to notice when you're wearing dark-washed jeans with bright pink boxers," she giggled, and he could have sworn he felt knots form in his stomach.

He blamed it on his hang-over.

"They're dark red."

"That's not what Juvia saw."

She then took a couple stops towards him, titling her head to her side, making his breath hitch. "And as your new friend and all, Juvia should also inform you that you have a giant bruise on your temple," she stepped back and turned around, walking over to the fridge. "Cana-san wouldn't mind if we grabbed some ice, would she?"

Gray didn't answer her. What was she doing to make him feel this way?

"No ice, but Juvia found a bag of frozen peas," she then motioned him to sit down, as she gently patted the bag on his left temple.

He winced at the sharp pain. "Did I get this last night?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip, withdrawing her hand as she surveyed his face. "Does Gray-sama not remember what happened last night?"

Gray thought back but couldn't seem to recall anything that could have caused him to have a huge bruise on his head.

"No, after our encounter, I went back and had a few shots. After that, I started to black out," he answered, and the amused look on Juvia' face, started to make him feel a bit uneasy. "What? Did I get in a brawl with Natsu, or something?"

"Er- no, Erza-san punched you."

Gray scoffed, clicking his teeth with his tongue. So that's why his head felt like it was about to explode.

"Shit, must have acted up for her to punch me. What did I do? It's usually Natsu that she's throwing jabs at."

"Umm well, Gray-sama did throw-up on Erza-san's shoes," she look down at the froze pea bag.

Well that explained that tasted of throw-up that was dangling in the back of his throat.

He groaned loudly. "And you were there to see that?"

Her sympathetic smile seemed to have answered his question.

"Oh, God," he rubbed his face with both hands, feeling more than embarrassed. "I'm afraid to ask what else I did."

Juvia gave him the frozen bag, simpering lightly. "Well, you asked Juvia to dance, which we did," she answered bashfully, though Gray could see she was trying to fight it off. "And then-"

"No way, I don't dance."

"You did last night," her bright blue eyes sparkled over at him. And Gray-sama is quite the dancer."

Despite the rise of heat on his face, he tried to remain composed. "You're lying."

"If Juvia isn't mistaken, Cana-san may have recorded some of it."

Gray groaned. "Great. Just what I need. Black-mail from Cana, out of all people," he grumbled miserably. "Look, I know you think that I'm so weirdo who can't handle his liquor, but I don't normally act this way."

A chuckle escaped from her lips. "For someone who seems so…serious, it was a nice surprise to see you act this way. Juvia found it rather endearing."

He offered her a weak smile. "Is there anyway you could forget about last night?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, wearing a smirk. "Not a chance," she told him. "Well as much as Juvia would love to stay and chat, she has to get going. There's some paperwork for Fairy Tail that she still needs to turn in."

That's right, Gray thought back. She was apartment hunting.

"So you're moving into, Fairy Hills? That's pretty cool. Good luck having Cana as a neighbor," he snorted.

Juvia laughed. "Cana-san isn't so bad."

"You underestimate her." He snorted. "We're talking about a girl who has me on video, drunk and half-naked, with vomit all over my face."

"Well, you didn't exactly make it hard on her," she teased. "Anyways, Juvia should really get going."

"Yeah, um. Thanks for the soup," he scratched the back of his head. "Let me know if need help moving, it's the least I can do after being a huge jerk."

She gave him a sideway glance.

"Since you know, Cana had already offered up my services to you anyways."

She chuckled. "That's right. Well here," she pulled out a pen and paper. "Is my number. Text Juvia when you feel all better, and Juvia will give you the details."

She then gave him a smile, making her way to the doorway. "I'll see you around, Gray-sama."

And he couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed from her leaving. "Yeah, see you," he smiled at her.

And Gray couldn't help but noticed that his hang-over was completely gone, and he was left wondering whether had to do with Juvia…


AN: Special thanks to xJuvia3 & Liraz Nightray, and all those who alerted and favorited this story! You guys are the best!

It might have some mistakes, I didn't have time to look it over and I'll be gone out for the weekend. I'll look over this when I come back!

Hope you guys enjoyed the Gruvia bit.

Have a lovely weekend

-Blueberrykisses.