Every Reason I Loved Her- FairyTail edition

Chapter 16: Self Care and Friends

Lucy and Juvia already have their faces covered in grainy blue clay and are ready to smear it on Grey and me. Lucy laughs, her bestie playlist going in the background as she scrubs the clay onto my face. "Your skin is going to look so good after this." Lucy dances as she smears, Juvia bumps her hip into Lucy's."I'm sure it will." I let my head fall all the way back, Lucy rotates around for a better angle. "I mean it, your skin is going to be glowing." Lucy's got a giant smile stretched across her face."Is it going to feel like velvet like yours?" I ask her."Her skin does feel like velvet, doesn't it?" Juvia gushes. "Let me feel." Grey leans past Juvia and rubs Lucy's cheek. She stands a little straighter, a bit more proudly. "Awe man..." Grey rubs his hand all over her face "your skin is soft" he laughs and then touches Juvia's face."How come your skin isn't this soft?" Grey asks Juvia. Juvia cocks her brow at him. "Babe..." Grey nervously laughs "I didn't mean you don't have soft skin." "uh hu..." Juvia keeps staring at him. "I just meant... Lucy's skin is really soft." Grey doesn't do himself any favors in these kinds of situations. "You want to keep going?" Juvia asks him."You know what." Grey holds his hands up "I'm going to shut up now and just admire your beauty in silence.""Good answer." Juvia leans past him and rinses her hands in the sink. She pecks him with a kiss "but I'll give you this one, Lucy's skin is amazingly soft." "Thank you." Lucy rinses her hands up "now let's go get the snacks and play the movie.""Yes!" Grey hops up first "movie time." Grey is the first one out, I follow him and Lucy and Juvia link arms and trail out behind us. Lucy gets her favorite set of snack dishes out; various bowls she got from flea markets and thrift stores. She spent a lot of time figuring out the right balance of mismatched dishware. I loved watching her lay out all the pieces, she spent months collecting and finally figuring out the sets and the variations. Matching the colors and the patterns, getting frustrated when she couldn't figure out which ones looked best together, which ones fit. She played her music and she laid on the ground staring at them, leaving them out when she went to work and coming home to get back to figuring it out. She's proud of it as she sets them out on the coffee table, filled with various snacks. Her eyes lingering on the dishes, her hands nudging the dishes into the exact place she wants them in. "There, that's good." Juvia finally pushes Lucy's hands away and nudges her onto the couch. "Now sit." Juvia drops back beside Grey, I plop down beside Lucy and slide my arm around her waist. Juvia nestles into Grey side while Grey wraps his arms around her shoulder's and pulls her against his side. Lucy and Juvia have tears in their eyes by the end, even Grey, shamelessly, sheds a few tears as he holds Juvia. I might have cried too if I was actually watching the movie."What's next?" I ask. "The Vow." Juvia plays the next movie from her google account and everyone settles back. The mask had hardened on our faces long ago but no one is keeping time on it. I watch Lucy's face morph into sadness and fear to happiness and confusion. She's seen this movie a hundred times and she still goes through the same emotion every time she watches it. I really like watching her emotions, they're so expressive. She reminds me of that kids' movie she likes. The emoji movie, she's like that one emoji that has all the expressions. Lucy likes everyone. She hums along to the music of the movie and nestles into my side, I love her here, in my arms, relying on me. she's so strong when it comes to life, she never gets down about things. I never get the chance to just be there for her, not like this. She doesn't need me like I need her. she's this bright ray of sunshine warming up everyone else's day, and brightening up our lives. I pull her against me and kiss the top of her head. she burrows her head into my shoulder as if she could get any closer. Movies pass, hours watched. I hold onto Lucy long after she's fallen asleep, long after the last movie ends but I don't want to move and wake her. Juvia and Grey migrated to the floor at some point, Juvia has her back propped against the couch and Grey's head in her lap as she strokes his hair. Her head leaning against the decorative couch pillow Lucy spent another few months tracking down. "They're so strong." Juvia's voice pierces through the silence, Lucy doesn't react. "Yeah." I trail my fingers up and down her arm the way she loves "they are.""We really lucked out." Juvia yawns, her hands still going back and forth, combing Grey's hair into a puffy mess. "Yeah." I agree "we did." I look down at Lucy, she's everything, she's just everything."I love our weirdos." Juvia peels one eye open to look at me."I love our weirdos too." I lean diagonally back into the corner of the couch. Lucy shifts with me but she's not awake, it's just reflex."I love the neurotic one too." I add closing my eyes."I love you too." Juvia whispers back "awkward one." I can hear the smirk in her voice. I might have argued with her any other night. Tonight, is quiet and peaceful and it's about Lucy. "Goodnight." I say it to all of them but not even Juvia responds, she must be sleeping.================================================================================Dear Me, We got the apartment, it's really nice but its not in the best neighborhood but I don't really care. The view is perfect, it's on the bottom floor and it's at the front so it's almost like a house and the buildings across from us frame the alley and you can see out toward the city and at night the lights look so pretty.

Lucy

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Author's Note

posting MARATHOOOOOOON!!!!

I will be posting a minimum of 4 chapters today and all of those chapters will be within the next hour and if I have more time later I'll post another one or two before bed.

Thanks so much for reading

XOXO