Experiencing a new Love (Navia)

Unnerving Presence (Ch 9)

💙Juvia POV💙

This trip is meant to help me get rid of my lingering feelings for Gray. Everyone wants to be in a relationship where the other person truly cares for them, me included. Now I know that was never going to happen with Gray. I must respect his feelings and I'm glad he ended it. It's the best for the both of us, this way we can both be happy. Of course it won't be easy but I'm sure with the help of Natsu, it's possible.
But when Gray suddenly appears out of nowhere, it makes this a lot more difficult.

I honestly didn't know how to react in this situation. I wasn't ready to talk to Gray yet and I'm sure he was feeling awkward just by looking at me.

At this point Lucy started running towards me and I panicked. I dashed to the store I was shopping at cheerfully just moments ago. Hearing Lucy call out to me as I ran made me even more nervous. Luckily I made it to the door and my objective was to find Natsu and get the hell out of here.

"Hey Natsu!! Where are you!" I yelled, desperate to find him and leave.

"Huh? Oh what's up Juvia! I just finished getting what I needed but what's wrong? You seem upset." Natsu appears to be at one of the checkouts.

Seeing him provided me the relief that I needed so I ran up to him in a hurry. "Natsu we need to go now!" I yelled grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exit. "Wait what happened? Why are we in a rush?" He said pulling his hand out of my grasp. "Natsu I promise I will explain later but for now please just follow me!" I again grabbed his hand but as I heard the door open I realized that it was too late. There they were, standing next to each other in front of the door.

Knowing there was no way out of this, I just stood there and stared at the two of them. Then I looked up at Natsu. And I could tell that in that moment he understood exactly why I was acting the way I was. He knew I wasn't ready to see Gray, yet because of Lucy, I am now being forced to interact with him despite not being completely over the rejection.

Moments of silence went by and it was finally broken by the one and only, Lucy. "What's up guys! I haven't seen you guys in a while, how you've been?" Smiling, Lucy looked up at Natsu.

Surprisingly Natsu didn't give the toothy smile he would normally give Lucy after not seeing her for a while. Instead he seemed kinda annoyed? Tense? Even angry?

The look on Natsu was not normal unless he was fighting an enemy, but he's looking at Lucy, someone he cares for deeply. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened between the two. Maybe they got in a fight before we left? And Lucy wanted to apologize to Natsu so she followed us? But that wouldn't explain why Gray is also here...

"What are you doing here Lucy, Gray?" Natsu asked seemingly getting even more angry. I just wanted the two of them to leave. Seeing Gray just reminds me of how pathetic I am... and how my heart's still beats when I see him. But it's not the same, now the feelings are followed by both pain and sadness.

"Oh, well we both were on a job around here and then I saw Juvia sitting by herself!" Lucy's smile still not fading. "Anyways isn't this great! Now we can travel together until you both decide to go back!"

"Thanks for the offer Lucy but I don't think so." Wait what? No way Natsu just said that.

Lucy was stun from the looks of it. She didn't say anything but I could tell from the look in her eye that she didn't expect him to say that. I didn't either honestly. I wonder if they did actually get a huge fight and he just doesn't want to talk to her.

On the other hand Gray didn't look so surprised. His expression hadn't changed since he walked in.

"Why don't we get going Juvia? We still have to find someplace to stay before night!" Natsu's face now carried his usual smile. He grabbed my hand and led us both towards the door.

"Nice seeing you guys but we're going to get going! Tell everyone we said hi!" Natsu smiled sweetly at the both of them as we left. But all I could think is what the hell just happened. I've never seen Natsu act like that and before I could even think I opened my mouth.

"Hey Natsu?" I said with my voice sounding a little shaky "What's up Juvia?" Natsu responded nonchalant. "What happened back there? You seemed tense." Natsu stopped walking and looked at me.

"I could tell you weren't ready to face him yet. What Lucy did was not cool. I'm sorry you had to go through that." Natsu continued walking. But now I was the one that was stuck in place.

"Thank you Natsu. I really appreciate it." I kept my head down, I didn't want to show my tears to him again. He's been so thoughtful and I had no reason to cry.

After a few moments I finally calmed down and started walking again. This time I finally had a smile on my face. This trip isn't going to last forever, might as well make the most of it!

"Now come on Natsu! We have to find a place to stay for the night!"

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