Frozen Over

Chapter 6

They finally reached the destination they were headed for. In front of them sat an old brick building, and the dark made it seem spookier than needed.
Gray climbed out of the car, turning off the car and putting the keys in his pocket as he did. The temporary headlights shined on the building, but Juvia knew they would soon go out, and darkness would take over.
Juvia pulled herself of the car, walking to the front and putting her hands in front of her. Gray opened the trunk, pulled out a case of beer before walking towards Juvia and taking her hand in his own. He led her toward the abandoned building, quite forcefully at that. It was probably just because he wanted to get there so fast, not because he meant to hurt her at all.
A large board was placed against the brick wall. At first, Juvia thought nothing of it and was confused on why Gray was leading her that way instead of toward the entrance. That was, until Gray moved the piece of wood, and Juvia realized that it was the entrance. Under the board was a large hole. It seemed to have been kicked or punched out by someone which wouldn't be hard considering the state the building was in.
Gray motioned for her to go in, and she followed his advice. She ducked under the bricks and stepped into the building. The air immediately became a bit warmer and dustier. Juvia sneezed as Gray came inside the building himself and took her hand again.
She didn't really understand. The two hadn't talked since the car ride, and Gray didn't seem like he was going to talk to her until his goal was complete. Juvia didn't want to say anything to upset him, but she didn't understand what his goal even was.
Gray led her into a room filled with moonlight coming from every little angle. In some places, there were only little cracks in the bricks that let the light shine in. But in other places lay windows that had not yet been broken out. The moonlight gave all the amount of light they needed, and Gray let go of her hand and walked toward the couch in the middle of the room.
"Be careful on some spots on the floor," he warned. "Some of the floor boards break easily."
After his warning, Gray seemed to know everywhere to step. Not once did a floor board creek or break, and the boy remained unscathed.
"Thanks," Juvia sighed. He wasn't actually much help. How was she suppose to know exactly where to step as Gray had? She couldn't. Instead, she rested her body on the door frame and just looked toward Gray with something unknown in her eyes.
Gray was already opening the box of beers and pulling one of the slender cans out. He popped it open and took a long gulp before placing it on the table. He then propped his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his hands, staring at Juvia.
Suddenly, something took over Juvia. She didn't know if it was fright of losing Gray or sadness of seeing him this way, but she immediately stood straight up and ran across the boards. She dove on top of Gray, wrapping her arms around him.
Gray immediately was surprised but held Juvia by the waist as she sat on his lap and hugged him tightly. Small sobs came from the bluenette's mouth making Gray worried.
Juvia sat up and placed her hands on Gray's jawline on each side of his head. She propped up his head to look at him and--with tears falling down her face--screamed, "What did I do?! Why are you acting this way? Where's my old Gray?" She just didn't understand. Why was he so sad, secluded, and grumpy? It had to have been her fault.
But suddenly, Gray took Juvia's face in his hands and pulling her face toward his own. Their lips connected in a sweet, soft touch.
Juvia's eyes widened in surprise, but she soon warmed into the kiss, locked her arms around Gray's neck, and closed her glossy blue eyes. She felt fireworks, and she again knew that Gray was the one. There was no one else in the world who could make her feel butterflies in her chest every time they were together. There was no one else in the world who cared about her as much as Gray did. There was no one else in the world she cared about as much as Gray.
'He's the one. He's the one," Juvia thought, feeling her body fall more into Gray.
Finally, after almost a whole minute or two of kissing, the two pulled away, each gasping for air. Gray looked up at Juvia, her face still in his hands, and whispered, "I'm still here."
Juvia opened her eyes quickly and met Gray's. A small, sad smile came to her mouth at his words. She whispered, "What's wrong?"
Gray sighed. Was he ready to tell her everything? There was almost no one, besides Natsu, Erza, and Lucy, that knew about Gray's past.
"Today is the anniversary of my mom's death," Gray whispered, almost too quiet for Juvia to hear. But she did. She heard what he said and immediately tears fell down her face.
"Gray," Juvia whispered. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
Gray shrugged and shook his head.
"No one does. Not except for Natsu, Erza, and Lucy. And you, now," he said, no emotion really present in his voice. But Juvia knew Gray well enough to know when he was upset or angry.
Juvia rested her head on Gray's shoulder in an attempt to sooth him, somehow. "What was she like?"
Gray's eyes opened wider a little, but a smile also took over his face. He began, "Great. She was always sweet and kind and caring. She never screamed or got angry, and she was so smart. She knew all the names of the plants I brought home and every disease I ever got. That's why it meant so much for me to help her when she got sick." He seemed to trail off like he wasn't ready to say anymore.
"She sounds amazing," Juvia whispered, snuggling closer to him on the couch. Gray wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her's and closing his eyes.
"This place was going to be her new bakery, so after she died, this place when downhill. Nobody wanted to buy it, so my father just sold it to some sorry sucker for big bucks," Gray explained something that was taking over Juvia's mind. "Natsu and I thought this place was really cool, so we started coming here when our parents thought we were on a bike ride or something. Then when Erza came to town we showed her this place. She liked it a lot and declared it our new clubhouse. We came everyday after school and made club rules and other shit." Gray pointed toward a brightly colored piece of wood. There were many pictures of three children and a lot of sloppily drawn rules on the board.
Juvia began to read them off the best she could, squinting to see them better, "Number one, no parents allowed. Number two, no fighting in the clubhouse. Number three, no smoking in the clubhouse. Number four, no drinking Kool-Aid on the couch." Juvia smiled at the childish rules then looked down.
"List of people allowed in the clubhouse," she read. Under those words were 'Erza, Gray, Natsu,' written in a red marker of some sorts. Under that was 'Lucy,' written much more nicely in a pink marker.
"Lucy wrote her name on there after Erza showed her this place. She wanted to be part of the club too, I guess," Gray said with a chuckle. He seemed to look at the board with a yearning expression, wanting to go back to simpler times. Times when he didn't have to be grown up.
Juvia looked at Gray before standing up, walking over to the board and picking it up. She smiled and walked back to the couch. Conveniently, a black marker sat on the table, and she picked it up. She began to scribble someone down then sat the board on the table along with the marker.
"Now I'm part of it too," she said with a smile, looking down at the board where her name was now written under Lucy's.
Gray smiled at it before getting a great idea and quickly standing from the couch. He walked over to the wall and began to gently push each of the bricks until he found a specific one. He pulled the brick out of the slot and pulled out a small box along with it. He set the brick on the ground before walking back towards the couch and putting the box on the table.
"What's this? Another secret for me?" Juvia asked with a small smirk on her face.
Gray chuckled and pulled the top off the box. Inside a handful of folded up papers sat.
"What are these?" Juvia asked, picking one of them up.
"Goals for each year. Every year, Erza and Natsu and I put in a goal for the year," Gray explained. He took the one out of Juvia's hand and unfolded it. "'I will make more friends.' Erza wrote that in fifth grade."
He pulled out another piece of paper and read, "'I will ask out Lucy." Natsu from freshman year."
Juvia laughed and smiled. He had completed that goal that year. She looked at all the notes, and her smile grew bigger.
"Where's your favorite one?" Juvia asked, looking up at Gray. The nostalgia was getting to him as he smiled down at the full box.
"This one," Gray said as he pulled out a paper that looked fairly new. He unfolded the paper and began reading, "'I'll bring my mom back and make my dad happy again.' I wrote that in the fifth grade."
Juvia smiled sadly and sentimentally. She held Gray's hand and brought it up to her lips. She planted a soft, short peck on the top of his hand.
"Can we make one for this year?" she whispered against his skin.
Gray smiled and nodded, grabbing the pad of paper and pen out of the bottom of the box. He handed it first to Juvia.
She took the pad of paper and pen and began fastly writing down her goal for their senior year.
She then folded the paper and set it in the box, handing the paper and pen back to Gray. He thought for a minute before writing something down and folded the paper. He then closed the box and walked to put it back, pushing the brick back in place. He walked back to the couch and leaned back, putting an arm around Juvia.
"What'd you write down?" Gray asked.
"Guess you'll have to wait until graduation, huh?" Juvia whispered, kissing his ear before resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

AUTHORS NOTE: ITS FINALLY OUT. I've had a renewed inspiration from a good friend, so I got into writing for the day and this happened! I hope you enjoyed it and learned new stuff about the characters. Please leave a like and comment leaving suggestions! Love you all! ❤️