First or Last Kiss?

~4~

"Hey, you look a little pale... You sure you don't wanna lie down again?" Gray asked cautiously.

Lucy shook her head and braided her hair in a long side-braid.
"Lucy.." Gray sighed and sat down on his chair. He'd been so worried about her and here she was, stubbornly trying to tie her shoelaces as she kept muttering about how her burns weren't nice to her.
"Here, let me help you." Gray got off his seat and crouched in front of Lucy's boots.
He heard her sigh in defeat and grinned while he did her laces.
"Thanks, Gray." Lucy got off the bed when the ice mage was finished.
"No worries." Gray lifted a shoulder and eyed the girl up and down, checking if she was really okay. Suddenly he noticed the red stains on the bandages covering her wrists.

Lucy followed his eyes and looked down. Her eyes widened at the sight and she let out a squeal of surprise as Gray took both her wrists. She struggled to pull them back but Gray's grip was firm.
"Lucy." The boy hissed and a soothing feeling spread from Gray's hands towards her wrists, Lucy felt herself go numb under his icy touch and slumped against his chest. (A/n: it's not healing magic, but I usually put ice on burns...so)
She sighed as the throbbing ache from before vanished and felt herself in Gray's arms before he lay her down on the hospital bed.
"You should take more care of yourself, Luce." He whispered and tucked a blonde lock of hair behind the girl's ear.
Lucy felt Gray's fingers caress the side of her face and she sighed content. His fingers traced down her cheek and along her jaw-line towards her chin until he rested his thumb on her bottom lip. The Celestial mage was too fatigued to even notice the warm pressure on her lips before she drifted off to sleep.

Gray pulled back and stared at the sleeping girl. What had he just done? Why? Why did I do that? He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He couldn't think straight when being in her presence. He felt warm when she looked at him, felt a burning ache in his stomach when one of her smiles was directed at him. But he wasn't used to the warmth and it felt strange.
He ran a hand through his raven hair and got up. The ice mage left the infirmary and headed outside, feeling the need to clear his mind somehow.
Flame-brain, he thought and smirked.

*Time skip: A bar in the city of the GMG, regularly visited by Fairy Tail members*

Gray entered the bar and was greeted by a chair flying in his direction. He dodged to the side and glared at the person who threw it.
"Ash-head." He growled.
"Oi Gray, how was Lucy doing?!" Natsu asked as he walked towards Gray, not taking notice of the situation and flashed a toothy grin.
"First: She is fine. Second: YOU DO NOT THROW CHAIRS AT ME YOU IDIOT!" Gray yelled and punched Natsu in the face, sending him flying across the room.
He let out a sigh and headed for the bar, asking for iced water.
"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT ICE-PRINCESS?!" Gray heard Natsu scream as he got up.
Gray shook his head, he wanted to blow off some steam but somehow it seemed that fighting the Dragon Slayer wouldn't do the trick.
"YOU WANNA GO SNOWM –" But Natsu was cut off as an armour-clad elbow connected with his face.
"Ooowww.." The fire mage whined as Happy shrieked, flying to hide behind Charle who tsk-ed dismissively.
"Erza's back" Gray murmured under his breath.
Said mage walked towards Gray and took a seat beside him.
"I want an update on Lucy's state." Erza stated and asked the barman for a drink. Gray shrugged and swirled the contents of his glass.
"Stable, I suppose." He glanced at Erza, seeing that she was clearly not satisfied with that answer. He sighed.
"Healed almost completely, except for Flare's burns." Erza raised an eyebrow and started sipping her beverage.
"You think she'll still be participating tomorrow?" she asked, glass halfway to her lips.
Gray snorted, "Definitely, she's stubborn like that." At that Erza nodded and the conversation ended there.

*POV change*

Lucy slowly opened her eyes to a dark room. She struggled to sit up and felt that her wounds were slightly better. Sighing, she reached for her keys on the nightstand, but froze with her arm still outstretched. She sensed someone in the room. Familiar, was the first thing that came to mind when she noticed blue eyes staring at her from across the room.
Then it hit her.
"Sting?!" Lucy asked incredulous, retracting her arm.
Said Dragon Slayer gave a lopsided grin and walked forwards.
"Hey.." He looked down as Lucy eyed him suspiciously.
"Um.. I wanted to, like.. check if you were okay?" It sounded more like a question. Still, Lucy was kinda glad that he was here.
"Thanks." She smiled at Sting, who looked away, not being able to hold her gaze too long.
"Sting?" Lucy asked, noticing.
The blonde didn't answer and just shook his head, trying to shrug it off. "It's nothing."
"Sting." Lucy asked again, determined to know what was bothering him so much.

Suddenly Sting found himself hovering over the girl. Gazing into those perfect brown eyes.
"I.. I was just..." he sighed. "Concerned." He looked away from the girl who was watching him with wide orbs.
"Aw, Stin-ghh" Lucy wasn't able to finish her sentence because Sting leaned down to seal her lips with his own. He felt the swollenness of her lips under his and it made him angry, the person who did this would definitely pay.
Sting pulled back lightly and looked into Lucy's eyes. What he saw only made him more certain of his revenge, nobody should touch his Celestial mage.
Wait, what? 'My' Celestial mage?
Sting found fear in Lucy's eyes, fear and fury mixed so strong that they would hardly seem visible, but he could see. He could see so clear, all the feelings that were mixed inside Lucy's chest. Fear, anger, sadness, regret.
A low growl escaped Sting's throat and he tried to swallow it back before Lucy noticed, but of course she would anyway.
"Sting?" Lucy whispered and looked up, meeting his eyes. She began tracing her fingers over his face and he shivered under her touch.
"Where'd you get that?" she asked quietly, resting her index finger over a scar above his right eye.

Lucy traced the scar and felt Sting's tense muscles relax.
"Just.. some accident I had when I was younger." He grinned and his hands cupped Lucy's face. He slowly lowered his head and placed an almost too gently kiss on her lips.
Then he was gone and Lucy was left wondering why he'd left all of a sudden when the door to the infirmary opened, revealing Wendy and Porlyusica.
"Lucy-san!" Wendy practically yelled and ran over to the girl.
"How are you feeling, child?" Porlyusica asked as she crossed the room to stand behind Wendy.
"I'm fine, really." Lucy smiled brightly and let Wendy do her healing magic for a last check-up. After the little blue-haired Dragon Slayer was finished she hugged Lucy tightly, not letting go as she spoke.
"I, and everyone else from the guild, was so worried." she broke the embrace and grinned at her friend.
"I know..." Lucy looked down at her hands, it wasn't her intention to make everyone worry about her.
"Uh, Porlyusica, don't you think Lucy-san is stable enough to leave the infirmary?" Lucy looked at the little girl and a smile crept up her face. Porlyusica merely nodded and left the room.
"I brought some clothes you can change into! And then we'll get back to everyone, they're waiting at a bar.. I believe." Wendy cocked her head and frowned.
"Oh well, we'll find them. Do you need help with that?" she said pointing to the bunch of clothes on the nightstand.
Lucy shook her head, "No thanks, I'll be back in a bit." She smiled and got up to change in a different room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soooo guys, that was chapter 4 already! Sorry for any typos, weird sentences. I tried editing a bit after copy&past-ing from Fanfiction.net heheheh ... but it's late and I'm tired and I should work on another chapter, oh my Satan T^T

Good night! ~DevillishReads