OK Then

Chapter 11

Gray had never done something so stupid, so senseless, so brash, idiotic, insensitive, indescribable, irreconcilable as yell, scream, claim something uncontrollable as a person's faults. Gray cursed himself for it, holding the dark scarf in his hand as his head hung with shame and frustration. God, what an idiot. Juvia didn't do anything wrong, didn't do anything the school wasn't preparing them for, and he went and made her cry.
OK, now that was the ultimate level of fucking up.
And the worst part was that Juvia was trying to protect him, and he insulted her to a degree where a simple "I'm sorry" was like throwing a feather at a wall and expecting it to break open. He claimed she had no friends, he said he wasn't her friend...
What a fucking lunatic!
Gray swallowed, frowning at his stupidity as he slid the scarf into his pant pocket and picked up his and Juvia's stuff. Why didn't he follow her though? Maybe he was just as affected by the cruel words as she was, surprised that he was able to say things like that. Maybe he was scared to try and apologize. Maybe. But Gray knows he didn't mean it. He never would have meant something like that.
Gray sighed, pursing his lips as he read her little card again. Best friend. He was her best friend, and he said something like that. Idiot.
Gray trudged through the snow, past the glimmer of the lamps, past students walking clear of his depressed state. Most heard his fight with Juvia, others just didn't want to come within shouting distance of his low head. Whatever; the bastards can go rot in hell.
Gray went inside Fairy Tail, looking to avoid Lucy and Natsu as they headed out on some "errand" together, fancy winter getups and all. He slipped past the first floor, climbing up the stairs to Juvia's room. He tried the doorknob, unlocking it with surprising ease. He gently placed her bag inside, stupidly hoping that Juvia was both there and still gone, before closing the door and turning to walk off. He stopped halfway to the corner, looking back and setting down his backpack and taking out a piece of scratch paper and jotting down some brief words. He slid the paper underneath her door, standing up again and picking up his bag. He walked down the corridor, exhausted and weighed down by the events of this morning. I mean, so what if it was the middle of the afternoon? Gray needed to take his mind off of everything, sleep and think of a way to apologize tomorrow before the weight on his head crushed him. He passed Levy and Wendy, talking about boys, and Erza slightly blushing as she recalled events of a previous date with Jellal to Lisanna, and Happy sneaking into Natsu's room to hide a box of fish for Carla. Gray stumbled into his room, ignoring the annoyingly romantic scenes as he thudded onto his bed. He looked up at the ceiling, rolling up his sleeves as he prayed to fucking GOD for his eyes to close. But he was still awake, openly re-imagining that scene in his head

You don't even deserve friends, thank God you can't make any!

That's a lie; of course Juvia deserves friends... just not him. Anyone but him. No, reverse that: Gray doesn't deserve to be Juvia's friend. Simple.
But he really, really didn't want it to be that way. He didn't think it could be that way, because Juvia wasn't simple, he wasn't simple. All the events they shared weren't simple.
Gray turned to his window, looking at the stars reflecting on the shining domes and roofs of the school buildings. Her eyes reflect the stars, too.
No, her eyes hold the stars. Held the stars until Gray froze them over and knocked them into an abyss. Well, he had to get them back, right?
Right?
Stupid nighttime thoughts.

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Juvia wasn't in her room the next day, so Gray left her another note. Juvia wasn't in her the day after, so Gray left her another note then, too. Then, well, school started, and Gray woke up earlier than usual to greet Juvia by her room. His hair was messy, his tie was barely done, but it didn't matter anyway: she was already gone. And the worst part was he didn't see her anywhere during passing period and break, not to mention lunch. Levy had always said that Juvia was reading in one of the libraries, but Gray checked every single one and the bluenette was never there. He cursed himself in Chemistry when Juvia didn't even glance at him during Mr. Warrod Sequen's herbal lab, and nearly punched a dude in the face for saying a single cross thing about her. Gray gritted his teeth. Combat! They had combat together, he could talk to her then, when Laxus wasn't looking! Gray finished his notes, taking a beaker of boiled wolfsbane and adding it to dried artemisia as his thoughts ran rampant. Combat, 23 minutes to go.
Combat was sluggish, learning nothing exciting or interesting that inputs fantasies of slaying evil into young teenagers' heads. Laxus got aggravated after a while, mumbling something about Gildarts' work load being dumped onto his shoulders before stopping class and displaying a large row of wristbands in front of the class. "We were going to do this next week," he said, "but since you can't understand the importance of starting small, consider this practice!" Laxus picked up a wristband, clasping the red piece of plastic over his wrist. "This is to neutralize your power to stun. I think we all know why we have to use these from now on..." Laxus pressed a button on the band, shooting at his other hand and revealing to the class that there weren't any marks on his palm. "These bands turn on instantly after touching the skin for twenty seconds, so no cheating. If you get hit, you're out. No extra lives, nothing. Split up into teams of four after getting your wristbands." Laxus stripped off the band throwing it onto the table as he walked away to view the game from afar. "Go."
Gray went to ask Juvia to pair up with him, saddened to see she already picked Kinana, Yukino, and Elfman as her teammates. Gray cursed, swiping at a wristband and turning it on, blindly accepting Cana's request to be part of her team. The match started, each team sending out one of their members in an enclosed arena. Three people went before it was Gray's turn, the boy hating that he couldn't really communicate to Juvia like this; sweaty and in the middle of a battle relay. Gray shot dulled ice fractals(the only thing he was able to use with the damned contraption on) at Ren from Blue Pegasus, moving onto Sherry from Lamia Scale before seeing Juvia across the ground, shooting water slower than usual at Rogue from Sabertooth(due to the wristband). Gray shot at some girl from Orochi's Fin before running closer, hoping to at least squeeze out half an apology before being cut off. Gray ran, getting closer before hearing screaming from behind him. He turned his head, seeing a bright flash of blue something getting closer. He saw Lyon, a shocked look on his face, as the wristband broke, shattering to the ground as the light drew closer. He closed his eyes, seeing a shadow pass in front of him before he heard a collision. Gray opened his eyes, drawing in a soft gasp as he saw Juvia hold up a protective water bubble, encompassing Gray as she took the full hit, frost developing on her stomach. She didn't turn her head after the attack, just released the bubble and tried to catch a decent amount of oxygen. The water washed away the ice, her heavy breathing the only sound in the entire room before Gray had half a mind to go and help her. He reached out a hand to support Juvia's balance, the girl swatting it away and going back to her group. Gray was stunned, his hand stuck in the air as Lyon picked up the wristband's broken pieces and sat down, disqualified as Lisanna took Juvia to the nurse.