Oops (Gray x OC)

C.10

The next day at Fairy Tail, Happy couldn't keep his adorable little mouth shut.

"So I came in, ready to yell and pout because they left me here all alone! And then I saw that Baz was crying, but she was all good, but then they made stew without me?! I'm almost always there for stew night! They made and ate stew without me. Luckily, there was still some left they hadn't eaten." He smiled.

"Happy, we'll always save food for you." I said and scratched under his chin with a smile.

"Wait, you were crying? Why?" Lucy asked, and I noticed I had our entire group's eyes on me.

Natsu was staring me down, and I took a breath, trying to think of something to say. The only thing I could think up was:

"Jail is not a fun place."

They seemed partly in shock, and partly as if they hadn't heard right.

"I'm sorry, you've been to jail?" Erza asked.

"Yep." I nodded.

"For what?" Lucy asked.

"Misdemeanour theft by deception of a cop. I got a year and a half, but they let me out after ten months for good behaviour." I shrugged. "The time in prison though... whoo." I chuckled to myself.

"Wait, you did what?" Gray asked.

"I stole from a cop using my magic." I explained in non-legal terms.

"How old were you?" Erza asked.

"Uh, sixteen to seventeen. Wasn't too long ago, actually." I smirked. "I'm only eighteen."

"So what did you do after you were released?" Lucy asked.

"Went back to what I was doing before. I got my old job back at numerous bars and sang nightly. That's just what I did to survive." I said and saw Natsu smile out of the corner of my eye.

"Did you have a place to stay?" Erza asked. "Like a house or an apartment?"

That's when I froze up and started stuttering, fucking everything up. "Uh, I was staying with my bartender friend."

"Really? So, your bartender friend was cool with you just up and leaving with Natsu? Why?" Gray asked.

I looked over at Natsu, who also didn't have an answer. I took a deep breath and turned back to Gray.

"Why are you being so nosy? It's not as if it's any of your business." I said.

"Well, you keep lying to us, so until you stop that, I won't stop asking questions." He shrugged.

"When did I lie?" I asked.

"Oh, you mean other than just now?" He challenged.

"Gray, stop." Lucy said softly, but he ignored her.

"You know, I don't have to, nor do I want to, deal with your bullshit right now." I said and got up, starting to leave.

"And there you go again, leaving so you don't have to answer questions." He sighed.

"Gray, shut up!" Natsu said and smacked his head, then got up to go over to me. "Ignore him. He's drunk, or something."

"No, he's sober. And this is exactly what I told you would happen, Natsu! People don't see..." I gave the table a wary glance. "People like me as actual people." I hissed.

"They don't know-" he started.

"They don't have to! I made my choices, and there is no getting away from it. It's a fucking paradox." I groaned, then pushed my hair back.

"I'm going home." I said, turning to walk out.

"Do you want me to come with?" Natsu asked.

I laughed softly. "Not that home, Natsu. I'm going back to the bar. To late nights with creepy people and living off tips. Staying in hotels one night a week. Hell, I'll probably go back to stealing off drunk bastards who won't notice until the next week." I chuckled to myself.

He grabbed my arm. "I'm not letting you do that."

"Let go, Natsu." I sighed, yanking my arm away and actually managing to get out the door.

"Baz, no. I promised I'd help you out, and I still haven't fulfilled it." He said, and I held his arms.

"I appreciate all you've done for me, Natsu. You're a truly good person, and you did your absolute best. But this isn't the life for me. I'm much better off the way I was." I smiled.

"The way you were was close to killing you. Ignore Gray. He's just stupid and doesn't know what he's saying." He said and I laughed again.

"You think I haven't dealt with this before? Believe me, Natsu, I've run away from towns before where people started saying the exact same things Gray did. It might just be Gray now, but how much longer before other people start agreeing with him?" I asked.

"I'm not letting you leave." He shook his head.

"Well, I'm leaving, so..."

"Well, then I'll kidnap you. Baz, it's only Gray. Lucy, Erza, and Happy still want you here. Tons of people do. Besides, I know you don't really want to leave." He said and I frowned.

"Yeah? How's that?" I asked.

"You haven't used your magic to get me to walk away yet." He smirked and I sighed, nodding.

"You're right. I'm a staller." I said and we laughed a bit.

"That's my Baz." He said and mused my hair.

"I want ice cream. You want ice cream?" I asked as we walked off.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh, I was thinking we pick up some ice cream from town and just have the rest of the day off." I shrugged, and he grinned and pulled me off to the markets.