I Can Hear You

13

A week has passed since Natsu's speech had occurred. I have been staying at Lucy's for a while after that. That is, until Juvia tried to come over a few times to apologize. I wouldn't say anything to her though, which made Juvia cry in the end, bringing in a few rain storms throughout the week. Lucy would scold me for it, and I wouldn't say anything to her either.

In the end, I stayed at Natsu's house. He cleaned it, surprisingly. And because Juvia had a hint that I was at Lucy's, I wouldn't be bothered at Natsu's. I slept on Natsu's couch the night before, while he slept in his room with Happy. I wasn't able to sleep, so I took a late night stroll. I, surprisingly, ran into Gajeel, who apologized to me for what felt like the millionth time that week. And I got mad at him because he left Levy at home alone on her nine month mark. I forgave him as soon as he sprinted back home.

I walked back to Natsu's and was pretty surprised that I couldn't hear his obnoxious snoring. But his bathroom light was on, so I let him be.

I woke up the next morning to a once again quiet home. I stretched my arms out, rubbing my eyes in the process, and made my way to Natsu's bathroom. I knocked on the door, which I soon realized was pointless because his bedroom door was open and he was just laying on the floor in an awkward position.

I rolled my eyes and took a quick shower.

I got out and threw on a new set of clothes, leaving the bathroom to see the rosette standing in front of the door half asleep, his hand in the air showing that he was about to knock. I snorted, and he grumbled and pushed me out of the way, closing the door behind him.

I waited in his living room before he came out fully dressed and wide awake. Stretching his arms over his head, he asked, "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded and we headed out to the guild hall. The walk was quiet but it wasn't awkward. The temperature was getting warmer as spring began to approach. It was getting nicer outside every day.

We reached the guild, and everything was back to normal. Except for the fact that Juvia has kept trying to get me to come home. I would always ignore her, but I couldn't ignore her for much longer.

"I'm gonna get something to eat," Natsu said, walking towards the bar.

I sat down at a table next to Gajeel, who was acting awkward about the night before. Levy was sitting at the table with all the other girls, and they were all laughing about random things. The dragon slayer soon got up to use the bathroom, leaving me all alone. Juvia came rolling over to my side not even a minute later.

"I swear, if you were waiting for him to leave..." I grumbled, but the bluenette seemed to have ignored me.

"Where were you last night, Love? You weren't at Lucy's," she quietly asked. She was trying to avoid eye contact, but I was staring her down at the moment.

"You went to Lucy's last night?" She went all the way to Lucy's to see if I was there or not. Juvia probably asked Lucy where I was if she noticed I wasn't there. And if she doesn't know, then Lucy didn't tell her anything.

I secretly praised the blonde.

"Of course I did! I wanted you to come back home!" The water mage wore a smile as if that would convince me, now looking directly into my eyes. I scooted over in my seat and looked away from her. I honestly did not feel like talking to her. I leaned my head on my hand, facing the direction of the bar and watched as Natsu slammed down on his breakfast. "I slept here."

"No you didn't! Juvia watched you walk in!" Stalker much. But if she saw me walk in, then she saw Natsu walk in. So maybe she had a clue as to where I slept the night before. I rolled my eyes at her tone and ordered something when Mirajane came to our table. Juvia started grabbing onto my arm, begging for me to tell her where I went. I only groaned, soon cheering as Natsu came over to our table with Gajeel, who wore a smile on his face. It immediately brushed off when he sat down.

Juvia stared at Gajeel, then let go of my arm. I had a feeling that some part of their friendship was ruined. But I know that Gajeel couldn't stay mad at Juvia for long.

"I wanna go on a job," Natsu grumbled. No one else said anything, and the rosette didn't stand up to get a job request, which was surprising. Mira soon came back to our table, giving me my food and giving Natsu a wink as she walked away. And soon, Natsu quickly chased after her. Of course he left me with these two. I felt awkward because it looked like the two were reading each other's minds. Juvia would make a face and then Gajeel would make a face. Once, both of them snorted. That's when I gave in and left the table, carrying my food with me and feeling both of their eyes on my back.

I went to sit with Erza, who was staring down at her breakfast like it would disappear if she looked away. She was most likely thinking about something important. So I sat down next to her, placing my plate in front of me. The scarlet looked at me and raised an eyebrow, forgetting about her thoughts.

"Aren't you supposed to be sitting with your wife?" the woman questioned, her voice stern. To be honest, she had the right to talk to me like this. It's like I've been avoiding her for a while.

"Nah, too much tension between her and her Phantom buddy. Today is an Erza day." I noticed a small smile creep up Erza's lips as she looked away. Once she got herself together, she faced me again with the same look she wore when I first sat next to her.

"Are there going to be other Erza days?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It depends on if you want them." In an instant, my head was smashed into her chest as she gave me a hug. And sadly, she was wearing her armor today. "Of course I would want Erza days. We haven't talked in forever!"

I plastered a smile on my face, and she released me. We both ate our breakfast in peace.

Once we finished, the two of us talked about what has been going on lately. Obviously, Erza knew about what was happening with Juvia and I. But this was called an Erza day for a reason. All of my focus was on her.

After a while, Natsu walked out of the kitchen with a smiling Mirajane. And Natsu's face was pale. Erza seemed to have noticed, too, because she walked up to him and placed both hands on his shoulders.

The two talked about something for a few minutes, and then Erza came and sat down next to me again with Natsu sitting on the other side of the table. The scarlet looked back and fourth between the two of us, stacking both of our empty plates on top of one another for Mirajane.

The rosette sat staring at the wooden piece of furniture, his foot tapping along to some rhythm I didn't recognize. Erza then made a whistle noise, and the table moved making Natsu wince in the process. The woman then cleared her throat and Natsu looked in my direction.

"Gray? Can we go to my place please?" The rosette's eyes were huge and glassy. A light dust of pink covered his cheeks when he looked back down at the table.

I nodded and the two of us got up and left the guild hall, leaving two staring S-Class mages behind.