Blood Seeker {Gray Fullbuster x Reader}

Chapter 7

Wednesday, August 19
——————————

"What's he doing here?" Jellal asked, frowning at someone in the distance behind the leafless trees at the side of the graveyard. The trees had died years ago but had never been removed. You found it morbidly appropriate. Jellal's tearstained face hardened.

You turned to find DI Wright standing just far enough away from the congregation for it to be clear that he wasn't part of the funeral. He wore a black suit and tie, so he looked as if he belonged, but he was focused on you and not the hole in the ground that Juvia was about to be lowered into.

A shudder of disgust ripped through your body. Today of all days, he had to show. How dare he come here and make Juvia's funeral about the investigation and not about saying goodbye to someone you loved?

You just wanted the funeral to run smoothly and to be filled with remarks from people who loved her. Wright hanging around made it all about what had happened. Dealing with everything that had happened was hard enough.

"Can't he give us one day?" Lucy asked from behind me. The detective hasn't turned up at Lyon's funeral though, so you didn't know the relevance of him being at just Juvia's.

"He's trying to catch a murderer, Lucy." Gray's voice made you jump. He stepped in front of you and looked back at Wright. "Gotta keep an eye on his favorite suspects."

"What're you doing here?" You asked. Juvia wasn't really anyone to him, so you hadn't expected to see him.

"Paying my respects on my brothers behalf," he replied. "I decided to stay with my mom for a while. She's a mess." You blinked in shock. After the things he'd said about his mom at Lyon's funeral, you figured he'd take off as soon as he could. "I'm trying to help, but I'm not good with emotional women."

"I'm sorry, Gray." You said.

He shrugged. "It's okay."

"Look, after this, we're all going to the basketball court. You want to come?" From the daggers Natsu was shooting you, he didn't want Gray there, but this wasn't about Natsu.

Gray frowned. "I thought the wake was at the social club?"

You nodded. "It is, but we decided to do something else. We hung out there a lot." You raised your eyebrows. "And drank there a lot. It seemed more...fitting."

Gray pulled his lip between his teeth and cocked his head to the side. Finally, he replied and said, "Okay. Thanks."

Your heart gave a flutter when he accepted. Liking Gray was dangerous; you liked him already, so he had the power to hurt you. It seemed a lot like chasing heartache but you couldn't help how he made you feel. One smile from him and you were being reeled in.

Gray lived in a different town, so he didn't know anyone around here besides his mom, and she wasn't in any state to support him properly right now. His parents were both grieving. And as much of a mysterious loner Gray was, he needed someone to be there for him. You had your friends who knew you were innocent, but Gray didn't have that. You couldn't help wanting to be that person—even if you knew better than to jump all in with a stranger you were seriously attracted to.

Your attention turned back Juvia's mom, who was talking about reading Juvia's favorite bedtime story, Little Red Riding Hood. Juvia loved it so much that her mom read it to her every night as a child. You blinked hard. Hot tears burned behind your eyes.

This was Juvia's final goodnight.

You took in a deep, shaky breath, and your hands trembled. With every word spoken, you could feel the woman's pain at losing her child, her only child. "This isn't fair," you whispered and started crying. This shouldn't be happening.