Smiles and Tragedies

2)

At first, it really didn't seem like the beginning of the end, or the beginning of anything at all, really.

It's not like he really expected anything to change. I mean, Gray was Gray and Lucy was Lucy, and no amount of feelings or pining would ever change that. They were family, nakama, before anything else, so it was to be expected.

Of course, there was the awkwardness that comes after a realization of that kind, but that was completely natural. For a solid week and two days, Gray avoided her. He was never particularly good about this feeling stuff, and was like Natsu in more ways than he would care to admit - if it couldn't be solved with violence, you weren't using enough of it. But Gray made good use of his four brain cells (as opposed to Natsu's two), and realized that maybe his problem-solving needed an upgrade, seeing as violence would most definitely not fix his current situation.

He wasn't even sure if he was upset at where he was. Being in love was a strange thing, after all, and it didn't really feel like good or bad. His heart still didn't do the flippity floppity that Levy would sometimes talk about, and he didn't get the butterflies or the shyness that seemed to represent infatuation. For the most part, everything was normal, except sometimes she would look at him and smile or blink or breathe and he would just melt, and then his heart would ache and his fingers would feel kind of fuzzy and damn, he had it bad.

(After he went home later that day, he sat on his bed and began to question his intelligence. How did he ever miss all the signs? How could he not realize that he was in love when he reacted like this every time he saw her?)

So in response, he would avoid her and flit around - not because it was a bad sensation, but because it was new and uncomfortable and letting things into his heart left more room for them to leave. Eventually though, he gave up because everyone in the guild was always talking about Lucy (it would surely surprise the celestial mage how much she actually meant to everyone), which would set his heart throbbing and therefore was just as bad as talking to Lucy herself. The only refuge was when he was too annoyed with Natsu or trembling in fear from Erza, so he decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Needless to say, Fairy Tail had more fights than ever before. Between hitting ash-brain and getting hit himself, to punishments doled out by the great Titania, he had a permanent headache and a probably equally as permanent bruise on his left temple. The greatest thing about it though, was that it left no time for his heart to hurt.

That is, until the dreaded rent time came into question.

"NATSU!!!!!!!! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, YOU SON OF A B-"

"Dragon! Son of a dragon!" came the indignant sniff from the ever so proper Carla, as she covered a bewildered Wendy's ears.

Lucy paused her rampage into the guild hall, sending a quick apologetic smile over her shoulder at the small dragon-slayer and her exceed. Gray could feel himself melting all over again (Dude! Get a hold of yourself! You're acting worse than Juvia).

A loud crash near the mission board gave away the position of the ever so stealthy dragon slayer.

"Hey Luce! I found us a perfect jo-" Natsu let his sentence slowly fade as he saw the expression on Lucy's face. She stormed closer, and Gray swore he saw Natsu shiver. He, however, was thoroughly amused, especially when she kicked him in the head and sent him flying into Elfman.

"Natsu, how many times do I have to say you CAN'T JUST BARGE IN WHENEVER YOU LIKE! BAKA!! IDIO-" she paused as the mission paper Natsu was holding before he got kicked fluttered into her hands. "Gate Keys? Two gate keys?" Lucy looked up, bewildered, before launching herself at a still-groaning Natsu and crying happy, if not exaggerated tears.

The rest of the guild just sat in silence and sweat-dropped at the change of mood, before bursting back into its usual rowdiness. With the drama being over, Gray quickly turned back to his drink at the bar before the dreaded heart-hurting had the chance to start. There was another crash behind him, and he fought the urge to turn around - he didn't need to see Lucy and Natsu and all of their "innocently heated sexually-charged fight" or whatever. Distantly, he heard Mira say something like, "I wonder where Wendy is running off to," but he was too focused on the ice cubes that were rapidly multiplying inside his glass.

It turns out that looking the other way did not make him ache any less. He hadn't even stripped yet (and he had been at the guild for a whole 2 and a half hours! That has got to be a new record) because his hand was in an almost permanent position over his heart. Gray couldn't even summon enough energy to be jealous; just as Gray was Gray and Lucy was Lucy, Natsu was Natsu and that was just how they did things. Plus, he was way too in love to be bitter. If Lucy was happy, he was happy, and god it was ridiculous how much Gray was acting like a not-Gray.

Lucy, on the other hand, was staring at the hunched figure of her ice-mage friend with concern. She had long given up on teaching Natsu proper etiquette (that was a battle she'd inevitably pick up another day), and had been looking at him for quite a while. There was an awkwardness around them that she had noticed - and people say I'M dense! Luce is just as dense as I am! Why should I get all the credit when ice brain is literally pining, and she doesn't even reali- that made her hesitant to approach him, but a couple of self pep-talks later, Lucy concluded that she was just being silly. They were friends, right? That means that they were there for each other no matter how bad (or awkward) the situation was.

She stood up, and walked rather stiffly to where Gray was sitting (Just act casual, Lucy. You noticed he was slouching unnaturally, so of course you were going to ask him what's wrong). She tapped him on the shoulder, and was momentarily taken aback when he looked over his shoulder at her. His eyes, which appeared black upon first look, were a very deep, very pretty blue. That wasn't what made her catch her breath though. Those eyes were swimming with a sorrow, a sorrow that pained her and made her want to do whatever she could to fix it at the same time.

Gray, on the other hand, literally felt his heart stop. This was the first physical contact they'd had in nearly two weeks, never mind them being this close. Holy shit, he had it really, really, really bad. God. Was it even possible to be this nervous? He couldn't breathe, let alone hear the doors slam open and close with the entrance of Erza. How was he supposed to do anything at all?

(so, maybe, it did feel like the beginning of the end a little bit).

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Hello everyone! Sorry that this was so late, I was on vacation for a while. I have a lot of ideas for this story, but I want to have your opinion! First and foremost...

- Should this story follow the original storyline's plot (as in, they go to Edolas and than GMG and Tartaros and all that, just with GrayLu) or should it diverge and pursue a different future than Hiro Mashima's?

- Do you want Gray to end up with Lucy or do you want an angsty *depressive* ending (it'll be with angst either way, and Gray will end up with Lucy or stay single but ~pining~)?

- Should Gray be the only one after Lucy, or should there be others just as in love with her (please tell me who you want if you choose that option)?

- Do you want Lucy to be in love with someone else? Should that love be requited? Should there be a *love triangle*?

- Is it okay for me to do an author's note here every week? Or is it better if I only do it when I have an important announcement or whatever?

As always, thank you for reading! Please comment on what option you want, or if you have another idea. I also will have random updates because I'm starting school tomorrow (T_T), be warned - though I will try to update as much as possible. Please continue to enjoy my story (whenever I get around to updating it T.T). Thank you very much!

Also, did you like the little "and god it was ridiculous how much Gray was acting like a not-Gray." ? It was supposed to be a reference to Edolas, if this story continues to follow the original plot line. I also honestly like writing Gray as a lovesick puppy a bit too much, so we'll have to introduce an actual conflict soon.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ♡❤♡