Notes: First off, this is based on the 8 Ways to Say I Love You post on Tumblr. The credit for the idea goes to R. McKinley. All I really did was change it a lot but lolol.
Happy birthday to Tail and tail :)
…
Eu Te Amo
…
001.
The first time is when he is drunk, and she is angry.
She wakes up and three in the morning, her hair a mess of blue tendrils tangled into a conglomerate of silky hair. Her eyes are foggy and tired and her body aches for more sleep.
Damn phone, ringing at three in the fucking morning. Who even does that?
She picks it up rather forcefully, and before she can even scold the caller, his deep voice beats her to the chase.
"I love you."
His voice is slurred and slow and she wonders if he's drunk. She wonders if he is somewhere out there getting wasted with his pals, wonders if he dialed the wrong number, if his friends were there when he called.
Most of all, she wonders if he meant it.
002.
Her breath is hot against his skin, sending chills across his body.
She feels so good against him, soft curves on his hard ridges, smooth skin on his rough palms. He sighs as his lips glide over hers, hands clamping onto her hips as her body guides them to her bed.
He falls onto his back, his body bouncing slightly. His eyes trace her semi-clothed form, all skin and heat and raw desire.
She crawls onto him so, so slowly, making his heart race, his pulse quicken. He feels a strain in his pants, yet his mind focuses solely on what lies before him.
Her teeth graze over her plump bottom lip, biting down.
He swallows.
When she finally settles on top of him, she hovers. Her thick lashes are in his, her eyes fluttering shut as he closes the distance she has set.
He sighs again.
"I love you."
003.
His hands shake when he hands her the expensive bouquet of lilies he bought for her, and the snowflake shaped necklace he got.
Fortunately, the tremors that rock his body are not all too apparent.
He walks her over to his car, opens the passenger door for her and closes it when she gets in.
When he steps into his car, there is silence. She awkwardly twiddles her fingers, as his own drum the steering wheel.
"So, uh… Um… Thanks for coming along," he says, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.
She smiles at him sweetly, saying, "It's fine, Gray-sama."
His heartbeat accelerates.
/
They arrive with a minute to spare, because the man who he assumes is Lucy's father is speaking, telling everyone to have a good time on his daughter's eighteenth birthday.
He wonders if he knows that his own child probably won't enjoy herself because all the poor girl needs is his attention.
But he sets aside that train of thought, instead opting to entertain his date.
He turns to find her bathed in the silvery light of the venue, accentuating the blueness of her hair, the endless depths of her eyes and the perfection that is Juvia Lockser.
Shit, he really is in love. Now he just has to hope that she knows.
004.
It's dark and cold and the rain relentlessly, mercilessly hammered against the windows, causing a constant rhythm—
Rustle.
"Mmm," a body snuggles up to his, making personal space non-existent. Not that he minds, though. As a matter of fact, he quite enjoys the feel of their bodies so close together.
He, in turn, huddles up closer to his girlfriend, winding his arms tighter around her.
He stares at her through hooded eyes, gaze intently fixed onto her pristine features. The moonlight glides across her closed blue orbs, her cute button nose and her plump lips.
God, he is so lucky to have her.
"Iloveyou," he whispers.
005.
It starts when he wipes his flour-caked finger onto the tip of her nose.
Her eyes widen in sheer surprise, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline. She has never expected Gray to play with food like that.
Her initial shock is thrown out the window when she hears his laugh, so rich and smooth.
She gains her composure and promptly grabs her bag of frosting and puts lots of the substance onto his lips.
It is her turn to laugh. Surprisingly, he laughs along with her.
They create a rich, melodious symphony.
The pair continue to play, and by the end of it all, they are panting, lying on the cold floor of Juvia's apartment.
There is nothing between them but silence and heavy breathing, and he feels as if he can drown in the depths of her eyes.
"I love you."
And then suddenly he is submerged in the water, with no means of escape.
He panics.
"I—in that shirt, I mean."
He starts to get up, and offers his hand. She accepts, though there is a strange look in her eyes.
"We—we should get back to baking— Uh, um…"
He pretends not to feel her gaze on him the rest of the evening.
006.
He consults his friend, a blonde writer, about a problem of his, to which she replies:
"Just tell her."
He leaves his companions humble abode and spends the rest of the day pondering her words.
How? He asks himself. How do I tell her I love her?
He goes back again to his friend's home and is surprised (not really) to see a salmon-haired man in the living area.
The man greets him and he does the same. He asks for Lucy, to which the man replies, "Out."
There is a silence between them, one which Gray spends wondering if the man might know. As much as it would pain his ego to admit it, the man had more expertise in the love department than him.
And so he tells him his problem.
"I'm in love with Juvia; I don't know how to tell her."
He doesn't quite recall his actual words, just the idea of it, because the embarrassment overcame his thoughts.
The man laughs a rough laugh and nearly doubles over.
He begins to lose his patience and questions his decision to ask for assistance.
"Hold—Hold on," he says, laughing still. "Why don't—Why don't you write her a letter?"
/
He crinkles his forehead in frustration and throws away his last piece of paper. He leaves in a hurry, and forgets that the paper has her name on it, with three words—only three—written on it.
I love you.
007.
He begins to worry when she doesn't call like she is supposed to. He is even more worried when Lyon calls.
His voice over the phone is frantic, desperate.
"It's Juvia."
He knows by then that something is wrong.
/
He arrives when she is nearly out of breath, but she all clean and the blood is wiped away from her face.
The room she is in is plain white, with only a small night stand and a few chairs along the walls. She is half-sitting, half-lying down when he comes in.
Her bandages are dressed, but he thinks it makes her look all the more broken.
"Juvia…"
She smiles.
He rushes to her, and cradles her body—bruised, broken—against his chest and tells her exactly just how badly he loves her.
He catches himself and apologizes because you don't just tell your sort of brother's future wife shit like that.
He apologizes and leaves.
008.
He thinks that he has never seen anything more beautiful when she walks down the aisle in her plain white dress, and her mother's pearls.
It is not her pale skin that makes her gorgeous, he thinks, not is it her perfectly done hair or her face.
It is her smile, so radiant and infectious.
When finally, the music stops and she stands in front of him, he smiles at her and leans in closer.
To him, in that moment, there is just him and her in the world. There is not crowd that waits patiently for them say their vows and start their lives together.
There exists only the beautiful girl who has captured his frozen heart.
"I love you."
She smiles at him tenderly, and places a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth. Before she leans away fully, she whispers the words he longs to hear.
"I love you, too."
Notes: yay :))