Bear Hug

-A Fairy Tail Fanfiction

Gray was not fond of unnecessary and excessive physical contact. But with her looking like that, he can make an exception—even if he'll look like an idiot.

A/N: I'm still jobless. And I'm so bored I'm going to die if I don't do something…anything. And so, I found myself watching this anime, Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaetemo Omaera ga Warui, in which this fic was inspired from. Actually, the exact episode is episode 11. I totally got teary eyed and it made me think of Gruvia immediately. I hope I did a good job.

This is dedicated to all those who reviewed and followed my previous fics even though they are not that good enough. Also, a special shoutout to TheBlackSwallow, who used my suggestion for the story Unlove You. Thank you for writing that awesome chapter!

Please do leave a review below. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own FT.

Gray Fullbuster was restless.

Okay, scratch that. He was totally uneasy and uncomfortable. For once, he didn't know what to do, which was somewhat a rare occurrence, since most of the time, he's got everything planned ahead of time.

But no, today his cool and flawless demeanor was officially tarnished by, for others, a simple situation one can easily overcome.

A guildmate was looking devastated and close to tears.

It would be easy, actually, if it was only another member of the guild. He can just approach him or her, offer some drinks and talk about random things. Problem solved.

But no, Gray's problem was that it was not just another guildmate.

It was Juvia Lockser, of all people.

Gray wracked his head for possible reasons as to why Juvia looked like that. But knowing the water mage, it was something she couldn't and wouldn't tell others easily.

He frowned. She shouldn't look like that. Fantasia was approaching and all of them were busy preparing costumes and props. And as Juvia told him before, Fantasia was one of the things she was looking forward to.

He snapped out of his reverie when Juvia looked in his direction. Their eyes locked with each other for a moment before she suddenly stood up and walked off, leaving Gray bewildered and bothered at the same time.

His eyes widened. Juvia just ignored him. JUVIA. LOCKSER. JUST. IGNORED. GRAY. FULLBUSTER.

He didn't want to admit it out loud, but her reaction worried him.

Juvia never ignored him. In fact, the moment their eyes met, he expected her to jump on him, cling on his arm and ask him what flowers he would like for their wedding.

He has come to expect her lunging herself on him that when she walked off, he was startled.

He sighed and scratched his head. He may be an Ice Mage but he was not insensitive to others, especially if it was Juvia.

And as much as he wanted to approach her and comfort her, his big, dumb ego and stupid pride (and his erratically beating heart) prevented him from doing so.

He was not fond of showing emotions. No, Gray was never a fan of crying, sobbing or wailing his eyes out just to get it out of his system. And a crying Juvia was the last thing he could handle.

He's not into talking either. It's just like expressing emotions, but only in words. And he can't do that kind of thing. No matter how comfortable he became with Juvia for the past months, walking around town and talking about anything and everything, he can't properly give advice to her. The last time he did, the whole town nearly flooded.

Gray smacked his forehead in frustration. She's devastated, that he could see, and it was eating him inside. He knew that he won't be able to sleep tonight if he didn't do anything.

Glancing around, his eyes landed on the table near him. Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind and he grinned.

Grabbing the object on the table, he looked around to check if someone saw him. When the coast was clear, he ran off.

Juvia sighed for the nth time that day.

She was sitting under a large tree, which was in a secluded area in the guild. No one came, much to her relief. It was the only place she could be alone, even for a moment, without the others asking her what's wrong or what's bothering her.

As she drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, a shadow suddenly loomed over her. Startled, Juvia raised her head to see who the intruder was.

Much to her surprise, it was a bear. No, not the very much alive and true bear, but rather a mascot bear. And it was holding a light blue balloon.

Juvia stood up, fascinated and looked into its eyes. But before she could talk, the bear extended its hand with the balloon. She looked at it for a moment before gripping the string hesitantly and mumbling thanks.

When she started retracting her hand, the balloon firmly in her grasp, the bear suddenly pulled her and enveloped her in an awkward embrace.

Her eyes widened and her body stiffened before she relaxed and returned the embrace. They stayed like that for a while, just taking in the warmth of each other when the bear slowly and (in Juvia's opinion) reluctantly released her.

When the bear stepped back, she smiled gratefully.

It may only be her imagination, but she swore that the bear went rigid and scratched its head before walking off with a little difficulty, stumbling on its feet.

She watched its back disappear in the corner, her smile still in place, when she realized that she didn't even know who that was (if it was even a "who", that is). She was about to go after him, but after remembering that she was holding a balloon, she started tying it on her wrist. She stopped halfway when she noticed a piece of paper tied on the mouth of the balloon. Struggling a bit, she untied it and unfolded the paper, reading the words written on it.

"I'm here with you."

Clutching the paper tightly on her chest, her heart beat faster and the smile on her face grew bigger.

Meanwhile…

"Oi! Where the hell is Gildarts' costume?!" screamed Natsu furiously, "I spent one week making that!"

"Natsu, calm down," said Lucy, "We'll find it in time for the parade, don't worry."

"I wanna see if it fits Gildarts or not! Gildarts!" yelled Natsu, when he noticed the man approaching, "Someone stole your costume!"

Gildarts raised a brow. "What? The one you spent secretly making for me? It has to be so cool for someone to steal it," he said while scratching his chin.

"Of course it's cool!" Natsu retaliated, "It's a bear!"

Gildarts' eyes widened, "A—WHAT?!" he said, horrified.

Natsu grinned widely, "A bear! It's cool and strong, just like you Gildarts!" he exclaimed proudly.

Gildarts face palmed while Natsu kept comparing him to a bear. When Gray passed by, Natsu suddenly perked up and shouted at him.

"Gray! You didn't steal Gildarts' costume did you?! It's a cool bear; it's not suited for someone like you!"

Instead of fighting back, Gray just rolled his eyes, "Why the hell will I steal a dumb costume? I don't even need it," he said in a deadpanned voice, "If you want to find something, use your eyes instead of your mouth, idiot."

"What did you say, you ice freak?!"

"You wanna fight, you blind fire bastard?!"

Before they could maul each other, Lisanna ran towards them, "Natsu, we found it!" she said breathlessly.

"Really?! Let's go, Gildarts! You need to see it for yourself how cool it was!" Natsu cried out, dragging a very reluctant looking Gildarts, with Lucy running behind them.

Gray just stood there, bewildered. He was about to follow when a pair of arms suddenly embraced him from behind.

"Wha—?"

"Thank you."

He froze, but regained his composure quickly. He untangled himself from the arms wrapped around him and looked behind.

Juvia was standing there, smiling from ear to ear, a balloon tied on her wrist. Her expression now was so different from the one she was displaying before.

He could feel his face heat up, "Wha—what for?" he asked.

She stared at him fondly for a while then shook her head, still grinning, "Nothing. Let's go, Gray-sama! Juvia wants to see if Gildarts-san looks good in the costume too!" she exclaimed, a faint blush on her cheeks. She grabbed his hand and dragged him with her, laughing.

Despite suddenly feeling very hot and slightly uncomfortable with the way she held his hand, he didn't let go. He may not be fond of unnecessary and excessive physical contact. But if it means that a smile will stay on her face and her eyes will sparkle with happiness, he will gladly make an exception—even if he has to wear a bear costume again and again.

-owari-

Aaand it became longer than originally planned! I was about to end it at the part when Juvia read the note, but I realized it lacked more feels. So yeah.

Why was Juvia sad? I'm not telling (*evil laugh*).

So what do you think? Did I satisfy your Gruvia feels? Please do leave a review! Thank you for reading!