Here we go with day 4. I decided to use an idea I've had for months, ever since writing For Once. By the way, this story can be considered a sequel to that one, but you don't have to necessarily read it in order to understand what's happening here.

Happy reading, everyone!

"Gray, what are you saying?" She took a sharp breath and he internally sighed. Oh, what the hell. This wasn't the time to listen to that stupid little voice that always made him feel like shit. No, he needed to take action because this might be the only time he feels as determined and carefree as he did.

So without saying anything, he placed an unsure hand on her shoulder while the other wrapped around her waist, bringing her closer. She gasped in surprise, but he didn't give her time to dwell on it. Soon he was lifting her face and leaning in.

He prayed that she wouldn't pull away, this would only make this more awkward. Thankfully, she didn't. Instead, her arms wrapped around his neck as she removed the distance between them before she leant in.

"Are you sure?" She whispered, blue eyes staring up at him uncertainly. He found himself nodding.

"Yes." Their lips met in a passionate kiss that put the fireworks that Natsu was probably putting on display at the guild hall to shame. In the back of his mind he could almost see his other self giving a thumbs and a big smile, congratulating him for following his advice.

Gray decided to worry later about the implications of that kiss and the endless possibilities of where it could lead them. Instead, he focused on how warm he felt, being so close to Juvia and how for the first time in years, he wasn't dwelling over his parent's death.

They pulled apart a few moments later and stared at each other in surprise. "I wasn't expecting that." Juvia said after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Me neither." Gray was surprised by the fact that he wasn't panicking. After all, what had just happened was huge. Like, seriously, it may have changed everything between them. Why had he kissed her again?

"Should I go now?" She was looking at him with concern and disappointment too. He knew that he should give her an answer, but it seemed as if his mouth suddenly stopped working. "I'll see you later." After analyzing him for a few moments, Juvia removed her arms from around his neck and turned around.

"Wait!" He grabbed her wrist once again and she stared at him, hopeful.

Minutes passed and he remained silent, cursing himself for not saying anything,

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything." She reassured him, letting go of his hand as a soft smile came upon her lips.

"What?" He stared at her dumbly.

"We can pretend that this never happened, if that's what you wish. No one needs to know." He realized then that her smile was forced and there was pain clear on her face. He hadn't meant to hurt her, that's the last thing he wanted.

"I'm sorry." Her face changed to surprised.

"What for?" In the back of her mind, Juvia wondered if he was sorry for kissing her. She was sure that he probably regretted it.

"I don't mean to hurt you. I just...don't know what to say." She understood.

"You don't need to say anything." So gentle, so understanding. She truly was an amazing person.

"I don't want to pretend that this never happened." He admitted, thinking back to his conversation with Edolas-Gray and the latter's advice.

"What?" It was her turn to stare at him in surprise.

Gray started to panic. He didn't know what else to say. Well, he knew what he should say: that this meant something, that he cared for her. But he didn't know what the kiss meant or what his feelings for her truly were. Everything was suddenly so confusing and he was lost on what to do.

She remained frozen in place, staring at him as multiple emotions crossed her face. Before he knew what he was doing, he had closed the distance between them and his hands were holding her face.

Heart beating fast, he brought her face closer for another unexpected kiss. She was taken by surprise once again, but eagerly replied, hands settling on his dark hair while they kissed like there was no tomorrow.

So much passion, so much desperation. Gray didn't know how it was possible for one simple kiss to bring out so many memories and emotions, but it did. Surprise. Panic. Fear. Happiness. He felt happy like he hadn't in a long time.

Juvia was the first to pull away and much too soon, in his opinion. Her hands settled on his shoulder while she tried to catch his breath and his own dropped to her waist as he held onto her.

They stared at each other breathlessly as a few silent moments passed.

"I love you." The words left her lips before she could stop herself.

"I know." Gray replied, trying to catch his breath. She didn't need to say it; he had long since realized the extent of her feelings for him. "I want to say that I love you too, but I don't know."

"It's okay." She brought a soft hand to graze his cheek while blue eyes stared at him lovingly. "I know how hard this must be for you, after losing so many people."

"You understand." He realized and she nodded.

"You're afraid of losing the ones you love, so you never allow anyone to get too close." It had been clear for a while now, but Juvia had been unsure whether she fell on that category.

"I'm sorry." He apologized once again. Her hands dropped from his shoulders as she stepped away.

"It's alright. We can forget about what happened tonight and just go back to being friends." She knew it was the best option. He was clearly not in love with her and the last thing she wanted was to ruin their friendship.

It hurt being so close to him while knowing it would never become anything more than that, but she could take it. As long as she was allowed to be by his side, she'd be happy.

"No." Gray shook his head. He didn't want to forget it or pretend like it never happened. He didn't know exactly what he wanted, but one thing was clear: he didn't want to lose her.

"Look, I can't promise you that things will change in the way you want them. I can't promise that I'll let you get close or that I'll ever reply to your feelings." He paused before making a proposition he hoped wouldn't lead to heartbreak. "But I can promise that I'll try." Her eyes widened.

"What?" He took both her hands in his and squeezed them.

"You deserve to at least have a chance, so I'm willing to try a relationship, see where it goes." It wasn't much, but for her, it was enough.

"Thank you." Juvia smiled before looking at him determinedly. "I promise that I'll try my best to make you happy."

"You already do." He replied with the truth. Even if he hadn't realized it before, his life had improved a lot since Juvia became a part of it.

"I love you." She couldn't help herself once again. Gray didn't reply, instead bringing her closer for one more kiss.

She didn't mind, kissing him was more wonderful than she had imagined and through his kisses he let her know that she wasn't the only one invested in this relationship.

3 weeks passed and their happiness only grew. Gray took his promise seriously and took her on many dates, some to nice restaurants and others to the park, where they had picnics. To anyone watching, it would seem like nothing had changed between them, for they had already grown closer before the Christmas Party.

However, no one was aware that, when they were alone, they took the opportunity to kiss and touch one another. No one knew about the make-out sessions on his couch or the time they almost slept together during a mission.

They held back, though, because it was too soon. Before taking the next step, the couple wished to get to know each other better first and work on the relationship. And they did; during those dates they learned many new things about each other.

Gray couldn't deny that he was enjoying himself. It was strangely amazing having someone he could confide in about his deepest secrets without fear of being judged. For once in many years, he no longer worried about the consequences and simply let himself be happy.

As much as they wanted to share their happiness with their friends, the couple decided to keep it a secret, choosing to wait until they were sure of what this meant before telling anyone. So while they were in the guild, they pretended to be nothing more than friends and it seemed to work pretty well. No one seemed to have suspected that they were in fact together. Or at least, that's what they thought.

Unknown to either of them, someone had witnessed their first kiss that night and that someone had been following them around and documenting many intimate moments they surely didn't wish to share with anyone.

Exactly three weeks after Gray and Juvia began their new relationship, their secret was exposed for the whole world.

At first it seemed like any regular morning. Gray woke up, got changed and went to he guild where he'd be meeting Juvia. They had planned on getting some caramade franks for breakfast and they'd invite Lucy and Natsu to avoid suspicion. However, as soon as he arrived, it was clear that something was wrong.

"There he is!" Lucy screamed, pointing at him and glaring. There was a crowd surrounding the table where she, Natsu and Erza usually sat. The pink haired boy sat by her side, a smirk on his face while Erza looked at Gray almost pitifully.

"What's going on?" He immediately asked, taking a few steps into the guild hall. He didn't fail to notice that all eyes were on him.

"You've got some explaining to do." Cana said, smirking at him. While he simply raised a brow, Gajeel came out of no where and stood in front of him, tall and glaring.

"Gajeel!" Levy yelled as she stood by his side.

"I'm going to kill you!" The dragon slayer threatened, a furious look on his face.

"What did I do?" Gray so didn't want to deal with whatever this was.

"What did you do? Are you kidding me?" He had clearly lost it and the ice mage looked towards the others in confusion.

"What's this about?" He asked and Lucy stood up.

"Do you really not know?" She asked and he noticed there was a magazine in her hands.

"Would I ask you if I did?" Gray shot back, raising a brow.

"Damn it, Levy. Let me go!" He ignored Gajeel's complaints.

"Wait, so you mean that you haven't seen it?" Natsu asked, also standing up.

"How could he? It only came out today." Warren reminded him.

"Seriously, what the hell is going on?" The ice mage was beginning to lose his patience.

"I think that you should see this." Lucy walked towards him and handed him the magazine, which turned out to be the newest edition of Sorcerer Weekly.

"No, thanks. I don't read magazines." He was so confused.

"You're on the front cover." His eyes widened.

"What?" This made absolutely no sense. He roughly grabbed the object from his hands and stared at it. There was a picture there, of him and Juvia. Of their kiss during the Christmas party.

"What the hell?" Gray muttered; panic growing. Someone had been spying on them that night?

Beside the picture, in bolden words, it read: Gray Fullbuster & Juvia Lockser: Fairy Tail's own secret affair?

"Shit!" His face paled as he kept staring at the picture. This was not good. It's not as if they had wanted to keep it a secret forever, but that's not how they wanted their friends to find out. The worst part was that now the whole world knew about what happened that night. Their private moment had gone completely public and they didn't even have a say in it.

"There are more pictures inside. It seems like the reporter from Sorcerer Weekly has been following you around for a while." Erza said and Gray's face paled even more. Definitely not good.

"I can't believe you guys hid it from us for so long." Lucy shook her head.

"Why didn't you tell us, Gray?" He ignored them, eyes still glued to the damn picture. Who did this stupid reporter think he was? Did he somehow believe that he had the right to follow people around and take pictures without them knowing? Once he found this guy, he'd be sure to give him a piece of his mind.

"Good morning, everyone." Only her soft voice broke him out of his trance. He looked back at her; she was smiling brightly, unaware of what was going on.

"Good morning, Juvia." Lucy and Erza greeted her cheerfully. Juvia didn't seem to suspect anything was wrong until her eyes met his. As soon as she noticed Gray's pale complexion and frowning face, her face fell.

"Is everything alright, Gray?" She tried not to sound too worried; over the weeks since they got together she had tried to tone it down, knowing it bothered him when she was overly affectionate.

"Wow, no wonder we didn't suspect anything." Natsu said, looking impressed.

"You're certainly good at pretending that nothing's going on between you two." Cana said, smirking.

"What?" Juvia's eyes widened.

"Yeah, about that... They know." Gray scratched the back of his head awkwardly before sighing. She stared at him in disbelief.

"What?" She repeated, confused. The ice mage walked closer to her and showed the magazine cover.

"Impossible." Her pale hands reached for the object and she brought it closer for inspection. "Someone was spying on us?"

"Seems like we have a stalker. But don't worry, as soon as I find that reporter, I'll kick his ass." He reassured her, but her expression didn't change.

"The only one getting his ass kicked here is YOU!" The couple turned around to face the furious Gajeel, now free from Levy's hold.

"Gajeel, why…" He cut the water mage off immediately.

"How dare you do this to Juvia!" The dragon slayer accused, pointing at Gray.

"Do what?" The ice mage was confused. Was he just being the overly protective brother like Juvia had mentioned?

"Just calm down, okay?" The petit bluenette approached him, giving him a firm look.

"I'm not calming down! He took advantage of her and that's not okay!" The guild silenced after that.

"What are you talking about?" Gray asked, confused.

"That's ridiculous. He did not take advantage of me." Juvia found it outraging that he'd ever suggest it.

"So you're saying that you two haven't been sleeping together?" Understanding crossed her face.

"You've never show any signs that you might reply to Juvia's feelings." Lucy explained.

"So you thought that I was just using her to get laid?" Gray stared at them in disbelief.

"I didn't." Erza said. "I know you better than that, Gray. You wouldn't do this to her."

"Of course he wouldn't!" Juvia exclaimed.

"So you're really dating?" Levy asked, a smile upon her face. By her side, Gajeel still eyed the ice mage with suspicion.

"Yeah." It was Gray who replied as he approached his girlfriend and took her hand. She smiled at him and in that moment, as he stared into her bright blue eyes, he was finally sure. "I love her." Her eyes widened for a moment before she relaxed.

"And I love him." They leaned in for a passionate kiss, ignoring Levy and Erza's knowing smiles, Lucy and Natsu's identical surprised looks and Gajeel's unsure one.

Their arms wrapped tightly around each other and they ignored everything as the only thing that mattered finally became clear: they were in love.

What did you think?

Was this as sweet and funny as I hoped?

Did you enjoy seeing everyone's reaction to Gray and Juvia being together?

PS: I noticed some new comments on Demons and I just wanted to let you know that the next chapter will be posted next week. I haven't finished it yet since now I'm working on the prompts for Gruvia Week.

I hope everyone has a nice day!