Hey everyone! This is Hiro Mashima. LOL jkayy. I wish D; Then I could make Lucy end up with people, hahah. Well, I don't own anything; it all belongs to Hiro Mashima.

I do realize my story is long. And it can be a little... weeeeird. But oh well, I was kind of in a rush. It's not THAT bad for a rushed story, right? RIGHT? xD Well, enjoy my story! Please leave comments and reviews.

Lucy looked at the clock. It was only 12:00 PM, and already she was bored to death. Although her guild, Fairy Tail, was always full of excitement, it seemed quiet these days. And the reason was because Natsu, Gray, and Erza had left town to complete a mission. And Lucy, of course, had been left behind. AGAIN.

Honestly, every time Fairy Tail's strongest team went out on a mission, Lucy was always left behind. "We don't want you to get hurt," Natsu would say with a grin. Geez! Easy for him to say; he isn't the one being left behind. And plus, the way he said it to her.. it made her feel like she was useless.

".. But I am useless.." thought Lucy. "All I've ever done is get in the way, and I end up creating a bigger mess in the end."

Her thoughts suddenly came to a stop as Mirajane walked over with two glasses of beer. "Here, Lucy," said Mira. "You look like you're upset about something, so drink! It'll probably help you out a bit."

"Thanks, Mira," Lucy said gratefully, reaching for her cup.

"No problem. If you want to talk about it.. I'm here."

"It's nothing much. Just, I feel like I'm useless. Erza always handles situations on her own, Natsu never needs me... and Gray..."

Mira frowned. "Gray? What about him?"

"Well.." said Lucy, suddenly sounding grim. "He doesn't even notice me! He never says hi to me, even though we're on the same team. I mean, what's with that? A simple 'Hi Lucy! How have you been!' would suffice. Ah, sorry Mira. I'm going off track. Anyway, I just feel like no one needs me." Lucy downed the rest of her drink in one go.

"Can I have another drink, Mira?"

"Sure, Lucy," Mira smiled. She brought over another drink. "Did you hear? Natsu, Erza, and Gray are coming back today. I heard they ruined an entire town trying to catch a rogue mage! Also, they were rewarded with over 500,000 jewels! Imagine that! 500,000 jewels! Lucy? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Lucy whispered, her face turning pale. "Can you get me another drink?"

Mira brought over another… and another… and another… until finally, Lucy was so drunk she could barely stand.

"I'll be – hic- going now, kayyy Mira? –hic- " Lucy slurred. She started walking out the door, when suddenly, her teammates, Natsu and Gray, appeared at the door.

"Yo, Lucy!" Natsu screamed.

"….YOU!" shouted Lucy. She stumbled around, glaring at Natsu.

"Lucy, are you alright?" Gray suddenly asked.

Lucy did not answer.

"Lucy…?" Gray asked again, looking into Lucy's eyes. "Are you drunk?"

"Nooooope," Lucy hiccupped. "Not at all!"

"Geez, look at her talk," Natsu retorted. "Gray, take her home. I have to talk to Lisanna. If you need me. Well, if you need anything, you're on your own! Lucy can't be that hard to take care of, right? Just like any other girl. Good luck!" With that, Natsu ran into the guild, laughing like a maniac.

"Lisanna?" thought Lucy. "I heard from Mira that she used to love Natsu… and he used to love her as well. Ugh, why does everyone have a significant other? Everyone except me? Erza has Jellal, Natsu has Lisanna, Alzack has Bisca, Levy has Gajeel, Mira has Fried, and so on! And Gray.. Who does Gray have? Should I ask him?"

"Gray," Lucy began, but he didn't hear.

"Do you want me to take you to your house, Lucy?" Gray asked.

"Shuuuure."

"Okay, let's go." He started walking, and Lucy attempted to follow, but she was so drunk that she could not walk without stumbling.

"What am I gonna do with you, Lucy?" Gray chuckled.

Lucy suddenly found herself in Gray's arms. He was holding her, princess style! Instantly, Lucy's face began to turn red. Never before had someone held her like this! In addition… Gray wasn't wearing a shirt. As she was pondering how to break the awkward silence between them, Gray began speedwalking to her house.

Soon, they arrived. Gray set her down for a moment, lifted a potted plant on the ground, and whipped out the key to her house. He unlocked the door, and carried her inside.

"Where do you want to be set down?"

"Beeddd, Gray. Bedddd!"

Carefully, Gray made his way to Lucy's bed. He lifted the covers and set her down. He was about to turn away when a small, soft hand grabbed his.

"Stay," Lucy demanded. "Stay with me."

Nervously, Gray sat down at the edge of her bed. "Yes, Lucy?"

"How did you know my spare key was under the plant?"

Gray began to turn pink. "Uhhh," he stammered. "Uhhh."

Lucy began to giggle loudly. "Whatever! What do you wanna do nowwww Gray?"

"Lucy, you're drunk. I think it's best to leave you alone until you're sober."

Lucy's face suddenly scrunched up, and she frowned at Gray. "Noo Gray. STAY!" She flung her blankets off, sat up, and yanked at Gray's arm. She pulled a little too hard, though, and he was not expecting that. He fell on top of her, his face inches away from hers.

"S-s-s-sorry," he squeaked. He immediately sat up. Lucy began whispering under her breath.

"What are you saying, Lucy?" Gray asked, getting closer to hear what she was saying.

Lucy suddenly stopped whispering. Her face grew blood red. "G-Gray!" She gasped

"What?"

"Your.. Your hands!"

Gray looked down. His left hand was squeezing her breast. "S-SORRY LUCY!" he stammered, turning red as well. When she was whispering, he had gotten closer, instinctively reaching closer with his hands for balance. Unfortunately, his hands had grabbed the only thing they were forbidden to grab.

Hurriedly, he lifted his hands and jumped off the bed. "Sorry," he said again, still red. "Umm, I'm gonna go now. Bye Lucy! Sleep well!"

With that, he ran out the door.

The next day, Lucy entered the guild, but something was wrong. Her face, which was usually filled with happiness, was pale.

"Hey Lucy. Are you fine? You drank a lot yesterday," stated Mira, walking up to Lucy.

"Uhh. I'M FINE, MIRA! ABSOLUTELY FINE!" stammered Lucy, turning red.

"Lucy? You're blushing." Mira said, dumbstruck. Never before had she seen Lucy's face turn crimson. Sure, once in a while, her face would turn slightly pink, but this time, her face was actually red, like a rose.

"I am not, Mira!" Lucy shrieked, turning around. She grabbed her face with her hands. Sure enough, her face felt hot. "Oh no," thought Lucy. "I can't even keep a straight face! Whenever I think about yesterday…" The Stellar Mage suddenly fell to her knees, her head in her hands. She moaned loudly and screamed, "AHHH! Why do I go crazy whenever I think about him! It's just Gray! Get a hold of yourself, Lucy!"

".. Lu-chan?" a small voice asked. Lucy turned her head to see who it was. It was Levy-chan, her face full of worry. "Are you okay, Lu-chan?"

"Eh? What are you talking about, Levy? I'm fine. A little distressed, but fine."

"Are you sure? You just screamed to the world about going crazy whenever you think about Gray or something."

Lucy's face turned an even darker shade than it was before. Mira chuckled to herself. "Young people these days," she thought. "From the looks of it, Lucy is experiencing her first love."

Lucy realized everyone in the guild was looking at her, including Gray Fullbuster himself. Jumping to her feet, she looked at the faces of her guildmates. Pretty much everyone was staring at her, eyes wide and mouth dropped to the floor.

Natsu spoke first.

"HAHA LUCY LOVES GRAY! LUCY LOVES GRAY!" Natsu exclaimed.

Happy followed Natsu, with his annoying "You llllllliiiike him!"

Erza came up to Lucy, grabbed her hands, and looked into her eyes. "It's about time, Lucy. I'm happy for you!"

Lucy could only gawk as her teammates each came up to her and stated their thoughts. Her eyes met with Gray, who was still standing behind Natsu. His eyes were wide, and they grew even wider as Lucy looked at him. Gray's mouth opened and closed, as if he was trying to say something.

Lucy could not take it anymore; she broke the grasp Erza had on her and ran out of the guild. She ran and ran and ran, to anywhere her feet would take her. Her mind was racing. She couldn't think about anything except for the look Gray gave her when he heard her outburst. What would she do now?

Gray was still gawking as Lucy ran out the room.

Natsu came up to him casually. "Soooo," he purred. "What are you gonna do now? Are you gonna let Lucy run off on her own? What'cha gonna do, squinty eyes?"

Gray was so surprised at what Lucy had done that he did not even notice Natsu's lame remark (squinty eyes). "I-I don't know," Gray whispered. To be honest, he was interested in Lucy from the moment she walked in the doors of Fairy Tail. However, she didn't seem to be the type that would like him, so he tried giving up. Love, though, doesn't follow logic, he soon began to realize. And as time passed, his feelings for the Stellar Mage only seemed to grow more intense.

"Don't take too long on deciding," Erza interrupted. "By the time you make a decision it may be too late."

"That's right," Gray realized. "Ive gotta make my move now."

"Thanks, Erza! I'll be going now," Gray yelled, hurrying out of the guild. He sprinted toward the direction of her house. He knew, knew that Lucy always went in the direction of her house, never in the opposite direction. She's probably going to be by the lake, the ice mage realized. Natsu had told him that Lucy goes there a lot whenever she's depressed.

"Lucy-chan! Be careful!" The sailors yelled at her.

Lucy ignored them, still running very close to the edge. She ran and ran, not even stopping to catch a breath. She could feel the hot tears swelling up in her eyes, but she kept running. Sobbing, she continued to run. However, the tears blurred her vision, and she suddenly tripped on the slippery ground.

It all happened so fast that Lucy didn't have time to think. She only saw the water she was plunging into, and she closed her eyes, bracing herself. But the 'splash' didn't come. She opened her eyes and saw the water, only inches away from her face. There was a muscular arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly.

"I got you, Lucy," a deep voice soothed, pulling her up. Her heart began racing. Could it be him? She turned her head to face the man who had saved her, and her heart skipped a beat. A certain ice mage looked at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yea," Lucy managed to say. Her sad eyes were still filled with tears. She tried to keep her tears in, but a pathetic sob escaped from her lips. She was unable to stop the continuous flow.

Gray had a pained look on his face. His arm lifted, but it stopped in midair and fell bluntly at his side once again. His fingers twitched. Suddenly, his arm jerked up and he grabbed Lucy by the shoulders.

"Don't keep it in," Gray said, looking directly into her beautiful eyes. "If you need to cry, then cry. Don't take care of your problems yourself. I want to help you. No, I will help you, Lucy. You can tell me anything." His arms curled around her petite body, and he held her in a tight embrace. Lucy's own arms, as if they had their own mind, wrapped around Gray's muscular body. He was shirtless, as usual, so Lucy could feel the structure of his body. His skin was smooth, and surprisingly soft. She buried her head into his neck, not wanting to think about anything. She simply wanted to enjoy the moment she had, while it lasted, with Gray Fullbuster.

Gray did not know how it had come to this, but in a way, he was lucky. Another thing he didn't know: how are you supposed to deal with a crying girl? He felt useless. The only thing he could do was to HUG her. If Natsu were here, he would try to cheer her up, and knowing him, it would probably work. What could he do?

He patted her back pathetically. "It's okay," he whispered.

"G-Gray," Lucy whispered back. Her breath on his neck sent a tingly feeling through his body.

"Yes, Luce?"

"I lo-lo-love.." Her tears had gradually come to a stop, but she was still sniffling, causing her speech to be interrupted with stammers.

"I know, Lucy. I know."

"No, you don't, Gray. I lov-love you…" She suddenly let out a loud wail. "I love you Gray! I always did, and always will! I know you don't love me though, so I'm asking you, please don't let things change between us because of this. I just needed you to know that I –"

"Lucy," Gray interrupted. "I know. I love you too…"

Lucy was shocked. What had he said? Had she heard wrong? Did he just say "I love you too"? What was going on?

"What? What? What? What?" Lucy warbled.

"It's true." Gray said. "To be honest, I was interested in you from the moment we met." He held her body, which was still glued to him, even tighter. "I didn't confess though, because I didn't think you liked me back. But, because of your... outburst this morning, I feel like I needed to set things straight. I love you, Lucy." He let go of the embrace he held her in and looked into her eyes. Lucy licked her lips and stared right back into his eyes, waiting. Gray grinned. "You're sly, Lucy," he said, and leaned in.

It was like nothing he'd ever tasted before. The lips that were on his were soft and lush. His tongue shyly stretched forward, and he licked the side of her mouth. Lucy let out a soft moan, and Gray took that as indication of her approval. His tongue stretched farther and met with hers. He could feel her body moving with the flow of the kiss. Her hands slowly snaked around his neck. His hands, which had been hanging loosely at his sides, slid around her back to stroke her hair.

"This is no good," Gray thought . "I can't hold back any longer." He pressed harder onto her, squeezing her small body against his large, muscular one. He desperately needed to breathe, but he could not bring himself to untangle his tongue from hers. Instinctively, he created a wall of ice and pushed her against it.

Lucy yelped when her skin touched the cold ice.

"Sorry Lucy," Gray panted, parting lips for a moment. "I couldn't think of anything else." In a split second, he had created a cage made of ice, completely hiding them from the rest of the world. Lucy understood instantly what he wanted to do. No one could see them here, inside this room of ice. Gray, still panting, leaned in once again to taste the wonderful flavor of Lucy Heartphilia.

Suddenly, light shone upon them. Lucy and Gray quickly straightened up to see what had happened to their privacy. It was Natsu. Damn Natsu had melted a hole in Gray's ice. He entered casually, looking from corner to corner.

"Not impressive, Gray," Natsu complained. "But still… Getting your hands on her, now that's impressive!"

"If you touch her," Gray threatened. "I will murder you."

Natsu's eyes widened. This guy was serious. Natsu, suddenly feeling very mischievous, grinned at Gray.

"And what will you do if I do something to her?"

In a flash, Gray had pinned Natsu against his ice wall. Handcuffs of ice trapped Natsu against the ice. "Like I said," Gray growled. "If you touch her, I will murder you."

Natsu's hands shook as he tried to melt the ice cuff off. But it wouldn't melt. "What is the meaning of this, Gray? Get these off of me!"

"Not until you promise you won't touch Lucy. She's mine."

"I promise! I promise! Now get me outta this thing!" Natsu shouted. His cuffs instantly weakened. Natsu melted the ice and ran out the ice cage. "Have fun, you two!" he screamed as he shot out of sight.

The hole Natsu had burst in from slowly filled in with more ice. "Now," Gray whispered. "Should we continue where we left off?" Not waiting for an answer, he gently pushed Lucy against the wall and was about to lean in, when something was thrown against him. Lucy, that sly girl, had come onto him first. Gray smiled to himself and concentrated on the enjoyable moment.

The next day, Lucy and Gray walked through the doors of Fairy Tail together. They were holding hands, trying to look casual. But Lucy's shirt was crooked, and Gray still wasn't wearing clothing. Lucy turned a light shade of pink as her guild mates turned to stare. Mirajane, standing at the bar, turned around and gave Lucy a wink. Levy, standing next to Gajeel, was smiling and gave Lucy a thumbs up. And Natsu, that bastard, was laughing his head off.

"What are you laughing at, Natsu?" Erza said sternly. "You should be congratulating them!" She ran up to Lucy and grabbed her hands. She looked directly into Lucy's confused eyes. "I knew this day was going to come someday, Lucy… Congratulations!"

Loki suddenly appeared. His long, wild orange hair was spiked and he was wearing his usual attire: a black suit, his rings, and sunglasses. "Aw, Lucy," he sighed. "I suppose I'll have to give you up. But if you ever need me…"

"Forced gate closure!"

"How mean, Lucy," Loki pouted. "You can't close my gate, anyway. I'm using my own magical power. And anyway, I came here to talk to Gray. If you make Lucy cry, even a single tear, Gray, I will KILL you." With that, he disappeared.

Loki's disappearance was like the cue for everyone else to state their current thoughts, because everyone rushed forward to congratulate the two. The room was soon filled with lots of talking and congratulating. Gajeel, while following Levy into the crowd, accidentally bumped into Natsu. And Natsu, being the hotheaded guy that he is, landed a punch on Gajeel's face, which started a fight. The guild became so absorbed in the fight that some people even joined in. Nobody paid attention to Gray or Lucy anymore, but that was fine with them. They had more privacy like that. However, Lucy was about to talk to Gray when Natsu "accidentally" kicked him in the face.

"Bastard!" Gray screeched, throwing a punch right back at the Dragon Slayer. Lucy giggled, watching her guild beat each other up. Yes, joining Fairy Tail was definitely destiny. If she had not joined, then she would not have met Erza, Natsu, Levy, Loki, Mirajane, and everyone else. And most importantly, if she had not joined Fairy Tail, then she would never have met Gray, the love of her life.

The End :]