In which Gray, who is gravely traumatized by Juvia always stalking him, seeks out Lucy's help and the reason behind why Juvia is always following him, only to have Lucy tell him that said Rain Woman does it because she loves him. Like . . . what the hell?

Warning: Slight randomness of Team Natsu.

I don't own Fairy Tail.

A/N: Just random something I thought of while in Lowe's one day. I posted this as Gray/Juvia, even though the main characters are mostly Gray and Lucy. Oh, well.

It had taken him the longest time ever to get where he was now, on the second to last rung of his Ice Make Ladder and halfway into Lucy's second floor window because of the fact that he'd been stopping every one and a half seconds on the way there to glance behind him, and over his shoulder, and rummage through the nearest bushes for any sign of her.

His stalker, who he had just consciously realized about a month ago, had been following him since . . . before she had even joined Fairy Tail after he'd figured out that his someone's-behind-you-somewhere-and-staring feeling wasn't imagined when he'd actually spotted her behind that tree, and in that bush, and on the rooftop, and around that corner, and actually was the puddle on the ground there, and—

It was driving him nuts. Nuts! Because he was actually afraid of entering his house again.

So maybe a little more than a month ago, he'd been a little creeped out (or delighted) when he'd come home from the Guild Hall to find that a dinner had already been prepared for him, or that someone had done his laundry (even though a few pairs of his boxers were missing) for him. Maybe it had been a bit disturbing (or pleasing) when he'd found his dishes already washed, or that someone had um . . . made his bed and gotten him a new bath soap— the amusement had ended there, actually, because that last one was too strange for him . . . .

The stalking, the slinking around outside his house (he'd wondered if she was the sudden leaking in his kitchen sink . . . .) was really starting to set him on edge. It was making him jumpy and irritable and . . . uneasy.

So he thought he'd go and see Lucy because she made people all of those things at times and . . . well, she lived kinda close by.

He practically tumbled into the open window ledge, only realizing that there were broken shards of glass shattered all over the carpet when a piece was embedded in his kneecap.

"Oi, Lucy, why do you keep broken glass all over the floor? If this's your idea of fine decorating . . . ."

"Well, it used to be my window until Natsu came charging through it like a maniac!" Her brown eyes were narrowed as she whirled around to face him, hands on her hips. "Why do also feel the need to break into my home?"

He winced, sticking a finger in one of his ears. If Lucy was gonna spazz out on him every time he came for help, he'd better just solve his problems himself . . . for the sake of his eardrums.

"Also?" And it was then that he noticed the pink-haired Dragon-Slayer laying kicked back in Lucy's bed like an absolute idiot, Erza absently delving through Lucy's closet, and Happy on the floor, fiddling with yarn. (Yarn?)

Lucy was still glaring at him, as if expecting an answer to her previous question, which he had no intention of doing the correct way.

He sighed through his nose and ran a hand through his dark locks, turning his head slightly to peek out of the window for any signs of her.

He hushed his voice, his eyes still warily concentrated on the sidewalk outside. "W-well, you see, Lucy . . . I'm being stalked."

From the closet, Erza had turned around, and on the bed Natsu jolted up.

Lucy's lips parted slightly in surprise as she blinked slowly, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh, gosh, well are you alright, Gray? The person didn't hurt you, did they?"

He shook his head, seating himself in one of the chairs. "No, but it's really creepy . . . ."

"Well, of course!" He flinched once more, again wondering if talking to Lucy was the best idea, what with how shrill her voice went when she was worried. "Do you know who it is?"

Her tone was urgent, that so-ready-to-call-the-cops kinda pressing and he shrunk back against the chair with the power of the voice.

"Yeah." His eyes darted around frenetically for any sign of her. Because speak of the devil . . . .

"Who is it, dammit?" The shout had come from a frustrated Natsu, who was already on his feet, fist clasped in one hand. "I can take care of 'im for ya, since you're obviously too weak to handle this on your own."

Happy giggled along with him, much to Gray's annoyance: "Teehee, coming to Lucy for assistance . . . ."

"Hey! What the heck is that supposed to mean, Cat?"

Gray nearly fell out of his seat, his palms over his ears. He barely heard Erza when she asked, "Yeah, who's stalking you, Gray?"

When he looked up, it was only to see her floating in the sky and clad in her Heaven's Wheel armor, which actually did cause him to slip from his chair, right into the glass.

"I will cut them to pieces and feed their remains to the dogs!"

"Whoa, whoa, Erza, you really don't need to do that to her!" His desperate screams were probably was futile as curing Natsu of his motion-sickness.

Lucy raised an eyebrow, extending an arm to help him up. "It's a 'she' that's stalking you? Juvia's not gonna like to hear that . . . ."

Confused with her latter statement, he took her hand gratefully and almost pulled her down with him. "It is Juvia."

He expected her to gasp, or for her eyes to widen a lot like his did when he'd found out, but instead, her expression instantly fell as she crossed her arms, eyes rolling. "Of course."

He merely stared at her, puzzled with of the obvious sarcasm in her voice and her evidently unfazed face. "W-Whaddaya mean 'of course?' I'm being followed by Juvia!"

"So?" Her expression was bored, void of all the concern that she'd previously had for him and he wondered why. "What do you want me to do about that?"

His fingers knotted themselves desperately in his hair. "Stop her! She was in my house! Tell me why she's following me cuz you're a girl and would know why one would do something like that, right?"

"So you thought you'd come to me for help? Me, who's always having intruder problems? Hint, hint, Natsu, Gray, Erza."

All three previously named wizards studied her blankly.

"Whatcha mean?" Natsu broke the silence.

Gray's hands slid down to cover his face. " . . . Um, yeah."

Lucy sheepishly scratched her head. "I'm pretty sure you're the only one who could stop her, anyway. If I tried . . . if I tried . . ." She paused to emit a nervous laugh. "You've gotta be kidding me, Gray, Juvia wouldn't even let me . . . get between you guys . . . ."

Suddenly, she seemed to be occasionally peering out of the window along with him.

His head was in his knees, a sure sign of the anxious depression he was feeling while he groaned, "Lucy, help me. Tell me why she's following me . . . ."

She seemed to study him, leaning into his face in awe. "You don't know . . . ?"

He backed away from her, completely baffled. "Know what?"

"Oh." Lucy smirked at him. "You don't know."

"What don't I know?"

Lucy poked him in the chest. "Are you an utter moron, Gray?"

He was ready to pull out his hair. He so didn't deserve this abuse at the moment.

His roared "No!" was about the same time as Natsu's "Yeah!" and he was ready to knock out that Flame-Brain's front teeth and make him swallow them.

But he ignored him and reverted is attention to Lucy. "What the hell are you talking about, Lucy?"

"What exactly does she do when she breaks into your house?" He didn't appreciate how she answered his question with another. "Not break your windows, I'm sure . . . ."

He frowned at her. "My chores."

"Isn't that nice?" Her smile was creepy.

"It was . . . ."

"Juvia is awfully nice to you . . ."

"I guess."

" . . . and puts chilli in my tea."

" . . ."

"Have you ever noticed that?" Lucy sat him down beside her, on the bed, much to Natsu's complaining. "That Juvia practically kisses the ground that you walk on and is so particularly loyal to you?"

He was growing uncomfortable with her drilling. "Um."

"Have you?" It was from Erza that time.

"Ummm . . . ."

"Jeezum, you are so hopeless, Gray." Lucy shook her head in a disappointed manner. "I thought you were smarter, but I guess you're just on par with Natsu . . . ."

"What are you saying?" He didn't like how both is and Natsu's screams were in sync.

"So you really don't know why Juvia stalks you day and night, enters your home to do sweet things, has a doll you in her room, and hates other girls to get near you?" The blonde glared hard into his face. "You don't know why she's so devoted to you that it's almost adorable?"

"B-because she's really nice?" Even he was ashamed with his answer, and it was probably wrong anyway; he just felt that he had to tell her something to not be yelled at or made fun of.

Lucy sighed from beside him, totally facepalming, which really annoyed him to hell. "Gosh . . . just tell him, Happy."

Happy grinned up from his yarn, his swishing tail mischievously. "She lllikes you!"

It was then that he felt all of the oxygen leave his lungs, his body stiffening as he stammered, "J-Juvia?"

Erza, Lucy, and Natsu nodded, though he knew the latter one did only to follow suit. "Yup."

He glanced toward the window again, panic rising in his chest. She liked him. Juvia, his stalker, liked him. Liked him like that. So that was what Happy had meant with the "She lllikes you!" when Gray'd awoken in the ocean that one time with Juvia crying about something over him. That was why Juvia was always blushing and taking the things that he said to the extreme.

That was how the Sensory Link from seven years ago had gotten on his wrist. Because she liked him.

He was lightheaded. "Are you serious? Is . . . is that why she steals my underwear?"

"S-She . . . actually does that . . . ?" Lucy shuddered against his shoulders, but he barely acknowledged it.

"Is that why she used to make me lunches and why she insists on protecting me?" He was on a frenzied, verbal rampage, his breath coming fast. "Is that why she's in my shower when I bathe? I swear that every itsy droplet of water that sprays from my faucet is a fragment of her!"

Lucy sweat-dropped. " . . . I don't think Juvia's magic goes that far . . . ."

He twisted to stare at her, astonished that she would even doubt him on such a thing. "I'm sure it's her! It's her smell and everything all over me! I can feel her, Lucy!"

He was so positive, no matter how absurd it sounded. It . . . it looked exactly how the water from her body did. Normal water and Juvia's water were totally different. He knew what her water felt like, as he'd been trapped in it and hit with it and protected by it and all that jazz.

Lucy couldn't doubt him on that.

Yet, she still looked as if she didn't believe him. "You can feel her? I would call that cute if it weren't so strange . . . ."

"What does Juvia smell like, Gray?" The question came from Happy, a cat who thought that every, little thing that came out of his mouth was oh, so innocent, and fortunately, Gray was one who could detect the second meanings behind his inquiries.

"Shut up!" He was going through a crisis at the moment, one where everything was confusing and different from before.

Juvia liked him. He guessed that it was pretty obvious now that he thought back on it, what with all the doting gazes he cast his way. She would always want to stay by his side, always want to be close and near him and he'd never known why . . . except for now and it was gonna be awkward now that he did because her intentions were currently obvious to him.

Gray clenched his fists over his thighs. "Crap . . . well, now what? What do I do now?"

Erza shrugged. "Confront her."

"And tell her what?" He demanded urgently. "What the hell do I tell her?"

"To stop stalking you if that's what you want," Lucy replied smoothly.

"Or that you lllike her back!" Happy and Natsu offered unhelpfully.

He had never even thought of their suggestion . . . .

But he quickly disposed of that idea.

He put a hand to his chin, once again turning toward the open (broken) window. "I'm gonna . . . tell her to quit following me. Betcha she's right outside, anyway, and all—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" Lucy leapt to her feet, hurling herself madly to the window. "You actually let her see you breaking into my house and bedroom window without a shirt at night?"

Puzzled, Gray arched an eyebrow. "Why not?" Did it really matter? She probably followed him while he was hanging out with them, anyway, so wasn't she used to seeing him here?

Wait, he hadn't been wearing a shirt?

The stellar spirit mage miserably slumped against the pane, her face sporting a reddish tint. " . . . S-she's gonna be jealously accusing me of vulgar things, tomorrow . . . ."

He blinked at her before running his hand through his hair. "What was I saying?"

"That you're stupid?"

Gray sent a scowl Natsu's way. "Shut up if you're not gonna be any help."

Erza sighed. "You were going to tell us how you were going to handle Juvia."

He instantly slid off of the bed and onto his feet as the memory hit him. "Right! I've gotta beat her home and tell her that I want her to stop."

"Or you can just tell her because she's right outside," the swordswoman advised with a wry smile that he didn't understand.

"Nah. It'll be better if I catch her at my house." That way, he could finally figure out how she got in.

Yeah, it was gonna be such a good plan. Suddenly, he was excited to catch her in the act. Well, he always had been, but . . . .

He poised to leap out of Lucy's window, right after giving the helpful girls a friendly, totally thankful hug. "Thanks, Erza, Lucy . . ." He glared pointedly at Happy and Natsu. "I'm gonna be going, now."

The two girls just stared at him, as if they couldn't believe that he was leaving so suddenly. Well, Gray was anxious, so he really didn't care.

And then he heard something angrily explode within Lucy's bathroom, water leaking out underneath the door.

"Holy crap, Juvia was watching us!"

He was crouched in one of his kitchen cabinets, because he was sure Juvia got in from somewhere around in there, particularly the sink.

He'd gotten into his house about ten minutes before her, possibly because he was running, and to not be too conspicuous, she'd probably just kept trailing him in her usual pace.

He hadn't glanced behind himself once because duh, of course she was following him. He was honestly aware of that now.

The cabinet he was stuffed in was dark, the stifling one for his pots and pans. He had cracked the doors open a little so that he could peer secretly out of it to wait for Juvia's arrival.

Which was actually pretty before long.

Through his peeping hole between the two doors, he could see water materializing from somewhere, landing on his wooden floors and slowly building a form.

He couldn't see the entire shape because his cabinet was close to the floor, but he did make out two distinguishable features that were very familiar: brown, thigh-high boots and the blue of a coat.

He instantly burst forth from his hiding spot with an instinctive yelp just as Juvia's left arm reverted from water.

"I got you now!"

His shout was silly, he realized about ten seconds later, while watching her suffer from a near heart attack, hand clutching an area of her chest, face flushed.

"Gr-Gray-sama, w-what . . . ?" Her back was pressed against the sink, her hands gripping tightly the countertop. Her dark eyelashes fluttered, clearly dazed.

He took a slow step toward her, worried that he might accidentally make her faint on the spot. She already might've normally, but now that he'd scared her half to death, he wasn't taking any chances. "Sorry."

She still looked utterly rattled, something that he strangely was not, even though it was her intruding his home.

He stared at her and she stared back for about half of half a second before averting her gaze with a blush.

He could've blushed himself, now that he knew why she was always blushing . . . .

Gray cleared his throat, throwing the sink a fleeting glance. "So . . . how'd you get in here?"

The red hue in her cheeks grew darker as she played with her fingers. "U-Um . . . Juvia e-entered Gray-sama's house through the sink . . . ."

Knew it! "Oh." There was a significant pause, one that was long enough to make it look like the next question hadn't been on his mind at all: "So what're you doin' here?"

She seemed taken aback with his query, evidently avoiding his eyes. "J-Juvia is here t-to . . . to . . . to . . . ." She was completely embarrassed, he could tell, what with her biting her lip and flushing darker. Her gaze was lowered and away from his, tentative and timid. She shifted her weight from foot to foot.

He sighed . . . her embarrassment was making him feel bad, especially since she was here to do nice things for him.

So he went ahead and replied to his own question: "You don't have to answer, really. I know you're here to help me, Juvia."

"I-If Gray-sama doesn't mind, actually," she mumbled shyly, almost pouting.

Well now, with her standing there hesitantly and visibly unsure, he really had second thoughts about kicking her out.

"I don't," he blurted unthinkingly and she instantaneously lightened up, cracking a small grin.

"But I don't like your obsessive stalking," he added swiftly, cringing inwardly when she again became interested in the floorboards.

Her blush darkened as she murmured, "Juvia apologizes, Gray-sama."

He fought to meet her eyes. He really didn't like her to be shy with him particularly because he knew why now. "L-Lucy told me that you only do it c-cuz . . . y-you like me, so um, if it's true and this's how you like to show it," he stuck his hands in his pockets, watching the floor as well, "I don't mind. Except for the stalking. It's creepy."

Juvia nodded solemnly. "If Gray-sama wants, Juvia will stop."

This was so much easier than he thought. "Please." She nodded again and he put in, "And you don't have to break in through my sink anymore. If you still wanna help me with . . . chores, I could let you in and we can do 'em together."

For some reason, she looked as if she wanted to cry, as if something was threatening to explode from her mouth. He was about to ask he what was wrong when she threw herself at him, her arms clinging into him from around his neck, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Juvia is so sorry that she stole Gray-sama's underwear! Th-They just smelled so much like him and Juvia just couldn't help herself . . . !"

Gray was really lost for words with her face buried the crook of his neck like that. ". . . Erm, that's okay, actually, if you could just give them back sometime . . . ." Because he seemed to lose his boxers a lot. Along with the rest of his clothes.

He was too weak to pull her hysterical form off of him, her oceanic fragrance wafting through his nostrils and diluting his senses.

"J-Juvia . . . it's really alright, I don't even care . . . please, get off . . . and don't enviously kill anymore of Lucy's toilets, mmkay?"

Juvia practically ripped away from him then, frowning. "Juvia will never again follow Gray-sama if it means that he'll never again go to Lucy's house without a shirt."

He blinked at her, stunned for a moment. "Hey, I'd still go to her place even if—"

"No!" Her face was far too excited. "Juvia won't stalk Gray-sama. She won't even prepare him a dinner or wash his clothes if it means he'll never go to Lucy's!" She backed away from him, starry-eyed. "Juvia will even leave Gray-sama's house because maybe if she does and never comes back, he'll quit doing missions with Lucy and join Juvia!" She began to back into the sink, her body lapsing back into water.

Gray reached for her, totally baffled. "Juvia, that really won't happen!"

But she was gone in the next instant, back up his sink pipe and he'd really never even gotten to ask whether or not she'd been in his shower.

He just stared at the spot she'd been a second before. Juvia liked him. At first, he'd thought she was just plain crazy and unpredictable, but now he realized it was really her unfathomable love for him that drove her into head-over-heels insanity.

And it was that thought alone that prevented him from chasing after her, but instead just smiling and shaking his head. But then, fifteen seconds too late, he thought of something Lucy had told him that he had been meaning to ask Juvia:

"Wait . . . do you really have a doll of me in your room?"

And of course, he got no answer.

A/N: Hope you guys liked this and can send me a review. This was fun to write. ;) And for some reason, I keep getting the idea that Juvia smells like the ocean, or something . . . . Hmm.