Third Wheel

The moment he steps inside the guild, Gajeel cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, "Oi! Stripper! You're coming with us! We need you for a mission!"

And that's that, basically.

He doesn't really mind. He doesn't have anything to do today and the mission seems simple enough. All they have to do is to find the secret headquarters of a band of thieves, retrieve a magical book, defeat them and turn them in. They'll finish everything in a couple of days, give or take. Gajeel and Juvia had been planning to do the mission together but they needed Gray to come along because the request specifically stated that having an Ice Mage would get the job done faster. Something about how one of the criminals is an exceptionally gifted fire mage that can only be defeated with ice magic.

He's a bit surprised that Gajeel and Juvia take missions together. He knows that they used to be guildmates back in Phantom Lord and Juvia addresses him with the "kun" honorific but they never seemed particularly close. He's seen them talk once or twice but as far he knows, they don't really hang out and they have never been in any missions together. He figures that maybe Gramps is forcing them to go on one of those guild-bonding missions.

Juvia's pretty excited. She has this nervous, happy grin on her face and as soon as he agrees, she quickly hurtles towards him to tell him that she's really glad to be going on a mission with him and that she hopes that she and Gajeel aren't interrupting his day. Gajeel just sort of rolls his eyes and loudly complains about having to split the jewels up three ways. He glares at Gajeel before turning back to face Juvia and telling her that it's fine.

In fact, he's actually kind of curious to find out what working with Gajeel will be like. He's gone on a couple of missions with Juvia before but he has never really gone or worked with Gajeel. He and Juvia already have a solid thing going on when they go on missions together—they have a routine and everything. He just hopes that Gajeel's presence won't mess up their balance.

Gajeel stands up and tells him that they'll be meeting in the train station in an hour and that Gray better not be late. Juvia enthusiastically waves goodbye to him as he makes his way out of the guild. He's going to have to go back to his apartment so he can pack up.

"Gray-sama! Your pants!" Juvia squeals before he can step out of the door.

Gray jumps in his place, startled. He wildly looks around as he attempts to find his clothes. He finds them by the bar (how did they even get there?) and he hurriedly walks towards them.

He hastily puts them on as Gajeel shakes his head and Juvia flushes.

"I'll see you in an hour," he says as he walks out of the door.

"You better not show up naked!" Gajeel calls after him. "If you do, I'll bash your face in!"

He hears the sound of a slap and Juvia's annoyed voice," Gajeel-kun! Don't talk to Gray-sama that way!"

"Ow! Okay! Yeesh! I was just kidding, woman!"

"Well, it's not a funny joke!"

"Okay! Okay! I get it! You've made your point!"

Gray stiffens in his place, thoroughly shocked and confused. He can't believe that Juvia actually has the balls to slap Gajeel and talk to him in such a manner. And even more unbelievable, is the fact that Gajeel hasn't reacted with violent annoyance (man or woman, the man did not discriminate over who he would unleash his temper on).

Well.

It seems as if they are actually a lot closer than he first thought.

He's surprised when Juvia sits next to Gajeel when they get to a train compartment.

It's just a little strange, that's all. She usually makes it a point to sit as close as she can to him as possible. A thought suddenly occurs to him. Maybe the reason why she chose to sit next to Gajeel is because he smells weird. He did fail to take a bath this morning. His nose twitches slightly as he tries to detect any unusual scent.

His brows pull together in confusion.

He smells perfectly fine.

He decides that it isn't really a big deal. In fact, it's actually nice to get some breathing room for once. But it doesn't change the fact that the entire situation is a little (very) weird.

He leans back against his seat, his brow furrowed as he looks at her. She has a chipper look on her face, her hands neatly folded over a brown paper bag, a bag full of hard candies and a bottle of water. Inwardly, he wonders what those items are for. From beside her, Gajeel is slumping against the window, his face turning into a sickly green color.

The train lurches forward and Gajeel gives a loud groan.

Gray grins at him and says, "You okay over there, Gajeel?"

Gajeel glares at him as he clutches at his stomach. "Shut up, Stripper."

"Where's Lily anyways?" Gray says with a small chuckle.

"He, Happy-san and Carla-san had something important to do. They told Juvia that it was an Exceed issue. That's why Gajeel-kun's so upset. He misses Lily-san," Juvia says with a small giggle.

"I do not..." Gajeel says, as he trails off into a loud, pained moaned.

Juvia frowns at Gajeel and rubs at his back. Gray raises his brows at the contact. She says in a disapproving tone, "You shouldn't have eaten all those iron, Gajeel-kun. Didn't Juvia tell you not to eat so much when you are about to board a moving vehicle?"

"But I was hungry," Gajeel protests.

"Well, you still should've at least waited until we arrived. And Juvia bets that you didn't bother taking the motion sickness medicine she gave you," she says as she clucks her tongue.

Gajeel glares at her. "I did take it! And would you stop nagging me, woman—''

He pauses and his eyes widen. Gray, who had been silently watching their interactions, leans forward in curiosity.

"Lean back, Gray-sama!" Juvia suddenly shouts as she grabs the paper bag and shoves it into Gajeel's hands.

Gajeel's fingers curl around the paper bag as he starts heaving vomit into it. Gray curdles in disgust. Oh. So, that's what the paper bag is for.

"Oohhh...fuck trains. They can be such a bitch sometimes," Gajeel mumbles as he wipes his face with the back of his hand.

"Here. Chew on some candy Gajeel-kun," Juvia says as she passes him the bag of candies.

"I don't want to," Gajeel grumbles.

"Then have some water at least," Juvia says. She pats him on the head. "Maybe you can take a nap."

"Stop fawning over me! I'm totally—'' He pukes into the paper bag again. "—fine."

"Yeah, I can see that," Gray dryly comments.

"Nobody asked for your opinion, Stripper," Gajeel retorts.

"Juvia thinks that arguing will only make things worse," she interjects.

"Ugh. Where's the water?" Gajeel says.

Juvia hands it to him and he uncaps the bottle. He takes a long swig from it before putting it down. Then, he looks at Juvia and gruffly says, "Move. I want to sleep."

Juvia nods in understanding and she scoots farther into the right. Then, to Gray's surprise, Gajeel lies down on the chair and rests his head on Juvia's lap. Juvia nonchalantly takes the bag of vomit from his hands and sets it aside as he mumbles, "Wake me up when we get there, okay, Sprinkler?"

"Sprinkler?" Gray incredulously repeats. He can't quite wrap his mind around the scene before him. Gajeel sleeping on Juvia's lap is just so...surreal.

Juvia sighs and says, "Gajeel-kun has the unfortunate habit of giving people nicknames."

Gray nods his head and dryly says, "Yeah, I kind of noticed that."

Juvia gives Gajeel a small pat on the head. "Don't mind Gajeel-kun so much, Gray-sama."

She leans forward and conspiratorially whispers, as if she is afraid that Gajeel will hear, "He gets twice as cranky when we ride trains and when Lily-san isn't here. It's because Gajeel-kun has motion sickness."

He already knew that. Still, he nods his head and says, "Like Natsu."

Juvia grins at him. "Yes. Like Natsu-san. That's why Juvia always brings these along when we go on missions together."

She gestures at the bag of candies and the bottled water.

He blinks at her twice. "Always? Wait so...you two go on a lot of missions together?"

Juvia nods. "Mmm-hmm. Juvia always takes almost all of her missions with Gajeel-kun. He and Juvia work really well with each other."

He doesn't know why he suddenly feels so annoyed.

"Oh," he says.

"Anyways, Juvia is so happy that you came along, Gray-sama!" she says in a chipper voice. "It's nice that you will be able to spend time with her...er...and Gajeel-kun too."

Gray shrugs and says, "There wasn't much to do back at the guild, anyways."

"Gray-sama!"

"Hm?"

"Your clothes!"

"Ack!" he says. How the hell did he take them off so fast? He's sure that he had still been wearing them just a few seconds ago. He hastily puts them back on as Juvia makes several, embarrassed sounds.

As soon as he finishes buttoning up his shirt, he says, "Hey, do you want me to go throw Gajeel's puke bag away for you?"

He leans forward, his fingers brushing against her forearm as he gingerly (and disgustedly) takes the bag in his hands. Juvia suddenly stiffens and pink tints her cheeks. She sputters, "I-if y-y-you don't mind, Gray-sama."

He gives another nonchalant shrug. "No big deal. If you have to deal with having Gajeel's head on your lap for the next three hours, I think that it's a fair enough trade. Hey, I'm going to buy some biscuits. You want something for yourself?"

She doesn't answer him. She's staring at him with a dazed, absent-minded look on her face.

"Juvia?" he says.

She slowly blinks once, her mouth curling into a lazy smile.

"Juvia?" he says again, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

What on earth is that girl doing?

"Oi, Juvia!" he says again.

She jumps, startled as she defensively squeaks, "Juvia's not a pervert!"

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Gray says as he peers at her. "You kind of zoned out on me for awhile. What were you thinking about?"

Her face turns into an even more violent shade of red. She mumbles, embarrassed, "N-nothing."

Gray furrows his brows at her, unconvinced. "Well...okay. So, do you want something from the shop?"

She shakes her head. "No. Juvia's good, thank you."

"Okay. I'll be back in a bit," he says as he stands and exits their compartment.

He shakes his head.

Juvia can be so strange sometimes.

They manage to achieve a lot on the first day. They met up with their employer who briefed them on the situation. All he really wants is to have his book back but he will pay them extra if they manage to take down the thieves. They are a big nuisance to the town and he is sick of having all of his stuff stolen. He told them a lot about the kind of mages they were up against, so at least they could formulate a plan beforehand. They asked around and did some snooping and by the end of the day, they had a pretty good idea of where the headquarters were. Gajeel suggested that they go find a hotel first and work on looking for the headquarters tomorrow.

The hotel they're staying in is okay enough. It's cheap but the rooms and facilities are nice and clean. They book a room with three separate beds before tiredly going up to the thirteenth floor. He's feeling a little drained so he's pretty excited at the prospect of sleeping in a nice, soft bed—

"What the hell?" he snaps when he sees their room.

Instead of three separate beds, there are two—the one at left near the window is a queen-sized bed that can easily fit two people while the one at the right is a single bed.

"Damn it. We booked a room that was supposed to have three separate beds," Gray waspishly says.

Gajeel rolls his eyes and dryly asks him, "What? D'you wanna go back down thirteen flights of stairs to tell those assholes in the front desk that they gave us the wrong room?"

Gray glares at him, irritated. He's had a long day and all he really wants to do is to rest. "Maybe you should do it."

"No way, Stripper. You're the one complaining—''

"Stop," Juvia says as she comes in between them. She gives both of them a look before calmly continuing, "Juvia thinks that it's not a big deal. We can still fit inside the room. Two of us will just have to share."

Gray sighs before pinching the bridge of his nose. The most obvious arrangement will be to give Juvia the single bed while he and Gajeel share the big one. It's okay, he supposes. Still, the thought of sharing a bed with Gajeel seems mildly...repulsive.

As if reading his thoughts, Gajeel blanches and says, "Oh, hell no. I am not sharing a bed with that pervert!"

Gray glares at him and defensively says, "I'm not a pervert!"

Gajeel ignores him. "I don't want to find myself next to his naked ass when I wake up in the morning."

"Look, I'm exhausted, okay? I don't want to waste time arguing over the sleeping arrangements!" Gray snaps.

"Whatever. I'm still not sleeping in the same bed with you," Gajeel flippantly replies.

"Well, someone has to share the bed with someone else," Gray says. Fuck, this mission is turning out to be a lot more difficult than he first thought.

The three of them all stand there in silence as they mull over the situation. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that Gajeel will probably not back down. His eyes briefly pass over Juvia who is absentmindedly tapping her chin and he stiffens as a thought crosses over him. No doubt about it, she will jump at this chance to suggest that she and Gray sleep in the big bed.

His face unexpectedly flushes. It's not an entirely horrible thought (in fact, he's actually kind of okay with it) but it still sounds slightly awkward. It's not that he's uncomfortable with the idea of platonically sleeping next to a girl. He's done it loads of times with Erza and Lucy. But they're his friends. And Juvia is his...whatever. Yeah, she's his friend too but—

"I'll take the side near the window!" she squeals as she moves past Gray and Gajeel to flop unto the queen-sized bed.

Gray's eyes widen in confusion. Wait, what? He hasn't even agreed to anything yet.

Gajeel scowls and complains, "Damn it! You always get the window side! It's not fair!"

He strides into the room and dumps his bag unto the empty space next to Juvia.

"Too late! Juvia has already called dibs," she giggles as she throws her head back against the pillows.

"Fine," Gajeel gruffly relents. "Scoot over, Fish Bait and give me room!"

Gray stands by the doorway, frozen in shock and confusion. What's going on?

"Gajeel-kun! You're taking up too much space!" Juvia whines.

"Hey! At least I don't steal all of the covers!" Gajeel defensively states.

Juvia folds her arms and says, "At least Juvia doesn't kick in her sleep."

"Shut up and move, will you?" Gajeel says as he gives Juvia a light push to the side. Juvia gives an (adorable) pout before scooting farther away from him. Gajeel plops down on the bed and sighs.

"Gray-sama?" Juvia says, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay? Don't you wanna lie down?"

"Oh...um...ugh...right," he says as he tentatively steps inside.

"Oi, Stripper! Shut the door will you? It feels kind of drafty in here," Gajeel says as he places one hand behind his head.

Gray shuts the door from behind him and slowly walks towards the single bed. He's still reeling at the fact that Gajeel and Juvia seem so nonchalant at the idea of sharing a bed. It's almost as if they have done it a thousand times before.

"Gray-sama? You don't look so good. Are you not feeling well? Do you want Juvia to get you something?" she says as she worriedly looks at him.

"No. I'm fine," he says. He meets her eyes and says, "Are you...are you sure you're okay with sharing a bed with Gajeel?"

Juvia giggles and nods her head. "Of course! Why wouldn't Juvia be?"

"Oh," he says.

"Gray-sama!"

"Hm?"

"Your clothes!"

"Ack!" he says as he frantically searches around for them. He finds his shirt lodged near the windowsill (how did that even get there?). He quickly moves towards it, accidentally bumping a flustered Juvia.

"Oi! Who's getting dinner?" Gajeel says. "I saw a restaurant in the hotel lobby."

"Juvia can!" Juvia cheerfully volunteers. She turns to look at Gray who has already buttoned his shirt up. "What do you want for dinner, Gray-sama?"

"I feel like eating some pork right now," Gray says. "Just get me anything with pork in it."

Juvia nods as she stands up and heads towards the door. "Okay. Juvia will be back in a bit."

"Wait," Gray says. "Aren't you going to ask Gajeel what he wants?"

Gajeel dismissively waves his hand. "Nah. She'll know what to get me."

There's something in the certainty in Gajeel's voice that makes Gray's fingers involuntarily clench.

"Okay," he says as he walks over towards his bed.

He doesn't know why, but a nasty, gnawing feeling suddenly starts moiling at the pit of his stomach.

After they eat dinner, he excuses himself so that he can go outside and take a drag.

It's weird because he has stopped smoking for about a year now. He only ever really does it when he's stressed or upset. He takes a drag from his cigarette, releasing the smoke with a sigh. This mission must be wearing him out. And it's only the first day.

He stays in the balcony for a few more minutes before crushing his cigarette and heading back to their room.

He's about halfway through the door when he sees her. He stiffens in his place, his body becoming unbearably hot as he is greeted by the sight of Juvia's ass. She's crouching on the ground, wearing nothing but her navy blue bra and panties, her hair up in a haphazard ponytail. He can feel his insides tighten uncomfortably and it takes him about thirty seconds before he can think straight enough to formulate his next move.

He starts backing away. Maybe, he'll just close the door and pretend as if he hasn't seen anything.

"Gajeel-kun! Have you seen Juvia's Gray-sama doll? Juvia has misplaced it," she says without looking up. Gray-sama doll? What the hell is that?

Fuck. She's standing up. She's standing up and he still hasn't closed the fucking door.

"Gajeel-kun! Stop messing around! Juvia really needs to—Gray-sama!" she shrieks when she manages to face him.

"Juvia!" he says, thoroughly embarrassed. "I swear I wasn't looking—''

"Oh no...Gray-sama can look all he wants. It's just that...er...Juvia isn't really prepared for this," Juvia says, flustered. She awkwardly shifts in her place as her arms unconsciously rise up to cover her breasts.

"I'm sorry. I should've knocked or something—''

Juvia fervently shakes her head. "No...Juvia doesn't mind. Honestly. Well, she would have preferred if you saw her like this during our wedding night but it's okay. She's just upset because Gray-sama's first time in seeing Juvia in her underwear is when she's wearing her granny panties."

"Those...those are your granny panties?" he says, his throat becoming dry. They don't look like granny panties to him.

She eagerly nods her head. "Yes. But Juvia can go and change into her sexy underwear if Gray-sama wants—''

"No! No. That's totally fine. I'll just go and...er...do stuff," he mumbles as he hurriedly walks out of the room.

"But Gray-sama—''

"I'm not a pervert!" he defensively yells before shutting the door.

Shit. He starts pinching the space in between his brows in an attempt to regulate his breathing. He's still trying to make sense of what he saw. He leans against the wall as he tries to remember their conversation. Was she offended that he openly ogled at her? She seemed kind of embarrassed and she wouldn't exactly look him in the eye. His brows draw together as he tries to remember if she had said anything that indicated her disgust with him. She mentioned something about a wedding and a doll and sexy underwear and—well.

Okay, so he has absolutely no idea what she had been talking about.

(But it's okay because almost all of his conversations with Juvia end up with him being monumentally confused.)

But she didn't seem mad.

It shouldn't be a big deal. He's seen Lucy and Erza in their underwear loads of times. Hell, he's even seen them stark naked. This is nothing different.

He's being an idiot over nothing.

He'll just go back inside and apologize. Well, no. He should probably knock first.

Before he can move forward, Gajeel suddenly comes barreling towards their room.

"I thought you were out smoking," Gajeel says as he approaches Gray.

"I was but...um..." He manages to regain his composure. "Where were you?"

"I went to play some cards with a few guys in the game room. What're you standing out here for?" he asks as his eyes narrow against Gray's.

Gray points at the door. "Juvia's in there changing. In her underwear. I don't think we can go in until—''

To his shock, Gajeel cuts past him and opens the door. He nonchalantly says, "Nothing I haven't seen before."

Nothing he hasn't seen before? So...Gajeel has already seen Juvia naked?

His fingers suddenly twitch and his jaw clenches.

"Oi. Put some clothes on, will you? Ice bastard," Gajeel mutters as he steps inside of the door.

Gray looks down and groans when he realizes that he's wearing nothing but his boxers. Shit, where did he leave his clothes? They must be inside. Maybe after Juvia changes, he can go back inside to get them. He waits by the door.

He starts wondering if Juvia will react as flustered as she did when Gray saw her in her underwear. He leans against the wall, waiting to hear her make an (adorably) embarrassed sound.

But instead, what he hears is a casual, "Gajeel-kun! Have you seen Juvia's Gray-sama doll!?"

"No. Why the hell would I know where it is?" Gajeel gruffly states.

"Ugh! Juvia can't find it anywhere!" she says, frustrated.

"Are you sure you brought it with you?"

"Yes. Juvia is sure. She always double-checks before she goes on a trip."

He frowns. Why isn't Juvia acting embarrassed or flustered? Why are they going on as if nothing has happened?

Curious, he opens the door by a tiny bit and peers through the crack. Juvia is walking around, still in her underwear, a frustrated look on her face. Gajeel is by the bathroom door, wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Well, keep looking. It must be in here somewhere. Hey, do you have any idea why Stripper is acting weirdly by the door?" Gajeel asks.

Juvia's lips pucker into a pout. "It's because he saw Juvia naked."

Gajeel suddenly bursts out into laughter. "Ghihihi! Wish I had been there to see him lose his cool. What's with the face? Isn't this what you always wanted?"

"Yes! But not like this! Juvia is wearing her granny panties! And it's not even Juvia and Gray-sama's wedding night!"

Gajeel shakes his head. "You seriously have a few screws loose."

"Gajeel-kun...Juvia seriously needs her doll."

"Stop asking me for shit that isn't mine. I'm going to take a bath," Gajeel declares as he retreats into the bathroom.

"Fine!" Juvia retorts.

Gray sighs and closes the door. It's so strange to see how comfortable Juvia is in her underwear around Gajeel. And even Gajeel himself—he had been wearing nothing but his boxers and Juvia barely batted an eyelash. He supposes that it shouldn't come as a shock. Gajeel did say that a half-naked Juvia is nothing he hasn't seen before.

He wraps his mind around that thought.

He suddenly, desperately wants to take another drag.

Clothes be damned.

They have hit a dead end.

With the whole underwear issue put aside, they spent the better part of the morning looking into a seedy building at the edge of town but aside from a few bums sleeping at the abandoned rooms, they couldn't find any traces of it being a hideout for the thieves.

Gray sighs and runs a hand through his hair. It's been a rough day and he can feel how low everyone's spirits are. The night before, they had been hoping to finish this mission by today. Now, from the looks of it, it seems as if they'll have to start from scratch.

"This is bull! I knew that little shit we interviewed yesterday was lying," Gajeel mutters as they trudge through the streets of the town.

"We're just going to have to keep trying," Gray gruffly says. "I think that guy with the red hair knew something. We should probably go back to the bar."

Juvia places a hand on each of their shoulders and says, "Juvia thinks that maybe we should eat first. Just to liven everyone up! She knows how incredibly tired we all are!"

Gray turns his head a fraction of an inch towards her. The corners of his mouth quirk into a little smile when he sees that she doesn't seem at all fazed by the recent setbacks of their mission. It's crazy how she takes everything in stride.

"Fine. Where do you guys want to eat?" Gray asks as he starts surveying all of the restaurants lined up across the street.

Before anyone can say anything else, Juvia suddenly grabs Gajeel's arm and squeals, "Juvia can't believe it! Gajeel-kun! Look! It's Hokey's!"

Gajeel pauses in mid-step. He turns to the side to face Juvia, an excited look on his face. "What? No way? I thought that Hokey's was only in Oak Town!"

"Hokey's?" Gray says, thoroughly confused at their excitement.

"It's a restaurant that Juvia and Gajeel-kun used to always go to back when we were both in Phantom Lord," Juvia cheerfully explains as she grabs Gajeel and Gray by the wrist and starts dragging them forward.

"Damn. And to think, just last night, I had been craving for a bite of their iron-bacon sandwich," Gajeel says as he rubs his stomach.

"You guys...have a regular hangout place?" Gray incredulously says as the three of them step into the restaurant.

The inside looks plain and simple with whitewashed walls and wooden floors. The place is packed but the three of them manage to find a table that is tucked into a corner. Juvia is excitedly looking through the menu while Gajeel is smacking his lips in anticipation.

Gray slowly picks the menu up and scans through it. There are a couple of strange items listed in there (such as Frog Juice and Pickled Women's Hair) but everything else seems palatable. He looks at Gajeel and Juvia and sees that the two of them are happily chatting (well, Juvia's chatting and Gajeel is listening). The nasty feeling that has been eating away at his stomach suddenly returns.

He doesn't why he suddenly feels so bothered.

A waitress comes up to them with a tray resting on her hip. She looks at each of them, her gaze lingering on Gray the longest.

Juvia loudly clears her throat and narrows her eyes against the girl. "Excuse me. Aren't you going to take our orders?"

The girl tears her gaze away from Gray and blinks at Juvia, startled. Juvia's lips fold into a frown as she glares at the waitress. The waitress backs away, nervous and afraid of Juvia's sudden hostility. She impatiently clucks her tongue and says, "Well?"

"Oi! Quit being such a bitch," Gajeel nonchalantly says as he pokes her on the arm.

Her face visibly darkens as she hisses, "Juvia will not tolerate a love rival openly ogling at Gray-sama!"

Gajeel rolls his eyes. "Just say your fucking order."

He turns to the waitress and says, "I want an iron-bacon sandwich. Jumbo sized."

The waitress nod hers head and quickly scribbles his order down. She then turns to look at Gray who says, "I guess I'll just have some...pork chop."

The waitress gives him a small smile before turning to face Juvia. Juvia's eyes are still narrowed against the waitress and she is pursing her lips in displeasure. The waitress nervously averts her gaze and says, "A-and y-you miss?"

Juvia taps her finger against her chin. "Hmm...well...Juvia hasn't really decided yet..."

She restlessly shifts in her place as her eyes sweep over the menu, a little dimple in between her brows, as she reads through each item with utmost concentration. After about five minutes of her trying to decide, Gajeel impatiently sighs and slams a fist against the tabletop.

He looks at the waitress and gruffly says, "She'll have the chicken sandwich."

"Gajeel-kun! Juvia hasn't given her order yet!" Juvia protests.

Gray nods his head and says, "Yeah. You can't just order food for other people. She's allowed to makes her own decisions."

Gajeel waves the waitress away and says, "She always orders the same goddamn thing. She wastes like five fucking minutes trying to figure out what she wants only to order the same thing every single time."

"But—''

"What, Sprinkler? So you weren't planning to order a chicken sandwich?" Gajeel says as he raises a brow.

Juvia sighs and hangs her head in defeat. "Juvia was planning to, Gajeel-kun."

Gajeel shrugs and says, "See? So stop complaining and let's just enjoy lunch."

Juvia slumps in her seat and starts fingering the place mats. Gray looks at the two of them, the unsettling feeling in his chest not really going away.

Suddenly Juvia perks up and turns to look at Gray. "Oh no! Gray-sama! Juvia completely forgot to ask if you would be okay with eating here!"

Gray smiles at her and nonchalantly says, "It's okay. I don't mind."

"Juvia feels so rude!" she says.

Gajeel lightly swats her on the arm and says, "Quit it! Why do we always have to base all of our decisions on Stripper Boy?"

Juvia glares at him as she folds her arms. "Juvia is not suggesting that we base all of our decisions on Gray-sama. She is just saying that we should've asked for his opinion first."

"Well, whatever. The food here is great so I don't see why he wouldn't want to eat here," Gajeel retorts.

"Still, Juvia thinks that—Gray-sama! Your clothes!" Juvia says, flushing as she points at his naked torso.

"Ack!" Gray says as he stands up and tries to look for his clothes. His shirt has landed somewhere by the door while his pants is on top of a table at the far left (how did that even get there?). He hurriedly scrambles to get his clothes while Juvia chews on her bottom lip as her eyes trail after Gray.

Gajeel leans against his seat and snorts. "See? Stripper's already enjoying himself."

The heat is unbearable.

Gray wipes his forehead with the back of his hand as he, Juvia and Gajeel make their way across the cavern. Despite it being underground, the air is humid and stifling. He figures that this must be the work of the powerful fire mage their employer was talking about.

"Oi, Stripper! Why don't you be useful and make things cooler, eh?" Gajeel huffs as he mops the sweat from his brows with his palm.

"I don't want to strain myself too much. I might need my magic for later," Gray says.

Only Juvia seems unfazed by the heat. She calmly strides in between them, her hands fiddling with the hem of her coat. Gajeel looks at her and gives her a small punch on the forearm. "You okay over there, Sprinkler?"

Juvia cheerfully nods her head. "Yes, Gajeel-kun. Juvia can absorb large amounts of heat without her temperature changing as much."

"Well, good," Gajeel gruffly says. He looks at Gray from the corner of his eyes and says, "So you think that asshole we tortured—er, interviewed was telling the truth?"

Gray nods his head. "Yes. And the heat of this cavern ties in with the fire mage our employer was talking about."

The three of them stop when they reach the end. In front of them is a huge metal door that nearly fills up the entire space. Gray opens his mouth ready to tell them the plan he had been formulating in his head when Gajeel and Juvia suddenly step forward. Juvia places a hand on the door and experimentally taps it. Gajeel tilts his head upwards, his nose twitching.

"There has to be at least seventeen of them in there," Gajeel murmurs.

"The doors are about twenty inches thick," Juvia says, a serious look crossing her face. Gray blinks in surprise. He doesn't think that he's ever seen Juvia this focused.

"No big deal. I can break it down with an iron rod," Gajeel says.

"Okay. So you smash the doors open and Juvia can send a torrent of water. Just to throw them off," she says.

"But do you even have the water source for that?"

"It will be difficult but Juvia is sure that she can produce enough water."

Grays opens his mouth, ready to give a suggestion, but Gajeel beats him to it. "Then, when we step inside, I beat the living crap out of everyone while you go look for the book. There are a lot of them so we need to be sneaky about it. I mean, I can take them on by myself but—''

Juvia nods her head. "Juvia knows. Maybe Gajeel-kun should look for the book while Juvia distracts everyone else. She can use her water lock to cage some of them in."

"But I don't want to look for a stupid book! I want to fight! How about you use the water lock on some people, then look for the book, then help me out when you find it."

"Hm...Yes. That seems like a good enough a plan. Juvia's okay with it."

"Great. So we do this on the count of three—wait a minute. What the hell will Stripper do?" Gajeel says, almost as if remembering that Gray's presence for the first time.

Gray is leaning against one of the walls, his mouth set into a thin line. He has been listening to their conversation, growing more annoyed with each passing minute. They've been making plans without him, talking in such a quick and practiced manner. It's obvious that they have done this countless of times before. They already have a certain rhythm to their partnership—they know what to do and they know what to expect from each other.

Honestly, he's just a little irritated because he can't help but feel that he's somehow out of the loop. He's left out and obviously not part of their little circle and it really upsets him. He has always thought that he and Juvia were the perfect partners when it comes to stuff that involved fighting—their powers complimented each other and they worked well together. But it never occurred to him that she might work really well with other people too. It's unsettling how in synch she is with Gajeel.

He doesn't know why he's here. They would probably be able to finish the mission with or without him.

"Oh, right! Gray-sama is with us!" Juvia's lower lip suddenly quivers. "Juvia feels so bad for forgetting about Gray-sama."

Gray dismissively waves his hand as he tries to sound as nonchalant as he can, "No, it's fine. I don't mind. Just tell me what you guys need me to do."

"But Gray-sama, Juvia and Gajeel-kun should have included you into their plan-making!" Juvia protests.

"Juvia, it's okay. Really," Gray insists.

"But—''

"Shut up. You heard Stripper. He's fine with it. Now can we please get on with this damned mission? The longer we stay out here talking, the greater that chance that someone will bump into us." Gajeel turns to look at Gray and points a finger in his direction. "There's a super strong fire mage here, right? That's why me and Fish Bait over here brought you along. So while Juvia finds the book, you help me beat the shit out of people. You specifically take on the fire mage. You hear?"

Gray nods his head. "Yes."

"Good. Cover yourself because metal will be flying everywhere. Now on three. One..." He turns his right hand into an iron rod. "Two, three!"

Gajeel leaps forward and smashes the rod into the door with enough force that it shatters. Gray creates a shield made out of ice for himself while Juvia transforms her body into water as metal shrapnel start flying everywhere. As soon as the dust clear, she steps forward and creates a torrent of water that spills into the inside. Screams and shouts suddenly erupt everywhere.

The three of them rush forwards. With a gesture of her hand, Juvia traps three people in her water lock as Gajeel starts punching anyone who steps in his way. Gray uses his ice make to create a lance. For a few minutes, everything seems to be falling into place as Juvia slips away from the chaos to look for the book.

Suddenly, the air becomes unbearably hot. The water lock that Juvia had created slowly starts disappearing.

"What the fuck is happening?" Gajeel yells.

"The water...it's evaporating..." Gray says.

"What the hell? How?" Gajeel says as he kicks one of the thieves in the groin.

"I don't know. But I think it's the fire mage—''

A violent stream of flames hurtles towards them. Gray and Gajeel move to the side as they try to dodge it. A man with bright, orange hair starts moving towards them. His eyes are pale gold and he's holding a burst of fire in his right hand.

"And give the boy a prize!" he snickers.

"Heat...strong enough to evaporate Juvia's water? Impossible. Even Tutu couldn't do that," Gajeel sputters, flabbergasted.

"Nice try but a water mage isn't going to stop me," the fire mage says.

"No." Gray says as he slowly stands up. His eyes sweep over the entire room and rests on Juvia. She's standing at the back, her arms wrapped around a book. He looks at Gajeel and quickly gestures at Juvia. Gajeel's brows furrow, first in confusion, then in understanding. Gray then meets Juvia's eyes who nods back at him. "But a Water and Ice Mage might be able to."

Before he can respond, Gray hurtles his lance towards the Fire Mage. The Fire Mage ducks in an attempt to avoid it and Gray quickly darts past a couple of thieves. When he gets to Juvia, he takes the book from her hands and tosses it to Gajeel. Gajeel quickly catches it and Gray yells, "Keep it protected!"

The fire mage shakily stands up, a fierce look in his eyes. Fire starts spewing from his mouth.

Gray grabs Juvia's hand and looks at her. "You know what we need to do?"

Juvia nods her head. His grip of her hand tightens and they both turn to face the Fire Mage.

"Magic Power Fusion!" they both say at the same time. "Unison Raid!"

Geysers of water suddenly start spouting everywhere. The Fire Mage looks around, fear palpable in his eyes. "You think...that this can stop me? My heat burns through everything. Even water and snow!"

The temperature in the room drops. The geysers of water start turning into spikes of ice.

Gray smirks when he sees the fire mage shivering. The flame in his hands die.

His eyes narrow against Gray. He takes a step forward. Gray's grip on Juvia's hand slackens as he takes in the expression on the fire mage's face.

"Look out!" Gajeel screams as the fire mage takes the lance Gray had hurtled at him and throws it at Gray and Juvia.

"Juvia!" he cries out but she reacts quickly.

She lets go of his hand and pushes him to the side as she throws herself on the ground. He looks up and sighs in relief when he sees that she's okay. She shakily gets up and holds a hand out to him. He takes it and stands up.

"He is weakened by our magic. Let's finish this Gray-sama," Juvia says.

He nods his head.

The rest happens very quickly. He, Juvia and Gajeel move across the entire hideout, attacking every thief that they can find. Finally, they manage to defeat everyone. Gray and Juvia trap the fire mage into a frozen water lock while Gajeel gathers the rest of the thieves. They quickly set about to tying everyone up and pushing them into a corner. Gajeel in particular, happily indulges himself as he repeatedly punches a few of them in place, gloating over their victory. Gray busily ties up the last few thieves who are unconscious.

"Wait," Gajeel suddenly says.

"What?" Gray says.

"Where's Juvia?" he asks, alarm in his voice.

"Huh?" Gray says, confused at the sudden shift in his expression.

"She's being too quiet. She should be bitching to me about being too violent right now," Gajeel says, his nose twitching as he starts sniffing the air. He stiffens and drops the magical book he is holding. "Blood!"

"What?"

"Blood. I smell blood."

Gray rolls his eyes. "There's blood everywhere, dumbass."

Gajeel ignores him and wildly looks around. He suddenly pauses. Gray follows his line of vision and pales when he sees what Gajeel is looking at. It is Juvia and she is slumped against the wall, blood seeping through her side and a hand over her wound. Gajeel rushes over towards her and recoils when he sees a huge shard of ice lodged somewhere near her ribs.

"She's losing a lot of blood," Gajeel says.

"But...but how did this happen? She was fine when I last saw her," Gray says as he hurries towards them. His chest tightens in panic and he finds himself having trouble breathing.

"The lance...it shattered and shards of it hit Juvia..." she murmurs.

"Idiot. You shouldn't have fought anymore. You should've stayed in a corner and let me and Stripper finish the job," Gajeel snaps.

Juvia gives him a faint smile. "Juvia...didn't want to jeopardize the mission."

"You're a stupid bitch," Gajeel says, his voice cracking. Gray moves forward in an attempt to carry Juvia but Gajeel stops him. "Hold it, Stripper. I've got this."

"I'm sorry..." Gray chokes out. Shit. Shit. Shit. This is his fault. It was a shard of his ice lance that had caused this. He's the reason why Juvia's injured.

"It's not your fault Gray-sama," Juvia gently says as Gajeel carefully places her head on his lap. He changes his hand into pliers and clamps it down on the shard of ice. He gives an experimental pull. Juvia whimpers and before Gray can do anything to assuage her pain, Gajeel offers her his other hand. She takes it and firmly holds it. Gajeel pulls at the shard again and Juvia cries out in pain, her hand squeezing Gajeel's tightly.

It's on the third attempt that he finally pulls it out.

And it's a pretty big one.

Gajeel tosses the shard of ice to the side before gingerly lifting Juvia up, so her head rests on his shoulder. She clutches at the front of his shirt and whimpers.

"Stupid-ass woman. Don't ever do that again," Gajeel says. Gray stands to the side, feeling utterly useless.

Juvia smiles at him and says, her voice weak, "Aww. Gajeel-kun is worried about Juvia."

"Shut up."

"Juvia was worried about Gray-sama. And Gajeel-kun too. That's why she kept on fighting. If anything ever happened to both of them, Juvia would never be to forgive herself," she says.

"You selfish, selfish bitch. Did you ever think about how I would feel if something ever happened to you?" Gajeel gruffly says. He shakes his head. "I hate you sometimes."

"No you don't, Gajeel-kun. You never have and you never will," Juvia says as her eyes start drooping.

For a moment, Gray thinks that Gajeel is about to tell her to shut up once again. But his eyes soften and he says, "Yeah. Whatever."

He clears his throat and looks at the wall. "Do that again, Sprinkler and I swear, I will nail you to a tree!"

Juvia closes her eyes and murmurs. "Mmmkay Gajeel-kun..."

A stretch of silence passes between them. Gray stands there, looking at them. He feels as if he's intruding somehow. His chest tightens even further when he sees how close the two of them are. He feels even more of an outsider than before.

"I could carry her," Gray says, breaking the silence.

Gajeel grunts. "No. It's fine. I'll take her back to the hotel. Are you fine with taking care of all these shitheads and giving the magical book back to the guy who hired us?"

Gray wants to protest. He wants to take care of Juvia too. But the look in Gajeel's eyes makes it clear that he expects Gray to agree with him immediately.

Gray mutely nods his head.

Gajeel gives Gray a serious look. "I want you to bash that fire mage fucker's head in, you hear me? He's the ass who got Juvia into this situation and he's the ass who will pay."

For the first time, Gray wholeheartedly agrees with Gajeel. He nods his head.

Gajeel walks out of the room and says, "See you later, Stripper."

When he gets back to their hotel room, Juvia is soundly sleeping on the bed. Gajeel is right next to her, a protective hand on her head. He has a bar of iron in his other hand but it looks as if he hasn't eaten a single chunk of it. He has a tired, worried look in his eyes and he is staring vacantly into the wall.

The sight of them makes his stomach roll.

"Hey," Gray says.

"Hey," Gajeel mumbles.

"How is she?" Gray asks as he carefully walks towards Juvia. He sits at the edge of the bed, by her feet.

"Took her to the infirmary. She lost a lot of blood. But she'll be fine. She'll just be out of it for a couple of days. You don't mind staying here until she's strong enough to travel, right?" Gajeel says.

Gray shakes his head. "No. I don't mind at all."

Gajeel gruffly says, "Well, good. Already sent a message to the guild just in case Panther Lily worries. Did you turn them in and give the book up?"

"I turned them in. But we're meeting up with him tomorrow to give the book. He'll pay us by then," Gray says.

Gajeel grunts in reply.

Silence falls between them.

Gray takes the time to get a good look at Juvia. Her face is pale but she's clean and she has changed out of her clothes (Gajeel probably did it for her, he inwardly thinks in slight irritation). Fresh bandages are wrapped on her sides. Cradled in her hands is a doll that look suspiciously like...

He blinks once.

She has a doll. Of him.

Well. That's certainly strange (adorable).

"You two are pretty close, huh?" he suddenly speaks up.

Gajeel shrugs. "I guess so."

"Close enough that she doesn't mind being half naked around you?" he says, his voice lined with a hard edge.

"Yeah," Gajeel mumbles.

"Close enough that she takes the time to bring you a barf bag, candies and warm, bottled water?" He sounds calm enough but he can feel his temper rising.

"Yeah."

"Close enough that you know each other's orders?"

"Mm-hm."

"Close enough that you have a hangout place?"

"Mm-hm," Gajeel says, sounding increasingly confused.

"Close enough that you lost your shit when something bad happened to her?"

Gajeel frowns at him and says, "Okay, what's with all these questions?"

"Is there something going on between the two of you?" Gray blurts out.

Gajeel spasms in his place. A disgusted look crosses his eyes. "What the fuck? No! Just...no. Ugh."

Gray gawks at him and sputters, "What?"

"Me and Juvia together? That's just...ugh. I can't even imagine it. It would be like going out with my sister," Gajeel blanches.

"But...but..."

"Thanks for the mental image, asshole. Fuck. And I thought that the whole naked fiasco thing was awkward—''

"Naked fiasco thing?"

"We accidentally saw each other naked once. I couldn't look at her in the eye for weeks. It was like walking in on my naked sister," Gajeel says as he gives a shudder.

"But you guys seem so close. You're okay with sleeping in the same bed with her—''

"It's not a big deal. It's not like we're doing anything. And besides, we're used to it. We do it all the time in all of our missions. It saves money if you book a room with just one bed—''

"You walk around her in your boxers—''

"After the whole naked fiasco thing, we have kind of gotten used to each other's bodies so it's not a big deal. Haven't you seen Bunny Girl and Titania naked—''

"You know each other's orders—''

"We've known each other for a long time. And we've been on a lot of missions together back in Phantom Lord and here in Fairy Tail—''

"You two don't even hang out!"

"We do. Not so much in the guild. At first, it was because Master Makarov thought it wouldn't be a good idea if we hung out too much. We had just come from an enemy guild so people might think that we were conspiring and shit. Then, we found friends and stuff so we didn't really have time to hang out with each other. Also, it's because she's always so busy stalking—er, observing—you. We hang out a lot when we're not in the guild. I even crashed at her place a couple of times."

"She lives in the girl's dorm!"

"Yeah, so? It's not like it's impossible to sneak in. You do it all the time with Bunny Girl's apartment—''

Gray looks at Juvia's sleeping form before speaking, "You really care about her."

Gajeel fondly pats Juvia on the head. "She's my...you know...whatever."

"Nakama?" Gray says. He feels annoyed all over again because Juvia is his...his...whatever too.

"Yeah, but she's more than that sometimes. She's kind of like...family. I was alone for a really long time. She was my first and only nakama when I was in Phantom Lord. I think I was hers too. She really didn't have anyone. For a long time, we had no one but each other. So, yeah I kind of care about her," Gajeel says, his lips twitching into a smile.

"So you...you don't like her in that way?" Gray asks, just to clarify.

Gajeel shakes his head. "Of course not."

His cheeks suddenly redden and he looks away, "I kind of have my eye on another bluenette."

"Oh."

He suddenly looks at Gray, an amused expression on his face. He slyly leans forward and punches Gray on the arm before saying, "What's it to you anyway, Stripper? Why do you care so much?"

He can feel himself flushing. He doesn't know why he suddenly feels so uncomfortable. He hastily says, "Nothing."

Gajeel leans against the headboard, a smirk on his face. It's almost as if he knows something that Gray doesn't. He nods his head and patronizingly says, "Sure Stripper. Whatever you say."

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Gray demands.

"Nothing," Gajeel snickers.

The two of them sit in comfortable silence. From where he is sitting, Gray can hear Juvia breathing.

Gajeel suddenly whacks him on the arm.

"Ow! Hey!" Gray says.

"Listen, here Fullbuster. I'm going to say this only once so you better pay attention," Gajeel growls. It's the first time he has ever called Gray by anything other than Stripper (or Asshole or Dumbass or Fuckwit).

He leans forward, a deadly serious look in his face. Gray stiffens, worried at what Gajeel is about to say.

He cracks his knuckles and says, "You break her heart, I break your everything."

"W-what?" Gray sputters, thoroughly confused.

"You know what I'm talking about," Gajeel snaps.

"No, I really don't," Gray says, genuinely confused.

"She cares about you."

"Well, I care about her too. She's my...my nakama."

Gajeel shakes his head. "You really are a dumbass, aren't you?"

"What?" Now, he's even more confused.

"Look. I don't care about a lot of people in this world but..." He trail's off.

After an instant's pause, he continues. The words come out of his mouth slowly, as if he isn't used to saying them, but they come out firm and strong all the same. "Juvia is important to me."

Gray's eyes trail over Juvia's profile. He reaches out, awkwardly takes her hand and hesitantly (gently) strokes at her knuckles.

"Yeah, well..." His mouth curves into a soft, subtle smile as he says, "Juvia is important to me too."

Author's Note: So basically, I steamrolled through every single Fairy Tail Chapter (since I had just been starting) and I finally made it all the way to Chapter 375. I have to say that I just LOVE Gruvia. They are so adorable. Juvia is so adorable. I love how they progressed from a ship that was there purely for comedic relief to one that actually has some depth. I just love their development. Chapter 366 made me squeee so much. And my fangirling in the Gruvia special...I can't even:)) I just knew that I had to write a oneshot about them.

And I added some Gajeel/Juvia friendship because they are, hands down, my BrOTP. They're totally besties. I'm just sad that their friendship isn't explored much in the manga. Actually, on a side note, I'm glad that a portion of their friendship has been portrayed in the special. I love how Gajeel knew exactly who Juvia was looking for without her asking :)) It's just a shame that it's not shown more often.

I was actually planning for Panther Lily to be here but I decided that, that I wanted to focus more on the dynamic between Juvia, Gajeel and Gray. So I basically sent him off on an Exceed mission. Don't ask me what it is because I don't know either xD

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this oneshot! Please tell me what you think if you have the time :))