This is a Gruvia sort-of songfic one shot based on part of the song English Love Affair by 5 Seconds of Summer. Bold is lyrics, italics is memories. Read and review if you liked it, which I hope you will!

~mk

when the lights go out,

she's all I ever think about,

the picture burning in my brain,

kissing in the rain,

I can't forget my English love affair

Gray Fullbuster was in a funk. Ever since he had returned to Liverpool after a summer spent in London, he had been staying locked in his apartment all day, everyday. He had cancelled his first year of university in favor of staying at home and moping.

He glanced up at the barmaid and sucked in a breath. She was beautiful. Her hair was a gorgeous blue that didn't look dyed or fake at all, and her piercing eyes matched her long locks. She wore a short blue dress that she seemed rather uncomfortable in, as she kept tugging at the hem, as if she wanted it to cover more of her.

"What's your name?" He asked without thinking. She looked surprised.

"Juvia Lockser."

He had received visits from dozens of his friends, asking him, ordering him, pleading with him to go do something. To at least tell them what was going on. Why was he like this, they asked. He didn't tell them. They wouldn't understand. Even he didn't fully understand why he was so hung up on this. On her. He had known that it was going to end, and he had tried not to get too attached. He had thought that he would be fine. He had been wrong.

He became a regular at the bar. He and Juvia could talk for hours, during which he would get so drunk he could barely stand, which was impressive, as Gray Fullbuster was no lightweight, and the blue girl wouldn't drink so much as a shot. Eventually, he asked her out. She accepted rather enthusiastically. He let her pick where they went.

Juvia chose a rather nice restaurant that didn't cost too much. They even got a discount since she was friends with the owners, three men named Sol, Aria and Totomaru. They ate and then she showed him a beautiful park where the view of the night sky was breathtaking, even though it was raining. He kissed her there, in that park, in the rain.

Sometimes he would call his friend Natsu so that the two could get into pointless arguments about nothing, which always got his mind off of the blue girl. Sometimes he called his adoptive brother, Lyon, for that purpose. Sometimes he would get calls from Lucy, Natsu's girlfriend, and listen to her lecture him on how there was no point in wasting his life away like this. When he talked to Erza, he received similar rants.

Some days he would play video games, or watch TV, or even go out to McDonald's for lunch, or the bar down the street after dinner. He couldn't look at the barmaids without thinking of the blue girl. Some days he would just lay in bed, eating nothing but chocolate chips and staring at the pictures in his phone of the blue girl, and the contact labelled 'Juvia Lockser' which contained nothing but the name, a picture, and the nickname 'blue girl'. Some days he would just sleep.

After a few more dates, he coerced Juvia into bringing him to her house. He started sleeping over more often. Well, perhaps sleeping over was the wrong term, as the two didn't do much sleeping. Eventually Juvia let him move into her apartment for the rest of the summer. He wondered if this qualified her as his girlfriend. He found himself starting to dread the end of the summer with a passion.

His adoptive sister, Ultear, came back from America, where she had been studying at Harvard for two years now, to see him. She didn't yell at him, like Erza, Lyon, or Lucy, but she wasn't soft and gentle in her persuasions, like Wendy or Levy. She was stern with him, and he finally gave in and told her about the blue girl.

She seemed annoyed that a girl was the cause of this whole mope-fest, and said that if he didn't sign up for classes at the University of Liverpool next semester, she would personally stuff him in a suitcase, take him back to America with her, and force him into a college there. He reluctantly agreed. She stayed with him the next few weeks to make sure that he actually went to class, but had to leave eventually. That was when the slacking began.

He started asking her about her life after awhile. She answered all of his questions and asked him some as well. She told him a lot.

Her best friend was a man named Gajeel Redfox. She usually shared the apartment with him and his cat Pantherlily, but he had gone to Liverpool for the summer. Gray had laughed and told her that that was where he was from.

She came from a middle class family, and had grown up in Manchester. The whole family had moved to London when her older brother had gotten into the University of London. When he asked what her family was like, she said that her mother and brother were very sweet. She said nothing of her father. He didn't ask about him.

She loved the rain that was so very common in England. She was a fan of the football team Manchester United. Her second favorite color (after blue of course) was yellow. Her lucky number was four (the same amount of letters, she remarked, that were in his name). She referred to herself in the third person and had always been teased about it. She hadn't really minded the teasing though. She was going to attend the University of London alongside her brother this year, even though she really wanted to go to the University of Liverpool now that Gajeel was most likely staying there.

He listened to everything she told him. He wanted to know everything about Juvia Lockser. He found himself getting attached to her. He worried.

He only signed up for two classes that semester. General Maths and Advanced Geometry, both because he had always dreamed of becoming an architect, something he had told the blue girl when she asked about him and his life. He only barely passed either class.

Ultear was not pleased. She made him promise to sign up for at least four classes next semester, hopefully more. He really didn't want to, but he also really didn't want to anger Ultear. He chose two more classes.

"Gray-sama!" The blue girl exclaimed as she saw him sitting at the counter of the bar. "You haven't been here that much since you moved in."

"I was in the mood for a drink. And I wanted to see my Juvia." He said, smiling and winking at her as she set his usual drink down.

"Well Juvia thinks that if Gray-sama missed her, it's pretty silly. You see her nearly every second of the day. Although, she supposes it isn't that bad that you came to see her." Juvia said, smiling at him before turning away to serve another customer.

"Why do you call me -sama?" He asked when she came back and took his empty mug.

"It's a Japanese honorific for those one truly respects and admires. Juvia's mother came from Japan and taught Juvia these things. One calls close female friends -chan, and close male friends -kun, and-"

"I'd rather you didn't call me that, Ju."

"What? Why?"

"Because I don't want to just be respected, or just be admired by you. I want to be loved and appreciated and all these other good things and holy crap that was pretty damn cheesy."

"And eloquent."

"Really?"

"Yes, Gray."

He got better marks that third semester. The second he finished the school year he was scouring the internet for the cheapest possible plane ticket to London. He had found a fantastic deal and was about to pay when he got the call from Ultear.

"Gray Fullbuster if you are on your computer looking for a plane ticket to London you'd better damn well cancel your purchase because you are not going off to see this blue girl until you are finished college and have passed and gotten a good job. Then you can mope about or run off with your fantasy girl all you want, but this summer you are coming to Boston where I can look after you!"

He swore at her and yelled and was basically kicking and screaming about the whole affair, but she calmly told him to get packed because she had already bought both him and Lyon tickets to come visit her and that he had absolutely no say in the matter because she was going to make Lyon pick him up the day of the flight and, if need be, tie him up and force him onto the plane. He knew that both Ultear and Lyon were crazy enough to do it. He reluctantly agreed.

It was his last day in London when he figured out just how in love with Juvia he was. It was as she was helping him pack to go home that he realized that he didn't want to leave her. It was as they silently drove to the airport that he discovered that he wanted nothing more than to stay by her side. At the airport, he told her that he loved her. He kissed her like he had never kissed anyone, and she practically had to push him to the terminal where he had to wait.

It was only after she left that he realized he didn't have her phone number, or her email address, or anything. It was only after she left that he had to come to terms with the fact that he may never see her again. It was only after she left that he realized how impossible it would be to go on without her.

The day before he was scheduled to leave for Boston, someone moved into an apartment in the building next to his. Levy came by that day. She said that the one moving in was a man she had met last summer. He was moving in with his cat and his best friend. His name was Gajeel Redfox.

He practically flew to the apartment next door. He was dashing up the stairs (the damn elevator was broken) when he collided with someone. He stood and reached out a hand to help the woman up and apologize, but he nearly fell again when he saw who it was he had just ran into.

"Juvia!" He shouted, then pulled her up and wrapped her in a tight hug.

"G-Gray?" She asked. He answered by kissing her.

He was eight years old when he went to see his first real live football game. It was happening in Manchester, and he had convinced Ur to take him and his siblings to see Liverpool play. He was dashing up to his seat, Ultear, Lyon, and Ur all far behind him, when he collided with someone. He stood and reached out a hand to help the little girl up and apologize.

"Sorry. I'm really excited to see the game and I want to get to my seat. I didn't see you." He said.

"It's okay." The girl had strange blue hair and blue eyes to match.

"Who are you rooting for in the game?"

"Manchester, of course."

"What? Liverpool's so much better!"

"Manchester is much better than Liverpool!"

"Hmph. We'll see about that."

"Hmph."

The two stormed away from each other, hatred growing even though Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser didn't even know each other.

today,

I'm seven thousand miles away,

the movie playing in my head

of her king-size bed

means I can't forget my English love affair

Just imagine Gray with an English accent. *swoon* Hope you enjoyed!

~mk