a/n: drum roll, pleeeaassee
i'm joking there might not be much of anything exciting for this chapter, except for maybe the ending butwhoamitosayanything. i have not written anything remotely decent since exams started a many moths ago, and i've started my 16 hour school days with saturday as my only day off, so i am very rusty.

i am very sorry for taking so long to update. i have not given up, though. chapter 10! ( it's a filler chapter hhhh )

Touch

Chapter Ten

The irritated sheriff exhaled through his nostrils before a sharp curse slipped through his gritted teeth, his eyes narrowed down to his cellular device in his palm that was currently sounding a voicemail.

"What is that moron doing that he can't pick up his damned phone?" He practically growled, tapping his screen to end the call before he tossed his phone into the driver's seat of his car. There were a few moments of pause as he watched the rushing streets of people and traffic as they made their ways left and right before he twisted around and grabbed the device again.

The call ringed about three times before it was forwarded to voicemail, and the man almost tossed the phone across the street into the coffee building that was directly across from his standing point. But instead, taking a slow, deep breath, he hung up the call and dropped it back into the seat.

"And to think I was going to be considerate." Gray muttered and crossed his arms, resuming his job position and monitoring the street. He had some updated information on Natsu's seating and court date with the judge, but since Natsu has ignored his calls, the info will have to wait another day.

Gray sighed and looked up to the dark sky, squinting his eyes just a tad to make out the little specks of white dotting around in the dark blue haze. It was a rather cloudy night, he thought, but it was hard to make out the white and grey puffs of air and water with the city lights blaring all around him. It had to of been going on around midnight by now, he concluded, looking back down to level and eyeing the amount of people and cars still cluttering the area. He was tired, but he didn't get to go home for another few hours.

Looking at his watch has become a habit of boredom he does to get a few seconds of distraction, but this had to of been the seventh time in last five minutes he has looked at it. The hour stayed the same, and he feels that if he kept taking glances, the seconds would become drastically slower just to torment him.

But just before he lowered his wrist back down to his waste, he noticed a drop of water tap against the top of his hand, right by his knuckle. His eyes squinted back up towards the sky again just as a coat of rain started pouring down on the city. The sound of the already rushing crows rushing faster erupted and mixed in with the sound of the down pour just as many people barely managed to get their umbrellas out.

Grey dropped his head to the ground in front of him, bit the inside of his lip, and sighed. His hair and uniform were quickly starting to stick to his skin, but he was a little grateful to the coat he was wearing. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing at all. He was one of the unfortunate people in the rain without an umbrella, and due to his job right now, he has no choice but to stand in it. He supposed he could patrol from the inside of his car, but he figured since he was already out here and wet, for the time being, he'll wait.

He turned, wiping some water from his face, and opened his car door just slightly, just enough to roll his window up to keep the water from going onto his seat and grabbed his water bottle before slamming the door shut. He took a few gulps before shoving the container in his right coat pocket and leaned back against his curser, absently spitting water from his lips.

"Oi! Get outta the street! What are you, crazy?!" The sound of a hollering cab driver and a car horn made the police man snap his head up to the street where a woman can be seen slowly walking into traffic, holding a bright purple umbrella in her hands. Gray gasped and quickly pushed himself off his car and sprinted towards the street, carefully navigating himself through the large groups of people. He stopped at the end of the sidewalk where it cuts off into street as a few cars sped passed and around the woman currently standing in the middle.

The purple shade was slowly lifted to reveal the light blue scrubs the woman was wearing. Gray locked his eyes on her face as the umbrella was moved up from shielding it, watching her wavy aquamarine hair that went medium length came into his view. Her eyes fluttered closed and lips parted as drops of rain started hitting her face, only to gently roll off.

He caught himself staring and was brought back by yet another car horn coming from an irritated driver, and quickly made his way into the street. He held his hands up to stop the cars and allow them to drive around the two of them as he now stood in front of the woman.

The sheriff put a gentle, but stern hand on the woman's arm, "Ma'am—ah, uh—Juvia, I'm going to have to ask you to get back on the sidewalk." He said, pitifully and awkwardly.

Juvia's eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice, and a "Sheriff Gray!" squeaked out from her throat. Her hands went her lips to silence herself for a moment before she squeaked again, and fumbled to get her umbrella over his head, "Sherriff Gray is all wet! D—Does he not—?"

"Don't worry about me, let's just get you out of the street," Gray moved his hand to her upper back and started guiding her back the sidewalk, holding his hand up to stop the cars and let them pass. From the corner of his eye, he can see the flushed expression she was making, pressing her palm to her cheek and keeping her eyes on their feet. Once they made out of the street and by his car, Gray leaned down to level their height and narrowed his eyes at her face, noting how she was now avoiding eye contact with him, "What were doing walking into the middle of a busy street?"

"J—Juvia didn't—"

"Yes you did."

"No! Juvia did no—"

"I watched you."

Gray clicked his tongue and moved her umbrella back up to uncover her face as she unconsciously lowered it. He moved so he could meet her straying gaze.

"Sheriff Gray is soaked," Juvia mumbled, moving her umbrella back over his head.

Gray nodded, "I'm aware," He snickered and ducked out from under the covering and shook his hair out, "That is why you should not worry about putting an umbrella over me—it's kind of too late."

"Sheriff Gray will get sick if he stays like that." He could practically feel the worry in her voice.

Gray smiled and shook his head, turning to the side, missing the sound of her umbrella being closed and clasped shut, "You still haven't answered my question as to why—"

"Juvia loves the rain." Gray turned back with a brow raised and nearly sputtered when he noticed she had closed her umbrella was and currently now nearly as soaked as he was.

"Hey! Hey! You're getting wet! What are you doing?" Gray asked, reaching for her umbrella to open it. Was this woman really crazy? She'll get sick!

It was once he finally managed to get a hold of her umbrella and open it over her head, did he finally lay eyes on the warming smile that was stretched on her lips. He became still and allowed her to reach up and adjust the umbrella over his head. Juvia's cheeks were still flushed a healthy red and there was a gleeful gleam in her eyes when she looked up to him.

"Now Sheriff Gray won't get wet anymore," Juvia smiled a little wider.

He had never seen her smile before. Every time he was at the hospital with Lucy, she was always hiding behind something or watching from afar, and would jump and back away if he so much as looked at her.

"Heh," Gray grinned and straightened his back, taking the umbrella in his hands and held it above the both of them, "let's go get you dried off, Nurse Juvia." His hand found its way back to her upper back and he guided her to the cross walk, with Juvia sputtering a 'a—a—a date with Sheriff Gray?'.

So even upon the gloomy and irritated faces in the crowd, there was such a smile in the rain?

"GRAY!" Erza came busting through the office doors and immediately started looking around for the raven-haired male. She had already checked half the office doors before seeing a frightened stiff blue-haired sheriff standing in the doorway, coffee mug held half-way to his mouth, eyes wide.

A hot blush surfaced on her cheeks at the man's previous words 'you're the devil' came back to her the last time she acted a ruckus in front of him. She relaxed herself and took a deep breath, then turned on her heel to point her back towards the man.

"Gray?" She questioned, feeling her voice go uneven at the end.

She heard the man step farther into the room and set his mug down on one of the desks.

"Gray is on patrol up the road. He won't be back for another few hours," Jellal explained, clearing his throat a moment later, "Can I, uh, help you with anything? Like, um, give him a message when he comes back?"

Erza smiled a little at his shy tone and turned her head over her shoulder to face him, "Just tell him to contact me as soon as possible." The man nodded and step forward just as she took a step towards the door, motioning that he will escort her out, but they both stopped at the door as she opened it.

"How long have you been on the force, Jellal?" Erza asked stepping outside and opening her umbrella. Jellal followed her out and pulled the office door shut behind him, and walked up beside her.

"A few years, but I'm still rather new to this city," He chuckled, "How long have you been a lawyer, ma'am?"

"A few years, as well," She smiled. She enjoyed small talk.

Erza turned to the sidewalk, but did not move. Jellal could see her hesitation and leaned towards her in worry, and she felt his curious eyes on the side of her head. In truth, she had a feeling of not wanting to leave just yet. She wanted to talk more to him and, just perhaps, lift the 'devil' nickname that he set upon her just a few months back.

Her teeth scrapped against the skin of her lip nervously as the seconds passed before she saw him move closer to her from the corner of her eye. Before he could open his mouth and voice his question, Erza spun back around, surprising him.

When no words came out of her gapping mouth, Jellal let out another warm chuckle before he asked, "Would you like to come back inside, Ms. Scarlet?"

Erza, relieved, nodded and folded her umbrella, and smiled as she followed him back inside. With full cups of coffee in both their hands, a loving and shy laughter, the rain became a soothing background noise for the red-haired lawyer and the police man.

"Fuckin' Natsu and his fuckin' cat," Gajeel stomped out the doors of the supermarket with a scowl on his face, two bags of cat liter and food under both his arms, "Why can't he go shoppin' for that piss bag himself?!" He grumbled louder, recalling the memory at finding the said man's cat squatting on his tool case. "That's gonna take days to clean!" The man yelled his feet.

"Um—!" A small voice along with soft, quick footsteps behind him sounded, but he was too caught up in his angry rambling to notice.

"I'm gonna kick that bastard tomorrow morning when I see him! He better of taken that damned blue cat home!" Gajeel yelled, tossing both the bags in the backseat of his truck, "So sick of cleaning up cat shit!

"Hey! Gajee—"

"Gonna kill them both if I see one more pile of crap on my stuff—Ooph!?" Gajeel' face squished up against his truck winder as a small figure collided and grabbed onto the back of him.

"Ga—Gajeel!" A woman's voice entered his ears before he could spin around and sack who or whatever pushed him. The long-haired male turned and lifted a studded brow and looked down to the to find a rather wet, short blue blob holding on to the back of his shirt.

He puckered his bottom lip out, knowing this could only be one person.

"Shorty?" He questioned, feeling the woman stiffen.

"Keys . . ." Levy mumbled, holding up a clutter of keys in her left hand a moment later, "You dropped your keys at the checkout counter," She looked up from her postion against his back and let out a puff of air, still trying to catch her breath. At this point, the both of them had a fair amount of water dripping down their faces and damping their clothing.

Gajeel furrowed his brows and slapped both his hands against his pockets and belt, now confirming that he did indeed drop his keys without realizing.

"Thanks, shrimp," Gajeel plucked the set of keys from her small fingers and twirled them around his finger, then proceeding to walk around his vehicle to the drivers side, "Oi!" He called to her just as she turned to walk away.

"H—Huh?" Levy jumped, nearly falling over as her bag of store-bought items fell to the fold of her arm.

"Did ya walk here?" Gajeel asked, unlocking and opening his car door.

"Yes. I got off my shift a half hour ago . . " Levy replied quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.

Gajeel nodded and nudged his head towards the car and muttered a 'it's unlocked' before he ducked down into his seat. Levy brightened up and practically hopped towards the passenger side and climbed in, setting her things in her lap and wrapping the seat belt around her tiny frame.

"We're both rather wet!" Levy laughed, running a hand through her wet locks as Gajeel shook his head like a dog.

"We'll find somethin' dry for ya to wear at the fire house." Gajeel grinned as he pulled out from the parking space.

"T—The fire house?" Levy stammered, "Why are we going there?"

"Gihihi."

Natsu sighed tiredly as he forwarded another call from Gray on his phone and set it back on his bedside table. The room fell dark again with only the faint light coming in from his window to illuminate the dresser and bed in the room. He grumbled and dropped his arms over the side of his bed and looked up to the calendar he had marked up pinned to his wall above his desk.

Two more weeks.

Just two more weeks until he was back in the court room.

Two more weeks until this was all over.

He closed his eyes and sighed, still feeling a lack of energy from some previous events earlier in the night. It had started out normal when he came home from work. He stripped himself of his work clothes, showered, fed and took care of Happy, and found his place in the middle of his sofa with the television on.

That was until Lucy came knocking on his door with three bags of food handing off her arms. They talked, cooked, watched part of a movie, played with Happy, and then this and that happened.

Next thing they both knew, he was caring her into his bedroom by her waste and was kicking the door shut behind him. It became a passionate rest of the night, full of gasps and clumsy and loving laughter.

She had whispered something in ear at some point during it, but the strain in her voice that was mixed with soft moaning caused him to miss it. Natsu made a mental note to ask her about it tomorrow when he next saw her, and rolled over to his opposite side, shifting the blanket that covered the bare bottom half of his body, keeping the upper half uncovered.

He eyed the soft bums in the bed that clearly showed where her shoulders and waist laid. Lucy had the blanket curled up with her fingers to hide her chest, but one her legs laid out on top the blanket. Natsu reached his hand out and gently placed his fingers in her stray hair, softly tweezing and curling it.

Her face and breathing was soft in slumber, so he was careful not to wake her.

This feeling he felt right now, he couldn't really voice it well. It was a first, but he knows of it.

Natsu felt himself being lured into sleep by the sound of rain fall coming from the outside of his apartment, and allowed his eyes to fall shut.

It was a couple hours later he woke up to the beeping of his alarm clock. There was no one besides himself in his bed and a layer of dry smudged lip gloss on the corner of his mouth.

Natsu snorted and rubbed it off, and then scowled at the glitter on the palm of his hand. He shifted himself to the side of his bed in seated position, not paying much attention to the lack of clothing in his state. With a push, he stood up and stretched his limbs to the ceiling and made his way into his bathroom to shower to head to work.

He was out the door in less than 15 minutes, nearly slipping on his ass as he ran down the metal stairs to the sidewalk. He cursed at the puddles from last nights rain as he jogged himself to the fire house a few streets up, and barely dodged a punch from a rather angry Gajeel as he ducked into the garage.

"OI! I FOUND ANOTHER PILE OF YOUR CATS SHIT!" Gajeel yelled at his back as he ran up the stairs.

"It means he likes you!" Natsu laughed.

"I don't want his shit!" Gajeels voice became distant as Natsu rummaged through the kitchen and fridge for food. A few cold pizzas later, the fridge was closed and he found two figures standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Whaddya want?" Natsu said with a mouthful.

"I tried to contact you last night, so why didn't you pick up?" Gray asked, finding a seat at the table with Erza following suit.

"There was an update on your court date, Natsu," Erza said as she crossed her legs in a professional matter, "The date has been moved up."

"Why?" Natsu asked, sitting down between the two, "Why are they making it sooner?"

"There were some issues revolving around the date before yours, whose seating has been moved back, so the dates were switched," Erza explained, "Also, your probation officer will be assisting you and Lucy there as well."

Natsu groaned, but kept quiet.

"It smells like animal crap in here," Gray scrunched up his nose and looked around and under his shoes, making sure he didn't step in anything funky.

"I got a cat," Natsu said, laughing at the faint sounds of Gajeel yelling down in the garage, "He liked Gajeel."

The three of them jumped at the sudden sound of the fire alarm going off through out the building, and Natsu was the first to react on instinct and run towards the fire poles. He landed in a heap in the garage and sprinted to the wall to quickly slip on his gear and climb into the passenger side of the truck as the men started piling on.

Gajeel swung into the front seat in full uniform, and turned on his walky, but not forgetting to send a sharp punch into the salmon-haired man's arm. Natsu rolled his eyes and listened to the report and waited for the location to be given

"—a few miles up the highway, black smoke can be seen coming from the third floor—" Both men listened carefully, trying to make out the words through the static line.

"Magnolia Hospital is on fire, we're going to need backup up here right away."