Mizu-chan- Yay! Graylu week is finally here! And never again am I going to put off writing stories saying I 'have plenty of time left!' Word of caution: Don't ever do that. You will look like L from Death Note if you did what I did! Jeez, I look like a vampire! I'm all gray and I have freaking black holes under my eyes and-

*cough*

Okay. I'm done griping about myself now. Here is the first story for Graylu week! Just sos you knows, I've never done Graylu week before, or anything like it, sooo... yeah, my stories are probably gonna suck. I'm sorry! T^T But you have been warned, so don't say I didn't tell you!

Please go easy on me...

Okay bai!

Cold

Lucy sneezed and rubbed her arms as we walked through the cold forest landscape. I paused and let Erza, Natsu and Happy go ahead of me as I dropped back to walk beside her.

"Cold?"

She glared at me and my mocking tone, but she ruined her death stare by sneezing again.

'She has such a cute sneeze! Geez, are all girls like that?'

"What are you staring at, Gray?" Her voice cut into my thoughts and I turned away, my cheeks heating up.

"N-nothing. You uh... you had a bug in your hair and it was interesting."

"There aren't any bugs out in this cold weather."

"R-really? I could've sworn there was a bug!"

"There was no bug, Gray, you were staring at me."

"There was totally a bug in your hair."

"Even if there was a bug in my hair, you wouldn't have that dreamy smirk on your face if you had found it 'interesting.'"

I felt my blush go darker.

"H-how would you know? Maybe I have a thing for bugs!"

"Pfft!"

I stopped and waited for Lucy as she laughed, doubled over and clutching her mid-section. She finally calmed down and walked the few steps over to me, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"S-sorry..." She giggled. I grinned and whacked her gently upside the head.

"Shut up!" I joked. She smiled, and sneezed again. As I watched, a shiver ran through her body, and I could see goose flesh rising on her arms.

'She must be really cold. Is it really that freezing here? Huh, well, I wouldn't know, I'm an Ice Mage... now, if it were hot...'

"How far are we from the hotel, guys?" Lucy shouted to Erza and Natsu, who were walking a few yards in front of us. Erza looked back and answered.

"According to this map, we've only got a short ways to go. If we go fast, we'll be there in no time."

Natsu looked over his shoulder and said,

"Hang in there, Luce!"

"Go Lucy!" Happy cheered.

I sweat dropped and turned my head away, silently fuming. He always called her Luce so easily, so casually! If I ever tried that, no doubt I'd get kicked into a wall.

However.

There were no walls here to be kicked into, and even if she did kick me through one of these trees, it'd blow over in a few minutes, at the very most, ten minutes.

"Gray? Are you okay? You seem kinda... dazed." I looked at her. Her head was cocked to the side, and her hair swished around her shoulders as she walked. It looked quite a bit shorter than it was a few days ago, when I'd last seen her. I'd been gone for a solo mission, and when I'd come back, they'd dragged me out on another one.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you get a haircut?" I asked her. She smiled widely, her eyes lighting up.

"Y-yeah, I did! It was just getting too long, it was becoming a pain to brush it out every morning so... yeah. Thanks for noticing though!" I smiled back at her.

"It looks nice, Luce!" I went red as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I did not mean to call her that! Okay, maybe I did subconsciously, but I would never have said it aloud! I mean-

"D-d-did you just call me 'Luce'?" She stuttered.

I turned towards her, mouth open to deny it, but of course I'd said it! And there's many things Gray Fullbuster is, but one of them isn't a liar.

She was blushing heavily despite the cold, and her eyes were wider than normal. She was gaping.

"Ah-ah- y-y-y-yeah... sh-should I n-not have said th-that?" I stammered, making even more of a fool of myself.

'Dammit, Gray, get a hold of yourself!'

"N-no... it feels nice when you call me that! It's as if you've been calling me Lucy-san and all of the sudden, you're calling me Lu-chan! I-it... it's nice..." I stared, and there was a moment of awkward silence between us, in which Lucy shivered violently. I noticed this, along with the blue-ing of her lips, and, ever so slowly, I hesitantly wrapped my arm around her and pulled her against me.

"H-huh?! G-G-Gray, what-"

"Sh-shush, I'm just trying to keep you warm! I'm sorry I don't have my jacket, I would've given that to you, but I lost it along the way and-" I was cut off by her finger on my lips. She giggled.

"It's okay, Gray! Thank you, you're warm." It was my turn to shiver, but it definitely wasn't because of the cold weather.

"N-n-n-no problem, Luce."

We walked like that for a while, and when we finally got to the inn, I let go. I immediately missed the warmth of her body, and so did she, apparently. She inched sideways over to me as we waited in the lobby. The attendant hadn't yet come to the desk, so Erza waited by the reception desk, Natsu and Happy were snoring on one of the couches, and Lucy and I sat next to each other on an empty seat.

She pressed up against me and put her hand over mine. I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not, but she didn't take it away, and I really didn't care if she did. In fact, if she had taken it away, I probably would've taken hers instead. She sighed.

"It's still cold. Why don't they have a heater."

"Natsu's enough of a heater... we'll probably all broil to death in our sleep."

She laughed softly and I relaxed. Then it dawned on me. Natsu was so much warmer than me, (physically and mentally) so why was she clinging to me for warmth? Not that I was complaining, but still.

"Gray? Is something wrong?" I jumped.

"A-ah, no, it's nothing. I'm just tired and a bit high-strung from that mission." She nodded and snuggled closer to me. I tried to keep from squirming, but a tight, twisted feeling in the base of my stomach was growing, and whatever the strange creature was, it was now reaching it's arms up towards my chest, squeezing my lungs and leaving me breathless.

"Hey, Gray? Can you come to my room tonight? I-I-I need to... I need to tell you... something..." My breath hitched in my throat. I coughed.

"S-sure. Wha-what time?"

She looked away, blushing a deep red.

"H-how about at nine?"

I nodded, and my heart pounded in my chest, sometimes missing a beat.

"Okay everyone, we've got our rooms. Lucy will have her own room, as she requested, and I'll be sleeping in the same room as Gray and Natsu... I don't want a fight breaking out." Erza called from the front of the lobby. I stood up and stretched before helping Lucy up. I was well aware of how close we were as we walked up to our rooms, and I was also well aware of the fact that Happy was wiggling his stupid little cat eyebrows at us. I glared at him and he shrugged, a smug look on his face before he flew over to Natsu and landed on the Dragon Slayers shoulder.

We got to our rooms and separated. I looked over at Lucy before going into my room, and I caught her staring at me. She gasped, blushed, and ducked into her room, steam billowing off of her head. I grinned and closed the door behind me.

I lay down in my bed and pretended to fall asleep until I heard the snores of Natsu and Happy filling the room. When I was sure everyone else was asleep, I glanced at the clock.

'8:50... I doubt she'll mind if I'm ten minutes early...' I mused as I silently got up from my bad and shuffled across the floor. A board creaked and Erza stirred, but she didn't wake, thankfully. I opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and gently closed it behind me. I breathed a sigh of relief and walked two doors down to number thirty four. I took a deep breath and knocked quietly.

After a moment, I heard a scuffle inside the room and then the soft click of the door unlocking.

Lucy stood in front of me, wearing a pair of baggy pajama bottoms and a tight satin night shirt. Her hair was slightly mussed up, and she was holding a hair brush as if she was just about to brush her golden locks.

"Y-you're here early!" She stated, looking a little bewildered. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and flashed her a half-smile.

"I-I was curious about what you wanted to say so... I came over a few minutes early. It's okay, right?" I asked, a little worried. She blinked and nodded before stepping aside to let me in.

"Y-yeah, it's fine. You don't mind if I brush my hair while you're here, right?" I shook my head and touched her shoulder.

"Why would I mind?" I assured her that it was, indeed, perfectly fine to brush her hair in my presence. In fact, it was more than fine. I loved the way that her hair spilled over her skin, like the sun had decided that it needed a new home. And the sun definitely showed in Lucy. The color of her hair, the ways her eyes glowed with happiness and warmth, the way her skin shone like silk. I shook my head wildly and silently thanked whatever gods were there that she hadn't seen me gawking at her.

She sat down in a chair next to the bed, and I chose to sit down on the bouncy matress. She was just finishing brushing out her hair, and I was happy to just watch her do so. Then, after a few minutes of silence, she set the brush down on the night table and looked at me. She was biting her lip and a light pink tint colored her perfect cheeks.

'She's so cute...' I thought to myself. I knew that I was grinning like an idiot, but you know, I didn't care. Worst comes to worst, I'd pass it off as being delirious from no sleep.

She opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it. She took a deep breath of air and coughed.

"S-sorry... I just can't get the words out."

I blinked. What did she want to say that was so hard to say?

Then it hit me.

I blushed. Was... was this a confession? Oh gods, please let this be a confession!

I scooted closer and patted the bed beside me. After a moments hesitation, she got up and sat down down next to me. I absentmindedly stroked her back, and it seemed to be calming her down. The only thing was, I could literally feel her pulse beating faster then a cheetah.

"Hey, calm down. You don't have to rush anything, we've got all night."

She shook her head.

"Y-you don't understand. I haven't been able to calm down for weeks... I don't know what's happening to me, Gray! It's starting to smother me..." I frowned and my brow creased. That did not sound like a confession of love to me.

"What's up? Has something been happening to you?" I inquired, worried.

She stared up into my eyes, as if she was looking into my soul. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach coming back. She sighed.

"Should I just say it all at once?" She asked, almost to herself. I nodded.

"If that feels like it would work, then go ahead. But take your time." Whatever she was going to say, it sounded like it was important.

She inhaled, turned away and murmured something that I couldn't hear. I raised an eyebrow.

"What was that?"

"I said I love you!"

.

.

.

That little monster inside of me clutched at my heart triumphantly, and I couldn't move. My jaw had gone slack, and I was gaping at her. She still had her head turned the other way, so I couldn't see her face.

"Seriously?" I asked, dumbfounded. She nodded. Her hands had flown up to her face right after she'd spoken, and she was hiding behind them. I leaned forward, my heart-rate quickening.

"You-your not just messing with me, right?" I pushed. She shook her head no this time. I laughed, but clenched my mouth shut. I could feel my joy rising up inside of me, causing that soft, unknown-to-others part of me to come out, as if someone had opened the flood gates. I was ridiculous with happiness. I grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to look at me.

Her beautiful brown eyes were wide with shock, and she looked a bit hurt, but that faded away as soon as I wrapped my arms around her. She must've thought that my laughter was because she sounded stupid. Not that she had, not at all. I grinned and hugged her tighter. I felt her slender, warm arms embrace me back.

"I-I'm honestly not sure how long I've waited for you to say that!" I crowed, my heart fluttering as she giggled.

"S-so you-" She started. I pulled back and smiled at her.

"I love you too, Lucy! I-I-I-" I shook my head.

"I really don't have any other words to describe how much I love you!" I clapped my hands over my mouth as soon as the sentence had left my lips, realizing how corny and mushy that sounded. Lucy, however, didn't seem to think that at all, and she touched my face gently. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine in a short, momentary kiss before her hands went to her lap and she twiddled her thumbs, looking away while blushing furiously.

I touched my lips, wide eyed, and looked at her. I snorted. She was shivering again. I hugged her again and lay her down on the bed. She turned pink.

"H-huh?" She murmured. I lay down next to her and wrapped my arms around her thin waist. I breathed in the scent of her hair and kissed the back of her neck.

"G-Gray? What are you-"

"You're cold still, aren't you? I suggest you pull the blankets up, it might help a bit." I muttered, grinning. I couldn't see it, but I was sure she was smiling too. She pulled the blankets up and onto herself before rolling over so she could look at me.

"Thank you, Gray..." She sighed as I pulled her closer. She even felt cold. I shook my head.

"It's nothing... how about we just go to sleep? We've got a long walk tomorrow and-" I stopped short, reached up, and grabbed something from off of her head. She looked at me curiously as I started laughing raucously.

"What is it?" She asked, looking a bit startled. I opened my hand and let the small, green beetle fly off to the other side of the room.

"Nothing. There was just a bug in your hair."