A/N: I'm the worst, sorry. I just saw the prompt on Tumblr and got really inspired for no reason at all so here goes. Also this is kind of crap so...

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is not owned by me.

Prompt: "I know I keep coming to the cookie shop and for some reason it's always your shift but don't you dare judge me I need these for my sanity."

Lucy mentally cursed herself the moment she entered the store. It was becoming a habit – a ridiculous habit, but she couldn't help herself. With exams right around the corner and realizing how far behind she was on the syllabus, she grew more and more tensed every passing day. The stress was killing her and the only thing that could calm her down was going on a bit of a sugar rush. She knew she shouldn't, but was it really her fault? Why was there a cookie shop right across the street from her rented apartment in the first place? Didn't the owners know how gullible and naïve she was, how she could give into temptation so easily? It wasn't her fault; it was a ploy.

The same thing happened every time her final exams came around. She would suddenly panic and make terrible decisions. Last year, she bought a llama for no reason at her. She was convinced that wasn't her fault either; why did her father give her such a huge allowance? It was almost like he planned the whole thing!

As she stood in the queue, she started mentally chanting, healthy choices, healthy choices, healthy choices. She had to get a grip of herself instead of letting herself cave in to these temptations. But the moment she made the mistake of looking around, she saw a young girl of her age devouring those absolutely rich and delicious-looking chocolate chip cookies like they were the best thing she had ever tasted in her life. Almost immediately, Lucy felt her lose control of herself as she gave in to her innermost desires.

As the queue cleared up and it was finally her turn to order, Lucy faced the employee behind the counter and, once again, cursed herself. "Oh God," she muttered under her breath.

He could only look at her, amused, and unfortunately made the mistake of flashing her a cheeky smile. Lucy felt like she could kill him at that moment. "Well," he dragged the word on, clearly enjoying this. "Welcome back, miss."

"Stop it," Lucy said through clenched teeth, growing more and more annoyed at him by each passing second. She didn't understand why she was being punished like this. Was it necessary for her to come in every time it was his shift? He probably thought she was some kind of lunatic.

"Stop what?" he asked her, the smile still on his face. Lucy felt like she could punch him for that.

"Stop… uh… that," she said, unable to think of anything, and it only made his smile grow wider. The frustration was killing her. "Look, I know it's like my fiftieth or something visit this week but don't judge me, okay? I'm not crazy, I promise. You don't know how hard it is. I have exams in less than a month and I know nothing; absolutely nothing. I can't even believe it myself. I mean, I never considered myself a top-of-the-class, A+ student, but I was still kind of average, right? Yet now I'm failing. Look at that! Also, it doesn't help that Erza and Levy are all just so… well, excellent. Like, they're doing so well despite having so many responsibilities. Levy has that book club going on and Erza runs so many things that I lost count. Even Mira is a teacher's assistant, with so much on her shoulders, yet she's doing great. So why am I the only one who's so far behind? You know what? I think it's a scheme. Yeah, it's probably because that professor doesn't even like me so he is deliberately making me fail. Why should I even try, then? I should just give up. I should just drop out, you know? Sometimes I feel like I should, but I can't. Mom will be so disappointed, and she's done so much to always help me. I know she wants my best and will support my decision but… she'll still be a little disappointed in me. And I can't see that. I don't want to hurt when she's always been the only person who's always – and I mean always – stood beside me. She means too much to me for me to even… you… you get what I mean? So all I can really do is just try my best, and for that I need to stay calm. And these delicious baked goods make me calm, so just hurry up and take my order."

Lucy breathed heavily after her mini rant and closed her eyes for a few seconds, certain that she had just embarrassed herself even more. When she looked back up, he was still smiling, but it didn't annoy her anymore. He didn't look like he was making fun of her, the smile was… genuine, and it somehow made her feel just a little better. "Forty eighth," he simply said, leaving her confused.

"Huh?"

"It's your forty eighth visit this week," he told her, and she didn't know how to feel about that. Was he really counting, and why would he even do that? She didn't know whether to be flattered or freaked out. "What would you like to order?"

"Um – I… peanut butter fudge cookies," she nervously said, still a little shaken, and he went back to fetch her food. After the while, he returned with the package and she made the payment.

"Have a good day," he said, smiling at her, and Lucy didn't know why she felt her heart flutter. She felt like kicking herself – she was annoyed at this guy just a second ago, and now she started liking him? That was just absurd, but she couldn't deny the fact that he was, maybe, just a tiny bit… cute?

"Um, thank you…" she squinted to read his name tag, "G-gray."

Gray simply smiled at his secret crush as he watched her leave. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he couldn't wait till she made her forty ninth visit this week. Perhaps that was why he had started working full-time ever since her first visit to the store.