Alright, I'm back. After billions of years. And I'm the one to blame to why this chapter's come out so early. Quite honestly, I don't really have an excuse besides pure laziness and the fact that I've been studying much harder lately. So go ahead and blame it on me. I agree.

But aside from that, IT'S GREAT TO BE BACK! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. The first half was written a while back, and just recently, I picked it back up again. So, you might feel a change in writing halfway through. Sorry about that. And also if you guys have requests, remember to comment what you would like to see happen!

I DO NOT OWN THE FAIRY TAIL CHARACTERS. They belong to Hiro Mashima. Macao would NEVER be that old if they were MY characters. And Gazille would've NEVER attacked Levy in the first place!

Grey's POV

First week into Fairy Tail. Two more weeks left. Swimming. Race. It was today.

I leapt up from the floor, pumped. I would definitely win this year. Natsu and Juvia had beat me last year. And the year before. Maybe even the year before that. But it didn't matter. I had the luck of Lucy beside me this year. From across the room, I saw her smile at me. She sat on the bed, barely paying attention to Loki, who was talking to her. I grinned back at her, excited.

"You ready to get dressed?" Gazille asked. I nodded to him, glancing back at Lucy before we left the room.

"What it's with you and Lucy?" he said while we walked along the gravel pathway to the locker rooms.

"Nothing. Does it seem like something?"

"Well, she slept next to you last night." he said, sounding a bit annoyed with me.

"Yeah, so? Natsu wasn't here last night, and Loki took the bed. I'm pretty sure she'd rather me than him."

"Yeah, but- I mean- Should you be doing that?" He persisted, now obviously irritated with me for some reason. I shook my head, confused. He shook his head in disappointment and then stared off to the right of me. I followed his eyes, and found a tattered, sweating, and tired looking Natsu running from the woods. He looked absolutely terrible. Dark circles wound around his eyes, and dust and dirt covered his body head to toe. He was slowing down to a jog, exhausted. He paused in front of us, panting.

"Where the hell have you been?" crowed Gazille, furious.

"Places." He panted.

"The race is in three hours! Have you even slept?"

"What does it look like?" He tried yelling back.

"We've all been worried. This is the second night you've done this!"

"Yeah, whatever. I've got to go." He trudged back to the cabin, looking even more terrible than before.

"That idiot! Where's he been?" He threw his hand in the air, and then returned his attention to me. "You. Me. Showers. Now." I groaned silently. If Gazille ever asked you to meet him in the showers, it almost always meant you had done something wrong.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I cringed as the boiling hot water hit my skin. I automatically twisted it to the far right, until the water was freezing cold. I ran my fingers through my hair, slicking it back. Gazille was in the stall next to me, letting lukewarm water run down his scarred body. He leaned against the wall separating us, letting the water wet his tremendously long hair. He hooked his arms over the wall and flashed his unusually sharp teeth at me.

"Alright Grey. I need to talk to you about a special someone." I scoffed, frowning at him.

"Lucy. What happened yesterday? Something must've happened. You guys are like this now." He said while crossing his fingers together. Sometimes, Gazille reminded me of girl trapped in a man's body. A rather monstrous man.

"It's nothing. We just have a lot more in common than you think. But if you're worried about that whole Natsu thing, I'm telling you now; I didn't d-"

"You really think I pulled the 'shower talk' on you for my money problem? I'm not that shallow. I only pull the 'shower talk' for two reasons, and my problems aren't one of them."

"Then why am I here, taking a shower, next to you?" I complained while squirting a dollop of shampoo into my palm.

"Why'd you offer your bed to Lucy last night?" He questioned again. He didn't bother to touch the shampoo. He grabbed a can of mysterious substance, and lathered it onto his head. I gave him an curious look, while he began to make different shapes with his hair.

"I told you. Loki took it!" I finally said.

"You were up all night talking. I could hear you."

"Yeah, so what?"

"Pretty interesting things you said. Too bad I had to leave." We both began to wash out the bubbles from our hair.

"Yeah, why'd you do that?"

"Someone needed help. But that's not what I want to talk about." He then stopped washing and looked at me fiercely.

"Yesterday. You were with Lucy. Wha'd you talk about, huh?" He growled. He seemed to be in a different mood now, and his tone of voice was much more serious. I scoffed and turned away.

"None of your business!"

"Hugged her, didn't you? Had a long conversation, right?"

"Why does it matter to you?" I barked.

"Because it's affecting someone!"

"You said Natsu didn't matter!" I yelled.

"NOT NATSU!" He roared, slamming his fist into the marble wall. A vein was pulsing at the top of his head, and even though wet through warm water, it looked as if steam was erupting from his body. He backed off, making us both go silent.

"Who- ?" Gazille shut his water off, and turned around, muttering to himself. He dried himself clean and mumbled more things under his breath as he put on his clothes. Finally, he turned back around.

"I've known her for forever. She has blue hair, large eyes, and talks weird. She wouldn't stop sobbing last night, so ol' Gazille here had to calm her down. Wouldn't stop rambling on about you and Lucy." He headed towards the exit, but stopped before going through. "And if you haven't put the pieces together yet, her name starts with 'J' and ends with 'uvia"

"Wait! Gazille! It's not what you think!" I called out. His answer was merely the slam of the door.

Gazille's POV

I couldn't believe it. Grey was that stupid. Not that I was surprised, but it was to a level of Natsu's stupidity. How could he had not known about her? I was already upset, taken that I hadn't seen Levy all morning or last night. It was terrible. How would I be able to get that copy of The Giver? How would I be able to stare at her with out her noticing? How would I be able to-

"Gazille? Where're you going?" I flinched in response. Not good. Loki stood in front of me, with arms full of books. He was struggling; obviously.

"Help?" He said through trembling teeth.

"Yeah." I grabbed nearly three fourths of the books and hefted them off of him. "Where to?" I asked.

"Library. The old one. We're restocking it. Levy's already started checking books out, and has read most of them." I felt my face heat up, and lifted the books up to cover it.

"Naturally, she heard Juvia has been having some trouble, and asked her to come along. I was there ten minutes ago. She seems better." I nodded, proud of her. We continued to walk, approaching the library. He gave me a worried look, and I happily opened it up for him.

"Loki! You've got them, right?" I heard Levy's voice ring through the abandoned library. It was mostly full, but there were still many places that had not been filled yet. She reached out to Loki, grabbing several of the books, and then placing them on the table. She caught sight of me, looking down quickly. I did the same.

"Over here, Gazille. We need to sort them." She chirped. I followed her orders and stood next to her. She threw me a sideways glance, and grabbed the nearest book.

"You know the Dewey Decimal System, right?"

"Yeah." I could only remember because of the time we had spent together in that library. She had to teach me over ten times until I finally got it. She held the book out to me.

"So you'll know where to put it." She said softly. I reached for it, but quickly recoiled as our hands touched.

"SO, WHERE'S JUVIA?" Loki crowed, butting in between us, completely ignorant of the mood of the room. She rolled her eyes and turned to him.

"If you really must know, she's in the bathroom. She's washing her face."

"Washing her face? Why..?" I drifted my sentence off, looking around. She flicked her eyes at a photo. I looked at it, and immediately recognized it. The photo was taken a year ago. In it, all of us stood next to each other. It was the last day, and Grey had lifted her onto his shoulders. She was spastic, and started to panic. She started grabbing his face, which was now a look of terror. Everyone was messing around too. Loki had tried grabbing Mira's breasts, which resulted in her slapping him; hard. I had pushed Macao to the ground, and he had landed on Cana. But in the far right corner, Elfman was staring daggers at Natsu. Lisanna had kissed him on the cheek, and his face hadn't been redder in his entire life.

"Of course." I swept away to the restroom, swinging open the door. Juvia was crouched up in the corner of a bathroom stall, only seeable if you crouched down to the floor to past the door.

"Juvia." I knocked lightly against the door, trying my best not to upset her.

"You can't be in here, Gazille." She said, trembling.

"I've been here before. Don't worry. I just want to talk."

"Go away. Juvia does not want to talk to anyone." I groaned, realizing that she had returned back to the way she talked before. Grey had really stomped on her.

"Please. I'm your best friend."

"No you're not. Lucy is. Or was."

"So that makes me number one again, right?" She stayed silent for a bit before replying.

"Juvia will open the door. But only for you." She creaked the door open, letting me slide in barely. Her creamed colored shirt was covered in dark blotches and dust. She swiped her hand under eyes.

"Gazille-san talked to him today, no?" She refused to look at me.

"I'm not talking about him with you. I'm here to talk about you. You shouldn't be like this. He isn't worth your tears." I sat down next to her, awkwardly. My built body didn't fit very well in the tiny stall.

"If he's going to do this to you, I don't think you should be here. Crying. You should be out there." I pointed to the exit. "Beating him in that race. I know you can do it, and I know you want to do it. You love the water."

"Juvia doesn't know if she can hold it in if she sees him there." She mumbled.

"Yes you can! You need to get angry! He promised that he was going to go on a date with you that day, and instead decided to ditch you for someone else!" I was almost yelling my words, alarming her.

"Juvia does not know…"

"What if he continues to do this? What if you never stand up to him? If not now, when will you?" I stood up, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Think about it." She stood up, wiping her tears. We were silent for most of it, but we just stood in front of each other. Some people might think it was awkward, or boring, but I found it quite peaceful, and right. Only the sound of a dripping pipe and her sniffles is all we heard; and that was fine. It was great. That's all we needed, and all we would ever need for this moment. It was weird to be in this situation. I mostly strayed away from this type of stuff, but this year was simply special; meaning that people would be going through changes; whether they be good or bad.

"Thank you, Gazille. You're right. I shouldn't be doing this." She hugged me, wiping her dark makeup on my white T-shirt. I sighed thankfully. She was back to her confident talking.

"Let's go. I need to get ready to beat him." She giggled, still wiping her face. Together, we walked out of the stall, where Levy and Loki stood waiting.

"She's better… I'm guessing?" Levy grinned, grabbing Juvia by the side.

"Yeah. She'd gonna race." I said. Juvia and I exchanged looks and laughed.

"You guys need to get ready. You guys aren't going to win just by standing there." Loki laughed.

Lisanna's POV

"Natsu…?" I crept into the boy's cabin. I'd only been here once or twice. But I came here to see Natsu; to make sure he was alright. I called for him again, but once again I didn't get a reply.

The entire room was filthy. I really had no idea how Lucy stayed in here. It was absolutely terrible, and I was fainting almost to the sight of rotten food and littered clothing.

"Lisanna? What're you doing here?" I spinned around to see Natsu coming into the cabin. He held his shirt in his hand, and was wiping it across his brow. He was covered in dirt, filth, and sweat.

"What're you doing in here? The race is in twenty minutes!" I exclaimed. He threw the shirt to the floor and headed to a bed.

"Not competing this year. I can barely move. I'll let Grey and Juvia win this year. Just once won't hurt me, right?" He fell onto his bed, rubbing his arms and bare back. "I feel terrible." I slowly made my way to him, and knelt down so I could talk to him. "You look terrible. Need any help?" He rolled across the bed, facing to the wall. "Nah. Just go on and leave me here. I need the rest.""But Natsu, you need some serious medical att-" "-Just leave, Lisanna." He was persistent, but I was just as stubborn.

"I'm not leaving until you let me help you a li-"

"-Lisanna, how man-" "-You might have a fever, or could be affected by P-"

"-I'm absolutely fine, so just leave me b-"

"-or I could treat your wounds, get you a cool towel-"

"LISANNA." I struck back, startled by his tone. He turned to face me, a mix of anger, tiredness, sadness, and disappointment plastered over his filthy face. "I really just need some time to think right now. I'm… confused about some stuff. More confused than I've ever been." I stood up, but automatically sat back right down as his face started to become gloomier and gloomier. That anger and tiredness I had seen before had disappeared and was now replaced with depression. His normal bright eyes were duller, and he laid back down, facing to the ceiling, or the bottom of the top bunk.

"As you can see, Lisanna… I'm just.. not in the mood. I saw some things… and I feel… a little betrayed." I stayed silent, and let him be sad for a while, listening to him intently. "Have you ever met someone, who just… sparkled to you? Like, you looked at them once, and you automatically felt dizzy and saw stars? Made your stomach churn and your heart start racing?" I whispered a 'yes' in reply, looking to him longingly as he kept on going.

"A bit like love at first sight… Except, you don't fall in love with their appearance at first, but by their personality… or by a punch in the face?" He chuckled at his comment and shook his head, sighing. "Of course." I softly put a hand on his arm and traced my fingers along his blue veins. 'Of course, Natsu. Of course I have.' I wanted to say. 'I feel that way about you every time I look at you. You make me elated. You make me feel euphoric. Like, I'm full of vivacious life.' I wanted to tell him about it all. About how I only came to the grounds to see him. How I was super jealous of Lucy. How I'd wanted to be by his side since forever. How I wanted him forever.

"And with each passing day, you start to feel like you're getting closer to that someone, and for once in your life, you feel really happy at where you are in life because of this person?" He hesitated.

"Then, out of nowhere, it all comes crashing down… when you find that they love someone else? Or at least they're interested in someone else? Someone a bit close to you? And you try not to believe it, but you see the evidence and the evidence yourself?" I swallowed my words and nodded, as he looked up at me. I forced a smile on my face as my heart wrenched to break in half.

"You know, last night, I stayed up so I could make something for someone. I ran for nearly two miles just to get to the location, stayed up all night to construct something, and ran back, so I could get some rest. I'm making something for them. So maybe, they'll reconsider. But I don't really see any use in it. It's a bit pointless if she doesn't care."

Seconds past. Then minutes. Then what felt like hours. I finally plucked up the courage to say something.

"That doesn't mean you should give up though." I said. "Just because there's another person in the picture doesn't mean you can't try to grab what your heart wants. And maybe she does care. But you just don't know it. Maybe, she feels the same way." He sat up, looking to me. His eyes were still dull, and he still seemed a bit upset, but I could tell he was better. "Thanks Lisanna." He smiled a bit and leaned over, hugging me tight. I wrapped my arms around his bare body, cradling in his warmth. He let go. "It's just what I wanted to hear." He fell back down and rolled onto his stomach. "Now if you don't mind, I'm exhausted. And I really need some sleep." he murmured, muffled by the pillow and sheets. I didn't want to leave, but I nodded again and walked to the exit, glad that we'd had this talk, although a bit one-sided about this girl that he was in love with.

Juvia's POV

I held the golden trophy up high, smiling as wide as I could as Elfman and Macao hoisted me onto their shoulders. I was showered with high fives, congratulations, and air kisses as the crowd cheered for my success. Third year in a row. A new record in the books. I laughed and giggled as I shook my head, releasing water onto everyone. "Third year!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, over the cheers and yells of everyone else. It was all so surreal. The trophy, the happiness, the love from everyone else. Nothing could change my mood. Except him.

"Thanks, guys." I leapt off of their shoulders and strolled on over to the poolside, grabbing my t-shirt I'd abandoned before. The crowd of counselors, cabin mates, and friends slowly dispersed to eat lunch, leaving me and a few others left behind. I pulled the shirt over my head, and grabbed my trophy, ready to leave.

"Congrats." I cringed at the words, automatically recognizing the voice. I quickly and swiftly turned around to face Grey and put on a fake smile. "Thanks. Maybe next year for you, right?" I smirked and strut my way to the exit.

"Wait! Juvia!" He caught up to me, and I frowned in response. "Want a celebratory dinner? Or lunch?" His smile was genuine, but that still didn't change the fact that I was upset with him.

"No thanks. Gazille and I are planning on going out to eat dinner tonight, and I'm eating lunch with the girls." He looked confused, but I remained to keep my head held high. "You and Gazille? I understand that you guys are friends, but to dinner? Isn't that a little-"

"Grey." I halted, and turned to him. I took a deep breath, trying my best to not look into his eyes. "I really can't talk to you right now. I have… things to do." My eyes glanced around, avoiding him. "And you're just… in… the way." I turned back around, swearing under my breath, and started to walk to my cabin. Before I could leave, he grabbed hold of my forearm and twisted me back around. He locked me into a stare and furrowed his brow.

"Juvia, I don't understand. Why're you avoiding me?" He wouldn't let go, of my arms, or my eyes. He stood there, gazing into my eyes, searching for an answer. His face depicted a real confusion-almost sadness. He looked hurt, and he wanted an answer. "If I did something to hurt you, I really am sorry. And whatever I did to you; I already regret it."

That was it for me. All that 'anger' Gazille had built up in me had vanished, and left me with sympathy and compassion for Grey. As cheesy as that sounds. But still, I didn't know what to do. To tell Grey off would be rude, but to give in would mean I wasn't strong enough like Gazille had said. I trusted both of them. Gazille, more than Grey.

"Hey guys, are you coming to eat or-" We both turned our attention to Lucy, who leaned out of the doorway. A smile crept on her face, and she shook her head. "N-Nevermind. You guys stay here. I'll bring some food or some-" I interrupted her, wrenching Grey's arm off of me and running to my cabin.

"Juvia! Wait! Come back!" I closed my eyes and ran faster, escaping from my kryptonite; the one and only Grey Fulbuster.

And, that's all I've got. Yeah. So remember, C&C please! Even if you hated it! I don't mind!