A/N : My first oneshot ever, please give it a chance.

I'm planning to make a collection of oneshots, short stories, drabble, or whatever you call it involving GraLu. But it will depend on your reviews, whether you like it or not. So...happy reading~

Disclaimer : the amazing Fairy Tail genuinely belongs to Hiro Mashima.

*sorry for the spelling or grammar mistakes*

#1 : Beside Her

Nineteen.

...

...

Twenty.

...

...

Twenty one...

...

Gray counted inwardly as his left knee collided softly with the blonde girl beside him every...five seconds, if he had not mistaken the rhytm. Whenever the train vibrated a little bit harder (courtesy of whoever had found the railway), the girl's right knee would touch his and send that weird tingly feeling accross his whole body. Lucky that he was wearing his trousers and not his boxer, or else their skin might contact directly and he didn't dare to think how it would turn out.

The boy must admit, that he had been quite freaky for the last 5 minutes, and maybe had turned as idiotic as a certain dragon slayer, or maybe even worse. What could you call a teenage boy who mentally counted how many times the skin of the girl beside him made a physical contact? And he had only known her for barely a day. A pervert. That may suited him.

The said girl, Lucy, was not wary of the fact though, to Gray's relief. She had been concentrating on whatever scenery the moving vehicle's window had been offering, not even paying attention to what had caused his inner conflicts, or so he thought. Gray could even hear Happy purring as the blue cat took a nap comfortably on the blonde's lap.

Speaking about moving vehicle, he shifted his gaze from...actually nowhere in particular, to his other two companions on his opposite.

The stoic Titania too, had her eyes where Lucy had been gazing, possibly deep in thought about the mission they were going to accomplish. And the same with the celestial mage, she too had someone who practically 'invaded' their laps, who so happened to be the knocked out Natsu, the reason why this had happened in the first place. Him and his stupid motion sickness.

That entertaining syndrome of his (for Gray) apparently had made Erza to be quite concerned. So, she told the pathetic boy to switch places with Lucy who was originally beside her, only to have Natsu being punched by her oh-so beautiful armor-shielded fist, flat on his also pathetic stomach. And that was it. Natsu Dragneel was out of cold. On Erza's lap.

He shivered at those recent memories. He was an ice mage. Supposedly, nothing could make him shiver.

But the ice alchemist was a little...what you could say... glad about his current condition. Why? He didn't know. Maybe he was content that he didn't have to seat beside his pathetic puking frienemy, or rather beside Erza who would have a closer access to chop him up to pieces once his shirt miraculously disappeared.

Gray then noticed that he had stopped counting. And he began to think that maybe his sanity had came back. But he still felt kind of nervous as the hitting rythm hadn't stopped, which had been the real reason he was counting. To hide his nervousness it seemed.

Nervous? Gray almost snorted. He, Gray Fullbuster was nervous? Just because of that stupid thing? Nah. No way. Not possible. It was totally out of character of him.

But, if he was nervous or rather if he disliked it, why didn't he just move his feet to the position her knee couldn't reach?

Suddenly, something plopped on the edge of his shoulder, startling him from his merely analysis. Surprised, he looked at the source of light plump, and there Lucy was, sleeping soundly, her cheek leaning against him for support.

He froze temporarily, not literally of course, because he could have.

She was too close, that was for sure. And because of that, he could notice her long eyelashes, her puffy red cheeks, her pink lips parting slightly as she breathe, and her golden-like hair framing her face. She was simply adora- he couldn't even bring himself to say it. A strand of blonde hair was flailing on her face, and Gray almost had the urge to remove it behind her ear. This thought, or rather the even closer physical contact had Gray feeling a little warm inside, even his shoulder, cheeks, and ears had felt warmer.

He almost stripped because of the sudden temperature change as he began clenching on his shirt. Almost, because he had stopped when he felt a pair of piercing stares to his front and instantly knew who they belonged to.

As he turned his head, he had expected to see a glaring red head but found an amused Erza instead. Her lips formed the slightest hint of smirk, and from the glints of her eyes as she eyed him and the sleeping girl, he knew she was teasing him.

He ignored her, or at least tried to, until he heard Lucy murmuring something barely audible in her sleep before returning to her calm yet cute expression with eyes still closed...wait, did he just thought of her being 'cute'? He didn't know what his strange head was thinking anymore. It was getting hotter for him in any second for some reason, but he had to put up with it. He didn't want to strip in front of Erza, or he definitely had to bid his precious life a sad good bye.

The black-haired boy finally gave up, as he once more concentrated on counting. He didn't have any choice. It was the only thing that could distract him from pulling up his shirt, to distract him from Erza's still amused stare, and more importantly to distract him from the clueless Lucy who had encircled her arm around his, like some kind of bolster. Clearly tired of the conflicts in his poor brain plus his insane counting, his eyes were starting to droop and he stopped counting at ten with a yawn escaping his lips.

He was relieved that his mind was becoming more and more hazy. Because if that happened, he wouldn't have to care about anything anymore as slumber will surely come. And he knew it would knock some senses into his head once he'd woken up. He knew he was lucky that Happy wasn't awake or he would definitely be teased even more for his current posture. But for now he just didn't care.

With one last glance to -he finally admitted- Lucy's cute face. He closed his own eyes, letting sleepiness won over him. This time, a smirk made its way through his feature. Lucy's warmth enveloped him as he enjoyed the simple yet weird comfort.

For the first time of his life, Gray was genuinely glad to have a scary woman and an idiotic motion sickness sufferer as his train-trip companions. For the first time in his life too, he had actually favoured a higher temperature.

He didn't know why. All he knew was that deep down, he'd definitely treasure that moment, that warmth.

Beside her.

A/N : Okay, that was a little lame -_-, even the title is quite random.

The idea just popped in my head when I was studying and I just couldn't get it off my mind, so here it is. It supposed to occur just a day after Lucy joined Fairy Tail I guess? When they're going on that mission to retrieve the freaky flute or something? Basically, when the foursome went for a mission together for the first time (chapter 11 in the manga / Lullaby arc). So it occurred after Erza gave some explanations about the mission.

And it's my first time writing in 3rd POV on a fanfic, so I don't blame you if you find it weird. But anyhow, I hope you like it.

should I do more? Review please :))

~snowdrop03