"Why are we still here?" It was eight and the Vice President kept insisting that for the first meeting, they should stay behind especially late, to get a sense of family.

Bullshit. She only said that to get whatever food hoard Natsu somehow had. She didn't give a crap to what the others were doing. Gray sighed as his question went ignored and warily looked around the room. For limited amount of space, everyone present did a very good job of getting as much distance between each other as possible. Erza sat alone by the window and seemed to have taken out paperwork, for school council duties, most likely. Natsu was wrestling Ashley, who was somehow dominating, for a sandwich. Lisanna was their onlooker slash referee, frantically telling them to stop to no avail. Gray pitied her but not as much as Juvia who was squirming uncomfortably in Lyon's embrace. Lyon, to Gray's horror, looked absolutely smitten, with freaking pink shoujo hearts going doki, doki around him. Like seriously, get a room.

This was one fucked up club. First meeting and everybody was already isolated in their social groups while he stood out like a motherfucking wuss.

Worst of all, the bane of his current discomfort probably didn't freaking care. And the person who probably hated his ass did care.

"God, I hope Lucy isn't angry," he thought, "but she does look a little cute when she pouts and yells..."

He repressed a blush when he realized what he was thinking. Fuck, was he a masochist?

"Gray! Get your fucking ass here!" Ashley had a glare with a death wish and Gray sighed.

Yes. He was definitely a masochist.

"What?" He asked.

The girl pointed at the pink haired boy. "Use your president powers and make him give me his melon bread!"

"Ashley, presidents can't do that," Gray sighed. "And Natsu. Oi. Give her one. You have a freaking bagful."

"Eh? What did the bastard say?" He dropped the half eaten bread which Ashley dove for with a cheer. ("Oi, oi, if you were that hungry, why can't we freaking leave already?!" Gray thought.) "I joined only because Lisanna made me. Don't forget that, asshole."

"I freaking get it," Gray retorted back. "What I did was horrible. But listen here," he got closer to the angry boy, feeling as irritated as well. "I am the motherfucking president so you better treat me with respect."

Before either boy could make a move and initiate another inevitable brawl, they were pulled apart, Erza grabbing hold of Natsu and Lyon grabbing hold of Gray.

"God, you two never change," both Lyon and Erza muttered in unison, looking at each other afterwards. Gray, his anger simmered, snorted.

He always did find the similarities between his ex-brother and the school's Titania amusing.

"Oi, oi, lemme punch him," Natsu, the blockhead he was, didn't have a single clue of anything, with fighting, eating and sleeping being the three exceptions.

In that sense, what Lyon and Erza spoke about change was right.

"Truce for today," Gray sneered, removing himself from Lyon. "It's freaking ten now."

"Oh shit!" The mention of time seemed to have sunk in his thick skull somehow. He nudged Lisanna. "Let's go now!"

Understanding the sudden urgency in his voice, Lisanna followed suit, bowing to everyone good bye before exiting out the door. Very soon Erza left as well though Juvia and Lyon still lingered.

"Juvia wants to stay as long as possible with Gray-sama," she was explaining.

Ashley's eyebrows rose. "Gray, I never knew you had a whore."

"WHAT?!" Gray and Lyon screeched while Juvia blushed.

"Kyaa~that would be amazing~" she got a bit too close to Gray. "Can Juvia come home with Gray-sama tonight?"

"No, Juvia! Get away from that despicable guy!"

And so, a tug-o-war ensued with neither party getting anywhere and Gray feeling utterly sore from being pulled.

—

"I am really, really sorry," he was saying, holding his clenched fists above his lowered head and sitting on his knees in front of a blonde ghost who positioned herself elegantly on a chair. "I will never, never miss a dinner you worked hard on and come back home every time."

"Well that's all dandy," she said in an unforgiving, apathetic voice, "but all I've asked is why did you come home late? You didn't even look at the homemade dinner I worked hard to cook! "

I doubt I'd even eat any food you cook, Gray thought cynically but brushed it aside. He was in the wrong for breaking his promise. But there was no way he was saying the real reason why he was late. She would skin him alive—or maybe overtake his body—if he knew her sister transferred to his school, made a club, and recruited people who had loathed his being all in one day.

Yeaaaah…Lucy wouldn't react nicely.

"I'm sorry," he repeated pathetically. "I...uh...had…uh…a…"

"Where were you?" The ghost suddenly got up, detaching her head from her neck to his surprise. When the hell could she do that?! Blue liquid started to spill from the ends of her neck like blood, and while a normal human being would have died without a functioning head, she was still able to speak. "Where. Were. You."

He had never feared his life more than then. Not even when Ashley made her many life threats.

"A-ashley transferred to the school! A-and she made me do this and that a-and…" He rambled on for a good half hour, trying to form comprehensible phrases but failing epically. His eyes tried to look another way but somehow, it kept skirting towards the direction of Lucy's head…which was still detached. The eyes were majorly creepier than usual. They were rolled back, like how a dead person's eyes were when the cause of death was from choking.

But when he finally finished, she attached her head on. "So you were with Ash-ash...I see. So I trust nothing happened?"

"Yes!"

"Lies," she half sneered, half smiled, "you can't convince me you weren't immune to her charms. You were blushing a lot when we first met."

"Th-that's because you're so close to me then!" Gray stuttered, feeling a bit hot from remembering the mentioned moment. "But nothing really happened! I swear!"

"Really now...?"

She didn't seem to believe him anytime soon and anything Gray said probably won't help. He wondered why he wanted her forgiveness so much (almost to desperation) when if it was her sister, he probably wouldn't give a crap. But here he now was trying his best to make the ghost give him her usual smile, not this unrelenting anger.

He must be mentally ill.

"Alright, what shall I do?" Gray finally said, his arms becoming sore. "I'll do anything!"

Like flipping a switch, Lucy brightened exclaiming, "Really? Anything?!"

She began saying things at a rapid pace and though Gray couldn't understand all of which she said, he had mixed feelings about this. He was happy that he finally saw her smile but apprehensive of what might be in store for him.

—

"Wh-what are we doing here?" He whispered, fidgeting under the overwhelming stares he was collecting as he strolled down an aisle.

Unlike most boys his age, he never thought of having a girlfriend. The incident in middle school left a deep enough scar for him to scorn at the mere sight of a couple walking down the streets. He didn't think he'd ever need a girlfriend either. He'd watch enough romance movies with Ultear to understand that having a functional, romantic relationship with that precious someone would require a whole lot more than saying 'I love you.' That was why he treasured his single-status relationship. He didn't need to sacrifice anything…anymore.

So this had to be overkill.

"Uwah~" the blonde exclaimed, whizzing past him and twirling around. "All these dresses~so pretty~"

"Yah!" he hissed, still trying his best to tone down the attention, "stop acting all giddy—"

"—hm?" she turned around, her head tilted to the side. "What is it?"

At that instant, the fluorescent light which had drove him crazy, outlined the blonde in iridescence. It was crazy. She came close to the appearance to that of an angel. And the dress in her hand, a simple traditional white wedding dress laced with minimal white ribbons on the bottom and layered three white sheets never seemed more suitable for at the moment. He could, for a split second, picture her wearing that very dress, looking adoringly at her special someone. The sight rendered him breathless.

"You know," she spoke, unbothered by his perturbed state of mind, "I always dreamt of wearing this dress and walking down the aisle. With a nervous stare and a fidgety body, wondering if my husband thought of me pretty or not. But, I don't think I can have those dreams anymore. Reality is harsh and the only one closest to having such freedom—the freedom to love—is perhaps Ash-ash." She gave a coarse laugh, an incarnation of the tone she used when they first met on that rainy morning. "Ash-ash, as the younger of us, has the freedom to do whatever she wants. Father didn't have an iron grip on her. So I thought, why the hell does she take what she has for granted? Why doesn't she just do whatever she wants instead of trying to play hero? It's absurd you know." She laughed that laugh again. It was painful to hear.

"Well, you know she has the best intentions," Gray began, "she just loves you—"

"—funny you should mention," Lucy interrupted, setting the gown in her hand down, traces of whatever smile now gone. "When we were young, she never once showed a single sign of affection towards me. And neither did I. I only call her Ash-ash under pretense."

It was kind of absurd hearing Lucy coldly brushing off Ashley's advancements. But it was even more stunning to hear the truth of their relationship. Sure their relationship had appeared one-sided and dysfunctional but Gray had only thought it was because Lucy was a ghost and didn't want to complicate things. "But then why do you try to keep her away from your situation?"

She paused, her cold-ice-princess demeanor thawing. "Because…we're family."

—

"Scavenger hunt?" All of the members of the newly formed Fairy Tail club echoed confusedly, lined up in front of the vice-president.

"Yes!" She smiled, handing out sheets of paper. "As the first club activity—an ice breaker of sorts—I've come up with a list of items you'll need to find! I'll split us all into groups of two and whoever fails to find all the items on the list by eight will have to clean up the club room!"

"This is why you brought us here?" Gray was the first to complain, not scared to hide his growing disgust towards the girl. It was only Monday and he had wanted to just go home and sleep when Ashley man-slaughtered him before he got out of the classroom. When he came to, Gray discovered he was on a train to Akihabara next to Natsu and Lyon who were equally displeased at the situation. The girls however were…

"Great idea, Ash!" Lisanna squealed, looking over her copy. "Sounds lots of fun!"

"Yes, excellent idea," Erza praised and Gray resisted face-palming.

"Juvia wants to be on Gray-sama's team!" the bluette predictably declared.

"Nu-uh-uh," the person in charge wagged her finger, "I've already decided on the teams! Members of Team A include me, Lisanna, Erza and Juvia. Team B includes Gray, Lyon, and Natsu!"

Now it was the boys' turn to cry in indignation.

"What!? I am not working with shirtless here!"

"I refuse to work in close proximity of him. May I work with Juvia-chan though?"

Funny how their protests centered around Gray. "Y-yeah! You can't make us do this, Ashley!"

"Oh yeah I can," she winked, grabbing the girls by her side and quickly making her escape. "The lists I've given to you guys are the same while the ones we have are different. So remember, you've got until eight!"

Left with no choice, the boys groaned at the brashness of their vice-president and started swearing profanity under their breaths that Gray swore were meant for him.

Well excuse him. He didn't appreciate this situation either.

"Natsu-san," Lyon stated, "what do you suggest we find first?"

"Hm…strawberry tart sounds fun to find! I'm kind of hungry too!"

"Okay, we'll find that first. If you're still hungry, I guess I could treat you to something."

"Yay! Lyon is the greatest!"

As the boys continued to chatter, Gray listened in with jealousy and hurt. Didn't they realize he was with them?

"Okay so do you know a desert store anywhere?"

"Nope! But I can smell one! So leave it to me!"

"Alright, I'll trust you on this."

They began walking away, leaving Gray stupefied at their remarkably smooth teamwork. An outsider would think they were friends forever rather than club mates. It took Gray another minute to realize that they left him and another for him to catch up.

"W-wait up!"

—

"Oi…" Finding a strawberry tart shouldn't be difficult at all but remarkably, in this bustling city, they weren't able to find any at all. In fact, they were able to find other weird food products like gummy fingers coated with gummy blood (Gray doubted they were fake blood). Yet, his two 'teammates' brought them anyways, eating them as they went from store to store without regarding Gray at all.

It was expected but Gray was getting peeved at this. "OI! CAN WE STOP FOOLING AROUND AND FIND A REAL SHOP AND BUY REAL SWEETS!"

He might have raised his voice a tad bit too loud, making everyone around them stare at him for a few seconds before going back to what they were doing before. Gray reddened in embarrassment and looked to see what Lyon and Natsu had to say.

"Oh hey," Lyon coolly said, "when did you get here?"

"Why did you have to embarrass us that way blockhead," Natsu added.

His tone might be leveled but his shaking fist by his side said otherwise. "Look. I know you guys hate my ass and I'm not expecting forgiveness. I just want this stupid game of Ashley's to be over. Can we please just get along for once?"

"Get along?" Natsu mimicked, brushing past Lyon so that Gray would only face Lyon. "Chances of that were gone after what you did! You broke our trust! Broke everyone's! I wouldn't even get along with you for this! You probably want to get along because you forgot Cana, didn't you?"

He didn't hear her name for a long time and probably did want to forget her. But bringing her name up was just rubbing salt on wounds. "Bastard, what does Cana have to do with this?"

"Oh so now you care for her? You're like four years too late!"

That was enough. Gray pushed Natsu roughly to the ground, ready to claw his mouth out so he'd have nothing to use to spew out rubbish. He was restrained by Lyon before he could though.

"Natsu-san, you went too far," Lyon calmly pointed out as Natsu got up. He let go of Gray and sternly said, "And Gray, for the sake of completing this, we'll comply with your proposal."

In the past he had always berated Lyon for his seriousness and professionalism but right now, he was reminded why he had held Lyon with such reverence. He cracked the faintest of grins that would not bring up sorrowful memories or annoyed feelings. "Thanks."

—

Natsu finally calmed down, but was far from his usual state of joviality. Then again, he seemed to be like that whenever Gray was around. Lyon had also quieted down, not making any attempts to feign intimacy in front of Gray anymore. While Gray was thankful for that, he was more at unease by the tenseness between them, preferring frustration over being left out than this damned silence.

"So…uhm…" he said awkwardly, five minutes into their walk, "…where should we look—"

"—can we just go home?" Natsu suggested suddenly. "I'm tired."

"Me too," Lyon piped up.

Gray stared, agape at his two teammates. "And leave the girls at the meeting spot by themselves?"

By pointing out the insensibilities of their suggestion, the two boys quieted once more, Gray feeling as though he had taken the role of a goody-goody two shoes. They continued their stride, awkwardly looking everywhere but themselves. Gray was about to suffocate if it weren't for Natsu.

"Hey look! There's a strawberry cake on sale here!"

The two boys looked where he pointed and saw what Natsu said to be true. A poster taped on glass window boasted of the creamiest and most delicious strawberry cake. Well, it didn't matter what kind of cake it was. As long as they had cake, that was cool.

"Good job Natsu-san," Lyon began but discovered Natsu had already disappeared into the building. He promptly followed the pinkette leaving Gray to catch up. But he slowed down as soon as he felt something was off and studied the front of the building.

"M-maid café?!" He stuttered, knowing what was in store behind the glass doors.

Girls in lacy maid outfits…being addressed as 'master'…the fulfillment of any hormonal teenage boys…

He gulped, walking in after mentally preparing himself. Yeah. Who was he kidding?

"Welcome back, master!" A girl with red twin tails walked in front of him, her hand folded neatly atop her waist, the frilly black and white maid outfit she wore moving ever so slightly. "Do you want a table for one?"

"Y-yes…" Gray said, reddening, trying to scan the area for Natsu and Lyon. Where the hell are they?!

"Master?" The girl came closer to him, tilting her head cutely. "Is something wrong?"

For some reason he was reminded of Lucy, the way their heads tilted was just so damn similar! Just imagining the ghost in a maid's outfit, her hazelnut eyes shining confusedly and small lips turned upwards a bit in amusement. In a slow, soft voice she'd say, "Master Gray, I'm at your service."

Damn it…I think I'm getting a nosebleed…

"Gray!" His rescuer grabbed him by the wrist with a scowl. "God, we just got a table a few minutes ago and already you're daydreaming like a moron." He added to the maid girl. "Sorry about that. This guy is a moron."

He was still dragging Gray roughly by the wrist, only letting ago when they reached a table that seated for three, the third seat being unoccupied.

"Where's Natsu?" Gray asked.

"Went to ask when we're getting the food," Lyon rolled his eyes, "he turned out to be as big as a blokehead as you are."

Gray chose to ignore the intentional verbal jab his ex-brother made. "So why did we end up reserving a table? Aren't we on a tight time schedule?"

"We can't get the cake without reserving a table and we have thirty minutes before eight," Lyon waved a careless hand. "We'll get the cake soon before that and we're done."

He was unsure about it but decided to just trust in Lyon's instincts for the sake of getting along. Spying a menu beside him, he reached for it in desperation to busy himself with something. It wasn't as if Lyon wanted to make conversation with him anytime soon.

But the names of the food on the list made him feel worse. Love soufflé? Love shake? Love cake? Did this store have no originality?

Gray shuddered and promptly closed the pamphlet, poking it away from him as far as possible with a fork.

"Pft…hahaha!" a sudden burst of laughter sounded and Gray looked over at the source. The white haired boy wiped a tear. "G-Gray, you probably thought something along the lines of 'this store has no originality,' didn't you?"

He remained quiet by this. In fact he did. How the hell did he guess it?

"Hahahahaha," Lyon continued with his laughter even after two maids checking up on him with their tempting, "Is there something you want to share with us master? I feel so neglected!" But Lyon waved them off without batting an eyebrow, Gray feeling increasingly embarrassed.

Where the hell is Natsu…?

"Oh god, that was comedy gold," Lyon finished finally, downing a glass of water a maid had thoughtfully left. "You're so damn predictable Gray."

He's…back to normal. The thought briefly crossed his mind as Gray watched the boy across him fondly. Perhaps…we can…

It was a fleeting and foolish thought Gray swore he never had though.

"…I still can't forgive you though," Lyon spoke, turning his gaze away from Gray's. "…what you did to Cana…we're all still recovering. And when she left us…"

Gray let go a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Yeah, I know. I did horrible stuff." No need to remind me…

"But still…why didn't you defend yourself…?" Lyon muttered quietly.

"Huh? Can you speak louder?"

At that moment, the loudest of their group decided to come back…with cakepops, doughnuts, shortcakes…and no freaking strawberry shortcakes.

"The ice bloke is here?" Natsu whined once noticing Gray at the table. "I was hoping he was still lost!"

"Hey! I was just in front of the shop!" Gray snapped. "And what is this?! Shouldn't we prioritize the strawberry shortcake—"

"—stop being a party pooper," Lyon patronized, his eyes stony and voice icy. Natsu was busily digging in while Lyon took a bite from an apple pie. Gray wanted to protest but fought against the urge, shrugging.

He couldn't expect them to forgive him so soon. Letting him be with them was the greatest forgiveness he could possibly get. Reaching for a vanilla cupcake, he took a bite.

—

"You're late," Ashley expectedly said, as she stood in front of the panting boys with an identical folded arms pose as Erza had. Lisanna and Juvia stood behind them, watching as the aggressive girls did what they did best.

"Imagine if perverts came before you guys did," Erza berated, "what would happen to us?"

"You and Ashley would just clobber them," the three boys thought subconsciously.

"Well. Here's the shortcake," Gray said lamely, wanting to finish the game before they had to profess the reason for their lateness (after they had finished their meals, it turned out that both Lyon and Natsu were broke and Gray had to pay for their costly meal).

"Shortcake?" Erza's eyes brightly shone. Oh right. The violent woman liked shortcake. "Yay! Girls, we're sharing."

The girls cheered and Gray sighed, wondering if they were going to win.

"But where's the three other items?" Ashley reminded.

The boys stared at Ashley stupidly.

"The three other items." Ashley repeated. "There were four items in total."

Clumsily taking out their copies of the list, the boys read in silent. Strawberry short cake, tickets to the zoo, pictures of the ocean, black lacey lingerie.

"Why is there black lacey lingerie on the list?!" Gray exploded.

Ashley smiled. "Because I wanted you guys to face embarrassment! And I was running out of delicacies from my period."

"We so needed to know this…"

"But I expected this much," Ashley reassured, "so I put the cake first on the list. That way, us girls can share the cake."

"Ashley, do I really have to share?" Erza whispered.

"Please, Erza?" Ashley attempted to puppy-pout, an attempt that would be fruitless. Erza loved her strawberry short cake.

The scarlet seemed conflicted but finally nodded. "Alright then. Let's go over to my house and share then."

"We can have a sleepover!" Lisanna exclaimed excitedly.

"Sounds doable," Ashley nodded.

The boys simply sweat dropped. How close have they gotten?!

"So anyways, here are your items," Ashley gave each boy a bag. "Enjoy until tomorrow where you'll have to clean up the club room~"

They parted then, someone having to drag an overly touched Lyon away from Juvia.

"Thank you so much for buying this gift for me Juvia!" Lyon yelled at their fading figures. Gray rolled his eyes.

They all brought it for you…

"Yum, this is delicious." Gray turned to Natsu who was stuffing himself with doughnuts.

"D-didn't you just have bunch to eat at the café?!" It was amazing how much the boy could consume.

"Yeah? So?" Natsu growled, pulling the doughnut and the bagful of doughnuts nearer to him. "You're not getting any."

Like I want any…

"I'm going to go. Bye Lyon!" Natsu waved, walking off suddenly, leaving Gray and Lyon alone.

God, I know you guys hate me and all but…

"I'm leaving too," Lyon nodded. "I want to see what Juvia-chan bought for me."

Gray wasn't even given a bye. He sighed, staring down at his wrapped parcel. Oh wells, at least he was given a gift. A smile entered its way on his face. So he was allowed this much, huh?

He opened his own package, his smile falling off his face at the sight of it. Condoms.

"You're serious? You're kidding," he started to laugh.

He had never felt more shattered then but it was a different kind of shattering feeling he had years ago. Back then he wanted to do nothing more than to run away from everything but now he thought differently. People were never going to change unless you gave them a reason to. If you were expecting self respect, you had to earn it. In that fleeting moment of happiness, Gray foolishly expected a wonderful gift.

In that fleeting moment, he had forgotten he was just a scumbag in the eyes of his former friends.

Word count: 4,289

After a month of inactivity, I feel like my writing skills have taken a nosedive. ;o; I'm sorry guys! Lol. I'm sorry there isn't much GraLu too! There will be next chapter, promise!

(Also, my description of Lucy was a complete cop-out. ;D Got so lazy describing her. I promise to rewrite it though!)

And again, thanks a ton for your reviews and support! (: