{Juvia’s POV}

I woke up to the sound of someone snoring.

Gray was peacefully sleeping with his mouth slightly open. I admit, he looked handsome that way. Adorably handsome. But no, I couldn’t sleep like this.

I wanted to wake him up, but I knew how much he hated it when he was disturbed with his sleep. I decided that I should find a place to sleep on, just not beside him. With that, I stood up and tried to find a place where I could at least take a nap.

As I was finding myself a comfortable place, I heard a low growl. At first, I thought it was just my imagination so I shrugged it off. But then another growl came off and now, it was louder. My skin had goosebumps, and I really tried hard to not yell. I looked around frantically and saw a pair of eyes looking at me with hunger. I couldn’t take it anymore so I screamed, and that’s when a lion jumped in my way. Gray woke up as I have seen in my peripheral vision. His eyes widened when he saw me... about to be eaten by a lion.

“Juvia, don’t move.” He whispered as he crawled his way toward me. I bit my lip and stopped my tears from falling. I couldn’t cry in front of this guy. Now, I wasn’t crying. Instead, I was trembling with fear. So much for not moving.

I then felt someone dragging me. “Run, you idiot!” Gray shouted as the lion roared and ran behind us. I shrieked and ran faster than Gray. Thanks to my adrenaline rush, I have hauled him to a place that was safe and unseen by the lion. I sighed in relief as I leaned on the wall, catching my breath with closed eyes. “What did you do and why did the lion chase you?” He said in a demanding tone. “You could die in there if I didn’t wake up!”

“It was all thanks to me screaming because the lion would’ve eaten you too.” I answered proudly. “And mister, I woke up in the middle of the night because of your annoying and loud snore, so I thought I should find a place for me to sleep on. I don’t know, I was just finding a comfortable place until the lion roared and that’s when it happened. So basically, it’s your fault.” I crossed my arms at him, cocking an eyebrow.

He huffed. “So you’re blaming me for the event that had happened? What kind of idiocy—”

“So now I’m the idiot! What a jerk!” I was almost shouting at him, and now I was angry. “You should’ve stayed quiet while I was sleeping!”

“It’s not my fault my snore was loud!”

“It is!”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“We should just stop and find ourselves a new cave.” He surrendered, raising his hands in defeat. “It will be hard to go back to the camping site the next morning, so be ready for a little hiking.” I ignored him and stomped away from him in order to find a place to sleep on. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Finding a place.”

“Are you mad?” I kept to myself the urge to roll my eyes. “Hey.”

“Go away.” I replied irritably.

“Sorry.” I halted. It was the same way that he apologized. Whenever I was mad at him, that was his way of saying sorry. And he knew I couldn’t resist that.

I slapped him playfully. “Stand up.” Good thing it was dark. He wouldn’t see the scarlet tint on my cheeks. If you’re flabbergasted as to why I told him to stand up, it was because he was kneeling. He always did that back then just so I would accept his apology. Back then, it was fine by me. But now... I don’t know. He looked like he was courting me.

“Do you forgive me?” What? Will you marry me!?

“A-Ah?”

“Do you forgive me?” I slapped myself mentally. I’m assuming things. What a way to humiliate myself.

I looked away and continued finding a place to sleep.

“Hey.”

“I said—” And that’s when I slipped. Gray didn’t have the chance to catch me so I twisted my ankle. “Ow...” I groaned.

“Are you okay?”

“Definitely not.” I grumbled and frowned at his question. I gasped when I realized what he was doing. He was giving me a piggyback ride... “Let me down.” I commanded, flustered at the action. I wasn’t really a fan of piggyback rides, to tell you the truth. It’s not like I hate it. I don’t know, it just feels uncomfortable.

He glared at me. “Are you blind? You know you can’t walk.” I huffed. He isn’t worried about me, is he? He’s afraid that his conscience might kill him. “If I drop you here, your condition might get worse.” He was right, so I couldn’t argue. I had no choice so I just shut my mouth.

Finally, after about half an hour, we found a place we could sleep on. He dropped me off gently. Gray knelt down while I just sat there, staring at his face and dazed. “You okay? Does it hurt?” He touched my ankle and I flinched at the pain. Suddenly, he smiled. A smile that looked like he remembered something from the past. What is it?

My blush darkened when his face came close to my ankles. Don’t tell me... don’t tell me he’s gonna do it. And I just felt that his lips landed on my ankle. “Does it feel better?” I was speechless at the moment. He always did that whenever I had wound. But it’s embarrassing now. I bit my lip when he did it again for the second time. My heart pounded in my chest loudly. I felt butterflies in my stomach. When he looked up, our faces were an inch apart. My breath hitched. Before anything could happen, I pushed him away that made him sit on the ground with a thud. He didn’t complain. He was actually speechless too. He froze, any movement not seen from him.

“Sorry...” He mumbled shyly. I laughed in an awkward way, shaking my head and told him it was nothing. “I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s okay.” And a silence enveloped us. A gust of wind blew, and I suddenly felt cold. I shuddered. I just felt that someone put a jacket around me that made me feel warm again. And when he put it around me, he looked like he was hugging me. “T-Thanks.” I managed to mumble, flashing Gray a lopsided smile. He smiled at me softly too. It was bright, just like how he smiled when we first met. Genuine.

I realized he was still hugging me so I squirmed and he let go, clearing his throat. Again, there was that silence. “Let’s sleep?” He asked, and I nodded at him.

*-*-*-*-

Hm. I smell something delicious. Grilled fish. Oh no, I’m turning into Happy!

I groggily rubbed my eyes and my eyes adjusted to the light. There, I saw Gray grilling fish. I didn’t know he could grill... even cook. He glanced at me with a grin and greeted. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

I smiled at him sweetly. “Good morning to you too.” He came to me and pecked my lips. Surprisingly, I didn’t slap him, and I was used to it.

“Oh my.” I woke up. Just a dream. A weird dream. I looked beside me and saw Gray, still sleeping. The light was making him look gorgeous. Wait what? I felt that something heavy was on my waist, and then realized that it was Gray’s arms. He looked like he was cuddling me. Uneasy again, I squirmed and got out of his arms. He woke up. “Where’s breakfast?” He asked, sitting up. I rolled my eyes. Of course. He would ask me to cook for him.

“No breakfast for you. Cook on your own.” I replied, standing up and looking around. I heard him mumble something like grumpy but I just ignored him. Annoying was some description for him. Suits him a lot.

“Come on, be a good girl and cook me something. You know I’m hungry.” He pleaded, catching up with me. “You know I can’t cook.” I tried my best to conceal the laughter. The best memory that he had ever given me was when it was my eleventh birthday. He tried to cook lasagna for me, but he ended up cooking the whole house. Kinda funny because he swore to himself that he’d never cook again.

I faced him, feeling ridiculous. “Pity you...” I muttered, loud enough for him to hear it. He glared at me. He must’ve thought that I had remembered that memory of him cooking. The look on his face was priceless. “Seriously. Okay, I’m gonna grill a fish for the both of us.” I smiled mischievously. “But then you’ll have to tell me that someone you like while eating.” Seems like he didn’t hear me.

I rolled my eyes and tried catching fishes. Luckily, I was once a member of a girl scout. I had surviving skills. I grilled the fish with ease and voila! Ready to eat!

“Time to eat.” I called him. Gray was staring at nowhere, and he looked like he was really thinking about something. When I called him out, he turned to me, grinning. He really is hungry. He looked like he was ready to devour the four fishes I’ve caught.

“This is good. Very good.” He remarked with his mouth full, causing bits of food to spill out of his mouth. I just continued eating. I mean, I just grilled fish. What was so great about that?

I just remembered something. “So,” I started after swallowing my food. “I have this little condition of mine. I cooked you grilled fish.” He looked up from eating and quirked an eyebrow inquisitively. “Tell me that someone you like.” It wasn’t like I was stalking him. I was just intrigued and curious. It was one of the best things to describe  myself. Curious.

He slowly brought down his food and blushed. Now my curiosity level had just gotten into a new level. Him blushing was rare, so I’d like to know the girl who made him blush. I noticed that his eyes were everywhere, and he was scratching his cheeks. I found it cute. He barely did this. He barely acts like this. Well, actually this was the first time I saw him like this. “Dude, answer me.” He looked at me with those scared eyes nervously.

“Uh, it’s—”

“Gray!! Juvia!! Oh my, you were just here the whole time!” Levy exclaimed, relief washing over her face.

“They were here alone last night... ahhhhh!!” Lucy screamed and gushed, shaking Erza crazily who was smirking at me.

“Gray, I hope you didn’t take advantage of her.” Natsu cackled.

“I did not!” Gray replied, huffing. What the fudge. They’re thinking we did something dirty.

________________________________________________________________________________

Who is that? Who is that someone that makes Gray blush? Find out soon enough ;)

~sheimaenalu