Juvia parked her car in the garage and grabbed her purse and a bag of groceries before exiting the SUV. She walked between hers and Gray's car and pressed the control to close the garage door, she saw Gray's motorcycle in a corner and Juvia snorted.

A week after Juvia had bought her car, Gray told her he was getting one too; he loved his bike but he didn't want to go to work with Juvia whenever was raining and he wasn't in the mood to put his special clothes. The motorcycle, then, was put aside to special moments but Juvia caught Gray pampering the ride more times than she could count.

It made her jealous sometimes, really.

So, he bought the same model as Juvia's car, since he had been the one to pick up the best option for his girlfriend: safe, practical, reliable and with a beautiful design. He chose a different color, though, hers being dark blue and his, black.

Juvia got inside the house and she frowned when she smelled the amazing scent of sauce and then she heard the distinguished sound of someone using a knife in a wooden table.

Snowball greeted her when she got in through the back door and after Juvia had put in the security code, she talked to the dog softly before wondering inside and she raised her eyebrows when she got in the kitchen and saw Gray, shirtless, standing in front of the sink and cutting some vegetables.

"Hey." He glanced over his shoulder and smiled her way. He had seen her arrive on the small flat-screen TV located close to the sink where they could see the feed from the cameras outside. Gray had been adamant about a good security system in their house and Juvia agreed; their job was risky and they could be targets. "How was work today?"

"Fine, Juvia saw a couple of clients but nothing too exciting." Juvia put the bag with some groceries on the counter and then walked in Gray's direction, putting a hand between his shoulder blades and kissing his lips lightly when he turned to look her way. "So... what did you do wrong?" The blunette asked with a resigned sigh.

Gray frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"What did you do?" Juvia asked again, stepping away from her boyfriend so she could lean on the island behind her, arms crossed over her chest. Once she saw he still looked confused, she explained her question. "You don't cook, usually, and when you do is because you did something you shouldn't have and you want to soften the blow before telling me." She glanced to the stove, seeing some pasta being boiled and the sauce was almost done. "Just hit me with the truth so we can go past this and eat dinner. I do like your pasta, even if it's guilty pasta."

"I do not cook when I did something wrong." Gray looked offended.

"Not every little thing, you don't." She shrugged. "But when's something big and you really screw up, you do." Gray opened his mouth to protest, but Juvia was faster. "Remember when you did the laundry and ruined my favorite coat? Juvia ate pasta that night before you told her."

"I bought you a new one." Gray muttered.

"You did." She agreed. "And when you took Snowball to the wrong pet store and they shaved her when she was only supposed to get a bath? Pasta."

"I-"

"There was that time you stole Juvia's mission."

"I didn't steal-"

"You made that pasta." She pointed to the pan on the stove. "Just admit you have a pattern, tell me what you did and let's move on."

Gray looked offended. "I didn't do anything. I had the day off, got bored and decided to cook instead of waiting for you to come home. I could've heat up some of the stuff we have, but decided I wanted to get pasta instead." He pointed the knife her way. "You are reading too much into simple things."

She narrowed her eyes his way and he did the same. They kept looking at each other for a few seconds until Juvia sighed. "Okay, fine. I believe you."

"Thank you." Gray nodded and Juvia stepped closer to him; seeing that, he put the knife on the sink and put his arms around her when she put her hands on his chest, tip-toeing and kissing him.

"Juvia will go change her clothes and then we can have dinner." She told him and was going to leave, when Gray's arms tightened around her.

"I need to tell you something first."

"And there it is!" She slapped his shoulder. "Ha, Juvia was right!"

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Gray told her, rolling his eyes. "It didn't even happen yet."

She raised an eyebrow. "The guilty pasta is for something it didn't even happen yet? That's new."

"Just... Stop joking for a second." He said, serious and Juvia sobered up her mood in a second; if he was asking, then it was important. "Natsu called earlier, there's a mission for us specifically from an old client who wants a follow-up in a job we did a few years ago." Juvia nodded. "We figure it's going to take at least one week to get it done. Ten days, perhaps."

Her whole body tensed with his words.

FT had been back for almost two months by then and both of them had been doing jobs but the longest had been two days apart and even then, when Gray got home, she'd attached herself to him for a long time until she was comfortable with having him too far away from her.

"Okay, take a breath." Gray's hand rubbed the spot between her shoulder blades and only then she noticed her hands fisted in his chest and her breathing was shallow. "Juvia, take a deep breath."

She looked up to him and with a nod, she did as she was told a few times until she was breathing normally again. "That's..."

"The longest we'd be apart since I came back, yes." Gray said, calm, his thumbs caressing her back in circles to try to calm her down. "Juvia, it's nothing like last time. I will come back."

"You came back last time too, just took a long time." She told him. "A very long time."

Gray sighed. "Juvia, you know this was coming. I've been saying no to a lot of missions so I don't spend too long apart from you, but you know most of our jobs is about traveling and spending a few days away." He put a hand on her cheek. "I told you I wouldn't leave again without talking to you, so here we are. If you tell me you need more time to get used to the idea, I will tell Natsu to go on his own or to get someone else but you need to trust me to come back."

"Juvia trusts you." The blunette nodded and her curls bounced. Her voice was low and she moved her hands from his chest to his neck and jaw. "In her mind, she knows this is not like last time. You are speaking to me, you are giving me a timeframe, you'll tell me where you are going. Last time you just vanished. It's already different." Even with her best efforts, her eyes watered but thankfully she didn't cry. "There's this awful little voice inside my mind, though, reminding me of everything I thought when I was alone, every dark thought. It says you won't come back this time and it scares me when a tiny little part of me agrees with it even knowing it's not true."

"It's not." Gray said in a decisive tone and he was scowling. "I don't like this little voice in here, very annoying and makes me repeat myself and I hate that." He pointed to her temple. "So, whenever you listen that voice, I need you to remember what I told you because I'm not going to be with you every second. You are the most important person in my life; no matter what happens I won't leave you behind. I'm here with you for the long haul."

"Okay." Juvia nodded weakly, her heart beating faster and there was a warm feeling spreading through her chest, like it always did when Gray talked about his feelings for her; she'd have to tell herself that a few times to shut the little voice inside her head, though.

"Okay." Gray agreed. "Now, what about the mission? Should I take it or you think you need more time?"

Juvia bit her lower lip and gave it a moment's thought. Her fears, although understandable, were not well funded.

When Gray disappeared, he hadn't said a word to Juvia, too conflicted with his own feelings. Instead, he fled. That time, it had hurt her so deeply she shut herself down, according to Mirajane. Now, Gray was sure of his feelings for her, he was talking to her, giving her an option. She wasn't being left behind, she was being consulted before Gray needed to go and take a job offer. Her opinion mattered.

It was nothing like before, no matter how much the annoying dark voice inside her head screamed it was.

"You'll call me? So Juvia can know where you are?" She asked and even though she might sound like a very clingy girlfriend, she needed that comfort at least.

"Yes." Gray agreed. "I'll probably manage to call you once a day, but if you need to talk to me I'd rather you text, you never know if a phone call can make a person get unwanted attention and it might compromise the op."

The blunette nodded, it made sense. "Alright." She gulped. "Alright, you should go. You'll have to go at some point, pushing it will only made me get used to you here all the time and make it harder later."

"Are you sure?"

"No." Juvia told him honestly. "Juvia will probably freak out every day until you call, but we need to go through this. Things are almost one hundred percent normal, we need to take this step. I need to take this step." Gray nodded. "But if you are not back on the tenth day, Juvia will go after you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." He snorted and kissed her. "Don't miss your appointments with Mira this week, alright? Let her help you."

"Yes."

"You and Lucy had a whole thing with this, so if you need anything I'm sure she-"

"Yes, yes, yes." Juvia smiled at how adorable he was when worried about her. "Juvia will rely on girl power to get her through this dark time."

"I really shouldn't suggest you to meet up with Lucy." Gray groaned. "God, whenever you two team up, Natsu and I get screwed."

"Not true." She told him, the knot in her stomach loosening a bit as she chuckled with his reaction. After a moment, she let him go and motioned her hand towards the stove. "Keep an eye on that."

With a curse, Gray turned off the stoveand picked up a fork to see its consistence. "It's almost done, I just need to mix it up. Go change." Juvia nodded and had given two steps when Gray called her. "Do I really do this... guilty pasta thing?"

"You do." Juvia smiled.

"Hell, I never realized it." Gray said, genuinely surprised. "You do that too, but with different purpose." He asked and Juvia frowned. "When you want something from me, you wear nothing but those shoes that make your ass look fantastic and let me have you that way."

"What makes you think Juvia wasn't aware of that?" Juvia winked his way and smiled when she heard his surprised 'What?'.

Silly Gray-sama, thinking she didn't know how to use her arsenal to her benefit.

#

To: Gray-sama

22:37: How is the job going? Are you okay?

From: Gray-sama

22:38: I told you this is pretty much surveillance, it's very boring, actually. I'm fine, just got into bed.

22:38: How was your session with Mira?

To: Gray-sama

22:39: It was fine. She told me that I'm doing better than she expected. Yay!

22:40: The mean little voice gets muffled by Juvia's memory of you telling her you love her.

22:40: Juvia's counting, though. If you are not here in four days, she's going after you.

From: Gray-sama

22:41: Well, at least I finally said something that actually helps you instead of putting my foot in my mouth. Again.

22:41: And trust me, I want to go home as much as you do. I'm sharing a room with Natsu. NATSU. Do you have any idea how much I need to go home and have sex with you?

To: Gray-sama

22:42: Should Juvia worry that sharing a room with Natsu-san makes Gray-sama want to have sex? :P

From: Gray-sama

22:42: That was disgusting.

22:42: Don't ever repeat that.

22:42: Jeez, I want your half of the house back.

22:43: We can share custody of Snowball.

To: Gray-sama

22:43: Juvia was just asking a simple question, Gray-sama. lol

From: Gray-sama

22:44: And thanks to that I'm going to have nightmares.

22:45: Fuck, don't you DARE make a joke about me dreaming about Natsu otherwise I'm really leaving and this time I will take the dog. You are a bad influence on her.

22:45: Our relationship already went through some dark times but everything has a limit.

To: Gray-sama

22:46: Never mind all the drama we went through. The limit is joking about you and Natsu-san having sex?

From: Gray-sama

22:46: Yes. I'm not into men, as you are aware.

22:47: And just so you know, if I wanted a dude, I could do much better than Natsu.

22:47: I wouldn't be desperate enough to settle for that moron. I never understood why Lucy settled. Natsu's like... a 7 in his best days and she's a 10.

22:48: Before you get all crazy, I think you are a 13.

To: Gray-sama

22:48: Nice save. :3

22:48: And Lucy-san didn't settle, she loves him. Just like Juvia loves you, Gray-sama.

22:49: When we were mad at you, though, we talked about this. HAHA Lucy-san said that if we wanted to, we'd get out and find someone else in a heartbeat.

From: Gray-sama

22:49: You WHAT?

22:49: You told me you two stayed at the Hotel with Aquarius, not going out!

To: Gray-sama

22:50: Juvia said "IF we wanted to", we didn't do anything, it was all hypothetical.

From: Gray-sama

22:50: Yeah, I'll have a HYPOTHETICAL talk with Lucy to stop taking you down to a bad path.

22:51: And I'll tell Natsu to control his woman. Jeez.

22:51: Fuck, don't tell her I said that.

22:51: Don't tell her, okay?

22:52: Are you texting her I said that? Please don't.

22:52: She picks up my lunch sometimes, Juvia. She could poison me.

To: Gray-sama

22:52: Juvia won't tell Lucy-san what you said. This time.

22:53: And Juvia makes your food too, Gray-sama. Not a threat, just a piece of helpful information. HAHA

From: Gray-sama

22:54: Nah, you wouldn't poison me if you wanted to kill me.

22:54: You'd make look like it was an accident, wouldn't you? So you could have my inheritance. I'm onto you.

To: Gray-sama

22:54: Well, now Juvia's plan is ruined, thank you very much for that.

22:55: And besides, Juvia couldn't inherit anything, Gray-sama. lol At most she'd get the house because it's in her name, the rest, unless you specified in a will, Juvia couldn't get it.

22:55: So, really, killing you wouldn't be profitable at all.

From: Gray-sama

22:56: What? Why? I've always thought you'd get my stuff if I died.

22:56: There's a law too, right?

To: Gray-sama

22:57: Juvia's not married to you, so she'd need to get to see if she's qualified for that law. It's something about concubinage? Juvia doesn't remember.

From: Gray-sama

22:58: Hm.

22:59: Well, now that you traumatized me for life (thanks for that), I really should go to sleep. I'll wake up early tomorrow.

To: Gray-sama

22:59: Alright. Have a good night's sleep, Gray-sama. I love you.

23:00: Juvia is counting. 4 days.

From: Gray-sama

23:00: Yeah, yeah, yeah 4 days.

23:01: And I do too. You know that, don't make me say it. You know I do.

To: Gray-sama

23:01: Juvia knows. Good night, Gray-sama.

From: Gray-sama

23:02: Good night.

23:07: And you know what, screw it. I love you too.

#

The day Gray returned home, Juvia had thrown herself in his arms and kissed his face, whenever she could reach and he just stood there, letting her fawn over him and answering her questions until she was satisfied he was fine.

After that, she was much better regarding long jobs, it was as if all she needed was for him to keep his word one time. Sure, she still asked he'd texted her as much as he could and asked for a timeframe, but other than that she fully trusted him to come back home. To come back to her.

Things were pleasantly quiet for some time, even Zeref and his minions weren't trying to destroy the world as they knew it. The firms still had its eyes and ears opened to anything that resembled work from Zeref, but nothing was picked up.

One afternoon, though, about three months after FT opened, Juvia was typing a report in her computer when she heard a knock on her open door. She looked up and couldn't help it but to smile.

"Lyon-san!" She said, happily, while getting up and walking from behind her desk to greet him. Lyon was just like always, wearing a huge smile on his face and when he hugged her, she could feel his warmth and it made her happy to see his dark green eyes sparkle in happiness to see her. She really liked him, always did. Juvia kissed his cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, since my stupid brother doesn't bother to go visit me, as the older sibling I need to come down here to see if he's alive and all." Lyon rolled his eyes. "And of course, you are here, Juvia-chan." He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing its back, making her giggle.

"Why do you always put your hands on her when you are here?" Gray said while stepping inside Juvia's office and with a glance she could see he looked really annoyed.

"You get to have her all the time, let me have five minutes, please." Lyon told his brother and winked at Juvia, who tried not to laugh. "How have you been, Juvia-chan? Is my brother giving you any trouble?" He still hadn't let go of her. "I can take you away from him, I just need you to say the word and I-"

"Very funny." Gray actually pushed Lyon's arms away from Juvia and pulled her to stay next to him. "How long are you staying?"

"Just a couple of days." Lyon said, amused and he went to sit on Juvia's couch when she motioned towards it with her hand. "I've heard you two got a house."

"We did." Juvia was about to go sit by his side, but Gray put an arm around her waist, keeping her put and she rolled her eyes. "And you are more than welcome to stay there."

"Thank you, Juvia-chan."

"Hey." Gray protested. "I didn't agree to this. There are plenty of good hotels in town."

Juvia saw hurt in Lyon's eyes and she turned to her boyfriend. "Gray-sama. Lyon-san is family, he's not going to a hotel. That's why we got a big house, remember? To have guests."

"And I also said we'd get a room for the dog and we didn't." Gray scowled.

Juvia rolled her eyes and turned to Lyon. "You are going to stay in our house, Lyon-san, Juvia won't have it any other way."

"Thank you, Juvia-chan." Lyon beamed at her. "I hear there's a dog too?"

"Oh, you'll love her. She's the most adorable dog on earth." Juvia walked towards her desk. "Juvia will just logoff her computer and we can go home. Should we go out to have dinner?"

Lyon gasped in hope. "Like a date, Juvia-chan?"

Gray groaned loudly and sent a murderous look to his brother and Juvia sighed, tired. "Lyon-san, you are not helping."

"Oh, it's fine. I'm not really trying to help." He waved her concerns off. "My bag is in Gray's office, I'll be right back."

Once he was gone, Gray walked around the desk to stand behind Juvia as she got her phone and put it in her purse. He grabbed her coat and helped her put it on. "Now he'll never shut up about this." Gray muttered. "He'll talk about how you asked him on a date forever."

"There's something going on here." Juvia ignored Gray's words. "Juvia will figure out what."

"What are you talking about?" He frowned in confusion.

"Juvia will tell you once she finds out." She said and Gray didn't look any less confused. She offered her hand. "Come on, let's go home."

#

"He was so pissed I'm taking a ride with you instead of with him." Lyon laughed and Juvia couldn't help it but to smile. A minute before, after a small argument about who would take Lyon to their house, Gray had headed to his car on his own while Lyon got in Juvia's passenger's seat, looking rather smug.

"He won't be happy when we get there and he'll make you know that." Juvia informed him.

"It's fine." Lyon shrugged and she could see by the corner of her eye that he was looking at her. "You really tamed him, haven't you?"

"Hm?"

"Two years ago when I met you he tried at all costs make me believe you two weren't dating." He said. "Now you two have a house together, a dog. You even held his hand without him pulling it away. Oh, and I saw you managed to take a picture with him. Mom always had a hard time to make Gray take pictures, but you managed it." Lyon sounded really amazed. "You tamed him."

"You make it sound like he's a dog or something." Juvia could feel her cheeks grow warmer.

"Oh no; Gray would be a cat. He likes to think he's so cool but if you dare to give attention to someone else other than him, he gets a meltdown. He wants to be left alone but he makes a ruckus if he doesn't get attention when he demands to." Lyon snorted. "He gets very territorial and hisses whenever I come too close to you. I can almost see his hair sticking up like a cat's."

She tried to fight it, but Juvia couldn't help but to smile. "That's... very spot on."

"I know my brother." He shrugged and looked out the window. "Like I said, you tamed him. You made yourself his human."

Juvia glanced his way and decided to see if her suspicions were right. "Lyon-san?" She asked and he hummed to indicate he was listening. "Can Juvia ask you a question?" He looked her way and said 'yes', so Juvia finally asked something that had been in her mind for a while. "You haven't had any interest in Juvia for a long time, haven't you?"

She glanced his way before her eyes went back to the road, but she could see his surprised expression; whatever he was waiting for her to ask, it wasn't that.

"I'm always interested in you Juv-"

"Don't give me that." She cut him off when he tried to charm his way out of the question. "When we met Juvia knows you found her pretty, we went on that job and you were very charming. But after that, you knew Juvia and Gray-sama were together and every time we are alone, you are a gentleman and not once you hit on me; you only make your 'moves' in front of him." She stopped at a red light so she could look his way. "Today Juvia saw you clearly get hurt by what he said about the hotels. You know he gets annoyed with you because of you hitting on me, but you keep doing it. Can you tell me why you keep doing it?"

Lyon was clearly surprised with her words and she didn't blame him, but his actions earlier made her want to confront him. She heard a horn behind her and she looked at her rearview mirror and saw Gray's car behind her and he looked really pissed off. The light was green so she started to drive again, while waiting for Lyon's answer.

"I'm going to sound pathetic if I tell you." Lyon said in a low voice.

Juvia sighed. "It's just us in here, Lyon-san. Whatever you tell Juvia, she won't tell Gray-sama." She glanced his way. "Juvia is your friend and she would like to understand what is happening so she can help you, if needed."

It took him a few moments to sigh in resignation. "I will sound like a whiny little bitch, Juvia-chan. Just remember that you are the one who asked." She glanced his way again and saw his pass a hand through his white hair. "Okay. Gray... he's my brother and I know he loves me in his own way." Juvia nodded in agreement. "But he... he doesn't give me attention if I don't demand it. Shit, I sound like an overly attached girlfriend." He chuckled, sad.

Juvia frowned, ignoring his last words. "What do you mean?"

"When we were growing up, we were really tight. Best friends." Lyon said. "And then mom died, I went down to a bad path and Gray got into the military. We didn't speak for years but a we reconnected after a shit storm of punches. But it's not the same, I don't think it will ever be. We are very different people than when we were kids.

"But I... I miss my little brother, you know? And now he has this whole new life with new people that became his family. He is my only family left, you know?" Lyon said, sadly. "We live so far from each other and when I come here, there's so much going on. Gray treats me like someone he knew from school that he lost touch with; if I don't offer information about what's going on with my life, he doesn't even ask. I'm sorry to drag you, Juvia-chan, but the only time he gives me his full attention is when I'm being obnoxiously flirty with you. I'll knock it off if you want me to, I just-" Juvia was pulling over and stopped the car. Lyon looked confused. "Juvia-chan?"

The blunette took of the seatbelt and hugged him, as much as he could while he had his own seatbelt on. She could feel a few tears falling on her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Lyon-san."

"Wha-?" He patted her back slowly.

"Gray-sama is not the only family you have left. If you are Gray-sama's family, you are Juvia's family too." She told him, tightening the hug. "I am sure Gray-sama doesn't even know you want to have more of a brotherly relationship, he didn't even think it was strange for your flirts, you men are clueless like that." Juvia sighed. "You really need to talk to him when you are ready, though. Even so, Juvia will make sure he calls you more often. Juvia will call you more often too and whenever we can, we will go to visit you, okay?" She released him from her hug, but put her hands on his cheek. "And you'll come to visit us for as long as you want to, and call us no matter the time."

"Juvia, I-"

"Juvia will ask you so many personal questions you will be sick of her." She kissed his cheek. "Just you wait, you'll be asking for me to knock it off."

Lyon smiled. "I highly doubt that."

"Just wait." She repeated and smiled, finally drying her cheeks. "Jeez, you made me get emotional."

"I'm sorry." He said, but Lyon was beaming, clearly happy to have come clean with Juvia. "So... Can I keep with the flirts?"

"Yes." Juvia laughed and started the car again when her phone started to ring and Juvia saw it was Gray. "Oh, here we go." She pressed the Bluetooth button so she could answer and drive at the same time. "Hello, Gray-sama.

"Where are you?" Gray asked through the car's speakers.

"We had to stop for a moment, but we are on our way now." Juvia answered, cheerful.

"You had to stop? Why?"

"That's for us to know and you to find out." Lyon teased his brother, winking Juvia's way and she giggled.

Gray groaned. "Fuck you."

"We'll be home in a minute, Gray-sama."

"Fine." He growled and ended the call.

"He's so pissed." Lyon laughed. "This is great. Thanks for this, Juvia-chan"

#

Gray had not been happy when Juvia parked her car next to his at the garage and she let him and Lyon argue while they got inside the house. From the moment they stepped in, though, they were greeted by Snowball who seemed to have found a new favorite human by the way she behaved with Lyon and weirdly enough, Gray became jealous even of that.

After showing Lyon his room and giving him a tour around the house, Juvia told the boys they should get ready so they could go out somewhere nice to have dinner.

Juvia stepped in the shower and Gray followed her a moment later, taking a moment to hug her from behind and kiss her cheek. The woman took a step back to shampoo her hair while Gray stepped under the spray of water and started to soap his body.

"Gray-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you so jealous of Lyon-san?" She asked, curious.

Turning around and clearly confused, Gray was frowning. "What?"

"You know he's all bark and no bite; he'd never would want to lose your trust like this." She finished with her shampoo and Gray stepped aside to she could rinse it.

"Is there a reason you are asking me this now?" He asked from behind her.

"Yes." She shrugged, still under the water.

A moment later, Gray wondered: "Are you going to tell me what is the reason?"

"No."

Gray snorted, but answered her anyway. "It's not much about what he does, is how you react to it."

"What?" It was Juvia's turn to be surprised.

"You should've seen yourself when I introduced you two." Gray's expression was sour. "All giggly and blushing and touching your hair. 'Juvia heard about you'." He mimicked her voice. "You looked so stupidly charmed when he kissed your hand, argh it got into my nerves."

"I-" She honestly didn't know what to say.

"And then the next day I saw you coming home from a date with him-"

"It wasn't a date-"

"It was a date." He scowled; Gray always hated to think about that night. "I was coming home after going to Frank's and I saw the two of you, standing close to each other, he was holding your hand and talking in whispers." Juvia blinked in surprise. "I knew I had no right and I told him lots of times we had nothing going on, but I got so angry. I didn't know why, then, but you were mine and all I saw was him, trying to get you.

"Women get charmed with his personality, just like it happened to you. He is the prince charming kind of guy, you know?" Gray pushed Juvia away gently and stepped under the spray of water. "Seven out of ten women would prefer him over me. I am not romantic, I'm not charming, I wanted nothing serious, I'm not good with keeping contact. I was great to be a one night stand, but a boyfriend? Hell no." Gray snorted and continued to take his shower. "It never bothered me until that moment I saw you two. I couldn't let him get you and the next thing I knew, I was punching him."

Juvia had her mouth opened in shock. "But we got together after that. You kept being-"

"Because you were always giggling around him." Gray grabbed her conditioner and put some on his hand and Juvia turned around without even noticing and he applied it to her hair, like he had done a few times. It was oddly intimate and Juvia always liked when he played with her hair. "You still do, actually."

"So what, you are worried Juvia will suddenly fall in love with him and leave you?" She asked, exasperated.

"I didn't say it made sense." She could picture him shrugging with that. "I just remember how close it was for me to lose you then and I get this green-eyed monster inside me."

She shook her head and turned around. "Oh, Gray-sama." Juvia sighed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Juvia was already in love with you then."

"I know that now." He scoffed.

Juvia pulled him for a kiss. "Juvia loves you now."

"Yes." Gray rolled his eyes. "Well, I'll go get ready. Don't stay here for too long, I know how you like to put make-up on."

"Alright." She smiled and watched him step out the shower.

#

Juvia was drying her hair when she saw Gray come out of the walk-in closet while putting on his shirt and she made up her mind about what her plan of action would be.

"Gray-sama, Juvia is not going with you and Lyon-san tonight." She told him and Gray looked her way, confused.

"Why?"

The blunette tightened the towel around her and threw the other on the bed. "Because you two haven't seen each other in a very long time and need to catch up."

"He's just going to be his annoying self and I-" Juvia got closer to him and put a finger on his lips.

"Do you trust me?" She asked and Gray frowned, but nodded. "Then I need you to go out with your brother and talk to him. Most importantly: listen to what he has to say."

"Does this have something to do with why you two needed to stop when we were coming home?" Gray asked, eyes narrowed and Juvia nodded. "I knew you were up to something." She shrugged and Gray kept looking at her for a few moments before he nodded. "If you say I need to go alone with Lyon, I trust you have your reasons."

"Juvia does." She smiled and gave him a peck on the lips. "Just... remember he is family."

"I always remember he is family, why do you think we fight so much?"

After she had seen them off, Juvia had dinner and cuddled up on the couch with her dog until she was tired enough to go to bed.

She woke up, though, when she felt a pair of strong arms around her. Juvia blinked and saw on the bedside clock it was almost three a.m.

Noting she was awake, Gray whispered: "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Did you have fun?" She asked and Gray kissed the back of her neck.

"We did." Gray told her. "We had dinner and then went to a bar. It was nice."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhm." He agreed. "I missed that, you know? Just my brother and I, talking about stuff." Juvia smiled; it was a step in the right direction and she would make sure they'd include Lyon in their lives as much as they could. "Did you know he's interested in a woman from his office?"

"Really?" Juvia asked, curious. Lyon would have to answer a lot of questions in the morning.

"Yeah. She seems nice, from what he told me." Gray hid his face on her hair. "Maybe I don't need to worry about his flirts anymore."

The blunette chuckled. "Maybe you don't."

#

With Lyon and Gray's relationship being much less violent, Juvia enjoyed Lyon's stay at their house immensely while her boyfriend hadn't been a fan when Snowball had played favorites and was clearly enchanted by Lyon.

Of course, when Juvia mentioned it to Gray, he had scoffed and told her she was crazy.

Two weeks after Lyon left, Juvia got back to her office after lunch and was surprised to see her best friend lying on the floor behind her couch. His forearm was over his eye and his foot was moving in a nervous tick – Juvia sighed in relief with the movement, it meant he wasn't dead.

"The couch is much better to take a nap." Juvia said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking down to Gajeel.

"I'm hiding." He didn't even bother to look at her. "If I lie down on your couch, people will see me."

Juvia granted the point. "Whom are you hiding from?" She asked. "Did you piss Levy-san off again?"

"It's about Levy, but I didn't piss her off." Gajeel said quietly and his tone made all the bells inside Juvia's mind go off. Gajeel was always loud and rude; if he was quiet, it was something big. "I just... I needed some time to think."

Juvia sighed and lied down next to Gajeel, putting her hands on her stomach and looking to the ceiling. "Well, do you need help thinking?"

She didn't take personally when Gajeel said nothing for long moments, just choosing to be by his side until he decided if he wanted to talk to her about whatever was bothering him. Juvia was deciding what a particular stain on the ceiling looked like when Gajeel finally spoke and she couldn't believe her ears.

"Levy... is pregnant." He said and Juvia's eyes widened as she looked his direction while he still hadn't move his arm from his eyes "Five weeks or so."

"Oh." Juvia breathed. "That's... Oh, that's... amazing." She smiled, really happy for her friends. "But I thought Levy-san was on the pill or something."

"She can't take those." Gajeel mumbled. "The side effects that appear on the boxes? Apparently she gets some of those so her doctor told her not to. We used condoms. We skipped a few times and I didn't think it would..." He trailed off.

"It only needs to happen one time." Juvia told him gently.

Gajeel snorted. "Don't I know it." He sighed. "Make sure you have always some around. If you get lazy like I did..."

"Juvia and Gray-sama haven't used condoms for almost two years in a few months." She shrugged. "Juvia has an IUD."

"Levy was going to get one of those, but then we needed to go undercover and time flew."

"So now she's pregnant." Juvia said, softly.

"So now she's pregnant." Gajeel agreed with a sigh and finally moved his arm and turned his head her way and she could see in his red eyes how worried he was. "I really fucked up now, Juvia."

"Don't say that." The blunette frowned and reached for his hand, bringing it between them and giving a squeeze. "What did Levy-san say?"

"She was shocked, but after a couple of hours, she was excited." Gajeel closed his eyes for a moment. "Fuck."

Juvia sighed. "Tell me what's going on inside your head."

"I'm thinking how much I screwed up her life. She's tied up to me forever now." Gajeel confined in his best friend. "I am an addict, Juvia. I've done some awful things in my life, I have blood in my hands. How can I be a father when I can't even get my own life in order? I'm going to screw up the kid somehow."

"No, no Gajeel-kun." Juvia shook her head. "You are seeing things the wrong way." Gajeel looked at her with doubt. "You are an addict, yes, but you have been clean two and a half years. And yes, you've done some bad things in your life, we all have, but you did the right thing. You stepped up, you owned your guilt, you took whatever punishment was fit, you went to rehab and now your sheet is clean. Do you know how many people can say that? Do you know how strong someone has to be to just admit they were wrong? That's what your kid will see.

"You will be a good father because you'll have had lived in both sides, you'll support your child, you'll guide it the best you can. And sure, you'll screw up at some point. Every parent does, every person in the world got screwed up by their parents in something, you won't be different. Just... be there for him. Everything else you'll learn as you go."

Gajeel didn't look entirely convinced. "I hate to say this, it pains to say it, but Levy could do so much bet-"

"No, don't." Juvia scowled. "This isn't about finding the perfect person in the world, it's about who we fall in love with. You are not perfect, I am not perfect. Shit, Gray-sama isn't perfect; he's very screwed up, actually, yet I love him more than I thought I could." She said. "When I told him I loved him, he looked at me as if I was crazy, as if he thought he wasn't worthy to be loved. In his mind he is the orphan who lost his foster mother, the guy who shot me when we met, the guy who gets everyone killed. Do you know who he is in my mind? He is the guy who holds me when we are going to sleep, who cooks me pasta when he does something he shouldn't, the guy who puts conditioner on my hair when we take a shower together. I love him, even with all his faults, because the good is much bigger than the bad.

"Just because you don't think you should be loved, it doesn't mean people won't love you either way. I do, Levy-san does, your baby will." Juvia told him. "It's alright to be scared, it's alright to be apprehensive, but don't think for a second you can't do this. You and Levy-san love each other; besides, you are as stubborn as they come, the moment you set your mind on something, you do it."

Gajeel kept looking at her for a few moments before his gaze went to the ceiling and they stayed in silence.

"I'm terrified." He whispered.

"I know." Juvia's own gaze went to the ceiling. "But you won't be alone. Levy-san is going to be with you so you can learn as you go. Plus, you'll have Juvia to help you whenever you need her to." Juvia wiggled her body until she could rest her head on his shoulder and her body was pressed against his. "You are going to be a daddy!" She whispered in excitement and Gajeel let out a strangled laugh.

"Fuck, I will be." He chuckled and moved his arm so it was around Juvia's shoulders. "Oh, boy, I'm going to get crazy, won't I?"

"Absolutely." Juvia laughed. "And I'm gonna be an aunt."

"You'll spoil the kid rotten, won't you?" Gajeel groaned in annoyance.

"Of course." She beamed in happiness. "It is going to be so cute."

Gajeel was about to answer, but someone stepped closer to them so both looked up and saw Gray standing next to their heads.

"Hi." Juvia smiled at her boyfriend, not moving at all from her position.

"Hi." Gray raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why are you two on the floor?"

The blunette shrugged. "We are dealing with stuff."

Her answer made Gajeel snort and Juvia fell into a fit of giggles. Gray opened his mouth to ask more questions, but shook his head instead, had learned after two years of being together with Juvia. "Okay." He sighed in resignation. "I'll be back later."

They waited until Gray was out before Juvia started to ask more questions about Levy's pregnancy to her friend and he was slowly opening up. Juvia knew he would be fully on board in no time and she wanted nothing more than to see Gajeel happy, he really deserved it.

#

The news about Levy's pregnancy made the firm go in uproar, but the news about the couple expecting twins made even more ruckus.

Juvia was excited with the news and she took upon herself to try to make Gajeel stop look like he was going throw up at any second and to enjoy his babies. He was slowly coming in terms with it and he was the most adorable man around Levy, always asking if she needed to eat something or if she needed him to do something for her.

He had come such a long way from the punk she had met years before; she was so proud of him it made her heart burst with love.

Since she was very close to Gajeel, she caught a bit of the baby fever and sometimes he caught herself thinking about what hers and Gray's children would look like. Would a little boy be a mini-Gray? His genes were certainly strong enough if Silver's appearance was any indicator. And a little girl? Would it have blue hair or black?

Whenever her mind went there, Juvia would shake her head to clear her thoughts. Gray never spoken of children, even after the news. He probably didn't want them and Juvia tried to push the thoughts away; she had never dreamt of being a mother before. Perhaps it was just the baby fever and it would pass in a couple of weeks.

Yes, that was it.

Right?

A few weeks after the announcement about the twins, Gray and Juvia arrived home after a triple date, Lucy, Natsu, Gajeel and Levy had made them company, and Juvia was putting food for Snowball when she turned around and saw Gray leaning on the kitchen island, arms crossed over his chest and he was looking intently at her.

"What?" Juvia asked.

"I'm waiting to see if you are going to tell me what is wrong." Gray gave her a one shoulder shrug and Juvia froze with his words.

"Juvia doesn't know what you are talking about." She said and walked towards the living room, Gray following her suit.

"I've known you for three years, we've been together for two and a half." He snorted. "I know when you have something in your mind, by now. Besides, I've caught you staring at me with a very weird look on your face."

Juvia sat on the couch and started to take off her heels. "It's nothing."

Gray sat by her side. "Alright, then."

They stayed in silence as Juvia took off her heels and she sat back on the couch. Gray hadn't even bothered with turning off the TV and the silence was getting deafening. Should she talk to Gray? Would it be better if they talked about their expectations clearly?

Maybe it would. Maybe she just needed to hear Gray's opinion for her baby fever to go away.

"Gajeel-kun is going to have babies." Juvia said, quietly and she could feel Gray's eyes on her. "Juvia's going to be an aunt."

"Yes." Gray agreed.

Gathering her courage, Juvia looked his way. "Is 'Aunt Juvia' all I'm going to be?" She asked, quickly. "We've never talked about this, mostly because Juvia never thought she'd get the opportunity. Honestly I thought the army would've killed me even before I turned thirty." Since she started, she was in a roll and it seemed she lost her filter. "Juvia never thought she'd have a life stable enough for it to be possible, or a good relationship, or any other support but here she is with it all. Since I heard about Levy-san's pregnancy I've been wondering if we'd ever get that because I... I want it.

"If you don't, I would like to know so I can prepare myself to be just the best Aunt in the world. I'm going to spoil those children like no one else and I might adopt more dogs as surrogates, I must warn you." She gulped and Gray's expression was surprisingly blank. "So... am I? Just going to be Aunt Juvia, I mean?"

The next few moments were one the tensest of Juvia's life. Her heart was beating so fast, she didn't know what to expect from her boyfriend, but it was time for the truth.

"I knew it had something to do with this." Gray sighed and put a hand on the back of his neck, massaging it slowly. "Good thing I thought about it, otherwise you'd get me entirely unprepared."

"Oh?" Juvia breathed, nervous.

Gray took a deep breath and looked her way. "I knew it was a matter of time until you asked me about this. Like you said, we never discussed it." He shrugged. "After we learned about Levy, I spoke about it with Mira during our sessions and I found out some stuff." Juvia waited as he seemed to organize his thoughts. "Just like you said, I never thought I'd get what we have. Really, never. If someone had told me three years ago that this would be my life, I would've laughed in their face.

"But here we are, going steady even after all the shit we went through. A couple of months ago I told you how important you are to me and I mean it. Honestly, I think I'll always mean it. We have a house together, a whole life and when I said I'm in for the long haul, I mean I'm in for the long haul." He stopped for a moment. "You changed me. I'm still me, sure, but you made me better. You... you made me have opportunities I never thought I'd get and I took them. I'm glad I took them.

"You are asking me about children so not you are giving me another opportunity. To tell you the truth I am deeply terrified to bring a life into this world. We are in a peaceful moment, but there's a lunatic out there trying to destroy society as we know it and it scares the crap out of me. But there will always be lunatics, there will always be bad people and if we get that into account, no one would procreate ever again." Juvia smiled at that. "And you know how screwed up I am." She opened her mouth to speak, but he raised a hand to stop her. "I am, and so are you, but somehow together we get happy in our own screwed up way.

"I think I would like to have a family with you." Juvia's heart stopped for a moment inside her chest. "Everything you gave me I enjoy, but... not now. It's just been a couple of months since you stopped freaking out about me going on long jobs, you just stopped with the extra sessions with Mira and I'm still getting used to say how I feel. Let's just enjoy that for a while."

"Yeah?" Juvia could feel her eyes water; she was expecting a much different answer. She didn't know how much his want of having a family with her meant until he had said it.

"Yeah." He put an arm on the couch and Juvia slid closer to him, their faces really close. "You said you need to change your IUD soon, right?" She nodded.

"In seven months."

"There we go." Gray told her. "In seven months we'll talk about it again and we can see if the time seems right or if we need more. I think both of us need time to wrap our minds around it. And by then Levy will have delivered the twins so we will be able to see if it's what we really want."

Juvia kissed him in a very light and sweet kiss. "Thank you."

"What for?" He frowned.

"Being open to talk about this." She put a hand on the back of his neck and caressed the hair there.

Gray snorted. "A couple of years ago the word 'baby' would've made me disappear so fast, you have no idea."

"Juvia is glad it doesn't anymore."

"You know what? Me too." Gray told her and Juvia smiled, kissing him again. "Come on, let's go to bed." Juvia nodded in agreement, so happy she was dizzy.

She really loved him more than she thought was possible.