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Natsu sat in class, his eyes trained on the board. He saw the teacher writing, but he couldn't hear her over his buzzing thoughts.

The sky outside was grey, casting a depressive mood over the classroom. Natsu looked across the room at Juvia, who was scribbling down notes quickly as the teacher talked.
Next to her sat Lucy, and Natsu could tell she knew eyes were on her.

She lifted her eyes from her notebook and up to Natsu's, her expression contorting as she gave him a look.

A sort of reminder, like saying 'keep quiet.'

Lucy's words from the night prior rang in his ears, and he couldn't stop replaying the conversation in his head.
"It's about Juvia. I'm worried about her, and I need your help."

•••

~~~~~~~~~~~~~last night~~~~~~~~~~~
"What? What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu asked, his eyes dilating at Lucy's sudden statement.

"Can we sit?" Lucy asked, ignoring Natsu and walking to his kitchen, sitting down at his island counter top.

Natsu followed, annoyed that he was ignored.
"Lucy what the hell is going on? What's wrong with Juvia?" Natsu asked again, walking up to the other side of the island and staring at Lucy.

She looked away, staring down at the counter.
"Lucy." Natsu said once more, this time demanding that she looked at him.

Lucy looked up, slight shock shining in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked once final time, and Lucy fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Well, Juvia met this guy a couple days ago, and he's just been acting really weird. Not around her, but I don't know I always catch him staring at her like in a really creepy way. And I have a suspicion that he might be the person who commissioned that job from Jellal 6 months ago. So I need to know if you know whether it's him or not." Lucy explained.

Natsu raised an eyebrow, trying to focus on the task at hand rather than trying to make amends with Lucy.
"What's his name?" Natsu asked.

"Bora."

•••

Natsu turned his eyes back to the board after he realized he had been staring, and Lucy's admission bounced around his head.

"Holy shit, that's him. Fuck, I have to tell-"

"No! You can't tell Gray! I don't want him getting involved with Juvia ever again!"

Natsu frowned, looking down at his blank notebook paper.

'What the hell am I suppose to do?' He thought, sighing and trying to tune back into the lecture.

•••

The lunch room was loud as Gray passed by it's entrance, heading to his usual lunch spot with his friends.
He hadn't sat with them in 2 weeks, ever since his fight with Erza.

They always had lunch together in an empty classroom, one of the old art rooms that was never occupied during 5th period.

In his hand was an apple, and he took a bite as he entered the room.
Erza sat on one of the desks, Jellal sitting in the same desk and scrolling on his phone.

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Natsu and Gajeel also sat on top of desks, both scarfing down food as they spoke with Erza. However the conversation didn't look like a pleasant one.

Briar wasn't there, which wasn't a surprise to Gray.
She wasn't hanging around them at all anymore.

The door hinges squeaked as he opened the door, catching the attention of everyone in the room.
Erza's eyes seem to narrow as she saw Gray in the doorway, but Gray ignored it and walked inside. He walked over to the desk next to Natsu's, sitting on top of it and getting comfortable.

He took another bite of his apple and looked at everyone who was staring at him, giving them all a confused look.

"What?" He asked, looking between Erza and Natsu who kept looking at each other.

The atmosphere was tense between the three, and Jellal and Gajeel were just looking on at the spectacle.

Erza's face hardened and she glared at Gray, but then turned to Natsu and gave him the same look.
"As much as I'm angry with Gray right now, he has a right to know." Erza spoke to Natsu, her voice filled with authority.

Gray perked up at this, sitting up straight.
"A right to know what?" He asked, his voice equally as annoyed as Erza's.

Natsu looked down, his expression guilty. Gajeel hit his arm and Jellal nodded at him, all of them giving Natsu looks of encouragement.

Natsu sighed and then turned to Gray, swallowing his food.
"Bora is trying to get with Juvia."

•••

The words hit Gray like a slap in the face, a fire igniting in his heart.

'I'll kill him.' Gray's thoughts roared, making him growl under his breath.
He felt his heart begin to race in anger, and his expression went noticeably dark.

He looked down at him lap, curling his fist so hard it began to turn white. His eyebrows hurt from how hard he was furrowing them, and his whole body was tensed up like a cornered animal.

He looked at his friends, who were all waiting for an answer.

Suddenly, he felt himself deflate as he stared into the faces of the people who knew him the best.

He thought about Juvia, and what he did to her.
'Fuck, I have no right to be angry.'

So, as much as it hurt him to, Gray shrugged, ignoring his screaming thoughts and taking another bite of his apple.
"It's not my problem." Gray said coolly, his heart screaming at him to take it all back.

There was a silence in the room as Gray swallowed his apple, and when he turned back to face his friends he almost jumped at the sight of Erza's angry face.

Erza's face was red hot with anger and she got up quickly, walking to Gray and grabbing him roughly by the collar.
Gray's eyes went wide at Erza's brash moves, and before anyone could stop her she was screaming in Gray's face.

"Enough with the act Gray! We can all see through it! And you're right! You don't deserve someone like Juvia! But god damn it, if I have to watch you two suffer for any longer I might just kill you! Bora is a danger to Juvia, he's a scumbag and it's your responsibility to save her now! You hurt her once, DON'T let her get hurt again!" Erza screamed, her grip on Gray's collar tightening as tears began to fall down her face.

"So just man the hell up!" She added before Jellal grabbed her shoulder gently and pulled her into his arms, petting her hair.

Guilt wracked through Gray's entire body, and what made it worse was Erza's soft sniffles and sobs.

He wasn't just hurting himself, he was hurting everyone else around him.
But he could only stare, the shock paralyzing him.

'Just man the hell up!'
Gray nodded as the words echoed in his mind, and he suddenly stood from the desk he sat on.

His body, like it was moving on it's own, began to walk towards the classroom door.

Gajeel and Natsu looked at him in shock, and Jellal gave him a confused look.

Gray walked up to the door and opened it, throwing his half eaten apple in the trash can.

"Gray, where are you going?" Jellal asked, and Erza looked up from his chest with red eyes and a confused expression.

Gray looked back at his friends, giving them the same uninterested look he always had.
"I'm going to get Juvia."

And with that, he was gone, leaving his friends to stare at the door in disbelief.

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