The sun setting to the horizon of the land, creating the shadowy skyline of the city and staining everything to different tints of orange and pink, Gray drove down the familiar path towards Phantom Lord's bar with Juvia in his passenger seat. After saying her goodbyes to her cousin and friends, Gray escorted her into his car and drove through the city in silence. Occasionally, Gray would looked over to see the blue haired woman's gaze looking out her window, peeking at everything they passed with curiosity written on her face. Her legs were curled on the seat, her skirt folded to conceal anything from exposure to him, an arm wrapped around her knees and her other hand to her lips. The tips of her fingers softly playing with her small chin and lower lip, she looked to be lost in her own world.

The idea of it made Gray form half of a smile and look back to the road each time he stole a look to her. Driving with one hand, he kept the comfortable silence between them until he pulled into the dirt lot of the bar she worked at. Seeing Gajeel already outside, leaning against the brick wall beside Totomaru, Gray exhaled a soft sigh as he brought the ride to a designated parking spot before killing the engine.

He was about to speak when he felt Juvia's small hand reach and grasp the collar of his leather jacket. He didn't notice what she was doing until she slowly pulled him sideway and pressed her lips to his cheek, kissing his cheekbone as he froze and inhale a sharp breath.

Gray could feel her long lashes tickle his skin and the tiny touch of the tip of her nose, he could feel his heartbeat fasten in a matter of seconds and every nerve in his body feel like little electric shocks throughout his whole body.

"Gray-sama's prize for winning. Thank you for helping Juvia," she whispered against his cheek, and Gray swore that his heart took off on a rocket and went to space.

As soon as she pressed her lips to his skin, the quick she pulled away from him and exit the car. Blinking, Gray looked between the empty seat and to Juvia's rising form for a good moment before jumping in his seat and leave the driver's side.

"Nii-chan!" Juvia called out at her approaching brother, who kept his arms crossed as he made his way over. He didn't drop his arms until Juvia held her hands up, letting the young woman jump and wrap her thin arms around his neck. Gajeel's hands gripped the back of her head and upper back, closing his eyes hard before releasing a breath he was holding. He looked to be holding in certain emotions, trying to maintain his tough and dangerous image but Gray could see the worried scrunch of the man's studded brows.

"Makin' Totomaru tell me what was going on, and I couldn't leave," the muscular man growled under his breath, hugging his sister closer to him. Juvia simply made a noise of being crushed, but didn't seem to mind as she snuggled her head on his shoulder. "Don't do shit like that to me again, ya hear? Swear to fuckin' Christ I was gonna come after ya and break every bone in anyone's body who gets in my fucking way."

"Juvia is so sorry, Nii-chan," she giggled somewhat sadly when he went on blubbering swear words as he let her go. "Juvia is fine, though, see? Nothing for Nii-chan to cry over, please."

"Ain't crying, squirt," Gajeel stiffened. "I was worried, ya hear? Don't go putting words into my mouth like that. Don't make me worry like that ever again!"

"Juvia-sama," Totomaru spoke to the siblings, smiling softly. "Welcome back, Juvia-sama. Why don't we go inside and get you something to eat. Sue and Boze haven't settled down to eat until they heard from you - I think they were worried about you."

"Oh!" Juvia gasped before looking back to Gray, bowing her head to him. "Gray-sama, thank you for bringing Juvia back, and she's so sorry for this, but Sue-chan isn't going to eat unless Juvia is back. Goodnight, Gray-sama!" With that, Juvia scurried over to Totomaru and let him lead her into the bar.

Gajeel waited until the door shut with a clang noise before looking to Gray with threatening eyes. Gray, however, didn't show any signs of backing down as he shoved his arms into his coat's pocket. The silence didn't last long as Gajeel cleared his throat thickly and looked away from Gray's face, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Thanks...for taking care of my sister."

Gray now suddenly felt uncomfortable with Gajeel's polite gesture, feeling completely out of character between the two's relationship for the past years of fighting and unable to be in the same room. Even on the roads, they were still just as hard and mean to each other.

Noticing this, Gajeel brought back his dark glare and harsh voice. "Don't you fuckin' think that I'm gonna treat you any better just because you got Vidaldus away from my baby sister, got it? The fact that you drove her here alone is enough to grind my gears, Stripper!"

"She left her phone in her car, 'kay?" Gray snapped back, standing his ground against the other man. "I couldn't let her use my phone, otherwise I'd have your number or you'd have mine!"

"I don't trust you with my number, you shit!" Gajeel growled deeply.

"Same here!" Gray hissed and they both fell quiet to their argument, staring eye-to-eye and flexing their biceps and pectorals. It good a long minute or two before both men stopped their stupid ranting; Gray shoving his hands in his pockets and Gajeel leaning against the cold wall, the sky turning more dark and streetlights were turning on.

"I made a deal with Trinity Raven to keep off of your property, and made Vidaldus to give up trying to go to Jose about Juvia," Gray stated, not really caring about who's tougher right now.

"Boze said something about that when they got here," Gajeel nodded. "Heard you bet your car, too, to reel them in."

"Had to get them to race with me somehow."

Gajeel snorted a chuckle. "Smart move, Stripper. Vidaldus is too much of a weakling to race anyone he doesn't wanna race, unless Ikaruga's into it."

Gray nodded, looking to his car that only had small paint scratches, but no major damage from when his and Vidaldus's car grind against each other. "If…" he sighed, looking to Gajeel with a serious look, making the taller man blink. "Look, if...if Juvia, or anyone, is in danger for whatever reason, or she needs someplace safe to be… Gramps really cares for you and Juvia, and he likes Sue and Boze and Totomaru. If anything is happening that you guys need someplace safer, Fairy Tail is -."

"We're fine with what we got, Stripper," Gajeel stopped him and raised a hand to stop him from talking. "We're fine with holding our own problems here. We don't need any help from Fairy Tail, so don't go thinking we need any of your charity because those fuckers in Trinity Raven weren't leaving Juvia alone. It's nothing new with us, got it?"

Gray didn't say anything else, and so Gajeel went on. "I've been taking care of squirt ever since she was a baby, and I don't need anyone outside of my gang to tell me that there's another place for her to go, because there's not," he said in a firm tone. Pushing himself off the wall, Gajeel gave Gray one more look of seriousness. "My sister is important to me, and her happiness is a priority of mine, too. I ain't gonna have her friends try to tell me that she's not safe or she's not happy. The only reason why I fuckin' tolerate you is because Juvia's cousin is in your gang, got it? Just those two. That's it."

Gajeel walked away from the Fairy Tail member and let himself into the building, leaving Gray to watch silently before slowly turning himself around and heading back to his car.

Inside Phantom Lord's bar, Gajeel found his sister standing behind Sue, who was seated at one of the tables and finally eating her dinner that has remained untouched for a good hour. Juvia was gently petting Sue's dark hair, talking to both of the newer members as they ate, and Totomaru was fixing two more plate. Stepping closer, Gajeel caught Juvia's attention and he smirked at the sight of his sister smiling at him.

He was not expecting her to hold up a shopping bag, something he didn't know she was carrying when she got out of Gray's car. "Nii-chan! Come here," she beckoned excitedly, shaking the bag by the handle. "Levy-chan bought something for Nii-chan. Come open it!"

Blinking, Gajeel walked over and took the bag from Juvia's small hand. Looking inside, Gajeel reached in and pulled out a leather material. Once he unfolded it, Gajeel revealed a vest that was his size, plenty of pockets and large enough armholes for him to be able to fit his large arms through. Juvia looked at the vest along with everyone else, slowly smiling and holding her cheeks with both hands.

"Levy-chan got Nii-chan a new vest? Leather?" Juvia giggled at her brother's twitching face. "Juvia thought that Levy-chan was more of the dominatrix-type, but I guess Juvia shouldn't assume that her cousin would like to experiment."

Gajeel's face went to a mixture of red and purple at the eruption of laughter inside the bar. "Shut up, you dork!" he snapped to the snickering woman. "See? Ya got that weird look in your eye. You're thinking stupid thoughts, aren't you?"

"Nii-chan, try on the vest for Juvia! Juvia wants to see if it actually fits you."

Before he could respond, his cell phone that was on the table went off on vibrate and ringtone. Juvia reached over Sue to pick up the phone and hold it out to him, which he took and read Jose's contact name of the screen: Boss Bitch.

Swiping the screen, Gajeel brought his phone to his ear. "What ya want, Jose?" he grumbled under his breath, looking to his sister who had a small frown on her face. "We're tryin' to eat here."

"You and Juvia have work to do for Hades," Jose said, and Gajeel gave Juvia a curt nod and a wave of his hand. The blue haired woman nodded in return before leaving his side to go to Totomaru. "I'm sending the directions to you after the call. It's a drug shipment."

"Had fun having phone sex with your old pal?" Gajeel snorted bitterly at Jose's rude tone.

"Don't push me tonight, Gajeel," Jose growled darkly. "Get Juvia's ass moving and get to work. Hades' boss is not a patient man. Don't fuck this up."

"Since when have we ever fucked anything up?" the driver smirked and hung up on Jose, pocketing his phone into his pants. Glancing, Juvia smiled to Totomaru with a grateful clap of her hands.

"Will Toto-sensei be okay if he saves leftovers for Juvia and Nii-chan?" she asked him sweetly, being handed a pair of clothes of jeans and a tank. Atop of the clothes were gun holsters for her thighs and a pair of boots. Juvia took the clothes with a nod of thanks.

"Not a problem, Juvia-sama," Totomaru said with a smile. Glancing up to Gajeel, the older man tilt his head. "It'll be in the fridge for you two when you come back."

"Thanks," Gajeel sighed and looked back to the smaller woman carrying her bundle of clothes with a chirpy smile on her face. "Can you change in the car, squirt? Gotta haul ass."

Juvia grinned and winked. "If Nii-chan wears his new vest that Levy-chan got him tonight, Juvia will!"

Lucy stared at the ceiling in the bedroom, fiddling with the hem of the sleeve of the sweatshirt she was wearing. It was Natsu's, of course, since they noticed that it was a bit cold in his bedroom tonight. Speaking of her roommate, Lucy thought as she turned her head to her left, laid Natsu sleeping away with his arm underneath her neck and the other over his eyes like a blindfold. He was wearing a shirt this time, but Lucy can still feel his body heat warming her under the blanket she was using.

Natsu slept walked into the bedroom no longer than ten minutes ago to join her in bed, making Lucy feel less lonely with her thoughts. Lately now, she realized, that she now prefers to have Natsu sharing the bed with her - it was like a comfort for her, for some reason, and it just made her sleep a bit better. At first, waking up next to a guy was something that sparked her anger, but now she prefers it over having the bed alone.

Gently nudging under his chin, Lucy spoke quietly in the dark bedroom. "Natsu. Natsu, wake up," she whispered, resting her cheek against against his muscular arm. When his nose twitched, she knew she was getting his attention. "Natsu, wake up."

"Wassa…" Natsu gurgled, swallowing his dry throat away before blinking his brown eyes open. They were bleary, but he rubbed under them and sniffed. "Yeah...I'm up, I'm up…"

"Natsu," Lucy poked him once more before pulling her hands to tuck under her own chin, pressing her lips to the sleeves and hid her hands from the slight chill inside them.

Natsu, now fully aware, turned his head to look at the blonde woman. He frowned a bit before nodding. "Sorry 'bout that, Luce," he yawned, preparing to sit up to leave the bed. "Didn't mean to wake ya…"

But Lucy held him still by throwing her arms over his chest to weigh him down, making the pink haired man blink and look back down to her. She wouldn't look him in the eye, but slowly shook her head. "What's wrong, Luce?" Natsu asked her with confusion.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lucy breathed through her mouth. "There really...There are gangs that try to take people as property, Natsu?" she peeped out. "If they're angry at someone, they can just try to take them or kill them. Is that how it works?"

Natsu tilt his head. He slowly rolled to his side, bringing his other hand up to push the blonde hair out of her face to see how glossy her brown eyes looked in the tiny light peeking from the window. Natsu frowned at the sight.

"What's wrong?" he asked her quietly, making her sniff. "Is it because of what happened today with Juvia?"

Lucy shrugged, rubbing her cheek against their shared pillow to catch a tear. "I just never thought, you know, that people will actually try to kill each other, if they're mad. Or even someone like that Trinity Raven gang trying to buy Juvia-chan, like she was nothing more than a thing hanging on the wall in a store. Juvia-chan saved my life the other night, and then they want to get back at her by either attacking the bar, or taking her?"

"Juvia and the Phantom Lord aren't in the prostitution business like Trinity Raven is," Natsu explained to her carefully, holding her cheek that wasn't against the pillow to try and make her relax. "Juvia and those guys see it as something they wouldn't be okay running, especially when they have young people like Sue and Boze with them - Juvia is very protective of Sue ever since they brought them into their gang, and so is Gajeel and Totomaru."

"But that weird creeper was trying to get Juvia-chan, Natsu," Lucy shivered. "And Levy-chan was so scared for her, and crying. I don't know why anyone could do such things to people, especially when they started it all, and Juvia-chan was just trying to help! They were the ones who started it. Levy-chan told me that, if someone pisses someone in another gang off, the whole gang has the right to even it out until they're satisfied with the okay from their boss. I don't think those guys went to their boss before confronting Juvia like that, Natsu!"

"They probably didn't, knowing them. I don't think they talk with their boss, now that I think of it. That's how some things are, Luce," Natsu sighed, rubbing his thumb across her cheekbone. "They pull shit like that and try to win in the end, but that's why we play smarter than them. Gajeel would have done the same thing for his sister, but probably push Vidaldus and his car off the top of the cliff…"

"That would've caused even more problems, right?" Lucy mumbled, seeing Natsu nod in response. Biting her lip, Lucy scooted closer to Natsu, pressing her face into his shirt and cuddling more to him. "I don't want that to happen with anyone in Fairy Tail, Natsu. It's not right."

"It's not gonna happen with us, Lucy," he told her, wrapping both of his arms around her, tugging up the thick blanket to tuck around her shoulders and rubbing her back soothingly. "I won't let that happen to you, I promise, Luce. It ain't gonna happen in Fairy Tail, or with you. Not when I'm around."

"I just don't want anything bad to happen...not to my friends," Lucy confessed quietly, curling against him. "I don't want to see my friends get killed, or see them cry because someone is trying to take them, Natsu."

"And it won't happen," Natsu hushed her gently and held her closer. "It's not going to ever happen, because I won't let it happen."

"Natsu," Lucy sniffed and clung to his shirt, hiding her face in his neck, the pillow, the blanket. She held on to Natsu and he comforted her with gentle pets and his warmth, and she didn't care if her heart was hammering against her chest for the closeness or how she wished in the back of her head that they could stay this way forever. "Natsu, please help me get tougher. I wanna get stronger so I can do better on jobs with you and everyone."

Natsu nodded and held her, rubbing his hands on her back and her head and petting her hair. "Sure. Whatever you want, Luce," he told her gently, fixing her bangs out of her face. "I can show you some self defense moves tomorrow, if you want. But, for right now, get some sleep, okay?"

"Can you stay, Natsu?" she asked him, suddenly worried that he's going to let her go and leave the bedroom. She may have hit him whenever she woke up to find his arms wrapped around her, yell at him, but now she didn't want to be alone. For Lucy, she has been alone for a long time, and now she was tired of it - she didn't want to be alone anymore.

"I'll stay as long as you want me to," he told her, a small smile on his face. "Just kick me out whenever."

"No, no. No," Lucy shook her head against him before hiding her face back in his neck. She felt his chuckle vibrate against her, and she felt warm and safe in his arms. "Please stay with me. Don't leave me alone, Natsu."

"I won't ever leave ya, Luce."

Lucy closed her eyes and fell asleep to Natsu's arms remaining around her, keeping her warm. She dreamt about her mom watching in the crowd, while she sat in the passenger seat of Natsu's car; a proud smile on her mother's face as her daughter and partner won first place over and over again.