Love In The Ice - A Gruvia Story [COMPLETE]

I'm Here With You

Trigger warning: mentions of rape

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After driving around for a while, looking for his girlfriend, Gray gave up just going to random places hoping to find her there. Instead, Gray drove to her building and waited until he caught someone else leaving before he snuck in.

With a sigh, after knocking on her door for good measure – he was sure she wasn't home – Gray sat on the floor, back resting against her door and phone in hand just in case she called and he waited.

She had to come home sometime and he needed to make sure she was alright after that strange meeting that afternoon.

A noise caught his attention from the stairs and for a second, he thought it was Juvia, but his shoulders dropped when he saw it was an older woman, all her hair was white and she looked frail. She was holding some bags with groceries but looked at him in suspicion when she noticed him just sitting there. He must've been a vision, hair messy because of the number of times he passed his fingers through it in frustration and he was clearly upset.

Seeing she was struggling with her groceries, Gray got up and the woman held on to her purse, still looking at him suspiciously.

"Do you need any help?" He asked, stopping a few steps away from her so she felt safer. "My name is Gray, I'm Juvia's boyfriend." Gray pointed towards the door of the apartment. "I'm waiting for her."

The woman relaxed slightly. "Oh, I've seen you two together. I know Juvia-chan, she's a sweet girl." Taking it as his cue, Gray took the groceries from her quietly. "Thank you." Gray shrugged and watched as she opened the door, her hands shaking lightly as she reached for her keys and slowly opened the door. "Could you...?" She pointed towards the counter and Gray put the bags there. "Thank you very much."

"You are welcome." He bowed his head slightly and offered the older woman a small smile before making his way out. Once he was outside the apartment, he checked his phone and sighed when there were no new messages.

With a humph, he sat back in front of her door, closing his eyes and resting his head on the door. He wanted to see her. She never outright ignored him before, she had always been the one wanting to talk, to share and now that he needed her to appear, she was nowhere to be found.

"Did you two have a fight?" The voice startled Gray, who opened his eyes and saw the older woman on her doorway, arms crossed over her chest. "Is that why you are waiting?"

"No." He answered. "I'm worried because something happened and she ran away before I could help her. I just want to make sure she is fine."

The woman hummed in agreement. "I see. It's about time someone took care of that girl." She nodded. "She forgets that she also needs to be taken care of."

Gray snorted. "That she does. Hopefully she'll let me."

"She will." The woman chuckled. "If you need anything, just knock."

"Thank you..." He didn't know what to call her.

"Martha." She supplied.

"Thank you, Martha." Before he could say anything else, they heard footsteps stopping and both looked at its direction.

It was Juvia and she was clearly surprised to see him there. "Gray-sama?"

He was on his feet a second later, walking her way, feeling so relieved to see her he could wrap his arms around her for hours. "Oh, thank god!" He whispered and did as he wanted, pulled her into a hug. "Dammit, Juvia. You can't disappear like that." For a second, he thought she was going to push him away but then he felt her arms around his torso. "Don't do that again." By the corner of his eyes, he saw Martha smile and quietly get inside her apartment, closing the door to give them privacy.