Ella laughed as she continued to walk until she came to a little café where her and Gray walked into and sat in a quiet little booth, where they could talk privately and be alone.
"So Gray, what exactly were you trying to tell me just now, outside I mean." Ella asked a little curious about her best friend, Gray shrugged; blushing a little as he did so.
"Well all I said was that you looked beautiful, that's all." he said as he looked out of the window they were sitting next to; Ella knew that Gray was lying but she wasn't going to force him to tell her the truth either. It was silent between Ella and Gray until he cleared his throat to clearly get Ella's attention.
Ella looked up as Gray and waited for him to talk.
"Do you really want to know what I was trying to say?" Gray asked still looking out the window, Ella thought Gray was blushing but she couldn't really see his face to be sure of it.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Ella said softly, sure she was curious but she didn't want to push him for answers either. Gray turned to Ella and gave her a gentle almost shy smile and placed his hand on top of hers.
"Ella a lot of old feelings that I had for you when we were younger, have started to come back; I didn't think that would and after today I realize how strong they were and are." Ella could clearly see the blush on Gray's face now, she knew what he was talking about; she had feelings for Gray when they were younger but she never knew he had felt the same way about her. Gray waited patiently for her to soak it all in before he continued.
"So what are you telling me then Gray?" Ella asked noticing that his hand was still on hers, Gray flashed her a smile.
"I'm trying to say that I," Gray stopped clearly nervous, Ella flashed him an encouraging smile which had the effect that she had hoped for.
"Look Ella, I like you I always have. I didn't know how to act on these feelings when we were younger, but seeing you yesterday after all these years; it brought back all of those old feelings." Gray finished his admission and it seemed as if a huge weight had just been lifted off of his chest, Ella stared at Gray; a blush creeping across her cheeks, again she looked down at his hand which was still sitting on top of hers so she turned her hand over so she could lace her fingers through his.
"I know how you feel Gray, I feel the same way; so what do we do now?" she asked more to herself than to Gray, who lifted their hands up as if to admire them.
They sat at the booth like that for a while, just enjoying each others company.
"I think we should take things slow and see where it takes us." Gray suggested. After a while, Ella stared at Gray for a moment to see if he was joking; clearly by the look on his face, he most certainly not joking. Gray once again waited for Ella to process what he said. Ella grinned at Gray nodding, she was too shocked to speak; time almost seemed to halt in that tiny corner booth. Gray couldn't help but smile at Ella as she blushed like a crazy school girl, she had been alone for so long that after all those years of searching for her best friend and now here he was offering her more.
"Why don't I walk you home and then tomorrow we can go out, just you and me; no distractions." Gray promised. Ella flashed him a small smile and held up a finger as she finished her drink.
"We could find a mission to do together." Ella suggested, her rent was due and even though there weren't a lot of missions to choose from but what mattered was that they were together.
Gray walked Ella home holding her hand the entire way there, they walked effortlessly as if nothing had changed between them. When they made it to Ella's front door and stopped on the porch, Ella looked up at Gray and blushed; not exactly sure what she was supposed to do now. Gray pulled Ella in and held her close, Ella looked up at Gray and couldn't help but smile.
"Well this is me." she said running a hand through her long red hair, Gray leaned down so his face was leveled with hers.
"Ella, I'm glad we were able to be honest with each other tonight." He didn't have much time to finish his thought before Ella pulled his face closer to hers and their lips met in a brief kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow Gray." Ella said before hurrying into her house leaving a dumbfounded Gray on the front porch.
Ella leaned back against the door and slowly slid down to the floor, on the other side of the door stood Gray; neither one was totally sure what had just happened but both Gray and Ella were extremely happy that it had. Ella got up feeling airy and got in the shower, as she stood in the hot water; her mind began to wander and soon as it seemed she had gotten into the shower she was jolted out of her thoughts by the icy water not that she was worried much. Her phone going off was what finally made her get out of the shower and get dressed, her first hope was that Gray was messaging her but that hope went away when she saw who had really texted her.
"Hey little ice cube, so I see after you left Phantom Lord that you joined Fairy Tail." She had forgotten all about her adopted brother and now she remembered how she missed him.
As Ella walked out of the bathroom she heard a knock on the front door, as she opened the door; Ella was surprised to see Gajeel on the other side.
"Hey Ice cube, been a while." He greeted as he walked into her house, Ella watched him flop onto her couch.
"Hey Metal head, um what are you doing here?" she asked sitting on the couch opposite him, Gajeel shrugged kicking his feet carelessly on her coffee table.
"Nothing really, I saw you at the guild and thought I'd visit my icy little sister for a while." he said plainly, Ella sighed heavily; she had missed Gajeel ever since she had left Phantom Lord, when she found out they were disbanded she decided to continue her search for Gray; little did she know that she'd find Gray and Gajeel in the same place.