1. [EDITED]

It was raining, and for some reason she didn't like it as much as she normally would. Juvia had taken the day off, to relax and sleep, not that she had to give anyone any kind of explanation, she was the boss, after all. Rain wasn't something she had in mind when she was making her to do list for that day. Sighing in defeat the blue haired girl ended up staying in bed, alone, just doing her own thing. Throughout the day she only got out of bed to take a shower, eat and for a few trips to the bathroom. It felt so peaceful, Juvia liked that a lot.

It was her 'me' time, Juvia called it, the girl could be as lazy as she wanted, no one would care, it was also something she wasn't used to do. Juvia's routine was based around keeping herself busy, between her company, which needed a lot of care, just like a new-born, this was her baby, and between her few friends. No one, besides her friends, believed her when she told them her plans to start a design company. It was tough but with a lot of hard work she made it.

JS was a big deal to her, it wasn't just clothes or cute decorative furniture, they were Juvia's designs, she had worked hard on them and it felt great to see them do so well in the outside world, that wasn't her office.

Even with her day off, Juvia still found a way to draw. It was in her, something she couldn't dismiss, it had to be done.

At about six o'clock, her alone time was interrupted, the girl got out of bed, where she happily sketched some ideas she had in mind, to pick up her phone.

Luckily, it wasn't a commercial call that read on the ID caller. She picked it up.

"Gajeel-kun?"

"Yo, Juvs, let's go out today! Levy's in town, and she wants to meetup with ya."

"Juvia, she, uh, can't go." Juvia rushed to say.

"Don't bullshit me, I know ya well. C'mon!" Her friend insisted "She's bringing friends. Come as well, I don't wanna be the one who doesn't know anyone."

"Juvia could say the same for that."

"Well, I'm here Juvs, ya can come." He laughed "Besides, at some point at night I'll take her away and it'll be rude to leave her friends hangin', I need ya here. Geehee."

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia blushed at her best friend's hints of what he planned to do.

"Come on Juvia, ya know ya wanna come!" Gajeel kept on going "Who knows, you might meet a good lookin person and start dating again."

"Juvia isn't ready for that again."

"Bullshit, that good for nothing piece of trash is one of kind, you won't find another, don't worry." Gajeel assured her "Come on, I'll pick ya up in 2 hours."

And before she could give any other excuse he hung up the phone. Juvia huffed, and in a way or another her fingers led her to her photo folder. All her memories laid there, the guy who led her off, who made her feel worthless for the first time.

The bruises were gone, but it still hurt. She felt it in her skin, the impact. The nightmares were frequent dreams. Even after leaving, Juvia still felt haunted. In a way or another, he wasn't leaving her. He wasn't the man she once loved anymore, yet, he was the man that broke her mind.

Juvia's blue hair fell on her face making her look away from the phone screen. Maybe Gajeel was right, maybe meeting someone new wouldn't be bad. Maybe a few drinks wouldn't hurt her.

Looking at the phone once more she made the decision to go out that day. Juvia took a bath letting her body relax before the process of making herself ready began.

Her bath took about an hour, Juvia almost fell asleep but something kept her from it. After that relaxing time, she put on a new dress she had gotten from her new collection, her hair was left to dry on itself and her shoes and make up were as simple as the night. She felt beautiful.

Juvia was beautiful, she was aware of it, her body wasn't something that she had problems with, she knew she was this pretty girl everyone liked to see. Sometimes that wasn't the case, the scars wouldn't fade and Juvia felt them on her skin, but luckily, today wasn't one of those days. Juvia felt ready to take on the world.

The night began as soon as Gajeel knocked on her door. He didn't even need the permission to enter. That was the routine. Three knocks and the door would swing open, his voice following shortly afterwards.

"Ready?" he asked not looking at her.

"Juvia is ready." She smiled, bringing his attention to her.

"Did you took what I said seriously? Do ya wanna meet someone that bad?"

"Did Juvia went overboard?"

"No, I just feel like I'll have to keep an eye on the guys that'll get near ya today."

"Can we go?" The blue haired woman whined embarrassed.

"Sure, whatever ya say." He rolled his eyes "Ya know I was complementing ya."

"Juvia doesn't know how Levy-chan does it." She teased.

He huffed but stayed quiet smiling at his teasing friend who looked ready for anything.

They went both directly to the bar, where Levy and her friends were still to show up.

As the duo got in, Juvia looked around amazed at how it all looked so classy but, at the same time, fun. The decoration was all beautifully picked out and the aura was just something she had never experienced before. Refreshing.

"Come on, I got us a table." Gajeel called.

"When is Levy-chan coming?"

"She went out with bunny girl, they're meeting up with bunny girl's boyfriend and his friend before coming here." Gajeel explained before ordering them drinks.

"Bunny girl?"

"Levy has a friend that looks like a bunny, her name is Lucy, she's a writer or somethin' like that."

Juvia nodded at this explanation already used to the fact that Gajeel gives an animal nickname to everyone.

"Gajeel-kun. How come Juvia never got an animal nickname from you?" the girl asked intrigued.

"Ya don't look like anythin'." Gajeel explained "And yer Juvs, ya don't need no damn animal nickname."

"Juvia is unsure if she should be happy about that or not."

Gajeel ruffled her hair smiling at his friend. Before making a fuss about her hair, Juvia was interrupted by Levy's voice.

"Juvia!" she called out happily. The small girl still looked as beautiful as ever, her blue locks were tucked away by a hair tie and her body was covered by a simple pink summer dress, its design being familiar to Juvia.

"Is that Juvia's…" Juvia questioned, confused.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Levy said cheekly "I have a friend who makes wonderful clothes."

Juvia smiled hugging Levy tightly.

"I'm so proud of you Juvia, congratulations."

"Thank you Levy-chan."

"Now! I have people to introduce." The small woman clapped before pointing at the three people behind her. "This is Lucy."

Lucy was a blonde girl with big brown eyes and a bit taller than Levy. She reminded Juvia of someone from her past. Although her name wasn't Lucy, they were so similar. A kind woman, beautiful too, she reminisced smiling.

Next on was Natsu, a pinkette, a few inches taller than Lucy, short for a guy, Juvia thought. Natsu had black eyes and by the way he and Lucy held hands, Juvia supposed that they were dating. Juvia smiled at them, both looked happy and young, like what lovers should look like.

She never had that, had she? Was love a thing she knew? Were lies what they called love?

A frown took upon her face, making Levy and Lucy worry.

"Is everything okay?" The blond one asked.

"Hm, yeah." Juvia shook her head smiling, pushing, at the same time, all her dark thoughts away. "Juvia is just ready to drink."

"I like this one." Natsu grinned.

Juvia let out a giggle at the boy's remark.

"And finally, Juvia this is Gray." Levy pointed at the last person.

This one left her speechless, he was tall, black hair and black eyes. He seemed indifferent of his surroundings. Like he had been forced to come along, as if he didn't want to be here at all. Juvia could relate to that.

Juvia stuttered "H-Hello."

"Yo." Gray smiled as she greeted the girl.

He's toothy smile made her blush not being able to speak many words.

"I missed ya too shrimp." Gajeel told his girlfriend trying not to sound too cheesy, with this Juvia broke eye contact with the guy in front of her.

After a bit of small talk and before sitting down again, Juvia turned to look at Gray one more time, this time both smiled for longer than before. And with that Juvia drank the night away along with her group of new friends.