I Loved Meeting Your Boyfriend

Juvia is nervous for her first study date with Meredy.

Juvia tried to psych herself up as she stood in front of the door.

"Okay Juvia, you can do this," she mumbled, "Just reach out and ring the doorbell of the most beautiful girl at the university." One shaky breath and she continued, "The gorgeous one. That you were assigned as a partner." She took another deep breath and added, "That you can barely say 'Hi' to." She stretched out a hand but nervously pulled it away before getting close to the button. She paced the short porch a few times as she breathed trying to calm down. Finally, as ready as she would ever be, she straightened her jacket and rang the bell.

When she heard the turn of the lock and saw the door swing open she plastered on her best smile to be greeted by- some guy?

"Hey, you're Juvia, right?" the stranger with the blue hair and the highly visible facial tattoo said as he opened the screen to let her in. "Meredy said you'd be working together this afternoon. She's running a little late," he said apologetically. "Come on in."

She was a little caught out, but quickly gathered her wits and came through the doorway. She followed the man down a short hall to the front room where she sat at the couch he indicated. She accepted his offer of a drink so that she could look around a bit.

Meredy had a simply decorated room: TV, gaming system, couch, coffee table, and a comfy chair. What she had a lot more of were pictures. Several of them showing Meredy and the man together at Halloween parties, Christmas gatherings, and a few that seemed to be road trips. Apparently the facial tattoo was relatively new as there were a good few before he had it.

"Here you go Juvia," the man said as he came back in the room and laid a glass of lemonade and a plate with small strawberry tartlets on the table in front of her. "Hope you like the treats. They're Meredy's favorite so I thought I'd get them for her today."

The sound of a car pulling into the drive stopped her from commenting as they heard the car door slam and feet running up the front steps.

"Ah, I guess she's home," he said as his smile turned into a grin, while Juvia felt her face pale.

The man hurried to the door to open it for the new comer, but he was met by a shoulder and swiftly the rest of Meredy when he was only at the corner of the room. He'd grabbed onto the smaller woman to keep from falling down, and now was wrapping her in a full body embrace.

Juvia watched while blue hair bent to meet Meredy's pink face. When he pulled back, her face was decidedly more red.

"Jellal!" she exclaimed while pushing him away. "You can't just say those kinds of things when we have company."

He was chuckling to himself but he stopped long enough to say, "Oh, I don't think Juvia will mind that much." He sent a small wink in Juvia's direction as he started chuckling again.

"Jellal!" there was a warning in Meredy's voice.

"Don't worry, I'll leave so you two can study in peace," he promised as he headed back toward the kitchen. "Did you want something to drink?"

Meredy sank down on the couch next to Juvia while answering him, "Yes, please." She waited till he was out of the room before turning to Juvia. "Sorry about him," she said as she nodded in the direction Jellal had disappeared. "He gets carried away sometimes."

"Oh, no," Juvia said with as bright a voice as she could muster. "I think your boyfriend is really nice!"

The sound of glass hitting the floor in the kitchen corresponded with Meredy breaking out into laughter.

"He's not my boyfriend,' she finally explained. "He's my brother."

"Oh," Juvia tried not to sound too surprised or delighted with that information though she was secretly giddy. "He still seems nice."

"Wait till you get to know him," Meredy said as she started digging into her book bag. "In a couple of months you'll see him like I do."

Juvia smiled to herself. That sounded like an invitation to stick around for a while.