CLOUDBURST
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by xoxoPigTails
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Chapter 04
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Strictly speaking, Juvia Lockser had never known anybody famous while they were famous.
She had to add the while because she did know someone famous, before he actually reached any sort of high esteem.
She had dated him, actually.
But she had never known someone personally when they had reached any sort of epitome of wild acclaim. She didn't know anybody else who did, either.
At least, she had thought she didn't.
But, she realized, mind reeling from the confusion and screaming from upstairs, that perhaps she had been wrong about that.
It sure sounded like Gajeel Redfox knew Natsu Dragneel pretty well.
Many emotions washed over her: anger that her best friend in the whole entire world had kept such a crucialpiece of information to himself, confusion as to why he would keep such a crucial piece of information to himself, betrayal that he had kept such a crucial piece of information to himself, and...
Well.
Her eyes strayed to the beautiful blonde beside her.
Jealousy. Quick, flaring, and hot, it welled up inside Juvia's body, pouring through her veins like molten liquid bubbling beneath the surface right before an explosive eruption.
She was jealous that this blonde was friends with someone famous.
Juvia barely knew Lucy Heartfilia, but Lucy Heartfilia was closer to Gray Fullbuster than Juvia had ever been, even when he was sitting right next to her this morning.
But that was a far-off, distant memory through the fog of Juvia's emotions. Instead, traitorous images flashed through her mind, crashing like lightning in her head, and just as shocking. Lucy Heartfilia, star-struck as Gray leaned over to hand her the books she'd dropped in the middle school hallway – Lucy Heartfilia, smiling in her warm winter coat and scarf as she looked over the texts she and Gray had sent each other – Lucy Heartfilia, laughing with Gray over a lovely dinner at a fancy restaurant – Lucy Heartfilia, sighing lovingly at a framed portrait of Gray in her bedroom – Lucy Heartfilia, talking with Gajeel and Gray at this very counter, eyes half-lidded and locked with Gray's equally entranced ones – Lucy Heartfilia, confessing her love to Gray under a starry night sky as he moved to return her feelings –
"Love rival."
Her voice was chilling. The words slipped out of Juvia's mouth so quickly she had barely come out of her whirlwind thoughts in time to register them. But Juvia did not apologize; Lucy Heartfilia knew Natsu Dragneel. It was hardly a leap of thought to realize she probably knew all of Natsu Dragneel's friends and bandmates, too.
And any female who was close to Gray Fullbuster was Juvia Lockser's rival in winning his heart.
(And maybe it was a far stretch to think that she could win his heart. Juvia knew that, but she had also just met him this morning, in the flesh, and that had to stand for something, didn't it? DIDN'T IT?!)
She quieted the rational side of her mind that was prodding at her to remain calm and collected, and she allowed her emotions to rule over her. It felt foreign to her, something she hadn't really allowed to happen since her sophomore year of high school, but in the confusion of all of this, Juvia couldn't find it in her to reign her feelings back in check.
And so, as Lucy turned to stare back at her, perplexed at Juvia's outburst, Juvia herself stomped to the stairwell, eyes already searching for a familiar mop of long, bushy black hair. The second floor consisted of the expansive main area and branches of hallways to either side of the stairwell; Gajeel stood near the hallway to the right, facing a smug-looking young man with bright pink hair.
It was impossible to mistake Natsu Dragneel for anybody else. The way he carried himself was always the same: free-spirited, proudly, and almost always wearing a playful grin. He stood in that manner this evening, his arms crossed, the whisper of a laugh still visible on his face.
"Glad to see you finally stopped by, though," Natsu said.
They were mid-conversation. Gajeel looked as if he was about to retort (probably loudly, judging by his aggressive posture), but then he caught a glimpse of Juvia standing at the top of the staircase.
"Care to introduce me to your friend?" Juvia asked. She didn't smile. Gajeel's eyes told her everything she needed to know: a quick flash of guilt that was quickly replaced with anger.
For a moment, she thought he might just wheel on Dragneel and punch him, but he didn't; Gajeel took a deep, low breath, relaxed his stance, and then nodded his head in Natsu's direction.
"You know who he is."
"Of course I do," she snapped, her voice a little sharper than she'd intended it to be. She reeled herself back in for the moment. "But it's still nice to be introduced."
Gajeel huffed.
"Natsu, Juvia. There. Done." Gajeel rounded on Natsu. "We'll talk later."
Natsu looked offended.
"After barely even talking now?" The pink-haired singer raised an eyebrow. "How's that even make sense?"
"Natsu!"
Something blonde swept past Juvia, and suddenly the rock star had Lucy in his arms. He grinned and hugged her back.
"Lucy!"
"I didn't know you were in yet," she said, pulling back. "You didn't tell me you'd be here!"
"What? I thought you knew! We've been here since yesterday."
"NO WAY!" Lucy groaned. "Mirajane totally left me out of the loop!" Quite suddenly, the blonde girl wheeled around, gesturing to Juvia and Gajeel. "This is my new roommate and her friend."
"Your roommate?" Natsu stared at Juvia, and then smiled, striding over to her in a few large bounds. He stretched his hand out. "Nice to meetcha!"
A bit startled, Juvia took his hand.
Maybe Juvia had been reading the situation wrong. She glanced over at Lucy, who was smiling happily at Natsu's back.
Maybe she had just overreacted.
Juvia does that a lot, she rationalized mentally. Juvia should calm down. Just calm down. Calm down. Calm down down down. Her inner monologue made her anger and jealousy dissipate. Even though Gajeel did have some explaining to do – she shot him a meaningful glance, which he replied to with an annoyed sigh and an eye-roll – even so, she should enjoy the moment.
She was shaking hands with a member of her favorite music group, after all.
"It's nice to meet you, too," she replied. "Juvia is honored!"
"Eh?" Natsu laughed. "Not like I'm a king or something."
"She's a fan," Lucy said. Natsu whistled.
"Neat! So what's your favorite song?"
"Stretched Out This Hand," she responded instantly. "The lyrics are amazing."
"Ah, I think so, too," Natsu said. He gestured behind him. "You should thank Lucy for the lyrics. She writes almost all of 'em!"
Juvia gaped.
"Ah, c'mon, Natsu, really?" Lucy said, obviously flustered by the revelation of this information. "I was gonna tell her on my own!"
"Yeah, right," Natsu said, turning away from Juvia to face his friend. "As if! You still write under that pen name Mira Forest or whatever."
"Maya Forest," Lucy corrected. "And it's because I don't want to be recognized just because I'm with you guys!" She crossed her arms, huffing. "I want to be my own writer, not just your lyricist!"
Juvia was still in shock.
Lucy wrote the lyrics for Fairy Tail? It would explain how she knew Natsu. But why was she such a fangirl then? And how did she not know about the new album when she was involved to some degree with the band?
These were questions she would have to ask later once they were back in their dorm. And Juvia had every intention of getting all the answers she needed.
"But anyways, I'm sorry, this is all super sudden," Lucy apologized directly to Juvia. "I'm sorry if you're overwhelmed or anything. I didn't know he was gonna be here, though, I swear!"
"It's all right," Juvia said. "Juvia is just happy to meet Natsu."
Lucy looked relieved, and Juvia smiled, which Lucy returned.
"So how the heck did you get mixed up with Metal Brains, anyways?" Natsu asked. He stuck his tongue out at Gajeel for emphasis, who scoffed.
"A metal brain's better than whatever's inside your head."
"OI!"
"Calm down," Lucy said. "I told you, Natsu, they're friends!"
Natsu looked between Juvia and Gajeel before bursting into laughter.
"I'da never guessed you hung around normal-looking people, dude!" Natsu's grin was contagious, and Juvia felt her remaining negative feelings begin to disappear. "How did you even manage to make such a nice friend, Gajeel?"
"I don't know," Gajeel answered honestly. "Same school, same town. Made sense." He shrugged.
"You don't need a huge reason to make a friend," Lucy said. "And it's not like how we became friends was anything special, either."
"Wanna bet?" Natsu raised his eyebrows.
"Okay," Lucy said, "So maybe there's something unique about handing someone a brown bag to heave into on a school bus. I wouldn't call that special, though."
"It was special to me!" Natsu said defensively. "I needed that bag!"
Lucy laughed, her bright ringing soprano causing Juvia to giggle a little, too.
"Juvia and Gajeel met in middle school," Juvia said simply. "We had the same classes through high school, too." After waiting a moment and realizing Gajeel didn't add to what she said, Juvia continued. "When Juvia needed a friend, Gajeel was there for her."
"Aww, that's so sweet!" Lucy cooed. She rolled her eyes when Natsu made a sound of agreement. "He's here for me even when I don't need him."
"Oi," Natsu said warningly, "You don't mean that."
"I do," Lucy replied. She smiled and straightened her posture. "We should probably head downstairs before Mirajane starts wondering if we left without paying."
"Oh! Right!" Juvia had forgotten about the food.
"You gonna join us, Natsu?" asked Lucy.
"Nah," he said. "Metal Brains doesn't want me here. Besides, I gotta go find Happy. He's around here somewhere, I just can't find him."
"Is that what all that commotion was about?" Lucy asked. "I heard something break."
"Yeah," Natsu said. "Happy ran right by Gajeel and made him knock over some vase or something up here. Gramps won't be too happy."
"I'm not too happy," Gajeel growled. "Your cat, your fault."
"Is not," Natsu whined.
"Stop," Lucy groaned. "No fighting. Please. It's too early in the semester for this." She looked pointedly at Juvia. "Let's go eat."
Juvia nodded, smiling. Gajeel rolled his eyes and followed the girls down the stairs as Natsu called out a goodbye. (Gajeel called out one more snide comment about Natsu paying for the vase, which Natsu returned with an equally snide comment.)
Maybe she was wrong.
Lucy might be a love rival, but she might also be a really good friend. Juvia had never had a close girl friend before, and if she had to pick one right now, it would be Lucy, hands down.
Besides, they both liked Fairy Tail a lot. It was why they were roommates in the first place, and Lucy knowing the band personally didn't change that. Gajeel knowing Natsu didn't change the fact he was her friend, either.
She had a lot of questions, but she also had a whole semester in front of her.
There was time.
The food was still warm when they sat down to eat, and Juvia enjoyed every moment of her evening meal together with her best friend and her new roommate.
xoxoxox
SHOUTOUT TO MY SISTER FOR READING THIS AND REVIEWING! KEEP IT UP! I'm writing this partly for me and partly for you, so let me know what you think!
I would tell you I had midterms or something last week, but I didn't. I have 'em this week and next. I'm a fantastic student, hahaha. Anyways, sorry about the wait. And thanks for so many reviews, oh my goodness! I'm flattered! Thanks so much, you guys!
That being said, I'm gonna reply to some of them here, since some are anons who I can't message back. Mostly to those of you with questions or observations. (But feel free to PM me if you wanna, or if I didn't answer you here! I love talking!)
: Thanks! I'm curious, too! I have an idea, and I know where I'm headed, but I'm still connecting the dots. :)
Baby pink 'n Baby blue: Well, here's another one! :P Hahah, the others I'm keeping a secret. I was gonna add Gajeel, but I nixxed that once I decided Juvia was gonna be my main character instead of Lucy. I'm glad I did that.
arisapphyre: Oh, gosh, thanks! That's the best compliment I can receive, tbqh!
Rose Tiger: Thanks for your constant reviews, oh my gosh, it feels so good to have a consistent reader and reviewer!
summon-the-stars: i'm pretty busy, so my updates will be quite sporadic. sorry lol. but i'm trying my best to not make you guys wait, like, months or anything!
z: fan the flames, little one. just fan them. my story, my way. go write your own if you think it's too "predictable."
Zerocchi: I haven't read any of the others tbh. The only Fairy Tail fic I read is Virtual Flames haha. (go read it everyone, btw.) But I'm glad to know my story's unique! When I was in the Naruto fandom, I always wanted to write a band fic, but there were so many out there and I was too shy to really get one off the ground. But I just HAD to for Fairy Tail. I couldn't help myself, haha!
GuestsDontTwerkTheyRead: We'll see. :) There might maybe be something planned for those ships... ;)
ArouraJean: Me, too! I hinted at that this chapter, actually. It'll get there. Eventually. :)
Thanks everyone for your reviews! Especially the ones about me getting the characters right or about you wanting to read more - those inspire me SOSO much, keep them coming! Love, kisses, and GO WATCH MIRACULOUS LADYBUG OH MY GOD IT'S FANTASTIC!
xoxoPigTails
