CLOUDBURST
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by xoxoPigTails
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Chapter 05
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The hum of air conditioning and the smell of something distinctly like wood wafted through the dorm hallways. Juvia and Lucy, with Gajeel trailing behind, walked the distance to their shared room, singing an old Fairy Tail song together. Lucy's flowery perfume lingered in the air, a pleasant scent that Juvia enjoyed.
"Thanks for coming with me tonight, you two." Lucy grinned brightly as she unlocked the door to their room. The darkness was quickly filled with fluorescent white as she flicked the lights on, momentarily dazing Juvia. "It was really fun to have a meal with friends!"
While Gajeel muttered something that sounded like "We're not friends," Juvia smiled and nodded.
"Yes!" she agreed. "Juvia had a great time." It was an honest answer; Juvia hadn't had so much excitement in a long while. And even though it had raised a ton of unanswered questions for her, she had to admit that it was a pretty sweet night. Besides, she'd gotten to meet Natsu Dragneel! The poster boy of Fairy Tail, with bold pink hair and a dashing smile that could only be topped by his incredible musicianship.
And Juvia got to shake his hand! Her inner fangirl was still reeling with happiness. She'd carried on conversation with two of her idols - and in the same week! She felt truly blessed.
"Yeah, we should totes do it again." Lucy's blonde hair was lovely, even under fluorescent light, and her brown eyes were alight with the same happiness Juvia felt in her own.
"Yes, Juvia agrees!" Her smile widened, and Lucy's did in response. It reminded Juvia that her new, friendly roommate was most likely going to become a fast friend, and she found herself looking forward to that. Her songwriting notwithstanding, Lucy seemed like a regular, pretty girl. Juvia had never been friends with anyone regular, and she was looking forward to it.
Juvia turned to Gajeel, who was pointedly looking across the room with his arms crossed, doing his best to not meet either of the girl's eyes. "Oh, but it's late. Gajeel, you should get home."
Gajeel snorted, but the message behind Juvia's sharp look got across to him, not that the eye contact was necessary; in their many years of friendship, and more years of growing up together, he had grown to be able to feel when her mood shifted. "Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'."
"It's pretty late already, though," Lucy said, concern in her tone. Her eyes glanced at the wristwatch she wore. "You sure you don't want to stay the night? Magnolia's roads can be a little dangerous."
"I'm staying with my uncle," Gajeel replied. "His place isn't far." He waved his hand dismissively then, heading out the way they came.
"Juvia will see you out!" she said loudly, more for her roommate's benefit than Gajeel's. Lucy bid Gajeel a quick goodbye, and Juvia promised she would return as soon as her old friend was gone. She closed the door behind her and had to take the steps two at a time to catch up to Gajeel at the bottom of the staircase.
They walked out to the parking lot in silence. The night was quiet, besides the sound of an occasional car passing by on the street. Even though it was the night before classes began, there was very little traffic in and out of the crowded campus lot. The rain had finally stopped, though clouds still hovered above, hiding the stars from view. The concrete glistened with remnants of the morning rain; for a brief moment, Juvia remembered their high school parking lot, a much smaller space of land with a very different mood to it. The only similarity was the boy beside her.
She didn't speak until she spotted her friend's black truck in the dim evening light and realized they didn't have too much time left to talk. She stopped walking, and Gajeel, followed suit, turning to face her.
"Gajeel should have told Juvia." The statement "It wasn't fair to keep that a secret."
"It's not my secret to tell," Gajeel answered. "Besides, I don't want 'friends' just because I know an over-hyped, brainless idiot."
Well. That Juvia could understand. Fans would flock to Gajeel if they thought they could reach Natsu Dragneel and other members of Fairy Tail through him. So it made perfect sense that he would be wary. But still...
"You think Juvia would do something like that to you?" The accusation stung a bit. Their friendship had spanned many school years. He knew her better than that, she knew he did. She would never use someone like that.
Gajeel huffed. "That's not it." He stopped walking for a moment to pull out his keys; the rattling startled Juvia a bit. Had they really gotten to the car so soon? "When I came back in middle school, you were more closed-off." Gajeel struggled to find the words he needed, but Juvia waited quietly. "You only opened up again in high school." He looked up at her meaningully, but knew better than to bring up that part of their past.
"Look, I just..." He trailed off, and Juvia watched the emotions flicker through his eyes. "...Gray." He huffed again, clearly at a loss for words.
Juvia squinted at him. Despite staring through rain her whole life, Juvia had been blessed with perfect vision. It was something that made it easy for her to pick out cloud patterns when looking at the sky, or spotting fangirls through the rain.
So when she saw pink dotting Gajeel's cheeks, she realized immediately that he was blushing. Blushing! Gajeel, blushing?
Unheard of. Juvia had never experienced it in her life. And she had spent most of it sharing classes with this boy. She knew him like the back of her hand. Blushing was just not something Gajeel did.
She traced back their conversation: Keeping secrets... Not because of Juvia, but because of... Gray? Wait... That didn't make sense. How could Gajeel be jealous of Gray? It wasn't as if-
OH.
"Gajeel thought Juvia wouldn't be his friend anymore if she had Gray," she said aloud, eyes growing wide.
Offended, Gajeel made a face and turned away from her.
"That's dumb, Juvia. Not it at all." But his ears betrayed him, turning pink.
Oh, Gajeel.
Her heart practically bloomed with warmth, and she reached out to put a reassuring hand on Gajeel's shoulder. He tensed under her friendly touch.
"Gajeel is Juvia's best friend," she assured him. "Even if she ever married Gray, Juvia's best friend would still always be Gajeel. Gray would never, ever replace you. Couldn't. No one can."
Gajeel's muscles relaxed like a sigh. He shrugged out of Juvia's grip, tossing a glare over his shoulder.
"I know that," he said sharply. "Why're we wasting time on this? I've got morning classes."
Juvia giggled and waved as her friend got into his car.
"Rest well, then. And say hello to your uncle from Juvia!" she called. "And Natsu, too!"
Gajeel unrolled his window, frowning deeply.
"Oi, I didn't tell you about that part!"
"Gajeel and Natsu argue like sisters." Juvia laughed. "It wasn't hard to figure out!"
With some final grumbling and waves, Gajeel pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.
When Juvia finally reached her dorm room again, it was with the chirpiest hop in her step and the brightest grin on her face.
She couldn't wait for classes to start tomorrow.
She could wait five more minutes, at least, right?
With a groan, Juvia sat up and pulled her shrill alarm clock closer. Even in the relative darkness of her room - Lucy had pulled the curtains tight over the window, which suited Juvia just fine - she could faintly make out the outline of the Fairy Tail emblem on the side of her alarm. It drew a small smile to her lips, even as she turned off the beeping contraption. She slumped back into her bed with a sigh, staring up at the plain ceiling through the darkness for a few moments. She took in the constant hum of the air conditioning and enjoyed the simplicity of the morning, breathing slowly and deeply.
Across the room, Lucy stirred a bit, rolling to her side and letting out a small, voiced sigh. Juvia waited quietly for a few minutes, counting the seconds that passed as her alarm clock ticked them away, until her roommate's breathing had evened out again; once it had, she sat up, slowly taking in her surroundings with more awake eyes.
Ah, right. It was Monday.
Her eyes widened.
Her first day of classes!
"Lucy." Juvia crept out of bed and tip-toed to her roommate's side. "Lucy, it's Monday!"
Lucy replied with a little grumble before her eyes blinked sleepily open, still half-lidded as she squinted up at her companion.
"Huh?"
Juvia smiled excitedly.
"It's Monday," she repeated. "Classes start today!"
Lucy blinked incoherently back at Juvia for all of two and a half seconds.
Then her eyes widened and she bolted upright.
"Oh my gosh, you're right!" The blonde stretched her arms above her head, then yawned deeply. She shook her head, rousing herself, and then smiled. "Wow, the first day is always so exciting."
"Juvia agrees!" Lucy slowly climbed out of bed as her roommate continued. "Juvia is thrilled."
"Me, too," Lucy replied. Then she pointed at the restroom. "I'm gonna take a quick shower, okay?" Waiting only long enough to hear Juvia's affirmative response, Lucy grabbed a towel and made her way into the restroom; not long after, the sound of running water resonated around their small dorm.
Juvia set about picking her outfit for the day: she could wear the pretty blue skirt, or she could wear a simple shirt and skinny jeans. But no, that would be too simple, wouldn't it?
After some debate, she settled on a light blue polka-dotted romper and a cute pair of flats. By that point, Lucy had finished showering, and was looking around for a hairdryer. Juvia took her turn in the shower, and soon enough, after some lovely morning chatter and Lucy blasting some Fairy Tail music from her phone, both girls had made themselves presentable for their first day of classes.
They headed downstairs together for breakfast, and by the time they parted ways, Juvia was thrumming with anticipation.
What will Juvia's classes be like? she wondered. She checked her schedule for the millionth time. Chemistry with Gajeel, English with Lucy, and then Meteorology after lunch.
It was shaping up to be a fantastic day.
A/N: So... uh... long time no see? lol.
I'll be honest with you, life has been wild these past two years (TWO YEARS OH MY GOD IM SO EMBARRASSED LOL), but I really love this story and want to continue it, so... Please forgive my hiatus and let's get back on track!
xoxoPigtails
PS thanks to Juviaethetic for catching a brain fart of mine.
