when you do a bunch of edits then forget to hit save
I stared down the hallway like it contained a prophecy that would unveil my very future.
All I have to do is run…Gajeel could probably get me a fake ID and then I could continue my life, not as Juvia Lockser, but as Norma Shraknut. Or something like that.
If I took a step forward, I would condemn myself to a lifetime of regret.
If I took a step backwards, I would be forced to endure such tragic humiliation I would most likely never recover. Both options were less than adequate, and in all honesty a scapegoat would be manna from heaven.
"Juvia, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"
I turned to see a concerned Kinana sticking her head out of the locker room anxiously. I'm sure I looked a lot like motherfucking pennywise, my hair was sticking up out of its bun fruitlessly and there was a
smile etched onto my face like somebody had taken a pink sharpie marker and gone nuts.
"Yup. I'll be right there." I crackled, voice refusing to stay on one octave as it bounced around the decibel range from extremely high pitched to a baritone tuba, if that's even a real thing.
I turned around, facing my shitty destiny as the world's biggest swimming tease.
It was do or die.
Kinana was the only person left in the locker room, she must have been waiting for me. All the other swim and dive team girls were probably out showboating or canoodling with their boyfriends until the actual meet began.
We were up against Falcon Ridge High School, or as the student body of East Magnolia High had so kindly dubbed it – Falcatraz. The school was surrounded by a dull red-bricked wall, entrapping the kids who attended inside. No one had ever escaped. Rumor had it that their swim team wasn't half bad this year – twice as talented as Hargeon High, the school we had swam against last meet.
Not that I'd be seeing it firsthand. I'd be too busy making an ass out of everything I've worked for.
"You're already dressed, hurry up and get out there! The swim coach wants to talk with you!" Kinana called, one of her legs halfway out the door.
"Ok…" I called back, reevaluating all of my options. Of course, the best solution, but least cost efficient one, was just going on ahead and snapping my legs in half. Problem fuckin' solved – no legs, no swimming.
I stopped for an extra second to slam my forehead against one of the lockers. For good luck. Then I made my way to the door to the swimming pool.
In my head, I saw everyone I cared for sitting out in the audience, surprised and eagerly awaiting to see the skills I supposedly had. Only to be disappointed, of course, today was not a day in which I would be revered. The day would be known nationally as the day Juvia royally forgot how to swim.
Pressing my palm against the door, I gave it a firm shove, revealing the familiar musty scent of chlorine. The air was heavy with it, putting a bonus weight on my shoulders so I probably looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dam on my way to see the coach.
I sluggishly pulled one of the straps of my swimsuit back over my shoulder from its falling position, and tapped my coach on the shoulder.
He turned around, in all his short, bald-headed glory, and steam flew out of his ears.
"Listen up Lockser, you did well last meet. But if you think that makes you special in any way, you're dead-fucking-wrong! I want 110 bloody percent out there, or I'll make sure that your parents won't recognize you when you're done!" He growled. My less-than-respondent nod must've pissed him off, because his ears went red and the little blue vein in his temple pulsed like some gross blue snake.
"Look at me Lockser, and tell me – what is your goal in life?" He asked, in the sort of deadly calm voice that warned you not to fuck with him.
Unfortunately for me, that's exactly what I excelled at.
"To be the very best, like no one ever was." I recited, almost singing the lyrics instead of saying them with a perfectly straight face.
Silence. I guess he didn't get my reference.
He cleared his throat quickly before saying anything else. "I suppose that's appropriate – but I swear to Roosevelt Christ, if anyone from Falcatra-Falcon Ridge gets even a second near you, I'll know. I'll know." He whispered the last part before fading into the shadows. Well, not really. He just sort of slowly backed away while maintaining eye contact with me. It was super creepy, actually.
"So."
I whirled around in the opposite direction to see the entire reason why this day was going to be so fucked up for me.
"Evergreen," I said, like I was a nine-year-old announcing their temporary arch-nemesis.
"I expect you'll perform the way you should today, correct?" She double-checked, smiling like this was the greatest pleasure she'd ever had in her entire life.
"Calm your jigglypuffs Evergreen, I'll do what I have to." I bit back.
Her eyes narrowed. "If you mess this up today, you know what'll happen right? Now you will do your duty, correct?" She threatened.
Instead of answering with a sarcastic 'yes'm' like I should've, I uttered a few words that in no way, shape, or form, helped my case.
"I gotta pee."
And with those memorable, intelligent words, I scurried back into the locker room, beathing like I was three hours into labor.
I began pacing back and forth irritably in the locker room, mulling over my decisions for the umpteenth time. It really was frustrating, when your entire body says 'no' but that annoying, naggy as hell soul of yours starts saying 'yes'.
Ok, ok, I just have to go out there, fuck it up, then be done with it. it's as simple as that. Done and done, peel it off quick – like a band-aid. Rip it off like a goddamn band-aid Juvia!
I let one, long breath out before I stepped out into the hallway. I don't really know why – I was probably just sick of the sticky locker room air. The air hit my bare legs and shoulders coolly forcefully. I just needed a few breaths, that was all, just one, deep breath in, and one right back out.
In the midst of my breathing (more like wheezing, actually) my eyes spotted something shiny, and since I was basically nine years old, I pretty much wanted to touch it.
The fire alarm was like that one bible story. The one with Jesus. And that other guy. Can't remember his name, but, blah, blah, blah…something about temptation, I guess.
My hand grazed the alarm unconsciously. If I just pulled it…just yanked that baby down – boom! No more swim meet, not if the school's on fire!
My hand pulled back. It would be overall more beneficial if I just straight up lit the school on fire. That would solve everybody's problem. But mostly mine.
I backtracked, forgetting any plans of escape and mentally accepting my fate.
I walked back into the locker room, gaze downtrodden and probably frowning, or sneering. You could never really be sure when it came to my face, but I liked to think that it's a little bit of both.
When I opened the locker room door, the first event was about to start. I wasn't involved in it, so I hadn't really missed anything important besides, you know, the national anthem.
I was involved in backstroke, which was only one event away from this one. So was Evergreen, and that one other girl…twitchy, or something. They were both decent, I guess, but not good enough to win. I could win, probably. Could. Key word, could.
Somebody tapped my shoulder. I whirled around with the grace and etiquette of a frightened squirrel.
"You're the fast one, right?" She inquired, and I took short notice of her forest green swimsuit. She must've been a swimmer from Magnolia South, rotten cake-eaters.
Sorry. They're just kinda notorious for having ass-loads of money.
"Uh…no." I lied thinly. She gave me a downcast look and moved on to another swimmer from my team, to ask the very same question.
My eyes caught hold of the bleachers and I scanned for people I knew.
I saw Lucy, Levy, and Lisanna, all tightly clustered together holding up glittery signs with my initials. Jesus. I should've known Lucy would break out her bedazzler. Fuck me.
Erza and Jellal were sitting in a row in front of them (double fuck me) and Gajeel, although his face was shrouded by the darkness, the way he liked it (creepy bastard) was standing up, his back leaning up against the wall like he was a guy who was too damn cool for sitting.
My frown deepened when I spotted Gray and his friends, Natsu, the pissy-baby, who was indeed still pissed at me for reasons unknown, Elfman, Evergreen's man candy, Cobra, my arch-enemy next to Evergreen, uh… forgot the rest of their names, but it'll come to me later.
"JUVIA! JUVIA LOCK-SER!"
I recognized Lucy's crazed fangirl voice from a mile away. I ducked my head for some mild subtlety, but it made no difference. Lucy was as vicious as a cornered bull shark when she wanted to be.
Lucy waved violently and pointed to the shimmery J on her poster, as well as the M and the L that Levy and Lisanna were holding.
I waved back timidly and shielded my eyes to make sure no one else of interest may have noticed me.
And by 'of interest' I mean Gray fucking Fullbuster.
"Next up – the 400 meter backstroke, on deck is-"
Guh. There's the sound of my funeral music.
I lightly stretched my arms, feeling no need to do the entire stretch routine because it wasn't like I was actually going to try.
The results of the first event were in – we had just barely snagged third place. The coach was staring holes into the back of my chest, he wanted me to win, and he wanted it bad.
Meanwhile, Evergreen, from the third lane, glared at me with heated passion.
I shrugged, honestly not caring how much Evergreen wanted to slice 'n dice me into oblivion. As long as she kept her promise…
I let my eyes drift to Lucy's smiling face before I slipped into the water coolly.
That was all that mattered – as long as she was safe.
And with that, the whistle blew and I sealed my fate.
.
.
.
"WHAT IN THE WIN-STON CHURCHILL WAS THAT?"
Haha. That's cute. British swears.
"Coach, you're not allowed in the girl's locker room." I droned monotonously as I dried my hair.
"I'M NOT GODDAMN LEAVING UNTIL I GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER – WHAT WAS THAT?" He roared.
Unfazed, I twisted some excess water out of my ponytail and tapped my chin in mock thought.
"I think you should probably leave, unless you want a lawsuit on your hands. I'm pretty sure this might be some sort of crime? Peeking on girls?" I hinted obnoxiously. I was sort of a shell of a person right now, I had pretty much just glided my way across the pool, losing easily by three seconds and landing myself last place. It didn't even feel like I had been swimming. It was like my soul had floated out of my body and watched me fuck up the race.
I hadn't even bothered to look at the disappointed faces of my friends. I just climbed out of the pool, totally unfazed, and into the locker room. I felt like a zombie, or like someone who had just emerged from an extended fugue state.
I'm pretty sure coach's face vein popped, but I wouldn't have really known, because I was out of that godforsaken pool the second the whistle blew and safely in the locker room before a single spectator could inquire 'what the hell?'
"Lockser – I'm dead fuckin' serious. What happened out there?" The seriousness of his tone struck a chord in me – along with the way he said 'fuckin'. Like 'fookin'. Hilarious.
I turned to face him, I easily had an inch or two on him, but he still managed to be intimidating.
"I forgot how to swim." I said hollowly.
Well, if his vein hadn't popped after the race, it sure as hell imploded now.
"The bullocks is that supposed to mean?! Lockser, I swear to Christ-"
"Coach? What…what are you doing in the girl's locker room?" One of the other swimmers squeaked, covering up herself with a towel even though she was still fully swimsuit covered.
His eye twitched. "We'll talk later." He said, giving me the 'I'm watching you' motion with his fingers.
"Not necessary coach," I called without thinking, "I'm quitting the team."
His eyes popped out of his skull and if we were in a cartoon, they would've bounced around like yo-yo's.
"WHAT-"
"Girl's locker room." I reminded with a finger tap to the women's sign on the door.
Furious, he took a step out, but not without mouthing 'you're dead' to me.
Ah. Nice to receive threats from both him and Evergreen. Then again – it wouldn't truly be a weekend in the life of Juvia Lockser if her life wasn't being threatened.
After he left, I let the 30 second conversation sink into my skin.
I just quit the swim team…
I looked at myself in the mirror, a pale, unimpressive, sad looking girl stared back. Pathetic.
I let her win.
Evergreen had the swim team – she got what she always wanted. And once again, I did the right thing, even if it screwed me over in the end.
"Well aren't you just a good-fucking-citizen." I muttered, throwing my hairbrush at my reflection angrily and storming away.
It had been like this my whole life – why in the world had I let myself believe that it would be different this time?
.
.
.
I took my time shuffling through the school corridors – I had absolutely no intention of saying hello to all my friends and family who had shown up to the meet. No, their disappointed faces and 'you'll get 'em next time's' would probably drive me to insanity.
I had spent a good twenty minutes locked up in the locker room, waiting for the other girls to leave. I barely made it without drowning myself in the nearest toilet and/or killing myself via swirly.
They lost, too. By a lot. They got creamed, if you're really into that lingo.
It didn't bother Evergreen – hell, she was overjoyed! Goddamn bitch.
Anyways, all that senseless bimbo babble was completely worth it – it was just me, and the school, and…
At that moment, my ears betrayed my mind's serenity. I heard crying. Female crying too.
Unfortunately, I recognized that crying, and a sudden dread hit my heart with similar force to a titanium sledgehammer to the goddamn face.
I picked up into a run, racing around the corner to find the source of the tears.
No, no, no, no, no, no…she promised, I did what she said! How can this-
I turned the corner sharply and saw exactly what I didn't want to see.
Lucy, hunched over and covering her eyes, was bawling, Levy and Lisanna patting her shoulders for comfort. The imaginary sledgehammer whacked me in the face and I was by her side in a second.
"Lucy, wha-"
Before I could even finish my sentence, Levy started shaking her head frantically, and Lisanna started pretending to cut her neck, a signal not to say another goddamn word.
Lucy lifted up her face, eyes red and puffy and mascara smudged all around her cheeks and face.
The second her eyes met mine, she let out an extraordinarily long wail and plunged her face back into her hands.
Confused, I offered my condolences by resting my hand on her shoulder blade, much like Levy and Lisanna.
"What are you doing?" Levy whisper asked me. My eyebrows moved together in confusion.
"What do you mean?" I asked back. I was just trying to help, I mean, Jesus, I knew I could be insensitive sometimes, but Lucy was clearly in need of-
"How could you?!" Lucy moaned suddenly. "Do you hate me, Juvia?!"
Shit. I suppose Evergreen blamed everything on me, I just have to explain everything…oh god, this is going to suck…
"Lucy, I'm so sorry…I really tried, I just wanted to protect you-"
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe it's what I wanted?" She interrupted shrilly, rubbing her eyes and leaving furious tear and makeup trails down her face.
Wait…what? I'm confused…
"Are we…talking about the same thing?" I asked for clarification. Lucy batted my hand off of her shoulder and glared.
"Of course we are! I can't believe you'd do something like that without even asking me what I thought!" She screeched, we were definitely not on the same page. In fact, I had no fucking idea what page she was on.
"Wait…what are we talking about?" I asked pathetically, like a child lost in an adult conversation about politics.
"Natsu dammit! Now why did you tell him to stay away from me?"
Oh. That.
My mind flashed to the times I'd told Natsu to stay away from Lucy, that she was too good for him…
Ah. Now I can kind of see why he hated me so much.
"I…uh…" I garbled guiltily.
"Why'd you do it?!" She repeated accusingly.
"Lucy, maybe we should-" Lisanna tried to intercept, but Lucy cut her off with a menacing look.
"I just wanted to protect you," I reiterated, knowing full well I was treading on a minefield.
"Well you did a damn good job," she sniffed bitterly. "He won't even talk to me anymore…"
Good, I thought, despite myself. I wasn't really helping my case by showing little to no guilt. Sure – I was guilty that I made her cry, but I don't regret telling Natsu off.
"Lucy, I'm sorry that you're sad – but I did what I thought was best for you." I said, only realizing how condescending and pretentious that made me sound after I said it.
"You don't know what's best for me! How could you possibly know?" She made the idea sound so ludicrous it stuck me in the gut. It really hurt, especially after all I'd sacrificed for her sake.
"I don't trust him." I justified, even though my resolve was fading. I had zero evidence that Natsu was evil, all I knew was that some part of him was a dumbass, and I didn't want anybody making slip-ups around Lucy. She was fragile, despite the strong façade she puts up most of the time. I knew firsthand what boys could do to her, how they could change her without even giving the consequences a side thought.
"I do! I trust him! You can't make decisions for me!" She screeched, like I was her mother who wouldn't let her date a boy.
Wow. That's actually…scarily accurate…
I bit the inside of my mouth so hard it bled – I was getting too frustrated to function. I needed to leave before I really said something I regretted.
"You know what? Fine – I won't make decisions for you any longer. But just know that maybe this time, I won't be there to take the fall for you." I said, coolly and calmly, like a time bomb seconds from exploding.
Her face went from confused, to shocked, to almost guilty.
"Juvia, wait, this isn't like that-"
But I was already leaving, because frankly a few more seconds and it would've been the fourth of July hysterics.
Awesome, just…awesome.
I should've known my protectiveness would get me in trouble one of these days. I'd taken every precaution throughout high school to keep Lucy away from boys – a total dick move, if you ask anybody who doesn't understand the circumstances, of course. And seeing that the only people who understood the circumstances were me, Gajeel, Erza, Evergreen, and Lucy – the pool of people who think I'm not an astronomical bitch for this are in the single digits.
I guess I should backpedal to the summer before freshman year. That was the summer that Lucy's father died, leaving a gaping hole in her family. Now, Lucy relied on her aunt and uncle to take care of her, but the transition that year was hard enough on her.
As much as I hate to admit it – Lucy was weak. Granted, it was a justified time of weakness for her, that I should've seen, and protected her, but I didn't.
About a month after her father passed, Lucy met a boy.
If you think about it – it made total sense that she'd be desperate for male companionship, whether it be physical or not. She'd just lost the only male role model in her life, she needed somebody.
Unfortunately for her, she picked the worst person possible for the job.
This kid was not only ugly as hell – but he was ugly on the inside, too. One of those sicko kids that you're 99% sure will end up on America's Most Wanted in the future.
But the little bastard was smart, too. He took complete advantage of Lucy's weakness. He grabbed it and chained it to a fucking tree, more like. Lucy was head over heels for him, said that they were in love, even though we could all clearly see the only thing that he loved was her bra size.
I should've done something. I should've done anything to get her away from him, even if it meant killing that little snot-nosed punk in the process.
It only took him a few weeks to ask her to send him nudes. God, the thought makes me want to simultaneously throw up and rip my scalp off just that that little twerp actually got the photos.
All Lucy wanted was to make him happy.
And he was happy alright – so happy that he decided to share those photos with a few of his friends.
A few of his friends became a lot more than a few though. Luckily, Erza and I were able to put a slight halt to the sharing (which involved a lot of threatening and extortion, mind you) but not enough so that it was completely gone.
Lucy was lucky enough that it was never posted on social media, only discreetly distributed through texts and messages.
I'm sure this is the point where you've come to the conclusion that Evergreen has this photo.
Yes, by freshmen year swim tryouts Evergreen had a pretty good idea that I would kick her ass at everything she did – ever. But she also found out that I was rather close to a girl who had made a stupid mistake.
Who knows. Maybe Evergreen is the youngest in her family, never having accomplished anything in her sibling's shadows and just needed something to excel at in order to maintain her dignity, I don't know.
All I do know is that I'll be damned to the satanic supreme court before I let that stupid photo get released.
Lucy had no idea – absolutely no idea that Evergreen is holding this over me like a goddamn dumbbell. That secret is save for the few.
I clutched my swim bag to my back tighter. The service hallway – a popular shortcut from the gym area to the language hall – was irregularly cold, despite the now warming weather. It was only me, and the sound of my flip flops hitting the backs of my feet as I trudged through the dim hallway, defeated.
Bored and cynical, I looked down at my phone to see how many messages I had. Three were from my dad, in all caps, asking me where I was. Huh. They must've actually shown up. Too bad they had to see me fail.
I texted him back that I was going over to Erza's after. Hopefully he hadn't seen her on his way out.
I had one message from Sting, saying 'girl u got ur ass kicked'. I guess he was there too. Fabulous.
And lastly, I had a message from Gajeel. Wow. He hardly ever texted me, being the weird lonely turtle that he was. It simply said 'I'm sorry', proper grammar and all. I feel so honored.
With a final slap of my shoe against the hard tile floor, I clicked open the door to the tech room.
The tech room was my final solace. Nobody joined tech crew anymore anyways, so I was safe to dawdle amongst the hard smell of sawdust and rusty nails while still maintaining my solitude. Excellent.
There was enough masonite and two by fours to build a small house in the tech room, and unused house paint and clogged brushes littered the ground. My initials were still spray painted in silver on the wall from that time when I was put in charge and just completely made a mess out of things. Tech crew was honestly so pointless – I only joined because Gajeel loved it, and it turned out I was the hottest person there. That says a lot about the tech crew.
Nevertheless, I managed to pick up a few building tips here and there, as well as the perfect formula for a chemical reaction to blow up six two by fours in a row strategically.
There was still a throne that Gajeel said he and some other guy built one summer – it had a few stray splinters here and there, but it was acceptable for the queen of assholes anyway.
I sat down on the chair and sat my head in my hands pathetically, waiting for something, or someone, to save me from the disaster I called my life.
.
.
.
I fell asleep in the goddamn chair.
There were enough cricks in my back to vouch for that – like I didn't already have enough problems from the melonzillas that called my chest their home. God, I was a disaster.
The clock on my phone said that it was eleven 'o clock at night. I was fucked from here to Arkansas. I couldn't get my parents to pick me up – then they'd know I hadn't gone over to Erza's, and then that would bring several other excuses to light that may or may not have been true.
I could probably text Erza and just get her to pick me up, and then I could spend the night there…that was easily my best option.
I quickly texted my parents that I'd be staying over at a friend's house – of course, not specifying which friend in case staying at Erza's was a bust. Lucy's place was pretty much crossed off the list as well. I still had Lisanna and Levy as backups.
My trek to the parking lot was short lived. The lot was fairly empty, save one car out towards the back of the forest. Probably just some kids going out for a smoke. There was actually a designated place for getting high there – a place classmen call 'narnia'. It's a big, bent over tree, red from fungus and decaying from years of wet death. Kids go there to smoke weed pretty much every day. All the teachers know about it too, it's actually kind of dumb to smoke there now, I guess. Everybody knows about it.
Not that I've ever smoked there, partly because Levy would punt me to another galaxy, and partly because I was too lazy to put in the effort to hide my illegal smoking activities. Plus that shit smelt nasty. No, my one and only drug experience involved accidental pot brownie ingestion at my aunt's house. Pretty uneventful as far as first trips go.
I ambled out into the parking lot, making the quick decision to have Erza pick me up from the nearest gas station instead of the school. She'd probably be a little bit suspicious of my staying there for an excessive amount of time – and I wasn't about to admit I'd just slept there for god's sake.
The closer I got to the car in the parking lot, the faster I realized that they weren't on their way to narnia. The kid was simply sitting on the hood, gazing up at the stars like John Lennon, or something.
Also, the closer I got to the car, the more I began to recognize the figure.
Oh god. Dear god no – anyone but him, honestly, you can send me Jeffrey Dahmer and it'd be better than this…
On top of that, I recognized an all-too-familiar miniaturized grocery bag wrapper around something suspiciously tall. I knew what that meant. Unfortunately.
"Hey there…buddy…" I called out experimentally, making sure that he wasn't drunk and/or high off his ass.
He sat up lazily, like I'd woken him from a three and a half year slumber.
"Mom? Is that you?" He asked aloud slowly.
Great. Delusions.
"No," I answered testily, tapping the hood of his car to let him know that I was fairly close to him.
He looked at me with half glazed eyes and frowned. "Oh. It's just you."
"Just me." I confirmed, surprising myself by hopping onto the hood beside him. "What are you doing here, Lyon?"
"I got bored of dad fawning over Gray. Went to the liquor store then stopped 'ere cuz I felt like it." He drawled.
"How uh…how many of these have you had?" I asked, experimentally moving the concealed bottle away from him. I peeked inside to see what he was drinking. It was Jose Cuervo, of course. The poor man's tequila. It was my mom's favorite margarita ingredient.
"Bout two 'er three. But I'm not drunk…I'm not drunk…I can drive…" he stuttered. I noticed two beer bottles inside his car. Great. Everybody knows the saying "beer before liquor, you'll never be sicker." Lyon was going to have a rough night judging by how empty the tequila bottle was.
"My mistake." I said, but I still did not return the half empty bottle. Geez, this is even more pathetic than I thought Lyon would go. Drinking in a school parking lot is about the dumbest thing next to invading Russia in the winter.
"Does…anyone know you're here?" I asked hopefully, babysitting a grown man wasn't necessarily on my to-do list.
"Jus' you." He informed.
"Huh." I said dryly. Just my luck.
"Did you know that I counted…like, eight stars up there?" He asked, pointing to the sky childishly.
"That many, huh?" I humored.
He stayed silent, but still restless as he rolled into endless uncomfortable positions on the hood of his car.
"Lyon," I began, "do you still play hockey?"
"Uh-huh." He answered. "I used to be really good. Gray was gooder though. Good-er. Better. More good."
"You were supposed to go to the U?" I guessed.
"Yuh-huh. Didn't get accepted."
"So you want Gray to go instead of you?"
"Naw. I want Gray to go cuz' he deserves it, little brat." He told. "An' you ruined…evrrything….with the other college…blue angels, or something…"
"Gray doesn't want to go to the U." I reminded.
"Sure 'e does. Just give 'im time." He slurred drunkenly. Man did he smell like my mom on late Friday evenings after she spent the night with her friend 'Margaret', who I'm 99% sure is just a codename for a Margarita. I'm 99% sure because I had been the one to make the margaritas when she was too drunk to work the blender. Ah, memories.
"I don't really think that's how it works." I said, on the side trying to find his keys. There was no way I could let him drive – no way, I wasn't into property destruction or vehicular homicide.
"Yeah well…you suck." He taunted, before laughing his ass off and slowly sliding off the hood and onto the pavement.
"Do I?" I offered, just to keep him talking. The key wasn't in the ignition…maybe it was in his glove compartment?
"M-hmmmmm. If you weren't so pretty – Gray wouldn't be friends with you either. You're jus' an evil witch." He condemned.
"Uh-huh. Gray friends with a lot of pretty girls?" I squeaked, half to keep him talking and half to seriously find out much-needed information on Gray. Lyon's doors were unlocked, and the key wasn't in the glove compartment. Damn!
"I dunno. Just that Natsu kid-"
"Not in the cup holder…"
"-weird, pink hair-"
"-not in the side pocket either-"
"-and his girlfriend, the one with the legs, or whatever-"
mm, whatcha say~
"What?" I asked, suddenly dead serious as my hand grasped his collar with the sort of frantic hysterics that only erupt when either Gray or Liam Hemsworth are mentioned.
"Yeah…his girlfriend or something…? Haven't met her yet, I'm sure Gray doesn't wan' mom or dad scarin' her away or nuthin'." He said, grammar abilities slowly fading along with my hopes and dreams of becoming Mrs. Gray Fullbuster.
Son of a shit – I had no idea he was dating someone! Little punk-ass bastard, not telling me shit…I'll kill-
"'parently she's a big whoop ta him, cuz he won't tell us much 'bout her. Personally, I don' think she's real." Lyon reasoned.
That could be true…but someone as hot as Gray should never have to worry about lying about something so trivial. Hell, he could probably ask a random girl on the street and she'd be a-ok with being his fake girlfriend. I know I would.
"That's…interesting…" Oh god. I hope I didn't sound too choked.
Oh, who am I kidding. He's too goddamn crocked to distinguish any sort of vibes I might've been throwing onto the table.
"Y'know, I really thought you liked me…" he said, a hint of sadness ebbing into his already pathetic fuck-me-I'm-drunk voice.
"I really thought Gray was single. I guess we're both getting' the end of the stick here, aren't we?" I asked dryly, digging through the left side pocket of the car inconspicuously.
"Heh-heh. You're kinda funny." He observed.
"Nothin' gets past you!" I said cheerfully, still very car-key-less.
"And you're pretty – so it's like a double." He added.
Yup. I'm comparable to a cheeseburger. Thanks, Lyon.
"Where are your keys?" I asked off-handedly, finally giving up on my search.
"It's a secret~" He sang tauntingly. Great. A happy drunk.
"Please? I have to drive you home…" I begged. Ew, begged…the thought of me even doing it, to Lyon nonetheless, made me want to rip my own gallbladder out of my ear.
"Hmmm…you'll have to give me somethin' in return~" He said in a sing-songy voice.
"I got a bottle cap." I lied. I didn't have a bottle cap. I just thought it'd be funny if I said I did. And it was.
"Naawwwww…I want somethin' different…" He rapped his knuckles against the hood of the car as he stood up, body and mind wobbly.
"Hm. What about a kidney? I got a spare kidney." I offered, giving my lower abdomen a quick tap to make sure that my kidneys were intact.
"Nooooooo…." He stretched, falling on top of me so that his head was leaning on my shoulder and his body weight was effectively crushing me.
"Christ almighty, you're heavy!" I wheezed, pushing him in the opposite direction fruitlessly.
He popped off of me momentarily, before falling back down so his face was directly in between my boobs. Thank fuck I was wearing a sweatshirt, otherwise I would've had to exterminate the poor drunk bastard.
"Squishy." He remarked through the fabric of my shirt.
"I know. Great, aren't they? Now get off before I use them as the tools of your demise." I said, afterwards realizing that my choice of words wouldn't be well comprehended by a drunk person. "…Get off my boobs or I'll strangle you with them."
Apparently that registered somewhere in his alcohol marinated brain. He scooted away woozily and tried to get his eyes to focus back on my face.
"Now. Keys." I demanded, holding my hand out so that maybe if they fell from heaven, and god actually did me a goddamn favor instead of laughing his cloud-ass off at my faults, I could catch them.
Lyon grinned cheekily. "Only if you give me a kiss~"
God. He really was a sad, sad little soul, wasn't he?
"I'll kiss you right in the pancreas, right after I rip it out of your abdomen. Now, car keys please." I said, rather proud of myself. Lyon looked at me blankly, obviously none of my words had made it past the barricade of blood alcohol content.
Instead, he just sort of leaned forward and…landed on my mouth.
It was a sloppy kiss, of course. I wasn't expecting anything different. It probably could've been quite pleasant if he didn't taste like what my dad smelt like after his favorite hockey team lost the Stanley cup a few years back.
But, even though I should've shoved him off of me with enough force to fracture his skull into bone confetti, I instead let my hands wander to his ass, and before you scorn me for acting like a little conniving harlot – I had something completely different in mind.
At last! The goddamn keys were in his back pocket!
I snaked my hand into his pocket while Lyon's lips fumbled around my face, missing a few times and hitting my cheek and nose, which could've been totally cute if he was anybody but Lyon.
Once my finger ensnared the car keys, I pulled away from him faster than my dad clearing his internet history when my mom walked in the room.
"Got 'em." I teased, waving them in front of him and cheerfully hopping into the driver's seat.
"You're a bad kisser." He mumbled as he hobbled into the passenger's seat, rather compliantly.
"Takes one to know one." I reasoned, starting up his car smugly.
"Are we going home?" He asked. Huh. I really didn't have an answer for that.
"…Yes." I stated. Sure – going to the Fullbuster's house at nearly midnight would be absolutely amazing, not to mention I now had no alibi for my parents. I didn't text Erza, so she's probably asleep, so now I'm screwed, screwed, screwed-
"Why…you hit the steerin' wheel like that? It didn't do nuthin' ta you." Lyon asked, and then he started laughing for some strange reason.
"No reason!" I screeched unexpectedly. I meant for my voice to come out much more calm-like, but it sort of fizzled halfway and I just ended up sounding like a concerned mother vulture.
I started driving away quietly, barely climbing past twenty miles an hour. I couldn't afford to draw attention to myself – not with a drunk passenger and no license to cover my tail if we got pulled over. I also had no idea where the registration for the vehicle was, since it wasn't my car. Just great.
"My mom…she's gonna be mad…" Lyon informed me diligently.
I had no answer – I just focused on the hauntingly empty roads. We were pretty suburban, so it was rather rare to have any late night activity on the roads. Even on a Saturday night.
After a long period's silence, Lyon spoke again.
"Are you goin' the right way…? My house is…my house is that way…" He pointed towards a random pine tree and I ignored him. I was fairly confident that I remembered the way, I just had to-
And then, like even my best friend Satan had it out for me, the dreaded flashing lights of a cop car pulling out from a ditch rung the bells of my second funeral today.
Only this time, it would more than likely end with me behind bars.
The officer signaled for me to pull over, and I obeyed, having a fit of hysterics and probably something close to minor cardiac arrest while doing so.
I was so screwed. It was past curfew, this wasn't my car, there were beer bottles everywhere, a bottle of half empty tequila in the drink holder, I had a drunk passenger, no license…
A flashlight momentarily blinded me and I caught sight of a middle aged and well tanned police officer, glancing at me with an almost familiar concerned crinkle in his eyes.
"License and registration, please?"
I had neither of those things. Because I was a fucking dumbass.
Oh god. Now I was panicking. I was doomed, dead, doomed – I wish I really could've just melted into a pathetic little puddle-
"Miss?" He asked, ducking his head so he could see better in the car. His eyes widened when he saw the empty bottles. "Miss, have you been drinking tonight?"
Then, I sort of…exploded? Is that a good way to put it?
I waved my hands in front of my face in a crazed manner, trying to undo the past hour hastily.
"No, no, no! No, no…my friend here was! I was going to drive him home because he was drunk! So I took his keys – I'm sorry! I don't have my license! This isn't my car – I actually barely even know this guy! I just wanted to help – please don't arrest me, my dad would kill me! My mom too! I can't die twice – I haven't even voted for a president yet! Please-"
In the middle of my monologue thing, Lyon interrupted drunkenly for a hello.
"Hey Mr. Natsu's dad, how's it hangin'?"
Mr…Natsu's…dad…?
'Natsu's dad' ducked his head lower to inspect lyon.
"Lyon, is that you? What are you doin' out here, kid?" He asked, suddenly friendly.
"I had…a drink. Or five. But iss… ok Igneel…I'm twenty-two…I'm old enough…" He stumbled.
"Yeah, I know that well enough. Tell you what, I'll give you two an escort back to the Fullbuster place, I owe you the least." He said, nodding to me in thanks for not allowing Lyon to go on a rum rampage.
"So I'm…not…under arrest?" I asked for confirmation.
"No ma'am. You're doing your civic duty, now hup-to-it." He said, reminding me kinda of a happy little elf. Kind of like Natsu when he wasn't sending me infrared hatred signals.
I sighed outwardly, loosening my grip on the steering wheel and regaining the peachy skin color in my whitened knuckles.
"Aw, I don' wanna go home." Lyon whined, flailing his limbs in the air like an upset baboon.
"We're not going home," I reassured, mostly for my own personal safety, "We're going to a…club…"
I waited for Igneel to return to his car before driving again. For the remainder of the drive, I stuck to the book and drove like a model citizen (aka driving the opposite of how my mom does) stopping at every stop sign for a few seconds even though no one was present. I could not afford to go to jail. I couldn't afford to lose my limbs to my father's butcher knife before the age of 50.
When I pulled up into the Fullbuster's driveway silently, Lyon freely expressed his disappointment.
"Awww…I thought we were going clubbing…" he moaned.
"Oh, come on Lyon even you're not that dumb. Where the hell are we gonna find a club in the middle of the suburbs, eh? You into driving for sixty miles- heeeyyy, Mr. Dragneel…" I cut off my lecture halfway at the sight of the homely cop.
He chuckled warmly, the way a real dad should, not the off-pitch cackle my dad had.
"Don't stop on my account. The boy needs some sense knocked into him." He stopped to scratch his head, "say, you aren't his girlfriend, are ya?"
"No!" I said, a bit too quickly and disgustedly. "I mean…no…I hardly even know him, actually…"
Igneel's rust colored eyebrows knitted together. "But you knew where he lived?"
"I know Gray." I said, a little bit of pride creeping into my voice. Like I was saying 'ha! Take that world – Juvia actually knows someone hot!' (besides Erza, Lucy, Levy and Lisanna…I guess).
"Ah. I don't suppose you know my son, Natsu?" He asked, actually letting the pride flood his voice like the fucking Hoover Dam broke.
"…Doesn't ring a bell!" I confessed guiltily.
"That's too bad. You're a mighty nice girl, do ya need a ride home?" He asked.
"Uhh…" Shit. What the fuck was I supposed to do now? I had nowhere to go - I couldn't go home, god no, I preferred to keep my internal organs…you know, internal.
I had but one choice. One, humiliating, mortifying choice, that could make or break my relationship with Gray.
"That's alright, I already told my parents I'd be here!" I said, with my winning liar's smile. He fell for it like a charm and bid us goodnight. I waited until his car disappeared in my peripheral vision to move or do anything.
"Let's get you inside," I finally told Lyon, reaching for his seat belt buckle.
"No! Don' wanna!" He fought, slapping my hand away and childishly covering his buckle so I couldn't cut him loose.
"Fine! I'll go inside without you!" I said haughtily, unbuckling my own seatbelt and storming off.
"Fine!" Lyon called back, in spite of me.
I dug my feet into the light colored pavement in front of the Fullbuster's door, wondering if I should ring the doorbell or just knock.
It's at times like that I wish I would've gotten Gray's phone number. Fuckity shit! What if nobody answers? They should all be asleep now anyways!
I cut off my mind ramble by straight up stabbing the doorbell with my fingernail.
There. It's done. Now feel free to jump off a goddamn cliff, you idiot.
To prevent myself from slipping into a coma, I started humming Uptown Funk. You know, so I'd annoy myself back into consciousness. What was it, like…midnight thirty?
I was about to ring the doorbell once more, when I saw the doorknob shift slowly, almost scaring my eyeballs out of my sockets.
Of course, like Jesus, Buddha and co. all hated my guts and wanted me to burn in the fiery pits of Satan's asshole, Gray Fullbuster, evidently sleep-deprived and shirt riding up so that I got a peek of his tanned, lickable abs, answered the door, ruffling his dark hair so that he could see better.
On a completely unrelated note, I think I may have brain damage.
He mumbled something incoherent, probably along the lines of 'what the fuck are you doing at my house you creepy stalker' and yawned. He's the only person to ever exist who could yawn without looking like a complete douchebag.
"J…uvia? What are you doing here?" His sleep-crackled voice asked, making my brain explode like a popcorn kernel. Also, the sleep-drunk way he said my name pronouncing the 'J' all smooth and French, like Jemappelle, god is he ever delicious.
"I brought you a present~" I announced, like the idiot I was.
"Wh…at? Birthday sex?" Even in his half-awake state, I could sense his familiar teasing nature.
"Even better!" I replied with a slightly sadistic cackle. "C'mon, you have to come to the driveway to see it…"
"Aw, why?" He asked, hobbling bare-footed onto the sidewalk.
"Cuz' I can't lift it without your help…" I muttered.
Without further ado, I jumped in front of Lyon's car and made some fancy jazz hands to present my gift to Gray.
"Is that…" His eyes squinted, "…Lyon?"
"Yup. Drunk as a skunk." I confirmed, leading the way to the passenger seat where he was still frowning.
"Oh…my god…" he remarked, suddenly 100% alert of his surroundings. "How did you even…"
"It's a long story," I cut him off. "Now help me get him out."
Gray groaned and opened the passenger door to greet his drunk-as-fuck brother.
"Graaaayyy~ your girlfriend lied to me!" He whined.
"Oh, shut up, dumbass." In one swift movement, Gray unbuckled Lyon and in an excellent display of his lovely arm muscles, he hoisted Lyon out of the car.
"Wheee~" Lyon yelled, sagging in Gray's arms like a rag doll.
"Oh, god…" Gray grumbled, lifting him up a bit higher and dragging his limp ankles on the ground.
"Hey…hey Gray…" Lyon hiccupped his brother's name as Gray opened the door. "Your girlfriend grabbed my ass…and she's a bad kisser hehehehhh…"
It was a damn good thing that it was as dark as my soul and Gray wasn't facing me, because the color of my face no doubt was a shade similar to a fucking radish.
"No! I mean…I was trying to get his keys. And he kind of missed my lips anyway, he just got mostly…face." I explained quickly.
"Sorry you had to go through that." Gray said, weirdly stiff and without eye contact.
"Trust me, I'm sorry too." I mumbled in a less-than-coherent manner.
Gray held the door open for me, thank god, and heaved Lyon upstairs to his room. I patiently waited in the doorway, contemplating how I would ask him.
Hey Gray – this is a bit awkward, because I have a massive-ass crush on you and might die in the middle of the night, but could I crash here for the night so my parents don't dismember me? That'd be pretty great…
I'm telling you now, it would be pretty difficult to sink lower than me at this point.
Gray jumped down the stairs after a few minutes, a relieved expression on his face.
"Man is he annoying," he said casually, like it was everyday that I hauled his drunk brother home at midnight, "it's a damn good thing my parents are such heavy sleepers. My dad snores sometimes, so I guess they sort of…evolved. It's freaky the shit they don't hear." He said, with an added wink because of the inherently intended sex joke.
What a dorky dork.
"Yeah, yeah…so, I gotta ask you something…" I squeaked, expressing my awkwardness by winning a staring contest with the floor. "Could I-"
"Sure." Gray said, before I could even finish. "I owe you anyways – mom would've called one of her 'emergency family meetings' if we had to pick Lyon up from the drunk tank. And don't give me that look! It's happened before, and it ain't pretty, I can tell you that much." He said with an added chuckle.
"Uhhhhh…." I dragged on, shocked by his weird sixth sense.
"C'mon, I don't have any girl clothes, but you can probably wear somethin' of mine…" he walked up to his room and I about had a mental breakdown. He's so fucking perfect, and kind, and chivalrous, god dammit, is he even fucking real?
"You comin'?" He asked from upstairs.
"Y-yeah…" I croaked, grabbing the railings on the steps for balance. Without it, I would've surely fallen on my face in awe of the godly creature who'd allowed my gross, disgusting presence to seep into his beautiful home.
I dragged myself up the stairs and crawled down the hallway to his room. Before I even pulled my sorry ass into his bedroom, a white t-shirt hit me in the face, along with some shorts that would in no way, shape, or form fit me, under any circumstances, ever.
"You know where the bathroom is. I'll setcha' up in my room." He called out.
And then, without warning, I began choking to death.
I mean, honestly, was he attempting to murder me? Was this premeditated? Did he even realize that every fucking word that came out of his attractive mouth was stabbing me in the fucking bladder, without any mercy or regret.
God. I mean, really. I had done shit to nothing to deserve this. I mean, besides that one time I found a five-leaf clover when I was seven.
Oh my god. This was it, wasn't it? The five leaf clover's revenge – doomed to forever live my life in the glorious shadow of Gray Fullbuster while he basked in the sunlight of gorgeous (and probably naked) ladies constantly throwing themselves at him, while I fed off the gross algae looking stuff that grew in his shadow.
I swear to god – I will never murder a plant again if Gray Fullbuster just gets the hell away from me right now – or dies – either one would be acceptable.
"-ok?" I missed the first word he said, but I assumed it had been 'you'. Oh yeah, I had kind of been choking this entire time.
"Uh…allergies." I mumbled before skittering off into the bathroom to change.
The clothing was, just as I predicted, far too big for me. I had a spare ponytail holder to pull up the shorts, which went a little bit past my thighs. The shirt just hung low like a dress, so sure, I looked like the dead body of a hobo, but I was covered, at least.
I crept out of the bathroom silently and into Gray's room. His bed was neatly folded – where I assumed he wanted me to sleep.
Yup. Definitely premeditated. Mark Gray Fullbuster down for first degree murder.
A foot or two away was a makeshift bed down, where he was lying down, already pretty much asleep. Cute.
I slid into his bed guiltily, reminding myself to thank him about a thousand times before I left tomorrow.
"Hey Juvia?' He asked sleepily.
"Eh?" I uttered unintelligibly.
"I forgot to ask you – what happened at the swim meet? Did you freeze up or something?" He asked, although with the level of suspicion in his voice I'm pretty sure he realized that there was more to it than that.
"Yeah." I agreed bitterly.
"Oh. Touchy subject, I guess. You kinda disappeared after your race, and I thought you looked upset…" He recalled.
"Yeah, well…you'd be upset too, I guess." I said, admittedly feeling a tad guilty for snapping at him. Especially since I had stolen his bed.
"Oh yeah, by the way, I forgot to ask you something!" He jumped up out of his makeshift bed like a reanimated corpse.
"Huh?" I asked, vaguely remembering him wanting to tell me something at some point last week, moments before I chewed him out for something he hadn't even done. "Uh, by all means…"
"So, as you probably know, buzz of the school and all, the hockey state tournament starts next weekend." He began, as excited as I was the first time I came over to his house, "and, I know it's kind of a lot to ask I guess, but…are you gonna go? I know it's kinda far away, but-"
"Yes!" I interrupted, immediately cursing myself for sounding so eager. "I mean…how could I miss it?" I covered with a lame fake laugh.
"Yeah – it's in the Capitol and everything. I'm really…excited." He chose his last word carefully, although I had serious doubts he chose the right one.
"Are you nervous?" I pried, his excitement was a little bit catchy.
"I mean, yeah. But the first game I know we can win, we beat them before in a scrimmage." He let out, seemingly happy by my amount of interest.
"Hm. Will it still be exciting?" I inquired, drawing squares on the wall with my toes like I had the first time I was here.
"'Course. Honestly Juvia, is there ever a moment when you're with me and it's not exciting?" He asked, surely with that smug smile to accompany it.
If only he knew. I was nearly always moments away from death whenever he was near.
"However could I forget?" I asked both him and myself.
"Must be early stage dementia. You've got a frail 'lil brain, Juvia."
"Well this 'frail little brain' got you a one-way ticket to college, so you better shut your yap, buster."
"Well this yap might be shut if I was sleeping in my own bed."
"…Touché…"
I heard him yawn and remembered that it was indeed far past my bedtime.
"Go to bed Gray." I said, giggling a little bit as his arms reached for the sky like a baby waking from its nap.
"Hey…Juvia…?" He asked softly.
"Hm?"
"I…sorry, I'm just really glad you're my friend. It's weird, that I didn't know you until this year. I kinda wish I could've met you sooner." He dreamed aloud, sending mini needles into the depths of my lungs.
"Th-thanks…I guess…" I swallowed heavily to keep from screaming at the top of my lungs and tossing myself out his window.
"Neh, 'night Juvia." He mumbled, burying his face into his pillow.
My heart swelled a little bit, and I almost choked to goddamn death on my own feels. If I didn't want to bone him so bad, I'd probably adopt him and keep him in my dragon lair for all eternity.
I dug my face into his pillow, sniffing the fresh Gray-smell and almost wetting the floofy object with my tears. With one last press of my toe against the wall, I shut my eyes and dreamt pleasant dreams of sugar Grays with cherries on top.
Just kidding. Although a dream like that would be pretty fuckin' cool…
.
.
.
I woke up to the smell of pancakes, a smell I only recognized because my mom cooks pancakes whenever she accidentally bounced a check.
But I'm not in my house, am I?
I lazily drooped my hand to the side of Gray's bed, stretching out my toes and grinning slyly.
Gray was still asleep, thank god. If he had to see my bedhead I might've killed him just to put him out of his misery right then and there.
That reminds me. How the hell am I gonna explain the fact that I slept in Gray's room to his parents?
Maybe we could pull the late studying card…or the late night partying parents? Maybe I could say something about my parents being in the hospital or something?
I sat up and stretched my aching limbs. Gray probably didn't own a hairbrush, so hopefully Ultear might have one to borrow. For now, I'll just have to finger brush my blue crow's nest.
I kicked Gray in the shoulder lightly so that he could help me brainstorm an excuse to offer his parents.
"Hmm…beat it, Ultear…" he mumbled drowsily.
"It ain't Ultear, cupcake." I corrected, pulling my hair into a ponytail to disguise its impossibility.
"Hm? Oh yeah, you." He groaned, like I was the world's biggest burden.
"Yeah, it's the girl who saved your brother from arrest! Let's act like a douchebag to her – that'll be beneficial." I mocked, ruffling his hair mostly just because I wanted to feel it. Hm. It was still soft, even in the morning. Lucky-ass bastard.
He finally sat up, throwing the blankets off of his body before flopping back down onto the floor.
"D'ya want any girly shit from Ultear's room?" He asked groggily.
"A hairbrush would be great." I responded.
"Kay. Be right back – stay here, or you might get ambushed by my dad or something." He warned.
"Gotcha." I replied.
Not even a minute later, Gray's bedroom door crashed open.
"Oh my god!" Ultear shrieked. I stared at her like a deer in the headlights, and Gray came racing behind her, tackling her like she was a thirty year old man instead of a thirteen year old girl.
"Jesus! Gray, you're gonna kill her!" I yelped, peeling his body off of hers.
"Gray, did you sleep with her? Gross! You guys are gonna get pregnant or something!" She babbled. Gray slapped a hand over her mouth and sent me a look that said 'can I kill her yet?'.
"Ultear, we did not sleep together – she drove Lyon home after…after his thing…and she didn't have a ride back, so I let her crash here, ok? Calm down…just…calm down…" he slowly lifted his hand off of her mouth, positively slimy, and wiped it on her shirt.
"…but you guys slept in the same room?"
"Yes, dammit, it's not that big of a deal-"
"-and you guys aren't dating? Holy sh-"
"Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Now out, ya little weasel!" He prompted her out with a pert little push, and then tossed me a pink plastic hairbrush. "Go nuts."
"So," I began, running the brush through my snarls gently. "How're we gonna explain this to your parents?"
"Just tell them you came here early for studying. My mom'll buy it – she loves you. And if my mom buys it, dad will too." He explained away easily.
"Ok…can you grab me my clothes?" I asked. He threw my stuff at me generously, slapping me in the face with the fabric. "Thanks."
"Welcome.' He said with a cheeky grin. Dammit. Damn him and his friendship. Damn him and his adamancy towards making sweet, sweet love to me!
Once I finished getting dressed, I followed Gray into the kitchen, rehearsing my lines in my head.
Ok Juvia, play it up, you're just a geeky chic who wants to study for business class – nothing more, nothing less…
"Morning Gray! You're up kind of late, did you-" Gray's mom paused when she saw me follow him through the kitchen. I offered her an awkward wave and she waved back.
"Juvia! What are you doing here?" She asked, setting the bowl of pancake mix down curiously.
"Came to study early, I hope I'm not intruding or anything…" I said, trying to play the guilty card, and it worked really well, because I did genuinely feel guilty.
"Nonsense dear, we're glad to have you – come on, sit down! It's not every day that Gray is sought out as a teacher…" Gray's mom gushed proudly, ushering us to the kitchen table. "Now where's Lyon? Honestly, that boy is a grown man and can't even-"
"Uh, he was studying pretty late for a job interview, so he might not be up for a while." Gray piped up.
"…Oh. Oh, that's wonderful! I'll let him sleep then – Gray, get your pants out of here, honestly, it's like you leave your laundry everywhere," Gray's mom grumbled, retrieving the pants that had called the kitchen floor their home and tossing them into a basket by the stairs.
"Silver! Get in the kitchen now, we have a guest! And for god's sake, please have some pants on!" Gray's mom shook her head and gave me a secret look. "It's impossible to get those boys to keep their pants on around here, really."
"Mom," Gray complained, but I was already giggling. Every little piece I got to learn about Gray's life outside of school made my stomach flutter in an extremely dangerous way – I should probably tread lightly unless I wanted to end up as a liquid.
Silver hobbled into the kitchen, lazily buttoning up his pants and placing a quiet kiss onto his wife's forehead.
"Hey Gray, you seen the remote?" He asked gruffly, taking a seat across the table. "Hey Juvia."
I felt my eyes widen that he had actually remembered my name. My dad just called all my friends Natalie when he forgot their names.
"Uh, morning Mr. Fullbuster." I greeted with an excited stab into my pancake's flesh. Violent, ain't I?
"How was your swim meet? I'm sorry I didn't make it – Ultear had some girly thing-"
"You mean her trip to the mall?" Gray's mom interrupted.
"Yeah. Pure torture it was – had no idea voices could get that high-pitched. Sides, she only dragged me around cuz I had a wallet." Silver admitted with a chuckle.
"Uh…my swim meet was…" I choked on my own pride. Luckily, my knight in shining sweatpants came to my rescue.
"-It was great. Won a lot of rounds. I can imagine her next meet will be even better, right?" Gray looked at me for confirmation.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that there wouldn't be a next time.
"Yeah." I agreed, looking down at my massacred pancake for a distraction.
"Mom, I just went down to Lyon's room. I think he might be decomposing." Ultear appeared at the table with a tiny wrinkled bunny nose.
"He's just tired dear. Come and eat and leave your brother alone." Ur advised, lightly shoving her daughter into the kitchen table.
Gray had a finger over his lips to keep from laughing. Lyon hardly deserved any sort of praise at the moment, I supposed he thought it to be an ironic twist.
"You gonna make it to state this weekend?' Silver asked, making gruff conversation as he devoured his pancake like an angry t-rex.
I guessed that he was talking to me, by process of elimination.
"Definitely." I answered.
"Your parents ain't gonna make a fuss bout missing school?" He asked.
"Nah. My dad would rather execute me than let me go to school on a day when I could be watching hockey." Oops. That was rather morbid for the breakfast table.
His eyebrow raised up. "Your dad a fan?"
I began laughing hysterically. "A fan would be a serious understatement. He missed my kindergarten graduation and was late to my own birth because of a hockey game." The last part was true, but that was because he was actually playing hockey. I suppose he was rather good at in high school, so I gave him leeway when he'd skip something of mine to watch a game – I had sort of thrown a wrench into his sporting career by coming into existence. It wasn't exactly my fault – but I'd take a little bit of the blame, especially considering they didn't give me up for adoption or anything. I'd say we're about even.
"Huh. I've never seen him around with the other guys – what's his name?" Silver asked, like he had his own well-aged group of old dads discussing hockey games, not unlike my mom's 'support group', or whatever the hell she was trying to pass off her obvious wine-o friends as.
"Mark Lockser. He uh…he doesn't really hang out with dads that much." I admitted, trying not to offend him. At his look of confusion, I offered up a muddled explanation. "He's thirty-five. He feels a little…left out when he hangs out with kids my age's dads…"
Gray's dad began choking on a sizable pancake lump at the bit of information I'd squeezed past him.
"For god's sake Silver, chew!" Gray's mother advised, giving him a hearty slap-on-the-back before returning to the kitchen to grab a tub of butter.
"Thirty-five, huh? That's…awesome…" Silver recovered, trying not to sound judgmental. I appreciated his lenience towards my father's age and nodded.
We ate in comfortable silence after that, save the foot-war that was going on between Ultear and Gray (they did a shit job of trying to hide it, too) and Silver's mumbling about his 'damned kids' under his breath.
It was…nice.
It was strange too, strange how even though I hardly knew these people, everything just felt so…right? I guess?
Ok, fine – so that sounded dumb. I was woman enough to say my bad. But the inkling of a feeling was still there – even if Gray never came to love me, maybe I'd be alright with just being his friend.
Just kidding. I'll die of rabies before that happens.
After I had successfully mooched breakfast, a bed, and clothes off of the Fullbuster family, I only stayed an hour or two more until I had figured that I had mooched enough for one day.
Besides, I had helped Gray out a little by saving his brother's drunk ass and reading his business class flashcards for like an hour. You give a little, you get a little. In this case, I got a lot. But it didn't matter anyways, because he said thanks and did some other cute stuff that I can't really remember because my brain was on lockdown after I saw him blush. He could've pulled a gun to my head and fired seven shots into my temporal lobe and it would've taken hours for me to finally register that I was dead.
So now, I was free of swimming, free of Evergreen – but obviously not free of my obsession with Gray. And I was not one step past the geologically drawn boundary of 'friends'.
Honestly. Fuck that boy and everything he stands for.
fuckfuckfuck I had the whole authors note typed out and then stupid doc manager stuck a knife through my cornea ok
also wow um ok I attempted to answer reviews in pms but kinda failed? im just gonna answer in chaps bc its easier for me
(I HAVE TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM FEEL FREE TO YELL AT ME IF I MISS URS OR SOMETHIN)
Leaffeather: THANKS I BROKE THE SCALE IL Y
fireXmaiden: thanksthanks I missed out on jellalvia action on this chapter but ill bring him back eventually...NO ITS NOT AWKWARD AT ALL LOTS OF LOVE
Guest: eat pixy stix, they r vv healthy I promise. I WILL BUY U A RING NO JOKE. ALSO YEAH IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT CLICHE TOO IM GONNA PUT A LIL TWIST ON IT BUT YEAH NEXT CHAPTER I PROMISE GRAY WILL SAVE THE DAAYYY
LateNightShips: so much for update soon omg...but thank you anywayyy! ily
everyone: cool story bro
Kiri: (I HAVE TO ANSWER ALL OF THEM I HAVE TO IT IS MY LEGAL DUTY) (THESE ARE IN CHRON ORDER OLDEST TO YOUNGEST BTW) HAHA FLAMES theyre great lol. you got the theme of this story right too. fuck shit up. that's the goddamn theme.
dragnoots: (u change ur name?) breaking juvias legs would've been a happy alternative. I made a drunk lyon lord in mercy save me? also yeah I stuck with my pokemon references. idc what u say. the jigglypuff thing works dammit. STING WILL RULE THE NEXT CHAP I SWEAR. ps. wedding is in june.
Kiri: yes im the child who googles plotlines. maybe ill read ft this summer when I have time? end of school is on the tenth, so maybe ill try it out then? wow that's a lot of question marks ill stop now
Kiri: I SAW THE SYNCHRONIZED STRIP ON MY DASH LIKE 0.09875 SECONDS AFTER YOU MENTIONED IT AND I? GRUVIA BROKE MY FEELS I
Laudi14:thanksthanks ill try to updte faster next time uwu ily
Kiri: U WIN THE PRIIIIZE ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS YAYAY
Kiri: master gray sounds kinky as hell damn juvia. hiatus was kinda short, but I figured id let u guys no so I wouldn't look like an asshole just leavin yall hanging. (OH MY GOSH DONT READ MY OTHER STUFF ITS BAD I PROMISE HFCGVHKJGFJHKLKG)
NeverInUrWildestDreams: thank u! I added what gray wanted to tell her in here (that was actually a mistake of mine last chap lol) I have a secret thing for navia but I don't know if ill have any in this fic. (also yes jealous gray is next chap p much) ilyyyy!
gruuuvia: thank you! I love writing asshole lyon. and drunk lyon. idk, I like it when lyons character doesn't revolve around juvia.
Kiri: ivE Always WaNted a StAlKeR yyAYayaYaAYa this review actually reminded me that I was gonna post it on here so thank uuu LITERALLY ME AS HELL THOUGH. my dad is super protective and I barely got by with an email...(if he knew I wrote underground fanfiction id be shut down so fast I wouldn't even have time to say fuck) but keep with it! get an email soon and tAlK To mE
Guest: OK I WILLL ILY
Kiri: psh. I needed to break my writing record so I had to go for 11000. it almost killed me. almost. also yeah DATE ME
Kiri: I edited sooo much yesterday 200000000 dollars says there are still a ton of mistakes but fuCK IT
Kiri: DCFVGBYUNIO U R SICK DONT DIE I WILL BE SO SAD AND I WONT EVEN KNOW FHJKLLIUYTRDBKBIIJE ; E HU IU but lol yeah this update sucked disappointment pretty much
if I didn't answer your review, I probably pmd you! (sorry this update kinda sucked, but im excited for the next chap bc shit actually happens. what do you guys think? only five chapters left (rough estimate) and thnk you for your constant support! I love all of you !
EDIT 6/2/15
JUST REALIZED I USED TH DOCUMENT SO NONE OF THE REVIEW RESPONSES WERE THERE I AM SOOO SORRY BUT I FIXED IT SO YEAH IM A MESS