lmao was supposed to post this yesterday but the server crashed :')
I usually liked to classify days like this one as 'casual days'. You know those days, when your pants either decided not to make an appearance or to make an appearance, however short lived, and disappear later?
Days like that made me happy. I got to sit on the couch, watch TV, text Sting stupid memes, and listen to my parents argue about the stupidest, most laughable shit you could ever conceive.
"-she is seventeen years old, she is allowed to wear thongs!" My mom argued, for some reason their topic had switched to me.
I had no desire to input that a.) I had absolutely no intention of wearing butt floss unless it was a special occasion, b.) I was eighteen years old, I had been for some time, and c.) why the hell was that even an issue.
This was partly because I was too far invested into Criminal Minds reruns, and partly because I was not gonna put that much effort into arguing with my parents. I was a pretty good judge of what was worth arguing about, and that topic didn't even make the list.
I kicked my feet up atop the couch, unsatisfied with the position I had previously been in and switching to a more favorable viewing spot. I was a restless soul, always had been. Sitting still had never been on my agenda.
"Dad, can you make me food?" I asked, out of pure boredom and will to get my parents to stop bickering about useless things.
"Not now honey, daddy has to win a battle with your mom." My dad said, in a belittling fashion that made my nose wrinkle up like a pissed off bunny rabbit.
I made a huffy sound and pressed my face to the arm of the couch. It had been almost a week since the fateful Lucy fight, and she still hadn't spoken to me since. I was…holding up, to say the least. Lucy had taken Levy and Lisanna with her, unfortunately, not like it was battle royale Juvia vs. Lucy or anything, they had just decided to spend more of their time comforting Lucy than comforting me.
I didn't mind, Lucy deserved them anyways. I think the thing that surprised me the most was Erza. I've mentioned before that Erza and I could be considered 'best friends' to most people, but I didn't realize how strong our friendship was until now. She'd stood by me despite not knowing the whole story with Evergreen. She had known about the photo, even helped me contain it, but she had no idea that Evergreen still held it above my head like an anvil ready to drop on Wile E. Coyote. With Erza came Jellal, and he knew his share of my secrets, but it was still a little bit nice to know that I had something to fall back on.
But, like with anything else, I was always the one I had to rely on. I was the one who stitched my wounds, and I was the one who told myself that everything was going to be ok.
Gajeel's call had served to warm me up a bit, it was nice to know that the iron beast had feelings…however dim and dark he claims them to be.
Whatever. So I had significantly more issues than other eighteen year olds. Meh, I'd manage to pick up the pieces of myself sooner or later.
My resolve to protect Lucy hadn't faltered in the slightest bit, which is perhaps why she was still mad at me. I had made little to no effort to re-strengthen our friendship – it made sense in my mind that leaving her alone was the best way to keep her safe, after all, I had a pretty damn good streak of fucking things up lately, may as well spare one person from my wake, am I right?
A piece of my hair fell over my eye and I blew it away. Figures.
My phone buzzed and I eagerly went to grab it, half-expecting to see a stupid picture from Sting or a suggestive snapchat (also from Sting) to lift my spirits up.
Instead, I was pleasantly horrified.
I made a gasping/choking sound that both my parents caught.
"Something wrong Juvia?" My dad asked, giving me a sideways glance from the kitchen.
"Yup! Yuppers – everything is cool!" I laughed, hysterically, bouncing my phone in my hand. It continued to buzz and I felt the urge to start sweating tenfold.
They looked at me like they were sorry they ever had kids – I didn't blame them, I was a bit of a temperamental freak – before I dashed upstairs to my bedroom and slammed the door shut. This was a business call.
My finger hovered over the answer call button. I knew that if I didn't hit it, it could result in serious consequences. But hitting it would also provide me with no doubt plenty of unwanted ridicule.
The things I do for my friends.
After hitting the Answer Call button, I held the phone up to my ear and put on my 'stoic face'.
"Hello?"
"Juvia! What a pleasant surprise!"
Jesus Christ, was she fucking serious?
"Why, were you expecting someone else to answer my phone?" I deadpanned thickly. She fake laughed.
"Now, now. Don't get sassy. I just wanted to congratulate you on finally quitting the team! It was for the best, you know…"
I aggressively gritted my teeth together. I so badly wanted to grind that bitch into the dirt.
"Listen, Evergreen, do you need something? I'm kind of busy." I lied. It was sad that I really didn't have anything better to do than get roasted by Evergreen.
"Mm, actually, yes. You left some of your stuff in your swim locker and coach wants you to come pick it up."
I cursed myself heavily. That's exactly what I needed – a walk of shame back to the swim team so I could prove exactly how pathetic I was in front of everyone. Nice use of salt Evergreen. Rubbing it into my wounds.
I bit the inside of my cheeks so hard I could taste the salty irony taste of blood. Yuck.
"Fine. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." I mumbled into the phone.
"Oops, better make it ten. The girls are starting to give your stuff away. Cute butterfly keychain, by the way! I think it would look nice on my purse…"
I almost growled at her like a rabid wolverine. That butterfly chain was one of my most prized possessions, how could I have been dumb enough to leave it there?
"Fine!" I heard my voice crack and immediately hated myself. This is exactly what she wanted, I just had to keep my cool, keep it cool Juvia, you'll be fine, you'll be ok…
I ended the call before she could say anything else snippy or horrible. I had some shit to pick up.
.
.
.
"Thanks," Gajeel said, taking Natsu's phone with vigor.
"Sure," Natsu mumbled. "What's this about? I want a full explanation, you owe me that much."
Gajeel sighed, loosening his grip on Natsu's phone a little bit.
"Look, I know you ain't exactly friends with Jubie right now. There's a reason for that, she's bein' stubborn as hell. I can't convince her to do anything different, so I just need to get into contact with the only person left who can." Gajeel informed, readjusting Natsu's phone and surfing through the contacts. "Where the hell is his name?"
"Who's name? Who are you trying to contact?" Natsu asked, peering around Gajeel's massive arm to look at the contacts as well.
"Fullbuster dammit." Gajel groaned, seeing as each contact name on Natsu's phone was unique and weird.
"Oh. That'd be under 'micro penis'." Natsu admitted. Gajeel gave him a weird look before scrolling upwards to find Gray's contact name.
"What does Gray have to do with this?" Natsu inquired as Gajeel put the phone on speaker.
"Natsu? What do you want?"
"It ain't Natsu." Gajeel replied.
"What? Who is this?"
"Just shut up and listen, I got a story to tell you." Gajeel barked somewhat demandingly.
"Is this gonna take long? I was gonna take a shower-"
"Sit down, shut up and listen." Gajeel rephrased. "This is important, so take notes."
"Whoa, we're gonna hear a story? Never pinned you as a storyteller Gajeel." Natsu said.
"Natsu? What the hell is Gajeel doing with your phone? What's this about?!"
"It's about Juvia, ok?" Gajeel said, annoyed. He surprised himself by using her real name, he had almost forgotten what it sounded like.
"…Juvia?" Gray repeated, like his interest had been piqued.
"Yeah, so are you going to listen, or not?" Gajeel asked him.
"…Yeah, I'll listen."
.
.
.
I got to the school in about nine minutes, cutting it extremely close on some yellow lights that were uniquely red. The school wasn't particularly empty, there were still sports practices going on for track and swimming, so I ran into a few sweaty dumbasses I barely recognized on my way down to the locker room. Not that I stopped to say hi, I was in too big of a hurry.
When I got to the locker room, my worst nightmare was fulfilled. Every single girl on the team was in there, taking showers and gossiping about how hot Ryan Reynolds was, or whatever. My walk of shame would be increased tenfold with all of their girly whispering.
I inhaled deeply and pushed the door open , eyes averted to the ground. Without looking up, I pushed my way to the final row of lockers where I had left all of my stuff. Normally, no one was in the back row of lockers and I hung out there alone, but a few weeks prior to me quitting, Kinana had moved her stuff to the final row to talk to me. She was too sugary for her own good, I felt a little bad about ditching her.
Surprisingly, Kinana was sitting on the wooden bench in between the lockers, waiting for me. She had my stuff cradled in her lap. I looked up to see that my lock had been cut.
"I think I got all of it," she said, handing me my bag wrapped in my varsity jacket. "But I'm not sure, they cut it before I could get to it…"
"Thank you," I said earnestly. It was too kind of her to protect my stuff from those bitches, I'd miss Kinana.
"I'm sorry you quit," she apologized sadly. I made a guilty face and shook my head.
"It's fine, it was my choice." I laughed it off with a fake smile, I was sure she'd fall for it, everybody else had.
"Was it?" She asked, and before I could ask her what she meant, we were interrupted by some unwanted guests.
"Juvia! I'm so glad you could make it…" Evergreen celebrated, clapping her hands together. Her three bimbettes laughed along with her like she'd just told the joke of the century.
"I was just leaving," I cut sharply. I threw one last look of gratitude towards Kinana before I started on my way out.
"Ah…not so fast…" Evergreen protested, sticking her toned arm out to block my passage.
I let out an audible groan. What did she want now? What could she possibly gain from me at my lowest point?
"The girls and I were going to head out for a little tradition of ours, a varsity tradition." Evergreen began, like she was a villain who was about to go off on an un-welcomed monologue.
"Good thing I'm not on varsity then." I concluded. She blocked my exit again and faked a giggle.
"Aw, but you were on varsity. And it's a tradition! Before you leave, you just have to go through a little…initiation…" Evergreen annunciated the last word so it sounded a lot more like 'execution'.
My stomach turned. Sounded a lot like hazing to me, why would she need to haze me after I was already gone?
"No thanks," I rejected sourly. She made a grumpy face and sighed.
"Oh well, I think you should still go, you could consider it part of our deal, if you'd like?" Her tone turned devious and I swallowed down all the swear words I wanted to hurl at her.
"I-"
"Plus," Evergreen added before I could input anything, "maybe you could win this cool charm if you come with us, you never know…"
My eyes widened as Evergreen presented a silver butterfly charm entangled between her long fingers. I looked down at my bag, sure enough, it was gone.
Fuck. Just…fuckity fuck fuck fuck.
"Evergreen, come on, don't do this…" Kinana protested from behind me. As much as I didn't want her involved, I appreciated her support.
"Nobody asked you." Evergreen threw back snarkily. "Come on Juvia, join us! It'll be fun!"
Despite every cell, every fiber inside me screaming don't do it, my longing for closure between me and Evergreen won out in the end.
"…Fine. I'll go with you."
"Juvia…are you sure?" Kinana asked, grabbing my shoulder in concern.
"Yeah, I guess." I said as Evergreen went back with her cronies to grab her stuff. "Tell Gray I love him."
Whoops. Did I say that out loud?
I felt my face brighten like a cherry tomato as Kinana's face scrunched up together.
"Gray…?"
"Nevermind, bye Kinana! See you later!" I screeched, wheeling around and racing for the locker room exit, where Evergreen was waiting to take me to haze central.
Oh well. It's not like anything that bad can happen…right?
.
.
.
Evergreen had all but tossed me in her car, along with tweedle dipstick and crew. They giggled and gossiped about something I blatantly didn't care about, and I just stared at the window, remembering landmarks in case I had to run back by myself. I had no idea where we were headed, Evergreen refused to tell me, stating in a playful voice that it was a 'surprise' and I'd just have to wait until we got there.
"What are you staring at?" One of the girls snarled, looking at me like I had done something vulgar like grabbing her boob.
"The window?" I offered with a confused face, because that was literally all I was looking at.
"Sure," she spoke, covering her chest with her hands. Jesus almighty fuck, really? I had my own boobs to look at, I don't need to look at anybody else's. Mine were sufficient.
Some girl giggled and I went back to tuning them out. The settings outside began to get less and less familiar, and as the sun began going down, so did my hope for survival
What if they're going to murder me, what if they want to dispose my body in the woods and-
I told my brain to shut up, it wasn't doing me any particular good. We turned down a more beaten down road and I felt a sense of dread settle in the depths of my stomach.
Oh my god, my breath caught as an idea dawned upon me. I know where we're going.
My hand gripped the seat handle so hard I heard a knuckle pop. Fuck, fuck, fuck, no, any place but this…
My breath came in labored, shallow rasps as I felt panic set in.
"What's the matter Juvia?" One of the girls asked slyly. "You look a little pale."
"F-fine." I stammered, barely able to hiccup out another, more intelligent word. I needed a paper bag, even plastic would work, hell, I just needed to breath, in, and then out…
I knew exactly where we were headed. I recognized the drive from back when I was a kid, we used to drive down here, my mom, my dad, and me. Back when it was just us and no one else. That was back then…
I inhaled shakily, my pathetic self-reassurance wasn't going to cut it this time.
"Uh…we're not going to the beach, are we?" I asked, keeping my voice down so they couldn't hear how badly choked up I was.
"Such a good guesser, Juvia." Evergreen said wryly.
Oh no.
No, no, no, no.
"I have to go." I said thickly, swallowing the rock in my throat.
"Sorry, can't stop now." One of the girls giggled.
"No, really. I have to go home." I spoke urgently, pulling at the driver's eat. "Take me home."
"No can do," Evergreen laughed along with her friends and I felt like throwing up. That'd show them for sure. Unfortunately I hadn't eaten anything sufficient today, so I was running on empty.
"Evergreen, please," I begged, not even caring that it was Evergreen I was pleading with.
"What's the matter Juvia? You don't want to go for a swim?" She asked, and at that moment I caught her gaze in the rearview mirror.
How did she know.
How the hell could she have known?
She winked at my horrified expression in the mirror and went back to driving.
Well, if I had any puke it'd be on the girls in front of me at this point.
"Let me out of the car," I requested, pulling at the locked door.
"Are you crazy? Sit your ass down, Lady Bird." One of the girls snapped, swatting my hand away. I was tempted to respond with 'yes, I am crazy', but I was too frazzled to work on speaking. Escape was all that mattered.
"I have to get out of here, I have to go home." I repeated, like some sort of sick Batman villain. The girls looked creeped out, so naturally, they did the asshole thing to do and covered the doors with their bodies.
I squeezed my eyes shut and sat back, halfway accepting defeat (and death) with wide open arms.
It had been exactly eleven years since I had last gone to this beach, and you'd think that right about now I'd be swelling with nostalgia, but on the contrary I was swelling with fear (and maybe throw up).
I'm sure I've mentioned along the way that I hate swimming, real swimming anyways. Real water is the most terrifying thing on this earth. It's unpredictable, it's deep, it's dark, it's cold – and it swallows you whole before you can determine where the air is.
Pools aren't real water, that's fake. Water you can see through and touch and smell the chlorine isn't anything like real water. Real water's only goal is to pull you down, down to the very bottom where you won't know which way is up.
I learned all of this last time I was here, and I haven't been swimming in real water since.
I suppose the best way I could explain my fear of drowning was like this. I was a control freak, I liked to be holding the reigns and have a good idea of where my life was going. As long as I knew what was going to happen next, and I could control the outcome, I'd be fine.
Drowning was, quite literally, my worst nightmare. Not only was it the epitome of losing control, but it was the feeling of being lost, trapped, alone, and cold all at the same fucking time while you were literally dying. It was the scariest thing I'd ever experienced and if I ever had to experience it again I knew I'd probably die - either from drowning, or the fear.
Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe that was the stupidest fear that me, as a swimmer, could ever have, but god dammit it was my fear, and there was no way I was going to face it now, against my will.
Last time I went to the beach I almost drowned. I fell off the fishing dock when my dad went to go grab a pole and the weight of my clothes dragged me down and the seaweed grabbed onto my legs and begged me to join it and I couldn't tell which way was up and it was so paralyzing, if I focused on the details of the memory too long, it would come to life and swallow me whole again. Nothing stirred more panic in your body than realizing you didn't have enough air and if you didn't get any soon, you were going to die.
I don't know what would have happened if my dad hadn't jumped in after me and saved me that day. Maybe I would've been fine. Maybe I would've died.
The one thing I did know – is I'd be damned to the gates of hell itself before I stepped foot in that godforsaken ocean once more.
I looked down at my stuff from swimming, still sitting in my lap dutifully, and cursed myself for not bringing my phone in.
Ok, ok…calm down Juvia…they can't force you to get out of the car…just glue your ass to the seat and you'll be a-ok…
"We're here!"
I tore my gaze from my bag to the window. It was dark enough now that the moon was the best source of lighting, gleaming down on the sharp waves like a scene from a James Cameron movie. I didn't recognize this part of the beach, there were several pointy rocks out past the surf, and the tide was sort of high. There was barely any sand, it was a drop off zone. The worst kind of zone, in my opinion.
The car doors opened and the giggling girls poured out like kool-aid. I stayed put, rigidly clamping my feet and hands to the car. I wasn't going anywhere without a fight.
"Aren't you coming Juvia?" Evergreen asked, dangling my stupid butterfly charm in her hands while peering through the car door to examine me.
"No." I said sternly. That charm meant a lot to me, but I valued my sanity even more.
"Why not?"
"Take me home."
"Aw, don't be like that…" Evergreen pulled my arm testily. She was strong, but I was clearly stronger, and my steely glare seemed to be putting her on edge.
She made a sighing sound and twirled around to the drop off zone, skipping over to the drop off, and held her hand out elegantly.
I realized what she was threatening a second after she dropped the chain into the ocean below, crashing waves swallowing the trinket whole.
"-bitch-" I heard myself curse, jumping out of the car, still balancing the crap from my swimming locker under my arm. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
She made a tiny shrug. "It slipped."
Half of me wanted to argue with her and rip her hair off of her scalp, the other half just wanted to sit on the ground and cry like the lost eleven year old I was. The butterfly keychain had been a present from my mom after I 'graduated' from kindergarten. It was a stupid little knick-knack that I loved. And now it was gone forever, washed away into the abyss.
"Well, now that you're out, you can do the challenge," one of the girls behind Evergreen plotted. Then I realized they had locked the car doors. I was trapped outside.
"No, forget it. I'm not doing your stupid challenges – I'm leaving." I choked out coldly. I turned around and started making my way down the rough dirt road. I was so far done with Evergreen's shit.
"I wouldn't act so haughty Juvia, it's really not like you have that much of a choice." Evergreen snarled, reminding me of everything she had on me. Or at least on Lucy.
I made a sick moaning sound in the back of my throat that I really hope none of them heard.
I'm Juvia. I'm strong, I'm not going to let these dumb bitches break me.
I turned around with a sharp sneer that could cut steel.
"What do you want from me, Evergreen? I don't have anything left for you to take!" I yelled. The other girls looked mildly confused, I didn't blame them, Evergreen was smarter than them. They were there for the strict purpose of quantity.
She gave me a pointed smirk that made my insides curl.
Your dignity, it screamed, that was all that was left, anyways. She was going to take my pride.
Whatever. She had placed a lot of faith in the fact that I had lots of it, when the truth was my self esteem was probably below sea level. Pun not intended.
"Want to play our game, Juvia? You have to, since you quit early, this is your punishment." Evergreen started. I let out a shuddering breath as the smell of the ocean hit me like a speeding ice cream truck, it brought back memories of being trapped underneath it.
"And this is it, right?" I asked, sounding a lot more meek than normal Juvia sounded. This wasn't me, I didn't fold to expectations. "This is it, then you'll delete it?"
"Of course." She spoke fluidly, looking at me with those stupid sharp eyes of hers. I wanted to believe her, I wished with all my heart that I could believe her, but I didn't. Not at all. This was never going to end, was it? I should've listened to Gajeel, I should've told Lucy, she's a good friend, she would've understood.
I'm so fucking stubborn. And now I'm going to pay for it.
"Now," Evergreen mused, tapping her perfect, pointed nails against her chin. "What should we have her do first?"
"She should take off her clothes," the same girl who for some reason thought I was checking her out suggested.
"What is this, fucking Cinderella?" I asked bitterly. They weren't actually going to make me do that, that was like…harassment. I was fairly sure Evergreen wouldn't go that far.
"No," Evergreen said, voice lilting a few octaves higher than usual. "I think that's a great idea."
Everyone went silent, including me.
"That's boring. Let's make her jump off." A faceless girl exclaimed giddily.
Well…I'd much rather strip than do that.
"No," I said shakily, my knees anxiously buckled and I tried to steady myself without looking like I was seconds from passing out.
"Come on Juvia, you're our champion swimmer, after all, don't you wanna take a dip?" Evergreen asked, with that same, sick smile. It was almost like she could read my every thought. What fear of mine did she not know about?
"N-no…" I stuttered, robotically wheeling myself backwards. I had to get out of there – I was too close to the ocean, too close, too close-
"Come back," a girl grabbed my arm and I felt someone else grab my other arm.
No way. This was barbaric. Were they really going to drag me there? What the fuck could they possibly gain from that?
I pulled my limbs away frantically, but there were enough of them to hold me forward, and slowly, like syrup dripping off a fork, they pulled my towards the drop off zone.
"Stop," I heard myself beg, only it didn't sound like me. It didn't sound like Juvia Lockser, it sounded like some hysterical fifteen year old girl who had just been rejected by the captain of the football team. "Please, Evergreen-"
"But Juvia, you're the star swimmer," Evergreen said venomously.
Then it hit me, how truly jealous of me she was.
I wondered if someone at home was waiting for her, I wonder if someone pressured her to be the best, to win constantly, by any means necessary.
And to her, this was winning.
How warped was that? I felt pity wash over me like the tide I so despised. Fucking Evergreen was making me feel bad for her, seconds before she was about to commit the most heinous crime anyone could ever commit against me.
My foot scraped the edge of the dropoff and I felt my eyes widen painfully, to take in the scenery ten feet below me. The ocean, it was so damn close, I could taste it, I could taste the salt and smell the seaweed.
"Happy landing," I heard someone whisper, and with one last ditch effort to save myself, I pushed backwards, knocking a few girls to the side and saving myself a few extra seconds of time.
"What the fuck is that?"
Everyone's head swiveled backwards to see two bright, illuminating lights approaching from the dirt road, about a hundred feet back. My eyes barely focused on the light from my spot on the ground, my toes hugging the edge of the dropoff. A girl reached down and yanked me upwards until I was standing.
Oh my god. This was it. This is what it felt like to experience true happiness. I was saved – someone was coming – I could escape-
Evergreen and the other girls stopped trying to hold me in place. I began gulping air like a stupid goldfish and I stepped farther back, securing my place in the world as a dry, oceanless girl.
"Who the fuck did you guys tell?" Evergreen barked, looking at her meager friends. She had the face of a dog about to sniff out a barrel of coke.
"I didn't tell anyone!" One girl piped up, and a few of the other girls voiced their agreement. My eyes were fixed on the bewitching headlights, drawing ever closer.
With my luck, it would end up being someone else who wanted to see me burn, like Cobra, and I'd end up a dead body floating in the ocean anyways.
The car was only ten feet away. Most of the girls, out of curiosity, had released me, but I was too paralyzed to run away.
That car looked too familiar.
"Evergreen," one of the girls beside me whispered. "Is that…"
The car pulled to a screeching halt in front of Evergreen's car, and the driver's door swung open.
Oh…fuck.
The driver stormed out, reminding me of something straight out of a Matrix movie. No one moved. No one breathed.
I mean, I was screaming at the top of my lungs on the inside, but that didn't really count for anything, did it?
Evergreen stepped forward.
"Gray," she annunciated, hand poised on her waist like she was ready to kill. "What are you doing here?"
He lifted his head up so the hood of his sweatshirt fell to his shoulders. I almost peed myself right then and there because it looked so fucking hot, but whatever. His eyes were stormy and dark, I could see them practically glowing in the light of the stars.
"Get the fuck out of my way."
Everyone sucked in a breath, including me. He sounded so completely dark and menacing. I wanted to kiss his dumb evil face.
"What?" Evergreen asked, offended that he could ever use a tone like that on her.
"I said," he began, and just that half of a sentence made me brace myself for impact. "Get the fuck out of my way."
I ushered in a shaky breath. Evergreen didn't move, not to defy Gray, but just because he was acting so…strange. How the fuck did he even know we were here? Why was this even happening?
Hearing Gray say fuck also kinda turned me on, but horny Juvia was a nuisance and needed to be stopped immediately.
"W-what are you doing here?" Evergreen repeated with a small foot stamp. Huh. So even the mighty Evergreen trembled before evil!Gray.
I was sure trembling. But in a different way. Wink wink.
Jesus Christ, maybe I should throw myself into the ocean.
"Evergreen, give me your phone."
The request was so off-handed I felt myself blink in confusion.
"Why-"
"Give me your phone."
His demand was harsh and raspy, I felt my fingers twitch anxiously. Where was this Gray even coming from? What were his motives?
And a teeny-tiny part of my brain, who was killed immediately after suggestion, wondered if he had actually come here for me.
Evergreen nervously handed him her phone.
He reached out, grabbed it, and threw it into the fucking ocean. It was a pretty long shot, too.
And…I didn't think it was possible for one person to be so fucking sexy. Damn you Gray Fullbuster. I will get my fucking revenge on you.
"What the fuck did you do that for?!" Evergreen shrieked, grabbing her face in anguish. She stared out over the edge of the drop off, like she'd somehow be able to recover her phone, which was probably mingling somewhere out there with my butterfly charm.
Ha-ha. Revenge is so sweet.
The girls around me started whispering uncomfortably. I would too, if any of them were even remotely my friends and not trying to push me off a small cliff to my doom.
"Let me tell you one thing," Gray started, raising his finger up at her and glaring like she was the woman who murdered his parents. "If you ever, bring that fucking picture up, ever again, I'll fucking know. If you ever, threaten Juvia again, by any means, I'll fucking know. And if you ever cross me again –" he cut himself off just to glare at her more poisonously.
He didn't even have to finish the sentence. We all got the message, fucking loud and clear.
Wait a second…how the fuck did he know about the goddamn picture?!
"That's my fucking phone, you dipshit!" Evergreen screamed again.
"Well why don't you tell your parents why I did it then. Go ahead. Explain to them how you got that damn picture, and then we'll see who's talking." Gray threatened.
Whoa. He was really firing rounds, straight into Evergreen's smug little face. I might just have to fuck him after this. It'd be the only real way to repay him.
Seriously. I think I might love Gray Fullbuster a little bit a lot.
"Delete that fucking picture off of everything you have. Natsu Dragneel's dad is a fucking cop, and I won't even hesitate to tell him and you'll be a sex offender at age eighteen." Gray added, just for extra kablam.
I felt like calling his bluff, I really did. That was the problem, I would've gone to the cops long ago if it were that simple. The truth is, if I turned in the photo to the police, Lucy would be a sex offender too. She was the one who distributed the pictures. But it was still a good lie, and she might actually fall for it.
"You…" Evergreen trailed off. "Why? Why are you doing this…is it for her?" She pointed to me and I held up my hands defensively. Gray's eyes barely even skimmed me and I couldn't help but be a little bit offended.
"You fucking blackmailed her with a picture of her friend – who the fuck does that?" Gray asked rhetorically.
Ok, who the fuck told him all this shit? The only people that knew about this whole ordeal was me, Evergreen and…
Gajeel.
That fucking cock goblin! I was going to kill him when I got out of this, stupid fucking hell's angel!
"You don't know anything," Evergreen growled. Right, because she was totally justified to do this to me, boo! Go home bitch, you lost. Team Fullbuster takes the win this round. Boy was I glad I was on his team.
"Get out of my way." Gray said again, and this time, Evergreen stepped to the side.
My eyes widened until they probably looked like big, navy blue dinner plates.
"Juvia," he said, finally meeting my gaze and holding his hand out. "Let's go."
Fuck yes. I'll go with you anywhere Gray.
I pushed past some random girl, accidentally slapping her in the face, I could really care less, and walked towards Gray.
"Is that your stuff," he asked, pointing to a small pile of fabric on the sand by Evergreen's car.
"O-oh yeah," I muttered, slightly embarrassed. Dammit Juvia! Be fucking cool for once in your dumbass life!
He walked over to the car and threw open the door for me, in a sorta-chivalrous-sorta-angry way that made me rethink if he was here for me or not.
Oh shit. Was he mad at me for not telling him about this whole…mess? Fuck. He totally was, wasn't he?
I got in the car, sneaking one last look at the silent Evergreen and co.
They didn't look back. I didn't blame them. Gray had just dragged them through the sand, eyes and mouths open to accept their grainy fate.
Gray got into the driver's seat and didn't hesitate before starting the car up and driving away.
I felt like there was a desert in my throat. I couldn't say anything, couldn't offer him any thanks or compliments on how badass he was during that confrontation. Just silent, pathetic, buggy-eyed Juvia still reeling from being that close to the ocean.
"How did you know?" I finally spoke. The trees flew by, he seemed to be speeding. Oh well. No one was at the beach at this hour.
"About what?" He asked, voice low and emotionless.
Shit. I kind of wanted happy, nice Gray back. Evil Gray was cool enough, but I wanted him to comfort me or something.
"…Where we were." I decided on dealing with the Gajeel part of the day secondly.
"Kinana."
Kinana? My mind reeled. Why would Kinana have called…
"Tell Gray I love him." That's what I had told Kinana before I left. Fuck. I hope she didn't say anything too incriminating…and then she must've overheard some of the other girls talking about the beach…hmmm…
"You know Kinana?" I heard myself ask. That was rather…convenient.
"Yeah. She's dating Cobra."
That was the point where if I'd had any coffee, I would've spit it all over Gray's windshield.
"The fuck?" I squawked, like someone had put rat poison in my tea. "Not Kinana! Not sweet, perfect Kinana! I thought she was dating a guy named Erik!?"
"Cobra is Erik."
"Oh…oh…but…why? She could do…so much better…"
Gray laughed a little bit at my exaggeration. Good, good, he's returning to the light side of the force.
"So…" I said conversationally, looking at him with my lips puckered weirdly, a habit of mine when I was thinking too hard. 'You…know…about the whole…thingy?"
"Thingy?" He scoffed, in a laughing way. "That's a funny way of putting it."
"Well, what else do you want me to call it? Blackmail Royale?" I asked sharply.
"That would be pretty cool." He admitted, leisurely turning a corner.
"Um, but…y'know, thanks. For covering my ass back there." Well, that's an eloquent way of putting that, you goddamn idiot.
"Come on, what are friends for?" He asked, and I felt a knife sink through my heart.
"Right." I wheezed.
"But…you sure had a lot going on over there. It's almost like you had a secret second life, or something." He joked.
"Maybe," I hinted, kind of wishing I did have a second life to return to once this was all over.
"I'm sorry."
My head swiveled to look at him, my eyes were probably crossed in a real attractive way and I said something like 'whahahah'?
"You had to go through a lot of shit, I had no idea. And I…I forced you to help me with college." He laughed bitterly, like this whole problem was his fault.
He is so precious and small…I'm gonna cry…for real…
"No…oh my god, Gray, you did not force me to do shit." I choked out through tears/laughter (?).
"Huh. You're awfully weird, Juvia." He said. I stopped my cry/laughing to look at him oddly.
"How so?"
"Jesus, do you even need to ask? You were balancing swimming, blackmail, me, your friends, and school all on your hand at once. Most seniors are more worried about college acceptance than all that." He explained fruitfully.
"I guess…" I mumbled, clicking my nails against the window of his car. "So…I take it Gajeel told you everything?"
"Yeah. I didn't realize you guys were…close, or anything." He muttered the last part like he was slightly embarrassed.
"God. Gajeel's been my friend since freshmen year, he's like my brother." I rambled. "I'm gonna beat his ass when I see him again, spilling my secrets…"
"Hm. Natsu wants to apologize to you, I think. And then he wants a crack at Evergreen." Gray informed me with an affectionate smile.
"Natsu knows too? God, did Gajeel broadcast this to the entire school, or something?" I asked dryly.
"Nope. Just us. Natsu was really on board with helping you, though. He wants Evergreen's ass arrested." Gray mentioned.
I felt my face pale. "Christ, he didn't tell his dad, did he? Lucy'll go to jail too! He can't-"
"It's fine. Natsu's dad already told us, but he said he'd keep an eye out if the picture resurfaces." Gray said. Oh god. So that Igneel guy was on our side – I had almost forgotten about the night he pulled me over.
"Wow. Thank you so much – I mean, it's like we've got this bitch wrapped up into a neat 'lil package." I complimented, genuinely happy for the first time in weeks. I could talk to Lucy now. Since Natsu wasn't mad at me, I had no new reason to keep him away from Lucy.
Everything might actually turn out ok.
The only plotpoint that hasn't been resolved….was…
I looked over at Gray for a second. His eyes were focused on the road, and his hair was covering the side of his face. He looked so serene, like the reflection in a pond. If I touched him, he'd disappear. He was the literal definition of 'too perfect, too pure for this world'.
I had no chance with him. Never. Not in a million years.
I jerked my eyes back down to my lap. I noticed the missing spot where my butterfly chain had hung and grew sad again.
R.I.P butterfly charm, you were adorable and I will miss you. And I will avenge your death by switching out Evergreen's tampons with cheese sticks.
I was so irrevocably grateful to Gray I wanted to thank him again. If he wouldn't have come in, like my knight in a navy blue hoodie, I probably would be sleeping with the fishes right now.
Get it? Because I'd totally drown.
Let's just pretend that was funny.
"Hey," I began, going against my intuition and thanking him anyway. "Seriously, I was really scared back there. I owe you big time."
"Ooh, a rare Juvia favor? What shall I do with this?" He mocked, before his face became serious again. "You? Scared? I doubt it."
My smile tightened. My fear of drowning was so real it was almost disappointing he didn't see it too. I just needed…control.
And Gray made me lose control.
Fuck you Gray, I thought as he happily turned the corner into my neighborhood.
I hated him because he made me scared. He made me lose control and I hated it so much I just wanted to kiss him until he was sick of me.
"Well," I reasoned though a thin smile. "we all get scared, don't we?"
He looked at me with one of his weird, half smiles that made my insides turn to liquid and my eyes blink rapidly from his radiant gorgeousness.
"I guess you're right," he shrugged.
I wanted him to leave a shoe print on my face.
"Thanks for the ride home…" I thanked him awkwardly, staring at my shoes to avoid melting from him.
"You're welcome, Juvia." He replied, smiling. "I've got your back."
It's extremely sad that I wanted to respond with 'I've got your ass', grab his butt, and run.
So instead, I smiled like the heavens had just decided to make it rain chocolate syrup.
"Thanks, Gray."
"Now get out, before Lyon notices I stole his truck."
"Tch. Rude."
After I hopped out of the car and shut the door, Gray rolled down his window so I could hear him say one last thing.
Please say I love you, please say I love you, please-
"Don't forget, you owe me a favor!" He sang, like the five-year-old know it all that he was.
"Really?" I called back as he pulled out of the driveway, probably laughing his hardest.
Well, fuck him. Seriously, someone's gotta do it. Preferably me.
I turned back to look at my house, like a thousand pounds had been lifted off of my shoulders.
It felt good to be free.
I blinked a few times to discover I was crying. Fuck you Gray, you salty bastard. Only you could reduce me to tears at my driveway.
I really couldn't thank him enough. And I really hope the favor he asks me is sexual. No regrets.
I looked down at my watch. 11:30.
A thought sprung to my head. A brilliant, wonderful thought that made happiness squirt out of my ears like a fire hose.
"I'm gonna call Lucy."
.
.
.
yes…this chapter was shorter…only seven thousand words…darn
this chapter was a little low on humor (ill make u for it next chapter, i promise) but i had to get rid of this side plot somehow, so why not use sexy!Gray?
a few announcements for people who are too afraid to see my tumblr
1. only four chapters (probably) left! exciting!
2. im planning on having the second to last chapter (by popular demand) in gray's pov, which i'm excited for!
3. i've been a bit conflicted bc of have two endings planned for this, and I'm still unsure of which one to pick. For now we'll call them 'realistic ending' and 'fluffy ending'. I'm good for either, but rn im leaning towards fluff…
okk, now to review responses!
Raphiix3: thank uuu raph ilyy
Smu: HAHAAAA STUVIA TRASH u have been officially recruited
Kiri: gajeel wins at lyfe
FairyTailF.T: yesssss omg more stuvia recruits :') im so happy welcome aboard ily
GuestsDontTwerkTheyRead: THANK YOUUU I HOPE U LIKED THE CHAPTER :3
Little Miss Z: ive recruited even more ppl for stuvia dfvgbhnj WHOA I WANT BROTP PICS BRING MY CRACKINESS TO LYYYFE and oooo tumblr friend :D
nattersfluff: hahaha thank you so much! I reeallly hope u liked this chapter uwu
Anani00: haha thak you for your long review! prom issues are next chapter :3
NeverInUrWildestDreams: I still hum the song 'best song ever' whenever I read ur penname ;_;
AsDarknessSpreads: raisins taste like dirt it is a literal scientific fact. *places a ring on ur finger* YOURE TRAPPED NOW. omf idek is gray even scored. lets go with yes bc this is fanfiction.
laefa: thank you! sorry for the late update bby ;-;
Guest: wow drag me omg the batman au ill try my best b
stinghotdork: NIIICE PENNAME THIS WHOLE REVIEW WAS GOLD I CRIED THANK YOU AND ILY2 !
hotrodren: I have officially recruited everyone aboard the u.s.s. sting/juvia crack brotp THANKS ILY MOM
Guest: THANK YOU STUVIA TRASH
Leaffeather: haha canon gay sting is bae and thank you! hope u liked the chap!
endingsarenotalwaysbad: YOUR REVIEWS ARE THE GREATEST WTF STEP ON MY FACE I FXCKING CRIED RIP ME THANK YOUUUU (I hope this chapter doesn't scare u away bc ugh) BUT ILYSM ! (fanfic dot net doesn't let me use the lil sideways carrot icon to make a heart so 3 3 3) (those are hearts) (omfg)
Kiri: im gonna answer like seven reviews in one so *cracks knuckles* BLUE MOON DAAYYYY I cant believe I didn't get to see it ;-; there was a tree in front of my wondow and I even ran outside to see it but there were too mNAY FUCKING TREES RYTYU omf I kinda wish u had a tumblr bc I WANT TO TALK TO YOU THROUGH SOMETHING BESIDES REVIEWS *cries onto the floor* also YOU ARE TWELEVE THAT IS SO CUUUTTEEEE and WOW THAT IS ONE ANGSTY STORY YOU ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO HAVE TO SHOW ME SOMETIME
electrodes: THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE SO NICE ILYSM I HOPE U LIKE THIS LAME CHAPTER BYE
LateNightShips:sorry for updating earlier than that (IS THAT YOUR BIRTHDAY IF SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY *chucks a birthday cake at u*) or just for 9/11? ww ok anyways ily
Reviewer: haha u must have been poisoned by deysi momocicerone but thank you anyways!
Michi41: thank you so much omg :')
Kiri: again...gonna shove a bunch of responses into one LETS GO ooo yeah you probably will end up being the 200th reviewer (ily btw) I have review moderations on so that's why it takes a little bit for your reviews to pass through ! AHAHAHA no its not rude like at all I haven't updated the archive post in like a solid month so ? its pretty behind ALSO MY FAMILY THINKS YOUR ADORABLE you should go talk to thegreatgrapist bc she wants to meet you and wendy watching-the-lovely-rain-fall bc she thirsty and KATE muffindragin227 they all love u trust me BUT YEAH AMENAH IS GOLD YOU ARE A CINNAMON ROLL AND A PRECIOUS CHILD BBY WE MUST PROTECT YOU! ps I threatened cheska so if shes weird to you just tell me and I will beat her up. ahaha yeah deysi is worried that youre too young to be reading our shit but ? meh at twelve I was a Satanist so I think youre good...haha yeah act my age has a lot of reviews I was rlly surprised. that weird that u noticed that! I guess I don't rlly pay attention bc I generally gauge fic popularity by follows, idek why! ILYYY
lmfao imma go hide for a while so I can forget the low quality of this hap ;-; bye gys ily