Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!

So yes, I am aware that this story is a little bit weird because of the pairing, but I don't care, and neither do the few of you that have actually reviewed! I never really knew that there were a few people out there who ship Gajeel x Juvia and not just as a brOTP! (bromance I guess) But yeah, I'm really glad that you guys are enjoying it, so this story is for you!

I don't own Fairy Tail or any characters! I apologize for my poor grammar and spelling!

ENJOY!

Cinderella's best friend

Chapter two

Even though she had always been the first to wake up, after so many years, she had never gotten used to waking up so early, meaning that she clearly wasn't a morning person even till this day. She's always been forced to wake up early and start making breakfast, cleaning the rest of the house and whatever. She was tired every single day from going to bed late, waking up early and the whole day's work. She just wanted a lie in for at least once! She was making breakfast for Wendy and her mother when she thought about Lucy.

She smiled to herself when she thought of her friend. She was happy that she had finally gotten her wish of being able to leave her stepmother's house. She was glad that at least one of them had been able to do so. She heard someone running down the stairs and she turned around with a plate of breakfast for her younger sister. The girl beamed at her, already squeaky and clean.

"Good morning Juvia-nee!" She hugged her sister and Juvia hugged her back before setting her breakfast on the table. "Good morning Wendy-chan. So what has mother got lined up for Wendy-chan today then?" Wendy sighed and filled her mouth with food before swallowing it.

"I have to go to my ballet lesson today. At least I'll see Chelia today!" Juvia nodded her head while washing up the pots and pans.

"Juvia-nee? Why does mother treat you that way?" Juvia sighed, knowing full well that one day she was going to ask the question soon enough. She looked at the clock and saw that her mother would only be waking up in about 2 hours' time. She turned around, setting her own plate on the table to sit with her sister.

"Mother blames Juvia for the death of Papa." Wendy's eyebrows knitted together. Their father had died when she was only six, which was seven years ago. She had never been told of why or how he had died. Juvia sighed again. "That winter, it was a very harsh winter and mother had specifically told Juvia not to go outside. Juvia didn't listen and Juvia got lost. Father was doing his best to look for Juvia, but Juvia found her way home and came back without father. Juvia didn't know that father was still out there, looking for Juvia when Juvia already came home.

"Mother beat Juvia that night for going out when she was told not to. She sent Juvia to the naughty room which is now Juvia's bedroom. When father finally came back, he was terribly ill. Father died of pneumonia. All because of Juvia." Tears spilled out of her eyes and Wendy rubbed her sister's arms in form of comfort.

"That is the worst excuse ever! Mother shouldn't treat you like that! Mother is seriously wrong in that aspect!" Juvia smiled a little bit before eating the rest of her food.

"It's fine Wendy-chan. Anyway, does Wendy-chan need Juvia to tidy her room?" Wendy frowned and shook her head.

"No, no. It's fine. My room is tidy; I can clean my room by myself." There was a knock at the door and Wendy's face lit up. "They're early!"

Wendy ran up to the door and when she opened it, Meredy stood there with Chelia. Ultear nodded her head. "I've come to take you now, Wendy. Ready to go?" Wendy nodded her head and Juvia came out to Ultear. "Hey Juvia, saw you didn't go to the wedding yesterday." Juvia smiled and nodded her head.

"Juvia was busy." Ultear nodded slowly, and Wendy came out with her stuff.

"Bye Juvia-nee, I'll see you later!" Juvia waved to the three girls and to Ultear. She sighed before she caught sight of something white and walked towards it.

"How is Carla this morning?" The cat mewed softly and Juvia set down some fish and water for her to eat and drink while she stroked it. She suddenly heard some movement upstairs and sighed at the cat.

"Mother is awake two hours early." It was almost as though Carla was giving her a piteous look and she smiled at her. "It's fine. Juvia just needs to make her breakfast, run some errands and stay out of mother's way." She started making more food for the woman upstairs.

Finally when she had finished, there was another knock at the door. She was about to walk out and answer it when she heard her mother at the door. "Oh, Princess! What can I do for you this morning?!" Juvia smiled and waited for her name to be called. "Juvia! Come out here and present yourself in front of the Princess!" She came out of the kitchen and bowed down.

"Good morning Princess Lucy. Is there anything Juvia can get for you?" Lucy smiled and shook her head.

"No it's fine, I just want to talk to you. Can we go to your room please?" Juvia nodded and just as she was about to take her down to the cellar, her mum hissed.

"You don't take the Princess to that filthy room! Take her to your room." Juvia knew what she meant. She wanted her to take her to her old room, a room she hadn't stepped foot in in over seven years.

Juvia nodded as her mother faked a smile to her. Juvia walked upstairs and Lucy followed her into her room. "I saw that you didn't come to the wedding yesterday...I'm going to guess that the carriage that Natsu and I had sent for you only picked up your mother and Wendy and then your mother told you you couldn't come." Juvia burst into tears as she nodded and Lucy hugged her. "Oh Juvia! I'm sure that one day you'll get out of here!"

Juvia sighed as she wiped her tears. "But Lucy-chan, Juvia is 21! Juvia wants to leave, but her mother won't let her, yet her mother hates her! Juvia doesn't understand why she's doing this!" Lucy sighed before thinking of something.

"How about you work for me then? Obviously you won't be working, but you'll have the privilege of living in the palace with me. But Natsu and I are going on our honeymoon later on today, so you won't live with us for another while." Juvia's eyes widened.

"Then what is Lucy-chan doing here? Lucy-chan should be packing her things and going! Juvia will be fine, thank you." They both started walking out of the room and down the stairs to where they saw Juvia's mother eating her breakfast. She stood up and bowed to Lucy.

"My highness, I hope that the stay here was fine. I'm sorry we didn't offer you anything." Lucy gave her a soft smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"That's fine Mrs Lockser. After all, I already ate at home." There was a glint in her eyes and her tone had turned. Juvia's mother almost wilted but stood strong.

"Okay then Princess."

Juvia saw her friend to the door. "I know the stay was brief, but as I said, I have my honeymoon and also, Natsu's cousins are leaving. One of them is the going to be the King to our neighbouring country. Same age as Natsu and if you see the arguments they have, gosh it's like warriors fighting!" Juvia laughed as they both hugged one another. "Bye Ju-chan!"

"Bye Lu-chan!"

Juvia watched as her friend made her way to the carriage and watched it go down the road. Her mother coughed behind her. Juvia turned around and bowed to her mother. "Good morning ma'am. Any errands for Juvia today?" The woman glared at her daughter and nodded.

"Yes, I need you to do the washing; I have a cocktail party tonight." Juvia nodded and made her way up the stairs again to bring down her dirty washing. She started pouring water into a huge bucket and added in some soap. She sighed while soaking all of the clothes.

As she held the huge bucket in her arms, there was another knock at the door as she walked down the stairs. Her mother was at the door once more, but not without giving Juvia a glare filled with disgust. The door swung open and Gajeel stood there in a full black suit, although his tie was hanging loosely around his neck and his shirt was untucked. All in all, he looked like a bad boy hottie.

"Hey, is Juvia here, I've come to take her out." Juvia saw her mother cross her arms.

"Oh and I'm guessing that you're the man that is calling for her this week then? Tell me, how much does she charge? Maybe not a lot because she's hardly worth anything." She gave Juvia a bitter laugh and Gajeel's eyebrows were knotted together and his face fell into a frown.

"What?"

The older woman's face lit up in glee as she ushered Gajeel into the house and pulled Juvia towards her, making her almost drop the bucket of clothes in process had it not been that she had such a good grip on it. Clearly her mother didn't recognize him from last night.

"Oh haven't you heard? My daughter is a slut. A whore, a prostitute, a slag and she will spread her legs for anyone who pays her. I guess you're the unfortunate man this time around." Juvia's face fell as the tears started streaming down her face. She turned away from the woman she called mother and walked down the hallway to wash the clothes.

She dumped the bucket on the floor and crumpled down to her knees where she started sobbing loudly. She didn't even hear when the door opened and someone stood behind her.

"Sheesh, what a woman. I don't know why she would lie about her own daughter like that. Hey, Juvia? Get the fuck up and come here!" That made her look up through her tears to see Gajeel staring down at her. He had his hand out for her yet again and when she grabbed it, he hauled her up and she fell into his chest. He grinned down at her.

"You just can't get enough of my touch can you?" Surprisingly, he stayed hugging her and she didn't even mind, though she did scoff at him.

"Please, Juvia would never enjoy Gajeel's touches." He smelt good, like really good that it made herself conscious about herself and she was the female here! He barked out a laugh.

"Then why aren't you letting go of me then?" Juvia blushed, feeling caught out.

"Because Juvia likes the way Gajeel smells." He stopped as he didn't know how to reply to that. Juvia always kept him on his toes, even if this was only the second day of them both meeting.

"You really speak your mind don't ya?" Juvia shrugged before finally letting go of him and glaring at him. He then used his thumb and index finger to smooth out her eyebrows.

"What, you want wrinkles in your old age? Don't frown at me." Juvia turned her back on him as he laughed once more. She bent down to start scrubbing at the washing and Gajeel finally stood there in silence. After about ten minutes of watching her, he finally groaned. "Fuck sake, are you going to do this all day? I'm not a patient guy you know!" Juvia almost jumped right out of her skin, forgetting that he was there.

"Gajeel! Don't scare Juvia like that again!" It was the way she screamed, the way he said his name all breathy that made him groan again, but this time out of pleasure. He swore that this girl had magical powers over him. He smirked at her before grabbing her up gently.

"I've just decided something while I was watching you. You can live with me!" Juvia gaped at him as her jaw dropped. She tried to find the right words but no sound came out of her mouth.

"It's obvious that you ain't loved here so why don't you just come with me and everything will be okay? But I gotta tell ya, I don't live here in Fiore." Juvia couldn't believe it. Was this really her ticket out of this hell hole? But what about Wendy? What if she was mistreated here too when she left? Maybe she won't be but she couldn't take the risk.

"B-but, Juvia can't-" He glared at her, making her voice trail off.

"And why the fuck not?"

Juvia was taken aback from his question. "Juvia doesn't want Wendy-chan to get hurt in place of Juvia..." His face softened a little bit.

"She can come with, and if she can't, then get someone to look after her or something." Juvia though about Gray's sister, Ultear. She weighed the odds out and Ultear had always been a good friend of hers.

"Maybe Juvia can find someone..." He grabbed up her wet hands, making her leave the clothes there.

"Wait Gajeel, Juvia wasn't done with the washing!" He laughed his strange laugh. "Oh, but you are now! I can't have my future wife washing clothes for someone else can I?" Juvia blushed and tried to argue that she won't be marrying him.

"Ohhhh womaaaan~" Juvia almost face palmed at how he had called her mother. To say her mother was happy with the way he called her would have been a lie.

"Mrs Lockser would have been nice you delinquent, not 'woman'. What do you want?" Juvia could see her mother shifting uncomfortably under Gajeel's smirking gaze. Those red eyes of his seemed to scare the living daylights out of anyone but Juvia herself.

"I've come to take your daughter. Obviously you don't love her and seeing that I do, I'm taking her away. If you have any stuff you want to bring, get it and let's leave. If not let's go now." He looked back at Juvia and she shook her head, confirming that she had nothing while her mother laughed.

"Wait, you actually love my daughter? That's rich! And just who are you?" His blood red eyes fell upon her again and she shivered involuntarily, though she stood her ground making sure that she didn't seemed weak under his gaze, but he had already seen it.

"I'm Gajeel Redfox, and don't you forget that you fucker." Juvia had never seen her mother look so angry and Gajeel didn't even care as he grabbed her hand again. "You sure there's nothing you want from this place?" She thought about it before leading him down to her room to get something.

"There's just one thing of Juvia's that means a lot to her..." She could tell that Gajeel was staring around her room.

"That she devil makes you sleep here? Tch, good thing I'm taking you away from this dungeon." He was right, it did look like a dungeon. It was almost as though she was a prisoner in her own house, all her room was missing was chains to keep her locked up. "How long has this been your room?" Juvia sighed as she picked up the box and stood up straight. She couldn't look at him in the eyes.

"Maybe seven years? Juvia's forgotten." His eyes widened before he growled and took the box from her with a grin.

"I'll hold this."

Juvia snatched it right back and glared at him. "As much as Juvia hates her mother, Gajeel will NOT be knocking her out with this box!" His jaw dropped to the ground before he grunted and headed out of her room. "How did you know?" Juvia tutted behind him. "Juvia could see it in your eyes."

Her mother held the front door open with a condensing look on her face. "Don't you ever come back here, you hear me? And if he throws you out, let me tell you this, he never will never love you anyway!" Juvia nodded her head and tried her best to keep Gajeel back from knocking the woman out.

"Just tell Wendy that Juvia will miss her."

"Where are you going?" The three of them turned around to find that Wendy was now in front of the open door with Meredy and Chelia. Juvia sighed as she turned to look at Wendy. "Wendy-chan...Juvia is leaving home. Juvia is sorry, maybe Wendy-chan can come with, but a friend of Juvia's has come to take her away."

Wendy sighed in relief. "That's good, maybe that way you can get away from this suffering." Their mother gasped and Juvia more than knew that Wendy was going to get it this night. Wendy faced Gajeel with a smile that he couldn't help but give up the scary man facade. "Hey Mr, please look after my sister. Ever since my brother left, she's the only one able to protect me and because she's gone through a lot in the past seven years, she needs someone to take care of her."

Gajeel nodded and he ruffled her hair. "You can count on it kid." He then whispered something to her and Juvia raised her eyebrow in suspicion.

"Can Ultear please look after Wendy-chan? Juvia doesn't deem it safe for her to stay here alone with mother..." The young woman nodded her head and Juvia's mother tried to butt in, but Wendy was already cheering.

"Yes! That way I can live with Meredy and live closer to Chelia! Let me pack my stuff and get Carla too!" The youngest Lockser ran up the stairs before Gajeel turned to face Mrs Lockser with a smirk on his face.

"Karma is a bitch, just like you." The woman gasped in anger and as she tried to slap his face, he held her hand. "Can't handle the truth? You're a horrible mother and woman. A person like you isn't fit to live and be surrounded by the people who are supposed to love you. I wonder why your son left too." Juvia could see her mother fuming in anger and she tapped Gajeel's hand.

"Don't take it too far, please."

He looked at her in anger before he sighed and released the woman's hand. Instead, she slapped Juvia and the two younger children, Meredy and Chelia gasped. "This is all your fault. Everything bad is always your fault." Juvia smiled at her.

"That's nice to know, mother." On the inside, she was breaking down. She always had to stay strong and sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. Now, she just had an audience to bask in her humiliation.

Gajeel pulled her hand. "We're going now, and never coming back to this house." Juvia waved to Ultear.

"Please take good care of Wendy-chan for Juvia!" She nodded her head and a carriage was waiting outside the house.

"Get in, woman." Juvia turned to glare at Gajeel and he just tapped her butt to make her move faster. That made Juvia blush as she sat down in silence, her mind going into overdrive about what he had just done to her, while Gajeel himself was smiling.

The carriage stopped at a little inn and Gajeel pushed Juvia out of the door. "What was that for?!" He laughed as he jumped out, narrowly missing the puddle that was in front of the carriage door.

"Well, you weren't getting out fast enough. Anyway, I need to get my stuff and my brother too, so let's go." He started walking and he could hear Juvia spluttering.

"Wait, Gajeel has a brother?! Great, just what Juvia needs, a second Gajeel." He opened the door to the fancy hotel and rolled his eyes. "I might not act like it, but I have feelings. That's so insulting. Besides, he's my twin." Juvia threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. "That's even worse!" Gajeel shrugged and grinned as went into the lift up into their room.

As they were walking to the room, Juvia remembered something that she was supposed to ask him. "Gajeel?" When she was sure she had his attention, she carried on. "What is it that Gajeel does that he can afford all this and...Gajeel isn't from this country is he? So like, what does Gajeel do? Oh wait, Juvia already asked that question."

Gajeel just gave her a wide animalistic grin as he opened the door to his hotel room and there were all his suitcases along with a black haired man the same age as him. He stared at the both of them in surprise before Juvia stared between the two brothers. "Wow, Gajeel really wasn't lying when he said that he has a twin! The hair and the eyes are the same, though Gajeel's hair seems much longer than..."

"Rogue."

"Rogue's hair." Juvia then unconsciously ran her hand through Gajeel's hair very gently and Gajeel enjoyed her touch more than he should have. Rogue watched the both of them in mild amusement. Gajeel noticed his brother's look before moving away from Juvia's hand.

"Oh, this is Juvia and she's going to be my wife." Juvia crossed her arms over and snorted behind Gajeel and he gave her a glare.

"What, you don't want to be my wife? I'm the best guy you'll ever come across and I just got you out of that she devil's house." Juvia was grateful for that, but that wasn't why she was angry. Both the twins watched as she stepped forward towards Gajeel and poked his forehead.

"Oh, Juvia is happy that she met Gajeel, but is Gajeel stupid? He hasn't even given Juvia a ring!" Rogue snorted out in laughter and the duo turned their glare on him and he coughed to disguise his laugh and he started taking the bags out of the room, leaving his brother and his fiance in the room. Juvia then shook her hand in Gajeel's face.

"Well? What is Gajeel waiting for then?"

He stared at her hand before grinning and kissing it gently. That surprised Juvia as she wasn't expecting it and it made her face flare up in a huge blush. She watched as his hand slipped into his pocket and he pulled out a little box. It was a blue velvet box. Juvia couldn't help but bite her lower lip as he took out a ring that looked like a huge blue nut.

"Hope you don't mind, I bought a ring with blue. Who am I kidding, I don't care! Just got the ring for the fact that I had to have proof that you're my fiance." Juvia pulled her hand back as soon as the ring was on and she was about to walk out of the door in anger when he called back to her.

"Wait! I got you a dress because well, you look fucking disgusting in those clothes." She noticed a bag on the bed and he pointed at it while she raised an eyebrow and gingerly picked it up. Then he pointed to the bathroom. "Hurry up and shower, we gotta go. Don't worry, I left you some girly stuff in there too." Juvia regarded him silently yet again and he rolled his eyes before mumbling. "What, can't I buy nice stuff for my fiance?" Juvia smirked as she grabbed his cheeks and shook his head about.

"Aww, doesn't someone care!" He removed her hand as he growled.

"You're so damn patronizing! But weren't you sounding happy that I was going to be marrying you, huh? 'Oh, Juvia is sooo happy that she met Gajeel-kun!" Juvia's face turned bright red from embarrassment and anger.

"Juvia did NOT say that!" He smirked at her.

"Something along those lines, but you so want me."

"Not in Gajeel's wildest dreams."

"Sorry if I'm a guy and I have these certain dreams about you then." That shut Juvia up as she couldn't believe he had just said something like that and was looking smug about it! She turned her back on him before going off into the bathroom with the dress.

For the first ten minutes of the ride, Gajeel had been trying his very best to not to stare at Juvia, and how her long her legs looked in the silky blue dress she wore that was very generous to her chest. Then he realised something. "She's my fucking fiance, I can look at her if I want to!" Then he could see Juvia getting very uncomfortable under his gaze and he couldn't help but smile.

He leaned towards her ear, his breath tickling it so much that she was torn between moving away and laughing, or making her panties drop for him. Instead, she closed her eyes as his low rough voice spoke directly into her ear, making Rogue suspicious as to what they were talking about.

"Relax. You're going to be my wife, I can look at you anytime I want. Besides, you clean up good. Like really good." Juvia couldn't hide the smile that passed over her lips, wondering how many different sides Gajeel actually had to him. He knew how to push all her buttons, he had quite a bit of a violent nature, he was sweet even if she had only seen this side maybe once, and he had the ability to turn her on even if he didn't mean to. But she was sure he definitely meant to majority of the time.

"How has Juvia fallen in love so hard?"

"Do you want me to sit in between you two? Because I will if you guys don't get that look off your faces as though you're about to have sex."

His twin and his twin's fiance looked up at him, almost as though they were annoyed that he was still in the carriage with them. He sighed and Juvia removed the look of her face, wondering what the hell she was doing. She pushed Gajeel away from her gently.

"Sorry Rogue, Gajeel was just saying something to make Juvia feel better."

Rogue snorted and Gajeel leaned over and punched his arm. He just smirked at his older twin.

"Gajeel said something nice?! Wow, you must be the only girl that has ever been able to get him to do something like that! After all, most girls fall for his 'looks' and the bad guy persona, but once they go on a first date, they usually run off screaming their heads. You seem to have him tamed after...A day?" Juvia laughed and pinched his cheeks yet again.

"Aww is that true Gajeel-kun? Gajeel must really love Juvia." The older of the three just leaned back with his arms crossed, trying his very best not to smack his brother out of this world. Juvia then let go of his cheeks before leaning back too. The carriage then came to a stop and Rogue jumped out first. Gajeel let Juvia out first and as she jumped out, she started stretching. It had been a very long journey.

Then she stared in awe at the building in front of her. A whole bunch of men started running towards the carriage to grab up Rogue's and Gajeel's things. Juvia still held her box.

Gajeel stood next to her, hands in his pockets. "Remember when you asked me what it is I do? Well I'm the Prince in this country and Natsu is my cousin, hence me being at the wedding. That a good enough answer for you?"

Juvia stared at Raios, then long and hard at Gajeel before looking back at the palace in front of her. She couldn't help but feel light headed all of a sudden. The Prince chose her to get married to? But why? "Yeah, that is a good enough answer."

Then she fainted.

Wow, I really made Juvia have a rough life huh? I didn't even know it would be that bad until you guys were upset! I didn't mean for it to be so upsetting! But don't worry, typically, her life is going to get better! I just can't leave her like that!

I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, because I actually enjoyed writing this! I think this was a very sweet story when I thought of it lol.

Please don't forget, rate or hate, flames or floods! I love you guys, so please review!

Lolita-chan