Note:

Flashbacks and thoughts in italics.

I do not condone or encourage any behaviors in this story. It is simply a fictional story.

CHAPTER 5

[Third Person POV]

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Jellal was driven by two things now. Coffee. And hate: the dark, murky feeling congesting his heart.

The camera captures the spectacle with its lens. A woman spirals on her heels, her skirt blowing, its beads frisking. The people around her watched, mesmerized, and so did Jellal. The evening cast her diamond sparkle upon her skin. The windows would move to make a clapping song for her dance, and eyes never left her form, not even once. It was as though the art of dancing had possessed her. Before the camera, she has transformed into a beautiful spirit in the silver flapper dress, something not human. Jellal focused on her steps, the rhythm of her feet against the floor, the slippery dance of her toes, her hip's elegant bent when she reached over, and the curve of her waist in a bow. There was romantic glamour in her dance. She enticed him.

Something in her drew something in Jellal, kept nagging him to possess, hold close the beauty as his own, to lose himself in a chasmic rapture than the one he had with his previous lover, even though Jellal is not here to give in to temptations. Then again, a little fun wouldn't hurt. Be that as it may, he had his intentions. In the day and age of magic, most of the time, when the camera catches its magical shots, editing isn't the most important thing. Not infrequently, it's a live performance of magic and mages. Juvia had arrived for the advertisement of a cloth brand, and it would be an understatement to say that her dress fit her like a glove. The shoot was not commissioned by Jellal's company. There was no reason for him to be here unless he came to see her or someone else.

After a day of wired, wakeful sitting tight, Juvia had settled on putting that one hard-to-swallow incident on the back burner. What did you expect, that she would squeal and prance around in Jellal Fernandez fever? She's not thirteen. Duh. She didn't have his number. Not like she would call him even if she had. Juvia had started to think he had given up on the idea or found better things to knuckle down to. With that being said, when Jellal comes back after a fortnight, apologetic for being late and with the excuse of being considerate to give her some time, she is left speechless all over again. He looks like someone who cares about punctuality, so she believes him. She wasn't expecting his return, so it's practically irrelevant.

"I really liked the way you dance." Jellal comments, folding his hands to lean back on the guard rails. His trademark maroon tattoo stood out against the skin of his face, completing the enigma that was him. Beyond the footpath on the bridge, the light from the lampposts made the steel bars glint. His car had been parked on the opposite side of the broad royal road. It was a relic from the heyday of King Toma E. Fiore's great-grandfathers. Its isolation gave them the silence they needed. Crossing the bridge further up the road is the pet shop from which Juvia brought her cat Sasha on her first outing to Crocus two years ago.

Juvia had thought about the matter with all the "week-long" time Jellal supposedly gave her, to be honest. Her mind was set on certain things. And one of them was, "I don't wish to be tied down or be entirely dependent on you. I want to be my own boss and remain independent." at the tone of her voice, a sly smile creeps over his face. Even if he decides to throw her away, she wants to be able to not give a fuck about it and live on, carry on with her life. "But since you're talking about what I would get in return if I agree to this marriage, I'm not sure." More like sceptical. She licked her lips, leaning on his car to face him. "Can you clarify?"

"Of course. That's why I am here." With a leisurely gait, Jellal approaches her and gracefully extends his arm, offering her phone with bow of his head, sensing the chilly sensation in her trembling hands. Is it the wind, or nerves?

"Let me make something clear," he began, his voice firm and unwavering. "This marriage will be permanent unless you break our pre-planned conditions, which will have consequences. We are in this for the long haul, and as long as you remain faithful, you will have your freedom. And thirdly, we both will live a good fucking life. Finally—I expect logical conversations with a logical woman when faced with problems." After much discussion, Juvia ultimately agrees to the terms of their union.

Frantically, she rubs her neck through the cloth, the collar of her turtleneck hindering skin contact. "Don't you think it'll be better to try dating first before making bad decisions?" As opposed to my usual strategy of making bad decisions and then trying to turn them into dates. Because that's what sane people do. Jokes on you for ever entertaining the idea that any of them were sane.

Even so, Jellal knew what he was doing. And Jellal was in control. "I understand where you're coming from," he expresses. "But you seem to be forgetting something." He caught a glimpse of her shifting weight to another foot and continued. "I want a marriage that doesn't involve love."

Composed anew, Juvia puts forth her preoccupation. "When do you plan on arranging the marriage?" As the silence dragged on, she felt a knot tugging in her stomach.

Jellal realised that there were no cutting corners here. "ASAP. Right now."

He leans into her, catching her radiant gaze. He puts his hand on her waist to lure her into his grasp. While her hands land on his neck, his unflinching fingers glide up her side to stop under her supple chest. The tension grew strong. For the second time, his lips meet hers for a bruising kiss. He sucks on her bottom lips, probing the insides of her mouth with his tongue to bring down her defences. They part, panting. "I waited so long." He tells in soft whispers. His brow brushes against hers before he kisses her again, scattering heavy pecks down her jaw to tempting lips. "Cannot wait any longer." He explains, chuckling, his baritone velvety in her ears. He was so good at it, so much so that she felt dizzy as though his lips were not lips but red wine. Talk about giving in. Talk about cosying up.

"We're rushing things." With a deep breath, she draws back to ask, "Give me a reason?" She awaited his answer for an eternity, and the uncertainty began to weigh on her.

"You don't have to meet my family now." On that smoky evening by the shore, Jellal was born again. He was saved from death and resurrected from the bowels of anguish. He was brought back to life by a kiss from a girl that echoed storms. She came like a raging flood he had conjured, cleansing away his dilemmas and reawakening his zest for living. A single kiss was all it took to breathe new life into his being. "We'll marry, and I'll give you some time after that. If I don't marry now, I might lose my job. It's my dad's wish." What a fine web of lies.. "I should be giving you time, I know. But right now, I am in a situation. I need a wife urgently."

"Why me?" Her voice was calm, yet there was an underlying ripple of urgency in those two words that could not be ignored.

A delicious laugh escapes Jellal as he crosses his arms. "Do you not watch TV?" His eyes flash with amusement. "Do you even have a phone?" It was with you! "Don't you have any idea about the rumours going on about us?" Indeed, it appears that she asked a dumb question. Juvia hasn't been able to watch television or go outside the house. She is still getting used to the apartment in Crocus, and Evergreen was routinely outside, preoccupied with her work schedule. She spent the days flipping through novels, working out, or cooking food from a set of cookbooks she found while cleaning the kitchen shelf.

"It spread like wildfire. People—they believe you're my girlfriend." Perfect. That explained the weird looks she's been getting from the minute she arrived at the set. And the occasional click of a camera wherever she went. Who knows, they could even be getting spied on now. No wonder Jellal got furtive, taking the extra step of driving to this private road for the talk. He stops smiling to stare into space, another inquiry hissing hot from his tongue. "What is it that you wanted from me again?"

"A partner." Her answers are suppressed thunders. "In life." Wasn't she being an idiot by consenting to this with a man who appeared to have done his homework on her? What did she know about this man? Nothing. He's a stranger to her in every way. Jellal either forgot or didn't bother to ask about the kind of better half she preferred, but she was sure it wouldn't cross the line into "lovers." Unspoken phrases are suspended in the air between them.

"Everyone is a stranger before you get to know them." Who doesn't have a password for their phone these days? Well, meet Juvia Lockser. "We have time, and I can become the companion you want in life." That night Jellal had come across a photo of Gray Fullbuster on her phone's screen, which she might have forgotten to change. This led him to investigate Gray's relationship with her. It was his chance to get back on Gray. Upon recalling the pictures he had seen on Gray's laptop screen, he pieces two and two together. It would be clear why Jellal was taking this course of action. Only if she had knowledge of what he had with Erza.

"You get what you want, and I get mine." Skimming through their millions of text messages will let you know how deep the messed up thing between Juvia and Gray ran. There were no answers, no closures. Why Gray would go after Erza when he already had this girl is a mystery to him. Still and all, the brunette will pay for his actions, for it was Jellal's turn to make the chess move. If Gray stole his girl, Jellal's taking his for life. It'll only be a matter of time before Juvia Lockser becomes Juvia Lockser Fernandez. "And we'll both be happy. Don't forget our no-love agreement, by the way." They both seem to identically internalize the shortcomings of pursuing a traditional, love-based marriage.

"Never." Determination. That she had endlessly.

Author's Note:

se ya, thnxx!