Chapter 7: Stand by me

"Ahhh! Gray-sama is going to be hurt!" Juvia wailed as she jerked Gajeel's sleeve.

"It's hockey, Sprinkler. They're not playing chess. They're going to be hurt at some point."

"Juvia knows but… Ah! Watch out Gray-sama!" She yelled and covered her eyes with her outspreaded fingers as Gray collided with an opponent.

Gajeel winced with her scream and rubbed his ear. "It's the last time I sit next to you during Stripper's game. I'm not planning to become deaf."

The blue haired girl did not react, her entire focus was on the playing court, biting her lower lip as Gray aimed for the goal but the puck was countered by a player of Lamia Scale. Luckily it was retaken by Laxus who passed it to another teammate. Juvia punctuated each action with little shrieks and yelps, much to Gajeel's annoyance.

In final, Magnolia team won the match with a last shot and the audience exulted, Juvia jumped on Gajeel squealing with joy while the tall man grunted "Let go of me, woman!". When she had cooled off and set her best friend free, Erza proposed to go outside and wait for Gray and the other players who had headed for the changing rooms.

"Did you see when Gray-sama passed the goaltender on his left and scored?"

"Yes Juvia" Lucy answered with a knowing smile. "We all saw it and heard you screaming 'Crush those damn suckers Gray-sama!'"

"Ah, Juvia's sorry for her behavior." The blue haired girl blushed with embarrassment. "She was so into the game, she didn't watch her language."

"Every supporter should have your passion for sport." Erza took her defense missing Lucy's snort. "I'm sure your encouragements reached our team and contributed to our victory."

"You're a real Man!" Elfman shouted.

"No, she's not." Lucy sweatdroped while Cana and Loke laughed.

As they waited in front of the stadium, they shared their impressions about the match and made forecast for the next games. Then, a cool breeze swirled around them making Lucy shiver and she folded her arms around her to keep her warmth.

"It's colder than I thought." She whined.

"If Lucy-san was wearing more clothes, she wouldn't be cold." Juvia teased with a grin and Lucy puffed her cheeks in response. The literature student was dressed in short skirt and short sleeves top while for once Juvia was wearing long pants and a jersey with Gray's number over her T-shirt.

Just as she was going to argue with her blue haired friend, Lucy felt something soft circling her neck and strong arms enveloping her as she was pulled against a hard chest. Startled, she turned her head and met emerald eyes.

"Are you better like that?" Natsu asked innocently, adjusting his scarf he had wrapped around her neck.

If she could judge by Lucy's rosy cheeks, Juvia was pretty certain that the blonde was feeling warm now. Her reddening deepened when she saw her other friends giving them meaningful faces but she didn't move away from Natsu's arms.

Finally, players exited the stadium and Laxus and Gray quickly spotted their friends. As they approached, Gray's eyes fell on Juvia and he immediately noticed her jersey. He couldn't help but felt a smug satisfaction at the sight. He had known Juvia was going to cheer him and not Lyon, but with the jersey, everyone could tell it.

"Congratulation for your victory guys!" Lisanna praised them while Loke gave a pat on Gray's back.

"Thanks. But they never were a real threat." Laxus shrugged it off. "Right Gray?"

"Yeah. It was a piece of cake."

"Funny. It didn't seem like that to me when you were led by two points." Gajeel remarked with a mischievous smirk.

"Yup. Never thought you could back up to the score." Natsu agreed.

"What did you say?" Gray and Laxus yelled in synchrony. "You want to fight Ash-for-brain?" Gray growled at his friend.

"Bring it on! I'm fired up!"

"Oh, no. You're not fighting." Cana interrupted them. "We're going to a bar! I had wait enough, I'm thirsty!"

And as she said, along with Lamia's team, they all went to a bar where Mira worked part-time as bartender. Once they were inside, Juvia didn't waste time to join Gray near the bar counter, as he was clinking pints of beer with his teammates and receiving pats on his shoulder.

"Congratulations Gray-sama!" She said as soon as she was by his side, finally able to say it directly to him. "Juvia enjoyed the game!"

He smiled at her and leaned back, resting his elbows on the counter. "Good. It was a rough match, but Luck was with us, right?" He held the charm she gave him earlier and she felt butterflies flying in her stomach.

"Still. It was impressive! Juvia had never seen a hockey game before."

"I'm delighted I was your first time Juvia-chan." Lyon popped out of nowhere startling the two. "Alas I wasn't in my best condition today. My mind had been captured by a blue angel."

"You were good too Lyon-sama." Juvia said in a kind way, not taking the hint while Gray scoffed with Lyon' cheesy line. "It looks so complicated to move on ice. Juvia doesn't think she could stand on ice like you do!"

"What? You never ice skated?" Lyon exclaimed and as Juvia shook her head, a grin spread his lips. "Are you free tomorrow? It would be a pleasure to teach you how to skate."

Gray's brow twitched at the way Lyon rolled the word pleasure and his body tensed, dreading what was coming from his cousin.

"Juvia is sorry, but she is working all day at Yajima-san's bakery." She apologized as nice as ever.

"What a shame! But I'm sure that the cakes are sweeter when you're the one selling them. At least, may I come to the store and say my goodbyes?" The silver haired man said with a smooth voice and took Juvia's hand between his two own while he looked directly into her eyes.

"Well… Of course Lyon-sama!" She answered with a smile even if she was surprised by the question and still a bit disconcerted by his behavior. She glanced at Gray and saw how his eyebrows were deeply furrowed. It seemed like he did not like the attention Lyon was giving her, as if he was jealous. Juvia gasped internally. Maybe he wanted to spend time with his cousin and couldn't because of her presence? She removed her hand from Lyon's hold. "Hum… Juvia has not congratulate Laxus-san yet, so… hum… See you later, Lyon-sama. Gray-sama." She excused herself and stepped back in direction of the other side where Cana looked like she was teasing Laxus about something while Mira tried to hide her smile.

"I'm already looking forward to see you, Juvia-chan!" Lyon waved his hand.

"Can you quit doing that?" Gray scowled at his cousin when the blue haired girl was far enough.

Lyon arched a brow. "Doing what?"

"Harassing Juvia."

"It's seducing. And why would you care? She's single, I didn't do anything wrong."

"She's my nakama." Gray said as if it was the ultimate argument.

His cousin stayed quiet for a moment as he scrutinized the black-haired man. "No way." He finally whispered. "Are you…? That's priceless!"

"What are you talking?" Gray frowned but Lyon just smirked.

"Well, I can't really blame you. We have always been rivals. But in this contest, I won't lose to you."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but there's no way I'll loose to you."

"We'll see… Well, nice to chat with you but I need to ask my Juvia-chan if she can go watch my next game." His cousin said as he walked backward, a sly grin on his lips.

"What? Hey! I thought I said stop harassing her!" Gray yelled as he chased after Lyon. "And she'll never cheer you! She stands by me! I mean! She stands by our side! Fairy Tail team!"

Gray didn't celebrate his victory that much that evening, as he was busy stopping his cousin to pursue his friend which by the way, was more tiring and less fun than a hockey game.

He swore, his family can be so annoying when they're meddling with his life.

###

It was the first days of May, the sky was clear and like every year, Fairy Tail University was holding Open Day to attract new students by promoting courses, sport and club activities.

Some students had been requested to present their department projects or help with games and sample booths (Natsu was strictly forbidden to get close to the food stands), and most of the stands were held outside of the buildings. To Juvia, it looked a bit like a festival with all that people chatting and laughing.

She was involved with Jellal for their natural sciences department, and they were setting models and posters with graphs, satellite pictures and other environmental imagery. He was a bit stressed out, because his little sister Wendy was coming and he wanted to make a good impression.

"Oh, no, no, no…." He murmured as he rummaged between the multiple boxes behind their stand. "I forgot the experiment kit for cool and hot air. Wendy is very interested in air physics." He ran a hand through his blue locks. "But I have to install the model of the solar system."

"Don't worry Jellal-san. Juvia can go back, it will only take a few minutes."

"Oh, thank you, Juvia. I owe you this one."

"No problem." She shook her head and put down the Water cycle diagram she was planning to pin on board.

She made her way between the crow, waving at her friends when she walked in front of their stalls. When she passed by the stand of the theater club, she cringed a little. Erza's talent for acting was inversely proportional to her enthusiasm to perform.

Then her internal radar picked up Gray's voice and she turned her head in its direction. He was talking with a woman with long black hair and they seemed very comfortable with each other, as the woman pocked his cheek and Gray blushed.

The green monster awakened in her stomach as Juvia stood there, watching their interactions. They looked so good together. The woman was so elegant, beautiful and mature. Juvia was sure she wasn't the type to bake bread with faces on them, lapping the chocolate off the spoon or offering silly charms to her lover.

The unknow woman put a strand of hair behind her ear. Her hair was brilliant and seemed silky. Juvia remembered Daphne then, with her black hair. Maybe Gray was into dark haired woman? She didn't stand a chance then with her blue curls, she thought and turned her heels, pushing back the feels of her hatching heart.

###

"So, where's your new friend? The one who transferred?" The dark haired woman asked and Gray winced internally.

"Gajeel? He's probably at the stage, tuning up his guitar."

"No silly. The girl. Jellal said she was very fond of you." Ultear poked his cheek and he blushed.

"Oh, not you too." He groaned and Ultear's grin widened. "Look, she is just a friend."

"I didn't say the contrary." If possible, her smile turned even more cunning. "I'm just curious, that's all. You rarely make new friends. The last one was that blondie busty girl, right? But this new one is a bit special apparently."

"Well, we didn't meet in good terms, you know. She was… impassive and a bit gloomy then. But since she and Gajeel joined FT, she changed. She was following me all the time at first, but she finally stopped some time ago. She's still a bit crazy though; you don't know what's going on in that mind of her. But she is very kind and loyal toward her friends. She can be fun too. She likes rock music and I think she became a hockey fan because she asked me to teach her all the rules."

"Huh, huh." Ultear commented with a glint in her eyes. "She looks like a very good friend! I never thought you could say so many sentences in one go!"

"I said she just a friend!"

"Oh, come on! There's more! Tell everything to Nee-san!"

"Stop with that. And you're not my sister."

She put a hand over her heart. "You're such a coldblooded brat, you know that?"

Gray smirked. "At least I'm young. Can't tell the same for you."

"You…!" A nerve twitched on the woman's face as she let out her wrath on the boy, grabbing him by the collar and squeezing his neck with her arm. "Take back that you said, you stupid!"

The young man struggled a little against her hold, trying to free himself but he ended begging for her mercy. "Okay, okay. I take that back! You're young!"

"That's right." She concluded as she released him. "I'm a beautiful young lady and I always will be."

He rolled his eyes discreetly while he massaged his neck and looked around. "Anyway… Where's your daughter? I thought you wanted to show her the campus."

###

The natural sciences storage room was at the third floor, but the building was quite empty and even if she wanted to be fast and be back quickly at the stand, Juvia slowed down a bit, struck by the unusual silence of the corridor.

She frowned when she saw a laboratory door opened. It was too soon in the day for visits of classroom and teaching places. Until then the doors should remain closed. Maybe someone forget to lock it? She approached and peeked inside to make sure no one was there. But her blood turned cold as she took the scene before her.

The girl was about fourteen. She had short pink hair. And she was seated on the edge of the window. As if she was going to jump…

"Don't do that." Juvia whispered and that seemed to draw the girl's attention as she turned her head toward the intruder.

"Don't come near." She warned, her eyes narrowing.

"Okay. I'll stay there. See? But can we talk a bit?" Maybe if she talked with the girl, she could change her decision or distract her long enough for people down there to extend a sheet or something.

The girl acquiesced with a nod and Juvia sighed in relief.

"So, what's your name?"

"Why would you know?" The girl growled. "I'm nobody."

"Still. Juvia wants to know you." She tried, with her sweetest smile.

The girl stayed silent for a moment. "Meredy." But before Juvia could say more, she pursued. "Juvia. Juvia Lockser. I heard about you." Juvia really did not see that coming. She stayed where she was, on the doorframe, waiting for the girl to say more. "You're Gray's new friend."

"You know Gray-sama?" She could not help the question.

The girl nodded. "Gray Fullbuster." Meredy uttered with venom in her voice.

Juvia saw how her grip tightened on the windowsill, her knuckles turning white.

"I hate him."

AN: I hope you still enjoy the story! Please share your thought with a review!

And so, as you can guess, for the next chapter, there will be mention of tentative suicide. If you're not comfortable with that, I'll put a symbol at the end of that part, so you can scroll down until there and continue with a soothing one.
I'm wondering if I should change the rating for M because of that. (And I don't know yet if I'll add hot scenes later that may request the M rating so… ;) )