Eleven weeks meant I had to quit the swim team. There still wasn't much of a bump, but I was definitely growing. When I put on my one-piece, it was as if the baby growing inside of my was screaming for attention. Add on to the ever-growing fatigue and the morning sickness that just won't go away- I felt like this pregnancy was a curse I didn't ask for.

Coach Mirajane would understand why I was quitting. She had recommended it when the test came back positive three weeks ago, but I wanted to enjoy the swim team as much as I could. I just couldn't anymore. I was too tired and my bump was starting to grow. Sooner or later it was going to be too obvious that I was pregnant- everyone would know. That was the last thing I wanted to happen.

Erza and Jellal still didn't know. So far, that I knew of anyway, the only people who were aware I was holding the next Antichrist were Gray and Coach Mirajane. Either party could easily have spilled the beans, but it was safe to say they hadn't. I had been meaning to tell them but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. I was too nervous for their reactions and since I wasn't planning on keeping it, it didn't seem like that big of an issue. I was going to keep this baby a secret until I couldn't anymore.

"Juvia are you alright? You haven't quite been yourself lately." Jellal said through a bite of his cafeteria cheeseburger.

Erza put a hand over my shoulder. "We're worried about you. You started bringing your own food to lunch, you never do that."

I had to start bringing my own food. I couldn't eat the slop I used to love every day. I missed wanting the possibly moldy chicken sandwiches and underseasoned mashed potatoes that, with the right amount of pepper, and a squirt of ketchup, were slightly edible. I used to look forward to that every day, but since pregnancy symptoms caught up to me with full force, I couldn't even stomach the idea of eating whatever diseases they served every day.

A fear lurched inside me. Perhaps they were catching on.

"You've just been acting weird. And you've thrown up at school these past few weeks more than you did in elementary school, which was frequent."

In the last three weeks, I've had to excuse myself from class multiple times to hurl my brain out. I had to research this morning sickness shit because it was really getting on my nervest. I thought it only happened in the morning, but no, it can happen at any time of the day. Right now, though, I wanted to hurl from nerves.

"And you quit the swim team. You love to swim. It just doesn't make any sense."

I dropped my fork back into the salad I bought from the grocery store. "What are you suggesting?"

I instinctively wanted to touch my small, but visible baby bump. But I didn't. I just stared at them with expectant eyes.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Erza and Jellal. I just had a hard time accepting... emotional support. They were the best friends I could had asked for. Once they started dating at the beginning of the summer, though, they had become more distant. Perhaps this was why I was choosing to deal with the pregnancy on my own. Also, I was already slut-shamed, which I usually brushed off my shoulder like nothing. I didn't want to be ridiculed for this baby. And though they wouldn't tell anyone, I had major trust issues. I only told Gray because it felt like the right thing to do. He was the dad after all.

Erza grabbed my hand and held it tenderly. "I'm- we're saying that if you ever need to talk about anything, we are here to listen. You're our friend, Juvia. I don't want you to bottle things up in you that you can't handle on your own." She smiled and tightened her grip on my hand.

I smiled back at them, though it felt ingenuine. I felt guilty for not telling them. When this pregnancy becomes too obvious to hide with a hoodie, I would tell them. "I appreciate you guys so much."

Erza offered one more smile before looking past my eyes, to someone behind me. I whipped myself around to see who caught Erza's gaze and it felt as if my stomach lurched. Evergreen was marching towards our table with the demonic stride she carried herself with. Honestly, Evergreen's confidence was something I was jealous of. She wasn't afraid of consequences and made sure that she was the star in every room. For someone as sarcastic as me, I stayed quiet and preferred to be in the background. Evergreen was forever the center of attention and she planned to keep it that way.

"You quit the swim team?!" it was as if I could feel her spit splatter onto my face.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah, and?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip with a devilish grin. "I bet you just couldn't afford it."

I rolled my eyes. I was used to this shit. "I bet."

"Could trailer park mommy just not spend the extra drug money on poor precious Juvia?" I knew she was living for this inside the hell of her brain. She was a psychotic bitch, and if I wasn't pregnant I would have tackled her to the ground.

"That was a bit low, Evergreen. Even for you."

"It's not my fault you're poor. You can't even afford to go to a doctor."

Doctor.

It didn't occur to me until I was mid-bully session with Evergreen, that I needed to go to a doctor for this baby. Mental note that I needed to talk to Gray later.

"Well your boobs probably aren't real." A fire ignited in her eyes. I landed a good hit.

"Well, they are. And Elfman loves them. You're just a poor little slut with small boobs."

I held out my hand, motioning for her to stop. "Look, Evergreen. Next time you walk up to me to bully me about being poor or having a somewhat adequate sex life for my age, please either a. come up with some new material, or b. don't bring up how Elfman loves your squishy boobs. Plus, we all know you got a boob job with daddy's money."

She scoffs and I can see a hint of pain in her eyes. Suddenly, however, she ignites with a hidden rage. "So why did you quit, huh? Couldn't take the competition?"

The salad in front of me didn't look as appetizing anymore. If I wasn't holding a future family's favorite child, because any child I birth would be the favorite even if I didn't raise them, I would lunge towards her and have already ripped her earrings from the cartilage. "Can't you just accept that she quit?"

I whip around to Gray standing behind me. Now that I was pregnant, my hormones were out of control. Gray Fullbuster, father of this child, was so fucking hot when he raised his voice just a little bit. If this wasn't a tense moment I would've been drooling in my lap. I wasn't sure where he emerged from, but his hockey cronies weren't far behind him. He held his lunch tray with one hand, the other clenched to his side.

Evergreen let out a chuckle and put a hand to her mouth, "Oh," she laughs, "You guys can't be more cute."

I could feel my cheeks burning and Gray's face went from white to red in a record four seconds. "I don't know what you're talking about." Gray went from scary to afraid in a matter of seconds, folding immediately to her trap. He was too flustered for his own good. "We're just friends." Gray was quick to defend. Just friends who had a one night stand that landed me in this disaster, thanks Gray. So glad we were besties.

Elfman, stocky and terrifying, called Evergreen from across the quad. "Well, that's my queue to leave. Hope you guys figure," she gave a dramatic hand gesture towards Gray and I, "out what ever that is." She stalked away giggling. Due to Gray's interruption, she clearly won the argument. If Gray wasn't so smoking hot I would kick his shin for that.

I elbowed him in the leg. "I was clearly winning that!"

Gray was barely affected by my blow. "No, you weren't. Plus, she sucks."

Jellal and Erza, who were silent during most of this interaction, mumbled in unison agreements to Gray. "So," Erza started, and I felt a pang of anxiety coming from her tone, "are you guys... friends?"

Gray's cheeks went back to pink but her gave a smile. "I guess so? We sit next to each other in a couple of classes." He left out the not-so but eventually would be important details. He knew and I knew that eventually this cat was going to birth itself out of its bag. We were simply buying time.

"Oh!" Erza spoke slowly with intrigue, "Juvia never told us about this."

"It's, um, newer. A newer friendship. We mostly talk about school." I gulped my salvia so loud from nerves that God could probably hear it from heaven. "Gray do you want to study for English tonight? After school?" I was hoping he would read through my encrypted message. The last time I had asked him to hang out after school was when I announced our love child. We had much to talk about.

It took him a moment, because he was a dumb idiot. He glared at me looking for answers until sparks clicked in his brain. He raised his eyebrows in understanding. "Yeah, sure. I'll meet you at the tree when the bell gets out."

Erza's eyes moved between the two of us with curiosity. She scoffed and dropped the subject, going back to her meal. I let out a sigh of relief and Gray went back to his gang.

Gray was crouched under the big tree that stood at the front of the school. He was messing with something in the grass, occasionally looking up and scanning his surroundings before continuing. I approached him cautiously. "What are you doing?"

He glanced up and gave a smirk. Fuck, stop being cute I'm supposed to hate you. "Destroying an ant colony." Gray took the stick in his hand and drove it firmly into the dirt mound he was playing with. The ants scurried away terrified. I would've been terrified too. "What's shaking, baby mamma?"

I gave him a twack on his arm. "Never call me baby mamma!"

"But are you not?"

Calling me 'mamma' insinuates that we were going to keep it, which we definitely were not. "We need to talk but here isn't good."

Gray shrugged his shoulders. "We could go sit in my truck."

As we walked to the student parking lot, I could feel the lingering eyes of the stragglers. Gray was hot shit, very high up the totem pole. According to Evergreen, I was hot trailer park trash. We were definitely an interesting duo, and the sight of us together might get people talking. If I wasn't pregnant, I'd almost be excited.

"So what's up? Is everything okay?" Gray sounded concerned, his joking demeanor from before dissipating by the seconds. I turn and face him, crossing my legs in the seat.

"I have a couple of things I'm realizing that need to be discussed before this pregnancy gets any farther," I took in a deep breath, I had been needing more of those lately. "If we want to give this spawn up for adoption, we have to like, go to the doctor."

"Do you, like, need a ride?"

I met Gray's eyes. "I need insurance."

"Insurance?" Gray sat back in his seat, flabbergasted.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked out the window. The few cars in the student parking lot were starting to make their ways out. "I can't afford to go to the doctor, and forget getting my mom involved. She's gonna freak when she finds out." I could feel tears starting to well in my eyes. Being pregnant and hormonal is so fucking embarrassing. Old Juvia would never find herself crying in Gray Fullbuster's truck, fuck, she wouldn't be in his truck at all.

After a moment, Gray reached out and put his hand on my knee and squeezed. I didn't realized tears had started falling until I found myself wiping them. We made eye contact again. "My dad's a doctor, he'll know what to do."

"Will he be mad?" I whispered in response. Gray took in a breath and spoke his words levelheadedly.

"Probably, but he'll get over it. He'd be mad we didn't reach out sooner. My dad's cool." He gave my knee another squeeze. "We'll go tomorrow. We have family dinner every Friday- I'll pick you up."

I nodded and wiped my cheeks with my sleeve. I was shocked at how responsible Gray was acting with this whole situation. Gray to me was just a silly guy whose only skills were boiling water, playing hockey, and fucking raw. He's really a solution man, taking responsibility and making plans for things to be better. I didn't know if it was my hormones, but I was deeply touched by him. I chose to ignore this feeling, however, for my pride. Just because I was pregnant didn't mean I wanted to feel these types of things for him. I was tweaking.

"What are we going to do when everyone finds out?" I ask, placing my hand on his, playing with his fingers as they touched my knee.

"What do you mean?"

I let out a harsh laugh. "I'm gonna be all big and ugly! My clothes are gonna stop fitting and it'll be super obvious that I'm, like, with child. Erza and Jellal are already catching on because all food is fucking gross as shit to me right now! Soon I'm going to be orbital!"

He chuckled, "Orbital is a crazy word to use for this,"

"We won't be able to hide it anymore. My pants already don't button- I've been having to wear leggings! And I'm already slut shamed by Evergreen- this is free ammo!"

"We'll get you new clothes,"

He couldn't tell this had been weighing on me since I found out. "You don't get it! Nothing bad will happen to you- you get to go play hockey and people probably won't even know it's yours!"

"Wait- why not?" He removed his hand from my knee, which I mentally grieved. "Why won't people know?"

"I thought you wouldn't want anyone to know," I whispered under my breath, wrapping my arms around my leg.

To my surprise, he grabbed my hand, and it was reminiscent of our night together. But we weren't on the dance floor, I was crying in his truck, reaping the consequences of our actions. "If you go down with this, I'm going with you."

I had to resist the urge to kiss him right then and there. Unfortunately, I was so overwhelmed with my emotions that I just started sobbing harder. Gray pulled me into a hug, my head going into his soft chest. He played with my hair as I sobbed, slightly rocking me back and forth. "Shh.. It'll be okay. We'll go get milkshakes if you want to."

I sniffed and nodded into his sweatshirt.

I sat up straight and buckled my seatbelt. Gray started up his truck and we drove out of the parking lot, being the last to leave. His hand never left mine.