10 more chapters left before All She Ever Needed is finished...

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Aʟʟ I Eᴠᴇʀ Nᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ
Chapter 20 - Saved

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The moment the group walked into their homeroom class Friday morning, they just knew something was off.

Maybe it was just because Porlyusica wasn't there like she usually would be when they entered, or maybe because of the few boys in their class who were lifting up their shirts immaturely.

But no, it was neither of those reasons. Because 1, Porlyusica was a teacher and had the right to not be there at that moment, and 2, there was no reason for number two. Just boys being boys.

However, it was the fact that the uneasiness was coming from one specific spot in the room, on one specific girl, who looked more paler than she usually was.

Juvia. She looked as if she was given a portion of food that she hated, which made her vomit all of her insides.

Her eyes, which were shallow and unreadable, were pinpointed straight ahead of her, as her hands were softly placed on her stomach indicating that that certain spot was erupting with pain. Along with that, she also visibly shook.

She looked...sick. Like majorly sick--about to throw up sick. An exact reason she should be at home. Which, why wasn't she there? Even a not-so-smart person could agree she looked rough as if she were getting greener by the second.

However, the girl probably had no choice to come to school.

"Is she okay?" Lucy whispered to herself, looking carefully with worry in her eyes at Juvia.

Juvia's hair was disheveled, and her outfit was out of place, with buttons in the wrong places, skirt, and tights uneven, and above all, she looked green.

"I don't think so," Natsu replied back to Lucy, looking at Juvia as well.

Lucy frowned, "what do you think happened?"

"Well, she's sick, that's normal."

Lucy deadpanned at Natsu's snarky reply, smacking him upside the head "I know that, dummy! But there must be something else..."

"Whatever happened, we can all agree it was her father's doing." Gray said with a scowl, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his pants "let's just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't pass out."

The 4 nodded in agreement, making their way to their seats. And as some of the 4 started to chat, they kept a careful eye on Juvia, making sure she was going to be alright.

Every second that passed, the more green Juvia got. Her eyes were slowly opening and closing, drifting in and out of sleep, her brain only relocating itself back into reality once pain struck her insides.

And as Gray watched her, the more angrier he got. What could her father have done this time to make Juvia look so shaken up? Juvia looked as if she were being stabbed with every movement she made. Whatever her father had done must've affected Juvia in a way that made her look like...death.

Anyone that looked at her could've possibly thought she had risen from the dead. That's how rough she looked. She barely spent time that very morning to look presentable like most of the girls did in their school.

A few seconds before the bell rang, signaling the long day of school starting, Juvia's head finally had relaxed on her desk, she looking as if she had just entered heaven with the weight off of her head.

But thanks to Porlyusica, her head shot up and she looked just as sick as she did before.

"Okay students, open up to page 39 in your health book and wait for further instruction. Juvia?" Porlyusica spoke out, slightly narrowing her eyes at the just called girl.

Juvia looked at the teacher in a daze, not sure what was teacher and what was just a blur. But whatever it was, she looked straight forward, trying to seem a-okay

"Y-Yes?" along with her shaking body, her voice shook too, signaling mighty sickness.

Porlyusica continued to eye Juvia as if something was wrong, but after a while of silence settling in and eyes burning into Juvia's skin, the teacher sighed. "Would you be willing to start off reading?"

Juvia looked as if she had been shot after the question Porlyusica had asked seeped into her mind--as if she was frightened to read.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Y-Yes M-ma'am... Juvia can r-r-read..." the girl picked up her book as her eyes tried to focus, but was just in a blur.

She could barely keep her eyes open, "In order to r-remain?" she guessed the blurred word, "h-healthy, you must k-keep a stable...crocodile?"

The whole class laughed at the girls' error in reading, causing Porlyusica to abrupt with anger "My goodness child, have you been stricken dumb?! Just read!"

"...sorry..." Juvia said in a hushed whisper, gaining red to her cheeks as she continued to read, more shake in her voice "a s-s-stable m-mind and s-s-stay clear-r-r of a-any..." her mind drifted off, dropping to the side to then shoot back up, "g-g-g-g-germs-"

"Porlyusica, I can read for her." Gray interrupted Juvia, not being able to take any more of the empathy he had for Juvia.

The teacher just glared at her grandson "oh hush Gray, she was reading just fine."

"Um, no. She wasn't." Natsu cut in, reclining in his seat as he pointed his thumb at Juvia "she was reading like she never had done so before. She's obviously sick, cut her some slack and let Gray read for her."

"Fine..." Porlyusica gave in, massaging her temples "go ahead, Gray. And Juvia, try to keep up."

Juvia nodded as relief washed over her, and once Gray started to read, the nerve was gone--and in replace of it was her sickness she had.

Gray read the passage he was supposed to, but somewhere in between, he paused, after an abrupt slam came from Juvia's desk, scaring all of the students.

Once his eyes laid on Juvia, he knew something bad was about to happen.

"What is it now, Juvia?!" Porlyusica complained impatiently, stomping her foot as she laid eyes on Juvia, who had her hand clamped over her mouth. Her book, which was the cause of the slam, now on the ground.

"J-J-Juvia--" but before she could finish her sentence, she made a sound that implied she was about to puke. And before Porlyusica could react, Juvia had run out of homeroom.

Her destination: the bathroom.

"Juvia!" Porlyusica called after, setting her health book down and heading for the door. At the same time, Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Levy, and Erza stood to go and help their acquaintance.

However, with a quick glare from the teacher, they sat back down "Erza, make sure everyone reads that entire page to themselves. I'll be right back."

And with that, Juvia and the teacher were out of the class with just a snap of one's fingers.

And as the rest of homeroom drew out, Porlyusica nor Juvia had returned to class.

Their whereabouts were unknown, and the uncertainty of whether or not Juvia was alright killed Gray.

As soon as the bell rang, students of Porlyusica's homeroom class stood up in silence.

The scene of Juvia running out of the classroom in horror ran through everyone's minds, and although she was a Fiorean, they felt bad for her.

No one wanted to be sick at school.

"Hey," Gray said to his friends as he stepped out of class, them beginning to walk to their next class.

Erza smiled, but cut to the chase "what could've happened with Juvia?"

"No clue..." Levy said honestly, tucking the book she had in her arms. "Maybe it's just a virus and not because of her father..."

Gray nodded, holding onto his chin in question "Should we go to one of the bathrooms and check if she's there?"

"Yes! I so want to skip class!" Natsu beamed, jumping for joy as Lucy oddly laughed.

"Would we make it to class on time if we went?" Levy asked, and as soon as she did, Gajeel walked passed. Levy shyly waved, gaining a half-assed wave back from Gajeel.

Erza paused her stride to face her friends "we do have those hall passes to use--which we got specifically for Juvia."

"Fair point," Lucy now tapped her chin, biting her lower lip as if trying to gain knowledge of something "let's go?"

Everyone pulled out their hall pass all at once with a smile and turned around, heading for the nearest girl's bathroom.

However, as soon as they turned around, the intercom beeped.

"Gray Fullbuster, please come down to the front office. Gray Fullbuster, down to the front office. Thank you~!"

"What did you do, Icicle?" Natsu mocked, smirking devilishly at his frenemy.

Gray just faltered a glare, showing with his eyes just how much he hated Natsu at that moment "...I don't know."

"Well, better get down there," Erza commented, "we'll still search for Juvia and tell you if we find her."

They all began to walk off, leaving Gray standing alone.

"Good luck, Gray!" Lucy yelled as they all disappeared from Gray's sight.

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In the office, Gray walked to the front desk. The lady, whom had called Gray down, typed furiously on her computer, focusing solely on the electronic.

"Hey, um-?" Gray said aloud, leaning his body weight on the surface of the desk "I'm Gray Fullbuster."

"Yes, dear, I know." she said in a sweet voice, standing from her seat "Your Grandma has asked to see you by the nurse's office."

Gray hated how most of the faculty associated him with Porlyusica.

They were only related by law, not blood.

What made him all the more furious was the obvious fact that the old woman talked about him to all of her 'work friends.'

"Okay," he turned around and headed for the nurse's office, located down a hallway in the front office.

The walk to the room was painful, with Gray not knowing what the hell was going to happen.

He only knew that the reason Porlyusica wanted to see him was centered around Juvia. It certainly was. No other thing could explain it.

The moment he reached his destination, the door swung open and out came Porlyusica, who only slammed the door behind her.

"Oh, it's you..." she said in disgust, leaning her back up against the nurses' room door.

Gray only glared, "what do you mean 'it's you'?! You were the one who called me down!"

"I do not like this attitude, Gray. Only because we're family doesn't make you good enough to yell at me." Porlyusica looked as if she were about to discipline Gray, but held back "it'd be a shame to get detention from your grandma."

Except--it had happened before.

Gray was skipping one of his classes during Junior year one day. He was on the roof of Magnolia Highschool, watching the sky as his mind was overcome with thoughts.

He could not, in fact, stand to last another hour in school. He needed home, sleep, and food--all things school was not, did not allow, and obviously had no skill in.

Unlucky for him, he sneezed, at the worst possible time. Ever.

Because, right as soon as he sneezed, Porlyusica just so happened to walk out of the school building to get the well needed fresh air.

She heard his little noise, searched the roof, and eventually found Gray behind a protruding wall.

Needless to say, she gave Gray detention for skipping class. However, that was not the only thing she did.

Unfortunately, Silver was informed by Porlyusica herself about his son being caught skipping, which led the angered father to ground Gray for at least two weeks. For skipping class.

Naturally, the father would have told Gray a simple 'Suck it up and go to class. Stop this behavior.' but apparently, he wasn't himself that day.

Maybe it was because Silver knew his mother-in-law would ground him, of sorts, because he didn't do good discipline. But whatever the reason, it sure did teach Gray a lesson--

If you're going to skip class, do so when your step-grandma had her teaching period.

"Whatever," Gray said, not in the mood to argue "what do you need?"

"Well," Porlyusica paused as she took off the glasses she usually wore once she was getting down to business "you're friends with Miss Lockser, correct?"

Gray only nodded, folding his arms aggravatingly.

"Doesn't seem like it," Porlyusica paused once more as she studied her grandson "it seems the past few months you've been in a fight. And even today when I invited you to come and talk, she asked if I and you could do so out of my office."

"Oh?"

"Yes... I would've usually never given in to a girl like her, but I was feeling pitiful..."

"Is she okay, at least?" Gray put it simply, wanting to head to class ASAP.

Porlyusica shook her head, frowning a bit "she has a pretty high fever and I found her puking in the bathroom after I ran out after her... And it seems she has been vomiting all night long because her throat is burned."

'Ouch...' was all Gray thought, along with the thoughts of how much he wanted to beat up Dave.

"Anyway... She has been in and out of consciousness and needs to be at home. I was going to call her residence while you watched over her but-"

"NO-!"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean..."

If Juvia went home, that'd mean she'd get hurt more by Dave.

But if she stayed at school...she'd definitely be miserable all day.

Not to mention she'd also be such an easy target for those everyday bullies she had.

Gray was stuck in a hole. He knew she had to go somewhere. She just had to. But where?

And it's not like Gray could be straightforward and tell his relative by law that 'Juvia's father abuses her at home like some animal, so maybe send her to a hospital where she is completely safe from Dave's hands.'

No, that'd be an even bigger reason for Juvia not to talk to Gray ever again for the rest of her life span.

It was per her request that no adult found out about her problems at home because if her father were to go to jail, Juvia would have...nothing.

The first thing that came to Gray's mind was what he told Porlyusica, and normally it'd be all messed up if he didn't even think it through, but apparently, the universe had a plan "her father is...out of town. Y-yeah! So, for now, she's staying at Meredy Maverick's home. It'd be best to call there instead."

"Really?" the old woman asked, looking at Gray as if he were some alien.

Gray was about to faint. He could've sworn the look on Porlyusica's face meant she wasn't buying his crap.

And if she didn't buy his obvious lie, then he'd have no choice but to tell the truth. And if he told the truth that'd mean no more Juvia, and if there was no more Juvia that'd mean no more happiness, and with no happiness--

"Alright. I'll call the Maverick home instead." the Grandma of his turned around and twisted the doorknob, turning her head back over her shoulder before walking back into the room "thanks for your help. Now, get to class."

Gray nodded nervously. Smiling as he had never smiled before in his life "yes Ma'am."

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When her name was called down to the office, Meredy was puzzled.

Her hand was interlocked with Lyon's as of then, being walked to her class for third period.

They were talking when her name came over the intercom, and after deciling Lyon's offer to walk her to the office, she was off to where she was being summoned.

To be honest? She had no clue why she was called down. She hadn't asked her Aunt to bring her anything, let alone anyone else, so the pinkette was completely at a loss.

"I was just called down," she said upon arrival, smiling unsuringly.

The woman at the desk who had called the girl down, just smiled back "Meredy, right?"

With a simple head nod from Meredy's part, the secretary pointed towards the hallway in the room. "Ms. Porlyusica has asked to speak with you in the nurse's office."

"Okay?"

Meredy never really talked with Porlyusica before. The teacher didn't even know the girl, for goodness sakes.

The only things she knew about the specific teacher was that she was, well, a teacher. Of Magnolia Highschool, who Juvia had gotten for homeroom by mistake. On top of that, she was also the school nurse, and Gray Fullbuster's grandma.

She walked hastily to her location, nervously taking a step into the office she was needed in.

And once inside, her eyes went big.

"Juvia!"

There her best friend was, laying on the nurses' room bed, looking paler and sick. She had a washcloth over her forehead, and her cheeks were majorly flushed.

Juvia looked as if she had just been in the heat of a hot, summer day. Not to mention that she also looked like she'd been through hell.

Go figure why Meredy hadn't seen her bestie that morning.

When she arrived at the school, Juvia was not in their usual meeting spot, leading Meredy to think the girl either wasn't there or had already gone to class.

"Don't scream so loud, you'll wake her." a calm demanding voice drew out, causing Meredy to jump a little and turn around to see the teacher who wanted to see her "You're Meredy, correct?"

"That is me. What happened to my friend!?" Meredy didn't have time to beat around the bush. She needed to know if Juvia was going to survive.

"Hold on, child. Goodness..." Porlyusica rolled her eyes as she slowly got closer to Juvia, rearranging the cloth on Juvia's forehead, "your friend here is sick. Deathly sick, and needs to head home."

Meredy formed her mouth into the form of an 'o' looking at Juvia in a worrisome way.

"But when I called your home, your parent figure sounded confused."

Meredy was puzzled again, "huh?"

Porlyusica rose her brow, aggravatingly staring into Meredy's soul "she is staying in your home as of now because of her father being away, correct?"

Dave? Away from the house? How rare...but not possible to happen.

Either the old woman was delusional (which would add to Meredy's running list of things about Porlyusica), or she was fed a white lie from someone...

...who knew what would happen if Juvia went home early.

Aha! That's it, Meredy had it figured out.

The only person who Porlyusica could even as to tryst was her own relative, Gray. Gray Fullbuster.

But why would someone of the sorts save Juvia, after creating that nasty social media page about her?

So many things that day confused Meredy to no end.

"-O-Oh! Right! Sorry, I forgot!!" Meredy awkwardly laughed while fidgeting, "how silly of me, forgetting that my best friend was staying at my house for the time being. Hahahaha-ha..."

Meredy was trying to laugh it out, but the rumored moody teacher was just faltering a glare her way. "...anyway... Your Aunt said she couldn't pick Juvia up, so she checked you out of school to take her home and take care of her. "

Meredy just smiled, "alright..."

"You'll have to help her out to your car, but for now while we wait for her to wake up--are you, friends, with my grandson?"

Were they friends? As of now, no. Absolutely not.

But Meredy was rethinking things because someone who sought out to ruin Juvia's life was being awful nice.

"I am?"

Porlyusica sneered, "was that a question? 

Meredy just shook her head nervously, "w-w-we're friends. Sort of? Kind of. Yeah... it's complicated."

"Oh," Porlyusica removed the washcloth from Juvia's skin, walking it over to the sink before dropping it in as Juvia stirred from sleep "so you're apart of the drama, too?"

"Drama?"

But before further questions could be asked, Juvia's eyes squinted open, starring straight up to the ceiling as Meredy appeared by her side in a jiffy.

"Juvia! What happened to you?!" Meredy screamed, putting her hand over her best friends head, to then retract it right back after being burned by Juvia's severe burning head.

Sneering once more, Porlyusica scrunched her nose "inside voices, Missy!"

"...Sorry"

"J-J-Juvia d-doesn't...know..." the sick girl spoke in a groggy tone, softly moving her leg to a more comfortable position.

Smiling down at her friend, Meredy giggled "that's okay. We're gonna get you home--to my home if that's okay with you." with a wink and a silent 'go along with it because I'm saving your butt' Juvia smiled back.

"Y-Yeah"

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After the third period ended, Gray was off to lunch. But before he could make it to the cafetorium, his phone buzzed.

He pulled out the electronic device from his pocket, staring at the bright screen in question to see a text message. From a person he less expected it to be from...

-

From: Meredy
To: Gray

Thanks.
Friday, 11:49a.m

-

The text, to anyone else, wouldn't have made any sense. But to Gray, it immediately clicked in his mind why he was being thanked.

It was because of Juvia--for saving her as he had done.

She was saved from her father for the meantime--all thanks to Gray.

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Juvia's mood in the past chapters ^