╔═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════╗

Aʟʟ I Eᴠᴇʀ Nᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ
Chapter 23 - Seclusion

╚═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════╝

"She has no other injuries besides her cheek," Porlyusica stated, putting ice in a bag as she tied it up immediately after. She walked it over to where Juvia sat on the nurse's room bed, handing it to the girl carefully and moving her hand to help her put it on her swollen, red cheek. "Keep it there until I tell you to remove it."

Juvia nodded her head in response, leaning against the wall as she let the cold feeling soothe her cheek.

Ever since they had gotten there, she never spoke a single word. It was as if she had lost her voice, not knowing where it was in her numb mind. It was extremely quiet in that room, and Juvia could only feel the tension as Meredy sat in a chair by the bed, and Gray stood leaning against the wall, inspecting the situation.

"I will be back. I need to get Makarov." Porlyusica wiped her hands on a cloth before turning towards the door to leave. She walked passed Gray and immediately looked him dead in the eyes "Make her feel comfortable, and if you can, try to make her talk." she said it so seriously, she made Gray feel overwhelmed. But it wasn't anything he could help... Porlyusica then left to go retrieve the principal as said by herself.

The silence returned as soon as Porlyusica closed the door.

Really, the only thing heard was the soft breathing the three made, and the sound of ice clashing together every time Juvia moved her hand which held the ice bag.

Although Gray was told to make Juvia talk, he didn't know how he could. What was there to talk about? He couldn't just bring up the certain activities that happened during lunch--no, that would hurt Juvia. And Gray couldn't just steer the topic to a different subject because that would just be showing he didn't care (but he did). And, above all, the two girls in that room hated him because of some silly assumption he and his other friends had made a social media account about Juvia.

Gray was at a loss, but he had the desire to make her talk. He needed to hear Juvia say it herself that she was okay. And at that point, he didn't see it happening.

Breaking the silence for Gray after an eternity, Meredy smiled a fake one "Are you okay, Juvia?" her voice was shallow, shaking as if just talking would make her cry again. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks were stained with the tears for a friend.

Juvia nodded, looking over at Meredy with nothing in her eyes that could show she was alright "why wouldn't I be?"

Meredy shrugged her shoulders, looking at the ground as if searching for something to say. It was obvious to her, and even Gray, that Juvia was anything but okay. And the girl seemed to be playing it off cool, which made Meredy all the more worrisome. She frowned, not knowing what to do at a moment like that one.

Observing Meredy losing her smile while looking towards the ground after Juvia began talking did a number on her swollen heart. Her broken mind began assuming she made Meredy sad, which in return made Juvia feel even worse.

A shadow casted over Juvia's eyes as her heart ached even more "I'm sorry..." her voice was hollow, showing every ounce of her sorrow within as both Gray and Meredy looked her way. She was looking down, both hands on her lap as the discarded iced bag fell onto the floor with a crash.

The girl's whole body began to shake, causing both Meredy and Gray to prepare if they needed to do anything to help her. She was rattling uncontrollably while both hands were clasped together. She looked towards them in despair.

"Why are you sorry?" Meredy asked, looking at Juvia as she hoped the girl would just look up at her to get stronger.

"Because...I-I made you worry...and you shouldn't be worrying about me..." along with her whole body shaking, her voice was, too. "I don't need to be cared for."

Meredy looked offended, "What?" she asked dangerously, raising her voice an octave which caused Juvia to tense up "Why shouldn't we care for you?"

As if suddenly, Juvia looked up with nothing coming from her eyes - Gray had to admit he was half expecting her to have tears in her eyes, but the girl didn't. It was as if she had run out of tears.

"Because I'm a nuisance...no one should care or worry about me. I'm just--useless..."

Meredy stood up suddenly, causing the discarded chair to move back a couple of inches "you are not useless, Juvia!"

"Then what am I?" Juvia questioned further, straightening up as her lip quivered, looking at Meredy with an expressed question. She really wanted to know the answer to that one.

"Anything but useless!"

"That doesn't say anything!"

This was a first for Gray to see the two best friends 'fighting'. He didn't know if the two were actually bickering or having a flattery war, but whatever it was, the two never fought, like, ever. That had Gray worrying. Their half shouting voices made Gray tense, and he was prepared to step in if he needed to.

With a shaky breath, Meredy looked at Juvia with seriousness "what has gotten into you?! Ever since the thing with Gray and his friends happened, you haven't been yourself! And now that Lucinda broke into your brain and completely shattered it, you're giving in to the depressive thoughts!" tears fell from Meredy's eyes as Juvia quivered, looking at her friend with complete sorrow. "Why? What happened to the brave, carefree, and happy Juvia!?"

At this rate, Gray's presence wasn't even there.

"She's gone..." Juvia said with the softest of smiles, "she's become a helpless lump of garbage that everyone kicks over and hates."

Meredy clenched her fists, "stop."

"I hurt countless people, broken many hearts, and I just don't deserve to live." she took the words straight out of Lucinda's mouth, rambling on about her life being so sucky.

"Stop." Meredy said once more, clenching her fists tighter as she looked towards the ground.

Juvia shook her head, ignoring Meredy's plea "I'm the reason people hate me. I'm the reason I was beaten up--and I deserved it."

"Shut up..."

Gray was over the top ready to break in.

"I'm hurting, I'm broken, and I'm sad all because of some petty choice I made to leave my friends who only cared for me!" Juvia shouted, being completely serious with all her words.

"I SAID STOP!" Meredy couldn't stop her hand from swinging back and smacking Juvia in the same spot Lucinda had. Her anger had gotten the best of her.

Although it hurt to be smacked twice in the same spot, Juvia didn't care about it. She just stared numbly at her friend who was also shocked at what she had done.

She smacked Juvia only to knock some sense into the girl and to get her to stop tearing herself apart, not because she was angry at her.

Although in the same spot Lucinda had hit, it had meant something totally different.

Gray stopped leaning against the wall as he walked up to Meredy, grabbing hold of her arm just in case she planned to knock some more sense into Juvia.

"You're not useless. Why don't you believe me!? You're anything but useless, why can't you see that?" Meredy sobbed, "Juvia, you are an awesome girl who deserves puppies and rainbows and not sadness...you deserve love and comfort... So stop tearing yourself down! I hate seeing you this way...I really do... So, keep your chin up, please. I love you..."

At the sentimental sentences Meredy had since spoken out, Juvia smiled a sad one, letting the stinging feeling of her cheek resonate along her whole face "you shouldn't love me..."

Meredy looked at Juvia with complete sadness, breathing in heavily as she tried to hold back the tears that kept on falling. She had to hold back her other hand not being held down by Gray. The girl right in front of her was making her so angry that she wasn't listening...

Gray wanted to say something, anything to break the tension...but he felt that if he did speak up, he'd just be intervening.

He wanted more than anything to join Meredy in telling Juvia she was worth it and a total blessing in his life, but how...? If he spoke, he threatened to break their moment. They'd probably also not want to hear his voice, too.

Whatever, he just needed to say something.

He opened his mouth to do just what he wanted, but it was too late... The door of the nurse's office swung open and Porlyusica walked in again, this time with Makarov, before Gray could join in.

Meredy looked towards the door as she wiped her tears, immediately leaping into action.

She bent down to grab the ice bag that was supposed to still be on Juvia's face. After handing the bag to Juvia, Juvia grabbed it and replaced it on her cheek as the pinkette walked over to her school bag and put it on, walking passed Gray to head out of the door with hurried steps, leaving the room with no words.

Gray looked from Juvia to the door Meredy had just left from, deciding then and there to do the same.

Looking at his grandma as if saying goodbye, he left out of the door, leaving the office just like Meredy had done.

Speaking of the girl...he followed after her. His plan before was spoiled, and he still wanted to talk with Juvia, but at the moment he had his cousin's girlfriend to take care of.

"What was that all about?" Makarov asked, to which Porlyusica shrugged.

"The fewer people I have to deal with the better."

══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══

Ever since the other day, Juvia hadn't been the same.

She secluded herself from the world, talking to no one but teachers--only if she needed too. No one heard her voice unless you were a lucky contestant, which was unlikely because when Gray says she's not talking to anyone, he meant it. Juvia was as speechless as a doll.

Gray felt awful for her, and he bet she felt just the same. She shouldn't have been put through what had happened Monday, and Gray hated himself for not going to the lunchroom that day. Somewhere deep inside of him on Monday said to not do as Porlyusica asked, but knowing he would've gotten his ass whooped wasn't the best thing to even think about.

So, he went, and immediately after seeing Juvia so hurt, he regretted ever deciding to go. If he would've been there...he could've saved her. He could've saved himself from worrying about Juvia day in and day out.

But above all, he was concerned about one person other than Juvia herself: Meredy.

Due to what happened in the nurse's office, the two girls stood as only acquaintances rather than friends--which was pretty sad if you asked Gray. Meredy and Juvia were combined at the hip, so just seeing how they weren't talking made Gray feel sorry for the both of them.

Along with Meredy getting the silent treatment, obviously Lyon and Jellal were getting it, too, no matter how hard they tried to talk with her.

Just that morning Gray was roaming the hallways to clear his head when he passed Juvia, hugging herself as Meredy, Lyon, and Jellal silently walked behind her. It made Gray feel a little bit better to see that they were still friends caring for one another, but it was as if the three teens were being shunned as a consequence of doing something Juvia didn't like.

With only a smile, Lyon and Jellal greeted Gray as he passed, nodding their heads to notify Gray everything was alright. They let him know silently that even though the girl had gone mute, she was all safe in their hands.

Like most days had gone for the past 3 months, Juvia didn't talk in homeroom. But when it came to the classes she usually chatted with someone? She still stayed silent, and everyone left her alone.

By then most knew about the incident thanks to Bora and Totomaru spreading the news. While some felt bad, others still believed the girl totally deserved it as a consequence of her decisions. The saddest part to it was that they couldn't shut up about it, because a lot of people had bugged the bluenette that Tuesday.

"How's it going, crybaby? You doing okay?" Sting asked with a snicker, obviously not serious about his question, following Juvia to her next class as Rogue and Yukino followed behind "You gonna cry again today?"

"Sting, just leave her alone..." Yukino pleaded, deadpanning as soon as Sting turned around and stuck his tongue out at her.

The nerve of that guy...

"Fine." deliberately, Yukino grabbed hold of Sting's blonde hair, violently pulling him away from Juvia who only continued to walk off as if nothing had happened.

Sting struggled as he tried forcing Yukino to release him, but her hand just wouldn't move "let me go, goddammit!"

"I will only do that if you promise not to bug Juvia anymore!" Yukino said seriously, clenching her hands tighter around his hair as he continued to pry her hands with no luck.

"Ugh, why do you have to be so nice all the time?!"

Not only was it at school that Juvia stayed silent and pretended she was in her own little world, but at work, too.

She somehow asked her boss if she could just wipe down tables today, and not thinking much of it, he said yes. However, if he only knew she asked just so she could not talk to their customers, he wouldn't have let her. Juvia was their best waitress and often got the café piling with cash, but without her serving, they wouldn't be gaining much that day.

But it didn't matter at the moment--whatever Juvia wanted Yajima would deliver.

"Dang, she's even secluding herself from work." Natsu said as he reclined in his usual seat, his arms cradling his head from behind since the booth wasn't doing much justice.

Lucy just shook her head, "Poor Juvia... I wonder what she's thinking right now..."

"Is she even thinking?" Natsu asked, looking at Lucy who was sitting right next to him, Erza and Gray on the other side "I kinda think she would also leave her thoughts silent."

"Of course not! She'd have to be super skilled because absolutely no one can keep their mind quiet." Lucy almost wanted to smack Natsu upside the head for being such a dolt, but she decided against it. He'd just throw a fit. "Especially you." she knocked on his head as if a door, asking for permission to open up and see the wires turning and spinning, doing their job within--that is if there were any in his head.

Natsu wasn't buying it. He scrunched his face as he and Lucy held eye contact for a good minute before the girl turned away from embarrassment. "What?" she questioned softly.

"Sure it's possible, Luce."

"Well if it's possible why don't you give it a try?" Lucy fought back.

"That's a good way to make the Pyro be quiet, Lucy." Gray complimented, making Natsu angrier as Lucy giggled.

"Shut up, Ice freak!" Natsu folded his arms, looking over to Lucy after getting over what Gray said "just watch me. I'll not think."

Lucy just sat back and enjoyed the show, watching as Natsu stared at the table with wide eyes, trying his best to keep his mind silent.

After a few seconds of trying, Natsu started sweating--how that was possible, Lucy had no clue. It confused the blonde to see him start sweating out of his pores because as far as she was concerned, this wasn't a sport. And who sweats while trying not to think?

Suddenly, he just popped, dropping his head on the table with a thud "I can't do it... All I can think about is food..." he said weakly, acting as if he had just gotten out of a car with his motion sickness.

"Classic..."

"Here's your food," Ultear said as she gave each plate to the respective person who ordered it, smiling to each of her acquaintances.

"GODDESS! You read my mind, Ultimate milk sandwich!" Natsu started chowing down, ignoring all of the corrections to Ultear's last name.

After going on a tangent about him saying her simple name so wrong, Ultear just breathed out. "I know I'm not as good as Juvia, but I hope my serving skills were okay. I was asked by Yajima to take her place and give her my table job. Anyway, anyone know what's up with her? Meredy won't tell me."

Erza just shook her head, deeply frowning as she looked up at Ultear "some things with school... Yesterday didn't go so great for her."

"Oh no," Ultear said in panic, "was it that bad that she had to resort to going mute?"

"I guess so," Gray said to his cousin, folding his arms as he looked past some people to where Juvia stood, washing down a table with a frown on her face "She hasn't talked to anyone all day."

Ultear smiled in challenge, "oh? I bet I can try. She can't just skip out on our usual girl talk! I'm like an older sister to her."

"Good luck trying, Dumbo." Gray cockily smiled, ignoring Ultear's 'You shouldn't call me that name if you're one of them yourself' speech. It never got old to hear those exact same words play from her mouth.

"Watch me." with that, the older woman walked away, fully set on proving her dumb cousin wrong...oh how much she underestimated Juvia's ability not to speak.

Immediately after walking away from her cousins' table, she went straight to Juvia's side, forgetting all about the job she was supposed to be doing at the moment. But that didn't matter--if no one could get Juvia to talk, it would be Ultear who could get her to do so.

"Hey, Juvia! You're looking all bright and cute this evening, aren't ya?"

...no response...

"Say, it was warmer today than it has been since winter started months ago. I cannot wait to pull out my favorite shorts and tan again!"

...again, there was no response. It was just Juvia walking to each unoccupied table to wipe each down sanitarily, rubbing in circular motions every time she sprayed the bottle filled with cleaning detergent.

"Well, um...you're offly quiet... Mind telling good ol' Ultear what's up?" she was at a complete loss, hoping Gray had forgotten about the little challenge they had going on "rather, what's wrong?"

Juvia ignored the girl, keeping a straight face and no eye contact as she turned around, walking straight passed Ultear to yet another table...

The older woman stepped back, "okay, then...um, good talking to you--! Juvia..."

She turned around, walking away from the silent bluenette as she skipped passed Gray's table. She heard him chuckle her way and could feel his eyes burning into her, silently saying "I told ya you couldn't crack her."

Gray was right all along...

══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══

Later that evening, the Café closed for the night, leaving the building to be empty with no customers, and hardly any employees. The only ones left inside were the owner of that tiny, cute café, Yajima, and Juvia. They were just about to lock up.

"You okay?" Yajima asked as he opened the door for Juvia to exit out of first, closing it when she and then himself exited the place, locking it right after.

"Yeah...why wouldn't I be?" Juvia questioned, clasping her hands in front of her body as she looked to Yajima in question.

The old man stepped down one of the stairs leading to the Café doors as he looked at his worker with worry, "for starters, your normal third-person P.O.V you usually talk to me with is gone," Juvia covered her mouth "and you barely chatted with your coworkers today, especially Meredy and Ultear who you generally laugh and spend time with. What's going on?"

Juvia looked towards the green grass brimming the sidewalks, wondering how her own boss had noticed her unusual shift in personality. It wasn't like it was hard to notice, anyway, but still. How the old man caught on so quickly was beyond Juvia.

"Nothing...I-Juvia-" she corrected "is totally fine." she tried convincing her boss and was just about to give in and tell him the truth when he sighed.

"If you say so..." he hopped off the last step as he walked slowly down the sidewalk to where his car was, turning around to Juvia with a wave "goodnight, Juvia. Sleep well."

"She'll try-" she waved him off, smiling friendly as she watched his car pull away. And once his car made a left and completely got out of her sight, Juvia immediately sighed.

The day was finally over.

Juvia had to admit to herself that it was quite difficult to keep her mouth shut all day, but it was okay. She had to do what was necessary.

The girl stood there for a few more seconds before deciding to head to her own car. She walked to it slowly, taking her sweet time as her shoes clicked against the hard pavement.

Her hands swung back and forth as she walked, a soft smile adorning her face. She swore if anyone from school saw her actually looking happy for once she would never return to the horrible place again. That was the only time that day that she had seemed happy, while within she was still hurting. But whatever--no one cared about her wellness, or should, anyway.

Once arriving at her car, she inserted the key before entering, sitting down immediately after with yet another sigh of relief.

The day was over and she could finally go home, be at a place where she didn't have to put invisible duck tape over her mouth or a wall surrounding her emotions; although she would totally stay silent at home, too, she would much rather not be killed by her father who could only take her silence as a reason to hit her.

While she sat there, thinking about her day and how hard it was to put on a fake facąde, she was oblivious to the car right behind her holding four specific school students who were set on following the girl home.

"This is wrong..." Lucy said as she folded her arms, sitting in the back seat of Gray's car with Natsu "We shouldn't be stalking her."

"It's not stalking, Luce..." Natsu folded his arms, too, mimicking his friend's behavior "it's just watching over a friend stealthily without her knowing."

"Stalking," Lucy smiled at her dumb friend in a sassy manner, not wishing he were smarter in any way "you just gave a clear definition of being a stalker."

Natsu blew his lips together, making an airplane sound unattemptedly "oh, whatever. We were asked to do this anyway, and you agreed to it, Lucy." taking his hand, Natsu placed it atop of Lucy's head as he messed up her hair by rubbing it.

"I see your trouble, Lucy." Erza joined in on the conversation the two were having amidst of them waiting for Juvia to drive off, "It is wrong to be quote on quote 'stalking' her, but what we're doing is for a good cause."

"Thank you!" Lucy exhaled as she pointed at Erza, smiling cleverly at the boy beside her "There's at least someone else in here with a full brain."

"What about me?" Gray joined in, turning around to stare at Lucy with a knowing smirk.

Lucy held eye contact with the boy for a good second before clearing her throat "I honestly don't know most days... Sometimes it seems like there is a full brain in that head of yours, but the other times you totally show you have half of one."

Natsu burst with laughter, "haha! She just called you stupid, droopy eyes!"

"Hey, she did the same to you minutes ago, flame brain!" Gray fought back, which sparked a heated argument.

However, the fight didn't go on forever due to Erza clearing her throat, which had caught their attention "Juvia's driving away."

Gray looked back to see no car in front of him. "Shit," he started his car immediately, pulling out of his parking space to catch up behind Juvia.

"There is no turning back now..." Lucy sighed, looking out of the window as she chose to continue talking, "what if Juvia finds out that we're watching her? What if she finds it creepy enough to report it to the police? What if--"

"Lucy," Natsu said seriously, turning towards the blonde, and as soon as she looked his way, he clamped his hand over her rambling mouth "enough of the 'what ifs', we'll be fine. She'll know deep down that we had good intentions. Plus, with Gray-Sama here, there is no way she'd report us."

As Gray shook his head at Natsu's dumb statement, Lucy removed his hand from her mouth, moving the discarded hand to her lap as she held it unknowingly "whatever... But if she does end up telling the police, I am not getting blamed for this."

"U-m y-y-yeah...w-w-well I-uh I think we s-should b-b-blame it on P-P-Porlyusica..." Natsu's face was unusually red, splattering out what was supposed to be a normally said sentence, but he was too distracted by what Lucy was doing.

Looking back to see why Natsu was stuttering so much, Erza immediately smirked at the scene, looking from Lucy to the pinkette. At the stare the redhead gave, Lucy finally looked to where Erza was smirking at, blushing herself as she saw the situation she got herself into.

"OH!" she threw Natsu's hand out of hers, moving her legs so they weren't so close to Natsu "Um, y-yeah! We can blame her for sure-!"

The rest of the car ride was spent in awkward silence for the two. Natsu looked out his window, while Lucy looked out of hers. The two "love-birds" had made it overwhelmingly quiet, but Gray couldn't complain. He had to hand it to Lucy for getting Natsu to shut up yet again that day.

They followed Juvia for a while, keeping track of the streets she turned on until finally, they seemed to had made it to their location.

Juvia pulled into a driveway of a decently small-sized home, and right after she did so, Gray pulled to the opposite side of the street to park.

The girl stepped out of her car unsteadily as Gray and the others watched, making sure it was, in fact, Juvia's home. Keep in mind, none of the Magnolian's had ever seen Juvia's home before and it looked...unusually clean.

From what Gray and the others have heard, Juvia lived a crappy life. So, if you had a crappy life you must've had a crappy home, too--but that was wrong.

Although the small home looked to be run down and on its last leg, the grass was unseemingly taken care of and properly managed. And as far as the teens were concerned, Dave never left the house, so it couldn't be him who takes care of it. Was it Juvia? A neighbor? Who knew, but the group was blown away with its cleanliness.

Juvia, after stepping out of the car, stretched. She moved to grab her keys - dangling from a lanyard - placed on the seat previously sat on. With the keys in hand, Juvia shut and locked the car, walking hesitantly up the steps of her home to the doorstep. She also took her time jamming the key into the proper slot, twisting and turning it until the door finally opened with a 'POP'.

The girl seemed to be taking her time, and the group couldn't belittle her for it. Who would want to rush into a terrible home, and spend more time with the person who put the 'terrible' part in the home?

The teens from across the street watched as Juvia took a reluctant step inside, slowly shutting the door behind her.

"I feel bad for her," Lucy spoke up finally, looking out of Natsu's window which had Juvia's home in sight "she's obviously taking slow steps to spend as less of a time with her father..." she shivered just at the thought, "A child should never have to be so scared to enter their home."

"Sadly, that's how Juvia lives her life." Gray replies, one hand on the wheel as his body was turned towards the direction of Juvia's home. "We need to make sure she never has to fear entering that home again."

Lucy nods her head in agreement - as do Natsu and Erza - looking over to where Juvia's home was built in the middle of two homes.

The plan was to stay there, across the street, until it looked like at least Juvia got to bed, and if Dave were to start hurting Juvia, the group would take action instantly. No matter what.

How the group could tell the two had gone to bed?

From the window to the far right was dimly lit, a thin fabric of curtains blocking their way exceedingly. And to the far left, there was a window in the kitchen area, it looked like, and the light shown faintly on the other side was shining from the lights in the room the windows were at.

If there was a movement in the right window, the teens could surely see silhouettes, and if the small family was in the kitchen, they could see them clearly.

Now the teens just had to wait. How long they'd need to stay? They didn't know. Would Juvia's dad even hurt her? They didn't know the answer to that one, either. It was just up to time...and the teens had their fingers crossed they wouldn't have to break in...

And luckily for them, later that night they didn't have to. They were off the hook.

They stayed for a while, almost for a full hour, before they came to the conclusion Juvia had gone to bed--which she had done.

After successfully implying that Juvia was indeed safe, Gray flipped his car around, relief washing over him and everyone else.

"I'm glad she wasn't harmed tonight," Lucy said with a soft smile, observing the outside as the street lights rushed by every time Gray passed them.

Gray nods, making a stop at the stoplight as soon as it turned red, "same here."

"I don't know, I'm kinda pissed I didn't get to punch the living hell out of her father..." Natsu, although gruesome, had kind of hoped Juvia was attacked by her father that night.

What could he say? He wanted to kick some abusive dad butt.

Erza shook her head with disappointment, "you're unbelievable."

Natsu just stayed silent, folding his arms with a deep pout hanging on his lips as he, too, looked out of his window.

The rest of that night for the group was spent being dropped off at home and doing homework...nothing too special, they presumed.

But unlike them, a hurting someone stayed awake all night, hoodie adorning short shorts and calve high socks. The hood was pulled over their head as earbuds were placed in both ears, which played sad music that never failed to put people in a depressing mood.

It was Juvia.

After entering her home, she noticed her father passed out on the couch, profuse relief washing over her.

How lucky she was that day.

She immediately went upstairs and changed, turning the lights off in her small room.

The day had finally gotten to her, and it was overwhelming.

Her heart wrenched as the tears fell from her eyes like waterfalls. While she would've cried just fine with or without the music playing softly in her ears, she still decided to listen to the sad music playlist she had just recently saved to her phone.

At the end of the day, it always helped her to unwind, and that included the usual tear fall.

She just sat in her room all night like that, truly hurting as the words of the songs spoke to her soul like a warning.

She was in her own little world, and she never wanted to leave--because at least in there she could feel safe. It was where she could, without a doubt, be alone.

No depressive thoughts were allowed in that little space she always entered, so that was her happy place where she could unwind and truly be untroubled.

It was the only thing that made her happy nowadays...

══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══

Whew! THAT was a roller coaster!

Idk what's up with my luck, but I totally had to scratch a scene from this chapter because I could you not deleted it somehow... I did nothing, and there was just a chunk missing.

So, because I am too lazy and beyond mad, I had to delete it...but lmk if you want me to do a separate chapter after all of this fanfic is done with deleted scenes. Seriously, I'll do it!

Also, scary news, Wednesday I had a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. I didn't experience it because I was sleeping, and it was far away from my home but we could still feel the vibrations. I'm safe!

Anyway... if you live under a rock or missed it, I recently announced that my upload schedule has changed to EVERY WEEK (WHEN POSSIBLE) thanks to the coronavirus. Thank it later, lol ;)

Okay, well, have a great rest of the week! Thanks for taking your time to read the chapter and even this! It means a lot :D

Catch ya later sweeties~! Remember to wash your hands and have fun in quarantine! Make mother proud, chirren :)!

WAIT!!! Before you leave, please lend me some feedback!! Pwetty Pwease :(

~Do y'all like long chapters, or do you like short ones?~
     I've noticed nowadays that my chapters are unusually long and idk if that annoys you, so...lmk. Please. I'm up for change :)

OKAY! Now go have a good day, chirren! See ya next week ~possibly~!

^ Natsu and Gray are so hot in the bottom one 🥵 like holy frick

Natsu and Lucy are dorks, smh 😆