╔═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════╗

Aʟʟ I Eᴠᴇʀ Nᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ
Chapter 10 - Selfless

╚═════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═════╝

Using elbow grease, a girl rubbed back and forth on the tile of her home trying desperately to get the floors of the kitchen clean to satisfy her father - who was smoking and standing right behind her, observing her work with a close eye. "I want this damned house clean for the chick that's coming tonight, and you are to leave before she gets here." the Dad takes a drag of his cigarette, letting the smoke blow out slowly "I don't want a brat ruining my fun."

The girl shivered with disgust, nodding gently as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear "Yes, Father..."

She continued scrubbing and scrubbing, planning where she would go for the night - not to her closest friends home, probably another friend, the friend who she always escaped to.
She'd be fine, she was used to it. It went on for years now, and she almost always had to leave the house for her father's one night stands at least 5 times a week.

All of the sudden, pain enveloped from her leg, happening out of nowhere as the man behind her kicked her not so gently, she biting her lip to hide the sad whimper that would surely roll from her mouth.

The girl breathed in as she tried desperately to keep the tear from her eye, hiding her emotions as she always had done in front of the man she hated to the core. The gross man standing behind her was sadistically smiling, dragging the air from his cigarette into his lungs as he kicked her once more.

The smile from his face fell as he heard not a peep from the girl, and he was as sure as hell she was keeping the whimpers of her tears inside to keep from his satisfaction. He wouldn't let that happen, no chance in hell.

He kept kicking her, enjoying it too much; and instead of the girl pulling her leg away and saying an simple no, she just let the kicks come as she knew that spot on her leg would be bruised and swollen the next day--but she'd rather that than getting her ass whooped.

As she kept scrubbing the floor, the kicks got more vigorous, the foot that made contact with her leg never stopped kicking until she let out a tear, wining and wishing she was anywhere but there.

As the footsteps went away, her father finally satisfied, she sobbed as she continued scrubbing, her vision getting blurry as more water source hit the floor, not intended to.

When she was finished, she scurried out of the door, running down the street with fast movement to her friends' house, tears still falling from her eyes as she escaped the hell of her home.

══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══

It was the afternoon on a Friday, students from Magnolia and Fiore High now in the lunchroom enjoying a much-needed break from their everyday tasks.

The lunchroom was congregated into the two schools within that building, the opposite school refusing as to even look at the other students, as for the other school.

Natsu and his friends were quick to break that as both Lyon and Meredy sat down at their table, as per Gray's request. Gray had texted Meredy during 5th period (the class before lunch) asking her to sit with them during lunchtime. She was quick to reply saying a simple three-letter word of 'yes' and all was settled, it's just Lyon wasn't expected to come.

"Hey! What's with the text earlier?" Meredy asked, quickly grabbing a straw and jamming it into her milk carton.

Gray looked at Lyon and then to Meredy "Him?"

"I'm her BOYFRIEND, Gray. Of course, she'd invite me, we usually sit next to each other during lunch." Lyon was quick to explain, taking a bite of the schools' food with an unsatisfied look in his eyes.

Erza looks at the silver-haired man, "Does Juvia usually sit with you, too?"

"Nah, she says it's rude to intervene with couples since she felt so much like a third wheel." Meredy casually explains with a roll of her shoulder, sassily taking a swig of milk with pride "I love her, she's too hilarious."

"She sits with Gajeel and the rest of the Element Four," Lyon answers the question for Meredy, casually wrapping a protective arm around Meredy, Lucy silently swooning at the cute couple.

"I can see that." Natsu looks almost 4 tables away from theirs where he saw the bush which was Gajeel's hair, with Juvia seated right next to him. She almost looked dead, silently resting her cheek in her open palm and having opaque black leggings on, unusual to her almost see-through one's.

"Question-" Erza asks, looking at Meredy with an arched brow "why does Juvia hang out with them?"

Meredy stares at the redhead before shrugging, "If ya ask me, I don't really get why. Gajeel is one of her close friends, like me, and she likes hanging out with him. God only knows why Gajeel's a huge a-hole in my opinion." Meredy takes a bite of her macaroni with delight before wiping the remainance of the cheese left on the sides of her mouth with a pure smile that could touch others "As for the others, I think Juvia is CRAZY for hanging out with them. She claims they're 'too nice' and they 'need me with them to keep them intact', and I honestly don't see why! They're huge douche bags, and one has a serious crush on her and won't leave her alone."

"Um, that skunk haired dude?" Natsu questions as he stares past Meredy at the table Juvia was at.

Lyon nods with disgust "Yup, how'd you know it was Totomaru?"

"I'd think him being so touchy-touchy with her spoils it..." Lucy sweat drops as she looks in the direction Natsu was and points towards the scene, Meredy, and Lyon looking in the direction. Juvia still had that bored face on while Totomaru had a hand on her shoulder, meaning his arm was wrapped around her. You could tell the guy was telling her something because he had a smile on his face and was shaking her, touching her as if they were a couple.

Meredy vomits in her mouth as she turns back to mercilessly shove the macaroni in her mouth, shaking fervently. Lyon rubbed her back soothingly, he himself having a face of disgust on his features. "Words can't explain how territorial and obsessed he is with Juvia. Meredy has told him off way too many times and he simply doesn't say no."

"I don't ship it..." Meredy says groggily, starting to feel sick all of a sudden "Before I vomit again, let's change the subject..." Meredy takes a napkin and wipes her face, throwing it down on her tray after using it "Why'd you want me to sit here, Gray?"

"It's...nothing..."

Meredy frowns, not too appealed to his answer. She slowly looks to Lyon with a sweet sweet innocent smile, fluttering her eyes at her boyfriend "Hey Lyon, would you be a dear and throw away the stuff on my tray?"

Lyon raises a brow at her skeptically before standing up, grabbing hold of her tray as asked. "O.k...?" he starts walking away, and once at a distance, Meredy rests her chin on her hands which are clasped with a curious look.

"What do ya need?" the girl somehow knew Lyon was stopping whatever Gray had to say, so she shooed him off to get what Gray had to speak with her about. She was assuming it was about Lyon and how awful of a cousin he was towards Gray, and Gray'd continue to complain about Lyon onward even though Meredy wouldn't believe a word, as instructed by the man himself, Lyon. What it really was about was beyond her.

''Do you work today?" Gray asks rapidly, staring intently at Meredy, making the girl feel uncomfortable. The girl nods oddly, looking at Gray with a raised brow. "Sounds good, we'll be there."

Lyon returned seconds later, helping Meredy stand up on her feet while kissing her forehead "Well, we'll be off! Thanks for...letting us sit here, I guess." Meredy and Lyon started walking off, clasping hands together before Meredy turned slightly to wave goodbye, she expecting something to happen during work that day.

Lucy looks at Gray with confusion, "Weren't we going to ask about Juvia during lunch? That was the plan, right?"

Gray shakes his head as he looks to the right, "Not while we have ears listening and eyes on us."

He nods his head towards a spot in the lunchroom where eyes were on them like a hawk, those eyes belonging to the Principal of Fiore Highschool.

Lucy shivered as she turned and looked at José who was indeed staring with evil eyes and a small sinister smile on his face. "Ew, he must not be happy that we had Meredy and Lyon at our table."

"Probably, but I could tell Meredy noticed it too. So, that's why she scurried away." Gray smirks, looking towards Erza who was as disgusted as Lucy "Meredy seems like she can feel everything."

The redhead stands up, grabbing hold of Natsu before he could take a bite from the hamburger in his hands. "Let's go, he keeps staring." she starts walking off with her tray as Natsu, unwillingly, gets pulled, Gray and Lucy allowed to walk by themselves.

They threw the unneeded items on their tray away in the trash, stacking their trays in the already made pile before leaving the room.

As soon as the Magnolians left, Principal Porla got off the wall he was leaning on as he starts walking towards the Element four, silently telling them to follow him - which they did instantly. What he had to say to them? It was unknown to everyone.

══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══

Meredy sat in the waiting room with Juvia who was enjoying her break much like herself. Though the break was almost finished and the two soon had to return to work. "I can't go out there again for another twenty minutes..." Juvia complains, placing a hand on her forehead as she lounges on the soft couches and stares at the ceiling.

Meredy nods apologetically, standing up not a minute after "I can go out there and serve your tables while you continue to rest?"

Juvia sits right up as she stares to her friend "N-No, Juvia didn't mean it like that Mere, she-"

Meredy chuckles, placing her hands on Juvia's shoulders settling her down. "Oh, I know! You need the rest, Juvia... I can tell you didn't sleep well last night, he kick you out again?"

Juvia avoids the question and frowns at Meredy "Juvia can't let you serve my tables, that'd be too busy with your own!"

Meredy shrugs, "People always request your tables so mine are always empty--good job on being employee of the month 3 in a row, BTW."

Juvia rolls her eyes as she relaxes in her seat once more "Fair point, but Juvia still can't let you."

"Nope, sorry! You're going to stay in here against your own will! I'll cover your tables, so don'tcha worry!" Meredy taps Juvia's head before walking towards the exit of their break room, turning slightly to wink at her friend "If I see you out there I will be sure to tell Lyon you are pushing yourself too much!"

Juvia rolls her eyes as she folds her arms, fully relaxing in the cushion of her seat, releasing a long dramatic sigh as Meredy stepped out of the room. She moves just a tiny bit, igniting a sharp pain in her leg. She grits her teeth as she steadily moves her leg to a more comfortable position, sighing an ounce of relief to the surprising release of pain.

She sighed once more as she realized she'd have to endure walking another two hours before her shift ended; she knew from then on it'd be a long rest of the night. Although, on the bright side, it was a Friday and she could relax. She laughed at her humor, only knowing she'd have to clean her house more...somewhere in her, she wished she wasn't joking.

══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══

Meredy was having a lot of fun serving her best friends tables, since serving her own was boring. There was hardly anyone sitting at hers, and if there were, there was for sure only 5 a day. Juvia, though? Being the favorite employee/waitress had its perks.

But, Meredy would rather Juvia get more money than herself - the girl needed it far much more.

10 minutes into serving Juvia's customers and apologizing for her best friends absence, Meredy was surprised to see familiar faces at one of the tables she was heading to serve "Hey guys, welcome to the Café-! Why are you all looking at me?" she asks curiously, tilting her head to the side.

Natsu, Erza, Lucy, and Gray's eyes were all on Meredy, staring at the girl intently as if they were all in need of something - they even had stared at her as she walked towards them. It was a creepy type of stare, the one you get when someone is surprised, or even, needy - Meredy wouldn't be lying if she said it sent a chill down her spine.

"We need to talk with you--" Lucy says in a skeptical tone, finishing her sentence seconds later "about Juvia."

Meredy lifts a brow, "Exactly what do you need to talk with me about Juvia?"

"Everything," Natsu says easily, scooting over so the pinkette could sit next to him and Lucy.

"Ev-ery-t-thing?" Meredy shakily asks, looking at the four with surprised eyes, her hands going cold.

Gray nods. "Everything."

Meredy hesitantly takes a seat next to Natsu, looking around her before leaning forwards to talk in a voice below a whisper to the 4 Magnolians "Listen here, it'd be better to talk about this in a more...private place. We don't need strangers to know about Juvia's life, because that starts rumors." they nod in agreement, looking at the girl with curiosity. Meredy looks up from their huddle to look around them, trying to see if Juvia was insight, and luckily, she wasn't. Leaning back in, Meredy bites her bottom lip "My shift ends in an hour or so, so at that time, meet at my house and we can talk there, k?"

They all nod. "You guys just need to promise not to tell ANYONE, or I will be there to kill you," Meredy says, freaking out the 4 as they did to her when she was walking towards them. The girl offers smiles as they nod. She stands, and pulls out her notepad "What would you guys like to eat, today?" she asks as if nothing had happened, just standing there and smiling as if she had just arrived.