⚠️WARNING⚠️ Before we begin, please note that this chapter includes major Abuse and Strong Language. Read with caution!

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Aʟʟ I Eᴠᴇʀ Nᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ
Chapter 17 - Shattered

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"Ooooo, this is cute!" Wendy commented while holding Gray's hand and jumping up and down at the sight of the cute café "so this is where Juvia, Ultear, and Lyon's girlfriend work?"

Gray bobs his head, looking to his sister with amusement in his eyes "why are you so excited, huh?"

"I don't know..." the little girl said, twirling a strand of hair between her index finger and looking to the side with a big grin.

"There has to be some reason, hm?" Lucy suddenly says, putting her hands on Wendy's stomach, moving her fingers in a repeated motion, tickling the girl playfully
Wendy giggles as she let's go of Gray's hand, smacking Lucy's away--all while Natu was standing behind and smiling at Lucy's pathetic laugh that never failed to put butterflies in his stomach. "Well...there are many reasons, Lucy!"

Lucy now takes Wendy's hand and Gray snatches back the other which used to be in his before Lucy tickled the little girl. They continued walking towards the Café doors as Lucy giggles, sending more butterflies Natsu's way "which are...?"

"I haven't seen Ultear-Chan in a long time, and she's one of my favorite cousins--along with Lyon-Chan who I haven't seen either. Juvia is just Juvia who is so awesome and--" Wendy looks from Gray and then back to Lucy, motioning with one finger the youthful blonde-haired woman to bend down to her level. As soon as Lucy shrunk, Wendy leaned into her ear and whispered: "and Gray's future wife--I hope!"

Lucy laughs and so does Wendy while Gray just rolled his eyes and acted as if he didn't know what she had said, "and I've never met Lyon's girlfriend before...what if she has stolen his heart and took my place!?!"

Erza just shakes her head with a satisfied smile, walking up to the three and leaving Natsu to walk on his own behind them "I think she has done that already, to be honest, kiddo!"

"WHAT!?!" Wendy shrieked in terror.

And if the moment was just perfect, Lyon along with Jellal came into view. "Wendy!! My favorite!" Lyon said excitingly as soon as he saw the little girl, he began to speed walk to greet the cousin of his--and Gray, too.

However, Wendy just tapped her foot, imitating the way she once saw her dad had looked when he was super mad at Gray. She furrowed her eyebrows as Lyon made his way over, terrifying the guy to wit's end with her menacing aura. "...what?"

"You're in trouble, mister!" the blue-haired cutie said in the best angry tone she could manage, continuing to tap her foot and glared at the silver-haired betrayer.

"What did I do?" Lyon asked, Jellal now finally catching up with him.

Erza and Lucy just laughed at the tiny Fullbuster's cute little attitude.

The confused guy looked towards the other cousin of his for help, which he got right away "we were talking about Meredy and how she took Wendy's place in your heart." Gray explained with boredom laced within, smirking just a little bit.

Lyon just stood stunned as he looked towards the girl much shorter than him, looking at her as if she were crazy "What?! You still have your place, but there can be many people in my heart!! I mean, just look at you, you have Juvia and Gray in yours, so I can have both Meredy and you as well!"

"Hmph," Wendy decided to further the silent treatment, folding her arms and looking to the side "Lucy, tell Lyon I'm not talking to him until he loves me more!"

Lucy placed a hand over her mouth as she let out a laugh at the cute shenanigans Wendy had, "Lyon, Wendy told me to tell you--"

"Yeah, I heard!" Lyon was still in shock, needless to say, as he too decided to play around. "Well, do we wanna go inside now? The one I love just as much as I do Wendy is waiting for a kiss."

Everyone giggles, except Wendy, as they all head towards the entrance, walking in and getting the table they usually got as they waited. Wendy still continued being sassy as she rightfully sat between Natsu and Lucy, turning her head the other way as soon as she realized Lyon was seated in front of her.

"Welcome to the Little Teacup Café, guys! Nice to see you!" Juvia's happy working voice sung out, making Wendy lose her frown and gain an excited one.

"Juvia! You look so cute in your work outfit!" the little 12-year-old commented, her smile shining bright at her favorite swim coach.

"Thanks," Juvia said back with a returned smile on her face as the silence began to fill the empty space around them again. It was weird...there was some tension in the air "Is everything okay?"

"No!" Wendy lost her own smile as she gave a death glare to Lyon, making the guy feel as guilty as ever "this guy right here is a jerk!" the girl folded her arms angrily once more, turning her head away from Juvia.

Juvia held back a laugh "uh-oh... Why?"

"She thinks Meredy took my heart-!" Lyon said fast, slamming his hand on the surface of the polished wood table.

The blunette frowned "-she did, though..." Juvia cut in, gaining a sweat drop on the back of her head.

"You're not helping!!" Lyon, amused at the blue-haired friend of his, looked at her with a 'don't make it any more worse than it already is' look and Juvia giggled slightly, "I'm trying to tell Wendy that she still has a place in my heart just as big as Meredy's-!!"

"Woah, woah, woah, enough with the yelling, Lyon--" Ultear walked up to the table now, wrapping an arm around Juvia's waist in a friendly manner.

Wendy, again, brightened up "Ultear!"

Ultear smiled at the little cousin of hers contently, but quickly jumped back into the subject "What's the matter over here, hm?"

"Long story! Right now we need to introduce Wendy to Meredy and hopefully, it'll be settled!" Lyon, once more, yelled out, gaining a few stares from other customers who were just as confused as Ultear was.

"I've been summoned!" and finally, the girl they needed at that moment showed up, jumping in with as much excitement as possible--which was rather cute and Lyon found himself falling in love with her all over again.

"Thank God!" Lyon rejoiced, not worrying about the obvious blush on his face "Meredy, do you remember the cousin I told you about?"

"Hm...i know you're not talking about Gray or Ultear - cause I've already met them, teehee - so you're speaking of Wendy, right?" the pinkette guessed perfectly, and at the mention of her name, Wendy lost her anger as she stared up at the girl who Lyon seemed to love more than her.

"Yes! Well, this is her!" the silver-haired guy motioned his hand towards the little girl in front of him.

"So pretty..." Wendy said, mesmerized.

Meredy gained hearts in her eyes as soon as she caught sight of Wendy, "wow! You're even cuter than Lyon described!!"

"And you're even nicer than I've been told!" Wendy said back, smiling brightly at the pinkette girl she just knew would soon become her best friend. As soon as she got another smile from Meredy, Wendy turned to Lyon with a thumbs up "You done good, Lyon-Chan!! Cherish her!" any anger she had towards Lyon just moments ago seemed to disappear into thin air and Lyon couldn't help himself to let a sigh of relief out. Whenever Wendy would get angry, which was hardly ever, Lyon would tense up and would usually end up wanting to run and hide--the girl was that scary.

Meredy giggled, looking to Lyon with a kissy face "I don't know what happened but good thing she forgave ya, babe! Teehee, well, Juvia have you taken their order?"

Juvia gasped, reaching into her pocket to get the notepad she carried around with her 24/7 at work "Juvia forgot!" the girl let out an awkward laugh.

"Well, I'm going to go back into the kitchen! See you guys later-!" Ultear said as she wandered off, going to the place she said she was going to.

"I'm gonna do the same before my shift ends! But Juvia, whatever Wendy gets is on the house! I'll pay for it, don't worry!" Meredy winked at Wendy as the littler girl giggled, Lyon, shaking his head at how easily Wendy was wound around his girlfriend's finger.

As Meredy walked away after blowing a kiss to Lyon, Juvia clicked her pen and got ready to write "Drinks?"

-

As they finished up the food they had ordered, Meredy joined them at their table because her shift had just ended. "So," Meredy began as she squished herself in the seat Wendy, Natsu, and Lucy sat on "how was the food?"

"As good as usual," Erza told, a content smile shining brightly to the pinkette "however, I think this Café should incorporate strawberry cream puffs to the menu."

"You still like strawberries, huh?" Jellal chimed in, tilting his head with a satisfied grin on.

Erza looked at Jellal as if he were crazy, "of course I do!!"

Meredy let out a laugh "Well, Erza, the chef has been whipping up some more recipes for strawberry-themed goodies. If you have any suggestions of what to add just hit him up! He's been struggling."

Stars shined in Erza's eyes "I have many things I can tell the chef!!"

"Good," Meredy laughed one more time, loving how Erza was so interested in strawberries.

Just then, Juvia appeared, looking to be a little flustered in the cheeks. All conversations at the table stopped and all eyes dropped on her whilst Juvia looked everywhere except the eyes of her friend's There was something wrong for sure if the girl couldn't even look at her fellow human-beings, heck, even close friends!

"You okay, Juvia?" Natsu asked the question lingering on everyone's mind, and once the question was out, Juvia seemed to be questioning her life choices and wishing she would've just skipped the table.

However, Juvia didn't want them to think she was rude or anything - what she had to share wasn't even close to embarrassing and was something she had done millions of times, but for some reason, it really frightened her.

She felt all of their eyes burning into her skin while she was clutching and unclutching her hands in front of her as she looked towards the very, very interesting floor. Biting her lip as the silence drew out, her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink as she slowly opened her mouth to speak. She let out a few relaxing breaths to calm her racing heart, and when those didn't help, Juvia just decided to go for it--even if they were to make fun of her for taking so long to say what she wanted to "U-U-Um... Thanks for... standing up for Juvia and protecting her... the other day... Gray-Sama, Lucy, Natsu, and Erza."

When she expected the laughs to come, they didn't erupt.

As the very soft silence occurred, Juvia loosened her tense muscles, and how tight she was shutting her eyes, looking up from her safe place to all of their faces looking contently up at her with the purest of happiness.

Even Meredy, Lyon, Jellal, and Wendy were smiling! As far as Juvia knew she had already thanked at least 3 of them for helping her multiple times in the past--and she had only said a thank you to the four Magnolians a second ago!

"No problem! We like helping our friends out!" Natsu said with an eye wink, his cheesy smile showing on his face. Juvia smiled softly at the comment, feeling overwhelmed with comfort and joy at Natsu's words.

Gray just snickered taking a sip of the last contents of his ice water "What Spyro said. We're glad to help"

Meredy placed a hand over her chest as a sob choked in her throat, shutting her eyes as she enjoyed the moment. Although not crying, the girl was overjoyed with respect for the friend's Juvia chose, and Meredy couldn't ever be happier to see Juvia that way. She really wanted the best for her best friend, and at that moment, it appeared the 'want' was fulfilled.

"How about to celebrate our friendship, we have a sleepover!" Lucy exclaimed, the idea ringing in the air before anyone spoke up about the idea.

Erza nodded and Meredy screamed, "I'm up for it!" they both said at the same time but in different tones.

The others nodded in agreement, Juvia the only one staying as silent as a mouse and keeping her head still. "It can be at my house!" Wendy proclaimed, giggling at Gray's reaction to the statement.

"You can't just volunteer out of the blue, Wendy...Dad may say no-"

"To you, yes, but if I ask??" Wendy winked and giddily snickered and realization dawned on Gray. Although his biological son, Silver much more preferred his adopted daughter over Gray. Her questions were hard to resist, Silver couldn't help it. Anyone that had conversated with the Fullbuster's before knew Wendy was wrapped around Silver's finger, tightly. Gray didn't mind not being the favorite, at least he was free from the embarrassment caused by his father.

"You have a point," Gray smirked towards his sister, reaching over the table to ruffle up the girls' perfectly placed hair.

Lucy giggled, "it's a plan!!! I'll invite Levy!"

"You've been awfully quiet, Juvia. What's on your mind?" Erza pointed out, causing amazingly discomfort for the poor Lockser.

She rubbed her right arm with her left hand, looking to the side with a light pink blooming in her cheeks "Well, um-"

"Oh shit, that's right!" Lyon said out loud, narrowing his eyebrows with sorrow.

Meredy also got sad, looking towards the table "Oh, yeah..."

"What?" Everyone asked, except Jellal who stayed silent.

"Juvia isn't allowed to have sleepovers..." the bluenette confessed, looking towards all of them with regret.

Gray groaned aloud, reclining back in his seat, knowing exactly the reason "That's stupid. He kicks you out sometimes at night and yet you're not allowed to have sleepovers? Good grief that man has problems..."

"W-Well...sorry... But don't let Juvia's absence stop you... You all can fulfill the sleepover plan, no biggy!" the girl easily rolled it off of her shoulder, able to hide her pain at missing out on the fun. Before anyone could protest, the girl giggled, ruffling her skirt as determination settled in her eyes "Anyways, better get back to work! Have fun, you guys! And Meredy, don't forget about your shift tomorrow." with one last final wink to her best friend, Juvia was off and already focused on work.

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As expected, Wendy's plead to have a sleepover at the Fullbuster residence became a wish come true as Silver agreed to the plan hesitantly. Having a bunch of teenagers at his home scared the poor Dad sometimes--the darn things were in their angsty years, meaning they were trying out new things, some bad some good--other times he was so on board, especially if it were Gray's friends who he seemed to love more than Gray sometimes.

This time, with so many new faces and even a couple--possibly trying new things they never thought they'd do as children--Silver would've said no. But with Wendy's tear-filled puppy eyes, puffy red cheeks, and the cutest little plead he has ever heard, he just couldn't say no.

And now, courtesy to Wendy, the little 'extravaganza' was ongoing and already a blast.

They had, so far, introduced Meredy and Jellal to Silver, played board games in Wendy's room, cracking jokes every-now-and-then and smiles as everyone enjoyed their time celebrating their friendship--Juvia in their mind all throughout.

However, what they didn't know was that someone would be crashing their party...

About at 8:30, in another part of Magnolia, Juvia had just returned home, the lights in her home dimmed as the thumping of music echoed on the walls, rattling the poor old worn out things of the house.

Quickly scanning the room, Juvia observed that her Father's bedroom was closed and a little light was seen from inside--meaning someone was in there, meaning her father.

Juvia easily slid off her shoes, carefully and neatly putting them in the shoe slot as to not piss off Dave for 'not putting them in straight enough.' After which she quickly, and quietly, ran up the stairs, shutting her door softly to then get out of her work clothes and dress in her light-Grey comfortable sweatpants and a baby blue hoodie.

She settled down on her bed as she swiped through her music Playlist, trying to find a song as she plugged in her ear bud's to her beat-up phone and slipped the buds into her ears. She chose a song and then pulled out the notebook from her drawer in the nightstand, turning to a page to lightly scribble and attempt to draw.

That was her only safe place when at her home; drawing and listening to music. When she wasn't cleaning, out in the streets, being verbally and physically abused, or working the girl would, most likely, be found in her room doodling while listening to calming music. It was a fun hobby of hers and she loved every single part about it.

"JUVIA LOCKSER!" her father, angered as he always was, yelled, making Juvia jump and immediately yank her ear-buds out of her ears. If anything, Dave sounded drunker then ever with how much he slurred while saying her name "GET Y'ER ASS DOWN HERE! 

Juvia rolled her eyes and carefully slid off her bed, preparing herself for what was to come. She reached for the door handle hesitantly, her eyes dropping the sparkle it once held. If he was yelling, it wasn't good. It took a while to gain the courage to grab the door handle, and if it wasn't for her name being shrieked once more, she would've just pretended like she didn't hear him--which would've possibly made the man all the angrier.

As she made it down the stairs, every step she took was dreadful. Her heart began pounding as if it were to jump out of her chest and exhales became sharp. The poor girl never knew what he was yelling for and if he was going to force her to clean or do his weekly smack talk--still, though, whatever he needed whenever he needed made Juvia tremble with fear because it would most likely result in her ending up on the floor.

Her father came into view, and like always, a girl with the lowest cut dress and high ass heels was clinging to his side - blonde hair disheveled, and deep lust held in her eyes.

Dave had a cocky crooked smirk on his face as Juvia stood in front of him timidly. The poor Bluenette stood, heavily embarrassed to be in his sight with this one-night-stand that she felt oh so bad for.

"This--hicc--is Court--hicc--ney... I think you mi--hicc--ght like her..." he said out through the croaks made by the alcohol in his system, swaying side by side as the Courtney girl giggled, looking at Juvia with lust for her father still in her eyes, accompanied by a heavy glare.

Courtney smiled devilishly, her face coated in thick makeup that made her look like a clown "hello~" she purred, rubbing her perky breasts all up on Dave's arm. If anything could be better, Juvia was dealing with two drunk people. One she hated with all her might, and the other she'd only be seeing that one time and no other.

Juvia just stood silently in disgust at how her father bewitched the poor girl to hook up with him. Every girl Juvia met through her father she felt bad for, knowing the one thing he wanted from each. The supposed-to-be-father-figure had a routine he went through weekly with a different girl every. single. time. He had only brought 1 girl back twice! Only once!

Juvia also found herself disgusted at how every woman her "Dad" brought home fell for his cocky charm, thinking they'd actually have a chance. The thought of 'Every woman is very smart in how she does things' Juvia gave up on a long time ago - she basically had given up on society. Dave Lockser did not believe in committing in a relationship--that was the most common theme in his life. Ever.

Juvia didn't even know she was looking at Courtney with such disgust that when she was suddenly brought back in reality because of Dave shouting, the fear returned to her eyes. "Say hi back, you ungrateful kid."

"Hi," Juvia said sternly, twitching her eyebrow at how the woman evilly smiled back. Although drunk, the girl seemed pretty menacing.

"Good girl..." Dave gave a pathetic little laugh after saying those words, suddenly gaining back the wave of anger in his eyes as he evilly glared at his daughter with a sinister smile. Whatever was to happen next would...for sure be as painful as his abuse always was - like knives jabbing into your heart, stomach, and chest at every mind-numbing lie.

She suddenly met the ground thanks to her father pushing her aggressively. Juvia fell back, hitting her head against the squeaky clean wooded floors with a force that she was positive may have left her with a concussion. Her eyes glazed over as she sat back up, trying to seem fierce, but that all was stolen from her as soon as Courtney stepped on Juvia's chest abruptly, making the back of Juvia's head meet the floor once more.

Juvia cowardly stared up at Dave and his side chick, tears brimming her eyes to such extremes the girl could only see blurs of her abusers. She was scared beyond belief so much that she wanted to run away--her Father's one-night-stand chicks never abused along with the evil guy Juvia didn't like calling 'Dad'. It was always just him amusing and, somehow, satisfying the woman he brought home. This new experience was messing with Juvia's brain to extremes.

"That terrified look on your face arouses me, sweet little Juvia~" Courtney drug out, the same sinister look from her father's face held on hers as her heels sunk deeper into Juvia's chest. "Your father has told me so much about you, and I do have to say, poor child!" relief washed over Juvia's eyes as the woman kindly smiled--till it went back to its deadly look "who am I kidding!?! I don't have empathy for a brat like you at all!!" the evil laugh following the sentence sent lightning shots to Juvia's heart.

"Listen here, sweety..." Dave slurred making Juvia sneer at his name call which meant nothing. He walked up closer to Juvia laying on the floor, almost lifeless as he, being highly amused at the girls' pain, decided to deepen the displeasure sensation "You're such a worthless idiot! Nothing but a low-life, disgusting, wife killing disappointment!"

More pain struck Juvia in the heart, mind, and even soul, causing the tears hanging to the corner of her eyes for dear life fall down uncontrollably. Whenever she was abused by her father harshly - it rarely happened because Dave would never be as drunk as he was now - she couldn't control herself enough to hide her torturing pain. She would always try to hide her agony from her father - knowing it pleased him to the T - due to her hating his sadistic little smile he got from the satisfying pleasure of seeing his daughter break down and cry.

Courtney just laughed, "oh God! Darling, look at how pathetic she looks!"

"Oh, I know babycakes!" he said as he grabbed the just-as-disgusting woman by the hips to pull her close by his side as if they were partners in crime. The woman bit her lip, causing a guttural growl to come from Dave's lips as his arousal turned on, lust suddenly back in his mind as he held the girl with an addictingly sweet scent close by his side, scanning over her defined hips and body "Such a shame you'll never be good enough as this woman right here, Juvia..." he placed a chaste kiss to the woman's neck, just enough to send her over the edge "Just look and comprehend how much a disappointment you are...disgraceful girl of mine..."

Tears trailed down the sides of Juvia's face as Dave's words cut like knives through the breakable wall of the mentality of Juvia's. Her mind was running in circles, trying to overcome the depressive thoughts migrating into her brain.

"Stop..." she faintly whispered, gaining more pressure on her chest by the desperate woman shifting all of her weight on the one leg placed over Juvia's chest. That was the first time in forever that Juvia had said those words to her father while he abused the heck out of her mind. It surprised her, really. She didn't mean to say it, didn't even want to say it, because the wicked man would find it amusing. And surely, when Juvia looked into his eyes, she saw amusement beyond belief. She thought the word was whispered as quiet as a mouse, but she guessed not. Of course, the one time Dave decided to listen was at that moment.

"That's right...beg for mercy you good for nothing piece of shit." Dave grumbled out, a satisfyingly placed smirk danced on his lips as he watched Juvia clench her teeth and let more tears slip from her eyes, staring up at him showing much pain which pleasured Dave "Oh? The poor little baby is crying!?! What the hell is wrong with you!?! You're a grown-up, right? Why aren't you acting like one? It's pathetic, really, you'd think a girl would LEARN! God, grow up for once, Juvia!"

She closed her eyes tightly at those words trying her best to stay in control of her mind, but to no prevail, it didn't stop the suicidal thoughts from rolling in. The words that she was told times and times again, for some reason, cut much deeper then they had done in years passed. Little by little, her teetering heart broke apart like broken shards of glass.

"Stop it..." Juvia breathed out, "...please..."

Instead of acknowledging her words that time, he just spoke right passed it "I said it before and I'll say it again..." Dave began, his eyes glazed over with lustful anger "You're nothing to me! Goddammit Juvia, why can't you just die or something? You'd be doing the world justice if you misstepped off of a balcony."

Juvia breathed heavily, darkness clouding her mind as she held onto Courtney's foot, trying to pry it off of her as sweat combined with her tears falling from her face "...STOP...!" she cried.

"I, along with others, wouldn't miss you, just like you don't miss your mother that you so willingly killed!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE..." Juvia said through seething teeth, tears aggressively falling as Juvia looked up at the two standing above her as if they owned her happiness "I-I do miss her!"

"Then why would you kill her!?!" Dave shrieked, his face going crazy as he looked at the pathetic girl.

"I DIDN'T!  Juvia screamed, shutting her eyes tightly as Courtney took her foot off of her chest, taking cautious steps back due to the dark feeling of Dave's aura quickly escalating "You just aren't strong enough to say it...aren't strong enough to admit it so you take all of your anger out on your daughter! Mom died on accident because fate had other plans for her! I didn't kill her...I-I just didn't! You need to open your eyes and realize that!" she talked back, having had enough. She was, again, shocked at her own words. Never, ever since her mother died and Dave began abusing had Juvia talked back or tried stopping the man from severely damaging her mental stability.

Clenching his fists and surprised at the rag-dolls back talk--she never had done that before--a vein popped out of his head as he began screaming "LIAR!" Dave took his foot and jammed it into Juvia's side, making the girl cry out in massive waves of pain, the sorrows of her entire life spilling out along with the desperate cry of hers. It hurt so damn bad like a bulldozer had just run into her. Hurt like no other kicks she had ever received from that very man, meaning he was angry.

And because he was heavily enraged, the kicks didn't stop; they kept going, getting increasingly excruciating for Juvia enough to handle. Every kick brought its own signature scream of shrieking pain, almost sounding as if the girl was getting murdered if other neighbors could hear.

At that point, her mind wasn't allowing any neglectance of the harsh words her Father spoke. She was so tired from work and all the struggles from school that her mind just couldn't take it anymore. She took all the kicks, feeling as if she deserved them, knowing for sure the words were true and nothing could change her mind about that. Her old friends believed it, so if her Father did as well...it was destined to be the truth. And maybe, just maybe, the world hated her enough to make that truck ram into her mother, killing her instantly because of Juvia's misfortune.

'It's not your fault.' kept ringing in Juvia's mind, over and over again, but her numb mind was too pained to come to agreeing on terms 'It's not your fault, darling!! Can't you hear me!?!'

She let the thought in her mind slip out as it all went blurry, laying on that ground and not trying to stop the kicks from coming--she elt them come, over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again...

After about 20 more minutes of getting kicked and hit, Dave and Courtney stopped, finally satisfied with all the bruises forming on Juvia's skin.

Juvia's limp body was hoisted up by Dave, to only sway to the side as his hand swung back and slapped Juvia with such force it split Juvia's lip open, causing it to bleed badly and drip down her face. There was no sign of why that slap came, maybe for her backlash at him earlier? Besides that, her eyes were broken and showed no sign of emotion... The tears once falling from her eyes stopped in between her beating, but her face was still slicked wet with the water that had fallen from her hurt eyes.

Swiftly, Juvia was dragged to the door by Dave. She thought nothing of it until the solid swung open and her bruised body was mercilessly shoved out, causing her to fall to the wet concrete ground - it had been raining while she was getting abused - furthering her hurt body. Furthermore, there were steps leading up to the doorway...and Juvia fell down all of them, nor showing any emotion or pain--she was truly broken.

"I don't want to see you until Monday, you good for nothing bitch!" Courtney was snuggled close to Dave's side as the two stared at the girl they had no mercy for, satisfied with their art they had done to her body. They both evilly laughed as if villians of a fairy tale who had kidnapped and beaten a princess to death. What a gruesome tale that would've been.

"Go have fun in the streets now, would ya?!" Courtney added as the couple laughed once more, entering the home again to then slam and lock the door, leaving Juvia hurt, and broken on the concrete in the freezing cold weather damaging her wounds even more.

Juvia stayed on the ground for another five minutes, the rain pouring around her harder as she mindlessly layed still.

It was another five minutes before Juvia decided to stand, standing up on her wobbly legs just enough to make her sway from side to side. Her mind was blank, completely washed over as she stood fazed...

When she finally gained her balance, she started running, not knowing where she was going, but her mind apparently had an idea.

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Repeated knocks rapped on the Fullbuster's front door, causing Silver to stand, aggravated with the annoying, ongoing knocks. Whoever was knocking must've had a death wish because damn, Silver swore he'd kill whoever it was.

"You only have to knock once, not a million fucking times-" he stopped his words as soon as he saw who it was, battered and crying grimly. Mindlessly, Silver called up to his son in a rush-- "Gray, you better get down here right now!!!"

Upstairs in Wendy's room, Gray groaned as his father needingly called his name. The promise Silver made to Gray about not ruining their party rang in his head, and Gray laughed at how easily his old man broke it.

"Are you going to go, Ice princess?" Natsu teased, throwing down his go-fish cards to look at his friend-enemy with a joking smirk.

Gray glared, rolling his eyes as he, too, set down his cards "No! He promised he wouldn't interrupt!"

"I don't know, Gray..." Lyon said out loud, removing his hand from Meredy's thigh - and on her lap, a very bubbly Wendy "Uncle Silver sounded worried...I think you should go and see what he needs."

"You can't tell me what to do--" Gray rolled his eyes as he picked up his cards once more to only set them down at the intensity of Erza's stare on him.

Erza glared, not too pleased with Gray's attitude "Go. now."

"Gray!!" Silver called again, worry sounding in his voice once more.

Having no choice, Gray stood "Fine!" he walked towards the door, swinging it open as he looked back at his friends "If it's for a stupid reason I automatically win go-fish."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Whatever..."

Gray walked down the hallway to the stairs, and as he took his first step, he shut his eyes as he exhaled "What do you want old man?! I told you not to-" but before he finished his sentence, his eyes opened and noticed the presence of another human being in the room "-Juvia, what happened!?!" he almost yelled, seeing Juvia standing inside his home with dirty tear streaks one might've got from crying with dirt on their face whilst Camping. On top of that, her body was a variety of colors--her normal skin tone, grey, purple, and even blue.

At the sight of her friend, Juvia started getting emotional "Gray-Sama!" she called desperately and in a hurried manner, running to throw herself on him. She wept into his chest as her sobs rang in the room, Silver standing to the side in as much confusion as Gray. She wept into his chest as he held her close, wrapping his arms carefully around her bruised body as he stared at the ground behind her, all sorts of reasons why she was hurt and crying ran through his mind.

The commotion coming from downstairs stirred the other teens to see what was going on, and at the sight of Juvia hugging Gray mercilessly, Meredy called out "Juvia! What happened to you?"

"Juvia!!" Wendy cried out worryingly, getting ready to run and jump on Juvia to make her feel better, but Lucy saw past the little girls' plan and held her back.

Instead of answering the question Meredy had asked, Juvia kept her face in Gray's chest, her sobs escalating quickly. All the teens began to worry, knowing something was up with Juvia whether they liked it or not. If she wasn't responding, her mind must've been scrambled,  fried even. Overall, the girl looked torn up. badly.

As if suddenly, Juvia felt the presence of Meredy behind her and immediately rotated to just enough to let go of Gray and start hugging and crying on her instead of the bewildered guy--his white shirt now see-through with how wet it was just from her tears.

Meredy petted Juvia, running her fingers through her hair soothingly to stop the poor girls' whimpers. They died down soon enough, and the bluenette was able to still her breath just enough to relax and sit on the couch carefully, her friends also taking a seat to be with their friend.

The worried parent in the room stayed, obviously curious as to why his daughters swim coach was all battered and crying. She looked terrified, confused, out of it, and most importantly, in pain.

As the teens sat in agonizing silence, Meredy rocked back and forth with Juvia in her arms, trying her best to calm her best friend. Juvia was riding her high from her panic attack and wasn't doing so good, Meredy figured the best she could do was help. Gray sat by her, at her aid in case she needed him to take the place of calming Juvia--which, if he were being honest, he wished would happen soon.

However, that wish didn't come true as Juvia pulled away, breathing in and out to try and calm her throbbing head, body, and heart. The teens watched anxiously, watching the girls' facial expressions which they noted looked winded. Her cheeks were flushed and her body was shivering.

When it seemed Juvia was over her attack, everyone was able to relax and take a calming breath, taking in the recent event and how scared they had gotten.

The silence would've continued, but everyone was so focused on the forming bruises on Juvia's body that they couldn't help but ask: "What happened?" Meredy calmly said, still holding Juvia in her arms.

Juvia visibly shook and slowly reached for her face, wiping the wetness of her tears away as she sniffled. She looked to the side as Lyon draped a blanket over her shoulders, helping the girl warm up just the slightest bit as she continued to be silent, hating tk recall what she had just been through.

"It was...your Father, wasn't it?" Gray broke the silence, looking towards his palms as he felt Juvia shift uncomfortably, indicating his suggestion was the case.

"Alright, what did that bastard do!?" Natsu raised his voice standing up as he rolled up his sleeves.

Lucy, who sat by his side, tugged on his shirt, forcing him to sit back down "Dial down, Natsu. You don't need to light your fire..."

"Fuck it, I wanna know what happened! Her Father will pay!"

"Natsu." Erza said seriously, her shoulder suddenly touching with Jellal's accidentally "Don't make Juvia more stressed..."

"If you don't mind me asking," Silver finally spoke up, walking to the center of the couch all the teens were sitting on "what the hell is going on?"

They all looked towards one another in question, questioning whether or not they should bring up that Juvia's Father was abusive. What could they possibly say, anyway? 'Juvia's Father has abused her for years now'? The only downfall was Juvia originally planned for no adults to know about her struggles with her Father. So, unless Juvia wanted to tell Silver, the teens could obviously say it. But, that wasn't the case...-

"M-My D-D-Dad...he..." Juvia spoke for the first time since she arrived, shaking fervently as her friends questioned whether or not she'd really tell Silver how she got her bruises "he abuses me..." Juvia said shyly, looking towards the ground as the memory of what he had done was brought back to her mind. She winced, shutting her eyes tightly as she grabbed her head, beginning to cry once more.

Everyone sat in shocked silence at her confession, knowing that now it was said to adult things would go serious. Silver stayed silent as a questionable look was on his face. Wendy, who was also new to know the info, began crying. She only had heard from a teacher at school once that abuse was bad. The girl didn't really know what abuse meant, but seeing it now, it must've been bad. "I-Is Juvia going to die!?!" the girl wailed, jumping off of the couch to hug Juvia tightly.

Juvia winced once more as the little girl pressed up against her bruising skin, seething as the pain kept on coming. If it weren't for Gray carefully prying the girl off, Juvia was sure she'd cry out in loads of pain. "No, she's not Wendy..." Gray said as he placed her in his lap, combing his fingers through her delicate hair.

"B-but she's bruised...and-and hurt! She's crying, Gray!!!" Wendy looked at her brother with her eyes glazed over, her mouth wobbling as worry grew darker in her tummy.

"I-I'm fine, Wendy..." Juvia said through a fake smile, not wanting to frown or that wouldn't have reassured the little girl well enough. At those words, Wendy was able to breathe, and come to accept the fact that Juvia would be staying in the world for now.

"I'm calling the police," Silver finally said, pulling out his phone ready to satisfy his word. All at once, Juvia jumped up with fear in her eyes.

"No!" the girl shrieked, shocking her friends with her sudden burst.

Lucy frowned "Juvia it has gotten out of hand...we need to at least contact the authorities..."

"Just look at you, you're messed up because of that bastard..." Natsu said, voice seething with anger as he tried to resist the temptation of running all the way to Juvia's place to beat the man senseless.

The broken girl just shook her head violently, shutting her eyes tightly "P-Please don't! I-I don't know where I'd go if my Dad ended up in jail! And-And-And I still need him with me...because even though he hurts me, we're still family... Families don't put their family members in jail!" she begged, sounding desperate with her friends' worries "So please...don't do it..."

"Juvia," Erza began, searching for the right words to say "My Dad is a policeman... If I call him right now, which I haven't done in forever so he'll know it's an emergency, we can end your pain..."

"NO!" Juvia shrieked once more, letting out a choked sob as her heart raced and tears fell like waterfalls "my Dad used to be a police officer and he's still friends with some today...no one would believe the story because they all see my Dad as a hero! I can't ruin his reputation-!"

"But if they see your bruised body-" Gray began but was silenced by Meredy.

"Gray--enough." Meredy sternly said as silence returned. She cleared her throat as all eyes rested on her, all of them in the room noting her rising anger "She doesn't want to tell anyone, so let's respect her wish, alright? Yes, I agree the authority should be informed, but a person who wants to report abuse will do it on their lonesome. And right now, Juvia doesn't want her father in jail."

Natsu sighed angrily, resting his rising anger as he reclined back and glared "Whatever--but as soon as I see this man...I can't promise not hurting him..."

"Oh, me too..." Meredy said through clenched teeth "I've been wanting to punch that prick for a while now."

"Alright, kiddos, settle down. There's a young girl in the room who is learning from older kids about how to be bad." Silver, obviously the eldest in the room, said wisely as he felt all tenseness in the room falter "Now, Juvia... I respect your decision, but the least I can do is give you a place to run to if you don't want to be in your home with your fowl Father. So please, respect my wish of coming over here whenever you need it."

Juvia smiled, a real one this time, as she continued to shake "T-Thank you...that's very kind of you..."

After more silence filled the room, Meredy arose from sitting, lending her hand to her best friend "We're gonna leave to my house if you guys don't mind... I can tell Juvia is on edge, so we both can go to a less crowded place."

Everyone nodded in understandment, watching as the two girls carefully walked towards the door. Lyon stood as well, "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked, causing Meredy to turn around with a soft smile.

"You don't have to. Stay and have fun!" Meredy said reassuringly, smiling brightly with a breaking Juvia in her arms.

"I'm going with you guys, too," Jellal stated, standing and walking toward the door whether Meredy liked it or not.

The pinkette just sighed and looked at the others apologetically "Sorry for ditching the party... We'll keep you guys updated on what is happening and what happened to Juvia."

"That's fine. Whatever will keep Juvia happy is fine with me." Levy softly smiled back, arising along with the others to watch the Fioreans leave "And please do let us know!"

"Got it," Meredy said once more, slipping on her shoes as Lyon opened the door.

Before Jellal left out of the door, he turned to the others, especially Erza, and smiled "Thanks for the party."

"Take care, Juvia..." Gray said worryingly, watching as Meredy helped the girl step out of the door. Instead of saying words, Juvia turned around with a smile on her face. Although she was crying, the smile was really bright and assuring to Gray that she'd be alright. Gray smiled back as he whispered under his breath "I'm glad you're safe..."

And just like that, the four were gone, heading towards Meredy's home with a trembling girl.

The rest of the night was spent in silence as they all tried to wrap around the fact that Juvia was heavily abused that day. They couldn't stop but wonder if she was okay, and when they thought she wasn't, they were put on edge and wanted to run over to the pinkette's place to see if she was alright...

But they were able to resist the urges, knowing Meredy would text them if anything was wrong--however, the texts never came and the teens were left in the dark.

But they all decided it was for a good reason, so they didn't think much of it. At least Juvia was in good hands--but that didn't stop Gray from worrying. He desperately needed Juvia to be okay, even if it meant giving a call to the police.

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All in favor of killing Dave Lockser say I 🖐🏻

Sorry for making all of that depressing...I was super moody this passed week so that helped me a little to write. Was it bad? Hopefully not... Also sorry if the last part of this was sloppy or seemed rushed (because it was). That was all written today along with other parts but I was desperate to get this chapter out for y'all so you're welcome, I guess.

Probably wasn't the best idea to post a very sad chapter for the holidays, but whatever...sorry if I ruined your spirit 😅

If you do celebrate, Merry Christmas!!! There are 4 more days left for me and I couldn't be happier! 😊

Have a good week, broskies ✌🏻❤️ ILY so much and thanks for your support 😆

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