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Aʟʟ I Eᴠᴇʀ Nᴇᴇᴅᴇᴅ
Chapter 8 - Unexpected Encounter

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Breathing in the sweet release of air, Gray stepped outside of the building with a satisfied smile. The long and eventful day at school was now finally over and he could envelop the sweet satisfaction of being free to do whatever he pleased.

After a long day of school - helping a student from his rival school in the nurses' office against his will, that test he had in Biology, lunchtime with his close friends, and Geography with that sappy teacher of his - it was all finally over-

-until tomorrow, at least.

He planned to do all that he could, and, to not be as lazy like he usually was after a long day of school and homework. Maybe he could go for a jog, walk around the park - maybe take a step forward and let Wendy tag along -, get a treat, go to the mall--his options were endless.

"Gray!" an unfamiliar voice called after him before he could step outside of the school grounds.

Gray takes hold of one of his backpack straps as he turns abruptly, finding a girl with long purple hair coming into view, cheeks flushed and she out of breath. "Yes?"

The girl takes a moment to catch a breath before speaking, wiping a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead from sweating so much. As soon as she looked up from the ground, Gray saw her face completely. Her face was a soft heart shape, her eyes just a light hazel yelling beauty, and her skin tone as pale as ever. She looked as sweet as an apple, or a raspberry, or even a strawberry - all descriptive things to match her red face.

The girl looks at Gray with soft eyes, twiddling her fingers together as she nervously chuckles. "I-I, um... I a-am sure w-we-we have never met before, but I am Anji and I have...admired...you for quite some time now, and I was just wondering-"

Knowing exactly what the girl named Anji was about to say, Gray quickly cut her off before her sentence was even finished "Sorry, no."

Gray turns back around as he starts heading off, but stops once again when a hand touches his shoulder. He looks back and it was Anji, her face expressing shock and emotions Gray has surely seen from girls before who had been rejected - from him "W-What do you mean?"

Gray sighs and looks at the poor girl, she is as desperate as a street dancer to get money. "Look- I don't know you, and I need to get to know someone before they ask me, or I ask them, out on a date. I'm sorry, but it won't work out on either end" he moves slightly to start heading off for real that time, but the tear running down the girl's cheek stopped him in his tracks.

A crying girl always made Gray feel guilty, especially if it was him who made the girl cry - which he would tend to do a lot. It wasn't his fault, though. You see, he was a ladies man. All the girls from his school always fawn over or gaze at him 24/7 without stopping. And when they confess, he immediately blows them off.

Don't get him wrong, the girls had nothing to do with the situation of his rejection. All the girls who asked him out were all pretty cute, he wouldn't lie, but he just couldn't find himself to accept the offer. All the girls liked about him were his looks, not his personality or how he acted. If a girl were to ask him out, she'd have to like him for who he is, not just because he has a nice body and a face.

Anji wiped the tear as soon as she felt it, retracting her hand from Gray's shoulder. "Oh, who am I kidding...Why would anyone want to date me." Anji covers her mouth stifling the sobs as she runs away, guilt sinking into Gray's gut as he watched the girl from his school runoff, heartbroken.

Gray sighed, feeling like the biggest douche on the planet. The girl obviously liked him, but for his personality?

"Maaaaan, dude!" a voice far too familiar called and Gray just had to glare. "Do you run a business where you make girls cry, because if so, you must be making a fortune! What number was that? 236?"

"Shut up, Natsu."

"He's right, Natsu. Cut him some slack." Erza came into view now, beside her was little Miss Lucy Heartfilia. "It's not his fault he has girls all over him."

Lucy laughs. "Yeah, kinda is if you think about it, Erza." the redhead looks at Lucy with confusion, egging her to continue. "It is technically his fault, I mean, he does look like that. He has muscles, a soft face shape, and more things girls can't resist. Too bad his heart is cold...its too hard to melt."

Erza nods. "I thought you liked Natsu, not Gray," she says in a whisper to Lucy, her little sentence going unheard to the two boys who were oblivious. Lucy's face turns pink, swatting the air around her as she shakes her head furiously at Erza. "Anyway, Lyon asked if he could meet us here after school to invite us all somewhere."

Rolling his eyes, Gray folds his arms. "Are you kiddin' me? I don't wanna hang out with him."

"Gray," Erza says sternly.

"Seriously, I don't. Lyon is my jerk of a cousin, do you really expect me to hang out with him?"

Lucy sighs. "C'mon, Gray. Doesn't he make you happy? He's family."

Gray narrows his eyes, caught not believing his friends. The three of them all met Lyon at a party a day or two ago, and they were now all buddy-buddy with him? Hanging out with a student from their rival school was a huge no-no, especially since it was Lyon.

"Hey, guys! I hope you don't mind, but I am bringing a friend of mine with us!" Lyon's voice said aloud, getting closer as the group of four looked in the direction. As suspected by Lyon's sentence, he had a friend by his side. The friend had hair and eyes the shade of blue, was tall, had a red tattoo on his right eye, and-

"Jellal Fernandez?!" Erza shrieks - the guy apparently knew Erza.

Lyon looks at Jellal then to Erza with a raised brow "You two know each other?"

The new bluenette smiled, nodding gently. "Yeah, uh, me and Erza go back."

Erza nods her head furiously, trying to distract the fact that her cheeks were indeed blooming a new shade. "Y-Yeah, we were in kindergarten with each other... I thought you moved away, Jellal?"

Jellal smiles, "I did but ended up moving back years later, and now here I am."

Nodding again, Erza looks to Lucy and her two other friends. "That's Jellal, an old friend of mine."

Jellal Fernandez - an 18-year-old, a Fiore Highschool student, was on the student council, a non-social person but nice and friendly, likes keeping things in order and doesn't like people knowing his emotions - smiled at the three new faces.

Lyon nodded, "He's been my friend ever since I and Meredy got together, she actually introduced me to him and we've been buds since." the guy explained, putting an arm around Jellal's shoulders. "Anyway, I wanted to take you guys to a restaurant--more like a café, introduce you to my friend here."

"Sounds fun!" Lucy says with a beaming smile, putting up a thumbs up.

Gray, again, rolls his eyes. Did he want to go? No. Was he going to be forced to go? Of course, Erza wouldn't let him go that easy. He could lie that he was going to be busy, but both he and his friends knew his life was pretty much uneventful without them, so that plan wouldn't do any justice.

He decided to look on the bright side--at least it wasn't just Lyon he'd have to be with from his rival school. Gray could get to know this Jellal guy better since he felt that he, too, was important. Jellal seemed friendly, and seeing as though he had met Erza before, he shouldn't be too bad. Sighing, Gray stuffs his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Sure, whatever."

"Great! Follow me!" Lyon started walking ahead, Jellal not by his side anymore. Instead, the bluenette joined Erza's side and the two were now the caboose of the group, in the back chatting like old best buds. Gray was forcefully pushed up to walk by Lyon - he decided to let Lucy and Natsu, the two "love birds" they were, walk alongside one another. So, unwillingly he talked occasionally with his cousin.

He could tell the day, unlike any others after school, would be longer than usual.

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The group of teens stood outside of a little café on the corner of Main Street, it being a brown shade of rough surface with little cobblestone designs. "'The Little Teacup Café'?" Lucy says out loud, going heard to every one of her friends plus Lyon and Jellal.

"Yup! It's the best Café I've been to!" Lyon says with enthusiasm, his face lighting up with a smile. "Jellal could say the same, hm?"

Jellal nodded, also smiling, "I love coming here to-"

Lyon cut the poor guy off "Let's go inside!"

Jellal shrugged, figuring what he was about to say went against what Lyon had planned. So, instead, he started walking towards the Café's doors, opening them and letting Erza and Lucy through before walking in himself.

When they stepped inside, an overwhelming comfort and coziness hit the 4 who had never been to the Café. The interior on the inside was so... home-y feeling, Lucy immediately had the chills of relaxation. "Woooah~! No wonder you like this Café. It's so cute!"

"I know, right?" Erza agrees, breathing in the air as she gets the same feeling as Lucy.

Lyon chuckles as he walks passed the awed teens to the waitress waiting at the reservation podium. "Hey, Alissa!"

"Lyon, nice to see you again! Usual seating for your special waitress, or a different one for today?" the Alissa chick asked, smiling fondly at Lyon.

Lyon leaned into her ear and whispered, going unheard to the 4 Magnolians. They knew when Lyon had stopped whispering because the girl nodded, quickly jotting down on paper below her before asking Lyon and his friends to follow.

The group followed, and as they did, they observed the tables containing people eating their food. The food, to put as simple as possible, looked absolutely marvelous and delicious. They passed by a couple who looked to be eating a nice looking slice of chocolate cake with a cherry on top, another couple which one had a perfect chicken pot pie, and the other with a well-garnished salad. Along with the home-y feeling, the food looked like one of a Grandma's - which was a good thing cause all Grandmas' cooking sends a chill down multiple people's spines.

They sat down on a red cushioned booth right next to a window; Erza, Lyon, and Jellal on one side of the table, while the other had Lucy, Natsu, and Gray seated.

The girl who led them to their seats passed out the menus, smiling once done. "A waiter will be with you promptly. For now, please choose a beverage and we here will delightfully serve you! Enjoy your stay!" the girl said with such joy as she waved a farewell.

"On top of the cute design, the waiters are lovely!" Lucy commented again, looking through the menu.

Jellal nodded in agreement as he looked through the endless choices to order  "Especially three of them."

At the same time, their supposed waiter had shown up speaking in a tone that was oddly... "Welcome to The Little Teacup Café! We here are pleased to have you, especially me!! I'm your waiter Juvia and I'll-wait, Jellal, Lyon, and-no..."

Lucy, Erza, Natsu, and Gray all put down their menus, staring at their waiter as if she had no head. "Juvia!" they all said in unison whilst looking very confused.

"Lyon, what the hell are they doing here!" Juvia looks at Lyon with angry eyes, saying what she had to say in a calmed tone which didn't match her facial expressions.

Lyon looks at the girl with a smile. "Surprise! I know we shouldn't show Magnolians where we work, but Gray and his friends are nice Magnolia students."

"Nice my ass-" Juvia rolls her eyes as she hides her face behind her notepad meant for ordering the customers' orders. She hated seeing their faces, especially whilst she worked! Erza, Lucy, and Natsu were fine...but Gray? This was like, what, the third time they saw each other that day? Gray and her? She didn't like him, like, at all.

"Watch your language, Juvia," Jellal warned jokingly, "Don't want to leave your job, right?"

"That's something Juvia doesn't need...ugh, never mind. What's your beverage orders?" she asks the last sentence in the voice she had before, all nice and friendly.

"Water, please!"
"Root beer for me!"
"A strawberry smoothie sounds nice..."
"Make that two!"
"Ice water for me and Gray!" Lyon asks for him and his cousin, not even asking Gray if that was his order - although Lyon knew it was what he would get.

Juvia quickly wrote down their orders, and once done, looked up to the six. "Your beverages will be out soon." she bowed before turning around, to only turn back around when Erza called her name.

"What happened to your bruise?" Erza asks while signaling to her own right eye. Juvia's right eye, where there was a bruise earlier that morning, was completely gone.

Juvia hesitantly touched her eye, softly smiling. "Meredy helped me cover it up with some makeup since it hadn't healed." she explains "and, our boss said it would distract our customers."

"Well obviously it hasn't healed, it isn't magic," Gray says like a smart aleck, gaining a smack on the back of the head - courtesy to Lucy.

"Your guys' boss?" Natsu questions, "Wait a second, does Meredy work here?!"

Juvia nods before turning away, "Anyway, your beverages will arrive shortly, and thank you for coming." she walks towards the kitchen, and once out of sight, Lyon turns to the Magnolians.

"Juvia and Meredy both work here, that's why it's my favorite and why I brought you here! Meredy suggested it, so I followed. And Gray, another person you may know works here too," Lyon says with a smile and a wink, "And get this. That stellar bluenette we just talked to is the star waitress. Everyone here loves her."

"How cool." Erza, Gray, and Natsu say at the same time, while one said so non-enthusiastic.

"That's so sweet that you love this place! Is it because Meredy works here?" Lucy raises a brow at Lyon, his cheeks going a light pink as he nods, which Lucy then squeals. "You two are SO cute! Do you come here and request the table she is working at?"

Lyon nods bashfully, now realizing the group knew how much he loved Meredy. Lucy thought it was cute, though. So if she knew he was embarrassed she would say he shouldn't be, because they were so cute.

And once again, Lucy really hoped that she would find the right one for her someday soon, or maybe they were already sitting next to her...?

Back in the kitchen where Juvia escaped, she breathed heavily as she tried fixing the blender. Jellal and Lucy both ordered smoothies, so Juvia was making it - well, trying. She wasn't doing so swell.

You see, the person who makes the drinks for the waiters went home sick an hour before that very moment, so the waitresses were instructed to get the beverages their selves. So, Juvia was trying to figure out the blender for once in her life - she never got to use one, just home rules.

"Agh, stupid blender! Work!" Juvia whined as she bit the inside of her cheek, growing red in anger. She was so caught up in trying to work the blender, so when an unexpected hand touched her shoulder, Juvia almost had a heart attack.

A chuckle was heard. "Calm down, sweetie. It's just me." the voice was like velvet and could, most definitely, put anyone to sleep.

Juvia took a deep breath as she looked to her fellow employee behind her. "H-Hey Ultear!"

The same chuckle was made, by the one and only Ultear Milkovich as she watched Juvia grow red with embarrassment now. "Need help?" Juvia nodded and stepped aside, letting Ultear help her. "Who is this for?"

Juvia sighs, "Lyon, Jellal, and four people from my rival school," she says with uninterest, placing her hands flat against the counter.

"Magnolia High? Why?" Ultear asks as she starts the blender, and as soon as it starts buzzing and cutting the many strawberries held inside, Ultear looks to Juvia with a hand placed on her hip. "I don't know, Lyon invited them because one was his cousin."

Ultear smirks, "Ah, Gray?"

Raising a brow, Juvia looks to Ultear with surprise. "You know him, too?" as soon as Ultear nodded and started paying attention to the blender again, Juvia spoke once more. "How?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell her, Ultear." another voice comes, which belongs to none other than Meredy Maverick in the same work outfit as Ultear and Juvia.

"Tell me what?"

"I am Lyon's cousin, so that also makes me Gray's cousin as well," Ultear explains whilst stopping the blender and stirring it.

Juvia's mouth forms the shape of an "O" as she realizes the fact that Ultear, and Lyon, were cousins with the jerk of a Magnolian. "Juvia's so sorry for you."

"Why do you say that?" Ultear asks, grabbing two glasses as she pours the smoothie into them equally.

The bluenette just shrugs, "he's a jerk."

"Oh, I know," Ultear grabs two strawberries and slits down the middle of both, placing it on the rim of the glass for a cute garnish.

Meredy just laughs, "why are you two bashing Gray?"

Juvia rolls her eyes, knowing fully well that Meredy knows why. The girl grabs the smoothies from Ultear and sets them on the tray along with the other drinks. "Well, Juvia'll be off."

"I wanna go with you," Ultear says simply making Juvia raise a brow "I haven't seen Gray since forever, I wanna just say hi."

"Oooh! I'll come too! I wanna say hi to Lyon!!!" Meredy turns towards the exit of the kitchen, starting to walk as the other two girls follow. As they go, two other waitresses enter the kitchen and wave at Juvia, say a quick hi to Meredy and Ultear, and then the three are out of the kitchen and making their way towards the table of teens.

When they make it there, Gray glances towards the three - typically Ultear - and rolls his eyes, banging his head on the table as Juvia passed out the drinks. "As if this day couldn't get any better..." he says sarcastically, his head still on the table.

"HI to you too, Gray. Such an ungrateful cousin of mine, hm?" Ultear says with a smile, sharing it with the three new faces.

"Who is she, Gray?" Lucy questions, poking Gray's shoulder which caused him to look up.

Gray blankly stared at Ultear, narrowing his eyes "she's my cousin."

"HOW MANY RELATIVES DO YOU HAVE, STRIPPER!?" Natsu screams, causing Lucy to duck down in embarrassment with all the new stares.

"Nice to meet you all, you must be Natsu? And you Lucy, and then you are Erza!" Ultear says with a beaming smile, pointing at each of the three individually. "I've especially heard a lot about you Erza, from multiple sources."

Erza blushes "from whom?"

"Not important. Anyway, I'm Ultear Milkovich and I am both Gray and Lyon's cousin who is in college at the moment. It's nice to meet you all, finally!"

Juvia claps two times which gains all eyes on her, "okay, glad we all are meeting but me, Meredy, and Ultear need tog et back to work. Juvia'll be back to take your food orders." and with that, Juvia was off.

The stellar bluenette couldn't handle being with Magnolians anymore, so she found an opportunity to dip. She really had no business with Natsu, Lucy, Erza, or especially Gray, so she saw no need to stay. She walked straight to the kitchen to take her break since she desperately needed it.

Meredy, who was seated on Lyon's lap watched as Juvia walked away, the pinkette starting to frown as she watches her life long bestie get out of view. "Juvia..."

Gray saw the opportunity, although didn't really see any explanation of why he needed to ask, and began to talk. "Why is Juvia so snappy, and how'd she get the bruise on her eye?"

Meredy turns her attention to Gray with a soft smile as she shakes her head. "It's nothing," she plants her lips on Lyon's cheek before she stood up from his lap and ruffled his hair. "I have to get back to work." the girl walked off, going the same way she saw Juvia go.

Ultear places a hand on her hip as she now watches her second employee friend walk off with a sigh, "Gray, just believe what Meredy says and ignore anything Juvia does, kay? I know you, and you couldn't give a damn about any Fiorean, which Juvia is."

"But Ultear-" Gray says with the arched eyebrows. "it's really bugging me, she always seems so jumpy and scared whenever I bring up the topic of her-"

Lyon interrupts "Gray, enough. As I said at the party two days ago, it's none of your business."

"It is too if you make it seem like a big deal!" Gray says in a voice above a whisper.

"Actually, I've been thinking the same" Erza points out, holding her chin with her index finger and thumb. "Juvia does act weird when we talk about her Dad."

"Ooookay, that's enough about this subject. I better get back to work. Nice meeting you all, and seeing you again, Gray." Ultear waves as she walks off, going to one of the tables she was serving.

Lucy looks to Lyon for an explanation, "Lyon? It's obvious to all of us that you, Juvia, Meredy, and Ultear are hiding something about Juvia."

"Guys, it's really nothing. Let's just enjoy the rest of the day, alright?" Jellal says for Lyon, taking a sip of his smoothies as they dodge the conversation topic.

The Magnolians still had questions--and it was obvious to everyone that Magnolians were going to stop at nothing to acquire responses.

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A/N: Sorry if it seemed rushed! I tried my hardest to finish it up so I could post it on time. Anyway, I hope you liked it!

See ya next time~ and I promise I will actually post a chapter on time next week :)