dedication: to… fuck, to All Time Low.
disclaimer: not mine.

notes: out of crack couples, this may be my favorite.
notes2: Lucy and Juvia... are not completely there in the head. like. they're OOC. uh. just sayin.
notes3: this may be the most confusing thing i've ever written.

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Juvia hated her.

She really, really did.

She had everything Juvia didn't- prettypretty hair, prettypretty eyes, prettypretty figure—

—prettypretty Gray.

Hate was a strong word, but Juvia hated her.

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It was Thursday, and they were walking home from school.

Gray and Lucy were in front, the latter on the formers back, giggling and whispering things that Juvia swore made him blush.

And Juvia—

Juvia was out of place.

They couldn't see, but she was fuming and gritting her teeth and repeatedly running her fingers through her choppy blue hair to keep from just lunging forward and swinging.

But she was still there, because that was the charade, right? She and Lucy and Gray were friends, and everything was fine. Juvia's crush on Gray? That was old news, right? Everyone knew, right?

But it was called a charade for a reason. Juvia was great at acting. And acting was easier then coming to the reality that Gray wasn't hers and the fact crushed her heart and Lucy knew-

Oh, Lucy knew.

And Juvia hatehatehated her for it.

Lucy had hopped down from Gray's back, skidding back a few steps to stand beside Juvia, who barely hid her scowl. If Lucy noticed, she didn't say anything. She just smiled, blinking eyes that looked like they were still in dreamland.

"Are you going tomorrow?"

"Why would Juvia not go?"

"Okay, I'm a dummy." Lucy giggled, and Juvia actually did scowl this time.

"Juvia fails to see what's funny."

Lucy shrugged, looking up at the sky and smiling again. "Oh, nothing is. Nothing needs to be. Sometimes, you can just laugh for no reason, y'know? Just—"

Just as they stepped off the curb, a car spun around the corner, going well over the limit. Juvia easily stepped back, yanking Lucy with her.

As Juvia glared at the speeding vehicle, looking around for a seemingly vanished Gray (because wasn't this his girlfriend?) Lucy laughed again.

"I almost got hit, didn't I?"

Juvia spun, turning her glare onto the blonde and snapping, "Juvia thinks Lucy should keep her head out of the clouds!"

Lucy blinked. Then blinked again. Then bent over, laughing and clutching at her stomach, leaving Juvia to stare in surprise.

"Clouds are overrated— baby, my head's in the stars."

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It was Friday, and Juvia remembered why Loke's parties were so famous.

She was sitting on a couch with a couple of someone's, with a cup of something in her hand and somehow almost content. She laughed for no reason,

(nothing was funny—

nothing needed to be)

danced with no one in particular, and was just… content. Not happy, because you needed a reason to be happy. Just… content.

Stumbling down the hall, she found her way to another room. This one quieter, with a dimmed light and slurred conversations. It looked like a small library or sitting room. Collapsing on the nearest vacant couch, she sighed, tipping her head back and closing her eyes. Judging from the giggles around the room, she guessed alcohol wasn't the only thing in these people's systems.

She felt a pressure as someone sat down beside her. Reopening her eyes, she saw a head full of blonde hair and dreamy brown eyes.

Lucy held up a finger, turned her head away and opening her mouth. Juvia watched a puff of smoke come out, laughing as Lucy coughed once, twice, then laughed herself.

"Total champ," she murmured sarcastically, tucking her legs under herself. Juvia shook her head, taking the actual blonde in— the messy, smudged eyeliner, the black shirt with the straps that kept falling down her shoulders, the short denim cutoffs.

Trouble in a tanktop.

"Where's Gray?" She questioned in a dazed curiosity. Weren't the two always together? Besides from the day before, but Juvia didn't want to think about it because she flat out didn't want to think.

She thought she saw Lucy shrug. "I 'unno. Think I saw him with Cana. But that's probably just payback 'cause he saw me with Cana last weekend."

"Lucy… doesn't care?"

Another shrug. "Not really."

"… Hm."

They went silent, listening to the murmurs and mumbles around the room. Juvia shut her eyes again, frowning. There was a weird twisting feeling in her stomach and her head felt funny. She was thinking. She didn't want to think. She just wanted to forget.

(but she never really would because it was Gray and he wasn't hers and wasn't Lucy's and it may have occurred to her he'd probably never be anyone's)

When she reopened her eyes, Lucy was right beside her. Or maybe she had been the whole time. Juvia really couldn't keep anything straight at the moment.

Looking at the blonde, she cocked her head to the side, pursing her lips.

Lucy was… weird. She was dreamy and dazed and appeared perfect but she was just weird and—

"Why is Lucy staring at Juvia…"

Lucy giggled, and for some reason Juvia despised her again.

"You— have ocean eyes."

Juvia stared. Lucy smiled.

And maybe is was Lucy who moved or maybe it was Juvia—

(or maybe it was both because she didn't have a clue)

—but suddenly lips were crushing and fingers were being tangled in hair and the edge of her pretty blue shirt hiked up.

"I hate you," She whispered.

(and it was first person

and she never used first person)

Lucy just laughed, quiet and airy, drug tainted breath fanning across her face.

"Hate sex is the best."

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It was Saturday and Juvia really didn't know what was what.

She sat curled up on her bed, in nothing but an oversized sweater, staring out the window. Putting a hand to her neck, she shuddered, pulling up the fabric to try and hide the colored skin.

Surprisingly enough, she'd woken up in her own bed. How she'd gotten there, she didn't know.

How the night before had happened, she was completely clueless.

The only thing she'd left was scribbled on the mirror in blood red lipstick, scrawled and messy.

Hate's a strong word.

Juvia had been a strong girl.

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It was Sunday and Lucy was gone forever.

"I'm going on an adventure."

Lucy grinned, shoving her hands in the pockets of her shorts and bouncing on combat boot clad feet.

Juvia stared.

"I've planned it for awhile," She continued, walking to the edge of the platform and staring down the tracks, pursing her lips when she saw no train. "Me and my friend. He's— yeah. But I'm going, and it's going to be…" She trailed off, tilting her head back and looking at the starry sky.

"Why is Juvia here," Juvia herself didn't even know. She'd gotten a phone call from a number that shouldn't of been familiar, to meet her at the Magnolia train station. And she'd left— and she still didn't know.

Lucy ignored her. "Train's late," She sighed, spinning around, duffle bag flying.

Juvia gulped. "Why did Lucy tell Juvia to come here?"

Lucy turned to face her, smiling and shrugging. "You're one of the few people in this town I liked," She paused, cocking her head to the side. "But… you hate me, right? So…" She shrugged again.

"Pity, yeah? You hating me." She sighed again, staring back up at the sky. "Can't say I didn't try to change it."

Feeling the numbness leaving her, Juvia scowled, snapping, "How is Lucy seducing someone changing their mind?"

Lucy tipped her head back and laughed.

"Cause it usually works! Gray," She paused to wink, tiny smirk on her face, "He used to hate me."

Juvia ground her teeth together, hands in fists at her sides. Lucy laughed again at the action. "Oh, right, you like him… Hey, maybe once I'm gone, you can have him, hm?"

She closed her eyes, tilting her head towards the ground. Didn't Lucy know by now Gray wasn't someone who could be had?

"Maybe. Maybe. Who knows."

It seemed like hours the silence stretched on between the two. But eventually, she heard a train whistle in the background, and couldn't figure out why her fists got tighter.

"Oh look, my chariot comes!" Another giggle,

(and she hated it)

Footsteps as Lucy approached her,

(and she hated them)

A warm sensation on her lips, chaste and happy,

(she could feel her smile and she hated it)

A soft palm against her cheek, and then the squeal as the train stopped.

"Bye forever, love!"

She opened her eyes just in time to see Lucy step onto the train and turn towards her with a grin, shooting her a two fingered salute. The train pulled away, slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed. And maybe Juvia shouldn't have compared it to her heart.

Because the train was gone in the next instant.

And for the life of her, she could not figure out what the dampness in her eyes was.

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—

endnotes: i love leaving people with unanswered questions. why did Juvia hate her so much? Gray? something in the past? *cough* sexual tension? *cough* who knows. not me. TROLOLOL.
endnotes2: I'D LIE AND SAY I'M WEARING FLAME RETARDENT CLOTHES BUT I'M REALLY NOT. ugh, please, my sanity is at an all time low and one flame might send me spiraling to a loony bin. note; there's a difference between FLAME and CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM.
endnotes3: this is choppy and random and i kind of like it.