"What I am doing here is none of your business." Gray responds, his voice is as cold as ice.

"For a young man like you to be here in this hour, it is my business, Gray Fullbuster."

Juvia watches the scene play in front of her eyes, gulping as she turns to Erza, hoping the young woman can do something about this. The tension in the room is rising, as the raven head glares at the man who is anything but pleased with his arrogant attitude. Jellal shifts his attention from the young man to Juvia, who is trying to catch Gray's attention by pulling his sleeves. Whoever Gray Fullbuster is, his relationship with Juvia is not as easy as Erza has mentioned.

Neighbor...

"If your business with Juvia is to stand there and stare at her, then I suggest you leave, Jellal-san."

"And I believe that you should be the one who needs to leave."

Juvia sweatdrops, feeling uncomfortable at the heavy atmosphere between them. Although she can't see anything, the bluenette can imagine thunder rumbling in the background as the two men ready to take the sword out of the scabbard, ready to kill each other.

"Uhm, should we do something about this, Erza-san?"

"Hm?"

She startles when her blue eyes meet Erza's sparkly brown ones, enthused at the scene in front of her. The bluenette turns away, shaking her head softly at the way these two bickering each other and Erza's lack of responsibility to stand between them to break off the so-called fight.

"Go home, Gray Fullbuster."

"No. YOU go home!"

"Enough!" scoffed Juvia as she stands between them "Either you both cool your heads or Juvia will have to ask everyone to leave."

With that, she turns around and crosses her arms, huffing and walking back to the kitchen. The three of them stare at her, their jaws almost dropping. They look at each other, or rather, Gray and Jellal send each other a death glare before following her back to the kitchen. Erza's brown orbs lay onto them, her lips curl up in an amused smile.

When they reach the kitchen, Juvia has finished setting up the tea on the table. Her expression is still annoyed, cheeks puffing and lips pouting, an obvious sign for Gray and Jellal to stop their childish behaviors and start behaving like adults. Her tactic works, or at least, that's what she thought. When Gray takes a seat next to her, Jellal reacts immediately, almost grabbing the raven head by his collar to force him out of the chair. He is stopped by Erza, who shakes her head slightly, unamused with how he's behaving. Juvia sighs, at least the red-haired woman has some sense of responsibility.

"Well, since we're all here, why don't you two give each other a proper introduction?" Erza clears her voice, starting the conversation "Maybe by the time you know each other's identity, you both will act like adults instead of fighting like little brats."

"Gray Fullbuster, Juvia's friend and neighbor."

"Jellal Fernandes, Juvia's older brother."

Brother...?

He turns to Juvia, only to see her response with a firm nod. This man who is sitting in front of him is Juvia's brother?

"Now that you know who I am, I suggest you take your leave, Gray Fullbuster." said Jellal with a stern voice "You too, Erza. I...I want to spend some time alone with my sister."

They both look at the Lockser/Fernandes siblings, hesitating to leave their seats. Juvia looks at him, grabbing his sleeves as she silently reassures him that she will be fine. Her response makes the raven head sigh in defeat, knowing that her decision is final and there's nothing he can say or do to stop her. But then, still as playful as ever, Gray leans down and whisper into her ears, making the young girl blushes various shade of pink as she slowly nods her head.

"Call me if you need anything."

"Gray Fullbuster, get away from my sister." Jellal exclaims with a vein pops on his forehead.

The raven head smirks, ignoring his words as he takes his leave. But before reaching the door, he turns around and sticks out his tongue, toying with the older bluenette's irritation. Erza sweatdrops, she gives Jellal a nod and follows Gray back to his own apartment.

When they hear the sound of the door closing, Juvia feels her body tense immediately. She's now along with Jellal, her beloved brother... She should be happy, right...?

"Juvia, it has been a while..." his voice softened "How have you been?"

"She has been...well..."

But Jellal doesn't believe her, not when he knows exactly what happened to his little sister after he went Crocus. The kind butler at home has informed him everything, from the way his father pressured the girl to accept the proposal of a stranger to how he forced Juvia to give up her last name to how he kicked her out of the house in the middle of the night. He knows it all, his heart aches painfully as if there are thousands of needles stinging it, knowing the truth and yet, couldn't do anything to stop him.

Their family was once considered a perfect, loving family, one that had an undeniable love for music. Their father, Mr. William Fernandes, is a world-renowned musician and conductor with polished and flawless techniques in both violin and piano. His late mother, formerly known as Ms. Elizabeth Lockser, was a violin prodigy, a violinist who was able to get in touch with everyone's soul through her performance. Being born in a music-oriented household, Jellal and Juvia are destined to be the future prodigy of the classical music industry and yet, only Jellal is able to exceed that expectation.

Father, despite his great obsession with perfecting every single technique that is required for a musician, loves his mother dearly. He always refers to her as 'My lovely Elly', a nickname that Elizabeth adored. Before the accident that took away Elizabeth's life, William Fernandes was a man full of love and devotion for his family. He loves both of his children, teaching them the beauty of music and guiding them through every step of how to be a pianist and violinist. However, after the death of his lovely Elly, everything changes...

William pours his heart, his energy and his soul into his works and techniques, using them as a distraction to forget about his wife. He also pays more attention to Jellal, spending most of his free time teaching and training his son and neglecting Juvia in the process. The only few times that he actually pays attention to her is when he needs to sign a contract or a deal, sacrificing the poor girl's freedom to gain further success in his life.

When Juvia could not stay silent anymore and decided to fight back, he abandoned her, disowned her, forcing her to give up the name Fernandes so that she wouldn't bring shame to him. Juvia, once a princess, is now a pauper. Her once luxurious life was taken away from her in a blink of an eye.

"Brother, why are you here?" she asks "Aren't you supposed to be in Crocus?"

"I..." he lowers his head, staring at his reflection in the teacup "I ran away..."

"W-what...?" Juvia stares at him as if he just grew a second head "B-but why?"

Because he can't take it anymore. Because he can't stand his father's tyrannical behavior. He feels suffocated, like a pair of invisible hands strangling him. Since his mother passed away, Jellal has felt nothing but loss and despair. His father despises how he wants to play his music, to infuse his feelings into the sound of his piano, because to William, techniques are the only requirement for them to survive in the musical industry.

Jellal doesn't agree with this, but he isn't strong enough to fight back, just like how he can't stand up to protect his sister. William forced him to attend Crocus Music Academy, a prestigious school for future musicians. The older bluenette denied it at first, but when his father threatened to hurt his sister, Jellal reluctantly agreed. He asked his father to give Juvia the attention and opportunities she deserved and he agreed, or at least, that's what he thought. In less than a year after he left, William disowned his daughter after she refused to accept the marriage arrangement with a fellow musician, who is 20 years older than her.

I should have known that he'll never keep his promise...

"I've submitted my application to Magnolia University, their music department is actually pretty good." Jellal sighs.

"B-but father, he..." Juvia exclaims, her eyes on the verge of tears "I don't want you to receive the same treatment he has for me. You have so much potential, Jellal-nii, please reconsider this..."

Potential?

He has potential?

He almost laughs at those words. His performance this afternoon was terrible, although his techniques were correct, he didn't feel anything while playing the song. His heart and his mind were empty, he didn't feel anything, he didn't know what message he was trying to convey or what emotion he wanted the audience to feel. His performance was meaningless...

"Do you like it? My performance?"

She flinches at the question, not knowing how to answer.

"Me too, I hate it. I hate it so much that I want to destroy both of my hands so that I don't have to do this anymore."

"Brother!" she exclaims, holding his hands tightly "Don't ever say that! Never say that!" she sobs, tears trailing down her face "How could you say such a horrible thing? Don't you remember how much mother loves these hands?"

Jellal's calm expression changes drastically. Like a broken child, he hugs his sister tightly, apologizing for failing to protect her, to shield her from the wrath of their father. He apologizes for abandoning her, letting her deal with all of this by herself.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he bites his lips "Please, don't be mad at me. Don't leave me, Juvia. For you are all I have left..."

"Jellal-nii..." she sobs "Juvia will never be mad at you, she will never leave you, she will never abandon you. So please, don't cry..."

He holds onto her tightly, sinking his sister deep into his embrace. Jellal closes his eyes as his body relaxes under Juvia's kind words. Her hand gently rubs his back, her soft wavy hair tickles his neck, and the warmth of her body soothes his racing heart, just like how mother used to hold him whenever he had nightmares.

"Come with me, Juvia. Come and stay with me." said Jellal as he separates from the embrace.

"Jellal-nii..."

She looks at him, knowing what the older bluenette is trying to say. She doesn't want to bother him, nor does she want their father to treat Jellal the same thing he did with her. Since that faithful day, the day her father decided to throw her out of the house, Juvia has decided that she will not let her problems affect anyone.

Though her brother wants to take care of her and make up for his absence during that time, she doesn't think that it's necessary. Juvia has fallen into the spiral of despair once, but now, everything is slowly but gradually getting better, all thanks to a certain raven head whom she loves dearly. Although her feelings for Gray are love at first sight, they also have a deeper meaning in them.

During her darkest time, the bluenette has thought that she would never be able to get up from this, that she would always be unloved and unwanted. Even when she was being taken advantage of by the molester, she did nothing, because no one wanted her, no one wanted to help her, and every second of her existence gloomed the atmosphere.

But her negative mindset started to change when Gray showed up to protect her from the molester, teaching that bastard a lesson for having such obscene intentions towards a high school student. He asked her if she was okay and scolded her for not calling out for help, he even stayed by her side until the end of the ride just to make sure that she was safe. His kind actions and words brought tears to her eyes, and for the first time in forever, she found happiness.

"Juvia, what is Gray Fullbuster to you?"

The bluenette flinches at the question, her face becomes bright red and both hands hold the teacup tightly. Her brother is a clever person, he must have known her feelings for Gray.

Jellal is not the type of person who prevents his little sister from seeing someone. Although he is indeed protective of Juva, he knows how to overstep the boundaries. The young bluenette is old enough to make her own decision and he's only here to give her the assistance that she needs.

Despite only knowing Gray today, Jellal noticed how close the young couple were and how the raven head always remained by her side during the whole event. From what he heard from their friends, the young man is very protective of Juvia and will do anything to make her smile. This begs the question, what is really going on between Juvia and Gray?

Are they lovers or friends or just good neighbors?

Does Gray know anything about her?

Does Juvia talk to him about her problems?

Question after question pop into his mind as Jellal looks at his sister, carefully observing her reaction as he asks about her feelings for Gray. But then, his forest eyes stare at her in awe as Juvia's expression changes from nervous to overjoyed, her lips curl up into the most beautiful smile Jellal has ever seen.

His sister is in love...

"She loves him, for he is the one who chases her sorrow away..."