-Hourglass

Darkness surrounded them. They didn't bother turning on the lights as they entered 10 minutes ago, too preoccupied at the tense situation they were in. They even forgot to shut the door. A beam of light entered through the open entrance, one long shadow casted on the floor. Thunder rumbled outside, followed by a bolt of lightning, crackling as it whipped from above. Heavy rain would soon follow.

"Do you love me?"

The question escaped from with a hazy trembling voice that betrayed her efforts to be strong. She waited for a very long time to ask him. The question burned in her mind for the past few weeks, desperate to know the answer, but couldn't find the right time or courage to ask. Now in this dark room she couldn't stop herself, not with their relationship hanging by a thread that at any minute could break.

Juvia looked up at him with big green eyes, now blurry with strained tears. She wanted to cry but held back the droplets that were threatening to escape. She willed herself not to falter, not at a time like this when her question would finally be given an answer. She didn't want him to see. See the pain that were obvious in her eyes, windows to her heart. Another bolt of lightning descended. Silence radiated in the dark room after. She clenched her fist. Please! She screamed inside her head.

"I don't"

He answered and drew a sharp breath as soon as the words were uttered. As if they just slipped out of his mouth without him having the chance to stop them, he knew he could never take them back. He was standing still, frozen, hands balled into fists. Blue eyes stared back at her trying to make sense of what he just said. Thunder persisted and the rain began to fall, he tore his eyes away from hers and stared at the darkness instead. His jaw clenched.

No, I don't. It didn't make any sense to her. After all they've been through, after all the time they spent together, was it all just waste?, just a past time? Juvia tried finding an excuse to this but found none. It was juvenile for her to think about those things because she knew him better than that and he wasn't someone who'd use her so easily, but still what other possibilities could there be? She knew her feelings for him ran deep. She could say she loved him even. No man had ever compared to him in her heart, but Juvia didn't want to say the words knowing that the feeling wasn't mutual at least that was what he'd declared. She deserved better than that.

"No, no I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she waited for him to say, but nothing came out of his mouth. He just stood there without another word, looking at anything but her, shifting his weight from leg to leg. She refused to believe, but what else could she do but step back and honor his word. She didn't want to be a nuisance, always pushing her feelings unto him and being too persistent. She wasn't like that, but she also wasn't a quitter. Giving him more time to take back his answer, she waited till she knew he wouldn't.

"Okay" She finally said weakly. Then the tears fell, burning her cheeks. The damage had been done. She wiped them off vigorously with the back of her hands, thankful for the darkness around them but still she knew that he could see her pale face, a perfect contrast to the blackness. Another lightning bolt, No, he's watching, don't look, please don't look she thought. She didn't want his pity, not even a speck of it. A second later she turned away and ran out of the room, stepping out into the dark street. Juvia ran and ran without a certain destination in mind, pumping her legs as fast as she could. She just wanted to escape, to get as far away as possible from that dark room, with the wind whipping her hair behind her, rain drenching her from head to toe and brought goose bumps to her arms. She ran till she couldn't. She ran till her legs gave out under her.

People passed by, slowing as they stared at her collapsed on the floor, concern and worry filled their faces. With her body crumpled on the ground and her clothes and hair plastered to her body, she raised her hands to her face and cried the pains of her heart, tears mixing with the rain. That was the last he ever saw her again.

Juvia woke up to the darkness. Her eyes wide open trying to adjust, breathing in ragged breaths till her lungs started to hurt, blood and heartbeats pounding in her ears. Strange dreams filled her nights these past few weeks, nightmares that ruined her sleep. They always, always showed her memories of the painful past. She glanced to her right at the digital alarm clock. Two o'clock it said, with bright red lines that shone through the darkness of her room.

She barely had 3 hours of sleep when the dreams attacked. With her eyes closed and a sigh, Juvia ran her hand up her face and through her hair, wavy in the humidity of her room, letting it fall to her back. After she calmed herself down with a few more deep breaths, Juvia reached out for her phone "you have one message" she read.

It was from her psychologist, sent two hours ago. Juvia never thought that she would ever need a doctor like that, and here she was now reading a message from one. Just last week she met with him, the dashing Dr. Jellal Xavier Allen. Known in his profession, he had an excellent reputation and was highly recommended. With grey-blue eyes that assessed his patients through his reading glasses, she saw the wisdom and knowledge that radiated from the young doctor. Juvia needed help, and she trusted him to do that.

Without reading the message, she stretched her arms above her and flexed her shoulders, as her joints popped, she felt so exhausted. There was no way she could sleep again. One leg after the other she got out of bed, pushing aside her sheets. Barefooted, she padded quietly down the stairs, glancing to her right she saw the lights in the living room still on. "Must've forgotten" she muttered to herself, squinting to adjust her eyes to the sudden brightness. Shifting to her left she felt her way through the unlit, short hallway that led to her kitchen and dining area. She glided her hand along the wall and found the light switch. Click. Light filled the room.

Dark marble counter tops, wooden shelves painted white, a long glass table with matching chairs and silverware, tiled floors and steel appliances greeted her. Opening the refrigerator, she looked for a midnight snack. The cold air that escaped chilled her skin. There was yogurt and ice cream, fruits and bread, cheese and strawberry milk. Juvia took a minute to decide and finally settled on ice cream. Pouring herself a glass of water, she sat on the counter top. The coldness of the marble beneath her skin and the water helped clear her mind. She took that time to adjust her eyes and survey her home, taking a spoonful of her snack.

She lived in a 2 bedroom condo at the very top floor of The Glasshouse, a very tall, very bad , totally expensive building located at the heart of Magnolia City. It had a glass-paneled exterior just like it's name claimed, the mirrors reflected the surrounding buildings and the blue sky. Plush couches, Persian rugs and heavy chandeliers decorated the interior. It's walls were painted beige, with several sculptures and plants at the corners it had a classy feel almost like it came from an 1850's movie. Except for the mirrored floor that was totally modern, it gave the illusion of empty space beneath your feet. It scared the crap out of her when she entered the building for the first time. With few tenants on her floor, it was a quiet dwelling place. Juvia always, always preferred silence, which explained her choice of living at the very last floor of a 20 story building.

She always got bewildered looks from her neighbors, not that she cared. It was because she used the stairs when there was clearly a shiny, convenient- looking elevator beside the shiny, expensive-looking metal sculpture of Mercury, standing in all its winged glory.

"What? No one uses the stairs anymore?" she'd just mutter to herself and begin her ascend to the 20th floor. For her it was like a pilgrimage, to walk and walk and get tired and exhausted till she couldn't move her feet one more step. The rest was just pure will, besides, she didn't have much time to go to the gym anyway. And at the end of her journey she'd reach her reward, her cosy couch, where she'd collapse inside her simple home. It was also because Juvia hated the music they played inside the elevator, it was so annoying that she'd rather climb the stairs. The elevator was pure torture.

She devoted a whole 3 days to decorating her home, starting with 30 minutes just standing and staring at wallpapers, tapping a finger to her chin. She finally decided on a lavender print. The next day she beamed at her walls, all lavender and soothing and downright simple. She left the floor as it were, mahogany-washed wooden panels that spanned vertically. She'd just laid auburn rugs over them. As for furniture, Victorian colours where everywhere, from deep rose, to maroon. She picked out simple pieces that complemented her light walls, a wine coloured couch, wooden side tables that were padded by chocolate-brown coverings, a centre piece made of stained glass, even her TV stand was maroon-tinted tempered glass. Paintings of Greek scenes and deities hang high on the walls. One corner of her living room was pure glass, overlooking the great city, she put heavy drapes over her big windows, the same colour as her couch.

Her bedroom was a whole different pallet, with only monochrome colours repeatedly used. Gray sheets, black pillows with white details, white walls, gray floor-length mirror, black bookshelves, white curtains, gray industrial decorations, and black rugs. Some of her clothes and the red numbers of her digital clock were probably the only things that weren't gray, black or white. Juvia felt particularly professional when she decided on the colours she'd use for her room. It was like entering into another house when you came from the living room.

She used the other room as her office, with tall wooden bookshelves that occupied two whole corners of the room. A stack of boxes was beside the window, filled with old manuscripts and junk that Juvia didn't really need but just couldn't throw away. Family pictures in little black frames were the only decorations. The walls were painted deep red, standing out over the beige floor. She backed up her wooden desk at one corner and hung a whiteboard above it. The white board used to have symbols, dates and words scribbled on it but for the moment it was empty.

Juvia didn't have much stuff, she didn't keep a lot of clothes and shoes, they where stylish enough and Juvia didn't want to have a hard time just picking out an outfit from a mountain of clothes. Juvia put almost three-fourths of her income to her savings, not wanting to spend money on beautiful but totally unnecessary things. She only had several family pictures and baby photographs of herself. The only things in abundance that she owned were books. Ranging from many genres, she kept about 200 in her bookshelves. Hardback and soft bound, old high school pocketbooks to new novels, some heavily read, and some only read once. They were the things she loved the most.

If there was one thing that one could see in her apartment. It was inconsistency. Juvia never really thought of herself as a perfectionist. She always took everything as they were, let the world bring all it's bull and she'd just deal with it. But at least with her own little space, she could let herself go crazy in designing and picking out stuff she didn't know if she even liked.

This was her safe place, a little world she created, where few have ever seen.

She wasn't that much of a weirdo or a loner, she had friends, went out on a Friday night and had an occasional drink, sometimes get wasted and do all kinds of crazy things. She just enjoyed a little personal space and solitude. That was all. After being at work where people fussed, hustled and screamed at deadlines, she needed some peace and quiet and her 20th floor condo was the perfect place.

Juvia Violette Rae Carter , or Io as she's called by many, this came about because when she was young Juvia couldn't pronounce her name properly and came up with only the two vowels, and ever since then the name stuck. She was an editor, as young as she was, she was damn good at her job. She also did well academically, going through school was a breeze for her. She'd earned a lot of friends, a few she became really close with. Her job also made her one of those that give writers a reason to scream and go haywire. Luck and Hugh Publishing and Literature Company hired her at the age of 22. A miracle really, letting a newbie work for them, but ever since, they never regretted their decision. Independent and driven, that's what it said in her resume. Juvia knew people just wrote that stuff to look good but she thought she was pretty good at being those things. It didn't take long before she won the approval of her senior editors. 2 years in the company taught her to love her job but she wasn't totally into chaos, so instead she went looking for a remedy and ended up at The Glasshouse. See, not a total nut job after all.

Something furry brushed against her skin. Juvia looked down to see her only companion in this haven, her big handsome dog. Stranger was a Pyrenean mastiff, soulful and gentle. She had to admit that he was somewhat her best friend rather than pet. Most women would adore their diamonds but for Juvia it was this beast.

Stranger was the first thing that came to her mind when she first met him at a pet shop when he was a little smaller. Juvia needed a companion and she decided to get a pet. Walking in the shop, she saw a lot of dogs, varying from breed to colour to gender, waiting to for someone to notice them and give them a home and affection, staring at her with huge sparkly eyes that somehow creeped her out. When she stooped over his cage, bending to see his face, the dog looked at her with his beady, innocent eyes. He had light-brown fur almost white at a distance with patches of a darker shade in his face, chest, back and paws. She knew mastiffs grew into big dogs, she never liked the small ones like the Chihuahua or a Shiatsu, and she wanted a dog that could be companion and a guard at the same time. This particular one had brown eyes that held her gaze steadily.

"Your awesome" She said to him with a grin, putting her hand on the bars of his cage, the little mastiff reached out and touched his paw to her fingers, giving a small bark as if to agree with her compliment. And the day after, she took Stranger home. They'd been together ever since.

Smiling she jumped down and scratched his neck. A year after adopting him, Stranger grew into a big dog, but remained gentle.

" Hi Stranger" She whispered. Her silent giant brushed his furry head against her hand. This made her smile wider. "Don't worry, I'm okay." She reassured both herself and her dog.

"I'm okay". She repeated.

"I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul." 
- Pablo Neruda