Note: Warnings for sexual content, teenage pregnancy, underage alcohol consumption.
In this AU Elfman is the oldest sibling. He is seventeen, Mirajane is sixteen, and Lisanna is fourteen.
Simon had shot up twelve inches easy over the last year and, despite his new height, he wasn't any less awkward than he had been in middle school. He probably didn't intend to leer at Erza but that's how it looked from the outside. Jellal could tell Simon annoyed her but it would make her even angrier if he swooped in to piss on her leg. So Jellal hung back and divided his attention between Erza and the soccer ball at his feet.
He'd always been a fast runner but his skills with the ball set him apart and earned him a place on the varsity team as a freshman – which was unheard of given the caliber of athletes already on the roster. Jellal didn't often play in the games but he was more than content to earn his way off second string by showing up to every practice and working hard. As a sophomore, he had enough rapport for his coach to promise him both exhibition games once the pre-season started in November.
"You smell nice." Erza's voice over his shoulder startled him. She rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.
"Practice was over twenty minutes ago." He spun around and fit his hands on her hips. "I've already showered." She let him press her against the wall of the hallway and laughed softly when his tongue flicked out to taste the edge of her shoulder that disappeared under her collar. "You smell fantastic," Jellal groaned.
"I smell like sweat."
"It's perfect." His fingers slid over her hip and hooked into the waistband of her shorts. God he loved her volleyball shorts. Nobody wore them like Erza as far as he was concerned.
"I should shower, too," Erza whispered. "My mom's gonna be home for dinner tonight and I –" Her words stopped being words when Jellal's lips brushed over her cheek.
"I can't come over today?" he asked between kisses and nips at her lower lip.
"Jellal," she breathed. "You know you can't. It's a Thursday." Erza suddenly pushed him away and grabbed his hand. She peeked around the corner before dragging him further down the hallway to one of the storage rooms – this one smelled of dusty leather and grass. Once the door clicked shut behind them, she grabbed handfuls of his shirt and yanked him against her.
Jellal grinned as she pulled his t-shirt over his head and ran her hands over his chest. He went for her shorts but on their way down, they caught on the kneepads still loose around her ankles. Erza swore in frustration. Jellal laughed and guided her back toward the tall stack of gym mats. He lifted her easily to the stack and pulled one leg of her shorts over the kneepad and shoe.
"Come here," Erza whispered as her hand slipped beyond the elastic waistband of his pants and her fingers closed around his hardening erection. Her thumb swiped over the head with practiced skill. Jellal slid her backside to the very edge of the mats and grabbed her wrist. He dropped a kiss on the crook of her elbow before wrapping her thighs around him and taking her lips. The wetness between her legs pressed against his belly and the tip of him – and everything came to a screeching halt.
"Erza –" he gasped. "I forgot the condoms in my car."
"What?" she hissed, her eyes fluttering open. "Are you serious?"
"I'm sorry."
Erza's glare was deadly. "You can't just... pull out? Like just this one time?"
"Did your mom take you to the doctor yet?"
"Not until tomorrow –"
"Then we can't do this."
"Oh, come on! I've had a day, Jellal! I need this!"
"Neither one of us needs a baby, though." Jellal's forehead dropped to her shoulder and he tried to even out his breaths. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Erza huffed and began to wriggle. He suddenly smiled and kissed her neck again.
"Stop that, you'll just make this worse than it already is," she griped.
"Maybe I can't fuck you in this room but I can help you out." Jellal's tongue brushed over her bottom lip as his fingers slid between her legs. Erza jumped but her grip on his shoulders didn't lessen. He worked her in slow circles before dipping inside. Goddamn she was so wet and hot. His erection was back and pressing against her thigh. Erza's breaths came deep and slow.
"Just there –" she whispered in a pitch he recognized. Jellal's thumb finished what his fingers started and she came with a wet press of her lips against his.
"Better?" he asked, kissing the corner of her mouth.
"I suppose it'll do until you can be bothered to remember the condoms." Erza smiled and pushed him back to slide off the stack of mats. She pulled her shorts back on and hesitated for a moment before sliding her kneepads up as well.
"What are you doing?"
"Making use of the school issue athletic equipment, Jellal." She leaned into him and left kisses on his neck, shoulder and chest as she dropped to her padded knees.
"Fuck," he whispered when her lips closed around him.
Laxus tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel and tried to think about anything else. He flipped on the radio. Baseball stats crackled and reminded him that his reception was garbage on this side of town.
"Damn it," he muttered poking the scan button. More fuzz and crackling. He was too distracted to notice Mirajane exit the bathrooms and jumped when she slid back into the passenger seat. Laxus switched the radio off. His throat felt dry as dust.
"Well?"
Mirajane stared straight ahead. She didn't blink or fidget. He noticed that the edge of her cheerleading uniform had caught under her thigh in a wad.
"Mira?" he said much softer. As if noticing him for the first time, Mirajane turned her head.
"I'm pregnant," she whispered. Laxus's eyes slid shut and his head fell backward against the seat rest. "I'm sorry." He could hear the tears in her voice but the voice in his head – the old, cranky one of his grandpa – drowned her out. She didn't seem to notice. "I can't believe I have to deal with this on top of everything else!" she sobbed. "This was supposed to be the year we got it right!"
Laxus snapped out of his reverie. Mirajane's tears leaked down her face and it terrified him. She wasn't a crier.
"Lisanna tested out of middle school and Elf got that scholarship!"
"Mira –"
"And I got pregnant!" She sniffled and messily wiped her tears on her palms. "Mom would be so proud."
"We have options, Mira," Laxus whispered. Her head whipped around and her silver ponytail came with it.
"Are you serious? In a town like this? My only option is to become a teenage mother, Laxus!" She slumped back against the seat and kicked her leg up to balance her foot on the dash. "God, I'm going to be a waitress forever."
"It doesn't have to be like that!"
Mirajane's dark blue eyes were stuck on the world beyond the window glass. "Take me home, Laxus, I need to get started on dinner and I work graveyard tonight at the truck stop."
"Sure." The word nearly caught in his throat but he managed.
Laxus dropped Mirajane off in front of the house she shared with her siblings. The yard needed mowing and the decorative brackets on the gabled roof were far beyond disrepair. Mirajane didn't wish him a goodnight and as he watched her go the plastic ends of her pompoms poking from her cheerleading bag fluttered in the early autumn breeze.
"So you're finally catching up, huh?" Natsu asked with a grin. Lisanna laughed and relaxed back into his side.
"It's not catching up when you're a year older than me, Natsu. Technically, I'm ahead of you."
"Yeah, yeah." He tugged gently on her mess of a ponytail. Her hair wasn't quite long enough for it but even in early September the heat still clung. "When do you start?"
"Monday, I guess. Mirajane is supposed to come to my school tomorrow and sign me out and enroll me at the high school."
"Do you know what your classes will be?"
"Not all of them. I just know they're all advanced placement."
"So," Natsu drawled. "We won't have any of the same classes, then." Lisanna laughed and pinched his arm.
"Are you saying you'll miss me?"
"If you don't know that by now then I don't know what to tell you." She smiled up at him and the gaze lingered. That had been happening a lot lately and Lisanna kept waiting for Natsu to turn the moments into something else – but he never did. Today he simply pressed his cheek to her hair and sighed. She didn't mind waiting for him to figure it out.
They parted ways at sunset and Lisanna took a shortcut through park that separated what was considered the nice part of the neighborhood and the street she'd lived on since... well since they'd still had parents. For better or for worse, the social worker had shuffled papers long enough for Elfman to turn seventeen and take custody of Lisanna. He'd be leaving at the end of the school year on a full ride to a military academy upstate. She didn't understand all the details but she knew Mirajane needed to transfer custody to herself immediately after her own birthday in December or Elfman couldn't take the scholarship. Something about obligations and encumberment.
Most of the lamps in the park were functional but a few were not. Lisanna avoided the patches of shadow. As she crossed a necessary stretch of darkness, a low whistle came from the playground. She gasped and the sound of laughter set her hair on end. Lisanna raced the rest of the way home.
Mirajane was already in her work uniform, which, Lisanna noted, didn't look quite as polished as usual.
"Sorry I'm late," she muttered, leaving her backpack on the couch to join her sister in the kitchen.
"Hm?"
"I'm late."
"You're what?" Mirajane dropped the spatula into the pan of spaghetti sauce and whirled around to face Lisanna.
"I'm late. The sun went down quicker than usual. I always forget that happens in the fall."
Mirajane blinked and bit her lip. Her eyes bounced off Lisanna's face and the table and all of the walls before she turned back to the pan and fished out the spatula.
"Are you okay?" Lisanna asked.
"I'm fine. Were you with Natsu? Did he walk you home?"
"No, I met him at the high school earlier. I walked home on my own. I was already late so I cut thro..." Lisanna trailed off quickly and opened the cupboards for plates.
"You cut through the park?" Mirajane whispered. "Goddamn it, Lisanna, I've told you never, ever wander through that park at night!"
"It was fine." She tried to blow off her sister's anger but the guilt stung. Mirajane wasn't in the wrong.
"It's not fine!" Mirajane screeched. "If you think for one second I'm going to loose anyone else to that fucking gang-magnet of a shit hole park –"
"You can't blame the park for what happened to mom and dad!" Lisanna shot back, suddenly in a fighting mood.
"You are such a child sometimes!" Mirajane's grip around the spatula tightened and spaghetti sauce dripped over her fingers and down her arm. "It's like you don't even care!"
"Excuse me?" Lisanna felt her feathers ruffling and against her better judgment she took a step toward her sister. Before she could get any closer, though, a hand settled on her shoulder.
"Stop." Elfman's voice was low and soft. Mirajane visibly swallowed her words as he stepped between them and pried the spatula from her fingers. He deposited it in the sink, selected a new one from the drawer and took the plates from Lisanna. "I'm hungry and Mira'll be late."
Mirajane spun around to the sink and washed the spaghetti sauce from her hands. She said nothing more as she grabbed her bag and left them alone in the kitchen. Lisanna didn't relax until she heard the car start and watched the headlights back out of the driveway.
"She's crazy," Lisanna whispered. "I'm not a child."
"You are," Elfman corrected. "To her you are. Don't cut through the park at night."
"But –" Elfman's eyes were a deeper blue than Mirajane's. They betrayed every feeling he ever had even when he said absolutely nothing. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Just stay out of the park at night and give her a break. She's trying to be mom."
"She doesn't need to be." Lisanna filled her plate with too many noodles and not enough sauce – it was perfect.
"She thinks she does, though. Just let her do what she thinks she needs to do."
"Okay." Elfman grinned at her and polished off his plate. He washed it, dried it, and returned it to the cupboard. On his way out of the kitchen he grinned at her and took several slices of garlic bread. "I've got some homework. This year's real important for us."
Lisanna sat alone in the kitchen and picked at her dinner. "Yeah," she whispered bitterly. "Real important."