Testing something out on my followers and those who just so happen upon this short and odd chapter! Let me know what you think :)

Much Love,

Cherry

...

Gods she was frustrating.

"Lucy, pick up your feet!" Erza yelled impatiently. How was it the blonde could land a kick that rivaled even her own, had an aura that could scare Bob straight, and yet ran like two 1-Ton weights were tied to her ankles? In response, she observed the girl's pace pick up momentarily, before eventually slowing down once more after one lap around the track, only to stop altogether before her place in the grass. The blonde clutched her sore side as she took in gulps of air, and Erza knew they had a ways to go before she felt Lucy had a chance of gaining S-Class status.

"I huff can't huff do it cough cough huff anymore..." Lucy panted, then wearily collapsed on the soft grass with a thud. Erza shook her head in disappointment- they'd only done 40 pushups, 100 bicycles, 15 pullups, 30 weighted squats, and 3 laps of lunges around the track before Lucy decided to quit halfway through her running. And they were only 3 weeks in- what would it be like a month from now? Erza sighed, not in the least bit winded anymore, and peered down at her blonde companion. The poor girl lay on her back, sweaty and breathless, with one arm resting over a rosy face, and the view brought back familiar stirrings. Ebony eyes wandered the length of the worn girl's body- her creamy chest heaving with now slowing pants, a rosy flush dusting the smooth globes, beads of sweat gathering at her collar, and Erza couldn't help as her mind stirred. Warmth flooded the redhead's face as she fought back visions of the girl in a similar state, only wearing much much less than the tiny pair of shorts, sportsbra, and racerback tank. Cursing her adventurous nature and reminding herself that Lucy was nothing more than a friend, could never be more than a friend, Erza gracefully sat down beside the bombshell and sighed once more. Inquisitive eyes peeked out from under her arm and Lucy peered up at her close friend.

"I'm sorry, I'll get better." Lucy finally said once she had gathered her breath, and was rewarded with a frown marring her beautiful friend's face. Erza sat in thought, ignoring the look of confusion on Lucy's face, and wondered if she had over-worked the celestial mage. She knew Lucy wanted to get in shape, had been all but begging for one on one training time in between jobs, but the poor girl had little endurance, and even less athleticism. Sure Lucy had curves for days, a soft and feminine body most women would kill for, but nothing like hers- all battle worn, long-legged, with lithe muscle. It'd take longer for the girl's body to become accustomed to even a quarter of Erza's normal workout routine. If they had started training sooner, much sooner, Erza knew Lucy would be so much closer to her goal. But they didn't- Erza had been terrified of personal training with the blonde after realizing her body's traitorous intentions towards Lucy. So she put it off. Again and again, until the S-Class trials loomed only 3 months ahead. And as persistent as Lucy could be, Erza slowly ran out of time, and excuses. And now somehow against her better judgment, she and Lucy had been steadily training with each other for the past three weeks. She still regretted saying yes.

The first week was misery for Erza. Lucy had no idea how to successfully go through each workout while targeting the correct muscles, so it was up to Erza to position and coach the blonde. And sure enough, Lucy needed everything hands-on. Erza had no other choice but to maneuver, manipulate, and instruct Lucy's body on even the most mundane of exercises. It was excruciating for the redhead to keep things platonic when Lucy asked at what angle she needed her butt for a good squat, and oh could you help me with it? If Erza didn't know any better, the vixen was trying her patience and resolve on purpose. Erza had thought past doomsday missions were testing. It all paled in comparison to being able to touch the younger girl on a daily basis, but of course, only in a certain way as her friend and instructor. Never crossing that line, no matter how much she craved it. But eventually Lucy got her routine figured out, and no longer requested Erza's help on the tiny adjustments. Having the sad yet relieving freedom to no longer have to touch the blonde, Erza was given the reprieve she needed to train her mind should other compromising situations arise. And of course, more did. Help down from the obstacle course, bandaging a bloody knee after an intense sparring session, and last but not least, Lucy asking why the redhead no longer bathed in the guild's woman's locker room.

Erza wasn't known for being shy or self-conscious, and had on many occasions in the past made her pervy nature known during various trips to the bath with Lucy. So it was shocking when the busty redhead no longer joined Lucy in the locker room bathhouse after a hard workout, and instead opted for the privacy of a shower, forgoing the good conversations like ones they'd had during a soak. Needless to say, Lucy was becoming suspicious, and it was all Erza could do to be as honorable as possible by the clueless girl and deny the opportunity to ogle what occupied her fantasies as of late. She looked down on her expectant friend, and the girl's words finally reached Erza's brain. Of course only Lucy could make a sincere apology look so entreating. Softly smiling, Erza shook her head and chuckled before gently standing and reaching out for Lucy's hand. The blonde had grass stains everywhere.

"No, it is me who should apologize. I have forced too much on you too soon. We will work our way up, deal?" Erza raised her brow in question, hand still extended, and Lucy saucily rolled her eyes at Erza's traditional manner of speaking. One of these days she'd see Erza without her defenses, without that iron armor. Her friend chuckled once more, and Lucy couldn't be more happy to see the storm clouds of indecision and confusion clear from Erza's eyes.

With a relieved grin, Lucy took the proffered hand, and upon contact, made Erza jump with an uncharacteristic jolt. A delicious tingle spread where callous hands met that of Lucy's soft ones, and Erza fought the rising urge to run from the delicious sensation of touching the blonde. It was a glorious yet confusing tingle, and she added it to the long list of things only Lucy could do to her. It had successfully caused her to startle, and she all but growled a chastisement at her ridiculous body. Absolutely traitorous; never had she felt so at odd and out of sorts than around Lucy.

"Such a gentleman." Lucy teased, her eyes sparkling in mirth as the pair started towards the guild, and was pleasantly surprised by her response.

"Nothing less for a princess." Erza stiffly replied, uncomfortable at how something so small as holding Lucy's hand unsteadied her normally steel nerve. She recovered from her slight jump with a playful bow and earned a halfhearted attempt at a smack from a grinning Lucy. But not before she caught sight of what she was sure could be a blush- not an overheated flush- but a genuine rosiness spread across the smaller woman's cheeks, ending at the secretive curve of her lips. Erza shook her head at the notion she could have made her friend blush, and determined credit went to the cheesiness of her response.

"So, what are you doin tonight before the job tomorrow? It's been a while since we've shopped together." Lucy pouted as they made their way inside and towards the woman's locker room and bathhouse. For good reason.

"What could you possibly need before a one day job?" Erza asked, curiosity getting the better of her, before Lucy spun on her friend in mock surprise.

"This coming from you- the queen of luggage!" Lucy laughed and prodded Erza's shoulder, making the fierce woman cross her arms with a sniff like a child.

"It is necessary," And Erza glared at the smaller girl, "I have a lot of armor." Lucy nearly hurt her side from laughing at the look of pure seriousness on her companion's face.

"And evening gowns, swimsuits, lingerie..." Lucy began listing, before the redhead flew forward and covered the giggling girl's mouth in alarm. She hastily glanced around, and seeing no immediate threat of anyone overhearing their conversation, throttled Lucy as lightly as possible to get to her stop with the obnoxious list.

"Alright! Point made!" Erza admonished, before a knowing look from Lucy made her grin in defeat.

"So what do you need Miss Hartfilia?" Erza questioned as they began walking once more, and in no time were secure within the locker room. Dear god please don't say underwear, please don't say new panties...

"A new sports bra." She heard Lucy respond before pulling her shirt over her head. Right. Erza watched the girl's soft stomach come into full view before a sudden realization hit her. She didn't want the girl working out. She didn't want those delicious curves she secretly adored to disappear. Maybe that's why she pushed her so hard- almost to the brink of tears- to get her to quit? Because by god, she was sure soft and pliable Lucy probably felt much better than hard and muscular Lucy. Not that she'd ever get the chance to know... Pushing away the insane curiosity to find out for herself, Erza tried counting to distract her mind from the minx in front of her. All was good as Lucy talked, asking about where Erza got lucky and found her sports bras, and she was doing fine until Lucy began to shimmy out of her shorts. And if it weren't for her built resistance, she would have gone nearly mad from the view Lucy revealed upon pulling off her shorts... Black... Lace... GOD YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. She should have turned around, for all the indecent thoughts she was having, but couldn't bring herself to look away from the glorious view of a scantily clad Lucy. It never got old. Instead, she focused on the fact that Lucy wanted her to go sports bra shopping with her. Yes, the gods must be testing her. What had she done in a past life to be put through the wringer of such torment? Clearing her throat, Erza tried to find her voice when suddenly Lucy's hands cupped under each full breast in an attempt to support them. This time Erza did turn away, her cheeks red with desire, and busied herself with reequipping into her usual suit of armor and pleated skirt- sweaty undergarments and all.

"This one offers no support- look." Lucy whined, and waited for the redhead to turn. But Erza hotly demanded her body control itself, tried to stubbornly deny her mind of any fantasy she may have upon turning, and reigned in what little control she had. She could not look suspicious to Lucy, and knew this little panic attack she was having would look like anything but normal Titania behavior. You are her friend, just her friend, so be her friend and do girl things such as bra talk... Erza schooled her features before willing herself to turn, and watched with rapt attention as Lucy raised her arms above her head with a blush. Slowly her breasts rose with both hands, and Erza held her breath as Lucy demonstrated Perky Twins versus Granny Lumps. She tried to find the humor in it, tried to recall a day when she did not find the blonde insanely attractive, and with each rise and fall of the two amazing breasts on Lucy's flushed chest, failed to do so. Instead she did one thing she, Fairy Tail's Titania, would have never done a year previously, and decided it was time to bounce. It took all her willpower to look away from the sloping and rounded curves of her friend's chest, tried so hard to not visualize the perky globes without a bra, and swallowed her rising lust. Why was Lucy so exasperating today? What was it about the temptress today that seemed to wreak havoc on Erza's normally solid sense of self-control and wholeness? She wouldn't be sticking around to find out.

"I promise I will show you where I get my sports bras when we get back from the job- I gotta check on something at home." Erza hastily excused, before almost tripping over her feet in an effort to get out of the alluring girl's presence. It was weak, she knew it, but one more minute with the naive girl and she might have gone insane. She didn't feel right thinking such perverted thoughts about someone she loved as much as Lucy, and decided the solution would be to remove herself from the equation. Yet the blonde was all she could think about on her way home, and would be all night.

...

Gotta?

Did Erza really just use the word gotta? Lucy was confused as she continued to strip alone, left in a daze by Erza's sudden departure, and thought back on the past three weeks. Was Erza becoming irritated by Lucy's constant presence? They had been spending a lot of time together when Erza wasn't busy doing something else- which seemed to be all the time lately. And Lucy thought on how hard it had been to corner the busy woman into training her, and how long it had taken before she finally agreed... Not only had the gorgeous woman made excuse after excuse, but had also been off for months previously. Did Lucy do something to upset her friend? Maybe Erza was having problems with Jellal? She hadn't talked about him in quite some time, and whenever Lucy questioned her about him, Erza always managed to give a shallow and offhand response. Lucy quietly slipped into the large bathing pool, lost in thought, before an unwelcome notion popped into her head. She blushed, knowing it was probably stupid and nothing to be concerned about, yet couldn't stop worrying that maybe Erza had caught onto her. With wide eyes Lucy's mind started to spin. Is that why she'd been treating her weird? Why she'd been so unavailable outside of jobs and training?

She pondered previous days and events, going through each scenario, double checking her behavior as a friend to Erza, and knew her walls were iron-clad. There's no way Erza could know Lucy liked her. Although, she thought with a frown, today Lucy had been anything but innocent. At the memory of her recent conduct, Lucy felt her body heat up, the left over adrenaline of Erza's attention being solely on her. Such a voyeuristic rush feeling the redhead watch her flirty manner of bra comparison... Yes, she might have been a little obnoxious with her workout outfit choice and brazen way of showing off her assets, but she couldn't have been that obvious. She reigned in her tongue and eyes, made sure everything came across as platonic, or as platonic as she could given the circumstances... It was just such a struggle, being trained and instructed by such a sexy and dominant woman, without being somewhat brash in her behavior. She had felt the need to subliminally express her feelings somehow; and maybe look for a telling reaction in Erza's body language... But all she got in return was a blushing and uncharacteristically embarrassed redhead.

Visibly Lucy sagged with a pout, disappointed with the way things ended for the day. Of course Erza didn't feel the same for her; her little social experiment for the day had proven that. She hadn't gotten the desired effect, and nearly smacked herself for thinking Erza would respond with overpowering seduction. Lucy sighed, still worried about the dynamics of her friendship with Erza, and hoped she hadn't messed things up. Of course she'd be open to Erza knowing about how she felt, only on the terms that she felt the same way. If Erza knew, and didn't accept her, it'd ruin their friendship. And that wasn't worth it to Lucy. Aaagghhhh such a fine line! Dear Mavis I hope she hasn't found out- I hope that's not why she left like that... I wasn't that obvious was I? As Lucy continued to reflect, knew she hadn't been that obvious at all. Not as apparent as she could have been...

Yet, something nagged at the back of her mind- it'd be the only explanation for the redhead's behavior as of late. She rarely came over to her house anymore, rarely went shopping or ate out with Lucy, and almost never got past superficial topics in conversation. The idea of losing her best female friend for feelings she had no control over made Lucy's heart hurt. Tears pricked at her eyes knowing there was a good chance her feelings wouldn't be reciprocated, hated that it had to be one of her best friends that she was falling for, and just how tiring it was battling emotions all day for the redhead. It had been an exhausting journey for Lucy- denial, self-loathing, anger, exhaustion, and finally acceptance. She'd accepted herself for who she was, and now embraced it. She couldn't change what was so cemented within her very being, and no longer tried. It was just unfortunate that her feelings for Erza was causing strain on their relationship, and Lucy made a mental note to change that in the near future. She wasn't sure how long she could tolerate a world with awkwardness between them, and decided when they got back from their mission she'd make it a point to hang with Erza. And hopefully, one day, she'd see a change in the way her friend looked at her. Here's to hoping.

...

a/n: here's a test chapter, yuri or girl/girl is rarely seen within the fairy tail fandom, so I wanted to try something new, and something that is most definitely a crack pairing- but I love ErLu... It's a guilty pleasure of mine... As for my other stories, I'd have to say I'm not at all impressed with how things have gone, and when I get the drive I'll have to go through and re-write quite a bit of it. Please let me know how you feel and whether this is a good start or whether I should dump the idea. THANKS!