Utter shock. Total disbelief.
That's how his friends react when he tells them he's in love with the infamously hellish Erza Knightwalker. They ask him if he's okay and he reassures them that everything's fine and that it's perfectly normal to fall in love with someone like Erza except, he realizes, it's not.
He supposes that their reactions are nothing out of the ordinary - he should have guessed as much.
After all, they're opposites.
He's patient and kind where she is unfeeling and easily irritable. He's loving where she is detached.
Jellal doesn't even know how it happens. He's just sitting with her at lunch one day, listening as she rants about her latest issue - dealing with stupid people who call her a 'biker chick' all the time just because she rides a motorcycle to school, even though she clearly isn't - "I don't even own a leather jacket!" - when suddenly, he finds himself looking at her lips and smiling. And then the thought hits him - he loves her.
Like he-wouldn't-mind-growing-old-with-her-or-anything loves her.
Because yes, she's rough around the edges. And prickly. And a hothead. And somewhat of a bully.
But he's come to find that she's also loyal, and witty, and charming, and she has a beautiful laugh.
He's come to learn that she loves the rain and the feel of the wind in her hair.
That she's never been on a picnic before and that she's always wanted to try pistachio ice cream.
And he wants to do all those things with her. He wants to be the one that's there when she does them.
And all his friends can tell how serious he is about her because they see it in his eyes when he talks about her. And he's glad for that.
So he asks her out the next day and she slaps him. It's a grand scene and a couple people gasp behind him. But she also smirks and he knows that she understands.
She takes his hand, leading him away from the crowd, and starts heading toward the rooftop.
And so begins their adventure.
