Hey guys! Here's chapter two of What Will It Take. Quick warning, there are some things that could trigger some people in this chapter, so please be careful! Hope you guys enjoy it! Storm Out!
Erza walked quickly across the campus of Magnolia University, hair hiding her face. Even though there weren't many people on campus, she didn't want to attract attention to herself. 'That was how that whole situation came about.' As she walked, she thought back to high school, and shuddered as certain memories came unbidden to the surface.
"Bitch!" The man shouted, fury on his face as the red-haired girl shrank back fearfully. "A girlfriend is supposed to obey their boyfriend's wishes!" The man continued, striding forward so that the light shone on the tattoo under his right eye. "Then I guess I'm not your girlfriend!" Erza yelled, then cowered in fear as the man raised his hand as if to hit her. "What did you just say?" he growled. Erza stayed silent as the man advanced, hand raised to hit her. She shut her eyes in expectation of the blow, but it never came. Instead, she heard the door close and lock. "You couldn't get another man. You're lucky that I love you, Erza." With that, she heard him walk away down the hall. "No, you don't." Erza said to herself. "You never have."
Head down and lost in memory, she didn't notice the tall boy in front of her until she ran into him. As they both reeled backwards from the impact, she saw him fall down and land rather roughly. "Oh my god, are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked, a touch of worry in her voice. As she looked down at him, she noticed three things. One: he was smiling in an embarrassed sort of way. Two: that he was very tall, probably topping six feet by a good five or six inches. Three: that he was attractive, with his brown hair cut short to reveal a kind face, with a large nose, ice-blue eyes, and square-framed glasses, and a very fit body under the navy button-down shirt and faded khaki shorts that he wore. "Yeah, I'm fine, he said, with a deep voice that made her heart flutter. "Shit. Just tripped over my stuff. It's not easy being the human version of a giraffe." She laughed at the joke, and offered him a hand. "Name's Erin." He said, heaving himself to his feet and brushing himself off. "Erin Noctem. How's it going?" 'It can't hurt to introduce myself, can it?' she thought to herself.'If he wants more than that, then I'll make an excuse and leave.' "I'm Erza Scarlet, and I'm doing just fine, thank you very much." She said. Erin scratched the back of his head, before turning back towards her with an apologetic grin on his face. "Guess I should say sorry for that one." He said. "With my height and clumsiness, I've really got to watch where I'm going." 'Jesus, why does he have to be so cute?! If only I didn't have issues, I would probably ask him out right here!' "Hey," Erin continued, drawing her out of her thoughts, "I was thinking, maybe, I could take you to dinner? I mean, you were walking kinda fast, so I'm assuming-" "NO!" That was the last thing she wanted right now. Erin seemed like a nice guy, but if he found out what He had done, what he made her do, then he would probably run for the hills faster than she could explain herself. "No, it's fine." She repeated, trying to control the fear in her voice. "You already apologized." She glanced at Erin, who looked as if he were going to argue, but finally, he sighed and said, "Alright, then I've got to get going. See ya around!" With that, an extremely attractive crooked smile, and a cheeky wave over his shoulder, he departed, replacing the headphones and whistling whatever tune he was listening to.
Arriving at her flat, she noticed a beat up old truck sitting outside, suitcases loading the bed. Opening the door, she was greeted with an attractive blonde girl who was in the process of fitting a mini fridge through the bedroom door. Rushing forward, she grabbed the other side and helped guide it through the door. "Thanks a million! I'm Lucy Heartfilia, by the way" the blonde said, extending her hand. "I'm Erza Scarlet, pleased to meet you." Taking the hand, she looked around the room. It was very spacious, with the beds placed in one corner loft style, with the lower bunk extending along the east wall and the top one along the north wall. Two desk occupied half of the south wall, with a small table occupying the rest of it. The west wall had the door, as well as a Television and a radio. The bathroom was to the north, right after she entered the room, next to a small closet space. "Well, where are you from, Erza?" "I'm from Magnolia, so when I got a scholarship to here, the choice was pretty much made." "That's cool. I'm from Hargeon, and my dad went to Hargeon Tech, so when he heard that I had decided to go here, he was pretty upset." Lucy said with a laugh. "That's fun. Listen, I'm gonna go get my stuff," Erza said, "And drive my car over here. Are you good until I get back?" "Yeah, I'll be fine." Lucy said, walking out to get stuff from her truck. "See ya when you get back!" Erza chuckled at the enthusiasm in the blonde's voice. 'I think we'll get along just fine.'
As Erza walked towards her car, she noticed a rather familiar tall person standing next to a black muscle car. She made to walk over there, with the intention of saying hi and to explain her earlier outburst, but when she saw his face, she immediately changed her mind. She knew that face. It was the face of someone caught up in painful memories. As she hesitated, wondering what someone who seemed to have stuff figured out had experienced to give him that look, he seemed to shake himself awake, and vaulted over the door into the driver's seat. As he pulled out, Erza memorized what his car looked like. 'Not because I want to date him.' She tried to defend her thought process. 'Just because he's an acquaintance.' She shook her head. Sure she didn't want to date him, if only to see if he really was as good as he seemed to be.
As she drove back to her apartment, she caught herself thinking about what she had seen. 'What bothers him? What could be so painful to him?' She shook the thought away as she pulled into the spot. She walked to the trunk of her SUV and pulled the groceries out. Stocking up the fridge, she looked up as she heard the front door open. Two blue-haired women stood in the doorway, one with a short pixie cut, and one with curled hair that fell to mid back. "HI!" The short one said, bounding forward and hugging a clearly surprised Erza. "I'm Levy McGarden! It's so nice to meet you!" "Hi, Levy," Erza said with a laugh, extricating herself from the girl's hug, "I'm Erza Scarlet. The other girl, Lucy, is in there." She jerked he thumb towards her bedroom door, and Levy bounded off. "Hello." The other girl had strode forward after the short ball of energy left. "I am Juvia Lockser. It's a pleasure to meet you." The four of them finished introductions and set to work sorting out the kitchen.
"So," Lucy said as they sat in the living room, "did you notice the boys next door?" "No, why?" Levy said, puzzled. Lucy smiled and directed their attention to the window. Erza looked, and nearly spat out the water she was drinking as she saw Erin out in the street, shirtless and covered in sweat as he kicked around a football with three other guys. Lucy whistled. "What are the odds that we'd get the flat across from four hot, football loving guys like them?" Juvia smiled. "So you enjoy watching football too?" "Yeah," Lucy answered, "My favorite team is Manchester City. How about you guys?" "Juvia enjoys watching Tottenham play." Juvia answered, as Levy dashed into their room, emerging moments later wrapped in an absolutely massive Leicester City flag. "My favorite team is Everton." Erza said, pulling out the jersey that she owned. They all glanced out the window again, and noticed the shirtless guys stopping to take a water break. "So," Lucy said, a mischievous glint in her eye, "which would you choose?" Everyone stared at her, and she blushed. "What? They say you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take." "Well," Levy said, glancing outside, "when you put it that way…I guess I'd go for the one with all the piercings. He seems like he's got a good story to tell." "So that's what you're interested in?" Lucy laughed. "In my case, I'd go for the pink-haired one. He is HOT!" She said, drawing a laugh out of everyone. "I'd go for the one with the black hair." Juvia answered, blushing. "And what about you Erza?" Levy asked, noticing that Erza was looking at the wall. "The tall one with the glasses." Erza answered without hesitating, then stood up and walked away. "I'm going to go to bed." "Okay. But Erza?" Erza turned around and fixed Lucy with a stare. "If you have something that's troubling you, you can talk to us about it." Erza thought about it, then slowly walked back over. 'I guess, if I'm going to be living with them for the year, they should know. I've got the strangest feeling that I can trust them with my life.' Sighing, she began her tale.
Erza tossed and turned, thrashing under the covers as the nightmare caught her up again.
"Worthless! Whore! Bitch!" With each word a blow rained down upon her with a ferocity that left her stunned. "Without me, you are nothing. Understood?" Erza felt herself nod, dreading what happened next. "You shouldn't have escaped. It just makes this next bit all the more difficult on you." The man said. Her dream-self squeezed her eyes shut, as rough hands grabbed her shirt, tearing it off and leaving her half-naked. Her eyes remained shut as she felt the same hands roughly grab her bra, making to tear it of as she cowered in the bed. Suddenly, the nightmare jumped the tracks.
A crash sounded through the room as the door flew off the hinges, and the hands were wrenched off of her bra. Opening her eyes, she surveyed a scene that she couldn't dare have hoped for invading what was her worst nightmare. Her attacker was nowhere near her, pinned to the wall by a tall shadow, whose eyes glowed with a near-inhuman rage. "Bastard," the shadow spat, drawing back and jackhammering his fist into the man's jaw, "you're finished." Releasing him, the shadow walked towards her slowly, as she cowered away from it. "Easy, Erza. I'm not gonna hurt you. Not now, not ever." She looked up as she recognized the voice of her savior. The man smiled as she gazed up into ice-blue eyes. "Found you, Red."
Erza bolted upright, panting. 'What the hell was that?' She thought, as she tried to recover her breath. 'Why is this happening? Why is he popping up in my dreams?
Is he the one who can make me love again?'
Yeah, I'll just leave this here. Sorry about the content. See ya soon! Storm Out!