Another Jerza drabble! Also written for yet another tumblr prompt.
trapped and tangled
It was really his fault that they had ended up in this mess.
She had been the one that had originally thought taking a nap in the hammock would be a good idea, so she had climbed into the net and made herself at home, lying between the trees and watching the summer sun set. It had been a long day at school, and Erza had kicked off her shoes and plopped herself in, settling into ultra-relaxation.
And of course, anything that she did, he just had to do as well. So despite her protest and her warning that the hammock was probably not meant for two people, he stepped into the hammock—and for a single second, she actually thought it would work—but lost balance and fell on top of her.
The momentum of his fall spun the entire hammock around two or three times, and the two high school students found themselves trapped and tangled in the clutches of a twine hammock…and of each other.
She took another deep breath, before opening her eyes and reminding herself of the awkward position the two of them were now stuck in.
Erza looked down at her stomach, where Jellal's face lay smushed up against her white blouse.
"Don't drool on my uniform," she told him. "I just washed this shirt yesterday."
"I'm not drooling," he retorted, muffled into the cotton of her button-down and irritated. Nevertheless, she heard him suck his lips just to make certain there truly was no saliva falling out of his mouth.
She sighed again, shifting uncomfortably away from the twine that was cutting into her skin. She wiggled her midsection a little bit, completely aware that there was the high probability that her light pink underwear was showing for the whole world to see. Her dark green uniform skirt felt like it had ridden up her thigh and probably was folded between the twine net and her butt.
"Hey, stop moving," Jellal complained, shifting his own weight in response to her. "Ow, fuck!"
"Let me just—" and she exhaled sharply before forcing her right foot up and around his thigh. She took a deep breath of relief, feeling the blood rush back into her previously trapped foot.
Jellal seemed to want to take the opportunity to make himself more comfortable too, and she felt his hands grope around just underneath her armpits.
"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed, moving away from his scrambling limbs.
He grabbed hold of some of the netting with his fingers and attempted to push himself up, lifting his face from her stomach. However, he lost his balance—and both of them completely flipped over.
"You just made it worse!" Erza snapped, blushing madly when she realized when she saw tufts of his blue hair under her—which meant that his face was pretty much smashed up against her boobs. "You just made it waaaaay worse!"
"Sorry!" he mumbled into her body. He flailed his arms up and around her body, hugging her waist.
"W-w-what are you doing?!" she asked, in bewilderment, feeling the entire hammock shuffle under her.
"Can't…breathe," he explained, pulling her body down enough so that his face was free to breathe. Even the hot sticky summer air felt so much cooler than the last few minutes he was pressed up against Erza's very warm skin. He kept his arms wrapped around her waist.
She looked at him, watching him catch his breath while feeling the up and down of his breathing underneath her body. She couldn't help but smile, seeing his exhausted face and the small beads of sweat that formed on his forehead.
"Look what you've done, you stupid idiot," she scolded him, softly. "Now we're stuck in a hammock and the sun is setting and no one is going to help us."
His eyes turned to meet hers and he gave her a light smile. "Well I'd rather be stuck in a hammock with you than with anyone else in the world."
"How romantic," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
He pulled his head up as much as he could and kissed her. He couldn't reach her lips, but surely just because the kiss landed on her jaw didn't mean that he didn't mean it just as much.
"Hey," she said, cringing back from him and frowning. "What if people see?"
"What if people see us stuck in a hammock?" He raised his eyebrow, joking.
"No…" she replied, although she couldn't help but laugh. "What if people see us…together?"
It wasn't that she was uncomfortable about the idea of being with Jellal or the idea of people knowing that she was with Jellal or even about any public displays of affection—but what was it? She still couldn't figure it out.
Jellal looked at her. It wasn't the first time that she had expressed discomfort—whether implicitly or not—that something about their relationship bothered her.
"Erza, we've been together for two years now—I think people know that we're a thing."
"I...I know," she started.
"You…you don't want me to kiss you in public?"
"No, no," she corrected him. "I want you to kiss me—" and then she stuttered, "—I mean, it's fine, if you kiss me…in public." She blushed furiously.
"Good," he said, planting another kiss on her—and this time, he didn't miss. "But what's wrong?"
She took a deep breath in and out, not sure what she wanted to say. "I just don't want to be seen with you…all the time."
"You…want me to keep my distance?" he said, hesitant.
"No, I want to be with you as much as I can but...I just don't want to be seen as only with you." She thought for a second and then added. "I don't want to be just 'Jellal's girlfriend,' and I don't want you to just be 'Erza's boyfriend.' You know?"
After a beat, Jellal smiled, bringing her in for an even deeper hug.
"Erza, I'm not going to be mad if you want to do things for yourself—just because you're my girlfriend doesn't mean that you have to bring me into everything that you do. And you're not just my shadow. You're a strong, independent person that just chose to be in a relationship because you want to be in a relationship—not because you're depending on me or because you need me." He paused for a moment.
"And if anyone thinks otherwise, I'll make sure they know that you're not just an attachment to me," he continued. "I'll make sure they know your name, and I'll make sure they'll remember that you're more than just my girlfriend."
Erza wasn't sure if that was what she had wanted to hear from him, but nevertheless, it felt like the assurance she needed from him, and she was very happy that she had been able to get this off her chest. It was also then that Erza had a sudden thought.
Maybe, just maybe, the two of them would count much more than just two years together.
"But there's a bigger problem," he said, seriously.
She blinked, worried about the conversation to come. "W-what?"
He stared deeply into her eyes for a long minute.
"If we don't get out of here before 7 p.m., I'm not going to make it home in time for dinner," he confessed.
A rush of relief passed over her. Before she became mad.
"Jellal! Don't scare me like that again!" She raised her hand, about to hit him—even though they both knew that she probably couldn't maneuver that while tangled up with each other in the hammock.
He laughed. "This is serious!" he retorted. "What am I going to do?"
She opened her mouth, but her words took a while to come out.
"Just…just have dinner with my family," she said, quietly.
"Really?" he asked. "You're going to let me meet your family? I guess something good came out of the hammock after all."
"Shut up."
In case anyone was particular about details, yes this story takes places in the summer time, but…yeah school is still in session. And yeah…I guess the conversation was a little deep for a couple high schoolers…
thir13enth
