A/N: Oh god, taking 5 courses this year was such a bad idea. You have no idea how stressed I've been lately. I feel like I've been run over by a herd of elephants, followed by a bus, followed by a train. I'm so sorry for not posting in a while, but I've really been so stressed and all the free time I've had (albeit none rly) has been spent trying to either catch up on sleep or listen to EXO to calm down (Probs not the best idea- they stress me out too). Thank you to those who have reviewed, followed, and faved. You are all blessed.

I just want to say that real life is getting pretty hectic right now. Please try to be patient with me, I know you guys want updates.

Starcatcher and ROW will probs not be updated for a while because of my hectic schedule. The only reason why I'm updating this is because it's not drenched in angst, action and K-Drama romance like the other two. This one is light and not as serious, so I don't stress out over it as much. Sorry to those hoping SC and ROW would be updated. I will keep you guys posted however, so pls be patient with me!


Chapter 3: Despite it All

Summer before Freshman Year


"Hey!" Lucy said, running up to where Erza stood at her locker, furiously emptying the contents and dropping them unforgivingly into the trash bin behind her. "You going?"

Erza frowned as she tossed her ever hated math notebook into the trash without a second glance. "Going where?" she asked, not sparing a glance to her best friend as she continued to empty her locker. After all, today was the last day of eighth grade, and she was so done. Good riddance, she thought, throwing the last notebook away.

"Going where?" she asked, glaring in satisfaction at her now empty locker.

Lucy rolled her eyes and shoved her phone into Erza's face. "Jenny's holding an after school party and end of the year bash at her house later on tonight. You coming?"

Erza pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "Jenny..." she whispered, trying to remember who exactly that was. "She's the one with the giant house right?"

"And the giant field to play soccer in," Lucy said excitedly. "Also the one that was pretty much glued to Hibiki's mouth the entire year."

"Right," Erza said lamely, closing the locker. "That one."

"Come on," Lucy whined, as Erza turned with her now empty backpack slung over her shoulder. "Everyone will be there!"

Erza gave her a withering look, and Lucy winced. "Sorry," she whispered. "But yeah, he'll be there too."

"And how exactly is that incentive to make me want to go?" Erza asked, exiting the school with Lucy beside her.

Lucy shrugged. "Because both me and Levy will be there and you love us?"

Erza rolled her eyes. "Maybe more like tolerate you, but okay."

"Yah!"

Erza laughed and gave Lucy a gentle shove, making the blonde huff in indignation. "I'll see about it," Erza called over her shoulder as her mom drove up. "Text you later."


"Oooh Erza, look! Jenny's organizing a game of soccer! You should totally play!"

Erza turned towards the sound of the voice, and caught a glimpse of Levy pointing towards the field behind Jenny's house, where several of the other kids were gathering. Her eyes narrowed when she caught a glimpse of Jellal's blue hair among the mass.

"I'm not so sure-" she began, but Levy immediately shushed her and shoved her forward, making her stumble right into the middle of the pack.

"Ayy!" a boy said, recognizing her. Erza looked up and met the gaze of Ren, one of Hibiki's friends. He smiled at her and grabbed her hand. "Erza, I want you on my team!. We'll totally win!"

Erza blushed.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Fine then!" she shouted, miffed that Erza had already been claimed (everyone knew that the redhead was one of the most desired people to be picked) and turned to Jellal. "I'll take Jellal then."

To Erza's surprise, Jellal made eye contact with her before making his way over to Jenny's side. Ren draped an arm over Erza's shoulders and, surprisingly, Jellal nearly snarled at the sight. Erza frowned, but didn't bother herself too much over it.

When the teams were picked, Erza made her way over to her side with the rest of her team. Ren had them circle up before assigning them to their spots. Erza, no surprise, was put on offense. "Keep your eyes on the ball," he advised to them as they broke. "Work together, pass as much as you can. Erza and I will be running point, so we'll have your backs."

Eve, another one of Hibiki's posse, blew the whistle, and so the game began.


The game was a close one. Twenty minutes in, and they were tied, 5-5. It was clear though, that the game was coming to a close, with most of the players slowing down and tiring. Erza's team had the ball, more precisely, she had the ball, and was currently dribbling it to where Jellal was waiting in the goalie box.

As she neared, she could see from the corner of her eyes that Ren was running steadily behind her, intercepting the opposing team from nearing her. She could also see the angry glare in Jellal's eyes, but couldn't understand what he was so mad about. When Hibiki (Jellal's team) nearly tackled her, Ren neatly intercepted, knocking Hibiki out of the way while turning a concerned gaze onto Erza, Jellal bared his teeth.

Erza had a clear shot. She could do this. One step. Two steps.

She took a deep breath in, and locked eyes with Jellal as she neared. Exhale.

Wham!

Erza gasped, hands flying up to cover her mouth as the ball soared towards Jellal. He jumped, intending on intercepting the ball, but misjudged the height and the ball smacked him right in the nose. What made it worse was the fact that Jellal had so much momentum, he went flying right into the goal post.

"Oh my god!" Erza gasped, running up to where Jellal lay sprawled on the grass. She fell to her knees at his side, eyes widening when she saw blood. "Oh my god! Are you alright?"

"Fine!" He growled, trying to push her hands away from his face. "I'm fine!"

"No you're not!" she shouted, grabbing his arm and hoisting him to his feet. "I need to get you inside!"

"Bathroom's inside to the right!" Jenny screamed. "Get him out of here!"

Erza took off, nearly dragging Jellal with her in her haste to get him inside without any of the parents seeing. She didn't want anyone to get in trouble for her mistake.

Once inside, Erza made him sit on the bathtub, giving him a paper towel to hold to his bleeding nose. He also had a small cut on his cheek, probably from where his face hit the metal post. Erza frowned, dabbing at the small cut with a wet paper towel.

"What are you doing?" Jellal asked quietly, flinching slightly when Erza cleaned his cut. He pulled the paper towel away from his nose and sighed in relief; the nosebleed had stopped.

"I'm just trying to help," Erza whispered quietly, taking out the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet.

"I don't need your help." Jellal grumbled. "You being here is making it worse."

Erza didn't reply; she took out a bandaid and silently applied it to Jellal's cheek.

"It's no big deal," Jellal explained. "Just a little blood. I could've handled it."

"I know that."

"Then why didn't you leave me alone?"

"Because goddamnit Jellal, despite everything that's happened, despite your hatred of me, I would never want to see you be hurt, especially by me!" She yelled, tears pooling in her eyes.

Jellal's eyes widened.

Erza bit her lip and looked away.

After a moment, Jellal whispered, "Why are you like this? Why do you care?"

Erza turned back to him, meeting his gaze with watery eyes. Something ached in his chest, and he wanted desperately to wipe her tears away, to take back what he said. But he couldn't.

"I don't know," she whispered, her lip trembling. "But maybe I shouldn't anymore."

She threw down the paper towel next to Jellal, wiped her eyes with her sleeves and ran out of the bathroom, leaving Jellal with blood still caked on his face, confusion swimming in his eyes, and his heart aching in pain.


"So what happened after you nailed Jellal in the face?" Lucy asked the next day, lying in Erza's bed. Erza sighed and rolled over to face her best friend. Levy, sitting in Erza's chair, turned to face the two lounging on the bed, eyes lit up in curiosity.

After telling Lucy and Levy the story, Erza sighed and looked up at her ceiling. "I shouldn't have helped him," she confessed.

Lucy frowned. "Don't say that, Erza."

"You heard it, Lucy. He hates me. He told me it was worse that I was there."

Levy shook her head. "Although I admit that it wasn't the nicest thing to say, you gotta remember Erza, that he's a boy. He's still at the age where being helped by a girl is pathetic. You know that."

"He also probably didn't want you to see him hurt, Erza," Lucy said.

Erza turned to look at Lucy, eyebrows raised. "Yeah right," she replied.

"Hey, it's a possibility. And you didn't want to see him hurt, am I right? Even though you hate him, you still can't stand to see him hurt."

"I don't hate him."

"Then it's okay to worry about him, Erza. Just because you two aren't friends anymore doesn't mean you don't have to stop worrying about him. You're a good person, Erza. Don't worry."

Their advice doesn't stop the fretting, nor does it stop the weird fluttering in Erza's chest.

Once Lucy and Levy left, Erza lay lounging on her bed, lost in thought. She was still hurt by Jellal's words, but at the same time, she couldn't help but remember how much in pain he was, how hurt he looked on the ground like that. Erza bit her lip. She hated herself in that moment, for worrying so much about a boy who didn't seem to care anymore.

Her phone buzzed by her side. Lazily, Erza reached for it, ready to respond to Lucy's text that yes, she left her hoodie on the bed and yes, she'll bring it over tomorrow when they all hang out. However, when she brings it to her face, a name she never thought she'd see on her phone flashes across the screen.

From: Jellal

To: me

I'm sorry about what I said. And thank you for yesterday.

Well, this was new. Jellal hadn't texted her in ages. Why was he doing it now? Did he feel guilty about snapping at her? Did he want to return a favor, to not seem impolite?

Whatever the case, for some reason, it brought a smile to Erza's face, and she contentedly set the phone down, a fluttery feeling exploding in her chest.

It felt nice.


"You texted Erza? Dude, you haven't texted her in ages!" Natsu roared, spying Erza's name in Jellal's phone. Jellal sighed and turned his phone off, tucking it in his back pocket, away from Natsu's prying eyes.

Gray frowned, catching Jellal's gaze. "What's with you?" he asked. "Yesterday she helped out after the soccer game, and you've had a scowl on your face since then. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Jellal said. "It's fine!"

But if he was being completely honest with himself, Jellal wasn't really sure why he was acting like this either. Since yesterday, he hadn't been able to get Erza out of his mind. He couldn't get the image of her teary face out, nor her trembling lips when she spoke.

"Because goddamnit Jellal, despite everything that's happened, despite your hatred of me, I would never want to see you be hurt, especially by me!"

Jellal shook his head. Maybe he-

No. He was just tired. Yes, that was it. He was tired, and still stressed from the game. And in pain from his injuries. There was no other explanation.


A/N: JUST A LIL BIT OF ANGST BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON MY HANDS JUST NEED TO STICK IT IN THERE SOMEWHERE.

AND JELLAL, KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT, IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER. HAHA. (PS. Anyone catch the jelly jellal in there?)

What's gonna happen next? Who knows? *maniacal laughter*

See ya in the next chapter!

- Wolf

P.S. I am begging you to leave me a comment because I swear it's the only thing that's keeping me motivated right now. Please, oh please oh please oh please leave me a review. A comment. Anything. Help me stop feeling like a piece of shit because I am so stressed and I just need to hear happy words to make me feel less shitty about college