Okay, my beta, TheSecretDreamer, will be busy with work and studies but said that he/she'll edit Chapters 3-8. However, he/she will not be able to continue as my beta for the aforementioned reason. I am really, really thankful to him/her for spending time to help me out, even fixing my sentence construction, making it more fluid for the readers to understand it easier. But since he/she's not going to continue being my beta, anyone interested? Pls. pm me if you're interested. I need someone for my grammar, and to call me out whenever the characters become OOC.

Anemone, aww... That's okay, God bless you on whatever you have to deal with.

Guest, that was an intense reaction, but please continue reading?

Raw file. Pls. bear with me. No copyright infringement intended. Enjoy!

Chapter 9.

"Boss, Gildarts is calling you to his office."

"Thanks, Cana, did he also tell you again how much he missed you?" Erza teased. She tried to busy herself for the last two days since she left Jellal's house. She was distracted, she was worried because she haven't heard anything from him, but she was giving him time to think.

Cana just rolled her eyes. Gildarts, her father, tends to baby her as she was his only daughter. Which kind of annoyed Cana and at the same time, secretly found it endearing.

xxxxx

"Hey Gildarts, Cana just told me you asked for me?" after she knocked on his door.

He motioned her to come in and have a seat. "Erza. Good you're finally here. Remember about your application to our study program?"

"Yes, I applied for it a year ago. Although I didn't satisfy the tenure requirement yet, I just took a chance. Just a maybe."

"Well, lucky you! They made a special consideration for you. You've got perfect grades, and your colleagues and professors acknowledge your potential. Makarov personally picked you, you are his favorite anyway, but of course he also based it on your performance. You don't satisfy the tenure requirement, but you've got the most impressive track record among the applicants," Erza smiled upon hearing it, but immediately frown when she heard Gildarts muttered his next sentence, "And Laxus turned it down."

"Wait, so I wasn't originally chosen?" she offendedly asked.

"Well Laxus has all the qualifications, he was here longer than you," he explained.

"Fair enough. But why didn't he accept it? It was a very good opportunity, especially if he's aiming the top position." It was no secret that Laxus Dreyar is very competitive and he's expected to succeed his grandfather, Makarov Dreyar, as the CEO. Erza on the other hand, only want to make a name for herself in her chosen field, she works hard to earn her spot and the reason why she's Makarov's favorite. He was one of her professors when she was in college, and her mentor.

"Well, if you remember, he recently got engaged. Of course you can still attend the wedding if you'll accept since they plan to have the wedding next year."

"Oh good. How much time do I have to decide on it?" Pondering upon the good opportunity presented to her. It was what she wants, a way to study in Bosco University without using her mother's influence.

"You have until Friday. That will be four days from now. Sorry for the short notice, we still waited for Laxus' answer before we offered it to you."

"When will I have to go to Bosco, if I decided to accept it?"

"It will be at the end of the month. The school year will start on the 3rd week next month, so you'll have to be there early, to enroll and submit your requirements."

"Okay. I'll let you know of my decision before then. Thank you for the consideration."

She's in the company for three years now, she was the Summa Cum Laude of her batch, the highest honor that a graduate can receive, and she was immediately offered a job at Fairy Tail which she gratefully accepted.

She was a graduate of Magnolia University, it was a very good school for Architecture and Engineering but the top school would be Bosco University. Its not that she wasn't provided financially by her parents, her father would happily provide for her, but she was just stubborn and proud to accept the money freely. She said to her dad that it was a loan and that she would pay her college education herself, and she did. She finished paying it in full just three months ago, having paid it in installment. It took her only a few years after she graduated because she was an academic scholar too.

The scholarship provided by the company will entitle her to study her Masteral in Architecture, her materials and tuition fee will be paid for, and she will still be compensated while studying.

Food and lodging will not be included in the package but it was not a problem to her. Her mother, and Gray, are living in Bosco and she would love to spend time with them. Her mother's house was conveniently located near the university.

She thought about it, it was a very good opportunity for her but she wants her relationship with Jellal to work. She'll have to sacrifice it if she wants a relationship with him. It was the soft opening of Lemuria that night, she was invited with Natsu and Lucy to come and she thought that she has to talk to Jellal already about his decision. She refused to assume that Jellal's silence is an implied rejection of her confession.

xxxx

Jellal's ex, Ultear was also present in the event. However, Jellal was distant to Erza, he was clearly avoiding her. He still can't decide and he doesn't have the courage to tell either woman his decision.

"Erza, something wrong between you and Jellal? He was kind of avoiding you," Lucy concernedly asked.

"Its nothing, Lucy. He was just busy accommodating the customers." Erza half-smiled masking the hurt and disappointment she felt with Jellal's indecisiveness.

She went home without knowing his decision, they didn't have the chance to talk that night.

xxxxx

Three days had passed since the opening and she was going insane thinking why Jellal didn't bother to return her calls nor see her, despite her messages. She thinks that she's becoming clingy and desperate by continuously dropping him a message, and it was disgusting for her to think that she would stoop that low for someone, but she was doing it for him, for her love. She's a prideful person, but she also discovered that she's a passionate lover. She decided to go at his place and tell him about the offer she received. She took a leave of absence at work, she can't function much anyway, and she has to decide immediately regarding the study program.

She arrived at his house, luckily, the door dividing the resto and Jellal's personal space was unlocked. She saw him sitting in the porch at the back of the house, she was about to call him when she heard him talk. He was with someone and they were talking about something personal. Her first instinct was not to listen. She doesn't like eavesdropping, but it was too tempting.

"Ultear's back, Mest."

"And?"

"You knew how much I loved her. I was with her for four years and it was hard during the two years that she wasn't with me."

"Do you still love her?"

"I don't think it will be completely wiped out of me, I loved her for so long."

"What about you and Erza?"

He put his hands on his face in exasperation. "Erza, she made me feel that I am not alone. But she's not my girlfriend, we're just... we're just... For heaven's sake, I only knew her for six months!" That's what he tells himself for the past few days now because he thinks that it will make it easier to decide. "She's a great girl. We were happy, we had fun. She's refreshing, it was like having a breezy, summer romance." He paused and then continued. "I was just going along with it, I didn't expect that it'll get serious this early," as he drank his beer in between pauses.

Her blood gone cold. She stiffened. Then she turned her back and walked away, she did not look back. Does it not mean anything to him? Tears started to stream down on her cheeks. It was like she's drowning in a reality she couldn't control, and she was gasping for that last lungful of air, she can't breathe. Lucy was right, she's gonna get hurt eventually with that kind of relationship they have. It was a big slap on her face, they don't have what she thought they have. She drove straight to Fairy Tail after wiping away the traces of her pain. She went to Gildart's office and talked to him, "I accept. Pls. prepare the necessary documents for my departure," she stated stoically.

In three weeks, she'll fly to Bosco. She worked nonstop to make herself busy, so that she can forget Jellal. Cana was getting worried about her and would tell her to get some rest, but she'd say that it's important to tie some loose ends before she left and to make the necessary turnover of projects which are not yet finished.

She was binge-eating too. That's how she express her sorrow, her eating reflects her stress level. She was overeating, and it made her feel queasy and throw up. She was so tired, she did it intentionally so that when she got home, she's already too tired to even cry over Jellal, or to even think about him.

On her last week in Magnolia, she didn't come to the office anymore as she had already said her goodbyes to her friends and officemates. She made herself busy with packing her things. The rest of the time, instead of crying she would eat, or sleep. She was pigging out to the point of vomitting. She was beginning to pity herself and she hated the feeling.

Even so, she was still hoping that Jellal would come, and if he asked her to stay, she will. That's how much she loves him.

It never came. He never came.

xxxx

A/N: What do you think guys? Poor Erza. Pls don't kill me for making Jellal an ass. Or an idiot. Or both. And Mest = Doranbolt.