A/N: Here's Chapter 10! Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites so far! I love you guys! ^_^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.

When Zane heard her voice on the phone, he wanted to say sorry for all the crap he put her through and tell her how he really feels. But he remembered his decision and decided that he would stick by it. He sighed tiredly. He had been unable to sleep at all last night because of the guilt he felt for what he did to Erza. He had been tossing and turning around, his head filled with thoughts of her smile, her laugh, the kiss, and most especially, when she told him that she loves him.

He felt that what she said was true; that she didn't just do it in hopes that it would make him turn around and hold her in his arms. But he chose to break her heart by saying goodbye and walking away. I love you, Erza. I love you so much that it breaks my heart to do that, dammit! He shouted in his mind. He decided to go to the gang's hideout, because he could feel himself going crazy again.

He pulled on clothes, grabbed the keys to Kevin's car, and left. He jumped in the car and drove away. As he was driving, he saw a flash of scarlet hair. Huh? Is that Erza? He wondered. He shook his head and continued driving. The lack of sleep must be making me see things. He thought and continued driving.

He arrived in front of the building and locked the car. He went in and searched for Kevin and found the blue-haired boy. "Hey, Kevin. Here're the keys to your car. Thanks again for letting me borrow it," he said as he tossed the key. Kevin caught it in the bat of an eye. "Anytime, man. So, how was your night?" A flash of pain spread across Zane's face. "I don't want to talk about it," he said blandly. "Where's Leader?"

Kevin pointed to a door at the back. "Over there. He's free, so you can talk to him." Zane nodded. "Thanks." He knocked at the door and heard a strong voice say, "Come in." He went in and closed the door. "Oh, Zane! What a surprise to see you here. It's been a long time," said a tall, muscular man with slicked brown hair and dark green eyes. Zane bowed. "Yes, it has, Leader Azrael."

The man known as Azrael smiled. "Now, what brings you here?" Zane exhaled sharply. He had already made up his mind. He would go back to the gang. "I would like to rejoin the Lightnings, sir," he said with conviction. Azrael's expression turned serious and he raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure about this, Zane?" The black-haired boy nodded his head fervently.

"What made you want to come back?"

"It's…complicated."

"Does it concern a girl?"

"I just want her to be safe."

"Don't you think you're hurting her more by doing this?"

"It's better than gangs going after her."

"But you do love her?"

"I do. And that's why I'm doing this."

"Are you absolutely sure, Zane?"

"Yes, sir."

Azrael sighed. "Fine. You are hereby reinstated in the Lightnings." Zane bowed again. "Thank you, Leader Azrael." Then the black-haired boy turned around. "Before you leave. If ever this girl-" He was cut off by Zane. "Erza Scarlet, sir." Azrael nodded. "If ever Erza's life is in danger, will you save her?" Zane didn't need to think about the answer. Of course he would. "Yes, I would." Azrael nodded again. "Good. You may leave." Zane shut the door behind him and sat down on one table.

As he sat, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. There was a message from Erza. "You really are a persistent one, aren't you? Even after I hurt you so much," he muttered to himself. He sighed and opened the message.

Zane, wherever you are, I just would like you to know that I trust you. I won't bother you if you want to be alone.

It was a simple, but powerful message. She trusts him. He couldn't believe how she could still care about him after what happened last night. He wouldn't reply to her message; otherwise, it would make it even harder for him to stay away from her. Sighing, he locked his phone and put it back in his pocket. He also hadn't answered her calls, for hearing her voice would just make his decision waver, and he couldn't afford that. That's why he was shocked when he heard her voice again when he talked to Natsu.

He pulled his hair tiredly, and pushed the thoughts away. "Zane! What are you doing here?" He heard a gentle voice say. He turned around and saw Sarah. "Hey, Sarah. I rejoined the gang," he answered. Sarah sat beside him and gently squeezed his arm. Suddenly, he remembered Erza's soft touch and he flinched. "Zane? Is something wrong?" Sarah asked in concern. He shook his head. "It's nothing," he said in a dull voice.

Suddenly, he found himself face to face with Sarah, her hands cupping his face. Again, Erza's face flashed in his mind as he remembered the kiss. He broke away from Sarah's gaze and looked down. "Sorry, Zane," the pinkette whispered apologetically. "It's fine," he said monotonously. The pinkette could sense something was wrong, judging by the black-haired boy's dull and lifeless answers.

She gently held his hand, and once again, Zane imagined Erza's hands on his. "Is there something wrong, Zane?" Sarah asked softly. He sighed and decided to tell her everything. The pinkette listened carefully to Zane all the way until he finished. "I just don't know what to do anymore, Sarah," he said in a conflicted voice. "But you love her, don't you?" The pinkette asked. He nodded slowly. "I just don't want her to get hurt." She squeezed his hand reassuringly. "If you love each other, things will turn out fine. But, it's still up to you whether you want to continue doing this."

He smiled dully, "Yeah. Thanks, Sarah. But, I think I'll stay in the gang for a while." She smiled and hugged him. He felt surprised at first, but eventually returned the hug. Suddenly, someone burst through the door, and Zane untangled himself from Sarah. "Who's there?!" Zane shouted. "Ah, it looks like Zane Arazaki is back. It's payback time for hurting my boys," said a muscular man with green hair and piercings all over his face. "Tch, the Demons, huh?" Zane said in annoyance. "Don't you guys ever learn your lesson?"

The other gang members stood up, but the man raised a hand. "Don't get in the way. This match is between me and Arazaki." Zane felt someone's hand tug on his shirt. "Sarah?" He asked quizzically. "Beat him up good, Zane. Show him that no one messes with you," she said seriously. "You got it," Zane said with determination and turned to the man.

"So, what's your name?"

"The name's Edric. Now stop with the talking and let's go!"

Edric rushed towards Zane and raised a hand to punch him. Zane caught his fist and tightened his grip, causing the Edric to wince. "Let's take this outside, Edric." The green-haired man scoffed. "Whatever. It still doesn't change the fact that I'll beat you up good, Arazaki." Then, the two men went outside.

The green-haired man aimed for Zane's face, but his fist was caught once again. While Zane held his fist, he used his other hand to punch the black-haired boy's stomach. "Ugh!" Zane exclaimed and brought a kick to the green-haired man's gut. "Gah!" But the green-haired man quickly regained his composure and punched Zane's jaw. "Damn you!" Zane exclaimed as he punched Edric's nose, causing it to bleed.

Edric held his nose. "You broke my nose, dammit!" Then he removed his hand and punched the side of Zane's face. "Hmph, like hell I care about your face," Zane scoffed. Edric was getting angry and blindly threw punches and kicks at Zane. The black-haired boy dodged each one with ease and punched Edric's face once again. Then, he sent a kick to the man's stomach and elbowed his back.

The green-haired man began coughing up blood, and Zane swiftly brought his hand upon the man's neck, cutting off air and rendered him unconscious. "Damn, for someone all alone, you sure did a bit of a number on me. I have to congratulate you for that since I haven't taken a single blow in a while," Zane said while he touched his bruises.

Then, he heard Sarah's voice. "Are you okay, Zane?" She asked in concern. "I'm fine. These are nothing," Zane shrugged it off.

"What are you going to do with him?" Sarah asked, pointing out to the unconscious man.

"Eh, let's leave him be. It's not like a gang as weak as the Demons could actually hurt us."

"Okay. But let's treat those bruises, 'kay?"

"Sure."

Sarah gently put ointment on Zane's bruises, and she smiled afterwards.

"All done," she said cheerily.

"Thanks, Sarah," Zane grinned, and Sarah grinned back.

A month has passed since Erza last saw Zane or heard his voice. There was no news from him. She didn't send another text after the last one, or attempted to call him. She did her best to understand the situation, and just left him alone, but it still didn't change the fact that she misses him a lot. And in order to distract herself, she would work hard in the student council, to the point where she barely even went out with her friends.

She continually stared at his empty seat, as though wishing he would suddenly be sitting there out of the blue. Finally, the bell rang and she quietly gathered her things and stood up to leave. "Erza?" A sweet voice asked. "Yes, Mira?" She asked.

"Would you like to go out with us?"

"Sorry, but there's still a lot to do for student council and I can't afford to keep putting them off any further." This was a lie, of course. There was no work to do, she had done everything a few days ago. She just wanted to be alone for a while.

"Okay," Mira said disappointedly and walked away with Cana.

Erza sighed tiredly and went out of the school. As she was walking, she saw a pink-haired girl sitting on a bench. She wasn't wearing the school uniform, so Erza immediately concluded that she wasn't a student of Fairy High. But she couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that she had seen the pink-haired girl before. She shrugged it off and continued walking.

"Would you be Erza Scarlet?" A voice asked. She turned around and saw the pink-haired girl looking at her. She gazed intently at the girl's face, and the pieces finally clicked in her mind. She remembered seeing the girl from one of Zane's photos in his house, though she never did know the pink-haired girl's name.

"Yes, that would be me. And I'm sorry if I might sound rude, but who are you?"

The girl chuckled. "You really are like what Zane told me about."

Erza looked at the girl questioningly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Sarah, Zane's best friend and also a member of the Lightnings."

"So, you're Sarah?"

"Yes. Have you heard of me?"

"Zane told me once about you. But he never did get into the details; he just said that you're his best friend."

"I see. He never really is one for the details. But, I'm not here to talk about my relationship with Zane."

The scarlet-haired president looked at the pinkette in confusion.

"I take it you haven't seen or heard from him for a month, correct?"

Erza nodded.

"The truth is, he rejoined our gang."

The president was shocked. "H-he rejoined the Lightnings? Why?"

Sarah looked at Erza seriously. "The reason is that he believes it's the only way to keep you safe. If he had contact with you, our enemies might find out he has another special person in his heart, and might let them go after you."

Erza felt even more shocked at this revelation. She stood frozen in place, not knowing what to say.

Sarah continued. "I don't know if I'm in the place to say this, Erza. But, I know he loves you. Every time he talks about you, his eyes would brighten. He misses you, Erza. You have no idea how hard it is for him to restrain himself from calling you. He never once forgot about you this past month."

The redhead felt her knees go weak. For all this time, Zane never stopped thinking about her, the way she never stopped thinking about him. "Why are you telling me all this?" She whispered.

Sarah smiled sadly. "I love Zane, too. But I knew that he could never return my feelings. And I'm sorry for what I'm about to say, but when he came back, I thought that I might finally have a chance with him. I know I sound selfish. But he never took on my advances. He always thought about you. And it's because I love him that I'm telling you all these now, Erza. I just want him to be happy, even though I know that it's not with me."

Erza couldn't believe the girl's selflessness. She was willing to talk to Erza about Zane, even though she loved him, too. "I'm so, so, sorry, Sarah," Erza whispered sadly and sincerely. Sarah smiled and put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "It's okay, Erza. I knew from the start that he could never love me back, anyway. And…I'm happy he found someone who truly cares about him. Thank you for bringing him back to the way he used to be."

The beautiful redhead smiled and nodded. "Tell Zane to take care and that I trust him. Tell him that I love him, too, even after all this time." The pinkette smiled. "Will do." Then, she left.

Erza continued walking with a sad smile on her face. She was happy to know that Zane wasdoing finet, but she also felt sad that she still couldn't talk to him. Still, it was good enough after not hearing from him in a month. Distracted in her thoughts, she didn't notice that a man was following her.

Suddenly, the man sneaked behind her and clamped his hand over her mouth. "Mmff! Mmmf!" Erza struggled to get the words out of her mouth. "Shush, little lady. I'm just doing what Jellal Fernandes asked me to do," the man said creepily.

Her eyes widened in shock. What the hell could her ex want from her after all this time? And why now? She began struggling more, and elbowed the man's gut. "Ow!" The man complained, but still did not release his hold. She tried elbowing the man again, but he had expected this and stopped the attack.

"Quit it!" He said in annoyance, and hit the back of her neck. She felt her consciousness slowly fade as she gripped the necklace he gave her. Zane, help me. She thought before she fell unconscious.