A/N: So I'd already written quite a bit of this chapter for Girl Talk, but I thought it would work better here, so I put it with this story. Therefore, this directly corresponds to Girl Talk 16, and that will add extra context to this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail

As Wendy had gone on a visit to Lamia Scale they had figured it would be the perfect night to break in the new king bed they'd bought. Erza, being too impatient, had only made it as far as the living room before she pushed him on the couch. She stripped him and requipped her clothes off so she could mount him quickly. Despite the lack of foreplay, the anticipation of having the house to themselves had turned them on enough that it was not necessary.

Jellal was happy to oblige Erza. He found himself groaning enthusiastically as he rocked into her. He ran his hands through her hair as she kept her nose pressed up against his. He felt their breathing got faster as did the rocking when then felt their climaxes coming.

Then a buzz interrupted them. Usually he'd ignore it, but the end table was close enough that he caught a glimpse of the message. Jellal immediately froze. Erza could feel him losing all arousal, and fast. When she felt him trying to pull out she put one hand on his butt to keep him inside of her and used the other to grab his communication lacrima. She narrowed her eyes at it, as if it had personally offended her. Once she read the message she only looked more offended.

"A marriage proposal? I thought that only happened at parties?" Erza asked him. He tried to wiggle out of her grasp, but she simply put the communication lacrima back down and used her other hand for reinforcement.

Jellal looked away. "You know what my job was for, correct?"

"Last fall?"

He nodded.

"To see if that man in Alvarez would be adequate enough to be engaged to Queen Hisui," Erza told him.

"Well, he's visiting next week," Jellal replied, still staring at the wall. "And there's a party to welcome him here that I am expected to be at. Somehow the nobles find the idea of an arranged marriage romantic and are now stepping up efforts to marry off their daughters before the party."

"C- can you bring a plus-one to the party?" Erza asked him.

"Probably, but I've never done it before."

"I'll come, then," Erza told him. "And I'll wear my engagement ring. I- I'll even kiss you or hang off you if necessary."

Jellal looked at her face in shock. "I thought you wanted to wait a little longer to announce our relationship."

"It's fine," Erza said. "I don't want any other girls thinking they might be engaged to you."

Despite the clarity of her voice, Jellal could tell she was embarrassed to say such a possessive statement. Jellal felt himself harden at Erza's proposal. Not only was her jealousy cute, it was also quite sexy. He heard Erza let out a little moan as she responded to his body.

Erza looked him in the eye. "I'm going to that party."

Jellal immediately began to rock his hips again. "I'll look forward to it." He stole her lips, eager to spend the rest of the night with her.

Erza had made it to Crocus a few days after Jellal had. While he was required to be there for some preparations she took a few days to buy an appropriate dress. She had wanted something sexier or that would at the very least show off her muscles to make her more intimidating to the girls pining after Jellal, but unfortunately nothing of the sort was considered appropriate.

The morning before the ball she and Jellal had decided to go for a relaxing run. He needed to blow off steam before he could stand to return to the palace and Erza simply wanted some morning exercise. On their path back to Crime Sorciere's headquarters a guard greeted them with a handwritten note addressed to Jellal. The guard explained that it was urgent, leading Jellal to open it unceremoniously.

Erza's face dropped as she read the note. She grasped it from Jellal's hands and held it up to her face, reading it over and over. "I- Ichiya's coming."

Jellal frowned. He'd begged the queen to ban him from the gathering, not wanting to see Ichiya drooling all over his fiancé, and she'd agreed. Apparently Hisui knew that Ichiya was known for his interesting habits around certain female mages. But here was the note, apologizing and explaining that she could not say no when one of her greatest political allies wanted to bring Ichiya as a plus one.

Erza ran off into Crime Sorciere headquarters. Seeing that she was incredibly upset Jellal crumpled up the note and ran after her. He found her furiously getting ready to head out of the palace.

"I'm sorry, Erza," Jellal told her.

"It's okay," Erza told him. She shoved a toothbrush into her mouth before she tried to speak again. "I'm going to pick up the rings."

"What?" Jellal asked her.

"I'm going to pick up the rings," Erza said after taking the toothbrush out of her mouth. "We're going to the city offices to get married later today."

Jellal stared at her. "I- I thought you wanted to wait for the wedding so your time and effort in planning it didn't go to waste?"

"I don't care anymore," Erza replied. "We're getting married."

"Fine. I'll wear the rings," Jellal sighed, knowing that much he wouldn't fight with her about. "But we will not get married."

"And why not?" Erza asked him.

"Because I don't think we'll whip out the documents in the middle of such a large party to prove our relationships. The rings should be enough," Jellal explained.

"And Ichiya?"

"He'll be happy to know you're happy," Jellal replied. "He likes me."

"Likes you?" Erza sputtered.

"Not like that," Jellal replied, equally flustered after realizing how Erza had interpreted his statement. "He likes me with you. He knows I make you happy."

Erza smiled softly and kissed him. "You'll do the rings, though?"

"Of course," he said. He kissed her back.

Jellal and Erza walked to the jeweler they had ordered their wedding rings from. Although Jellal tried to convince Erza that the rings wouldn't be ready she insisted that they try. They approached the small shop slowly. Jellal gulped as he held the door open for Erza.

"Are our rings ready?" Erza asked the woman at the counter.

"Your name?" The woman asked.

"Erza Scarlet," Erza replied.

"And Jellal Fernandez, I presume?" She asked, nodding to Jellal. She pulled a ledger from a desk and checked it. "Your rings won't be ready for another two months."

Erza looked somewhere between annoyed and panicked.

"Do you want me to get temporary ones?" Jellal asked her quietly.

"No. I have another option," Erza replied.

"Is everything okay?" The shopkeeper asked. "Were you planning to elope?"

"No, no. The wedding's still planed for the summer. We just need something for the ball tomorrow night," Jellal replied.

"Ah, I understand," she replied. "The nobles and their petty ideas about premarital sex."

Erza and Jellal both began blushing.

"You don't need to hide it," The woman told them. "They all do it too."

"Honey!" A voice called from the back. Jellal recognized it as the voice of the jeweler. As one of Fiore's best Jellal had visited many times to get things for Erza.

The shopkeeper went to the workroom and the jeweler came out to speak with them. "Sorry about her. She can be hardheaded at times."

"I- it's fine," Erza mumbled.

"Sorry your rings aren't here. I've sent them out for the enchantment you requested," the man said.

"It's fine," Jellal said. "I understand this is sudden."

"Wanting to prevent girls from hanging off of you?" He asked Jellal. "Or men from hanging off her?"

"Both," Erza and Jellal answered together.

"I might have something for you. One second." He shuffled back to the work room. A minute later he emerged with two rings, both of silver. They had a small vine etched into the surface with small diamonds placed near the leaves. "These are prototypes for a promise ring line I was asked to design."

"Really?"

"Heart Kreuz asked me to make some designs aimed at young couples. This was one of the rejected ones."

"Why was it rejected? They look good to me," Jellal said.

"They thought it didn't appeal to their target demographic enough or fit their brand's image," he answered. "But I might sell them myself as wedding or promise rings. Especially if you're caught with them on they'll net good sales. I'll let you borrow these for the ball on the marketing angle."

"Will they fit?" Jellal asked.

"They should. I made them in your sizes," the jeweler told them.

"Why?" Erza asked.

"I heard through the grapevine that this was a possibility," he said, watching their reactions. "No. Actually I was hoping you'd model these for the promotion."

"Fair," Jellal replied. "Is that the price to rent them? Modeling?"

The man snorted. "Well, if you're wearing those the day of the ball and marriage rumors surface that will be all the promotion these need."

"If that's your price," Erza said, staring at the rings. "Consider it done."

They walked to the train station in somewhat formal greeting wear. The prospective future king of Fiore was set to arrive on a train from the coast and they were expected to greet him. Jellal and Erza had put on their matching rings before leaving in case any of the noblemen accompanying them to the station would begin discussions of Jellal's marital status.

At the station a crowd waiting for the arrival parted to let them through. They saw a few cameras in the crowd and plenty of reporters on hand, but both foolishly assumed those cameras would only look for headlines in who was being picked up, not in who was picking him up.

Erza wanted to hold Jellal's hand. She would reach over to it, but couldn't bring herself to grab it. Despite the rings she didn't want to be so affectionate in public. He would brush her hand in reassurance, but didn't grab it. Erza tried to hide her blush.

Jellal could see the mild surprise registering on the face of a few observant reporters, but nothing that would suggest they'd try to get a story out of it. The noblemen with them had given Jellal some strange looks, but hadn't brought up the ring. So far, the ploy seemed to be working as intended: keeping discussion of any potential engagements for Jellal suppressed.

When the prince of Alvarez arrived Jellal shook his hand in greeting after a short bow. Erza did so as well. After feeling the cold band on his finger, the prince gave Jellal a strange look. Still, even after they entered their private carriage he did not bring it up.

When Erza got back from the train station, she went into Jellal's room to relax before the ball that evening. Well, not relax, but to go on a run. She had to manually put on the new running clothes that she had just bought.

During the run she mulled over what she had been doing the last couple of weeks. She had decided to accompany Jellal to Crocus while he helped to arrange the visit from Queen Hisui's likely future husband. As the one that had gone all the way to Alvarez to personally vet him, Jellal was expected to be part of the party welcoming him to Fiore.

While Jellal had been planning with the other palace staff members, Erza had been doing a series of short and (relatively easy) jobs around Crocus – mostly protection or monster-hunting ones that took her no more than a day. Since S-class jobs tended to take longer, she couldn't commit herself to one. When she came back Jellal was usually too tired for sex, but after some long days of planning he didn't want to sit through he'd be positively ravenous. Erza suspected he slept through most of those meetings.

Today was the day they had been planning for: the arrival of the man from Alvarez everyone was waiting for. After an official delegation picked him up from the train station (one that included Jellal and Erza), Jellal, the Queen, and various other nobles showed him around the Palace. Tonight would be the ball where (if all went well) the couple would appear together for the first time.

Erza also expected it to be her debut as a couple with Jellal. While all of Fairy Tail and Crime Sorciere knew of their relationship, it wasn't common knowledge yet. In fact, Erza hadn't intended to show off any relationship with him – she intended to sit with Laxus as an official representative of Fairy Tail. That is, she didn't intend to until she saw Ichiya's name on that official guest list. That made her want to show off their relationship. Jellal, being her arm candy, couldn't say no.

When she returned from her run, expecting to get ready with Jellal, one of the maids from the palace was waiting outside her door.

"Mrs. Fernandez?" The maid asked.

Erza initially had a look of shock on her face, but then remembered they'd worn their (future) wedding rings that morning. It would be sensible to assume they were now married – that was what Erza had intended, even if the ruse was only meant for one person in particular. "Yes?"

"Queen Hisui wanted to discuss something with you. As you were both occupied earlier, she invited you to get ready in her quarters with her," the maid said.

"R- really?" Erza asked, shocked at the invitation. Queen Hisui had never talked to her before. She couldn't turn down an invitation from the queen, so she didn't. "J- just give me a minute." Erza rushed into the room, took her dress out of her requip space (assuming she wouldn't need to requip into it), and hung it up.

Erza followed the maid through the garden and into the Palace. She walked through the long marble halls of the palace hoping that every door was the Queen's door. Despite requipping, she was still so sweaty that she felt self-conscious passing by the perfectly groomed staff and aristocrats of Fiore.

Somehow, the Queen didn't notice. She simply invited Erza into her room and brought her in.

Despite being pampered by Hisui's servants Erza felt truly inadequate. She stood outside the doors to the ballroom with Jellal waiting to be let in. This time she did squeeze his hand for a little reassurance. She had no idea where she would be sitting, but as she was officially attending as an ambassador of Fairy Tail, she and Jellal had assumed she would be sitting with Laxus.

As someone said their names a servant pushed them through the door. Erza steeled her nerves and put on her best battle face as she tried to walk into the room as gracefully as possible. Unlike the other couples she saw enter she did not grip his arm. Frankly, she didn't know what she was supposed to do or where she was supposed to go. Heads had turned to look at them, but none looked too surprised at the confusion.

Halfway into the room an usher brought both to a long front table. When Erza demanded to know why she wasn't seated with the other guild ambassadors, the usher meekly replied that the queen thought it would be more appropriate to seat them together, given the rings. Erza didn't know what that was supposed to mean: whether it meant Hisui thought they were married or whether she supported their desire to not be bothered with random proposals.

Erza was surprised to see they were some of the last ones to be seated. Only a few nobles came after them. The last two seated were, of course, Queen Hisui and her father. The prince from Alvarez was seated between Jellal and Hisui. He was obviously enamored by Hisui. Jellal could tell it was love at first sight on his end. Hisui wasn't betraying any of her own emotions about the situation, instead focusing on her pre-meal speech and the customary greetings of her guests.

During dinner conversation was awkward and slow. The couple greeted each other pleasantly but with obvious hesitation. Erza didn't know if they didn't like each other or if they just didn't know what to say. Jellal would occasionally squeeze her hand under the table. While he tried to facilitate conversation by bringing up the similar interests of the two Erza could do nothing but listen. They would occasionally invite her to comment, but she didn't know what to say. She drank down a flute of champagne (and then Jellal's) as she listened. The pleasant buzz the alcohol made the awkwardness more bearable.

When dinner finished, Erza tried to walk around the ballroom. Before she could get away from the table the other mages in attendance found her.

"You two get married?" Laxus asked them. Jura, Sting, and Kagura stood near him.

"W- what?" Erza asked. She looked around, only to see that Jellal had been dragged off by some nobleman. She smiled as she saw Jellal not-so-subtly wave his ring by the nobleman's face, after which the man backed off. He was quickly replaced by another.

"You're both wearing rings," Kagura said, grabbing Erza's hand and lifting it for Jura and Sting to see.

Jura nodded over to Jellal. "He is wearing a matching one."

"N- no! We're not married," Erza replied. "Our wedding will be this summer."

"Then why the rings?" Kagura asked.

"W- we didn't want to be harassed," Erza said, looking around. "By people wanting to marry Jellal."

"And Ichiya," Laxus snorted knowingly. He looked over to where Ichiya was flirting with a few noblewomen.

"And Ichiya," Erza confirmed. "Has he noticed?"

"No. Or at least he didn't comment on it while he was sitting at the table," Kagura replied.

"But you're engaged at least, right?" Sting asked.

"Of course," Erza said. "I'm surprised you didn't hear. Jellal said Sorano told Yukino."

"Yukino probably knows her sister wasn't supposed to tell her," Sting said. "She's the smarter one of the two. And the hotter one."

Erza sighed, gazing over at Jellal.

Jellal looked at her across the room. After that first noble word about the ring had spread fast. He'd only had one nobleman ask about his daughter after he had first flashed the ring, and that was only because the man had been the second in line to ask that night. Still the men had worked to separate him from Erza so they could interrogate him about her – as if they still had hope they could stop the engagement. He hoped he could coax her over with just one look.

Erza could tell that Jellal was in trouble: he was surrounded by noblemen and their very pretty daughters. His look was as close to a pleading one as her fiancé could have. When she walked over the mages with her followed, probably for extra support.

The noblemen around Jellal parted to allow Erza to reach Jellal in no small part due to her intimidating look. The closer she got to him, the deeper Jellal saw her blush get. He wondered what her plan was. When she reached him, she grabbed his hand and turned him towards her. He was shocked by the public display of affection, even if it was just something small. He was even more shocked when she reached her head up to kiss him on the lips. When she pulled away from the quick peck he could see her face was cherry red. She looked at where their hands were still intertwined instead of maintaining eye contact.

Kagura held a hand to her face while Sting and Laxus smirked, ready to laugh at the scandalized noblemen. Jura nodded with a smile on his face.

The noblemen quickly scattered to let the mages talk. Too soon Ichiya was upon them, sniffing up Erza. He froze when he saw the ring, and then looked at Jellal to see a matching one.

"Hello, My Honey," he said, dramatically handing her a rose. As usual, she rejected his advance.

"Hello, Ichiya," Jellal said for his all-too-annoyed fiancé.

"I hadn't heard you were married to her," Ichiya said.

Jellal didn't know what to say – they weren't married. He felt stupid for not discussing what to say when he would inevitably ask. Erza was already slinking away, so she was no help. In fact, she had managed to get herself swarmed with even more young noblemen and women who were eager to hear from such a famous mage.

"If it had to be someone, I'm happy it's you," Ichiya told Jellal. "Because you're the one who makes her happy."

Jellal smiled softly at him. "Thank you. I'm glad it was me as well." He looked over at where Erza was enthusiastically recounting some battle or other to a group of adoring fans. Somehow the night was going better than he could have ever anticipated.

Around eleven in the evening Jellal and Erza were finally able to slip back into his bedroom. Somehow he had managed to prevent Erza from getting absolutely sloshed, but she was still noticeably intoxicated. He would have to tell her that it was okay to refuse drinks next time she went to one of these parties.

As soon as the door closed behind him Erza was already stripping out of her dress, leaving only a very short slip and some underwear between him and her naked body.

"Strip," Erza commanded him.

"Erza, you're drunk," Jellal protested.

"I don't care. I'm sober enough to consent," she replied. "So strip." She sat on the end of Jellal's bed and crossed her legs demurely.

"Erza, I don't think-"

"I don't care," Erza said. "Off with your clothes."

Jellal swallowed and fiddled with the buttons on his formal jacket. "Are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure," Erza said. She summoned a dagger to her hand. "Strip. Or I cut off your clothes."

This was the first time Jellal had ever had Erza get aggressively drunk towards him, although he supposed it was a mix between aggression and the horniness he had experienced from drunk Erza before.

Erza walked towards Jellal. Before he knew it she was working on his pants, apparently too eager to get his jacket or shirt off first. As soon as Erza had undone the fastenings she tugged both his pants and boxers down roughly. She looked up at his face, back down to his hardening member, and licked her lips. Although he was tired, at that sight he knew he would be in for a long night, and not because of any obligation to Erza. He decided he wanted this as well.

The next morning Jellal woke up, having only gotten two hours of sleep. He looked over to Erza. As had become her habit, after they were finally too tired for another round she went to bed naked and then requipped back into her pajamas. If while asleep she had decided she wasn't quite done, she would unconsciously would become naked once more. He thanked his lucky stars that it wasn't the case that morning. They both needed rest.

He wrapped his arms around her and tried to get back to sleep, not realizing Erza had also woken up. She began to mutter something.

"Jealous," was all he could make out.

"You were jealous?" Jellal asked, guessing at what she was trying to tell him.

She rolled over and nodded into his chest.

"Is that what last night was about?"

She nodded again. "Among other things," she said, not looking up at him.

"You're adorable," he replied. He smiled as he reached his head down to kiss the top of her head. "Why were you jealous?"

"I- I don't know. I just saw all those pretty noblewomen and –"

"You're much prettier than any of them," Jellal assured her. "And even if you weren't, you're still much more than I could every hope for from them."

"How?"

"You're smart, strong, and kindhearted. They're… Well, they're not any of that. They're vapid gossipmongerers, not that they have much more to do in their lives."

"And I do?" Erza asked, seeming more vulnerable than he'd seen in a while.

"You do more in a day than they'll do in their lifetimes," he told her. "And I'm happy to be part of that."

"I'm glad you're a part of it," Erza sighed. He felt her tense muscles relax into his arms.

"I'm glad to have you," He said. Jellal stroked a hand down her back to reassure her. Once he felt her fall back to sleep, he did as well.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! The next chapter may or may not take a while. I hope the fluff/implied smut was enough to tide you over until then.