"You can steal the bed," I told Erza as I started the rest of my science homework. She didn't have to wait for me to finish it.

"Yay," she cheered, heading over to the bed, quietly she continued, "If I fall asleep - which I likely will - you better wake me up when you're done with your homework so I can cuddle with you."

"I will," I couldn't help but to smile, "I promise."

"Good," I heard her quietly respond as she went to bed. I had only finished a single problem when she had fallen asleep. She was snoring. I smiled once more.

It wasn't long before I had my homework done; Science was always fairly easy. I headed over to the bed to wake Erza but decided against it. She looked so peaceful. She looked like she wasn't having a bad dream.

I debated going downstairs to sleep on the couch, but I quickly decided against it. Erza would just be mad - or at least upset - that I didn't wake her. Instead, I got ready for bed - setting an alarm for the morning - and then crawled into the 'other side' of the twin bed.

I felt bad, like I was invading Erza's privacy - even though I knew she wouldn't mind. I had done similar things before but with a couch instead of a bed. This was no different, right?

I still couldn't shake the feeling as I wrapped my arms around Erza, throwing the blanket over us as I did. I loved cuddling with Erza, and this was no different. The warmth of her skin felt nice, but even better was the idea that I was somehow protecting her, or that I'd at least be there if she woke with a bad dream.

Well, as long as it wasn't a bad dream where she wasn't comfortable around me. I always feared that would happen again.

I sighed, bringing Erza closer to me as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

I was eating alone in the far corner of the cafeteria, just like I always did. A few glances were cast my way, and if I listened hard enough, I could catch their rumors.

"He's a sociopath,"

"He's going to try to kill us,"

"He's not that bad, guys. He helped Amy."

I looked up in surprise. People rarely mentioned what I'd actually done. They only ever mentioned that I hit someone, that I acted out, that I was incapable of actually following the rules. Those statements made my fist clench, but this?

It was nice.

I picked up my empty tray and put it away accordingly. I had finished before most people. That made sense, I supposed. I never talked to anyone.

I heard what sounded like a small shriek and stopped in my tracks. Heading over to the source of the noise, I found myself exiting the school doors and turning the corner.

I knew the scene all too well.

Simon was holding a girl up to a wall, pinning her arms to stop her from moving. Her face was a bloody mess, one eye closed shut. Her top had been ripped off almost completely, leaving only her bra, which was also ripped. Simon was pressed up against her.

That girl should've been my best friend at the time. A girl named Hannah.

Instead, it was Erza.

I punched Simon all the same.

I kept my eyes closed as I woke up. I'd much rather dream of school than actually go to school. At school, people were picking on Erza. People were being assholes. At school, I couldn't do anything without disappointing Erza - along with other consequences.

At least in my dreams, the deeds were already done.

"Okay," Erza mumbled as she woke up. She tried moving slightly, but with the way I was holding her, she failed.

"Jellal," Erza whispered, "Time to get up."

"Nope," I shook my head, gripping Erza ever so slightly tighter than I had before, "I'll just never let you go, and you'll be stuck here forever. Ha,"

She chuckled quietly, "Well, I don't have a problem with that, but Mary might."

"Dammit," I sighed, letting go of Erza. I vaguely recalled the night before, "Oh, sorry for not waking you before…"

She shook her head, smiling, "No apologizing for that. This was much better."

"Good," I smiled back as I forced myself to sit upright.

Erza got up and started to leave, but she stopped, turning around and kissing me on the lips. I quickly kissed her back.

"Hurry up if you want breakfast," she smiled once more, leaving the room, "I'm not making the food this time though. Mary said she would so I could cuddle with you longer."

But food you make is always way better, I bit my lip to stop myself from talking. No need to say something stupid.

I quickly changed and half brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, and packed up my stuff. When I was ready, I came down the stairs just in time for food to be done. I quickly finished the bacon, eggs, and toast Mom had made and started to clean up. Erza joined me soon after. I would've complained, but Mom was messier than Erza. I could use the help.

We finished cleaning and left to catch the bus. We were earlier than usual, so we had a few moments of doing nothing before the bus got there. I felt the familiar feeling of dread as I got on the bus.

"Hello!" Meredy started smiling as we got on the bus, "Sleep well?"

"Good morning," Erza yawned as she sat down, "I definitely slept well."

"Same," I nodded, not trusting myself to say more as I blushed.

"You cuddled." Meredy smiled, giving me a knowing glance. She'd seen me blush, dammit.

I resorted to ignoring them as Erza leaned against me. The less blushing the better. Considering the way Meredy was laughing, I didn't trust myself not to if I really listened to them. Instead, I listened to the random conversations around the bus, which for the most part were neutral. People talking about their mornings. Good.

When we got out of the bus we headed to our lockers then science class - like usual. Minerva took our papers on the way out of the door, mumbling about not having enough copies. We took our spots and waiting for class to start.

Of course, Minerva leaving meant others would talk.

"Hey it's the whore," someone sneered as they entered the room and saw Minerva was gone.

Erza tensed up and stared angrily at the table. I took her hand, slowly moving her fingers so it wasn't in a fist. Doing so distracted me from my own anger too.

"Yeah, how did she get a boyfriend?" one chuckled.

So much for calming myself. I threw the pencil I had been holding at the them, causing them to flinch and scream in surprise. I saw Erza quickly look up.

"Can I have that back?" I couldn't help but to chuckle.

Erza quietly mumbled, "Well, you didn't punch him so… I have no arguments against that."

I couldn't help but to smile as I calmly took out another pencil since they stole my old one. Erza rested her head on the table, bored. I took out a notebook and began to doodle to distract myself.

I hid the notebook from Erza's view, using my stuff to do so. I very carefully began to draw her. I wasn't much of an artist, and it looked more like an insult than a drawing, but it was fun to do.

Suddenly Erza turned and yelled, "Will you shut up for once?"

I looked to her in surprise as they burst into laughter. Had they been talking? Erza never really yelled at them, so…

What had they said?

"Hey, you can talk without stuttering!" they laughed at Erza. I continued to draw sketchily, trying not to interfere. Erza could handle this one if she was pissed off enough.

"Yeah, I especially can when I'm pissed off," she muttered, and I smiled. Definitely

could handle this one.

"Congratulations," they slow clapped, the others giggling, "I didn't think you were capable of being pissed off. After all, you only ever really pissed others off."

She raised an eyebrow, "Is that supposed to be an insult? I don't give a fuck if I piss you assholes off."

"Why would you?" they shrugged, rolling their eyes, "You're not really capable of caring about anything, are you?"

Erza rolled her eyes as she faced the front of the room. She gave up on arguing. She glanced at my drawing, but not enough to notice that I'd drawn about half of her face. That or I was really bad at drawing. It could be that too.

"Oh, how cute," they chuckled once more, "She doesn't have a counter-argument! I think we're right!"

"Shut up," she retorted, almost sounding bored, "You're not right. It's just that I learned a long time ago not to argue with idiots."

Oh?

"Good point, Erza," Minerva nodded as she entered, causing us to start to laugh. The others shut up, not daring to speak in front of a teacher that hated them. Minerva took that as a cue to start the class.

She talked about bullying a bit, and the consequences of such. She promised to fail anyone she caught, but I doubted the warning would do much to stop the bullying. If she didn't hear them she could do nothing, and they weren't stupid enough to talk in front of her. If anything, it'd make it worse if they thought we'd talked to Minerva about this.

It wasn't too long before Minerva actually started the lesson. It was a fairly long one, but only because Minerva kept going on tangents about something that happened years ago, or how a spelling mistake was bothering her. She almost forgot to give us homework, but quickly assigned book pages as we left the room.

Erza was noticeably shaking as we left the class. I couldn't exactly blame her as I took her hand and mumbled words of encouragement. We didn't sit next to each other in English, and to make it worse, the teacher - Mr. Frederickson - was typically oblivious to bullying. Not only was he always late to class, but he got so caught up in what he was teaching, he only really saw the first two rows of desks as he glanced at us. He was also fairly old, so he didn't exactly hear the bullying either.

"Watch out! The slut's coming!" somebody snickered as I took my seat and Erza continued to the back of the room. I continued my drawing while listening in.

"Yeah! Hide, or she might cut your wrists too!" they loudly laughed.

Did they know the truth? Were they just pretending to be oblivious?

My fists clenched like they always seemed to do, and I tried to focus more on my drawing as if that would calm me down.

"No that's not the real danger!" the person talking sounded happy, as if they found the solution to world hunger, "She might say you did things to her,"

What?

"Shut the fuck up," I heard Erza growl at them. I glanced back to see a crowd forming, and I slowly stood up. This could get bad.

"What? Did I strike a nerve?" they chuckled, smiling.

"You know you fucking did," she continued to growl, shaking.

What is this about?

"Really?" they laughed, "How can lies strike nerves?"

Erza mumbled something that I didn't catch. She was most likely defending herself. I slowly made my way through the crowd, trying not to catch attention. I couldn't do anything from far away.

"Really? It seemed pretty convenient considering it was right after he cheated on you," they told her, and I saw her shake even more.

Someone cheating on Erza? But…?

Oh. Simon. Right. The thing that everyone but me knows about.

"Have you ever considered the fact that he could've fucking lied? There's not only one person in the world that can lie. You do realize that, right?" Erza glared at them.

"Well, duh," they rolled their eyes, "But it'd be much easier for you to lie than him."

Erza sighed, turning to look at her desk as she mumbled something I couldn't catch.

"Can't do anything about something that never happened," they 'agreed', shrugging, "It's not like Simon actually raped you."

Wait… Did they just say…?

I felt my blood run cold as I connected the dots together. My fists clenched, and I refused the urge to try and fight everyone there. Not only did Simon do that to Erza, but nobody believed her? Then they used her insecurity to their advantage to make fun of her?

I stepped closer so I could hear what Erza was whispering, "- don't know what happened. You just choose to believe the easiest thing to believe. The thing that gives you entertainment..."

"Because somehow you find it funny," they looked to me as I spoke. I placed my hand on Erza's so I didn't act out as I continued, "I'd punch you right now, but considering I tore someone's eye out because they tried to say that, I don't think it'd do much justice. I'll come up with something worse later."

"You're probably protecting her just for the sex," one sneered.

"Certain things aside, I'm pretty sure we're both virgins," I responded numbly, the anger stopping me from feeling anything else, "And that was a lame argument."

Erza moved, and I could see her start to cry as she bit her lip.

"Then why are you helping her?" they asked, actually sounding confused.

I squeezed Erza's hand as I spoke, "Because I love her."

She squeezed my hand back tightly, and I could feel her trembling.

"How?" they asked, sounding both confused and curious, "There isn't anything to like about her,"

"Then you obviously don't know her," I sighed, shaking my head.

She's perfect.

"They're not wrong," Erza disagreed before standing up and running out of the room. I glared at the bullies before heading after her, calling her name.

"Class!" Mr. Fredrickson called to us, "Be quiet and sit down! Now!"

I sighed, returning to my spot. Erza would likely go home, and she probably wanted alone time anyways. Mom could take care of her until I got there, not to mention I could grab Erza's homework for her.

Although it felt rude, I decided to give Erza her space. She'd calm down on her own, right?

I tried not to cry as I hung up the phone with Meredy. She hadn't seen Erza either. I lifted my knees up to my chest and looked down, trying to hide the tears that started to leak.

"It'll be okay, Jellal," Mom told me, although it was also to herself, "We'll find her. I'll call the police now."

"N-No!" I shook my head as I started to cry, "H-H-He m-might be there a-and…"

"Jellal!" Mom shook her head, "You're not thinking straight. For the most part, the police should help us. We'll find Erza faster that way. Trust me."

I only nodded, not trusting myself to speak. This was all my fault. I had stayed back in English instead of going after her. I hadn't been there for her when she needed me most. Now any number of things could've happened to her. Simon could've got to her, or she could've ran off, or she could be dead in an alley somewhere…

I cried louder as I couldn't help but to think of the possibilities. I'd failed. I'd told her I'd keep her safe, and I'd lied. How could I make that up to her? How could I get her back?

When could I tell her 'I love you' once more?

As promised, I am back with another chapter! And I have the remaining chapters of the story in my doc manager, so it'll be quicker to upload and I won't have any excuses (hopefully).