AN: Hi guys! A little late in the day but I'm still on track lol. :D I though this story would end at 35 but I think it will be in the 40s! Hope you guys stick around until then! :D Also, I'm finally on Spring Break. :')

Chapter 29

Lucy P.O.V. (Sunday)

The day went by in a blur, just as most Sundays do- probably because they are the last free days one has before school. Nothing too special happened after waking up. Natsu and I texted for a while before I left to study. Since our tutoring sessions with Crux, my motivation to do well in school returned and I was taking my grades into my own hands.

I spent most of the day in bed, smothered in my blankets. Winter's chill was coming in full effect, I wouldn't have been surprised if it started to snow.

"I wonder if Natsu likes the snow. Probably not."

It didn't take long since meeting Natsu for me to find out about his strange love for fire. Great, I fell in love with a pyro.

I got out of the warm security of my blankets to head downstairs and into the kitchen to make hot chocolate. My body raked with shivers as I tore open the packet and poured it into my mug, pink in color with flowers. After filling it with hot water and stirring the liquid, I happily plopped a few marshmallows on top before heading back into my room, careful not to spill.

When I got back to my room, I set my hot chocolate on my nightstand- it was still too hot to drink- and situated myself once again in the covers. Grabbing my phone, I was surprised that I had a bunch of new texts. Clicking on the message app, I saw that most of them were from the group chat I had with the girls and a couple were from Natsu.

I chose to check the ones from the girls first. Most of them were long messages from Juvia in which I saw Gray's name scattered around several times. It didn't take long to realize she was talking about her date.

"Skyping would make this easier," Erza replied before I could read Juvia's lengthy texts.

"Juvia is alright with Skyping!" the blunette replied.

Without needing to reply, I heard my computer going off with the familiar ringtone. With a smile, I brought my blankets and hot chocolate to my desk and sat in front of the computer. Answering the call, I saw that it was only Erza and Juvia at the moment.

"Hi, Lucy!" Juvia greeted. She was definitely a much more cheerful person now, I liked it. She was coming out of her shell.

"Hey, Juvia!" I replied with a wave. "Hi, Erza! Where's Levy-chan?"

The blunette's smile faltered as she answered, "Juvia isn't sure if she should add Levy or not. Juvia doesn't mind talking to Levy but with everything happening between her and Gajeel-kun, I'm not sure if she'll want to hear all of this…"

I nodded in understanding, knowing that Juvia just wanted to spare Levy's feelings. However, nobody wants to be pitied.

"I think we should invite her," I stated. "Levy is our friend and even if she isn't the happiest person on the planet right now, she would never wish for us to be sad too. Besides, nobody wants to be pitied."

I saw Erza flinch a bit, knowing that it was because of what happened between us. I completely forgave her but it didn't mend things entirely. Only time would do that.

"She's right," the redhead added. "I'll invite her and if she doesn't pick up, we'll leave her alone."

In a matter of seconds, another head of blue appeared as Levy answered the call, a weak grin plastered to her face. Her eyes were pink and puffy and her hair was messy. There were large bags under her eyes, clear signs she wasn't getting much sleep.

"Hey, guys," Levy greeted. "What's up?"

"We're talking about Juvia's date with Gray last night," I answered, smiling at the screen. I completely understood if Levy wasn't ready to talk about it and I wasn't going to question her. If she wanted to cry, I would let her. If she wanted to ignore it, I would let her.

"Oh, how was it?"

Juvia clasped her hands together and I could practically see hearts forming in the love-struck girl's eyes.

"It was amazing!" she swooned. "Gray-sama took Juvia to an aquarium-"

"You do love aquariums," Erza interrupted with an approving nod.

"Yes! At first Juvia thought Gray-sama was going to tell her he changed his mind because he was acting different. He seemed upset and Juvia didn't know what to do. But then it turned out he was just afraid of asking Juvia out because he wanted it to be perfect! He is so sweet and romantic and gorgeous and-"

"We get it, Juvia," I interrupted with a giggle. "I tried telling him not to overthink it. Guess he didn't listen."

"He talked about it to you?"

"Yep! He's been wanting to ask you out! Congrats, Juvia!"

Juvia blushed while all of the girls congratulated her. We knew firsthand how much she loved Gray. After all, she was declaring her love for him since her first day at Fairy Tail.

A blush coated Erza's cheeks as she cleared her throat and stammered, "J-Jellal and I are also dating. Officially, of course. We've been dating for almost a week."

"A week?" Levy asked in astonishment. "How did we not know about it?"

Erza's eyes moved fractionally to the right and I assumed that meant she was looking at me on her screen. I smiled to let her know everything was okay.

"I suppose I just wasn't ready for anyone else to know," she fibbed. It wasn't entirely a lie. She just didn't want me to know.

With that, the girls and I chatted for nearly an hour before ending the call. That day wasn't too eventful but I was grateful for it. After all, it was the calm before the storm.


Erza P.O.V.

After leaving Lucy's house, I situated myself at my desk. All of my completed homework or student council work was stacked neatly at the top right corner of the desk while my laptop sat in the center. Wendy was hanging out with her friend, Chelia, and would be back for dinner, which Mother was preparing at the moment.

I opened my laptop and frowned at the opened tab. In bold letters was the name of one of the many universities I had been researching. There were so many options to choose from, so many that would have been perfect for me that I would have been easily accepted into. The only problem was what about Jellal?

Things with Jellal were going swimmingly and our love was rekindled as if a day hadn't passed since we were just kids playing in the park. With our new relationship, I was burdened at the thought of having to leave him next year.

I had no doubts of Jellal's intelligence or his grades, but his past was definitely going to prove to be an issue when applying to colleges. It would be much harder for him to be accepted, even if he was ranked third in the school. And what if he didn't even want to attend a university? Would our relationship survive long distance?

Though things were going well, it was still unstable. I may have long forgiven him, but that didn't mean I would ever forget his past transgressions. Things were still too new for us, adding distance to the mix would surely take its toll.

With a heavy sigh, I closed my laptop, not yet ready to deal with the problems of my future. Perhaps being like Natsu could help me for a change. He always said whenever he had a problem, he would let his future self handle it. Maybe that was the right thing to do in this case.

With nothing else to do, I left my room and headed towards the kitchen where my mother was preparing dinner. Cooking was something she enjoyed doing, something that was passed down to Wendy. Along with the love of medical science. I wasn't exactly chef-material, but I knew the basics.

"Do you need any help with anything?" I asked, washing my hands in order to help.

Mother smiled at me and answered, "Sure! How about you crack the eggs for me? We're having breakfast for dinner!"

I nodded, grabbing the eggs that were placed on the counter. Cracking them over the frying pan, I smirked. It reminded me of when I would crack the boys' heads together when they were getting too rowdy. When the edges of the egg started to brown, I flipped them over with a spatula and waited some more.

"So when is Jellal going to stay for dinner again?" Mother inquired with a knowing smile. "Your sister and I would love to get to know him better."

My cheeks tinted pink as I replied, "We haven't really made plans for it. W-We've only been dating a week, you know."

"A week? And yet you two are already kissing like you've been together for years!"

I bit my bottom lip. Mother didn't know anything about Jellal. Which meant she didn't know that I had known him for years or that he was the one that gave me my last name. And she definitely didn't know about his past.

Should I have told her? She was the woman that adopted me and gave me a family, lying to her felt wrong. But what if she forbade me from seeing Jellal again? I shook my head. No, she wouldn't do that.

"Actually…" I began hesitantly. "There's something I haven't told you before…"

The woman raised a brow and with that, I told her everything. I told her about how I met Jellal at the orphanage and how he gave me my last name, which I hadn't changed even after being adopted. I told her about how we would sneak out every night and about our first kiss. I even told her how things went south between us.

I kept my gaze low, expecting the worst. Having an ex drug dealing boyfriend wasn't something parents hoped for their children. I expected her to yell or cry or even forbid me from seeing Jellal. Instead…

"So he is the one that gave you your last name?" Mother questioned. I couldn't read her emotions.

I nodded and answered, "Yes."

At that, the woman's face lit up as she exclaimed, "That's so sweet! Oh, Erza. I'm glad you told me this. Though I don't want you growing up too fast, I do believe that Jellal is someone you need in your life."

"W-What? But what about his past?"

"Well of course I am a bit worried about it, but if you trust that he's changed and gave him another chance then I will too. It's the least I could do for the boy that made my daughter's life at that terrible orphanage better."

"So I can still see him?"

"Of course! Now help me set the table, dear."

I nodded with a smile planted on my face. It was times like these when I truly knew I belonged in this family and I was glad she adopted me those years ago. All that was left was for Jellal to find a family.


Natsu P.O.V.

"So instead of telling her she confessed her love to you, you made a bet?"

"Yep."

"And you don't see how that was your chance to make things work?"

"Nope."

"And why not?"

I pouted and crossed my arms as Lisanna gave an annoyed sigh. Just like we said we would, we made plans to hang out. Since she worked at the diner, though, that limited her times. So, we were eating at the Strauss Diner until her night shift started.

"Look, I know Lucy," I said. "If I told her she confessed when she was drunk, she would've hung up on me and wouldn't talk to me for days. She gets embarrassed easily."

"Well I'm sure she wouldn't be if you told her that you feel the same!" Lisanna replied.

"But I wouldn't have been able to because she would've hung up right away!"

"She might not have!"

"She would have!"

"Are you two arguing again?" Mira asked with a smile as she refilled our cups. "This is just like old times."

"Natsu passed up the perfect opportunity to confess to Lucy," Lisanna told her.

"Aww, why would you do that?" Mira asked with a frown.

"Wait, she knows about Lucy?" I asked.

"Yes I do! She was the blonde girl, right? I think you two would be so cute together, especially from what Lisanna told me!"

I huffed and turned away as my cheeks started to get hot. That was a good sign that I was blushing and I hated it. The thought of Lucy always managed to make my body do weird things. I wondered if it would ever stop.

"Look, I have a plan," I told them. "Just you wait and see, things are going to work out just fine!"

AN: Nothing too eventful this chapter but next chapter for sure! Hope you all enjoyed! :D

cRaZieSt aNgEl eVeR: Haha we'll see Gajeel's reaction next chapter! And I can tell you now it ain't gonna be pretty! ;D Thank you for the review! :D

Woundedninja: Lmao yes I do. I can't help it haha! It makes things more fun! :D

SingingAngel327: Haha so here's the progress report for our ships: Gruvia and Jerza are sailing smoothly, Nalu is slowly getting there, and Gajevy is drowning at sea :')

ThatOneFriend-3: Gruvia has suffered enough I have to cut them some slack. :) And we'll see what happens with Gajevy next chapter! ;D

Nalulove: Haha that would be too easy if she remembered! :D

Fairytailnumber1Anime: Hahaha we'll see how he's holding up next chapter! ;D Hopefully he shows them some mercy. :')

Axelle.813: Haha yes! :D But I'm pretty sure the octopus in Finding Dory was inspired by a real life octopus that did that haha! :D And thank you so much. :')

00nighthowler00: Lol at least some of them are getting better! :D The only ones in a funk are Gajevy. Maybe I'll be nicer to them soon but probably not! :D

Lunahartz: Omg for singing? Your teacher sounds like a jerk! That is why I don't miss high school at all. :') And thanks sis! :D

Alexa60765: Haha betting is their thing in this story I love it! :D AND HAHA YOU'LL FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER IT AIN'T GOOD! :D

MuffinMalonez: Haha I can guarantee he isn't going to be the nicest person towards her! :') Thanks for the review! :D

Soul Eater Maka: WE'RE GETTING SO CLOSE. And we'll see. ;D

Guest: Ahh thank you so much! :D I'm glad you like it. :)

Guest: Lol Gruvia is the slowest paced in my story so you're gonna have to wait a lil longer for a kiss! :D Gajevy was fast, Jerza was medium, Gruvia is slow, and Nalu is a rollercoaster lol. I'm really glad you liked the Gruvia date thank you so much! :D

Zexalloverforever39: If you're talking about Gajeel, it definitely will not work out well. :') Haha thanks for the review! :D