A/N: Here's the chapter that will explain Jelly's rollercoaster attitude :) And a fair warning to all, the love doesn't start here. At least not yet. It's going to take a lot more chapters so please bear with me because there's still Jelly's past, a lot of conflicts, pent-up emotions/hormones aaaand I'm ranting. Let's just say, this chapter's the stepping stone to Jellal's selfish but necessary needs which will eventually head to where we all want it to go down to. RAW FILE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED :)

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Poetry In Motion
the final downpour of metaphors

Chapter Seven: A Push Is All It Takes

Jellal yawned. He had been mindlessly turning pages from the thick textbook he was required to study for quite some time now. He plunged right into the soft mattress of his bed, effectively dropping the reading material onto the carpet. He needed a getaway. A distraction.

But his distraction was nowhere to be found. She was either too busy avoiding him, or too busy doing something else.

His phone suddenly rang, and Jellal was suddenly ecstatic.

"Yo." a low voice greeted at him.

"Laxus." The ultramarine smiled. His blond best friend really had the perfect timing; it was as if, he was connected to him mentally.

"You free man?"

"Nothing better to do." Jellal replied and he could almost feel Laxus smile at the other end.

"Head to the court. It's been a while since we've done a one-on-one."

Jellal smirked and ended the call without thinking twice. He dove right in for his cabinet and took out his muscle shirt and jersey shorts.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Jellal dribbled the ball expertly, swaying to the rhythm he'd created and watched in amusement at the intensity of his opponent's focus on the ball.

Laxus lunged forward but the ultramarine was quicker, spinning fluidly away from his opponent's reach. The blond sharply sidestepped after he recovered and blocked Jellal's way to advance further from the three point line. They were suddenly back from their previous position and they smirked, taunting each other for another match.

Jellal made the first move as he faked to the right and then he barged right in to the left. Laxus followed his movement with an impressive display of agility but the ultramarine's dexterity was a force to be reckoned with. After dribbling the ball behind the back, Jellal used that blind spot to spin and explode forward. Laxus cursed as his opponent managed to get past him, trying his best to catch up to the now airborne player.

The lithe form of Jellal glided with the air as he tried to finish with a soft touch of a layup. The ball never did touch the rim as Laxus swatted it away, effectively ejecting the ball in play.

"You could've dunked that you know." the blond commented as he tried catching his breath, hunching over before straightening up. Jellal wondered how his friend could move around so quickly and flawlessly, knowing his size was something that shouldn't be able to sustain a lot of pressure and workout. He was amazed at how much stamina Laxus was capable of utilizing.

"Not my style." he replied smugly, panting as he reached for his drink. He tossed a bottle to Laxus who gladly caught it in one hand. Jellal settled in one of the benches to cool himself down but his friend noticed that something was troubling the young man.

"Tell me you won't get sentimental on me now." Jellal merely smiled and Laxus groaned at this. The ultramarine had always done this—letting his emotions out after every play. To others it made him look weak: The Jellal Fernandes Opening Up Like An Emotional Teenager. It was going to be newsflash to everybody if they knew that, but the thing was, no one knew except his friend Laxus who would complain but nevertheless listen and if he wanted to and allowed it, the blond would also offer him advice.

"I don't even know what I'm doing." The ambiguity of his statement had his friend thinking for a while.

Laxus sighed.

"You know, Erza and I went to the same high school." Jellal merely looked at him with knitted brows, confused at how his friend had responded but nevertheless he remained silent and urged him to go on.

"I was a bum then. A delinquent with no direction, coming to school when I just want to and I skip classes." Laxus gulped down a huge amount of water before continuing, the look on his face was something the ultramarine couldn't quite make out. It was like relief with a hint of awe in it.

"And then I met her. Erza that is. She was the opposite of me. The prim and proper overachiever. I always thought of her as someone who just fucking wanted the attention. Hell it was like she was begging for attention! Always studying, never hanging out. It became even worse when she became the head of the disciplinary committee. There were a lot of "don't do this" and "don't do that" nagging and I was so fucking pissed that I actually yelled at her one time." Laxus paused, smiling to himself as if he remembered something pleasant.

"I thought she was gonna hit me or yell at me or somethin' but she didn't. All she ever did was tell me that it was not too late. I was surprised because heck, that was unexpected and uncalled for. It was a miracle when I've managed to graduate and it was also during graduation that I've learned about the real Erza. Her speech about her life, how she became an orphan at a young age and how she had to work her life out of hellhole—I told myself she was just saying those things to get attention but I knew it was more than that. She made me realize how much of a retard and asshole I am because, there I was, sulking about how my family's fucked up and shit while she had to endure all those things that mine couldn't even compare to."

There was a pregnant pause before Jellal managed to say something.

"Why are you telling me this?" he softly asked.

"Because what you lack is reason." he flatly stated.

"Reason?"

"Why are you doing these things? What's driving you? If you don't have a reason, you'll never know where you're headed to. Erza had given me mine; it's only a matter of time before you find yours." he stood up and wiped the sweat of off his face with the back of his hand, picking up the ball and tossing it to him.

"Now stop being a whiney bitch and get your sorry ass here so I can kick it!"

Jellal smiled. He didn't know why, but somehow, his view on the redhead changed drastically.

Respect. She had earned his respect because it would take a lot more action to make Laxus bend, and Erza had just done that with a few words. If she as so much helped Laxus, then surely she could help him too. Right?

Erza was stacking up canned goods at the shelves, her mind drifting off to a certain ultramarine whose actions were confusing and puzzling her. Surely it would take more than a punch on the face when she found him nuzzling her neck one movie night before to change him right?

She sighed.

"You know, canned goods shouldn't be placed together with clubhouse sandwiches right?" Gildarts pointed out.

"Oh...God I'm so sorry, I'm just...distracted."

Her manager nodded as he suddenly brushed off the topic.

"I'm heading out now. Think you can handle the store without me?"

Erza merely nodded and the old man shrugged into his jacket before grabbing his umbrella.

"Take care of yourself kid."

"You too boss."

Erza was left alone in the middle of the night with no company and she was getting suddenly upset as her thoughts were once again floating. She cursed loudly before busying herself with more goods, driven with the urge to keep herself from being idle. She must not have noticed the rain pouring down for she was too preoccupied with arranging a whole lot of other stuff.

She blamed him. Blamed Jellal for intruding into her mind and—

"Erza?"

She whipped her head to the door and found a barely wet Max shaking his blond locks to dry them off.

"Max!" she squeaked all of a sudden, tripping on a can of sardines the moment she tried to approach him.

"Whoah, easy there. What are you still doing here?" he asked, setting aside his umbrella on a nearby rack.

"What do you mean? It's my shift." Erza pointed out.

Max raised a brow as he checked his watch. He showed the time to her and spoke in a worried manner.

"Um, your shift ended about twenty minutes ago. I was actually kind of worried that you'd be tired here waiting out for me."

Oh.

"Sorry Max, I'm just...out of it lately."

Max shook his head.

"Forget about that, how will you get home? It's pouring out there. Do you want me to call a cab?"

"No, I'm broke." she sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"I don't have any extra." Max apologetically stated.

"No it's alright! I'll walk!"

"In this weather? You can't possibly be serious! Can't you just wait 'til the rain stops?"

"We both know, the rain isn't going to for the meantime Max. Besides I can't go home late. I have classes tomorrow."

Max sighed and handed out his umbrella to the redhead.

"Here, at least take this."

Erza was about to say thanks when her phone suddenly rang. She excused herself and scooped her phone out of her pocket.

Huh, who would call me in the middle of—

"Did I tell you your friend actually gave me your number?" a voice immediately spoke when she picked up. She knew that voice. In fact, it was too familiar that it had her blood boiling and her heart racing in an instant. If it was out of excitement or anger, that she didn't know.

She ended the call.

Erza jumped when her phone rang once more.

"What?" she hissed, clearly annoyed at Jellal for disturbing her in the middle of an unpleasant situation.

"Didn't know you'd pick it up the second time." he teased.

"Well do you want me to hang up?" she snapped back irritably and had the urge to suddenly throw her phone when she heard him chuckle at the other end. "Listen, it's not the best time to be doing this. Just tell me why you called or I'm ending this conversation right now."

"Where are you?" he demanded.

The level of seriousness laced in his voice caught Erza off guard.

"I—I don't need to tell you where I am—"

"I'm not kidding Erza. I asked a question. Where are you?"

She frowned. What has gotten into him? One second he was playful and carefree, the next second he's all serious and worked up. Was he seriously bipolar?

"I'm at the convenience store where I usually work at. It's a few blocks away from Fairy—"

"Got it. Stay put, I'm picking you up."

The call ended right before she could think of the right reply for that.

"Was that your boyfriend?" Max asked innocently and Erza frowned.

"No. He's not."

Jellal arrived a few minutes later with a cab. He raced towards the convenience story as the heavy downpour of rain soaked his hoodie.

Erza was quite surprised when he actually came, not that she was hoping he would.

"There you are." came the ultramarine's soft spoken voice.

The redhead flinched but nevertheless handled the situation just like the Erza Scarlet would.

"I'm going Max. Take care now."

The blond merely waved goodbye.

Jellal took his hoodie off and handed it to Erza who was knitting her eyebrows in confusion. She was having a mental breakdown of either taking it or not.

The ultramarine let out an amused laughter.

"Put it on Ginger."

That did it. Erza ran down without cover and pulled the handle of the cab, shoving herself inside as she felt a certain swell on her chest. Jellal joined her inside and the redhead kept a considerable amount of distance between them. The cab driver cleared his throat at the display of the wet couple at the back seat.

"So, where are you two lovebirds headed to?"

Erza groaned and Jellal merely smirked. He liked how Erza didn't deny the fact that they weren't a couple. Perhaps she was just too tired or—

"To Fairy Tail Halls please." Erza curtly said and the ultramarine looked pleased at how her face looked all flushed and hot, just like her hair.