Note: I said I wasn't going to write this but I'm a liar.

This chapter is not important to the main story and is completely extraneous. It's also smutty and centers around a very specific aspect of what happens when a person suddenly stops being a professional athlete. I'm not sorry in advance!


Erza couldn't help but feel disappointment at the sight of her mother and not Jellal when she stepped from the jetway and into the terminal. Eileen fielded her obvious disappointment with grace. She had a kind smile and a quick hug for her daughter.

"I'm sorry, love, he had a class," she said softly into Erza's ear. "There's a show this weekend and it's important to him."

"It's okay," Erza said with a sigh. "He said he might not make it. I'm glad you're here though. I missed you." Eileen's smile was radiant and Erza tried not to shrink in on herself when her mother glanced her up and down.

"Hungry?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess."

"Let's get your bags and grab some lunch." Eileen slipped her arm through Erza's and patted her hand affectionately. "The party isn't until tonight and we've got a few hours to kill."

"Party?"

"Anna wanted to celebrate the little ones Jellal is graduating out of his class tonight at the studio. She's had a crew on the roof all afternoon making sure everything is perfect."

"Oh." Erza bit her lip and tugged on the edges of her skirt that swished as they walked.

"What's wrong?" Eileen stopped and spun around to face her. "You're morose."

"I don't mean to be," Erza hedged.

"Are you tired? Would you rather go home instead? After such a long flight, I don't think Anna or Jellal would mind."

"I just…" Erza's eyes bounced all around the terminal before finally lighting on Eileen. "Can we maybe get the bags? I don't want to talk about it here."

"Of course!" Eileen took her arm again and Erza tried to, unsuccessfully, swallow her anxiety.


"Is that dress new?" Eileen asked from across the table. Sunlight dappled the café's patio and her mother's hair took on a glossy shine.

"It is."

"It looks lovely on you."

"Mom –" Erza set aside her fork and glared down at her mostly untouched plate. "Mom, I got fat."

"I'm sorry, what?" Eileen asked, blinking in confusion.

"Just look at me!" she said miserably. "I had to buy a bunch of new clothes! I even had to get a new bikini top because my boobs were just everywhere! I've never had that problem before!"

"Erza," Eileen said with stern finality. "You are not fat. That's a ridiculous claim."

"I gained at least fifteen pounds! Maybe twenty, I don't know!"

Eileen dabbed at her mouth with her napkin and set it aside. "Listen to me, Erza. You've been a dancer for most of your life. Up until the last two years you've had to maintain an athletic body that served one purpose. Ballet is harsh and takes a lot of personal discipline. Of course you've gained weight now that you've moved on from it!"

"I was only gone for eight months and now I'm twenty pounds fatter! Jellal is going to dump me!"

"I'm not even going to acknowledge those words in the same sentence," Eileen said blandly. "So you enjoyed eight months of pastry in a foreign country. And? If it's so important to you, just start working out again." She sighed. "Though, I may as well tell you, Jellal doesn't wake up at the crack of dawn to run anymore."

"He told me he took some extra classes at school plus teaching at the studio." Erza poked at her food. "It's been a long eight months, mom. I just don't want to see his disappointed face."

"It'll be okay, love. The only reason Jellal would ever be disappointed with you is if you refused him tamales. Acnologia has had a rough year of work, too. The poor boy is suffering."

Erza snorted. "A twenty-three year old man pouting over tamales is –"

"As ridiculous as a twenty-three old woman crying over a little weight gain?"

"Point taken," Erza said with a smile.


"Are you sure she knows what time to be here?" Jellal said over Anna's shoulder.

"Honestly, Jellal, can you give me some space?" Anna huffed. "You haven't been this clingy since you were a toddler!"

"It's just getting late and everyone's almost here and –"

Anna spun around and shoved a baker box of croissants into his chest. "Put these out on the far table."

"But mom –"

"Go," she commanded. "Before I push you off the roof and replace you with a cat."

Jellal sighed and wove through the small crowd to do his mother's bidding. He couldn't help his anxious mood. Erza had been gone for eight long months and he needed her. He'd always thought of Erza as the needier one in their relationship but since she'd been studying thousands of miles away for the better part of a year he realized how easily he took her presence for granted. Long separations didn't suit him.

The noise level swelled and Jellal folded the baker box flat before stuffing it in a trash bag. When he spun around he saw her on the far side of the roof beside Eileen. She smiled before embracing his mother and Jellal's palms itched. Erza's eyes scanned the crowd and finally found him. His stomach turned over and it was all he could do not to rush over and crush her against him.

He watched her move through the small crowd and… his head tilted to the side. There was something different about her. Something new. Was it the dress? He hadn't seen it before but she'd been gone for eight months. Definitely not the dress. She reached up to flick a strand of hair from her face and his eyes caught on the way the fabric of the dress clung to her hips. Oh…

"Hey," she said, when she stood only a few feet away. Erza's fingers twisted nervously.

"Hey." Jellal smiled and closed the gap between them. She fit against him a little differently. Softer. Fuller. His arms circled her waist and the tips of her hair brushed against his fingers. This. He'd missed this the most. "You're back," he whispered.

"I'm back."

He felt her hide her face in his neck and his hands settled over her hips. Erza's frame had always been what he considered slim. She wasn't quite petite – she was too tall for that – but she had a dancer's build. Lithe. Lean and sleek. Her hips filled his palms in an entirely new way and her breasts pressed against his chest with much more squish than before. It was exciting.

Jellal suddenly kissed the top of her head and stepped back. She gazed up at him and bit her lip.

"Are you okay?" Erza asked slowly.

"Yeah! I'm great!" he blurted, smiling too widely. "I'm amazing! You look great, by the way."

"Uh, thanks." She fidgeted awkwardly and Jellal took her hand in his.

"I missed you. A lot. This last week has been exhausting."

Erza finally smiled and she ran her fingers over the buttons of his shirt. "I'm glad I took the earlier flight. I've been a mess lately."

Jellal pulled her against him again and kissed her as ardently as he dared in front of his pint-sized students. Her fingers tightened in his shirt and he wished they weren't in public. Not only did he want to be alone with his long lost girlfriend but was also curious about her new shape.

She whirled around and pulled him by the hand back into the small crowd of students and parents. He watched her hips sway and bit the inside of his cheek. The dress Erza wore was a light gauzy material and the way it hung over the swell of her backside was embarrassingly captivating. He could see the exact place where the waistband of her panties dug into her skin. The indent was new – and he would absolutely know because he'd been familiar with every curve of her body for years. Even as children it had been his job to know her better than anyone. If he didn't… well, their career as acrobatic dancers would've been very short lived.

A cool breeze ruffled the skirt of her dress and even her thighs looked thicker. An image of her new thighs wrapped around his waist flashed in his mind and he made a face. He wanted to dig his fingers into the soft skin. He needed to stop sexualizing her in public.

Think of something bad.

An image of the mountain of unfolded clothes he'd left on their bed at home didn't quite kill the stiffening interest in his pants but he could be cool. He could!

Erza released his hand and he watched her bend and scoop one of the younger siblings of his oldest student into her arms. The child's parents laughed at the way he grasped at Erza hair.

"He's such a cutie!" Erza said, dropping a kiss on his dimpled cheek. "And so big, too! He was just a little thing when I left!"

"He's our little chubby bunny!"

Jellal could feel his face twist at the woman's words. He watched her pry Erza's hair from sticky toddler fingers. Was he a chubby chaser now?

…did that even matter?

No, he decided. No it did not.

He trailed behind Erza the entire evening and thought he'd been discrete in his interest until Eileen caught him staring. She raised one perfect, crimson eyebrow before her lips twisted into a smirk. Jellal had never been more embarrassed in his life.


The sun was long gone by the time he pulled his car into the townhouse driveway. Erza sighed deeply and her head fell back against the headrest.

"I'm beat."

"I'm sorry about the party," Jellal whispered, reaching for her hand. "It was kind of last minute and after such a long flight, I bet you're exhausted."

Her smile lifted his heart. "It's okay. I had a good time and it's important for your students to feel like they accomplished something." Erza laughed and bit her lip. "Do you remember when we were that small? It's been a while."

"I remember you and your pink and white tights and leotards. You always had to look perfect all the time."

"I had a pretty difficult pair of shoes to fill. At least I thought I did."

"I've always thought you were enough just being you, Erza. You never needed to be her." Jellal brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. "Let's go inside. It's late and you look like you're about to fall asleep."

The inside of the townhouse was dark except for the kitchen. Jellal locked the door behind them and tossed his keys into the same basket where both Acnologia's and Erza's keys lived. Hers had been undisturbed for months. Together they rounded the corner and Acnologia stood in the soft glow of the overhead oven light. He glanced up at them from his plate of left over pasta and smiled.

"Erza," he said in a low voice. "You have returned to us. How was your flight?"

"Long." Erza sighed. "The last eight months have just been long."

"Well, I am glad to see you home." Acnologia glanced at Jellal. "Sadly, it is my turn to be away. Some things up north need micromanaging, it would seem. I fly out very early."

"How long?" Jellal asked, pulling bottles of water from the pantry.

"Perhaps a few weeks. It depends on how things go." He placed his used dishes in the dishwasher and crossed the kitchen to touch Erza's shoulder. "I am glad to have seen you before I go, Erza. Goodnight to both of you."

Acnologia disappeared down the darkened hallway, his socks padding quietly on the wood floors.

"I need a shower," Erza murmured.

"I'll be up in a minute." Jellal pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I just need to make sure the back gate is unlocked for the landscapers in the morning."

Erza took the stairs quickly and he shamelessly watched her go. A very large part of him wanted to just leave the gate locked and apologize to the gardener later but he also didn't want to deal with a home owner's association complaint about Erza's hydrangea bush that now took up a sizeable corner of the yard. So, like a responsible adult, Jellal circled around the back of the house and unlocked the gate.

When he finally closed the bedroom door on the third floor suite, he found Erza standing in front of the floor length mirror with her hands on her hips. She wore a familiar pair of black cotton shorts and a green tank top. Her hair hung in damp ropes down her back and she scowled.

"What's the matter?" he asked, tearing his eyes away from the way the shorts hugged her shape. Jellal tossed his shirt over her head and into the closet hamper.

"There's no way you can't tell, Jellal," she muttered irritably. "You don't have to be polite."

"I don't know what you mean." Erza huffed and tried to step around him but he closed his hands around her shoulders and enjoyed the scent of her orange shampoo that he'd missed so very much.

"I'm fat, Jellal," she whispered. "Just look at me!"

"I've been looking at you all night, Erza. That's my problem." The palms of his hands slid over her shoulders and down to her waist. His fingers inched beneath the edge of her tank top and he finally got to touch the skin he'd had his eye on since she'd cut through the crowd to find him. "I can't stop."

"I'm so embarrassed!" Erza said in a dismayed pout. "I had to buy some new clothes and even a new swim top!"

"Can I see it?" he whispered in her ear before kissing her neck.

"No!" Erza didn't push him away. Instead she slumped against him and looped her arms around his waist. "You really don't care?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, I do." He kissed her neck again and flicked his tongue out to brush against her pulse. "I care a whole bunch."

Erza pressed her palm against his chest and gazed up at him incredulously.

"You like that I got fat?"

"You're not fat, Erza. An extra ten pounds isn't fat."

"It's more like twenty," she muttered.

"Mm," he groaned, kissing her shoulder. "Whatever."

His thumbs moved over the new shape of her hips before falling, finally, to her ass. Erza had always been a flexible girl and he understood her body in terms of aerodynamics, shape, and musculature. Enjoying her was a whole other animal but he felt like many of the same principals applied… just with fewer clothes. Now her body was something new. She was cake now instead of just dinner.

Erza was dessert.

"Jellal," she whispered, finally relaxing into him and guiding his lips to her. "I can lose it, I know I can –"

"Do you have to?"

She froze and he pulled back an inch. Her eyes were wide. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack, Erza. I'm going to love you no matter what but I can't deny that I've been waiting all night to get you up here and out of your clothes."

Erza's mouth opened and closed before she grinned. "Is that why you looked like you had a mouth full of sour candy when Olivia's mother called her baby a chubby bunny?" She pushed him backwards and across the room until he fell into their bed. Erza crawled over him to perch directly over his erection.

"I… might've had a reaction to her saying that, yeah." She pulled her tank top off and he understood why she'd needed to purchase a new bikini top. Her hips, thighs, and ass were rounder, sure, but he suspected a fair amount of her weight gain had settled in her chest.

Erza stretched out over him and wormed her hand into his pants. Her fingers closed around him snugly. He grabbed her arm and stilled her motion.

"Erza, eight months is a hot minute and –"

"I'd hate for you to blow everything early," she whispered, dropping a kiss on his lips and sitting up. Erza eased her shorts and panties off and he lifted his hips so his pants could join her clothes on the floor.

She was glorious and her weight over him was intensely satisfying. When she sank down on his cock his lungs emptied and he thought maybe he'd never breathe again. His fingers left indents in her hips and thighs. Her breasts filled his entire palm and more. He touched every swell of flesh but it wasn't enough. Fighting off the impulse to help her along was impossible. Erza's climax was warm and wet and his heart raced thunderously as he followed her over the edge.

Her sigh was sinfully rich. Erza slid off him and fell into the sheets and pillows on her stomach. Without any shame whatsoever Jellal's fingertips moved from her ankle to the more pronounced crease of skin at the juncture of thigh and rear. He finally settled beside her and pulled her body against him. Erza rolled over and left a kiss over his heart.

"I suppose I don't have to lose any weight right away. If you start calling me chubby bunny, though I'll make you sleep downstairs on the couch."

Jellal laughed. He wouldn't dream of pissing her off before she got tired of the extra pounds – and he hoped she never would.