A/N: dear god, I'm sorry for that extremely long and annoying hiatus. I'm still super embarrassed by that lemon, but thanks to Maia Pandra, I was able Yo get my head out of my ass- mostly. So Maia Pandra, thank you, for if it weren't for you, I'd still be off in my cave of embarassment.

What is a friend? The dictionary term for it is person attached to attached other by feelings of affection or personal regard. But it so much deeper than that.

A friend is someone who is there for you, in your best times and your worst. They laugh, they cry, and they smile with you. They're there to watch your back, and look out for you.

Friends protect eachother.

Erza's POV

I slowly opened my eyes. It must have been, oh, maybe 7 in the morning. Sunlight was streaming in through my window, landing on a certain someone's face.

His eyelashes fluttered in his sleep, his dark hair splayed across the pillow. His face was smooth and relaxed, the red tattoo bringing out his angular cheekbones.

I rested my hand on his exposed chest, running my fingers up and down his smooth torso, feeling the ridged muscles under my fingertips. His body twitched, responding to my touch.

Why was he so hot?

I immediately blushed upon that thought. And yet, I couldn't deny it. Jellal was extremely sexy.

He rolled, his arm reaching out and wrapping themselves around my torso, pulling me solidly against his chest. I sucked in a breath. His dark green eyes opened up and latched onto mine. Warmth shone through. He smiled.

"Morning." He whispered quitely.

I laid my head on his warm chest, relishing the feel of his skin against mine. "Morning," I mumbled.

He pressed a chaste kiss against my forehead. "Let's not go to class today," he whispered.

I rolled over, reaching for my phone, which laying the desk next to thebed. Jellal's fingers stayed on my hips, tracing patterns on my skin. I shivered at the pleasant feeling.

I turned on my phone. Wednesday.

I shot up to a sitting position, holding the blankets around my chest. Jellal sat up, a concerned look on his face. "What is it?"

"Today is the game with Sabertooth." I whispered. I looked at him. "We have to go to class today, otherwise we won't be allowed to see it." Stupid school rules.

Jellal slipped the phone out of my hand and threw it back onto the dresser. He lay back down, holding my hand. "We have a few minutes," he whispered suggestively.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at him. "Since when did you get so cocky?" I murmured, surprised at the change in him

His hands reached out and pulled me to him, until I was laying on his chest. I blushed, my face inches from his own. His hands ran up and down my bare back, sliding down to my thighs, and then cupping my butt possessively. I groaned.

He pulled my head down and pressed his lips against his ear. "I'm not cocky. I just need you right now." He whispered.

I kissed him, running my hands up and down his chest. Our hips rocked against eachother, and things would've proceeded the way they had last night if it weren't for the conveniently timed knock on my door.

I pulled away from Jellal and sighed. His hand came up and traced my cheek. "Maybe they'll go away." He whispered.

The knock came again, followed by a, "Erza Scarlet, we need to talk."

I looked over at the door, my eyes narrowed. "So the coward has finally decided to show herself." I muttered.

"Who?"

I got up from straddling Jellal, and wrapped my blanket around my naked form. I looked at Jellal. His eyes were confused, a small frown was written on his handsome face. He was sitting up, exposing his delicious chest, and his narrow hips. I gulped, eyeing the faint Adonis lines on his hips that disappeared underneath the blanket.

His eyes landed on me again. "Who is it?" He asked again.

I pointed to the closet. "Evergreen."

He sighed. "Right," he murmured. He reached down and grabbed his jeans, which were lying in a messy heap next to the bed. I turned to give him privacy.

The sound of my closet door opening and closing alerted me. I heard Jellal faintly say, "Your closet is a mess." Then everything was quiet.

I grabbed my robe and wrapped it around myself. Once I deemed myself to be decent, i reached out and opened the door.

I was met with a surprise.

Ever and Gray stood in front of me; Ever with an ashamed look on her face, and Gray with an annoyed, and enraged look. He gestured to Ever with a free hand, his other firmly gripping Ever's shoulder.

"Look who I fould. Conveniently, she has something she'd like to say to you. Isn't that right, Evergreen?" Gray said, raising an eyebrow at the guilty woman.

I narrowed my eyes, crossed my arms, and leaned against my doorframe. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Ever expectantly. She refused to look into my eyes.

"Look at her," Gray said threateningly. Ever flinched and looked at me. "Now tell her," he continued. "We're not leaving until you say it. We can stay here all day if you want."

"Erza, I-I'm extremely sorry for taking that photo of you." Ever whispered.

Gray nudged her. "And…?"

"And I promise not to do it again! I took down the picture and I sent out an apology text to everyone I sent it to! Forgive me!" She cried.

I sighed. "Gray, let the poor girl go." I murmured. He huffed in annoyance, but reluctantly let go of her shoulder.

"Evergreen," I said sternly. She looked at me catiously. I sighed.

"I had hoped that you would set aside this petty obsession, and that we could be friends. I don't care about being the most popular, or the most athletic. That is the last thing anyone should care about. School is a place to learn and make friends. Now, I accept your apology, but let me tell you right now," I hissed, looking at her. "You do something like this ever again, and I promise you, what you did will look like child's play compared with what I will do. I will make you regret having been born. Do not cross me again. Now go!"

She squeaked and took off, running for her life down the hall. As soon as she disappeared around the corner, I immediately sagged against the door frame.

Gray reached out and steadied me, a concerned look in his eyes. "Hey," he whispered. "You ok?

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, you didn't have to do that."

Gray chuckled. "Why not? You're my friend, Erza. And friends have each other's backs."

I blinked. Then, without even thinking, I leaned forward and pecked Gray lightly on the lips. "Thank you," I whispered.

His arms wrapped around me and pulled me close. "No problem," he whispered back. I buried my face In his shoulder.

"You coming to the game today?" Gray asked.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you could be making out-"

"Not another word, Gray Fullbuster."

He chuckled and pulled away from me. I grinned at him. He smiled, and reached out, brushing the hair out of my face.

"Bring Jellal with you." He murmured. I nodded. "Will you bring Juvia?" I asked.

He tensed, his face turning bright red. "H-how did you know?" He gasped.

I giggled. "Gray," I said, raising an eyebrow. "Did you really expect me to not know? I wasn't born under a rock."

He scratched his head. "U-umm.." he murmured. "Oh, uhh, actually, Natsu just texted. I gotta run!"

"Gray," I said, just as he turned to take off. He froze and looked at me sheepishly.

"You're an idiot."

He winked. "But I'm you're idiot, ne, erza?"

Before I could answer, he took off down the corridor.

Gray's POV

"It's all or nothing," I hissed, slamming my fist down on the table. Natsu glared at me.

"You're kidding me!" He growled back. "We do that, and you could loose your scholarship to MU!"

I shook my head. "I don't care," I murmured. "No one hurts my friend and gets away with it."

Natsu sighed, looking at the piece of paper I had given him. "Gray," he said. "Don't you think this is going a bit overboard?"

I shook my head. "Like I said, if they want to play dirty, than so will we. Imagine if it was Lucy they attacked. Cana. Juvia. Levy. Any of them. Would you like that?"

I knew I had won this argument as soon as I said his girlfriend's name. He'd protect her with his life.

His eyes darkened, the pupils dialating. "Fine," he hissed, crumbling the paper in his hand. "Let's do this."

Jellal's POV

"Wow," I murmured, bringing my arm around Erza as Gray slammed the soccer ball into the opposing team's goal. We cheered, and Gray ran a victory lap around the field, giving Natsu a high five.

Erza nodded, holding up her phone and snapping a quick picture. "He's always been one of the best Fairy Tail soccer players. He was recruited last year for college."

She smiled, cheering as Natsu took the ball. The play began.

I looked sideways at her. Her long red hair flowed in the wind, her brown eyes were bright with excitement. She wore a back t-shirt and Jean shorts, exposing her long tan legs. I blushed, remembering the feel of her body against mine. Last night was almost unreal. Erza and I, together, by ourselves, wrapped up in each other. Her beautiful body under mine, her skin….

Shit, I thought, feeling that spike of energy rush through me. Don't think about it, do NOT think about it!

I can't get aroused at the freaking soccer game!

I turned my attention back to the game, trying to prevent my thoughts from entering pervertville. What a struggle.

I narrowed my eyes, recognizing the blonde spikes of Sting Eucliffe, who was currently trying to steal the ball from Natsu. I watched, with wide eyes, as he suddenly bashed Natsu in the face. The pinkette fell, cursing, and Sting stole the ball.

"Bastard!" Erza snarled, standing up next to me. She glared at the blonde. "Why the hell did the ref not call that a foul?"

Suddenly, Gray dived at Sting, cracking his elbow across the blonde's cheek. That's when the ref whistled, and the game was momentarily. Erza funed, her face turning a boiling red, as the ref held out a yellow card.

Erza narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing, Gray?"

I reached up and rubbed her back soothingly. "Erza, breathe." I murmured, noticing how worked up she was getting.

She looked at me. "I swear, I'm going to kill that bastard," she hissed.

Something told me she wasn't lying.

Erza's POV

I stormed down to the boy's Locker room. The teams were both taking a short break. I needed to find Gray.

Suddenly, I heard a noise around the corner. I heard shuffling, and whispering. So what did I do? Well, I definitely didn't walk away and mind my own business. I peeked around the corner.

The boy's Locker room door was wide open. I heard some shuffling, and then a cry pain. My body tensed. What the hell?

Suddenly, I saw someone run out of the room, and I gasped with shock. It was Gray, breath up, bleeding from a gash on the head. He was followed by three guys from Sabertooth: Sting, Orga, and Rogue.

They tackled Gray, and Sting straddled him, bending down to punch my best friend in the face. I snarled and began to launch myself forward.

Suddenly, a blue blur shot past, slamming into Sting and sending the blonde flying into his companions. I gaped.

It was Jellal.

My handsome boyfriend reached down and hauled Gray up. Gray coughed and spit out a globule of blood. "You ok?" Jellal asked. Gray nodded wearily. "What're you doing here, Fernandes?"

Jellal looked at the Sabertooth guys, who were struggling to untangle themselves from eachother. He looked at Gray.

"I'm here to help my friend."

I stepped out from the corner. "So," I said, and my two friends looked at me. I ignored them completely, and marched up to Sting. At this point, all my anger and resentment had reached their limit. I was pissed. No one hurts my friends. No one.

Without any hesitation, I slammed my boot into Sting's gut. He choked, his eyes widening. That very attack was enough to immobilize him. After all, not everyone can move after getting the wind knocked out of them.

"Mind me asking why you were beating up my best friend?" I hissed. I shoved my boot onto his chest, keeping his body pinned to the floor.

Suddenly, Orga launched himself at me, but before he could land a blow, a pink blur shot forward, slamming him into the locker. I grinned, nodding at Natsu, who was holding the big Blue haired man by the throat.

"N-Natsu?" Gray gasped out.

Natsu looked over at him, and gave his best friend a wide, toothy smile. "Yo, Gray, you look terrible."

"You son of a-" Rogue began, but Jellal came forward and kicked him, sending him flying. "You're in no position to talk," he murmured, pressing an knee down on Rogue's back.

I looked down at Sting.

"No one hurts my friends without some sort of retribution. You ready for this, Sting Eucliffe? Cuz I am." I snarled, bending down and grabbing his face. "It's payback time."

A/N: wow, I had a really hard time writing this. Sheesh, I'm sorry if this chapter was disappointing.