Twelve - Jellal Fernandes

Jellal wasn't sure where he was going, but he needed to get out of the house. It had been at least an hour since he left, and he was still walking around. He made a vow to never again open the door to a room without knocking first. He couldn't get the image of his brother and Erza out of his head. He knew he had no right to be upset, but he couldn't help it.

"I guess," he mumbled, "somewhere in my mind, I thought there was still a chance that I could be with her." It started to rain and he couldn't help but think that the weather was mocking him. "I'm such a screw-up," he said, not bothering to try to keep dry. "She must not have forgiven me for all those years ago. So, now she's chosen Sieg over me."

"Are you talking to yourself?" a voice asked from behind him.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder to see two girls standing behind him, under a large umbrella. It was the shorter, pink-haired one that had spoken. She smiled at him, seeming slightly concerned. The taller, darker-haired one looked amused as she held the umbrella up. Jellal sighed and turned around to face them.

"Hello, Meredy," he greeted. "Ultear. Haven't seen you two in awhile."

"Where is Siegrain?" Ultear asked.

Jellal scowled. "At home," he said. "With Erza."

A strange expression passed over Ultear's face, but Jellal couldn't place it.

"Are they fighting?" she asked. "Over him stealing her clothing?"

"They were," Jellal said. "But, evidently, they made up."

"You seem upset by that," Meredy pointed out.

He shrugged. "It's none of my business," he said sullenly.

"But you like her, right?" she pressed.

Jellal sighed. "Yes," he admitted. "But that doesn't matter. I screwed up my chance with her."

"That wasn't entirely your fault," Ultear said.

"I had my own part in it," he said. "So, I have to take responsibility for it."

"And, that means you can't be with Erza?" Meredy asked.

Jellal shrugged again as the raindrops increased in size and frequency. He was completely drenched, but he didn't care. The dreary clouds matched his mood. The weather threw in some lightning and thunder for good measure. Jellal still didn't want to go back home.

"Why don't you come with us?" Ultear said. "You can have dinner at my house. Meredy and Lyon are coming over. I'm sure my mother won't mind one more."

"What about Gray?" Jellal asked. "He sometimes hangs out with you and Lyon, right?" He might figure out that I'm pretending to be Myst if I meet him as Jellal. Ultear said something about him having dinner with his foster home as Jellal thought of something else. "Hey, how did you know I was Jellal?"

Ultear smirked. "Sieg told me about Myst at school today," she said. "So, I knew you weren't him."

"Maybe I'm Siegrain then," he suggested, trying, and failing, to look at all confident.

"Siegrain doesn't wear hoodies."

Jellal looked down at his jacket, which was unzipped and doing little to protect him from the rain.

"Right," he said. "I guess he doesn't."

"Come with us!" Meredy insisted, grabbing his arm and pulling him under the umbrella.

He supposed he didn't really have a choice. Besides, it was better than going back home. He wondered if Erza was still there and sincerely hoped that she wasn't. His father had left for his trip already and Jellal hated the idea of Siegrain and Erza being alone together in the house. He pushed the thought away; it wasn't improving his mood.

"I can't believe he told you about Myst," Jellal grumbled as they walked. "He just flat out told you?"

Ultear nodded. "He tells me a lot of things."

"But he didn't want anyone to find out," Jellal insisted. "So much so that he said I shouldn't talk to Erza since she would figure it out."

Ultear frowned. "I think he had other reasons for keeping you from talking to Erza," she said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Jellal sighed. "He did seem pretty upset when he found out she borrowed my clothes."

Ultear stopped walking and looked at him. "She was wearing your clothes?" she asked.

He nodded. "None of the girls had extras, so I gave her mine," he said. "It was a good thing I had extras. I don't even remember putting them into my bag."

"That's because Ultear put them there," Meredy said.

"What?" Jellal asked as Ultear put a hand over Meredy's mouth.

"Was he not supposed to know?" Meredy asked, her voice muffled.

"Why would you do that?" he asked.

"I knew Sieg was going to steal her clothes," Ultear said, letting her hand drop back to her side. "So I gave you some extra."

"You could have given her some extra clothes instead," Jellal pointed out.

"I'm rooting for you, Jellal," she said. "I want you to be with Erza. I was trying to help you out. Apparently, it didn't work well."

"She did hug me," he said. "That was a good result."

"Maybe it's working a little bit then," Meredy smiled. "We'll have to keep trying."

"Please don't," Jellal sighed. "I don't want to make Erza uncomfortable. And I don't want to force her to like me when she obviously likes Siegrain." He looked at Ultear. "Besides, shouldn't you be helping him out? You're more friends with him than with me."

Ultear shrugged. "I think Erza belongs with you, that's all," she said.

"Plus-" Meredy started, but Ultear clamped a hand over her mouth again.

"Not another word, Meredy," she said.

"Are you coming in or not?" a voice called from the doorway of the house. They all looked up to see Lyon Vastia waiting for them. "Ur says dinner's almost ready."

-.-.-

They all settled in for dinner and Jellal listened to them talk, not really having anything significant to add.

"So, you are Siegrain?" Ur asked him at one point.

"No, Mother," Ultear said. "This is his brother, Jellal."

"I thought his brother's name was Myst."

"We're triplets," Jellal muttered.

"Ah, so, you go to Era then?" Ur asked. "I'm the science teacher at Fairy Hills High."

Jellal almost told her that he knew that, but caught himself just in time. Instead, he simply nodded. It was fortunate that Myst didn't need a science class anymore, since it would be much easier to avoid Ur at school. He wondered if he should have pretended to be Myst constantly and just let Jellal disappear. It would have been easier that way.

But then he really would have to stay away from Erza. As much as it hurt to not be with her in a romantic sense, it would hurt even more to not be with her at all. He held back a sigh and kept a straight face all through dinner. Sorting through his emotions in front of other people wasn't the best of ideas. The rain was still pouring hard when it was time to leave.

"You could stay until it clears up," Ultear suggested.

"Thanks," he said. "But I should probably get home."

"Punch Sieg in the face for me," she smiled. "For stealing Erza's clothes."

"But, Ul-" Meredy tried to say something, but Ultear, once again, covered her mouth before she could.

Jellal decided that he didn't want to know; Ultear could be crazy sometimes. He trudged through the storm, his mood slightly improved by time with friends. At least Ultear and Meredy didn't hate him. They were the only ones, with the exception of his brothers, that knew that Sieg was the one who orchestrated the extortion of the student council. Jellal sighed and pulled his hood up, wondering if his life would ever improve.