Forty - Erza Scarlet
Erza had been really happy for the past few weeks, though she felt a bit bad about it. She knew Jellal had to be struggling, but she liked having him around all the time. Now that everything was out in the open, there was nothing to try to keep secret. She was able to relax, for the most part. They weren't able to go out in public too often, as it was best to avoid the police, but with Jellal living at Fairy Tail, she saw him all the time.
He sometimes went off to do things with Crime Sorcière, and she hoped it was helping him. When he wasn't off with Ultear and Meredy, he was nearly always by Erza's side. They studied together. They ate together. They did almost everything together.
Sieg was never around and they never spoke of him after they heard what Gray and Natsu did, though they did receive the occasional text about him from unknown numbers. Erza sometimes wondered if Jellal was bottling up his frustrations about what happened, but she didn't want to bring down the happy mood he seemed to be in recently. Until one night, she passed by his room and saw him, through his slightly ajar door, sitting against his wall, looking downcast. She pushed his door open and he looked up at the creaking sound. He started to stand up, but Erza sat down beside him instead.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said. "I'm fine."
"After all this time, you still think you can lie to me?" she asked. He didn't say anything, but looked sheepish. "Talk to me, Jellal."
He sighed. "Do you think I'll ever be through being punished for my mistakes?" he asked.
Erza was a bit surprised by his question. "I would think you've been through enough already," she said. "You were expelled; several different people injured you, some even to the point of broken bones; you were in prison; you thought most of your friends died; your brother betrayed you; your father disowned you. I think that's more than enough." That didn't seem to make Jellal feel any better, so she went on. "Aside from all that, you've been helping people out a lot recently, with Ultear and Meredy." She looked down slightly. "You've been helping me," she said quietly.
He looked over at her in surprise. "How?" he asked.
She smiled slightly, not making eye contact with him. "I-" she started. "Well- It's just made me happy, to have you around."
"It has?"
She finally looked at him. "Yes, Jellal," she smiled, tapping her finger against the side of his head. "Somewhere in there you've got to realize that I like to spend time with you." Jellal's cheeks flushed and Erza had to look away to keep him from seeing that hers did the same. "Anyway," she said. "I think, at this point, you've more than made up for anything you've done. Now come have dinner."
She stood up and started out of the room, but felt his hand grab hers to stop her from leaving. She looked back at him in surprise, trying to ignore how warm his hand felt on hers. He stared at her for a very long moment, and she stared right back, waiting for him to speak. He took a step closer and she turned more fully towards him. She wondered what he was thinking.
"Erza," he finally said. "I like to spend time with you, too." She smiled at him and started to reply, but he kept speaking. "I know that everything between us hasn't been perfect," he continued, "but I hope we can manage to stay with each other now."
He took another step closer. They were inches apart and he was still holding her hand. She couldn't get the kiss they had shared out of her head. She wondered if he was going to kiss her again and was completely prepared to let him. But he simply pulled her into a hug.
"Of course, Jellal," she sighed, smiling into his shoulder as she returned the embrace. "You've seen how many things have happened that tried to keep us apart," she said. "But we keep getting through them."
He held her more tightly at her words. "I just won't let you go this time," he said quietly. "I'll make sure nothing else tries to keep us apart."
He pulled back slightly, to look at her. Their eyes met and they were so close, his lips an inch from hers. Her heart was beating so fast and it seemed to be taking him forever to decide whether or not to kiss her. But she waited, not wanting to push him if he still wasn't ready. Suddenly, the door burst open beside them.
"Oh, sorry," Natsu said as they jumped apart from one another. "Just letting you know dinner's ready. I'll tell Mira you're busy."
"Ah, wait!" Erza exclaimed.
"No, we- we're on our way!" Jellal said. Natsu ran off and Jellal and Erza looked at one another, now several feet apart. Erza didn't know what to say. She wanted to think of something that would put him back at ease. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean..."
"Jellal, it's okay," she said.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, dashing from the room.
Erza sighed and then headed out after him.