Hiya! Thank you so much for your reviews Nina-Chan202 and felly16 (and the guest from last time^^)! You guys motivate me loads!
All ready to board the train of awkwardness? Let's go...
Jellal panted. His lungs burnt, his heart raced, and his mind alongside it. He hurried across still dark streets, his steps splashing up water. The sun was just announcing its arrival, streaks of warm light touching the hilltops around Magnolia. She was heavier than he had expected.
He had not slept that night, not really. He had tried, talking himself into it. She had every right to be angry with him, to ignore him and leave him hanging. She could tease him like she had before in the kitchen, showing him just how much power she possessed over him and how helpless she could make him feel. He would have deserved it, he thought. She could have stayed away.
Then why had she not?
Jellal swallowed, trying to hydrate his by heavy breathing dried out mouth. He had wanted to apologise, ready to address the subject, no matter how embarrassing and horrible it would have made him feel. He owed her that much.
He had tried to wake her – with words, nudges, enchantments even. After giving up, she had not shown any sign of victory, nor acknowledged any of his attempts. She had not stolen the blanket. That was when he knew how serious this was.
He knocked at the door. He prayed for her to be home, as much as for no one else to see him with the unconscious Titania hanging from his arms. The rain did not let up, even with the sun beaming in from the east. He was soaked to his bones, only now realising how he did not have a second plan should she not be there.
He knocked again. Harder this time. There was a creaking sound from either the house he was standing in front of or the one next to it, making his pulse rise. Steps came down the stairs. He exhaled in relief, even though he had no guarantee that she could help.
"I'm coming…" the door unlocked from the inside as her annoyed, sleepy voice travelled through to him, "Natsu, why would you-" Lucy froze when she recognised him, "Jellal," she breathed, gasping upon sighting Erza.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I need your help." He said, his tone grimmer than he had planned. She moved to the side, waving him in. His coat and cape dripped onto the carpet of the stairs as he climbed them with heavy steps. Lucy looked as hectic as he had felt a minute ago, and it worried him how much it had tired him out already. If this was life in a guild of family-like friends – constant panic for the wellbeing of loved ones – then he could do well without.
"What happened?" Lucy asked. She hurried to cover her bed with a large towel, patting it for him to set Erza down. He did, his arms threatening to fall off.
"I don't know," he started, completely unaware of the Celestial Mage's rummaging in her closet, then disappearing in her bathroom and return in something other than pyjamas. He sank down on his knees next to the bed. Erza's face was peaceful, nothing to make one worry would it not have been the only thing she had shown for hours on end.
"She came back from a job yesterday and went to sleep before…" he swallowed the term 'home', "before I came back,"
"And she didn't seem different to you in any way?" Lucy tilted her head.
"Not really; she has a deep sleep…" he said, not looking away from the Requip Mage.
"That's true…" Lucy nodded. The rain pelted against the window, weakening with every minute. He could feel Lucy's stare from behind him, burning into him more than at the problem at hand. He knew he was already giving too much away for his own good, but this was to help Erza.
That, and he had seen Lucy in the luggage carriage the other day, which was why he trusted her to keep it to herself.
"Is she wounded?" Lucy asked. He nodded, pointing at Erza's forearms and wrist without touching them. They were wrapped in gauze.
"They were covered in dried blood but it didn't look like an infection. They're not deep – the wounds." He explained, watching her untie them. The blonde studied the cleaned-out holes, not getting any further than him.
"I have an idea," she stood suddenly, snatching a key from her belt, "Open," she widened her stance, magic flowing through her, taking in the room's gloomy aura with light, "Gate of the Southern Cross: Crux!" She struck down the key in front of her. Out of the rising fog, a large, cross-shaped entity appeared, sitting in the air with its skinny legs crossed. It greeted her respectfully.
"Crux," Lucy said, "we have a problem. Erza has come back from a mission and doesn't wake up," she explained. Jellal watched quietly, inwardly crossing his fingers for the Spirit to both find something and not spread the word. Not that Celestial Spirits roamed the earth, usually, but there was always a risk. Being injured was bad enough but being caught with the probably most sinful man after Zeref himself would crush Erza's reputation. Especially to those who did not know her well – or the two of them, like Fairy Tail did.
By now, Lucy was poking her guildmate, trickling and nudging her, without success. Jellal stiffened when she began to peel off Erza's boots. He felt as if he had to look elsewhere but his body did not quite obey.
"Did she go alone?" Lucy asked him, "Or did she eat anything unusual beforehand?" She was now unhooking Erza's skirt and Jellal turned himself away completely.
"She was with Meredy, but I don't know what she ate that day."
"Meredy?" Lucy tilted her head, going on before he could explain, making him sigh in relief under his breath. "Maybe she knows more… Erza has a communication lacrima in her room somewhere – could you go and get it? I'm sure Meredy can be reached. Oh, and bring any medications or food you find," the blonde instructed.
"I'm not allowed in Fairy Hills," he said, hardly convincingly.
"We'll make an exception – it's Erza. If anyone can make the rules, it's her." Lucy grinned and she did not have to say it twice when she started unbuttoning Erza's blouse – he was out faster than she could watch.
"Hmm…" Lucy frowned to herself. She had found tiny sting marks in the back of Erza's knees and on her calve. Crux had already listed down every venomous plant and insect in the entire forest, though nothing seemed to be strong enough to knock someone as strong as the Queen of the Fairies out. Not for this long.
"Yo, Lucy!" Natsu barged in through the window, followed by Happy who yelled his greetings.
"Natsu! I have a door!"
"What's with Erza?" He asked, crouching on the windowsill above the bed. Completely ignoring his hostess. She groaned, rolling her eyes.
"She doesn't wake up and I don't know why…" she explained. Angrily, she snapped the black marker out of his hand when he was already hovering with it above Erza's face, a mischievous grin on his face. "Natsu! Be serious!" She yelled. He stopped. Looking focused, staring at nothing at all as if the answers would burst out of him any second. His nostrils flared.
"Jellal," he growled.
"Jellal…" both held their breaths when Erza sighed the name. She did not open her eyes but they twitched alongside her hand. Natsu grinned again, reaching down. Lucy hissed at him but kept still when Erza moved again. "Jellal…" she breathed. He took her hand, mockingly puckering his lips. Suddenly, he cramped. "Natsu," her voice had darkened all of a sudden and she squished his hand so hard there was a cracking sound.
Natsu fell over, squirming, screaming. Lucy tore on him, freeing his now pulsing hand. She could not help but laugh how Erza still managed to keep him in check, no matter her condition. Fighting out of her grip, Natsu leaped up, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. "Jellal, that creepy bastard; I'll find him!" He shouted, jumping out the window – and to conclusions – before she could stop him.
"Natsu! Wait!" She leaned out, watching the puddles splash along the street, neither of the boys visible anymore. Lucy groaned, letting her head fall back. This would end in a disaster.
The rain stopped, the sun chasing the clouds away to reveal a bright blue sky.
"I've brought all I could find," Jellal spooked Lucy by appearing at her window. He was visibly relieved that she had already dressed Erza again, though his entire body spoke of tension and concern.
"What is it with men and not coming through the door…" she muttered to herself. She watched him kneel, then align a few flasks and bottles of what looked like medications on the side of the bed, alongside the communication lacrima and a jar of sweets. Erza showed no sigh on consciousness, not even with him there.
"I've already contacted Meredy – she said it could be a medication that turns harmless poison of thorns into something more dangerous," he said without looking at her. He had spotted the marks on Erza's legs that matched his findings. That, and, Lucy thought, he was not very socialised, finding it hard to look people in the eyes for a long time.
"Natsu just-"
"I used a binding spell," he sounded hardly affected, "It'll dissolve in a while," he said. The image of a screaming, fire breathing Natsu rooted itself into her head and she could not help but grimace, knowing he would be fire up even more after being freed.
Jellal did not seem to think about it at all. He was being hunted – again. Accused, most likely publicly, to have done something to Erza. He would have to fight until he would get a chance to explain himself and yet he was staring at the woman on her bed as if she was the world's sole centre.
Lucy's eyes softened. She refocused, though the thoughts would not leave her and memories of the past days flooded back, setting into place just like when she had seen them on the train that day.
She frowned at the small collection he had brought, studying the tablets one by one. She scanned each for the ingredient that Meredy had warned of.
"You know, Jellal, I've never seen her happier than during the last few weeks," Lucy could not help but say it, seeing him wince out of the corner of her eye. She smiled at him, trying to be reassuring. His eyes watched her shortly, without turning his head. "I'm sure we have you to thank for that." She went on, closing the lid of headache pills when finding it to still be sealed and unused.
"You saw us on the train…" he finally said, his voice careful and quiet, "why didn't you tell anyone?" He seemed relieved, if not genuinely confused. Lucy frowned to herself. It was clear to her but she guessed him not to be experienced in friendship at all. How did Erza put up with it?
"Why would I have?" She shrugged. "It's not my secret to keep and decide over."
"Thank you." He said, warmer than she had ever heard his voice ring. He had a pleasant voice once one got to hear it in its smooth splendour. She could see how it could make her usually stoic guildmate weak, how it would be able to lull with un-magicked enchantments. She doubted he used it that way; that he used any of his features to his advantage. He was too serious and inexperienced with himself around others. It was almost pitiful.
"I saw that little mark, too," Lucy smirked, deciding to cross a few lines. He blushed furiously, staring at his hands on his knees. They gripped the fabric of his trousers uncomfortably.
"That… was an accident," he confessed, much to her surprise. Lucy had to laugh.
"She didn't seem very upset about it," she said, remembering the blithe and almost merry skip in Erza's step as she had had her breakfast at the guild before disappearing for her mission.
"I don't know what exactly happened," he went on, as uncomfortable as he seemed desperate to get it out. He looked as if he wanted to slap himself for it.
"You mean it wasn't you?" Lucy exclaimed before she could stop herself. His fists tightened, now actually looking as if hurting himself.
"I…" he struggled so much, she felt sorry for him, trying to give a reassuring smile which he however avoided at all costs, "I don't know for sure; we never talked about it,"
"Why didn't you ask her?"
"I… suppose I was afraid that it was me…" he confessed. He almost looked as if he was about to fall into pieces, his face radiating with heat while his arms were tense and shaking lightly. Then again, he had sounded as if he had already known the answer to her question, as if it had plagued him for a while and he clearly did not know where to go with it. Lucy sighed.
"But why?" She tilted her head, trying to catch his eyes. "You know Erza – she'd always let you know when she's angry about something," I've had my fair share, she thought to herself, feeling a sweat drop at the back of her neck at the countless memories alone. "Maybe she wanted it-"
"That's the problem – I wouldn't know what to say to that," he nearly burst, his fists clenching and unclenching. Lucy stared at him. He was in such a distress, she wondered how he had not yet exploded. How he had made it this far with such an unhealthy way of having a relationship. Most of all, how he had left that mark without blowing up.
"Why not just do it again?" She kept from smirking, though it was audible in her tone. He blushed more fiercely, wagging his knees in discomfort. Almost like a child. "You really have to talk about these things," she put down the flask she had been examining, letting her voice soften. He winced heftily when she tapped his forehead in a lecturing way, earning his full attention. His eyes were wide, almost panicky, meeting hers.
"I'm sure she doesn't always know what to say either but no one expects you to. You need to be more open with what you want and fear; that's the only way to get help, no matter how embarrassing it feels at first."
He stared at her, stunned. Silenced. Lucy gave him a gentle smile. If only he knew just how crazy Erza was about him, too. How clumsy and inexperienced she was, and how she stepped over that to be with him, anyway.
Lucy opened her mouth to tell him, when something caught her eye. She held up the last box of pills when finding the mentioned ingredient that caused illness. Erza was not one to take painkillers and she would not have taken them beforehand. She had only been to her own apartment in the morning, not after being stung.
Confused, Lucy turned the box to read the name of it. She felt herself blush. Slowly, she looked up to meet Jellal's eyes, which widened at hers when noting her surprise.
"Uhm…" she stuttered, biting her lip, "you might want to discuss more with her than planned…" she said awkwardly. He blinked at her in puzzlement and concern and she handed him the medication, unsure whether she would want to be the one to tell him about the contraception pills.