Thank you guys soo much for the reviews! Is's so lovely of you to let me know what you think! ^^

Somnolent Sushi Roll: Thank you so much for your review and for answering my question (I always smile so widely when your pen name pops up in my mails)! I'll cut the 'Sama' then, it feels more English anyway. Also thanks for letting me know about that typo! I always find some but often, I find them when rereading after the chapter's uploaded... ':D
And yes, food is always a struggle but I love coming up with yummy things. And Erza loves yummy things xD

Don't hesitate to let me know about mistakes or typos; remember English is not my native language.

Jellal had not told Erza about the outcome of the meeting with Crime Sorcière. He was not sure, however, whether Meredy had, as he had most unusually awoken after both women. The discussion, his worries and not to forget walls and floor in the hall had simply worn him out.

At least the entrance now looked rather lovely, he proudly admitted.

Meredy had pretended as if nothing had happened – just like she always did after having been caught with having had a nightmare. She had set off to Fairy Tail to see Juvia, leaving the sleepy couple to themselves.

It was already past lunch and Jellal still felt as if it was not yet time to get up. At least that was what his body convinced him to think. Simply standing in the shower was already too tiring.

"Fascinated?" Erza's placid voice interrupted his thoughts. He stopped his actions, hand now hovering above that prominent hip bone of hers, protruding even more strikingly when she laid flat on her back.

She went on with caressing his scalp, seemingly enjoying not only his head on her slightly inflated stomach but the mellow lines he traced along the hot skin of her salient pelvis.

"They're so…" he frowned, only now aware of his doing, "sharp; they stick out like…"

"Bones?" Erza supplied. She yelped at his poke into her side, laughing at the unintelligible nagging he grumbled into her belly. Then she sighed, obviously adoring his cuddle. Carefully – and not without contemplating for another ten times or so – Jellal lifted his hand back up. The tip of his index finger found the solid mound again, drawing along it, enticing another sigh of relaxation.

He did not dare to meet her eyes, feeling them on him, but they shone proudly down nonetheless.

They stayed like that for a long while. Erza dozed off at some point, he noticed, turning his head to watch her peaceful face. She smiled at him when awaking, again not showing anything but encouragement to whatever he deemed rude or improper on his part. And it was starting to work, he noted when finding himself to be smiling back of his own accord.

"Jellal?"

"Hm?" He hummed, surprised at her giggle. He tilted his head in puzzlement.

"Do that again," she asked, another giggle escaping her lips when his face vibrated against her stomach with a second hum. He grinned, unable to keep his heart from skipping a beat. She was too cute. "Can we go out for lunch?" She requested, having to brush over the subtle skin on her abdomen to reduce the tickling.

"I prepared octopus for today," Jellal explained and she gave a vague groan of disappointment.

"When?"

"The day before yesterday – it'll perish if we don't eat it today,"

"That's not too bad…"

"Erza,"

"I am traumatised by that octopus from the restaurant,"

"All the more reason to prove you wrong," he argued and she grumbled again, unhappy with him being right. "Just for now," he bargained, "and tonight we can go out," he offered and a reluctant smile crept across her pout. "I practised how to make it," he could not help but mention. Feeling stupid for doing so immediately.

"When?" She asked again.

"Also the day before yesterday," he said, "when you went to bed early," he added at her confused expression. She glanced away, her lower lip pushing out.

"But, Jellal,"

"Yes,"

"… can we go out for lunch…?"

"How about this one?" Erza's voice came and she swung open the curtain of the changing room. Twirling as she took a step out, she showed off the sixth dress that day and he was still nothing short of blown away. His eyes sparkled at her anew with every change of attire and she basked in his adoration.

"Absolutely enchanting," Jellal complimented, making her blush spread once again. His own faithfully stayed with him, whether she was behind or in front of the curtain.

"How do you keep on coming up with new words every time?" Erza put her hands on her hips, amusement in her tone.

"By looking at you," Jellal flirted, finding it not only embarrassing to do in public but at the same time somewhat exciting. She smiled lovingly, the tint on her cheeks deepening. There was no one around to listen to them, but he felt nervous anyway. Erza in a white dress was not contributing to making their shopping trip any more of a casual experience.

The corner of her lip tugged up. She was teasing him, he knew, but he could also see that she knew exactly that she was successfully reaping what she sowed – at least landing another plain hint for him to nonchalantly get knocked off his feet by.

She turned around, triumphant about the accomplished deed, taking her time to admire herself in the mirror. Jellal bit his lip, watching for a moment, then got up. He was not entirely sure whether the idea his slowly crazy-going mind had come up with was a good one but his body simply went with it without asking any of his anxieties for consent.

"You look gorgeous," he said as he closed in. Erza chuckled, inhaling deeply as she relished his strong arms around her ribs. She stroked over them to put her hands above his, demanding inlet between his fingers with her own.

"Well, white does suit me," she mercilessly went on with slapping him black and blue with hints, but he had been prepared for it. She opened her mouth, lids already lowered when he silenced her by placing a kiss above her ear, lowering his voice.

"I know," Jellal murmured, answering whatever obvious clue she would have used next, "I can't wait to see you in another white dress…" he said. Erza's face flushed to match the colour of her hair at his boldness. He could feel her freeze shortly, her breathing stopping for a moment. Smirking to himself, Jellal felt laughter build up in his throat when a voice made him jump.

"Do you require any assistance, Miss Scarlet?" An assistant asked. Her voice cracked at the end of her question and her steps retreated awkwardly even before either of the couple had the time to turn around. "S-sorry…" the assistant stuttered, backing away behind the corner she had come from.

With his face now the same colour as Erza's, Jellal pulled away, stepping back to where he had sat before, keeping his eyes on his boots. It was her turn to hold back laughter.

"Busted,"

"Don't address it…" he muttered grumpily and she giggled.

"Think you have enough adjectives to last another, let's say, five?" She asked with a smile. She could be such a girly person sometimes, surprising him. Jellal glanced at his hand, tapping each outstretched finger to count. She raised a brow, the playful smile never leaving.

She giggled again when he gave a pretendedly serious nod, then disappeared behind the curtain. Fabric rustled and a moment later, the previous dress came halfway over the bar where the drape was attached. While taking it and putting it back on its hanger, Jellal wondered how she had managed to cramp all of those previous outfits into the small cabin and still be able to change into them.

"Uhm, Jellal?" Erza called, sounding as uncomfortable as he would have imagined her to be with everything stuffed around her. It should be fine by now, though.

"Yes," he answered, remaining next to the curtain.

"Could you fetch back the assistant?" Erza poked her head out the side. "And ask her for a restroom?" She asked, trying to hide the uneasy frown behind a sheepish smile. Furrowing his brows, he hung up the dress in his arms.

"We can go home, too," he suggested. He doubted a clothes shop to be equipped with customer restrooms.

"It's kind of more urgent than that – I think we found my allergy," Erza said. He only now noticed how pale she had gotten.

After hurrying to find the assistant, Jellal waited for Erza to return from the staff bathroom where she had to throw her lunch back up. The shop employee looked confused, though a lot less concerned than he did. She brought two glasses of water while Jellal had to listen to his beloved's gaging, making his stomach twist in pity.

"Sir?" The assistant got his attention, holding out one glass. He gratefully took it, glad for any and all distractions. He really had to decide between testing different foods and not torturing both him and her with the experiments. "Is your wife pregnant?" The girl asked. Jellal's sip ran down his glass, dripping down his chin and onto the floor.

He choked on what little had ended up in his mouth. The assistant stared with shock, not knowing how to help while he coughed his lungs out. His heart was in his throat by now, hammering wildly.

"P-pregnant?" He asked, too bewildered to care about discussing this with a random stranger.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I could be wrong, I didn't mean to upset you," she said in a rush, waving her hands defensively. Jellal was still feeling as if he suffocated, tears having sprung to his eyes, when Erza finally appeared from behind the door. She looked irritated and tired, but the redness of his eyes made her frown with worry.

"What's the matter?" She asked, not noticing the shop assistant to be shuffling away as quickly as possible. Jellal swallowed, only having to cough again. Erza took the wet glass from his hand, placing it down. "Jellal?"

"Erza…" he croaked, averting his head as not to cough into her face – not turning it back to meet her eyes, however, trying to conceal his glowing blush. She put the back of her hand to his forehead, feeling how he radiated with heat. "Are you… did…" he stammered, finding the rushing blood in his ears to be drowning out even his own voice.

Erza waited patiently, her face still pale and her stomach giving irritated growls but she directed every ounce of attentiveness at him.

"Have you… uhm," Jellal started again, "have you taken your… uh, the…" he struggled, not even daring to let that previous P-Word touch the back of his tongue, "your medicine…"

"Medicine?" Erza frowned. She knelt in front of him, trying in vain to catch his eyes.

"Your… pills…" he said under his breath and she had to lean closer to understand.

"Oh," she tilted her head to the side, "of course, every day," she informed, astounded by the deflation of his chest. Hot relief washed over his back and Jellal felt as if he had to be mobbed off the floor.

"Don't worry," she gave a reassuring smile though her eyes shone with a different emotion.

"Sorry…" he said, keeping his head lowered until they had headed out of the shop.

He only dared to mutter some nearly incomprehensible explanation to her on the way back home and Erza merely smiled to herself. At first, he had only seen the shyness, then the slight sorrow alongside it.

She assured him several times to have been taking her pills every day and he believed her, no matter how panicked his heart began to race at the sheer thought of the possibility. Guilt began to rival his stress when thinking about her expression.

He should have reacted differently, he thought while sorting laundry. He had never seriously considered to have children, knowing that he was far from feeling worthy, but he should have taken into account that she must have pondered on it. And… with him?

She was pouring them tea when he came back to the kitchen, portable communication lacrima in hand.

"Erza,"

"Jellal," she returned. He blinked.

"Yes?"

"Yes what?"

"You said my name,"

"I like saying your name," she smiled.

"Ah," he nodded.

"What was it?" Erza set down their cups. He frowned again.

"What was what?"

"What you wanted to say," she reminded.

"Oh," Jellal's brow furrowed further, "ehm… I forgot," he grinned and she giggled, "oh," he found the lacrima in his hand, "right. Meredy says that Juvia says that Lisanna says that Mirajane has too much work," he recited, taking a breath. It was her turn to be confused and she took another moment to sort everything out. "So she wanted to ask whether you can help her with the paper work et cetera," he elaborated.

Erza grunted once with laughter.

"I don't think I have ever heard anyone actually speak 'et cetera'," she chuckled.

"… is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?" Jellal asked when the lacrima went on with vibrating lightly. Erza made a thoughtful face and he could see she was torn between wanting to help but not wanting to do the boring task. Or perhaps accidentally vomit at the guild. "If you don't feel well, I can do it for you," he offered and her eyes lit up instantly.

"That's a great idea!" She praised. "We can do it together," she clapped her hands, then requipped into her daily armour. Jellal blinked twice, not sure whether he followed. And whether he wanted to follow as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the hall.

"I meant-"

"Let's go," Erza interrupted, shoving him in front of his boots, thrusting his coat at him.

"Where?" He asked, cautiously putting everything on.

"To the guild, silly,"

Highly uncomfortable, Jellal had been entrusted with a stack of paper work. Erza had set hers down at a table when being addressed by someone. The single question had turned into lengthy discussions and catching up from all sides, so Jellal had used his chance to steal away and complete his task on the hardly crowded second floor.

Laxus, one of the only people up there, had given him a look but kept to himself. His eyes burnt into Jellal's side for most of the time while he quietly scribbled in his corner. He was grateful for the lack of sneery comments he had anticipated.

Erza found him when he was almost finished, and they shared her load of work. He was not sure whether he felt more comfortable with her company or whether it was even more stressful with the rising attention she got them. Dozens of eyes peeked in from the stairs, more and more members of the guild pretending to commonly eat and drink upstairs.

Completely unbothered, Erza finished her lists ahead of his letters, her loving gaze joining the countless stares that drilled into him. He was glad for his face to keep its usual colour, though the same could not be said for his level of sweating. So the first thing he did upon finally returning home was take a shower.

Erza entered the bathroom when he was just about to exit it.

"I can't wait until Mira sees the letters," she announced, passing him, making her way through the zig-zag of laundry lines. He could hear her rummage through the mirror cupboard, turning right to find fresh clothes for himself in the bedroom. "Everyone was so impressed with the last one, I can only imagine what will happen with so many of your letters," her voice echoed from the tiles.

Jellal remained quiet while she kept on ranting how everyone had asked her about them. It gave him a stench of nausea to know how they had talked about him – people whose opinion was very important to her.

"… how she had never even heard of the Council apologising to anyone." Erza returned with an elastic between her teeth, gathering her hair and tying it up. "She said she'll tell us what they say as soon as the reply arrives. Oh, and Romeo asked me, so I said you'd help him train sometime – Macao seemed jealous but he said he-"

"Wait, what?" Jellal looked up from having focused on closing his belt. He blinked at her, panic reflooding his body. She had what?

"Macao is his father,"

"No, what did you say? You promised what?" He was starting to feel his heart throb. How could she just sell him off to someone without asking him first? Being dragged to the guild was one thing but he had tried to wind his way out of the fire magic lesson as politely as possible on purpose. He could not teach – the last time he had shared his fire magic, he had literally attacked Natsu with it.

"Remember when Romeo asked to-"

"Of course I remember, but I don't remember agreeing to it," Jellal interrupted. He exhaled sharply to calm himself but the quiver of his legs told him otherwise.

"I know, but when he asked me today, I did," Erza easily said. She tilted her head at his gritted teeth. "Jellal-"

"Maybe I didn't want to do that,"

"It's just a small lesson – you master it, there's nothing to be embarrassed about,"

"It's not that,"

"Then what is it?" Erza suppressed a sigh. "You like doing people favours, it's very rewarding – you get to overcome that insecurity; it'll do you good,"

"Why does everything that's 'good' for me always involve me having to change?" Jellal snapped and she stiffened at his tone. "Why do I always have to change everything I do-"

"Not change you, just-" Erza huffed when he passed her, "you would feel so much better if-"

"I don't see how I'd feel any better by going out there and-" he raised his voice but she cut him off.

"You would if you just tried to learn to-" she exclaimed, staring at him wildly when he spun to meet her eyes with his own blazing ones.

"To what?" Jellal almost panted, his stomach contracting while his fists balled up. "Get along with your friends? It's always just your friends that matter to my changing – why can't I choose who I want to be friends with?!" He hollered. Erza flinched and so did he. With wide eyes, he saw what his harsh words did to her, guilt rushing him like a tidal wave and he nearly chocked when on being drowned so suddenly.

Clenching his jaw, Jellal turned away, lowering his head.

"I'm sorry," he quietly said.

"No…" Erza breathed with a thin voice. It rung with hurt, giving his heart a brutal sting. She reached out a hand but he already grabbed his coat, ramming his feet into his boots.

"I need some fresh air," Jellal all but growled in self-loathing and only slowly subsiding fury, the door slamming harder than intended.