Okay, what the heck, people... seven reviews for the last chapter, I can't quite believe it!

Thank you guys sooo much, you always make my day, over and over again and getting them while having to study was really mean ('cause I couldn't write) but so incredibly motivating! Thank you all so much!

So many guests, thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think!

Somnolent Sushi Roll, you're so very welcome, I love updating and even more when receiving such nice reviews! Also thanks for pointing out that Meredy's appearance it not too much but that you enjoy those parts of the story, too, thanks! And the comment ;D

Nina-Chan202, I hope you're taking Jellal as an example not only for your feelings but for self-healing ^^ You don't need a Titania, you have yourself! Life it tough but so are you! And thaaank you for your fangirling comments! They're wonderful!

Finally, welcome Riketsia (though I think the review was for the first chap, so it might be a while until you read this, but thank you for leaving me a review)!

Without further ago, I hope you enjoy some fluff and silliness!

Erza awoke with the sun. She froze for a second, eyes shooting open when she did not feel him to be there. She was flooding with panic about him being injured, not having come back – perhaps never coming back – from his mission, all brutally unfolding before her eyes had the chance to focus.

She deflated with a sigh of relief. He was right there.

Lying on his back, Jellal had crossed his arms behind his head, vision most likely already blurry from spacing out. She did not realise to be holding his shirt in her hands, wondering why he was not wearing one. Not complaining, of course.

"That's the habit," she said, grimacing at the cawing of her voice. He blinked repeatedly, then turned his head. She did not know why he was all the way over there – whole centimetres away from her; far too distant – but the acceptance of him needing space was unable to hold a candle to her urge to cuddle him. "Gray's habit is not wearing a shirt – or any clothes, for that matter," she explained as she drew herself close.

She could not help but throw a blanket over him – it was cold without one and he had already cooled down. How long had he been awake?

"What are you thinking?" She asked, frowning at the shirt in her hands she only now noticed. He smiled at that with amusement, leaning his head down to kiss the top of her head. Then his gaze wandered back up to the ceiling, the musing expression returning.

"Did something happen?" She tried but he shook his head. He hesitated.

"I just… still can't believe that… that was your mother," he admitted and she let her eyes soften with sympathy.

"Does it bother you?" Her tone mirrored her features.

"Doesn't it bother you?" He asked instead of answering.

"Hm…" she watched the rising and falling of his chest. It had bothered her. That someone so ruthless had claimed to be her mother, that her story had been such a disastrously tragic one and that she had just vanished on the same day, unwilling to fight to stay alive and cope with her situation. But Erza had come to terms with it. Because there was no question about who her family was.

"I just... had no idea," Jellal sighed through his nose, putting an arm around her shoulders, "I'm so sorry, Erza,"

"Don't be," she shook her head above his shoulder. She did feel better about it, especially after having told him the other day. "How about," she smiled, waiting until he finally returned her gaze, "we tell each other more things – stories like that, anything. We can take turns; one story each per night, or maybe two," she proposed, giving an encouraging nod.

"I like to watch you sleep. A lot." He said immediately, unblinking. She stared at him for another moment, then burst out in a hearty laughter. Having to hold her stomach, Erza tried to soothe him and apologise in between giggles, noticing his blush and the obvious curses he was inwardly shooting at himself, feeling stupid.

Lifting herself a little, she pecked the tip of his nose, lowering her forehead to rest against his.

"And I like to watch you whenever," she kissed his lips, unable to keep from smiling, "but that's not a secret." He offered a lopsided hint of a grin, still feeling awkward. "Then I should probably keep you captive for a longer time in the morning so you have something to look at," she remarked.

"It's not like you need to change anything for that," he commented and she pouted, hitting his arm playfully.

"Hey!" She nagged, glad to see his smile return. "But that reminds me," she sank back down, onto him, propping her head up on her arms across his chest. "I never sleep on trains, ever. Except when I'm with you," she confessed.

"I'm that fascinating, I see," he replied with a poorly hidden teasing glint in his eyes. It did not fade when the anticipated punch came.

"You are to me. And to Asuka," Erza smiled, "she's really taken with you,"

"I actually enjoy taking care of her," he confessed, smiling timidly, "but I would really like to be informed beforehand, because I'd be very sorry to turn them down if I already had another job," he told her and she nodded, making it a mental note.

"Do you feel obliged to do them favours?" She asked, even if he had just agreed to be taking pleasure in babysitting. Bullseye, she thought, judging from his uncomfortable expression.

"When did this turn into an interrogation?" Jellal curled his lips, indecisive, and she knew he was contemplating how not to lie and not tell her the truth at the same time. "And anyway, according to your own rules, it's your turn," he declared and she laughed, accepting.

"Fine," she tilted her head to the side on her arms. She did not remember them to have had a conversation quite like this one before but it made her endlessly happy. She contemplated whether to make that her statement, when another thought crept its way back into her mind instead.

"I often think about how grown up Meredy is now,"

"She doesn't really have a choice…" he said under his breath and she let her lids drop halfway, knowing it was somewhat of a sensitive topic to him. Not only because of what the pink-haired mage had once mentioned about him blaming himself and feeling responsible for her – and her sorrows – but because he was very protective of her. Sometimes overprotective, Erza could imagine.

"It's strange, though," she brought him back to reality after his eyes had grown distant at the mention of his guildmate. "We met her when she was only around… 13, perhaps, and now she's as old as we are,"

"Maybe older,"

"You think?" She glanced at him; his chin from below since his eyes were glued to the ceiling.

"She always thought she'd be your age or a little older," he said. She noticed the correction.

"Its's hard to grasp," she chuckled. He did not return it. And she knew why – why the issue bothered him. He had just given himself away.

Giving a questioning stare for a couple of moments longer, she waited for him to return it. He was feeling uneasy, his eyes betraying him.

"You're worried about our age gap, aren't you?" She spoke his thoughts, holding those caught, even more uncomfortable eyes with a steady gaze. Sighing through her nose, Erza kissed the skin nearest to her lips, sliding a hand to the back of his neck for reassurance, finding his.

"I…" Jellal gave a pressed breath of reluctance, "I don't know…" he was trying to be honest, though it seemed hard, if not impossible to even find the answer for himself, "I feared that you might…" he admitted. She smiled softly in return.

"You know that it goes both ways, right? I have to tell you these things, too," she leaned back in to place a loving kiss on his lips. "I suppose I thought you would have noticed by now that I don't give a damn as long as you're mine," she purred, seeing the surprise on his face.

She never swore. She would utter some 'curses' or call someone a 'fiend' – something he found exceedingly cute – but apart from that, she shunned all coarse language. She was serious now and she could see how it helped to ease his conscience.

Erza raised a brow and he nodded, getting her point. He swallowed. Then he laughed, surprising her.

She gave a puzzled frown, waiting until he calmed again, the vibrating of his chest stirring her.

"I really have to tell you now, don't I? About all of those silly thoughts I have," he let a hand drop across his eyes, hiding his embarrassment. His smile peeked through, however, and she could not keep her own from stretching across her lips.

"Any and all," she grinned, her expression brightening at his blush. "Go on," Jellal shook his head.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the 'all'," he said honestly and her amusement softened. She would be more patient, she told herself. "But there's one thing that I just can't figure out…"

"I'm all ears," she said, unable to hide her excitement. She rolled her lips inwards in anticipation, his slightly deepening blush and occasional chuckle making her want to drill him with questions. She loved his laughter.

"Why do…" he frowned beneath his hand, unsure about how to put the enigma into words. "How come all strong women have…" he bit his lip, daring to raise his fingers in order to give her a look. She returned it curiously, tilting her head, noticing how his eyes flashed up and down. She furrowed her brows, then snorted with a giggle when she understood.

"Is that a magic thing?" He asked and she took another moment before catching herself again.

"You mean if one can determine a fearsome mage by how curvaceous she is?"

"Well... yeah. Every strong female wizard I know has a similar body type," he argued.

"Levy doesn't," she supplied. She could hardly believe how something like that was occupying his mind and she could not help a tiny, assaying squish of her own bosom between her arms.

"Is she powerful?"

"Of course she is,"

"How powerful? In comparison to you," he went on, letting his shoulders drop in defeat when she lifted a cheeky brow at him. "Alright, bad example," he rolled his eyes with a smile and she chuckled.

"There is no comparing me,"

"Awfully sure of yourself, Miss Scarlet," he teased with the same flirty smirk she gave. She leaned down to meet his jugular with her lips, suckling lightly.

"Only because I know it turns you on,"

"Does it now?" He said and she noticed triumphantly how his voice thinned out. "Mmh, too visible," he breathed and she laughed, receiving complaints when she took the skin between her teeth. "Erza," he growled, putting his hands on her shoulders to push her off, though he wore a smile. She stopped of her own accord when suddenly noticing the dark stains on the sheet – she had not seen it in a while with all the blankets.

"Is that still from that one mission?" She asked, having realised it to be a dried puddle of his blood. "I didn't even change the sheets?" She slid off him, sitting up and he followed her example. He stood, uncovering the smothered area and she stared at it miserably.

"Oh, well, I forgot, too," he said and she knew it was as not to make her feel bad. She stood next to him, seeing that it was not too small, making her feel even worse for not having known. He had bled a lot with that gash on his arm and apparently, he had had to sleep on that for a while now.

"Do we even have spare sheets?"

"We bought them together, remember?" Jellal reminded, starting to throw all of the blankets and pillows off the bed. He plucked at the corner of the fitted sheet when she huffed, flopping down to sit on the mattress with her arms and legs crossed.

"I'm terrible at this," she sulked. She could hardly name a single thing she was useful for around the house. "I burnt the kitchen – first try – and I didn't even clean that up,"

"You did; you helped me paint," he tried to cheer her up, having to work around her.

"I tore out the carpet and still haven't bought a new one,"

"Only because I-"

"I perforated the wall and cut off the electricity. I destroyed the pipe in the bathtub," she enumerated while he picked her up and set her back down where he was done with putting the new sheet on, "I rammed nails through the wall, I ruined your laundry, I burnt a cake twice,"

"I burnt that, too," Jellal interfered, nearly done, "but that's not bad – look at what I learned from all of those things," he supplied and she gave him a look, something between pity and annoyance at herself shimmering through. She did not even realise how he was already placing everything back on the now clean bed.

"I'm grateful for it; you challenge me to learn," he stressed again and she sighed sharply. Then her expression softened. Finally, she noticed to be in the way as he made the bed, getting up and hugging him from behind, almost being more of a hindering than before. Jellal did his best for her not to be aware and shoo her.

"You're such a better housewife than I am," she muttered into his back.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he was still cheery and her heart swelled at how much he had actually learned, approving of himself and his achievements.

"Good. It was meant as one," she smiled, frowning when he flicked his wrists to spread out the blanket. It looked highly impractical and dumb to begin with, making her wonder why he would not toss it properly. "That's not very effective," she commented and he gave a sigh. Then he smirked.

She did not see it coming but his hands flew to her sides faster than she could react (without chopping off his limbs). Erza forgot her previous sorrows when she had to fight of tickles, the bed becoming a mess again as they wrestled.

"Did you know you have quite a lot of scars?" He asked in a soft voice, a hand beneath his head.

"Did I know?" She repeated, amusement sparkling in her eyes. He pushed his lips out into a pout.

"I mean, like…" he gave a sigh of defeat, "okay, that sounded a little stupid," he admitted.

"No, not stupid," she kissed the tip of his nose, "just a tad dense," she teased. Growling with wordless complaint, Jellal hid his face in her shoulder. She smiled, running a hand through his hair to press him closer and he gave the requested touch of his lips.

"There's one here, too," he said, trailing a lazy kiss along the top of her shoulder. "And here," his hand slid beneath her shirt, drawing gentle lines with two fingers across her spine, "and here," he went on, his movements so exact without being able to see, she wondered how he knew. It must have taken a lot of time and observance and she frowned her forehead, not remembering to have shown him that much skin unless after they…

"And I thought I do a pretty good job since you always fall asleep right after…" she pondered out loud. She felt him grin against her shoulder when she shivered under his loving touch.

"Good doesn't begin to describe it," he said and she smirked to herself. She loved how they were immediately on the same page and she did not have to elaborate – he just understood. "But you know that I don't sleep for long – I have to use those precious hours to watch your beautiful face," he smoothly said and she released him to meet confidently shining eyes, though underlined by a light blush.

"My face is up here, though," she smirked, then even wider at his momentary loss of words, "stalker," she declared, gasping when he smacked a pillow into her face. "Hey!" She complained, wanting to see the reddening face he was trying to hide. She slapped his arm repeatedly with the pillow, whirling up dust.

"You can't know the scars on my back from looking at my face, Mister,"

"I-" he opened his mouth, inhaling. Then again. She frowned, yelping when he had to sneeze. There was a thump. Erza blinked her eyes open. Wiping her face with the inside of her arm, she crawled forward to the side of the bed. She pressed her lips together in poorly suppressed laughter, watching him scowl at her from down on the floor.

"Are you alright there, dearest?" She almost chuckled, rolling her lips inwards, vibrating instead.

"Just peachy, thank you," he croaked back. She grinned, extending a hand and pulling him back up. She considered whether she should give him more space at night so that he would not fall off the bed. Then he would not have to cling to her as much, another thought piped up, prompting her to scratch the previous idea.

"I want to take a bath," she said, kneeling in the midst of their abundance of blankets.

"Thank you for informing me," he replied dryly and she bashed the pillow at him again. With every hit, his boyish grin grew wider. He grabbed it when it flew towards his head, pulling on it to steal her balance, then a kiss from her lips. "I'll draw it for you," he offered, his voice smooth again, lids lowered, nearly close enough to tickle her.

"And I want to switch places," she continued, following him into the bathroom, not leaving him a choice whether he wanted to join or not, "I haven't had the chance to stalk you yet,"

"You don't have to,"

"More like you don't want me to," she corrected with a sly look on her face.

"Why would you want to, anyway?" He did not turn and she adored that awkward blush across his cheeks.

"How could I not…?" Erza smiled sweetly, wrapping her arms around his torso, unknowingly blocking him once again while he tried to prepare the bath.

Some of you have been commenting on it in the reviews (and the beginning author's note was too long so I'll put this here): do you think I should take the story as far as Jerza kids? If so, ideas on names would be appreciated (boy names? I think I'd have one for a girl but fire away :D).

Hope you enjoyed!