Fairytale | Jerza | AU

20. Open Secret.

One week later

Jellal's POV:

     I was sitting in class, listening to the teacher when my phone vibrated. I ignored it and continued to pay attention to the teacher. But the phone kept on vibrating after every few moments so I pulled it out and discreetly saw what the heck was going on.

5 New messages from Gray.

     I turned the vibration off in the settings and kept it below my desk. The teacher was teaching, oblivious to what I did. I paid attention to her drawling voice, taking notes in my notebook.

     When the bell rang and class ended, I took my belongings and went out of the classroom. Heading towards my Literature class, I pulled out my phone and saw the messages.

Erza Scarlet.
Contact No.: XXXXXXXXXX
Family: She lives alone.
Address: 21, Vermillion Street, Magnolia.

     I was shocked. 'How does he get this information? He must be doing something crazy... Is he stalking her? Or is he making someone else stalk her?!' I felt anger at the last thought. I messaged him-

Gray, I know you said you have your 'sources', but I don't know... Are you stalking her? Is someone else stalking her for you?

Please tell me the truth, Gray. If you're doing something wrong, indecent, for me, I would rather not know anything about her at all.

     I entered my class, putting my phone in my pocket. I took a seat, worrying about what Gray was doing.

Lunch

Jellal's POV:

     I took a seat at our usual table. The others were already seated, talking and bickering. I sat in silence, glaring at Gray. He seemed to not notice my glare, arguing with Natsu.

     I quietly ate my lunch, listening to the others speaking about their day. I heard slight rustling and looked outside the window. It was raining. Hard. "Ah. It's Tsuyu (rainy season) already..." I said subconsciously. The boys stopped talking and looked at me, and then outside.

     "Whaaat??! It's raining! Oh, no... I don't have my umbrella!" Natsu wailed. Gray groaned. Laxus and Gajeel were indifferent. That must be because Laxus must have brought his umbrella and Gajeel... just doesn't care. I sighed. I didn't have my umbrella either.

     It was not long before the smell of wet soil hit us. Gray looked at me, a knowing smile on his face. I knew what he was thinking though, and I ignored him. Now that I finally had his attention, I said, "Hey, Gray... Do you mind telling me about your sources?" He scowled.

     "Why are you so interested, Jellal?" He cross questioned me. I ignored that question and pressed him, "Answer me, Gray." He stayed silent. I continued, "You... Seriously Gray, I think you're lying to me when you say that you're not doing anything wrong."

     Gray sighed. "There's this thing called technology in today's world. And with the right contacts, you can have all and any information you want." He smirked.

     I sighed, giving up. The table was silent for a while and I realised that the other boys were listening to us all this time. Before anyone could ask us anything the bell rang and I got out of there as quickly as I could.

After School

Jellal's POV:

     It had stopped raining by the time school ended. The ground was muddy though and everything was wet. I tried to go home without bumping into any of the guys, but a hand caught me by the shoulder and stopped me at the entrance.

     "You weren't trying to walk home alone, were you?" Gray's voice came from behind me.

     "No. I was not." I replied, a hint of disappointment in my voice. Gray pulled me into the group and we walked home together. After a while, Gray pulled me to the side and asked me, "Hey... Have you made any move? After all the information I gave you...?"

     "No, Gray. I might never make one. Don't bother me with this... bullcrap. Please." I whispered. Gray looked frustrated, "Then why the hell did I give you all the details?!" He whispered loudly. I shrugged. "You had offered. I let you."

     He looked absolutely livid. He then yelled at me, "Don't ever ask me for help if you don't need it, Jellal. I don't care about your love life anymore! You can go live single for your whole life and die alone - a grumpy old man!"

     He pulled away from me stormed back towards the group, a group which had its complete attention to us. Natsu, Gajeel and Laxus looked at us, eyes wide like dinner plates.

     Before I could realize what had happened, Natsu pounced on me. "What?! Jellal? You never told us you were in love~" He said, a creepy smile on his face.

     'Well... Shit.' I cringed inwardly. I tried to speak, "About that... Uh.. It was..." But I couldn't think of anything, not even an excuse. 'Come on brain! Work! That Gray had to go and yell it for the whole city to know... Goodness... This is such a pain...'

     Gajeel shook me and pulled me out of my trance. He looked me in the eye and said, "We asked you, 'Who is she?'. Tell us." All of them, except for Gray, were looking at me expectantly.

     I sighed and gave in. Hesitantly, I said, "It's.. It's the red haired girl. Erza." I let out a breath. The guys looked confused. Gray chose to speak at that moment, "It's the transfer student. The smart, studious girl from class B.

     Realisation dawned on their faces as they recollected who she was. "Oh..." Laxus was the first one who made a sound. "Mirajane's new victim, right? The red haired girl..."

     "Yes. That's the one." Gray answered. Gajeel shook his head and said, "That's all nice and everything, but I can't believe it... Jellal is in love." I shrugged, "Good. Don't believe something just because Gray says so."

     I gave Gray the stinkeye and he glared back at me. I stuck my tongue at him and he laughed. We all started laughing in the middle of the street.

     Gray recovered and said, "Jokes apart, this is serious. Jellal is in love!" The guys cheered at his declaration and I could feel the blush forming on my face.

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(A/n): Thank you everyone for reading this book! I love you all so much! ♥ I said last chapter would be the last one for a long time... But I had already started writing this one then and thought that I should complete it. So, here we are.

Next Update: 2nd March, 2020.