Fairytale | Jerza | AU

30. Friendship.

Next Day

Erza's POV:

     I entered the school with Juvia as usual. We walked through the corridors, making our way to our classroom. As we walked, I saw a familiar tuft of blue hair.

     Our eyes made contact and I smiled. "Good morning, Jellal." I said to him. He smiled awkwardly and greeted me back. 'I guess he is just not used to it...' I shrugged and went towards our classroom.

     I noticed that a few students were staring curiously at Jellal, as though he was a ghost. I chuckled to myself, realising that I would have done the same thing two weeks ago.

Lunch

Jellal's POV:

     When I entered the cafeteria, the first thing I saw was Gray, talking to Erza. It looked like they were discussing something and Erza was agreeing to everything he said.

     'That dosen't look good... God knows what Gray has in his mind...' I strode over to them quickly and asked, "What's going on?" Gray answered, "Nothing. Just asking them to sit with us."

     "Are you stupid, Gray?" Erza said, "You guys are popular! What will the other students think if we sit together?" Gray pondered over the question for a moment and replied, "That we are friends?"

     "You wish..." Erza said, folding her hands over her chest. "Don't worry!" Gray said, patting her shoulder. I quietly murmured, "Since when did you start caring about what the students think..."

     "Well", Erza said, "I'll ask my friends. If they don't mind then I have no problem." Gray nodded and we waited for her to come back with her answer.

Erza's POV:

     I went to my friends who were sitting at our usual table. Levy and Wendy looked up at me as I approached them and Levy asked, "What did he say?" Lucy and Juvia too were now looking at me expectantly.

     I shrugged and replied, "They want us to sit with them... Since we are on better terms now..." Lucy asked, "And what did you say?" "That I'll ask you all and if you don't mind, then we'll sit with you." I answered.

     "Great! Juvia is very happy! Juvia dosen't mind at all!" Juvia said and giggled. Lucy said, "We don't mind. It would be great. Since Juvia likes Gray..." Levy cleared her throat and asked Lucy, "Is that the only reason, Lu-chan?"

     Lucy looked flustered and replied, "Y-yeah. Ofcourse. W-what other reason could I have?" Levy smirked and said, "A certain pink haired fairy maybe?" Wendy and Juvia giggled.

     Lucy positively blushed at that and replied, "No ways! I don't like him. How many times do I have to tell you, Levy!" Levy rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, right." She then turned to me and said, "Let's go, Erza. I'm sure they are waiting for your reply."

     "Yep. I'll tell Gray." I went to Gray and said, "We'll be happy to join you." Gray smiled and said, "Great! Natsu and Gajeel found the largest table over there somewhere..." He pointed towards a corner of the cafeteria and continued, "They'll be waiting for us there. Let's hope it'll be large enough for the... ten of us."

     I nodded and Gray lead us all to the table that Natsu and Gajeel had found. Laxus, Gajeel and Natsu were already there, waiting for us. Jellal and Gray took seats next to the other guys.

     We took seats too, Juvia making sure she sat next to Gray. We sat around the circular table, girls opposite to the guys. We could hear students craning their necks and looking at us, trying to see who were sitting along with the Fairies.

     It was a bit embarassing to be the subject of stares and surreptitious glances, but we somehow made through lunch. Even as we walked back to our classes, gazes and whispers followed us. Otherwise, it went quite normally as we started breaking the ice with the boys.

     At the end of the day, as we walked out of school, Wendy said, "It was very uncomfortable... To walk through the corridors with all those people staring. It was tiring..."

     Levy agreed with her, saying, "Yeah. It's new for us, but that's how the Fairies must be going through every single day, right?" We all nodded in agreement. Levy continued, "The Fairies, Twin Dragons... Never imagined it was hard for them too."

     "Um... If you guys have problems, maybe I should tell them that we won't be sitting with them?" I said. "Oh, no. Don't do that. It's fine, really." Lucy said to me. "Yeah." Juvia said and nodded vigorously.

     "I don't mind it that much either. We'll get used to it, I guess." Wendy said. I replied, "Okay then." We decided to see how things go. After all, I was the one trying to be friends with Jellal.

Three Weeks Later

Lunch

Erza's POV:

     Surprising though it was, I made my way throught the cafeteria along with Lucy and Juvia, towards the table that we shared with the Fairies. No more than a couple of students stared at us, not that it mattered much. Everybody was used to us sitting with the Fairies.

     Lucy, Juvia and even Levy had received a couple of hate letters from anonymous students for sitting with the Fairies over the past couple of weeks, but they had stopped with time too. After all that, how the Fairies and we were still together, I didn't know.

     I took my usual seat at the large circular table and put my bag on it. Wendy and Levy were already there, engrossed in conversation with Gajeel and Laxus. Gray and Natsu came along, squabbling, Jellal trailing a few paces behind them.

     Natsu took a seat and asked Lucy, "Hey. Any more letters this week?" Lucy shook her head and replied, "None. I guess they are fine with it now." He chuckled and said, "You might want to thank Gray for that. Last week, he stood up in the middle of the class and declared that we are just friends and nothing more."

     Our eyes widened with shock and we glanced at each other. I turned to Natsu and asked, "Why would he do that?" Gray, who had caught onto the conversation, replied, "That's because everyone was whispering around us. A lot. I couldn't take it anymore." I nodded.

     "Well, it's okay now. No need to fuss about it." Jellal said, joining the conversation. He was sitting next to me, and for a moment I studied his face. He looked a bit annoyed, but relaxed all the same.

     His eyes wandered over the table and then stopped at me. He asked me, "What are you looking at?" I shrugged and replied, "I still can't figure you out." He smiled and turned away from me, digging into his lunch.

     I left it there and looked over the table. Everyone was enjoying themselves. I smiled and let go of a little bit of guilt that I felt for dragging them into this. The letters and everything.

     We had become somewhat friends. 'It will take much more than just spending time together during lunch or greeting each other otherwise. But it will happen. I can see us mingling with each other... Jellal isn't half bad... But still, he is a prick.' I thought as I leaned in to join the joke that had Natsu clutching his stomach.

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Next Update: 1st June, 2020.