Fairytale | Jerza | AU

41. Knight In Shining Armour.

Next Week

Jellal's POV:

     I woke up to the harsh sound of my alarm, but I felt so sleepy, I almost went back to sleep. I barely managed to get myself out of the bed before I could act on that very appealing thought.

     I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face to get rid of the sleep. When I wiped my face with a towel, I realized that my face was warm. A bit too warm.

     I took a thermometer and measured my temperature, simultaneously getting ready for school. I checked my temperature on the thermometer after a minute. 'Almost 100... That's fine.'

     After having breakfast, I popped a pill into my mouth and rushed to school. I didn't want to be late at any cost.

     After the first period, Mr. Gildarts asked me to collect the forms from the students and hand them in at Lunch. I watched him leave the classroom and sighed. 'I wonder if all the students even have their forms... God, I hope so...'

     I shook my head to focus on the task on hand. I went to collect the forms before the next teacher entered the classroom.

     I collected almost all forms by the time it was Lunch. The only ones remaining were those of absentees, and I couldn't do anything about that. I piled the sheets on my desk, racking them neatly them so that I could take them to the staffroom without any accidents.

     I was feeling unusually tired, but it was probably the fever I had in the morning. I ignored the feeling and picked up the pile.

     "I can help you." I heard Erza speak. I looked at her, but before I could say anything, she took half the pile from my hands and looked at me expectantly. I muttered a thanks and lead her out of the classroom, towards the staffroom.

     As we walked through the corridors, I suddenly started to feel cold. 'What the heck? It's summer... Ah, the fever...' I shook my head to ignore the feeling of weakness that was threatening to overcome me and continued walking.

Erza's POV:

     While we were walking to the staffroom, Jellal suddenly leaned onto me. I almost lost my balance, but managed to hold myself and Jellal. 'Is he fainting?!' I steadied the papers in my hand and took a look at him.

     He was breathing fast and his face was red. I took him to a window in the corridor and took the papers from his hand while he leaned on the wall.

     "Jellal? Jellal are you okay?" I asked him. I put a hand on his forehead as he shivered. 'He's burning!' I looked around in search of any familiar face.

     I spotted Levy at the end of the corridor and called her, "Levy! Over here!" I gave her the papers in my hand once she came and said, "Please give them to Mr. Gildarts. Jellal has a fever. I'm taking him to the Infirmary. Tell the others that we might be late."

     Levy nodded and walked away, towards the staffroom. I turned to Jellal. He looked like he was about to faint. "Jellal, come. Let's go to the Infirmary..." I took his hand and put it across my shoulders.

     We slowly made our way to the Infirmary with him leaning on me. After a while, I realised that it was just stupid. We hadn't walked much farther and the Infirmary was a floor below.

     "Jellal. Stop. I'm gonna carry you..." I said and slid my arm behind his back. In one fluid movement, I swept him off his feet and into my arms.

     I adjusted his weight in my arms, ignoring the looks that the students were giving me and rushed down the stairway, to the Infirmary.

     By the time I reached the Infirmary, I was out of breath and my arms were aching. Gasping, I kicked the door open and hurriedly placed Jellal on the nearest empty bed.

     The nurse looked at me, bewildered. "He's.. got ...high.. fever..." I said between breaths. The nurse attended to him while I rested on a chair beside his bed, catching my breath.

     I watched as the nurse gave him a couple of pills and told him to take rest. Jellal was wrapped in a couple of warm blankets and just nodded in reply to the nurse.

     Once the nurse left to attend some other matter, I brought a glass of water to Jellal so that he could take his pills. He accepted the water in silence and took the medicine.

     "Did you know you had fever?" I asked him. He placed the glass on a table and stared at me for a few seconds before nodding slightly. 'Is he stupid or is he stupid?!'

     "Then why did you come to school?!" I hissed, trying to keep my voice low so as to not disturb others. He smiled sheepishly and said, "It wasn't much in the morning... I thought it would go down later."

     "Do you know how stu-" I began but was interrupted by the door of the Infirmary banging open and a lot of students entering. Everyone gathered around Jellal's bed and stood in silence for a while.

     "Here." Laxus gave Jellal a sandwich. "You must be hungry." Jellal nodded and opened the packet. That's when I realised I was hungry too. I felt a nudge at my elbow. Levy was standing there, smiling and holding out a sandwich for me.

     "Thanks a lot, Levy." I said as I accepted the sandwich, ready to devour it. "No problem, Erza. I gave the forms to Mr. Gildarts by the way." She replied. "Oh, yeah. Thank you for that too!" I said, grateful that Levy was there.

     "You're gonna miss the lectures for the rest of the day... I'll get you the notes." Gray said to Jellal. Jellal was quick to reply, "No thanks. The last time I missed school, you gave me notes which were so indecipherable... I had to take notes from Erza."

     Gray huffed, "Then take notes from her. I'm never helping you again." Jellal chuckled and said, "Fine by me." He turned to me and said, "I hope you don't mind..." I smiled and replied, "Of course not."

     A few minutes before Lunch ended, we decided to leave Jellal to the nurse and go back to our classrooms. As we filed out of the infirmary doors, I was the last person to leave. As I crossed the doorway, Jellal called me.

     "Yeah?" I turned back and asked him. He motioned me to come over and I stepped back into the Infirmary. Jellal rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Uh.. Erza, I... I want to thank you. For today. And the time before.

     "Thank you so much, Erza. You have always been saving me. I'm sorry for troubling you so much." He trailed off, face getting red from embarrassment. I chuckled and replied, "It's alright, Jellal. I'm glad I could help you. I never think of it as trouble."

     "You're really kind. Thanks." He said in a small voice. I just nodded and said, "You're always welcome. I'll get going now. The bell will ring soon." He gave me a nod and I left the Infirmary.

     Everyone was waiting for me, outside the Infirmary. When I came out, we silently walked to our classrooms. I was thankful for the silence, it let me reflect on the recent events. I clasped the blade of my locket, more out of habit than anything else.

     'Mom, I have found friends here. People who are precious to me, people who understand me, people I want to protect with everything I have. Don't worry, I have found my way, I have found the right people. Thank you, Mom.'

______________________________________

Next Update: 28th September, 2020.