A/N: Hello, peoples. Welcome to my first Jerza fanfic. I REALLY REALLY LOVE THIS SHIP (I can't list why because the list is freaking long) and I felt like I needed to do this. I wish I had done this and more for Jerza Week though, but I didn't know about that until after I wrote this... Anyways, this is set in the X791 arc, I believe.

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Here to Stay

The rain fell hard on Magnolia Town. You couldn't go a few inches without getting drenched unless you had an umbrella. And even then, you would still get wet, but less so. Occasionally, one would catch a glimpse of Juvia walking around town, parasol in hand, muttering "Drip, drip, drop".

Everyone else, however, was trying to avoid the downpour as best as they could. They were running to any building they could find for shelter.

But this was good, at least for a certain blue-haired, tattooed escaped convict. It made it easier for him to blend in.

With a hood draped over his head, Jellal managed to run towards an alleyway. As much as he wanted to go inside a building to stay dry, he knew that if he did enter one of the buildings, people would recognize him by sight and he would most likely be incarcerated once again. So he sat down against a wall, threw back his hood once he was sure it was clear and looked out at the rain falling on Magnolia Town. At some point, he saw Juvia and waved hello to her and vice versa.

Jellal sighed. After he saw Juvia, that got him thinking. Not about Juvia, but another female mage. Erza, to be exact. He began to wonder where she was right now, what she was doing… if she was happy…

He shook his head. Of course Erza was happy. Wasn't she in that guild?

Erza doesn't need me to be happy, Jellal thought to himself.

Because he knew it was true. He had made Erza cry—as Natsu had put it—and not only hurt her friends, but his friends as well.

Especially Simon.

Even if he was brainwashed at the time, he would never forgive himself for what he did to Simon. Jellal was a bit glad that he was being drenched by the rain at the moment, though he knew he deserved far worse than that…

Jellal was so lost in his own thoughts, that he didn't hear the voices outside of the alley. He did hear them eventually and quickly pulled his hood over his head to hide his face. However, after seeing who the voices belonged to—in this case, Team Natsu—he adjusted his hood so that part of his face was exposed.

Team Natsu was walking back to their guild while trying to stay dry at the same time. Knowing them, they were probably out doing a job somewhere before it started to rain. Jellal saw all of them from the alley; Lucy, Gray, Natsu, even Happy. And in front of them was the famed requip mage herself.

Gray and Natsu were bickering about something, but Erza came in between them and the Dragon Slayer and the Ice Mage bowed their heads in apology. Suddenly, Erza's gaze turned to Jellal's direction. Instructing the other four to leave without her, she moved towards Jellal. Jellal threw back his hood and in a few seconds, he and Erza were staring at each other.

"Jellal," Erza said at last. "What are you doing out here? It's pouring out here. You should take shelter somewhere."

"Don't worry about me, Erza," Jellal replied. "I'll be fine out here."

"At least come with me to Fairy Tail," Erza said. "You can dry up there." She grabbed his arm—forcing Jellal to stand up—and started pulling him towards the direction of her guild.

"Erza, I mean it. I'll be fine out here. Please don't worry about me."

"Idiot. You're soaking wet. Just come with me… to Fairy Tail."

Jellal was about to say something when Erza yanked him by his arm and dragged him away.

Even as it rained outside, inside, the guild was still pretty lively... if only a little. There were still some distinct conversations, but that was it.

Cautiously, Erza led Jellal into a room that was out of sight from most of the guild members. The room had a closet, a bed and a bathroom on the right-hand side. Once the two mages were inside, they sat down and for a moment, there was a silence.

Erza was the first to break the silence. "So, Jellal... what are you doing in Magnolia?"

"I was running an errand for Ultear," Jellal replied. "I was going to meet up with her before I saw you."

Erza was taken aback at that last part.

Then, Jellal lowered his head into his hands and sighed. "I heard about what happened at Tenrou Island.

"Oh, you heard about that?" Erza asked.

"Yes." Jellal's voice was beginning to crack and he was nearing tears. "When I heard it was destroyed, I just..." He stopped himself before the "couldn't accept it" left his mouth.

Instead, he looked Erza right in the eyes, and with a slight smile on his face, he said, "I'm so glad you're okay."

This made Erza smile and blush a little. And one minute later, the two of them were in a deep embrace. Neither Erza nor Jellal said anything for a long period of time. Pretty soon, however, Erza felt warm drops on her shoulder and at first, Erza thought the roof was leaking and the drops were the rain. However, as the two mages pulled away from each other, she saw that Jellal was crying.

"Huh? Jellal, what is it?" Erza asked. "Tell me. What's wrong?"

Wiping the tears away from his face, Jellal stood up and walked towards the door. "I don't deserve this," he said sadly.

Knowing full well that the rain wasn't going to let up anytime soon, Erza went after and put her hand on his shoulder. "Seriously, what's wrong, Jellal? Talk to me."

Jellal turned around to meet her eyes, a sad smile on his face. "It's okay, Erza. Don't worry about it."

But Erza knew better.

"This is about what happened at the Tower of Heaven 7 years ago, isn't it?"

That made Jellal stop in his tracks. "If you want to avenge his death, then you can do so."

"No," Erza said. "Simon never would've wanted that. You and I both know that, so don't talk like that!"

"Erza, stop it!" Jellal shrilled before lowering his head in his hands again. "I don't want to hurt you or your friends. I don't deserve your kindness." He continued to the door, but before he could step out, Erza stopped him again, this time by grabbing his hood.

"Fool! You're already hurting us by talking like that!" Erza shouted. "If you really feel bad about what happened seven years ago, live and atone! Death isn't the answer! STRUGGLE AND LIVE!"

This time, Jellal turned around and met Erza's gaze.

"Just... just stay here... At least until the rain goes away..."

It took a few moments for Jellal to make up his mind.

"Okay," he finally said. "I'll stay."

Letting go of his hood, Erza smiled. Jellal walked into the bathroom and changed out of his still wet clothes. Using a blue robe to cover himself, he gave his wet clothes to Erza to wash. Then, Jellal slipped into the bed, wrapped himself in blanket and watched as Erza left the room. But, before she left the room...

"Erza."

The scarlet-haired mage turned around. "What is it?"

Jellal smiled. "Thank you."

The first thing Jellal saw when he first woke up was sunlight coming from the window above the bed.

The next things he saw were the clothes he wore yesterday. Discarding his robe, he put on his newly-cleaned clothes and was about to leave the room when something caught his eye.

It was Erza. The famed, scarlet-haired mage was fast asleep, her head resting on the side of the bed and a small smile. Jellal could tell that she had been there for some time. He couldn't help giving her a small kiss on the back of her head.

Now he was really glad he stayed.

She was beside the bed THE WHOLE NIGHT! THE WHOLE NIGHT! No, she went in there while Jellal was fast asleep...

Sorry if this was a bit cheesy. This is my attempt at making it meaningful, but cute. And I used the word "stay" a lot in this one. Hmm... Here to Remain? No, that sounds as if Jellal was still in prison. And it sounds too creepy too.

Hope you enjoyed. :)

-EgoistFan85