Disclaimer: Fairy Tail does not belong to me.

A/N: Many thanks to Aravind, Layla, irahandayani18 and Lalala for reviewing the previous chapter. Thank you also to those who followed and favorited this story. Love you guys.

Sorry in advance for any mistake. This story is unbeta-ed after all.

CHAPTER 3

"You've got it all wrong Natsu," Erza spoke out as she checked her best friend's homework.

"Which part that I got it wrong?" Natsu asked as he leaned closer towards Erza to see the mistake he made in his mathematics homework.

Erza looked at him with a cheeky grin. "About all of it," she said.

"What?" Natsu blurted out in horror. Sure she was superior compared to him in mathematics but he was not bad at all at the subject. Erza was just a bit better at it. "No way," he exclaimed. Getting it completely wrong was a blow to his ego.

"Yes way," Erza easily countered. "You've been using the wrong equation from the start, that's why you get different final answer for this question," Erza told him his mistake. She then proceeded to explain which equation was to be used for that particular question and Natsu listened carefully to her reason. Having Erza as his study partner sure was handy.

"I see," Natsu uttered after Erza's lengthy explanation. "Then, let me correct this first and then we can go fix some dinner," he said as he opened a new page in his book and began to do the calculation from the start.

"Okay," Erza said as she stepped away from the table and plopped down on Natsu's bed lying on it as she humming to random song playing on her mind. She already finished with her homework so she had some free time to kill. "Natsu," she suddenly said, turning her head in his direction as she laid her head comfortably on his pillow.

Natsu glanced at her briefly before he proceeded with his unfinished work. "What?"

"What's kissing feels like?" She asked innocently.

His hand automatically stopped scratching on the paper and Natsu trained his gaze towards the scarlet haired girl lying on his bed. Their eyes met and Natsu could see the curiosity playing on her face. "Why on earth are you asking me that?" He asked with a full scowl on his face. His mind was buzzing with questions on the reason why she was asking such a random yet disturbing question. "Are you secretly seeing a boy behind my back?" He asked somewhat accusingly. He stared expectantly hard at her waiting for answer, his homework forgotten and pushed to the back of his mind.

"What are you talking about?" Erza countered with a cute frown on her face. "The only boy I'm seeing is you. No one is interested in me," she said with a sigh as she averted her gaze and stared at the ceiling. Was that disappointment he detected in her voice? "Well, it is expected since I'm not beautiful," she continued.

That sentence made Natsu's eyes widened in shock. What did she mean that she was not beautiful? You are the most beautiful girl in the world Erza, Natsu screamed desperately in his mind.

"I thought some guys were interested in me before you know," she said as her eyes were back to look at him with a grim face. "They acted all friendly and sweet at first and the next day, they did a 360. I just don't understand it. Is there something wrong with me?" She asked him sadly. Her face was full of hope as she waited for his answer.

They act like that because I threaten them to stay away from you, he thought silently. If only he could say it out loud to her. But he was too much of a coward to let his feeling show. He was afraid that he would be rejected by the love of his life. He couldn't take it if Erza somehow begin to distance herself from him once she rejected his love. The mere idea of that actually happening made him kept his mouth shut about his real feeling towards his best friend.

"You're wrong," he said seriously.

"Huh?" Confusion was clear on her face.

"If the guys act like that than they are not worthy for you," he said passionately. "And to me, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever laid my eyes on. You just never notice how beautiful you really are."

He could see that Erza was shocked to hear the outburst coming from his lips. A blush prettily adorned her cheeks when she heard the compliment from him. He knew she was getting embarrassed by that.

Then, Erza pouted and turned her gaze away from him. "You're my best friend, you'll tell me anything I want to hear. So that is not accounted for," she said stubbornly.

"You're being unreasonable," Natsu countered heatedly. "I'm only telling the truth." Now he was the one feeling embarrassed by his own words. "You're trying to evade the subject. Why do you suddenly ask about kissing? Is there someone you want to secretly kiss?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. He needed the name so that he could go and beat the guy later.

"Idiot," Erza exclaimed. Her cheeks were getting darker as she spoke. "It's nothing like that."

"Then pray tell what it is all about," Natsu prodded, crossing his arms together against his chest while his foot was tapping repeatedly against the floor, waiting for her answer.

Erza sulked and gave in to his demand. "The girls are talking about it the other day. Apparently, I'm the only who's never been kissed," she said slowly, turning on her stomach and buried her face in his fluffy pillow.

Natsu was glad to hear that. Apparently she was not seeing anyone secretly behind his back and no one dared to lay a finger on her either. He congratulated himself on a job well done. But still, something didn't sit right with him. "So you make a fuss just because you've never been kissed?" Natsu asked incredulously. Did she want a boyfriend that bad?

"I'm not making a fuss," she defended herself. "I merely wonder how it feels like. Some girls say that it is mind blowing. Some girls even do other things like making out with their boyfriend you know," she stated, oblivious to the way Natsu's mood seemed to darken when he heard what was bugging her. He wondered which girls put these kinds of issue in Erza's mind. "I never experience any of those," he heard Erza whispered softly.

Natsu stared at Erza who had a faraway look on her face. He knew that she didn't mean to speak the last sentence out loud. He narrowed his eyes at her. Truth to be told, she would easily find herself a boyfriend if it was not for him. He kept sending potential suitors away with his threat because he couldn't stand to see Erza with anyone else but him.

"If you want to be kissed that badly, then let's kiss right now," he said seriously, looking at her dead in the eye with a scowl on his face. He must have lost his mind. Why did he utter such a thing? He was not thinking clearly when he said that. The only thing clouding his mind back then was the image of Erza kissing other man beside him and he couldn't accept that.

Erza looked taken aback by his outburst. They stared at each other as she openly gaped at him.

She must have thought that I'm crazy. She must think that I'm weird and a psycho, Natsu fretted silently. Was this how their friendship was going to end? He regretted not keeping his jealousy in check and saying something that could jeopardize their relationship.

Then, Erza did the unexpected as she burst out laughing on his bed clutching her stomach as tears pricked her eyes. Natsu stared dumbfounded at the laughing girl who was rolling on his bed trying to contain her glee. She tried to control herself but didn't succeed as her full scale laughter burst out again once she set her eyes on his.

He didn't know what was so funny to the red headed girl. "Erza," he spoke her name in annoyance. It felt like she was making fun of him with her uncontrollable and continuous laughter.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said in between her breath. She ceased her laughter but her face still retained the gleeful expression. "It's just too funny," she said with giggles. "You look so serious when you suggest us kissing," she told him with a pointed look.

"It doesn't seem funny to me," Natsu quipped, a little upset that she didn't take it seriously but he hide his emotion well this time. Did she think he was kidding when he said that? She really was dense for someone so smart.

"Trust me it is," Erza stressed out as she was getting up from the bed and headed to where he was sitting before she looked at his work. "Hurry up and finish it, I'm hungry," Erza whined.

"Go find something to eat first if you're that hungry," Natsu told her. "I'll be done in a few minutes," he said as he gets back to his work.

"Fine," Erza grumbled, making her way to the door. Once she was outside behind the closed door, Erza put a hand on her chest to feel her heart beating furiously against her ribcage. She was almost getting into panic mode when Natsu boldly suggested them kissing. She really thought he was being serious and for a moment, she wondered what it felt like to be kissed by Natsu. But then, she remembered that Natsu was her best friend, there was no way he was being serious about it.

It just can't be. Right? She mused silently.

Getting no answer to her silent question, she made her way to the kitchen downstairs, pushing the thought of it to the back of her mind.

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The days passed by like any ordinary day for Erza. As usual, she walked to school with Natsu, met her friends and chatted with them before class, listening to the teachers like the good student she was when class started and had lunch together at the rooftops with the usual bunch. It was almost like a routine, one that she was used to by now.

They sat in a circle at the rooftop with their own lunches. Erza as usual sat next to Natsu on her right and Gray on her left. Beside Natsu was Lucy followed by Levy and Gajeel while Juvia was situated between Gray and Gajeel.

"I heard there's a new arcade opened in town. Do you guys want to go check the place out some day?" Gray asked to no one in particular before he took a large bite out of his sandwich which was not surprisingly made by Juvia, Gray's self proclaimed number 1 fan and current girlfriend. It was a surprise to see them hooking up because Gray once told them there was no way he would date the obsessed girl. Look where they were now, together and happy being a couple.

"I'm in," Gajeel said. "Just informed me the date and time."

"Me too," Natsu retorted nonchalantly.

Even Erza was tempted at the idea of a day out with her friends. It had been so long since they had a chance to hang out and had a good time together. "It's better if we go there on weekend, she suggested. "More time to play and hang out that way."

"I agree," Lucy voted enthusiastically.

"I heard the place is fabulous. Count me in," Levy said.

"Gihi… I know you can't leave my side," Gajeel quipped with a big grin.

Levy blushed at the remarked and playfully hit his arm. "Shut up!" She retorted back. "I want to go because I am curious. It has nothing to do with you."

Erza just smiled at her friends banter. Things like this were an everyday's occurrence but she would never get bored seeing how her friends interacted with each other. It was fun to her.

"Hey did you hear about the latest rumor in our school?" Lucy suddenly interjected, ignoring the playful banter between Gajeel and Levy.

All attention was on Lucy in a heartbeat. Everyone was interested in what rumor Lucy was talking about. It had to be interesting if it caught on Lucy's radar. Lucy always brought the latest and remarkable news to the group. Very little occurrence escaped her attention around the school thanks to her nosy attitude.

"What kind of juicy gossips you bring this time?" Levy asked with excitement.

Lucy chuckled with mischief. "I heard that there is a haunted room in this school," she stated with an eerie voice, creating an air of mystery among them. All of them stared at her attentively, getting more curious with the simple revelation.

Erza could feel the hair on the back of her neck rose in anticipation. She never heard about a haunted room since she stepped foot in this school, so it was quite a shocker to hear that. "Where is the haunted room located?" She found herself asking. She was getting strangely giddy to learn more about this. She never went to a haunted place before, so she was a bit excited when it was so close to where she was and accessible since it was on the school ground.

"It was at the older building at the back of the school. The room is in between the equipment room for the football club and the drama club," Lucy answered as they were all huddling closer to her. "Some athletes in the football club say that they hear weird noises coming from the room. They thought someone is playing a prank inside so they go to the faculty to borrow the key to investigate inside the room. The key keeper tells them that there's no point in using the key because the lock and door knob is broken, so the door can't be opened for the time being. They are currently waiting for someone to come and replace the entire thing. So there is no way someone can go inside the room," Lucy told them. She took a deep breath before she proceeded. "They all think that there's ghost in there."

They all went quiet at the revelation. The silence stretched for some time as no one said anything.

"Bullshit!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly startling the others. He was not convinced at all that the room was haunted. "There's no ghost in that room. The noises can be anything. Maybe those jocks took too much hit in the head and started to hallucinate about the whole thing," he stated sarcastically.

"They're not the only who hear it Natsu," Lucy yelled indignantly at him. " It was not every day it happens but the girls from the drama club also said that there are noises coming from that room occasionally. Sometimes they hear things being moved and someone sighing and growling from the inside. They even see the lights flickering coming from the room as they see it through the small gap under the door."

Natsu only scowled at Lucy's story. Erza could see that Natsu was skeptical about this and he was not going to believe it without any solid evidence that it was indeed haunted. He was stubborn like that.

"There's definitely something happening but I'm not 100% convinced that there's a ghost haunting the room," Gray piped in.

"I don't know, it sure sounds like a work of one," Juvia uttered with a scared look on her face.

"I agree," Levy agreed with the blue head girl.

"Gihi… I wonder if I can fight a ghost," Gajeel muttered, not caring if the ghost in question truly existed or not. All he thought about was fighting, as expected from the captain of the boxing club. He always was looking for challenge.

They were getting mixed reaction on the matter. For Erza, it doesn't matter if this ghost existed or not because it was not going to interfere with their life. But it sure was exciting to hear about this for she was a sucker for horror story, even when she was actually a scaredy cat. "Why don't we wait and hear for more rumors regarding the haunted room. It's not going to be long before someone chooses to go investigate more about the room and then we'll know what actually happen," Erza said with a smile.

Everyone was looking at her with a strange glint in their eyes and Erza wondered if she said something wrong. "Lunch time is almost over, so why don't we head back to class now," Erza suggested with an awkward smile on her face. Everyone can be so weird sometime, she silently thought in her head.

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Erza split up with her friends after their lunch to go to the bathroom before the next period started. Exiting the stall, she looked around for any strangeness inside the bathroom and released a sigh of relief when she saw none. Lucy's story regarding the haunted room still played inside her mind. Really, as much as she didn't care much about it, it still managed to get to her head. After washing her hand, she hastily went to the door to exit the bathroom for it was getting quiet in there with no one around. It felt creepy being alone in the bathroom after hearing about a ghost story.

Just as she stepped outside of the door, she bumped into someone in her haste to get out of there. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized.

"It's okay," came the feminine voice. Erza looked around her to see three girls from different class standing in front of her. She recognized them but she didn't know their names.

"Eh, aren't you Erza Scarlet?" One of them asked.

Erza blinked at the girl asking her name. She was a beautiful girl with long flowing dark brown hair and grey eyes. "Yes," Erza answered truthfully. She wondered if the girl wanted something from her.

"Tell me something Erza Scarlet," the girl started. "Are you and Natsu Dragneel an item?" She asked.

"What?" Erza blurted out. She was taken aback by the girl's bold question. It caught her off guard. Why the sudden inquiry on her and Natsu's status. Was there something going on without her knowing? Was there some weird rumors spread around her and Natsu that she didn't know about? If that was so, why wouldn't Lucy let her know? Lucy knew everything going around the school.

"Are you and Natsu a couple?" The girl reiterated her question demanding an answer from her.

It was a simple question but Erza was feeling pressured by it. "No," she denied. "He is my best friend," she replied honestly.

The girl raised an elegant eyebrow. "You're acting too close for best friends, don't you think?" She kept asking, surprisingly with a scathing tone. Her arms were folded on her chest in a defensive manner and she looked like she wanted to eat Erza alive from the furious look on her face. Erza couldn't figure out why the girl looked so mad at her. She was sure that she didn't do anything to hurt the brunette.

"Oi Yuri," one of her friends said somewhat in reprimanding tone. "That's enough. It's not right to get mad at her. She doesn't do anything at all."

The girl named Yuri ignored her friend and closing in on Erza. "If you're not his girlfriend then stop hogging him to yourself. You have no right to do that," she said. "He needs to interact and spend times with other girls for him to choose what's good for him."

Erza took a step back at the girl's outburst. She was too speechless to make any remark. Was that how everyone saw it? Was it true that she somehow was holding him back while she clung to him? Was it her fault?

"What's going on here?" Came the sudden interruption, hence breaking Erza's train of thought.

Erza was glad for whoever it was that unintentionally saving her from the unbearable scrutiny of the girls. She glanced to her right to see the familiar blue head with red tattooed face standing not too far from where they were standing in front of the bathroom. "Jellal," his name escaped her lips in a whisper and she saw him walking towards them with an impassive face.

Yuri and her two friends tensed at the sudden appearance of the student council president, and they were especially shocked to hear Erza uttering his name casually. They never thought that these two were acquainted with each other.

"What are you doing here in the hallway?" He questioned all of them. "Class starts five minutes ago," he informed with a brusque tone.

"We're sorry, president. We lost track of time. We'll be heading to class now," Yuri said before she and her two friends did what everyone would do when they spotted Jellal Fernandes. They walked away from there before he could stop them and give them a detention for not being in class.

Erza was a little nervous when he turned his attention on her. She so didn't want to get another detention from him. "Then, I'll be going too," Erza stuttered before she turned away from him.

"Erza," he suddenly called, stopping her in her track. Erza was surprised that he remembered her name. They only spent a little time together a few days ago during her detention, so she expected him to forget about her.

Erza turned to him. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Her eyes widened slightly at the unsuspected question from the seemingly cold man. "Yes. I'm fine, she answered," a little flustered seeing his intense gaze on her.

If you're fine, then why do you look close to tears? He thought silently.

Really, that girl should learn how to defend herself. He had been standing around the corner when he saw the four of them in the hallway. Curiosity made him not to make his presence known because he wanted to know what was going on. So he heard about the whole thing.

"Thank you though," she said shyly after some time with a small smile on her face.

Jellal looked at her questioningly. "For what?"

Erza shrugged, not really wanting to divulge him in the reason. Thank you for saving her from the uncomfortable situation and thank you for asking how she was. It was the little thing he did that she appreciated so much. "I better get back to class now," she said when she remembered that she was late. "It's nice to see you again Jellal and thank you again," she said as she waved him goodbye and hurriedly walking away from him to the direction of her class.

Jellal stared at her figure until she disappeared around the corner before he too began to walk towards his own class with the thought of Erza Scarlet on his mind.

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To be continued