"You look amazing, Erza," Lucy gushed.

"Thank you," I said timidly.

I glanced down at my outfit: a white crop top and a short red skirt. All the girls and Mavis were shopping for clothes since the end of year party was a few weeks away. My first meeting with my mum was two weeks ago and we haven't met up since. Yesterday, she texted me – asking if I wanted to have lunch with her. I didn't know what to do so I haven't replied yet.

Feeling happy with my choice of clothes, I changed back into my original outfit and waited for the other girls. I had what I wanted to buy for the party plus a few other garments but I still browsed the racks.

"How about this?" Levy asked as she popped out of her changing room.

She twirled around in a light blue dress.

"That looks good but I think it would look even better with this belt," Mavis said, passing her a silver and black belt.

Levy thanked her as she tried it on and true to Mavis's word, she looked even better. I was really happy that we all got along well with Mavis.

A few minutes later, we all had fabulous outfits for the end of year party. We had fun as we tried on other clothes for fun.

"Wouldn't this be a nice bridesmaid dress for your wedding, Erza?" Lucy asked, holding up a red dress. "It matches your hair."

It was long with a little bit of silver embroidery around the outside. Though it was a simple design, it was beautiful. Everyone seemed to like it as well – even Mavis, who wouldn't be a bridesmaid, unfortunately. She was still going to be there and help plan the wedding though, so she was excited.

"Actually, I already have an idea for the dresses," I replied.

"You already have dresses for us?" Juvia exclaimed, bouncing on her feet eagerly.

"No, but I've already talked to Jellal about it and I've decided for them to be purple."

"I see. A mix of red and blue: you hair colour and Jellal's. That's smart and awesome," Lucy said.

After trying fancy dresses, we moved through the other sections in the shop and ended up at the lingerie section. With a playful smirk, Juvia lifted up a set of blue, lace underwear.

"Maybe I should seduce Gray with this," Juvia said.

As Lucy wandered over to another rack, she exclaimed, "Ooh, this is nice!"

In her hand was a pink and white bra that was less revealing than the one in Juvia's hand. While she wasn't as flirty as Juvia, she was more confident than Levy. Mavis was with Levy as they both looked scared of the revealing underwear everywhere and poked some nervously.

"You should try this instead," Juvia told Lucy.

Juvia threw a black thong on Lucy's head. The blonde girl responded by shrieking and throwing the garment back to its original place. The rest of us couldn't help but laugh, causing Lucy to giggle as well. Unfortunately, Juvia decided to turn her teasing on me.

"Erza, I dare you to wear this in front of Jellal," the blue haired girl said, holding up a set of red, lace underwear.

"What? No way, I'm not doing that. Since when were we playing 'truth or dare'?" I replied, my cheeks already starting to turn strawberry red.

"You wouldn't turn down a dare though, would you?" she taunted.

I hesitated but I realised she was right. Turning down a dare would make me seem cowardly. Well, it wouldn't really but I decided to do it because a part of me wanted to buy the garments.

"Fine," I said after a while. "I'll do it."

I took them from Juvia, hoping that was the end of it. Sadly, it wasn't.

"And this too," Juvia added.

She thrust something into my hands. It was a set of leopard-patterned underwear. It looked sexy and I actually kind of liked it.

Juvia then moved on to finding more sexy underwear for the rest of the girls and herself. Lucy didn't look too keen but accepted her gift. Levy and Mavis were flustered and reluctant but they didn't have a choice since Juvia was being persistent. I, however, was secretly glad that they would also buy sexy clothing so that I wouldn't be so embarrassed at the checkout by being the only one buying those types of clothes.

After shopping, we hung out with the boys because we weren't going to have a lot of time together due to the end of year exams coming up.

Many weeks passed. I spent my time studying, working and hanging out with my friends whenever I could. Now, exams started in a week and I was extremely nervous.

Mavis's POV

So far, in these long weeks that have passed, Zeref and his minions haven't done anything. This has put us all on edge but there's nothing we could really do. Exams were in a week and I had a feeling that Zeref was going to strike soon. I decided to confront him by telling someone to tell him to meet me at a park today. The meeting place I chose was far away from Fairy Tail University and Alvarez University so that none of our friends or acquaintances would find us.

As Zeref came into view, my nerves started eating at me. I crossed my arms and uncrossed them again. What if he was different than I remembered? What if everything went horrible?

"Hello Mavis," Zeref said coolly.

I stiffened. "Hello Zeref."

It was silent as we didn't say anything else. I took my time to observe him – from his black hair, to his captivating, dark eyes, all the way down to his stylish, ebony shoes. Zeref was still as beautiful as I remembered. He seemed to notice my gaze and smirked widely at it.

"Did you miss me?" Zeref asked.

"No," I said, trying to remain cold.

"You don't have to lie, you know?"

"I'm not. I didn't bring you here to catch up."

"Well, I brought this for you. It reminds me of your beauty – though you are far more beautiful than it." Zeref took a flower from behind his back and presented it to me.

I was surprised but also secretly happy. Cautiously, I took it from him. I doubted he sabotaged it with spikes or anything but I checked anyway. The pretty yellow flower was safe, delicate and smelt refreshing. It radiated beauty that was pure and alive.

"Thank you," I finally managed to utter. "This doesn't make anything better though."

"Well, I missed you. I still love you after all this time," Zeref said.

"Then why don't you stop the mean act? Why don't you talk to me and be honest? How can I trust anything you say?"

"I might lie about things but the one thing I don't lie about it my love for you. I promise I'll love you until this flower wilts and dies." Zeref pulled out another yellow flower from behind him and gave it to me.

How many flowers does he have? Does he just have hundreds of flowers stuck into his back pocket?

As I looked closer at the flower, I realised that it was a fake flower. Therefore it couldn't wilt and die, even though it wasn't alive. Clever bastard.

"Do you remember the time we spent together during August all those years ago?" Zeref randomly asked me.

I nodded in response. A smile automatically formed on my face as I reminisced on the past. In August, I hung out with Zeref a lot in the countryside where no one would see us and we were free to be ourselves. It was one of the most magical times of my life and I'll always treasure it. I just wish that Zeref was the same as he was back then.

"Of course I remember," I whispered.

"Then you know what I felt – what I still feel. I love you," Zeref said sincerely. "Like I said on the 8th of August, I'm glad I was born in this world because-"

"it's where we met," we finished in unison.

It was a cheesy line that he said to me in August years ago and even though it made me blush too much, my heart soared in happiness every time.

Zeref chuckled. "See? We even finish each other's sentences."

"And sandwiches," I joked, thinking back on the time we watched that movie together.

The corner of Zeref's mouth twitched up higher. "Yeah, you always did love stealing my ham and cheese sandwiches."

I giggled.

"I don't know what I'd do if I never met you or if I lived in a different time to you. I'd be more cruel and sad, and fate would punish me even worse. You're the only good thing in my life and in this world. You're truly the only light in my dark life - you're the brightest star or sun. You make me good and make me want to try to be better," Zeref said.

I clutched the two flowers closer to my chest. Though one was real and one was fake, they were both so similar in their gorgeous sunshine colour.  They were beautiful, just like Zeref's words to me. It made my heart skip a beat. Why couldn't Zeref be nice all the time?

"I'll be your morning star and you are my angel," I smiled lightly.

"Dark angel, if I had to be an angel," Zeref corrected. "But you're more like an angel than me - you even look like one. You're short and cute like an angel." 

He patted my head. I hated how I had to look up at him due to his height but I loved the smirk he was giving me as it gave me butterflies in my stomach. As he petted my head, my long, fluffy blond hair puffed around my body and I hoped it would hide my blushing face. 

I crossed my arms defiantly and puffed out my cheeks. "I'm not cute. I'm... I'm angry at you. You're planning something at the end of the year and I want to know what it is. I want to know why you're doing this," my voice broke, its harshness losing its tone. 

"Are you doing it for power? For money? What do you gain from it? Or is it just for fun? Please tell me. I want to know... I want to understand you," I pleaded.

"I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand. No one would," Zeref replied.

"Let me try. Please."

"No one understands because they just see me as an evil person and everyone hates me. I've been cursed from birth for everyone to hate me. I was bullied in primary school because I was smarter than my class and I was bullied by family and friends. I decided to just be what the world wanted me to be and I accepted that no one would like me. I was a scary person and fear gave me many followers and supporters who wanted me to gain power and money. So I decided to make a gang, deal drugs for money and power. But I don't really like it."

I kept quiet as I listened, knowing that saying the wrong thing could set him off. My kind eyes and small smile helped him gain the courage to continue.

"I only do it for him, so that I can see him again. In my early childhood, someone took me away from him and made me who I am. That person loved the power and darkness. They saw my intellect and took me for their own evil plans. I never saw him again until later and by then, it was too late: I was too deep into the gang. He would never love me again but with everything I'm doing, at least I can see him again."

He? Someone? Who are these two people? All this information that Zeref has never told me before just created more questions in my mind. Who was the 'he'? It must be someone Zeref clearly loves a lot but I've never heard of him before. Why hasn't he ever told me any of this before? I thought I knew Zeref well but maybe I didn't actually know him.

"Who are the people you're talking about?" I asked carefully.

Zeref's eyes flashed darkly as he glared at me. "I'm not a fool. I only told you what I wanted to tell you and I won't tell you anymore."

"You're just leaving me with more questions." I sighed, trying to calm down. "Please, just tell me what you're planning to do at the end of the year."

He scoffed. "Nice try but I'm not telling you."

"Then just don't do it! You don't have to be bad just because the world is bad. You can prove everyone wrong and show them how good you can be. I've seen your goodness - I know you can be good."

Zeref just let out a crazy laugh. "There is no goodness in me. You like to pretend everything's happy and rainbow and sunshine but the world is darker than that. You can't change me or the world. So you better go back to playing with your little dolls in your happy dollhouse."

I gaped at him. How could he say things like that? We used to get along so well. And now, his words stung like a bee and it made my blood boil. Yes, I like to be optimistic and see things for the good that they can be but I'm not that naive and I don't play with dolls. It's true that I thought Zeref could change but right now, he's just making it hard. 

I clenched my fists angrily. "If you do whatever you're planning, I'll never forgive you. I'll hate you forever and I'll-" I couldn't say another word.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. All I could feel was Zeref's lips on mine. He kissed me just as passionately as I remembered. His lips were soft and familiar with a hint of a rough touch that felt right. I closed my eyes and savoured the moment. If only we could turn back the time to years ago - to a time when the only people we had to worry about were ourselves out in the countryside. 

What I was doing was wrong, I knew that. So with all the strength I could muster, I pushed Zeref off of me. 

"You - You were just insulting me. Don't think that you can kiss me and I'll forget about it," I huffed, my cheeks still blushing brightly.

He kissed me. Those words echoed in my head as I tried not to die of embarrassment. I'm meant to be strong and assertive. I had a plan and a mission for meeting with Zeref today - what was it again?

"You're cute when you're flustered and nervous," Zeref stated as he poked my nose.

I scrunched my nose up. Things were not going well. Sure, I gained important information but it only gave me more questions. Every minute I was with Zeref left me wanting more of him. It just reminded me of all the old times and I found myself falling in love all over again. Maybe if I just felt his lips on mine one more time, I would be satisfied - no one would have to know.

"Unfortunately, I have to go now," he announced. 

My eyes snapped up to his. He was leaving me...again.

"I'm sorry, but I have work to do. I'll see you later..." Then, very faintly, I heard him whisper, "my morning star."

I opened my mouth to something but nothing came out. Zeref looked at me once more before he turned and walked away. I urged my mouth to say something but it didn't work. Sadly, I stared at his retreating figure. 

Only when I was alone, could I say the name of my true love and beg him to come back. I knew I would see him again but when we would, things would be different. Including the fact that I was feeling stronger and more passionate. My heart begged me to save him and help him, and that's what I was going to do.

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I was so sad because my laptop randomly restarted and wiped itself. I couldn't get into it so I had to visit school again and pray that they could save my documents (cos I didn't backup most of it.) Luckily, they were saved. Oh! Also, my birthday was 4 days ago and I turned 18! Feels the same but my mum keeps nagging me to sign up for the things I need to do as an adult. So..

Please VOTE and COMMENT!!!!!!!! Thank you!!  :)