I've sung in the shower heaps of times, as most people probably have, but I have never sung in front of people and I never wanted to. I can talk, fight, run, do sports and other things in front of people but not sing. I can't even properly sing; I've never taken singing lessons. Well, I guess I'll have to have a crash course in only a few weeks.

"Erza? You missed your cue," Brendon said.

I blinked. "I'm sorry. I'm just really nervous."

"That's alright. It'll be fine. Just breathe. Now, let's just try it again from the top."

I looked to my left and right where my friends stood holding their sheet music like me but were singing well, unlike me. Brendon stood at the front as he conducted us. Out of all of us, Gajeel was the most enthusiastic and he actually sang pretty well. When it was my time to come in, I started singing softly, listening to Jellal who was next to me on my left.

Then came the female solo. A beautiful, angelic voice came from the right of me. Standing next to me there was Mirajane.

Yep, we recruited Mirajane, who was doing a university course at some random university but she had plenty of time to do this as well. She lived and studied close by so it wouldn't be a long drive.

This was our first meeting and my friends and I decided to meet up at the Magnolia Café half an hour earlier so we could catch up with Mirajane. She surprised us by bringing Elfman and Lisanna as well. All in all, it was a really good reunion. Lisanna would've joined the Fairy Tail Voices as well but she was too busy with other things.

"Yes! That was beautiful! Keep up the good work!" Brendon smiled at us once we finished the song.

He sang too, of course, but he was also our conductor for rehearsals and our leader. He started off the meeting by teaching most of us to sing simple things since most of us were amateurs. Then we sang some songs. Now it was the end of our club session and we all bid Brendon farewell as we left the music room.

"You were so good, Mirajane!" Juvia gushed.

"Yeah. We sounded like dying cats but you sounded like an angel," Levy added.

I nodded in agreement with the rest of my friends. It always amazed me how good Mirajane could sing. She was part of the school choir in high school and she was the best.

Mirajane blushed. "No, I'm not that good. And you guys were great too."

"Don't lie. Just say 'Everyone was good. Natsu sucked'," Gray joked.

"Hey! I wasn't that bad," Natsu replied. "You, however, sounded like a... a dying rat."

Dying rat? That's when you know Natsu couldn't think of a good comeback and just copied what Levy said before.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by giggling. I turned to see Mirajane holding a hand over her mouth as she laughed.

"I'm sorry," she said as her laughs died away. "It's just, you two still fight like when we were in high school. You two haven't changed. You all haven't changed. And... it's nice seeing familiar people. It was great to meet up with you guys again. Unfortunately, I have to go now but I'll see you next week for the next rehearsal."

We were all sad to see her go but we were going to see her next week anyway. Holding back tears, we all took turns giving her a hug.

"Good bye," we all chorused.

"Good bye," Mirajane nodded at us all.

Then she turned and walked away.

"So... what now?" Levy asked us.

We all looked at one another. I guess we could go back to our dorms and do homework.

"Let's go to the beach!" Natsu yelled as he jumped into the air enthusiastically.

Lucy shrugged. "Alright, I don't see why we shouldn't."

"Yeah, let's go!"

We all added in enthusiastic agreements.

"Let's go back to our dorms to get changed and then we can meet at the bus stop right outside our building," I suggested.

My friends all agreed and so we set off to our rooms. The girls split from the boys as we headed into our own rooms. I took out my red bikini from my drawer and started changing.

"I'm so excited for the beach! I haven't been for so long!" Juvia said as she put on a light and dark blue bikini.

"Yeah, I haven't been to the beach with you guys in so long," Levy added as she shimmied into a light blue bikini.

"Let's bring a beach ball!" Lucy said as she whipped out a deflated beach ball.

"Why do you have a beach ball?" I asked.

"You never know when they might come in handy – like now."

I shrugged; I guess that was true. Soon enough, we all had our bikinis on – with Lucy being the last one to put it on but she totally worked her brand new pink bikini.

"Damn girl," Juvia whistled when she saw Lucy, "Natsu is going to have a hard time keeping his hands off you."

Lucy blushed and covered her bikini with a sundress. We all followed suit and put on casual summer dresses on top. Then we got a backpack and put in towels, a picnic rug and extra clothes. I slipped on my thongs and we all headed out.

"I bet the boys have been waiting a long time," Levy commented while we walked down the corridor of our dorm building.

"They have less to change," Juvia said.

Lucy, who was walking next to me, got out her phone. "Natsu just texted me saying 'where are you guys? Hurry up'."

Of course Natsu was getting impatient; he always is.

Wait a second. I put my hand in my pocket and immediately halted. I forgot my phone and we were already out of the building now. The bus stop was just down the footpath, so close.

"Guys, I left my phone in the room. I'll be right there," I told my friends.

"Okay. We'll wait for you at the bus stop," Lucy said.

I turned around and ran back into the building. Our room was on the second floor so I ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Then I was at my floor. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and next thing I know, a guy walked out from one of the dorms and into my path. I couldn't stop in time and I crashed into him.

Ouch. I blinked several times. Only inches from my face, was another face – a face of a boy roughly my age with emerald turquoise eyes and three scars, one through his left eyebrow and the other two forming a cross shape on his left cheek. My gaze trailed up to his spiky black hair and then down, past his face and earring on his left ear and then stopping at my hands that were resting on his chest. What?

I quickly scrambled to my feet. It seems that at the last minute, he saw me and turned to face me but I still knocked into him – fell onto him is more accurate. I was lying on a total stranger (a good looking stranger though). Oh god, how embarrassing.

"Uh, sorry," I finally said. "Are you okay?"

"That's okay," the guy said as he stood up. "I'm completely fine, totally fine, A-Okay, 100% good, nothing hurts at all. Are you okay?"

His voice was smooth as silk and sincere as he looked more concerned for me than himself, even though I fell on him and he hit the ground rather loudly and harshly.

"Yep, I'm good." I replied.

"That's good... I'm Mest," the guy said.

"Sorry?" I asked, confused.

Mest? That kind of sounded like a ship name. Or like 'best' but with a 'm'.

"My name. It's Mest Gryder," he said.

Oh, right, his name. I felt really bad now but he didn't look offended so I didn't worry too much. Mest. Hm, it actually sounded really cool.

"I'm Erza Scarlet," I introduced myself.

"Erza. That's a beautiful name," Mest smiled at me.

My cheeks turned bright red. I can't believe this good looking stranger just said I had a beautiful name. Say something, Erza.

"I have a fiancé," I blurted. Shit. "But... um, thank you."

That was awkward. But I felt like it was getting flirty and I can't forget about Jellal, my fiancé who was waiting outside this building for me.

"Okay. That's good for you. But I was hoping we could be friends," Mest said with an awkward tone.

Oh god, kill me now. This is too embarrassing. Why did I have to say what I said? Not everyone wants to be more than friends. God, I'm so stupid. Okay, pity party's over now.

"Yes, me too. Sorry about that," I apologised.

"That's okay. Do you live here?"

"Yeah. I actually live in that room," I pointed out my dorm, which happened to be four doors down from his and on the other side of the hallway.

"Wow, it's weird how I've never seen you before. Is it your first year at uni?"

"No, my second. I'm doing a law degree."

"Really? Me too! I did the first year online but I decided to do second year offline. Some paperwork stuffed up so I haven't started offline classes yet but I think I might be in your class since I'm doing law. My first class is tomorrow at 11," Mest said.

"I have class at that time too. I guess we would be in the same class. Mr Little?"

"Yep, Mr Little."

What a coincidence, I bump into a guy and out of everything, he's doing the same class as me. Then I remember my friends waiting at the bus stop. Oops. I better wrap up this conversation quickly.

"If you want, I could show you the way to class tomorrow," I offered politely.

Mest nodded with a smile. "That would be great, thank you. You know where I live, so just knock on my door whenever."

"Sure," I said. "Well, it was nice meeting you Mest but I have to go now. My friends are waiting for me outside."

"Oh, I'm sorry for keeping you here. You can go now. It was nice meeting you. See you tomorrow," Mest gave a small wave.

"See you tomorrow."

I walked past him to my room and opened my door. I paused, resisting the urge to look back but I can't resist; I peeked over my shoulder. Mest was slowly hobbling down the stairs, rubbing his bum as he mumbled something to himself. I bit my lip. Maybe I should've apologised again for bumping into him and checked that he really was okay, and then apologise again.

I watched him until he disappeared out of sight and then I entered my room. My phone was lying on my bed, just like I left it. I quickly put it into my pocket and then exited the dorm. Time to get to my friends. I filled my thoughts with Jellal as I ran all the way to them so I wouldn't have that hot guy in my head.

After a short bus ride, we were now at the beach. At the bus stop, everyone was wondering why I took so long to get my phone and I just said I couldn't find it for a while since I couldn't be bothered talking about this new guy I met. Natsu was very impatient so thank god when the bus came.

It was near the start of March so autumn just started and summer just ended. There were still a few hot days and today happened to be a nice, warm day – the perfect weather for going to the beach.

"Beach!" Natsu screamed as he ran to the water.

We hadn't even unpacked yet. Geez. Everyone ignored him as we found a nice, shady spot away from the water. We laid down a picnic rug and then rested the bags on it. The girls had their own backpack and the boys brought their own. I took off my dress and put it into our backpack.

"Ready, Erza?"

I turned around and my eyes widened. Jellal stood there in only his swimming trunks so his beautiful abs were on show and they were the only things I was staring at. Slowly, I reached my hand out and touched them. They were hard.

"That's not the only thing that can be hard," Jellal whispered in my ear.

I blushed scarlet red and quickly covered my face so he wouldn't see. He gingerly touched my hands and removed them from my face. He kissed my nose, my left cheek, my right cheek, and then my lips.

"Don't cover your face. I love your adorable face and I love it even more when you get embarrassed," Jellal said.

"I'm not embarrassed," I mumbled.

Jellal grinned mischievously. "Really? Are you lying to me?"

"No."

"Do you know what happens when you lie to me?"

"... No."

"This," Jellal whispered dramatically.

Suddenly, I was swept off my feet, literally. Jellal was carrying me over his shoulders as he ran towards the water. My eyes widened and I finally reacted, hitting his back while I screamed at him.

"Jellal! Let me go!" I yelled.

No matter how hard I hit, he wouldn't let go. I felt him shaking as he laughed. My friends quickly chased after us, shouting at us to wait. Then I saw water beneath me. Jellal's running became slower as the water slowly crept up to his knees and then waist and then chest.

"Jellal, please," I squeaked out one last plea for mercy.

Too late. Jellal threw me off his shoulder. I went flying in the air and I let out a scream, before I was submerged in water. My eyes stung with water as I tried to find the surface. I finally reached air, coughing out water and breathing gulps of air back into my lungs. I was completely wet and I had a whole chunk of hair stuck to my face and covering my eye. Removing it, I could see Jellal laughing his ass off and my other friends slowly wading into the water behind him.

"That was not funny," I huffed.

Truth be told, I found it a bit funny and if it was someone else, I would have laughed my ass off too.

"It was! You should have seen it! The way you flew through the air, waving your arms like a duck," Jellal laughed as he mimicked what I looked like.

While he was still laughing, I quietly walked up to him and then I splashed him. I splashed him a lot but it didn't do much since I was just using my hands and he was rather big and tall.

"Are you hitting me with water? I can't tell. I can't feel anything," Jellal said, pretending nothing was happening.

I swear this guy is going to be the death of me. But I love him. So... I will tackle him into the water. I counted to three in my head and then I jumped on Jellal with all my might, sending him into the water because I caught him off guard. I moved off him since I didn't want to drown him but then I'm being lifted into the air. This time, I was sitting on top of Jellal's shoulders.

"Yeah! Let's have a chicken fight!" Natsu yelled.

This is the definition from Wikipedia: Chicken fight, also known as shoulder wars, is an informal game, often played in a lake or swimming pool, characterized by one team member sitting on the shoulders of his or her teammate or riding piggy-back. The object of the game is to knock down or separate an opposing team through team effort.

We played this once in high school so I guess it would be fun to play it again. Natsu immediately swung Lucy up onto his shoulders and she looked very terrified from the sudden movement. Gray had Juvia on his shoulders and Gajeel had Levy on his shoulders.

Then we started playing. It was every team against every team at the same time. I was kind of worried how that would turn out but it was really fun. Gray and Juvia were the first to lose, then Gajeel and Levy. It was just us against Natsu and Lucy now. We fought hard and in the end, I managed to push Lucy off Natsu so we won.

I jumped off Jellal's shoulders and into his arms.

"Victory kiss?" Jellal asked.

I smiled and kiss his lips softly. His lips tasted like sea water but I bet mine probably did too. I wrapped my arm around his neck to bring him closer to me as I deepened the kiss. Our lips moved in sync with a fiery passion... until water hosed down that fire. All our friends were splashing us with water as they groaned out sounds of disgust.

"Come on, guys, you can kiss later. Let's go play beach volleyball," Natsu said.

So off we went to play beach volleyball with the beach ball that Lucy brought.

Today, we had an early singing rehearsal after uni classes so we managed to get to the beach at around 4:00 in the afternoon. As we played volleyball, the sun started to go down and the air started to get chilly. After we played a few games, we splashed around in the water some more and then had dinner at a nearby restaurant.

It was just past 6:00 when we finished dinner. Gajeel and Levy headed home since they had early classes tomorrow. Natsu and Lucy decided to browse the shops along the beach. Gray and Juvia went for a walk by the shallow water. Jellal and I were also going to walk along the beach but going in the opposite direction to them so we could have our own time to ourselves and our partners.

The sun had gone down already and the sky was now a dark blue with beautiful shimmering stars and a glowing moon. A cool night breeze danced through the air as the sea flowed with small waves. The feeling of the sand as it jumped over my thongs and slipped between my toes when I walked tickled my feet in a nostalgic way. We eventually started walking in the shallow water so all of my feet would be covered in water.

"I've always loved the beach," Jellal said.

I chuckled. "I know. You always loved taking me to the beach for dates when we were in high school."

Jellal frowned in thought and took my hand in his. "Why did that have to change?"

"Well, maybe because university is harder than high school and more time consuming since we have more work," I said.

"I know," Jellal said. "But I've decided something: One day, whether it be next week or the week after, when we don't have a lot of work, I'm going to take you to the beach – just you and me. And it will be before the end of the month. That's a promise."

I kissed his cheek gently. "I look forward to that day."

There were a few minutes of comfortable silence as we walked along the beach at a leisurely pace, softly kicking the water and just enjoying the feeling of the cold, refreshing water.

"I miss the old days of high school, when we were young and wild and free," Jellal said out of the blue.

"We're still young and wild and free," I replied.

I took a glance at Jellal and he still didn't look convinced as he stared straight ahead. As a thought entered my mind, I slipped my hand out of my fiancé's and took a step away from him.

"I'll prove it to you. Watch this," I announced.

Then I ran slightly deeper into the sea where the water hit just below my knees. I started running wildly in circles and just random patterns. My arms were waving in the air above my head as I screamed and whooped with joy. I let my worries and fears fly away with the wind and deep into the ocean. I must've looked crazy but in my heart, I was a free bird.

"Come on!" I shouted to Jellal.

He let out a laugh as he joined me in dancing madly in the sea with our arms in the air. I grabbed his hands and we spun around in circles. When we started getting dizzy, we stopped and held each other close, trying to catch our breath back. My head was leaning on his shoulder as I stared out into the vast, blue sea. It was so beautiful.

"You're right, Erza," Jellal said and we pulled apart to stare into each other's eyes. "We're still young and as long as we have each other, everything's going to be fine."

He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. Our lips moved as one and it was like our hearts beat together as one. A shiver went down my spine and I knew it wasn't just from the cold wind. Our arms were wrapped around each other even after we finished the heated kiss.

"I love you," Jellal whispered, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

I smiled back at my fiancé, feeling nothing but happiness in this moment. "I love you too."

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