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Enjoy this well-needed 2000 word chapter! :3

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~Jessie's P.O.V.~

The next couple days went by in a flash.  Of course Sting was suspicious throughout the entire week, but I managed to stall the explanation.  I was also relieved when Axel wasn't in any of my other classes, however Wyt seemed to be a bit out of it for the entire week.  Just as I turned off the oven, I heard a groan behind me.

"Morning Spiky-head," I giggled when I saw Sting trudge into the kitchen.  I frowned though when I thought he looked a bit out of it. "You didn't sleep too good?" I asked worriedly.

"N-no, it was good.." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.  "Just still a bit out of it.." He yawned and mumbled, "Don't worry, I'll be good by the time we get to school." 

I was still a bit worried, but I didn't want to pry so I just smiled and joked,  "I know it's Friday, but you don't have to act tired already."

"Mmm..."  All he did was mumble as he dragged himself to the fridge and got out a carton of orange juice.  I handed him his plate of bacon and eggs I had just finished cooking, and he took a glass cup from the dishwasher and plopped down onto a seat on the dining table.  A frown was still plastered on my face as I set down my plate right next to him.  My eyes widened in surprise when I saw him open the container of orange juice and poured the citric juice onto his bacon.

"O-oi!!" I stammered, grabbing ahold of the carton before he ruined his breakfast...even more.

"Eh? Oh, oops..." he muttered, blinking a couple times before realizing he poured onto the wrong place.

"What's wrong with you today? Are you feeling okay?" I asked as I poured a glass of orange juice for him.

"I already said I'm fine Jessie," he insisted before he took ahold of a cup and sipped into it.

"Uh-huh, that's what you say when you take someone else's grape juice," I cocked an eyebrow at him.  I was a bit upset that he had drank into my grape juice, but I held back those feelings as I knew that he seemed off.  His eyes grew wide and he spat it out the purple liquid.  "And now I have to clean that up or else it's going to be a permanent stain on the floor," I sighed, stuffing the rest of my breakfast into my mouth and glancing at Sting, who gave me a sheepish smile.  I rolled my eyes and ripped a couple paper towels.

"Here, I'll help you," he said, probably feeling the guilt of watching me clean up his mess, but I held out a hand in front of his face to stop him.

"I got it," I said firmly. "Go back to eating your breakfast."

"But--"

"GO."  A shudder went down his spine as I gave him a dark glare.  Gulping, he slowly sat down and took a bite of his orange juice-drenched eggs. My frown deepened as I saw that he looks paler than normal and his eyes were a bit droopy. Once I was cleaning up the mess, I threw the wet towels away and washed my hands. After drying them, I walked up to him and felt his forehead without his permission. I could feel him tense up at my touch, but I didn't say anything nor really cared.

"H-hey, what are you doing..?" Sting finally got the courage to look up at me and ask.

"You don't feel like you have a fever.." I mumbled to myself, ignoring his question.

"I haven't been sick for a long time!" he huffed, pushing my hand away from him.

"You sure are acting like you have one," I grumbled, but it was a sincere statement.

"I heard that."

"Aww, your hearing still works," I pouted in a fake way.

"Yeah, so sorry for you," he muttered, giving me a scornful look before standing up and putting his dishes away. I had to admit that I was getting more and more concerned when I saw his legs wobble a bit as he stood up, but I decided to respect Sting (shocker) and not mention it.

Once he was in his school uniform and I had clipped on my mom's clip and locket, we both put on our shoes and went down to the lobby of Saber Cavern.

"Morning Jessie," Grandfather greeted as he read a newspaper from behind the check-in counter.

"Mornin'," I greeted him back and headed for the double glass doors that showed the bus pulling up.

"Good morning...Sting," Grandfather looked up from his newspaper and looked at Sting with a raised eyebrow.

"Morning.." Sting quickened his pace and stood behind me. I rolled my eyes.

"You don't look well, which is saying something," Grandfather sneered.

"Uh...thanks.." he said slowly. He noticed too huh? I thought in my head.

"We're heading off," I said, pushing Sting away from me and walking towards the doors. "See ya."

"Bye, and don't expect me to help!" Grandfather waved and got back to his newspaper. Sting was confused as to what he meant, but I just told him it was nothing and silently reminded myself to get revenge later. Once I got onto the bus, I went all the way down the aisle, glaring at the ex-boyfriend of Minerva when I passed him. I had to admit, I liked seeing his scared reaction whenever I do that.

"Morning Yukino," I smiled to her and sat down on the empty seat next to her.

"Ohayo Jessie-san," she smiled back.

"No -san," I reminded her.

"Hai hai.." she giggled, but it faded away when she saw Sting drag his feet down the aisle. "Ano, is Sting-san okay?" She frowned as she watched him go by. "He looks a little pale."

"That's what I thought too, but he didn't have a fever, I checked." I sighed.

"That's odd then.."

"Um, Sting, where's your backpack?" Rogue frowned when he plopped into the seat next to him.

"Aw crap, forgot my backpack!" he slammed the palm of his hand to his forehead. Various groans, including my facepalm, were heard and seen as he ran down the aisle and out of the bus.

~🚌A Bus Ride Later..🚌~

Once the bus stopped at the school's curb, everyone poured of it, some people giving a glare to Sting before hopping off. I thanked the bus driver and apologized for the delay before I  got off as well, Yukino following me soon after. Orga and Rufus already went ahead, so Sting was just talking to his emo friend, me and Yukino behind the two of them. I had also learned this week that Rogue was a Shadow Dragon Slayer, which is why they're best friends. I still haven't seen his exceed yet, but I get plenty of cute descriptions from Yukino.

"I'd honestly be surprised if someone could be cuter than wittle Wector~," I said in a childish tone, my head fantasizing a very kawaii Lector image (picture).

"Well, Frosch-sama is definitely kawaii," Yukino smiled brightly. "I think it's so cute how Rogue-sama doesn't know nor care about what gender he or she is."

"How would you know that about Rogue?" I smirked as I saw her face slowly flush red.

"E-er, um.." she stuttered, only making my smirk go wider.

"You have it bad for him don't you?"

"N-no! I-I just.."

"Yes you do."

"N-NO!"

"Yes." 

"N-no! It's just.."

"Stop lying."

At that moment she caved in and mumbled, "O-okay fine..maybe I do.." I let out a tiny squeal as they were still in front of us and put an arm around her shoulder. I knew I was totally acting like Mira, but I didn't care.

"I ship it. I ship it bad," I laughed.

"J-Jessie!" her face was a pure shade of red by now, only making me laugh harder.

"The shy girl and the emo. It's just yes!" I fangirled.

"I-I told you this on your first day didn't I??"

"I know you did, but I didn't think you had it this bad!" I poked her arm playfully.

"J-Jessie! He's in front of us.." she tried to hide her face as I glanced over to the two "Twin Dragons" conversing."B-besides! What about you and Sting??"  I opened my mouth to protest, but I then realized that I was in a similar situation as her, except for the fact that I actually like Sting, but I definitely didn't want Sting knowing anything about that Stessie blog, so we were at stalemate.

"...Fair enough," I mumbled.  I saw a smile of both relief and satisfaction creep onto her lips.

"Well, I'm going to have to get going now.  See you at lunch?"  I nodded and waved as she ran towards the entrance.  My smile came back however when I saw her face turn red again as she passed by Rogue, chuckling as I saw Yukino try to hide her blushing face and the red-eyed goth having a splash of pink on his cheeks as he watched her until he was out of his sight.

~Sting's P.O.V.~

I smirked at my gothic best friend as he watched Yukino enter the school.  "You liiiiiiiiike her~" I teased.

"Shut up," he mumbled, giving me a dark glare. "Don't make me remind you of the drinking challenge, which by the way you never told me what happened after that." 

"Well, uh..." I scratched the back of my neck while it was his turn to smirk.

"Something happened huh?" 

"N-no!" I stuttered.

"Oh yeah? What happened then after Lector dragged your sorry drunk ass back to your place?" he smiled in a smug way as he waited for my answer.

"Um, well...I don't remember," I admitted.

"But surely Jessie must've told you something."

"Whaaaaat?? No!" I said, remembering back to when Jessie told me I...kissed her. 

"You're blushing," he smirked.

"Am not!" I growled, but I started to have a coughing fit. Rogue's smirk immediately faded into a frown.

"Hey, you don't seem so good," he said worriedly.

"You *cough* sound like Jessie," I muttered.

"Oh, so she knows you as much as I do." His smirk returned, but it wasn't as wide as before.

"Look, I'm fine," I glared at him. "So just drop it."

"If you say so," he shrugged. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

"Thank you," I sighed.

"No prob.  Not caring is my specialty." I laughed at his joke. 

"Ah..that's why we're best friends," I grinned.

"Mmm, I'm pretty sure we became friends because of our parents."

"Yeah, that too," I agreed as I opened the door to our school.  "So, shall we go sign up for the GMG?"

"Yup," he nodded, and so we both headed for the auditorium.  "Oh, and by the way, didn't we have this whole Jessie conversation on last Friday?"  I opened my mouth to laugh at him, but then I paused and stopped walking.

"WAIT YEAH WE DID!" I had my "aha" moment.  "WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS CONVERSATION FOR THEN?!"

"For my amusement," Rogue smirked.  A tick mark formed on my head and I felt ready to tackle him to the ground, but then my vision suddenly blurred and it felt hard to breathe. I stopped walking and put my hand to my head. Rogue stopped walking as well, a frown back on his face. "You sure you're okay?" he asked. I shook my head to clear the haze.

"Yeah, w-why wouldn't I be?" I muttered.

"Because you just spaced out on me for no reason," he crossed his arms. "You sick or something?"

"I'm just having an off day," I waved off. "I'm fine. Now, let's hurry up and sign up before the bell rings and I'm late to Art with Jessie. We're painting portraits today." I smirked, thinking about all the different sexy pictures that Jessie will draw of me.

"I bet you that whatever you're thinking of, it will not happen at Art, especially if you pair up with Jessie," Rogue rolled his eyes and started walking away.

I snapped out of my daydream and started running after him. "H-hey, wait up!"

~🎤Timeskip To Lunch🎤~

I halfheartedly poked my lunch as I partly payed attention to Minerva's story about her new shoes.  "And then, as I was just about to pick these sweet boots up, this girl has the nerve to take it, and I was like, 'BRUH,'" I partially heard her say.  But I thought I heard that there were a ton more, I contemplated in my head, but didn't have the guts to say anything.  Across from me, I glanced over to Orga and Rufus, who looked completely bored.  Beside me, Rogue looked like he was about to nod off.  I had to admit, I was going to as well, but she was my girlfriend and she would kill me even more so than my friends.  An inaudible sigh escaped my lips and I glanced at the table a couple feet to the right of me.  Jessie was chatting with Yukino while Wyt just quietly watched.  I didn't know why, but I had this deep need inside of me for her to be with us.

"Well," Orga sucked in a breath and stood up when Minerva wasn't looking.  "I can't stand listening to more shoe stories, so I'm gonna go get something. Rufus, you coming with?"

"Ah, yes please," Rufus tipped his feather hat and nodded.  "I have already memorized this story from the last 487 times she has said it."

"Sting, you coming? Or are you gonna stay and be a good boyfriend?" Orga snickered, making me glare at him, but I couldn't help but nod.

"I've heard this story so many times even a good boyfriend wouldn't stay this long," I groaned, standing up.

"Uh, Stingy-poo, where ya going?" I stood still and felt sweat drip down my forehead.  Orga and Rufus' eyes widened and even Rogue woke up from his short nap.

"E-er, we were just gonna go get some...stuff," I stammered.  Rufus tipped his hat over his eyes and Orga facepalmed.  I gave them a face that said "what was I supposed to say?!"

"Ah, okay then," Minerva said nonchalantly.  I blinked.

"R-really?" I sweatdropped.

"Yeah yeah yeah, hurry up and go so I can continue my story," she waved me off and started to continue her story.  I frowned, but decided to take this chance and walked away with Orga and Rufus.

~Jessie's P.O.V.~

As I talked with Yukino, I couldn't stop glancing over to Wyt every now and then. Ever since Axel came, she's been more distant to me than usual. I decided to gulp down my fears and spoke up.  "So how's Rose doing in FTH?" I asked Wyt.  She slightly jumped from the sound of my voice, but quickly looked back down to her food.

"Good," she muttered quietly. 

"Good," I said, not sure what else to say. It seemed like she was mad about something, but I truly didn't know what it could be. And then, it hit me.

"Is this about Axel?" I frowned. Her eyes lit up at the sound of that name, but only to be dimmed by the shadows of her hair.

"No," she responded quietly.

"You sure?"  We both stared right into each other's eyes, and I felt a little sorry for Yukino, who was the third party in this stare-off. She looked back and forth between the two of us, probably wanting to say something but couldn't find the words.

"A-ano, eto.." Yukino stammered, but we both didn't pay attention.

"Tch, whatever."  Wyt stood up from her seat and walked away.

"Wyt.." I said sadly.  I still remembered the times the three of us were so close, but those times were gone. That didn't mean I didn't want them back though.

"Ano...did you say Axel?" Yukino spoke up after we could no longer see Wyt.  I rubbed my eyes and looked over to Yukino.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"Well, it's just that I have a new boy by the name of Axel in some of my classes," she replied.  Her eyes widened not too soon after. "S-shimata! I forgot!" She started to search for something in her skirt pockets.

"What are you searching for?" I asked curiously.

"Axel-san came up to me in my science class," she explained. "He said he had seen me talking to you and wanted me to give you this if I saw you."  She fished out a neatly folded piece of white paper and handed it to me. I looked at it and frowned.  Why couldn't he have just given it to me during PE on Friday? I thought to myself.

"O-oh, he told me he didn't know how to approach you," Yukino added, answering my question.  She paused for a moment before asking, "Ne, y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but did something happen between you two?"  It felt as if time stopped as I was tempted to open the folded sheet of paper. However, because Yukino was talking to me, I decided it was best to not open it now.

"It's a long story," I sighed, gently but firmly putting the note into my pocket.  "Maybe one day I'll tell you, but right now I don't think I can, gomen."  Yukino smiled and shook her head.

"No, I completely understand," she grinned. "But, if you ever need me.."

"I'll know just who to go to," I finished, a grin forming on my lips. She nodded and we both shared a chuckle.

~Timeskip: End Of The Day~

"Ha! I aced that magic usage test!" I said triumphantly, feeling just a tad arrogant.

"No fair! It was a pop quiz!" Sting whined. We were both walking down the hall, heading towards the exit of the school.

"You're just complaining because you failed it," I giggled.

"Well yeah! It was a pop quiz!" he huffed. "Besides, you're all like child prodigy and stuff!"

"So what?" I smirked. " I am still allowed to ace quizzes." Sting just scoffed and crossed his arms. "Oh come on, you have to admit the look on Minerva's face when she saw I got a higher score than her was priceless," I reminded him, nudging him with my elbow. He avoided my gaze, but it was obvious he was suppressing a smile.

"Yeah, it was," he admitted. By now, we were already outside and now walking back to Saber Cavern. "Hey, I have a question," Sting asked after a couple minutes of walking. "What's it like? Knowing that you're a *cough cough* prodigy. " He had coughed near the end of his sentence.

"You don't have to fake cough," I scoffed. "At least I wasn't too arrogant about it."

"No, that wasn't...nevermind," he sighed. "Can you just...answer the question?" I frowned at him.

"Why do you need to know?"

"I just...I'm curious, that's all." He looked down and scratched the back of his neck. I smiled, and looked up into the blue sky.

"Well, I guess to you it would look cool, but sometimes it's such a pain," I answered. "But I told you that at the mall didn't I?"

"But, doesn't the pros cancel out the cons?" Sting insisted. "I mean, you get A+'s on everything, you're super strong, and you're loved by everybody." He looked down to the ground and kicked some of the smaller pebbles. "I bet your mom would be proud and your dad is proud."

"Of course they are Sting," my frowned deepened, "just like your mom and dad are of you." Sting let out a scoff and a chuckle at the same time.

"You don't know that. You don't even know my parents," he muttered.

"That may be true, but I'm sure they'd be proud of you no matter what you do," I insisted.

"Yeah, how would you know?" he snapped.

"Because that's how every parent feels, whether they show it or not!" I didn't know why, but the way he was acting was making me pissed.

"Oh, that's the kind of thing you'd think since you're such a good kid and all!" he growled.

I clenched my fists and yelled, "Well at least you can ask your parents since they're still around!" Sting's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. His put his hand to his mouth and started coughing.

"Sting?" My anger immediately vanished as I saw him taking huge deep breaths. It was then that I realized that his face was flushed red. I was under the impression that that was because he was getting infuriated, but it seemed more like something else...

"I..can't..breathe.." he wheezed.

"Sting? What's wrong?" I frowned as I slowly walked towards him. He tried to find a moment to talk, but his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed into my arms unconscious before he had a chance.

"Sting!" I shouted, shaking him back and forth, but he was knocked out cold. I knelled onto the sidewalk and placed the palm of my hand onto his forehead, almost immediately pulling back at how hot it was. It's hotter than when Natsu's angry! I panicked.  I looked up at my surroundings to get a good look at where we were at the moment.  We're not too far from Saber Cavern.  Perhaps if I run I can make it before it's too dark. I stood up and picked Sting up.  A-ah, he's heavier than before.

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Hi minna-san! I have a favor to ask of you all.

I rarely read my own books except to see what I wrote last chapter (I'm so bad at planning 😓), so many times there will be things or ages or events that don't connect (say, there is still reminiscent of Jessie's mother dying when she was 6 even though I changed it to 12). If you see any of this, please tell me.

Any help is greatly appreciated!