HAPPY BIRTHDAY cheschire-kaat! EVERYONE GO CHECK OUT HER ARTWORKS ON TUMBLR SHE IS AMAZING.

I HOPE YOU HAD A VERY WONDERFUL DAY YESTERDAY! ANYWAYS, HERE'S MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT!

"Okay," says Natsu. "You'll hurt your neck if you crane it any further."

Jellal whips his head back. He hadn't realised that Natsu had noticed him. At Natsu's smirk, Jellal grins sheepishly.

"So, who is this chick?" Natsu asks crudely.

Jellal sputters. "Natsu!" he chides.

"What? Must be a looker if she's caught your fancy." Natsu grabs a towel and wipes down the counter. He stacks up all the cups on his end and adds, "Need any help with her?"

As Jellal chokes on air, Natsu takes off his apron and folds it up. "Time's up. I'm calling it a day, 'cause I unlike some people, have got a date." He claps Jellal on the back and blows through the door with a cheery wave.

Jellal is glad that his friend has left the coffee shop. A second more and Jellal would have certainly been left questioning his own existence.

"Excuse me!"

Stirred out of his stupor, Jellal looks down at the girl who isn't even half his height on the other side of the counter. She has blue hair – he can't really call it odd because he had the same shade of hair and he cursed his blueberry mop every single morning – and he gently tells her little baby-face, "You sure you're in the right place?"

The little girl scoffs at him, and snaps, "I'm nineteen – even though I don't look it. And I have three essays to hand over by the crack of dawn. Just give me something that will wake me up."

Jellal stares wide-eyed before shooing her off to a corner of the shop. "Just sit here and I'll make you something nice. Okay?"

The girl nearly screams, "I don't want nice, I want the blood of my professors!"

"Yeah, that's nice," Jellal mutters.

He starts on her order, only slightly reaching over to glance at the florist across the street.

The door to the shop opens and all Jellal can see is red.

The pretty girl from the florist is here.

All he sees is red because the pretty girl's carrying a bouquet of red roses and her hair is the brightest scarlet he's ever seen in his life.

She looks around, noticing the few customers scattered around and seeing him behind the counter, walk up to him. "Hello," she says.

Jellal is nearly dead at this point. It takes every inch of his willpower to not crumple to the ground. "Hello," he answers. And by sheer luck, he remembers his training, and asks her, "Would you like to order something?"

The girl smiles at him – dead, definitely dead – and tells him, "Ah, no, I'm here on a delivery from Florate. Somebody ordered a dozen roses to be delivered to Crème Sorciere." She looks at the tag and reads, "Addressed to a Mr. Gray? Oh, don't worry, it's already paid for."

Something clicks in the back of Jellal's mind. He doesn't know what it is, but he's sure that it'll come back to bite him in the ass later.

"Oh, then it's probably for my co-worker. Gray is his boyfriend. I'll take it."

She hands the bouquet over and they briefly touch hands. She smiles once more at him as she leaves.

Jellal quietly dissociates.

When Natsu arrives for his shift, he immediately asks, "Did the red-haired chick come by?"

And finally, Jellal understands. Natsu had sent her.

"Yes, she did, thank you very much. The roses are in the back. Tell Gray I said hi – I'm leaving." Jellal just wants to get out of there. It suddenly feels like he's suffocating.

"Oh, come on, Jellal, don't be so pissy. You finally got to meet her!"

"Yeah, and I didn't even ask her name!" Jellal yells as he walks out of Crème Sorciere.

Jellal wallows in self-pity the next day at his shift. He still stares at the florist, hoping to spy the pretty red-haired girl. He can't get her out of his mind, and though he knows that it's stupid pining over a girl that he barely knows, he just can't stop wondering about the possibilities.

"Good afternoon, Jellal!" A cheery voice shakes him out of his moodiness. He glances up to see another pink haired co-worker – as if one wasn't enough – and tells her while looking at the clock, "You're late again, Meredy. This is the third time this week."

Meredy bounces on the balls of her feet. "I know, I know, but my cat wasn't feeling well, so I had to take her to the vet."

Jellal nods at her excuse and throws her apron across the counter. "Get dressed already," he barks.

As Meredy passes him, she softly whispers, "Heard about your new girlfriend."

Meredy chuckles at Jellal's nonsensical sputtering.

A week later, when Jellal steps in for his shift at the coffee shop, he is – to say the least – shocked to see the redhead sitting in a corner. He's shocked enough to turn right around and walk out.

He doesn't get more than a few steps away from the shop before his brain kicks in and starts yelling at him. If he went back in, he could talk to her!

He doesn't waste another second. When he crashes into the shop door, he sees Meredy and Natsu both smirking at him. Oh fuck, they saw me turn tail and run.

He reins his desire to even glance at the girl and marches stiffly behind the counter and to the backroom to change. When he comes out, he sees his co-workers outright laughing at him. He tries to ignore them and instead fixes his eyes on her.

Her hair is still bright as ever, and she's currently munching on one of their most-requested slices of strawberry cake. She's red all over, Jellal thinks.

Natus nudges him, and Jellal looks over. A plate of the very same cake that the girl is eating is pushed into his hands, Natsu winking at him. "She asked for it a little while ago. Now, go on," he adds, shooing Jellal away.

Jellal gulps down his fear and sets out. When he gets to her, he says, "Hi again."

"Oh hello!" Thank the guy above, she seems to recognise him, at least. "You have my cake!" Oh, sweet Jesus, she had frosting on her chin.

He gestures to her chin. "You have a little…something."

She wipes the other side of her chin and asks, "Did I get it?"

Jellal tells himself to be brave. And then he gently raises his hand and wipes the smudge of frosting off.

He can feel himself blushing. He hopes it isn't too obvious. He hears Natsu whistle, which is also when he realises that his face is quite probably the colour of the pretty girl's hair.

He tries to shake it off and says, "Welcome to Crème Sorciere. I'm Jellal."

She giggles. "Yeah, I figured," she answers, pointing to his nameplate.

Stupid, stupid Jellal. He could kick himself right now.

"I'm Erza," she says, and Jellal finally has a name to accompany her face.

And Jellal doesn't know what possessed him to say it, but he blurts out, "Your hair is the best thing I've ever seen," and immediately regrets it.

Erza is taken aback, but she handles it gracefully and laughs. Jellal can feel himself going red again.

She thanks him, and Jellal bows his head in embarrassment. "This cake is heavenly. Do you make it yourselves?" Erza has this curious glint in her eye, and Jellal finds it all too fascinating.

"Ah, no, all our confectionaries are made by Minerva. She comes in early so you might not have actually seen her." Minerva was a tall woman with a penchant for baking – and she didn't let them forget it. Jellal still had bruises from when he was on the other side of her rolling pin.

He shakes the memory away and gets himself back on track. He catches something moving out of the corner of his eye. When he turns around, he sees Natsu gesturing wildly at Erza and him, and pointing towards the door. Jellal gets the gist, and luckily Erza gets up at just the right moment. "My break is nearly over, so I need to be getting back pretty soon. I just need to pay for this, and I'll be on my way." She starts toward the counter, but Jellal stops her.

"It's on the house." he declares. From behind him he can hear Natsu grumble and Meredy cutting him off, but Jellal determinedly pushes on. "In exchange for letting me walk you back."

Jellal gives himself a hundred on this exam. He doesn't understand how she could have finished her second slice of cake so fast. Erza really loved cake, huh.

(Jellal mentally notes to ask Minerva to bake an extra batch tomorrow.)

Erza smiles at him. "I might just take you up on that offer," she says. "Now, come on," she adds and walks briskly to the door.

Jellal skips in joy and nearly falls over.

Later, when Jellal comes back into the coffee shop, Natsu and Meredy nearly pounce on him for the details. When Jellal grins and exclaims, "I got a date!" Meredy bursts into tears and Natsu thumps him on the back.

Jellal spends at least an hour picking out his clothes. In retrospect, he knows that it shouldn't have bothered him as much, but he wants a second date so badly that he's willing to do anything.

Erza has an early shift at Florate so they'd agreed that Jellal would come by to pick her up in time. Except when he arrived at the shop, flowers of every shape, size and colour blocked his way.

"Erza?" He yells over the mountain of petals on the floor. "Are you in here?"

He hears someone answering but it's too muffled for him to make it out until finally, he sees a lone figure emerge from between the bundles of lilacs and tulips.

"Jellal, I am so sorry to say this but-"

Jellal cuts in. "Let me guess, there aren't enough employees so you have to cover another shift?"

"So I can't make it to our date," she finishes, nodding.

"I don't mind. I could help if you want, actually." Jellal claps himself on the back for his genius plan. "My shift at the coffeehouse is in the afternoon, so we have plenty of time."

Erza throws her hands in the air. "Seriously? You mean it? You're in luck because all I have to do today is deliver."

Jellal blinks. "Great, let's get going."

"Just let me get Gajeel to load up all the deliveries in the van. You can wait out front."

Erza waves at him away and Jellal thinks that maybe there's still a chance for him to win her over.

Erza is an insane driver.

Jellal clutches his seat, brings his knees together and screams, "Slow down!", to which Erza laughs maniacally.

"I'll drive and you deliver," Erza says. "Just tell them you're from Florate and hand the deliveries over once they sign for it." She bends a curve so sharply that Jellal hits his head against the window. "Thankfully, we make all our customers pay in advance so we don't have to waste time. And so that they don't skimp out," she adds, and Jellal doesn't think it's possible but she makes the little van go even faster.

Jellal looks over at her. Her red hair streams behind her in a long ponytail, and she's wearing a white button-down along with a skirt. Honestly, Jellal's never seen a sight more adorable.

Now if only he could do something about her driving.

The first stop they make is to an apartment not far from where they work. Erza finds the delivery and pushes it into his hands. Jellal thinks the apartment looks familiar but it's only when the recipient opens her door that he realises why.

"Minerva?"

"Jellal? Why are you delivering flowers? Did you quit Crème Sorciere?"

Jellal jumps back, the old memory of Minerva and her rolling pin bubbling up. "Ah, no, I'm on a date, but she has a couple of deliveries to work through."

"Oh, are you going out with Erza?"

Surprised, Jellal nods. Remembering why exactly he was in front of her in the first place he quickly pushes the bouquet into her hands. Jellal squeaks out "Delivery from Mr. Gajeel, thank you for purchasing from Florate!", and hightails it out of there. He doesn't turn around to see Minerva's grin.

He jumps into Erza's minivan pulls his seat belt taut and tells her, "Pedal to the metal, Erza!" Erza obliges all too gladly.

In retrospect, Jellal wonders if he could have phrased that differently.

If there's one thing that Jellal's learned, it's that the customers of Florate are an eclectic bunch.

They had to deliver to a painter, a mother of two toddlers, and a little girl all who lived in the same building. Not to mention he also had to deliver to that girl – who still had the most adorable baby-face ever – who once came in asking for their strongest drink and the blood of her professors. Her name is Wendy, Erza tells him, and she's a regular customer at Florate.

As they visit each place, Erza tells him more about her work and about each customer. Jellal is surprised to learn that even though she hasn't been working at Florate for long, she still had experience by way of a botanical degree. When she speaks, Jellal can feel that she loves her work, however tiring it may be, and Jellal can't help but fall for her a bit more.

He learns that strawberry cake is her favourite and that she looks forward to coming back to Crème Sorciere for more. Jellal chuckles at this, remembering her mad glint when she finished off the two slices of cake she had ordered that day.

At Erza's urging, Jellal talks a bit about himself too. Of how he needed the part-time job at the coffeehouse to support himself, and that he was studying at the nearby university for an astronomy degree. He speaks about his co-workers lovingly, because even though they drove him up the wall sometimes they were still some of the most caring people he knew.

And before he knows it, they've finished all the deliveries.

Erza calls her workplace to inform them she's done with her deliveries. Erza takes him to a park for the rest of their date, and when Jellal spies an ice-cream truck, Erza pulls him along to buy some. They sit on a park bench licking their ice-cream cones and start to spin stories for everyone they see.

"Look," Jellal points to an old man with a kitten in a basket. "He was on his way to adopt a puppy for his grandkid, but he saw the kitty and fell in love with it instead."

Erza looks at him with wide eyes. "Wow, that was great."

Jellal blushes a bit and says, "Thanks. Your turn."

Erza looks around for a while before she finds her target. "There," she says pointing, "That little girl with her parents." Jellal looks over and sees the happy family playing. He recognises them as the trio that often comes into the coffee shop. "The little girl wanted to go to the zoo, but the zoo is closed today, so her parents compromised with a trip to the park."

Jellal looks at her with awe. "That was nice," he says.

Erza looks up at him and grins. "Thanks," she answers. She has ice-cream on the corner of her mouth.

And Jellal knows that he is most probably going to get punched in the gut for it – perhaps working with Natsu has turned him masochistic – but he bends down, wipes her chin, and softly presses his mouth to hers. He pulls back after a moment, short enough that it doesn't seem awkward but also long enough to let her know that it wasn't an accident.

Erza is wide-eyed, and Jellal dejectedly wonders if he crossed a line before Erza pulls him down and kisses him like she means it.

When they let go of each other, Erza is smiling and Jellal is still not over the fact that just maybe, she could actually have feelings for him. Everything is surreal to him.

And when Jellal grins at her and asks her for another date, Erza's laughter feels like something even the stars couldn't replicate.