gym crush - n. dragneel

eleven and 1/2

a knock on the door makes kurenai emerge from her room, smiling as she opens the door to see erza.

"hi sweetheart."

"hi!"

"you have everything we need for your hair? i brought snacks since it'll take awhile."

"you're the cutest, thank you."

when kurenai told erza she would be taking the box braids out of her hair to prep for her next style, erza was eager to see the process. she thought kurenai's hair was beautiful and was interested to see anything she did with it.

the two settled in the living room, kurenai sitting on a few pillows between erza's legs while erza perched on the couch.

"okay, so you cut the end, right about here, and then just start unbraiding. once you get to the end of one i'll show you how to comb out the root."

"okay." erza nods curtly, making kurenai giggle at her focus.

kurenai switches on the latest episode of 90 day fiancé, the two of them bonding over talking shit about the various corny couples featured on the show.

there's comfortable silence in the room, kurenai's hands expertly undoing her braids and erza moving much slower, caution evident in each of her movements.

"oh, i'm so sorry! did that hurt?!"

"huh?"

"there was a piece of hair that was stuck in the braid and it pulled kinda hard when i got it undone." the shame in erza's voice makes kurenai turn to face her, pulling her into a quick kiss.

"it's not my hair silly, if it pulls i won't feel it. and i've been doing my own hair for years, i'm not tender headed."

"are you sure? i don't wanna hurt you."

"you could never." erza breaks into a blush as kurenai shoots her a wink, both of them going back to unbraiding.

"no (y/n) today?" erza glances around the apartment, noticing no signs of you.

"she's at the gym with natsu. she finally asked him to workout with him so they might be there forever."

"i wish they'd get together already, i've never seen natsu this happy."

"i think she wants to, she's just terrified of getting hurt again."

"i can understand that. i share some of her fears there."

"what do you mean?"

"i've never been cheated on, so to speak, but the last relationship i was in left a lot of damage for me."

"what happened? if you don't mind me asking?"

"it's not a problem. we were pining over each other for a long time, like from the time we were children. we were in the same group home for a long time before makarov adopted me. but, the staff there were especially abusive to him and manipulated him in ways that just... really fuck with a kid that age."

kurenai nods, pausing from her hair and moving to sit next to erza, listening intently.

"and as we grew up, he would kind of just show up and shower me with attention, and then disappear without a word. and that went on for years. he'd always make me feel so special when he came back, but he always had excuses like he didn't have a phone or his got cut off because he wasn't paying it, just stupid things. and for awhile i put up with it because i felt like i was living this mysterious relationship like something out of a romance novel. but, things happened and it turned out i was just like a convenience thing for whenever he was around. and as much as it hurt, i knew i deserved better so i cut him off."

kurenai's face softens, watching erza stare off into space with a faraway look in her eyes.

"erza?"

"hm?"

"you'd never be just a convenience thing to me. you know that right?"

erza gulps, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.

"can you promise me that?" her voice comes out barely above a whisper, unable to meet kurenai's eyes.

"i promise that you're so much more than that to me. you're everything, and i feel so lucky to be the one to give you the world the way you deserve."

her words make a few tears slip down erza's cheeks, kurenai wrapping her arms around here.

"oh, baby come here."

"ithinkiloveyou." erza mumbles into her chest, making kurenai's heart flutter.

"i think i love you too."

——

cute fluffy side plot chapter before we get into angst :)

buckle up bbys