A/N- For AvaEobane. She asks me for so much (just kidding Ava-chan ~_^).

Here is the third installment of the Disgusting and It Girl thing. I hope you all enjoy, and one day, come to love this pairing as much as I do. I seriously doubt it though, they are my favorite pairing not only in all of Fairy Tail, but in all of the couples I ship from every anime I've ever watched/read. Enjoy! It is shorter then the others, though, so sorry about that. I tied it in with Animal, though. I'm so sneaky, lol.

For anyone that reads my other fics, new chapters should be out soon-ish, but I'm changing my update schedule to bi-weekly updates. I just don't have enough time in one week anymore.

Disclaimer- I'm not Hiro Mashima, and I don't own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters. If I did own Fairy Tail, not only would it SUCK (because let me just tell you, while I love to draw, I kind of… suck…), but Levy's hair would be WAAAAAAY less complicated.

If love was a game of Hide and Seek, neither Laxus or Cana would ever win. Neither one of them was willing to look beyond the obvious, for fear that if they searched deeply for what they wanted, the other would see what they were hiding. Love.

Neither one of them understood that the other one was doing the same thing the were, that the other one was forcing themselves to act fine, to pretend to be happy with what they had. Neither one of them knew that the other wanted the same thing they did, that the other one was as deeply in love with them as they were with the other. Neither one knew that what was happening in there relationship was changing the other, because if they thought about it, they would be forced to face the joke that was their 'relationship'.

Neither one noticed that the fact that Laxus was always hiding his feelings was starting to twist him inside. Since Laxus always had to be strong, he began to think that people who were weak had no place around him. He was jealous of every person that didn't have to stay strong constantly, to the point that he started to hate them. He didn't want to be around them anymore, and he didn't want them in his guild.

Neither one saw that the fact that Cana was always pretending she didn't love him was causing an actual addiction to alcohol. Sure, Cana loved her drinks, but she could always stop if she needed to. If she needed to be sober, it wasn't a problem, she could just stop, and when she was done with whatever it was, she could start up again. But as she spent more and more time pretending, she slowly started to spend more and more time with the only thing she didn't have to lie to. Alcohol.

Both wanted more, both wanted a relationship, an actual relationship, with loving words, with everyone knowing, where they made love, not fucked. But both loved the other one too much to say it. They were both scared that if they said it, they would lose the other. They were both scared that if the other one knew how attached they were, their 'relationship' would end, and they wouldn't even have the little they had of the other one. Silence became their best friend.

And as communication stopped playing, a new thing entered the game. Suspicion. Both suspected the other of hiding things from them, even if they didn't know what it was. Their dates became less and less frequent, until they stopped altogether. When they ran into each other at bars, or on quests, they stopped saying hello. And at the guild, where they both shared a secret, the secret changed. At first, it had been a secret club, fun to be in, and fun to keep. But the secret became a burden they each longed to share. It wasn't fun anymore.

Their relationship continued to change. They had started out as friends, then had been Friends With Benefits. But they were losing their friendship. It became a series of one night stands. They didn't talk anymore, even though both craved it. They both wanted the real thing. Both of them wanted the other to love them the way they each loved them.

They wanted the other to love them. They needed the other to love them. But both were too scared of losing what little tiny bit they had left of the other to search for love, to realize that the other one loved them.

And one day, sex left the game too.

Occasionally, one of them would glance at the other from across the guild and wish that one day, there would be a chance, a situation, where they could regain a little of what they had. They both knew what they wanted.

And one day, a little thing called hope entered the game.

It was the day of the Fantasia parade, and Cana had gone home to cry. And there he was, sitting in her living room chair, waiting for her to come home.

"Laxus-" she started before he stopped her with a finger to her lips.

"I know," he sighed.

Suspicion had entered the game once again, but this time, in a good way. They both began to suspect how the other one felt. They both began to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the other one loved them. That maybe, just maybe, they weren't alone in their feelings.

But the next morning, when Cana walked Laxus to the door, neither one said anything about it. And yes, it was for fear, but not fear of losing the other one. It was the fear that if they each knew how the other one felt, their separation would hurt all the more. That if they knew for sure, they might not survive until they saw each other again.

And sure, love was a game of Hide and Seek, but soon, both would be willing to come out of their hiding places and see what was obviously there.

The other one, seeking their love.