Hey! Thanks for checking out my story :D This is my first Evergreen/Elfman story as well as my first Fairy Tail story. I am a huge fan so I hope I do it justice. The cover photo is from the Fairy Tail anime. I hope you enjoy :D!

Blushing isn't manly. It's about as far from manly as you can get. So then why did Elfman, the manliest of men, keep blushing? The answer was simple. Evergreen. It seemed as long as she was around, he couldn't help but blush.

The first time he remembered it happening he was around thirteen years old, she was fifteen. He was a shy, mumbling kid. She was as smart and mature as a grown up. At that time he wasn't very strong. He couldn't do full body take overs like his sisters could. So instead in his free time he liked to help the woman who attended the bar before Mirajane took over. He was a good cook, so he would help her out if she just needed a hand. He would sometimes watch the bar and get customers drinks while she was busy or on break. It was relaxing and he was good at it. He always tried to start up nice small talk with his fellow guild members, so when the closed off girl from the Thunder God Tribe sat down he took it as a chance to get to know her better.

"Hey. my name's Elfman, what can I get for you?" he greeted with a smile. She looked over and regarded him coolly, it wasn't a quick once over, more like a critical analysis of a specimen. It was more than uncomfortable. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and it snapped her back to reality,

"Evergreen, Water." she snapped before whipping out her ornate fan and breezing herself with it while turning her scrutinizing eyes to the other members of the guild.

"Okay, that was awkward" He thought while turning around to pour out her drink. "Maybe I should ask her about her fan, maybe she'd like that." He turned around, gaining her attention by clearing his throat and setting her drink in front of her.

"That's a really nice fan ya got there."

"Of course it is."

"Did Laxus give it to you?" That just earned him a steely glare.

"How old are you, little boy?"

"I-I'm thirteen." he stuttered out

"I'm not really into little kids, so if you wouldn't mind, leave me alone." she told him straight-faced.

"Oh, I'm so*crack*rry." Half way through speaking his voice cracked. This had been happening to him more and more recently, he asked the older boys from the guild about it and they just said it was normal, he was just going through puberty and his voice was changing. He typically just coughed and shrugged it off, but unfortunately for him, Evergreen had stopped mid-drink and stared at him in shock.

"Did your voice just drop?" she asked incredulously, holding her fan in front of her mouth in a poor attempt to stifle her laughter.

"No! I-It was an accident" He placed his hand over his mouth as her laughter became louder and unconcealed.
"Wow! I've had a lot of men flirt with me, but never has one induced puberty just to try to impress me!" she said clutching her side

He felt his face go completely red.

"Awwh, is someone embarrassed?" she cooed out as he ran to the back room so no-one saw him blushing. He hated her.

Lisanna is dead. He killed his sister. His beautiful baby sister. He has been sitting under the bridge for over a day now. It was too embarrassing to face anyone, especially Mirajane. How could he ever face them again? Fairy Tail was about comradere, togetherness. He had murdered one of their own, a child, his sister. He could feel bile threatening to come up. Shame and Despair. That's all he could think of right now. He would lay there forever, he would never go back, just sit under the bridge and rot. Exactly what he deserved.

He turned his head when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He saw that Evergreen girl come and sit near him before turning and actually taking notice of him. They had barely talked at all the entire time they'd been at the guild together, but he had seen Evergreen pick Lisanna up one time when Lisanna had tripped near her, Evergreen smiled at the girl. She probably came to tell him how disgusting he was, how much he deserved to die. Evergreen never held her tongue. She would tell him the truth. Maybe she would kill him herself, turn him into stone forever. He could only wish.

"What're you doing down here?" he asked, sitting up, trying to gain some semblance of composure.

"This is where I read. You stole my spot." she motioned to where he had been laying.

"Why aren't you with your sis-Mirajane." she obviously tried not to say sister to him. He knew.

"She hates me." he said monotonously

"What?"

"I killed her sister. She probably never wants to see me again."

"Wow, I didn't think you would be as stupid as you looked. You sure proved me wrong." she spat, glaring at him.

"Excuse me?" he turned to face her.

"All you are doing is sitting here under a bridge miles away from home, while your sister is at the guild balling her eyes out. Yes, you killed Lisanna. From what I heard your 'take over magic' failed you and you lost control. It may have been your body, but it wasn't really YOU that landed the blow. Mirajane already lost one sibling, don't take away the only one she has left." She said as if it was the most obvious revelation ever. He sat there stunned.

"Bu-But I don't know what to say to her." he mumbled, avoiding her piercing gaze.

"There is no one in that guild who understands the loss of Lisanna Strauss more than you, her brother. Your presence would comfort her more than anyone's words. Reassurance that she still has you."

"Bu-"

"And if you're worried that the other guild members hate you, look at it this way. It's either: Elfman accidentally killed Lisanna or Elfman Killed one sister, abandoned the other, and killed himself." she glared at him, "It's your choice."

"Thank you, Evergreen. I don't even know what to say." He stood up from the patch of grass he had been on, taking a few steps towards the direction of the guild.

"You don't need to tell me crap, go to Mirajane, she needs you. Oh, but stop acting so pathetic. Would it kill you to act like a man, you're such a baby." she criticized while making her way towards the spot he had just vacated.

He felt his face go red. "Baby?". No. Never again. From this day forth, he would be a man.

Laxus was gone. Everyone in the guild was coming down from the excitement of the Fantasia parade and relaxing from the exhaustion they still held from the battle. Everyone was sitting merrily around chatting with their friends, everyone except Evergreen. She took Laxus's leave harder than the rest. Ever since it happened she just sat at the bar, sullenly staring at the counter, drink in hand. The only thing she would say was, "Give me another one." Mirajane had tried to cheer her up with small talk but it just resulted in getting ignored.

As the night wore on, the amount of people in the guild started to dwindle. Evergreen just remained where she was.

"psssst Elfman!" He heard a hushed whisper. He looked around the guild trying to locate the noise.

"Over here!" He turned to where the noise was and saw Mirajane beckoning him over to the bar.

"What's up, Mira?" he said upon reaching her.

"I need you to do something for me." she said avoiding his gaze.

"Okay, what?"

"I-I need you to take Evergreen home." she mumbled

"What? Why?" that was completely unexpected.

"She's had WAY too much to drink, I want to make sure she gets home safe." she explained

"I'll help, it's manly to help a comrade in need." he responded with a smile. Mirajane perked up and gave him a radiant grin.

"Thank you! She lives in room 48 at Fairy Hills!" she explained while making her was towards the drunken mage.

"Hey, Evergreen? Elfman is going to escort you home now okay?" she explained, as if talking to a child.

The fairy looked up and glared holes in Elfman, had she not had her glasses on, he's sure he would've been turned into stone.

"I don't need his help. I don't need anyone's help. I can get home perfectly fine myself." she spat angrily, throwing a hefty wad of cash onto the counter as she got up. For the first five feet her strides were filled with determination, she looked pretty sober... and then she just stopped. Elfman took a few steps to meet her and turned his head to get a better look of her face. It was greener than her dress.

"See you tomorrow Mira!" he shouted over his shoulder and he swiftly picked up Evergreen and ran outside. He quickly located the nearest bush and set her down in the nick of time as she started to throw up. He wasn't sure what to do, so he just held the few strands of hair that weren't in her sideways ponytail. She stopped after a minute, but didn't make any move to get up. It wasn't until he saw her shoulders shaking that he knew something was wrong.

"Evergreen?"

As soon as the name left his mouth, she was up and desperately trying to wobble away from him. He grabbed her wrist as gently as he could and turned her to face him. It wasn't a surprise to see the tears rolling down her cheeks but it didn't make it any less sad. He didn't know what to do, so he just wiped them away with the pad of his finger. She looked away and just walked down the road to Fairy Hills, not retracting away from him. It was nice, even if every now and then she would accidentally step on his foot.

"Why are you doing this?" she broke the silence.

"My teammates and I just tormented the guild and less than a day later you're holding my hair and walking me home. You don't make any sense, or are you just going to get your revenge once there are no witnesses are around?" she asked, no will to fight evident in her voice. It bothered him that she really thought that is the type of man he is.

"A true man doesn't let a friend go him when they're in a vulnerable state."

"I am not vulnerable!" she shouted pushing him away to gain distance before straightening her dress and standing up straight to look him in the eye.

"I am Evergreen, The True Titania, Member of the Thunder God Tribe!" she said, her voice trembling on the last part.

"When Laxus comes back-" Evergreen couldn't contain the sobs anymore, and she just turned away from him and continued down the road to the, now visible, Fairy Hills.

"Evergre-"

"When he comes back *sob* my team will be even more powerful than before!" she shouted before stopping, allowing him to catch up to her. When he reached her he set a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Ya know, it's okay to be sad. I know your team means a lot to you. Everyone at the guild does. It will take sometime before the trust is completely regained for you guys, but no one hates you. A member of the guild is gone. It's sad for everyone, more for you three than anyone. No one thinks less of you for being upset. You don't have to hold it in, it isn't manly." As soon as he was done he felt her do a 180 into his arms, stretching her arms up to lock them around his neck. She was hugging him.

"Thank you, Elfman." The gratitude was accompanied by a kiss to his jaw, she was aiming for the cheek, but that's as high as she could get.

Yet again, she had made him blush.

"Elfman and I are getting Married."

Even her dirty handed trick for Mirajane made him blush. This wasn't manly at all.

After the Tenrou Island stint, they had realized they liked working with each other. They were a good team, so they had been accepting more and more job requests together. There was one job that ended up being an overnight gig, so they camped out in the forest. As the night had dwindled on they sprawled out on the grass and Evergreen was the first to fall asleep. He would've never taken her for a cuddler.

He had just been laying there, trying to relax, when all the sudden he felt a delicate hand drape over his chest.

"Ever?"

Getting no response, he turned his head to get a better look at her face to see what was up. She was asleep, she looked so peaceful. He had never seen her look so relaxed. He softly took off her glasses and set them above their heads. Then he removed his arm from behind his head and moved it so she could use it as a pillow, which she readily accepted. He stayed there like that for a long time, watching her sleep, playing with her hair. He almost was alseep when he felt her body press closer to his, and he was fully awake when he heard a throaty moan come from the sleeping woman.

"Elfman, please" she moaned into his ear.

This time the blush on his face wasn't from embarrassment.

It was Valentine's Day in the guild. There was so much romance in the air he was practically chocking on it. Gajeel had spent probably months making a small iron charm on a necklace to give Levy. The charm was of a book and it had their names inscribed on it. She had been absolutely ecstatic. Happy had caught practically a whole oceans worth of fish to give to Carla, who appreciated it all, but declined the actual fish. Macao gave Cana a barrel of beer with a heart on it. She downed it in minutes, but not before offering him a drink, which for her is a pretty big deal. Juvia...did her normal Juvia things for Gray. All while Elfman sat at a table chatting with Lisanna.

"So big bro, what are you and Evergreen doing for Valentine's Day?" she asked innocently, causing him to spit out his drink.

"What? Why did you say that?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Oh, I just thought she was waiting for you to take her somewhere. She's been staring at you for a really long time." she said motioning to the bar

This felt all too familiar. He turned around and sure enough Evergreen was seated at the bar glaring holes through his skull. She scoffed before turning around to face the wall again. Elfman turned back to face his grinning sister.

"What should I do?" he asked

"Ask her out! There is no better day!" she exclaimed. She was way too excited about this.

"I'm not prepared, I don't have anything, that's not manly." he explained

"That's fine, you could pick her up some before-." she stopped mid-sentence, looking behind him before returning her gaze back to him.

"Gotta go big bro!" she rushed before taking off. He turned around to see what could've possibly made her leave in such a hurry and ended up being face to face with Evergreen. A very stern faced, determined Evergreen.

"Hey Ever." he greeted but was immediately cut off.

"I want to go out with you tonight." she quickly muttered

"What?" he asked baffled.

"I like you, and I want you to pick me up at my place at 7pm sharp!" she proclaimed louder and clearer while pointing at him, which caused more than a few guild members to stop and stare.

"I-I would love to, I like your manly approach." he responded quickly.

"7pm!" was the only response he got before she left. He was soon to exit as well. Both to find her a present, and so no one saw the red mask he was now wearing.

They had been dating for a while now. She was his wo-man. She had surprised him with the first kiss. She had hugged him and yet again, he blushed, however this time she took notice.

"Is the manly man, Elfman, blushing?" she asked, surprised.

"No, it's just hot in here." he responded lamely.

"I bet I can make you." she whispered, and before he had a moment to process what was happening, her lips were on his. It was powerful and heartfelt. She tasted sweet. When she pulled away she inspected his face.

"Told you so." she teased before going back for more.

It had been a long time since then, he turned towards the naked woman, wrapped in a sheet laying next to him in his bed. She was as beautiful and lively as the day he had first met her. He still became red from her hugs and affection, he doubted a day would ever come that he wouldn't. That was okay with him. It was manly to blush from the love of your woman.

"What are you smiling at?" he turned his head and saw Ever was looking at him, smirking herself.

"I love you so much, Ever" he said before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. He pulled away and was met with a surprised Evergreen with red tinted cheeks.

He liked making her blush too.

I hoped you liked it and that it was okay for my first Everman story! Please, please don't be shy. I absolutely love reviews with all my heart and would love to hear back from you guys. Love- Nicole