*takes 87 years to finish a prompt* Writing this was a lot harder than I expected but it's been good practice because I want to write more of this couple!

A request from dragonshost.

Prompt: I think I'm in love with you and that terrifies me

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail

Really, it was actually quite simple. Midnight was not in love, he was just very, very confused.

That is the conclusion his somewhat addled brain came to after noticing how weird he felt whenever he was around her. There was no deeper meaning or anything to it. Nope, not at all.

So what if occasionally he found himself ordering a drink from her even though he knew he would only take a few sips before falling asleep?

So what if he tried a bit harder not to look like he could fall asleep at any moment during a conversation?

So what?

...So what if he was completely screwed because of it. Cobra was going to be merciless once he found out (and knowing the man he was almost surprised he hadn't said something earlier).

"Here you go, one warm honeyed milk."

Midnight jumped ever so slightly; how long was he thinking about that to himself? He couldn't even remember ordering a drink. Mira set the drink down next to him as he stuttered out a thank you. Mirajane only smiled at him which caused him to become even more flustered. Oh Zeref, not now, not while he was thinking about her, not this very moment. Why did he even order something? When did he even order it? The fact that his memory seemed to also be going made the entire moment even more nerve-wracking to him.

Mirajane noticed his discomfort and paused before leaving, "Is something wrong?"

Midnight fumbled, "Um, well..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, telling her exactly what he was thinking about wasn't a good idea, but neither was lying through his teeth. "It's just a personal dilemma, I...can't quite decide about something."

Mira went quiet after that statement, her fingers curling around the tray she used while serving drinks. The quiet between them was almost painful to Midnight, who was not expecting her to linger as long as she was when he said that. Finally, the silence was broken by her, "I don't mean to be nosy, but is this something a person?"

As if his heartbeat couldn't seemingly get any louder, "Er, yes. How...?"

"Oh!" She smiled again, big and bright, "The last few times you were here you seemed a bit more...awake, like you were thinking hard about something. I didn't know for sure what was going on but after you mentioned that to me, it seemed like a likely answer."

"Ah," Leave it to the matchmaker to figure out something along the lines of hidden feelings, "I don't even know if what I'm feeling is really what I think or just something else that I'm confusing for deeper feelings. It's a mess."

"Well, the important thing is to make sure you understand where the feelings are coming from and then act on them accordingly. You wouldn't believe how many people in this guild don't seem to understand that!" Mira started spouting off how all of her ships were just begging to be made canon and almost sobbing at all the beautiful babies that could be running around the guild right now. Midnight wasn't really listening to that part, but the previous bit did strike a chord with him.

"Thank you, Mirajane. I'll be sure to remember that." She stopped in her ramblings and looked at him, a grin stretching across her face.

"Glad I could help!"

He can't help but follow suit and smile back.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it just know that I'm here if you need someone to listen for you." Her smile was warm and honest, which calmed Midnight's frantic heartbeat just a little.

"I guess I'll have to take you up on that sometime," he replied quietly.

"Whenever you're ready," she said, "Oh! And be careful with that drink, it's a bit hotter than usual."

He nodded in understanding, disguising his breath of relief as best he could as Mira turned around.

She walked back to the bar, giving him one last friendly wave before disappearing into the back. His entire body was strangely lighter than it had been when he walked on. Huh. This was new. Midnight had expected something more along the lines of his heart leaping out of his chest, and while he still felt plenty nervous, he no longer felt like everything was crashing down on top of him.

He sighed. That was close, really close, and he knew he would probably be talking to her again sooner or later, regardless of whether or not he had everything sorted out by then.

Love was scary, sure, but as he picked the warm drink carefully with both hands he realized that while it might scary him quite a bit, it didn't need to be a bad kind of terrifying.

Maybe, if he worked this all out, it could be fun.

You never know with love.