Prompt 'Heart.' I apologize for OOCness.

Today was the day he'd man up; he'd promised that to his sisters and himself. He was tired of all the awkward blushes and lingering stares. Bored of all the scowls covering up what he really felt and using his common excuse of 'real man' all the time.

Today, Elfman swore he'd just come out and tell Evergreen the truth, he would be a real man and confess his feelings, bottling it up like he did wasn't good and he knew that from how he felt after Lisanna 'died,' it just wasn't a good thing to do. All he planned on doing was talking to her and admitting everything, hoping that she either didn't reject him, or at least didn't turn him down too harshly.

He had the help of Mirajane, the guild's resident matchmaker and hoped that she wasn't too biased on anything because he was her brother, surely he'd be ok.

*/*\*

'Great, just great!' Of all the people to find out about this other than the Thunder Legion it had to be Erza Scarlet. Honestly as if the teasing from Bickslow and Laxus wasn't enough, her big rival for the name 'Titania' had to discover her exact feelings and what she was planning on doing today.

"I can help you with this if you need Evergreen, I do have some experience in this area." Of course she did, just because she'd recently gotten together with Jellal, Evergreen still didn't get how that gave her experience though; Mirajane had helped far too much for Erza to consider that as her own expertise, in her opinion anyway.

"No thank you Erza, I'll be perfectly fine by myself." And she would be. Her entire plan consisted of sitting him down to listen to her while she told him how she felt. She didn't see how much of it could go wrong unless there was outside interference; it was three little words and perhaps a small speech to build up to them, nothing more.

*/*\*

She was already in the guild when he arrived, that made sense, the Fairy Hills dormitories were closer to the guild than his shared home with Mira and Lisanna was. He didn't mind, she looked comfortable and relaxed; so natural in the guild while talking to her teammates. He took a moment to admire her before he might never see her so at home again.

Mira came into the guild a minute later and as if by magic – 'ha ha' – all heads turned to look at the pretty barmaid and welcome her, so he had no choice now but to walk in, lest he be caught in admiring the self-proclaimed Fairy Queen. Some people gave him a few acknowledgements and greetings but he otherwise ignored everybody unless to reply.

He took a seat at the bar, catching the small glare his big sister sent him. He sighed heavily and banged his head on the bar-top, trying to ignore the sound of Mirajane's steps towards him. The plan was made void though when she tugged on one of his hair locks. He raised his head to catch her eye and saw the faint scowl on her face, managing to look like a cute pout at the same time. He would have chuckled at how only she could pull that off if he wasn't so terrified of her glare.

"What's the hold up? You said you'd do it today!" Her hands were on her hips as he looked at him, miffed.

"She's with her Thunder Legion friends; I can't exactly pull her away, or confess right in front of them. I mean, it's Bickslow."

"Just call over and ask if she'll come outside with you for a moment, I'll stop anyone from eavesdropping on you, okay little brother?" Her smile was back, eager to see her 'OTP,' as she called it, get together.

So he did, and was a little relieved when she raised no fuss and agreed to step out for a moment. On the way out, he caught sight of Mira moving away from the bar and blocking the doors from nosy people who'd follow and listen to them.

"So what is it Elfman?" He was thankful she didn't sound annoyed, while he found it cute at times, it almost always resulted in him getting hit with her fan.

"Uh, okay look, I'm just going to cut right to the chase. A real man doesn't stall for time and avoid the subject, so here goes, with one of the corniest things I'll ever say." He took a breath, realizing that he was trying to stall for time and instantly shook himself out of it, he was not a hypocrite. "I really like you Evergreen, as in really like like you. And I know that we argue all the time and sometimes I can be a jerk to you, but I can never get you out of my mind. You make my heart skip beats and my blood pump faster, both things I've never felt before and I just can't hate the feeling."

She looked shocked as he rambled on, a pink tint lighting up her cheeks and he smiled when he paused to take a breath.

"I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you." He managed to finish after going on for a while more. "And I'd say something really cheesy like, you've stolen my heart, but you are far too good a person to be a thief, and you wouldn't have needed to steal it. I think if you had ever wanted, I'd have given it to you anyway." He panted after his long rant, well aware that her next words could make or break his life.

"Elfman… YOU DOLT!" She whacked the back of his head with her fan and glared. He was sure his face looked really dumb then. "Do you have any idea how much time I've felt the same for you?! Do you?! Honestly, a real man would have told me outright long ago and not have had me tossing and turning at night, heartbroken because I never knew you felt the same!" Her yelling was heard by everyone in the guildhall, and he saw Bickslow snickering at one of the windows; everyone else looking out at them too.

He supposed Mira never said how long she'd hold them back for.

She was yelling some more, and while he could normally out up with her rants, he decided to cut this one short and let her continue at another time.

Her lips were soft as he kissed her, it was his first and he didn't really know what to do. He closed his eyes, hoping that if she lowered her glasses, he wouldn't be turned to stone. Thankfully she started kissing him back, and he felt his heart might burst out of his chest and fly away. Evergreen seemed to be a bit more experienced, he thought jealously and took the initiative before they pulled apart, panting for breath.

"I love you Elfman." She was blushing hard, and he felt the heat rise in his own cheeks.

"Ditto."

She whacked him again.