Important: This story takes place after the Grand Magic Games arc and is only canon up to that point.

Chapter 1

Laxus had gone on a job on his own leaving the Thunder God Tribe behind. They had all been disappointed but understood that the type of job really only required Laxus' expertise and would've gotten complicated had they tagged along. Freed realized on the second day Laxus was gone that they needed a distraction. He was making a beeline for the request board when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into a seat at a table. Cana sat there smiling at him and slid him a beer.

"Have a drink with me, Freed," she told him.

"No, thank you," he replied as he pushed the drink away. "I need to go find a job for-"

"Why are you just waiting around for Laxus to notice you?" Cana asked suddenly. She had moved closer to him and Freed had to lean away to keep from being suffocated by the smell of alcohol coming off of her. Her smile had turned into a concerned frown. "You could be out there having fun, dating other people." She gestured to the full guild hall as if the sea of wizards were all potential dates instead of rowdy teenagers and old drunks moaning over how they missed the old days.

"You're drunk," Freed accused as he tried to slip away. He would really rather not spend his time having his love life or lack thereof criticized by Cana of all people.

His escape was foiled by Cana putting a surprisingly strong arm around his shoulders. "So what if I am. That doesn't make me wrong."

Freed let out a frustrated sigh. "It's none of your business."

"Freed, I've known you for a long time. I want you to be happy, and it seems like lately I'm always seeing you looking sadly at Laxus when he isn't watching." Freed felt himself blush at Cana's words. He hadn't realized he'd been so obvious. "And even if you do want to just wait around for Laxus to get his head out of his ass long enough to realize you're there, that doesn't mean you can't date around in the meantime."

His hands had clenched into fists on the table as she spoke. He had to admit that her advice held some merit, but he couldn't help that his heart told him that to even look at someone else like that would be similar to betraying Laxus. "You don't understand-" he began, but then stopped himself. This wasn't something he wanted to explain to anyone. "I'll think about it," he conceded without any sincerity. "May I go now?"

"Sure," Cana said releasing him from her hold around his shoulders. She picked up the beer she had offered him and took a swig from it as he walked away.

Freed shook his head wondering what had gotten into Cana. She didn't normally seem all that interested in his dating life. Although she was the first one to realize that he had an interest in men, and the first one notice his feelings toward Laxus, in fact she was probably one of the most perceptive people in the guild.

He stood at the request board for several minutes before he realized he wasn't really reading any of the flyers. A hand on his shoulder caused Freed to jump a little in surprise.

"Sorry," Mira said as he turned to her. "I wanted to let you know that Sorcerer Weekly wanted to send a reporter over tomorrow to interview the Thunder God Tribe."

Freed frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"They said they wanted 'an inside look at what Laxus is like from those closest to him'," Mira quoted, shifting her voice to sound deeper as she spoke.

Freed felt a swell of pride. Even those at Sorcerer Weekly knew that they were the ones closest to Laxus. It was like some exclusive label that only those most worthy could claim. "Alright, I'll let Ever and Bickslow know so we can be ready. What time will the reporter be here?"

Mira put her pointer finger to her chin in thought. "They said some time in the morning. Probably after nine."

He nodded seriously. "Thank you, Mira."

Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow sat together at a table in a secluded corner of the guild hall. "So what are we supposed to tell the reporter about Laxus?" Bickslow asked.

Evergreen shook her head. "That's a good question. Freed, what do you think Laxus would want us to talk about?"

"It really depends on the questions," Freed said thoughtfully. "We can't answer anything to personal, and certain subjects should be avoided." They all looked at each other knowingly.

Bickslow suddenly grinned, making Evergreen and Freed nervous. "We could just break into Laxus' room. Then we could find some stuff to talk about."

"Are you insane?" Freed asked in shock.

Evergreen had actually stood up and leaned in close to Bickslow. "Do you want us all to die a horribly, torturous and slow death?"

"Okay! Okay!" he said trying to placate her. "I get it."

His totems bounced in the air near his head. "We get it! We get it!" they chanted.

Bickslow sat back crossing his arms over his chest, his bottom lip pushed out in a pout. "I was just joking anyways."

Freed shook his head. "With you it's always hard to tell."

Evergreen sat back down looking more relaxed. "I'm kind of excited about being interviewed for Sorcerer Weekly. Do you think they'll want pictures of us? Maybe I should go get my hair done just in case." She ran her fingers through her hair, examining it for split ends.

Bickslow shrugged. "Your hair looks fine."

"If you think it looks good then I definitely need to go get it styled." Evergreen got to her feet and started looking around the guild hall. When she spotted who she was looking for she walked away with purpose. "Lucy! Lucy, I need that crab guy of yours!"

Freed sat in his room going through old issues of Sorcerer Weekly to see what questions they had asked in previous interviews. He wanted to make sure they were prepared to answer any questions in a way Laxus would approve of. Most of the magazines had been graciously loaned to him by Mirajane, the rest were his own collection. A notepad laid beside the stack of magazines so he could take notes and a cup of coffee in the corner of his desk to keep him alert as he did his work.

When the coffee was long cold, the notepad filled almost completely with notes, and the stack of magazines greatly diminished Freed was starting to think he should go to bed. He decided to flip through one last magazine and be finished.

Freed was surprised to see how old the magazine was. It had been from when he was fourteen. He flipped through it, reminiscing about how much things had changed. A ripped, folded piece of paper fell from between the pages. When he picked it up and looked at it Freed felt a dull ache in his chest. It was a poster of a seventeen year old Laxus. The only time Laxus had been interviewed for Sorcerer Weekly was when he had become S class at seventeen. They had printed a tear out poster along with it.

Freed carefully tore out the poster and taped it to the wall above his desk. He and his older brother Zachariah had agreed that the desk was his space to do with what he pleased. The surface of the desk itself was covered with books on rune magic while the wall above held only the single poster of Laxus. It was the image of the seventeen year old wizard in all his brooding glory. A lightning bolt cut across the page in the background.

Freed sat at his desk admiring the poster. Laxus was only seventeen and was already an S class wizard in one of the best guilds around. He sighed reflecting on his own lack of accomplishments. One day he would join a guild, maybe Fairy Tail, and he would become a great mage like Laxus.

The door to his room opened and Freed turned in his chair to his older sister Risa. "You could knock," he said coldly.

Risa rolled her eyes but when she spotted the poster of Laxus they suddenly widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. "What the hell is that?"

Freed got to his feet and turned to her crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. "It's a poster."

"Of Laxus. Look he's my celebrity crush, I don't want you ruining it for me by mooning over him like a weirdo."

He felt his face go red and wanted to kick himself for it. "I- I'm not mooning over him. I just admire his accomplishments. And besides it's my room, if I want to put up a poster of someone I will."

Risa stomped over, shoving her little brother out of the way. She roughly pulled down the poster. "I'll take this."

"Hey! You can't do that!" Freed reached out and grabbed the edge of the poster.

"It's weird for you to be so obsessed over another boy. Just let go!" Risa tugged on the poster and it suddenly ripped in half. She frowned at the torn piece of poster in her hand then tossed it at her brother. "Never mind."

As she strolled from the room, flipping her long hair over her shoulder, Freed watched the piece of poster slowly float to the floor in front of him. Tears welled in his eyes and he took a deep gulp of air trying to hold back the sobs building in his throat. Freed knelt to pick up the other half of the poster. He held the two pieces next to each other to form the whole image again. "I'm sorry, Laxus," he breathed out.

The door opened again and this time it was Zachariah. "What are you doing?" Zachariah asked as he passed him to search for something in the closet.

Freed stood, quickly folded the torn poster, and shoved it back in the magazine. "Nothing," he replied in a rough voice as he scrubbed the tears from his face.

Freed mentally shook himself and pushed the memory to the back of his mind. He set the ripped poster aside and read through the short interview with Laxus. He tried to remember to take notes but the pen laid forgotten on the desk. Small smiles graced his face whenever he read a particularly cheeky response from Laxus.

After the initial read through Freed read it again remembering to take notes the second time. He paid attention to what questions Laxus readily answered and which subjects he steered the interview away from. When he finished Freed looked at the poster again. He pulled out some tape and taped the pieces back together. Seventeen year old Laxus stared back at him. Freed wished he go back to that fourteen year old version of himself and let him know that it would be okay. He wanted to tell him that he would be lucky enough to work with Laxus, become one of his best friends. Freed folded up the poster again and replaced it back in the magazine.

That night Freed laid in bed staring up at the ceiling. He was having trouble sleeping anticipating the interview with Sorcerer Weekly. His gaze moved from the ceiling to the stack of magazines on his desk. Even in the dim light he could see the edge of the poster peeking out from the old magazine. A smile pulled at his lips as he thought about how jealous Risa must be that all of these years later he was the one who was close to Laxus.

In the morning Freed got ready quickly. Throughout his morning routine he practiced things he would say about Laxus. "Laxus, is a great wizard, leader, and friend," he said to his reflection in his bathroom mirror, injecting as much sincerity as possible. "We admire his strength and his loyalty." He nodded at himself in approval.

As he got dressed Freed tried to think about different stories to tell about Laxus that would put the older man in a good light. "We could talk about Laxus' many victories in battle or his success when it came to difficult jobs he took on."

When he was about to leave for the guild hall Freed turned the poster of adult Laxus hanging on his hall. "We won't let you down," he said before leaving.