II.

He hadn't shown up at the guild for months now, mostly because he didn't want to see his grandfather, but also because there were this trio of lunatics – who self-proclaimed themselves as his bodyguards – that wouldn't let him in peace. Money would soon be an issue, though, so he began his journey back to Magnolia, stopping at some cities along the way in order to rest.

As sunset gave way to nightfall, he walked slowly through the streets of a small town just a few kilometers away from his final destination. Most of the stores had already closed up for the day, but the light and noise coming from the bars and restaurants brought the city back to life soon after all the hustle of the market and people rushing to get home had faded. A calm breeze reached his face and he closed his eyes for a moment, letting it dry the beads of sweat that fell from his temples after a long day of walking under direct sunlight.

Laxus was almost reaching the hotels area when a low whistle caught his attention. He felt her scent before he even saw her as he tilted his head to the left to look at Mirajane. She was leaning against the doorframe of one of the bars, arms crossed in front of her almost bare chest and that intense stare that made the hair of the back of his neck bristle like he was an animal on self-defense mode. She said nothing as she intently watched him in the middle of the street, so he moved towards her calmly, looking back at her with brows furrowed in confusion.

As he approached the white-haired mage, the Dragon Slayer couldn't help but notice she was even prettier than he remembered. Her childish round cheeks were completely gone and the lines of her facial features were now thinner, making her look like a full-grown woman. Her body was also slightly curvier and he never thought she could become even more enticing than the ill-behaved girl he had last seen at Fairy Tail months ago.

If it wasn't for the glossy shine in her eyes, the flustered skin of her face and the strong smell of alcohol coming from her breath, he would have appreciated the view a little longer. Instead, he gritted his teeth with displeasure at the sight of a very drunk Mirajane and closed the remaining distance between them hastily. Before he could scold her, though, her limp mouth parted and she spoke in a hoarse tone.

"Wow, so was it lifting what you have been doing all this time since you went away?" She looked up in order to glare directly at him, but her gaze quickly diverted from his eyes to inspect his whole body with a nod of approval, making him involuntarily feel goosebumps on his stomach. "I don't think I can call you lizard boy anymore. Heck, I don't think I can't even call you lizard."

"What the hell are you doing here alone?" He blurted with no delicacy whatsoever, choosing to ignore the reactions his body had near her and address the fact there was a drunk underage girl all by herself in the entrance of a bar, and if someday he had felt she couldn't irritate him more with her constant teasing, he couldn't had been more wrong. Now he was really pissed.

"I'm not alone." She rolled her eyes at his attitude, gesturing at the interior of the bar. He followed her gaze only to find an even drunker Erza having an argument with a bunch of thugs two times her size. "Master forced us to go on a job together. He said he wanted us to get along, but to me it's just punishment, so I gave her a little something."

"You got Erza wasted." It was a statement, not a question.

"First of all, she was the one who accepted the drinking contest, okay? I only presented the idea, mister lizard-slash-dragon." Her body tilted dangerously to the side as she replied, but she managed to regain her balance before falling.

Nostrils inflated, lips pressed tightly together and neck red from the anger that was making his blood boil, Laxus went silent for a moment. If looks could kill, Mirajane would already have been dead with the piercing look he shot her. The fact that there was a sluggish smirk plastered on her face as she had told him all of that wasn't exactly helping either, as he fumed with the will of grabbing her by the hair and getting her out of there immediately.

He shouldn't care, really. Mirajane was nothing to him, except some brat that happened to be well-endowed. He was a man, he could understand his physical attraction – not that he would mess with a teenager, but the Take Over mage looked older and more mature than she really was and his brain seemed to process only this half of the information. What he could not understand, however, was the fact that he worried sick about her every time she was up to something bad and why his head never seemed to work properly around her.

So there he was, not really wanting to leave her there with all those strange people watching her from afar like hawks ready to attack.

There was also the matter that his Gramps would certainly know he had encountered both of the girls, and if it reached the old man's ears that he did nothing to help them, he would hear a bunch until the end of times, and the last thing he wanted was to interact with his grandfather. He settled with that lame excuse, then, and motioned to where Erza was standing, having just punched one of the men in the face. The ex-quip mage would soon start a huge ruckus if he didn't come to intervene fast.

"I'm taking you two with me. You stay here while I fetch Erza, demon." The Dragon Slayer ordered, but before he could step any further, a small hand closed around his arm, pulling him softly backwards.

He turned to look at Mirajane, whose mockery expression was totally gone by now. She was staring back at him with serious – almost hurt – eyes, and something inside of him flinched at the sight of her concerned expression. That thing about her that always made him self-conscious and defenseless was still very much alive and kicking on his mind, haunting him like a ghost whenever she was nearby. When far away from home – if the guild could still be considered his home –, it was rather easy for him to control his emotions and completely forget about the guild, but that girl always had the power to awaken on him the longing of coming back, of hearing the cheerful sound of people drinking at the main floor, of the laughter and warmth the place provided.

But he wasn't that naïve boy anymore. His grandfather had set foot on how he wanted to run things and he couldn't ever agree to that.

Grunting at the awareness of her skin touching his so intimately, he shifted his weight uncomfortably and shot her a stone-cold look that hid his internal struggle, which only made her grip on his arm tighten.

"Where the hell have you been?" She inquired, her voice coming out shaky and high-pitched and he couldn't tell if it was due to the alcohol running on her veins or the conflicting emotions that were passing through her face. "Master is dead worried about you. Everyone is worried about you. You don't show up, you don't call, people started thinking you were dead. Master even contacted all the guilds he knew asking for you."

"It's none of your business." He grumbled back, disentangling from her grip, but the white-haired mage yanked him back and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer.

"Of course it is!" She snapped angrily, accidentally spitting on him. "We are your family, Laxus, you can't disappear for months and think we are going to be fine with this. How can you be such a selfish bastard, huh?"

His jaw clenched tightly as he could feel her rapid breathing hitting his face, her big blue eyes watering on the edges in a way so uncharacteristic of her it made him feel taken aback for a moment. The knuckles of her fingers were brushing slightly against the skin of his neck, sending shivers down his spine, and his head unconsciously bent forward as he watched her parted lips calling for him in an invitation to just get lost and forget everything else for a while. He closed his eyes in order to do just that, but the image of his father turning his back and leaving to never be seen again hit him suddenly, quickly bringing him back to reality as if a bucket full of cold water had been dumped on his head.

Pulling away abruptly, Laxus turned away fast enough not to see her reaction.

"I don't have a family." Was the last thing he said to her before entering the bar to retrieve a very out-of-control Erza, his heart beating hard against his ribcage, full of emotions he didn't want to acknowledge.