A/N: This one's a bit shorter than the others. It's nice and fluffy, though! ALaViola (formerly Shattered-Nightmares712) also did CoLu week last summer and used this song, I really liked her story, and I defs recommend it. Thanks to Empress of Everything, LucyxAnyoneShipper, MistressAva, and Gwendolyn Winchester for reviewing! I love hearing from everyone. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy :D

Oh, and do you guys like the cover art? I drew it yesterday. I'm definitely better with words than artwork, but let me know what you think.

Onwards!

Day 4: Glitter

Glitter in the Air (P!nk)

The guild was preparing for a party. Lucy hadn't quite seen the need for preparation as the guild had parties every week without having to decorate, but Mira had insisted. It wasn't everyday that one of her matchmaking schemes paid off, after all. Lucy also wasn't convinced that Mira had actually had anything to do with it, either. Still, she supposed the takeover mage had a right to be excited for her brother's real engagement announcement.

She finished tying off the shimmering silver and green ribbon at the bottom of the pillar and looked around the hall. Elfman and Evergreen weren't around to actually help decorate for their party, she noticed. Mira probably wouldn't have let them do anything anyway. She was adamant that they needed to give her nieces and nephews pronto, so she kept chasing them out of the guild at every opportunity in the hopes that they would get to work on it.

Lisanna hurried past her with armloads of more bows and ribbon. The hall was already draped in enough green and silver to strangle everyone at the same time, so Lucy couldn't imagine where that load was going to fit. The three Exceeds were flitting through the rafters tying off more ribbons and bows while Bickslow's babies flew around dropping glitter on everyone. Lucy was pretty sure that last bit wasn't actually part of the decorating scheme. Cana was making out the list of alcohol, or at least, that's what she said she was doing. Honestly it just looked like she was sampling everything on said list.

Taking a seat at the bar, Lucy watched everyone happily. She was really glad that Elfman and Evergreen had finally admitted their feelings, though she was a little surprised at how quickly their relationship progressed after that.

Said couple walked through the doors at that moment.

"This place looks manly!" Elfman exclaimed. Evergreen swatted him with her fan, but it seemed to just be a habit at this point. Her eyes sparkled as she took in the hall. Of course, the sparkles could have actually been from the pile of glitter that the babies dumped on her head. She immediately started yelling at Bickslow, who just gave her his customary tongue-lolling grin.

Lucy giggled. She really loved her guild. The only thing missing was… Well, it couldn't be helped really. Lucy shook off the minor sad note in her day as Natsu and Gray started a glitter fight. So much had been dumped on everyone that there were piles all over the floor, and her teammates had decided to see who could cover the other in the most of the shimmery substance. She stooped down to scoop up a fistful of the stuff and lobbed it into the air at her partner. It hit him in the face, and he grinned at her before directing his own handful her way. She ducked, and the glitter hit Cana, spilling into her open mug.

The card mage looked down in dismay before catching sight of the culprit. It didn't take long for everyone in the guild to get involved. The party had officially started.

Eventually, Lucy found herself alone at a table just observing the rest of her family. Elfman and Evergreen were the only official new couple, but it seemed that everyone else had paired off, too. Natsu rarely left Lisanna's side when he was in the guild, and Gajeel couldn't be moved from Levy. Lyon and Sherria were visiting from Lamia Scale, and it seemed that Juvia was finally willing to give the ice-make mage a chance. Mira and Freed were inseparable, as were Gray and Cana. Even Wendy had Sherria, and Lucy had a hunch their "love" wouldn't remain strictly platonic as they grew older.

She sighed and drew pictures in the sheen of glitter on the tabletop. She really was happy for everyone. It was just hard to remember that when her own special someone was who knew where right now. She never knew when Cobra was going to pop up. Some nights she would wake up to him crawling into bed with her. She always thought it was a dream until she woke up to him making coffee and calling her Sugar. It was a stupid pet name, but once he explained how sugar could be poisonous, it made sense. Of course, she had argued that anything in large quantities could be toxic, which devolved into a discussion of whether or not an overabundance of kittens could cause heart failure.

Lucy smiled softly at the memory. Every night, she went to bed hoping she would wake up in his arms. When she missed him too much, she would stare at her communication lacrima for hours just hoping that it would light up with a call from him. She felt a little ridiculous during those times, but what of it?

A very drunk Master Makarov stood on the bar and raised his glass in a toast to the happy couple. Lucy lifted her wine glass and sipped at it with the rest. She wondered idly if the bits of glitter that had somehow found their way into her glass were toxic. Cobra would probably know.

"You don't seem as happy as you did earlier today," Erza said as she took a seat next to the blonde. Erza was the only one in the guild who knew about her relationship. And out of everyone, Erza was probably the best equipped to understand Lucy's feelings right now.

"I am happy," Lucy said. "It's just…"

"I understand," Erza said when she trailed off. Even when Crime Sorciere visited Fairy Tail, both Jellal and Cobra pretended they were not romantically involved with the two women. Everyone knew better when it came to Jellal and Erza, but the blue-haired man preferred his illusion of privacy. Erza wasn't particularly demonstrative with her affections anyway, so she didn't seem fazed by the ruse.

Cobra was another matter. He didn't think that Fairy Tail would accept him dating the so-called light of the guild. They might be okay with him coming to visit with Jellal, but nobody even understood why he and Lucy seemed to get along so well. It never occurred to anyone that the two could actually be an item. Even Mira seemed oblivious to the idea.

Erza and Lucy talked quietly about the engaged couple and the other evident though unofficial pairs throughout the room. The redhead didn't bring up their shared struggle again. Both found it better not to discuss it in the guildhall. Too many dragon slayers with overly keen ears hanging around.

Gray and Loke were dancing on a table to cheers from the guild when the doors to the hall burst open. A cool night breeze blew in as Crime Sorciere strode in. Lucy tried to tamp down her excitement at the sight of her boyfriend. It wouldn't do to look too happy to see him; might blow their cover. She stared into her wine as Jellal apologized for intruding and Master welcomed the independent guild to join them for the celebration.

Lucy was studying the swirling glitter in her glass intently when a hand reached out to lift up her chin. Her brown eyes rose to his single indigo eye. He smiled down at her tenderly. It was a look usually reserved for early morning cuddles and hesitant goodbyes. He had never looked at her this way in public. But he was just full of surprises tonight.

"I missed you, Sugar," he said without even trying to be quiet. Then, he leaned down and kissed her thoroughly in front of her entire guild. Lucy was utterly shocked, but her surprise was washed away in the relief of his kiss. It had been far too long. Her hands reached up to grab his hair and pull him in closer as his hands fell to caress her waist.

When she finally came up for air, she saw Cobra smirking mischievously at her from a couple of inches away. She turned to look at her guild without removing her hands from his hair. Lucy had rarely seen the guild silent, but now every member was staring at her in mute shock. She rose slightly to bury her bright red face in Cobra's chest. She felt a small laugh rumble through him as he held her close.

The movement seemed to snap everyone out of their daze and the two were instantly bombarded with questions. Lucy's happiness bubbled up within her. She would have preferred not having to answer so many questions, and she felt a tiny prick of guilt at stealing the spotlight at Evergreen's engagement party. Still, she was thrilled that he was finally claiming her in public. She didn't have to hide anymore. And to make it even better, her guild made it obvious that Cobra's fears about their rejection were completely unwarranted.

When they finally made it back to her apartment in the quiet that is too late to be night but too early to be morning, Lucy asked him why he changed his mind. He held her tightly in the bed that he thought was too pink and too soft but oh so like Lucy and thought about his answer.

"I heard your sadness before the doors even opened. It was a small note, but I didn't like it. When Makarov explained why you guys were partying, I understood where the sadness was coming from. So I decided to fix it." He kissed her forehead lightly before adding, "And I knew their faces would be hilarious."

Lucy smacked him lightly, but she giggled as she did.

"By the way, I meant to ask this at the guild, but everybody was too busy yelling at us: why the hell was everyone covered in glitter?"

Instead of answering, Lucy just laughed before pulling him in for a kiss. The distance would still be hard to handle, but that was okay. She wasn't afraid of a few lonely nights since she knew that he would always show up and do just the thing she needed to take the loneliness away.

A/N: I would also like to give kudos to the author who first mentioned 'sugar' as a potentially poisonous substance because I really loved that, and I feel like a total cad for not remembering who it was. If said person actually happens to read this (which would be super sweet) please let me know, so I can give you properly attributed props.