Uh, better late than never, that's what they say, right?

Okay, so two years late is stretching it, but I came across this story again and felt like finishing it.

Hope you guys don't mind if my writing style had changed a bit...

*I don't own Fairy Tail. That's a good thing, believe me.*


Nowhere to Run

Lucy only went to the guild after she had run out of other things to do. She had steered clear of Fairy Tail the previous day, busying herself with cleaning her apartment, finishing a book she had borrowed from Levy, rearranging her closet, go shopping for groceries, putting away those groceries, and staring at a blank piece of paper for a few solid hours. She just didn't have the inspiration to write anything in her book for the time being, as her thoughts usually reverted back to the night Laxus kissed her. And it didn't help that she was now dreaming about him, too. Lucy sighed to herself as she approached Fairy Tail. What had become of her life?
The first thing Lucy did when she got to the guild was seek out Levy. She found the bookworm in her usual corner with Gajeel and Pantherlily. Levy's eyes were practically shining the moment she looked up from her book and spotted the celestial mage, choosing to put her book down and wave Lucy over to the table.
"Lu-chan, there you are! Where have you been? I didn't see you yesterday," Levy commented.
"Hi, Levy," Lucy said, feeling bad. "Yeah, I just didn't feel like coming in until today."
"Oh...that wouldn't have anything to do with Laxus, would it?" the blunette slyly asked.
Lucy blushed immediately. Did she know?!
Levy's eyes widened when Lucy failed to answer right away. "Wait, really?!"
"N-no!" Lucy waved her hands in front of her. "Not in the way you think!"
"She didn't sleep with him, Shrimp," Gajeel suddenly spoke up. "Lightning Rod's scent would be all over her if they did it."
Lucy wasn't sure if she should be grateful for Gajeel's explanation, but it did seem to ensure Levy wasn't getting the wrong idea.
Levy turned back to her blonde friend. "Okay, so...what did happen?"
Lucy retold everything that happened the evening before, omitting the run-in with the asshole who tried to steal her away (because she still wasn't sure what to think of that).
"So, after we ran to my house..." Lucy paused, feeling a lump form in her throat. "He kissed me," she said quietly, almost too soft to hear.
But Levy heard her perfectly and asked, "And then?"
Lucy hung her head in shame. "I slammed my front door in his face."
There was an eerie moment of silence before Gajeel's booming laughter could be heard around the guild.
It wasn't his normal, 'Gihihi' laughter, but a loud, almost obnoxious kind of laughter that had him pounding on the table with his fist, holding his sides as he gasped for air.
Lucy covered her face with her hands.
"Ga-ha-ha-heh-ow! What'd you do that for, Shrimp?!"
Lucy looked up to see Levy holding her book, poised to strike the dragon slayer's head with it again if he laughed any more.
Levy put the book down and looked at Lucy with concern. "Are you alright?"
"I...I don't know," Lucy said haltingly. "I'm just...confused."
Levy raised an eyebrow. "Are you confused about how you feel about him?"
"I..." Lucy trailed off when she noticed Mira nearby, cleaning a table off. She did not want the she-demon to overhear this conversation. "Can we talk somewhere more...private?" she asked, leaning across the table toward Levy.
The blunette nodded. "Let's go to the archives. I could use your help in some research anyway," she suggested.
Lucy smiled, thankful that her friend wasn't exactly prying.
The two girls made their way to the archives, unaware that a certain lightning dragon slayer had come out of his office and was watching their every move.
Lucy and Levy entered the archives and sat down at a table away from the entrance.
"Okay, so there's obviously more to this than you're letting on," Levy's intelligent mind inferred from Lucy's apparent behavior.
Lucy's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I didn't want Mira or anyone else to overhear."
"So, what really happened?"
Lucy sighed. She ended up telling Levy everything, about the master and Mira wanting her and Laxus to get closer, about the fake date, and about Laxus defending her from Todd.
"So that kiss from Laxus really confused me. I just don't know why he would do that if he wasn't interested in me. So, I... I panicked and ran away. And now I don't know if I can really face him after everything."
Lucy felt incredibly relieved at getting her problems off her chest, feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Levy was silent for a moment, tossing the information around in her head.
"Well...the fact that he kissed you could very well mean that Laxus likes you," Levy said carefully.
Lucy sighed again. "But he's a bit of a playboy, isn't he? How do I know if I can take him seriously?"
Levy nodded. "So that's what's bothering you," she observed. "Maybe you really should talk to him, get a straight answer."
Lucy covered her face with her hands to hide her blush. "I just don't know if I can face him," she said shaking her head.
Levy sighed, unsure what to tell her friend other than what she had already suggested. So, she opted to change the subject.
"Well, you have time to figure that out. Just don't put it off too long, okay?" Levy placed a reassuring hand on Lucy's shoulder. Lucy nodded.
"Anyway, I've got something to tell you, too," Levy continued.
Lucy tilted her head in curiosity, "Oh? What?"
Levy rolled up her sleeve to reveal what Lucy thought was a tattoo of a dragon on her shoulder. Lucy arched an eyebrow.
"Levy, you got a tattoo?" the blonde asked.
"It's not a tattoo, though!" Levy said in a low voice, as if she were afraid of being overheard. "I just woke up one morning, and it was there!"
Lucy's eyes widened. "Really?" Lucy leaned closer to get a better look at mark on Levy's arm. As she had thought before, it turned out to be the image of a dark-colored dragon with wings flying in a circle. But in the center of the mark was a symbol that Lucy was unfamiliar with. It was two vertical lines connected by one horizontal line.
"The symbol in the middle... it kind of looks like-" Lucy began to say.
"A barbell. Yeah, I know." Levy nodded, rolling down her sleeve.
Lucy leaned back away from her friend. "What do you think it means? Does Gajeel know?"
"Gajeel's the one who put it there...I think," Levy said shyly.
"You think? Have you told him?"
"Of course. He was very vague about what it meant, though. He just said, 'It means you're mine, Shrimp.'" she said in a mock baritone voice. Switching back to her normal voice, she continued to say, "Since he's not being very helpful, I was wondering if you could do some research with me on this 'mark' thing and dragon slayers."
Lucy smiled. Some reading would help get her mind off things. "Sure! I'd be happy to help."
The two girls set off in search of information in the archives, pulling different books on the subject of dragons and dragon slayers to take back to their table. Levy pulled pads of paper and writing utensils from her bag for note-taking.
The girls worked in near silence, each quickly flipping through the books they had divided between them. After about twenty minutes, Levy put her glasses and the book she was reading down.
"Excuse me, restroom," she mumbled as she got up and left.
Lucy continued reading, when she found a passage that caught her attention:

"A male dragon slayer, in order to make his claim known to the rest of the world, will visibly 'mark' his mate, the mark usually having the appearance of a dragon with a symbol in the center. The symbol itself and the color of the mark will vary from couple to couple. The symbol and color of the mark usually reflect the element of the dragon slayer. For example, a fire dragon slayer's mate may bear the symbol of a red flame surrounded by a red dragon, while a water dragon slayer's mate may bear a symbol for water and be surrounded by a blue dragon. The purpose of the mark is to show other humans that the mate of the dragon slayer is already mated with that dragon slayer, much like a wedding ring implies that the wearer is married. In addition to the mark, the mate is said to have a change in their scent, so that other dragon slayers, who rely more heavily upon their senses of smell for information, will know that the person is mated and to whom they are mated."

Just as Lucy was reading, she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Oh, Levy, I think I found something about that mark!" Lucy called out, not even bothering to turn around. Silence met her ears, so she looked up from the book she was reading. When she felt a presence at her side, she looked up to see-
"Laxus!" she gasped as she shot up from her chair, dropping the book on the table. The Lightning Dragon Slayer only smirked at her reaction, eyeing her with a playful glint in his eye.
Lucy, however, stood shock still. She desperately wanted to apologize and explain her actions for the other night. But the words she wanted to say to the dragon slayer just wouldn't form in her brain.
"Um, uh..." Lucy tried to speak, but coherent words refused to come out.
It was only when Laxus took a step forward in her direction that a single order came from her brain: run.
With a squeak, Lucy turned tail and fled down to the farthest reaches of the archives and down an aisle. Laxus just grinned and took long strides, briskly walking after her. It didn't even occur to her that there was no place to run or hide in the archives.
Lucy was met with a dead end. She turned back around just to see the figure of Laxus, leaning against a bookshelf. It looked like he was on the verge of laughter, and Lucy wasn't sure if she even had the ability to be mad at him. She was frightened and enthralled at the same time, the way Laxus moved was reminiscent of a lion stalking its prey. He walked toward her, and she could only wonder what he was going to do to her. Probably electrocute her for insulting him.
Oh Mavis, she was going to get it. She looked up into his stormy blue eyes as he got closer, until she was backed up against a bookshelf, his arms caging her in on both sides. She gulped nervously.
"Laxus, I..." her quiet voice cut through the tense atmosphere, but Laxus' expression was unreadable. Lucy glanced down at his lips which were inches away from her own. A corner of his mouth quirked upward. His face slowly came closer. Lucy shut her eyes.
"Don't you know it's dangerous to run from a dragon?" Lucy's eyes snapped open. She could feel his breath on her ear. She felt Laxus sweep her hair off her shoulder. She heard the deep intake of breath that he took, as if he were taking in her scent; she could feel the heat radiating off of him on her neck. She couldn't stop the shudder that swept through her body. She felt very...warm...all of a sudden.
"It's because dragons are hunters. Seeing something run just makes them want to chase it," he said breathily. "And devour it," he nipped at the skin on her bare shoulder. A small whimper slipped out of her. One of his hands traveled up her arm, his fingertips ghosting over her skin. "Shutting the door on me wasn't very nice, Blondie," he continued to talk, his voice becoming low and husky. "I've been wondering how I should punish you."
Lucy shuddered again. Why was she finding his voice to be such a turn on? Lucy forced herself to look at his face as her knees started to shake. She could feel her face heat up as she blushed. A part of her wanted to stop this, whatever it was, but another part of her wanted to see what he would do next. But then he took her chin between his thumb and index finger and leaned in even closer. She felt conflicted over kissing him again, if that was what he planned to do. She kind of wanted to feel his lips again, but they were in the archives for Mavis' sake! Someone could walk in!

"I'm sorry!" Lucy heard her own voice above the thrum of her heartbeat in her ears. He stilled, his eyes wide at her sudden apology. His lips were literally an inch away from her own, and she could feel his breath fan over her face. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut to avoid looking at him since he still hadn't let go of her chin. "I'm sorry I slammed the door on you, I was just...surprised, that's all!" She unintentionally held her breath after her admission, waiting for him to say something.

"Tch." Lucy let out the breath she had been holding once she felt Laxus let go of her and step away. She cracked open an eye to look at him. He still looked a little pissed off, maybe because he was holding an air of indifference, but he didn't look angry. She fully opened her eyes once she was sure he wouldn't do something to her. "You're still too easy to rile up, Blondie," he then gave her a smirk. "You should be careful. Someone could take advantage of that..." he trailed off intentionally and leaned towards her, making her heart stutter. He frowned when she seized up. Then he shrugged, as if teasing her was of no consequence. He turned and walked away, waving a hand in farewell while facing away from her.

Lucy heard his footsteps fade as he walked out of the archives. A breath she didn't know she had been holding escaped from her, and as if her legs were made of rubber, she sank to the floor against the bookshelf. What happened was...unexpected to say the least. She seriously thought Laxus was going to kiss her! Or electrocute her...but if she had to pick between the two, she would have preferred the kiss...then again, why had she reacted the way she did? If anyone else had tried to kiss her, she would have knocked some sense into them for trying. But with Laxus, she was little more than a blushing teenager in his presence...maybe that was because of last night. Yeah, that had to be it.

Lucy was so absorbed in her thoughts she jumped when she heard Levy calling out to her from the other side of the archives.

"Lu-chan? You here?" Lucy shakily stood up and trudged over to Levy. "Oh, there you are! What were you..." Levy trailed off unsure of what to make of her best friend's stilted gait, it was as if Lucy's legs were made of gelatin. "Lu-chan?"

"Uh, hey Lev," Lucy fought to keep her voice even, but she couldn't hide the painted blush on her face. "I was just...uh..." What was she doing again? "Oh yeah! I found something about that mark of yours-"

"Forget that, Lucy! Did something happen? Why is your face so red?" Levy rushed over to the blonde and peered at her face. It seemed she somehow found her answer in her friend's eyes, because she gasped and asked, "Was Laxus in here? Did he hurt you?!" her voice took a dangerous edge that promised retribution.

"No! No... well, he was in here, and..." Lucy paused when Levy's eyes hardened and she looked like she was about to storm out of the archives to search for the dragon slayer. "N-Nothing happened, Levy! He-" she swallowed down her anxiety and blurted, "all he did was tease me! I-I thought he was going to kiss me again and-" the blonde let out a deep and aggravated sigh. "Gods, I feel so stupid!" she pulled at her own hair.

"Lu, calm down!" Levy wrapped her hands around Lucy's wrists and gently pulled them away from her friend's golden locks. "It's okay. Did-" Levy seemed unsure how to proceed. "Did you two...talk? Like, at all?"

Lucy shook her head, placing her hands over her burning cheeks at the memory of Laxus closing in on her. It instilled in Lucy that she couldn't really face him after all. But she did at least apologize...sort of. But talking to him about why he kissed her seemed impossible now. What was she to do? What could she do? She sighed for the umpteenth time that day and looked at Levy, trying her hardest to smile.

"I'll be okay, Levy," even though Lucy still felt the burning in her face. "I'll...deal with Laxus when the time comes, alright?"

"Alright," Levy replied warily.


Well, that's chapter 6 done. I know, I know, it was anticlimactic as shit. But stay tuned! I've got a relative idea of where I want to take this fic. If you guys have any thoughts, I'd like to hear them!