Alright then! Who's ready for Laxus and Lucy to get back to Magnolia? :) Okay, I won't keep you, so quickly, thanks for reading and thanks to Deathsembrace137 for checking over all my work. You're awesome and I loves ya!

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail

CHAPTER 21: ALMOST HOME

LUCY'S POV

I woke to the sound of a train moving down the tracks, and sat up disoriented, looking around in surprise. My ears hadn't deceived me. I really was on a train, but how the hell had I gotten there? I remembered making the deal with Laxus about him carrying me to the train station, but everything after that was pretty foggy. It was more than a little disconcerting to realize I'd lost time like that.

I was pulled from my musing as a deep voice spoke from beside me, "Hey. You just wake up?"

Glancing down, I found a sleepy looking Laxus, staring up at me as he shoved a hand through his hair. Unfortunately, his action made his hair even worse, and I couldn't help but smile. He was beyond cute like this, all mussed from sleeping, his hair sticking up everywhere, and his eyes blinking slowly as he tried to wake up. I smothered the smile, locking that bit of opinion deep inside my mind's vault, as I answered, "Yeah, but I don't remember getting on the train."

"You were pretty...uh...messed up at the time," he responded with a chuckle, as he looked up at me, "I'm not surprised you don't remember it all."

"Ugh, it's so frustrating that it's all a blank," I complained, then paused as a thought struck me, "Oh God, I hope I didn't do anything stupid."

My eyes narrowed as Laxus began cracking up, his mouth stretched out in a large grin, and I just knew. I had done something embarrassing. Why else would he be reacting like that? "Oh shit, what did I do? Stop laughing," I whined, giving him a shove that didn't move him an inch. What a lovely display of strength, I thought sarcastically.

"I wouldn't call it stupid, but it sure was entertaining," he teased, smirking as my face paled.

"Laxus! Quit joking around," I pleaded, my mind providing all sorts of scenarios from me dancing on a table, to doing yoga moves naked, "Just tell me what I did, please!"

He took a second more to make me sweat, before nodding his head, his face turning serious as he said, "Okay, but first...let's talk about Hibiki."

I sat there stunned, my head cocked to the side, as I asked, "What? Why are you asking about him?" Why the hell would I have said anything about him?

"I'm asking because you mentioned him. Let's see if I can recall just what you said...I believe it was that my lips were so much yummier than Hibiki's," he explained, his face curiously blank.

My mouth opened and shut as I stuttered out, "W-what?" I couldn't believe I'd said that to him. I mean, of course I'd thought about his lips being tasty, but comparing them to Hibiki's...What the hell do I say to that? I watched him looking so serious, and I wondered what he was thinking. I couldn't tell in that moment, and that worried me to no end.

"You said I had yummy lips," he offered, his lips suddenly twitching in amusement, "Much yummier than Hibiki's. How exactly do you know about that man's lips?"

"Um...well, I dated him for a while, and um...yeah, but that was months and months ago," I stammered, feeling completely out of my element, "He h-has nice lips, but um...yours are like...oh shit." I groaned at myself, dropping my head into my hands.

Laxus leaned over, grabbing my hands and pulling them away. He smirked at my reddened cheeks, and asked, "My lips are like what?"

"Shut up," I answered, shaking myself out of his grip, "Is that the only thing I said?"

"Oh no," he laughed, "Not even close."

My eyes widened, as I whispered, "There's more? A lot?"

He nodded his head slowly, saying, "Oh yeah, like I have beautiful eyes, and you love my tattoo..."

"Oh, that's not too bad. I would have told you that anyway," I mused, breathing out a sigh of relief, before he barked out another laugh.

"I wasn't done," he said, his eyes brimming with mirth as he watched me squirm beside him, "You wanted to lick my tattoo, and when I told you 'no' because you were on pain meds, you made me promise I'd let you do it some other time."

I felt my face pale as I shuddered, "You're kidding..."

"No, I'm not. Did you want your turn now?" he quipped, reaching for his shirt as though to take it off to oblige me.

"What?" I screeched, slapping at his hands, "Stop that! Don't take your shirt off now!"

He flopped back on the make-shift bed, and burst out laughing, barely managing to sputter out, "Why not? You were saying this morning that I was wearing too many clothes."

"I did not!" I gasped, blushing profusely, as he kept nailing me with all these outrageous things I'd supposedly said. It wouldn't have been so bad if I could remember everything I'd said, but hearing all my secret thoughts from the man they were about was embarrassing.

His laughter calmed, his face turning serious, his eyes brimming with heat as he pushed me back onto the bed, his body pressing tightly against me, as he said, "You said you couldn't wait to have sex with me. Is that true?"

I gulped at the desire I could see plainly on his face. I wanted so badly to deny his words, my own words in fact, but I refused to lie to him. I wanted him, that much was more than obvious to anyone with eyes, but did he have to know just how desperate I was for him? I sighed as I stared into his eyes, feeling an answering fire burning in my belly. "Yes," I whispered, before grabbing his face and pulling it close to mine.

He reacted immediately, our lips meeting in a fervent kiss, as his hands swept under my body to hold me close. I spread my legs for him, moaning as his body settled against me, and dove my hands into his messy hair. I let go of his mouth with a gasp as he flexed his hips, his erection bumping my aching center. His mouth trailed down my neck, nipping lightly at my skin, before soothing it with his tongue.

My hands smoothed down his body, slipping under his shirt to wander up the muscled expanse of his back. Damn, I loved putting my hands on this man, having his hands all over me. As though he had heard my thoughts, he spoke, his speech broken only by the sound of his kisses moving up my neck, "You said...you loved...touching me."

"True, " I answered breathlessly, as my hands pushed his shirt up towards his shoulders.

Laxus eased off of me, as he pulled his shirt over his head, and I followed him up, ripping my own shirt off as I rose to my knees as well. I pressed my lips to his, my hands ghosting over his chest, memorizing every single inch. He pulled me into him roughly, his mouth devouring mine, as his hands eased down to grasp my backside, keeping me from moving away. As if I'd ever want to be anywhere else, I thought, as I trailed open-mouthed kisses down his neck.

"You like it when I grab your ass," he growled as I nibbled at his collarbone, to which I answered with a simple, "Yes," before continuing on across his chest.

I kissed my way over to his tattoo, and took a moment to trace over it with my finger before I finally leaned down, licking over the tantalizing ink. I'd wanted my mouth on it for so long, and I almost couldn't believe it was really happening.

"You said I taste delicious," he added, his voice coming out raspy as I circled around his nipple with my tongue.

Humming with delight, I covered the small nub with my lips, sucking lightly. "Mhmm..."

My teeth grazed over the hardened peak, and I squeaked as Laxus yanked my head up to his and all but ordered, "Say yes, Lucy."

"What?" I questioned, trying to clear my head enough to follow the conversation.

"Say you want this. Say you want me," he urged, his eyes serious as he continued, "Cause we need to stop this right now if you aren't sure."

My first thought was Yes, please do me now! and I opened my mouth to tell him that I was completely sure, when a voice came over the speakers throughout the train, and announced that we'd be arriving in Magnolia in 5 minutes. I breathed hard, my hands still spanned over Laxus' bare chest, and couldn't help the words that ripped their way out of my mouth, "Shit, why does this keep happening?!"

Laxus flopped back onto the fold-out bed, running his hands through his hair, and muttered, "Goddamn, someone out there really fucking hates me."

I moved to close the space between us, to make sure he knew what my answer to his question would have been, but he held up a hand, pointing his finger at me, and said roughly, "You stay over there, and put your shirt back on. Otherwise, I'll never be able to walk off of this train."

Moving back, I sighed, picking up my shirt to put it back on, when he burst out laughing. "What the hell are you laughing at?" I asked, arching a brow at his heaving form as I redressed myself.

He groaned pitifully as his laughter died off, "You thought you were the one who wouldn't be able to walk." He glanced up at me with a defeated look, before saying, "I'm beginning to believe I'm doomed to live out my days with a perpetual hard on."

I couldn't help but giggle at him, though I honestly felt bad that he was once again left like this. I wasn't at all pleased with the situation either, but he was the one who would have to walk around with proof of his discomfort. "You aren't doomed, Laxus," I offered, and finding him none too convinced by my statement, teased, "Would it help if I promise to fix that for you really soon?"

"Lucy, stop helping," he growled, closing his eyes as he continued to lay there, "It's never going to go away if you get me thinking about sex again."

"Okay, sorry," I apologized, biting my lip in consternation, when suddenly a thought occurred to me, "Hey, just think about something gross. Maybe that'll make it go down."

He rolled his eyes at me, muttering, "That would never work with me being this hard."

"You don't know that for sure. It might. Umm...oh I know," I exclaimed, snapping my fingers as the solution came to me, "Just think about your Gramps in his swimsuit."

"Oh damn, did you have to say that?" Laxus complained loudly, clutching at his wayward hair, before freezing and looking down at his pants, then up at me in surprise, "Holy shit, it worked." I smiled brightly until he slowly stood to his feet, saying, "I would say you're a genius, but I kind of hate you now. I'm never going to get that image out of my head."

I stuck my tongue out at him, and reached for my bag just as the announcement came that we were pulling into the station. I bit my lip to contain a laugh, then flipped my shirt up at him, showing off the skimpy bright yellow bra beneath, and asked, "Does this help?"

"You little fucking tease," he rumbled, reaching out for me, as I hopped back with a squeal. "Get your ass back here," he bellowed threateningly, even as a large smile lit up his face.

I yanked open the door with a shriek of laughter, and raced down the hallway, whipping in and out of people with a quick "Sorry!" I made it off the train easily, and ran all out, pushing myself to go faster. I looked back towards the train, and saw Laxus barreling straight for me, a huge grin on his face, as his long legs quickly ate up the distance between us. A squeak popped out of my mouth as I poured everything I had into reaching the guild.

Our feet pounded down the streets of Magnolia, accompanied by the sounds of us shouting at each other.

"You know I'm gonna catch you!" Laxus yelled from behind me, "And when I do, I'm gonna spank that ass!"

I stumbled at his words, before I burst out laughing, "You're never catching me then! You'd have a better chance if you offered to grab my ass!"

"That's what you said last time," he answered loudly with a bark of laughter.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I screamed as I looked back, finding him much closer than the last time I'd looked, "Oh shit!"

He smirked as he got closer, and called out, "It's too late." He swooped in, grabbing me up in his arms, and huffed, "I've already got you."

I squirmed in his arms, my arms and legs flailing in the air, as he tightened his hold on my legs, keeping me from getting away. I shrieked, laughing even harder when he tickled my side with his other hand, and I finally managed to stammer out, "Hahaha...guit that...alright, I give! I give!"

"That's more like it," he said smugly, before grinning lecherously, "Now, about that bra."

I shrugged, smiling innocently, as I giggled my explanation, "You said you didn't want to think about him naked, so I thought you might rather think about me naked."

"You got that right," he answered, his voice deep as he leaned in to kiss me, taking my lips fiercely.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, relaxing into his strong body as I met him stroke for stroke with my tongue, loving the feel of him all around me like this. A shrill squeal, sounding startling like Mira, brought us back to our surroundings, and as we separated, our heads turned as one to see the guild just before us, the doors held open by a stunned ice mage.

"What the hell just happened?"

A/N: Nothing like being found out during such an interesting conversation! hahaha! Yes! We are finally at the guild! Next time, we find out what everyone thinks of this new couple! :) Let me know what you thought - favorite part, funniest part, etc.