Hey, sorry this has taken a while. I've been pretty busy plus I was pretty annoyed by some of the reviews this story has gotten. It's alright if you don't like the last chapter and what happened in it, I don't mind you saying that. That's your right, that's what the reviews are there for. But there's no need to insult me personally and to be just very disrespectful towards me. That is not OK in my opinion and I really didn't appreciate it.

It had been about a month since Valentine's day and all that had happened on that evening and although the days after had been a little rough, things had settled down now and the couples of Natsu and Lisanna and Lucy and Loke were going strong again.

With Natsu and Lisanna, Natsu had now made his decision and was fully committed to Lisanna again, something which he hadn't been before even if he wouldn't admit it. And Lisanna was finally feeling secure again when it came to Natsu. For the first time she wasn't worried at all about Lucy and what she meant to Natsu because she now felt with full confidence that she was number one in Natsu's heart.

Lucy as well felt her feelings for Loke growing stronger every single day. After that day where Lucy had tried to break up with Loke, the two had had a serious talk about what had happened and Lucy had told Loke everything, not just about Valentine's day but everything to do with her and Natsu. This was obviously disturbing stuff for Loke to hear, but Lucy had reassured him that what had happened on Valentine's day had been a mistake and would never happen again. And so Loke made the decision to trust Lucy and the two had reconciled and were doing fine currently.

Natsu and Lucy had also told Lisanna about what had happened on Valentine's day. And although Lisanna was dissapointed with Lucy, she did forgive her since she could tell Lucy was really sorry about what had happened and would never do anything like that again. Lucy had also offered to tell the rest of their friends if Lisanna wanted, but the youngest Strauss sibling didn't make her, saying that it was all water under the bridge for her and she didn't need to tell the others, although she was sure they would forgive Lucy too.

Gajeel and Levy had also started dating which was something more or less everyone had been waiting for for a while now. Although to be honest, their relationship hadn't changed too much. Gajeel still teased Levy as much as he did before and Levy was still as exasperated by Gajeel's moments of stupidity as she had been before. Obviously the two were more affectionate to each other now but it wasn't a huge change.

Jellal and Jenny were also on pretty friendly terms now which was something that had alerted Erza at first, but then she heard the story about how Jellal had helped Jenny with Hibiki and she realised that there was nothing romantic between the two. Plus, Jenny had ended her Valentine's day date with Jellal early, allowing him to be with Erza and the redhead did appreciate that.

Another change was Loke was starting to get on more friendly terms with a lot of Lucy's friends. He had always been pretty good friends with Gray, but he was even beginning to get to know Natsu and Gajeel more and the group of four often hung out together after soccer practise. It wasn't just the guys though, even Levy and Erza who had disapproved of Lucy liking Loke originally were now beginning to soften in their stance towards him, Cana's glowing appraisal of Loke changing their minds a little. This was of course great for Lucy since she had often had to choose whether she would hang out with Loke or hang out with the rest of her friends, but now she was able to do both quite a lot of the time even if Loke still wasn't a regular member of that group.

And speaking of Lucy, a big change for her had been the huge improvement in her relationship with her father. The more time Lucy spent with Jude, the more the walls between them were breaking down and the closer father and daughter got. Lucy had never had the chance to talk to Jude in a deeper way, something that was past the usual small talk that they'd make whenever Jude briefly came home. And as a result, Lucy felt like she was finally getting to know her father and there was nothing that made her happier.

######

Natsu yawned lazily, him making his way back to his locker after yet another detention. It wasn't his fault staying awake was so hard in Physics class, at least that was what the pink haired teenager thought. But anyway, it was nearing the end of Thursday lunchtime and Natsu was not ready for Math class in the afternoon.

However when Natsu reached his locker someone was standing there, seemingly waiting for him. "Oh, hey Loke! What's up?"

Loke smiled politely at Natsu, something clearly on his mind. "Hey Natsu. Sorry to bother you with this, but I was wondering if I could ask for your help with something."

Natsu blinked. "Huh? You want my help? Sure, what's up?"

Loke nodded. "Well you see, something's happened with Lucy, and you're the only person I could think of who could help me..."

######

"So hey, I was wondering about whether you might want to have dinner at my house this Friday?"

Loke blinked in surprise. "At... your house? R-Really?"

You can probably tell why this was a big deal to Loke. Lucy's home life was controversially a complete mystery; not just to him though, to 99% of the students at Fairy Tail High School. Almost no one had any idea of what Lucy's house looked like, who her parents were etc. This was something that Loke had wanted to know originally but over time he'd gotten used to the fact that Lucy didn't want him to know and had almost grudgingly accepted that he wouldn't know. Until now that was.

Lucy chuckled slightly. "I mean... it's not that big a deal I guess..."

Loke smirked and put his hand on Lucy's shoulder. "It is to me. I'm glad... that you feel like you can trust me with this..."

Lucy blushed as Loke leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Of course I trust you..." She mumbled, a little flustered.

Loke grinned at her. "I'd love to have dinner at your house. It's a date!"

######

"So yeah, that's what happened," Loke said, completing the story. "And I was wondering... As far as I know you're the only one who's seen Lucy's house, aren't you?"

Natsu grinned at the memory of visiting Lucy's mansion for the first time. "Yeah I have although... If you wanted to know about it, why didn't you ask Lucy?"

Loke sighed. "I mean to be honest... I didn't want her to think I'm worried or anything. Plus if she thinks I'm making too big a deal out of it I guess I'm worried she might end up cancelling it."

Natsu blinked before shrugging. "Well I'm not sure I get it but yeah sure I'll totally help you!"

######

Laxus scowled at Ultear, the two standing by his locker. "I told you, I don't need your help. I'll handle this on my own."

"'Handle this'? We're talking about confessing your feelings, not beating someone up. And if you could handle this on your own, you already would have by now, and you haven't. Seriously, it's been a month now since we first talked about this, what are you waiting for?"

"The right moment..." Laxus grumbled, reaching for a book.

"Cmon, you and I both know that just means that you haven't plucked up the courage to ask her yet and we also both know that you never will unless you let me help you!"

Laxus sighed before turning to Ultear. "Look, I'm not agreeing to you interfering with this... But what do you have in mind?"

Ultear beamed. "That's more like it! Alright, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right! This isn't just going to be you asking Mira out, I want this to be a proper confession! OK, first we need to practise what you're going to say to her. Turn and face me and pretend I am Mirajane. Now, I want you to say how you feel about me!"

Laxus looked blankly at Ultear. Why was it that he felt Ultear meddling in his love life was her attempt to make up for her own lack of said love life? "Is this necessary?"

"Yes! Now do it!"

"Alright... Well, Mira, I... I guess I like you and I-"

"Stop!" Ultear shouted, glaring at Laxus. "'I guess I like you'? Is that seriously the best you can do? Once more from the top, with feeling!"

A vein popped on Laxus' forehead, but he sighed and began speaking again. "Mira, I like you and I-"

"Stop! More feeling! Start again!"

"I... want you?"

"Stop! Less creepy next time, start again!"

"I... need you?"

"Stop! That was actually even more creepy somehow... start again!"

"Well what the hell do you want me to say!" Laxus growled, losing patience finally. Ultear giggled and tapped Laxus on the nose.

"Simple. I. Love. You. Because you do love her, don't you Laxus? You've loved her since we were in Middle School, but you never had the courage to tell her. Why was that?"

Laxus froze. "You... You knew that?"

"Of course! Back then I spent a lot of time with Mira because Gray was close to Lisanna because of Natsu. Huh, that's kind of convoluted. But yeah, anyway, Mira had a crush on you back then, so I always used to pay attention to you for that reason. And it didn't take long for me to realise that you liked Mira too. It was super obvious. But you were both too oblivious about the others' feelings and then well..."

Laxus' gaze dropped to the ground. "I changed."

"You both changed. You, after the incident with... that man and Mira after what happened to Lisanna. You both became different people..."

######

There was only one thing that could make the entire Fairy Tail High School cafeteria fall silent at once, and that was the arrival of Laxus Dreyar. The school's most feared bully had one terrible reputation, that was for sure.

The blonde lazily looked over the stunned room, the door clanging shut behind him. Most people were staring down at their tables, some were looking cautiously at him, as if he was some wild animal that they didn't want to let of their sight in case he attacked.

Laxus smirked slightly as he confidently strode across the room. It seemed like being the villain of the story suited him; it was the role the other students wanted him to play and he did play it well.

"... He's that Ivan Dreyar's son..."

Laxus' eyes widened at the sound of that name. His head instantly cracked around to the source of the voice, a now terrified looking freshman, two years junior to Laxus. "Did you say that name?" Laxus asked, his voice low and threatening.

"Uh, I..." The boy spluttered.

Laxus took a step towards the boy's table and smirked menacingly. "What's wrong kid, you can't speak all of a sudden? But you were talking just fine a second ago? Now why don't you repeat what you just said so I can hear it properly?"

The boy gulped and shook his head frantically. "Please, I didn't say anything. All I said was that you were his son."

"Who's son?"

"I..."

"Who's son?" Laxus asked again, this time a little louder.

"Ivan Dreyar!"

Laxus chuckled slightly before turning to the girl sitting directly next to his 'victim'. "Excuse me Miss, but I was wondering if I could just sit down next to my friend here for a second. As you can see, we're having a 'private' conversation..."

The girl practically jumped up and scurried around to the other side of the table. "Thanks..." Laxus smiled at her, before turning back to the boy. "So tell me, what do you think about Ivan Dreyar?"

"I uh... I don't know..."

"He must be a real monster huh? To do what he did?"

"Uh I..."

"And what about me? The son of a monster. Doesn't that make me a monster too? I wonder..."

The room was almost completely silent apart from some faint murmurs.

The boy gulped. "Pl... Please don't hurt me..."

Laxus laughed, before speaking menacingly. "Idiot, you can't ask a monster not to hurt you. That's what monsters do..."

"Enough Laxus, stop that now!"

Laxus' head snapped up at the familiar voice. A couple of tables away someone had stood up, her staring straight at Laxus with fierce eyes. "Why are you interfering... Mirajane?"

Mirajane's expression softened at Laxus' harsh sounding words, her now looking pleadingly at her former friend. "I don't understand what's wrong, why are you acting like this?"

Laxus stood up, walking over to Mirajane's table. Neither Natsu nor Erza was present he noted, since he would have expected one of them to have intervened before Mirajane did. "How else should I act?" Laxus asked.

"The way you used to. Why have you become like this?"

Laxus scoffed and turned around. "I would have thought you of all people would understand."

With that Laxus began walking away. However after a second, Mirajane spoke again. "It's true, after what happened to Lisanna, I did change. I... I felt like I needed to. But... that's different to you..."

"No, it's not-"

"Yes it is, because I can tell that you don't like being like this! Why are you forcing yourself to be someone you don't want to? I don't understa-"

"Why do you care?"

Mirajane's heart sunk at the cold look Laxus turned around and gave her. "I... I care because... I'm your friend... and I want to help you..."

Laxus turned around and began walking again. "I don't need your help."

Before Mirajane, or anyone else, could say anything, Laxus disappeared out of the cafeteria, the entire room breathing a sigh of relief as soon as he was gone. Mirajane however wasn't so relieved. She sat down, wondering if there was anyone who could reach Laxus.

######

Laxus' gaze dropped to the ground. Ultear, noticing this, nudged him. "I'm really glad that you're back now Laxus. But enough about all that, we were rehearsing. You need to tell Mirajane that you love her and you won't be able to do it unless you practise on me right here and now, so let's do this!"

Laxus groaned. "Do I have to?"

"Yes! Now come on, let's go!"

Laxus sighed and met Ultear's gaze. "I... I love you..."

Ultear was about to scold Laxus about his wooden delivery when the two teenagers heard someone gasp. They both turned to the source of the noise, Laxus and Ultear freezing at the sight of Mirajane standing there, her eyes wide in shock. Mirajane had just heard Laxus say 'I love you' to Ultear and it didn't look like she'd seen any of the context that had came before.

"Wait, Mira!" Ultear spluttered, taking a step towards her classmate. "It's not what it looks like!"

"N-No, I... I'm very happy for you two..." Mirajane stuttered, turning around. "S-Sorry for intruding, I didn't mean to, I'll just go now..."

Before Ultear or Laxus could say anything Mirajane hurried away. Ultear whipped her head around and looked demandingly at the still frozen Laxus. "I think this is the part where you run after her... Jeez, what bad timing she has..."

Laxus nodded, snapping out of his daze and running after Mirajane.

######

Loke looked blankly back at Natsu, expecting the pink haired teenager to suddenly start laughing and say that everything he had just told him was a joke. But Natsu just returned Loke's blank stare with his own. "Uh... you alright dude?"

"You're kidding right?"

"Uh... no?"

"So Lucy's father is a billionaire and the two live together in a huge mansion?"

Natsu grinned and flashed Loke a thumbs up. "Exactly!"

"I... you're definitely not kidding?"

"Nope."

Loke chuckled nervously once, rubbing the back of his head. "Well... that sure is a lot to take in..."

Natsu patted Loke heartily on the back. "Don't worry 'bout it, Lucy's dad is a super nice guy and so's her maid and her butler!"

"She has a maid and butler... Lucy has a maid and butler..."

"Yeah the butler is called Caprico and the maid Virgo. They're awesome people too and Lucy likes them a lot! And there's not just them, there are a bunch more people working in the garden and cleaners and-"

"Yeah, I get the idea Natsu," Loke interrupted, feeling definitely overwhelmed. Before Loke could ask anything else the bell rang, signalling it was time for lessons. Natsu grinned and whacked Loke on the back once more.

"Don't worry about it dude, everything will go great I'm sure! Good luck!"

Loke watched as Natsu hurried away. "I wish I had his carefree attitude..." The playboy muttered to himself.

######

"Mira! There you are! Although... I guess your locker should have been the first place I checked..."

Mirajane didn't turn around at the sound of Laxus' voice. Like he had said the pair were standing by her locker, Mirajane trying her best not to even glance at Laxus. She didn't trust herself to not cry if she did. "L.. Laxus. I... uh... congratulations I guess... What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Ultear?"

Laxus shook his head once. "No, I shouldn't. You don't understand what happened. I wasn't saying trying to say... that... to Ultear. I was, well, practising..."

Mirajane turned around and looked questioningly at Laxus. "Practising?"

"It was a stupid idea Ultear had. She thought if I practised saying stuff like that to her it would make it easier when I said it to... uh to someone else."

"To who?"

"Uh I... I'd rather not say..."

"Oh, alright..." Mirajane replied, visibly disappointed. When Laxus had mentioned someone else, a little part of her had gotten her hopes up, but that response made it clear in her mind that it wasn't her.

Laxus, seeing Mirajane's sad expression, inwardly groaned. It seemed like he kept doing and saying the wrong things. He had done it a year ago in the cafeteria that one day. He had done it a month ago on Valentine's day when he'd just said goodbye to Mirajane at the end of the night and not taken that opportunity to tell her how he felt. And he was doing it again now. "Mira... I'm sorry."

Mirajane's eyes widened. Sorry for what? Did... Did Laxus know how she felt about him? Was he apologising for not returning her feelings? When she didn't say anything, Laxus continued. "I've hurt you a lot, haven't I? When you were trying to help me, I just pushed you away. But even after that... you've never held it against me."

Mirajane shook her head, surprising Laxus. "You don't have to feel sorry for what happened in that past because... I can see you now every day doing the best you can to make up for what you did. As long as you keep going like that..." Mirajane smiled kindly at Laxus. "Then that's enough... Laxus!"

"Mira... how can you say that..."

Mirajane giggled. "I never stopped believing in you because there's something I know for sure and that's... You are a kind person Laxus. That's who you are and that's who you always will be no matter what happens. I know you changed before because you felt alone, which is why I want you to know that you'll never have to be alone. I'll always be your friend. As will the others."

Laxus stared at Mirajane for a second before smiling. "Thank you Mira."

Mirajane smiled back. "No problem."

The two remained like that for what was a long intense moment, Laxus and Mirajane contently looking at each other. It was strange, Laxus couldn't remember the last time he felt this sort of warm feeling. Was it when he was with his Grandpa maybe? It was before everything that happened with his father, that was for sure. And all Laxus knew for sure was that he didn't want this feeling to go away. Earlier Laxus had told Ultear he was waiting for the right moment, although honestly he had been lying and he had never expected that right moment to come. But somehow, here it was. This was the time. "Actually, Mira, the person I wanted to say I love you to was...it was you..."

Mirajane's eyes widened as she stared spellbound at the now smirking Laxus. "You... wanted to say it to me? So... you love me?"

"Yeah... I love you." Laxus paused, thinking he should say more, but he didn't know what else to say really.

As it turned out he didn't need to say anything more. Before he could even register what was happening, Mirajane took a step towards Laxus and pressed her lips gently against his. Laxus smirked into the kiss, holding Mirajane tightly against him.

Mirajane smiled, her lips finally parting from Laxus, and pressed her forehead up against his, her eyes staring directly into his own. "I love you too, Laxus."

######

Lisanna turned to Natsu, the two walking to Wendy's school together to pick Natsu's younger sister up so that the three could go back to the Dragneel house together. "By the way where were you at lunch today?"

"Detention. Miss Porlylusica got mad when I fell asleep in class... Oh but I also was with Loke at the end of lunch."

Lisanna blinked. "Loke? Why?"

"He wanted to ask me about Lucy's house, it sounds like they have a big date tomorrow or somethin'..."

"Lucy's house? Yeah, now that you mention that, Mira told me that you guys once tried to follow Lucy home since she refused to tell any of you guys about what her house was like. You've seen it?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah!"

Lisanna's eyes lit up. "Wow, what's it like?"

"Uh well... I can't really tell ya..."

"Eh? Not even me? Cmon Natsu..." Lisanna pleaded, squeezing Natsu's hand and giving him her best sad eyes. Natsu chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, a promise is a promise..."

Lisanna blinked, her now realising that Natsu was serious about not telling. She smiled slightly. Natsu really was a good friend, as good as they came. "I see... By the way, did you hear about what happened to Mira today? Laxus finally asked her out! I can't believe it's taken so long, those two were always so obvious to me..."

"Eh? Mira and Laxus? I didn't know they liked each other..."

"What? You didn't know? You really are pretty dense when it comes to romance..."

Natsu looked offended at Lisanna. "Hey!"

Lisanna laughed before kissing him on the cheek. "It's alright though... because even if you're an idiot, you're my idiot."

######

"So what time do you think you can come tomorrow?" Lucy asked Loke. Just like Natsu and Lisanna, the two were walking out of school together, Loke doing his usual thing of walking with Lucy for a while before they'd say goodbye to each other and Lucy would walk the rest of the way to Caprico on her own.

"I'll need a little time to get home and then get ready... and then I could probably reach the address you gave me by 7 I'd say."

Lucy beamed, holding Loke's arm tightly. "I'm so excited for you to finally meet my dad! I haven't told anyone this actually but... this is the closest me and him have been in years."

"I'm glad to hear that. I can't wait to meet him, as well as Caprico and V..."

Loke trailed off, realising he had said to much. Lucy blinked. "Huh? How do you know about Caprico and Virgo? I haven't mentioned them to you yet."

"Uh... Who're those two? I've never heard their names before."

"You literally just said Caprico and were about to say Virgo before you stopped."

"No, I said Calcium and... v... vitamins?"

Lucy looked suspiciously at her boyfriend. "Loke..."

Loke sighed, figuring he should just come clean. "Alright I... I asked Natsu about what your house was like. I mean, I just wanted to be prepared and besides... I never in a million years thought it would be the way it was..."

When Loke saw Lucy looking uncertain at that he smirked reassuringly at her. "N-No, I didn't mean anything bad by that. I mean, I was taken by surprise a little, but I'm excited for tonight, really. In the end, I'm not worried about what your house or your father or anything is like because... I love you Lucy, so I'm sure I'll love anything that's part of where you come from."

Lucy smiled, cuddling into Loke's side as the two walked. "I swear, you're almost too smooth a talker..."

"Hah... It's what I do..."

The two walked for a bit more before Lucy turned to Loke and pouted. "But still, it's kinda a shame, I wanted everything to be a big surprise for you..."

"Ah... sorry about that."

Lucy giggled, seeing Loke looking genuinely guilty at that. She stood up on her tiptoes and gave Loke a quick peck on the lips. "Oh well, guess you'll have to make it up to me some other way..."

Loke laughed, pulling Lucy into a hug. "Sure, it's a promise!"

Thanks for reading.