A/N: Hey, I tried to get this chapter out asap so I could continue the flow. I re-start uni in a few days so I wont have a lot of time to keep writing but I'll try to get out as much as I can. A big thank you to all the people who gave reviews and those who pm'ed with their support. Shout out to Ash Dragneeel once again- thanks for your support and best of luck with your fics.

Disclaimer: I do not own fairy tail

Day 35 pt 2

There was a strange mood in the air. Like usual Laxus stood in his corner, running through instructions with his team and Mira stocked the bar, but there was a tenseness between them. Laxus' first instinct was to ask Mira for reassurance, surely Bacchus' return wouldn't be as big a catastrophe as Gildarts interference generally dictated. But the knowledge that she would either remain silent on the matter or confirm his fears stopped him from speaking out. He remained in relative silence as set up finished and people began to peter in, still no Cana in sight. The minutes dragged on slowly with his team needing minimum oversight, now comfortable in their respective roles. Time crawled along achingly slow and he fought the urge to text. But as it came up to an hour past opening Laxus fished his phone out of his pocket, pausing as his thumb pressed against the screen, still debating whether or not to call. Thankfully, just at that moment Cana burst through the crowd, her frustrated glare aimed at the party goers she pushed through which turned into a bright grin as she locked eyes with Laxus. He grinned back out of reflex but it soon faded away when he noticed the muscular black haired man she was tugging along by the hand. She whipped her head back towards him to snap something before turning back to keep her eyes locked on Laxus, pushing through the people with a more determined force. Within moments she was before him, panting slightly as she dropped the other man's hand, placing her hands on her hips as she faced him.

"I'm sorry we're late, it's a long story." She said, grinning despite the exasperation in her tone. Before Laxus could formulate a reply he was cut off by the man he assumed was Bacchus.

"Booze!" he yelled towards Mira who was standing at the opposite end of the bar, slapping the bench with a resounding thud. Mira glared at him in distaste but nonetheless began making two glasses of Cana's signature concoction of toxic spirits. She handed them to Kinnana who nervously brought them down to the pair. Bacchus leered at the young woman, leaning forward over the bar to get uncomfortably close.

"Hello doll…" he smirked, eyes raking over her. Kinnana blushed a dark red and quickly put the glasses on the bench before retreating down to where Mira was serving customers. Laxus usually would have pulled the man from the bar and sent him on his way but he heeded Guildarts warning to avoid confrontation. Cana kicked Bacchus painfully in the shin which forced him to fling himself down from the bar and clutch at his leg.

"Bitch!" he hissed, his glare not letting up. Laxus smirked in satisfaction but the feeling didn't last long.

"Stop being a dick! We just fucking got here and Mira already wants to split your head open." Cana snapped, hair swaying as she shook her head in small sharp movements. "If you keep this shit up we'll have to leave." She snapped, pausing for a moment to see if he would try to argue, which to her satisfaction. Laxus' stomach sank, she just arrived and she was already thinking about leaving- with him! Laxus patiently waited for her attention to return, as she and Bacchus downed their entire glass to receive another which they drank in an identical fashion. On their third Cana once again caught his eye, turning to walk towards him when Bacchus' hand at her wrist stopped her. He quickly skulled his latest drink and then nodded his head in the direction of the dance floor.

"You go, I'll be out in a bit." Cana assured him, giving up on the idea of introducing him to Laxus for the meantime. Bacchus grabbed her other wrist and began to pull her out towards the dancefloor with a drunken smirk. "Later- you go!" Cana said, gently breaking free of his grasp, making sure he was heading out towards the floor before making her way to Laxus.

"Hey," she said apologetically, an embarrassed expression on her face, which Laxus thought was strange on such a confident woman.

"Hey." He replied. Rather than acknowledge the elephant in the room he pulled over the 'cana stool' and smoothly lifted her on to it. She smiled in relief, winding an arm around the back of his shoulders and leaning against him.

He pretended to look out into the crowd but they both knew his eyes were glued to Bacchus, dancing with both women and men, a kiss here, a grope there, it looked as natural to him as it did to Cana. But unlike Cana his hands were constantly seeking out drinks, and when one wasn't being offered his fingers always found their way to his hip flask.

"You know, yesterday I was genuinely excited to introduce him to you." Cana said, her words not meant to inspire comment but thought. "I thought that you two would get on really well because you're so similar." She continued and Laxus fought back grinding his teeth at the idea of being compared to that oaf. "But by now, you probably think he's a total asshole." Cana concluded, staring at the side profile of his face, her stare intensifying when he refused to meet her eye.

"You worry too much." Was all he said, reaching up to wrap his arm around her waist and squeeze gently before letting it drop in a make-shift hug. Cana felt butterflies in her stomach at the gesture, not sure why something so relatively small meant so much to her. She continued to watch his face, considering to lean in and peck his check like she had done once weeks earlier. Not sure if he would put up resistance or embrace the moment. If she did, was that significant? Did she want it to be something more than it was? But all these questions were left unanswered as Laxus noticed Bacchus heading back towards the bar.

"You better go… if he tries to hit on Kinnana again I think Mira will rip his head off." He said, nodding towards Bacchus. Cana gave a defeated sigh and hopped off the stool. She started to walk away but froze for a moment in thought and before Laxus knew what was happening she spun back and wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug before walking back out into the crowd. He was more than a little confused- this wasn't her dramatic affection which was supposed to make him feel uncomfortable, this was genuine. He thought it strange that he had been with many women, but just a simple hug had never made him feel so uncertain before.

His eyes followed her as she downed a large quantity of booze even for her which was equalled if not exceeded by Bacchus who dragged her out onto the floor. Laxus thought he saw her stumble a couple times which despite the alcohol was very unlike her, no matter how much she had drunk. His instincts were telling him to walk down there and pull her out, but Guildarts message played in his head. He looked towards Mira who was looking straight at him with a worried stare. How long had she been looking at him? At first he was embarrassed that he had let himself be so obvious but then he realised that Mira was genuinely worried too. Mira knew Cana better than anyone he knew, and if she was that worried then something was definitely up.

But, despite Cana getting steadily drunker, Mira kept passing her drinks and Laxus kept his distance. Song after song, hour after hour and Cana stayed right next to Bacchus. While she sometimes danced with others, he was always within arms reach, there in a moments notice when someone got too frisky or she wanted another sip of his flask. Cana drank and buried herself in the intoxicating atmosphere of Bacchus to distract herself from that feeling she got from Laxus. The more she thought about it, and what it might mean the more she dreaded it. What they had now was perfect, and she had sworn off dating bouncers. That feeling, and all it's complexities was too much for her to bear. So she chose to feel nothing but the burn of the booze in her throat and the sway of his body next to hers. No feelings, just movement.

But as the night came to a close, she found herself craving that private time she enjoyed as they walked to her home together. She wanted to curl up on her couch next to him and watch bad tv, or maybe a movie. She'd call in sick tomorrow- Bacchus could deal with it. Right now, despite the ball of panic in her stomach and the sway of the booze taking over her body, she wanted to spend time with him in a way she didn't crave Bacchus. While she missed him, as his arms wound around her waist she felt nothing like the haphazard hug had shot her with.

"Your place or mine?" he mumbled into her ear. She turned in his arms to face him, placing his face between her hands.

"Both- you go to yours and I'll go to mine." Cana said, ignoring his groan of annoyance and attempts to angle himself closer to her. She slid her hands down to sit firmly on his chest, pushing slightly to break his grip on her waist.

"Elfman and Me will come pick you up tomorrow and you better be ready or I swear I'll set you on fire again!" Cana threatened, finally breaking free and moving away towards Mira and Laxus, not checking to see if he left because she knew it would only encourage him.

"Ready to go?" she asked Laxus who seemed surprised at the question.

"Yeah." He replied, sliding into his jacket. He thought by the way Bacchus was holding her that she was coming to say goodbye, but the surprise was a pleasant one. They walked outside and turned down familiar streets and there was no sign of Bacchus. Laxus half expected him to pop up but Cana knew better, he was probably with some random person he'd picked up and they were already in the bedroom by now.

"So which movie do you wanna watch tonight?" Cana asked, swaying on her feet a little more than Laxus liked, he moved closer to her, his arm resting against hers to steady her.

"It's a bit late, don't you have work tomorrow?" Laxus asked. While Cana often stayed up late with him, she knew her limits and when she needed sleep- there was nothing she took more seriously than her work.

"Yeah but I don't really feel like going in, Bacchus can deal with it. The whole day was just going to be briefings anyway and I don't really need to be there for that." Cana said, not happy that she lied to Bacchus about her intent to go but she knew he wouldn't go unless he thought she was. "And I don't really feel like going to sleep right now."

"Oh ok… how about… star trek?" Laxus asked, remembering Cana's extensive Star Trek collection that she vowed she would show him piece by piece. Cana considered it for a moment but then nodded in consent.

"Why…" he began to ask but decided not to finish the question. But unfortunately Cana wouldn't let it drop.

"Why what?" she asked, eyes glued to his face like they were more and more often. Laxus tried to think of a way out but it was too late and too cold for him create one so he just blurted out the question and hoped for the best.

"Why didn't you ask Bacchus to come over?" Laxus asked, which was a valid question. This whole time she had been complaining about how much she wanted him to come back for one reason or another and now that he was, it was like she was avoiding him. Cana was surprised at the question and took a moment to consider how honest she wanted to be. But in trying to mute her feelings she had drunk so much that her filter was all but disintegrated.

"There are a bunch of reasons, but I guess the main one is that if I invited him over it wouldn't end in a movie and I'd rather hang out with you and chill out with sour worms and Nutella and that god awful pizza you like then play drunk sexual gymnastics and have to go to work in the morning." She explained in a slow drunken droll. In the dark he couldn't see her beet red cheeks, or if he did he brushed it off on the booze and the cold.

"I once sprained my neck, my shoulder and my ankle during drunken sexual gymnastics- it's a bloody dangerous sport. I still think it should be in the Olympics." Laxus said to lighten the mood, grinning as he watched Cana pause as she processed what he said and then began to laugh hysterically.

"You know, you're a lot funnier than you look." Cana said between bursts of laughter.

"And what exactly do I look like?" Laxus asked in mock offense. Cana once again took time to mull it over.

"The terminator." She said, laughing even harder at her own joke.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He replied, taking her up the stairs and into the elevator.

Soon they were in her apartment, old pizza on their laps, a bottle of coke on the coffee table and their legs interwined as they huddled in front of her small but effective heater, the movie playing on the tv.

And everything was where it was supposed to be.