A/N: Hey guys, this chapter has been a long time in the making. I couldn't decide how to end it but I found a way that I think works pretty well. I should publish a couple more chapters over the next couple weeks so I hope you read, review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own fairy tail
Day 36
Cana laid with her face buried deep in her pillow, hoping that her phone would stop vibrating long enough for her to slip back into sleep. But she knew it wouldn't stop, maybe pause for a short while, long enough to snuggle deeper into her blankets but sure enough eventually it would restart. So, sleepily she reached for it, ignoring the pull from the charger cord that was still plugged in. She swiped the green symbol, once, twice, three times until Bacchus' course voice burst through the speaker.
"Where the fuck are you?" he growled, she could imagine him gripping the phone almost tight enough to crack it as he spoke.
"In bed, the fuck you want?" she replied, yawning loud enough for him to hear through the phone.
"Why the fuck aren't you at work?" he demanded, his voice slightly louder.
"Because I didn't feel like it." She said, but as she was saying it she knew it wouldn't be strong enough for him to stop harassing her. "I don't need to be there and I left instructions with Bisca so I'm sure you can get through the day without me." Cana replied.
"That's not the point!" Bacchus argued which made Cana snap up into a sitting position, now wide awake, her hang over amplifying her rage.
"Then what exactly is the point Bacchus? You can piss off for months at a time, leave me in the shit to run everything by myself, then when you get back you throw a fit and…" Cana wanted to say 'embarrass me in front of Laxus' but she hesitated. Bacchus' stunned silence travelled down the line gave her enough time to take a deep breath and calm herself.
"Sorry, I'm not feeling too good today… I didn't mean that…" She muttered, one hand clutching the phone, the other woven into her hair
"It's fine doll…" he said quietly, but was obviously shaken. Before she could come up with some words to reassure him the tone rang out signalling he had disconnected the call.
"FUCK!" she screamed, throwing her phone on the ground. After she realised what she did she flung herself from the bed onto the floor and grasped at it desperately, checking for damage. Thankfully it was still intact. She sat crosslegged on the floor, the steady ache pounding away at her head, and wondered how she had managed to fuck things up so badly in just five minutes.
OOO
"Go away…"Cana groaned, trying to ignore Mira who was hovering above her.
"What happened?" Mira asked softly, lowering herself onto the bed to lie beside her, snuggling against her back in an attempt to comfort her.
"I… nothing happened." Cana said, snuggling deeper into her blankets in an attempt to shuffle away from her.
"ok, you don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to-" Mira was cut off by Cana scoffing.
"Thank you, you're so gracious." Cana snapped sarcastically. Mira ignored her outburst with a grind of her teeth.
"But I'm not leaving here without you, so we can lie in this bed all night like when we were kids, or you can come with me to the bar." Mira said which made Cana freeze where she lay.
"You don't have any sick days left." Cana replied, remembering how Mira had to take a few weeks off when her brother got sick, eating into all of her leave, Cana had to personally get Guildarts to keep her job.
"Oh please!" Mira exclaimed with a roll of her eyes, "As if Guildarts would care- it's not like he could find someone else to run the bar." her arm winding around Cana's waist, face burrowing into the back of her neck. Cana groaned, wriggling in vain. She knew she was trapped and began to seriously consider the ultimatum. Which would be better- having Mira sleep over which always entailed endless gossip and some tortuous beauty treatment or going to the bar where she would have to face Laxus and potentially Bacchus. She was much more concerned with the latter. Laxus would watch her with big worried eyes until she divulged whatever was bugging her, whereas Bacchus would either be feeling pissed or guilty. If the first then she was in for a screaming match and if the second then he would try to make it up to her which was usually worse than the screaming match. After a few seconds she decided to go with the bar, at least if she had to deal with this shit there would be booze around, unlike her apartment which only had her emergency emergency bourbon.
"Fine!" Cana ground out, rolling out of bed and trudging towards her bathroom, quickly realising that Mira was directly behind her. Cana fought down the urge to snap at her and put in her maximum effort to maintain an even tone. "Look, unless you want to get in here with me, why don't you go get ready in your apartment." She said, pointing towards the hallway door. Mira raised an eyebrow, and Cana knew exactly which incident she was thinking about. "I promise I wont lock you out, I just need some space."
"Fine, but you better be quick because we have to leave in an hour." Mira said with a flick of her long white hair, hips swaying as she exited the flat. Cana thought of how Laxus would laugh at Mira thinking an hour was a short period of time to get ready. She shook her head to dispel the thought but still wore a grin as she climbed into the shower.
As she got ready, Mira darting in and out periodically, she began to dread going out less and less as she allowed her memories to construct an image of how the night would turn out.
First, she would arrive, buy her and Laxus a coke and sit on her stool. Then they would make jokes about different drunk party goers and compete to see who could nail the most potential problems in a row. Then she'd leave her stool, grab a drink, maybe dance with whoever had turned up that night, or maybe even with a stranger. Then as the night began to wind down she'd make her way back to Laxus and they'd go back to her place and order in. The more comfortable she felt in her hypothetical the more scared she became, as she began to count all the fragile happenings that had to connect just so she could feel content. Before the anxiety began to grow too large Mira was there with a hand on her shoulder.
"Ready to go?" Mira asked with an excited beam which quickly turned into a concerned stare.
"Yup, let's go." Cana said, avoiding her eyes as she walked out of the flat, not waiting for Mira to catch up as she trundled along. She kept what she knew to be irrational fears to herself, hoping they would melt away when she was encompassed by the club. She nodded to Bacchus as she passed him at the door, not noticing Mira stop to chat with him, her eyes searching out Laxus. Panic began to swell when she couldn't locate him at his corner, or behind the bar helping stock booze, or in Gildarts office talking logistics. She turned to confront Bixlow when she barrelled straight into Laxus' broad chest, his hands reaching out to stop her from falling backwards.
"Woow, are you ok?" his deep voice asked in surprise. She visibly relaxed from her earlier frantic movements, her hand resting on his forearm.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said with a sigh of relief, her shoulders untensing as she grinned up at him. "Wanna coke?"
OOO
"Hey, do you know why Mira told Bixlow not to let Bacchus in?" Laxus called from his place at the sink, a mug of tea in each hand.
"What?" Cana asked in confusion. She hadn't told Mira what had happened, how did she know? There was no way Bacchus told her, he'd rather be dismembered. As she thought on it she realised Lisanna must have realised something was amiss at work and evidently reported it to Mira. But she of all people should know that there was little Bixlow would be able to do if Bacchus really wanted to get inside, he'd find a way, he always did.
"Yeah, apparently she told him to tell Bacchus to get lost if he showed, but he didn't." Laxus said, placing the mugs on the small coffee table which was now as familiar to him as his own. He lifted the blanket and slipped under, his legs quickly warming. He reached for the remote, resuming the episode of breaking bad they had been watching. Cana used this as an opportunity to avoid the question but Laxus was determined on getting an answer, stubbornly elbowing her in the side to which she grunted in irritation. She turned from the tv, looking in his eyes for a chance that it would be dropped but all she saw was persistent probing.
"Fine!" she said with a sigh of exasperation and dramatic roll of her eyes. "This morning when I didn't come on for work he called and I… said some things that weren't very nice." She said quietly, hoping the tv would drown her out but looking at his understanding expression she knew he heard every word.
"Underage bad or Natsu's birthday bad?" he asked, taking a slow sip of his coffee. She thought for a second before replying.
"Imagine if it was Natsu, Gray, Erza and Gajeel's birthday on the same night." She said, watching him out of the corner of her eye as she pretended to be facing the screen.
"Fuck…" Laxus replied, running a hand through his hair. "If that ever happens I'm quitting." Laxus said, making her laugh, coffee spilling all over her lap. Cana gasped as she rushed up struggling to get off her shorts as the searing pain made it hard for her to grasp the buttons. "What are you trying to do?" Laxus asked in confusion.
"Quick! Get them off! Get them off!" Cana screeched, bouncing up and down to try to distract herself from the pain. Laxus considered questioning her but dismissed the urge, quickly unfastening the shorts and pulling them down her legs to reveal black and white pokedot panties. As soon as the shorts were removed Cana bolted towards the fridge, grabbing the frozen food and pressing it against her thighs in an attempt to soothe them.
"You should run cool water over them instead of the ice." Laxus said, remembering his first aid training. But when all he got was a glare through teary eyes he quickly went to the bathroom and wet a towel before returning to the kitchen. He slowly knelt down beside her, avoiding eye contact as he lightly dabbled water onto her thighs with damp cloths, then returned them to the bowl of cool water to start the cycle again. After a short while, the pain had largely subsided and the skin had turned red and blothy, bubbles starting to form, Cana put a hand on his to stop his efforts.
"Do you have any burn crème?" he asked, finally meeting her eyes which were now as clear and intense as ever. She marvelled at how quickly fun had turned to disaster, echoing the mornings events, but strangely different. Instead of abandoning her to her anguish, Laxus was there, reliable and capable, making sure she was ok. Now she was left in the uncomfortable position of sitting in a puddle, in her underwear, on her kitchen floor, with his hulking frame hovering over her.
"Nah, but Lucy will have. I can grab some off her tomorrow." Cana said, frozen in place as Laxus loomed so close, hand on her thigh, concerned eyes searching her face. She felt the urge to cup his cheek, lean ever so closer… but she supressed it.
"You really should put it on as soon as possible or the burns will take longer to heal." He said, staying firmly rooted in place.
"Laxus, it's like 2am. I'm sure it can wait till tomorrow." Cana said, trying to assuage his concerns so he wouldn't sit so close. When they were huddled together on the couch she didn't notice the heat rolling off him, which now felt hotter than the burn on her thighs.
"We should go to the hospital." Laxus said after taking a long glance at the reddening burns.
"What? No! It's just hot coffee-"
"No, it was scalding coffee. I think you have second degree burns." Laxus said, gently turning her knee to get a better look at the now peeling skin.
"Laxus, stop. You're totally over reacting." She said quickly, trying to fight the blush in her cheeks as his gaze wandered up and down her thigh. Laxus gave her an irritated glare before poking her leg at which she gave out a pain filled screech. "You bastard!" Cana snapped, shuffling away from him.
"That was a second degree burn scream." He said with an eyebrow raised. "Now you can go into the bedroom and change your clothes before we go over to Sydney Hospital or I can poke your leg again." He said with a condescending air Cana resented. She thought it over for a moment, deciding it was too big of a gamble to risk another poke. All illusions of chemistry gone, sopping wet, Cana got to her feet and hobbled towards the bedroom.
