A/N: hey guys, here's the next chapter, fresh off the press. This story isn't going exactly the way I thought it would but I think it's more fun this way. I think this chapter is one of the most important in their development because it shows why people act a certain way. Cana is very centred around trusting those she cares for, so when either she or someone else breaks that trust it becomes a really big deal. But for Laxus, he's more concerned about the present- he's upset because he thinks Cana's upset but he isn't really concerned about the why. Ultear on the other hand is used to being in control, so for her to be blocked in is really hard for her to work out. I really like the idea that ultear and Mira would hate each other, because they have a lot of similar traits, they just express them in totally different ways. Mira feels responsible and has to look after everyone while Ultear thinks she can micro manage everything to get the best outcomes for her while still doing what she wants to do. So yeah, let me know what you think. Are they true to form? Are they too OOC. Anyways, as always, read, review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Day 39

Cana was greeted at the entrance by a flood of faces she hadn't seen since Natsu's birthday party. Gray, Leon, Loke, Jallal and Melody were the first wave, hugging her and Ultear in a great big mess of limbs. She smiled and laughed as they all spoke over each other. Then her eyes sought out Laxus, but as she was about walk towards him Ultear pulled her close.

"Oh my god! That the guy I was telling you about from last night in the corner!" Ultear exclaimed, nodding towards Laxus. At first she didn't understand until she realised that Laxus was the only man that she could be talking about. Then it all fell into place- the expensive apartment with the amazing view, blonde, muscular. She began to feel sick when she realised that the phone call Ultear had joked about was actually her. She froze in her tracks, face white as ash.

"What? Do you know him?" Ultear asked, but Cana was too shocked to reply, instead slapping the bar to signal one of her signature cocktails. Without another thought she downed the whole thing and ordered another which Kinana worryingly handed over. "What? What's wrong?" Ultear asked, growing more and more concerned as Cana continued to ignore her. Impatient as always, she called Mira over. "Mira, who's the big blonde guy in the corner?" she asked over the music.

"That's Laxus, the new bouncer." Mira replied before hurriedly returning to making drinks.

"FUCK!" she exclaimed, anxiety flooding through her as she realised she couldn't find Cana. She pushed past everyone and finally made it to the edge of the landing to spot Cana in the middle of the mosh pit, drink in her hand. Laxus had been nearly the only thing Cana spoke about on their conversations. Ultear had hoped that this meant that Cana was finally getting over what happened with Mest and starting to move on. Cana had been looking forward to introducing the two of them to the point where Ultear actually put in some effort, which was saying something. And now Ultear had screwed it all up! She cringed, thinking of all the ridiculous detail she'd gone into recounting the night before, she was sure every word would be spinning in Cana's head. The worst part of the whole situation was that she couldn't think of a solution. She was an international intelligence officer, trained to think on her feet, but the idea that her sister was upset left her completely blank.

"What's wrong with Cana?" Grey asked, beer in hand as he stood beside her, totally oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

"Fuck off Grey!"

OOO

Laxus was actually looking forward to work that night. He was sure that his encounter with the mystery woman had gotten all of the problematic thoughts out of his system, now he and Cana could co-exist with no temptation to cross the all important boundaries. The more he thought about it, the more he'd wished he'd done it sooner. Perhaps then he wouldn't have slipped at his apartment. As he looked around he noticed more 'regular' faces then usual and he became afraid that there was another birthday-like event on the horizon that no one had prepared him for. He waved Mira over to ask her what the occasion was when Cana arrived with the black haired woman from yesterday. He was on the verge of a panic attack when Mira finally arrived.

"Who's that with the black hair standing with Cana?" he asked, fear stricken.

"That's Ultear, Cana's elder sister." Mira said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't even think about trying it on her, Cana's super protective. When she thought Bacchus flirted with her she nearly burnt his flat down." Mira said with a laugh, totally oblivious to Laxus panicked expression. He began to feel slightly sick when he watched as Ultear said something to Cana, after which she stared straight at him before downing several glasses of her toxic concoction and headed straight to the dance floor, pushing past everyone to stand at the centre of the mosh pit, grabbing drinks from wherever she could get them.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Laxus muttered to himself, not sure as to whether he should try to explain, how would he even do that in this situation? Should he go and get her? No, he wasn't supposed to intercede without good reason. He became increasingly frustrated by the constraints placed on him by his job, when he just wanted to treat her like a person.

"Laxus? What's wrong?" Ever asked, he glanced up, noticing her stare straight at him from across the room with concern.

"What?" he asked, too frazzled to respond properly.

"You look like someone's just walked in with a bomb." Ever said, without tact as usual.

"Are you alright?" Freed asked, worry plain in his tone. Laxus didn't want to explain, he knew that if he ignored them they would only continue to ask which would escalate.

"I might have slept with Cana's sister…" he said in a very shaky voice, looking out to see the shocked expressions, following a pause and then everyone speaking at once.

"What do you mean you might have slept with her sister? Either you did or you didn't." Ever said, shaking her head in disdain.

"Well I didn't know she was her sister when I slept with her! I didn't even know she had a bloody sister!" he snapped defensively.

"Mate, you are so screwed…" Bixlow said, laughing to himself, which he most likely wouldn't have been doing if he'd seen Laxus' expression.

"Thanks mate, like I didn't know that already." Laxus snapped back. His gaze flicked between his friends and Cana, her sister now trying to get her attention but Cana kept fobbing her off, reaching for more drinks. Ultear grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her to the side of the floor but Cana was having none of it, breaking free and making her way back to the centre of the pit. He watched as Mira pulled Ultear into the store room, and he knew exactly what they were talking about.

OOO

"What did you do now?" Mira snapped, openly glaring at Ultear. Usually Ultear would have given Mira a good screaming at but she had a feeling that Mira was the only person that could snap Cana out of mid-spiral. Ultear opened her mouth to speak but she couldn't think of an undamaging way to say it.

"I fucked Laxus…" Ultear said, and she couldn't measure the level of pure shock on her face. "I didn't know that's who he was when I slept with him. And now Cana knows and she's upset-" Ultear tried but she was cut off by Mira's hand slapping across her face.

"What the fuck was that for?" she screeched, holding a hand to her face.

"You slept with the one guy Cana's opened up to in over a year! Do you understand how badly you messed everything up?" Mira screeched, arms flailing around.

"You know what, I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion. I still can't understand why you think you're the expert on Cana. She's my damn sister!" Ultear replied, just as angrily.

"Maybe it's because I'm actually here, every day, in the real world, looking out for her instead of half way across the world, doing god knows what. You know if you were actually here instead of calling once a week you'd know what he friggen' looks like." Mira snapped, flicking her hair in the way that drove Ultear insane.

"I'm not sorry for having a life outside of this shitty city, and I shouldn't have to apologise for it. It's not my fault you're too afraid to leave your safety net and actually put yourself out there for once." Ultear seethed, to be greeted by another slap. "You know, I'm getting real sick of letting you slap me."

"As if you could stop me." Mira goaded, ready to let loose when Gildarts entered the room, all frowns and gloom.

"Girls, behave!" he barked, giving each a meaningful stare until they both stepped back. "Now I don't know what this is about, and frankly I'm sick of splitting the two of you up. Stick a smile on your face get back out there and start serving drinks now!" he snapped at Mira, pointing towards the door. From her expression he could see her consider arguing but thought better of it and headed out to the bar. Ultear tried to slink out the door but Gildarts' glare stopped her.

"I know you're the reason she's upset, so you bloody well clean up the mess you've made." He said in a low threatening voice, exiting before she had a chance to reply. Ultear went to move towards the door but realised that it was useless. She needed a plan of attack.

First of all, she needed to stop Cana drinking. Then she needed to get her home so they could talk without causing a scene. Then she needed to work out how to undo this whole Laxus debacle. She took in a deep breath, straightened her dress, glanced in the mirror and checked her cheek which was now bright red with two overlapping hand prints. With a sigh she fixed her makeup best she could and made her re-entrance to the club. The blonde oaf was watching Cana from his place in the corner, but at least she was right in thinking there was more than Cana was letting on. She walked towards him, he didn't notice her presence until she was right beside him. When she spoke he jumped in surprise.

"Let's just get through tonight and then we can say whatever needs saying tomorrow, agreed?" she asked, which was accompanied with the sound of unintelligible voices coming from his earpiece which he ignored. He reluctantly nodded, looking back out to the floor where Cana was grinding against some random he vaguely recognised.

"I know you're on Cana duty but I think it's best if I take her home tonight, alone." She said, to which she got a sarcastic laugh, his eyebrow raised sceptically.

"I think I'd have a better chance of getting her home in one piece than you do." He replied, referencing her earlier attempts to pull her from the floor. "But Bixlow can do it instead. There's no way I'm letting you take her home in that state." He said, his tone clear that he didn't expect any resistance. Ultear hated men who took charge like that, who thought their word was law, and if it was any other situation then she would have tore him down a few pegs and left him in the dirt, but a glance up to Gildarts window steeled her resolve.

"Fine." She snapped through a tense jaw. "I think your man should get her now before she gets too hammered."

"I think that boat has sailed." He said condescendingly, nodding to where she hastily made her way towards the bathroom, waving people out of the way.

"You have no idea how much that girl can drink. She hasn't gotten to the hysterical stage yet, if that happens we're both screwed." She said, trying to impress upon him the horror which was a hysterical Cana, with the screaming and lashing out at anything that moved. Laxus muttered into his headset and as Cana exited the bathroom, a little worse for ware, a tanned man with black hair approached her, they argued and without further delay he picked her up and walked straight out of the club. Laxus didn't try and stop her when she ran out after them, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

OOO

Cana stepped out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed after washing her face in the cool water. The heat of being surrounded by so many bodies had made her feel quite queasy. As she was about to re-join the mosh Bixlow approached her, firm hand on her arm.

"Boss says you've had enough to drink and it's time to go home." Bixlow said, trying to steer her towards the door before she could refuse. Unfortunately Cana had no intention of going anywhere.

"Well you can tell Laxus he can shove it up his ass! Actually don't, he might enjoy it." She snapped, pulling away from him towards the hoard. Bixlow couldn't risk letting her get swallowed by the dancers, he'd never be able to get her out. So, careful not to touch her thighs, he picked her up and held her tightly against his chest, pushing through the people.

"Bixlow! Quit it! Put me down!" She yelled on repeat until they had exited the last doors and made it to the street at which point she thankfully gave up. He started walking down the street towards where he guessed her apartment was, past the long line of potential party goers, when a black haired woman he assumed to be her sister, she opened her mouth to say something but Cana cut her off.

"Go away!" Cana yelled, waiving her arms in an angry dismissive gesture which unbalanced Bixlow and made her fall to her feet. Ultear froze, never before had Cana talked to her like that. Sure, she was drunk, but to actually yell at her was beyond her understanding of their relationship. "Go away Ultear!" she yelled again, the queued people staring at the spectacle. Ultear nodded, frozen in place as Cana stumbled down the street with Bixlow at her side, unsure of where to go.

Once they had turned the corner, the bar deleted from the landscape, Bixlow attempted to calm her down but only succeeded in making her more emotional.

"That was a bit rough." He chastised, haunted by Ultears heartbroken expression and Laxus' panicked tone. "It's not like they knew-" he said but was cut off by an angry Cana.

"It's not about that. Even if they did, it's not like there's anything really wrong with them being together…" she said, her breathing becoming more uneven as she fought back tears she knew Bixlow wouldn't be able to handle. How she wished she was back in the bar where all she had to think about was the taste of booze in her mouth and the feeling of people around her.

"Then why…" Bixlow asked, though he regretted it the moment the sound left his lips. Cana stopped walking, took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to remain calm but the swirling emotions wouldn't abate.

"I'm embarrassed… the whole thing makes me feel sick." She said, swallowing loudly.

"Are you sure it's not all the booze you drank?" he asked. Cana paused for a moment and looked at Bixlow before breaking out in laughter.

"That could be it." She said, chuckling to herself as she restarted walking down the street, now more steady. A tense silence grew between them, Bixlow itching for an answer and Cana clearly not interested in giving one. It was only when they were in eyeshot of her apartment building that she began to speak.

"I called him." She said finally.

"What?" Bixlow asked, before realising that he probably should have handled to question with more tact.

"Mira told me Laxus wasn't coming in because he was sick. I was worried and when I'm sick he always called or stopped by after his shift so I thought I'd call and check in." she began to explain.

"And he didn't pick up? That doesn't sound too bad." Bixlow said, trying to put on a cheery tone. But she merely frowned, staring him straight in the eye.

"No, he picked up. He said that he needed some rest. He lied to me while my sister was giving him a blow job." She said, "That's what makes me feel sick. I keep replaying it in my head. I can't stop thinking about it." She said, tears spilling from her eyes but she didn't bother to wipe them away. Bixlow felt his words stick in his mouth as he was frozen like a deer in the headlights under her hazel gaze. "I feel like such an idiot. I was so excited to introduce them and now it's this big disaster, probably worse than Bacchus. And my legs are burned. And my sisters leaving in a week after not seeing her for months. And I've had to miss so much work. And I don't know what I'm supposed to feel. And I'm just tired Bixlow. I wanna sleep for a year." She mumbled, hands covering her face to hide her tears. Bixlow didn't know what to do so he did the only thing he could think of and pulled her in for a hug. At first she froze in surprise but then relaxed into it, burying her face in his chest as her arms wound around his back.

"How about we sober you up, then you get some sleep. I'm sure everything will be better in the morning." Bixlow said, and he felt a burst of happiness as Cana began to laugh instead of cry. She began to walk up the short flight of stairs to the elevator.

"You know, you're a pretty cool guy Bixlow." Cana said, welcoming him into her now cramped flat that was flooding with Ultears luggage.

"Shhhh. Don't tell anyone or I won't be able to keep the ladies at bay." He said, pouring her a large glass of water.

"Don't worry, even if I told them I'm not sure they'd believe me." Cana said with a laugh, gratefully accepting the glass. Bixlow clutched his chest jokingly, the imaginary wound making Cana laugh.

OOO

Later that night, Ultear quietly crept into Cana's flat, hoping that she was asleep. In the dark she shimmied out of her clothes and grabbed what she hoped was her nightdress and crawled onto the air mattress. A bolt of fear ran through her as she heard Cana get out of bed. She considered pretending to be asleep but she knew she couldn't pull it off. So she stood in wait, expecting to be yelled at. However Cana embraced her, hugging her tightly before leading her to her bed which they both got in like when they were kids. Cana rested her head on Ultear's chest and began to drift into sleep with the steady rise and fall of her breath.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered but got no response. Content she wound her arms around her little sister and drifted off to sleep.