Together again

"Do you remember how we met?" Laxus asked, placing his skateboard on the grass and sitting in front of the skatepark where they always went to have fun.

"Yeah," laughed Freed. "You hit me while you were on the skateboard," he said.

"Technically it was your fault," Laxus pointed out.

"Really? Because I remember I was standing still, and you failed to stop in time and fell on me," Freed declared. Laxus smiled and rolled his eyes.

"You stopped at the last," he objected.

"I don't think so. It's just that you've always had slow reflexes," Freed chuckled. Laxus shook his head but didn't reply.

Also, it's not like Freed was all wrong. Laxus had lost control of the skateboard that afternoon and was unable to stop or turn in time, so he crashed into Freed and the two fell to the ground on each other. He had been lucky that Freed wasn't one of those assholes he would have fought with, even though the boy had still told him to 'learn to ride a skateboard', as if Laxus didn't already know how to do it.

Thinking about it, he just laughed. Freed sat across from him on the red skateboard. "And remember that time we crashed into Gildarts' car?" he asked.

"Don't remind me," Laxus laughed and turned to the bar. The man was there and was drinking a glass of wine already early in the morning. Not much had changed in those years. "That old man made us clean the whole bar for at least a whole week."

"Yeah, my mom was so mad," Freed said placing his chin on his fist.

"My grandpa too," Laxus said. "That bastard even seized my skateboard."

"But then we got it back, thanks to me," Freed reminded him.

"Yeah, and he pissed off even more," he concluded and the two chuckled at the memory.

Makarov had forced them to dig the garden just to tire them as much as possible, and then he had made them arrange twenty quintals of wood, and had forced them to help the neighbor too. All in the same afternoon. The two had returned to Makarov's house so tired that they had fallen asleep on the sofa without even having dinner.

"You say we were little vandals?" Laxus asked.

"Nah, we've never done anything that terrible" replied Freed quietly "We were just kids full of energy." Laxus laughed, thinking they were downright rowdy. But it was nice to think back to those times in company, doing it with Freed was much better than doing it alone. Because now Freed was still there.

Laxus turned to the boy and found himself smiling genuinely happy to be there with him. They had spent so many moments in that park, from the happiest to the saddest. That was where they met, that was where they had fun, that was where they went when they skipped school, that was where they had their first kiss. And that was where they'd had that discussion that broke their hearts.

Freed turned to him and for a moment was surprised to see that Laxus was staring at him. Then his face relaxed into a sweet smile and Laxus felt, perhaps stupidly, his heart do a somersault in his chest.

Even after a long time things hadn't changed. It was always the two of them, a little different and a little grown up, but in the end, they still managed to have that complicity that bound them.

"Do you remember Lucy's party?" Freed asked suddenly. Laxus nodded. How can we forget it? It was at that party that the two had kissed, lying on the grass and with alcohol in their bodies. Despite this, Laxus remembered everything. To be honest, Laxus remembered every night he spent with Freed. He lied when he told his friend that with alcohol he didn't remember half of the things they did. And he regretted it bitterly.

"And do you remember...?" Freed didn't finish the sentence.

"Yup".

Freed and Laxus looked at each other for a few seconds in silence, facing each other, each sitting on his skateboard. They didn't need to say it to understand what they were both thinking. They both remembered their first kiss, the uncertain and awkward one they had shared secretly from the others.

The one that had sent Laxus completely out of his mind, because he had found himself addicted to Freed's lips, and at the same time had scared him of what he had felt.

God, Laxus wanted to push forward and kiss him again. He wanted to know if it would be different or if it would be as good as it was then. Or if it would have been even better, because now they were both grown up and finally cleared up. They both wanted a love story.

Hell, they both wanted a love story. What the fuck were they waiting for? It was so stupid, just because they didn't want to make the mistake of years ago didn't mean they couldn't kiss. Laxus's eyes ran all over Freed's face until they reached his lips.

He seriously wanted to crash into it, close that gap one once and for all and finally be with Freed.

"What are we waiting for?" the question came out of Laxus' mouth without him being able to control. He returned his gaze to Freed's eyes, who was looking at him with a strange light in his irises.

"I don't know," he replied.

Laxus then pushed his body forward, excitedly noticing that Freed was doing the same. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to the boy's, letting his actions speak for him. He placed one hand on the grass to keep himself balanced, with the other hand he gently took Freed's cheek.

They slowly moved against each other, kissing softly and ignoring the world around them, as when they did it as teenagers. Only now they weren't drunk, they didn't hide from anyone, and they didn't have to do it at night in order not to be seen by anyone. Now the morning sun illuminated both of their faces, as well as their real feelings.

"You say they'll forgive us?" Freed asked with a full package of Japanese food in his hand.

"I hope so," said Laxus, who was carrying beers instead, entering the elevator.

The two smiled, hoping that the roommates wouldn't go out of their minds to know the news, which was that they were dating. Officially. Freed still felt excited thinking about it. Evergreen would have killed him, given how he had made her damned. He hoped the food would be enough to reassure her.

Once they got to their floor, they entered the apartment shouting goodbye to the roommates.

"Japanese for everyone! What are we celebrating?" Bickslow asked cheerfully, taking the sack from Freed's hands and starting to take out the plates. Evergreen was already sitting comfortably on the sofa.

"Er... our engagement," Laxus said, blushing slightly.

All of Bickslow's enthusiasm disappeared and the boy looked up at them.

"Serious?" he asked.

"Well, not engagement in the true sense of the word" Freed was keen to clarify "But yes, we're dating" he added with a smile.

"Well, it was time you dated," Bickslow commented as he opened a tub full of noodles. Laxus and Freed frowned slightly.

"What does 'it was time' mean?" asked the blond. They both thought the two friends would be more surprised and thrilled. Instead, it seemed that they already knew everything.

"It's since Laxus came out that we thought you two should be together," Evergreen revealed.

"What?" asked the astonished blond.

"Come on, you were so close and… well, even when I didn't know you were gay I thought so. You were together all the time," Evergreen said. Bickslow nodded and Laxus and Freed sat on the sofa, a little disappointed by that reaction.

"You never said anything," Freed noted.

"Well, we tried to do it when you left, but you were both two walls," Bickslow explained. Freed and Laxus didn't reply and began to eat.

"Anyway, we wanted to thank you. If it weren't for you, we would never have solved our problems," Freed said.

"Speaking of this," Evergreen began. "If you want to be forgiven, I want to know what happened between you two and why the hell you weren't talking," she clarified, and her tone didn't allow for replies. Freed and Laxus exchanged a glance and sighed in resignation. Besides, they didn't have much to hide now, and Ever and Bickslow had been really patient with them.

"Let's say there have been some misunderstandings," Freed said.

"Really? Did you fight and punch each other only for misunderstandings?" Evergreen snapped. Laxus felt ridiculous enough now to explain the story, to think back they had been two idiots.

"Yes," Freed replied calmly instead.

Then they both began to explain the situation, how they both had a crush in the last year of high school and how they ended up becoming a kind of friends with benefits, and then completely detaching themselves. Evergreen and Bickslow listened to them in silence, curious and a little surprised to discover certain things. When the story ended Evergreen was still very skeptical.

"Are you telling me you were fucking and didn't realize that you were both in love for each other?" she asked. Hell, it made them look like morons.

"Well, we've never fucked" Freed pointed out.

Unfortunately, Laxus thought, and blushed at the thought. It also wasn't really as simplistic as Evergreen said. If only he hadn't persisted in dating Jenny, and if only Freed had been open to his emotions, they would have understood each other. But that had confused everything and, Laxus had to admit, he had really thought that Freed didn't care about him, after how cold he had been.

"Either way, you're two idiots," Evergreen commented. Freed and Laxus rolled their eyes but didn't reply and exchanged a glance and a brief smile, happy to have overcome all that. They spent the rest of the evening together with the two friends, eating and deciding to watch a movie that suited everyone.

The movie ended when it was almost one in the morning and everyone went to the bathroom to wash and sleep. Freed walked into his room with a smile and lay back on the bed, closing his eyes and looking back on his day. If he still thought about how things had changed with Laxus, he found himself smiling like a fool. God, after three years he was still as in love as he was when he was just a teenager. It was ridiculous, but he felt good.

He turned on his side and thought about how he and Laxus had decided to get engaged and not go around the subject anymore. They had done well, and luckily Laxus had taken the initiative, he honestly didn't know if he would ever have the courage to do it.

He heard a knock on the door and surprised Freed sat up in bed, then turned on the light of the bedside lamp and told anyone to come in. Laxus came out from behind the door.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure," Freed replied. The blond entered the room and closed the door behind him. He looked around uncomfortably and Freed looked at him confused. "Did you need something?" he asked.

"Um... well, I just wanted to be with you for a while," Laxus admitted awkwardly with a slight blush on his face. Freed smiled softly and made room for him in the bed, inviting him to sit. Laxus did so and they both leaned their backs against the wall. They looked at each other for a moment and then exchanged a sweet and quick kiss, which again caused a certain warmth in Freed's stomach.

"You say we really were two idiots?" Laxus asked referring to how Evergreen had called them earlier when they told them why they have fought.

"Maybe we are," Freed admitted with a smile. He honestly didn't care, he wanted all their misunderstandings to be just a memory. Laxus laughed slightly and ran a hand over Freed's knee. Freed walked over to him, so that their arms touched. After so much time acting like idiots, he wanted to enjoy the contact with Laxus as much as possible, and he was glad that the blonde also seemed to want the same.

"You know, I wanted to kiss you from the moment I saw you in boxers when I walked into your room," Laxus admitted in a half laugh. Freed raised his eyebrows in surprise and the blonde continued. "Or rather, I wanted to hit you against the wall, punch you and then kiss you." Freed laughed slightly.

"Well, if you want to know, I wanted to do it when I saw you with Rufus. Even though my idea was to kiss you in front of him, punch him and throw him out of the apartment, and then punch you" he revealed and it was Laxus' time to laugh.

"I was hoping you were jealous, even if it didn't seem like it," he commented. Freed's eyes widened slightly.

"Did you go out with him just to make me jealous?" he asked surprised.

"Well, for that too," Laxus admitted. "Not only for that, at least I can say I have a type." Freed frowned. He hated being compared to Rufus. He still didn't understand what was similar between them.

"Don't compare me to him anymore. Seriously, we couldn't be more different. He's a presumptuous arrogant who thinks he's above everyone else," he said a little sourly. Well, he was still jealous and still the idea of Laxus and Rufus dating made him nervous. Laxus smiled and squeezed his knee, perhaps to calm him down.

"A bit like you," he said though.

"Do you consider me a presumptuous arrogant?" Freed asked, stunned, and a little offended. He really wasn't, he was still thinking with some irritation about Rufus.

"Well, you're a little bit," Laxus smiled. "And Rufus isn't so presumptuous. Are you sure you aren't saying this just because you're jealous?".

"Of course. Besides, I've no doubt that I'm better than him in many ways," Freed commented. Did they have to talk about Rufus?

"About being presumptuous," Laxus murmured and Freed gave him a dirty look. The blonde left him a quick kiss on his lips, which calmed him slightly. "In any case, you controlled yourself well, if I had seen someone go out with you, I would've surely punched him" he said seriously. Freed smiled.

"Do we have to talk about the other guys?" he asked. He would have preferred to spend a quiet evening with Laxus, and he doubted that the blonde had come in to talk about their past relationships or about Rufus.

"No," Laxus smiled. "Actually I went in for something else," he said, looking away and staring at the wardrobe in front of them. Freed looked at him curiously, waiting for the blonde to go on. For a moment he feared that he wanted to tell him something bad, but when he saw the boy's cheeks blush, he calmed down a bit.

"I want you to know that I'm in love with you," Laxus said and Freed was silent for a moment, feeling a flush of heat rising from his stomach. Laxus continued talking. "I know it's early and it may sound stupid to you, but I really want there to be nothing more unspoken between us and… I love you, Freed. I did it years ago, even if I didn't want to admit it, and I still do today" he revealed, continuing to stare at the wardrobe. Freed felt his heart beating furiously in his chest. He took Laxus's hand between his.

"I love you too," he said. Laxus's face broke into a smile, and his shoulders relaxed.

Then the two boys pushed against each other to kiss. They hugged in a tight embrace and joined their lips in a more intense kiss than all those they had exchanged up to that moment. Freed felt that Laxus was pushing him to lie down on the bed and didn't object.

He found himself lying with his back against the mattress, with Laxus on top of him. He ran his hands through Laxus' hair so he didn't move away from him. He had wanted that moment for so long. Not just sex with Laxus, but his love.

They broke away panting and looked into each other's eyes.

"Can I sleep here?" the blond asked in a hoarse voice.

"You can do more" was Freed's reply. Laxus smiled and leaned over him, capturing his lips again. Finally, they were together again.