The next morning, Lucy decided to beat Laxus to the punch and was waiting on her porch, fully dressed, by 10:50. She was wearing a flowing, red cotton skirt that brushed the tops of her feet with a black halter crop top that exposed an inch or two of midriff. She kept her makeup and jewelry simple, emulating the gold earrings and red lip from yesterday.
As she waited, she hummed to herself absent-mindedly, keeping an eye out for the torture device that Laxus called a bike. Much to her surprise, Laxus arrived within a few minutes behind the wheel of a beautiful vintage car. Lucy skipped up the passenger side and leaned in through the window.
"How many vehicles do you have tucked away?" she asked in amusement.
"Five on every island in the Mediterranean," he answered with a deadpan expression.
Lucy pulled the door open and sat down, heaving a sigh of relief. She had not been looking forward to getting onto his bike. She looked over at Laxus, only just taking in what he was wearing. He had on a red linen shirt, unbuttoned at the top like yesterday, with a pair of black trousers.
Lucy's eyes widened in excitement. "Laxus!" she slapped his shoulder. "We match!" Lucy giggled at the coincidence.
Laxus threw his head back against the headrest and groaned, "Ughh. Now we're going to look like one of those couples."
Lucy's heart skipped a beat at his insinuation that they were a couple.
"That's it. You're gonna have to go change, Lucy," Laxus turned his head to look at her. His tone was serious, but his eyes glinted in amusement.
"Shut up," Lucy said, smacking his arm. "So, where are we headed today?" she continued.
"It's a secret," Laxus said plainly, putting the car into drive.
One hand left the wheel as he picked up his phone from its place on the dashboard and fiddled with it for a moment. He quickly returned it to its position, and turned up the volume knob.
Music blasted through the speakers, loud enough to be heard clearly over the sound of the wind whipping through the open windows.
Lucy's hair was blowing everywhere before she yanked the hair tie off her wrist and knotted her hair into a bun at the nape of her neck. A few loose strands continued to dance around her face, but she chose to ignore them. She quickly recognised the song Laxus was playing and began singing along.
"What?!" Laxus yelled, throwing her a very confused look. "You know this song?!" His shock only grew as Lucy smiled and continued to sing along.
"You don't get it Lucy, no one I know has heard of these guys. Not one. Single. Person," Laxus dramatically punctuated his sentence.
"You're not the only person alive with an interest in music, you know?" Lucy said exasperatedly. "Literally anyone who gives a shit about cool music has heard of these guys, so if no one you know has listened to them, then my friend, you're hanging out with the wrong kind of people." Lucy shrugged her shoulders and continued to sing along.
Laxus stared at her in awe for another moment before remembering that he was driving and had to look at the road. The drive was fairly uneventful, since it was a constant cycle of an obscure song playing, Lucy singing along, Laxus being shocked, Lucy telling him to get over himself.
"For most people, you may have an incredibly niche taste in music, but for someone who really enjoys this stuff, you're pretty basic," Lucy casually mentioned.
Laxus bristled at being called basic and after giving Lucy an earful, turned the volume up higher to drown her out. Lucy chuckled to herself, as she looked out of the window at the scenery. She was beginning to realise that the "tiny" island wasn't so tiny after all. Laxus seemed to be driving around it, to end up on the other side. Lucy saw a small hill that hadn't been visible from where she lived. She had an inkling that, if she had paid attention, she may have seen a part of it from the town square last night.
As Laxus drove towards the hill, a whole new part of town opened up. Several restaurants, bars, shops, and boutiques decorated the area.
"Holy shit, I didn't realise the island was this exciting!" Lucy exclaimed.
"It's not a big tourist spot, but they get a decent crowd in the summers. You'll see in a couple weeks. People will be flocking to the island. This is their primary income, after all," Laxus explained. "You've only been here a few days. Left to your own devices, you'd have been pointed in this direction eventually. While the town centre holds historic value, a majority of the nightlife is here at the back of the island."
Laxus pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine. The pair left the car, and Laxus then offered Lucy his arm. She wrapped her arm around his bicep like she had done on the first day they met, and she allowed Laxus to lead her towards the thriving area.
The camera bag slung over Laxus's shoulder reminded her. "So, the woman you left your camera with…?" Lucy trailed off, leaving the question open-ended.
"What about her?" Laxus asked in response.
"Who is she?" Lucy hoped her voice was as casual and nonchalant as she thought it to be.
"Why do you ask, Heartfilia? Jealous?" Laxus looked at her with a lopsided smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"No. Not at all. Just curious." By this point Lucy was praying that she didn't sound anything more than casually inquisitive.
"Porlyusica is a sixty-three year old woman who makes the most divine little pastries at a bakery in the town square. And while I'm sure she'd have no problem sleeping with me, I haven't found it in myself to grant her that wish just yet." Laxus looked down at Lucy with a reassuring, if somewhat cocky, gaze. "Though, I will say, she is still quite a babe," Laxus joked, gently jabbing Lucy in the side with his elbow.
A weight left Lucy's chest, which annoyed her further. There shouldn't have been a weight in the first place! Who Laxus chooses to interact with is his business! Lucy internally reprimanded herself.
"Why are you friends with only old people?" Lucy asked teasingly.
"Am not. I just choose to be around more old people because they aren't constantly trying to sleep with me," Laxus justified haughtily.
"Quite the ladies man, aren't you?" Lucy continued teasing.
"Men want to sleep with me too, sweetheart," he clarified.
"Well now I really feel honoured to be blessed with a moment of your time." Lucy was milking the situation.
"And I'm honoured that you chose to spend your day with me," all joking left Laxus's voice and he looked down at the young woman, a warmth emanating from his eyes.
They walked arm in arm up a series of short staircases and sloping streets, passing multiple tiny shops and restaurants along the way. Lucy soon realised that they were walking up the hill at a gentle incline. She stopped every now and then to whip out her phone camera and take photographs of the view. Laxus pulled his camera out and began taking photographs of his own. Eventually, they crested the top of the hill. A couple of restaurants and low walls decorated the hilltop, but the thing that caught Lucy's attention was the small structure with a prominent signboard that read "Museum".
"Is that the secret place you brought me to?" Lucy asked excitedly, pointing at the museum.
With Laxus's nod of affirmation, Lucy ran up to the ticket booth and asked for two passes. Laxus followed and quickly laid down the cash before she could protest, but she didn't even seem to notice.
Lucy grabbed the passes off the counter and walked very quickly towards the entrance, with Laxus on her tail. When they entered the museum, Lucy looked around in awe. It was a very small space, but photographs and artifacts adorned every square inch. Lucy walked through the museum slowly, pausing at every display and carefully reading the inscription below it. She admired photographs of wall art painted onto the sides of crumbling Grecian homes that had barely begun to fade, despite being centuries old. She looked at stone busts of beautiful men and women, with their perfect cheekbones and angular noses. She closely observed chipped vases that had geometric designs wrapping around them.
Laxus didn't interrupt her as she slowly worked her way through the small museum. He briefly noted with some amusement that while most people would have been in and out in 20 minutes, Lucy had spent an hour really taking everything in.
When they were done, Lucy walked into the adjoining gift shop and bought herself a postcard of a photograph that she particularly liked.
"Don't tell me, you took this photograph too, didn't you?" she asked Laxus, completely serious.
Laxus laughed, "I wish. No, this wasn't me." He pointed to the bottom of the postcard that bore the actual photographer's name in fineprint.
"The museum was lovely. Thank you for bringing me here."
"Don't mention it," Laxus replied as Lucy wrapped her hand around his arm once more.
"It's sad," he continued. "The island is actually a major historical site, but most of the artifacts they found here were taken to the big museum in the capital. Even the wall art that they had photographs of? Those entire walls were excavated and taken to the capital. That tiny museum is all that the island has left."
Lucy looked at Laxus, admiring his intimate knowledge of the island. The pair walked towards one of the low walls and sat there. They turned sideways to face each other, and from where they were sitting, they could now turn their heads and also see the sea. The two sat in comfortable silence, watching the gentle waves and enjoying the breeze on their faces.
"Give me one minute," Lucy said as she abruptly stood up. Laxus watched as she walked into a nearby restaurant before emerging with two mugs of beer.
"How did you convince them to let you bring it outside? They are sticklers for only drinking inside the restaurant," Laxus questioned in awe as he took a mug from the blonde woman's hand.
Lucy sat down, faced Laxus, and then, putting on her best flirty voice, she placed a hand on Laxus's bicep. "Would you be okay if I sat outside with the beer? It's such a lovely day today. I promise to be careful, sir," she batted her lashes, looking at Laxus coquettishly.
"Damn, Lucy. If you pulled this on the man inside I better run in and check on him. He's probably dead from a heart attack at this point," Laxus swallowed audibly, his eyes wide with shock as he watched the gorgeous woman consciously turn on her sex appeal. "Do you do this to all men? Someone ought to stick a warning label on your forehead. "Not Good For The Hearts of Man"" Laxus used his hands to indicate the label.
"Oh, how you flatter me, Mr. Dreyer," Lucy shook her head and giggled.
They drank their beer as Lucy told Laxus of interesting things that had happened on campus since he graduated. She narrated drunken tales from parties and gossip surrounding professors. In turn, Laxus told her about his adventures and the places he'd been to. Lucy went back into the restaurant twice more to flirt with the bartender and bring beer outside. At some point, they strolled into the restaurant together and ordered food that Lucy paid for, before returning to the wall, now armed with cones of ice cream.
Once the pair was satiated, Laxus suggested heading back to the car. That's when Lucy noticed the sun beginning its descent into the ocean.
Pretty much another full day with Laxus, Lucy sighed. And yet, I'm not bored. I could spend time with him for hours on end and still feel like I haven't had enough.
"Hey Lucy?" Laxus called, pulling her from her train of thought. "Please tell me if I'm overstepping… but how do you feel about Natsu nowadays? Do you still miss him?"
Lucy considered his question for a moment before answering, "I don't think I ever missed him. I was so hurt by what he had done that I never felt bad he wasn't in my life anymore. I don't think I can yearn for someone that was so cruel, irrespective of whether or not he felt sorry after. Do I wish he hadn't done what he did and broken my heart like that? Yes. But now that he has, I'm glad he's out of my life. To answer your question more generally though, I am not as sad as I had been. Not even close. Actually, it's funny. I haven't even thought about him since our conversation yesterday. I'm sure I'll have waves of sadness every now and then as memories of him strike me, but I think I can confidently say I'm well on my way to moving on," she said triumphantly.
"Good, I'm glad," was the only response she got, but then Laxus pulled her in close and draped his arm across her bare shoulders.
When they climbed into the car, Lucy connected her phone to the car's audio system. She pressed play on a song that earned her an appreciative smile from Laxus. He put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. The wind continued to whip through the car sending tiny shivers through Lucy. She sang along loudly as Laxus coasted down the seafront road.
A/N: I have a couple more chapters written out and I'm so happy with where everything is! It's uphill from here, folks! As always, please leave your feedback! I love hearing from everyone, and it helps me really milestone how my story is progressing!
Also this story is being cross-posted on AO3, in case you prefer reading over there! It's under the user Persephone_orchids.