Lucy's eyes snapped open when she felt her blanket on her bare back. She felt the mattress against her chest, without the buffer of a T-shirt to separate her body from the soft cotton bed cover. She sat up and looked at her naked frame, and then memories from the night before began surfacing. She remembered falling into bed exhausted, but more importantly, she remembered the searing kiss that had occurred shortly before that. And the kisses at the beach. She flopped back into bed, blushing wildly as she remembered Laxus's hands on her body, his lips pressed into hers. She remembered the feel of his tongue as he ran it down her neck, and she remembered the bite he left below her ear.

Lucy raised her finger and pressed the spot, and sure enough, it ached with a dull throb - a guaranteed sign of a bruise. Happy that she hadn't dreamt up the event, she closed her eyes, trying to commit the feel of him to her memory. She lay in blissful contentment as her mind ran through her evening at the beach.

A beep from her phone interrupted her train of thought. She reached for it, wondering who was messaging her this early. Before she noticed the message, she noticed the time. It was past 8am, which explained why Lucy felt so incredibly well rested.

The message was from Laxus, hoping she was awake and explaining that he was bringing breakfast over in an hour. He asked her to get a pot of coffee ready, and he'd bring the rest. Lucy didn't bother texting back, choosing to just call him instead.

"Morning, gorgeous," he answered, and Lucy could almost see his cocky smirk. "Sleep well?"

"Extremely. Would've slept better with you here though," Lucy said coyly.

"Don't tease me, Heartfilia," he laughed. "I'll be by in a bit. Just gonna jump in the shower real quick - and before you say it, yes, it would be better with you here."

Lucy laughed loudly as he took the words out of her mouth before she said goodbye and hung up. She got out of bed and ran to the shower, scrubbing herself clean before vigorously brushing her teeth. Wrapped in her towel, she danced around her house, straightening things up. She smoothed out her hair, fought with her bra clasp, and pulled on a pair of shorts and a crop top before scrambling to the kitchen. Just as she put the pot of coffee on, Laxus knocked at her door.

Lucy opened it and sighed at how gorgeous he was. He was dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans, and Lucy was convinced that he may have been the most attractive person on the planet. He was balancing a few small boxes, so Lucy quickly stepped aside, making way for him to enter and dump them on her dining table. With his hands now free, Lucy ran at him, throwing herself into his arms. He caught her deftly and hoisted her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. He supported her butt as she caught his lips and kissed him deeply. She pressed herself to him, intertwining her tongue with his. She wove one hand through his hair and grabbed the back of his neck with the other, kissing him fiercely and passionately. With a few last pecks, she unwound herself from around him and hopped down.

"Well, hello to you too," he chuckled, slightly out of breath. "What was that for?"

"Yesterday you said you were worried I'd wake up today and regret what happened, so I wanted to show you that I didn't. If anything, I regret not having done more," she stood up on tiptoes and pressed another kiss to his lips.

"Yeah, well, you were basically asleep, so I really don't know what you were imagining we'd do," he said, plopping down on the couch. Lucy acquiesced with a shrug, moving to sit next to him. Instead, he grabbed her around her waist and pulled her to his lap, so that she was now perched sideways across his thighs.

She loosely wrapped her arms around his neck before asking, "Did I tell you just how good you look today? Because you do. Just… So… Gorgeous," she said, punctuating her sentence with kisses along his jaw.

"I mean, isn't that a given at this point?" he said, with an arrogant shrug of his shoulders, but by now, Lucy was able to recognise his teasing with ease. "Also," he said, pushing her away a little, "are you saying I haven't looked good up until this point?"

"I specifically have a thing only for bare chested guys or guys in jeans and a white T-shirt. That's why you've only been kissed yesterday and today. Had you been half naked the day I ran into you at the pier, well, honey we'd have never left bed," Lucy teased back.

"Damn, then I'm never taking you to the beach again. Who knows which poor, shirtless bastard you'll attack."

Lucy sniggered, tucking her face into the side of his neck and inhaling his lovely scent.

"Okay, up," Laxus said suddenly, smacking her butt. She grudgingly slid off his lap and he stood up. "I'm hungry. Please tell me the coffee is ready," he looked at her with questioning eyes.

"Yes, in the kitchen. Splash of milk, no sugar," she instructed.

He hollered a "Yes, ma'am" in response as she nestled back into the couch, lounging while he got things ready.

Laxus soon brought their coffees out and took a seat at the small dining table, where Lucy joined him. He opened each box and pushed them towards the woman so that she could observe the assorted pastries inside. Some were crumbly squares of spinach or lamb, and others were flaky parcels of nuts and fruit. Lucy eagerly took a bite out of one, and let out a loud moan.

"This is so good," she whimpered with her eyes closed. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, catching bits of pastry that clung there.

"It's amazing how you can make eating look so seductive," Laxus noted in fascination, popping some food into his mouth. "Kind of makes me jealous of that pastry."

"Ha ha," Lucy said flatly, sticking her tongue out the man, who quickly leaned towards her and nipped it.

"Laxus!" she exclaimed, smacking his arm. They both sniggered, continuing to bicker and laugh as they finished eating.

"So what are we doing today?" Lucy asked, licking the remnants of her breakfast off her fingers.

"Nothing," the man replied with a shrug.

"Come again? You've planned wonderful dates every day for the last several days, and today is "nothing"?" she asked incredulously.

"Oh, so we've been going on dates this entire time, have we?" he smirked.

"Well, yes, I suppose, but not the point. Are you just gonna leave and go home now?" Lucy's face visibly fell.

"Obviously not. We're going to do nothing together. We can watch a movie, read, maybe run down to the supermarket and pick up things for a nice home-cooked lunch, and, if we're feeling like it, we can go out for dinner," Laxus detailed nonchalantly.

Lucy got out of her chair and sat on his lap, straddling his legs. "I knew you'd have a romantic day planned," she said, kissing him.

"You must have really low standards if you think this is romantic," he said against her mouth with a chuckle.

"Hey, I have a question," he pulled back to look at her. "When you said dates…?" He left the question hanging, but Lucy knew what he was implying.

She exhaled with a sigh and touched her forehead to his.

"You're such a great guy, Laxus. And being around you makes me incredibly happy. But if you're asking whether this means we're dating, I honestly don't know. I don't know if I'm ready to call someone else my boyfriend yet, but none of that means that I want to stop this - whatever we are," as she finished she leaned back and cupped his face in her hands. "You need to believe me, Laxus. I want this, and I want you, and I don't want us to stop," she gazed into his eyes, silently begging him to understand.

He held her cheek and pulled her in for a soft kiss. "Of course. I'm sorry I asked, I didn't mean to put you in the position. I'm happy with whatever this is too, and we don't have to call it anything yet," he said stroking her cheek. Cracking a lopsided grin, he asked, "So this means I can go on that date with Porlyusica, right? I promised her a wild night, after all."

Lucy chuckled, shaking her head.

The pair spent the rest of the day in perfect domestic bliss. They did everything Laxus had said, starting with a movie. Lucy picked an old black-and-white classic, much to Laxus's irritation, who had been rooting for a horror movie. They bought supplies from the grocery store and put lunch together, making a huge mess in the process. Laxus flicked a piece of lettuce at Lucy who cruelly retaliated with a spoon of flour. Though they quickly called it quits, their mini food fight, and the fact that at least one of them would knock something over every time they made out in the kitchen, resulted in a mess that took the pair an hour to clean up.

Post lunch, with a few glasses of wine in their system, they lay down on Lucy's bed, and she curled herself into him. He wrapped his arms around her, and they talked in quiet whispers for a while before eventually dozing off.

Laxus woke up first and poked Lucy repeatedly until she sat up with a snarl. Irritated with the rude awakening, she hit Laxus with a pillow before lying back down and closing her eyes. Laxus got out of bed and lifted her off, carrying her to the couch, where she was unceremoniously dropped, but it at least ensured that she was wide awake.

Their evening was peppered with banter and music, and sitting out on Lucy's porch to watch the sunset. Finally, when they were both beginning to get hungry, they strolled over to the pier.

"Where should we eat?" Laxus asked.

Lucy smiled devilishly and dragged him to the restaurant at the end - the same restaurant at which they met.

"Ugh, you're such a cheese ball," Laxus groaned, but allowed Lucy to pull him along.

They sat down and ordered. While they waited, Laxus casually asked, "So, besides me, has there been anyone else since that guy?"

"Is this your way of confirming whether or not you're my rebound?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm asking the questions, kid," he said in his best cop voice. "Plus, you said I wasn't a rebound and my dumb ass trusts you. This is just me being an inquisitive asshole, so please feel free to tell me to stuff it."

Though he denied it, Lucy had a feeling that he still wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't her rebound. She wanted to ease his concerns and put him out of his misery, so she laid it all out there.

"There were two guys. The first one was soon after the breakup. I went to a bar, got drunk, recognised him from one of my classes, and took him home. He was a nice guy. He wanted to get breakfast together the next morning, but it was as though I couldn't kick him out fast enough. The second was once I was back home. I went out for a movie and dinner with this guy who lived in my neighbourhood, and then I went back to his place. The next morning, I left before he even woke up. I never called either of them again, and I spent several days after both occasions just hating myself and crying and hating Natsu and crying some more."

When Laxus nodded in understanding, Lucy asked "Satisfied that you really, truly aren't a rebound?" she smirked.

"Shut up. It was never about that," he defended uselessly.

Lucy giggled, and Laxus immediately jumped back into regular conversation, picking up an asinine topic from earlier.

One relaxed meal later, the pair ambled by the pier when Laxus suggested walking Lucy home.

"No, I don't want to go back to my place," she said.

He raised an eyebrow, asking a silent question.

"I want to go home with you." Her voice was definite and unwavering as she looked at him with certainty in her eyes.

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm one hundred percent sure that I want you to take me back to your house tonight," she cut him off before he could finish his question.

Laxus bent down and pulled her in for a deep and passionate kiss that earned a couple whistles from other diners.

"Okay, let's go," he said, eyes dark with desire.

A/N: You know how in a romcom, there's the montage of the couple doing like really generic day-to-day things, but it's set to a peppy song and it looks super romantic and fun? That's basically what this chapter was intended to be. Also some progress made in terms of character development?
I also just wanted to send all my love to everyone who is so kindly reviewing and favouriting this! I read each of your reviews and they make me so so happy! You're making my day with your gorgeous words and encouragement! Lots and lots of love 3