Laxus spent the rest of the day at home, planted on his couch. He checked his phone incessantly, worried about Lucy. He almost dialed her number several times before deciding against it. He wanted to wait for her to come to him when she was ready. In the solitude of his home, Laxus slowly went to pieces. His palms were sweaty as all kinds of thoughts raced through his mind. His worst case scenario was that Lucy decided she loved Natsu and called Laxus to say goodbye. He then went and made it even worse for himself by imagining that she had jumped onto a boat and was already on her way to Natsu to tell him that she loved him in person, with no plans of returning to the little island. He would then calm himself by remembering their kiss that morning, where she laughed so beautifully before leaning over and pressing her mouth to his. He remembered the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled at him, and was momentarily mollified, before thoughts of her calling to tell him it's over resurfaced.

This vicious cycle repeated itself past sunset, and when Laxus thought he was finally going to lose his mind, he picked up his phone, ready to call. His finger had nearly hit the Dial button, when there was a soft knock at his door. Laxus jumped off his couch, nearly tripping over his feet as he yanked the door open.

Lucy stood on the other side. Laxus felt a weight leave his chest and then quickly noted that her eyes were still puffy, but otherwise dry.

"Laxus," she choked out, falling into him and throwing her arms around his torso. He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him. He dropped his chin onto the top of her head, and a small part of him wanted to cry with relief. He kissed her head and stroked her hair, as she began sobbing into his chest.

"I-I'm sorry," she gasped, tears soaking the front of his shirt. Laxus gently pulled her inside and shut the door.

She continued apologising as he held her, and his mind instantly went back to his worst case scenario - she was apologising because she was leaving him.

"Shh, it's okay, Lucy. I understand," he comforted her as he felt his insides crumble. "It's okay, Lucy. If he makes you happy, it's okay," he continued stroking her hair. Lucy suddenly stopped crying and pulled back, looking at him, thoroughly confused.

"What? Who'll make me happy?" she asked.

"Natsu," Laxus said, now unsure.

"Why would he make me happy? I want to have nothing to do with him," Lucy was even more confused now.

"You were apologising… because you were leaving me… but… you're not…?" Laxus asked, as the error of his ways slowly dawned on him

"I was apologising for crying and soaking your shirt. I'm not leaving you. Why would you think that?" she held his face in worry.

"Oh, thank God," he kissed her softly and was thrilled when she kissed him back. "I was just worried, and my mind went straight to the worst possible situation," he explained. He held her hand as they moved to the couch. He sat down, and she sat next to him, with her legs draped over his lap.

"Why were you crying then?" he asked.

"I don't know. I was just overwhelmed by everything, and I wanted to be with you, and so I guess it was just a lot of emotion being released." Lucy's voice was now stable, and her eyes dry. Laxus kissed her hand, and intertwined their fingers.

"Lucy, I need to tell you something," he began.

"What happened?" Worry instantly clouded her voice again.

"After you left the alley, I went and had a conversation with Natsu."

Lucy didn't say anything for a moment. Then, in a low and dangerous voice, she asked "Did you… Did either of you physically hurt the other?"

"No, no, no! I swear, there were no punches thrown. We just had a civilised conversation," Laxus assured her.

"What about?" Lucy still sounded on edge.

"Lucy… Okay, here's the thing, I am falling for you. Hard. And I know I may sound insane, given that we haven't been hanging out for that long, but it's the truth. I'm kind of crazy about you. And I knew that he must have loved you too, otherwise he wouldn't have come all the way out here. Knowing what it means to love someone as magnificent as you, I couldn't even begin to comprehend his pain at having lost you. So I went to make sure he was okay."

"And what did he say?" Lucy's voice had softened considerably.

"He didn't tell me anything about whatever you both talked about, but he told me that he loved you. I offered to talk to you for him, and maybe get you to talk to him again, but he refused. He knew that you had nothing left to say to him, and he seemed to have accepted that you were moving on." He took a breath before continuing. "Lucy, I am so sorry if I crossed some kind of line. I realise that it may not have been appropriate for me to go talk to him," he looked up at her and saw her eyes sparkling with tears.

"No, Laxus. What you did was very kind, and not many people would've done it. It was a really nice thing to do, and you didn't cross any line. Thank you for being such a wonderful person," she said as a few tears fell onto her cheeks. Laxus leaned over and kissed them away. Before he could sit up straight, Lucy held his face and kissed him slowly, deeply. The kiss wasn't meant to elicit lust, rather, it was the kind of kiss that made you fall in love. He laced a hand through her hair, as they gently moved their mouths. As they kissed softly, the errant tear would still escape Lucy's eye, but it no longer worried Laxus.

Lucy pulled back and looked at him. "Make love to me, Laxus," she whispered.

He carried her in his arms to his bed. They both undressed the other slowly, leaving kisses on every exposed body part. They ran their hands over each other, committing the feel of the other person to memory. They lay down facing each other, and Lucy propped her knee up onto his hip. He entered her, and then held her close, as they both made small movements. They broke eye contact only to press their lips together softly. Their love making lasted ages, as they moved minutely against each other, savouring the feel of their bodies pressed together.

When they both finally came undone together, they moaned each other's names in throaty whispers. They held onto one another as they gazed at the other person, occasionally kissing, but otherwise not saying a word until they both fell asleep.

The next morning, Lucy awoke to find her face inches from Laxus's. She pressed a soft kiss to his lips, and he stirred in response. When he opened his eyes, Lucy said, "Hey Laxus? There was something that I forgot to tell you last night. I'm kind of crazy about you too," she grinned.

Laxus chuckled and pulled her in for a searing kiss.

Once fully awake, Lucy told Laxus about her entire conversation with Natsu. She told him how she'd gone to the old ruins and had sat there for a long time after she left the alley, before going back to her house and treating herself to an extended bath. Laxus held her tight, combing his fingers through her hair.

When they were ready to get something to eat, they began picking out places before simultaneously vetoing the pier. As they chuckled, they both internally noted how quickly everything seemed to be going back to their normal. They resorted to eating the cereal that Laxus had lurking in a drawer, but were hell-bent on stepping out for lunch.

As the sun rose high into the sky, the two made their way to the town square, and Lucy blushed as she remembered their dance here. Keeping her promise to Romeo, Lucy quickly found his parents' boutique and went inside. They had lovely bags and scarfs, but their delicate jewelry was the most impressive. Lucy contemplated buying herself a necklace or a pair of earrings, but in the end, she settled on a simple hand-painted purse. She hadn't been paying attention to Laxus, who was wandering about the store. She also didn't notice him covertly approach the cash register and hand over some money.

When they left the boutique, Lucy armed with her new bag, Laxus stopped her and then stepped behind her. He brought his hand to the front of her neck before dropping a necklace against her throat. He quickly clasped the back and turned her around to see it. Lucy was holding the tiny star shaped pendant in her fingers, her mouth agape.

"Laxus… It's beautiful," she gasped. "I can't accept it!" Lucy had noticed how expensive the jewelry in the store had been.

"It looks gorgeous on you. Plus, given how much you love looking at the stars, I wanted you to be able to look at my star whenever you wanted," he said, giving her a kiss.

"You're such a cheese ball," she said in imitation of him, as she kissed him back.

Soon they found a nice restaurant, and when Lucy ordered a glass of wine, Laxus amended her order to a carafe. Lucy gazed at Laxus with a dreamy smile playing at her lips. She had zoned out and was no longer paying attention to what he was saying. Instead, she was focused on his lips and how they moved when he talked. His hand suddenly interrupted her view, as it waved in front of her face.

"I know I'm hot, Lucy, but if you keep looking at me like that, I'll have no choice but to fuck you right here, and then we'll both get arrested for public indecency. And I'm pretty sure neither of us will survive a night in prison," he admonished.

Lucy blushed and swatted his hand, but rushed through her lunch, making sure he didn't take too long either. They quickly found themselves back in Laxus's house, where, starting at the front door and ending in the bathroom, they had sex multiple times across the entirety of his home.

At one point, as Lucy climaxed again, having long forgotten how many times she'd already climaxed thus far, she looked up at Laxus, and whispered, "Laxus, I think I may be falling in love with you."

Laxus chuckled and kissed her deeply, intertwining their tongues, before pulling away. "Oh, Heartfilia, I know I'm falling in love with you," he grinned and kissed her again.

_
A/N: Wholesome fluffiness with the tiniest bit of vanilla smut. We're almost right at the end, but I will upload a properly lemony chapter before I wrap this up! Hope any of you who were worried that Lucy would leave Laxus hanging are satisfied! Though they were always going to come back to each other. It is a romcom, after all.