The next morning, the couple lay lounging in bed, both scrolling through their phones. Suddenly, a thought popped into Lucy's head.
"Laxus?" she called, "let's go see Makarov. Tomorrow. I promised I'd visit him again."
Laxus smiled softly. "That's a great idea, love. I'll call him and tell him we're dropping by for lunch. Since we're that side of the island anyway, do you want to make a day of it? Swing by the cove again, maybe watch the sunset? We can pack a picnic."
Lucy nodded excitedly.
Laxus dialed Makarov's number, slipping out of bed. As he walked out of the room, exchanging greetings with Makarov, Lucy stared lustfully at his stunning, taut ass.
Laxus came back in a few minutes later, and Lucy's mouth watered once more as she eyed his broad chest, firm abs, and glorious penis.
"We're good to go. Maki has promised us lots of food and wine," Laxus said, before he noticed Lucy's gaze. "Lucy. Stop it. I can see you eye fucking me. We have much to do today, so get your head out of the gutter."
Lucy pouted. "We have much to do tomorrow. We have nothing to do today," she grumbled.
"Nope. We need to buy things for our picnic, and I need to print out some photographs for Maki, and I'm currently starving, so chop chop. Let's get some breakfast, jump in the shower - no sex! - and then head into town. Plus we need to stop by your place, in case you want to pick up a bikini or something," Laxus continued talking as he pulled on shorts and walked to the kitchen.
Lucy rolled her eyes and huffed. Drill sergeant Laxus was her least favourite because, when he was in this mood, nothing she did could convince him to fuck her. She relented, however, knowing that he'd more than make up for it at night. She rummaged through his drawer and pulled on a soft T-shirt, before following him.
In prompt fashion, they checked everything off of Laxus's list. After breakfast and a sans-sex shower, they went straight to the printers, where Laxus got a few nice photographs ready for his friend. Next was the supermarket, where Lucy made sure to buy small bottles of sparkling wine again, since they seemed to be reliving their first few dates. Laxus finally slowed down for a leisurely lunch, where they chatted over some olives and wine. In the two months they'd been together, they were yet to get bored of just sitting and talking to each other. Completing the last thing on Laxus's checklist, they got to Lucy's house, where he finally made up for denying her sex that morning, and it was so good that she was glad she waited. They contemplated spending the night at Lucy's, but decided it would just be easier tomorrow if they were already at Laxus's. She grabbed some things on their way out, stuffing them into a tote bag.
Lucy was so excited to see the lovely old man again. She could barely contain her smile as Laxus coasted down the road. Their picnic basket and icebox rode in the backseat, along with their swimsuits.
When they got to the winery, the pair walked with their arms wrapped around one another. There was no way to mistake them for anything other than a couple. Makarov was waiting for them as they entered.
He beamed broadly when he saw them, intertwined together and blushing gently.
"Finally got some sense knocked into you, boy," he grinned.
Lucy let go of Laxus and threw her arms around the old man. "I've missed you, Makarov! It's so good to see you again!"
Makarov kissed her cheek before holding her face in his hands. "Oh, my child. I am so happy to see you. And I am so happy that you have found love once more," he kissed her cheek again. "He better be treating you right. You tell me if he isn't and I'll set him straight, okay?" Makarov fake whispered as he eyed Laxus.
Laxus rolled his eyes as Lucy chortled.
"If anything, you'll have to set her straight, old man," Laxus smirked, hugging him.
"Nonsense. My lovely Lucy is a gem!" Makarov threw a wink at Lucy, who nodded brightly in agreement.
"I hate that you both are friends," Laxus grumbled.
"Laxus," Lucy elbowed him. "The photographs," she said, tipping her head towards the envelope in his hand.
"Oh right! Maki, here you go. Some hard copies for you to frame up," Laxus said proudly, as he handed the envelope over.
"Ah, thank you, Laxus! Thank you very much! I'm sure these will make great additions to my walls," Makarov flipped through the pictures carefully as he spoke. He gently returned them to the envelope and placed it on a table. "Alright, follow me!" the old man commanded as he walked towards the garden.
Lucy saw that Makarov had set up a large square table with three chairs.
"Is your wife not back yet?" she asked.
"No, dear. She is still with our grandchildren. She usually isn't gone this long, but my daughter-in-law has taken ill," Makarov explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Lucy extended her condolences.
They took their place, with Makarov at the head, and Laxus and Lucy across from one another. As they sat down, Makarov slapped a palm against his forehead.
"Laxus, my boy, would you please go back inside and fetch a bottle of wine?" he asked.
"Of course," Laxus said as he stood up. "Is there a particular one you want?"
"Yes, it has a yellow and green label on it," Makarov instructed.
Laxus nodded as he went indoors.
"Is that wine special?" Lucy asked.
"Well, it doesn't exist. I wasn't sure if you were comfortable discussing this with Laxus, but I wanted to ask how you were feeling now. About the boy?"
Lucy reached over and held Makarov's hand, squeezing it as affection gripped her heart.
"I'm okay now. Better than okay, actually. I took your advice and chose to let go of everything that happened. Laxus really helped with that. He helped me put myself back together, and somewhere along the way, I fell in love with him. I really love him, Makarov. He's good to me, and he's kind, and he's honest. He makes me smile more than I have in a very long time." Lucy's voice was filled with warmth and love as she spoke of Laxus, and Makarov could tell how deeply she cared for him.
As for Laxus, Makarov didn't even have to ask. He was completely besotted with Lucy, and it was written all over his face, clear as day. Though Makarov would never admit it, he knew that if they were ever to split, Laxus would be the inconsolable one, but in Makarov's head, that was not a bad thing at all. He was proud of Laxus for loving this woman so wholeheartedly.
"I'm glad, my child," Makarov finally said after a short silence. "You deserve every happiness in the world, and I am happy that you have found it with Laxus. That boy is a special one, but don't tell him I said this, okay?" Makarov winked mischievously at Lucy.
As if on cue, Laxus reappeared with a bottle - a distinctly red label adhered to its side - looking irate.
"Yellow and green label, huh? Doesn't exist, Maki. After searching endlessly and questioning my eyesight, I took the liberty of picking out any wine I wanted," Laxus put the bottle down and took his seat.
"Ah, sorry about that, my boy. I must have gotten confused. Old age, you know," he threw an apologetic look at the blond man, who immediately grinned.
"So, Laxus," Makarov continued, "where did you buy that lovely necklace for Ms. Lucy?"
"How did you know he bought it for me?" Lucy asked, shocked at his perceptiveness.
"The way you keep fiddling with it told me enough. I have seen many a young woman in love, and I can recognize the signs," Makarov said with all the wisdom of a sage.
Laxus described the boutique for Makarov, who was now committed to taking his wife there when she came back.
The three of them ate a leisurely lunch, predominantly listening to Makarov narrate fantastic tales, and when it looked like the sun was going to begin its descent, the couple took their leave.
Lucy gave Makarov a tight hug, and scrawled her email address on a piece of paper, making him promise to write to her.
As the pair walked out, they didn't notice the old man looking at them happily, tears of love and affection welling in his eyes.
In the car, Laxus looked over at Lucy. "So, what did the old man want to talk to you about when he sent me on that wild goose chase for the non-existent bottle?"
"You saw through that, huh?" Lucy smirked.
"I love the guy, but Maki has the subtlety of a diarrhetic elephant," Laxus snorted.
"He wanted to make sure I was okay. After Natsu and everything. And he wanted to make sure you were treating me right," Lucy said, in answer to his initial question.
"And? Am I treating you right, beautiful?" Laxus smirked at her.
"You treat me too good, baby," Lucy leaned over to whisper in his ear before biting his neck and smoothing it over with a kiss. The car veered just slightly.
"Damn, woman. You'll have us both killed," Laxus huffed as he reverted his focus to the road.
Laxus parked the car on the sandy path by the cove, and quickly jumped out, scanning the area.
"Okay, we got the place to ourselves again. You wanna change into your swimsuit in the car?" he asked Lucy.
Lucy, shook her head, stepping out and collecting whatever she could. Laxus grabbed the rest and followed her as she lay down the blanket. She started pulling her clothes off, until she was entirely naked. Laxus held her swimsuit out, but instead, Lucy reached for the icebox, flipping it open and grabbing two small bottles of sparkling wine. She uncapped both of them and ran into the water.
"You could've just told me you wanted to go skinny dipping," Laxus yelled after her as he undressed.
He ran in behind her, catching up to Lucy when she was in waist deep water. He relieved her of one of the bottles as they waded out slightly further.
The couple stood, facing the horizon. Laxus was behind Lucy, his firm body pressed against her supple one. The clinked bottles and took a swig, watching the sun slowly fall towards the sea. Laxus had an arm wrapped around Lucy, and she leaned her head against his chest.
"Lucy, we need to talk about something," Laxus began.
"I know," Lucy whispered. She wasn't happy about the conversation that was going to follow.
"We've been here for over two months. And they've been the best two months of my life, but my love, I need to go back home soon. I have to get back to working full-time," Laxus said almost guiltily.
"I know. I can't stay here forever either. I need to start figuring out what I'm going to do next, and I can't do that from this island." Lucy spun in Laxus's arms to face him. "But I want to," her voice wavered. "I want to just stay here, like this, with you. Stay like this forever," her voice broke at the end.
"I want to stay here too, sweetheart. With you, forever," Laxus said, ghosting a kiss over her lips.
"So now what? We live in different cities, you travel all the time, and my life is currently up in the air. So what do we do?" Lucy asked, her heart breaking at every word. Tears crept into her eyes.
"Hey hey, no crying," Laxus bent down to kiss her eyelids. "Lucy, I am so madly in love with you. I'm never, ever letting you go, even if that means not travelling and moving to your city, I'll do it," Laxus declared.
Lucy laughed shakily, "Or I can move to your city, and travel with you. Maybe get a volunteer job on the side," she suggested.
Laxus nodded, hugging her.
"Yeah, don't worry. We'll figure it out," he pressed her into him, stroking her back.
"You're stuck with me now, buddy. You don't know what you've signed up for," Lucy mumbled. She felt him laugh, deep vibrations resounding from his chest, right where her head was resting. That feeling, of him laughing as he held her, was Lucy's most favourite feeling in the world, narrowly beating out the incredible orgasms he was able to provide.
She snuggled further into his chest, her hands encircling his waist and drawing patterns there. Lucy listened to his heartbeat and felt herself become serene.
It never failed to amaze her how, in two short months, the man in her arms had become such a critical element of her life. She pressed a kiss into his chest.
Laxus tipped her face up to look at him.
"I love you, Heartfilia," he whispered.
"I love you too, Dreyer," she whispered back.
They kissed each other deeply.
They kissed with passion and desire. They kissed with love and warmth and affection.
They continued to kiss, reveling in each other as the warm summer sun set into the Aegean.
A/N: The end! I have loved writing this story so much! When I started it, I didn't think I'd get so invested in this. I'm honestly a little sad that I had to end it. I spent a couple days drafting out possibilities for how I could extend it. I thought about having them go back home together, maybe meet Lucy's dad, and move in together. Or something set a few years in the future where they were engaged, or had a child. In one version I even had them come back to the island after having broken up, and then rekindling their romance.
But at the end of the day, none of those felt true to this story. This one was always about this epic, whirlwind romance on this tiny island. It felt natural to end it on that note of hope, without complications and difficulties, in this fairy tale setting. Just the two of them, and the small Greek island.
However, given how attached I am to this universe, I want to expand it. Maybe a story on what Natsu got up to? Or maybe write how Lucy and Laxus navigate their relationship in the real world. Please comment or message me if that's something you'd like to see! I'd love to write it and your lovely messages would be just the motivation I need!
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to the few people who have been with me and this story from the beginning. Your consistent feedback and support has meant the world and would truly make my day! Lots and lots of love!
-Persephone