Oh my gosh! Thank you, guys, so much! I'm glad ya'll enjoy it so far, I have tons of ideas for it and I'm sure we all want a little more BixLu in our lives!

I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter Two: Bonding Time?

It had been months since Lucy had seen Laxus and the Thunder legion. She didn't really expect to see them after that one time in the forest, it had said in one of the magazines that they usually take long missions with Laxus' S-class status.

Her feet landed lightly on the concrete step of the platform from the train station. It only took about an hour from where she was traveling. Lucy had gotten some Jewel from a solo mission, just a simple one of getting some groceries for an old lady. Nothing too wild.

Lucy took a long sniff, smelling the old salt wafting through the air from the harbor. This was the other port city in Fiore, Cedar. She came here in search of more keys and maybe more on eye magic. Anywhere she went, she couldn't find anything on the magic. No books, no tomes, and no people who knew about it.

The slight breeze felt nice on her sweat-soaked neck. Catching a butterfly on her finger and smiling before letting it fly off.

It felt different being on her own, she didn't know much. Her father sheltered her from the world, so running away was just a whole new experience to see the world and seeing people outside of a mansion where they weren't paid to like her.

"Now, where was that magic shop," Lucy muttered to herself as her boot lifted off the platform to the town itself. It was a fairly large town, so it was probably going to take some time to find it.

The trip to the magic shop turned out to be a bust, they did inform her that a silver key was in their other shop in the next town over. It was just like their harbor town called Hargeon. She'll go there after doing at least one job here and earn some money. Now, she held two books under her arm as she walked down the street to get some food.

The blonde had finally found some tomes on eye magic and one on Seith magic. It hardly costs anything too. Now, she was going to actually learn the art too.

Waving at a vendor off the street who was selling various fruits and vegetables, she made her way down another street. Lucy was starting to think she was lost when she saw the same street vendor for the fourth time. So, she went a different way on the same street, only to run right into someone causing her to fall straight on her ass.

"Hey! Watch where – oh hello there, pretty lady," this person had yelled, then turned suave as he helped her to her feet.

"Oh, thank you," she tried to take her hand back when he gripped it tighter. This kid was younger than her by probably 7 years younger with brown hair that was a bit shabby along the side. The oddest thing about this boy was he was wearing a full suit of armor sans the helmet and carrying a shield and large pointed sword that was his entire body size.

He kissed her hand, her eyebrows frowning at the notion, "M' lady, my name is Dan and it is your pleasure to meet me."

This time she did yank her hand out of both of his. This might have looked mean, but she couldn't help it, Lucy wiped the back of her hand on her skirt and backed a step away from him, "Um, thanks but no thanks. I'm sure you're too young for me."

His lips turned into a smirk, leaning forward to her, "Not too young."

The stellar mage grimaced before turning and walking away without another word. This kid needs to learn to keep his hands to himself, that was until he grabbed her wrist just before she could, "You can't just walk away from me," he snarled.

"Get away from me, asshole," she cried out, pulling her arm away. Her other hand rolled down to her hip, grasping at a key, about to summon one when both were knocked over by someone that was barreling down the street.

The books under her armpit had fallen just across the pavement, out of arms reach. "Bickslow stop running! Laxus won't wait up for you!" Lucy heard a female voice call from the other side of the street.

There was a slight cackle above her, her brown eyes lifted to see the one and only Bickslow that had been on her mind for months, picking up her tome of eye magic with a frown on his face.

"Why do you have this?" he asked curiously, flipping the first page and a few more pages before closing it loudly.

Lucy stood to her feet extending towards the tome when he pulled it back, out of reach from the blonde. The stellar mage huffed reaching more when a totem pushed her chest back away from the Fairy Tail mage, "That's mine," she grumbled as she crossed her arms.

"Of my magic, why?" he retorted, she noticed his other four totems behind his head just as his one totem floated just above her face and his chest.

Cheeks burned red, Lucy's chin dipped as she rubbed her arm, "No reason really."

"Hey! You just gonna ignore me?" the two then turned to Dan who was standing arms crossed with a sullen look in his eyes.

Shrugging, Lucy's brown eyes looking bored as can be, "I was going to," picking up her other book off the ground. She was glad that Bickslow didn't see the Seith book she also had with her.

"Beat it, kid," Laxus thundered from behind Dan in his long furry coat. His stare drove the kid away, then his stare moved onto the small blonde with a questioning look of her own. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"And what are you doing with this?" spinning around to see Evergreen now with the eye magic in her hands with Bickslow standing over her reading as she stared Lucy down, "Who even are you?" her fist rested on her hip that she jolted out.

Stepping back and scratching the back of her neck in nervousness, she didn't think they would be angry about her wanting to know their magic, she thought they would be glad someone took interest in them, Lucy took another step back when she bumped into a rune barrier.

Turning her head, she saw Freed standing next to an angry Laxus that seemed to not have moved since she last looked at him. The stellar mage swallowed as she looked at the four of them nervously, "I, uh, thought that maybe…I…fuck," she stuttered and gritted her teeth because she had never stuttered this much in her life before.

"So, what you're stalking us?" her voice was full of skepticism, just as Evergreen tilted her glasses down and her eyes turned a bright gold color.

Lucy yelped, looking away from her and up to the sky, "No! No, not like that at all! I'm kind of like a fan. I saw you guys fighting in the forest that one day and I just thought it was amazing. I thought I would research your magic and it's super amazing, I couldn't find more when someone took out the book I found and I couldn't find anymore and I saw that in the magic shop when I was looking for more keys and I just had to find get to know more because it's just so interesting and captivated my curiosity. I…I-,"

"Will you shut up!" Laxus interrupted her skittish rant that didn't seem like it was going to end, his head thrown back in exaggeration.

The blonde whimpered in the rune box she was stuck in, Bickslow moved forward towards her, "You think our magic is cool?"

His movements were slow as his totems moved with him; Lucy couldn't see his eyes, but his mouth was closed with no tongue and no laughing which told Lucy that he was serious from all the Sorcerer Weekly. Her hands rested on her shoulders, hugging herself as she spoke, "Yes, especially yours. Your Seith magic is the most delicate and thoughtful gift a lost and wandering soul could have."

Behind his visor, his red eyes widened but his mouth fell open too. Lucy let out a small smile at the notion, then she turned back to Evergreen, "I also really like your stone magic. It really reminds of the old legend of medusa who also had wings like your own, but they became a monster from a goddess' wrath."

Evergreen's cheeks blushed red and hid herself behind the small staff she was holding with a little 'thank you' to accompany it.

She spun around to face Freed and Laxus, eyes snapping to the blonde then back down to Freed, "Your magic is very brilliant and cunning that it makes everyone else stupid in comparison you know what kind of runes to make whenever and quickly enough to trap someone who wasn't expecting it."

The green-haired man, who's hand was stationed on his katana, stance relaxed; only Lucy saw the slight smile that graced his face before he turned his head away from her and crossed his arms. The stellar mage looked back to the hulking blonde and was opening her mouth about his magic when he cut her off.

"Don't even start with me blondie, I don't give a shit what you think about my magic. It's getting late and we need to get to the hotel," Laxus moved past Freed and herself, all the way down the street not caring about who was following him.

Freed walked behind him shortly afterward, followed by Bickslow and Evergreen shortly after, leaving Lucy on the sidewalk by herself. She had figured they were just going to leave her there anyway, what she didn't see was Bickslow's totems rounding the corner and floating around her.

"What are you cuties doing?" she asked, watching them twirl in the air and float just behind her then started pushing her body towards the street Laxus and the thunder legion just left. Stuttering her words for them to stop what they were really doing while one pushed on the back of her knees to move her feet.

With one between her shoulders, two behind her knees so she was walking instead of dragging her feet and two others along her spine so she wouldn't fall over. her honey brown eyes lifted at the shout of Bickslow calling his 'babies' back when he saw them pulling her with them.

He had to stop in his tracks to watch them pull the little blonde towards him with a sly smile on his twisted lips, "Did my babies catch a little cosplayer?" he chuckled.

"Who you calling a cosplayer?" Lucy cried out, fulling standing in front of the Seith mage with his totems now behind him floating up and down.

His hand lifted and down her figure, "You're wearing that. A tiny crop top and a mini skirt, such a cosplayer thing."

Gasping, Lucy wiped her hands down her blue button shirt and navy-blue skirt, "What? This is comfortable and my father would hate it," she mumbled the last part, looking down at her brown boots.

"Oh, daddy hater. I can turn that into something, something your dad is going to super hate," cackling with his guild marked tongue jolting out.

Blushing too hard, smacked the Seith mage in the chest about to respond when Evergreen called out, "Bickslow are you coming or what?" popping her head around the corner to see Bickslow and the small blonde girl having a conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," glancing back down to Lucy, "You have somewhere to stay?"

Lucy frowned her eyebrows at him, why did he want to know that? Her eyes shifted to Evergreen standing by the corner with her arms crossed as she watched their interaction. Hopefully, this didn't flop like earlier, "No, I was going to look for somewhere to stay after I get some Jewel from my small job, but that's not until tomorrow and-."

"Why don't you come stay with us? We have a couch and it is getting late," his thumb pointing the way the other three Fairy Tail mages went.

"What about them? Shouldn't you ask them?" Lucy offered, thinking Laxus would not like that Bicks brought home some lost dog. Yeah, that wouldn't go very well.

Waving off the blonde, "Who cares, I bring girls back all the time," another smack to his chest causing him to laugh again, "I know you aren't into that cosplayer."

Mumbling 'not a cosplayer' as they walked together towards the team's hotel. Lucy watched Evergreen smack Bickslow on his shoulder about bringing home someone else while telling him that Laxus isn't going to like this. Lucy's left hand rummaged through her bag making sure she had her books her tomes and didn't leave them on the ground.

Now, at the door to their double hotel rooms, Lucy was getting nervous. She didn't want Laxus to call her out or something of that nature. Bicks unlocked it, Lucy gripped her strap tighter watching Ever walk in after him and slowly walking behind him.

"What the hell took you guys so long?" the booming voice of Laxus was heard from beyond the threshold, as she stepped through, she saw him on one bed off to the right with his soundpods on and looking very relaxed.

That was until he looked up to a shy blonde standing in his hotel room, both hands gripping her bag tightly and a smug-looking Bickslow standing behind her with his arms crossed, "What?" he asked.

"What, what?" Bickslow retorted, shrugging and making his way over the bed opposite of the blonde brute.

Freed, from over by the balcony window with a book in his hands, turned to see Lucy standing there looking at Laxus and then to Bickslow. It seemed that the little blonde was having anxiety about the situation at hand, "It seems to me that Bickslow brought her here for the night. By the way, I never got your name," Freed to the rescue, she should have known.

Thrusting her hand out to shake his, "Lucy, it's just for the night I swear, and I'll leave you guys alone," she instantly swiped her fingers across her keys on her hip for comfort. She also heard a small 'whatever' from Laxus before he turned away on his bed, for sleep?

"Can I ask what your magic is," Evergreen called out from the bed next to Bickslow, though it felt more of a statement than a question. She had flipped off her shoes and was checking out her nails as she waited for Lucy to answer.

"Oh!" grabbing one of her keys from her ring, "I use celestial spirit magic. I call spirits from another realm to assist me, I also use this whip to help them but I'm not too good with it yet," her finger sliding down the leather of the whip on her opposite hip.

She took a seat on the sofa, the little space that wasn't being used for baggage, seeing the totems fly over to the bedside table and stack atop each other then it fell silent, "That's close to my own magic," Bickslow commented, pulling his visor off and pulling his hood back.

Lucy got a good look at his blue, mohawk hair, tinged with black at the base; his blue tatted face with what looks like a paper man. Her honey brown eyes turned to Evergreen after she heard a small giggle, seeing her shift her focus from him to her again. Lucy's cheeks only reddened and turned away again; she's not going to admit anything.

[***]

Hours later, Lucy sat on the floor of their balcony as everyone had fallen asleep. She always had trouble sleeping some nights, her mind wouldn't forget about her life with her father. His words never left her mind, she could sometimes still feel…

Shaking her head, she looked back down at the tome she was reading to fall asleep. She could hear the snore of Bickslow and Laxus and the slight breathing from Freed and Evergreen letting her know that they were still asleep.

Her mind switching to music when it wouldn't shut up, "I never knew person could be so deranged. Does it make it you feel good, do you feel strong, ruining the lives of everyone you love?" she sang, flipping the pages as she mindlessly tuned to it.

Not noticing one snore had stopped and the creak of the floorboards behind her, "This is for the kids with the beaten in lips. Whose parents tried to shut them up using their fists. Keep living loud and proud, they never can hold you down."

"You're getting pretty loud there, blondie," Lucy squealed, dropping the tome and moving to face the lightning mage with a racing heart. Her eyes wide with fear, "What's a small weakling like you listening to that kind of music anyway?" he sat on one of the lone chairs out here as Lucy caught her breath again.

Ignoring the weak comment, since he calls everyone that, "I like it," she stated simply with a light shrug.

"Seems kind of…not your style. You seem more like a pop, dance-y type of girl," he intelligently mustered up.

This caused Lucy to snort, closing the tome and tracing the outline on the cover, "Yeah, well when you're trying to escape your father treating you like a nobody and ignores you every time you go to him; music is all you have. Simply, teen girl hates her family."

It took a whole 5 minutes before anybody even said anything, truly, Lucy timed it. Laxus then sat back up and started walking back into the room, Lucy thought it was the end of that conversation until his head turned slightly back, "You shouldn't stay out here too late. You might get cold."

After a couple of seconds and some quick pep talks, Lucy stood back up with a small smile decorated in her lips. Collecting her things and seeing the couch now cleared of stuff, she laid down and closed her eyes and falling asleep without hesitation.

[***]

Lucy, now at the market collecting various fruits and vegetables for an elderly lady. She was paying her 1000 Jewel just to get her groceries at the market because her son took the day off or something like that, it was a lot of jewel for something so small, but Lucy wasn't complaining.

She was already planning her trip to Hargeon the next day, she was going to get a new key and hopefully, it was a gold one.

When she got up this morning, Laxus and the thunder legion were already gone with a note tacked to the front door, 'Check out is 11 am, you better leave soon blondie'. it had already been a few minutes past 11 and she hurried around to gather her things before fleeing the room. The stellar mage had almost run over a cleaning lady, running out.

She just had to get today over with so she could make her way to the next town over. She didn't kind of miss them but that just seemed what they were used to, she also wanted to learn more about them. Lucy just couldn't wait to go to the other port city.

Though, it felt that she was going to get more than she bargained for when she got there.

Thank you all so much for following and favoriting! And to those who commented; tory72, guest, emeraldmoon14, Readingspoons thank you from the bottom of my heart! I hope this update is for your liking, I know I enjoyed writing it.

What will be waiting for Lucy in Hargeon? Is Laxus and the Thunder legion starting to care about Lucy? All next time!