Lucy POV

I was a little nervous after this morning. I had anticipated that Laxus might have seen me in Gildarts's shirt, but I didn't think he'd have commented on it. He seemed so nonchalant, but I knew him well enough to know that he was bothered by it.

I didn't think he'd stand me up, but I'd be lying if I said a tiny part of me wasn't worried that he wasn't going to come pick me up for dinner. Nonetheless, I got dressed and was waiting in my living room, absentmindedly flipping through a magazine. With every minute that ticked by, I grew more concerned that the sight of me in Gildarts's shirt had taken things off track between Laxus and I.

As my eyes glazed over the pages, my mind solely tuned to my gorgeous blond man, I was startled by a crack of thunder. I looked out of my window in time to see gold lightning streak down from the sky. As the light dissipated, I saw Laxus standing there. I rushed to the door and flung it open.

"Way to make an entrance," I smirked as he came into view.

He slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him, kissing me deeply.

"Hi, beautiful," he whispered. I stretched up to peck his lips in response.

"You ready to go?" he asked, scanning me to ensure I was fully dressed. "You look gorgeous, by the way," his fingers trailed over the dark blue fabric of my dress.

"I'm ready to go. And you look gorgeous too." He always did, but a black button-down shirt took it to another level.

He chuckled. "Alright," he said, pulling a soft red handkerchief from his pocket. He wrapped it around my eyes, tying it at the back of my head.

"It's a little early to be whipping out the blindfold, no? I am still fully dressed, and the door is wide open. Sure you don't want to take this to my bedroom?" I teased.

"Get your head out of the damn gutter, Blondie," he sighed. "Let me do something nice for you, jeez." He plucked my house key off the table and escorted me out before locking up. Holding my hand, he led me down the stairs and out to the street, where he wrapped an arm around my waist and teleported us.

When I felt solid ground under my feet, the familiar sensation of having my insides rearranged quickly surfaced before passing. Laxus held me hand and walked me forward. I walked tentatively, mindful of my step, even though Laxus had a firm grip on my waist.

"Okay, step," he instructed. I felt my toe bump against something and I reached my hand forward, grasping a railing. I stepped up, and then again, walking up a staircase. Laxus walked behind me, both hands on my waist. Several steps later, he tightened his hold.

"Stop." He slipped to my side, standing in front of me as he took my hands in his. The air up here felt cooler. A gentle breeze was blowing. When he was satisfied with where I was standing, he undid my blindfold.

I gasped. We were on a terraced roof. Softly flickering candles inside glass jars illuminated the entire place, and a large carpet lined with cushions took up the middle. A bottle of wine in an ice bucket sat next to a wicker basket.

"Laxus, this is amazing," I whispered.

"I figured you wouldn't want to go to some fancy restaurant," he shrugged. "Do you? We can still totally go to one. I have a standing reservation over at-"

I shut him up by capturing his lips in mine. When I was sure he wouldn't say idiotic things, I let go, wrapping both arms around his torso.

"This is perfect. I hate fancy restaurants," I smiled up at him, touched that he knew me well enough to guess my aversion to them.

"Are you sure?" He asked, still a little uncertain.

"Yes, babe, I'm sure. Thank you," I blushed as I looked at him, the candlelight softly glowing against his perfect face. He kissed me gently, cupping my face in his hands, before leading me to the carpet. We sat down and he popped open the bottle of sparkling wine, pouring us a glass each.

"There are a couple bottles of red downstairs if you want to switch later," he said after taking a sip.

That reminded me. I had no idea where we were.

"Wait, where exactly are we, Laxus?" I asked.

"The roof...?" he said, puzzled.

I rolled my eyes. "No, I know that, dummy. Whose roof?"

"Mine. Obviously. As if I'd take you to some stranger's rooftop on a date. Jeez, Blondie, have a little faith," he shook his head.

I looked around, now vaguely recognising my surroundings. I curled up next to him, settling into his side as he wrapped an arm around me.

We spoke for several minutes about banal things. It was easy to talk to him. I never had to struggle to find a topic of conversation. After a while Laxus fell silent. I searched his eyes for a sign that something was wrong.

"Blondie, I really don't want to know, but I wouldn't be able to sleep until I asked. Whose shirt were you wearing today? I don't want names, but was it- did it belong to the other guy you're seeing?"

I understood his hidden question. He wanted to confirm if I was sleeping with someone else. There was a curious pain in his eyes as he waited for my answer. For a fraction of a second, I wanted to tell him that the shirt was Natsu's. Or Gray's. Anything to take the pain away. But I wouldn't lie to him.

"Yes," I whispered.

I saw his jaw clench and he nodded stiffly. I quickly moved to sit on his lap, straddling him as I cupped his jaw.

"Don't go there, Laxus. Please. I'm here with you now. Just us," I coaxed him to turn his face and meet my gaze. The pain in his eyes was still there.

"Listen, baby, I want to just be with you for tonight. Can we please enjoy the night you had planned for us? Please, Laxus," I whispered, kissing him. I sighed thankfully when he kissed me back. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, moaning when I tasted him. My fingers moved to his hair, curling around the blond tendrils.

He abruptly pulled back, his eyes blazing. "Okay, Blondie, we're gonna enjoy tonight, and then I'm gonna fuck you senseless. But we gotta clear something up first. I'll be honest, I've slept with a couple random girls since I started sleeping with you,"

I momentarily felt a wave of jealousy. I automatically didn't like those other women.

He continued, "But, I don't even remember their faces now. They were entirely inconsequential. I'm not going to pretend I'm okay with you sleeping with some other bastard, but I'm also not going to stop you, because that's what we agreed on. I'm just letting you know that, after tonight, I am not sleeping with anyone else. It's just you, Princess. And when you decide to let the other guy go, I am so ready to drop this non-exclusivity bullshit. But until then, I won't bring this up again, and I promise to never make you feel bad for also being with him. You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to get that off my chest." He exhaled forcefully.

I had no idea how to respond to any of what he just said. I tried forming words, but my thoughts were a mess. I took a breath, and just looked at him. I drowned out the noise in my head and focused on how much I wanted to be with him at this moment. Without saying a word, I leaned forward and kissed him roughly, pressing myself to his chest. He responded enthusiastically, his hands floating to my ass. Laxus fell back against the pillows and we kissed passionately for several minutes until my stomach rudely interrupted us with a grumble. Laxus laughed into my mouth before rolling me off of him and pulling food out of the wicker basket.

We finished the rest of the wine as we ate, and Laxus quickly ran down to bring up another bottle and a blanket. We continued to cuddle and drink and laugh, both of us choosing to not address Laxus's declaration yet. Maybe it was the candlelight and the stars, or the several glasses of wine, or maybe his confession flipped a switch in me, but I became so aware of how much he had changed from the first time I was at his house.

It was in the small things, like the way he'd rest his hand on my knee and gently squeeze it, or the fleeting kiss he'd press to my cheek as he adjusted the blanket around me. I didn't think he even realised he was doing some of these things, and for some reason, that made me feel guilty as hell.

I didn't regret being with Gildarts. Not for one second. Gildarts meant as much to me as Laxus did, but knowing how Laxus felt, and knowing that my feelings for Gildarts inadvertently brought Laxus pain, was a knife to the heart.

We were lying on our backs, the blanket draped over us, as we stared up at the stars. I pointed out the few constellations I could see to Laxus, and he told me old stories that Makarov had told him.

I laced my hand through his, pulling it up to kiss his knuckles.

"I want to talk about what you said earlier," I whispered, keeping my eyes fixed on the sky. I could tell that he hadn't turned to face me either.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked quietly.

"Laxus, I- I…" I couldn't say the words to describe how much I cared for him.

"I know," he whispered.

"But I also…" I trailed off. He'd put the pieces together.

"Please, Lucy," his voice sounded strained. "I really, really don't want to know. I cannot stop you from being with him, and like I said, I promise to never say anything to make you feel guilty, but please. Don't tell me about him. I know you care for me, and I love that you do. But I don't want to know that you care for him too. Please," he finished with a strangled whisper.

I nodded, moving my head from the cushion to his chest. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him. I could hear his heart hammering in his chest. I turned my face and kissed above his heart. I wanted it to return to its usual, calming rhythm. I pulled back to undo his buttons, exposing his chest, and I kissed directly above his heart again. I heard him sigh and I could feel his heartbeat slowly revert to normal. I rested my cheek against his bare chest.

"You mean more to me than you know," I whispered.

Laxus sat up and we knelt facing each other. His eyes gazed into mine, silently asking if I was in the mood for more. I nodded, leaning forward to undo the remainder of his buttons and push his shirt off his shoulders. He reached behind me and pulled down my zipper, letting my dress pool around my knees. I let my eyes wander over his muscular chest, his abdomen, his swirling tattoo. I felt his eyes roam over me in the same way.

Wordlessly, we both stood up, a couple feet between us. My dress fell all the way to the ground, leaving me in my bra and underwear. Laxus undid his belt and pulled his pants off, leaving him in his boxers. It was like time had stilled as we took each other in. And then, all of a sudden, I threw myself at him. He caught me and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our mouths clashed and our tongues battled. We kissed each other desperately, as if we were trying to prove a point. And maybe we were. Him, begging me with every move of his lips to stay with him; and me, with every swipe of my tongue trying to show him how much he meant to me.

A/N: I can practically hear your LaLu hearts squealing. I made the mistake of skimming through my LaLu AU before I wrote this, and then I went and did exactly what I didn't want. I tilted the story back in Laxus's favour. But it matters not. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will invariably write the Laxus chapters better than the Gildarts chapters. Please try and remain unbiased, despite my clear inability to keep them on a level field.