The rain had eventually let up, and from what they could tell the storm had begun to fade away. Most of the trail from that point onwards had been an awkward silence. Neither wanted to talk about what had happened. Lucy would occasionally look at Bickslow from the corner of her eyes and blush whenever she realised that he had also been sneaking glances back her.

It wasn't long before they reached the cabin they had started at. From there they could see the outskirts of the town, and the sky above it was tinged with orange in the gaps between the storm clouds.

The two walked along the quiet streets. The rain had washed most of the mud off of them, but a lot still remained. Lucy realised that there was no way they'd be able to get a train back to Magnolia now, and even if they did, they'd arrive far too late at night. She sighed as she realised that it meant spending the night there, so Lucy stopped walking and reached out to grab Bickslow's arm as he continued walking, unaware that she had stopped behind him. He tensed at the contact and looked down at the hand now grasping his arm. She released it and brought it back to her side.

"It's too late to be getting a train, and the school will be closed by now. I guess we'll have to find an inn for tonight, and then we can just catch the earliest train back to Magnolia," she said with a frown. She hadn't wanted this job to take any more than a day, but the travelling had taken up most of the time so they now had no choice.

"I guess so. We better go find one then." Bickslow turned his head again and began walking in the direction they were originally going.

"Did you see any on our way here?" Lucy asked.

"I think I saw one, but it was near the station."

"Alright, lead the way, then." Lucy put her hand out in front of her, gesturing for Bickslow to be the leader. He looked down at her for a second again, before averting his gaze back to the path ahead.

The walk back to that side of the town wasn't as long as they had thought, and they soon arrived at a small inn that was located on a street around the corner from the station. As they walked into the reception of the building, they were greeted by a disgusted look on the receptionist's face. They had momentarily forgotten about their mud-covered clothes, and both looked down in shame once realising.

Lucy walked up to the man at the front counter. "Sorry about the mess…" she apologised. Bickslow turned to look behind him and noticed the muddy footprints behind them and couldn't help but smirk. "Do you have any rooms left for tonight?" She was just hoping they would let them stay here after the mess they had made of the lobby.

The man quickly pulled out a large book and skimmed through a few pages before looking up at the two before him. "We only have the one room left. Was it just the one night?" he said, distaste clear in his voice. He still wasn't pleased with the messy customers before him.

Lucy was relieved to hear they had a room left, so she immediately brightened at hearing the words. "Yes, just the one night please."

"Right then." The man turned around to face the wall behind him and pulled the lone key from the hook before turning and handing it to Lucy. "Room seven. Down the end of the hall to your right."

"Thank you, sir!" Lucy beamed and practically ran in the direction of the hall. Bickslow just followed the girl down the hall, ignoring the glares from the man behind the counter.

Lucy looked at each of the numbers on the doors, trying to find the one that she had the key to. She realised that the inn had to be much bigger than it appeared from the street, as it was quite a long hall. She could vaguely hear the heavy footsteps of Bickslow behind her, but she just kept walking. She came across room seven after walking for what felt like forever, and she inserted the key in the lock, twisting the handle once she heard the lock click.

She looked around the room from the doorway, and her jaw dropped. In the middle of the room sat one of the biggest beds she had seen in her entire life. The pillows were white, with the blanket being a deep red. Light wooden tables sat on each side with glass lamps on each of them, and the lampshades matched the sheets and the blanket. On one side of the room sat a white leather sofa, with a matching armchair and a coffee table that matched the tables next to the bed.

"Why are you standing in the doorway, Cosp—oh… Wow." Bickslow stopped behind her in the doorway. Thankfully, he could see over her head into the room, but he didn't exactly like what he saw.

One bed.

One giant bed.

He put his hands on her shoulders gently and pushed her into the room. He could feel her muscles tense at the contact. "I'll sleep on the couch, don't worry," he said, closing the door behind them as Lucy explored the room. It was a nice room, no denying it, but it was not what either of them had expected. "I'm sure you want to go shower or something."

"Oh, yeah… you're right." Lucy was brought back from her daze and headed for the bathroom, closing the door and summoning Virgo after starting the shower and letting the steam fill the room.

"Punishment, Princess?" her pink-haired spirit asked.

"No, Virgo…" Lucy's cheeks flushed. "Are you able to take these clothes to the Spirit World to clean them up, or bring me some more clothes?" She slowly stripped herself of her clothes, handing them to Virgo and hanging Bickslow's cloak on a hook.

"Of course, Princess," Virgo bowed, "Will I be taking the Seith mage's cloak, too?"

"Uh… Yes please, if it isn't too much trouble." She had kind of forgotten that she had been wearing it, and she didn't think much about it when she hung it up.

Virgo nodded and gathered up the cloak, and returned to the Spirit World with a warm, golden light just as Lucy stepped into the shower. It felt far too good to finally be clean again.

Lucy was just stepping out of the shower again and grabbing one of the large towels that sat on the counter in the room when Virgo re-appeared, holding the neatly folded and clean clothes in front of her.

"Here you are, Princess," she said, handing the clothes to her master so she could dress again in some clean clothing. "Was there anything else I could be of assistance with?"

Lucy was about to send Virgo back when she realised that Bickslow was covered in as much mud as she had been, so instead she just walked back into the main room with Virgo behind her. Bickslow had only been sitting staring at his hands while waiting for Lucy to be done with the bathroom.

"Virgo can take your clothes and clean them. I'm sure you wouldn't want to stay in them any longer than necessary," Lucy said, as Virgo smiled and bowed beside her.

Bickslow nodded as he stood and headed into the bathroom. The room was still filled with steam, so he closed the door quickly so it wouldn't escape. He was about to hang his shirt on the hook when he realised that his cape that he had loaned to Lucy was hanging on another hook, clean and smelling vaguely of citrus.

Lucy sat herself down on the edge of the bed, legs crossed under herself. It was still too early to actually sleep, so she wondered what she could do to entertain herself. She looked around the room, and found mostly trashy magazines and novels. Thankfully, she found a somewhat recent copy of Sorcerer Weekly, so she decided she'd start with that, grabbing it from the dresser and then making herself comfortable on the bed again.

She was about to open the magazine when she heard Bickslow almost shriek from inside the bathroom. "Loke?!"

Lucy blanched at the sound. Loke forcing his gate open to end up in the bathroom with Bickslow was definitely not a good thing.

Bickslow frantically reached for the towel he had placed next to the shower to shield himself from the spirit.

"Virgo figured you would be more comfortable if I returned your clothes instead," Loke said drily. He didn't want to be there as much as Bickslow didn't want him there.

They both stood staring at each other for a moment, Bickslow shuffling nervously. In the shower. After another moment, Loke cleared his throat before turning to place the clothes in his arms on the bench along with the other towels.

"Uh, thanks for the clothes," Bickslow mumbled as Loke walked towards the door and headed out into the main room. Bickslow's eye's widened and all the colour from his face drained as he looked back out into the room, only to find an equally surprised and pale Lucy staring back at him. He quickly ran towards the door and pushed it close, all while holding the towel up to cover himself still.

Once closed, he could only sigh and drag a hand down his face. Fuck, that was awkward.

"Loke? Why are you here? I thought Virgo was returning the clothes." Despite having just seen way too much of the Seith mage in the bathroom, Lucy couldn't help but smile as Loke sat down beside her.

Loke shrugged. "She asked if I could do it. She didn't think it would be appropriate to be in a bathroom with Bickslow, unless it involved punishment." He shuddered at the thought and Lucy grimaced slightly. "Anyway, I shall be going once again, Princess." He pulled Lucy into a quick hug with his arm around her shoulders, and then Lucy watched as he stepped back and returned to the Spirit World.

The door to the bathroom opened once again a few moments later as Bickslow finally walked out. One hand was running back and forth in his hair, while the other hand was supporting his helmet that was tucked under his arm. Lucy couldn't help but giggle when he laid down on the sofa, his feet hanging off one end and his head off the other.

"What are you laughing at this time, Cosplayer?" he grumbled, lifting his arm from his eyes to glance back to her on the bed.

"Well, your hair is sticking out in all weird angles, and you don't even come close to fitting on that lounge," she eventually got out.

Bickslow only scowled slightly, and Lucy went back to reading her magazine, and it was only when Bickslow couldn't stand the only noise in the room being the pages turning that he decided to ask, "What are you reading?"

"Sorcerer Weekly. Apparently Laxus is still the number one eligible bachelor in Fairy Tail," Lucy answered.

Bickslow snorted. "Yeah, sounds about right. I don't think they got the message that he's not interested though."

The room was once again silent as their brief conversation ended. Lucy yawned and she placed the magazine on the table next to the bed before walking over to the small dresser that was in the room. She opened it to find various shirts and robes that all sported the inn's logo. She picked up one of the shirts and held it out in front of her, examining it and wondering if it was fit to sleep in.This will have to do, I guess. It was better than what she was wearing, that was for sure, so she put it on over her clothes she was already wear.

She looked behind her to make sure Bickslow wasn't looking, and was pleased to find that he had his arm covering his eyes once again. She quickly pulled her black skirt down, folding it neatly and placing it on the dresser, along with the purple tank top she had been wearing, which she removed from under the new shirt. Thankfully, it went halfway down her thighs.

Lucy silently made her way over back to the bed and pulled back the covers, and as soon as she had climbed in, she just about melted from the warmth that surrounded her. She hummed contentedly and Bickslow couldn't help but raise his arm to look at where the sound came from.

"You're too tall for that lounge, and this bed is way too big anyway. Just… Get in, okay?" Lucy said quickly as Bickslow got up to turn out the lights, blushing slightly as she hid her face in the pillow. The only person who had ever shared her bed had been Natsu, and she never had a choice with that.

"It's fine, I'd prefer the lounge any—"

"Bickslow," Lucy sighed. She wasn't in the mood to argue, and she didn't want him to be complaining about having a sore back and having had barely any sleep in the morning. "Just do it, okay? And don't even think about wearing all of those stupid clothes you wear." She almost regretted saying the last part, but still she didn't want him feeling uncomfortable. There was already an awkward tension between them and she didn't need it to be worse. Lucy figured if he could just be comfortable, then it would be fine.

"Uh… Okay…" If it were anyone else, he would be cracking jokes left, right, and centre, or trying to actually sleep with them. But not with her, at least not right then, and it made him wonder just what the fuck was wrong with him. He'd wasted so many opportunities.

So quietly, he removed the excess clothing he usually wore and folded them roughly before placing them on the sofa, leaving him in just his boxers.

Lucy felt the mattress sink as he sat down on it and eventually laid down on it. She could feel the blanket shuffling as he pulled it up, and she heard Bickslow exhale. He wasn't aware that he had been holding his breath, but instead of questioning it even more, he just rolled over to his side, with his back facing Lucy.

"Goodnight, Bickslow," Lucy whispered after a moment.

"Night," Bickslow replied another moment later, and the two closed their eyes and went to sleep for the night.

Bickslow was the first to wake up the next morning. He could feel something reasonably soft against his face, but figured it was just the pillow. Damn, this bed is warm. He pressed his face into the pillow and sighed through his nose, but it occurred to him as he did that, that a pillow shouldn't be hard, nor should it tickle his nose and make him want to sneeze. That was when he peeked one eye open, and looked down to see bright blonde hair.

He opened his other eye quickly to figure out what the fuck was going on. He had one arm resting on his side, and his other had somehow ended up around Lucy's shoulders. The weirdest part, to Bickslow at least, was that Lucy had ended up pressed right against him, with her head resting against his chest and an arm draped over his middle.

What the fuck? As confused as he was, he still tried to be gentle in his attempt to separate himself from Lucy. But instead, he found himself pulled in tighter, with Lucy burying her head in closer and humming softly.

Bickslow could only sigh quietly. He was hoping to avoid the awkwardness of her waking up like this, or more so with him, because he was certain she would freak out more than he was. Thinking back to the night before, he remembered them facing opposite directions as they went to sleep, but he didn't remember moving, or feeling her move, or anything other than being asleep. So how they'd ended up like that, he really didn't know.

He looked down to her again, mostly because he had nothing else to look at. Her hair was splayed out on the pillow and the sheets, and Bickslow couldn't help himself by reaching up to gently push back the strands of hair that had fallen on her face. He tensed when she moved slightly, and thinking that she was waking up, Bickslow braced himself for the worst.

Instead, Lucy stayed asleep, so he continued to watch. It occurred to him that she was kind of pretty, though, and that usually wasn't a word he used to describe people. It definitely wasn't a word he'd ever associated with Lucy, either, and he wasn't sure what to do with it.

He closed his eyes and turned his face away, up towards the ceiling.. No, Bickslow. Stop staring at her while she's asleep. That's fucking creepy. He wondered how long it would be before she woke up though, because as much as he wanted to move, he didn't really want to wake Lucy up. He was already scared of what her reaction would be, and he didn't want to make it worse by disturbing her sleep any more.

When he felt her shifting again just a few moments later, he looked back down. He had managed to move onto his back, with Lucy's hands now resting against his stomach and chest, while his arm still remained around her shoulders. Oh god, she's waking up. Suddenly, he wished she was still asleep because he really was not ready for her to yell at him. He watched until Lucy's eyes slowly fluttered open, and then turned his gaze elsewhere while Lucy slowly realised the predicament they were in.

Lucy lifted a hand to rub at her eyes, trying to rub away the sleep that lingered. She slowly sat up on one elbow to look around, only to be greeted by a certain blue-and-black haired mage directly in front of her. She only noticed the weight around the shoulders as it began to fall away, and she glanced back over her shoulder to see Bickslow bringing his arm back to his side. And as she realised just where she'd been sleeping, Bickslow took that as his opportunity to quickly get up and sit on the edge of the bed, turning his back to her as she gained her bearings.

"Uh, morning," Lucy said quietly.

"Yeah, morning…" Bickslow mumbled. He was just waiting for her to freak out or something.

It wasn't exactly lost on her what they'd been doing, and while she was confused as all hell, she couldn't really help but laugh. "So… that was an interesting way to wake up, I suppose."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Bickslow mumbled again as he got up and went to grab his clothes from the lounge.

"Well, I don't really think you need to be sorry," Lucy said, cheeks warm as she looked down to the sheet she still had her legs tangled in. "I guess we're both to blame for that… I mean, we both moved…" Really, it wouldn't have been fair to blame Bickslow for their awkward wake-up. Lucy knew she was kind of at fault for it too, for whatever reason.

"Right, well…" Bickslow didn't exactly know what was going on, so he just decided to change the subject entirely. "There should be a train in about an hour or so, so we should probably get ready to head back."

Lucy nodded. Honestly, she was kind of thankful that Bickslow had changed the subject. She pushed the rest of the covers back and leapt over to the dresser on the other side of the room to grab her clothes. Bickslow looked over his shoulder at the wrong time and finally noticed what Lucy had been sleeping in. Once he realised that she hadn't even been wearing any pants, he only wanted to finish getting dressed a little faster.

Ducking into the bathroom, Lucy locked the door as she stopped in front of the mirror, hands on the edge of the counter as she let out a shaky breath. For whatever reason, she had woken up with Bickslow, and she had liked it. Or at least, she'd tolerated it enough to not kick him down the hallway. She shook her head as she cupped her hands under the faucet, filling them with cold water to splash on her face. Some things were not worth thinking about, and Bickslow was probably one of them, so she pushed all thoughts of Bickslow to the back of her mind and began getting dressed. As she finished up, she picked up the large t-shirt she had slept in and threw it in the large basket against one wall. Then, confident that she was ready for the day, she stepped back into the hotel room to be on her way.

Bickslow was lying on the couch waiting for her, his helmet still sitting on the coffee table. He tipped his head back as he heard the bathroom door open and he could see Lucy walking towards him before she stopped just in front of where his head. One more step and he probably would've been able to see right up her skirt.

She stepped back once she looked down and saw the smirk on his face, but decided not to comment on it. "Come on, get up. We have to go back to the school."

Bickslow inwardly groaned as he pushed himself up from the couch and followed Lucy back into the hall. He pulled the door closed behind himself and continued with putting his helmet back over his head as he walked down the hall. He could see Lucy was already at the reception area. As he entered the room, he was greeted with yet another glare from the man behind the counter, so he looked down at the tiles to find that they were no longer covered in mud.

"Thank you again, sir," Lucy said cheerily as she walked towards the front door, placing her bag at her side again, and Bickslow just continued on behind her.

Once outside, Lucy couldn't help but wrap her arms around herself. The wind was a lot cooler than the day before, and she was still wearing clothes that were not designed for this weather.

"Here."

She didn't need to turn her head very far before she saw Bickslow holding his cloak out to her, and she only smiled and took it from him before wrapping it around her shoulders once again. Even with the citrus, she could still smell the hint of cinnamon on it and she knew it was going to get addicted to it.

Heading towards the school, it was once again a silent trip. Bickslow noticed that the sky was still a dark shade of grey, but it wasn't as dark as it had been the day before, and it wasn't as worrying anymore. Every now and then, Bickslow still felt the urge to glance down to Lucy walking beside him, and the more he saw her wrapped up in his cloak, he more he liked it. He still wasn't sure what it was that had him feeling like he needed to be nicer to Lucy all of a sudden, but it was confusing and annoying so Bickslow was really just doing his best to ignore it.

They reached the school during what appeared to be a break in the classes, so as they walked into the main lobby, they were instantly surrounded by children. Bickslow lifted his arms up and looked down at the swarm of children around him, grimacing as they shouted and screamed. "Gah, I'm glad I don't have my babies around at the moment."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh as she pushed through the sea of children. She pointed to a row of chairs by the wall, motioning for Bickslow to wait for her there. He was forced to sit in the empty chair between two children, and Bickslow found himself quickly growing more uncomfortable with each second. He only hoped Lucy would be back quickly.

After a minute, he could feel someone tugging on his hood, so he turned his head to see the child who had been sitting next to him now standing on the chair, and Bickslow realised that the boy must have been playing with the purple plume on the top of it. He sunk lower in his chair and continued to pout. He figured it would be best to just ignore them all, and hope that this torture wouldn't last long.

Lucy returned to the main entrance a few minutes later, only to find Bickslow slumped in his chair against the wall, seemingly being attacked by the children. She laughed at the sight and made her way over to them, "Alright guys, leave him alone. I'm sure you have a class to get to," she said, laughing as the children all quickly dispersed and ran off towards the classrooms.

Bickslow only sighed and readjusted his visor. He was kind of proud of himself for putting up with it and not using his Figure Eyes on any of them. He wasn't exactly a patient person.

"I take it you're not a fan of kids?" Lucy asked once they were out of the building and heading back towards the station.

"No," Bickslow responded. He didn't care enough to give any other answer as he looked around the streets for any kind of café.

"What about Asuka?"

Bickslow shrugged. "Asuka's different."

Lucy smiled as she thought of the small child. She remembered her day of jobs with her and Natsu, and how happy Asuka had been once she was able to give the lacrima back to her parents. As she got lost in her memories, she didn't notice that Bickslow had grabbed hold of her arm and was pulling her into a small café opposite the train station. He'd only had to do so after he had veered from the path and she kept walking, and so he was forced to return to pull her back to the small building.

"Do you want anything?" Bickslow asked once they were inside and in front of the counter.

Lucy hadn't really noticed that they hadn't eaten anything since the morning before. And now that she thought of it, she was kind of hungry. "Maybe just a slice of banana bread?"

Bickslow nodded and moved over to the other side of the counter where the orders were placed, and Lucy went to take a seat at a table by the window while she waited. She watched as Bickslow came and sat down a few minutes later, a plate with her banana bread in one hand and a plate with some kind of sandwich in the other. They ate in silence, and Lucy was almost done with her banana bread before the remembered the reward she'd tucked away in her purse.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Bickslow raised an eyebrow in response to her sudden outbreak, still chewing on a bite of his sandwich. Lucy reached into her bag and pulled out a small envelope, holding it out to Bickslow in front of her. "It's half of the reward," she said.

Bickslow shook his head. "Nah, not worth it since the job was literally just walking around. And besides, I've heard you need to pay your rent," he said with a smirk.

"Does everyone know that these days?" Lucy mumbled as she tucked the envelope back away. It'd be nice if the entire guild wasn't aware of her money troubles, although most of them were due to Natsu and Erza anyway.

"Pretty much."

It wasn't long before they were both done, and Lucy collected the plates to return them to the busy woman at the counter before she headed back outside to meet Bickslow again. As they walked across the street to the station, the wind picked up and she pulled the cloak in around herself again. Bickslow was getting the tickets that time, so Lucy waited just outside. A moment later he returned with the tickets in hand, just as they heard the train come in to the station.

She followed behind him as they made their way down the carriage before they found two empty seats, Lucy taking the window seat and Bickslow sitting on the aisle. Two men in suits sat across from them, both of them reading their papers and seemingly unaware that there were now people sitting in front of them.

It was midday by the time they left the town, so they wouldn't be arriving in Magnolia until late in the afternoon. Again, the train ride was mostly quiet, which was welcomed by both of them.

An hour into their trip, Lucy began yawning again. Something about trains made her just want to sleep, especially on the longer trips. At one point when Bickslow glanced down to her, Lucy seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open.

"You can, uh… You can use me as a pillow again, if you want," he mumbled, swallowing thickly. It wasn't every day he offered to be used as a human pillow.

"It's okay… I didn't mean to do it last time…" Lucy replied, turning to look back out the window and trying to hide the deepening blush on her cheeks. She was surprised that he had even offered. Why is he being so nice all of a sudden? Isn't he supposed to be some creepy pervert? At least that was what everyone else seemed to think.

"Suit yourself."

He wasn't sure how long had passed before he felt a weight on his side again, but he wasn't surprised to see the head of blonde hair on his shoulder when he looked down.

All he did then was lift his arm from under her before wrapping it gently around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. Lucy stiffened for a second, before realising that it was strangely comforting, and she relaxed into his side. After a moment, and with a smirk still on his mouth, Bickslow closed his eyes and relaxed as well, somehow enjoying the strange comfort of having her under his arm.

Bickslow never managed to fall asleep for very long on the train. He would occasionally feel Lucy shuffle and he would look down to make sure she was actually asleep, and he couldn't help but smile softly when he saw how comfortable she seemed. The men opposite them read their papers the entire time, barely making a noise.

When he was awake, his mind was overrun with thoughts and questions all relating to Lucy. Why am I enjoying this? Why do I want to pull her in and never let go? Why her?He didn't know what was going on, and it was driving him insane. This is not who you are, Bickslow. He wasn't kind to people. He wasn't gentle. But with Lucy, he wanted to be.

But that wasn't something he wanted to think about.

Bickslow closed his eyes once his head hit the headrest, only to be greeted by the memory of Lucy and himself in the forest, both of them covered in the mud from their fall, with the rain washing only a small amount of it away. He remembered looking down at her, staring down at her brown eyes and the feeling of almost getting lost in them, and reaching out to push the hair out of her face. He remembered her blush as she turned away, and he remembered that he had questioned his actions.

He remembered that it took almost everything he had to not kiss her right there.