The party had gone well into the night and early hours of the morning. By that point, most were either passed out somewhere or had gone home.
Natsu had made himself comfortable on one of the many lounge chairs surrounding the pool, his legs splayed out and arms hanging down on either side of him as he snored quietly. Sting had seemingly passed out with Rogue in the island in the centre of the pool. Elfman had been turned to stone again and seemed to be a hard pillow for Evergreen on another lounge chair. Gray and Lyon were just lying on the pool they'd frozen at some point. Bodies were scattered around the area in amongst the broken glasses, mugs, and furniture. And inside the guildhall was just as bad as the outside.
Thankfully, Lucy had managed to enjoy the rest of the festivities with her friends. She'd needed the distraction, and it had definitely worked. Ready to head home for the night, she finally made her way back into the guildhall, waving to the few people who were still awake and getting ready to head to their own homes.
Lucy looked around the hall once she had made it past the doors. Gajeel had made his bed on one of the tables with Levy resting her head on one end of it. Cana and Bacchus were swaying slightly on their benches giggling like morons as they continued drinking. Lucy couldn't even count how many barrels they had around them, but she figured it was all that the guild had. She made her way over to the bar where Mira was polishing a row of glasses in front of her as Max walked past with the broom, sweeping up some of the mess on the floor around the room.
"I didn't expect it to go on this long," Lucy sighed, folding her arms over the bar.
Mira laughed quietly. "It is Fairy Tail after all."
Lucy sighed and looked down the bar. At one end one seemed to be a giant ball of Exceeds all sleeping peacefully, and down the other sat Laxus and Orga, seemingly drinking in complete silence.
Lucy had wanted to head home, but she decided she should stay and help Mira clean up for a little bit, so she got up from the stool and walked around the side to grab a clean cloth.
Orga had eventually managed to get up and start heading back to his own guild, only after he bumped into a few tables and tripped over a few people on the ground, and Laxus headed upstairs. Lucy placed the last glass in the cupboard below the bar as Mira finished wiping down the bar around the Exceeds.
Lucy decided to finish helping by stacking all of the stools on the bar, getting them off the floor. It was then that she noticed Bickslow passed out on the floor Apparently, he had fallen to the ground while sitting on one of the stools and never gotten back up. Lucy couldn't help but front. What am I going to do about him?
"You need to talk to him."
She turned to see Laxus walking up behind her, his arms crossed over his chest as they both looked down at the Seith mage again. "Why do I need to talk to him?" What would I even say?
"Because he's not going to come and talk to you," Laxus said quietly. He's stubborn, and as much as it pains me to say it, he's my friend and this whole thing with you is driving him insane – not that he'll admit it. On the off chance that you like him, or even if you don't like him, you need to let him know so this entire thing can just rest."
Driving him insane? What does that even mean? Do I even like him?
"Look, just… Just go home." Laxus sighed and shook his head. "He can stay here. He'll find his way out when he wakes up."
As Laxus left, the guild doors swinging closed behind himself, Lucy looked around again and finally noticed that everyone had left. Mira and Max had each gone home, and though Bacchus and Cana were still there, they were off in their own little world anyway.
Sighing, she knelt down besides Bickslow. She could have done what Laxus had said, but something inside of her was telling her to try and wake the man up to get him home. He'd sleep better in his own bed. She reached out and placed her hand in his hair, her thumb running back and forth slowly and softly, the shorter tufts of his hair at the front being pushed back with each stroke. "Bickslow?" she said softly.
Bickslow wasn't entirely out of it as everyone had thought. He was still somewhat conscious, but he was being greeted by pleasant images of a certain blonde and he was just ignoring the rest of the world for the time being. He could vaguely feel someone touching his hair and that was something he did not like. No one touches my hair.
"Laxus, stop touching my hair," he grumbled.
Lucy couldn't help but giggle. "Bickslow, come on, get up."
"Go away." Bickslow tried rolling onto his side, but the chair was in the way and made it hard to move, so instead he just continued resting on his back.
Lucy was back to frowning at the man before her. Maybe I should just leave him here. It was what Laxus had said, after all. Her better judgement still got the better of her though. So she stood and moved down to where the stool was lying on its side, and carefully pulled it out from under his legs, noticing that one of the legs had snapped, probably from when he had tipped over. When the chair was moved away, she stood over him with one leg on each side of the man and reached down to grab both of his wrists in her hands.
"Leave me alone," Bickslow groaned.
She started walking backwards slowly, making sure not to accidentally step on him. Unfortunately, he was heavier than she had expected (it didn't help that he was unwilling to move), and after lifting his head and shoulders an inch or so off the ground, her hands slipped and he fell back down.
Bickslow groaned in pain, rolling to clutch the back of his head as his eyes scrunched up in pain. "What the hell was that for?"
"Well, maybe if you had gotten up it wouldn't have happened!" Lucy huffed, still standing over him with her arms across.
Wait, that's not Laxus. Bickslow opened his eyes slowly, waiting for them to adjust to the dim lighting in the room. He was not expecting to be looking up at the blonde who looked just about ready to kick him if he hadn't already been on the ground. "What are you doing?" he asked, his words still slightly slurred as he managed to sit up slightly.
"Trying to get you up so you don't sleep on the floor."
Why does she care if I sleep on the floor or not? "I'm quite happy with the floor. I was comfortable until you dropped me."
"Fine. Be that way." Is this what I get for being nice? Maybe they were wrong. Maybe he's not as conflicted as Laxus said. Lucy's heart sank a little bit at her own thoughts after she had realised that maybe she liked the Seith mage. Perhaps that was before the best.
Despite Bickslow's mind being jumbled and messy from his drunkenness, his thoughts and feelings for Lucy were strangely clear as day. Laxus had helped him realise them through several hours of drinking, and while he wasn't completely in denial anymore, he still wasn't going to bother going after someone who wasn't going to be interested in him.
But she's right there.
He watched her turn and walk away. Before he could stop himself from opening his mouth, he was calling out, "Wait." Lucy turned again to watch him struggle to pull himself up again. "I won't sleep if those two are giggling like idiots for the rest of the night."
She hesitated for a moment before finally turning back to help Bickslow home. She held her hand out, and reluctantly, Bickslow let her help pull him to his feet.
Bickslow leant on her as they walked through Magnolia. Lucy had asked him where had lived just after they had exited the guild and was somewhat relieved to know that it was only a few minutes away from her own home so she would still be able to get home and sleep before sunrise.
Most of the walk was in silence. Lucy couldn't think of anything to say, and Bickslow just didn't seem to have the energy to say much. It wasn't like Lucy would've been able to understand much anyway. He got worse the longer he stayed upright.
Bickslow's head dropped down a few times and rested on the top of Lucy's head. She usually just lifted the hand that was holding his wrist and pushed his head away with a soft laugh.
"I like strawberries," Bickslow mumbled as Lucy pushed his head away once again. "You smell like strawberries."
"That's nice," Lucy sighed. She was getting tired herself, and she figured if she didn't get him home soon, she would probably fall asleep while she was walking back to her own home. As entertaining as Bickslow was, she didn't exactly enjoy looking after drunk adults.
"It is nice. You're nice," Bickslow chuckled. He spotted his building just a little ways down the street, and he pointed to it.
They walked up the steps to the front door once they had reached his house, and Lucy was pleased to find that the door was unlocked. "Which door is yours?" she asked as she led them inside.
"Second floor," Bickslow mumbled as he turned them towards the stairs. Once they reached the floor, he couldn't help but groan, steadying himself against the wall next to his door. "I think I drank too much."
"Like everyone else," Lucy muttered, trying to the door to find that it too was unlocked. She looked around at the dark room. From what she could tell, it was at least twice the size as her own, though she wasn't really paying attention much.
She didn't know where his bedroom was, but as soon as she was steadying Bickslow again, he was leading them down the hall and walking into his bedroom.
Before Lucy could get free, Bickslow had leant forward and fell face down on the bed, his arm still around Lucy's shoulder and hers loosely around his waist still. Lucy, who had also been trying to stay awake the entire time had lost all will to move and could feel herself sinking into the soft mattress of the bed. As she breathed in with her face against the soft sheets, she could smell the sweeter cinnamon with the hint of a forest once again. She didn't think she'd missed it until then. And in a matter of seconds, Lucy's eyes were closing as she was falling asleep just before dawn.
Bickslow was the first to wake up later in the day, mindlessly dragging himself towards his bathroom when he realised that he needed to throw up. Yep, definitely drank too much.
He stumbled back into his room while looking down at his clothes, noticing that he was still wearing the swim shorts that he wore the day before. He'd woken up in worse, and in places far less familiar than his apartment, so he decided that it wasn't worth thinking about. But it was probably still too early to be awake, and he still felt like death, so it was back to bed for him. That was when he noticed someone else on passed on the bed.
"What the fuck?" Bickslow whispered to himself. Why the hell is she here? How did I even get back here?
He carefully climbed onto the bed and sat with his legs crossed as he stared at the sleeping woman, trying to remember how he had managed to get home, and how the Lucy had even come to be on his bed. It wasn't very often he didn't know what had happened.
I was at the bar with Laxus… And then I was drinking with Cana and Bacchus… But then I was back at the bar with Laxus.
Bickslow rubbed his temples, trying to ignore the pounding headache that was quickly forming. He needed to remember.
Wait, I fell off the chair at the bar and then I couldn't get up… So then I just drank on the floor until Mira cut me off… And then Cosplayer tried lifting me up but she dropped me.
Bickslow could feel the slight bump on the back of his head as he slowly came to remember his night. He could vaguely recall walking back to his house with her, but he couldn't remember the details. Bickslow could only assume he'd something stupid to her at some point, and he could only hope that it wasn't too stupid.
Something stupid like confessing that he actually did like the blonde – to the said blonde.
Bickslow ran his hands through his hair and down his face, spreading his fingers over his eyes to look once more at the mage. She still has clothes on. I still have clothes on. That's a good sign. Bickslow could only hope that Laxus wouldn't make an unannounced visit that morning as he had an awful habit of doing. If that happened, then he'd be screwed.
Deciding that he was done sitting in the darkness, at least now that he was well and truly awake, he moved off the bed as gently as he could to avoid waking the Lucy up. Sure, he needed to wake her up, but at the same time he really didn't want to. He was more scared of her freaking out on him, and he was horribly scared of her famous kicks. Anyone with a brain was scared of them.
He pulled his dark curtains back a fraction, the light spilling into the room. It was mid afternoon so it wasn't as terrible as the morning sun that seemed to shine directly into his eyes no matter what direction he was facing. Checking to see if she had woken yet, Bickslow shuffled out into his dark hallway and to the kitchen, only to return with a glass of water as he leant on the doorframe for a moment, slowly sipping as he continued to stare.
I need to wake her up.
Bickslow made his way over to the bed again, sitting with his legs crossed once again. He reached out gingerly and placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder, shaking her softly. "Hey, Cosplayer."
Lucy's eyes fluttered open slowly as she heard the familiar voice and the feeling of someone shaking her. She stretched her arms out before using them to push herself up in a sitting position. It quickly occurred to her that she wasn't in her own home, and then she was quickly remembering that she'd fallen asleep on Bickslow's bed after getting him home. Luckily for her, she wasn't much of a heavy drinker and hadn't got anywhere near as drunk as everyone else, so her memories were clearer and her headache was tolerable
She could sense someone behind her, so she turned her head over her shoulder to see Bickslow sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her and waiting for her to get up. Lucy turned around on the bed and sat before him, her legs folded under herself as she sat on her knees.
"Well, I… I wasn't exactly planning on doing that," she mumbled. She'd really just been too tired to move. She hoped Bickslow didn't mind too much, though.
Bickslow scoffed. "Yeah, well, I think that's partly my fault. Thanks for managing to get me back in one piece."
It was Lucy's turn to feel uncomfortable and awkward. She knew now would be the perfect time to talk to him since they were alone, but she didn't know where to start. She looked at Bickslow as he turned his attention to his hands in his lap. She noticed his hair then, the hair that usually looked so good in its own weird way, and how it was sticking out at all odd angles, and how Bickslow hadn't seemed to notice. Lucy couldn't stop herself from laughing.
"I'm glad you find this entertaining," he mumbled. Lucy's laugh grew louder, and he couldn't stop the small smile that had formed on his lips.
"No, it's just… Your hair. You have some serious bed head."
"Oh…" Bickslow's hands went up to try and sort it out, but without a mirror he couldn't quite tell what he was doing, and he was only making it worse.
"Here, let me." Lucy leant forward to reach her hands forward to begin fixing his hair. He could feel her working through the tangles with her fingers that had formed in the longer sections. He looked up slightly, only to be greeted by her well-endowed chest now at eye-level. The white dress that she had on over her bikini was extremely low cut. His eyes widened as he instantly looked elsewhere, deciding that the tangled sheets were a better sight.
Nope, don't look there. Not with her. Anyone but her.
Bickslow felt the bed move slightly as she moved back to her seated position and he looked back to her. She was biting her bottom lip, and he couldn't help but think of how cute she looked, "Uh… Thanks? I think," he said. Having someone fix his hair was new to him, especially since he usually had it covered.
"I figured you liked your hair looking good, especially after you had thought I was Laxus and told me to stop touching your hair when I tried waking you up at the guild," she giggled.
"I tend to stay stupid things when I'm drunk, and I don't like people touching my hair." Well, it was stupid, but not nearly as stupid as what you could have said.
Lucy put her hands on either side of her knees and stood up before stepping down from the bed and heading towards the open door. She realised that Bickslow had stood up too, but was closer to the bed than the door. He looked like he didn't know what to do.
"Well, I probably look terrible too, so I'm going to head home..." Lucy said, forcing a small smile as she turned for the hall.
"Nah."
Lucy turned back around at that, noticing Bickslow had stepped closer, and how he had a hint of pink on his cheeks. "What?"
"You don't look terrible."
Her mouth suddenly felt dry and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't help but smile and laugh nervously. "I probably don—"
"You, uh… You look perfect," Bickslow said softly.
Everything he had ever thought up to this moment had been thrown out the window. He didn't even have the time to hate himself for speaking. He could barely even chastise himself for being stupid. And he knew he should just let Lucy go home, but he couldn't stop himself from leaning down and softly pressing his lips to hers.