Lucy froze as she felt Bickslow's lips touch her own. She closed her eyes as she felt his fingers rest gently against her chin, tilting her head up more. For a moment, she wasn't sure if time was continuing to move.
She could hear her heart beating in her ears and she could feel the warmth radiating from his skin as she realised how close their bodies were. She could feel Bickslow's unmoving lips against hers still and she realised she didn't want those few short seconds to come to and end, since something about it had felt so right. And more importantly, it solidified something for her - her feelings that she hadn't known to be true.
But now she knew. She definitely had feelings for the guild's resident pervert - no ifs, buts, maybes, or mights. How she'd gotten there, she wasn't sure.
But those few short seconds eventually came to an end when Bickslow dropped his hand back to his side and pulled his head back slightly, still staying close by and looking down at her.
Lucy lifted her gaze and found herself looking Bickslow directly in the eyes, something she couldn't remember ever doing before. She noticed the concentric circles that were slightly darker than the garnet red of the irises before she followed the shape of his eyes, observing the way each end seemed to end in a defined curl. She'd never been close enough to notice any of it, but now she could. She noticed how the red of his eyes seemed to complement the blue of his hair and the mark across his face, and how on anyone else those features would seem weird or odd. But on Bickslow, they all seemed to work.
Maybe it's just because they're his?
"Uh… Sorry," Bickslow mumbled, taking a step back.
"W-Why are you apologising?" Lucy asked quietly. She was well aware of the pink on her cheeks.
Why was I apologising? Bickslow's brow furrowed as he asked himself the same question. "I… I don't know. Because it just came out of nowhere, and… and I shouldn't have done that," he apologised, turning his head away. "I just… I needed to do that, at least once."
"Oh…" Lucy looked down at her feet for a second. "Don't apologise, though," she whispered. She raised herself to stand on her tiptoes before she lifted her hand to move it to the back of his head. She pulled him down slightly, ignoring the questioning look he was giving her from the corner of his eyes, and brushed her lips against his cheek lightly before returning her hand to her side to turn and walk down the hall. Lucy didn't really know why she had done it, but the little voice inside her had said it was the right thing, and it had felt right so she wasn't even going to question it for the time being.
Bickslow didn't realise he had closed his eyes until he heard the sound of the door to his apartment being closed. He stood motionless for who knows how long, playing back the short conversation in his head over and over. He had mostly kissed her on a whim, but he knew that it was something he'd wanted to do - needed to do, even.
But now he felt more confused than ever. He knew he liked her, and if anything just found himself liking her more which he knew was going to be a problem for him. That aside, he also knew that kissing her had simultaneously been the best and worst decision of the day. He knew that he was going to have trouble forgetting about it, though. All he could do was tell himself that it meant nothing.
He wanted those words to be true just because it would make his life so much easier, but he knew that that was just not going to be the way it went. In that moment, all Bickslow had wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and never let go. He could have stayed like that forever, just stuck in that moment with his lips against hers. Time had stopped for him at that very moment, and oh, did he want time to stop again. He knew that much.
But that's not what made him so confused now. It was what she had said that had made him so confused.
"Don't apologise, though."
What does that mean? Does that just mean she had no intentions of kicking me through a wall? Or that she had possibly liked it?
Bickslow truly didn't know what the answer was, but he knew that he was mostly glad he had done it, despite the fact it seemed to be causing him more problems than expected.
Lucy smiled as she walked home. Being a Saturday afternoon, the streets were a little busy so her walk took a little longer than she had planned, but she was too happy to care.
She eventually made it home and headed straight for her bathroom and to the mirror. She frowned when she looked in the mirror and found that she really did look terrible. Her hair was a tangled mess and she had dark circles under her eyes, partly from sleep, and partly from the mascara that had smudged in the night.
"You look perfect."
Bickslow's words echoed in her head as she ran her bath, stepping in to the shallow water and sinking down into the warmth. She wasn't perfect. How anyone could see her that way, especially right then, she wasn't sure.
And as she closed her eyes, the warm water rising around her, her mind replayed the moment Bickslow kissed her. Something about it had been so perfect that she almost wanted to go back there. But then again, she wasn't sure if she was wanted there.
"I just needed to do that, at least once."
Lucy could only wonder what Bickslow meant. Did he mean he wanted it to happen again? Or was it just something he'd needed to happen just once so he could move on? Part of her hoped it was the former, but Lucy was out of her comfort zone and she just didn't know. So with a sigh, she only slid down into the tub as the water rose up to her knees, and tried not to think about Bickslow too much for a little while.
Lucy walked through the doors to the guild and smiled when she saw Mira wiping down more mugs and glasses at the bar. She made her way over to that side of the room, walking past Gajeel who was turning tables back over on his own while Jet and Droy struggled to flip one together. She saw Wakaba and Macao sitting at their usual table while Max was sweeping around them again, and Nab was moving benches around just so each table had benches on each side.
She was about to take a seat at the bar to ask Mira what she could do to help when she heard the master's voice coming from just behind her. "Ah, Lucy. Glad you're here."
Lucy turned to face him, smiling politely. "Just coming to see what I can do to help clean up."
"I have something else for you to—Bickslow, wonderful timing. Come over here."
Lucy looked towards the door to see Bickslow frozen in place. She hadn't expected him to be at the guild that day, and apparently he had thought the same for her. He made his way over to where Lucy and Makarov were with an eyebrow slightly raised in question. He didn't have his visor since he had left his usual attire in a locker at the back of the guild the day before. He leant on a table opposite them with his arms crossed over his chest, quickly glancing to Lucy just to see her blush slightly and look away. He couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from quirking up slightly.
Makarov cleared his throat. "I've received an urgent request from a northern town that has been plagued with violent storms over the last week." He looked down to the paper in his hands to read it again. "Cartervale," he said. "I believe you two had a job there last week. Did you notice anything strange about the weather?"
Bickslow frowned slightly. "I thought it was strange on the first day, but I couldn't tell why. It seemed to be better on the day we left though so I thought it was just a bad storm."
Lucy looked at Bickslow. She could tell that he seemed worried again, because she had seen that face when she had asked about it before. "Do you want us to head out tomorrow to check it out?" she asked the master.
"No," Makarov said, frowning. "Due to the distance and the time taken to get there, it would be best if we had someone there first thing in the morning rather than in the middle of the day. A northern train will leave in an hour."
"I'm sure there's guilds that are closer to the town," Lucy said. "Wouldn't it be easier for them to respond instead?"
"It seem we had a few other guilds at our party yesterday, so no," Makarov mumbled.
"Fine, but wouldn't it be better getting an actual team rather than just the two of us?" Bickslow pointed out. "If it's an urgent request, something tells me that this is going to be a bit out of our league."
"I assume the same, but each of your teams are the only ones stupid enough to take on jobs of this size, and you are both familiar with the town. Both of your teams will be sent out tomorrow morning so they can join you later in the day," Makarov stated. He turned to return slowly up the stairs before stopping and turning his attention back to them, shouting, "Now go, hurry and sober up before you miss your train!"
Bickslow sighed and pushed himself up from the table he was leaning on. He had only come in to get his clothes, and now he was being sent out on a job with Lucy once again. He really didn't have the best luck. Quickly, he trudged to the back of the guild and to one of the bathrooms to collect his clothes, returning to the hall a moment later to head back home once again.
"Come on, Cosplayer. We've got a train to catch," Bickslow mumbled on his way as he passed the bar, right where Lucy had been talking to Mira.
She only rolled her eyes and bid a farewell to the barmaid. "Fine, I'm coming…" she complained, and was then quickly catching up to him outside the guild. By the time she'd caught back up and realised that they were still heading in the same direction, he'd covered his face with his visor again and had the rest of his clothes tucked under her arm. "So…" They might as well talk if they were going to be stuck together, not that Lucy thought it was a bad thing.
"We don't have to talk about it, if that's what you were going to talk about," he said quickly. She's right there, and I'm pushing her away before anything can happen… What the fuck is wrong with me?
She faltered for a moment. Does that mean he doesn't want to talk about it? Because it was nothing? "Oh… Okay then," she said quietly. Bickslow picked up on the disappointment, though. "Although, I was actually going to say that I think this is the first time I've ever seen you wear somewhat normal clothes. They… They look good on you." The jeans and t-shirt were a welcome change compared to his usual get-up.
Bickslow scoffed. "Yeah, well. I had no choice since I left all of my stuff at the guild, but thanks though."
"What for?"
"For saying I look good," he said with a smirk, and he couldn't help but chuckle quietly to himself when he saw Lucy's blush darken.
They walked in the silence for a little while more before they stopped where they had to head in opposite directions to go back to their own homes.
"I guess I'll meet you at the station in a bit then?" Bickslow said. Lucy nodded. "And don't forget to bring warmer clothes this time."
"But what if I want to wear your cloak instead?" she responded, and her smile faltered when she realised what she'd said. "Just… ignore that," she muttered as Bickslow only grinned at her. "I'll see you soon.
Bickslow couldn't help but shake his head. He remembered that he had liked seeing her wrap herself up in it, and he had kind of liked how it had smelled like strawberries for the next few days, too - not that he would admit that to anyone. Still, as he walked home with his clothes under his arm and a grin on his face, he realised that Lucy seemed to be more comfortable around him, and he really didn't mind it. Don't tell me she… No, it can't be. She couldn't actually like me.
The train they were on was the last train for the day and it was relatively empty. They had gotten seats opposite each other, and Bickslow had made himself comfortable by propping his head up in his hand with his elbow on the table that sat between. He had been looking out the window until the train had left the station and realised that he wouldn't be able to look at the horizon for long since it was already sunset and soon everything would be dark.
Sighing, he leant back in his chair and looked at Lucy opposite him, noticing that she had changed her clothes and was wearing something more suitable for colder weather this time. It was almost a shame.
Lucy looked up from the book she had been reading when she could feel Bickslow's eyes on her. "Is there anything I can help you with?" She asked with one eyebrow raised.
"Let's play a game," he suggested, leaning forward again to rest his chin in his palm.
"A game?" She closed her book and placed it on the table in front of her. She wasn't too sure a game was a good idea with their history. "The last game I got involved in with you, you were trying to help Laxus take over the guild."
Bickslow flinched at the memory. Occasionally he would forget how much pain that had caused, and it brought all the horrible feelings and memories back up every time he remembered. "Right. Sorry, never mind then," he mumbled, turning to look back out the window where he could just make out the shadows of the trees. Lucy had a point.
Lucy couldn't help but frown. Perhaps it had been too harsh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that…" she said softly. "What's this game?"
He glanced back to her, watching through his visor for a moment before he finally leant back again. "I guess it's not really a game," he said. "Basically, we each get twenty questions and we can ask each other anything. The first one to not answer a question loses." Lucy nodded as he finished the instructions. "You can go first."
"Hmm, okay." Lucy thought for a moment. She was already certain she wasn't going to use all twenty of her questions, but still, that was a lot of questions to ask someone she knew barely anything about. So she decided to start with something simple. "Why do you want to play this game?"
"Because I figure I can get to know you since I know nothing about you, and it seems like a fun way to pass the time."
"Seems reasonable. I guess it's your turn now."
Bickslow, unlike Lucy, wasn't going to start with something simple. "Why aren't you and Loke or you and Natsu together yet?" he asked, a wide grin slowly forming. He pouted when Lucy scowled at him. "Aw, don't tell me I've won already."
"No, you haven't," she mumbled, matter-of-factly. "And I love them both, just not like that. Natsu is like my brother, and Loke is one of my spirits. I could never see them as anything else." Truth was, she had once seen Natsu as something other than her brother, but that was long gone. She wasn't even sure why she'd ever been interested in Natsu, either. She considered it a momentary lapse of judgement.
Bickslow laughed. "I don't think any of that has ever stopped Loke from expressing his love for you."
"I know," Lucy sighed. "Anyway, how about… How old are you?"
"Is that what I should be assuming I wasn't frozen on an island for seven years, or what I technically am right now?"
"Technically. I sometimes forget about that whole thing, but then I look at Wakaba and Macao…"
"Then that would make me twenty-two. And what about you?"
"Technically?" The corner of her mouth lifted up into a smirk.
Bickslow rolled his eyes. "Yes, technically."
"Then I would be eighteen."
"Ah, so young," Bickslow teased.
"Unlike you," Lucy giggled. "Alright, what's your last name? Do you even have a last name?"
Bickslow folded his arms across his chest again. "Excuse me, I am not that old. Laxus is older than me. And my last name is Alderwood. What kind of person doesn't have a last name?"
After that, the questions were mostly harmless, although there were a few that made Lucy blush, and there were even one or two that made Bickslow glad he was wearing his helmet so that he could hide his own slight blush. Lucy was nearing the end of her allocated questions when she finally decided to use one to ask what had been bothering her all day.
"Why did you kiss me?"
Bickslow remained silent as he looked out the window. Shit. Wasn't expecting that.
"No answer? Do I win yet?" Lucy teased.
"Not so easy, Cosplayer," Bickslow said.
She leant forward over the table, folding her arms and resting her chin on top of them. "So? What's your answer?"
Bickslow sat forward to mirror her posture, leaving their faces just a few inches apart. "Because I wanted to," he answered.
"That's not really an answer."
"I think it is," Bickslow insisted.
"I don't think so, but fine. Your turn." She really had been hoping for something more.
Bickslow thought for a moment as he looked at her, thinking of his next question. "Why didn't you stop me?" he asked. He knew that she'd had plenty of opportunities to slap him or kick him through a wall or to the ground, but she hadn't. She hadn't done anything like that.
Lucy went to open her mouth to speak, but realised she didn't know what to say so instead closed it immediately as her face grew warm.
"Do I win then?" Bickslow said, lips turning into a smirk.
"No. And because I didn't want to," Lucy admitted. She knew it was a terrible answer, but she didn't really want to confess that she had liked it.
"That's a terrible answer. That doesn't count."
"Your answers aren't much better."
"True, but I make the rules."
"That's not entirely fair then," she pouted. She sat up then and reached forward. Bickslow could feel her pulling gently on the side of the visor as she unclasped it, and he closed his eyes, only hearing the sound of the metal being gently placed on the table as he pushed his hood back with one hand.
"Why did you do tha—" He was interrupted as he felt hands on the side of his face, gently tilting his head up before there was something soft on his lips. He opened his eyes slowly and realised they were Lucy's lips when he saw her eyes closed right in front of him, and he closed his own eyes again and enjoyed the feel of her soft lips against his own.
Lucy pulled away after a few beats and sat back down, leaning forward on her arms again as Bickslow did the same.
"So was that your actual answer?" Bickslow grinned. If that was her answer, then I definitely approve.
"Maybe." Lucy shrugged as she gave a nervous smile. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she'd done it. "Alright. This is my last question."
"Bring it."
Lucy mentally prepared herself for what she about to say. Either way, she probably wasn't ready for either answer, but she couldn't think of anything else so she was just going to ask it anyway. She figured she was too far gone to care at this point.
"Is there…" She cleared her throat, deciding it was better to just get it all out and readied herself for the rest of the question. "I mean… Do you… like me?" Lucy asked. The question sounded so childish, but she didn't know how else to put it.
Bickslow sat up again, turning to look out the window once again. It's now or never. "I suppose so," he admitted softly, still looking out the window. I suppose so? What kind of answer is that, you idiot. Still, it was better than nothing.
Lucy smiled as she looked down at the table. Bickslow could see her smile in the reflection of the window and he couldn't stop the corners of the mouth to lift up slightly. She figured he wasn't going to talk much for the rest of the trip and they were over halfway there, so she picked up her book and flipped to where she had her bookmark and began reading again.
The train arrived at the station just after ten thirty and the two slowly made their way down the carriage to get off the train. The remainder of the journey had been in silence, and strangely, Bickslow had been glad. It wasn't so much an awkward silence as it had been the previous times, but it was comfortable. Sure, he basically confessed that he liked her and that made him uncomfortable as all hell, but somewhere deep down inside of him, he knew that she felt the same way (at least a little bit, he figured), and that, Bickslow figured, was a really great thing.
Fortunately, the two were not staying at the same inn they had the previous time they had come to the town. Instead, they were staying at one closer to the centre of the town, and from what they could tell from the exterior, one that was a lot nicer - not that the other one hadn't been nice, of course.
The two walked in and were greeted by the cheerful receptionist. "Good evening. Were you requiring a room tonight?" The woman smiled at the two before her.
"Yes please, for two nights," Lucy said.
"No problem. And was it just the one room or separate rooms?"
"Separate rooms," Bickslow and Lucy said together, receiving a questioning glance from the woman behind the desk to which Lucy just smiled sweetly again.
"Alright then." The woman pulled two keys from a drawer and handed them to Lucy, who handed one of them to Bickslow. "Both rooms are down the hall to the right on the third floor, and they're both on the left-hand side of the corridor," she said.
"Got it, thank you" Lucy said cheerfully, turning to head for the stairs with her single bag on her shoulder.
The rooms were surprisingly nice. Each had a double bed in the middle of the room with dark end tables on each side that matched the wood of the small dresser that sat at the foot of the bed. There was a grey armchair in the corner with a lamp and a small coffee table, and each room had wide glass doors that led to small private balconies that overlooked the pool and gardens at the back of the building.
Lucy placed her small suitcase on the bed before opening it and looking for something to sleep in. She sighed when she realised she had forgotten any kind of bottoms for her pyjamas, so instead she just grabbed the top and changed as usual. She went through her nightly ritual of brushing her hair and teeth and applying her favourite lotion to her arms and legs before she pulled the dark grey covers of the bed back and climbed in. It was still just a little too early for her to sleep, especially since she'd slept half of the day, so she tapped her fingers over the knee as she looked around the room for something to keep her occupied for a little while. Spotting her bag where she'd set it down on the chair so she could get in bed, Lucy pulled herself out from under the covers to fetch the book she'd been reading earlier.
There was a knock on the door as she reached into her bag. She assumed it was Bickslow, so when she opened it, she wasn't really surprised to see her standing there. Although Bickslow, however, did seem a little surprised, at least after he looked down and found her without pants. "Uh… Most people usually wait to answer the door if they're getting dressed. Not that I'm complaining or anything," he said.
Lucy scowled. People had seen her in less, but that didn't mean she was completely okay with Bickslow just seeing her in a singlet and her panties."If you must know, I forgot to pack pants. Just turn around or something." She wasn't going to find anything to cover herself with, so she just waited until Bickslow had in fact turned around to face the hall again, just to quickly hop over to the bed and climb in again. "You can turn back around now."
Bickslow shook his head as he finally entered the room, closing the hotel door behind himself. He looked around for somewhere to sit, but when he noticed the chair had her suitcase on it he opted to just stand, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
"So, why are you here?" Lucy asked once she had made herself comfortable again, "And can you please sit down somewhere or not stand like that. It makes me nervous."
"Sorry. I tend to channel my inner Laxus sometimes," Bickslow said, looking apologetic for a second as he sat down on the corner of the bed. "And… I'm not really tired, and I realised I still have one more question to ask since you went first."
Lucy nodded, leaning back against the pillows. "I see. So what's the question?"
"I don't know, I haven't thought of it yet."
"Then come back when you've thought of one," she laughed. She picked up one of the pillows beside her to throw it towards him, laughing even harder as it just bounced off the side of Bickslow's head and back onto the bed.
"That wasn't very nice," he pouted. He picked the pillow back up and walked slowly around the end of the bed, setting the cushion back in place against the headboard before sitting himself back down in front of it.
"I thought I told you to come back when you had a question," Lucy said, eyeing him as he clearly made himself comfortable.
"You did, but I also wanted to do this." He gently touched her chin, turning her head slightly so she faced him and he leant down, just quickly kissing her.
"And what makes you think that you could get away with that?"
"I don't know, but…I guess you know now that I like you, and honestly, I kind like kissing you…" he admitted, taking great delight in the growing blush on Lucy's cheeks. "And if you didn't like it, then you would have kicked my ass by now, and you have yet to do so which means that you like it too, and by extension, like me. Well, to some extent. Maybe." Woah, calm down there. Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth? Are you the same person right now?
Bickslow pushed his somewhat annoying inner-voice to the back of his mind. It had been a wild couple of days, and an even wilder twenty-four hours, but by that point, he had really just given up on trying to deny his feelings for her. It was just a little relieving having them out in the open, especially since he knew Lucy reciprocated at least some of those feelings.
"Someone's confident," Lucy stated. She kind of liked it, though, especially since she could see he was more relaxed around her all of a sudden.
"Very."
At some point, once Lucy realised Bickslow wasn't going to say anything more, she climbed out of bed to finally fetch her book from her bag, not at all caring about her sleepwear for the night. It was a comfortable silence that followed, with Bickslow only staring out the windows, pondering the mission in Cartervale and his last question, and Lucy making herself comfortable under the covers and reading.
"I figured out what my question will be," Bickslow announced after a while.
Lucy didn't look up from her book, but instead closed it and placed it on the bedside table. She was getting tired anyway, so she slid back down in the bed, turning off the lamp on her side and fluffing the pillow under her head. "And what is that question?"
"Will you get dinner with me?"
Lucy couldn't help but smile into the pillow. "Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Maybe." Bickslow shrugged. "That was the general plan, but I usually skip the whole date thing…" Bickslow's voice trailed off into silence.
"Oh… Um, well, when were you thinking?"
"I haven't thought of that yet."
"You're really not very good at this," Lucy giggled. It's kind of adorable how bad he is with this, she thought.
"Not at all."
Bickslow could hear shuffling next to him so he looked away from the window and down to Lucy, seeing that she'd turned and was facing away from him, apparently ready to go to sleep. He switched the lamp on his side off, and quietly got up from the bed to stand again.
"You never actually gave me an answer, though," he said as he made his way over to the door, the moonlight from the open curtains illuminating enough for him to navigate the room.
"Yes, I'll go on a date with you," Lucy whispered.
Bickslow couldn't stop himself from grinning. He decided it was as good a time as any to end the night, he pushed the door open quietly. "Night, Cosplayer," he said softly, closing the door behind himself on his way out.
A date is good, right? Crap. I've never been on a date. What the hell do you do on a date?
He probably should've thought of that before asking her on a date, but Bickslow knew it wouldn't be worth thinking about too much until the mission was over.