A week and a half.

A week and a half had gone by, and August had come to an end, and in rolled September.

Lucy stretched her arms above her head as she stepped onto the train platform with the rest of her team. It's good to be back.

"Don't forget about that cake, Natsu," Erza said, shooting a glare at her comrade as they walked along the platform.

"Yes, yes. I know," Natsu sighed.

The only reason they had been gone for the past week and a half was because Natsu had bribed Erza with cake. Specifically, strawberry cake. Erza had been so excited about the cake that she had let Natsu drag them all out of the guild just a few hours after he'd returned from his solo job. Lucy hadn't had much say in it, but she never really commented on the jobs they took. It had given her a chance to ask Erza and Wendy about Bickslow anyway, so she'd considered it a good trip, even if she had missed him a little.

The best part though, was that nothing had been destroyed. They had accepted a total of four jobs in Shirotsume, and they were all fairly simple. Somehow, the job that should have been the easiest ended up being the most problematic, mainly because it entailed sorting out an over-stuffed mailroom, and more than a few letters got burnt or torn up, or turned into paper planes when Lucy had gotten just a little bored.

But a few letters aside, nothing got destroyed. Lucy was still trying to get over the shock.

A little later, Lucy walked into the guild with Gray, Wendy, and Carla, with Erza having dragging Natsu off to her favourite cake shop just to make sure he made good on his promise. As soon as they were through the doors, Juvia was flinging herself towards Gray

"Gray! Juvia missed you!" she cried, tightening her grip around the mage.

He couldn't help but grimace. "Right… Okay…" he mumbled, trying to separate himself from the crazy woman.

Lucy laughed quietly to herself as she made her way to the bar, leaving Gray with Juvia after Wendy and Carla had gone to sit at a table. The hall was busy and full of life as it usually was. Macao and Wakaba were sat at their usual table, just as they were every other day, drinking and laughing together. Gajeel still sat with Levy while Jet and Drop hovered nearby, cowering in fear whenever Gajeel looked back to them. Nab was still looking for the perfect job. And the Connell family all sat together, smiling at their daughter who was shooting with her toy gun at the cups that had been lined up at the end of a table.

But the one person Lucy had been hoping to see just wasn't there. Neither was the rest of his team, nor their fearless leader. Lucy couldn't help but sigh quietly to herself as she finally reaching the bar, taking a seat before Mira.

"Welcome back, Lucy!" The bright smile that Mira almost always had was infectious, making Lucy smile herself for just a moment. "Where are Natsu and Erza?"

"Off to get cake."

Mira rolled her eyes as she moved a stack of clean plates away. "Did you want your usual?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Do you have any of the strawberry tea today?" Lucy asked. Mira nodded and ducked into the kitchen to fetch her tea. Lucy took the moment the spin around on her chair, looking out over the guild again. As loud and busy as it was, there were still a few familiar faces missing.

Mira returned a few moments later, gently placing the cup with the steaming red liquid in front of her. "Here you go, Lucy," she said.

Lucy smiled as she picked up her drink. "Thank you, Mira." She blew on it gently before taking a small sip, humming contentedly as the warm liquid slid down. It's been a while since I've had this. She enjoyed it, but only in small quantities. "Say, Mira," Lucy began as she set the cup back down on the saucer. "Where is everyone today?"

Mira looked over the guild, picking up a rag to fold over her hands. "Well, Master is at another meeting, and a lot of new requests came in while you were gone," she explained. Lucy sipped on her tea again as Mira turned to pull out the large binder with job records from under the bar. "Elfman and Lisanna have gone to… Ah! Yes! Web Valley. I believe Cana found a fortune telling one for today. Hmm, who else… Oh yes, Gildarts came in too, he picked up another S-Class mission. And Laxus and the Raijinshuu left a few hours ago to deal with some dark guilds that have popped up recently, I believe." She closed the large book with a sigh and placed it back under the bar. "Even Nab was gone for a few days. I'm not sure what he was doing, but he was gone for a few days." Mira smiled again as she picked up a tray from behind her, excusing herself to carry it over to Macao and Wakaba.

A few hours ago.

Lucy still wasn't sure why she missed Bickslow as much as she did, but knowing she'd missed seeing him by just a few hours made her feel worse. Still, she found it strange since it wasn't like she could actually talk to him in the guild, not unless she wanted to arouse suspicion or have the whole guild ask her why she was talking to him. She supposed it might've just been the idea of being in the vicinity of him, occasionally stealing glances and whatnot. Lucy wasn't really sure.

But she told herself to stop worrying about it anyway.

Bickslow sat with his chin in his palm and his legs crossed under him, right in the middle of the pile of rubble that was a former building. Evergreen stood only a few paces away, admiring her nails and muttering to herself when she realised she had broken one. And Freed stood next to Laxus at the destroyed bar, neither one minding the slightly electrocuted people still sitting upright in their stools and slumped in their chair.

"Well, that was boring," Bickslow mumbled as he looked at the piles of unconscious bodies.

"Dark guilds are so lame and weak," Evergreen sighed.

Laxus grunted, setting down the only clean glass in the room as she finished his room. "Only because they don't know what it means to have a heart and family or friends within a guild," he scoffed.

Freed's eyes began to water. "Oh, Laxus…" he whispered. Evergreen couldn't help but grin along with Bickslow.

Laxus scowled when he saw the looks they were giving him. He hated it when they did that. "We should go." He picked his large coat up from the floor and shook it out to clear it off the dust and debris. Throwing it over his shoulder, he left through the remains of the door with Evergreen and Freed following behind him.

Bickslow winced as he pushed himself up from the ground before jogging to catch up to the rest of the team. The bruise on his side had faded considerably in the last week and a half, but it still hurt like hell, and he had a feeling it would for a while.

"So where to now, Laxus?" Freed asked once Bickslow had caught up with them on the battered trail.

"Spend tonight at an inn, then we'll leave first thing tomorrow," he said.

"I'm not sharing a room with Ever again," Bickslow insisted. "Last time I saw her with one those weird face mask things, I had nightmares for a month."

Laxus rolled his eyes as Bickslow began to cackle after Evergreen almost shoved him sideways and they began to bicker like the children they were. He never particularly liked getting involved with their antics, so he only pulled his headphones up over his ears and attempted to drown them out.

The town closest to them was relatively small and unfortunately the only room left in the single inn was a large room meant for sleeping multiple. Somehow, it seemed to work in their favour since Bickslow didn't want to share with Evergreen, Evergreen didn't want to share with Bickslow, Freed didn't want to share with Evergreen or Bickslow, and Laxus just wanted them all to shut up. So really, no one got what they wanted.

Well, apart from maybe Laxus, just because they all managed to stop arguing for a few minutes.

"So, Bicks…" Evergreen climbed off her own bed to kneel on Bickslow's. "It's been a while since I've painted your nails. Maybe pink, today?"

Bickslow rolled off the other side almost gracefully. "Stay away from me with the pink nail polish," he said, holding his hands up before him defensively.

"Aw, but Bickslow! I'm sure Lucy will like it!" she pouted.

Bickslow only scowled at the woman and her mischievous smirk before he climbed back onto his bed and snatched the pillow from the end, only to have Evergreen steal it from him once it was within her reach. "Go get your own." He snatched it back and hugged it tightly to his chest. "And shut up."

"Does Elfman let you paint his nails?" Freed chimed in as he came to sit opposite Evergreen.

"What do you think?" Evergreen scoffed, only glancing up over her glasses as she focused on applying the polish.

Bickslow sighed as he leant back against the metal frame. "Can you both get off my bed?" It wasn't exactly a big bed. It was getting a little crowded.

"No."

"Anyway." Freed looked up from Evergreen's nails and to Bickslow. "Did you think of something for your second date?"

"This again?" Bickslow mumbled. "Didn't you ask me about this a week ago?"

"Exactly. It was a week ago. So, have you?" Evergreen asked, shuffling further down the bed and making Bickslow wish he could become part of the wall.

"No…"

"What about dinner again?" Freed suggested.

"You can't repeat a date," Evergreen said, rolling her eyes as she looked up to Freed again. "Maybe a picnic?"

Freed shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Maybe a show?"

"Perhaps. Oh, what about some kind of tour? You know, like a museum or one of those ones that goes around the town?"

Bickslow looked between the two as they bounced ideas off of each other for his date. "I'm still here, you know," he said. Shouldn't they be talking to me about this, rather than each other?

"You could always just ask her what she wants to do," Laxus suggested from the other side of the room.

"That's actually not a bad idea…" Freed said slowly after a moment. Evergreen shrugged and they both turned their attention to Bickslow.

"What?" It was occurring to Bickslow then they'd probably just decided on his date for him.

"Let Lucy decide what she wants to do," Evergreen said, shuffling closer to Bickslow still as she capped the nail polish. "It can be more of a casual date, rather than a formal one."

"But we still need to find a time for it to happen," Freed pointed out.

Bickslow rolled his eyes as he pushed Evergreen off the side of the mattress, only giving her the push she needed to get back into her own bed just next to him. "How about I just let you two go on the date for me?" he muttered. They seemed to have more of an interest in it than he did.

"Don't be silly," she snapped.

Laxus groaned as he reached out to switch off the lamp next to the bed. "You guys can decide who gets to go out with Blondie tomorrow," he said firmly. Freed took that as his cue to climb into his own bed on the other side of the room. "We need to leave early in the morning, so can you all just shut up and go to sleep?"

With Freed in bed, Bickslow turned off the last light in the room and the space fell silent, all of them lying peacefully in their own beds. It was too peaceful for Bickslow's taste though, so he reached for the spare pillow behind his head and threw it in the general direction of Evergreen beside him. He knew he'd hit her when he heard the muffle curse, and Bickslow couldn't stop the giggling that followed.

He'd been too busy laughing into his pillow to notice he'd been on the far edge of his mattress, and with a pillow being flung right into his face, Bickslow he fell out of the comfort of his blanket and landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"Serves you right," she muttered.

Bickslow only rolled his eyes as he got himself back in bed, and he sighed once he got comfortable again, staring up at the dark ceiling. The talk of his date had only made him all too aware of how much he missed Lucy.

For the most part, he didn't know how he'd reached that point. He missed her like crazy, and he knew he shouldn't. He didn't really care that he couldn't talk to her in the guild, not without someone wanted to put his head on a stake. He just liked knowing that she was there; he liked just the knowledge that he could look over at any point and see her smiling and laughing with her team. But when he was with her, it was even better, and he'd only been alone with her a few times. But those few times were near unforgettable.

He just couldn't wait to be back at the guild, just so he could see her again. Just a few more days. A few more days and you'll be back and you'll be able to see her again, and you won't miss her anymore.