"Where the fuck did you disappear to? And what the hell was that spectacle before that made the demon pass out?" Laxus demanded as soon as Bickslow had sat back down.

"Uh… Out, I guess?" Bickslow answer. "And Mira passed out from that?"

"Yeah, and she went on and on about how you two make a strangely cute couple," Evergreen chimed in, sliding into the seat next to Bickslow. "Oh, and then Elfman said it wasn't very manly."

"Of course he did."

Freed cleared his throat. "Uh… Slight problem," he said warily. "A couple members of Team Natsu are heading this way…"

Bickslow turned over his shoulder, and sure enough, the namesake of the team and Erza were heading his way and they looked just about ready to send him to an early grave. He picked up his mug and took a very large gulp before looking up at Natsu and Erza as they arrived at the end of the table. What's that saying about liquid courage? "What's up?" he asked with a grin.

"How dare you steal Lucy's first kiss like that!" Erza shouted, pulling her sword up and pointing it at Bickslow's throat. Bickslow knew better than to question where the hell it had even come from.

He looked at the dangerously sharp edge of the sword that he could just feel touching the fabric of the hood before he looked up at the threatening look Erza was giving him. His throat suddenly felt dry as he licked his lips, his grin faltering. So much for liquid courage. One wrong word, and he'd very likely become a human kebab. Natsu would most likely be the one to do the grilling if that became the case.

"I uh… Huh?" Wait, what was that about stealing a kiss? "Really? Cosplayer had never been kissed?" he mumbled. Technically, it hadn't been, but still.

Erza shook her head as she withdrew the sword some. "No, Lucy had not."

"Well, at least her first kiss was good th—" Erza pressed the blade back against his throat, and Bickslow held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright… No jokes, got it."

"Right." Freed cleared his throat forcefully. "It won't happen again, will it, Bickslow?"

Thank god for Freed. Bickslow shook his head before he looked back to Erza and Natsu. "Nope, never again," he said, voice strained from the sharp point he could feel through the fabric.

"Good." Erza withdrew her sword once more. "Apologise to Lucy," she added.

"Will do."

"Today."

Bickslow nodded. "Yup." He reached for the mug again, holding it up to his mouth as Erza turned and headed towards her table where Lucy sat with her head on the bench.

Natsu was still standing at the end of Bickslow's table with his arms folded. "Uh, yes, Natsu?" Bickslow raised his eyebrows, wondering what the Dragon Slayer was still doing there. Natsu leaned in so close that Bickslow could feel the heat radiating from him, instantly making him sweat under all of his clothing.

"Don't underestimate a dragon's nose," he said in a low voice. Bickslow felt a shiver go up his spine. And then Natsu turned and headed towards his own table with his arms folded behind his head.

"Well then… I didn't see that coming," Laxus mumbled, eyes slightly wide as he picked up his mug. "But really, did you have to choose the girl with the craziest team?"

Bickslow was still too shocked to respond. He was still trying to figure out how Erza and Natsu had even found out what he'd done, since Erza had been out and Natsu had been sleeping. And then he was trying to figure out what Natsu had even meant.

On the other side of the room, Lucy looked up from the table as Erza and Natsu sat down. "You guys, you didn't have to do that…" she whined.

"Nonsense," Erza replied matter-of-factly. "One's first kiss should be meaningful, not with someone you barely know as part of a game."

"It's fine, really…" And it was fine, because it wasn't actually her first kiss – not that they knew that, of course. It was fine because she really did like Bickslow.

"He should apologise by tonight," Erza said as she sipped at her tea. "If he doesn't, then he will know just how sharp my swords are." A devilish glint shone in her eyes as Gray leant away slightly, looking to Natsu on the other side of the table.

"Natsu? You okay?" he asked. He looked like he was thinking. Natsu didn't think very often.

Natsu looked up from the burn mark he was staring at. "Huh? Oh… Yeah," he mumbled. "Just thinking about something." Why did Bickslow smell so much like Lucy?

"Who are you and what have you done with Natsu?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny, popsicle."

By the time Bickslow had left the guild for the night, he was still stuck thinking about what Natsu had said to him.

Don't underestimate a dragon's nose.

He really had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but then as he stared at the cobbled path, he remembered what Laxus had said when he'd first returned from Cartervale, after he'd let Lucy wear his cloak to keep warm.

Strawberries.

Then realisation struck, and for a moment, Bickslow though that he somehow smelled of strawberries again. But lifting up the corner of his cloak, he found himself stuck again, because there wasn't anything sweet or fruity about him right then. And if he didn't smell like strawberries, what the fuck could Natsu mean?

He didn't even get a chance to finish the thought before he found himself flat on his back on the cold path, the air being knocked out of him as he landed, and a sword pointed at his throat again as Erza towered over him.

"Forgetting something?" she asked.

Bickslow swallowed as he reached out to grab the sword as lightly as he could. Even with the light grip as he tried to push it elsewhere, he could feel the sharp edge slicing into his palm. "Uh… Probably?" he guessed. He still knew he'd be dead as soon as he said a wrong word.

Erza stepped back just to allow Bickslow to stand. "You owe Lucy an apology," she said.

"Oh… That. Right, yeah. Forgot about that…" Bickslow mumbled. He looked at his hand, gently dusting the tiny stones from the path off and staring at the wound that already had blood dripping down to his gauntlet. That was the second time Lucy had indirectly been the cause of his injury. First it was her distracting him when he'd been fighting with Gajeel, now it was this. Although Gajeel was a common factor in both injuries, so perhaps it was all Gajeel's fault.

"Come on. Lucy's house is just down here," Erza said. "You can apologise now, before it gets too late."

Yeah… I know where she lives. "If I must…"

A little while later, Erza knocked on Lucy's door and a moment later it was pulled open by the apartment's occupant.

"Erza?" Lucy blinked as she stared at the woman before her. Erza was never one for visiting so late. "What can—Bickslow?" Her eyes widened as the Seith mage stepped into view, grinning when he knew he shouldn't be.

"Cosplayer."

"Apologise. Now," Erza ordered.

Bickslow rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off the wall, looking down at his hand that was still bleeding steadily. "Fine. I'm sorry for stealing your first kiss the way I did. Maybe I should steal your sec—" Erza quickly pressed the short sword up against his throat again, forcing him back into the wall. "Will you stop with the swords already?" he shouted. It was getting a bit ridiculous.

"Bickslow." She narrowed her eyes at the Seith mage.

"Okay… I'm sorry, jeez…" His hands went up in surrender once again before he lowered them to push the sword away from his throat yet again. "Damn it," he hissed when his already injured hand began stinging again, the blade pushing further into the cut that was already there. That was a bad idea.

Lucy finally blinked as Erza sent her sword of choice back to her magic space, nodding in approval to herself before turning back to Lucy who was still standing dumbstruck in the doorway. "I apologise for stopping by so late, Lucy."

"It's fine, really," Lucy murmured. She was too busy watching the blood from Bickslow's hand drip onto the hallway floor to really care about what Erza was saying. "You need a bandage for that…"

"I'm fine," Bickslow muttered before looking up to Erza. "Can I go now?"

"No, you can't," Lucy answered for her. "I have some bandages here, just come inside."

Erza sighed as she shook her head, extending her arm grasp Bickslow's arm as he moved off the wall and towards the open door, stopping him in his tracks. "Stay out here," she said. Bickslow didn't deserve to see the inside of Lucy's home. He wasn't welcome there, as far as Erza was concerned.

"Okay…" Not that it matters since I'm going to be coming back on Saturday night…

Lucy returned a few moments later carrying a small basket. "Not coming in…?"

Bickslow shook his head as Erza glared at him before she turned to face Lucy with a smile. "You're too kind, Lucy," she said softly.

"It's nothing, honestly." She would do it for anyway. The fact she was kind of dating Bickslow was irrelevant. Even if she hadn't been, he still deserved her kindness. But if they weren't going to come in, for whatever reason that may be, she still needed to find somewhere for Bickslow to sit down. "Can you sit on the railing?" she asked.

Bickslow pushed away from the wall again to haul himself up onto the wooden railing, his feet hanging a few inches from the ground. Lucy placed the small basket on the railing just next to him as she picked up a small towel from within it.

"Hand," she said simply, taking Bickslow's hand as he held it out to her.

Erza unfolded her arms and took a step towards the stairs. "It's late, so I should be heading home. Are you okay here?" she asked, eyeing Bickslow suspiciously.

Lucy nodded as she dragged the wet towel across his hand;,the fluffy white fabric suddenly becoming tinged with red and pink. "I'm good."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Erza." Lucy rolled her eyes, and Bickslow flinched as Lucy pressed the towel hard against his palm. "If he tries anything, I'll scream loud enough for you to hear and let you turn Bickslow into a human target."

"Can I object to that?" he interjected. Damn, Cosplayer's cold.

Erza nodded and gave a small sigh. "Right. Well, good night." She would make sure to keep her ears open, though.

Bickslow looked over his shoulder, watching for the red hair to disappear out of sight and preferably out of the building.

"I tried to stop them in the guild earlier," Lucy said quietly as she continued cleaning his hand with the now mostly red towel. "They didn't listen, of course." She could've invited him at that point since she supposed it was Erza who had objected, but she already had everything out there.

He flinched again as she pressed into the cut again, "It's alright," he said. "That hurts, Cosplayer."

"I'm sorry."

The only sound in the room after a while was the sound of the second hand ticking on the clock above the stairs. Lucy would lift up the towel she had pressed to Bickslow's hand every minute or so, checking to see if the bleeding had stopped or at least slowed down enough.

"So, uh… First kiss, huh?" he said quietly as the corners of his lips lifted up slightly.

Lucy blushed as she lifted up the towel again. "Y-Yeah… I never really got a chance to bring it up. Sorry," she mumbled. She put the towel back into the basket as she rooted around in it, looking for the small bottle that Wendy had given her a few months earlier.

Bickslow shrugged. "It's not as important as everyone makes it out to be."

"How so?" she asked as she twisted the lid from the bottle with her teeth, pouring a little bit of the green liquid onto Bickslow's palm. He grit his teeth slightly from the sharp pain that ran through his hand, instantly trying to pull his hand away again. "I'm sorry. It's a deep cut. This will help stop it getting infected."

"I know," Bickslow replied quietly. His free hand went up to the back of her neck and she looked up inquisitively at the contact. "And it's the ones after that really count," he whispered, leaning forward and guiding Lucy towards him to kiss her softly. Bickslow found he had a problem, though. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to do that. But their alone time had so far been limited, and he really wanted to fix that, but he just didn't know how to.

Lucy pulled back just enough to leave a hair's breadth between their lips. "I'm beginning to see your point," she whispered before pressing her lips to his for the briefest of seconds before pulling back completely, her eyes going towards the basket once again as she screwed the lid back on the bottle with the green liquid.

Bickslow grinned. In such a relatively short amount of time, considering they'd only had their second date that very day, it was like Lucy had stopped being as shy as she originally had been when around him. Sure, she still had her moments – which Bickslow found adorable, honestly – but it was okay, because if she was slowly getting more comfortable around him, then it meant that they were getting closer.

Right? Right.

Bickslow found himself liking her more and more as he spent time with her. And again, it had been such a small amount of time, but the same thought that he'd had when walking home after their first date echoed in his mind again at that moment. He was going to end up falling in love with her one day. Bickslow knew that.

And that fucking terrified him.

It was ridiculous that he was already thinking that. Fuck, it hadn't even been a month. Two dates. Several kisses that were way too short. A whole bunch of 'tell me about yourself' that no one should find interesting. But it was just time - not enough time. Not enough time spent with her.

Bickslow was terrified and confused, honestly. He didn't understand any of it. He didn't believe in that love at first sight nonsense that Mira would occasionally dribble on about. Hell, he wasn't even sure he believed in love at all.

Well, he hadn't believed in love until he'd kissed her, and then everything had changed. He knew it was stupid. That, he did know. You weren't supposed to know you're going to fall in love with someone. That just didn't happen. He'd heard Evergreen's incessant complaints about how the girls in her romance novels had almost always fallen in love as soon as they locked eyes across the room with some leather-jacket wearing moron, or vice versa.

"You can't fall in love at first sight! It doesn't happen that way!" she would always whine. "It's gradual. It happens over time, and when you know it's supposed to be like, 'duh, of course I love them!'"

So why the hell was he so set on believing he was going to fall in love with one Lucy one day?

He didn't know, and that's what was making him confused.

"One day. One day you're going to wake up and realise you've hopelessly and irrevocably fallen in love with them. And until that very moment when you do realise, none of it is going to make any sense. You'll question whether you do or you don't for a long time. But one day; one day it will all make sense."

Remnants of conversations he'd had with his mother as a teenager surfaced in his mind. Remnants of conversations he'd long forgotten just because he'd never been interested in all of that. After all, he hadn't believed in love, so why would he need to remember any of it?

Oh, but with Lucy. If he were ever to fall in love with someone, it would be her. It would be Lucy Heartfilia of all people, because that's just the way the universe worked. The girl who was more or less the complete opposite of him. The girl who was the heart of Fairy Tail whether she knew it or not.

The girl he'd kind of tried to kill.

No… He couldn't fall in love with her. He shouldn't fall in love with her. He'd caused her enough pain for a century, and he knew he couldn't fall in love with someone he'd already hurt.

Well, you can. She just won't love you back.

But what if one day, she did love him back? What then?

One day…

And then Bickslow realised something. It wasn't just him knowing he was going to fall in love with her; it was him wanting to fall in love with her. He wanted to wake up one day to realise he was in love with someone. He really did.

And he wanted that someone to be Lucy.

But until that day came around, he couldn't do anything. One day, it will happen. Until then, he had to keep those thoughts to himself, because he knew they were stupid. If they terrified him, they were surely going to terrify someone else.

One day…

He'd been so lost in his thoughts, that he hadn't noticed that Lucy had finished with his hand until she spoke. "Alright. All done!" she said with a smile. Bickslow looked down at the bandage that was tied around his hand. "You should still go see Wendy tomorrow."

He nodded as he balled his hand up into a fist then stretched it out, testing the movement of it. "Will do. Thanks."

Lucy gathered up everything and put it all back in the basket neatly. Turning her head, she looked up to Bickslow again. "And what exactly were you smiling about?" she asked

"I was smiling?"

"You were grinning like a fool. Last time I checked, no one smiled like that when they were getting bandaged up," she laughed.

Of course I was grinning. Especially like the fool that I am. "Maybe it had something to do with what I was thinking about," he said softly.

"Well, what were you thinking about then?"

"Do you really wanna know?"

"I guess…"

"Are you sure?" Bickslow stood up, rising up over her again.

She grew a little nervous and looked back down to the basket for a moment. "Maybe n—"

"You."

"Huh?"

"I was thinking about you," he said, grinning down at her. "And how awesome you are."

She blushed as she looked around the room, reverting to her shy self again. "O-Oh… I… I see…"

He laughed quietly. "Yeah. Anyway, I should get going. Will I see you at the guild tomorrow?"

Lucy shook her head. "Natsu and I are heading to Hargeon tomorrow morning for a job. I'll be back on Saturday afternoon though."

"Well, I guess I'll see you on Saturday then."

"Yup." She nodded. "Remember, seven o'clock!"

"I won't forget, trust me." He wasn't sure it was possible. Rounding to the stairs, he only waved back to her with his good hand as he called up to her, "Night, Lucy."

Lucy stood behind the railing a little in shock. Wait, what? No goodnight kiss? Since when does he hold out on me? "Hey!" she shouted, setting the basket back down and crossing her arms.

He stopped on the second step down. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to like… You know… Kiss me?" She ignored the heat on her face and remained steady. Bickslow grinning at her made her falter for a moment. Oh god, that's embarrassing. I should have just left it…

"What? Haven't I already kissed you like… Three times today?" he said, walking over to lean against the railing. "Isn't that enough?"

"No."

"Then come here," he chuckled. Lucy unfolded her arms and stepped up to the railing. With him on the steps and her on the floor, he stood just an inch taller than her, and it was a strange feeling for Bickslow who usually towered over everyone. As soon as Lucy was close enough, he was reaching over the railing to grab her waist, pulling her against the wooden railing to kiss her again. Her hands settled on his shoulders, and Bickslow smiled against her lips as she melted into him. But good things always had to come to an end, so Bickslow pulled himself away, just enough so he could kiss her once more and asked, "Happy now?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes."

"Good. Now I really am going." He dropped his hands back to the railing, and with just a quick kiss to her cheek he was hopping down the stairs two at a time. "Night."

"Goodnight, Bickslow," Lucy said, leaning over the railing to watch him go.

Bickslow stopped at the bottom of the stairs before rounding to the other set. "See you Saturday, Cosplayer!" he shouted up to her. Lucy only shook her head, turning away from the railing to pick up her basket and head back into her apartment.