The last two days had exhausted Lucy to the point where she just wanted to get home and collapse onto her bed and sleep for the next week. But no, she couldn't do that. Because Bickslow was going over to her house for dinner that night, and she was actually pretty excited about it. Lucy had no idea what she was going to cook, but she'd figure that out when she got home – if she managed to get home.

It was early-afternoon as the blonde trudged along a street in Hargeon with her pink-haired partner and his blue Exceed. She yawned loudly as they ascended up the steps towards the station. A simple catch-and-arrest mission wasn't supposed to be hard, nor was it supposed to take any longer than a day. But somehow, it had turned into a giant game of hide-and-seek around the port town, and Lucy was exhausted.

As Lucy, Natsu, and Happy had tried to catch some con artist, they somehow managed to get themselves into trouble with a large group of thieves and found themselves hiding from them. Of course, Natsu had been sure he could take all one hundred of them on at once, and Happy had been cheering him on as usual, but Lucy… no. Lucy hadn't wanted any part of that, so before Natsu had even had a chance to utter his famous catchphrase that he charged into a battle with, she had dragged him into an alley by his muffler.

Fortunately, they'd managed to find said con-artist and deliver him to the mayor without getting themselves caught by the large group of thieves that were still looking for them even though it was now the day after.

So as they waited for the boarding call for their train, Lucy couldn't help but rest her head on Natsu's shoulder, feigning the urge to fall asleep right there. "Natsu, I'm so tired," she whined.

"I know, Luce," he sighed, tilting his head to rest atop Lucy's. His nose picked up on something as he did, something he didn't quite like. Lucy smelled… different. Almost like she smelled of someone else.

Bickslow smelled like Lucy.

Surprisingly, Natsu had heard the rumours of Bickslow liking someone in the guild. He'd never particularly spoken to him and he hadn't seen a reason to care about it, even if it was just a little strange because Bickslow was known for just not liking people.

But… What if that someone was Lucy?

Natsu supposed it wouldn't matter if he liked Lucy, because Lucy wouldn't like him back. Right? That still didn't really explain why Bickslow had smelled like Lucy, though, nor did it explain why Lucy smelled different.

"Luce," Natsu said quietly, lifting his head and staring out at the empty track.

"Mm-hmm?"

"You smell different."

Lucy lifted her head quickly and stared at him in confusion. "Huh?" I smell different? What the hell?

"You smell different," Natsu repeated, shrugging his shoulders. "And Bickslow smells like you."

Oh god… No… No… Natsu can't have figured it out. Not Natsu. "Where are you going with this…" she asked cautiously.

"I dunno. Do you like him?"

"W-What?" Lucy sat back slightly. Sure, it was like Natsu to be blunt and get to the point, but Lucy didn't think she was ready to just admit that she did like him, just because of what she'd seen Erza do when he wouldn't apologise for kissing her.

Natsu turned away as he heard the boarding announcement, the train rolling into the station and coming to a stop. "Never mind."

She watched as he headed towards the carriage door, blinking a few times as she tried to figure out if she was actually awake or not. Natsu never acted that way. It was like he was almost trying to watch his tongue, as if to not put his foot in his mouth for once. That just wasn't what Natsu did.

That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that it was like he'd already figured it out, and Lucy didn't know how – especially just from his nose alone.

The train ride back to Magnolia had been slow and arduous to Lucy. Her best friend had ignored her most of the way, and Lucy had known that it wasn't just the usual nausea-induced silence, too. So when the train pulled in to Magnolia Station at a little after half past three, Lucy had been a little glad that it was over. She didn't think she'd be able to handle another minute of silence aboard that train.

As Natsu staggered out of the carriage and they began to head their separate ways, he stopped. "Are you going to the guild?" he asked as he looked over his shoulder.

Lucy turned at the voice, a little shocked that he was talking to her then. She shook her head slowly before she looked up to meet Natsu's gaze. "Not tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, Natsu," she said quietly.

"Bye, Lucy!" Happy said.

Natsu just looked down to the ground. He felt like he'd stepped into territory where he shouldn't have, which rarely happened. He realised that Lucy obviously didn't want to talk about whatever it was she was doing with Bickslow – he didn't really want to think about what that could be, either – but he knew she'd talk when she was ready. They were best friends, and she'd always come to him when she needed to talk and she told him almost everything that was going on.

So why should now be any different? She'll tell you when she's ready. "Later, Lucy!" He grinned with a wave of his hand as she turned again, meeting his smile with her own before she headed towards the other end of the platform. Yeah. She'll tell you about whatever is going on involving Bickslow… Eventually.

Lucy stared at her couch for a solid ten minutes a little later that afternoon. She'd since changed, so as she stood there in her black leggings and oversized woolen sweater, Lucy considered if she had time to take a nap before she started having to get dinner organised. Oh, it just looks so warm and inviting, she thought. The two small white cushions that sat in the corner would be so soft, and the grey blanket that hung over the back of the lounge would keep her nice and toasty and warm if she were to wrap herself up in it…

"Maybe just for an hour?" she mumbled to herself. Surely a short nap would be alright. So as she took a step towards the lounge that was beckoning her to come closer, her fingers briefly touched Horologium's key, sending a silent message to her clock spirit to wake her up in an hour's time.

A knock on her door ended up waking her from her slumber, so as she sat up, the grey blanket pooling around her hips as she did so, she yawned and stretched her arms above her head. It mustn't have been an hour yet if Horologium hasn't woken me up. She stifled another yawn as she got up from the lounge, smoothing down her hair before she reached the door. She felt a little more refreshed after her nap, but she still felt like she could have slept for a week.

She expected to find her team or even her landlady on the other side of the door. Instead, she found Bickslow in a dark blue shirt and jeans, and of course still donning his usual hood and visor. "Oh. Bickslow. Aren't you, uh… A little early?" she said.

He blinked a few times under his visor. "Huh? What are you talking about? It's like half past. I got caught up at the guild, so I'm technically late…"

"Half past?" Lucy said in a panicked voice. She looked to the clock on the wall behind her. Crap, it really is seven thirty. Why the hell didn't Horologium get me up? She turned around to face Bickslow again. The corners of his mouth were twitching in amusement, "Uh… Right, sorry. Come in." She stepped aside, leaving him enough room to get through.

He chuckled quietly. "I would say that I was sorry for being late, but it looks like you forgot." Bickslow brought up the bottle of wine he was holding behind his back. "Also, I brought this. I don't know. You're supposed to do that kind of thing, right?" Because he still didn't understand or know any of the usual conventions of a date. He was winging it, mostly. Evergreen and Freed weren't as much of a help as they thought they were.

"I didn't forget," she huffed as she took the wine and read the label. Damn, that's nice wine. "And I was… asleep…" she admitted, taking the wine and scurrying over to her kitchen to find some glasses and quickly come up with something for dinner.

Bickslow was grinning by this point, still finding it amusing that she had fallen asleep and he had woken her up. He walked further into the room slowly, looking around at everything. The first thing he noticed was the pink. So. Much. Pink. Pink walls, pink bed, hell, the lounge was kind of pink, too.

And the books. There were so many books. Lucy owned more books than he did, and that was saying something since the only things he ever received as gifts from Freed were books. And he hadn't read a single one of them in all the years he'd known the Rune mage.

Bickslow moved over to the desk that was at the end of her bed as he spied the stack of papers on it. What's this? He picked up the page on the top of the pile, bringing it up as his eyes skimmed the words. Is this a story?

He turned at the gasp from the other side of the room, and suddenly the blonde was standing before him. "D-Don't read that!" she stuttered as she reached up to grab the page.

"Why not?" He held the page up and out of her reach, grinning as her blush turned into the most adorable pout he'd ever seen in his life.

"Because I don't want you to. It's embarrassing…"

Bickslow looked to the page in his hand and cleared his throat rather dramatically, "'Once upon a time…'" he started reading the words on the page. Ah, so it is a story.

"Bickslow… please don't read it," Lucy said softly. She couldn't bear to have anyone read it. Well, other than Levy.

He put the page down back on the pile it had come from as he was clued in on how uncomfortable it made. His uninjured hand went to sit on her waist as he lowered his head. "Did you write it?" He asked quietly and she nodded. "Can I read it one day?"

She looked up suddenly, a little shocked that he would want to read her story. "You'd actually want to?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. I haven't even finished it yet…"

"Then I'll read it when you've finished it. That is, if you'll let me," he said.

"Maybe…" Lucy whispered. Only Levy had read what she had so far, and the Script mage seemed to like it, but she was probably little biased. But with Bickslow wanting to read it, she suddenly felt extremely self-conscious of her work. He wouldn't hate it if he read it, right?

Bickslow grinned as he leant down even further, their faces only an inch apart. "Good enough for me." And as he went to kiss the blonde, she shook her head as her hands came to rest flat on his chest, pushing him back slightly,. "Hey, now…" First she complained I didn't kiss her, and now she's not letting me?!

"Nope. Not until that… hood-helmet-visor-thing—" Lucy gestured to the hood and visor combo he had on his head.

"Thing," Bickslow repeated.

"—goes." She was kind of sick of bumping her nose against the visor, and she really did just want to see his face for a change.

He raised his eyebrows under his visor. "Really?"

"Really."

Bickslow sighed. The things I'll do for you, Cosplayer. So as he unclipped the visor and placed it on the desk to the side, he pushed the hood back enough to let it fall the rest of the way off, leaving the purple crest and the rest of the material to gather around the collar of his shirt.

"Now can I?" A smirk played across his mouth as Lucy nodded, and Bickslow leant down once again, pressing their lips together a little firmer than usual. They stayed like that for only a few seconds; lips not moving a single millimetre. As they pulled apart, he rested his forehead on hers and whispered, "Hi, by the way," he whispered.

Lucy smiled softly and nervously. "Okay, so. Small problem…"

His brow furrowed in confusion. Problem? "Hm?"

"So… Since I kind of… fell asleep," she mumbled, ignoring the heat on her cheeks. "The stuff I had planned for dinner isn't going to work now since I was supposed to start getting it ready like an hour and a half ago…"

"Hmm…That really is a bit of a problem," Bickslow murmured. Of course, it wasn't, because he didn't care that much about food. "But I have a solution to that problem."

"As long as it doesn't involve you doi—"

"Chocolate or vanilla?" Bickslow asked quickly. He remembered a certain cake store that was always open late a few streets over, and well… Cake seemed like a good solution. Cake was always a good solution.

Lucy blinked as she tried to understand the question. More so as to why Bickslow was asking. "Huh?"

"Which one do you prefer?" He stepped back as he picked up the visor from the desk before turning back to face the blonde who was still clearly confused. He seemed to be confusing her a lot lately – something he had to admit was a little entertaining.

"Uh… Vanilla, I guess? Why?"

Bickslow turned and headed towards the door, leaving Lucy standing there. "I told you I have a solution." He grinned as his tongue lolled from his mouth. "I'll be back in a bit."

Wait, what? "What? Hey!" She took a step forward as he pulled the door open. "Where are you going?" Is he really leaving?! In the middle of our date?!

"Leave the door open?" he called, and then the door closed behind him, leaving the blonde alone in her apartment.

"Okay?" She let it hang in the air as she looked around the empty apartment. What the hell had just happened?

Bickslow had the box housing the cake balanced on two of his babies as he climbed the stairs, pushing his hood back again as he reached the third floor landing. He pushed the door to her apartment open tentatively. Bickslow was half expecting Lucy to be just on the other side, standing with her weight on one leg and her arms folded, ready to scold him for leaving during their date. That was something he deserved, and he knew that. He hadn't realised how much of a stupid idea it was until after he'd already left her building, and he wasn't one for running back with his tail between his legs.

But no. Lucy wasn't waiting for him on the other side of the door. Instead, she was lying on the lounge with her head towards the door and it didn't look like she had noticed or cared (maybe a bit of both?) that he had returned.

Bickslow crept towards the lounge. As he did so, he noticed that on the coffee table just in front of the corner lounge sat the wine he had brought over, alongside two glasses, one of which was half full while the other was empty. He slightly hovered over her from where he now stood at the end of the lounge. Her forearm was covering her eyes and her breathing was steady. Bickslow came to three separate conclusions. One, she was asleep, not that he could understand how that could be possible since he had only been gone for twenty minutes at most. Twom she really hadn't noticed he was back. Or three, she actually knew he was there and was just waiting for the perfect moment to scare him half to death. Lucy didn't seem like the type to do the third, so it was either the first or the second.

As he knelt down at the end of the lounge above her head, he spoke her name softly.

Lucy jumped up at the sudden noise, and as she tried to sit up, her forehead collided with something hard, although that something ended up being someone. She rubbed her hand on her forehead as she successfully sat up on her second attempt, turning to sit on her knees on the lounge.

"Nice, Cosplayer…" he grumbled as he rubbed his own forehead, shaking his head slightly as he remained in his crouched position.

"Oh God, Bicks," Lucy said quietly as she dropped her hand from her forehead to her mouth, trying to hold in the giggle that was attempting to escape. It was a little funny. She would be the first to admit that. If she had been paying attention, she would have heard her door open or even heard him walk up, but no, of course that hadn't happened. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were there," Sshe managed to get out as she began laughing.

He couldn't help but smile as he shook his head again. "I gathered that."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Anyway…" The two totems that supported the box moved to hover directly above him before their bodies disappeared, dropping the box in his hands. "I told you I had a solution." Bickslow flipped the lid on the box, showing the large vanilla cake topped with a lot of whipped cream and strawberries, with even more cream and strawberries sandwiched between the layers.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "Cake?"

"You sound like you've never had cake for dinner before."

"That's because I haven't," she said as she got up from the lounge and walked into the kitchen on the other side of the room.

Who hasn't had cake for dinner before?! "You've been missing out," he called towards the kitchen as he took a seat on the lounge, placing the box on the coffee table.

As Lucy grabbed the plates from the cupboard, she thought about how their last date hadn't exactly gone so well (since Bickslow had been dying of boredom, supposedly), and how they had turned it around to make it so it wasn't a complete disaster. Lucy realised that that's what was happening then as well. She'd fallen asleep and completely forgotten to get dinner organised so her plans had fallen through. Not to mention her attempting to sit up and colliding with his head, although that was partly Bickslow's fault for being there in the first place.

But they were making it work and trying to avoid turning the night into a complete disaster. Perhaps that was Bickslow's strong point.

"So," Lucy said as she sat on the lounge next to Bickslow with one leg folded under her. "How's your hand?"

Bickslow took the plate with the slice of cake on it, placing his filled glass back down on the table, "Better." He lifted up his hand, showing Lucy the red line that went across his hand. "As long as I don't find myself pushing away any more swords in the near future, it will be fine."

Lucy nodded. "That's good."

"Yeah. So anyway, how was your job?" Bickslow asked as he took a forkful of the cake.

"Frustrating," Lucy sighed. Frustrating really was putting it mildly, but nevertheless, she went on to explain the last day and a half to Bickslow, making him shake his head more than once. Whether that was at her expense or something else, she wouldn't know.

Unfortunately, as she retold the events of her job, she remembered her short but uncomfortable conversation with Natsu from earlier that day. But she wasn't going to dwell on that for the time being. No, she was going to enjoy spending time with Bickslow.

Later, Lucy shamefully realised that they'd eaten the entire cake and washed it down with the rest of the wine. Bickslow didn't seem to care. If anything, he found Lucy's reaction to realising she'd eaten half a cake incredibly entertaining.

"I'm actually kind of impressed, to be honest," he laughed as she hid her face in her hands.

Lucy shook her head. "You shouldn't be."

"Hm, note to self." Bickslow pulled her hands away from her face. "Lucy likes cake."

He did it again. Lucy instead of Cosplayer. She looked up and saw the smirk that graced his mouth. The smirk that just screams how he knows exactly what he did, just by saying one name. She felt her heart beat faster and she could have sworn her hands had started sweating as he leant in, bringing their faces even closer.

And then his lips briefly brushed against hers before leaving a small gap between them again. "Yeah… I uh… I guess I do." She whispered against the ever-present smirk as she felt the heat in her face rise, and then Lucy was the one to close the small gap between them as she pressed her lips to Bickslow's.

Bickslow was stunned for the briefest of moments at the new intensity that came from it, but it was the shortest of split seconds. A hand went to rest on her waist as the other went to the back of her neck. He felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder and the other to his side, and suddenly he realised they were leaning backwards towards the lounge. He didn't know if he was subconsciously pulling them back, or if Lucy was pushing them. Oh, who fucking cares? Just go with it.

Lucy felt Bickslow pull her bottom lip into her mouth, and then her brain descended into chaos she was sure she felt his tongue glide along her might've been able to ignore her rampant thoughts had she any clue what she was doing, but she didn't. The countless romance novels she'd read over the years never explained in enough detail. Honestly, she felt like she needed a 'How to Kiss 101' book. But that book just didn't exist, or at least to the best of her knowledge it didn;t.

So instead, she just tried her best to mimic Bickslow, but she felt like she was failing epically regardless.

Aside from that, something about it was pleasant, and that surprised her. She expected it to be gross and weird – which, she had to admit that it was, because she had someone else's tongue in her mouth (and hers was in someone else's as well), but it was still somehow pleasant. And it was intoxicating part of her felt like she'd died and gone to heaven.

But there she was in her apartment, lying on top of the guild's famous pervert and prankster, and actually making out with him. It was something she'd never expected to happen in a million-and-one years, but it was happening. Because screw it, she liked the guy.

And then when they both apparently decided it was time to end the pleasantness, a part of her wanted to run away and hide in a hole somewhere to hide from the embarrassment. The other part, however, wanted to stay right there. Lying on top of Bickslow and wedged between his body and the back of her lounge. But even if she had had any intentions of running and hiding, she wouldn't have been able to, not with Bickslow's arm around her and she really did just love that for some reason.

"I need to talk to you about something," Lucy murmured, shifting down just to rest her head on his shoulder.

Bickslow grabbed the small cushion that sat just next to him to tuck it behind his head, making himself just a little more comfortable. Talk? Why does that sound bad. "What about?" he replied, trying his best to smother the panic that was growing inside of him.

Lucy sighed as she propped herself up on an elbow, meeting Bickslow's gaze. "I like… this." A blush spread across her cheeks as her eyes briefly flicked elsewhere in the room before returning back to Bickslow. No, no. You've gotta talk about it. Don't be shy now. "I mean, I like whatever this is that we're doing, and I really do like you…"

"I sense there's a but coming." Internally though, he was just rejoicing over the fact Lucy actually liked him. He still felt like it was about to end, though.

She nodded. "But… I don't want to tell anyone… Not yet."

"Yet?"

"Yet. Just because I'm fairly certain you'd have a few hundred swords pointed at you…"

"H-Hundred?" Just one sword pointed at him two days earlier had been terrifying, but multiple?!

"And turned into an ice cube or something… And then you'd probably be burned to a crisp…"

That sounds… like Fairy Tail. Charming. Absolutely charming. Not at all dangerous or terrifying. "Not all at once, right?" he asked cautiously.

"Uh… Maybe?" Lucy laughed nervously at the mental image of Bickslow being surrounded by the members of her team, all looking equally as menacing and pissed off. Unfortunately, the thought of Bickslow being burned to a crisp by Natsu reminded her of something else… Something that she really did need to talk about. "But that being said…"

"Go on."

She considered the plan once again. The plan that was probably going to end badly for everyone involved no matter what. If Natsu had already figured out there was something between her and Bickslow, then wouldn't it just be easier to tell him straight out that she liked him and there was a 'thing' between them, instead of having Natsu try and figure it out on his own? Because god knows that if he found out on his own, then all hell would break loose. She just wanted to make the 'hell-breaking' a little more… bearable.

So it wasn't really a terrible plan… Right? She just had to keep telling herself that.

"I do think I should tell Natsu though," she said. "He said something weird this morning…"

Bickslow tensed at the mention of Natsu, instantly reminding him of what the Dragon Slayer had said to him in the guild previously. "Uh, did that something weird have anything to do with dragon senses?"

"Oh, god. He didn't say anything to you, did he?" The panic was evident in her voice. Lucy didn't want to think about what Natsu could have possibly said to Bickslow. It couldn't have been good, that was for sure.

"He said something about not underestimating a dragon's nose," Bickslow mumbled. Lucy dropped her head back to her shoulder as she groaned, apparently knowing exactly what it meant. "What did he say to you?"

That you apparently smell like me. No, you can't say that. It sounds weird if it comes from anyone apart from a Dragon Slayer. "More or less the same thing, but he knows there's something going on."

"Well…" So Natsu knows something. Bickslow expected Natsu to be the last to figure anything out, but no, it couldn't happen that way. He thought about Natsu's possible reactions to finding out that he was doing something with Lucy, and none of them ended with him living. Well, not in his mind anyway. "If you do tell Natsu, I'd recommend not doing so in the guild… And making sure I'm not anywhere in the vicinity. I kind of value my life."

"I'll try. Are you okay with not telling anyone else though? Apart from the people who already do know… And who exactly is that, by the way? Apart from Gajeel."

"It makes sense to not tell anyone, so I'm fine with it," And he was, just because he really did value his life. There was a very high possibility that half of the guild would freak out at the news, and the fair majority of those would probably want his head on a stake – whether it be from jealousy, because he wasn't an idiot; he'd heard half of the guys in the guild talk about how they'd love to take her on a date (or do other things), or just from the countless number of people who probably still held a grudge against him for the many pranks he'd pulled over the years. "And the only other people who know are Laxus, Freed, and Ever."

"What about Mira?"

Bickslow let out a short laugh. "Mira is still trying to get me to admit that I apparently have a crush on you." Which, was something he wouldn't admit – not for a while, anyway – because it wasn't exactly true. Almost every single time he'd been up to the bar, she had pestered him about it and every single time he had denied it. He would continue denying it.

Lucy sighed quietly, "Mira could prove to be a small problem."

"She'll forget about it. I'll handle her." Just one well-thought response and there'd be no more questions. Bickslow just had to think of what to say without making it worse.

As the conversation topics changed over the course of the night, Lucy found herself tired once again, but she didn't want to ask Bickslow to leave. She was enjoying getting to know even more about him (and vice-versa), and she was surprisingly quite comfortable.

Not to mention happy. She was happy because she'd actually admitted out loud that she liked Bickslow – to Bickslow. Lucy couldn't even remember if she'd said it out loud to herself before, but that didn't matter anymore because it was just a step forward. A small step forward at that, but it was still forward. She realised that that small step forward was a step towards it actually going somewhere… towards an actual relationship, perhaps.

And that actually scared her. It scared her, but it excited her because she liked Bickslow.

So as they continued learning more about each other, Bickslow realised she'd never talked about her family much. He'd heard bits and pieces about it when he'd been in the guild occasionally, but he never paid much attention to it. He just knew she was a Heartfilia – a name he learnt he should have known, but didn't. But he wanted to hear about her family from her.

"Tell me about your family," he said quietly.

My family? Doesn't everyone in the guild already know everything about my family? "Well, what do you want to know?" Because really, it was a strangely vague question. She didn't know if Bickslow meant her actual family, or just her family's old business. Both had completely different answers.

"Like your parents and stuff, I guess. What are they like?"

Lucy shifted a bit as she grew uncomfortable. He doesn't know? "There's not much to tell then. Both of my parents died…" she murmured.

Shit, nice one, Bicks. He mentally slapped his hand against his forehead. Trust himself to say something stupid like that. "Oh. I'm sorry… I didn't know…"

"It's okay." Lucy stifled a yawn. "My mother died when I was young, so I grew up with my father. She was a Celestial Spirit mage too, so that's how I have contracts with a few of my spirits since she passed them on to me. I remember her always being so kind and caring, especially to her spirits. I kind of looked up to her as a mage when I was little. And I still do, I guess. But, uh… She got really sick and she had to stop using magic after a while…"

"She sounds amazing," Bickslow said quietly.

Lucy smiled softly. "She really was. My father, though…" She let out a sigh before continuing. "He passed away about a month before we all came back from Tenrou Island, while we were all still kind of frozen. I honestly spent a lot of my life hating him. I always thought he didn't care about me, and that he only cared for the company. Eventually I understood why he'd done that, but by the time I did learn, it was too late to apologise for the way I treated him after I joined the guild."

Bickslow remained silent, not wanting to say anything else that would make him want to bang his head against a wall. Instead, he tightened his hold around her waist, pulling her closer against his body. It was the simple things like that he hoped would show her that he cared.

"Anyway." Lucy's voice had perked up a little, though Bickslow suspected it was forced. "What about yours? I've never once heard you mention anything even remotely close to a family."

"No need."

"How come?"

"'Cause Fairy Tail's my family."

Lucy propped herself up on her elbow again. "The guild is my family too, but what about your parents? Siblings? Anything?"

"Well, I mean, I haven't seen any of them for something like thirteen years now." Bickslow sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He was never fond of talking about his family. In fact, he made a point of avoiding it all-together, but it was only fair he talked about his since Lucy had talked about hers even though it was a sensitive subject. "But, my parents. Let's see… My dad was a member of the Rune Knights. He'd come home all the time and tell stories about his day and how the council was always having to clean up after the mess that this crazy guild called Fairy Tail had caused."

Lucy giggled. So Fairy Tail was causing trouble for the council even back then? That's not all that surprising.

"My mother was the kind of person who was just somehow good at everything. She absolutely loved reading and she would spend a lot of time cooking. If she wasn't reading or cooking, she was most likely yelling at me or my dad for doing something stupid, or just at me for messing with someone. But they died when I was sixteen. I guess they got caught in the crossfire between a few dark guilds a couple of towns over from where we lived."

"I'm sorry to hear that…" Lucy murmured.

He shrugged slightly. "Nothing anyone could do about it. Anyway, so that left me with my sisters."

"Sisters?"

"I have two sisters. They're twins, actually, and they're terrible. Well, they used to be. To me, anyway. But I was horrible to them, so it worked out."

"Who'd they look like more?" Lucy asked through a yawn, making Bickslow chuckle.

So many questions. "They looked exactly like my mother, but they got the hair from my dad's side."

"Is that where the blue hair comes from?"

"Yup."

"Mohawks and all?" she mumbled.

Bickslow laughed again. He was having a hard time picturing the sisters he hadn't seen for thirteen years with his hair, but what he did picture wasn't very pleasing to the eyes at all. "No way. But anyway, I haven't seen them for a long time now. I left a few months later when I turned seventeen. Found myself in Magnolia and staring at the guild doors."

"Do you ever miss them?"

Bickslow actually had to think about his answer. He'd thought of his actual family only a handful of times, and they were usually just when he'd find an old photograph of the entire family when he was cleaning out his wardrobe or drawers, or when it was one of their birthdays. Even though it had only felt like five years to him, it had been thirteen for them, for his sisters that he'd mostly hated, just because they were his sisters. You never got along with your siblings.

But did he miss them? He realised he didn't, and he knew he should've felt at least a little guilty about it, but the truth was that he didn't actually need to miss them. He had the guild, and he had his team. Freed and Evergreen were his family, as well as Laxus.

Fairy Tail was a family. They were his family.

"Not really."

When the room fell into a comfortable silence a short while later, he craned his neck to look at the clock on the wall to the side of the lounge.

The clock read 12:48 a.m, and Bickslow figured it was probably time to go.

"Lucy?" He said softly as he looked back to her, still lying right on top of him and between the lounge. Did she… did she fall asleep? Bickslow lifted his head off the pillow, moving just enough to see that her eyes were closed. She was out like a light, and Bickslow didn't know what to do.

On one hand, he started freaking out because she'd fallen asleep on him and he didn't want to wake her up by moving her. On the other hand, he wondered what she would think if he'd managed to move without waking her up. Would she think he was being an ass by leaving without saying anything? Bickslow had done that all too many times before, but never with someone he actually cared about. Hell, it was the silent rule when it came to what he usually did. If he'd gone back to the girl's house, he'd either leave straight after or before she woke up. The same applied if they went back to his own house.

But with Lucy, it was different. She wasn't just some random one-night-stand he'd never have to see again. He hadn't even slept with her, and he really had no intentions to (not any time soon, anyway, which was surprising to even himself). He wanted to know her and everything there was to know about her. He didn't want to screw it up by doing something stupid like leaving or not leaving.

So, the question was: what was he going to do?

I could always… stay. And let her sleep… Yeah, maybe I'll just stay here… She'll probably wake up in a bit when she's realised she's uncomfortable and I'll just leave then.

And so Bickslow pulled the blanket that sat over the back off the lounge off and draped it over her and part of himself. A part of Bickslow was telling him to just leave even though he'd already made up his mind. It was the part of him that was painfully aware of how uncomfortable he was. One foot was flat on the ground with his knee bent, and the other foot was hanging off the end of the lounge. Bickslow would occasionally find himself hating that he was incredibly tall, and this was one of those moments.

But it was the other part of him that was agreeing with the decision he'd already made. The part that reassured him that Lucy was comfortable – at least she looked it for the time being – and that was enough for Bickslow to stay. She looked too peaceful when she was asleep for him to even think about disturbing her.

So as he shifted ever so slightly in an attempt to make himself just a tiny bit more comfortable, he stared up at the ceiling, with one arm behind his head on the small, white pillow, and the other around her back, holding her close.

Bickslow's plan failed. Well, not so much failed, it just didn't go as planned. Lucy hadn't moved for the rest of the night, and Bickslow had eventually fallen asleep when he was tired enough.

When the blonde woke up to the sunlight streaming in through her window on the other side of the room, she had a minor panic-attack when the light wasn't shining directly in her eyes like it usually did, and her first thought had been that she wasn't even in her own apartment. But as she opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbow again, she realised that she was in her apartment; she had just used Bickslow as a pillow.

As she sat up completely, Bickslow stirred at the movement. Sure, he'd fallen asleep, but the overwhelming discomfort from sleeping in such a position had only let him go into a light sleep.

"Did I… Did I fall asleep… on you?" Lucy asked quietly, turning her head to the side as she blushed.

"Yeah," he replied as he stood up. Ah, I can move again! He stretched his arms above his head as he yawned, the hem of his shirt rising slightly above where it sat over his jeans. He smirked when Lucy's head turned again, her eyes trailing down to the skin that was now visible at his hips, the blush instantly coming back as she turned away. I saw where you were looking.

"I uh… sorry…" she mumbled.

Bickslow shrugged as he dropped his arms. "Anyway. I should probably leave. Freed said something about a job yesterday, so I need to go find him."

"Oh, okay. Will you be in the guild later?" she asked.

"Probably not. So I guess I'll see you… whenever I see you next," he said.

"I guess so."

"Yeah, anyway. Time to go." He leant down, pressing a kiss to her cheek lightly before turning and heading towards the door. He really wasn't used to dealing with people the morning after. It felt foreign and awkward. "Later, Lucy."

Lucy smiled, letting out a small sigh. "Bye, Bickslow," she said. By the time Bickslow was at the door, she was already getting up from the lounge and heading for her bathroom.

Bickslow glanced at the clock on the wall as he picked up his visor. It was almost nine o'clock, so he knew Freed would more than likely be at the guild by then. So as Lucy disappeared into the bathroom, Bickslow pulled her door open. Unfortunately, the empty landing of the third floor was not the sight that greeted him.

Instead, it was Natsu with his arms folded across his chest, glaring back at him and making Bickslow feel like the Dragon Slayer was staring into his own soul for a change.