Whenever Bickslow walked into the guild over the next few days, he was greeted by the most creative of rumours regarding the news of Lucy seeing someone. He had no idea how any of them had been started but he'd had a feeling a few of the guys had played a part. After all, he knew just how much could be heard from the male bath and he also knew that the entire thing had started in the bath. Yes, he'd learnt that after Lucy had told him off for giving her a hickey – although, in his defence, he had been half asleep at the time and hadn't realised he'd done it until the morning which was why he'd told her to wear her hair down. He'd never expected anyone to see it.

But on this day, the rumours seemed to have spiralled out of control even more and some of them actually made him laugh. His new favourite was that Lucy was simultaneously dating Gray and Gajeel, although the one where she was sleeping with Gildarts was rather amusing.

He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her though, since after all, it was ultimately his fault the rumours had started. Not that he was ever going to be sorry for leaving that kind of mark on her; he'd just have to find more creative places.

But that aside, he had another problem. The few times they'd talked since then, every conversation had ended with her saying she'd see when she was free for dinner, and that left Bickslow wondering just what the hell was going on. With every other date there hadn't been an issue with someone being busy, and half of them had just been impromptu little things.

And if not being able to see her or touch her was frustrating, then it was the fact that Mira had convinced her to go out with herself, Lisanna, Levy, and Cana. The only reason he'd known about that was because Laxus had overheard it (whether he'd done so on purpose was a mystery).

And so as Gajeel sat down next to the Seith mage like he'd been doing a lot during the week, he decided he was fed up with the grumpier than usual man. It hadn't been part of his plan to share that he knew exactly what the blonde was doing, but he liked meddling.

"She's playin' hard to get," Gajeel said with his usual smirk.

"Eh?"

"The demon and Shrimp talked her into it after you decided to give her a fuckin' hickey."

"It was unintentional," Bickslow muttered. But hard to get? What the fuck? It wasn't that he didn't understand what she was doing, because he did. He knew exactly what it meant, but he didn't understand why.

Gajeel shrugged and put an arm over the back of the bench, absentmindedly unscrewing one of the bolts from the back of it. "You do know they're goin' to a bar in Hargeon later, right?"

"I heard."

Laxus sighed as he pulled the SoundPod from his ears, dropping it on the table as he lowered his chin to his palm. It was almost as if since Bickslow had starting dating Lucy (or whatever the fuck it was that they were doing, since Bickslow couldn't give Laxus the answer to that question), he'd reached a new level of stupid. If anything, Laxus had thought the blonde would make him less stupid. But he was seriously missing the point of what Lucy was doing and Laxus was kind of frustrated at how much he had taken an interest in it. "She's only doing it to see how interested you actually are," he sighed.

But Bickslow was certain Lucy knew just how interested he was in her. Maybe he'd been wrong? In that case, two can play at that game. If Lucy was trying to see where they stood, then he'd go along with it. After all, it was a game and Bickslow liked games.

Lucy was not looking forward to her night, not one little bit. She sat in the train compartment with her friends as they headed towards Hargeon. Mira was giggling over finally getting a girl's night out after such a long time and Cana was just happy to have some more drinking buddies.

But Lucy wasn't really interested in any of it. She was still wondering why she'd let Mira and Levy convince her to play hard to get, whatever that even meant. It wasn't like she needed to make sure she had Bickslow's attention, because to her, it was pretty evident she did. But on the other side, it wasn't like they'd exclusively stated that they weren't going to see or date anyone else, and that was the main reason for her being dragged along to Hargeon. Somehow, she'd let her friends believe that she wasn't the least bit serious about her relationship with the mystery man she was seeing and that it was still in a kind of testing the waters stage, but Lucy really didn't think it was.

The problem was that Lucy didn't really want to have that awkward 'what are we?' conversation with Bickslow, just because for the time being, she was fine with whatever they were doing. She was inclined to just admit to herself that they were actually dating, rather than kind of dating, but she needed to finish up with the stupid game that her friends had insisted she try.

And you'd think that a night of dancing and drinking would make her happy, but it didn't. So far she had spent the vast majority of her night sitting at their booth, sipping away on the drinks that never seemed to stop coming. She knew that she was supposed to be getting drunk enough to at least act like she was single, although she also knew there was a high possibility of her blurting out who it was she was actually dating if she did drink enough.

But Lucy knew she was ruining everyone else's night, so as she downed the rest of her drink, she slid out of the booth as she took Levy's hand and dragged her over to the crowded dance floor, the two Strauss' and the adopted Strauss soon following after the pair. She was going to enjoy the rest of her night, even if it meant waking up with a killer headache.

When Bickslow pushed the door to his apartment open later that night, he'd intended to just have a shower and go to bed – his usual routine,, really. But as he was closing the door behind him, he looked over to the bookshelf, the same bookshelf that rarely got touched and he never thought about. He slowly made his way over to it, still not sure what he was doing, but there on the shelf, exactly where she had left it, was one of the books Lucy had pulled out when she had been there a few days earlier.

Bickslow picked up the book, flipping it around in his hands to read the front of it and then the back of it, instantly remembering why he even had that book in his possession. It wasn't one of the many books that Freed had given him, and it wasn't one of the books on Seith magic or Rune magic that he also owned. No, it was something he'd forgotten he even had and he could feel his heart start beating just a tiny bit faster when he remembered what it was.

It was his mother's favourite book.

The very same book that he'd grown up seeing her read almost religiously, and it was one of the few things he'd taken with him when he'd left after their death. His hand wiped the dust from the front before his fingers light traced over the slightly worn cover.

He was suddenly finding it difficult to breathe and he could only slam the book back down on one of the shelves as his hands reached out to steady himself. His chest hurt and he could hear his heart beating in his ears. He kept his eyes shut as he dropped his head, trying to steady his breathing. Even though there was no one around, he still hated what he knew was happening.

He hated lots of things, really. He hated the way he was feeling and he hated the way that he was losing control. That was the thing with his control – it was incredibly unlikely because Bickslow rarely felt like that, and so far, that was the only thing that seemed to push him over that edge. As he felt his eyes starting to burn the insides of his eyelids, he shut them even tighter, pressing his forearm against his eyes as he leant on the bookshelf.

And after a while of him trying to calm himself down, even though the pain in his chest was refusing to leave, he could finally drop his head again, and as he did so, he felt but a single tear slide down and he knew exactly what it was.

For the first time in what was really only five years to Bickslow, he genuinely missed his parents.

There was a reason Bickslow was the way he was – laughing everything off and not caring about things, and that was because if he ever let himself feel like the way he was feeling in that moment, he would lose the control he had over his eyes. And it's not like it was all bad, because he'd generally always been the kind of person to have fun with everything and anything, it was just that after his parents' deaths, he had to take that to a new level.

In the year following their death, he was constantly having to remind himself that he couldn't let anything get to him. If something were to hit him unexpectedly and he let his emotions take hold of him, then the control that he'd worked so hard to get would be gone. Bickslow had always hated how that felt and he still did. He couldn't put into words how it felt to lose something that was his, for however briefly it may be.

He just couldn't get overwhelmed.

But it wasn't just the first time in five years Bickslow had missed his parents; it was the first time he ever had.

After their death, he'd closed himself off, and that was for the safety of others and himself. And in his own weird way, Bickslow could only be a little glad that it was hitting him then and not when he'd still been a teenager. He'd had time to accept it and he had a home and he was happy with everything that he had going for him. He'd have been a lot worse if he didn't have any of that.

Bickslow slid down the floor, not having the energy to stand anymore, and he stayed there for a long time. For the first time, he felt like something was missing from his life, and he knew that was his parents, his actual family. But he also knew that it was just his emotions getting the better of him, being too overwhelmed and making himself believe it was worse than it really was. Then, when he'd finally calmed himself down enough so that he could actually breathe and he'd stopped shedding tears (something he would refuse to admit ever happened if anyone ever asked him), his thoughts returned to the book – the book that had started it all.

It wasn't just his mother's favourite book. It was one of Lucy's too. And he didn't know what it was, but somehow, just thinking about that made the ache in his chest fade just a tiny bit. It was then that Bickslow decided that he wasn't going to be playing any games when it came to her – not a single one. Sure, he would still have his fun because that's just who he was, but it wasn't going to be a game.

Slowly, Bickslow pushed himself up from the floor and made his way down to his bathroom, throwing his cloak on the bed and pulling his shirt off over his head as he walked. He just wanted to move on from the night's events and go to bed.

Although he didn't realise it at the time, there would be something that drew his attention and would stop him from sleeping as much as he'd planned that night.

Lucy awoke the next morning with a pounding headache just like she'd expected, and she really just wanted to spend the day in bed, or on her bathroom floor - either would be fine. She'd ended up drinking the most out of her friends and she didn't really know how that had happened. The last thing she could remember was kicking some guy who got a little too close to her, getting herself and her friends kicked out of the bar in the process. The rest was in bits and pieces but the more she thought about her night, the more her head hurt and the more she wanted to throw up.

But no, she couldn't spend all day in her apartment, preferably next to her toilet. At some point she could remember promising Levy she'd be in the guild the next day – before noon, as explicitly stated, she could remember that part – and Lucy wasn't one to go back on promises.

So the blonde heaved herself up from where she was laying on her bed, still in her clothes from the night before, and made her way slowly to her bathroom. Usually, she'd just take a bath, but she absolutely hated baths when she was hungover. Showers were always the way to go and it was one of the rare times her shower ever got any action.

A quick glance towards her clock once she'd gone about her usual morning routine and she was confident she'd arrive at the guild before noon, which was all that mattered at that point, really. And then, as she pulled her door closed behind her and locked up her apartment, she turned and made her way towards the beginning of the stairs, only to stop when she saw a book balanced on the railing separating the stairwell and the floor she was standing on.

Lucy stared down at the large book with the deep red cover adorned with black accents on the spine and on the corners. She picked up the book, almost dropping it when she realised just how heavy it was, and she pulled away the folded up piece of paper that was sitting on the cover.

She looked down at the book in her hands as she tucked the paper behind it, deciding to come back to that in a second. She smiled when she saw the title: The Complete History and Workings of Seith Magic: Human Possession, Volume 1. Her fingers traced over the slightly worn cover, faded with age and slightly torn in the corners, but Lucy didn't care. She'd always thought that the more used a book was, the better it was. She flipped the book open, flicking through the pages until she reached the information she'd wanted. First published: X702.'

Her mouth opened in shock slightly, trying to figure out how Bickslow had managed to get his hands on a ninety-year-old book. But she could always ask that later, so as she placed the book back down on the railing gently, she pulled the note out again and unfolded it, reading the words written in the messy scrawl.

I realised I don't mind if you want to learn more about it, but I also don't think I'd be able to stop you from finding out more even if I tried.

So if you really want to know everything there is to know about it, then this will help.

It wasn't signed as being from Bickslow but she knew it was from him. Who else would give her a massive book on Seith magic?

Lucy was extraordinarily glad Bickslow was fine with her learning more about Seith magic. She had been prepared to sneak off to the library in the guild at night to read what few books they had with information pertaining to Seith magic (even Bickslow had more books on it than the guild did), but she didn't have to do that. But then she remembered what day it was. As of that day, it had been a month since their first date. She knew it wasn't something to be celebrated (although she was in her head because she never in her wildest dreams expected to be dating Bickslow), but she could still be happy about it.

Now, whether or not Bickslow knew that little detail was something else. Lucy didn't think he did and he didn't expect him to either so she didn't think of the book as being anything other than an extremely thoughtful gift that said he trusted her, which was something they hadn't discussed, not that she wanted to ask either.

Little did she know that Bickslow knew exactly what the date was and it was part of the reason he'd gotten up earlier than usual just to go and find a book on Seith magic for her, because he knew she wanted to know more about it. But Bickslow too knew that it wasn't something to be celebrated, but much like Lucy, he could still be happy about it and celebrate it in his head.

Laxus, Evergreen, and Freed all turned to stare at the the guild's resident Seith mage who had just walked through the doors and into a table. Now, that was something that none of them had ever seen because the guy was almost the complete opposite of clumsy. He was an acrobat. He didn't walk into a tables.

Not unless he was too busy reading a book and not watching where he was walking.

So the three watched in complete shock as he came to sit at their table, turning a page as he continued reading, not even muttering a greeting or grinning. Nothing.

Bickslow didn't read, but after staring at the ceiling in his bedroom for god knows how long the night before, he'd pushed the sheets back to climb out of his bed and go back out to his living room to collect the book that had had more of an effect on him that he thought a book ever would or could. He didn't even know how long he'd read for because from the moment he read the first word of the first chapter, he had been completely sucked in. Next thing he knew he was a quarter of the way through the book and the beginnings of the sunrise had been peeking through his curtains.

So he'd begrudgingly put the book down because he knew if he didn't get any sleep then he was just going to be even more miserable than he already was. But he didn't get much sleep, only a few hours at most because he had things to do, books to buy.

And he really hoped that Lucy liked the book. It didn't matter to Bickslow that it was expensive - money was never an issue to the Seith mage, because it was a genuinely well-written book. Even Bickslow had read it, and sure, it had been when he was a teenager, but it was probably one of the only books on Seith magic that flat out stated that there was a lot of cons and misunderstandings associated with that magic, so if Lucy said she really wanted to know everything there was to it, then she needed to know that about it.

So as he sat in the guild, he stared down at the book on the table while vaguely aware that his friends were giving him some weird looks. After all, he was reading a book.

"Bic—" Evergreen began, only to be shushed as Bickslow's hand went up, motioning for her to wait. She didn't like that very much at all, but she was honestly still too shocked to comment on it.

Slowly, a cocky grin spread across Freed's face. After all those years, maybe, just maybe, Bickslow was finally taking the Rune mage's advice. And it wasn't just that he was reading a book – willingly, at that. But he actually seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly. So as he folded his arms across his chest and looked towards his teammates, he said with a shrug, "Looks like I—"

"Shh!" Bickslow hissed as he turned his head to glare at the green-haired man. The one time his teammates and friends decided to not to be quiet was the one time he really wanted them to be. He was on the verge of just giving up and going to the library in the basement. At least he'd be able to read in peace there.

Lucy strolled in right at 11:58 a.m., something she was quite proud of. She was still feeling too nauseous to stop by the bar to get something from Mira (and she didn't really want to be reminded too much of what she'd done the night before), so instead she made a beeline to where Levy was sitting, huddled over a stack of papers with her pen in hand. Out of everyone, the small women had had the least to drink so she was able to go about her day with just a small headache.

So as she plopped herself down on the bench opposite her friend, her head instantly hit the table as she folded her arms around it. It was too loud and too bright in there.

"Morning, Lu," Levy said ever-so cheerfully as she glanced up from the pages she was going over. Lucy could only groan into the table in response before picking her head up to rest in her hand.

"Bunny girl had a bit too much to drink last night, I see," Gajeel snickered as he leant over the back of his bench at the Raijinshuu's table.

And before Lucy could even tell the Iron Dragon Slayer to shut up, the sound of a book being slammed shut stopped her. "Alright, that's it," Bickslow declared as he stood up and glared at those around the table. "You fuckers are too noisy."

Gajeel and Evergreen snickered as the Seith mage made his way to the stairs leading to the basement. It was a rare sight to see the man act like that so they always relished when it did happen.

It didn't take very long for it to go back to normal. Gajeel had switched tables to sit next to Levy, and Evergreen had gone to the bar, presumably to yell at Elfman some more. Lucy still didn't really understand what had happened and why Bickslow had randomly decided to go downstairs, but her head hurt too much to think about it.

She sipped at the water that Mira had brought over before she returned to the bar with a giggle at Lucy's expense, and she looked up only to find Levy staring at her intently. Gajeel could only wonder just what the small woman was planning, because he knew she was planning something.

"We should go on a double date!" Levy said enthusiastically.

"Eh?" Gajeel and Lucy said in unison.

"What?" She gave a small shrug. "It would be fun! I'd get to go on an actual nice date with Gajeel." She glared at the man who was slowly inching away from her on the bench. "And I'd get to find out who this mystery man is. It's a win-win."

"…For you, maybe," Lucy muttered as her finger ran around the rim of the glass. A double date? There's no way Bickslow would go for that kind of thing.

"Oh, come on! I'm your best friend, I should know these things anyway."

"I don't know…" It wasn't like Levy wasn't her best friend, because she was - her best girl friend anyway. But she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to let anyone else know about her relationship with Bickslow. It wasn't an issue of trusting Levy to keep it a secret because she knew she would. Lucy didn't even have to worry about Gajeel telling anyone because he already knew, and she had to admit she was a little surprised that he hadn't even told Levy.

As she thought about it, she realised it would just be a matter of getting Bickslow to go along with it. She'd never really asked if Bickslow cared that they weren't telling people, but he'd never seemed like it was that big of a deal if they told people or not, too. But if it was just one more person, then what was the harm?

"Who else are you going to gossip to about your sex life?" Levy whispered as she leaned across the table, winking at the blonde whose cheeks were tinged with pink.

"Shrimp…"

But Levy had a point, Lucy realised. Gossiping over boys was something she would definitely enjoy – not so much the part related to her sex life because it was non-existent, but it would still be fun.

And besides, it had nearly been a week and she was getting frustrated with the game she was playing. She wasn't going to pretend to be busy anymore, and fuck it, she was going to kiss him because she was beginning to have withdrawal – something that was probably not good.

"Okay then," Lucy said with a smile as Levy squealed with joy. Gajeel could only sulk and return to the other table.

"Really?!" Levy said excitedly as she clasped her hands together. Lucy nodded and the Script mage squealed some more, not even trying to contain her excitement. "This is too good! When should we do it? Oh my gosh, am I going to be the first to know? I'm so excited!"

Lucy giggled at her friend. It was nice to see how excited she was just from being able to see who it was that Lucy was dating. She found herself looking forward to what her friend's reaction would be once she found out who it was. Surely that was something that was going to be entertaining considering Levy would be the only one at the table who wouldn't know until that very moment.

She thought for a moment. She didn't really know when Bickslow would be free and she didn't know if his team had any jobs lined up for the end of the week. She still didn't know if Bickslow would like the idea of going on a double date, but hell, she wasn't going to tell him that part. That could be a surprise, she decided.

"What about tomorrow night?" Lucy suggested.

"Yes! Tomorrow is fine!"

"Good," Lucy replied. "I'll let you know the place and time tomorrow morning, but for now, I need to go and find something in library and then I'm going to go back home to sleep."

"Yes, yes, fine! Go and sleep!" Levy said as she reorganised the papers on the table, trying to find where she'd put the pen. "Ah, this is so exciting!" she said with another squeal as Lucy walked towards the stairs shaking her head.

Bickslow was sitting on the floor with his back against one of the many shelves in the basement archives. The chairs that room had had always been uncomfortable so on the rare occasion he went down there, he chose the floor over the old chairs. On this particular day, he was sitting between the shelves that housed the books no one really read, the books on the various types of magic. In front of him sat the shelves that had once been designated to Celestial Spirit magic and were now empty and covered in dust after Loke had decided to burn them all.

He'd sat there just because it was quiet. He wasn't going to get disturbed down there because the vast majority of the guild were out on jobs for the day or rest of the week, and to tell the truth, he was still feeling slightly miserable for the previous night's events that had revolved around the book that sat in his hands.

But once again he was mostly lost in the text, nearly half way through it by that point. He could hear someone's footsteps at the end of the aisle and coming closer but he didn't bother looking up. Someone would be stupid to comment on the fact he was reading in a library of all places.

He didn't look up until he felt someone slide down to the floor next to him, that is, and he closed the book after making note of the page he was up to. For her, he'd stop reading, for a while, anyway.

"I thought you didn't read," Lucy mused as she plucked the book from his hands, a smile spreading across her face when she saw what book it was.

"I don't, but this is different," he said quietly before he glanced up at the empty shelves before him. "Did you uh… Find the book?"

Lucy's smile grew wider as she dropped the book back in his lap and shifted to rest her head on his shoulder. "I did," she said as she stretched her legs out before her on the floor, crossing her ankles. "And you have no idea how unbelievably happy it made me."

And again, Bickslow could feel the ache in his chest beginning to dissipate, and for just a moment, he could forget about just how miserable he was still feeling, because her being happy made him happy. "I'm glad it made you happy," he whispered. "Anyway, how was your night?" Bickslow asked, desperately trying to think of ways to keep her in the library just so he could spend more time with her. He was over the barely two-minute conversations they'd had during the week. It was just anything to get her to stay at that point.

Lucy groaned as she lifted her head, wondering just how she'd managed to forget about the pounding headache she'd had since she'd woken up. "I honestly don't even remember much of it. Only bits and pieces."

"Hung-over, I take it?" he chuckled.

Lucy nodded. "Very much so. I drank way too much, I remember that part," she said thoughtfully, replaying the small fragments of her night in her head as she ignored the pounding headache. "I got us all kicked out of the place we went to though."

Bickslow was having a hard time picturing the blonde drunk enough to do something that warranted getting kicked out of a bar. He'd been kicked out of places plenty of times but never had he ever seen Lucy get drunk. He realised it would be an interesting sight. "I'd really love to know how you did that," Bickslow laughed, apologising when the loud noise made the blonde lean away slightly.

"Well… I think some guy was getting a bit too… handsy, and close. So there's a possibility I kicked him into a few other people… and a table." Lucy grimaced.

"Wow, remind me not to get too close when you're drunk…"

"I think I'd spare you. But that's one of the only things I remember. I feel like Loke might have tried to be my saviour at one point though…" Small parts of her memories of the night were littered with images of her lion spirit, one of them with her sitting in his arms and she honestly had no idea how that'd happened. She didn't really want to remember, either.

But Bickslow wasn't exactly too thrilled about that part, especially when he knew that the stupid cat was still very much in love with her. Hell, he'd teased her about it countless times. Even though he knew that Lucy didn't reciprocate those feelings towards her spirit, he still didn't like it. "Maybe you should have left that part out…" Bickslow mumbled as he turned away slightly.

Lucy stared for a few seconds trying to come up with a reason as to why she shouldn't have brought up the part about Loke possibly being her saviour (since she couldn't quite remember what had happened apart from the small bits and pieces that made no sense), but suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head and she finally got it. It was because it was Loke, and maybe, just maybe, it was jealously coming from Bickslow.

"Don't tell me you're jealous," she murmured, moving to lean over him slightly.

Bickslow could see her hovering closer to him from the corner of his vision, including the slight smirk on her lips. "So what if I am?" he mumbled, briefly glancing towards her.

She pressed a kiss to his cheek as she leant in even further and then whispered next to his ear. "I think it's sweet."

A slight shiver coursed throughout him and he didn't know why. He'd had plenty of things whispered in his ear throughout his life, many of which would make anyone other than himself instantly turn a dark red, but never once had it made him do that and never once had Lucy done it and he was honestly a little confused. The blonde was suddenly acting weird (in an incredibly good way, he realised), and he didn't know why. "Are you sure you're not still drunk instead of hung-over?" Because really, that would probably explain the new behaviour.

She shook her head as she grinned at him. "Nope. Just in a good mood today." Or at least now she was since she was talking to Bickslow. "Anyway, you heard about my night, so how was yours?"

And Bickslow couldn't answer straight away because he didn't know how to. He didn't think it was fair to tell her about his night - not yet, anyway. He didn't want her to feel sorry for him like he knew she would and he didn't want to burden her, because that's what it was. A burden. His delayed grief was his burden and he didn't want to have anyone else deal with it, least of all Lucy.

But Lucy's smile faded when he didn't answer and remained silent. She looked down to see him fiddling with the corners of the book cover, but that wasn't what worried her. It was when she saw when she looked back up. She saw something she'd never seen on his face, something she didn't understand. The visor he usually wore that could usually mask his emotions was gone, sitting on the floor next to him for a change.

It was almost as if there was something that had once been hidden had emerged but she didn't know what that was. "Bicks? You okay?" she whispered.

He nodded slowly before looking up to see the concern on her face. He hated that he'd done that. "Yeah, sorry," he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and Lucy saw it. "I'm okay. Just… an eventful night, I guess."

"Gonna tell me about it?" she asked, resting her head on his shoulder again.

"Not today." Maybe one day…

"Okay," she whispered, watching as Bickslow opened the book in his lap and flicked to the page he had previously been on. "Any chance you're free tomorrow night?"

"Most likely."

"Great." She lifted her head back up and push herself up to her knees once again. "Come by my place at around six thirty, and wear a suit."

He raised an eyebrow. "Going to tell me what for?"

"Nope. It's a surprise," she giggled, suddenly finding herself eager for the planned double date. So as she raised herself to her feet, she instantly regretted doing so quickly, feeling her head spin slightly.

"Careful…" Bickslow mumbled as the blonde swayed before steadying herself on one of the shelves.

"I'm fine," Lucy giggled again, leaning down and taking one side of his face to tilt it up and kiss him quickly. "Anyway, I need to go lock myself in a dark room for the rest of the day." Because really, if she didn't leave she would probably be happy just sitting on the cold floor of the library for a while longer and she'd really have no way of explaining herself out of that one should anyone actually walk into the library.

So as Bickslow went back to his book, hoping that Lucy having something planned for the following night meant she was done with her game, Lucy weaved her way through the noisy guildhall and made sure of avoiding Levy, just because she'd said she was going to get a book. And well, she hadn't come out with a book. She'd forgotten about that part and it was too late to go back so she just had to hope that the Script mage wouldn't notice that little detail.