When Bickslow woke up and rolled over, a small part of him began to worry because he wasn't pulling a certain blonde into his side to nuzzle his face in her hair and try and go back to sleep. No, instead he found nothing.

Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes before he reached across the bed for the small clock on the nightstand and he found himself pleasantly surprised that it was actually a little past noon and not some ungodly hour in the morning. He knew he shouldn't be worrying, but he'd gotten used to waking up next to Lucy, and it was kind of hard not to get used to it when it was how he woke up most days of the week if they were both in town.

Without fail though, she usually woke him up at some stupid hour – whatever time she got up, really – but for whatever reason, she hadn't that day, and Bickslow was a little confused. Sure, he still hated mornings, but she usually only did it to let him know she was going to the guild and that she'd see him when he got there. He never cared that he got woken up because he always fell back asleep.

Sighing, Bickslow crawled back up to where he was supposed to be laying on the bed (seriously, he had no idea how he always managed to end up sleeping diagonally when she wasn't there) and made himself comfortable again, pulling the blanket up over his head and fluffing up his pillows. He was ready to just go back to sleep for another hour or so before he realised it was Valentine's Day and he probably should have at least thought of something nice to do.

But alas, he hadn't. It had completely slipped his mind, and that was something that really made him a little confused, since if anything, it was probably his favourite day of the year. Between the drunk and depressed women that sat at bars and the pathological need to be a complete womanising ass most of the time, it was like Christmas… in February. He'd never been interested in the whole romantic side of it, no, he'd just wanted the fun part of it. Bickslow had had his fair share of drunken Valentine's hook ups over the years and there were definitely some he didn't want to remember and had forcibly pushed them to the back of his mind where they were to stay for the rest of his life. Despite that, he still enjoyed his favourite day of the year. Immensely.

But Bickslow wasn't that same womanising ass anymore. He wasn't going to be prowling the bars later that night. He was… well, he didn't know what he was going to be doing because he'd completely forgotten about the expectation to actually do something nice.

It wasn't like Bickslow couldn't do the whole romantic, loving boyfriend thing, because he could, if he tried hard enough and he really wanted to. But for the most part, he was surprisingly bad at doing anything that involved actual textbook romance. He just wasn't that kind of person – flowers, rose petals on the bed, wine, dinner, candles. Nope. He couldn't do it. He could do some of it, like the whole dinner and wine thing, but not the rest of it. Lucy knew that when he did end up planning something (like dinner, as he usually did because honestly, that was the extent of what he could come up with when it came to nice, romantic evenings), he tried really hard to make sure everything was perfect, but she didn't mind that. Lucy knew what kind of person Bickslow was.

But seriously, Valentine's Day was something else entirely. He only had seven or so hours to come up with some elaborate, romantic as hell night for his girlfriend and somehow make it seem like he'd had it all under control and not been freaking out about it. At all.

First things first, he needed to get out of bed, so he did so, barely stumbling when he got his feet tangled up in the sheets as he made his way for the bathroom that was on that side of the room. Bickslow stopped heading straight for the shower when he did a quick glance towards his mirror out of habit, and stared at the two folded up pieces of paper that were taped to the centre of his mirror, one with 'Read this one first' scrawled on it, and the other with 'Make sure you've read the other one first.' Raising an eyebrow, he pulled the first one down and unfolded it, instantly recognising the handwriting as Lucy's.

Morning/afternoon, Bickslow!

I'm sorry for not waking you when I left this morning, but it was still really early and I didn't want to disturb you after you got back so late yesterday from that job.

I have everything sorted out for tonight so all you have to do is be ready (in a suit) and at my door by 6:30 p.m.

I know it's a little cheesy, but I couldn't decide on what to get you so I wrote you something instead. With that being said, please don't get me anything either, because honestly, you spoil me enough as it is.

Happy Valentine's Day, Bicks. I love you more and more every day and you know that.

Hope you come by the guild later.

Lucy.

Glancing up at the second letter taped to the mirror, he pulled it down and walked back out to his bedroom, his shower long forgotten as he read over the first letter again with a slight smile. If Lucy had already organised everything for the night, then maybe she knew he'd forgotten about it?

…Probably not the best thing, he thought, but he realised it worked out in his favour. Or so he was hoping. But still, he was a little disappointed that he wasn't allowed to get her anything, not that he knew what he'd get her.

Placing the first one on the nightstand next to him, he unfolded the second one and began to read the words written in her neat handwriting.

Once upon a time in a kingdom not too far away, there lived a girl whose name was Cosplayer. Well, her name wasn't really Cosplayer, but to a certain man, that's what her name was and he'd called her that since the day they first met.

Now, these two never really got along, and they never really talked either. He would always find something to tease her about even though he knew that whatever he said was the complete opposite of the truth. But, the girl never really minded the constant teasing, the majority of topics being related to her love life, or lack thereof. She didn't mind any of it because inside, she was laughing at all of it. Even though he was teasing her, he'd always been able to make her laugh.

Over time, the girl found herself growing more and more curious about the enigma that was the man with the outrageous blue-and-black hair, but of course, the man himself never noticed any of this, and the girl never minded. She was free to observe; to watch, to learn more about the mysterious man.

She simultaneously learned nothing about the man but also learned many things. The man kept many things about his life and personality hidden, only revealing them to those closest to him and even then, the girl felt like there were still many things that only he himself knew, and she wanted to know them as well. She wanted to know all of his secrets, to unravel the mystery of the blue-and-black haired man.

But how was she supposed to do that when the two had nothing in common? If anything, they were almost complete opposites. They'd barely talked, he liked to tease her and she chose to ignore it, mostly. He was loud and she was reserved. He was almost brash, assertive, facetious, and frankly, a little rude. It wasn't that the girl wasn't confident, because she was, but it was a different kind of confidence the man had. She was smart and eloquent, honest and kind.

To the girl, it was almost as if even talking to the man would end in disaster. After all, what would there be to talk about if they shared no common ground?

'Ah! There is a common ground!' the girl thought, her crafty and cunning nature emerging. Of all things, her nickname as given by the man would be the one thing that allowed her to strike a conversation with him.

On all accounts, the name had been one that infuriated her to no end. Over time, it grew to be less annoying and when she heard it come from that same low voice it had been born from, she could only shake her head. It still amazed her that he'd stuck with it for so long.

But also over time, she began to see just how hypocritical it was for him to call her that of all things. The girl was not a cosplayer in any way, shape, or form. If anything, the man was more of a cosplayer than her, between his medieval knight-like visor and headwear, to the skirt-like cloth he'd taken to wearing. What he would be cosplaying was was a complete mystery, but that didn't really matter.

As if on cue, the blue-and-black haired man grinned when he saw the girl approach, his tongue lolling from his mouth and showcasing yet another one of his outrageous character traits. "Cosplayer," he said in greeting.

"I could say the same to you," the girl replied, a small smirk gracing her lips as she stood before the tall man.

"Oh?"

A single nod from the girl. Gathering her courage, she continued, "Calling me Cosplayer is hypocritical, don't you think? After all, you're the one who wears a skirt and the visor and helmet that makes you look like some stupid medieval knight from an old fairy tale."

"Maybe," the man said, shrugging slightly as the grin never left his face and taking but a single step forward.

The girl was taken aback for a moment, gaping up at the man before her. She was confused. She hadn't expected the usually oh so difficult man to just… agree with her. No, that wasn't right. She was missing something. She was sure of it.

"Maybe?" she echoed, barely registering that the man had taken another step, effectively closing the distance and towering over her even more.

"Maybe I am being a hypocrite," he admitted. "But you still failed to deny being a cosplayer."

"I… I am not a cosplayer!"

"Yes you are."

"I am not. You are," she said firmly.

Another shrug from the man. "Maybe. But still, you're a cosplayer, and you will always be the original Cosplayer, making you the Cosplay Queen…"

She could feel her face heat up as his words trailed off.

"…And if I'm a cosplayer too, then doesn't that make me the Cosplay King?"

Bickslow fell back to the bed with a wide grin, holding Lucy's story in his hands above him as he tried to wrap his head around what he'd read. She'd essentially called him a cosplayer, and honestly, he had to agree that she had a point. Although, he didn't know how to feel about being called a 'stupid medieval knight.'

Slowly, he sat back up, chuckling quietly at the ridiculousness of it; the ridiculousness that only Lucy could pull off and somehow make it amazing and a little sweet.

He'd decided that he was going to keep her short story, whether she'd wanted him to or not because honestly, he loved it, and he figured that it probably had something to do with the fact that she'd written it herself. That, and it was about them, so what was there not to love?

Glancing up at the photo frame that hung above his bed, he climbed up onto the mattress and took it down from the wall and placed it down on the bed and worked on unclipping the back piece. It was only something Ever had picked out for him – nothing important or worth keeping.

Carefully, he placed the two sheets of the paper with her story inside the frame side by side, leaving a small gap between the pages and around the edges. The frame was the perfect size, really. Fastening the back piece back on with the clips, he climbed back up and hung it on the nail above his bed, straightening it up and admiring it.

Out of all of the things in his apartment, it was probably what meant the most to him, whether she had meant it to mean that much or not. And that said a lot, really, considering it was just two sheets of paper.

Stepping down from the bed and making his way to his bathroom again, remembering about his shower and needing to get to the guild, he shook his head lightly. Lucy was probably going to freak out when she noticed it hanging above his bed.

Lucy smiled when she felt the strong and familiar arms wrap around her waist from behind as she sat at the bar, going over her plans for the night with the demon barmaid and the bookworm.

"'Cosplay King,' huh?" Bickslow murmured, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to say that," she said with a quiet laugh before turning her head just enough to kiss the corner of his mouth. "Happy Valentine's day, baby."

He grinned at her use of the title she'd originally mocked him over every time he'd let it slip, but the more he done so, the more she'd started saying it. Bickslow enjoyed seeing the barely visible dusting of pink on her cheeks every time she said it. It was good to know that there were still some things she'd get a little embarrassed over, even if it really was just a tiny bit.

"Love you, Cosplayer," he murmured, smirking when the tip of his nose brushed against a spot he knew Lucy found sensitive and she let out a quiet giggle. "So, gonna tell me what your plans are for tonight?" he asked.

"Nope. It's a surprise."

"Sure I don't need to do anything?"

"You need to do absolutely nothing," she said as she turned in his grasp slightly, just enough so she didn't have to turn her head over her should to look at him. "I have everything sorted out so all you have to do is show up to my apartment in a suit later tonight."

Bickslow watched for a few seconds, trying to see if what she was really doing wasn't a test of some sort, to see if she was maybe checking to see what he was able to come up with. But he couldn't see anything. Bickslow knew Lucy had tendencies to be a little cunning and conniving – when she wanted to be – but he didn't think this was one of those moments. She genuinely wanted him to do nothing and let her do all of the planning, and even though he felt guilty for forgetting about it all until he'd woken up, he was glad that she was doing it all, because honestly, she would be able to do a much better job than he could.

Lucy was better when it came to doing the romantic evenings, and Bickslow was better when it came to planning the fun days. It had turned into a somewhat silent agreement that they should just stick to what they were good at.

With a small shrug, Bickslow straightened up. "If you say so…" he mumbled before leaning over her to get the mug Mira placed down on the bar for him. "Well, I'm going to go see what Gajeel is up to or something. I'll talk to you later." And with a quick kiss to her cheek, he turned and headed to where Gajeel was sitting with Laxus (as per usual).

Mira walked back over to where Lucy was sitting, polishing the glass. Once Bickslow was on the other side of the guild, she turned to the blonde with a bright smile. "Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!" she beamed, almost jumping with joy.

"I know!" Lucy giggled, swinging around on the stool. "I can't wait to see their faces when they realise what's going on."

"I can't wait to see who's going to flip out first," Levy chimed in from where she sat next to Lucy.

"Probably Laxus," Lucy said before taking a sip from the glass of juice in front of her. "Bicks and Gajeel have already done this, remember?"

The Take Over mage placed the glass down behind her, already working on polishing up the next with a rag by the time she'd turned around again. "He'll be fine. I don't even think he knows what day it is to be honest…" she said, a hint of sadness in her voice, "But it should be okay."

Levy sighed as she closed her book. "It's a shame that we even have to do this though. Why couldn't we just be in love with guys who actually know how to be romantic and aren't total idiots when it comes to doing anything even close to it?"

"Oh, come on, Levy. I'm sure Gajeel isn't that bad," Lucy said as she stifled a giggle. "Bicks is alright when he puts the effort in… for the most part. But Laxus… Yeah, I'm sure Laxus is a bit of a nightmare when it comes to that."

"That he is," Mira said, shaking her head lightly before walking to the other end of the bar with a rag in hand, already busy with wiping it down as she went.

Bickslow swirled the amber liquid around in the glass as he leant back on the bar with one elbow. He'd been standing there at the bar next to Lucy for the last fifteen minutes, and the fact that she wasn't already making comments about the fact he was already on his third – or was it fourth? – glass of scotch in such a short amount of time was a little worrying. In fact, the blonde had been awfully quiet since they'd arrived at the restaurant and been seated at the bar while they waited for their table to be ready. She'd just sat there on one of the stools, sipping away at the fruity cocktail with a smirk on her face.

"Shouldn't the table be ready by now?" Bickslow asked as he looked around the room. Almost every table was occupied by a happy couple or multiple happy couples, each of them enjoying their evenings with their beloveds.

But instead of an actual answer, Lucy just shrugged before taking another sip of her drink, swivelling on the bar stool. She was having a hard time hiding her excitement, especially since she'd made a point of arriving at the restaurant early just to watch Bickslow get agitated. Though he was usually good at hiding it, Lucy could recognise the small tell-tale signs of Bickslow getting nervous and beginning to worry, and like it usually did, it began with him fidgeting slightly, his foot tapping on the ground quietly as he stood with his ankles crossed.

Lucy knew Bickslow hadn't made any plans, and she didn't actually mind. He'd been out on a job for the last few days and it had been the first job he'd been allowed to go out on since getting hurt. Despite claiming he'd been ready for work for the past two weeks, the master and Porlyusica were set on making him wait until he was completely healed. For the most part, Bickslow may have seemed like he'd been completely fine and healed, but he really wasn't. Wendy and Porlyusica could only do so much; the rest was just a matter of waiting for his body to heal his wounds and because of the extent of his injuries, he'd needed those extra two weeks whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Of course, he wasn't going to admit that he really had had a constant dull ache in his side the entire time, and he also wasn't going to admit (to anyone else other than Lucy) that after such a short job, he was completely exhausted, and really, he didn't know why. Sure, he'd basically spent an entire month in bed because he had nothing else to do but it wasn't like it was all that different to what he did when he wasn't out on jobs anyway. The only reason Lucy knew he was so drained was because he'd pretty much fallen asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow merely minutes after walking through his front door with Lucy just behind him, and that had only been the night before.

So really, he hadn't had a chance to make any plans or reservations of the sort, and that worked out in Lucy's favour. She knew her adorable dork of a boyfriend wasn't exactly the greatest or the best when it came to being overly romantic or planning romantic evenings. Sure, when they'd first started dating, he'd made a point of trying to be that kind of guy, but Lucy knew he wasn't. And besides, Lucy didn't need him to be romantic; she needed him to be exactly who he was, because that's who she loved.

Now, Lucy was really excited for their night, and that was just because it involved two of her closest friends and their respective partners – Levy and Gajeel, and Mira and Laxus. They were all in similar situations, relationship wise. Gajeel really did have an inability to be romantic, and honestly, Lucy wondered if the word 'romance' was even part of his vocabulary. Laxus, on the other hand… well, he was Laxus. By that point, a fair share of the guild knew about his surprising relationship with the demon barmaid that had been going on for longer than anyone even expected or thought, and whenever it got brought up, he'd just glare at them to make them want to cower in a corner, or he'd shock them when Mira had her back turned.

Despite it being Valentine's Day, herself and her two friends really had no desire for the intimate and private evenings with their boyfriends, even though that's probably what they should have wanted. They just didn't. And each of their partners was more than willing to let their girlfriends take the reins on the night. After all, they were all pretty useless. For the most part.

Because of that, the three women had come up with the brilliant plan of celebrating Valentine's Day as a group. Not just a double date, but a triple date. And honestly, all three women were incredibly excited and eager for what their partners' reactions would be.

It was Levy and Gajeel who arrived first, Levy just squealing in delight as she skipped up to the bar to hug the blonde before ordering her own cocktail, and Gajeel just rolling his eyes with a groan before going up to lean on the bar next to Bickslow. The Seith mage and Dragon Slayer had both realised that they should have expected something like that to happen, and besides, as long as their girlfriends didn't put a stop to their alcohol intake for the night, they'd survive. Hopefully.

Not long after that, Mira and Laxus arrived, much to Bickslow and Gajeel's surprise.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Laxus muttered as he stopped dead in his tracks in front of the restaurant bar, looking between the giggling women and the frankly bored males. It was obvious to Laxus that his two friends had been roped into what was clearly their girlfriends' plan.

"Sorry, Laxus," Mira laughed. "If you'd known then you wouldn't have agreed to coming along."

"Damn straight."

Bickslow pushed himself up from where he leant against the bar with a wide grin as the waitress came out to lead them to their table – apparently the table had been ready the entire time, they'd been just waiting for the entire party to arrive – and put his arm over the other man's shoulders as they walked. "Cheer up, Sparky. As long as she lets you drink, you'll get through it," he said. "Right, Gajeel? Alcohol is key," he added over his shoulder.

"Assuming they don't cut us off this time," Gajeel muttered.

"Oh, don't worry. You're all free to drink as much as you want this time," Lucy said as she turned her head over her shoulder, the corner of her mouth lifted up in a mischievous smirk. "As long as you let us drink as much as we want."

All three of the males stopped right before the table, each staring at the giggling women with amazement as they took their seats at their table. If they were all drinking, then it was definitely going to be an interesting night.

And interesting… well, Bickslow could do interesting.

"And then Stalker One and Stalker Two—"

"Their names are Jet and Droy!" Levy shrieked as she giggled, playfully slapping the Dragon Slayer's shoulder before lowering her head again to rest on his chest as they curled up on the sofa.

"Yeah, whatever, Shrimp," Gajeel mumbled. "Anyway, so Stalker One and Stalker Two walk in and then Shrimp starts throwing books at them, totally forgetting she's naked and those two idiots just stand there with blood noses, too fucking stunned to move."

As Levy buried her face in his chest in embarrassment, everyone else started laughing. Bickslow was wiping a tear from under his eye as he tipped his head back over the armrest from where he sat sideways on the leather chair, his legs over the other armrest. Laxus only shook his head as Mira burst into a fit of giggles from where she sat on his lap on another lounge.

"Why didn't Gajeel go on a rampage?" Lucy asked, leaning forward from where she was curled up on Bickslow to reach for the wine glass on the coffee table.

"No reason…" Gajeel muttered, making a point turning his head away, no doubt to hide the slight blush on his cheeks.

Levy was able to temporarily get over her embarrassment, no doubt because the small woman had been drinking all night over dinner and hadn't stopped drinking since they'd all made their way over to Laxus's house to continue the night.

"He might have been tied up…" the Script mage said with a sly grin, warranting another round of giggles from the girls and cackling from the Seith mage.

When Mira turned in Laxus's lap to give him her own version of a mischievous smirk, his eyes went wide, and when the Take Over mage shot up from his lap and headed straight for the stairs, Laxus turned back to the group who were all staring back at him with wide grins. With a slight shrug and shake of his head, he shot up from the chair and picked up his glass of scotch and downed it all in one go and headed for the stairs himself.

"No one is getting fuckin' tied up tonight," He muttered under his breath as he disappeared up the stairs and out of the dim living room, leaving his guests to their own devices and imagination for the night.

"Well," Gajeel mumbled, sitting up from where he lay on the lounge and picking Levy up with him. "No way I'm stickin' around to hear that."

"Agreed," Bickslow snickered, swinging his legs around to the front of the leather chair when Lucy got to her feet, swaying slightly when he was upright having had a little bit too much to drink over the course of the night. Then, as he walked towards Laxus' front door with his arm around Lucy's waist, he looked down with a wide grin and said, "Come on, Cosplayer; I might let you tie me up."

Of course, when the two finally got back to his apartment as giggling and cackling messes in their alcohol-induced states, Lucy made a point of saying no one was getting tied up, and really, Bickslow was glad for that. He'd done some weird things before, but being tied up was never one of them and he was planning on keeping it that way.

Another quiet laugh escaped her when Bickslow pushed her down on the bed, and she tipped her head back into the mattress when he climbed over her after throwing his jacket to some part of the floor beside the bed, his lips brushing over the spot on her neck that always made a slight shiver run down her spine.

But when she noticed the photo frame above the bed was different, her brow furrowed in confusion before she scrambled out from under him to stand on shaky legs by the pillows and headboard as Bickslow flopped down on his stomach, mumbling something into sheets before propping himself up with his elbow.

"You framed this?" she asked, an eyebrow raised as the corner of her lips lifted up into a small smile.

"'Course I did," he mumbled as he pushed himself onto his knees. "Because it was great and I loved it."

Lucy squealed as his arms wrapped around her hips from behind and he pulled her back down to the bed, quieting her giggles when his lips found hers in a tender kiss, keeping most of his weight off her as her arms laced around his neck.

For them, they didn't really need to do the overly romantic gestures and most surprising to Bickslow, it also wasn't just about sex, which was probably most surprising to Bickslow. It was just about being able to be close to each other. Bickslow knew he didn't want to lose that. He didn't want to lose the quiet nights in or the days where their faces hurt from laughing. He didn't want to lose Lucy. Ever.

He already knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but he wasn't going to move on that. He would wait, just because he wanted to enjoy what they had then. He wanted to enjoy the quiet nights in and the days where his face hurt from laughing with the love of his life.

"I love you, Bickslow. I really do," Lucy whispered, her lips brushing against his with each word.

A small smile formed as he pulled back just a small amount, looking down at the blonde with nothing but adoration and love – like he always did. "I know you do," he whispered. "And I love you more than I can even put into words."