Laxus had come to accept that his guild was full of drunks, perverts and downright crazy people and the current state of the guildhall happened to reinforce that acceptance. They had finally finished the weeks' worth of partying and drinking that followed winning the Grand Magic Games when Natsu and Lisanna had finally announced their relationship, which of course spurred on more partying and drinking. The party itself was of little to no interest to the lightning slayer. Sure, he was happy for Ash Breath and the poor girl who had agreed to date him, but socialising just wasn't his thing. Instead, he leant on the balcony to the second floor and watched over his guildmates. Bickslow was complaining about how another babe had been taken off the market whilst Freed was creating a lesson plan for Natsu on how to properly court a Strauss woman, something he believed he had superior knowledge of due to his girlfriend being Mirajane Strauss. Evergreen was currently consoling Elfman who kept shouting that his little sister getting a man wasn't manly at all and Mira could be seen behind the bar with hearts in her eyes, a crowd surrounding her, debating how it was even biologically possible. Laxus could see a flash of blue hair and red eyes in the darkest corner of the guild and grinned at the secret, not so secret, couple that was Levy and Gajeel, both pretending to pay attention to anything that wasn't the person next to them. He watched Erza demolishing cake at a rate any dragon slayer would be envious of, Cana drowning herself in her current barrel and Gray stripping next to her with Juvia stalking from behind the nearest pillar. Most of Laxus's attention, however, was drawn to a certain head of blonde hair sitting at the bar, watching in much the same way he was.

Lucy Heartfilia had caught his attention from the beginning, back when he was a complete dick, before he'd been excommunicated. He winced as he remembered offering to help against Phantom Lord under the condition she become his girl and then turning her to stone during Fantasia. Back then, he'd only seen her as a spoilt blonde bimbo who would happen to look good moaning beneath him in his bed. How wrong he'd been. Ever since Gildarts had let him come back, he just couldn't seem to stop watching her. She was light personified, truly earning her the nickname 'The Light of Fairy Tail'. Lucy was kindness, happiness, strength and love all encompassed in a knock-out body with the most incredible 36-24-36 body ratio Laxus had ever seen. She was, essentially, perfect. Or at least she was in his opinion. She had been the first to welcome him back without the slightest hint of fear or hatred and he had heard from the Raijinshuu that she was the only one who made the effort to befriend them after Fantasia, regardless of the fact Evergreen had turned her to stone and Bickslow had tried to kill her. Ever since Tenrou, he had watched her, listening out for her voice, waiting for the scent of strawberries and vanilla to enter the guild when he knew she was on a mission. He had tried to convince himself that he was just watching out for a guildmate or at the very least it was only a small crush. Laxus Dreyar did not fall in love and that was final. The only people who knew about his slight obsession with the Celestial mage were his team and all of them had been sworn to secrecy. Not that there was a secret to keep anyway.

Tonight, however, Lucy didn't have her normal smile. He watched as people came up to her with pity in their eyes, most in the guild still under the impression she was in love with the fire idiot but he knew better. With every sympathetic look and soft voice her frustration grew. He could see her eye twitch slightly in annoyance and her smile become more fake with every conversation. Each time she got a moment of peace he could see her rub her temples, trying to sooth the growing headache that came hand in hand with Fairy Tail. Laxus watched her repeating this pattern for the next hour before she finally gave up. With a wave to Mira, the blonde began weaving her way through the current brawl, dodging chairs and ducking under flying glasses on her way to the exit. He watched as she stopped to hug and congratulate one half of the happy couple, the other being the instigator of the brawl. She quickly gave her goodbye to Lisanna and exited the guild, and with her departure went most of Laxus's interest watching the rest of the guild. He turned up his soundpods and closed his eyes, enjoying the sudden peace that came with his actions.

It was about half an hour later that he left the guild himself, after being hit in the face with some stray debris and electrocuting most of his nakama as compensation. His heavy coat kept him warm as he walked deeper into Magnolia. The chill of winter was finally starting to set in and he could see his breath fog in front of him. He pitied anyone left outside tonight. The streets of Magnolia were quiet, save for the distant sounds of the party he'd just left, and empty of people. Laxus wasn't surprised. It was close to three in the morning after all. Taking his usual route towards his home in the East Forest, Laxus found himself only a couple of streets away from Strawberry Street where he knew the little Celestial mage lived. He knew there were other routes home but his favourite had quite easily become the one that passed Blondie's place. It was longer but he didn't mind the detour and he wasn't going to question why he liked it so much. It was only a couple of houses down when he began to smell it. The strong scent of strawberries and vanilla mixed with a shit tonne of copper and iron. He would know that smell anywhere. Laxus quickly ran towards her house, following the stench of blood and burst through her front door.

"Shit, Lucy!"