Lucy was still sitting there in the guild when Bickslow hurried in twenty minutes later, breathing heavily as he sat down across from her, startling her team mates. Erza was the first to recover, gripping her sword tightly as she glared at the man in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I - need - to - talk - to - Lucy," Bickslow gasped out.

Lucy stood, glaring at him, "Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it, Bickslow."

She tugged on Gray's hand, pulling him out of the guild before another word could be spoken Lucy's heart was racing, however, as she stalked away. She shoved the image of the kiss they shared earlier out of her mind as she turned onto her street, still pulling Gray behind her.

"Um, Luce, where are we going?" Gray asked, hesitantly.

"Back to my place," She snapped, annoyed that he hadn't figured that out yet.

"Why?"

She pulled him into her apartment, kissing him deeply as she slammed the door shut. He tasted like mint and snow, which always seemed to surprise her when their lips touched. Today she ignored the surprise and pressed closer to him, her body pressing up against his in a desperate need to forget the way Bickslow had made her knees weak when he'd kissed her earlier. She could feel Gray melting into her and she pressed harder, allowing her fingers to run along his waist as she felt his hardness press against her. He pulled away at that, staring hard at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, gently.

"Kissing you," She replied, looking up at him through her eyelashes, as she ran one hand down his chest.

"Yeah, no I got that, but why are you kissing me like this?" He replied, pulling her hands away from him so he could think straight.

It took everything that Gray possessed to keep from allowing her to continue. He'd wanted Lucy since the moment they'd met and here she was, pressing against him like she wanted to take their relationship to the next step. He might have believed her, too, if it weren't for two very important things: The way she had looked when Bickslow had sat across from them and the desperation that he sensed in her kiss just now. He sadly stepped back from her, watching her with sympathetic eyes.

"Lucy, are you doing this because you really want it or because you feel the need to get back at Bickslow for something?" He asked, kindly placing a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy lifted her chin defiantly, "What on earthland would I be getting back at Bickslow for?"

Gray's shoulders slumped a little, "I don't know, Luce. But something is going there, I can tell. Look, you know I adore you and would do anything for you, but if you want to take our relationship to the next level I want you to be sure this is what you want and not what you feel you have to do because of some revenge thing, okay? You want to stay with me, that's cool. I'm very much for that. If you just want to be friends with benefits, that's cool, too. If you want to be a celibate relationship, that's fine. I'm okay with any way you want this relationship, but don't sleep with me just to get back at your ex or make him jealous, okay? I'm not cool with that."

Lucy blinked back tears as he gently scolded her before sitting down in a chair, her head hanging a little. She'd been so wrapped up in her own hurt that she hadn't stopped to think that she might be hurting Gray as well.

"I'm sorry," She whispered softly, sniffing. "I didn't think - well, it doesn't matter what I did or didn't think. I didn't mean to take things this far, but he keeps insisting he has to talk to me and I don't want to talk to him, it hurts, too much. I was so upset about myself that I didn't think what it must be like for you."

She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"I'm so sorry."

Gray knelt beside her, wrapping his arms around her.

"It's alright, Luce," He soothed. "We're a family after all - you and me, Erza, Happy, and even that idiot, Natsu. We look out for one another. I didn't think we would last long, but I want you to know that every minute of it made me happy."

He pulled back, smiling at her, "Still friends though, right?"

She nodded, a new set of tears rolling down her face, "Always."

He grinned and kissed her forehead, "You go find that idiot, Bickslow and talk to him, you might be surprised by what he has to say."

She grinned shyly at him, "You always knew that I still loved him, didn't you?"

He looked away, blushing, "Yeah, well, get going, weirdo."

Bickslow was trudging home, kicking the dirt with his feet as he walked, his eyes staring at the ground directly below him, when he heard his name being called. At first he ignored it, not really wanting anything to do with anyone, until he realized that it was Lucy's voice that was calling his name. He whirled, staring hard at the girl that was running toward him.

"I'm willing to listen to what you have to say," Lucy said once she caught up to him. "I'm not saying anything will come of it or that I'm not still seriously angry with you, but I'll listen."

Bickslow grinned, his whole demeanor changing at words.

"I just wanted to talk to you about what happened with us," He replied. "Can we talk in private?"

"Lead the way," She said, gesturing for him to start walking.

The two walked in silence for a while, Bickslow glancing at her every once in a while as if he was surprised to find her still walking with him every time. She hid a grin behind her hands, causing his grin to widen at the sight as he led her into his building. Once the two had settled on his sofa he sighed, taking her hands in his so that she would know that now was his time to be serious.

"When the baby - when we lost her it was hard, for both of us," Bickslow started, staring at the small, delicate fingers wrapped in his own. "And I was terrified of even touching you, much less trying again. Especially since I was sure that you blamed me just as much as I blamed myself for the loss. If only I'd been there, if only I'd gotten there a little sooner, if only - well, you get the idea. I couldn't understand why you were pretending like you didn't blame me when it was obviously my fault and that made me angry. I kept wishing you would just yell at me, if you had yelled I felt we could sort it out and possibly move past it, but you wouldn't. You kept looking at me with those beautiful brown eyes full of sorrow and pity and guilt and I hated it because I wanted you to blame me just as much as I blamed myself. So I lashed out at you and drove you away. I never once thought that you might blame yourself just as much I blame myself until Laxus pointed it out."

Lucy nodded, today was apparently a day for crying for her because once more tears were streaking down her face.

"I hated myself," She whispered. "I was so sure that the reason you were breaking up with me was because you blamed me for the loss and you were disgusted with me."

Bickslow shook his head, "No, I couldn't blame you. It wasn't your fault. I should have known to put something down so you would slip, but I didn't think about it."

Lucy shook her head, "If it wasn't my fault then it wasn't yours either, okay? It was just something that happened. Something awful that happened to us."

Bickslow nodded, "Okay, something that just happened."

Lucy smiled before freezing, "Wait - you told Laxus about what happened?"

He nodded again, "I guess I feel like I can talk about it now."

Her grinned widened as she flung her arms around him.

"I'm so happy for you," She whispered, kissing him softly on the cheek.