I can't breathe.

Lucy's throat and lungs were burning. She tried to breathe in but the muscles pushed out instead, coughing up fluid. It felt like she coughed forever, but finally her body listened to her and she was able to take in air. She opened her eyes and looked around.

Laxus was peering down at her. She smiled instantly. "Hey."

Tension in his eyes eased. "Hey yourself."

"What's going on?"

"You fell asleep in the bathtub. You almost drowned."

"Oh." She probably should have been more concerned but she couldn't quite process what he had just told her.

Bickslow's head popped up over Laxus's shoulder. "Hey gorgeo…" he stopped himself. "Hey Lucy." He spoke to Laxus. "That was a pretty close one, huh? We should probably just be glad she's safe and call it a night."

Laxus's brow furrowed. He pulled Lucy closer, putting himself further between her and Bickslow. "Stop looking at her." He started pulling the bed covers over her, but not before Lucy realized she was still naked. Once she was sufficiently covered, he turned towards Bickslow. "You better be telling the truth."

"I am. I am. She was turning blue. I thought she was going to die or something. The bathtub seemed like the fastest way to warm her up. She was having a really severe reaction to the bite." He leaned a little closer. "Look at her pupils. She's still tripping balls."

Laxus stared down at Lucy for a moment. "Yeah, she's gone alright. Did you keep the spider?"

Bickslow nodded and left the room. He came back a few moments later carrying the Mason jar. Laxus took it from him and examined it. "Damn, he's vicious looking. The coloring is really bright. That means he's more venomous than most. That probably explains her extreme reaction."

Bickslow crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "Well, I hadn't heard that before."

Lucy was getting bored. She tried to get up but the covers were wrapped around her tightly. She sighed and looked up at Laxus. "Can you help me out of this?"

"No." He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. "The bedspread is the only thing covering you and right now. I'm scared to think of the trouble you could get into if you could move. I don't want you trying to fly out a window or anything."

Lucy pouted and tried make Laxus feel sympathetic with her eyes.

"It's not going to work," he said, but the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.

Lucy saw the smile and felt triumphant. "Are you sure, its not going to work?" She let a little flirtation slip into her voice. She made a half turn and managed to get an arm free. Laxus immediately readjusted the cover, but Lucy ran her fingers along his forearm before he could pull away.

Laxus stopped mid-motion. He loved that Lucy was flirting with him but Bickslow was still in the room and she was still as high as a kite.

Bickslow didn't need telepathy to read his thoughts. He clapped his hands together and addressed Laxus in a formal voice that was a bit too loud. "Well, I think I'll be going now." He leaned in closer to Laxus and whispered, "But you have to fill me in on what you do to her later." He smiled his maniac smile and stuck his tongue out, dodging out of the way before Laxus could land a jab on his shoulder. Laxus wasn't mad at Bickslow any more. He trusted his comrade with his life, why not his girl?

"Bye, bye Bickslow," said Lucy.

"Bye Lucy. I'm glad you didn't die." He let himself at of the apartment.

Laxus looked down at Lucy. She was smiling and her hair was in wet tangles from her earlier bath. Knowing that she was naked underneath the covers made something inside him stir but he pushed it down. It wouldn't be right to sleep with her in this condition. The lightning mage wrapped the covers around Lucy more tightly, actually rolling her in them like a Lucy burrito.

She laughed and then tried to get out. "Hey, now I really can't move."

"I know. How about you try to get some sleep? The effects of the bite will wear off in a couple hours."

Lucy nodded and snuggled into the covers. She felt warm and secure. It was easy to fall asleep.