I don't own fairy tail or any of it's characters.

By the time Lucy got out of the bathroom attached to their room, Natsu was dancing in place. "Hurry Lucy! Gray is going to beat us!"

Lucy sighed and pulled some sunscreen out her bag. She pushed her ponytail over her shoulder and turned her back to Natsu, "Pretty sure that doesn't matter, can you put lotion on my back please?"

Natsu looked at her barely covered body, and at the lotion, then back to her body, swallowing deeply. The combination of the beach and Lucy was already becoming his favorite. Her white bikini with pale pink flowers was enough to make him reconsider going out to the ocean at all, but then he noticed Gray and Juvia slowly making their way towards the beach that was the vacation home's backyard. "Nope, can't, there's no time!" He ran over and grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder and bursting out of the door to the porch.

"Natsu! I almost missed grabbing my bag! What the hell are you doing?" she screamed.

He ignored her fury and ran down the stairs, laughing like a madman. When he hit the ground he sprinted full force, blowing by Juvia and Gray, ignoring their complaints about how he caused them to lose hold of their umbrella. Luckily Lucy had the presence of mind to drop her bag on the beach, because Natsu wasn't stopping. He leapt into the small waves, pulling Lucy into the water, laughing at her sounds of distress. "Yes!" He dropped Lucy accidentally when he pointed a finger at Gray, who was helping Juvia set up the umbrella on the beach. "In your face Gray! First in the ocean!"

Lucy rose from beneath the water like an angry mermaid and threw her body at Natsu, successfully pinning him underneath. "I wasn't ready you idiot!"

When she released him, he popped his head up with a grin and gave her a wink, "Sorry Luce." She put a hand out to help him up, but instead of using it to rise from the water, Natsu pulled her to him kissing her firmly and squeezing her butt.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed with a scandalized expression on her face.

"What? It's not like they can see, were mostly underwater!" Natsu said with a grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes and shoved his head back under. She ignored his sputtering and waded her way back to the beach. Still full of energy from his excitement about the ocean, Lucy, and being more awesome than Gray, Natsu quickly caught up to her, bounding beside her like an enthusiastic Labrador.

When they made their way back up to Lucy's bag on the beach, Gray was staring at them with his arms crossed, a smug grin on his face, "Good going idiot, nothing says I love you quite like a drowning."

Juvia had pulled off her coverup, revealing her navy and polka dot two piece and bent over to find her sunscreen in her bag. She called to Gray and asked, "Gray-sama? When Juvia finds her sunscreen can you get Juvia's back?"When Gray turned to look at her, both his sarcastic smirk and the color in his cheeks drained from his face.

He swallowed deeply, "You sure you can't get it by yourself."

Natsu grinned, casting a knowing glance at Gray, "Don't worry Juvia, I can get that for you since Gray doesn't want to dirty his hands."

Gray grabbed Natsu's arm, stopping him from heading in Juvia's direction, "I don't think so you fiery mouth breather! Don't you dare touch Juvia with your dirty paws!"

There was an impish glint in Natsu's eyes when he turned to look at his captor, "Oh yea? And what are you going to do about it frosty nips?" He asked flicking Gray on the nipple. Gray growled in rage, tackling Natsu on the beach. They rolled around, each trying to get the upper hand, turning into a mess of limbs and wet sand.

Lucy rolled her eyes and stepped around them, "Here let me see that Juvia, I'll help you. Natsu didn't get my back either." She took the sunscreen that Juvia gratefully offered her. "If we wait for these idiots, we'll never get any sun!"

Juvia frowned, after half a year of dating, she still felt like she didn't understand her Gray at all. When they had arrived at the beach house, she had been thrilled to see that they would finally be forced to share a bed. So far in their relationship, Gray had been taking his time, so much so that it felt like time was holding still. She would get a kiss here or there, but every time things became hot and heavy, Gray suddenly pulled away from her and found an excuse to leave. She knew during this trip it would be silly to expect that to change much, but the possibility of a night of cuddling made her swoon.

Unfortunately, when they arrived back at their room after a day of enjoying the beach, Gray had grabbed the extra blanket from the closet and a pillow from his side of the bed. She stood there stupefied by his strange behavior, barely reacting when he kissed her cheek and said "Good night." Now he was dead asleep, on the floor of all places, and Juvia couldn't get all the doubts in her brain to shut off. Why was Gray avoiding intimate contact with her? Was it something she was doing wrong? Did he even find her attractive in the first place? What kind of guy didn't want to spend the night with his girlfriend?

She sat up and watched him sleep, a small frown on her face. She knew it wasn't a religion thing. Juvia also knew it wasn't a wait until marriage thing, or even a nervous first time type of thing, because Gray had been honest with her about his past relationships. Juvia fell back dramatically on her pillow and stared at the ceiling. She would have to confront Gray about this, but how to bring it up? What if he was mad at her for asking, or even worse, what if the answer was something she couldn't handle?

Juvia pulled out her phone and started sorting through her work emails, if she was ever going to get some sleep, she would have to distract her brain.

"I don't want to go out to the beach today. I think maybe I'll just take a nap here," Levy frowned her reflection in the mirror, adjusting and readjusting her two piece swim suit.

"What? Why?" Gajeel called from their bathroom, where he was attempting to tame back his mane.

"Everyone looks so cute in their bathing suits and I look like a beached whale!" Levy exclaimed.

Gajeel couldn't help but laugh. At twenty-four weeks, Levy was definitely showing now and she was adorable. He walked out of the bathroom and pulled her back up against him, wrapping his arms around her to rest his hands on her growing midsection. "The last thing you look like is a beached whale. Who are you worried about impressing out there? I think you look sexy as hell!"

Levy smiled and leaned up against him with her eyes closed. "I love you," she said with a satisfied hum. Gajeel felt happiness wash over him. A year ago there was no way he would have ever believed he could have a moment like this.

He bent down and kissed her head saying, "Some sun would do ya some good. Let's get your books and I'll help you set up a nice quiet place down there to read." Gajeel felt a small flutter below his hand on her belly, and it made his heart jump to his throat and a grin grow wide on his face. There really was something in there, it blew his mind.

Levy breathed in sharply in surprise, then looked up at him with a smile, "Looks like the baby thinks that's a great idea!"

"I am El Niño, Spanish for . . .the niño, fear my wrath!" Gray stood on top of the counter, completely nude, and chucking ice cubes at the people trying to play board games in the living room.

"Don't you mean La Niña? That's the one that brings the cold temperatures," said Freed, not looking up from his game of Scrabble with Evergreen.

Natsu laughed, "Hear that ice princess! Freed called you a girl!"

"Last I checked," Gray said motioning to his naked body, "this is all man right here!" Making Natsu double over in laughter.

Juvia was beat red. What in the world had caused him to drink so much? Then Cana's head poked out from behind him and she gave Juvia a wink, "You're welcome!"

"Cana! Why did you make Gray drink so much?" Lisanna exclaimed.

"Yes, Cana! Explain yourself! How am I supposed to win if you distract everyone from the game like this!" Erza fumed, angrily setting her cards on the table.

Cana shrugged, "It's not my fault he took the bait like an idiot, he knows better than to try and out drink me."

"I'm a grown man, I make my own decisions!" Gray slurred, starting an ice cube assault on Erza.

Erza stood abruptly, fire in her eyes. Juvia could tell that things were going downhill fast. "Sorry Erza, don't worry, Juvia will go take Gray-sama to bed."

"Make sure you punish him promptly," Erza said, not removing her death glare from the nudist on the counter.

Juvia turned to Gray and narrowed her eyes. "Believe me, Juvia will."

Gray widened his eyes at her and gave a tiny squeak. "All you ladies are no fun. Can't punish me if you can't catch me!" he proclaimed. Leaping from the counter, he ran to the stairs towards the safety of their room.

Bixlow fell out of his seat, his giggles were so out of control. Natsu leaned on a frowning Lucy, barking in laughter, "Drunk Gray is the best!" Juvia was definitely sure that she didn't agree.

After gathering up his clothes, Juvia gave everyone a wave and followed after her inebriated boyfriend. When Juvia opened the door to their room, Gray was passed out in the middle of their bed, in all his naked glory. She sighed and her lips turned up in a little smile. He sure made an idiot of himself, but Gray definitely had a cute butt. After brushing her teeth, and changing into a light night shirt, she lay down on the bed next to him. She gently touched his face and he didn't move a muscle. Then she looked down at his butt again, he did deserve some sort of punishment. Unable to help herself she gave one of the cheeks a pinch.

Gray's eye's snapped open, he looked up at Juvia like she was as bright at the sun. "I sorry Juvia, I was bad," he slurred with a frown.

Juvia crossed her arms and looked away from him, "Yes, you were Gray-sama. Juvia is very disappointed."

She was surprised when he deftly pulled himself up and grabbed her around the waist, resting his head on her bosom, "Please forgive me Juvia, I'll never . . .do . . .it . . .again." He sighed and happily buried himself further into her chest.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia was confused as to whether she should stop this or just let herself enjoy his closeness. He was so warm and he looked so happy, so she decided on the later, and ran her fingers through his hair.

He looked up at her with one eye closed, "You're so pretty," he breathed out deeply and settled back in, "I just love you so much."

Juvia was overjoyed with his proclamation. "Juvia loves you too Gray-sama," she said, but his response was a snore. She smiled and made herself comfortable, falling asleep to the rhythm of his breaths.

Laxus picked up his beer and snuck out into the night, releasing a sigh of relief to be engulfed in darkness and quiet. He set his beer down and looked around, for once he was alone, he could finally breathe for a bit. Laxus pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, and selected one, placing it in his mouth, and then returned the rest of the pack to it's hiding place. He was in the process of lighting it when he was startled by a voice to his right, "You're smoking again!"

Laxus froze then cut his eyes over to see a furious Mira standing at the top of the stairs to the lower deck. She must have come up from where the porch attached to her room a few floors below. He frowned, she wasn't his keeper, he could do what he wanted. Laxus began lighting his cigarette again and mumbled, "Obviously."

She stomped over to him, ripped the cigarette from his mouth, and put it out on the railing, "Mira! You're going to ruin the deck! I don't wanna have to fix that!"

"I don't care about the stupid deck, you shouldn't be smoking!" Her voice had gone up an octave and her hands waved wildly when she spoke. "Don't you care about your health? It was so hard for you to quit, why would you start up again?"

Laxus narrowed his eyes at her. Who gave a shit about his health? He was doing a lot of things that were bad for him these days, he might as well do one that made him feel better. "Well you know me Mira, I've gotta be addicted to something. I stop doing one vice and I need to pick up another." He cringed, he shouldn't have said that out loud. She wasn't a vice, he hoped she hadn't pick up on the implication. Laxus licked his lower lip and, without thinking, he pulled the rest of the pack out of his pocket, spurned on by the desire to calm his nerves.

Mira snatched the remaining cigarettes from his hands and chucked it over the deck. Laxus watched in disbelief as they floated to the ground and landed right in the middle of the pool. "What the hell Mira!"

Mira's face was scrunched up in anger. She breathed out loudly through her nose and then spat, "You're an asshole!"

"I'm aware Mira, quit trying to change it!" Again he internally cringed, maybe it was time to call it a night before it got more out of hand. He breathed out deeply and tried to get his cool, then, grabbing his beer, he pushed past her and headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

Laxus didn't even bother looking back when he said, "To get the damn cigarettes, they're going to make a mess of the fricking pool." When he got down to the deck on the first level of the house where most of the bedrooms were, he almost ran straight into Orga, freshly showered and on his way up. Laxus ignored the man's glaring expression and continued to the ground floor. He didn't have time for that, his entire weeks worth of escapes were still drowning in the chlorine.

Gray woke up to a pounding in his head. He groaned, stupid Cana, he knew that drink tasted too strong. He was so comfortable that he didn't want to get up just yet, he just wished the headache would go away on its own. When Gray went to burrow deeper in the pillow, he realized it wasn't a pillow at all. His eyes flew open and he glanced up to see Juvia sleeping peacefully, with a smile on her face. He had slept on Juvia, and he didn't have to glance down to realize he was completely naked. Gray leapt out of bed and hurried over to find underwear in his bag. His head ached from the sudden movement, and somehow seemed to hurt worse when he realized he couldn't remember anything from the night before.

"Gray-sama?" came Juvia's sleepy voice from behind him. He straightened and turned to her. Her cheeks were rosy with sleep and her blue hair was a disheveled mess. She was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. "Are you okay Gray-sama? Juvia could go get water and medicine," she offered.

He walked over and sat on the side of the bed. Gray did his best to smile when he said, "Nah, I'm fine." Then there was a stabbing of pain behind his right eye, causing him to clutch his face. His statement made not very convincing.

She sat up and gently rubbed his back, "I guess Gray-sama got his punishment after all," Juvia smiled sweetly.

Gray kept his eyes hidden in his hands, the pressure seemed to make the pain more bearable. "I didn't try . . ." Gray gulped, "I didn't do anything . . .inappropriate last night, did I?"

Juvia giggled, "Well Gray-sama did dance around on the counter naked and throw ice cubes at Erza . . ."

Gray sighed, Erza was going to be a real peach today then. "No, Juvia . . .I mean in here. I didn't make you uncomfortable or anything, did I?"

Juvia didn't say anything. Gray was forced to pull his face from his hands so he could see her expression. He hoped he hadn't slept with her, the last thing he wanted was for his first time with her to be a drunken mess. Gray's heart dropped when he saw hurt in her expression, what had he done?

"Gray-sama," Juvia swallowed, "Why are you so afraid to be with me?"

That was the last thing Gray expected to come out of her mouth. "What? Where would you get a crazy idea with that?"

"What does Gray-sama mean a crazy idea?" Juvia's brows turned down. "The first night we were here, Gray-sama slept on the floor as if Juvia was going to attack him in his sleep."

Gray stared at her in disbelief, had it really come across like that? "And Gray-sama still hasn't done anything but kiss Juvia. And every time Juvia tries to touch Gray-sama he jumps away from her." Juvia buried her face in her hands now, as if embarrassed by her ramblings, but she continued on. "Gray-sama never spends the night at Juvia's house and Gray-sama rarely initiates contact. Does Gray-sama not find Juvia attractive? Is Gray-sama ashamed to be with Juvia?"

"Shit, no Juvia," Gray said. He shifted over on the bed and pulled her into his arms without hesitation, knowing that this time he shouldn't hold back and that she would need his touch. He felt terrible, noticing the tears starting to form in her eyes. How could he have messed this up so bad?

"I'm sorry Juvia, I'm just . . .I'm just not good at this stuff, this," he couldn't help but laugh at himself, "this human interaction stuff. God, I'm a damn robot."

"No, no, Gray-sama is not a robot, Juvia is just a crybaby," Juvia cried into his chest.

Gray sighed, then lifted her chin to make her look at him, "No, there is nothing wrong with you, you aren't a crybaby. And of course I find you attractive. Juvia you are like the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. Why in the world would I be ashamed of being with you? It's just," he sighed heavily, looking into eyes that studied him so intensely. He couldn't lie to her, she would see right through him. Still he couldn't look at her when he admitted, "I want you so bad, but I'm afraid if I start I won't be able to control myself."

Juvia looked at him confused, "What does Gray-sama mean by controlling himself? Why would Gray-sama need to control himself around Juvia?"

Gray hid his face again, wishing he could take back the last thing he said. He wasn't ready for this conversation. Still the last thing he had ever wanted was to make Juvia doubt herself. Gray had to explain, he had to be honest with her so she would understand it wasn't her fault. "You remember how I told you about the girl, Minerva, I was seeing a few years back?" Juvia nodded. "Well, when we started dating I would say we were friends. We spent a lot of time hanging out, seeing movies, riding bikes, you know whatever, date stuff. After we . . ." he paused, feeling awkward under her attentive gaze, "we had sex, she changed. She didn't want to do anything else. At first I thought I was the luckiest guy ever, but after a while it just didn't feel right anymore. We never did anything else, much less talk. It wasn't even a relationship anymore. Then when I told her I didn't want to do that all the time anymore, she was pissed. She broke up with me saying she guessed I wasn't man enough to handle her. I blew it off then, but I guess I took it more to heart than I realized."

Juvia tilted her head giving him a sad look, "Oh Gray-sama . . ."

"It's not that I don't want to be with you, or hold you, or eventually make love to you. I just don't want to lose that other side of us, so I've been trying to go slow." He scratched the back of his head, "I guess I really screwed this up huh?"

"Gray-sama, it's okay, but you need to tell Juvia these things. Juvia can't read Gray-sama's mind," she hugged him tightly and then looked up at him again. "Juvia just wishes Gray-sama would trust her and not feel the need to hold back. Gray-sama should be able to be himself and be comfortable with Juvia. Take your time though, Juvia will be right here."

"God, I feel like an asshole," Gray covered his face again.

Juvia kissed his cheek and pulled herself out of bed, pulling her hair up in a ponytail while she headed to the bathroom. "Juvia knows that Gray-sama has trouble believing it right now, but Juvia does see Gray-sama as more than just a sweet piece of ass."

Gray nearly choked in surprise at her humor. He looked up with a shocked grin and she winked at him, "Juvia cherishes all her time with Gray-sama, especially the quiet conversations." She disappeared into the bathroom and Gray fell back on the bed, clutching his aching head. He still felt like an asshole, but at least a weight was lifted from his chest.

After a relaxing day of playing on the beach and in the pool, the entire house was exhausted. Makarov set down the freshly delivered pizzas and turned to address them, "Alright my children, it's that time again. Put your money where your mouth is, we're playing Rummoli!" His announcement was met with a combination of groans and cheers.

He carried a box to the table, pulling out the cards and chips. Then unfolded the mat reverently in the middle of the table. "It's a twenty dollar buy in, we'll do teams of two since the number of you keeps growing," he grumbled with a twinkle in his eye.

Everyone took a seat at the table, even those who weren't excited to be roped into the game, and handed their buy-in to Erza, the obvious choice for banker. Cana sat down with a bottle of Parrot Bay, "Well, I've got the rum!" she said, taking a sip.

"Good," Makarov said as he shuffled the deck, "Cana will be my partner," he grabbed her bottle and took a sip. "The rest of you figure it out."

The game went at a jovial pace, Erza only yelled at Jellal twice for making what she considered poor decisions. Evergreen and Elfman were out first, which led to a lot of yelling on Evergreen's part. They both went their separate ways in a huff, but they met on the beach out back and wandered off together. Everyone just pretended not to notice.

Cana was passed out drunk on the table by midway through, but it didn't bother Makarov one bit, he was awake this late for the first time in years and the rum was making him a mad man, "Hurry up Natsu, do you want the widow or not? We haven't got all day here for your lollygagging!"

"Oi, old man, lay off me!" Natsu then whispered to his partner, "Lucy, do we want the extra hand."

Unfortunately for him, Lucy was not her usual self. She draped her body across his back and looked at their cards with one eye closed as if looking through a scope. A few serious nods and she exclaimed with a smile, "Go Fish!" falling into his lap in a puddle of cackling, drunk mess.

"Damnit Lucy, that's not the game! I was counting on you to win this for us!" Natsu looked at his hand again, absentmindedly petting the purring human being that was curled up on his thighs. "I guess no, gramps, I don't want the cards," he huffed.

"Cana strikes again," giggled Lisanna, sorting the cards in her hand.

"Is Lucy going to dance naked on the counter for us tonight then? Cause that's a show I'd actually like to see," Bixlow teased.

Natsu's eyes blazed, "All you'll see is my fist in your face!"

"You sure you don't want any rum tonight Gray? We could always go for a repeat performance," Mira teased, leaning into Orga when he affectionately rubbed her thigh.

Gray's face turned a shade of green and he fell forward into his arms on the table, "Please don't talk about alcohol."

Jellal teasingly pushed his glass close to Gray's face, "Of course you don't want any of the rum, how silly of Mira to suggest it. You want some of the scotch Freed and I are drinking?"

Gray's face turned greener and he leapt from the table. "You know, I think I'm going to call it a night," and he left at a quick pace.

Juvia stood and pushed their pile of chips over to a grinning Gajeel, currently playing on his own as Levy was making tiny snores in the living room. "Juvia also thinks she will call it a night, good luck everyone!"

"Hey! That's not fair, Metal Face shouldn't get all your chips," complained Natsu, staring at his cards as if he was waiting for them to reveal the future.

"Gotta pay for that crib somehow," said Gajeel, leaning back in his chair with a cocky grin.

"It will not be with winnings from this game, I can assure you of that," said Erza confidently. "Come on, let's get this moving, do you want the extra deck Freed?"

Freed turned to Laxus who only shrugged, taking a sip of his drink with a disinterested look on his face. "All you man."

"We will pass," said Freed.

"Natsu," Lucy moaned from his lap.

"Huh?" Natsu looked down at her goofy face, "What is it Lucy?"

She held something up in front of his face, "Do you want this pizza?"

Natsu scrunched his nose up in disgust, "No! That's not even pizza, it's a dirty paper towel from under the table. You can't be serious Luce!"

Lucy rolled off his lap and onto the floor, curling in a ball under the table. "Natsu didn't want my pizza," she sobbed.

Natsu sighed, leaning back in his chair and looking down at his mess of a girlfriend. "Oi Luce! Why'd you have to drink so much!"

Cana threw an arm up without moving any other part of her sleeping body, "You're welcome!" she slurred.

Natsu slid his chips over to Makarov, "Guess Cana did her job taking out the competition. Give em hell old man."

Makarov laughed loudly, "You know I will brat!"

Natsu pulled the chair away from the table and crouched down next to Lucy. "Come on Lucy, let's get you to bed." Lucy shook her head into her arms like a sullen child.

"Maybe baby wants some catnip," suggested Bixlow with a grin.

Natsu pulled Lucy into his arms and stood. She burrowed into him and meowed. Natsu frowned, "You don't talk to her! She's my weirdo cat!" Then he grinned real big and gave them all a wink, "I'm off to bed losers, see ya in the morning!"

Natsu couldn't help but chuckle when Lucy nuzzled his neck and purred again. "You're going to be a disaster in the morning." He was thankful that the door to their room was cracked because he had two hands full of Lucy. Kicking the door behind him, he walked over and gently placed her on the bed.

He turned to the bathroom to go get ready for bed when he heard Lucy call from behind him, "You don't want to play with me?" Natsu looked at Lucy who was on her hands and knees, looking up at him with a pout.

Not wasting a second he jumped on the bed, throwing his hands behind his head to give the appearance of being relaxed. "What did you have in mind?"

Lucy crawled over top of him. Natsu couldn't help but giggle, she could barely keep her eyes open when she was over top of him slurring, "You'll see." She burrowed her face into his neck, nibbling sloppily on his ear lobe.

Natsu chuckled, "You're a mess Luce." He knew she didn't hear him though because her body had become heavy, and instead of attempting bites, she was breathing heavily in his ear. He brushed the hair from her face and kissed her forehead. "I love you, you perverted kitty cat," Natsu said with a grin.

Juvia lay on her side of the bed facing the wall. She listened to the sounds of Gray getting ready in the bathroom. He had just finished brushing his teeth and would soon come to bed, wherever it was he decided he wanted to sleep. She wasn't going to push him, he was going to have to make these decisions on his own time. Juvia was so nervous, she was afraid to even look at him when she heard him leave the bathroom and pause. Even though she couldn't see it, Juvia could feel his eyes upon her, she wished she could read his mind.

He took a few steps towards the bed and she sensed him put a hand on the pillow. Disappointment settled in her stomach, he was going to go to the floor, he wasn't ready to take this step. She waited for him to step away. It felt like a lifetime that he stood there next to the bed, hand on the pillow. What was he waiting for?

Then, she was surprised to feel the blankets lift and the bed shift from his weight settling in next to her. She was almost breathless now with excitement. Juvia couldn't believe Gray was really climbing in next to her. She almost jumped when his arm snaked around her middle and he pulled her tightly up against him. "Argh, I still feel terrible," he groaned into her hair and she smiled. Leave it to Gray to try and play this off like it was no big deal. She turned her head back to look him in the eye. He gave her a small smile back and a chaste kiss on the lips.

She turned back and snuggled more into his hold, then whispered, "I love you Gray-sama."

There was a long silence that made Juvia think maybe he had fallen asleep. Just when she had closed her eyes, giving up on hearing anything back from him, his voice rumbled softly in her ear. "I love you too, Juvia."

The game was finally over, Makarov still dancing on the table in front of Erza in victory, and most of the other players had long gone to bed. Laxus sat on the top deck, staring out at the ocean. A lot of the trip had sucked, but he had to admit, there was nothing more peaceful than the sound of the waves and the cool breeze blowing though his hair. The only problem was that, being out in the quiet away from all the noise and distractions, led him to thoughts about things he wasn't prepared to tackle.

He felt like this week was solidifying in his mind that Mira wasn't his anymore and that she probably wouldn't be ever again. He breathed out deeply, regretting letting her catch him with his cigarettes a few nights back. Also regretting not being able to buy a pack when he ran by the store earlier that day. He just couldn't get her disappointed look out of his head, so he had purchased a pack of gum instead. The gum wasn't relaxing in the slightest.

He closed his eyes and sipped his beer, focusing on the sounds of the ocean, trying to let the noise clear his head. Laxus's peace was quickly broken by the sound of footsteps approaching. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see Mira coming towards him, a shy smile on her face. "Can I join you?" she asked.

"Sure," Laxus said, shifting in his seat towards her. He looked at the stairs she had come up from, "No Orga?"

Mira giggled and took a beer from the six pack Laxus had by his feet. "No, we were watching a movie and he passed out. I figured he wouldn't mind if I went to get a bit of fresh air."

Laxus looked back at the ocean. "I don't suppose he would."

"So . . .whatcha doing up here by yourself," Mira asked.

"Getting some fresh air," Laxus took another sip of beer.

There was an awkward pause, then Mira quickly said, "I'm sorry I took your cigarettes, it wasn't my place."

Laxus looked over at her, she was messing with the label on her beer and cutely crinkling her nose.

"Nah, I was gonna quit soon anyway. It was stupid of me to start again."

She looked up at him, biting her lip, then turned her focus back to the beer, "Do you . . .do you think we'll ever be able to go back to normal again?"

"I don't really know what that means Mira," Laxus raised a brow.

"It's just, you're family to me," Mira looked him in the eye, "and you've always been one of my best friends. These last few months have been so . . ." Mira turned away from him. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She stood suddenly and gave him a weak smile, "Sorry, never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about. Just ignore me."

Laxus narrowed his eyes, sank back in his seat, and crossed his arms, "I'm not very good at ignoring you Mira."

Mira's face reddened and her eyes grew wide. She looked at her feet, "You know, I should get back to my room. Orga will be wondering where I am if he wakes." She turned away from him and practically sprinted towards the stairs, leaving behind a half drank bottle by her chair.

Laxus watched her retreat with a tilted head, confused expression on his face. What the hell was that about?