Yukino picked up her phone and looked at it for the third time that evening. She frowned, still no texts. Things had been going pretty well with Sting, she had spent most of her time off the last few weekends hanging out with him and his friends. They had gone to the movies, hung out to some bars, and even went to another concert, but every time it was as a group. She still hadn't spent any time one on one with Sting yet, and every night ended with an awkward hug and a wave. Still no kiss. Yukino checked her phone again, why wasn't he asking her to come hang out tonight? Could he be losing interest?

"Just text him already," her sister groaned. "You're distracting me from the movie, it's annoying."

Yukino furrowed her brow, "What do you mean, text who?"

Sorano rolled her eyes, "I'm assuming the guy who has been awkwardly dropping you off at the front step the last few weeks."

Yukino turned to her sister in shock, "Have you been spying on me? I thought you weren't home!"

Sorano tssked, "As if I would watch you! I was just was reviewing my security footage."

"You have security cameras?" Yukino's mouth dropped.

"Of course I do. I'm a star Yukino, I have to protect myself from stalkers." Sorano wrinkled her nose, "And apparently it's the only way I'll get to know what's going on with my little sister."

Yukino frowned, "I'm sorry, I just thought you wouldn't approve."

"Well I certainly didn't say that I approved, although I suppose at this point it's too late to stop you. Not that it matters, since you're such a shrinking violet you will probably just let this one drift away," Sorano smirked.

"Shut up! I am not!" Yukino punched her sister gently in the arm. Then she frowned and looked at her phone again, "It's just that he usually suggests we hang out by this time."

Sorano raised a brow, "Does he know you want to hang out?"

"Well I would think so, we've hung out every other weekend . . ."

Her sister laughed, "So you're assuming he knows that you want to hang out, but you haven't already said it?"

"I guess so," Yukino looked down at her phone again. "What are you getting at?"

Sorano sat up straighter, "Look Yukino, I know I don't seem like the best person to give advice on this because long term relationships aren't really my thing, but let me tell you this. Men. Are. Dense. If you don't specifically express your expectations, he's not going to know what you want. Just text him and say you want to hang out."

Yukino's eyes widened in horror, "I can't do that! What if he doesn't want to hang? What if it makes me look too desperate?"

"That's stupid! If he can't hang out, he will tell you so, and you can move on with your life for the night. Why would admitting you want to hang out make you look desperate? If he's the type to get scared off by something like that, he is definitely not worth your time."

Yukino was unconvinced, "Do you think so?"

Sorano sighed and put a supportive hand on her sister's shoulder, "Look, I'm pretty sure he likes you, he should want to hear that you want to spend time with him, that's a good thing to hear. Wouldn't you want to hear that he wants to spend time with you?"

"Yea . . ." Yukino stared at her phone again. Sorano gave a groan of frustration, used the remote to pause the movie, and snatched Yukino's phone away from her. Yukino tried to grab it back, but her sister was too fast, quickly springing from the couch and running away. "What are you doing?" Yukino exclaimed as she chased after her.

Sorano began quickly typing with her thumbs, "Just moving things along, I don't have time for this. And . . .send."

Yukino's mouth dropped open in disbelief, "Oh my god, you didn't! Sorano what did you type?"

Her sister smiled, "Just 'I want to see you, what are you doing?'" Yukino fell to the ground with a cry. "Oh Yuki, don't be so dramatic. It's not the end of the world." The phone in her hand buzzed. Sorano wiggled her eyebrows at her little sister, "Already writing back I see, eager beaver indeed." Sorano looked at the phone and frowned, "Aww, he says he has to get some work done tonight. Oh well, at least he's employed." The phone buzzed again and Sorano's frown turned up, "Oh! You are welcome to come keep him company!" She tossed the phone next to her surprised little sister. "See was that so hard? Now get out of here, I want to finish this movie in peace."

Yukino pulled the phone over to her, scrolling through the new messages in disbelief. "What if he just said that to be nice?"

Sorano made a sound of disgust, "That would be weird, why would he do that? If he didn't want you there he would have said let's make plans for another night. Seriously Yukino, go change into something that doesn't look like pajamas and get out of my hair. No more sighs during this movie or I'll lose my mind. The way you keep doubting yourself is driving me nuts." She turned back on the movie, waving in Yukino's direction as if to let her know she had been dismissed.

Yukino furrowed her brow staring at the text one more time. Then she stood and headed in the direction of her room, texting back, "Sounds great! Be right over! Should I grab something for us to eat?" She hoped her sister was right on this one.

Cana grabbed another piece of pizza and placed in on her plate, "You really need to come back to the apartments, I miss you! Also the woman who replaced you is a real bitch."

Lucy cocked her head and furrowed her brow, "Really why do you say that?"

"Well I may have wandered in there one morning forgetting you weren't there anymore and slept on her couch. She kept screaming crazy lady and hitting me with a pillow until I left. So rude," Cana wrinkled her nose.

"Well you were a stranger sleeping on her couch," Lucy laughed. "Wait, you used to come and sleep on my couch?"

Cana rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "No, I would never come hide in your apartment after you went to work when I wanted to escape the weirdo I brought back to my apartment. That would be super inappropriate."

"Cana!" Lucy exclaimed.

"To be fair your couch is very comfortable," Erza smiled and sipped her soda.

"Oh my god! You too? I can't believe you guys!" Lucy took a large bite of her pizza, frowning while she chewed.

"Well I needed a quick power nap after having to pull an all nighter and Cana had the key. My house wasn't convenient at the time. Let's be honest Lucy, you basically weren't living there for months before you moved out."

"Yea, you guys have been playing house since like last spring, somebody had to make use of that great apartment of yours." Cana took a huge bite and spoke with her mouth full, "If a place stays vacant you get bugs."

Erza gave a nod and struggled to contain a smile, "Yes, we were making sure your apartment stayed bug free, while enjoying your luxurious bed."

"I feel so violated," Lucy grimaced.

Cana's eyes grew wide, her smile mischievous, "Speaking of violated, how is it going with Natsu anyway? Think he's going to ask soon?"

"Cana! We haven't even been together a year yet! You need to stop saying things like that, you're going to freak him out," Lucy scolded.

Cana snorted, "Are you kidding me? Nothing freaks that guy out, except of course Erza's wrath."

"This is true," Erza gave another nod and took another bite of her pizza.

"Gray told me Natsu heard about you buying the dress and all he did was laugh," Cana grinned.

"He knows about the wedding dress!" Lucy yelled, drawing the attention of the entire pizza parlor. Her face turned bright red and she sank down into her both.

"Inside voices," Cana chastised.

"Really it would be good timing, you guys could get married next fall, and you could use all my notes! I have wonderful wedding planing notes!" Erza said with a fond smile.

"I can't believe he knows about the dress," Lucy grabbed her head, eyes wide with worry. She looked up at Cana's teasing smirk, "This is Mira's fault isn't it!"

"Well really it's Laxus' fault, but Mira definitely put all the pieces in order." Cana chuckled, "She's a sly fox that one."

Lucy sat back and thoughtfully tapped her chin, "Wait, I moved out of my apartment officially just two months ago. Who were you hiding from?"

Cana's smile disappeared, "No one."

"Cana! Did you take someone home from the bar! How could you not tell us?" Lucy leaned forward with a smile. "You can't hide it anymore, you have to fess up."

Erza leaned forward in excitement as well, "Yes! Who was it? How was it? Did you have to kick him out because it was so bad or so good? Did you wear protection? I hope so, some of those men at Mira's late at night look pretty dirty."

Cana wrinkled her brow, "Down sparky."

Erza blushed, "Sorry, Jellal's started classes again and they're all at night. I feel like I live by myself right now. I might be reading too many books again . . ."

Lucy laughed and patted Erza on the shoulder, "Don't worry, this semester will be over before you know it! But seriously Cana, who was it? I don't really need to know all that stuff Erza was asking."

Cana sat back with a sigh, "Bacchus."

"Bacchus? Like the other bartender?" Lucy squinted her eyes in confusion. "I thought you said he was a good lay but you weren't going to sleep with him again."

Cana covered her face, "I know! I wasn't but he was looking really good and I've been going through this weird dry spell."

"So he was too good," Erza said, taking a bite of pizza.

"He's always too good! It should be illegal to be that good!" Cana groaned.

Erza shrugged, "Honestly, I'm sure in a few of the more rural counties it is."

"Well we had a really great night but in the morning I panicked. I woke up next to him and realized I was going to have to work with him that night! I told him I had to do some stupid wedding shit that morning," she turned to Erza, "no offense."

Erza raised a hand, waving her off, "None taken."

"So I ran over to your old apartment and passed out on the couch. That old woman must have had church or something, because she came home all dress up and madder than hell at me for sleeping there. I was just so overwhelmed, I didn't know what else to do." Cana slumped forward into her arms on the table, "It was such a relief when I got back and he wasn't there."

Lucy furrowed her brow in concern, "What happened when you went back to work?"

"He was fine, he acted normal. It was just like another regular night," Cana said.

"That's good right?" asked Erza.

"It should be, but no! It drove me crazy, like why isn't he saying something? Was he mad I left? Does he want to do it again? Does he think we're like an item right now? For the first week he even calmed down on the flirting a bit, I didn't know how to take it." Cana frowned, "Now he's started again and I still don't know how to take it. I just can't figure out what I want here!"

"I wish I had different advice here, but I think you need to talk to him about this," Lucy said, giving Cana a comforting rub on the back.

"Argh, that's the last thing I want to do!" Cana cried.

"Sometimes the right thing is the hardest," Erza said with a frown. Then she grinned, "You know what always cheers me up? We should get some cake!" She looked down the aisle to find the waiter, ignoring Cana's groan.

Juvia was just finishing up her paella when the band started setting up near the dance floor. She was so glad she had taken up her coworker's recommendation for Cuban, it was so lively here. The atmosphere was warm and fun, with oranges and yellows, and energetic music. It was basically the opposite of what Gray would pick, but she noticed he seemed happy, his toes tapping to the music.

Gray had really changed over the last few months. He now kissed her in greeting and didn't seem as uncomfortable accepting hugs or with holding her hand. Their intimate moments were lasting longer and he occasionally spent the night, although all they did was sleep. He even no longer fliched away from her acts of adoration! Juvia was really enjoying seeing her darling come out of his shell.

"Some live music huh?" Gray watched the band members all take their seat.

"Yes Gray-sama, won't it be lovely? My coworker said that there was a lot of dancing here," Juvia hesitated. She really wanted to dance, but would Gray go for it? Would he be willing? He was always telling her she was too accommodating and that she should to let him know what she wanted. It was worth a try. "Gray-sama? Will you dance with Juvia? I mean, we don't have to, Juvia was just thinking it might be fun."

Gray looked at her in surprise, then over at the band that had taken their places and started to play. "Uhh, well," he looked back at her and his face relaxed. "Sure Juvia, if you want, we can dance for a bit."

Mira came up behind Laxus and hugged him round the shoulders. He had been hanging out in her office, waiting for her to finish rounding the restaurant to check on her customers. He turned his face to her and gave her a smile and a kiss. Mira couldn't get enough of that.

She wandered over to pick up a paper that had fallen to the floor, "Hey hun, can you come help me tomorrow morning?"

Laxus turned back to looking at his phone, "Nah, I'm gonna be out of town for a few days."

That was news to her, Mira cocked her head in confusion, "You are? Doing what?"

Still not looking at her, he said, "Going with Freed to his parent's lake house for a few days, do some fishing."

He couldn't be serious, "When were you going to tell me?"

Laxus shrugged, "I'm telling you now, I figured you would have to work so you wouldn't want to go."

"Laxus it's Saturday, you're leaving tomorrow! I can't believe now is when you decide to tell me! How long have you known?" Mira stormed over next to him, eyes wide with anger.

Laxus frowned, his speech slowed as if he was starting to sense her rage, "Two weeks ago."

Mira waved her hands wildly, "Why wouldn't you tell me then? Did you not think of me at all?"

Laxus raised a brow and leaned back in his seat."What the hell Mira? I told you I figured you wouldn't be able to go. Am I not allowed to spend time with my friends or something?"

"What? Please tell me that is not what you are getting out of this!" When Laxus just stared at her blankly, Mira pulled a hand down her face in frustration, "How are you such an idiot? Of course I don't care if you spend time with your friends! What bothers me is that you didn't even think it was worth the effort to tell me! I'm your girlfriend! Shouldn't I know when you are going out of town, especially when it's planned ahead of time?"

Laxus sighed, "Look Mira, really, I'm sorry for not inviting you but it's kinda Freed's . . ."

"Stop!" Mira held a hand up in his face, "Stop talking right now! That is not what I'm saying! I'm not asking you to give a detailed schedule of your comings and goings, I just would like to know when you're going to be gone for a few days. I don't give a shit that I'm not invited. What kind of relationship is this if you are going out of town for a few days and you don't even bother to tell me? Were you just going to call me tomorrow morning and say hey, see ya Thursday? We are supposed to be together. I let you know my plans, don't I?"

Laxus rubbed the back of his neck, "Well . . .yea . . ."

Mira crossed her arms, "And I'm going out on a limb here, but do Evergreen and Bixlow know that you and Freed are going?"

"Well Bixlow's coming too . . ."

"Just answer the question Laxus," Mira snapped.

He frowned, "Yea, they both know."

Mira breathed out deeply through her nose, "Do you get why I'm upset now?"

Laxus sat very still, staring at her as if waiting for the answer to magically appear. He then sighed and raised his brows, "I'm not supposed to go places without you unless I ask first?"

"You know what, leave," Mira was so angry she could feel her body trembling. "I just . . . I just can't look at you right now. I'm going to say something I regret. I'm so mad at you."

Laxus stood and looked down at her in confusion, "But I thought we were going to catch a movie after the dinner crowd left."

Mira breathed out deeply again and pushed him towards the door, "Nope, sorry, I guess I already had plans." She shoved him in the hall and slammed her office door.

He knocked on the door, "Come on Mira, don't be like this."

"Get out of here!" She shrieked, grabbing her mouth, shocked at her own response. She heard what sounded like his head gently bumping the other side of the door, but he didn't knock again. When she calmed down enough to open the door a minute later, he was gone.

Natsu had finally finished mowing Makarov's yard. He was so ready to go home and get a shower, but he accepted the beer and took a seat next to the tiny man. He knew he couldn't leave until he had given Makarov a few more minutes of his time.

Makarov looked over to Natsu, "Something bothering you? You've been quieter than usual today."

"Gramps, do you think it's too soon to ask Lucy to marry me?"

Makarov tilted his head, staring off in thought, "I don't know Natsu, I think you're the only one who can answer that. Do you feel ready to marry Lucy? Do you think she's ready for that kind of commitment too?"

Natsu scratched his head, "Well, yea, I think so. I mean I'm not sure about Lucy, I know she's the only person I want to be with though. It's just that it hasn't even been a year, it seems a lot faster than most people do it."

"Well my boy, you do a lot of things faster than most people. Also I can't remember a time that you cared about how most people did anything!" Makarov laughed. "I just can't believe were having this conversation. It someone told me a year ago that you would be asking me this I would have said 'that brat? Never!"

Natsu snorted, "Jeez, no faith."

"If you want my opinion, if that girl will marry you, you marry her as soon as you can. You're not getting any better than that, she's way too good for you brat," Makarov said with a teasing glint in his eye.

Natsu leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes, "Sure Gramps."

"You gonna talk to her father?" Makarov asked.

"What like she's some piece of property he's handing over? That's weird, why would I do that?" Natsu wrinkled his nose.

Makarov chuckled, "No brat, it's just a sign of respect, it's a tradition thing. Don't you think a man like Mr. Heartfilia would care about that sort of thing?"

Natsu groaned, "Yea."

"And didn't you tell me that Lucy and her father have reconnected and are spending time together again?" Makarov continued.

Natsu ran a hand through his hair and frowned, "Yea . . ."

"So he's probably not going anywhere anytime soon is he?" Makarov asked.

"No, but it's going to be so awkward! I've never done anything with the guy without Lucy there." Natsu rested his face on his hand and frowned.

"Well it's up to you, I didn't say you had to tell him you're going to ask her. Just think it would make the joining of the families go smoother."

"Ugh why are you so ancient? You would put this out-dated junk in my head."

"Watch your tongue brat!" Makarov yelled.

Natsu held up a finger with a grin, "I meant to say ancient and wise."

Makarov nodded his head, then gave Natsu a hearty pat on the shoulder. "That's more like it."

Gray was going to regret this, Juvia was going to learn his secret. He couldn't deny her though, she looked so excited and he was always making her do the things he wanted to do. It was so rare that she asked to do anything, it was always 'whatever you want Gray-sama.' Her making a choice for once was a pleasant change. If he turned her down today, who knows how long it would be until she worked up the courage to ask for something again.

He stood and held out his hand with a tight smile, watching the way her face lit up as he led her out to the floor, trying to ease his nerves. There were already a few couples out on the floor, twirling and smiling as they danced. Gray licked his lips and turned to grab Juvia's other hand, then his feet immediately fell into step as the band starting into a salsa rhythm.

Juvia's eyes widened in surprise when he spun her one way and then back to face him, "Gray-sama knows how to dance?"

Gray sighed, using another twist to stall. When she was back to facing him, he answered with an eye roll, "Yea . . . .the woman who adopted me before Makarov was really into it. Lyon and I did well . . .competitions and stuff."

Juvia wrinkled her nose in confusion, "Lyon-sama never said anything about dancing."

Gray chuckled, "Well it's kinda a sore subject for him. He stuck with it and was really good, but he tore an ACL in high school and never fully recovered. Ur's daughter still dances though, she's a back up dancer for some pop star now. Lyon would know, he keeps better track of her."

"Why doesn't Gray-sama dance anymore?"

"Well, I couldn't do it when I was bouncing around, and when I got to Makarov's everyone did forms of martial arts, since that's what Gramps was into, so I switched. I didn't want to be teased, I wanted to fit in. It wasn't too hard, practiced movements, reading your partner. Just with more improvised movement instead of choreographed. Natsu did find a picture of me from my time with Ur though, that's when the princess insults started."

"Well that's not very nice," Juvia said with a frown.

Gray grimaced, "Well, I was giving him a lot of shit about the color of his hair at the time, we weren't exactly the happiest of little kids back then."

Juvia smiled up at him, "You could have told Juvia. Juvia thinks it's very sexy. Who cares what Natsu thinks."

Gray chuckled, "Yea, he does dance like an oompa loompa. He looks ridiculous."

Juvia laughed and he spun her again, enjoying the way her hair floated around her face. He forgot how much fun this could be. The longer they danced, however, the more aware of her he became. Her graceful neck, her bright smile, her soft hips, and her muscular legs. Gray kept finding more excuses to move his hands along her body instead of holding her hands. His heart raced and he started to think that maybe taking things to another level might not be so bad. Maybe since Juvia had seen even this skeleton from his closet and accepted him, he could trust her enough to love her on that level. Maybe he was thinking these things because he was holding her this close, with that look of joy on her face flushed from exertion, and he couldn't think of anything else.

When Laxus arrived at Freed's place, he found Freed and Bixlow on the back porch, messing with two of Freed's guitars. They both gave him a look of surprise, but Freed was the one to speak, "I didn't expect to see you tonight, weren't you seeing a movie with Mira?"

Laxus took a seat between them and frowned, "Nah, that ain't happening anymore."

Bixlow raised a brow, "Something happen with your baby?"

"I don't think she's my baby anymore," Laxus said, with a sigh.

Both of his friends stopped strumming and looked at him in disbelief. Freed set his guitar on the chair next to him, "What happened?"

"Well, I don't really know. She asked me if I could help her tomorrow, so I told her no 'cause we're going fishing. Then she got all huffy about me going out of town," Laxus ran a hand through his hair.

Freed tilted his head and squinted his eyes in confusion, "Wait, you didn't tell Mira we were going to my parent's place?"

Laxus sank deeper in his chair, "I did today, what's the big deal."

Freed put a hand to his head in disbelief, "But we decided this weeks ago! Don't you think she would want to know that your not going to be around for a few days?"

Laxus rubbed his jaw, "Great, now you're getting mad at me too. Look I just didn't think about it!"

Bixlow went back to strumming nonsense on his guitar. "I'm confused, she broke up with you because you forgot to tell her you were going out of town? Seems a little harsh for Mira."

"Well you know, we had a big fight, and she told me to get the hell out, so it's done."

"You think it's over because you had a fight?" Freed smiled in confusion.

"Yea man, if every couple broke up as soon as they fought then no one would ever last longer than a few weeks . . ."Bixlow trailed off as he turned to regard Laxus with a cocked head.

Freed's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "How did we not know this? Do you really think a fight ends a relationship?"

Laxus fidgeted in his seat in discomfort, "Well doesn't it? Mom and pops had a huge fight and then the next day she was gone."

"Have you always been this way?" Bixlow asked.

"Yea, I don't want to put up with someone bitching at me all the time," Laxus said.

"Do you want it to be over with Mira after this?" Freed asked.

"No, of course I don't," Laxus crossed his arms. Mira was the best thing to ever happen to him. Sure she got mad on occasion, but the last time she had kicked him out like this it had been an end. When she screamed at him to leave like that it had really freaked him out, so he did what she asked and he left. "Mira's my world man."

"Then go apologize," Freed pointed to the door.

"What am I apologizing for? I already tried saying sorry, it just seemed to piss her off more!" Laxus slumped forward in defeat, he knew he'd be shit at this stuff.

"You're in a relationship now with a woman who cares about you. She should be a consideration in everything you do because it affects her too. Mira's not the type to care about not being included but she needs to know you're going to be gone so she can make other plans. I mean come on Laxus, you spend almost every night there. You didn't think that leaving would affect her in some way?"

"Yea, even I know this shit man," Bixlow teased.

"Well damn, I didn't really think of it that way. I'm not used to telling anyone where I'm going," Laxus frowned. "Do you think she'd even listen to me at this point? She was really pissed off."

"People who care about each other are going to fight at least occasionally, especially you and Mira. She knows this. You guys have the hottest tempers I've ever seen," Freed chuckled.

"No doubt," Bixlow added with a grin.

"When you care about somebody, you care about what they do, if they do something that bothers or upsets you, you're going to have to tell them, bottling it up is just going to make it worse. Unfortunately, sometimes that's going to lead to an argument. What matters is how you grow and learn from it. Sometimes it means compromise, sometimes it means the person who it didn't matter to, gives in and makes the change. You can't be with someone if they aren't worth compromising for," Freed explained.

"Hell, when did this turn into some after school special" Laxus leaned back grabbing his head, "I feel like an idiot, that sounds like common sense. Why am I such an ignorant little kid with this shit?"

"Well you didn't really have a very healthy example I guess," Freed gave Laxus a sad smile. "You're doing fine, if anybody knows how much you've changed already it's Mira. Just go talk to her."

"Don't worry man, that baby loves you. She'll forgive ya," Bixlow started strumming his guitar and humming 'She Loves You'.

Laxus sighed falling into his hands, "Well, shit, I guess it's off to Mira's." He pulled himself out of the chair.

Freed picked back up his guitar, "We'll see you in the morning, give Mira our love!" He seemed to notice Laxus' hesitation, "Seriously, just tell her you're sorry and try to actually keep her in the loop on what's going on. She knows you're still figuring this stuff out."

Laxus smiled grimly, "Yea, I don't know why she puts up with a loser like me." Then he left back through the house.

Thanks so much for the reviews Nekokittygirl, ToastedWeirdBrain, and Guest!