A/N: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Chapter 4: Prelude to Serenity

"Don't go in the basement, don't go in the basement!"

For the past two or so hours, those were the only two lines that Laxus heard, or rather, they were the only lines that anyone would say. How did the blonde haired bad boy get himself into such a dire situation? He had been chilling in the Fairy Tail bar when Lucy, Natsu and Gray, or the "Three Stooges" as Laxus had begun calling them burst into the bar and began spouting some nonsense about going to the movies, and a couple of big name stars that Laxus had never heard of. Of course, Mirajane was more than thrilled to join them and somehow, Laxus ended up getting dragged for the ride too.

The fair haired Mirajane was somewhat reluctant to enter the theater when she realized that it was a horror movie, but did so nonetheless, and it became immediately obvious why. Mirajane was terrified of this kind of stuff. She would grab onto Laxus's shoulder every couple of seconds, although he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it. Lucy was similar to Mira, but instead, she was grabbing onto Natsu's shoulder, but only during the jump scares. Natsu didn't seem to mind, as he was fast asleep, having been so before the film even began rolling.

Gray, on the other hand, went to the bathroom around twenty minutes into the movie and hadn't returned since. Laxus couldn't help but feel like he was the only one who was enjoying the movie, despite the fact that he was the only one who didn't want to go. He turned to his left and saw Mira, her face was buried into his arm. Laxus turned his attention to the big screen again. All he saw was words, rolling down the screen.

"Mira, the movie's over. Or are you afraid of credits now?" he chided. As he did so, Mira let go of Laxus' arm. He rubbed it, noting that she was clutching him incredibly tight. Her fear must have been genuine.

"It was a good film," Mira replied, ignoring Laxus' comment. "I like the bit where he... where he..." she was stuttering now.

Laxus thumped her in the forehead, much too gentle for it to actually hurt. "Who do you think you're fooling? You must have spent more time with your face buried in my arm than your eyes on the screen," he muttered. "Anyway, let's get out of here," he added quickly, gesturing towards the exit as he did so. Mira turned towards Lucy, and the two of them exchanged knowing glances.

"Natsu, wake up," Lucy murmured, nudging the pink haired boy gently. Too gently, Laxus thought, as he gave the young man a smack on the face, causing him to wake up immediately. The fiery haired man growled as he looked up to see Laxus glaring down at him.

"We're leaving," he muttered.

"And where have you been, Gray?" Laxus asked a couple of minutes later when he noticed that the sleek, black haired boy had rejoined them as they were walking back to the Fairy Tail bar.

Gray, who just happened to be shirtless, simply shrugged. "I think I walked back into the wrong room. We were in theater three, right? I was a bit surprised that the movie we thought was a horror film turned out to be a chick flick. Do you think, maybe, we could get our money back?" Gray mused, stroking his well shaven chin, longingly.

"We were in Theater One..." Laxus began, but he let out a short sigh and decided to just drop the case.

The walk back to the Fairy Tail bar was not a particularly long one, yet to Laxus, it felt like an eternity. Every time Natsu saw a stray animal on the opposite sidewalk, be it a cat or a dog, he would immediately run over to try and catch it. Lucy did a good job of clipping him by the ear, but on one occasion, Natsu really did manage to get to the other side, miraculously managing to avoid the cars. Naturally, Laxus and the others had to go get him, making what should have been a five minute trip into a thirty minute one.

"What's your problem, Natsu?" Gray murmured, as the pushed the human salamander into the threshold of the bar. Natsu muttered some profanity under his breath that Gray probably heard, but decided to ignore. He looked at his watch.

"Man," Gray began, looking at his friends. "Looks like I'm late for tuition. Silver's gonna kill me. Over here, Natsu, I'll drive you back home," he offered. Despite having good intentions when making the offer, it only served to make Natsu more angry.

"You think you're great because you drive or something, Ice brains?!" Natsu growled. "I still think it's a joke that you passed the exam and I didn't... so don't remind me!"

"Natsu, you almost ran over an old lady the first time you did the exam, and the second time you drove right through the roundabout," Lucy said, trying to calm him down.

"Irrelevant!" Natsu replied, although there was no heart in his argument. He knew when he had been defeated. "I'll wait for you outside..." he added, despondent. Lucy and Mirajane felt sorry for him. Laxus and Gray just shrugged it off.

"Mind if I catch a lift too, Gray?" Lucy suddenly asked. Gray nodded in reply.

Natsu, who hadn't let the building let suddenly lit up. "Shotgun! I call shotgun!" he started shouting as he burst out the door. Lucy chased after him muttering something about it "not being fair" or something along those lines.

"I guess I'll see you guys later," Gray said, waving. Mirajane waved back cheerily while Laxus simply raised one hand in acknowledgement. Gray wasn't satisfied. "Yo, why do you always look so glum anyways, Laxus?"

The big blonde man looked away, turning slightly red, slightly irritated. "Why do you and your father have colors for names?" he shot back.

Gray let out a slight chuckle. "It's Fullbuster family tradition, of course!" he replied as he exited, leaving Laxus and Mirajane alone with a handful of patrons. It was still quite early, around afternoon, so the bar wasn't going to be bustling with activity for another while. Laxus walked over to his preferred stool and sat down, while Mirajane took her place behind the counter despite the fact that her shift didn't start for another hour or so.

"Thirsty?" she asked.

"No, not particularly," he answered back. She placed a glass of water on the counter in front of him anyway. "Thanks," he murmured, albeit reluctantly, as he took the glass in his hand and gulped it down in one swift go. "Refreshing," he said, as he put the glass back on the table. He looked at her, hesitation apparent in his eyes. He let out a short sigh, and decided to just come clean.

"I got a question to ask you,"

"What is it?"

Laxus shuffled around slightly, changing his body position. "How are things with your father? Convince him to let you go to university yet?"

The ivory haired girl simply shook her head. "Not yet. I don't know how he would take it if I told him. I haven't even told him about the part time job yet,"

"You were planning on telling him you're working in a bar, despite your age?" he questioned, puzzled.

"Oh Laxus. I'm saving up to go to university, not saving up for a phone. So of course, I work a second part time job," she answered. Her eyes darted around the room, until they found the clock that was Makarov had placed on the wall. "In fact, I'm almost late for the second job now," she added, as she swiftly leaped over the counter. She began to head towards the door.

"You work two part time jobs and still get manage to keep up with your studies?" Laxus asked, without turning his head back. He wasn't even sure if she had left already, however, he knew that she was still there when his question was answered with a reassuring "Yes,"

"You can be amazing sometimes, you know,"

He heard her giggle softly. "Not really," Mira said, a certain sense of melancholy in her voice. She went to take her leave, her heels clicking softly against the ground as she left.

"Not really," Laxus repeated. "Liar,"

A/N: It's been a long time since I've updated, I know. Hopefully, none of you thought that I decided to give up on the story halfway, although I couldn't blame you if you did. I was abroad for the past two months, and I'm finally going home tonight. I decided to upload this short chapter, as a remainder that I'm still around and that you can expect more in the near future! Thanks for reading as always!