A waiter in a crisp white shirt finished topping up two flutes of champagne before leaving the table with a bow and a quiet "bon appetit." Lucy smiled at him graciously before turning her attention back to the gorgeous man sitting across from her.

"This is so nice, Laxus. You really didn't have to," she said, referring to the ridiculously fancy restaurant they were sitting in. Laxus was in trousers and a matching blazer with polished leather shoes, while Lucy was in a floor length gown and red-soled heels.

"I realised that we hadn't done anything significant to celebrate our one year anniversary. Figured we deserved this," Laxus shrugged.

"Yeah, a year of long distance is genuinely an achievement," Lucy laughed, leaning across the table to give Laxus a high-five, in stark contrast to their formal, austere environment.

"It's difficult, but I'll do it for as long as I need to. I'd wait for you forever, Lucy," Laxus said sincerely, intertwining his fingers with hers.

Lucy's features fell as she realised the limited time they had left together. "I hate that tomorrow is our last day together," she whispered sadly.

"I hate that I have to work on our last day together. I tried, Lucy. I swear I tried moving it, but the model is only in town tomorrow and the magazine is adamant on having her."

"Maybe…" Lucy started. "Maybe I could come with you? I've never really seen you work, besides the stuff in Greece at Maki's winery. Only if that's okay with you and won't distract you!" Lucy quickly added at the end, not wanting him to feel obligated.

"Are you sure? You'll probably just end up sitting in a chair for a couple hours. I'd love to have you there, but are you sure you don't want to do something more fun?" Laxus asked.

"Pssh! Sitting in a chair and watching you? Two of my favourite activities," Lucy said brightly. "You're sure you don't mind me being there?"

Laxus broke out into a wide smile. "Nothing would make me happier, babe."

Lucy settled into the chair next to Mira who was sipping on a coffee that she'd picked up from the long table of drinks and snacks.

"They just give you free food?" she asked Mira in shock.

"The magazine is so stupidly rich that they don't even bat an eyelid for this kind of thing. Literally, try asking someone for something ridiculous, like one of those fancy flavoured lattes or a sushi platter. You'll have it in your hands in under five minute," Mira replied before biting into a cookie.

"You must love shoot days, huh?"

"Not really. They're boring, and it's the one thing that Laxus doesn't let me help with. I'm only here to pick up the cheque. I'll be leaving in like five minutes."

"What do you mean he doesn't let you help?" Lucy asked.

"When he's shooting, he has to be entirely in control. He calls all the shots and handles everything on his own. He won't let someone so much as move a prop. He'll do it all himself."

"Sounds like Laxus," Lucy said with a snort. She pulled her hair back into a bun and slid her sunglasses onto the bridge of her nose. It was ridiculously sunny on the beach, and while the umbrella Lucy was under protected her from the sun rays, it did little against the fierce heat. Glints of light bouncing off the ocean would blind Lucy every now and then, and the smell of salt hung heavily in the humid air. The shoot area itself looked stunning, with an eggshell mattress and mesh curtains that seemed to be out of every romcom. White rose petals were being tossed everywhere by a frightened looking intern who had an earpiece on and flinched every time someone shouted into it. Not five feet from this beauty were people buzzing about, talking above each other, adjusting lights and foil sheets. Clothes racks with various swimsuits were being rolled back and forth and one beautiful model stood in a corner under an umbrella as someone fixed her hair, a cigarette dangling from her lips.

Lucy's gaze finally landed on her boyfriend and she felt the wind leave her lungs. If anything, he ought to have been the model at this shoot. It didn't surprise Lucy that every single person would furtively glance at Laxus multiple times a minute. With his blond hair mussed over his forehead and black sunglasses perched on his face, he looked like someone had pulled him out of a magazine and dropped him on the beach. His white linen shirt clung to his broad shoulders beautifully and his blue denim jeans made his long, toned legs look even better. Lucy wanted to cry at how gorgeous he was. With his camera in one hand, fitted with a large professional lens and a bottle of water in the other, Laxus was firing rapid instructions at everyone around.

"Is the model ready?" he called loudly, not bothering to look over his shoulder.

"She's here, Laxus," a more domineering woman replied. She was one of the few people who didn't cower before his awe-inspiring presence.

"Who's that?" Lucy whispered to Mira, gesturing to the woman escorting the model towards Laxus.

"Erza. She's a senior editor with the magazine and the only person Laxus doesn't get frustrated with. He claims every other person he's worked with is either incompetent or too busy staring at him or the model to do their jobs effectively. Though, if we're being honest, I'm pretty sure he requests for her only because she doesn't try to make small talk. Laxus likes wrapping up a shoot within a couple hours at most, and small talk generally delays that," Mira answered. Then hopping off her chair, she waved towards Erza before turning quickly to Lucy. "Okay, hun, I gotta run. I'm gonna quickly get the cheque from Erza and then I need to go and deal with a bunch of emails and appointment schedules. You're gonna be okay?"

Lucy nodded, smiling at the white-blonde.

"Good. Have fun, and remember, these guys will get you anything, so feel free to indulge." Then, with a quick kiss to Lucy's cheeks, Mira bounced away towards the statuesque redhead who led her towards a trailer.

Getting comfortable in her chair, Lucy began watching Laxus work. He directed the model - a young blonde with a sizable rack that was only barely covered by the tiny red bikini she was wearing - across the bed. He had the model on her knees, angled towards the camera, then standing up, against a bedpost, looking at him over her shoulder. Thirty minutes and a few more shots later, Laxus asked for an outfit change, and while the model was in her trailer, he came jogging up to Lucy.

"Having fun?" he asked, plucking her iced coffee out of her hand and taking a sip.

"So fun. You know you're incredibly hot when you work?" Lucy smirked.

"Oh really?" Laxus pushed his glasses up onto the top of his head and leaned down to kiss Lucy.

"I wouldn't say no to you recreating this at home either," Lucy whispered seductively, toying with his shirt collar.

"Shall I hire the crew and everything? Make it as realistic as possible?"

"If this is your way of making a sextape, Laxus, I'm going to beat you," Lucy threatened jokingly.

"At least our sextape won't be some garbage. It'll be classy. Good lighting, white roses, the whole nine yards," he chuckled, kissing his girlfriend again.

As Lucy was about to respond, Erza's firm voice cut through the air. "Laxus. We're ready for you."

Laxus winked at Lucy before heading back towards the set. As he walked away, Lucy spotted the model over his shoulder, now in a white and gold bikini that was miraculously even smaller than the last one and still kept everything covered. A delicate necklace hung over the cleavage and strappy white heels adorned her feet. Her blonde hair fell in wavy ringlets over her shoulders and down her back. She was beautiful. Lucy felt a pang of something as she watched the model walk over to Laxus. He extended a hand, helping her up onto the mattress, where she quickly got comfortable.

"Okay, move your hair over your left shoulder. Good good. Drop your chin. Okay, perfect. Hold that. Now I want you to stretch your legs out. Bend the back knee a little. Awesome. You're doing great," Laxus continuously instructed. Lucy watched the model stretch her body and contort it and look at Laxus like she was inviting him to bed.

The camera. She's looking at the camera and inviting it to bed. That's her job, Lucy tried reasoning, but the nagging voice in the back of her head couldn't help but create this intense chemistry between model and photographer.

"Lie down on your back now. Yeah, up on your elbows. Perfect," Laxus directed before jumping up onto the mattress. Lucy's throat constricted when he stood above the model, straddling her thighs as he got shots of her torso.

"Arch your back a little. Some more. Tip your head back, and yes, perfect. Hold that." The camera shutter clicked repeatedly. The model was on her back, chest arched up towards Laxus, breasts heaving beneath the tiny white bikini top, her perfect hair framing her perfect face as she looked at Laxus with fuck me eyes and parted red lips. And the way Laxus would occasionally reach down to move a strand of hair off the model's face. Lucy knew it was irrational, but the entire thing was becoming a little too uncomfortable for her, and so she decided to ignore it, turning her attention to her phone. She didn't look up until she heard Laxus call, "Okay, I think we got it. We're done here, folks."

Lucy snapped her gaze up in time to see Laxus help the model off the mattress. She was handed a robe that she quickly slipped on, tying firmly at the waist.

"Thank you, Laxus. I really love working with you," Lucy heard the model say sincerely.

"Anytime, Jenny. You're great to shoot. I think we got some killer shots today," Laxus replied, clapping the model on the shoulder.

"I can't wait to see them! See you around, Laxus," the model smiled, and with a wave, walked off towards her trailer.

Laxus immediately made his way to Lucy, but his expression was serious, if not a little hurt.

"You were on your phone the entire time," he said as he neared her.

"Laxus, I-"

"I mean, I know it's not necessarily exciting work. It's kinda the same thing over and over again, but you wanted to be here, and I was excited that you were here and it sucked to turn around and see you staring at your phone."

"I wasn't staring at my phone because I was bored, Laxus," Lucy said defensively, her voice already shaking.

"Then? Because it hurt, Lu. I am proud of what I do and it's not fun when the girl I love isn't even pretending to care."

"Can we not do this here? Please?" Lucy asked, noticing some of the people from set watching this exchange curiously.

"Fine. Wait in the car, I'll be there in five." And with that, Laxus stalked off, gathering his things. Lucy slowly pulled her bag off the back of the chair and slipped it onto her shoulder. She sensed a fight coming and she wanted to just run away. Run back in time, with Laxus, to Greece, where everything was perfect. Instead, she slumped off towards the car, sliding into the passenger seat and cranking the air conditioning. Time seemed to crawl by, and every minute felt like an hour until she heard the driver's side door open and Laxus get in.

"So?" he asked, not beating around the bush.

"Do you know how hot you are?" Lucy questioned.

"What does that have to do with anything, Lucy?"

"Everyone wants to fuck you! All the time! Everywhere we go! And for the most part, I can ignore it. But when you're straddling this gorgeous model and asking her to stick her tits out, it starts becoming difficult to just overlook the 'please fuck me' eyes she's giving you!" Lucy yelled.

"That's my job, Lucy! I am paid to photograph these women, but more importantly, I'm paid to photograph the clothes they're wearing! Or the jewellry! Or the shoes! Or the bags! That's why magazines hire me! How can you fault me for doing my job?!" Laxus screamed back.

"I don't know, Laxus, maybe because you asked the 20 year old model with double D boobs to arch her back a little, and drop her chin, and stretch out her endlessly long legs!"

"Because I need to sell the bikini she's wearing! And for the light to hit the product, she needs to contort her body a certain way. I need to sell the shoes she's wearing. I need to create sex appeal, because a phone camera photo of this woman on the sand would not sell! I need to make her and the shit she's wearing look good so that the magazine sells whatever they need to and they hire me for their next shoot! It's a job, Lucy, for fuck's sake," Laxus threw his hands up in exasperation.

Lucy sat silently for several moments. Then, after a deep breath, she spoke. "I know. I know it's your job, and I know you're doing what you need to do."

"Then what's the issue?"

"The issue is… They all want to fuck you, and… Aren't you attracted to any of them?" Lucy whispered, not looking at Laxus. Tears were rapidly forming in her eyes and she was trying desperately to blink them away. When Laxus didn't answer, Lucy continued talking, desperate to fill the awkward silence.

"I mean, I know I'm here now. But when I'm not? And you're lonely? There are all these beautiful women around you all the time. I mean, even Mira. I like Mira, I do. But she told me how she got the job. You're just calling beautiful women who slip you their numbers at bars… I mean, what do you want me to think? Today it's for a job, but tomorrow…?" Lucy trailed off.

"Did Mira tell you what she said to me that night at the club?" Laxus asked, his voice cold as ice.

Lucy shook her head, still not looking at Laxus.

"She came up to me, drunk as a skunk, told me I was hot. I said thanks. She then sat down, and promptly started crying. Mira has two college degrees, she graduated with an impressive GPA, she's terribly smart, but because of how she looks, she was always hired as just the face of any business. Never any responsibility. Everyone thought she was an airhead. No one took her seriously. She wasn't able to do any work of significance because people thought she was hot, dumb blonde. She cried for twenty minutes at that bar. And when she slipped me her number, she wasn't hitting on me. She asked me to call her if she knew anyone who'd give her some work of substance. She didn't care how much they paid, she just wanted to be able to do something of value. And my heart went out to her. You know me, Lucy. When have I ever needed an assistant? But I figured, even if I'm a stepping stone, she can use the contacts she makes working for me to find herself a job that she enjoys with people who value her. And until then, she'll have a job with me, and I'll make sure she does something even moderately worthwhile. That's why she gave me her number, that's why I called her back," Laxus finished stonily.

Finally, Lucy turned to him. "I'm sorry," she whispered, eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I just… You don't understand what it means to be in my position, so you wouldn't understand why I felt that way."

Instantly, Lucy knew she'd said the wrong thing. The ice in Laxus's eyes melted away into a raging fire.

"I don't know?! Are you fucking kidding me? Do you know what the worst day of my life was? It was the day, in Greece, when that dumbfuck ex-boyfriend of yours showed up. And not only did I stop myself from beating the shit out of him, I even offered to try and get you to talk to him! Why? Because I thought he was important to you! I wanted to punch the living daylights out of him, but he was important to you and so I didn't. And then, when you just come and tell me that you 'call me later' before disappearing for several hours? Lucy we weren't even in a committed, exclusive relationship then! I sat on my couch, for what seemed like an eternity, not moving, barely even breathing, because I was terrified that you'd gone back to him! I didn't know if you loved me or not. All I knew was that the love of my life and her ex-boyfriend of four years who was also the man she pictured herself marrying were somewhere on the island, and it was not unlikely that they could potentially reconcile and run off together. I thought I was going to die on that fucking couch, Lucy. Every minute you didn't call, I thought you'd gone back to him. So don't tell me I don't understand what it means to be insecure and jealous. And now, you know I love you. You know you're the love of my life. You have even less to be worried about! I didn't know, Lucy! I didn't know if you loved me enough to come back to me! But if you aren't sure if I love you enough to come back to you, then we have bigger problems."

Tears were now pouring down Lucy's face. "Do you, though? Do you love me enough to always come back to me?" she rasped.

Laxus looked at her like he didn't recognise the person in front of him. "I can't believe you'd even ask me that… You know what? I don't feel like going out to dinner tonight. Let's just go home, get some takeout, and I'll drive you to the airport tomorrow."

"Laxus, I-"

"I really don't want to do this, Lucy. It's one thing for you to be jealous about the people I work with. I can even understand that, I guess. My job requires me to be around beautiful people, and I can't fault you for being a little jealous. I would be too, if I were in your position. But questioning my loyalty to you? Even assuming I'd ever cheat on you with one of them? Doubting how much I love you, despite me telling you and showing you every minute of every day? I don't know what more to do, Lucy. I don't know how many more times in how many more ways I need to prove that you're the love of my life. So let's just not, okay? Please. I love you, Lucy. And I'd never, ever, ever do anything to hurt you. But me saying it isn't enough. You need to trust me, and that's not something I can control."

Lucy was at a loss for words, and Laxus had said everything he needed to say. They drove back to Laxus's home in silence, with only the occasional soft sob from Lucy reverberating through the frigid car.

A/N: Are we feeling more sympathetic towards Lucy or Laxus? And yes, this sequel is shaping up to be more spicy and dramatic and maybe even angsty than Lightning in a Summer Sky, but c'est la vie, right? I'm so excited for your reviews so please send me all your thoughts!