How I Met You Chapter 9: Cuddles Are the Cure to Everything, a fairy tail fanfic

Wow... Super long chapter this time around. I apologise. But, I don't think it worked being split up, and all of these chapters have been long so far anyway.

Anyway. First off, holy fucking shit, thank you all so much for the reviews on Chapter 8?! Like, wow?! Secondly, this was such a pain to edit with how long it was, so if there's any mistakes, I'm sorry I couldn't fix them all. I'll get them at some point in time.

But as usual, more notes at the end, so enjoy!

Bickslow was sure his brain shut off at that moment, because for the life of him, he couldn't think of anything to say right then. Bickslow didn't even know if there was anything he could or should say right then, because if there was one thing Bickslow was sure of, it was that what Lucy had just said was not something he should know at all.

But she'd told him, because he was being an insufferable jerk about the issue, and he had pushed her to telling him.

It was Scarlett beginning to squirm a little and letting out one quiet cry that had his brain slowly kicking back into gear though, and Bickslow was quickly looking down to her and away from Lucy who he had in fact been staring at. But really, the last thing Bickslow wanted to be dealing with right then was his daughter crying. There were slightly more important (well, sort of) issues he wanted to sort out – like Lucy, for example. So Bickslow was only lifting Scarlett up a little more so she was resting on his shoulder and he was gently patting her back – he hoped that the kid really just wanted a cuddle, which would make sense since she'd been getting really needy all of a sudden – before he was looking back to Lucy and watching her seemingly stop herself from having some kind of breakdown right then and there.

"You mean… You, ah…"

Lucy glanced back over her shoulder to the Seith mage. "That I can't actually get pregnant?" she finished for him with a shrug. Maybe Bickslow hadn't quite understood what she'd blurted out, or maybe he'd just been trying to find the correct words to even ask her if that was what she'd really meant. She didn't know what the case was, but it didn't really matter, either, because it didn't change anything. "Yeah, that's what I mean."

And Lucy really hadn't wanted Bickslow knowing that. She hadn't wanted anyone knowing that, because she just hadn't been able to see how it was really anyone's business. No one else had needed to know. Not yet, anyway. But Bickslow… He'd just kept pushing and pushing and Lucy hadn't known what else to say. He'd given her no choice, and now here they were, with Lucy hating herself for blurting something so personal out to Bickslow of all people and still freaking out because she didn't know how the test could've been positive, and with Bickslow thinking god knows what about her now.

What Bickslow thought of her now was almost something Lucy didn't want to know about, just because she didn't want him to pity her or feel like she needed sympathy from him. But Lucy already knew that Bickslow was probably already pitying her, just because he was the kind of person to do that, and she hated that right then. Lucy didn't want or need anyone feeling sorry for her, especially when it wouldn't change anything.

But even if Lucy could sort of deal with Bickslow knowing that she couldn't have children (because he really hadn't given her much of a choice in telling him), she most definitely did not want to talk about it. Not in a million years would she want to talk about it, and especially not with Bickslow. Even then, she had things to do and places to be. She couldn't talk to Bickslow even if she had wanted to, and she just happened to really not want to. Not even a little bit.

With Bickslow still staring at her with a dazed (and apologetic) look he did so well, Lucy only shook her head and turned her attention back to getting ready to leave. She needed to go and see her doctor before he left for the day, because the sooner she had her mind put at ease over just how the fuck it had been positive (surely it was just something being wrong with the test. It had been sitting in her cupboard for close to a year so maybe it had already expired?), the sooner she could go back to curling up in bed. So after getting back up after quickly pulling on her boots, Lucy was pulling her bag from the hook by her dresser and turning for the still open door again. "So, now that you know, you have no reason to argue with me about it," she rambled. She still didn't look up to Bickslow again as she hovered by the door, holding it open and just hoping that he would finally get the message and go home. "I really need you to leave now, though. Please. I just… I need to go and sort this whole thing out, and you can't be here."

Ah, and she was back to kicking him out. Right. And as little Bickslow was actually opposed to leaving right then, just because he was strangely having a hard time wrapping his head around it all and he really just needed to sit the fuck down and let himself process it for some bizarre reason (and really, he had no idea why he even seemed to care so much about it because it really wasn't any of his business that Lucy supposedly couldn't have children. Well, sort of), he still couldn't quite see the importance of Lucy going and seeing her doctor about the positive test right fucking then. Couldn't it wait? It was nearly five; the day was nearly over. Lucy wasn't going to get anything achieved that day. Even Bickslow knew that. And that wasn't even taking into account that she was still sick. She needed to be back in bed and getting her rest and getting better, not walking around town and spending god knows how long worrying, because Bickslow knew she was worrying. She wasn't hiding that fact.

It was just that Bickslow didn't quite know why Lucy was worrying so much. If anything, she was more panicked by it than he was, and that just… didn't make sense. Bickslow could have understood why she'd be so distressed if she hadn't just told him what she had, but now, he just didn't get it. What was there to worry about if she couldn't even have children in the first place? She really couldn't be pregnant, right?

It just… It had to be something else. Because Lucy could most definitely not be pregnant. And Bickslow didn't want to argue with her about it. Not anymore. He just had to believe her, because that just wasn't something he could doubt her on.

Still though, he was worried about her. Especially so considering the circumstances. But Bickslow still just wanted to make sure she was okay, and he doubted her going out to see her doctor right then would help her in the slightest. That could wait. Really.

"You're not… You're not actually going out, are you?" he asked, having remembered how to actually form words and do something other than stare or hug his month old daughter.

Lucy shrugged. She didn't have the time, nor the energy, to answer simple and stupid questions like that. "Well, yeah," she answered. "I need to… To go and see my doctor before he leaves so he can tell me how it could have been positive. And I… I just… I really don't want you here right now, either." And the last part might've been just a little harsh, sure, but it was the truth. She couldn't deal with Bickslow right then.

And really, Bickslow wasn't even that offended by it, which is why he simply ignored it and pointed out, "Lucy, it's nearly five. It's getting too late for you to be doing anything right now."

"I know that, which is why I need to go now, so can you please just—"

"No, you really don't," he insisted over the top of her. He was going to get the last say in the matter right then. He had to. It was really for Lucy's own benefit, anyway. And even if she was honest to god terrifying him right then, just because she looked just about ready to punch him in the face for being so annoying and persistent about it all (though Bickslow was glad she probably didn't have the energy to), Bickslow was still only carefully stepping forward just so he could slowly reach for her bag and pry it away from her. "You can go and do that in the morning."

But the sooner she got it dealt with, the better. "But—"

"Nuh-uh-uh. One night isn't going to make a difference, alright?" Bickslow said softly. Lucy was, of course, having none of it – couldn't Bickslow see that she just wanted to go and do it right then and not worry about it all night? – and she only stepped forward quickly to snatch her bag back from him. Except that was the exact moment her room decided to spin again, and Bickslow was quickly steadying her with a hand on her arm. "What you need to do," he continued, gently turning her away from the door, "Is go put those super adorable pyjamas back on, and get back in bed and get some rest so you can get better, because you're sick. Well, uh, not because… You know… But because you have a cold or whatever."

Lucy nibbled on her lip as she looked back to her bed piled high with her blankets. Curling up in bed really did seem like a better idea all of a sudden. And Bickslow was right, too. She really could go and visit her doctor to get some kind of answer in the morning. At least if she waited until morning, she'd be feeling a little better (hopefully) and might have a bit more energy, so she wouldn't feel like she was dead on her feet…

And even then, considering the fact moving made her head spin and want to throw up, going back to bed seemed like the best thing to do right then.

"Maybe, uh… Maybe that's a good idea…" she mumbled. I'll just go first thing in the morning when his office opens…

"Right?" Bickslow only inwardly sighed in relief; he was just glad she wasn't going to argue with him about it, because it really was for Lucy's own benefit. So he was only moving his hand to her back and gently guiding her away from the door and back to her bed to sit her down on the edge of it, then he was quickly looking around the room before heading for her bathroom to pick up the pyjamas she'd left in there to hand them back to her. "Seriously though, these really are adorable," he mused. "They're very you."

She sniffled and let out a quiet and laugh. "Thank you, I think."

"Anyway. You're going to put these on, and then you're going to go back to curling up in bed, and you're going to keep yourself warm and get some rest, okay?"

Lucy nodded, already having pulled off her boots again and begun working on shrugging her coat off.

"And, uh…" Bickslow cleared his throat before continuing, "You can go, um… See your doctor in the morning, and, uh… You know, find out how it was positive." Even he wanted to know how it was positive, but for some reason, he didn't really want to ask Lucy to tell him what it actually meant. He felt like she'd just want her privacy, especially since he'd already invaded it enough.

Lucy nodded again. "Can you still leave now though?" she whispered. "I just… I really don't want you or Scarlett getting sick because of me…"

"Right, yeah. I'll, uh… I'll leave now. But really, keep warm. And sleep. And drink lots of water."

"Yes, yes. I will," she sighed. Though Lucy did have to admit it was strangely nice how Bickslow seemed to care so much right then, and she especially loved the fact he wasn't even coming close to bringing up what she had told him before. "Just go already."

"Alright, fine. I'm going." Bickslow was only rolling his eyes as he left the blonde behind him and faced the door. He strangely wasn't all that interested in seeing her get changed right then. Any other day, sure, but not then.

Right then, Bickslow was more interested in going home and going back to staring at his ceiling.

Lucy had to hold back the urge to shout at Bickslow and ask him just what the actual fuck he was doing there right then when he sat down next to her in one of the waiting rooms of the clinic she was at. By under no circumstances should Bickslow be there, but he was, and she really wanted to know why. So quietly, she only asked him that. "Just what on Earthland do you think you're doing here?"

Bickslow sniffled a little as he shrugged. "I, uh… I don't know." And he really wasn't all that sure why he'd shown up at all, because he really wasn't supposed to be there, but Bickslow had just wanted to be there. Moral support, maybe. And considering Lucy was still bouncing the knee she had her other leg folded over, Bickslow was thinking Lucy was just a little nervous right then. He didn't exactly blame her for it, either. "So, uh… What's happening?"

He didn't need to say anything else for Lucy to know just what he was asking. "I have to have a blood test," she mumbled.

She had already been in to see her doctor. She'd done that as soon as the clinic had opened at eight and she'd been her doctor's first patient before his first actual appointment. The only problem was that her doctor wasn't as sure as she was that she was most definitely not pregnant, and he wasn't all that confident in saying that it was really just something to do with the test she had taken. So he'd ordered a blood test just to be sure.

Lucy was still telling herself it was nothing, though. It just had to be. She'd had three different doctors tell her the same thing – that she couldn't have children and wouldn't ever be able to get pregnant – so she just really could not be pregnant.

But she'd take the stupid blood test anyway, even if she'd already been waiting in the small room just outside the lab that the clinic had for over half an hour. The whole waiting part was really not doing anything to ease her panic, and even if Lucy was so annoyed that Bickslow was somehow there right then, she was also strangely glad. He was calming.

But she was still curious as to how Bickslow was there right then, too. There were so many doctors and clinics in Magnolia it wasn't even funny, and she'd been in that building for over an hour at that point, so if Bickslow had actually been following her (which she really hoped he hadn't been), he would've had to have been waiting outside for the last hour or something. And that… That was kind of weird.

She only glanced back to him when the door opened and one of the people who had been in the waiting room before headed for the stairs. "How did you know I was even here?" she asked.

"I, uh…" Bickslow cleared his throat and sniffled again before he answered, "Kind of had one of the babies look for you."

"You what?"

"Don't give me that look. I went by your apartment first. You weren't there, so I figured you'd uh, be seeing your doctor about the… thing. And then I was curious, so I had one of them look for you, and uh… Now I'm here."

It really wasn't that bad. A little weird, sure, but it wasn't the worst thing to happen in the entire world. He really was just curious, though. Was it a crime to want to know what was going on? Probably. But Bickslow really didn't regret letting one of the babies go be a little stalker, because if he hadn't done that, he wouldn't be able to sit there and be her friend.

But Bickslow had been there before. Sort of. His own doctor was on the opposite side of the town, but Bickslow had seen that particular doctor's office and clinic before. More specifically, he'd seen Lucy walking out of it in tears once before when she'd still been dating Laxus. He hadn't really thought much of it until the previous night when he hadn't been able to get his mind to shut off, because he'd always known that whatever had had Lucy so upset back then wasn't any of his business (and she hadn't wanted to tell him anyway. That much he'd known and accepted long ago). But now Bickslow couldn't help but wonder if that one time he'd really been able to talk to her when she'd still been with Laxus all those months ago had anything to do with her not being able to have kids. She'd said she'd just gotten some bad news, but all kinds of bad news could come from a doctor's visit. He'd never even suspected that it could be something like not being able to fall pregnant, but now… That was all Bickslow suspected it to have been about.

And like he'd been her friend then, he was being her friend now. Because really, Bickslow just thought Lucy really looked like she needed a friend right then. Nothing more and nothing less.

Lucy thankfully got called in just a few minutes later. She got just a little dizzy as she stood up from the uncomfortable chair, but she did her best to ignore it, just like she was already ignoring how sick she still felt – she was so over the flu already. The assistant had almost closed the door behind Lucy after pointing her towards the large chair, but as soon as she saw the vials and the needles sitting on the tray next to it, Lucy was spinning back around and quickly walking back out into the waiting room and grabbing Bickslow's arm to pull him to his feet.

"Miss, he can't—"

"He's my distraction," Lucy said quickly.

The woman in the white-striped shirt only turned her attention to Bickslow, looked him up and down – something that made Bickslow just arch an eyebrow at her – and then just rolled her eyes and turned back around. "Fine, whatever," she sighed before muttering to herself, "Definitely a distraction…"

Bickslow only shrugged and let Lucy drag him into the small room to be her distraction. Really, he had no issues with that. He wasn't even bothered by what the technician had said, nor did he have any intentions of finding out what 'definitely a distraction' even meant. He just didn't care.

"You, on the chair," the woman said, pointing Lucy towards the large chair once again. She turned to Bickslow then, and just shook her head. "You can just do whatever it is you supposedly need to do. Just don't get in my way."

He nodded. "Yes ma'am." He wasn't going to be getting in her way. Oh no. She was scary. Bickslow only pulled a stool out from a bench behind him and sat himself down in front of Lucy, just to her left. As the technician finished up with a form on the bench on the other side of the room, Bickslow only found himself holding both Lucy's jacket and her bag on his lap before he quietly asked, "So, uh… How exactly am I supposed to be your distraction?"

Lucy shrugged and did her best to not look at the tray laid out next to her arm on the armrest. "I don't know. I just… I don't like needles. Or blood tests. Or anything like that," she admittedly quietly. "I just need you to keep me from paying attention to it." She'd probably end up actually being sick if she were to look down and see her blood slowly filling one of the vials. It had happened before.

Bickslow had never quite understood how people could hate tiny little needles so much, especially since he had tattoos so he couldn't see how anyone could find blood tests or anything of the sort painful either, but he still wasn't going to judge. He wouldn't judge Lucy of all people for it, either, and especially not right then.

She wanted a distraction? He could be her distraction.

"Alright. Um…" Bickslow cleared his throat as the woman put on the latex gloves and spun around on her own stool to face Lucy. He was pretty sure the woman got far too much enjoyment from the sound of the glove snapping against her wrist, but what Bickslow really didn't enjoy was how Lucy visibly looked like she was going to be sick any second now. Distraction time. "Uh…"

Turns out, Bickslow had no idea what he was supposed to say to distract her.

And knowing that, Lucy only ignored the woman tapping on the inside of her arm with her fingers and she kept her eyes on Bickslow. Really, it wasn't all that difficult, especially when he was wearing his glasses (which she had already realised she loved way too much). "Where's Scarlett?" she asked.

"Oh! She's with Freed and Mira actually," he answered. "And Ever, too, I guess." He'd only asked Freed and Evergreen to watch her for an hour or two at most, and all of a sudden, Mira had been running up and offering to babysit her. So, Freed and Mira. Really, there were worse people he could leave his daughter with.

"Alright, you might feel a bit of a pinch now."

Lucy nodded at the woman and made a point of looking to the corner of the room. It wasn't that they hurt, because they didn't. She just didn't liked needles. They made her uncomfortable and squeamish and she couldn't help it.

"Hey, Lucy. Look at me, okay?" Bickslow said, sitting forward on the stool. When he only got a quick glance from her before she was turning her head back and towards her right arm, Bickslow was gently touching her chin and getting her attention again. "At me, okay? Otherwise I'll make you look at me."

She sat back slightly when she was sure she saw the quickest of flashes of brilliant green in his eyes behind the black frames as he gave his weak threat. "Did you just—"

"I did," he smirked. Just for a second though. Bickslow wouldn't ever use his magic on Lucy anyway, not unless he really had to – like their lives actually depended on it – but this wasn't one of those moments. He was just having a bit of fun and doing his job as a distraction. But he only shrugged when Lucy looked just a little more worried. "Ah, don't worry. You're fine as long as I'm wearing these anyway."

So they block his magic too like Ever's glasses do… Lucy only nodded again, and that time, she kept her eyes on the Seith mage. "You look tired," she sighed. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Not at all."

"Bickslow…"

"It wasn't from a lack of trying." Because really, he'd tried. He'd tried really hard to get some sleep when Scarlett had been down, but it just hadn't happened. He'd been too busy thinking about Lucy to get any sleep. "I'll sleep later," he promised. Bickslow figured he'd crash at some point anyway, especially if he was coming down with the horrible dose of the flu that half of the guild – and Lucy – was currently out with. He still hoped not, of course.

With a loud sigh, the woman was taping over the small cotton ball on Lucy's arm and swivelling back around on her stool to face the bench again. She was grabbing a pen and another form as she said, "You'll be able to come back in after the weekend for the results. Don't bother coming in on Monday though. Any time after then will be fine."

"Okay," Lucy nodded. So she still had three more days to get through before she could go and see her doctor again. It was probably going to be a very long three days, that was for sure.

"Close the door on your way out, too."

When they made their way back outside and fell into place between everyone else heading to work or wherever else they needed to be that morning, Lucy shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket and glanced up to Bickslow with a small smile. "Thank you, I guess," she said softly but loud enough so he could actually hear her.

"For what?"

"For being my distraction." And sure, Bickslow hadn't had to do much and it hadn't been for long at all, but Lucy was thankful.

Bickslow only shrugged. "Ah, it's fine. Just glad I could be somewhat helpful," he said. "Are, uh… Are you heading home now?"

"Yeah," she sniffled. "I still feel horrible. Just want to go home and hide myself under all the blankets I own for the next three days."

It was a great mental image. Really. And Bickslow couldn't help but smile at it. It was just the 'three days' part that had his smile faltering and he was glancing back down to her as they walked to quietly ask, "Are you worried? You know, about what the results will be?" Because if Lucy was worried, then Bickslow should be worried too, right? That was the way Bickslow saw things anyway.

And honestly? Lucy really was just a little worried. She didn't want to be worrying about what the results would come with, but she couldn't help it. She was still sure she wasn't pregnant – never was and never would be – but there was a tiny part of her that was terrified of walking in to see her doctor on Tuesday morning to be told she really was somehow knocked up. And still, deep down she knew it wouldn't happen, but she was so scared of it.

"I… I don't know. I guess I'm a little worried about them," she admitted before quickly tacking on, "But it's silly, I know. I just… I just never really expected to be having to do any of this at all, you know? It's weird."

"I get it." Well, he didn't it, but he understood what Lucy meant. He got it. It was weird.

But then Lucy was suddenly coming to a stop beside Bickslow on the busy street and shaking her head lightly. "You know what?" She didn't look up when Bickslow stopped in front of her. She only roughly pointed in the direction they'd just come and said, "I actually need to go and pick up a few things before I go home, so I'm, uh… I'm going to go and do that instead."

It was a lie, too, of course. Sort of. She didn't desperately need to go and pick anything up from anywhere, but there were just a few things she could go and get then – like tissues, for example. And disinfectant to wipe down every single surface in her entire apartment once she was over her sickness. But if anything, going and getting those things then was just a reason to not have Bickslow walk her home like he'd done so many times before. As calming as he'd been before, Lucy was back to not wanting to deal with him right then.

When all of it was over, things would go back to normal then. And normal was just a few days away.

Strangely, though, Bickslow knew Lucy wasn't exactly being that truthful, and it didn't bother him as much as it should. She just wanted her space. He knew that. And that was fine. He nodded down at her as he said, "Oh. Alright. Yeah, okay." There were things he could be doing right then anyway. Probably.

"So, yeah… I'll, uh… I'll see in a few days when I'm… better." And most definitely not pregnant.

"Yeah. See you then," Bickslow mumbled. And once he couldn't see her anymore, having lost sight of her between everyone else on the busy street, Bickslow could only sigh to himself quietly before turning and heading on his way again. He figured he should probably go and rescue his daughter from the demon.

By the end of the day, Bickslow felt like death. Or really, worse than death. Death itself was probably sitting up (or down) somewhere and laughing at him and his misery. All Bickslow wanted to do was wrap himself up in as many blankets as he could and sleep.

But Bickslow couldn't sleep. He had a baby to look after. But then again, Bickslow couldn't exactly look after his baby if he just did not have the energy to. There was sleep deprived, and then there was dead on his feet, and Bickslow was most definitely the latter. And at that point, he was not capable of looking after his daughter, and when he was sick, he really didn't want to be looking after her. He didn't want her getting sick, and he was paranoid that she would, even if he tried really hard to avoid it. She was just so little and defenceless!

So that was why Bickslow did the only thing he could think of and asked his team – well, Evergreen and Freed mostly – to watch Scarlett for the next night or two. Just while he got over the worst of the horrible cold that he had unfortunately caught too.

But with Freed (and probably Mira, Bickslow figured) taking care of Scarlett that particular night, Bickslow's house had been just a little too empty and a little too quiet for him to actually stay at home. So that was how he ended up at Lucy's apartment again, only letting himself in and ignoring her question him as to why he was there as he kicked off his shoes, before dragging himself over to where she laid on her lounge just to wedge himself behind her and under the blanket with her.

"Shut up," he mumbled before Lucy could actually question it again, making himself as comfortable as he could be by wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in close to him. "It's not weird. You made me sick and I might've gotten you knocked up. This is nothing." What was wrong with cuddling, huh? He liked cuddling. Sometimes (most definitely not after sex though, because that was weird). He just didn't do it very often and the only other person he actually did cuddle with was Evergreen, because they'd always stayed up together and watched movies and fallen asleep on the lounge.

Cuddling was nice, though. And with Lucy? Bickslow liked that way too fucking much, and he honestly had no idea where it had come from. He'd just really wanted to, and it most definitely was not weird.

Well, it was maybe just a little weird, considering the way he'd just put it. But it was still nice. She was so warm and Bickslow always loved being warm.

And honestly? Lucy just didn't feel like complaining. She didn't really want to complain either. It was kind of nice, even if she really hadn't wanted to be dealing with him earlier. So Lucy only curled into him a little more as she pulled on the blanket again and went back to staring at the lacrima screen before her and waiting for her movie to start. "What makes you think I made you sick?" she asked. "You could've gotten it from anyone."

"'Cause I spend most of my time around you," Bickslow mumbled. "And it's not like I could've gotten a cold from my kid."

"Who's taking care of Scout anyway?"

"Freed. And Mira, probably."

"Your house?"

"Nope. Freed's."

She glanced back over her shoulder at him. "Then why are you here?" Lucy asked again. Really, if Bickslow's house was empty, then why couldn't he just stay there? Not that she was complaining of course, because she was comfortable now…

She was just curious.

Bickslow only shrugged from where he laid behind her, head propped up with one elbow on the pillow. "Kinda just wanted to cuddle," he mumbled.

"You wanted to cuddle?"

"Mm-hmm. Cuddles are like, the best medicine in the world, too. They make everything better. It's a win for both of us, really."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive. Besides, I, one, give the best hugs ever," he pointed out, but of course it was something Lucy already knew. "And two, I don't hear you complaining, which means you don't mind it."

"I… Well…"

"Exactly. So just let me fucking snuggle with you, alright?" He just wanted to snuggle. That's all. And Bickslow really was a firm believer in cuddles being a cure-all. He was feeling better already.

Lucy couldn't help giggling. Well, until her chest and her throat protested that is and she found herself curling forward and proceeding to cough up a lung or something, with Bickslow only gently rubbing circles on her back until she had her breath back again. "Fine. You can stay," she sighed. She knew full well Bickslow had no intentions of leaving anyway, but she wanted to say it regardless. Lucy waited until she was comfortable again before adding, "I never thought you were a cuddling type, though."

"Shh. Don't tell anyone," Bickslow whispered.

"Uh-huh. Sure," she laughed weakly again. But now her movie was finally starting and that was more important. "Now be quiet, otherwise I really will kick you out." Probably not, because he was warm, but she liked empty threats.

"Two questions first, and then I'll shut up."

She rolled her eyes and let out another sigh. "Fine. Go."

"What are we watching?" Bickslow asked.

"Alice in Wonderland."

"Oooh. Original one or new one?"

"Original, of course," Lucy answered. It was one of her absolute favourites, especially when she was sick. It always cheered her up. "Now is that it?"

"No. I still have one more question." He was sure he actually felt her roll her eyes at him, but he ignored it just to lightly tug on the fabric of the white shirt she was wearing and asked, "Are you wearing my shirt?"

"Uh…" Okay, so Lucy might actually be wearing the shirt that she'd ended up borrowing from Bickslow when Scarlett had dirtied her shirt, but she'd only wanted something comfy to wear after getting back from seeing her doctor and getting her blood drawn, and the shirt just happened to be at the top of the particular drawer she'd opened. And it was a really, really comfortable shirt. "No."

He chuckled quietly at the blush he could just make out on her cheeks. "No?"

"No. Because it's my shirt now." Or at the very least, she was permanently going to be borrowing it. Bickslow didn't care about it anyway. He'd said so himself. "Now shush."

Bickslow had never been so comfortable in his life. He was sure it had something to do with the fact he'd just spent the last three or so hours curled up with Lucy under a million (well, three) blankets on her bed. He was just so warm and so cosy and he just didn't want to leave. If anything, Bickslow was glad he'd gotten sick, because holy fucking hell could he stay there for the next week and not want to move a single muscle. He really could.

He was so far past thinking about how perfectly Lucy seemed to fit in his arms, because he just didn't care about it. All Bickslow seemed to actually care about was just how comfortable and nice it was. She was warm, he was permanently cold. And there was something wonderful about falling asleep while holding someone and waking up in the exact same position.

So when Bickslow found himself waking up from his nap again in the dark apartment with the sun having finally set, he moved as little as possible to avoid disturbing Lucy and possibly waking her up. He failed though, of course – or so he assumed – and as soon as he stretched his arm beneath the pillow, the blonde tucked in against him with her head beneath his chin shifted a little and made the cutest waking up noises he'd ever heard.

"Stop moving," she murmured.

"My arm was dead," Bickslow mumbled back. "Didn't mean to wake you though."

"Wasn't sleeping." She just hadn't wanted to get up. She'd been too warm and comfy to consider getting up to find food. Food could wait, because cuddles came first. Cuddles were her cure, apparently. "Just not moving."

He seemed to enjoy the fact that Lucy was more than content like that just a little too much. The jealous part of him that existed within for some stupid reason couldn't help but wonder if Lucy ever cuddled with Laxus like that – Bickslow strangely hoped she hadn't. He wanted to be just a little special.

But on the other hand, Bickslow was sure the situation they presently found themselves in together was not one Laxus had when he'd been dating Lucy. Because aside from Lucy supposedly not even being able to have children, Bickslow was convinced Laxus would have completely flipped if there'd been so much as a chance that Lucy could've been pregnant. Bickslow couldn't help be a little glad he hadn't actually run into Laxus at all since the previous morning, too. He probably would've said something stupid or made the guy wonder just what was going on with him again.

Still, now that Bickslow had for some silly reason started thinking about Laxus again, he only found himself wondering if Laxus even knew Lucy couldn't have children. He doubted it, especially if all of it had begun when he thought it had. Of course, Bickslow could still accept the fact that the only reason he knew was because he hadn't given Lucy much choice in telling him, but still, it had to mean something, right? Probably not. He'd forced it out of her, after all.

He was still just a little too curious about it all though, and Bickslow couldn't quite tell if it was a good thing or a very, very bad thing – he assumed the latter. But Bickslow was always one for letting his curiosity get the better of him, and he figured that at worst, Lucy would just say it was none of his business and tell him to shut up so she could sleep. And really, he was completely okay with that.

So he was only shuffling as little as possible again: stretching one arm beneath the pillow again and keeping his other around her waist, while simultaneously trying to avoid having Lucy knee him in a very unfortunate place – that, had already happened – and not touch her extraordinarily cold feet. Then it was just a matter of actually speaking, and of course, he did so as quietly and awkwardly as he could. "Can I uh… Can I ask you something?"

And it really didn't require much brain power for Lucy know what Bickslow wanted to ask. Or at least, she knew what it would be about. And really? She didn't care. She was too comfortable and warm to care. So she only sighed into the chest she was leaning against and gave a simple 'uh-huh.'

"Did, um… Did Laxus know?" he asked. "You know, about the… thing."

"You mean the thing where I can't get pregnant?" she asked back, just a little amused by Bickslow's avoidance of it.

"Uh, yeah. That's the one." He'd really just been trying to be nice about it.

Lucy let out another quiet sigh and shuffled up so she was facing Bickslow with her head completely on the pillow again. "No. Laxus didn't know," she answered quietly. "No one did."

"How come?"

She shrugged. "There was no point in telling him or anyone else. He didn't need to know."

Bickslow nodded. He got it. It wasn't like it was anyone else's business other than Lucy's, and no one else really had needed to know other than whoever she ended up with down the track when marriage and kids and all that became a real possibility. But Lucy hadn't been there – still wasn't, either – so it had been her secret and hers alone.

Until him. He was the exception. Yet suddenly, Bickslow wasn't feeling all that special.

But if Laxus didn't know, and it really did go back to when Bickslow thought it did, then it meant that Lucy must've still been dating Laxus. And since so far, Lucy seemed to be okay with talking about it, he pressed on. "When did you, uh, find out?" he asked then.

"Around the start of the year," she answered. "I think… I think it was at the end of January."

So she was still with Laxus. And if it was at the end of January… It must have something to do with that time he'd found her walking out of the same doctor's office they'd been at that same morning in tears. It just had to be then.

He shifted again and quickly thought about how he'd word his next question as he looked back to her face that was just inches away from his own. He was almost glad she'd closed her eyes again. "Do you remember that time I saw you that morning?" he began, only to get an odd look from Lucy as she opened her eyes again. Licking his suddenly too dry lips, he continued, "And you were, uh, crying. After you'd walked out of that doctor's office."

Lucy remembered it. She remembered it well, even if she couldn't remember the exact date since she'd spent almost the entirety of January going in and out for various tests. But that day, the one where Bickslow had in fact found her right as she'd left one particular morning, she could remember. She was just surprised Bickslow could. "You remember that?" she whispered.

"'Course I do." Aside from the fact he remembered that entire morning just a little too well because he'd been pissed off at Laxus, he mostly remembered it because he'd been worried about Lucy. He just hadn't thought much of it until the previous night, because Lucy had seemingly gotten over whatever it was that had had her so upset by the next time he'd seen her. Except now Bickslow could see why it had probably seemed that way. "But that was when you found out you can't have kids, wasn't it? That was the bad news."

"Yeah, it was."

So that was why she hadn't wanted to talk about it when he'd asked her if she'd wanted to. That was why she'd made him promise not to tell Laxus about seeing her that morning. That was why she'd looked like she'd really fucking needed a hug – and it was why he had, of course, given her the one she had really needed.

All the way back then.

But at the very least, Bickslow found some kind of solace in the fact that he'd been able to cheer her up a little bit back then, right when she'd needed it the most it seemed.

"How do you even remember that anyway?" Lucy asked with a quiet sniffle. "It was so long ago."

The corner of his mouth pulled up into a slight smirk. "Do you really wanna know?"

"Uh… Maybe? Actually, yes. Tell me. Please."

"I count how many days I can go without calling Laxus a cunt."

She was sure she would've laughed if her throat and lungs would allow it, so a smile had to do, just because it was not the answer she'd been expecting in the slightest. "You count the days?" she repeated to get a nod from the Seith mage. "For some reason I want to know what the record is, but on the other hand, I'm more interested in what you're at now."

"Ah, well, the record is ninety-nine, I think."

"Oh, so close!"

"That was actually the same day you… you know, I believe." Clearing his throat, he continued, "And I think it's at nearly forty days now. Not too sure."

"Does Laxus know it's a bit of a game to you?"

"Probably, but I don't really care if he does. But, uh, I remember that morning because I also happened to call Laxus a cunt that morning."

"Uh-huh. What did he do to deserve it that time?" she asked.

"He was giving me shit for not bothering with getting someone's name when I sleep with them," Bickslow mumbled. And really, he knew it wasn't exactly the most charming thing to do – but hey, he was also no Prince Charming. It was really a mix of not bothering getting their name in the first place or just not remembering it in the morning if he was hungover. "And, uh, I was just kind of in a really shitty mood and I kind of hated Laxus back then because…" Because I was being a jealous asshole? Yeah. Tell her that. Moron. He shook his head to continue, "Why is not important. But, basically, he was being an asshole, I was hungover, I asked him how he had a girlfriend because he's a cunt and like, really, I'm still trying to figure out just why the fuck you wanted to date him in the first place."

Even Freed had told Laxus not to aggravate him, but what did Laxus do? He aggravated him. It was his own fault he got called a cunt. Every time.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She would ignore the last comment, just because not even she knew why she'd wanted to date Laxus so much. She should've just left it with their first date and not given him another one. Their six weeks of dating had been kind of horrible.

But still, Lucy had wondered what Laxus had done that morning. They'd spent the night before in a hotel since she'd been getting some minor renovations done on her apartment (thanks to her team's destructive nature, of course), but she'd had to go see her doctor for the last of her results first thing in the morning. So while she'd been getting some of the worst news of her life – and without an actual explanation, no less, because apparently she was just one of the ones who were stuck with basically unexplainable infertility – Laxus had gone home to tease his best friend. It was strangely nice to know… in a really, really weird way.

"And let me guess," Lucy began. "You just happened to have someone over that night and Laxus just happened to see them leave or something and so that's why he was teasing you about not knowing their names?"

"Precisely."

"And did you actually remember that person's name?" She couldn't miss her opportunity to tease him.

"I did, thank you very much," he mumbled. Well, sort of. It had been close to a year earlier, but he still remembered too well. "Her name was—shit."

She raised an eyebrow at him before she found herself turning away and coughing into her arm – that was what she got for laughing. "I doubt that was her name," she croaked.

"No, it wasn't," Bickslow quickly said. All traces of his own amusement were long gone. He'd only just put it all together. Scarlett's mother's name was supposedly Katie, and Bickslow could most definitely remember saying something about how her name was Kate – or something along those lines – to Laxus when he'd been a jerk about it all. And strangely, Bickslow had never thought much about just when he would have met his daughter's mother and when it all would have happened, because he'd just never really thought he had a reason to care. Her mother was gone, and he didn't give a damn about just where she was or have any interest in seeing her.

But it seemed all too perfect for that particular woman who had been nothing more than a way for him to get his mind off his best friend somehow turning him into a jealous asshole, to be Scarlett's mother. The timing made sense, didn't it? Just… in a really fucking horrible way it turns out. "That's kind of fucked up," he whispered, grimacing as he found himself staring just past Lucy.

"What is?"

"I, uh…" He cleared his throat. "I think it was Katie. You know, Scout's mum."

"O-Oh. Wow…" she murmured. That's just a little fucked up. But she could see the humour in it, too. "So, basically," she began, not doing much to stop herself from smiling. "While I'm finding out that I can't have kids, you're making a baby with someone you don't even know."

"Hey, it was an accident," he pointed out, cringing. "But, yeah, basically. And now here I am not even a year later, maybe having knocked you up, too. Ah, my parents would be so proud of me."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You didn't," she insisted. Like, Bickslow really couldn't have. It wasn't just a case where she had a really, really low chance of ever conceiving – she literally had zero chance. And strangely, it wasn't because anything was wrong. She just couldn't have children. That was what three different doctors had told her, but none of them had actually been able to tell her why, other than that there was something blocking her from ever being able to do so. But only one had been able to tell her it was most likely a magical interference of sorts, whatever the hell that meant – her 'specialist' in Magnolia happened to somehow specialise in mage health issues, and apparently, mages came with their own list of special problems, including infertility (or so he'd said). Lucy wouldn't put it past someone to put some kind of curse on her for payback or something though, so who knows, maybe it was some kind of magic deciding to make her uterus the most hostile place to ever exist or something.

But whatever the case may actually be, she still could not be pregnant. Nope. Never. Not happening.

"Might've." Of course, Bickslow was really hoping he hadn't, but just in case by some kind of miracle or something she was, he figured it was better to not be completely surprised by it. "But, you know it'd be pretty fucking funny if you were though, right?" he said. "Well, not really. But kind of."

"How so?"

"'Cause, you know, supposed to get married and have a kid anyway." But Bickslow wasn't supposed to be talking about that. Right. It was pretty funny though. At least to him. He could only imagine going back to see his parents at some point if Lucy actually was pregnant, just introducing them like, 'Hi, this is Lucy. She was the one you tried to make me marry, but I ended up knocking her up anyway because life is fucking strange like that.' That was sure to go down well.

But of course, Lucy didn't look so impressed anymore, and he figured it really did have something to do with how he'd promised not to talk about that since the last time he'd been stupid enough to bring it up, Lucy had started crying for some reason. Except now, Bickslow was pretty sure he knew why she'd cried then too. And all he could do was turn his head to bury his face in the pillow and groan. "I'm such an idiot," he mumbled. "I'm so sorry."

Lucy was sure she shouldn't find whatever was going on amusing, but she did. "Are you always this weird when you're sick?" she laughed as gently as she could, sliding her hand up so she could try and turn Bickslow away from the pillow and stop having him smother his face in it. "What is it now?"

"I'm an idiot."

"Yes, so you've said."

He sighed into the pillow before looking back to her. "That time I was going on about how we would've been married for like, eleven years now or something stupid like that." And he still seemed to have a hard time wrapping his head around that, because eleven years was a long time and so many unimaginable things could've happened in that time. "And I kept rambling and asked how many kids you thought we would've had… And I'm just… I'm sorry for that. I never meant to upset you then. I really wouldn't have kept talking about it if I knew why it made you so upset."

"It's fine," she shrugged. "I know you wouldn't have. I never blamed you for it. You just… kind of caught me off guard with it, I suppose, and I'd never really thought about all of that until then and I guess I just worried about it for some reason?" Lucy had no clue if it would've been different if she'd ended up marrying Bickslow – or anyone else for that matter. Maybe she'd have been able to have kids then, even if it was really just a few years earlier for her, or maybe she was just destined to be the last Heartfilia that ever existed. She'd strangely wondered just what their families would've thought if it turned out she hadn't been able to have children then, either.

But even then, it wasn't like that was the only reason she'd been upset then. It was mostly just because talking about something she knew she couldn't ever have was just not on her list of favourite things to do. Especially when she still had her moments where she wished things were slightly different.

With her own quiet sigh, she shook her head. "Doesn't matter now anyway," Lucy continued. "And, as much as I love talking about this right now, I'd much rather be getting some more sleep, so if you don't mind…" Sleep seemed more important than struggling to get out of bed and find food. She'd eat later.

"Right. Okay," he mumbled. "Yeah. Get some more sleep." Bickslow thought it was a better idea too, and now that he'd had most of his questions answered, he was sure he would actually be able to block out the rest of what was still bouncing around in his head to actually get some rest.

In his own weird way though, Bickslow was glad Lucy had told him, even if it was just a little bit, because they were things that only he knew. They were his secrets now, and he was very good at keeping secrets. But still, it was kind of nice to know that Lucy was comfortable enough with him to talk about it.

Unfortunately though, sleep didn't come very easy for either of them. Lucy wanted to sleep, but with Bickslow groaning and nearly whimpering every seemingly five seconds, she was most definitely not getting any rest. But it wasn't like she could do anything about it. She'd let him stay and that just meant putting up with him, sickness and all. And considering he was still insisting it was her fault he was sick anyway, it was, as he had put it, her responsibility to cuddle him and give him lots of loves and attention. So she put up with it.

But when Bickslow started feeling so sick that he was sure he couldn't actually ignore it anymore and just sleep for the next few days, he could only grimace and groan into the pillow again. "I really don't feel well…" he mumbled.

"If you're going to throw up, do it in the bathroom."

"Not gonna throw up," Bickslow replied. "…Maybe." He hoped not. Maybe if I just think about something else it'll go away… Puppies! Puppies are nice to think about. I should get a puppy. One that can sit in my pocket when it's little and bite Laxus! Or maybe a kitten… Kittens are cute too… Oh! Ducklings are super cute too! Ducklings are— "Never mind."

Lucy wondering just what it was that had been going through Bickslow's head just before (he'd been smiling and grimacing at the same time and it had been weird) suddenly stopped when Bickslow sat up quickly and went for the edge of the bed. "Don't you dare—" Except Lucy didn't get a chance to tell Bickslow to get away from her before he stopped trying to quickly climb over her to get out of bed, for he merely stayed there, leaning across her and over the edge of the bed with his hand over his mouth, and then threw up on her floor

He really hadn't meant to do it. He just hadn't had enough time to get over Lucy, climb out of bed, and get over to the bathroom on the opposite side of the room. The floor was closer.

And so then Lucy just laid there beneath Bickslow because she had no chance of moving with him on top of her anyway, and stared up at her ceiling. "Did you just puke on my rug?" she asked after a moment. She wasn't cleaning it up, that was for sure. Bickslow could do that – and then the rug could go anyway.

Bickslow only grimaced and gave a small nod. "…Uh-huh."

It was at some point the next afternoon that Bickslow felt Lucy separating herself from him again, and that just wasn't allowed. She was too warm for him to let go of, and it most definitely didn't help that his fever had finally disappeared for the most part and he wasn't feeling like he was sitting on the sun itself, so he was back to being permanently cold again. So when Lucy went to sit up, Bickslow was only wrapping his arm back around her waist and pulling her back down to him.

"Nope. No leaving," he murmured against the back of her neck. "Too warm."

Lucy rolled her eyes and pushed his arm away. "But I need to go and have a shower or something," she protested. Really, she did, though. The last time she'd had a shower was the previous morning, and she'd still had a fever and she was beginning to get a little uncomfortable. Plus, she was hoping the steam would help clear her head and her nose. That was always nice. "I'm all gross and sweaty."

"Mm. I know. Don't care, though."

"Ugh, that's disgusting," she scoffed. She could deal with spending almost all day and all night doing basically nothing but snuggling and watching stupid movies (that thankfully, Bickslow had not chosen), but she could not deal with that. She just wanted a little time to herself. Maybe a bath is a better idea… So she pushed him away once again and was pulling herself out of bed and away from the Seith mage as quickly as she could, leaving him to whine and act like the child he really was. "I'm going to take a bath, and you can just lie here and complain all you want, because I won't be listening."

He grumbled into the pillow as Lucy left him and he curled into himself under the blankets that were now all his – unfortunately. Stupid Lucy and her stupid bath. Cuddles were so much more important than taking a bath. How dare Lucy leave him alone with no one to cuddle with! That was just rude.

It wasn't long before he was kicking back the mountain of blankets he'd been hiding under and pulling himself out of the warm and comfortable bed, all because a bath weirdly seemed like a really fucking great idea. He wasn't a bath person in the slightest – he didn't even think he'd actually used the bath in his own bathroom since he'd been living in the house by himself – but when there was a naked Lucy involved, what wasn't to love? Besides, he really just wanted to cuddle her some more, which was something he was still not bothering to think about just because it was still a little weird, but cuddling was super nice, and he was enjoying just being near her more than he probably should.

When he entered the bathroom, Lucy's eyes flashed almost murderously at him. "Do you mind?" Was it too much to ask for just half an hour of peace? Apparently. Bickslow was as bad as Natsu, it seemed. No one seemed to have any consideration or respect for her privacy.

But Bickslow of course ignored it, and for a second, he merely just stood there and stared at her. She is an actual goddess. No one should look that good when sick. Then only mentally shaking his head as he found himself wondering if he should actually be bowing down to the deity in front of him, Bickslow frowned. "This isn't going to work."

She raised an eyebrow at the Seith mage as she crossed her arms over herself. She had to at least try, right? "What on Earthland are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

The tub. The tub was what Bickslow was talking about. It was too small. Well, for him, at least. Even Lucy looked just a little cramped in her stone bath – or at the very least she wasn't able to stretch out, so if she couldn't, he most definitely wouldn't be able to. So, the tub wasn't going to work.

Luckily though, his own head was clear enough that he was able to come up with some kind of idea, and he'd been meaning to go home anyway. So he just looked back to her in the tub and tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that she wasn't wearing any clothes – Bickslow was already sure he was going to have to think of the most horrifying thing his brain could muster just because he was already half hard, which was something he found annoying of all things right then – and actually shook his head that time. "Come on," he said, much to the confusion of Lucy, of course. "Get up."

"What? Why?"

"Because."

"Bickslow, no." She didn't have the energy to deal with whatever was happening right then. She just wanted to have a bath in peace for once. "I'm warm and I don't want to get up."

That just wouldn't do. So Bickslow only stepped forward and kneeled by the edge of the bath, just to push his sleeve up and reach down between her ankles and pull the plug and let the water drain from the bath. He was sure he nearly melted the skin off his arm, and Lucy shrieking and kicking his elbow had almost hurt, but it was all for a good cause. And when Lucy just continued to yell at him and ask him just what the hell he was doing, Bickslow just ignored it for the most part and threw a towel at her before spying a bottle of eucalyptus oil on the counter and picking it up. That was most definitely going with him. He could already smell it in the room, and with the steam it was already clearing his sinuses and his head and Bickslow was realising that was a wonderful thing. He was so sick of having a blocked nose.

When Lucy made it out of the bathroom, just a towel wrapped around her still – something that made Bickslow momentarily forget how to talk and he wasn't quite sure why, because it was just a towel and there were sexier things that existed, like her Halloween costumes – as she once again asked the Seith mage what he was playing at, Bickslow only told her to get dressed because they had someplace else to be. And of course, Lucy's curiosity got the better of her so she just went along with it for some strange reason.

But then when she was stepping down from the platform made from Bickslow's babies and onto the deck at the back of his house, having ended up taking a short trip through the air without so much as a hint to where they'd been going, Lucy really couldn't help but turn back to Bickslow and hope that he would finally just explain what he was planning to do. "Alright, please, please, please tell me just why we're here right now," she almost begged as they made it into the lounge room.

Sneezing first apparently as he stepped in front of her to make his way towards his bathroom, Bickslow did decide to finally let Lucy know just what his master plan was. "Your bath is too small."

Lucy was annoyed enough as it was that he'd ruined her bath (and she was just a little mad at herself for actually letting Bickslow ruin it, too), but now Bickslow was actually somehow insulting her bath? Just what the hell was actually going on there? Really, Lucy wanted to know. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she wondered aloud.

"It means your bath is too small. Whereas mine"—he pushed the bathroom door in the hall open—"is not." And strangely, that was because of Laxus. He'd gotten that bathroom remodelled a year after they'd moved in because he'd complained about the bath in the original one being too small, and that just wasn't good enough. The guy really fucking loved baths, apparently. It wasn't something Bickslow had ever really understood, but right then it seemed to be some kind of blessing.

The blonde only arched an eyebrow as she looked between the large oval tub between the tall cabinets that he was obviously referring to, and Bickslow himself. "You mean you dragged me out of my already nice, warm, relaxing bath, and out into the cold, just to point out that you have a larger bathroom?"

"Basically."

"This is ridiculous, Bickslow."

"A little," he agreed, shrugging. "But… It was mostly just because I wanted to actually get in the bath with you, and yours is just too small for me to do that. Have you seen how fucking tall I am?"

How tall Bickslow was wasn't something Lucy needed to be reminded of. It was just a little hard to forget that she only went up to the tops of his shoulders for heaven's sake. It was almost annoying, though it wasn't like it had proved to be much of a problem so far… Not that Lucy was sure why it would or could ever be a problem. She was allowed to have tall friends.

…Ones that she just happened to enjoy kissing and apparently take baths with, too, it seemed.

That was totally fine. It was probably a little weird, but really, Lucy just didn't care anymore. If there even were boundaries there that they probably shouldn't cross – and she figured there were plenty – Lucy was just ignoring them. She couldn't even find a reason to care about them, and considering the circumstances, Lucy didn't even think she should. Especially not if Bickslow was ignoring all the boundaries, too.

Besides, she was really cold and she'd really wanted to take a bath – before someone had ruined it, that is. And it wasn't like she hadn't just spent the last twenty-four hours being curled up with him under multiple blankets. A bath was fine. Sort of.

So she was only rolling her eyes before reaching into the inside pocket of Bickslow's coat – an act that surprised him more than it did her – to pull out the eucalyptus oil she knew he'd taken to take it over to the tub. "Jesus, why couldn't you have just said you wanted to take a bath with me in the first place, instead of being a total dork about it?" she muttered.

He shrugged again and the corner of his mouth curled up into a smirk. "Baby I'm a dork by nature."

Lucy wouldn't even argue it.

Once the bath was full and there was the appropriate amount of bubbles nearly spilling over the lip of the tub, Lucy first sat down at one end and brought her knees up to her chest before Bickslow stepped in after her to sit at the other end. She couldn't help but giggle when he quickly pulled his foot back out and hissed in pain. "A little bit too hot for you?" she teased.

Hot? It was more like scalding. "No," he muttered, then was swinging his leg back over to step back into the bubble bath and wincing as he slowly lowered himself down into the painfully hot water. "But Jesus, Cosplayer… Has hanging around Natsu for all these years somehow fucking singed all your nerves or something and made you immune to heat or some fucking shit?"

"I'm not immune to heat, you idiot," Lucy said, flicking soapy water at him with her hand. "Besides, don't you claim to be permanently cold anyway? You should be enjoying this." He'd only mentioned it once before – when he'd hugged her the first time at the start of the year when she'd been upset after finding out she couldn't have kids for some weird reason – but she'd remembered it.

And the fact that Lucy remembered that almost surprised Bickslow. So he shrugged as he slid down further into the tub until his shoulders were almost completely submerged and his feet were on either side of the blonde; his current state of arousal had him thankful that Lucy had supposedly 'slipped' with the bubble bath. "I never said I wasn't enjoying this," he responded with a devious smirk planted on his lips. Because really, he was enjoying it just a little too much. Even if the water was just a little too warm.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Why is that anyway?" she asked.

"Uh, because I get to see you naked and that's always a win?"

"I don't mean that," she sighed. She'd already figured that was why Bickslow was supposedly enjoying their weird bath. It was weirdly flattering, too. "I mean, why are you always cold?"

"Oh." Bickslow shrugged again before answering, "Because Astrantia doesn't really get cold, and I guess I just haven't been able to adjust to it. Been here for like, nearly six years now anyway, but I'm still a little bitch when it comes to anything below twenty-five." And that was pushing it, really, but that was the equivalent of the winter he'd grown up in. Being where it was, it meant he was used to some very warm summers – ones that lasted most of year.

"Astrantia. That's where you're from, isn't it?"

Bickslow nodded. "Yeah. It's this, uh, port town, I suppose, right up at the top of Fiore. And no, before you ask, my family don't have anything to do with the actual port. Just the trains," he smirked. Hell, the train station there had only been built after the Redfarrows had moved their company there long before he'd even been born. The port had been there before trains had even been a thing, anyway. "But, basically, winter is non-existent there. I'd always just assumed it was because it's close to Alakitasia, but really, I've got no fucking clue why it's so hot there. It's mostly humid, though, especially around Christmas and the beginning of the year. Doesn't snow there, either. But it rains a fuck ton after the new year." He shrugged again. "Astrantia's pretty though, so I guess that makes up for the heat."

Lucy hummed as she dropped her chin to rest on her folded arms over her knees. "I've never been. I never travelled much with Father when I was younger…" Not to places like Astrantia, anyway. It was rare for her to stray far from Acalypha. "Did you?"

"Not much. We'd go to Bosco once a year or so – got this wicked villa there by this lake that I almost drowned in once, I think. But I mostly tried getting out of going anywhere because it was always related to the company. Didn't really care about it and Dad knew it so he let me stay in Astrantia."

"I met him once, you know."

"Who? My dad?"

She nodded. "When I was fourteen," Lucy answered. "I think he came to discuss the whole partnership. You know, when our parents were still trying to have us get married and all."

Bickslow just stared at her for a second. For starters, he was just a little surprised that Lucy was actually bringing up the subject of their supposed intertwined pasts on her own. But then it was because she had met his father, and it was just another one of the things from his past that he'd never thought about because he'd never had a reason to.

But now he was, because he could remember his father going to meet his so-called future business partner, and he could remember telling his father that he'd go the next time to meet his bride-to-be – except there hadn't been a next time, because it was only a few months after that that Bickslow had enough and he'd left. Probably would've changed my mind on leaving if I'd gone with him the first time round, too… But Bickslow could most definitely not tell Lucy that. Oh no.

Instead, he only murmured, "Small world…"

It wasn't long after that that Bickslow found his thoughts drifting back to a certain uncomfortable topic again, right after he'd told Lucy about Laxus' secret fondness for baths and how she would most definitely not cope with the heat in Astrantia – not even if she had Gray by her side. And Bickslow almost wanted to be able to ignore it, but he couldn't, just like how he hadn't been able to the previous night. But at the very least, Lucy had talked to him then…

So maybe, she'd talk to him now, too.

He cleared his throat first as he quickly thought about just how he could use his words effectively. "Hypothetical situation…" he began cautiously after a moment's pause again. Just the emphasis alone was enough to have Lucy pulling her knees a little closer to her chest. "If you are—were pregnant… What would you want to do?"

"I don't really know, to be honest," she whispered.

If she was, she would first and foremost cry a lot, and probably curl up in a ball on her bed and cry some more because she'd be terrified for one. But once she'd have stopped freaking out and having some kind of panic attack, Lucy probably would try and figure out what the right thing to do was. And that was what Lucy found herself thinking about right then, too, because now that Bickslow had asked her, she couldn't help but be a little worried that she really might end up curling up in a ball and crying and wondering just what to do anyway.

On one hand, it would be completely ridiculous for her to actually keep a child if it turned out she was pregnant. She wasn't ready to be a mother in the slightest, and she doubted she would be in nine months, either. That wasn't even taking Bickslow into consideration, anyway. He already had a child he hadn't exactly wanted, so it would most definitely not be fair to have him worrying about another child when he was still trying to figure out how to look after the one he already had. Having a kid would just fuck everything up.

But on the other hand, maybe it would be her only chance to have a family that was actually her own. She'd always wanted to have children – a daughter, specifically – because she'd always wanted to be able to teach them all about Celestial magic and the spirits just like her own mother had before she'd passed away. But even if she'd accepted that she wouldn't ever get to have her own child, even when she was older and ready for that, it didn't mean she liked it. Because she hated it almost.

Still, if she was by some miraculous chance actually pregnant, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if she kept the baby. She'd just figure things out as she went, just like Bickslow was doing with Scarlett, because surely if he could figure out how to be a parent, she could, too. She wouldn't even expect Bickslow to help or anything. That wouldn't be all that fair for her to expect anything from him, because he had enough to deal with like the daughter he already had. But she'd be able to do it on her own, surely. If he could, she could.

But none of it mattered anyway, because she wasn't pregnant. Couldn't be, because she had that stupid, unknown magic fucking with her body and making it so. Lucy had absolutely nothing to worry or think about.

Bickslow could only watch her sulk and try and curl in on herself for a few moments. Anything longer than that was just impossible, because he knew what Lucy was thinking about and why she was like that. Well, sort of. He wasn't capable of reading her thoughts, but Bickslow most definitely knew she was upset, even if her quietness was the only hint. So with a sigh, Bickslow was only quickly leaning forward and sending his hands back below the surface of the water to grab her feet and slide her back towards him. "Alright, come here."

Lucy didn't get a chance to protest as she was seemingly effortlessly picked up after, and a giggle that surprised her slipped past her lips as a blush crept onto her cheeks when she found herself on Bickslow's chest and lying between his legs.

"Hug time." Because Lucy looked like she needed a hug again and Bickslow was always willing to give her one. Plus, she was naked which was great in itself, and strangely, Bickslow wasn't actually interested in having sex with her. He didn't have the energy to begin with, but cuddles were more important anyway, and he wasn't interested in saying no to naked cuddles.

And if it was hug time, Lucy couldn't complain. She really liked hug time, even if his dick was pressed against her hip. But that, she wasn't even going to think about dealing with. Bickslow would survive. Instead though, she only smiled softly to herself and laid her head on the Seith mage's shoulder to make herself comfortable again.

"It'd be okay if you wanted to keep it," Bickslow said softly after a minute, and he could feel her tense beneath his fingertips as soon as the words had left his mouth. But, he'd needed to say it; there was a lot he needed and wanted to say. Looking down at her when she lifted her head, he continued just as gently, "You know, if you were knocked up. Hypothetically. But if that was what you wanted to do, that'd be okay."

"It… It would?" she whispered again. Because in the brief moments she'd actually thought about what she would do if she really was pregnant, she was realising that keeping the baby is what she'd actually want to do. And it was somehow nice knowing that it would be okay.

"'Course it would be. Well, apart from the whole Laxus most likely wanting to kill me thing. But, if you were somehow pregnant, and you did want to keep it, that'd be fine. I'd totally help, too. If you wanted me to, that is."

She hesitated before mumbling, "You wouldn't have to…" But it was all hypothetical, so they could talk about it. She hadn't even wanted to think about talking to Bickslow about any of it just two days before, but now she wasn't so against it.

"But I'd want to," he insisted. "I mean, I'd at least like one of my kids to have two parents."

Lucy shook her head and let out an irritated sigh. "That is a horrible joke."

"It's kind of true though," he chuckled. "But, bad jokes aside," Bickslow continued a little more seriously, because it was a very serious matter. Sort of. "I really would help you if you were. And I'd be there for you, too, because really, like you'd be able to keep me away from my own kid. But, only if you wanted me to, I mean. Because if you didn't want me to have anything to do with them, then I'd get it, and I'd just, uh… try and keep my distance, I suppose. "

"Even though you already have Scarlett?"

"Even though I already have Scarlett," he repeated softly. "I wouldn't make you do it on your own. I'm not that much of an asshole." Besides, if he had to get anyone who he wasn't actually with knocked up, Lucy would probably be the best choice – as weird as it was. She wasn't anywhere near the worst person to have a kid with.

"But you mean you'd…" Lucy chewed on the inside of her cheek for a second as she avoiding look at him again; she was too embarrassed as it was because part of her couldn't even believe they were having that conversation – hypothetical or not. "You'd actually want to be a part of their life and all that? You know, hypothetically."

"Well, duh. For one, it'd be a reason to have you put up with me for a super long time, and I'm not going to get sick of annoying the hell out of you anytime soon."

"Of course you're not…"

"And two, I—" It quickly dawned on him that he'd been about to say that it was because he loved her. And he did. Really. He'd told her that a few times, too. It was just that right then, it didn't quite seem like a good idea, especially considering the circumstances. "I care about you," Bickslow quickly said instead, and it was mostly without thinking that he turned to kiss her cheek. "A lot. Because you're one of my best friends and I like seeing you happy and okay."

But then Lucy started laughing, much to Bickslow's surprise, and then she was pulling her hand back from his opposite shoulder and shoving his face away from her. "Ew, don't kiss me. You're all germy. That's gross."

"All germy, huh? But what if I want to kiss you?"

She shook her head and made a weak attempt of hiding her blush and smile against the top of the shoulder she was leaning on.

And of course, Bickslow just couldn't help himself. So he kissed her again on her temple that time. "Take my germs. Take all my germs." Lucy was the one who'd gotten him sick anyway (well, probably), so he didn't care about germs in the slightest. Plus, he did really just want to kiss her, and Lucy giggling as he worked his way down her face to her lips made it so much nicer. She wasn't as disgusted by his sickness as much as she claimed to be.

She tried to make it seem that she really was disgusted though, so she was pulling away suddenly before she got too into it and settling herself again against the side of the tub again. "Okay, stop, please," she giggled. "It really is kind of disgusting." Sort of.

"Aw, but who am I gonna be disgusting with if I can't be disgusting with you?" Bickslow pouted.

Lucy only shook her head again before grabbing one of his wrists and placing his hand back where it had been before on the small of her back. "Do that thing again," she mumbled.

"You mean this?" Bickslow asked as the corner of his mouth pulled up into a slight smirk and as he gently began sliding his hand up and down her back again, from her hip and up to where his thumb grazed the side of her breast.

"Mm. That. It feels nice." And it almost tickled when he used his fingertips instead and his nails got involved, but it still felt nice. Especially when it kept her shoulder warm when he brushed the water up slightly.

So then it was just peaceful for a little while, where Lucy tried really hard not to think about how she could get really used to how she felt around and with the Seith mage – which was really fucking great, as it turns out – and where said Seith mage just continued absentmindedly caressing her back. Because peaceful was really nice, and Bickslow was sure as hell thankful he'd gotten sick, even if he was missing his daughter a lot after barely twenty-four hours.

But Scarlett was in perfectly capable hands. He knew it. So he had nothing to worry about at all, and that meant he was just free to continue thinking about hypothetical situations. He was probably enjoying that just a little too much, and with how open (sort of) Lucy had already been with talking to him about the entire fucked up situation they were kind of in, Bickslow liked to think she'd be fine with some more hypothetical questions.

"Okay, so," he began, and Lucy turned her head on his shoulder to look up at him again. "If we ever did have a kid – hypothetically, of course… Do you think it'd be a girl or a boy?"

She pursed her lips and quickly wondered if they were getting on the train to Weirdville. Who even cares if we are? Weird was fine now. She didn't care about weird in the slightest. Humming in thought first, she said, "Girl. Heartfilias are always girls. What do you think?"

"Girl, most definitely then," he agreed. "Redfarrows will be all girls this generation too."

"How is that even possible?"

"Wouldn't have a fucking clue. But it's been all boys then all girls for the last few generations, and so far it seems to be following suit. Besides, Heartfilias always being girls is just as weird."

"Fair enough, I suppose…" she mumbled before asking her own hypothetical question. "Alright, so if we had been married and had a child together then, would they be a Heartfilia, Redfarrow, Redfarrow-Theroux, or all three?"

"Well, I would've dropped Theroux if I'd stayed to take over the company and all, since it was always just to do with the Redfarrows and they never really wanted any other names to be branded with it," he explained. His brother had dropped the last part of his surname, though Bickslow couldn't remember if it was actually official or not. Bickslow himself had just seen no point to do so though, so he'd kept it. He'd still never really gone by his full name anyway. "But, since us getting married was supposed to be our families' companies becoming like a conglomerate, I guess, then our kid would have to have both of our names. So, either Redfarrow-Heartfilia or Heartfilia-Redfarrow."

"Heartfilia-Redfarrow."

"Redfarrow-Heartfilia.'

"Um, no," Lucy argued. "For starters, Heartfilia-Redfarrow sounds so much better than Redfarrow-Heartfilia."

"Does not."

"It does so." Really, it did. At least, that was what Lucy thought. "And anyway, one would assume that I'd have to take your name too if we got married, and if I became a Heartfilia-Redfarrow, where would the sense be in our kids being Redfarrow-Heartfilias? It would be more logical for our children to have the name that took on to save the confusion."

Bickslow sighed in defeat. Heartfilia-Redfarrow it was, apparently. "Fine. How about… magic? Think they'd be a mage?"

"Probably. Is Seith magic mostly genetic?" she asked.

"Mostly, but it usually skips generations according to Dad so it's incredibly unlikely that any kid of mine will be a Seith mage."

"Well, my magic can be learned, and with mages as both parents, I'm pretty sure our hypothetical child would have some magical capability, so I'd teach them how to be a Celestial mage if they wanted me to, just like my mother did with me before she died."

"That's kinda sweet," Bickslow murmured.

"I suppose it is…"

He found himself trying to sit up a little bit and shuffling uncomfortable when he thought of what to ask next, and Bickslow didn't wait for Lucy to have her turn before he softly said, "If we were married though, and if you could, you know, actually have kids… Do you think we'd have had more than one kid?" That was something Bickslow had been thinking about far more than he should've, and he wasn't completely sure why.

They could've had more than one baby, though. He liked to think they would've, just because one child made it seem all too… forced. Like the only reason they'd exist at all was to have someone to take over the family business when they were older. And that just wasn't all that fair – Bickslow would know. But even then, maybe having kids would've made the entire thing bearable.

Lucy didn't really know how to answer that though, just like how she hadn't been able to the last time Bickslow had asked it. It was still kind of hard to even imagine something like that when she had it stuck in her head that it couldn't ever be anything higher than zero. "Maybe. I honestly don't know," she sighed as she gave a small shrug. "What about you, though? Did you even want to have kids at all? You know, before Scarlett."

"Sure I did. Just… not for a while. And not like that." Bickslow shrugged. "I mean, you know I wouldn't actually change how things are right now for anything in the world because Scout is fucking amazing. But, if it hadn't gone this way, and I'd, I dunno, gotten married or something and was with the right person or some shit, then I think two kids would be pretty awesome." Hell, he'd still probably be more than fine with having another kid somewhere down the track. But for now, he was okay with being girlfriendless, wifeless, and father of one.

Besides, he was somewhere between being disgustingly platonic with Lucy and being her awesome friend with super awesome benefits, and that was really more than great. That was pretty damn awesome.

"Right person, huh?"

"Oh, shut your mouth. You know what I mean," he muttered.

"Uh-huh. It means you believe in soulmates," Lucy giggled.

He dug his fingers into her side and couldn't help but chuckle at the squeak she made as she squirmed in his hold, only spilling more water onto the floor. "Hey, soulmates exist, thank you very much. They're real. Like, really real." But Bickslow wasn't interested in going into detail about it, partly because it wasn't even something he knew all the details of to begin with.

"I never said they don't exist," she pointed out. She believed in them – sort of. She'd just been teasing Bickslow about believing in them, because it seemed a little odd that the man who was probably King of casual relationships and one-night stands actually believed in that kind of thing. It was strangely cute. "But you'd ideally want two kids?"

Bickslow nodded. "Two kids."

"Two girls then, I presume?"

"Yup." Though, he wouldn't complain if he ever ended up having a son with anyone.

Lucy sighed as she lowered her head back to his shoulder, and a soft smile formed on her lips when she realised how much she would've loved being able to have two daughters. That was almost perfect in her mind. "I think two girls sounds really nice."

After not hearing from Bickslow for nearly two days, Evergreen and Freed decided it was time to go and see how he was doing. Being Monday, they figured he'd at least be feeling a little better by then, and at that point, he'd probably be missing his daughter a lot, too, and as much as they had enjoyed looking after her, they couldn't exactly be a parent for Bickslow. That was his job, and he was going to get sick again at some point anyway, and he'd probably have to push through and still do his job as a parent then.

Laxus had decided to join them on their trip to their former house that morning, too. He'd decided it would be an opportunity to tease him about something – like, how he probably looked like shit, or how he'd let dishes pile up in the sink, or maybe just call him out on how he'd been a lazy ass and stayed in bed for the whole weekend while his team looked after his kid. Well, Laxus hadn't babysat. Hell no. But he had been in the general vicinity of the child when either Freed (and Mira) or Evergreen had been on Scout Watch in the guild.

But regardless, even if Bickslow wasn't feeling that much better, or wasn't feeling up to the task of actually caring for Scarlett, Evergreen and Freed had only decided that they could just spend the day with him at his house. It would be a little like old times, if anything.

Freed opened the front door up once they'd arrived at the two-storey townhouse, and he was pocketing his key to hold the door open for Evergreen and Scarlett first, and closed it after Laxus had brought the half-disassembled bassinet in. "Well, it looks like Bickslow's still here," the Runes mage mused as he noticed the few dishes on the bench and in the sink. Generally speaking, though, the rest of the living room was tidy like it usually was, so Freed just assumed he'd spent most of his time actually in bed. He didn't really have that much reason to leave that part of the house, not unless he wanted to get food. "He's probably still in bed right now, though. It is still early for him…"

"Probably," Evergreen agreed. Lifting the nearly five-week-old up again and smiling at her, Evergreen only nuzzled her nose against Scarlett's cheek. "Now how about we go find your daddy and wake him up, huh? I'm sure he'd very much like being woken up by you, Scarlett."

Laxus could only roll his eyes at the baby talk and retreat to the fridge to raid it. Surely the Seith mage wouldn't mind if he stole some of his milk to make himself a coffee, one that he desperately needed because he had no idea why he was even awake that early to begin with.

And it was probably a good thing that Laxus opted to not go down the hall to find Bickslow, because Evergreen had to blink to figure out if she was actually seeing what was in front of her. Which, as it turns out, was the guild's resident Celestial Spirit mage looking just a little too cosy and comfortable beneath the covers, and all curled up with Bickslow and with her back towards the windows with the curtains that had actually been closed for a change. Bickslow looked more than comfortable himself, too, and when they shifted – Lucy curled even further into his chest, keeping her head just below his, and Bickslow stretched his arm beneath the pillow and made sure he had his legs just as tangled with hers as much as the sheets – Evergreen had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggle.

They were still fast asleep, it seemed. Evergreen didn't know it was because they'd ended up not being able to fall asleep until after three since they'd spent the better part of the weekend in the bed anyway, and that it had just been convenient to cuddle at Bickslow's instead of going back to Lucy's apartment – but it didn't matter that Evergreen didn't know that. All that mattered to the self-proclaimed Fairy Queen right then, was that it was damn fucking adorable. She wasn't even sure why it was, but she just didn't have it in her to wake the idiot up now.

Freed had the same idea too, and so he was only stepping into the room to quietly pull the door closed to leave the two sleeping mages in peace. "Maybe we should, uh…" He cleared his throat gently before continuing, "Let them rest."

Evergreen giggled quietly as she nodded. They could rest then – but as soon as Bickslow was better, she was most definitely going to ask him about Lucy. For now, though, she would just take Scarlett back to the dorms for the rest of the morning. Even with Scarlett crying literally every hour the previous night, the girls had all been too happy to try and figure out how to get her to sleep. Evergreen could only wonder how Bickslow hadn't completely lost his mind yet.

When Evergreen and Freed came back down the hall again though, Laxus raised an eyebrow at the two as he continued stirring the boiling water in his mug to dissolve the instant coffee. "Bix not here?"

"Nope… He's here," Evergreen answered knowingly. "He's asleep."

"…Weren't you just saying to the kid that you were gonna go wake him up?"

"Yes… But I didn't want to wake Lucy up, too."

Laxus blinked, and his hand only hovered over the mug. "Lucy…" The name rolled off his tongue almost experimentally. He'd heard it right, hadn't he? "As in… Blondie, Lucy?"

Evergreen rolled her eyes at the blond and shifted the infant to her other side. "How many Lucys do you think Bickslow is actually going to cuddle with?"

"C-Cuddle… with?" He had to be dreaming or something. There was no way Bickslow was fucking cuddling Lucy right then, and in bed, no less. Bickslow wasn't stupid enough to do that.

Actually, he was. Bickslow was more than stupid enough to do that. That son of a bitch. Laxus was just strangely having a hard time believing it. Maybe he had to see it… And so forgetting about the coffee he'd been making, Laxus was quickly walking back around the counter and storming over to the hall.

"Laxus!" Freed called after him quietly before he was rushing forward to step in front of the taller man. "Do not go and wake them. Lucy is sick too, you know. She needs her rest just as much as Bickslow does."

Laxus rolled his eyes that time and waved his hand dismissively. "Eh, fine. I won't wake 'em up," he mumbled. He could be quiet and just observe. Maybe. Probably. At the very least, he would try not to wake them up – that would get Freed and Evergreen off his back for the most part. And really, Laxus did know Lucy was sick, too. He'd overheard Natsu complaining a few days earlier about how Lucy had found a way to lock him out of her apartment so she could get her rest. And even if Laxus wasn't caring so much about Bickslow right then (what was new), he still cared about Lucy because she was one of his closest friends, and he did care about her getting better.

And gently, so gently that it even surprised Evergreen as she hovered behind Laxus and tried to peek back into Bickslow's room, Laxus pushed the bedroom door back open and stared back at the bed, where he could in fact make out the unmistakable head of blonde hair that belonged to the woman still tucked in against the Seith mage.

Laxus couldn't help but feel just a little jealous all of a sudden, and he wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't like he was with Lucy anymore, but it certainly wasn't as if Bickslow was with her, either. He knew Lucy had never been against cuddling – they'd sat up on the lounge once or twice when they'd been dating and snuggled while watching a movie – but Laxus had never once been like that with her. Hell, he even knew Bickslow could be overly cuddly sometimes, having seen him and Evergreen curl up together on the lounge at odd hours during their movie marathons… But he'd never known the Seith mage to sleep and cuddle at the same time. But now there they both were, all curled up together like it totally wasn't weird at all.

But, it was weird as shit. Laxus didn't understand it. Were they dating or some shit now? Surely not. Lucy couldn't even like Bickslow (could anyone actually like Bickslow?), and Bickslow sure as hell wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything with her.

But Laxus still wasn't quite sure why he was feeling so jealous. They were really good friends, after all. Lucy was closer to Bickslow than she was with him, and it had always been like that, even before Laxus had been dating her. So, maybe, Laxus didn't have a reason to care at all.

Maybe, with Bickslow knowing Lucy was sick too, he'd just decided to go annoy her for the weekend and maybe Lucy had been stupid enough to put up with the moron. And maybe, their… snuggling, was just a subconscious thing. Maybe Lucy had just gotten cold and with all the layers Bickslow wore, he just happened to be a source of warmth. Of course, she still hadn't snuggled with him when they'd been dating in the middle of the winter at the beginning of the year, but he did know she was just a little used to sharing a bed with Natsu. Maybe she just really liked being warm when she was asleep.

Yeah, that was it. They were just using each other for warmth. It was totally innocent. Totally innocent, but he was still really fucking annoyed with Bickslow all of a sudden. He tried to ignore that, though.

"That's fucking weird," was all Laxus muttered under his breath before turning back around. It was really too early to be seeing that kind of shit, too, so now he had even more of a reason to go and have his morning coffee.

It was almost noon by the time Lucy and Bickslow decided to join the land of the living, and it was Lucy who did so first. She could already tell that she finally starting to get better, since she didn't feel quite as dead waking up, and it was about time she started getting over her flu, anyway. Bickslow, luckily, wasn't going to be down for almost an entire week like she had been. Damn him and his stupid immune system.

For a short moment, Lucy decided she didn't want to get up just yet. She was ridiculously warm and stupidly comfortable, and Bickslow didn't seem to want to move his arm or let go of her (again) anyway. Staying in bed just seemed like a good idea.

Well, until she became aware of just how wet she felt, and in a way that was really way too familiar. She had woken up like that numerous times, but that particular time might've been the worst of them all, considering where she was.

But of course, hoping that it wasn't as bad as it seemed and that maybe the dampness between her legs was just because she'd happened to have a ridiculously sexy dream that she couldn't remember having in the slightest, Lucy pulled herself away from the seemingly still asleep Seith mage to reach out to turn on the lamp, then carefully lifted the blankets to look down at herself. And of course, with the lamp on, Lucy could see the blood that had seeped through the track pants she was wearing and no doubt onto the now not so white sheets beneath her, too.

It was official. This was the worst day of Lucy's life. She could never embarrass herself to that extent ever again. It was impossible.

But really, as the horror dawned on her and as she stared up at the ceiling in complete mortification, Lucy realised she probably should've expected it to happen. She'd been late as it was – but, not that unusual for her, and it was only ever a couple of days off at a time if she was late – so what Lucy was realising she should've done was go back to her own apartment instead of staying at Bickslow's. Because really, her own sheets she didn't really give a damn about, because it just happened sometimes. But for her to not be at home when her least favourite guest decided to visit? That was literally the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to Lucy.

It was a good thing she'd at least brought her gate keys with her so she could call Virgo, otherwise it could've been a very awkward walk home. But on the other side of things, at least she really wasn't pregnant. Part of her really had begun to worry a little bit that she somehow might've been…

Still, Lucy just didn't really know how to go about things right then. She needed to get up, that was for sure. She couldn't just lie there like she'd wanted to before. She needed to just get the horrible, embarrassing part over and done with so she could go home and hide under all the blankets she owned yet again. And go and buy a new hot water bottle, too. And chocolate. She really, really needed those – she could already tell.

Time to make a fool of myself, I suppose.

Rolling onto her back first, she grimaced when Bickslow's arm that had remained around her waist the entire night was pulling her back against him to make sure she couldn't go anywhere. "Haven't you learned yet?" he mumbled into the pillow. "No leaving." Leaving was bad. One could not snuggle if they had no one to snuggle with, and Bickslow still really fucking loved it, even if Lucy's feet were still ridiculously cold. Honestly, it had to be some kind of talent.

"Bickslow… I have to get up…"

"No you don't. You have no reason to get up. It's warm here. You won't be warm if you get up. Warm is nice."

She bit her lip. Why, why was he being so difficult? It was making things so much worse. "No, I really do…" she insisted quietly. "Because I kind of got my period… You know, overnight… So I really need to get up. And burn your sheets."

Bickslow really couldn't help cringing then, and when he did finally open his eyes, he couldn't tell who actually seemed more uncomfortable right then. It was probably Lucy, of course. And it just had to be as soon as put the white sheets on the bed… "O-Oh… Right." Bickslow cleared his throat and finally pulled away from her. Cuddle time was over. "But… you really don't need to burn my sheets," he mumbled. Burning really wasn't necessary. He'd just soak them or something before putting them in the wash, and then they'd be good as new again and no one would be any wiser to any stains that could've previously been on it. Evergreen had come down the stairs a few mornings when she'd still been living there, sheets all bundled up in her arms, and even with three male roommates, she hadn't been shy about any of it.

And anyway, Bickslow was pretty sure he wasn't allowed to be uncomfortable about anything to do periods anymore. He had a daughter – one that would, at some point, start her period. Thankfully, that was years off. But regardless, he'd no doubt be standing in his laundry and soaking her stained sheets at some point in his life, too.

There was no need to burn the sheets.

"Well, I'll, uh… I'll still uh, deal with them myself after," she muttered. Or, well, she'd have Virgo deal with them, probably, and then go out and buy new ones. But first, she needed to go and have a shower.

Except when Lucy made no effort to move, instead only clutched at the blanket and continued looking like she would rather be anywhere else in that moment, Bickslow sighed as he sat up and only looked over his shoulder to add, "You're not actually going to move until I leave, are you?"

She shook her head. She didn't want to humiliate herself even more, thank you very much. Seeing and knowing were two very different things. She was still just glad Bickslow's pants were stain-free, considering how they'd spend the night. She was sure she would've actually died from the embarrassment if that had happened.

But Bickslow figured as much anyway, but he couldn't help but roll his eyes as he headed for the door. He'd already stopped caring. "Fine, whatever," he mumbled again. "Go do whatever it is you need to do then."

And as soon as Bickslow had made it into the hall, Lucy was almost jumping out of bed with a grimace unsurprisingly on her face, and was ducking into the bathroom through the wardrobe with her keys in hand. When gravity got involved, however, Lucy could only repress her shudder. Gravity was not her friend.

Feeling somewhat civilised again after her shower and in fresh clothes – though still completely humiliated – Lucy went back into the bedroom to pull the sheets from Bickslow's bed and assess the damage. Except she couldn't pull the sheets from the bed to take care of them herself, because the sheets weren't even on the bed. It had already been stripped bare and all the pillows and the duvet had been set on the chest at the very end of it. And when she went back down the hall to find Bickslow, he didn't even bother looking up from where he sat on the lounge, seemingly entertaining the babies as they twirled around him, so she only asked, "Where are they?"

"The sheets?" He assumed that was what 'they' meant. "Soaking." He'd only waited until he knew Lucy was in the shower before he'd gone back in to grab them. He figured the sooner they were dealt with, the better.

Lucy shuffled uncomfortably on her feet. "I told you I'd deal with them…"

"Yeah? And? They're dealt with now, so that's all that matters. Don't make a big deal about it. They're just sheets."

"W-Well, I'm, um… I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "I'll buy you new ones, too. To replace them."

Bickslow rolled his eyes as he quickly got up from the lounge. "Jesus, Lucy. Don't replace them, fuck." It was almost laughable – and Bickslow knew it shouldn't be, but it was. First she'd wanted to burn them, now she wanted to actually buy him new ones? She was making a far big a deal of it all than necessary.

Hell, if anything, Bickslow felt like he was more over it and okay with it than Lucy herself was, and he was a guy. And yeah, he got that Lucy was embarrassed by it, but it wasn't the end of the world. Wasn't he supposed to be the one that was being all awkward and super uncomfortable? Weren't chicks supposed to be all like 'yes, we bleed from our vaginas every month. Accidents happen sometimes. Get the fuck over it'? At least, that was how Evergreen had put it once when Laxus had been unsurprisingly acting like a moron. But Bickslow just didn't know how to make Lucy accept the fact that he honestly did not give a shit that she'd accidentally bled on his sheets. Really. He didn't care.

He rarely used white sheets anyway; they didn't match the darker tones he preferred to keep the room decorated in. He'd really just been too lazy to wash the rest of his other ones that had been sitting in his laundry basket for at least a week.

"Besides," he continued from behind the counter. "This kind of makes us even anyway."

Lucy couldn't see it, but she decided to indulge him. "Um… Please explain…"

He shrugged. "I threw up on your rug and you cleaned it up." Which, he was thankful for, even if he had completely destroyed it anyway and he owed her a rug (but a rug and sheets were very different things anyway). "You, uh… yeah. We're even. But just forget about it, alright?"

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed. She'd at least try to forget about it, but just ignoring Bickslow for the next eternity seemed like a really good idea, too. At the very least though, she was going to be ignoring him for the rest of the afternoon. Her own bed was calling her, and the sooner Lucy got home, the sooner she could just stop moving, and moving was quickly becoming painful.

So after an all too awkward exit where Lucy hadn't been sure if she should apologise again, Bickslow was only staring down at the dishes he figured he should wash before going to find his daughter, and wondering if they had somehow learned how to multiply or something. Either that, or he was imagining the fact that he was sure there were more than what there had been on the bench when they'd finally gone to bed the previous night.

He assumed he was just imagining it.

Lucy was almost in a daze as she left the doctor's office on the Tuesday morning. The rest of Monday had in fact been spent trying to move as little as possible, and then first thing that morning, she'd been pulling herself out of bed and making a visit to her doctor.

It hadn't surprised her in the slightest to be told that she really wasn't pregnant. Not anymore, at least. That… That was the part that had surprised her. And she'd spent most of the time there just staring blankly at her doctor to try and figure out if she had actually misheard him.

She hadn't though, of course. And she hadn't misheard him when he'd ordered more tests to confirm what he'd already suspected was true, and she hadn't misheard him when he'd gone on and on about how he didn't know how it could've been possible for her to conceive in the first place, and how he'd most definitely be needing to do some more research into her particular issue that was supposedly rare enough as it stood.

Lucy just didn't really know how she was even supposed to feel after that.

She was annoyed for one at her doctor, and she had next to zero confidence in him now and she wasn't sure if she should believe a word he said at all. She was mostly relieved, too. It was a really good thing she wasn't actually pregnant, because that was not something she would've been prepared to deal with. Not even in the slightest.

But she was strangely… disappointed, too, almost like she had a weight on her that was keeping her down. And she didn't really understand why. She couldn't have children. She'd accepted that. She was still just a little sad, though. And maybe it was because she'd spent those last three days telling herself – and Bickslow – that she really couldn't be and that it was impossible, just to have it almost thrown back in her face and proved wrong – sort of. Maybe it was because all of their stupid hypothetical conversations from the weekend had made her remember just how much she hated the stupid magic that was supposedly fucking things up, and was making her realise just how much she still wished she could've been able to have her own family at some point in her life.

Or maybe, it was just because she really had been pregnant, against all the odds, and now she wasn't. And she wouldn't have even known at all if it hadn't been for Bickslow driving her insane, although Lucy didn't know if that in itself was a good or bad thing. But she'd found out nonetheless.

Not that it mattered now anyway, because it had been so early that it didn't even really count.

It still counted to Lucy though for some reason, and maybe that was what upset her and confused her the most. She knew she should just move on and get on with her life like it hadn't happened, because that was just for the best. She'd have been better off not knowing at all, if anything – it wasn't like she would've known any better if she'd hadn't taken the damned pregnancy test in the first place.

But she should just not let herself be upset by it. She didn't really have that much of a reason to be. She should just be relieved.

Still, in her somewhat dazed state, Lucy realised at some point she hadn't been walking home but had instead been heading in the opposite direction – towards Bickslow's house. Even realising that, she didn't stop or turn around. She just kept walking until she was in the quiet street and coming up to the Seith mage's house. It wasn't the worst thing she could be doing, and it sure beat what she would've been doing, which was spending another day curled up in bed and reading.

Besides, she really needed a hug. Or at least she wanted one right then. And Bickslow was the best at giving hugs.

When she knocked on the door though, Bickslow didn't actually expect to open it and find Lucy standing outside. She had a key, after all, but he figured that she had just not brought it with her. He only smiled at her briefly before stepping back to let her in – he was still always glad to have Lucy there. More than he should, anyway.

"Hey—oh, okay…" Bickslow hadn't even had the chance to close the door behind her before she was hugging him and had her arms around his waist, and so he had Scarlett in one arm and resting on one shoulder, and an all too quiet blonde hiding her face against his other shoulder. Bickslow only had the babies push the door closed for him before he was looking down and softly asking, "Hey, are you alright?" Something was not right – that much he could actually feel.

Lucy nodded. "Just cold, and you're always warm," she lied. She wasn't cold, but it wasn't worth telling Bickslow the real reason she'd ended up accidentally staining his sheets. It wasn't important, though. He didn't need to know that she was just strangely upset and confused by what she'd been told.

But of course, it didn't quite go over Bickslow's head that it wasn't exactly the truth, and he wasn't oblivious to the fact that she was upset by something, just like how he wasn't blissfully unaware of what day it happened to be and where Lucy had probably been before coming over.

Bickslow figured it was within his best interests to not ask about how her morning had been so far. He wasn't wanting to completely invade her privacy again. And as worried as Bickslow was all of a sudden, he was fine with not asking. He didn't think he wanted to know, anyway.

"Have you had anything to eat yet?" he asked instead as he leaned back slightly. "I was about to make breakfast. Want some?"

Lucy shook her head then. "Not yet, no," she said. "But something to eat sounds good. What were you planning on doing?"

"Bacon and scrambled eggs. That okay?"

"Sounds great," she said quietly with a small smile. Bacon sounded really good right then.

When Lucy went and sat down on the lounge, still quieter than Bickslow liked, he'd been about to just set his daughter down in the rocker by the sofa just so he could actually go and get breakfast ready, but then a better idea was coming to mind. So Bickslow turned instead and made his way back over to Lucy, then was carefully holding the five-week-old out for her to take. "Here," he said softly. "Hold her for a bit. Babies always cheer people up." Or at the very least, Scout cheered him up a hell of a lot, and he knew that Lucy liked her a lot, so he kind of hoped that she'd cheer Lucy up, too.

Except Lucy hesitated for just the shortest of moments when she briefly found herself wondering if going to Bickslow's really was a good idea at all. But then she only nodded, realising her sudden envy was completely ridiculous and uncalled for, and took Scarlett from the Seith mage and smiled brightly up at her before pulling her down into another hug that made her feel strangely better.

But of course, the hesitation was another thing Bickslow noticed, and with how off Lucy was right then, it wasn't taking much for him to at least have some kind of idea about what was bothering her.

A little over 20k words in total. So, you know why it's taken nearly a month to get this out. I also have been working on a few of my other stories, too. For anyone interested, I've started on the next chapters for A Peculiar Situation, The Reaper and the Angel (two chapters, actually. One is very much M rated...), Third Time's the Charm, and also almost finished the first chapter of a new story, Of Shady Knights and Stupid Princesses, which is actually the first of two short-ish chapter stories. I'll be posting that one soon, if anyone wanted to know. And of course, there's some other ridiculously long one-shots I've been working on for the last few weeks and months too, so, yeah... A lot to divide my time between. But this chapter of HIMY was my focus, which is why this is done and nothing else is.

Now, talking about this chapter... Yeah, all of that happened (do I say that in every A/N? I think I do). Laxus will be playing a larger part in the next few chapters, and my favourite dorks will eventually kind of... get somewhere that's not completely in limbo. Sort of. Fluff is still coming, and so is angst - sooooo much angst - and so is smut. A lot of it. A lot of all three.

But generally speaking, this is that one story where I just don't give a damn about any boundaries. This is M for a multitude of reasons. Mostly for Bickslow's mouth at this point, but... yeah, never mind, it'll still be M for Bickslow's mouth in the future chapters, too.

Still! I hope you liked this chapter! It's a little... awkward. But hey, I write awkward things apparently. But if you did like it, please remember to leave a review! I had so much fun reading all of the ones for Chapter 8... Holy shit.

Until next time.