Love Sick

Chapter One: Love Struck

Freed had just walked into the guild and was heading towards the kitchen when he was stopped by his two teammates. 

"He misses you" Bickslow said. The genuine sincerity of that statement scared him. "You haven't gone to see him since he first got sick. It's clearly affecting him" Ever added. Their guilt went straight to his heart. "I don't mean to but I don't know if I can" he said shakily. 

"You should" 

......

When Freed walked into the infirmary he could immediately feel eyes on him and when he saw Laxus he thought that orange eyes were going to burn a hole through him. 

The dragon slayer wasn't in a better state than last time which worried him. "Freed" Laxus rasped. His voice was rougher than usual and more akin to a growl. He nodded back at him and quietly walked over to the small uncomfortable looking chair by the side of the bed where he sat down. 

"I'm glad to see you're awake" he said softly. "How are you feeling?" He added. The blond groaned at that. "I get enough of that from everyone else. Not you too. Please" the taller man pleaded. Laxus shuffled and managed to get himself into a more comfortable seated position with minimal effort.

"Talk to me about mundane shit. Like what you've been doing with your days" the youngest Dreyar said. "But-" the rune mage argued. "But nothing. I don't want to talk about my health and we'll all have plenty of time after this passes to talk about how bad this was. I'm not going anywhere" He retorted. Freed made a face like he wanted to continue but Laxus shushed him. "I'm going to get better, I can promise you that. So just talk". 

And Freed did. He left out the parts that made it obvious he was hopelessly in love with Laxus though. 

Eventually the lightning wizard started to drift off when the door was opened quite loudly. Bickslow walked in with the tray of food and snickered. "Are Feed's stories really that boring, baby?" He laughed. "Boring. Boring" his babies chirped.

"No, it's not that. I guess it's just hard to sleep. And I forgot how soothing Freed's voice can be" Laxus admitted. The captain ducked his head to try to obscure how deeply he was blushing.

On one hand it was the best thing ever because his thunder god had claimed to find his voice soothing but on the other hand, he had been completely ignoring the blond while he was suffering.

"Anyway. While I am so happy to see you two kiss and make up-" Bickslow mocked. "I gotta make sure that sparky here eats or Porlyusica is going to beat me with a broom" he said as he placed down the tray for Laxus. "Damn hag" the dragon slayer growled. 

"That would be my cue to leave. I'll stop by tomorrow then" Freed said as he got up to excuse himself. He felt Laxus' eyes staring at him until he finally left the room. 

In fact, Freed doesn't remember the other wizard looking away from him except when he briefly glanced at the door when Bickslow made a lot of noise.

.....

Freed came and visited again th next day.  He stopped in to the guild's kitchen and made breakfast for two and a tea for himself before he walked up to the infirmary. 

Just like the day before he could feel the dragon slayer's eyes on him. The blond smiled as he saw that the rune mage was carrying in some food.

He wasn't hungry himself but he needed to keep a facade up. If Laxus had to be in a weakened state then he would just have to be strong enough for the both of them. 

......

They ate in quiet contentment. It was Laxus who broke the silence. 

"I wasn't expecting you to come. After I asked to go on that mission and then you didn't come see me besides when I first ended up in here. I'm glad that you did, I was just surprised" he admitted.

There was a feeling of guilt that washed through him.  He never once wanted to be the one that caused his thunder god any pain. He ducked his head to try to hide his expression and express his sincere apology. "I promise that I didn't mean to cause you any distress. I just don't like seeing you like this. Being reminded that you really are just as mortal as I am" The rune mage admitted. 

There was a long silent pause but eventually it was the dragon slayer to break it.

"Well, you're pretty damn unbreakable"

......

The new routine continued. It was a couple days later when they hit by change. 

Admittedly Freed wasn't the best at taking care of himself when a member of his team was sick or injured which explained why he had nodded off during his time with Laxus. 

A loud bang startled him awake and when he turned his left he noticed the lightning mage rubbing the sleep out of his eyes- so he had also fallen asleep-. And he didn't know whether to be ecstatic or anxious about the source of what had woken him up.

Porlyusica stood next to Makarov with a heavy tome in her hands as she assured the other half of the Thunder Legion into the room.

"I've finally discovered what ailment you suffer from" she pressed her lips together in a grim frown. "As you know, every dragon slayer has a soulmate-" "Not Laxus" Evergreen burst out. "Shut up you brat!"

"Anyway. Every dragon slayer has a soulmate, their perfect match. Do to a small sample size and a lack of evidence we believed that Laxus would not have a soulmate do to being a second generation slayer. We were wrong" She had a sympathetic look on her face. Freed expected his Thunder God to be confused to ask why that was relevant despite being great but when he looked over the blond's shoulders had drooped at he looked sullen.

"A Dragon Slayer is meant to be so attuned to their soulmate that they will-. It would appear that Laxus has been rejected by his soulmate and that has caused him to contract a mate-sickness" Porlyusica said. 

"How do you cure him?!" Freed begged. He couldn't believe that it was possible that anyone could reject Laxus, in his mind no sane person could. "There is one way, only one way mind you. You have to find out who your soulmate is and try to get them to accept you" the old healer explained.

"And if I don't?" Laxus asked, his voice sounding incredibly hoarse. "Why can't you just shut up and do what I tell you to? Fine. Your illness will progress until you die. And from your current condition I would give you a little less than two months". And with that the entire room fell silent. 

"Well, my boy. I suppose you should start writing a list of all the people you were rejected by before-" "I know who it is" Laxus interrupted grimly. Spirits were lifting in the room. "That's great man! Tell us who they are and we'll get the ball rolling" Bickslow cheered.

"No. I'm not going to approach them" Laxus said. Silence fell upon the infirmary again. 

Freed stood up and slapped Laxus. "Freed!" Ever exclaimed. But he was paying her any attention, his focus was on his best friend and long time crush and he was fuming. "I have always stood by your side, I have sworn my loyalty to you even during your lowest moments and you never ever lie to me. But you did. You told me you were going to get better but when presented with the way to cure yourself you reject it and accept your death! You aren't the only person who gets affected by these decisions!" Freed yelled.

"I know that. I'm not going to make someone who has already made it clear that they don't want to be with me be trapped in a relationship for the sake of pity or some sort of hero complex" Laxus said. He looked defeated like a little lost pilot.

Freed was still angry and stormed out.