Love Sick

Chapter Nineteen: Forecast Says That Love Is In The Air.

It had been far past sunset and their friends had left. Freed was sitting in the living room and reading a book, ignoring the blond that shared his space. They were sitting on the same couch and their feet were touching but they sat on opposite ends.

"You're ignoring me" Laxus observed. He was looking directly at the rune mage and had not bothered to pretend to be preoccupied. "Hm?" He hummed. "Is this still about earlier or did something else happen?" The dragon slayer asked. Freed huffed. "Did you mean what you said earlier?" The green-haired man asked sadly.

"What do you mean?" Laxus asked. His brow furrowed in confusion. His soulmate looked hurt and he didn't remember saying anything that should have been able to hurt him like that. 

"Is Master Makarov really angry with me?" He asked. He sounded broken. The lightning wizard's instincts immedediately went haywire with urge to comfort, soothe, protect. He started subconsciously leaning towards his soulmate. Before he could say anything Freed put a hand out to stop him. "I mean I understand. I was being passive in your death. Am I a bad person?" The more he spoke the closer he sounded to tears. 

"You could never be a bad person" he promised.

The blond truly believed that. He himself could be and has been a bad person capable of doing horrible things but throughout it all Freed had been an anchor. His light. His entire existence felt like it was based around Freed being such a good person, too goo even. 

"But I was sitting back and watching you hurt" the green-haired man admitted, tears finally spilling. Laxus delicately took his lover's book and after confirming that the page was bookmarked he set it down om the end table. 

"No you didn't" the blond disagreed softly. "But-" Freed tried to argue. The dragon slayer shushed him and drew him into his arms. "Not once did you sit back. You worked yourself to exhaustion and fussed over me constantly. The kind of guy who sits back refusing to help is not the same kind of guy who slaps me for attempting to give up" 'I know because I was that kind of guy' was left unsaid.

He stroked his fingers through long green hair and just held the smaller man as he cried. "But I could have done something" Freed said. "You didn't know" Laxus murmured, placing a kiss to his soulmate's temple. 

"But I still could have done something. I was approached in order to find your soulmate for a reason! I was given multiple opportunities to help you but I didn't take them!" Freed cried. Laxus shushed him once more. 

"No you didn't" he agreed in a quiet voice. "But you didn't because I asked you to" the blond added. Freed hiccuped. "That's who you needed to think about. Me. And how you proved yourself to me" his mouth was so close to the shorter man's ear that it made him involuntarily shiver. 

"And you proved your loyalty to me. Your devotion" he whispered. 

"Let me take care of you. Don't think about what people might say because I'll handle it. I would fight the entire world if that's what it would take to make you happy" Laxus admitted. It scared him how honest that statement really was. "So what is it you need?" He asked softly. 

Freed was a weak man. He could almost convince himself that Laxus meant that, that he was saying it for no other reason than he wanted to. And it was so easy to fall for those sweet words coming from the man that he had come to love. He didn't want to hurt the dragon slayer but he wasn't sure he could stop himself. 

He leaned into the broader man. "Just. Take me to bed?" He asked so quietly it would be inaudible for anyone who didn't have enhanced senses. Laxus smiled. "Gladly"

...

Freed felt awful. There was a pit at the bottom of his stomach from the guilt. He woke up before Laxus, something that was becoming their name, and was left alone with his thoughts. A dangerous thing.

Maybe if he had more self-control then things would have ended differently. But he couldn't hide the truth that he had taken advantage of his long-time friend and a man he claimed to love. This wasn't whay Laxus deserved.

...

Laxus woke up feeling more content than he probably ever had been. It felt like something he fixed something that he didn't even know was broken. Like he was complete, as cheesy as that sounds. 

After waking, he noticed that Freed was laying on his side and facing away from him. Judging from his breathing pattern he was already awake. Laxus rolled over and slung an arm over a thin waist and placed a playful nip to a bare shoulder. "Morning" his voice was rough from sleep. "How long do you think we'll be inseperable for?" Freed asked instead of greeting him.

That sat weird with the blond. "What do you mean?" The dragon slayer asked. He didn't recieve an answer. "Look, I don't know" he sighed. Freed relaxed in his hold. "It'll be nice to get some seperation. Spending every moment with each other like this. It can't be healthy" the green-haired man said.

While he meant it more that his control was slipping and that he also feared that Laxus might accidentally develop some form of Stockholm Syndrome, that's not the way it was percieved. 

Laxus could understand the fear of developing an additional layer of dependancy. As well as the fact that they might get tired of each other if they can't have any time apart. That didn't mean that it didn't still hurt him but he could understand.