Souls Entwined: Remake

Chapter 5

Laxus' hand covered Lucy's mouth, "Woah Blondie, calm down." Small fists pounded against his chest as Lucy worked out her anger. She pulled away from the large man, "Calm down?! Calm down?! How about you walk up to people in a normal way instead of creeping up behind them!" Lucy's face burned bright red in fury as she glared up at Laxus. Even though the towering blonde Dragon Slayer still made her uncomfortable, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind in front of anyone. Laxus rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the petite woman in front of him. There was a silence between them as Lucy slowly calmed down and lost all her anger. Once she was fine, she directed her attention to the ground, digging her foot against the cobble. "What are you even doing here Laxus?"

She heard a scoff, "Tch, shouldn't I be asking you that? I know you don't live anywhere near here." Turning her head to the side, she refused to answer him. If he wasn't going to answer her questions then she wasn't going to talk to him at all. Although she was still confused as to why he was talking to her in the first place. A deep sigh filled her ears and Lucy glanced back over to Laxus, seeing him rub his temples with his thumb and pointer finger. "I'm here because Bickslow is one of my closest friends and if you get hurt, he'll be upset. Okay?" His words seemed forced but Lucy knew that it was just because he didn't want to admit to the truth behind them. She slowly nodded, "So...you're gonna take me home?" Her tone was laced with hope as she really didn't want to spend the next hour or so walking back on her already aching feet.

"Yeah, I'll take you home Blondie. But remember, this is just for Bickslow. You better not tell anyone I'm being nice." Lucy scoffed, "Who would believe me anyway?" Laxus didn't say anything in return but reached out to grab Lucy's arm and pull her close as he used his lightning teleportation to take them outside Lucy's house. Groaning, Lucy's hands desperately held her temples, suddenly experiencing a particularly bad headache. Laxus chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I should've warned you about that." The taunting undertone confirmed Lucy's suspicion that he hadn't told her on purpose. As she was about to unlock her front door, she heard Laxus clear his throat. "Hey Blondie," there was a small pause and Lucy stopped to listen, "Bickslow is a great guy and you should give him a chance."

Unable to find the words to speak, Lucy nodded her head once before stepping inside her house and locking the door behind her. She let out a deep breath, leaning against the wall of her corridor. Was anything going to be normal from now on? Laxus was being nice to her, what was up with that? Lucy knew that he had changed but surely he hadn't changed that much. Or maybe, Bickslow was just that great of a guy that he could turn a guy like Laxus into a huge softie. Granted, he hadn't told her about the inevitable migraine she would get from teleporting, but she guessed that it was just a small threat to balance out his one act of kindness.

Completely worn out for the day, Lucy headed straight to her bedroom and promptly collapsed onto her bed. She lay in her clothes, depleted off all energy to remove them. Lucy's head had touched the pillow for less than a second before she was pulled into a deep sleep.

~~~

Dazed and sore, Lucy woke up the next morning and felt like she had walked on a bed of hot coal. Her feet her in agony. She was confused until the events of yesterday all came back to her at once. Lucy didn't think that she would have the energy or motivation to go into the guild today. Not after the scene she caused. She was almost a hundred percent sure that they would all think of her as completely heartless. She remembered the shocked face of Mira, the look of betrayal on Natsu and the matching heartbroken expressions on Cobra and Bickslows face. Even though his mask had covered his eyes, it didn't take a genius to know that her words had struck something in him.

Despite the cruelty behind her words, what she said was true. Lucy didn't ask to be put in such a difficult situation. Had it just been Bickslow or just Cobra, then it would be different. It was easy to give everything to one person. It was easy to love one person. It's not easy to divide and share your time and affection between two people in your life. What she really needed was time to herself to think things over before she allowed herself to fully commit to her decision. If she had properly done this before, she didn't think that an event such as yesterday, would have happened.

Ready to start the day, Lucy got out of bed and headed to her bathroom. She stripped off her clothes from last night and threw them into her laundry basket. She ran her shower and slowly stepped into the bathtub, allowing her body to adjust to the temperature change. She quickly tied her hair up into a bun and covered it with a shower cap since her hair didn't need to be washed. The warm water helped to relax her muscles and for a moment, Lucy forgot all about Cobra, and Bickslow, and Mira, she forgot about everyone in the guild. But her peace was short-lived as she felt her skin start to get a little wrinkly. Turning off the taps, she got out of the bathtub and wrapped herself in a fluffy white towel.

She dried her feet on her bath mat and walked back into her bedroom to sit on the foot of her bed. Staring at her wardrobe, Lucy contemplates wether it was worth it to even get dressed. She was still undecided on what she was going to do today. A glance over at her ring of keys reminded Lucy of the new key that she had gotten with the reward from her and Levy's mission. She had yet to make a contract with them but Lucy still had some leftover money from her rent. With a small smile on her face, she decided to get dressed and go looking to see if any of the stores around her area sold any keys that she could buy. Filled with newfound motivation, Lucy quickly dried herself and put on a matching pair of plain white underwear. She then picked out a  simple white, short-sleeved dress that was form-fitting around her torso and the fabric went in at her waist but flowed around her hips and thighs. Finishing off her outfit, she chose a pair of white pumps and put on a thin grey cardigan. Finally, she put on her belt around her waist and put her hair up into a bun, not wanting the back of her neck to get too hot. The summer weather was starting to come and it looked to be very sunny outside. Hopefully what she was wearing wouldn't make her too hot or too cold.

Looking over herself in the mirror, she gave herself a small smile and walked out of her house, making sure to lock the door behind her. There wasn't many people in the streets, other than the regulars that Lucy greeted everyday on her way to the guild. She got a few compliments on her outfit which made her blush. Listening to the soft clinks her shoes made against the stone path was rather relaxing as she walked towards a quaint little store where Lucy often checked for keys. As luck would have it, her blue eyes caught a glimpse of silver in the corner and she had to stop herself from rushing inside. The owner was a kind but timid elderly woman who slowly warmed up to Lucy.

Biting her lip to stop herself from squealing in joy, Lucy held the glass box that held a silver key inside. It had been priced a little higher than Lucy had expected but it was worth it. She quickly made her way towards the counter, as though the key would disappear from her hands if she didn't buy it right this second. The older woman looked at the item in Lucy's hands, "Ah yes, I was wondering when you would come to visit. Don't tell anyone but I did my best to reserve it for you." Lucy gave her a warm smile, "Thank you so much, that was very kind of you." She handed over the money before exchanging goodbyes and leaving the store. Dainty fingers skillfully hooked the key onto her ring and Lucy beamed at the two new additions to her family. Just as Lucy was about to start walking back home, a small hand grasped her wrist. Lucy spun around to see a familiar blue haired girl and her exceed looking up at her.