A/N: Finally done! Here you guys are, the last chapter of this story. For real this time! I am so sorry it took so long, though. I hope you guys aren't mad or annoyed or something with me. I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! (Goes down on my hands and knees, begging for your forgiveness).

Fair warning: it's a roller coaster of emotions and it's pretty lengthy. I understand if you don't want to read it, but, if you do, there's several smut and fluffiness to relax your minds as you read.

Let the BixLu fluffiness...BEGIN! Enjoy! :)

Epilogue: Part 2

One Emotional Day

Finally in front of our house, I gently set Lucy down to her feet, keeping my arm secured around her waist, so I could open the door. Occasionally, the babies would gently nudge Lucy's head back on my shoulder whenever it fell to odd angles, making me chuckle slightly. After unlocking and pushing the door wide open, I bent down to grab the back of Lucy's legs again, to carry her in, but the gentle sound of her voice stopped me from doing so, "Bicks…you don't have to carry me in; I don't deserve that kind of kindness. But, er, can I have a kiss, instead?"

I eyed her curiously before straightening up to her height.

Her face, that was tilted towards the ground, out of exhaustion, followed me as I straightened up to look at her, especially her eyes. Once her glassy eyes met mine in the dim streetlight, I knew that she was upset, but not to the point where she would constantly blink. When Lucy is upset, her eyes water up and she asks for a kiss or to cuddle to help her comfort herself.

But, why was she upset, exactly?

Still looking straight at her, I said gently, cupping her face, "Hey, what's got you so upset, huh?" I leaned forward to gently bump our foreheads together, as a way to make her smile and soften her frown a little, but it did nothing of the sort. She just continues to look at me with the same expression, waiting until I "comfort" her.

With a defeated sigh, I swiftly brought down my lips and connected them with hers. She instantly responds back. Unfortunately, much to my disappointment, I pulled away after a few seconds causing her to whined in protest.

I nuzzle my nose against hers, reassuringly, "Hey, don't worry, love. I'll shower you with more later. C'mon, let's get inside. It's getting cold out here." I said, as I took off my coat, the one Lucy got me for our first anniversary, and draped it over her shoulders. Putting my hand on the small of her back, I ushered her into the house, instructing her to lay down on the bed while I get her a glass of water. After closing and locking the door behind me, Lucy and my babies went straight to the room, while I headed to the kitchen to get the cup of water.

With the glass of water in hand, I entered the bedroom. Cosplayer laid on the bed, in her tank top and skirt, with one of my babies in between the palms of her hands, thumbs stroking the round edge of its head, while the others circled above her, keeping her company. Lucy seemed to be mumbling something to the one in her hands, Pappa, because she suddenly starting giggling and then grabbed all of them to her chest. I chuckled at how suddenly affectionate she got when she was drunk.

I quietly went over to the bedside table and set down the cup, then turned around and removed my visor and the rest of my clothes.

This isn't the first time I've seen Cosplayer drunk, though. The day Mira threw us that party for coming clean about our secret relationship actually was. I never would've expected that she was the affectionate-type-of-drunk until I spotted her tonguing Levy. Gajeel was there too, sitting across from them, looking just as shocked as I was, at the time. However, due to the shock that overcame Gajeel and I, we couldn't pull our girls away from each other, we just continued to gawk at them, wide-eyed, while they both had a chance to stick their tongue down each others throats. Luckily, a roar of whistles, hoots, and the continued banging of mugs against wood brought us back to the matter at hand: to separate our girls away from each other...no matter how hot the display was.

I told Lucy the next day, and remembering how red her face was before she crawled under the covers, out of sheer embarrassment, put a smile on my face.

As I was stripping off my many layers of clothing (fabric-by-fabric), I carefully slipped a small box out from beneath the fabric of my belt. Observing the box for a minute, I was about to pull the lid from it, but checked over my shoulder to Lucy before doing so, and carefully opened it to find the necklace, that I bought after Laxus began slurring his words, still inside. As carefully and as slowly as I could, I took out the necklace from its box and slid the lid back on, placing the now empty box on the dresser next to the other one. With the necklace in hand, I fisted it tightly before continuing to remove the rest of my clothes, acting natural.

Once in my boxers, I walked over to the bathroom, leaving the door wide open as the fluorescent lights both blinded me and streamed out the door, to brush my teeth.

Walking out of the bathroom with a fresh mouth, I flicked off the lights and made my way over to Lucy, who had changed her position while I was in the bathroom. I also noticed that the babies have moved from Lucy's side and settled themselves into their beds for the night.

Cosplayer had her body on its side, so it was facing me as I walked over; her guild-marked hand hung loosely over her exposed waist, while the other was folded beneath her head; and her soft, smooth creamy legs lay naturally on top of one another, slightly bent at the knees, with her feet crossed at the ankles.

Cosplayer's eyes followed me the whole time -from when I came out of the bathroom to when I climbed into bed- and I stared right back at them. If she were to just stretch out her hand and wiggled her finger at me in a "come hither" motion, I wouldn't have hesitated to jump right into bed and start ravishing her all over.

Unfortunately, she doesn't do that. She just lays there, fluttering her eyes at me in an innocent, almost cute kind of way.

Lying down just inches in front of her, I immediately pulled her close, catching her off guard. Cosplayer's body stiffened instantly, clearly not expecting that. I embrace her tighter, nuzzle my face in the crook of her neck, and just start apologizing for everything. As I spoke, I discreetly slipped the necklace around her neck and locked it in place, then I pulled her closer and drew circles on her back with my thumb, to conceal the fact that I put something around her neck.

When I was finished with my sincere apology, Cosplayer's body, that had already relaxed while I was talking, was now snug against mine. Her arm slid up my back, and she loosely returned my embrace.

Assuming that this loose and weak hug meant that she was close to forgiving me, I felt a shred of hope tingle from within my chest while I patiently anticipated for her answer. Either that, or her head is still a bit fuzzy from the alcohol, and she only hugged me because I'm currently hugging her. That sliver of hope that I once felt in my chest disappeared and is now filled with disappointment; my grip around Cosplayer slackened a little.

"Bickslow?" Lucy calls against my bare chest. The small familiar tingle of hope erupts from my chest again at the sound of my name.

Pulling away just enough to look at her, I cupped the side of her face and tilted her head up, allowing me to see her clear, chocolate brown eyes looking back at me. 'Not a cloud in the sky.' I grinned at the silly metaphor, trying to relate a weather phrase to the eyes of a drunk.

"Hn?" I grunted, eagerly waiting for her forgiveness.

"...What's around my neck?" She softly says in a cute little voice.

My breath hitched and my eyes widened a fraction at her unexpected question. I quickly racked my brain for some excuse as to why a metallic chain was around her neck, but it's incredibly hard to come up with something, right there on the spot, 'If I say, "It's nothing", she might reach for it and touch it proving that something is defiantly around her neck. But then, I can't swiftly just take it off of her 'cause she could feel it being removed. And straight up telling her is not even an option! Uggghh! What do I do?!' Lucy continues to silently stare at me, patiently waiting for an answer while I tried to come up with a good excuse that gave everything away, without ruining what the accessory around her neck was, 'C'mon! There's gotta be something...that's it!' I triumphantly thought, releasing the breath I was holding and relaxing my body when I finally came up with something to tell her.

Gently caressing her cheek with my thumb, I looked at her, feeling a slight warmth coming to my cheeks, and finally said those three simple words that she's been dying to hear all day, "...Happy Anniversary, Lucy."

'If I can't tell her, then maybe this simple little phrase will.' Was what I'd thought up.

Lucy's eyes became watery, and she felt her chest tighten and her body lighten at those words.

"Bickslow..." She exhales, then throws her arms around me, "You did remember."

A sigh of relief passed through my lips when she finally hugged me, and, without thinking, I uttered out the truth, "I never forgot."

We held each other for a long while, never wanting to let the other go, but it seemed short lived when Lucy gave a soft complaint that her head hurt. Giving her forehead a kiss, I released her and grabbed the glass of water on the bedside table behind me. Pulling her up into a sitting position, I handed her the glass, but she just shook her head, refusing to take it.

About to gently order her to drink it, she suddenly murmured, "Can you help me?" Furrowing my brows together at another of her strange requests, I hesitantly brought the cup to her mouth and began tilting it, but she turned her head once the water made contact with her lips, refusing it again. Sighing, I quickly brought the glass down to my lap and waited until Lucy turned her head back around.

It's surprising how I'm not annoyed by her actions right now, instead, I find it rather cute. I grinned.

We both turned to look at each other, waiting for the other to speak, then Lucy spoke up specifically clarifying her previous request, "I want to drink from your mouth."

I blinked a couple times, wondering if I heard wrong, but when her eyes drifted down to my lips and then back up to my eyes as if to confirm that, that was what she really wanted, I felt a smirk make its way to the corner of my mouth.

Without another confirmation, I brought the glass to my mouth, but not before mumbling out, from between my lips, "Should've told me sooner," and took a decent sip of water. Setting the glass back on the table, I swiftly turned, grabbed the back of Lucy's neck, and connected my lips with her grinned ones. Tilting her head back a little, I easily passed through Lucy's lips with my tongue and transferred the liquid into her mouth. She took it without protest and gulped. Reluctantly releasing Lucy's lips, she exhaled deeply then inhaled, needing air. With my thumb, I wiped away a drop of water that escaped from the corner of her mouth, while she caught her breath.

Watching her breathless, blushing expression, I unconsciously grabbed the glass of water and took a decent sip again. I can't handle all these short kisses, I needed her now.

At her third intake of air, she breathes out, "Bicks-" And right then and there, my lips were connected with hers again, cutting her off right when she called my name.

Once I heard Lucy swallow, I instantly released her mouth and moved down to her jawline, to catch the fallen drop of liquid with my tongue and to also let her catch her breath, even if it was just for a little gulp. Then I moved back up and swiftly took her mouth again while she was gasping for air. Our tongues played with one another, neither one seeking dominance, just following the heated flow of one another.

Lucy cups my face as I slowly move over her and lower her to the bed, wanting to feel her body pressed up against mine. Holding myself up with my hands on either side of Lucy's head, never letting our lips part -only when it was necessary to breathe- she runs her hands through my hair and grabs a fist full of blue and black locks and lightly tugs at the strands. Blood immediately rushed through my entire body, especially that specific region, and I moaned.

When that time for oxygen was desperately needed, I released her lips and trailed light firm kisses down her jawline to the crook of her neck, taking a short breather there while also taking in her intoxicating scent. I could practically feel Lucy's pulse beating erratically beneath her skin, because mine is beating just as fast right now.

After several intakes of air, I pressed an open-mouth kiss a little above the crook of her neck and instinctively just started sucking at the batch of skin there.

Lucy's core involuntarily spiked at the action, causing her to tighten her grip on my hair and gasp at his heated breath.

Seconds later, a dark purple love bite marred her skin. I kissed it; promising to leave more of those as the evening progresses.

Venturing down her collarbone to her chest, I trailed kisses along the way until I was faced with her busty bosoms. I licked my lips, hungrily, but couldn't eagerly go in for the kill, knowing that it would kill the mood, somehow. So, holding myself back some, I decided to place a single kiss on both of her breasts, then resumed placing kisses upon the upper half of her body, making sure I would go back to those later and take my sweet time teasing them.

I kissed the other side of Lucy's neck before deciding that it's been a while since I had a taste of her lips and urgently crashed my lips onto hers, probably bruising them with the amount of force I used.

Lucy's core spiked again and again, one after the other, from all the things he were doing to her. Once his lips finally returned to her lips, she practically sighed in bliss and relief, because if he continued to shower her entire body she didn't think she could take it and probably melt from pleasure. But now that his lips were on hers, she can finally take charge of where this thing could go.

Suddenly, Lucy's lips became more forceful and moved at a more vigorous pace that I had anticipated it to. It took me slightly aback for a second. Luckily, with my advance skills, I was able to keep up with her, but then she changed it up on me by flipping me onto my back.

I was in this state of shock and excitement that, for a split second, I couldn't figure out what to do with my hands. So they were just up there, basically surrendering to whatever Lucy wanted to do (for now) and having a pretty good idea of where she wanted this to go.

But, despite that, a thought crossed my mind before I fully gave in to this night of passion, 'Hopefully this moment will become imprinted onto her body…if she's still drunk, that is.'

The morning came unexpectedly as the sunlight beamed brightly through the windows, nearly blinding me. I groaned out in annoyance. It was literally way too early to get up. So, to avoid doing just that, I attempted to roll away from the direction of the window and bury my face in the pillow, but was stopped when I felt the weight of Lucy's body shift along with mine. I looked down and saw that she lay bare on my chest, her hair pushed behind her head, leaving her back exposed and the rest of her body covered by the satin blankets.

Just then, vivid memories of last night appeared before I eyes…

A stupid grin unconsciously pulled at the corners of my lips, and I couldn't help but gaze lovingly down at her, stroking through her messy hair.

I ran my fingers through her hair a couple more time until she awoke.

Lucy started, gently, snuggling into my chest, then let out a quiet moan as she presses herself closer. After a moment, she finally allowed herself to open her eyes, but, with the sunlight beaming directly in her eyes, she tightly shuts and shields them with her hand, for good measure. Then she lets out a low groan of annoyance and faces her head away from the sun altogether.

'Her imitation of my reaction is so adorable. Better than mine.' I thought, briefly chuckling at the scene. I leaned down to press my lips to her head before speaking out, "Guess we both had the same problem this morning."

Lucy lets out a series of groans before mumbling out, in a whining tone, "Too early." Then she groggily sits up a little, rests her chin on the back of her hands, that she previously laid on top of one another on my chest, and looks up at me.

"G'morning." I finally greeted, sounding slightly raspy, offering her a soft smile.

"Ugh," She grumbles, rolling her eyes while her head instinctively followed, falling onto her forearm, "mornings…" She mumbles miserably, sounding like she truly dreaded waking up. Nevertheless, she lets out sigh and looks up at me from my chest, giving me a tired smile in return, saying again, genuinely, "Good morning."

"How do you feel?" I casually asked, pushing her hair out of her face and placing them behind her ear causing Lucy to lean into the warmth of my hand.

A corner of Lucy's mouth pulls up into a smile. Then she hums and says, "Great."

I finally let out the sigh that I didn't realize I was holding, but for some reason I wasn't satisfied with that answer, "So, you don't feel any pain whatsoever? Like in, or on, or around your lower region, maybe?"

"Are you trying to tell me something, Bickslow?" She asks, suspiciously, lifting her head off my chest.

For a second, my voice involuntarily went to falsetto for a second, "What? W-Why would you suggest something like that? Can't I just be concerned of my girlfriend's well-being?" I nervously cackled out loud, trying to play it cool, but it awkwardly died down once I saw Lucy's questioning eyebrow lift. I cleared my throat to clear the awkward air.

"We had sex last night, didn't we?" Lucy bluntly asks.

I could feel the blood rushing to my face, but I had to suppress it to show that I was mature, "Yeah." 'Well, no use in sugarcoating it, then.' I thought, rubbing the back of my neck.

Lucy slowly nods, "Oh." Then suddenly looks down, and takes in the fact that we're bare and intertwined just beneath the covers, "Oh! Well, yeah, I guess this is a dead giveaway, if nothing else." She blushes.

I chuckle, murmuring under my breath, "You have no idea."

"What?"

"Nothing." I responded, giving her a soft smile. She narrows her eyes at me again, in suspicion, I chuckle, "It's nothing, babe, really." After a couple of seconds, Lucy relaxes her expression and sighs, in defeat, "That's it." I purred, lightly trailing the curve of her spine with my fingertips causing a low hum to erupt from Lucy's throat as she relaxes on my chest, "Get some sleep, love, 'cause, like you said, it's way too early to be awake…after our intense love-making last night, I'm sure you're tired, still." Right after the words left my mouth, I felt my head being roughly shoved to the side.

"Shut up." Lucy playfully grumbles, blushing into my chest, "I didn't say that."

I cackle softly, pressing my lips to her head, "I know. But you were inferring it." I said, closing my eyes, trying to fall back to sleep.

It felt like eternity, but only one measly minute, passed just laying on the bed trying to fall back asleep before I realized that it wasn't going to happen. I tried pulling Lucy closer into me, hoping the warmth of her body would allow me to sleep, but it didn't work. Then I tried gathering her into my arms and burying my face into the crook of her neck, hoping her intoxicating scent would do the trick, but it doesn't.

However, there was something different with Lucy's scent. It smelt different from her usual floral scent, kind of more enticing, more fresh…to be honest, it kind of smells like-

"Bickslow," Lucy suddenly chokes out, sounding out of breath, putting a pause on my train of thought, "baby, I can't breath." 'Oh, shit!'

While I was busy trying to identify her mysterious scent, I unconsciously tightened my hold around her, preventing her from breathing.

I immediately loosened my hold on her, but just a bit, wanting to still put a name to her altered fragrance, "Sorry, princess." I apologized, planting a couple of kisses to the crook of her neck.

"Can't sleep, huh?" Lucy hums.

"Uh-uh." I declined, shaking my head, then I pull back, removing my head from her neck just enough to look at her, "Wanna help me?" I teased, wiggling a brow as a smirk played at my lips and a hand slowly slid down to the curve of Lucy's backside.

She lets out a brief giggle and smiles.

I don't know why, but something about the way she giggled and smiled seemed very…threatening. It wasn't until I felt her fingernails pinch the back of my hand, that was currently on her ass, that I realized too late: Lucy did not find that funny, at all.

"Aww, baby, no matter how much I want to help with that, I can't." She begins in a suspiciously sweet tone, shrugging, but what scares me was when her tone lowered, and she spoke through clenched teeth, "Because it's too early. Now, take your hand off of my ass, so I can shower." She orders slowly, seething. I, instantly, pull my hands away from her body altogether, showing that they were off of her, slightly quivering, "Good." She nods and turns to get up. I sigh. Then, she looks over her shoulder and adds, "And don't you dare look at my ass." Before slowly standing up and making her way to the bathroom. I raised a brow when I noticed that Lucy was walking rather slowly to her destination, which wasn't that far away, maybe a couple feet away.

"You alright, Cosplayer? You need some help?" I voiced, slightly concern by the way she was walking; almost like she was stepping on glass, making like the pain the glass was inflicting didn't faze her at all, only it clearly was if you looked at her pained expression. After rolling off the bed, I searched for my boxers before going over to her side and helping her.

"Thanks, Bicks." She says, blushing when I pulled her into my side, carrying half her weight as I walked her the rest of the way, "But, really, I'm fine." She says, trying to convince me.

"Yeah, okay," I respond, giving a brief chuckle, not taking her words to heart because I know she really isn't, "but could you bathe instead of shower, like you always do?" I requested, leaning my back against the bathroom door frame, once we made it to the entrance, slowly turning Lucy around and bringing her close by the waist, bare bosoms touching bare chest.

"But I wanna shower!" She quietly whines, sticking out her bottom lip.

I could feel the warmth of my blood crawling up to my cheeks. The sight of her plump red lip set it a pouted expression brought a sudden taint to my face, 'She looks so cute.' I quickly turned away from her gaze and cleared my throat, trying to fight off my blush, "F-fine. If you're certain of your decision, then I'll let you shower," I turned back around to see her smiling, so I continued, "under one condition," her smile instantly dropped, "you let me wash your body."

It was her turn for her face to turn beet red, but her brows wrinkled together as she puffed up her cheeks, if her arms weren't sandwiched between our bodies, she would've crossed them. As she turns her attention towards the ground, she mutters, stubbornly, "That doesn't make things any better…"

I grinned, "For me it does."

Cosplayer snaps her head back around, looking really furious and shocked; there were several more emotions swimming in her eyes, but those were the most prominent ones that I could decipher.

"Bicks-!"

I pressed my finger against Lucy's soft lips, instantly quieting her and saying, firmly, "Lucy, I'm not going to argue about this any longer. It's either shower with me, or bathe?"

Lifting my finger away from Lucy's lips and wrapping them back around her waist, I patiently waited for her answer, rubbing my thumbs up and down on her smooth skin.

It wasn't long before Lucy let out growl. She doesn't like it when things don't go her way, "Fine! I'll bathe…but I won't enjoy it!"

I cackled, my tongue naturally exposing my guild mark, "Yeah, okay." I said in the same tone, not taking her words seriously again. Leaning forward, I press my lips to her forehead, lingering there for a second, then moving down to smooch her cheek. Pulling away, I grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her toward the bathroom, and began ordering, "Now get that ass in the tub!" Then I smacked said ass firmly causing her to yelp, take several steps forward, and grab her ass in pain.

She looks back at me, blushing fiercely, with the same furiousness and shockness as before, probably even more intense. I smirked, grabbing the handle of the door, shouting, "Enjoy!" And immediately closed the door on her once I saw her approaching, my name being the last thing I heard before it was shut completely.

I leaned against the door, chuckling softly at Cosplayer's fuming face before I closed the door. Then I walked over to the bed and collapsed, faced down, onto Cosplayer's side. It had her mysterious new scent too. I looked down at the sheets curiously, wondering what this new smell smelt like. Rolling over onto my back, I looked out the window, pondering back to Cosplayer's mysterious new scent.

After about a few minutes with my thoughts, I hear the sound of a door handle turning. I automatically look towards the bathroom to see Lucy standing halfway out the doorway with a towel wrapped around her.

Deciding to break the silence first, I asked, "Did ya change your mind about the shower?" A small smirk playing at the corner of my lips.

Instead of giving an immediate answer, Lucy takes her time and disappears behind the door. When she comes back, she opens the door wider and fully stands in the doorway, and, in her hand, she holds up the dress that I bought for her to wear on our dinner date, "I found a dress." She softly acknowledges, her face expressionless.

The small smirk dropped from my face as I laid there staring wide eyed at the dress, that I completely forgot about 'til now, "Oh."

As I sat up, Cosplayer walks to the edge of the bed and lays the dress out at the foot of it.

"I, er, I read the note that was attached to it…" She hesitantly notifies me, crossing an arm around her stomach while the other bends at the elbow to absentmindedly play with the necklace around her neck.

The sight of her playing with her necklace seemed like a good sign to slowly scoot to the edge, beside her, gently urging for her to continue, "And…?" As a grin starts making itself known. Then, reaching out a hand, I grabbed the edge of her towel and gently pulled, leading her to stand in between my legs, and holding her close by the waist, "You like it." I guessed, looking up into her eyes.

"Nope," Lucy states, smiling when she saw the grin slowly disappear and get replaced by the wrinkle of my brows, looking at her mildly shocked and confused. So she unfolds her arms from around her body and wraps them around my neck, in order for her hands to message the back of my head, like she was gently soothing me of my current worries of her disapproving the dress. Then, she closes her eyes and leans her forehead against mine, quietly mumbling so just the two of us could hear, "…I love it."

Without any warning, I press my lips to hers, closing the small gap that was once there, "You freakin' scared me." I mumbled against her lips. Lucy giggles, tightening her arms around my neck. And she giggles even more as I stood up from the bed, probably laughing at how the close proximity automatically made me just want to ravish her all over again, which was part of the reason.

I deepen the kiss, and Lucy moans once our tongues touch. However, no matter how badly I wanted to take control, I found myself lazily…"playing", and, to my surprise, Lucy does the same: gently caressing and tracing each others mouths, trying to memorize every edge, curve, and groove of it all.

As we were too immersed with each other, I obliviously collided us into the dresser. Lucy was the first to pull away, taking in the object that I just let her crash into, and laughs at my clumsiness.

I playfully roll my eyes, sarcastically laughing, "Ha ha ha. Come here!" I said, effortlessly lifting her by the waist and placing her on top the dresser; grinning from ear-to-ear when I heard her surprised squeal then her sweet laughter. I kiss her lips, "I love you." I say, once I pulled away, looking up at her.

She giggles before reciting back, "I love you too." Then confirms it by softly connecting our lips, pulling away after a short second. I, however, quickly cupped her face and began bestowing multiple kisses to her face, neck, and chest, showering every inch of her exposed skin. Lucy cries, pleads, and begs me to stop, but I just continue to shower her with love, until, suddenly, she asks, "Hey, what's this?"

I paused my action, pulling away to look at the box that was currently in Lucy's hand. At first, I thought she grabbed the empty one, but once she gave it a little shake and the curiosity got the better of her, I instantly regretted ever buying the pair.

When she removed the lid, she glances at me before taking out the second necklace. It was a simple solid gold filigree skeleton key that weaved into a heart in the center of the bow, with a heart-shaped lacrima inside it, and a star hollowed out in the bit.

"It's my key." I answered, looking at the ground in embarrassment.

"Yours? For what?"

"Er…uh…" I stutter, embarrassed to say the most cheesiest line ever said, rubbing the back of my neck as a small warmth reaches my cheeks, "It's for the locket around your neck." I manage to utter out instead, too cowardly to even say those words.

"It opens?" Lucy asks, amazed by the concept that it actually opens.

I nod, watching as she set the necklace down and went to removing hers from around her neck. Then she goes to opening her locket with my key.

"It's a lacrima." She informs once the two halves of her heart locket opens with a click, sounding slightly disappointed at what she was seeing.

I chuckle, saying sarcastically, "Well, don't get too excited."

She turns to look at me, apologetically, "Sorry. I was kind of expecting-"

"A photo? A small engraving?" I guessed, finishing her sentence for her.

She shrugs a shoulder, "…Something like that." She says before sighing, handing me both necklaces, so she could hop off the dresser, "But I do love the necklace, since, you know, it's the first anniversary gift you ever gave me." She continues, taking her necklace back, closing the locket, and reattaching it around her neck.

All of a sudden, both of our necklaces begin to glow a crimson red and radiate a foreign warmth that envelops around us. Unaware to the both of us that a ritual was happening that makes us become one.

"Bickslow, what's happening? I suddenly feel all warm." Lucy inquired, confusion and panic writing on her face.

"I don't know, but it's alright. It's probably nothing." I comforted, gathering her in my arms. The second she was in my arms, I continued to console her the best I could, trying to take her mind off of our current situation.

Just then, we were carefully lifted off our feet, and I could feel Lucy's heart beating erratically, "Bickslow…!"

"Hey, it's okay," I calmly murmured to her, cupping her face, so she wasn't able to look towards the ground, "just focus your attention on me, okay? Only me. No matter what, got it?" She nods fearfully, unable to say anything. "It'll be over soon. Don't worry." I whisper, resting my chin on her head.

"…Your heart is beating incredibly fast." She suddenly voices, after a moments silence.

"Is it?"

"Yeah." She confirms, cuddling deeper into my chest, if that was even possible, considering how tight I was already holding her.

I chuckle, pressing my lips to her head.

Moments pass before the glowing, warmth, and lifting finally ceases, and we're gently settled to the ground. It took us a couple of seconds to realize that we were on solid land before we slowly separated from each other.

'That was weird.' I thought, looking down at the skeleton key in my hand, trying to come up with an explanation for its suspicious glowing.

"Unbelievably weird." Lucy unexpectedly answers back.

I turn to look at her with a raised brow, "Did you just…?"

Lucy scrunches her eyebrows up at me when I trailed off, "'Did I just' what?"

'…Read my mind?' I mentally answered. Without a seconds delay, Lucy lets out a short-lived scream and retracts a couple of steps back, 'Well, guess that answers that question.'

"W-what…how…I-I don't…I don't understand!" She claims as she starts to pace the room, "How can I suddenly start hearing your thoughts, and why? I mean, I have to admit, it is pretty cool, but still! It's out of the ordinary. It probably has something to do with what just happened. The red glow and warmth coming from our necklaces…" She gasps, abruptly stopping in her step and spun on her heel to face me, her eyes wide signifying an 'Ah, ha!' moment has occurred.

I cut her 'Ah, ha!' moment short before she thought of something crazier for this whole ordeal, "Before you say anything," I start, making my way towards her, "they are not spelled, and we haven't just been "cursed"." Air quoting the word "curse".

She pouts then, crossing her arms, "That's not what I was going to say at all…" Then she gasps again, 'She's have another moment.'

I sigh, then, "Yes, I can read your mind too, but it also says on your face." I point out, grinning as I firmly tapped the center of her forehead with my finger, then turning to walk over to the foot of the bed.

'Arrogant perverted bastard.'

"I prefer 'Arrogant perverted God'." I corrected over my shoulder.

I could hear Lucy grumble, complaining aloud, "Stop listening to my thoughts!"

I laugh, throwing my head back.

At the foot of the bed, I grab Lucy's dress and put it away in the closet, automatically thinking back to yesterday's planned event before it was ruined by Cana and Mira's drinking contest. I deeply sigh, my shoulders drooping in the process.

"Bicks…?"

I grunt, turning my head to see Lucy, cross-legged, on the bed. And, I didn't have to read her mind to know that she was upset, it was all displayed on her face. "What is it? What's wrong?" I inquired, taking a seat in front of her.

"I'm sorry." I give her a confused expression and was about to question her again until she continued, "I don't know why, but…I just suddenly had flashes of your 'Anniversary Mission' with Laxus and Freed."

I looked at her confused before my eyes widen in unexpected realization, 'You can see in my head too?'

She nods, answering my mental question, before saying quietly, her voice cracking in the process, "So, making me cry was a part of the mission too?"

Somehow, I felt like crying as my chest slowly began to crack, gradually breaking me down.

"Baby," I start, my voice recognizably thick, like I was holding back a sob, so I cleared my throat, "please. Let me explain." I pleaded, reaching out to grab her hands, that were folded in front of her, but she pulls them back before I was able to touch them, "Lucy…" I breathed, afraid that she was going to push me away before I had the chance to explain.

"You made me cry, Bickslow." Lucy mumbles dryly through her lips, barely audible for me to hear, then she lets out a humorless chuckle, "I actually believed you forgot. How foolish." She whispers, as her hand slides off my chest.

I shook my head again, desperate for her attention, "No, baby. Please, let me explain." The sight of her gradually breaking down in front of me was too painful to watch, I needed to engulf her in my arms and comfort her, but she wasn't letting me. And it both hurt and frustrated me to no end.

"I thought we were done keeping secrets." Lucy absentmindedly states, ignoring me.

"No! I wasn't trying to…" I argued back, taking the chance to gently cup her face, but she instinctively turned her head away from my touch.

"I thought I wasn't one of your toys." She says scooting backwards, keeping her head down.

"No! Of course you're not!" I exclaimed, advancing toward her, desperately wanting to comfort her.

"But you toyed with my feelings…"

I froze. I stopping inches in front of her, clearly within touching distance, but I was afraid to do so. 'What if she pushes away again? What if she doesn't? What if she doesn't respond back? What if she does? What if she decides to do something rash? What if she doesn't?' There are so many 'what if' to answer and not enough time and the only reason they pop up is because of fear.

Fear isn't in my vocabulary; I was an alien to the word because I always confronted it. But today, in this moment, it's my first time feeling it. And it doesn't feel good.

It felt like a parasite was eating away at my chest cavity and, no matter what I do, it'll still be there, attempting to hollow me out unless I do something about it.

And my opportunity to get rid of it was just standing right there, so close, but why did she seem so far?

A part of me wanted to give her space, so she could have time with her thoughts and let out her tears, but the other part needed to be there for her, to constantly reassure her that I will never leave her side.

Moving on my own accord, I carefully moved beside a currently crying Lucy and finally engulfed her in my embrace. Without knowing it, I bent forward and lifted Lucy, moving her so that she was between my legs.

Leaning slightly against the headboard, I began rocking her back and forth, resting my cheek on the top of her head as she finished crying; while I tried to hold back my own tears.

"Pick Up!...Answer it! Answer it!...Pick Up! Pick Up!…" The recorded sound of my cheering babies suddenly woke me up from my unexpected nap.

I quietly groaned, feeling the stiffness in my neck from sleeping while sitting up. Before I moved to answer the lacrima, I kept a steady hand around Cosplayer's body, preventing her from falling over. Carefully leaning over, I grabbed my communications lacrima and answered it quickly, having a pretty good idea who it was, "Hey, man."

"'Sup. Why're you whisperin'?" Laxus inquired. Without a word, I flicked my wrist to show Lucy passed out on my chest, "Whoa. Okay. Didn't need to see that."

I faced the device back towards me, "So, what's up?"

"Job at Oak Town. Train leaves in 45."

"Alright. I'm…" I started, turning to move, but trailed off, stopping my movements once I realized that Lucy was going to get upset if I left without a word again, "I'm gonna stay here. Kinda got some explaining to do." I continued, letting out a humorless chuckle.

Laxus looked surprised that I actually denied going on a job with them, but then he grinned, admirably, "If you say so. But try to hold back next time, will ya? Relationships ain't just about sex, you know?"

I breathed a chuckle, "Good to know. Same goes for you and Cana."

He laughs, "Sure, whatever. Later."

I ended the call, laughing before setting the lacrima down and readjusting Lucy in my lap, pulling her up.

"You could've went." Lucy suddenly voices softly from my chest.

"I didn't expect you would wake up so soon. But if I did, you would get upset again, right?"

"…"

I chuckle, pressing my lips to her head, then sighing.

We stayed like that for a while, physically stable with one another, enjoying each others warmth and company, but, emotionally, we were both feeling guilt, upset, frustrated, overwhelmed, we were practically an emotional wreck; but one thing we both shared was love.

"After I left yesterday," I unexpectedly started, "you were supposed to have your girl talk with Cana and Mira, so they could ease your worries about me and what I was doing." I don't know what was happening, but I couldn't stop now, "They were supposed to give you a note that said, 'Once you get home, go to the bathroom.' and, as expected, you were supposed to find that dress," I nodded my head towards the dress in the closest, "hanging behind the door with another note that said-"

"'Do you like the dress?'' Lucy cuts in, reciting the note that I wrote word-for-word, "'When you're in this, meet me out on the porch, but not right now, at sunset. And Happy Anniversary, Love. You didn't think I'd forget, did you?'"

A sad smile touches my face, "Yeah…exactly." Silence engulfed us for a moment, then I started again, "We were supposed to go to a restaurant after I picked you up then give you the necklace you're currently wearing and as I intertwine our fingers together, I press a kiss to the back of your hand and say, 'You have my heart.'" I demonstrate as I talked, "And since you handed me this key," I continued as we both looked down at the skeleton key in our open intertwined hands, saying softly, taking a glance to see her reaction, "I hold the key to your heart now."

Right when the words left my mouth, I could feel multiple things shift within my body: my eyes held the familiar burn from beneath them, a lump was forming in my throat like I was trying to hold back a sob, my heart beat quickened, butterflies were fluttering in my stomach, and redness began to fill my cheeks.

Quietly sighing through my nose, I thought, mentally grimacing, 'I can't believe I actually said the most cheesiest line ever…' Lucy giggles, 'Crap! I forgot that you can read my mind now.' I mentally cursed, looking away when she turned to see my blushing reaction.

"Aww, baby." She giggles, adjusting herself so that she was straddling me, "Don't be so discouraged. As a writer, I think the most cheesiest lines are the most romantic ones." She says, reassuringly, gently turning my head with her hand. While she strokes my cheekbone with her thumb, I take comfort to her words and relax, however, she continues, "As your girlfriend, though, I think they expose to want is truly in your heart, which I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, yet. So…"

"It's a good thing. A most definite good thing." I state, without hesitation, pulling her down for a passionate kiss, smiling as she softly giggles.

"I'm sorry." She mumbles against my lip right after we pulled apart.

I sighed, dropping my hands from her waist, feeling spent with all the roller coaster of emotions today, "I think we've already said enough sorry's for today, Cosplayer. What more are there to feel guilty about?"

Then I felt it, that familiar burning in the back of my eyes, and I see it in Lucy's eyes as she begins to cry, "All of it! The necklace, the dress, the reservation, y-your sweet words, your patience, the 'Anniversary Mission', all of it! I don't deserve any of those things for what I did yesterday."

"Hey, it's okay. I wasn't your fault." I say, rubbing the back of her calves soothingly.

"Yes, it is!" She cries, "I ruined our surprise anniversary date with that stupid drinking contest just because I was just as stupid as to think that you would-"

I interrupted, immediately crashing my lips to hers. She resisted, trying to pull away by pushing firmly against my chest. She succeeded, pulling away only a couple of centimeters before I closed the space between our lips again and gently pushed her down, changing our positions. Then I grabbed both her hands and placed them above her head, so she couldn't push me away. Again.

I pulled away, breathing heavily, when she reluctantly responded back. She avoided my gaze when I looked down at her.

I sighed. Releasing her hands and backing off of her. I leaned against the headboard again, watching as she continued to lay there silently. I patiently waited for her to say something because nothing is swimming or passing through in her head right now, it's blank. I also don't feel mixed or raged emotions anymore, it's just…calm.

"…I don't understand…" She softly says, finally breaking the silence.

"…" I stay silent, waiting for her to continue.

"You're not angry." She states, instead of questions, breaking her gaze with the ceiling to look at me.

I shrugged a shoulder as I shook my head, "No."

Slowly, she sits up folding her hands in her lap, keeping her emotionless eyes on me as she does, "Why?"

"Because…it's my fault." I confessed, looking down, breaking our connection.

'Yours?'

Glancing at her from the corner of my eye, Lucy had her head tilted to the side and her eyebrows furrowed together, looking at me with confusion in her eyes.

I nodded, scoffing, "Yeah. I came up with that stupid 'Anniversary Mission' to prove a point." I paused, taking a deep breath, knowing that Lucy was patiently waiting for me to continue, "Well," I started, finally turning to look at her, "the point of that mission was to show you that even though I may make you angry with how forgetful I am or when I insult or tease you, at the end of the day, I will always make up for it just to keep a smile on your face. I never want you to feel unloved or unappreciated at the end of the day, especially with a day like yesterday, our Anniversary. I made you feel all kinds of emotions that day, and I'm sorry. I am so sorry you had to go through the entire day thinking that I didn't love you enough to remember the day we became boyfriend and girlfriend; I am so sorry that I made you feel sad and let you cry tears full of sadness right in front of me; I am so sorry that I walked out the door and left you in this house cold and alone; and I am genuinely sorry that I didn't ease your conscious by just saying three damn little words yesterday from the very beginning, 'Happy Anniversary, Lucy'." By the time I finished, we were both practically crying, but I was trying to hold mine back while Lucy openly let out her choked sobs, burying her face in her hands, and letting her tears fall into them, freely. As I sat in front of her, I felt slightly conflicted as to what to do from this point on. Because I wasn't sure if those were 'tears of happiness' or 'tears of sadness'.

However, actually hearing the recited words from Cana coming from my mouth, had my heart clenching. Now, I finally understand why Cana and Mira did what they did: it was to forget her stresses, her worries, and just let her think of herself, if only for a moment.

I enveloped Lucy in my arms, letting her cry in my chest until her sobs turned into hiccups.

Slowly sliding my arms from around Lucy's body, I gently grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. When I got her hands out of her face, she hides her face from beneath her bangs, preventing me from seeing her tear stained face. Letting her hands fall to her sides, I grabbed her face, feeling strands of her hair stick to the wet streaks the palms of my hands pressed against.

Lifting her head up, I brushed her bangs away from her face and saw her avoiding my eye contact again, "Baby, please look at me." I gently begged, wiping her face a little. When I dried most of the moister from her face, she sniffled before blinking her eyes open, revealing just how swollen and puffy her eyes were, "You're beautiful." I breathed, speechless at how crying face could make her even more beautiful.

"No, I'm not. I'm an emotional wreak." She chuckles, leaning out of my grasp to clean the remainder of herself up.

"Yeah," I replied, scooting closer to embrace her tightly, "but you're my emotional wreak." I continue softly. Then, suddenly, realization dawned on me causing me to slacken on her shoulder, "Ugh, another cheesy line." She giggles. I kiss her shoulder before nuzzling into the crook of her neck, mumbling, "And don't say you don't deserve any of it…'cause you do. You're worth it, every single bit of it." I feel a flutter erupt in my chest and this sudden urge to cry again, just then.

"You're gonna make me cry again."

I playfully groaned, "Stop with the tears, already!" I scolded, carefully wiping her newfound tears away with my thumb again.

"I'm sorry." She sniffles, laughing, "You're just making me so happy right now."

I stop wiping her eyes to look into them for a second. They were filled with love, adoration, and content as they gazed back at mine. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach again as I continued to look at her with the all the love I could muster, but one of the many scenes from last night just had to ruin it. And it was the one where I finished covering almost her entire body with love bits.

Lucy reacts, gasping, leaning back from my hold on her face and jumping off the bed to look in the mirror above the dresser.

I grumble under my breath, chanting, "Stupid, stupid, stupid." As I repeatedly hit myself on the forehead with the palm of my hand.

"Ah!" Screams Lucy. I hesitantly turn my attention towards now bare body, towel pooled at her feet. Then she spins around, openly exposing herself to me, "You couldn't hold yourself back?"

Upon seeing the countless love bits I bestowed the previous night, it was difficult for me to feel guilty; instead I felt pride swell within my chest as a smug smile graced my lips, "Laxus said the same."

"Good. You listen to him better than you listen to me anyway." She snaps, spitting out the truth, then turns back to observing her hickeys.

That took me aback. I never knew Cosplayer felt that way; that Laxus' words were more important than hers, which they obviously weren't. But, to be honest, it doesn't really effect me as much as it should because the sight of Cosplayer's body in the natural glow of the sunset was turning me on. And since our souls are stitched together now, she's probably feeling horny herself.

Slowly getting up from the bed, I made my way towards Lucy, hugging her from behind and kissing the hickey on her bare shoulder before resting my head in the crook of her neck, meeting her glare in the mirror, "It shouldn't matter if I listen to him or not," Her eyes soften instantly with a blink of her eyes. Then I whisper, huskily, in her ear as I slowly trail my hand down to her heated core, "because we're…Mates." I emphasize, sliding my fingers between her slick folds, instantly finding the bud of nerves. A shudder rushes down Lucy's spine as a gasp escapes from her lips, and she quickly puts a hand over her mouth, "God, you're soaking wet." I stuck out my tongue and trailed it down, then back up the column of her neck while my fingers stroked her entrance, occasionally playing with her clit.

Lucy lets out a muffled moan from behind her hand, "M-M-Mates?"

I respond with a low grunt, too busy nibbling on her earlobe, then released it to elaborate, but continued playing with her entrance and her bud of nerves, "Soulmates, to be exact. After doing it multiple times last night," I quicken my pace, focusing only on her clit as I said 'multiple' causing Lucy to wrap her other arm to circle around my neck, holding herself up as her knees buckled from beneath her. I continued, calmly, "you had the same sour reaction as me when you awoke, and your fragrance smelt a little more like mine, which could only mean that our souls were at the point of interlacing with one another." I suddenly stop the pleasurable torture I was inflicting on Lucy's body, making her go limp against me as she sighed and caught her breath.

I could feel her wet folds twitching excitedly, anticipating for more, along with my hard on, which was pressed against Lucy's soft backside. Every time she would shift, jerk, or push against it, it would twitch and swell even more, practically to the point of bursting.

When her breathing was, somewhat, under control, I started, moving my fingers again, making her cry out, "But, before that could happen, we first," I stress, inserting a finger in her entrance causing her to cry out again, "had to make love, then," I inserted another finger, making her squirm, "we confess our love for each other," I softly brush my lips up and down the column of her neck as I continue, mumbling against her skin, "and, finally," Inserting yet another finger, now having three digits inside, stroking her, "the symbol of our love, the necklaces." Lucy throws her head back, the loud moan escaping from behind her hand, when I quickened the pace of my fingers and continued to play with her bud at the same time, "That was the reason our necklaces were glowing and heating, we just completed the mating process for Soulmates." I couldn't believe I forgot about the process By the time I was finished, I could feel Lucy involuntarily clench her muscles around my fingers tightly; she was close, but I stopped again just before she could reach her peak.

She whimpers, desperately wiggling her hips, seeking release, but I held her hips firmly in place with my free hand, groaning painfully when her backside accidentally stroked me.

"Bicks…" Whimpers Lucy, turning her head to look into me, "please…" She pleads in my ear.

I could feel just how strong her need for release was in the pit of my stomach, I groaned, knowing mine was just about to release as well. But before I could thrust it into her, I couldn't help but trail my other hand up, gently fondling her breast, then moving up to play with her nipple, earning a soft gasp then a sharp hiss from her.

"BicksLOW…!" Lucy began to whine again before I finally gave her what she wanted, making her cry out.

The pressure in the pit of our stomachs expanded as I slid into her warmth. Happiness and love filled us both as we continued to make love for the rest of the night, never having enough of one another…that is, until I finally propose to her, which will be in a years time, but that'll be our little secret…shh…

A/N: Okay, that's it! I promise!

If you want to see Bickslow and Lucy's necklaces then type "filigree skeleton key and padlock" in the search bar. It should be the very first picture you see.