Freed twirled a small dagger between his fingers as he propped his feet against the table, sighing. He kept thinking about the shock and pain in his fiancee's eyes the moment she saw him. It hurt to see her look at him like that, he desperately wanted to explain to Lucy that his relationship with her was cut off forcibly and not at all what he wanted.

"Bro, if you don't stop breathing so heavily in my directio-" His helmet wearing comrade began before the leader of their group interrupted.

"Juet let him be." Freed raised an eyebrow as it was the first Laxus had ever really put his foot down. "Laxus! You really gonna let just our boy sulk right now?!" Bickslow retorted back. It was true, he slumped around after he came back to the guild from Lucy's but he'd damn never admit that to Bickslow.

"He's a grown ass man, he can take care of himself." The blonde shrugged. Evergreen usually would've usually keep the peace in the group but she was of course, with the Strauss' sibling. It was obvious to everyone around her but she'd always had a thing for big and muscular men. She even once had a crush on Laxus himself but moved onto Elfman once he'd shown her bits of attention and compliments here and there. The seith mage groaned and went up to leave for the bar counter.

"Are you gonna do anything about it?" The lightning mage muttered under his breath. Freed looked towards his first friend after being excommunicated from aristocracy. He was thrown out with the clothes on his back, the books in his hand and the sword that belonged to his late uncle. Laxus had found him in port town doing protection spells and installing barriers around the town from monsters. He invited the once wary young boy back to Fairy Tail with a promise of accommodation, safety and family.

"...I don't know if it's my place anymore." He sighed for the 6th time that hour. "She won't speak to me and gets incredibly defensive towards me. It also doesn't help that Natsu is constantly there to build that gap further between us." The green haired man stared off into the unruly crowds of the guild.

"Why is Natsu clinging onto her?" Laxus questioned. He always knew that Natsu was a dumbass but he didn't miss the certain cues he saw within the dragon mage's eyes. "Are they dating?" He pretended to ponder as he carefully watched Freed's back straightened, his lips twitching and his nose flaring.

"Absolutely not. Lucy is a lady with standards. She wouldn't go for someone so lowly." The runes mage retorted quickly, brows furrowed. Laxus snorted as he slipped his earphones over his ears. The way he acted reminded him of the past when he first met Freed. Brash and more rebellious than any other Fairy Tail child. Hell, Mira was considered a saint compared to the sulking mage. If it wasn't for Grandfather Makarov being a father that Freed never had, he wouldn't be the current person he is right now.

*slam*

Freed glared up at the source of the noise. "Drink up, we're going clubbing tonight." Bickslow grinned as he downed the other mug in his left hand. "With all due respect, I don't care for your horny activities." He sneered towards the seith mage.

"You're sulking around for your ex who just left with another ma-...boy? Can Natsu be considered a man?" Bickslow paused as he tilted his head in confusion. "Who's a man?!" Elfman suddenly exclaimed, grinning as he sat down.

Evergreen rolled her eyes as she followed behind. "Don't just butt yourself into other people's conversations!" She scolded, pulling up a chair to the table. "Natsu, that cheeky little bastard. He's always been such a little shit, picking fights with everyone." Bickslow grinned.

"Also, we're going clubbing tonight. You should both join us." Bickslow added, slapping down Freed's shoulder.

"Freed's going too?" Evergreen asked, confused. "I thought you said it wasn't for you?" She eyed the annoyed green-haired man.

"It isn't and I'm not going." Freed rolled his eyes. "Don't involve me with your breeding pursuits." His eyebrow twitched. He knew what Bickslow was trying to get him to do and he wasn't having it.

"Don't be so mad at me! I'm just trying to help." Bickslow laughed as he slammed his now empty mug on the table.

"if you're going to Luxy, I'll go too." Laxus muttered over his closed eyes. Everyone at the table perked at the voice of Laxus. "Oooooh shit, now you can't say no!" Bickslow cackled boisterously. Freed sighed for the 7th time that hour. He was definitely going to have a headache tonight.

"I'll meet you at 9pm? I'm stopping by my apartment to change and head straight to you from the mission." Levy nodded and smiled. "See you soon!" The communication lacrima shut off and Lucy placed it back inside her backpack. She gave one long sigh. Not only Natsu had went overboard with the now damaged town, they lost their reward as well. Dammit, she was really looking toward to that key. Frustrated to go home empty handed, Levy had invited her to go bar hopping to release some stress.

"I'm sorry Lucy! I really did think about my actionnnns." Natsu whined as they waited in their cabin for the train to depart back to Magnolia. "Did you think about them before or after you destroyed the village?" She glared as the salmon haired mage gulped nervously. She exhaled heavily. Levy kindly offered to cover her for tonight so she can pay off her rent first. She'd need to go out again real soon to make up the losses. The blonde bit her lip as she thought about going alone, could she handle it? Not as smoothly with her teammate but he's more trouble than he's worth at this point.

As time passed, she stared out the window while the green scenery passed her eyes. Natsu was already knocked out by the nausea waves and Happy was asleep beside him so it was quiet. Too quiet. She couldn't help but think of the green haired runes mage every time she was alone with her thoughts. It pricked her chest just thinking about it during all of these years, she saw him again. As a child, she knew she would have to marry someone for reasons other than romantically but she had fallen in love with him over the years. Mother always insisted that they would never force her to do anything she didn't want to do but when she met Freed for the first time, she wanted to know more about him. Even if they were just five years old, eating together and studying together gave her little heart butterflies.

Lucy had a faint smile thinking about the past. He used to secretly bring her into the Justine's most private and exquisite library filled with books about magic and old scriptures dated way before civilization. He'd tell her about all of the places they were going to visit together and he'd protect her from all of the big and bad monsters mentioned in the stories. They were young and innocent.. not at all like how it was now. Her smile faded as she distracted herself with the sounds of the train tracks screeching.

As she gathered their belongings and woke up Happy, they both dragged out the sick dragon slayer out of the train. Once out, Natsu bounced back with vitality and stretched his arms with enthusiasm. "AH, I'm never going to do that again!" Natsu yelled out to the station, causing a few stares. Lucy rolled her eyes and waved goodbye as she headed back to her apartment to change for the night. She mentally prepped her most recently acquired celestial spirit to prep a bath and clothes. She knew why Levy invited her out for drinks and it was because of Freed. Not many people knew who she was but Levy did. The bluenette kept mentioning how it sounded like one of her novels where the boy and girl are engaged to be married as children but later torn apart by fate to be reunited and married as adults. She snorted thinking how cliche it was. As romantic and cute as it sounded, it just wasn't realistic or in the cards for them.

She didn't forget the morning events though. Natsu knew her before they first met in the port city and that meant she couldn't trust anybody around her until she'd find out the truth. Just for a little longer, she'd play the dumb Lucky Lucy.

A/N: Surprise! I know I disappeared all of these years but this is just a trial run to see if I should continue this or not. Let me know by RR! If I do continue this, it'll definitely be longer. Thanks for all of the support these years.