HEY EVERYONE! Chapter 9 is here! Thanks so much again for all the wonderful comments, reviews, PMs and encouragement I have received so far. This is my very first chaptered fic like this (I have others that I dropped but they were shorter chapters) and my first time really writing a romance-centric story, so it means a LOT that you all support me so much!

Because of all your support I really think I can see this story through to the very end (which will be a veryyy long time from now), so please stay with me!

Please continue to leave comments and to fav/follow myself and this story! Thank you all again!

Also- I want to apologize to anyone who got double-spammed in their inbox about this chapter. I uploaded it but something wonky happened and it was all in HTML or something when it uploaded? It was incredibly strange so I had to delete and re-upload. Sorry!

Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima.

"Who the hell said you could join us, you dunder-head?!"

Snorting, the scar-faced blonde turned away from his grandfather who was sitting across the table from him, waving his cane and shouting at his 'worthless grandson'.

Propping one elbow up on the table to rest his chin in his hand, the blonde snorted. "After I recovered a week and a half ago, Cana told us about this meet-up thing the guild's doing twice a month. She said you wanted everyone to be there." At this, he glanced at his fuming grandfather, a light smirk playing on his lips. "All guild members, which, in case you've forgotten, includes me now."

He could not hide his amusement at how much this infuriated the old man. However, much to the lightning mage's mild disappointment, the lights went dim, distracting the white haired guild master before he could make a likely incredibly amusing retort. All eyes turned to the tiny raised stage of the Hargion Port bar, which was now the only thing lit in the room. A young and spindly waiter came up onto the stage, smiling with a bit of confusion as he cleared his throat and tugged at his collar.

"Ahem, ladies and gentlemen… Pub Hargion would like to introduce our special performance for tonight. It has been seven long years since she last performed, so please welcome the lovely Miss Mirajane Strauss!"

Loud cheers erupted from the gathered members of Fairy Tail as hushed whispers of confusion emanated from everyone else in the bar save for one rowdy group who shouted 'WILD!' and pumped their fists into the air. Laxus instantly forgot all about teasing his grandfather, instead feeling his body tense and his cheeks heat up lightly. He focused every last fiber of his being on that stage, anticipation gripping him. He could not explain why he was suddenly so anxious, but he was too focused on what was about to come onto that stage, what he was about to hear, to care. Even though she had been with him for the past several weeks, that she had sung for them all multiple times, the thought of seeing her perform on stage again after seven years gave him an indescribable feeling.

"SHOOBEEDOOBEBABOOO~"

A feeling that was almost immediately replaced by the incredibly intense desire to kill someone. Preferably someone who wielded iron.

Without any thought other than death on his mind, Laxus slammed his hands down onto the wood table and stood up, eliciting a raised brow from his grandfather. The blonde stormed blank-faced through the now groaning bar, headed directly for the stage.

As quickly as his unadulterated rage had come on, however, it subsided. One touch, one soft touch from a delicate hand on his shoulder was all it took.

Immediately feeling his body relax, the blonde turned around, a familiar pair of bright cerulean eyes shining up at him. She wore a gentle smile on her features and a sparkling red gown, no doubt intended to be debuted on the stage.

"Gajeel overheard me talking to management about singing tonight and insisted that I let him perform in my stead." She giggled a little, still smiling sweetly. "He was so insistent that I just couldn't say no."

Every nerve in the dragon slayer's body relaxed as he stared at that smile. He felt one of his own start to form on his features, his rage from before now only a mild case of annoyance that was vastly overshadowed by the comfort the white haired woman's smile inexplicably gave him.

"Besides," the barmaid continued, "I really didn't want him to tie me up again like that one time…"

Laxus' expression became blank once more as he immediately turned around and headed to the stage again, his kill switch once more turned on.

Mirajane ran after him, trying to suppress her giggles as she grabbed his arm with both hands and planted her feet in an attempt to stop him from moving forward, though it was difficult with all that giggling she was doing. "It's okay Laxus it was a long time ago! It was when he first joined, it's been a long time and he just didn't understand how to interact with people…"

At this the blonde cocked an eyebrow. "So he tied you up?"

"Well, technically he held me in place with iron rather than rope." She covered her mouth, trying not to burst out into laughter at the lightning mage's horrified expression. Regaining her composure somewhat, the barmaid cocked an eyebrow upwards, smirking at the blonde. "At least he didn't take the whole town hostage while he was a member of Fairy Tail…"

The lightning mage grunted. "Yeah yeah alright fine. He doesn't die today." Staring down at her, the corner of his lip arching slightly, he added, "but no promises for the future, especially if he keeps subjecting us all to… This."

As if to illustrate Laxus' point, Gajeel let out a particularly long series of 'shoo' ing and 'boop'ing, much to the further displeasure of the crowd- which had mysteriously dwindled down to only the staff and the members of Fairy Tail, as well as few odd looking people decked out in punk style gear, too drunk to notice how terrible Gajeel's 'music' was. They hooped and hollered and shouted "WILD FOUR!" as some sort of encouragement to the iron dragon slayer, much to the dismay of his poor guildmates.

Lisanna sat herself down between Freed and Bixlow, having just come from the restroom, and raised a brow at the stage.

"He's still at it?" She asked, staring at the dark haired man belting his heart out into the flying bird-microphone. Snickering, Bixlow pointed at a table near them, where a certain fairy mage and beast mage sat arguing, Evergreen hitting the muscular man now and then with her closed up fan.

"Yeah, and so are they, hehe."

"Lovebirds! Lovebirds!"

The rune mage smiled in amusement at this, before casting his eyes over to the corner of the room near the stage where two more mages stood very close together, and had been for quite some time now.

"And it seems they are not the only ones." The green haired man stated, frowning slightly. The animal soul mage and the seith mage beside her frowned a bit and followed the direction of their friend's gaze.

"Oooh ya've finally noticed?" Grinned the doll mage, 'Budding love!' echoing around him.

Frowning further, Freed turned to glare at his loud friend. "I refuse to believe that you noticed something about Master Laxus before I did."

This only made the tattooed man, who currently had his face exposed, grin even wider. "Well I mean yer too busy wishing you could be in Mira's position to consider any—"

"Jealous! Jealous! Jealous!" Chanted five tiny voices.

The green haired man slammed his hands onto the counter and stood up, his face the color of a certain requip mage's hair. "Bite that ridiculously long tongue of yours! I am not jealous of miss Mirajane! She is a lovely woman!" He paused, suddenly embarrassed by his outburst. He cleared his throat and sat back down, regaining his normal composure. "Besides, I am sure we are just over-thinking things. It is only natural that they would become close over the course of what, three weeks now? We have all become closer, I believe. Mirajane and Laxus just happen to both be S-class wizards, and as such they spar together the most, so naturally they converse a lot."

"They should just bang already." A voice beside them stated, its owner seating her not-yet-drunk self down on the stool next to the now speechless rune mage while Bixlow began to cackle maniacally. Lisanna just stared at the brunette, not sure whether to laugh or not.

"Well, um, Cana I think it might be a bit soon for…" Then the seventeen year old followed the card mage's gaze.

"Chew with your mouth CLOSED! Ugh you are so disgusting…"

"Obrying boshy bronds ishn't marnry" retorted the male Strauss, spitting bits of steak and potatoes onto the fairy mage's horrified face.

Lisanna and Freed both sighed, torn between relief and exasperation at Cana's lack of awareness.

The quartet watched the strange duo with amused expressions, Evergreen now repeatedly slapping Elfman with her fan as the white haired man shouted something about manliness. After a few moments of this, the youngest Strauss turned her gaze back to her sister and the blonde. They were no longer standing by the stage, but rather sitting at a two-person table in the corner of the bar, away from the other guests. Both wore smiles on their faces and seemed to be having a pleasant and natural conversation.

"Guess we're in for an interesting next two months, eh Lis?" The dark blue haired mage said, quieter and more gently than was normal for him as he glanced down at the younger girl seated next to him.

The white haired girl smiled, her eyes not moving from the two s-class mages, Freed and Cana still distracted by Elfman and Evergreen.

"I guess so. I… I just hope the two of them will be able to realize it themselves."

The scarred blonde let out a long and dramatic sigh as Gajeel finished his set of 'songs', taking a bow and exiting the stage with a big toothy grin plastered on his pierced face.

"Uggh I thought that would never end. I think I'd rather listen one of Gramp's lectures for two hours than have to go through THAT again." The blonde groaned, his elbow propped onto the table so his cheek could rest in his hand.

The white haired woman across from him giggled as the subject of their discussion's sharp dragon ears picked up on the lightning mage's less-than-flattering remarks. The grin left his studded face as he stomped over to their table, bending down so his face was level with that of the blonde's, who cocked an amused (albeit exasperated) eyebrow up at the dark haired man.

"Oooh? Ya got a problem with my songs, Sparky?"

Mirajane covered her mouth to stifle a giggle at the nickname Gajeel had just presented the thunder dragon with. Laxus smirked, his eyebrow twitching slightly.

"Maybe I do, lug nut. What are you gonna do about it? I hope you don't plan to sing more, you've already all but emptied out the place, don't need you shattering the windows as well. I'd hate for gramps to have to shell out more repair money."

The iron dragon slayer narrowed his eyes, a dark grin on his features. "Ooooh? You wanna have a go? I've gotten a lot stronger since that day over a month ago."

Letting out a long, dramatic sigh, Laxus pushed himself from his seat to tower over the vocally impaired mage. "I suppose I'll take you up on that, I felt like knocking the shit out of you anyway."

Seeing that no good would come from this, Mirajane reached her hand out to lightly touch the blonde's forearm.

"Let it be, Laxus. If it's you two fighting then it won't be a simple spar anymore."

The lightning mage glanced down at the snowy haired barmaid, who was beaming up at him knowingly. He sat back down, shooting the unkempt smaller man a cocky smirk. Sure, he would listen to her, but there was no way he would let this iron lunged idiot have the last laugh, especially not when the dark haired man was wearing that 'Hah you got scolded by a woman' look on his smug face.

"What're you doing breaking our ears here, anyway? Shouldn't you be chasing that blue haired bookworm around?"

By this time, Pantherlily had flown over and perched himself on the table in front of an amused Mirajane, his smug and amused expression mirroring her own as Gajeel's face dropped.

Jet and Droy overheard this and jumped into the conversation, a mix of dismay and annoyance on their faces. "We already told you! Last time we saw her she was with Natsu and the others!"

"I seem to recall she wanted to join us, but Gajeel refused." Stated the black exceed, still smirking.

"Tch, she would have just gotten in the way."

"More like you didn't want her to get hurt, right?" The cat smirked even wider as Mirajane began giggling, Gajeel's face now bright red as Jet and Droy became even more upset.

Laxus sighed as the other three men began bickering, the man cat interjecting commentary now and then just to rile his partner up. He leaned against the wall, his massive arms crossed over his chest as he glanced back at the barmaid.

"I seem to recall YOU starting fights with Erza all the time." He commented, still somewhat irritated that she had called him out, especially in front of an idiot like Gajeel.

The demon raised a white brow, a bemused expression on her features. "Well, Laxus, I was a teenager, and most people grow up after 5 years."

The blonde grumbled again, now propping his feet up onto the chair beside his own. After a few moments of silence between the two mages, Mirajane still giggling at the bickering quartet, the lightning dragon stood up, picking his coat up off of the seat and swinging it over one shoulder. Without glancing back, the blonde spoke up.

"I'm just gonna get some fresh air. I have a massive headache from that 'serenade'." With that he looped around the corner and out the back door of the establishment. Frowning, Mirajane debated internally what to do. She had rather been enjoying the quiet conversation the two of them had been having whenever Laxus was not just making faces at Gajeel's idea of singing- Although Mirajane was even amused by that. Something about the irritated expressions on the face of the powerful lightning dragon slayer made her giddy, how just a little bit of terrible music could get him so worked up. Laxus was of course a big music critic, and Gajeel's noises no doubt hurt his sensitive dragon slayer ears as well as offended his tastes. As she thought about this, she started to smile brightly. Yes, Laxus was a music critic- He was very picky about what he listened to, yet he always seemed to enjoy when she sang…

A light blush spread over her cheeks as she felt her heart flutter. She could not explain why this made her so happy, that he considered her an exception, that her voice met his high standards. Of course, she did not know a single person who did NOT enjoy her singing, so why was the fact that Laxus did so heartwarming? Why did it make her chest heat up just thinking about it?

Shaking her snowy head, the barmaid stood up, her sparkling red dress shimmering as it cascaded over her long and slender legs, hiding the bright white guild mark on her left thigh. Taking a deep breath, she followed the dragon slayer out of the building.

Laxus let out a heavy sigh, massaging his temples with his fingers. The night air certainly helped to calm his nerves and clear his mind, but it was not until he heard the soft clapping of heels hitting the stone patio that he felt a sense of true calm wash over him. After all, he wanted to get out of the bar and away from all the noise and pointless bickering, but he certainly had not wanted to stop talking to his table mate. However, he also felt awkward just asking her to come outside with him. That she did it of her own accord was more than he could have hoped for. He shifted slightly on the white metal bench he sat upon, not sure if he should remain quiet or greet her.

"It's a lovely night" The demon mage commented absently, earning a grunt from the dragon slayer.

The two S-class wizards remained in silence for a few moments, each gazing at the diamond-studded night sky. Mirajane finally spoke up, cutting into the peaceful lull.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier… That remark about you taking the city hostage, and about growing up, were both too much."

Startled by her apology, the dragon slayer swiveled his head around to peer curiously up at her. He expected the barmaid to have her head lowered, eyes at her feet. However, instead, when he turned to face her he was instead met with cerulean eyes and a warm smile.

"You really have changed, Laxus, quite a lot."

He opened his mouth wordlessly, only to shut it again, sensing her thought was not yet finished. Instead he gestured for her sit down next to him on the bench, laying his fur-trimmed coat onto it so she would not dirty her overtly sparkly and fancy dress. Startled by the gesture, Mirajane stared blankly for a moment before her expression softened and she glided forward, lifting the skirt of her dress up as she sat down, the fluttery tattoo on her upper thigh visible for a brief moment. After she smoothed out her sequin-studded dress, the barmaid turned her attention back to the lightning mage, smiling warmly again.

"Thank you, Laxus. That was very considerate of you."

Taking in a breath to calm his nerves one more, the blonde returned her gaze with a smirk. "Hey, I know how to treat a lady."

Mirajane was not sure why this statement made her cheeks heat up. Of course Laxus knew she was a lady. No, if anything shouldn't this statement make her angry? Was he attempting to tease and flirt with her again like he had several weeks prior?

Laxus noticed the demon's furrowed brow as she mulled something over in her mind. "That's a really nice dress, I just wouldn't want it to get ruined. I'm sure it was expensive."

Frowning slightly, the snowy haired woman looked up at the taller blonde once more. He had turned away slightly and was gazing up at the stars again. She followed his gaze, humming absentmindedly to herself. The man beside her fluttered his eyelids closed, listening to the gentle sounds coming from her throat.

As she finished humming her tune, the demon mage turned to face the dragon again, noting his contented expression and closed eyes. She smiled to herself- There was something very comforting about seeing the muscular man so content and at peace. She was starting to very much enjoy these quiet moments that the two S-class mages seemed to be sharing more and more frequently. Somehow they each felt relaxed in the presence of the other, either chatting casually or just enjoying some peace and quiet together. Usually this occurred mid-training when they would let the others spar amongst themselves, or at the end of each day whenever they were not the ones cooking.

She really had started to feel at ease around Laxus, something that was very strange, yet very natural to her. After all, her own brother and Evergreen were clearly going to get married someday (no matter how much they denied it), and Lisanna seemed to get along very well both with Bixlow and Freed. Evergreen had also taken a liking to the young animal soul mage, and of course Laxus had always been fond of her and even Elfman, to some degree.

A pale, delicate hand reached out, resting itself lightly on the black panted knee of the muscular blonde. A bit surprised, the lightning mage slowly turned his head till his orange eyes met the deep sea blue ones of the woman next to him. She smiled up at him and withdrew her hand, filling the dragon slayer with a sense of disappointment as his eyes flicked to where her hand had been, then back to her porcelain face.

"You know, Laxus, I've been meaning to tell you this, but… I left something out when I told you about my necklace, and why I stopped wearing it." Her head was turned slightly away now, her hands delicately and nervously fisting in her skirt.

"It... It was you. You were the reason I realized I no longer needed it."

He just stared at her. How this woman always found a way to leave him completely speechless was a mystery, but she managed to do so with flying colors each and every time with that silky voice as hers, as smooth as the curly white locks draping down from her head.

"What you did to the guild… Of course it was horrible, but I guess what I'm trying to say is… Some good came from it. Because of what you did, I was able to come to my senses. I was able to become stronger by standing on my own two feet, instead of trying to depend on others for their strength, instead of just being weak. I realized that I was needed, that I could no longer afford to be useless, and… And that's because of you, as strange as it may sound."

The blonde tried to swallow down the large lump in his throat at her words. His head swam and he almost felt dizzy, like he was on a vehicle. Because of him? She became strong because of him? Never mind that it was because he was a huge asshole, but that something so drastic in Mirajane's life was caused by him was…

"Mirajane." He stated firmly, placing his left hand onto her slender right shoulder so that she was turned to face him. "You have never been useless. Ever. And I know you know that. Even when you couldn't use your demon powers, you still played an incredibly important role in the guild. Even I could see that in my 'rebellious' phase. Your popularity as a model generated revenue for the guild and attracted new members. I know you kept Gramps on his toes too and helped him with all his paperwork and everything. Your smile, your songs, all of those aspects of you and your presence lightened everyone's mood, no matter how rough their day had been. Your songs even made me feel a little better—"

And there he stopped, his voice now caught in his throat. Had he seriously just said all that? Especially that last part…

Goddamnit.

Cerulean eyes bored into his own, wide with wonder. After a moment, the eldest Strauss's lids lowered and a bright smile formed on her features.

"Thank you, Laxus. That… Really means a lot. And you're right, I know I'm not useless. I know I never was. I… I guess I was just trying to say that… Even though you made mistakes, you still helped someone- You still helped me."

The pair went silent, the dragon's hand still resting upon the demon's pale bare shoulder. Their faces were only a foot apart, yet the proximity was… comfortable. Somehow, it was not an awkward moment, but rather a moment of silent understanding between the two. Mirajane had this inexplicable urge to touch her forehead to his, but instead remained as she was, silently smiling and staring at her lap, the lightning mage beside her doing the same.

"S-SIR! Please do not eat the silverware! Wait, miss, that's our vintage wine stock it's for display only! You can't drink that!"

"Pfft-!" Mirajane removed her hand from the blonde's leg, cupping it to her mouth to stifle her giggling. She looked up at him and was met with a smirk as he withdrew his hand from her shoulder.

"I suppose that's our queue to leave, eh?"

Giggling, the barmaid winked at him. "I suppose Fairy Tail will always be troublesome, even without Natsu and the others around."

Before she could lift herself up, the dragon slayer pushed himself to his feet and in one swift motion was in front of the snowy haired barmaid, one large hand extended towards her, a light smile on his scarred features.

Azure orbs widened, boring into golden ones for a moment before her normal gentle smile plastered itself onto her features. The songstress extended one slender hand towards the blonde, delicately placing it into the male S-class wizard's thick and powerful outstretched palm.

They just stared at each other for a brief moment, each smiling at the other, before Mirajane hoisted herself up and Laxus helped to both tug her upwards and remain something stable for her to hold onto, something to keep her steady, something she could count on should she become unstable in any way.

Something he would not mind doing more of, if it was for her.

Surprising himself with this last thought, he let go of her once it was clear that she was stable. She gave him one more smile before smoothing out her dress and standing up straight, placing her hands together below her waist. Nodding, Laxus reached behind the barmaid to lift up his coat and sling it over his shoulder once more. Though he was reluctant to end their quiet and close moment, he was also growing tired of being out around so many people. Laxus Dreyar only had so much tolerance for human contact, and only so many people were exceptions to this rule- His Thunder Legion and now the Strauss siblings being among those exceptions. There was a reason he preferred to be on the quiet second floor all the time prior to his expulsion, and showing his superiority as an S-class wizard was not the primary one.

As strange thoughts swirled around in the lightning dragon's mind, Mirajane made her way back into the bar to collect her siblings, the Ranjishu, and her likely heavily intoxicated friend Cana. Laxus followed after her, wondering how long it would take for them to get out and if they would have to pay for any damages.

As the pair lulled behind the group through the now quiet streets of Port Hargion, Laxus felt a reassurance in himself. Something that both terrified and brought him peace. He had never truly experienced romantic feelings towards anyone before, yet somehow, he knew, and gazing at her soft smile and pale hair glowing brightly in the moonlight only reinforced this belief within himself.

He was well aware of what was happening to him, of why he was feeling so strange lately. It was not the medicine two weeks ago that caused his heart to pound whenever the snowy-haired barmaid was near. It was not just the fact that she was kind to everyone that made him trust her, or feel soothed by her. Her smile, her laugh, her otherworldly singing voice, the quiet way she accepted everyone, even- No, especially him-, and the time they were spending together more and more often…

All of these things affected him in ways nothing and no one else ever had or ever could. And the lightning dragon was now painfully aware of why that was.

Laxus Dreyar had begun to fall for Mirajane Strauss.

Was it fluffy enough? Pleeeaase tell me what you all think! I am so new to writing romance but I am doing my best to keep it as natural as possible, so yes it's slow but I'm starting to pick up the pace now. It's a little hard to keep the pace natural seeming with only those 3 months to work with.

Thank you all again!