Love-struck - Laxus x Reader

Love-struck - Chapter 2

Y/N takes a trip down memory lane as they prepare themselves for a long-lasting journey together.

This chapter takes place the night of the festival after Laxus is expelled.

Y/N frantically rapped on the worn door and stepped back, placing a hand on the frame to steady herself as she raggedly inhaled. Her heart pounded in her ears and her muscles burned from the intense sprint, aggravating the bandaged wound on her leg. She tightened the lightly bloodied cloth and hoped she hadn't made the injury worse in her haste. A soft scuffling from nearby reminded her she had more important things on her mind.

As Y/N leaned forward to bang harder on the door, it swung open, revealing a disgruntled Laxus, and her fist met his solid chest. He scowled at the source of the impact with a grumbled threat halfway out his mouth before recognition lit his eyes. Y/N pushed past him and stormed into the apartment, her face heated with frustration.

"I waited for you for hours!" she snapped, her blazing eyes meeting his. "I was starting to get worried when Evergr-." She froze, noticing a large bag bursting with clothes balancing on a sea of cardboard boxes peeking out from the bedroom. Y/N stabbed a finger towards the messy pile. "What is this?" She demanded accusingly.

Laxus rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, staring across the room above her head. "I've been kicked out."

The room became still. Y/N's eyes burned into Laxus' face, searching for the slightest hint of insincerity, slowly discovering nothing but his sadness and frustration festering inside. Laxus' gaze bore into the wall, refusing to look at Y/N's softening features.

"I'm going to take off and travel around a bit," Laxus admitted.

"Were you even going to tell me? You can't just leave without saying anything!" Her shout stunned Laxus for a second, leaving him numb from the blow.

"You mean like you did?" he retorted, raising his voice and prodding her shoulder, stepping in close to her. The warmth of his breath rushed across Y/N's face and her throat tightened, choking back her retaliation.

The air grew thick with static as Y/N crossed her arms and turned away, blinking back tears. Laxus reached out tentatively to touch her shoulder, hesitation stalling him, and in that moment she strode towards the boxes before his fingertips could brush against her. She sniffed hard, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, and stuffed the clothes into the bag.

"When do we leave?" she croaked, firmly pulling the bag strings into a tight knot. "Thunder Legion and hiatus aside, I'm still your partner."

"We should leave in the morning." He reluctantly swallowed his protests and gestured towards the sealed boxes. "I packed away all your things after... All of them are labelled so it shouldn't take too long to find what you need."

"Thank you." Y/N made her way through the cardboard maze into the bedroom, leaving Laxus to finish packing in the living room.

The bedroom was in complete disarray. The wardrobe had been stripped bare and the items of clothing Laxus had deemed unimportant, had been left scattered across the floor. Pools of various trinkets that had once brought personality to the room, lay spread across multiple surfaces waiting to be sifted through. Despite the chaos, one half of the bed appeared to be untouched, with crisply tucked in sheets, plump pillows and a neatly arranged fleece blanket on top. Y/N perched on the edge of the bed and ran her hand across the soft fabric. A small sigh escaped her as she reminisced about the long nights she had lain on the sofa wrapped up in this blanket, waiting for Laxus to arrive back after a solo job. She heard movement behind her and Laxus appeared in the doorway.

"I was going to say goodbye," he said tenderly, fidgeting with a roll of tape. "To you. At the parade tonight."

"Okay." Y/N's voice was small as she smiled sadly, her eyes locked on to his.

After a short pause, Laxus cleared his throat and turned, swiftly leaving while mumbling an excuse about preparing food. Ripping the tape from a tattered box by the nightstand labelled 'books', Y/N began to filter through her old belongings.

Y/N woke with a start and shot bolt upright on the cold, wooden floor. Squinting at the contents in the room outlined by the moonlight glimmering through the lone window, she recalled her whereabouts. She stretched her stiff muscles and flicked the switch on a nearby lamp, flooding the room with a hazy, orange glow. Over the past few hours, Y/N had shoved the necessities for the trip into a borrowed bag and sealed away the rest to be left in storage. She had taken a break to flick through a short book on Lost Magic and had felt her heavy eyelids droop while nestling against the foot of the bed. The last thing remaining was an opened shoebox with her name scrawled across it, lying next to her. Rummaging through the few objects inside, she felt something sharp slice into her finger and jerked back her hand. A tiny sliver of glass protruded from her now throbbing finger. Y/N carefully removed the glass with a grimace and searched for the culprit, finding a worn picture frame with a spider web crack distorting the image within. Once she had staunched the blood with the bottom of her shirt, she chuckled softly, recognising the photo. That day, Makarov had sat on the bar table with his arm around Y/N and had hurriedly raised a glass with his other hand, soaking Laxus' dark mustard shirt with the contents. Both Makarov and Y/N had beamed at the camera, oblivious to Laxus glaring at them. Still smiling, she gently placed the frame back inside the box and extracted a delicate chain. She snatched a folded piece of paper that had been wedged into the clasp before it could drift down by her feet. Y/N fastened the necklace around her and ran her thumb across the small, silver star pendant that Laxus had presented to her 4 years ago when they had celebrated her birthday in a cute café. Y/N had been caught off-guard feeling drowsy after eating one too many cat cupcakes and had sat speechless, staring at the sparkling star until Laxus rose to his feet threatening to return it.

Y/N held the paper close to the light and peeled back the crinkled folds, revealing a single, pressed, white lily. The pale petals were stained with vibrant pollen and the ends had almost disintegrated. Her brows furrowed as she tried to recall pressing a lily for any significant reason, but her mind drew a blank. Her thoughts turned to Laxus and as she made the decision to ask him about the flower, she realised how loudly the silence rang through the room. She was alone.

Y/N tucked the lily into a book and grabbed her bag, hopping over the boxes and ignoring the searing pain in her leg as she rushed out of the apartment. She slammed the entrance door behind her and turned to make her way towards the stairs, immediately tripping over something blocking her path. Once she had caught her balance, she spun round to face the obstacle, and her irritation was quickly extinguished once she found Laxus sitting hunched over on the corridor floor, his head held in his hands. He looked up with red-rimmed eyes as Y/N knelt down in front of him, gently wiping his tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hand.

"What happened?" she whispered with concern.

"Gramps," he mumbled gruffly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not today," he said as he took her hand and lead her back inside. "Let's just go to sleep."