Title: First Impressions
Date: January 4, 2015

Thank you so much for all the reviews! Sorry for the long update (again!). I was pretty much focused on finishing projects, exams, and then getting wasted well into the new years. But excuses aside, I finally wrote out this chapter. So happy new years and hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 9

Mirajane Strauss forced herself out of bed. She had the biggest headache and didn't have to look into a mirror to know that there were bags under her eyes. All in all, she didn't have a good night's rest. She didn't sleep well at all. And there could have been only one reason…

She tip-toed towards her bedroom door, slowly pushing it open.

And she prayed to Mavis that he had gone back to whatever slime-cave he crawled out from.

She quickly glanced around the apartment.

Great… No signs of-

Then her eyes landed on the figure sleeping (more like invading) her sofa.

… That better not be who she thinks it is. She quietly shifted her way closer to the quietly snoozing blond. Well, on the bright side he didn't snore… then again, this jerk, her roommate's boyfriend and roommate were pretty loud last night. And judging from the many cans of beer and poker cards scattered around the apartment, she now had two people (Laxus doesn't count as a person) with massive hangovers on her hands.

She crossed her arms wondering where to even begin…

A garbage bag was a definite start.

There was garbage practically everywhere and her eyes landed on the biggest piece.

She grumbled while thinking up different ways of throwing this asshole off her couch and out of her apartment. Grabbing onto his arm, she tugged hoping he'd fall face-flat on the floor. Then maybe it might be easier to drag him out then. But no matter how hard she pulled, he didn't budge.

Great! Now what?

She stole a glance over him… Admittedly, he wasn't the worst looking guy on this planet (even though he undoubtedly had the worst personality). In fact, he was pretty good looking. Laxus was a little rugged and was sporting a bit of the bad boy look, but she kind of liked that. And that scar over his eye was a definite bonus to the roughened up tough guy impression. And… her eyes travelled away from his face and over his torso.

Quickly shifting her eyes to make sure there were still no witnesses, she hastily lifted up his shirt.

Dayum! Those abs were to die for…

And Mirajane felt the sudden urge to lick them, except…

She promptly jumped back and ran for the safety of her kitchen.

That gorgeous piece of garbage was waking up, and she needed to pretend to look busy instead of looking like a blushing schoolgirl.

"G'morning m'lady."

And she had to admit that his gruff just-woke-up voice was pretty much spot-on gorgeous as well. But she rummaged around the kitchen before pulling out a garbage bag.

"Oh sorry." Laxus was yawning, "We left it a mess."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, reminding herself to keep in character. She was supposed to hate this guy. And admittedly, she kind of still did… but granted, he was good eye-candy so it was kind of hard to not stare once in a while.

"Lemme help." Laxus stood up with a light stretch before bending over to collect the scattered beer cans.

"Don't worry about it. I've got it covered." She replied, "You should just get ready to leave."

"Feisty." Laxus raised a brow as he towered over her, "I like that in a lady."

She hoped she wasn't blushing, "You're overstaying your welcome."

"Stubborn too." A devilishly handsome smirk was covering the blond man's face, "I'm just cleaning up after myself. You should thank me."

She blinked remembering all too well why she hated this guy, "I should be thanking you? Excuse me? You come into my apartment, make a mess in my living room and when you pick up after yourself you expect me to thank you?"

And Mira could feel Laxus' gaze intensify, "I like it when you yell at me."

She frowned, "… What?"

"Nothing." Laxus coughed, "Just give me that garbage bag."

"Oh! I can't believe my eyes!" Jellal trudged his way towards them, "Is Laxus helping?"

"Shut the fuck up." The blond grumbled.

Jellal then turned his attention towards her, "Good morning Mira."

"Morning Jellal. Is Erza still sleeping?" She wondered.

"Yea. She drank us both under the table." Jellal laughed, "Sorry we were so loud last night. I hope you were able to sleep fine enough."

"Enough is a good word." She shrugged, "Can I get you some pills for your hangover?"

"Yes please." Jellal was following her to the kitchen.

"Here." She handed the bottle of painkillers to the navy haired man along with two glasses of water.

"Erza's still sleeping." Jellal frowned.

"It's…" She wanted to kill herself, "for that guy over there."

"Oh." And she didn't miss the way Jellal's face brightened, "So you're telling me that this second glass of water is for Laxus? You know… that guy over there?"

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but I'm just being a good person." She glared, hoping it was enough to effectively shut up and scare the navy haired man away. But even though her glare usually worked, there were times when Jellal would simply be unfazed. And she had to wonder just what the hell kind of shady things this man wasn't telling her… or more importantly: telling Erza. (Another's Note: So I might have a sequel in the works…)

Judging from Jellal's growing grin, she knew she'd probably have to give Erza a talking to about keeping her man in line.

"Hey Laxus!" Jellal turned towards the blond who was still picking up cans upon cans of beer, "Let's stay for breakfast! Mira makes some pretty mean pancakes."

And she could feel her eye twitch. Seriously though, no man with a face tattoo wasn't without some sort of dark secret…

And it felt like she had gone back in time to when she had lived back at home with Lisanna and Elfman, eating breakfast together and talking about everything and nothing… except her sweet Lisanna and handsome Elfman were replaced by her good friend Erza, her good friend Erza's boyfriend Jellal and… Uurgh… Laxus Dreyar.

Speaking of…

"So I heard this story from gramps, but did you know that a few weeks ago Laxus here pooped himself while watching the-"

Said blond was choking on his pancake.

"Oh yea… I heard that story too." Jellal laughed, "Imagine a grown man shitting his pants while watching the game. Damn embarrassing."

And hopefully embarrassing enough for the (now blue in the face) blond to run out of the apartment in disgrace.

"Poop stories and these really delicious chocolate chip pancakes aren't boding well together." Erza interrupted, "Change the conversation."

"Let's talk about Freed." Jellal hummed happily.

Mira had to arch a questioning brow at that, "… He's okay."

"Just okay?" If anything, Jellal looked offended, "He's perfect."

"I kind of have to agree with that." Erza shrugged, while Laxus murmured something inaudible under his breath.

"Well…" She took a moment to really think back on their date, "… he's a nice guy. I mean, I know he's your friend and all but… he's a little too nice."

"Nice guys are always the best kind of guys." Jellal readily defended his green haired friend.

And Mira didn't like being put on the spot like this, "Yea… Well, I agree that he's perfect. But he's too perfect, you know? It's a little boring…"

Jellal let out a small pained squeaking noise that really made her question if her prior suspicions about Jellal having a dark side could be true or not.

"Before you break up with him, can you first get him to record a mix tape for you?" Erza suggested whilst in the middle of chewing another large piece of pancake, "Not that I know firsthand if he's a good guitarist or singer or anything like that… I just heard a rumour that he has the voice of an angel."

"… I… guess?" Mira was confused… why was everyone so weird today? So she better change the subject again, "Does anyone want seconds?"

"Yes please!" The other three sitting at the table chirped in unison.

"Mira, I swear these pancakes are the best hangover cure I've ever had." Erza complimented.

"That's right…" It was time to turn the table around, "You guys were pretty loud last night."

Both Jellal and Laxus buried their faces into their pancakes in feigned ignorance.

"Sorry. Did you manage to get some sleep in?" Erza wondered, "I know you have work today, so I hope you'll be able to concentrate."

"I had a good hour or two." She articulated.

The redhead winced, "… Sorry."

"No, it's not your fault." She sent her best smile over to her roommate while sending her meanest glare over to the blond sitting at the table.

Jellal seemed to have noticed, "You're going to the South side of the city right?"

"Yea." She nodded.

"So is Laxus." The navy haired man pointed out, "He'll drive you there since it's on his way."

And the blond was choking on his pancakes once more… but Mira really couldn't blame the guy, because she was also turning a nice shade of blue after feeling a chocolate chip chunk lodge itself in her throat.

And the car ride was in complete silence.

That fucking Jellal… Although…

She kept her arms crossed over her chest as she shifted her gaze the slightest… There was no point in lying to herself, but Laxus was honestly her type of guy. And when he was focused on driving and wasn't saying something overly offensive, she had to admit that he wasn't so bad a person.

Her phone was ringing.

"Hello?" She answered, noting the way Laxus twitched. It was as if he was trying not to eavesdrop when given their proximity in the car, there was no avoiding it.

'Mira!' It was her manager Max Alors, 'Terrible news! There's a bug going around and it seems like Jason and the photographer Reedus Jonah caught ill. We don't want to take any chances with you catching sick, so we'll have to reschedule the photo shoot.'

"I hope they're okay." She frowned in concern.

'Don't worry, they'll be just fine.' Her manager dismissed the topic, 'Just take it easy for today.'

"Thanks Max." She chirped into her phone before hanging up.

And then she realized something…

There was no avoiding talking to the man next to her, "My work cancelled on me."

"Oh?" He seemed the slightest bit interested.

"So you can just drop me off here and I'll taxi home." She shrugged.

"Or if you want I can call in sick to work."

She frowned, "Why would I want that?"

"Tell you what," Laxus turned towards her, "As thanks for cooking up those amazing pancakes, I'm going to take you to a place I think you'll like."

She didn't know what possessed her, but she replied with:

"Fine."

And of course she had to add:

"Whatever."

… After all, it wasn't like she was looking forward to this new change of events or anything.

To be continued.

Note: Thanks for reading! So I might have mentioned something about a sequel, but this time more focused on Jellal and Erza. I'm still kind of sitting on the fence about it, because it'll be another multi-chapter fic and I just don't have the time to sit down and write anymore… If it's an interest to everyone, I guess I'll keep you guys posted… As for chapter 10: I haven't started it. And it's going to be a really long chapter, so it might take me a while to update again. Thanks again for reading this chapter!