A/N: We've come to the final day of CoLu Week, and you guys… The turnout this year with content has been astounding. And I've been so thankful to read each and every one of your amazing reviews every single day. (I'm still way behind on reading what everyone's posted). You have no idea how happy you've made me. This week was just the kick in the pants I needed to get back into really writing. CoLu always brings out the fun ha!

Now, I had a Fantasy AU planned for today, but one week before CoLu Week started, I got an idea, and I wanted to run with it. Besides, the original idea for this prompt was very heavily inspired by Game of Thrones (à la The Red Wedding… yeah…), and since Day 4 was also GoT-inspired, and yesterday was just so fucking dark, I figured I'll hold onto the plotting I'd done and use it later on.

So, instead, here's another Modern AU with a high school reunion twist. I hope you guys enjoy!

Also, I wanted to kind of mimic the style I'm using in my Food Wars story (Missed Connection), so this is written in both present and past tense, with the past tense parts being flashbacks. So when you see it change, keep that in mind.

Day 8: Dance

You're Still the One

Summary: Ten years have passed since they last saw each other, but what else are high school reunions for, if not to catch up with your high school sweetheart?

The fact that the Spirit Committee for the class of 2008 actually got together and planned something as cheesy as a ten-year reunion, isn't all that surprising to Erik. Erza and Mira were and still are, hands down, the most insane people he's ever met. He's tempted to pop one of the balloons creating an elegant silver and white arch over the entrance of the hotel's ballroom. He values his testicles, though, and Mira's watching the arch like a hawk.

At least this shit isn't at the high school. In the gym. He has far too many memories of that place. Namely, never dressing for phys ed, and spending the entire period using it as a study hall for four straight years. Hell no, he wasn't going to be caught dead in those gym shorts. Even to this day, it gives him chills just thinking about having to play basketball the one time he'd actually worn the uniform. Never again.

To his right, Sorano and Macbeth chatter quietly to one another. The only reason he's even here is because they dragged him along. Sorano demanded he come, so he could sit with them and laugh over who gained the most weight. But Erik's grand scheme of saying he has too many papers to grade was foiled by Macbeth… And his knowledge that school was out for summer already.

Bastard.

Erik tries not to pull at the open collar of his deep purple dress shirt, exactly two shades darker than his eye. Sorano says it makes his eye pop more, but he's not sure if that's a good thing, all things considered. He gets enough unwanted attention over only having one eye. He doesn't need people staring at him more.

They stop at a table where Erza and Jellal are seated. Years ago, they'd been a couple, one of the Big Four in their class. Now, she's a lesbian - more power to her - and he's… Erik honestly doesn't know a thing about Jellal's life. And he doesn't care.

Technically, he's not supposed to be here. He never walked across the stage with his graduating class. Oh, he has his diploma, and it says Fiore High School just like theirs do. He'd just had to wait a few extra months to get it in the mail at the new house he'd been shipped to by social services.

Still, Erza smiles when she sees him, and she picks up a name tag that says his name on it.

Erik Vivas
"Cobra"

Whoever decided that nicknames also needed to be on these is going to get shot. He hasn't heard this name in years. Not since he left this school, and everyone in it, behind. Not even Macbeth (Midnight, his name tag reads) or Sorano (Angel, hers says) call him Cobra. They'd learned that he didn't like thinking about it when they reconnected three years ago.

"Welcome to the reunion, Cobra," Erza says. "It's good to see you back here."

"Yeah," he says. "Blame these two."

Her eyes flash with amusement and she ushers them inside, already turning her attention to the next people to arrive. Erik simply trails along behind Sorano and Macbeth. He waits for them to decide on a table that they'll no doubt spend most of the night sitting at. Neither of them have ever really been all that fond of dancing. Or mingling. They're literally only here to make fun of people. And while that would have appealed to Erik once upon a time - and it still does, if he's being honest with himself - it doesn't sound like much fun that night.

Because he's positive that she'll show up. Of all the people who would be welcomed at a function like a high school reunion, she would be. The sweet, girl-next-door with blonde hair and a smile that could give Willy Wonka a mouthful of cavities. Friends with everyone she meets, with just the smallest rebel streak in her that gets her into trouble on occasion.

"Luce, wait for me!" Natsu yells from somewhere behind him.

Erik's back tenses so quickly, he can feel his spine popping. If he'd been a cartoon cat, he knows he would have screeched and jumped up onto a telephone wire from the sudden shock to his system.

"Natsu, oh my god, relax!" she laughs. The sound is a shot to his heart that he's not sure he'd recover from. He turns just in time to see her being dragged in the opposite direction by Natsu - his pink hair is unmistakable, even after ten years - wearing a slinky black halter dress with a silver butterfly lining the hem and dipping down low on her back. "The shrimp will still be there in two minutes!"

Natsu grins back at her, still pulling her along, and Erik falls into his seat. He's just happy that the thing was available. The last thing he wants, he vaguely reasons, is ending up on Sorano's lap. She'd murder him.

"Wow," Macbeth murmurs. "She's still pretty."

"Definitely surprising," Sorano says. "What with her marriage and all."

Marriage. She'd gotten married. She'd moved on. Erik wishes he'd done the same. He wishes more than anything that he'd been able to make a relationship last even a single year. No one had compared to Lucy. She'd been his whole fucking world, once upon a time. There were days that he woke up, and he let himself dream about the life they could've had.

His high school sweetheart walks across the room from him, and he smiles a secret smile when he sees how her cheeks still puff out from shoving too much shrimp in her mouth.

"Oh my god, look at Reedus," Sorano snickers. "Now that is a large man."

"Wasn't he really into art?" Macbeth asks. He's already yawning. He won't last long.

"He looks like he ate the easel," Sorano says. Erik's lips twitch just a little, and he forces himself to look away from Lucy's golden hair piled high on her head and the graceful line of her neck and shoulders. When he follows their line of sight, Erik laughs. Reedus had been a string bean of a teenager, but he really had packed on the weight.

Maybe, if he sticks with his two friends, this night will go by quickly.

"Holy shit, Gajeel!" Lucy shouts. "How are you doing? You look so great!"

Erik's eye closes so he doesn't have to see her hug Gajeel "Black Steel" Redfox. This night is going to suck.

The open bar makes it suck a whole lot less. He knows Cana is around somewhere, because his first cup of punch burns his throat and nose so intensely that he wonders if he's ingested sulfuric acid. But this burn is better. Less deadly, but only just. After his second cup, it burns a little less. And he feels a whole lot less like he let Reedus sit on his chest every time he catches a glimpse of Lucy.

He kind of wonders what her nickname is on her name tag. He'd called her so many things back then, but he's sure none of them were all that well-known. They'd been relatively private about their cutesy moments. One of the bonuses of the internet not having been as prevalent back then. He'd been on her Top 8 on Myspace, and people saw them holding hands in the halls. Aside from that, their relationship was just between them.

As the night wears on, he catches glimpses of her. Every time he sees her from his seat at Macbeth and Sorano's table, she's talking with someone else.

Lucy had always been like that. She was a riot at parties, bringing people out of their shells.

"You know, I saw on Facebook that Laki is actually married to Mr. Clive," Sorano mutters.

"We're adults now," Macbeth yawns. "You can just call him Gildarts."

"Either way, it's weird," Sorano says. "At least she didn't bring him to this."

"Probably a conflict of interests," Macbeth says. "He still teaches Woodshop. That's how they met."

"So gross."

"Definitely."

These two are going to give him a fucking migraine. "Well, I'm outta here," Erik says, hauling himself to his feet.

"You're not leaving are you?" Sorano huffs. "We're your ride."

"Because you don't own a car," Macbeth adds.

"Because you never got a license," Sorano says.

"And good luck calling an Uber right now."

"Because Mira and Erza will fuck your day up if you try to leave."

Erik rolls his eye and glares at them, holding up his empty glass. "I'm leaving you two to get more alcohol," he says. "And I can drink this much because you're my ride. And of course I don't own a car and I don't have a license because I actually like riding a bike to work, thank you very much."

He wanders away from them, toward the punch bowl for his third drink. Maybe he should just stay here, getting sloshed.

"Holy shit, Cobra?" Cana laughs and wraps her arm around him. She's only wearing a bikini top and capris. On second thought, he's going to steer clear of this area unless he really needs a drink. "He lives!"

Erik sighs and drinks deeply from his newly filled cup. "Yeah, I am."

"Have you seen Lucy tonight?" she asks, turning him toward the one person he's been trying not to stare at all night. She's in a conversation with Levy now, her best friend since preschool. Natsu's standing close by. Did she marry Natsu, then? That's… odd. "She's such a fox!"

Erik doesn't know what to say. He agrees wholeheartedly with Cana's drunken assessment. But it's not his place to agree. He lost the right to that when he left her waiting for him at the prom.

"You heard about her divorce, right?" Cana continues. "Total shitshow. Happened like, six months ago? He got the house out in California. Their dog, too. Pretty sure she was more upset about the dog than the marriage."

That is... interesting news. Sorano had said Lucy was still married. Maybe her sources aren't as reliable. If there's one thing Erik knows Cana is good for, it's being in everyone's business.

"She moved back in with her parents," Cana says. She finally lets go of him and gives him a half-shove in Lucy's direction. "You should go talk to her!"

"Fuck off, lush," he mutters. Still, his feet carry him through the milling crowd, around the dance floor, and on a mostly direct path to Lucy. He's standing in front of her before he even knows what he's going to say. It's when he sees the surprise in her eyes, how her lips part in shock while she gives him a quick once-over from his maroon hair pulled back into a half-ponytail down to his black blazer, purple shirt and black slacks, that Erik realizes she's just as unsure of how to proceed.

"C-Cobra…"

"Hey, beautiful." He wants to kick himself in the fucking asshole for that, even when he sees that familiar flush on her cheeks. This close to her, he can see that she's aged, but time has been good to her. She looks a whole lot more like Layla now. The smoky eyeshadow and light gloss on her lips has him falling into the honey pools of her eyes. "I mean, uh… Lucy," he says quickly. "Hey, Lucy."

Fuck, that's still too casual. Too familiar.

Goddamnit, he's going to go find a knife and cut out his fucking tongue.

She smiles at him after a moment, and it's that easy sort of smile only she can pull off. The one that sets him at ease, and visibly relaxes the tension in his shoulders.

"Luce, I'm gonna go arm-wrestle Gajeel," Natsu says. At the sound of his voice, Erik remembers they're not the only two people in the room. He turns slightly to see Natsu grin at him.

"I'm not your keeper, Natsu," she laughs. "Just don't break anything."

Natsu waves at them both and walks off. And now they're alone with one another. Erik doesn't know where to begin with her. There are so many things he wants to tell her, excuses for the pain he's sure that his younger self put her through. She hadn't deserved any of it. He'd never wanted to hurt her.

But the only way to get past this awkwardness is to talk. He's never been that great at expressing himself, except with her. Lucy had always just… understood him.

"Elephant in the room," he finally says, downing the rest of his drink. "I'm sorry for disappearing on you."

She's clearly surprised by the turn of their non-conversation.

"Would you believe me if I said that I was a secret agent, and I was undercover at the time?"

She finally laughs and pushes at his shoulder. "Oh, fuck you," she says, but he can see that her smile is still genuine. "Sit with me? We should catch up."

It's the easiest decision he's ever made, agreeing to sit down at a nearby table with her. He doesn't want to be anywhere else. Even if all Lucy wants to do is yell at him and gouge out his only eye, he knows he deserves it.

Once they're settled, she looks into his eye and her smile fades just a little. "What happened back then?" she asks. He can see the pain simmering in her eyes. It's old, but still there. Clearly she hasn't forgotten about it. He doesn't blame her one bit if she hates him. "I waited for you."

With a heavy sigh, he sets his empty cup to the side and places his hand over hers on the table. He takes a moment to look down at her fingers, the way her skin still contrasts his own darker complexion. "You still enjoyed prom, right?" he asks. He has to know.

"No," she says. His eye shoots up to stare at her. "When I realized you weren't coming, I went home. I didn't want to be there, watching all those couple dancing, without you."

"I'm so fucking sorry," he says. He knows an apology isn't enough. Nothing will ever be enough.

"So what happened to you?" she asks. "You full-on ghosted."

"You remember how I was staying in foster care," he says, watching her nod. "My foster parents were cooking meth in the basement, so the cops raided the house."

"Oh my god…"

He smirks and looks back down at their hands. "I'm the one who called the cops when I realized what they were doing," he says. He'd never wanted to get mixed up in that bullshit, and the last thing he'd needed back then was his foster parents getting him arrested as an accessory or some other shit, and ruining his life. "Only problem was… they were supposed to come after I left for the prom."

He'd been so angry when he saw the police that night. He was supposed to be gone, so his foster parents wouldn't try dragging him into anything. He was supposed to be able to dance with his girlfriend, have fun with their friends, kiss her in a prom picture that they'd both bitch about the prices of, and then get anyway. But that hadn't happened.

"I got taken into custody, and had to make a report at the police station," he continues with a frown. "As soon as it was done, my social worker was there, and he hauled me out of the district… even though we were about to graduate."

When he looks back into her eyes, she's sadder than before. He knows it was inevitable. The past was a painful thing for him to remember. And his biggest regret was not being able to tell her goodbye.

"You never called," she says.

"I lost your number." Erik winces. He's always been horrible at remembering phone numbers. Hers was the most important one, and he hadn't been able to remember it. "They took my phone and I never got it back, so…"

"What about writing a letter?" she asks. "Or getting online? Your profile disappeared along with you."

"After the shit that happened, and me being a no-show for prom, I figured you didn't want anything to do with me," he says. He knows now that it was stupid. He shouldn't have deleted his Facebook as soon as he'd gotten to his new foster home. Sure, he'd been in tears at the time, and he'd saved every single picture of Lucy that she'd posted to an external hard drive while he sat at the library, but he should have messaged her. Even if it had been to tell her goodbye forever.

"That couldn't be further from the truth," she says. Her other hand rests on top of his, letting him feel her warmth as she smiles again. "I wish you'd told me."

Before he can say that he knows he should have done things differently, a familiar shadow falls over them. He looks up to find Sorano smiling down at Lucy the same way she always used to when they were in school. She'd never liked Lucy, or that he was dating her. "Sorano?"

"Lucy, what are you doing over here?" she asks, and her voice is sickly sweet with feigned happiness. "Loke's by the punch bowl."

Lucy blinks in surprise and her brows draw together. He follows her gaze across the party to find Loke "Leo" Sterne mingling with some pink-haired woman with a permanent blush on her cheeks. She looks back up at Sorano. "And?"

"And, isn't he your husband?" Sorano asks, cocking her hip out to one side. "You two were disgustingly open with the PDA back in college. I figured you'd still be licking each others' tonsils right about now."

Erik really hadn't wanted to know that she'd married Loke, of all people. He'd been the one everyone said she should date back in high school. All-around sports star, competing in every sport season they had a team for. Nuclear family with a perfect stay-at-home mom, a perfect dad who worked nine-to-five (just like Lucy's parents), a younger sister who was the picture of a saint (even though he'd heard from Macbeth that she was now seriously into the BDSM scene, and went by the name Virgo), a golden fucking retriever named Lucky.

Loke was everything that made a model boyfriend, on paper. He was also a man-whore.

And Lucy had married him? Him?

Erik turns back from nearly glaring at Loke to see Lucy smiling up at Sorano. But this smile isn't the same she'd kind given him. "Oh, didn't you hear? Loke left me."

He doesn't need to check to see the triumphant gleam in Sorano's eyes.

"Yeah," Lucy sighs. "I had endometriosis, and it made me infertile." Oh… shit. "So I got a hysterectomy to finally make it so I wasn't in crippling pain any time I had a period."

She… she what? Erik's eye widened and his jaw dropped a little.

"Apparently, Loke wanted kids and he didn't see any reason to stick around," Lucy says, watching Sorano's smile fade. "He had his lawyer drop off the divorce papers when I woke up from my surgery."

Erik glares up at Sorano, and he's actually happy that she looks contrite. And sad. Part of the reason he'd agreed to even come to this thing is because she just found out that she's pregnant, and he knows better than to make her upset right now.

"Lucy, I'm so sorry," Sorano whispers.

She waves away Sorano's concern and gestures back to Loke, sending their attention to the punch bowl. He's kissing that pink-haired woman on the cheek, and her blush deepens when he whispers something to her. "That's the woman he married two weeks after our divorce was finalized," Lucy says. "His secretary. From my understanding, she's very fertile. I think they have three kids already."

Erik's attention shifts from Loke to Sorano, and his brow raises when he sees that she's gone into Full-Valkyrie mode. "That…" Sorano doesn't say anything else as she storms away from their table, on a direct path through the dance crowd toward Loke.

When his eye meets with Lucy's again, he's not sure what to say. "I had no idea," he finally says. "Did the symptoms start-"

Lucy's raucous laughter cuts him off, and he's taken aback by how she doubles over. "Cobra, I'm fine!"

"Wait, what?" She keeps laughing and shaking her head, and his brow furrows. Hadn't Cana said that Lucy got divorced only a few months ago?

"Loke cheated on me, so I divorced his ass and took half his shit!" She's downright cackling. The last time he saw her laugh this much, he'd worn one of her thongs as a dare for the entire school day, and she was handing him a bottle of baby powder through the cracked bathroom door at her parent's house so he could ease the chafing around his taint. She'd ended up literally pissing her pants in the hallway because he wouldn't let her in the bathroom.

"Wait, then who's he with?"

"Hell if I know," she says. "I haven't spoken to him since I found him the roast beef of some girl that literally works at Arby's."

Finally, Erik's head swivels back over toward Sorano. "You lied to Angel?" he asks, bewildered. It's been ages since he called her that. He can't stop himself from smiling. "You're fucking evil."

"But it gets me what I want," Lucy laughs.

"And that is?"

Sorano finally reaches Loke, and there's nothing subtle about how she pushes his shoulder and starts yelling at him. They can't hear what she's saying over the loud, thumping music, but there's quite a bit of gesturing in Lucy's general direction.

"To make his life a living hell," Lucy says. Loke blanches and follow's Sorano's pointing finger to stare at Lucy and Erik. She simply smiles back at his sudden glower, and raises her cup of punch in a silent toast. His brows furrow in anger and he turns back to Sorano, most likely to tell her that Lucy's lying. "This is payback for him not letting me take Plue in the divorce."

"What the hell happened to you?" Erik chuckles. He actually likes this vindictive side of her. He's never seen it before. He doubts she had this in her when they were younger. When he looks back at her, there's a sad smile pulling at her glossy lips while she takes a sip of her drink.

"Years of bullshit and getting left in the dust." That's sobering. His smile fades. He left her hanging back then. Part of this darker side of her is his fault. Maybe he's the reason she even has it in her to begin with. "I'm not the sweet, innocent girl you knew, Cobra. I grew up."

He wants to apologize to her again, but if he does that, then he'll never stop apologizing. When she squeezes his hand, he realizes that he hasn't let her hand go. He's not sure when their fingers had laced together like this, though. It still feels just as natural as it had so long ago. "I never thought you were just some sweet, innocent girl," he says, smirking at her. His thumb brushes across hers, and he watches her eyes dart to the side while she tries to hide her smile from him. "I never would've dated you, if you were."

She laughs and takes the last sip of her drink. They're both silent for a moment, just looking at one another. He can't let himself drift too far into what-if scenarios in his head. He wants to know everything that's happened in her life. It's just a matter of figuring out where to start. College, maybe. But first… "Could I interest you in another Cana Special?"

"Ooh, yes, please," she laughs. "She put the good stuff in it tonight."

He grins and takes her cup. It's nearly physically painful to let her hand go, but he does need a minute to collect himself. And getting her a drink, and another one for himself, will give him just the right amount of space to figure out what the hell his plan is now. Now that he's seen her. Now that they've talked, and now that he knows how easy it is to talk to her still… He doesn't know what to do.

"Oh," Lucy giggles, looking down at their hands. She slowly pulls hers from his grasp. "I should probably give you back your hand."

"I mean, I was considering cutting it off and giving it to you," Erik chuckles. "But this works, too."

She rolls her eyes when he grabs his own empty cup and stands. When she calls him a dork, just like she used to, he's sure his heart is two seconds away from exploding.

The lighting changes to a soft blue while she waits for Erik to come back with their drinks. Maybe her mom was right. Maybe coming tonight wasn't such a bad idea. She'd been so worried that Erik would show up, that she'd see him and end up in tears. But that hadn't happened. She'd stayed strong. She'd talked to him, and found out the truth about why he'd disappeared ten years ago.

Lucy looks out at the dance floor and smiles at the couples she sees. There are plenty of unfamiliar faces, people who'd married her classmates, or their best friends in their new lives that they'd brought to this reunion for emotional support. It's while she's looking at them all shifting one way and another in a slow dance that she's reminded of prom night.

Specifically, sitting at a table, just like this. Waiting for her boyfriend to show up, since they'd agreed to meet outside the dance. He'd told her that he had something to do first, so he didn't want her to wait around at his house. But when he hadn't showed up after twenty minutes, Lucy went inside and waited for him there. She'd texted him, but he never answered. She'd watched their friends dancing together in a slow rhythm, just like this.

Except, Lucy isn't going to run out in tears tonight. Not like she did at prom. Because this time, she knows he's coming for her.

Movement off to her side draws her attention, and she finds Erik standing right there, holding his empty hand out to her. "Are they out of punch already?" she laughs.

"Lucy," he says slowly, "Would you dance with me?"

Her eyebrows rise quickly, nearly flying off of her head and into the stratosphere. "Wha - huh?"

He chuckles and shuffles on his feet. Just like he used to when he was nervous. "I missed our last dance," he says. "I wanna make it up to you."

Her cheeks are burning while she looks up at him, glances toward the dance floor. It couldn't hurt, she reasons. Just a single dance. That's something she can handle. Lucy's hand gently rests in his palm and she stands. He leads her to the center of the dance floor and they fall into position.

All at once, she feels like they're right back in high school, carefully shifting from one foot to the other while her arms wrap around his shoulders and his hands rest at an appropriate place on her waist.

She doesn't know what to say to him as she looks up into his single eye. He'd had two of them the last time she saw him, but he's more handsome now than ever. It's the hair. It reaches down just past his shoulders now, and instead of being spiked and away from his face in whichever direction it landed in, now it's tamed. It flows down from the half-ponytail it's tied up into. His hair is a slightly darker red than she remembers, and it's thick and…

And she's obsessing over his fucking hair!

Ten years since she's seen him, and Lucy's stuck on his fucking hair?! Well, it's either she focuses on that, or the fact that he looks downright edible in his laid-back business clothes. She'd never imagined him wearing something like this willingly. Maybe it wasn't willing, but he wore his blazer and slacks and dress shoes with an ease that comes from habit. This is probably what he always wears.

"So," Lucy says softly. "What, um… What do you do, now?"

"For work?" he asks, and she nods. "High school science teacher."

That… is completely baffling. Sure, he'd always aced his science classes, and he'd helped her study for every science test she had after they started dating, but being a teacher? He willingly went to a school and taught children?

"You look surprised," he laughs. Lucy's face colors a deep red when she realizes that she's staring at him. "The foster home they put me in after I left, the dad there was a geography teacher. He loved his job, and it rubbed off on me."

"But didn't you turn eighteen that December?" she asks. He couldn't have been with them for very long. How had the man made that much of an impact on him in such a short amount of time?

"They adopted me," Erik said. "I was with them for a month before I told them what happened, how I was taken away from you and everything… and…" He keeps dancing, even though he seems a bit distant now. "They said they'd adopt me, so I wouldn't have to leave when I turned eighteen. I could get my stuff sorted out, and they'd help me go to college. I figured, if they were gonna do all that for me, maybe I should try being a teacher, like Alex is."

"They sound really nice," she says, smiling up at him. When he smiles back, she breathes a little easier. "Wait, you call your dad Alex?"

Erik chuckles and they keep dancing as the song changes to Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love. "Yeah, him and his wife said I didn't have to call them Mom and Dad. And even though they adopted me, I kept my last name."

"That's… odd," she says carefully.

His brow raises in amusement. "Would you want me to be Erik Armstrong?"

Lucy blanches before she can school her expression. "No," she says quickly. That name doesn't suit him in the slightest.

"Exactly. They're fine with it. And I live, like, three blocks away from them. Alex still includes me in his rambling about Armstrong family traditions. It's…" His smile is soft, a little shy. She's definitely about to swoon. "It's kinda nice, feeling like I belong with a family."

"I'm happy for you, Erik," she says. "I always hoped… well, you know."

And he does know. They'd talked about it a lot when they were younger. She wanted him to get adopted. For so long before high school, he'd been shifted from one group home to the next. The foster family he'd been placed with just before they met in freshman year hadn't been the most stable, but they made it work. He'd been happy just to live in a house, rather than with a bunch of other kids whose parents were fuck-ups like his.

He'd told her so many times before, how much he loved her family. Even though her father hated him - just because he was a boy and dating his daughter, she suspected - Erik loved being at her house. He especially loved how much Layla doted on him. Her mother had made him one of the family.

Even now, she talks about Erik when she thinks Lucy can't hear her, wondering where he is or what he's doing. It's almost like she's talking about a long-lost son.

"I know," he says, and he smiles again. "I'm happy, too. They really helped me get through that mess back then."

She's almost afraid to ask what he means. Part of her wants to know, but she doesn't want to ruin the mood. Instead, she rests her head on his shoulder and smiles as his hands shift a little lower on her back, clasping just above her dress. It's natural, moving with him like this. God, how many times had they danced just like this in her bedroom, just because they could? And because he was being a total dork…

Erik's nose nestles in her hair. "I'm glad I let Midnight and Angel drag me here tonight," he says.

Lucy's smile widens and she looks up at him. "I'm glad I let Natsu do the same. He was pretty adamant about me coming."

"So were they," he says. His eye narrows at the same time as hers. He looks around the room, and stops dancing entirely. "Oh, what the fuck…"

Lucy frowns and follows his wide-eyed stare. She nearly screams in horror when she sees what's happening at the table Macbeth commandeered as soon as he'd arrived. Natsu's straddling him, with his hands mussing Macbeth's two-toned hair as they kiss like there's no tomorrow. Sorano sits just two seats away, sipping from a bottle of water and eating grapes. Where she got the grapes from, Lucy's not sure, but she looks overly pleased with the erotic show happening right in front of her.

"Those sons of bitches," Erik mutters. Lucy snorts. She tries to bite back a laugh, but it comes flying out of her with enough force that she's stuck holding onto Erik for dear life, or else she's going to fall flat on her ass. It's obvious what their friends did.

She just wishes she'd figured it out a bit sooner.

"They planned this, just to get us…" Erik trails off, laughing when she looks up at him. There are tears in her eyes, but she can't tell if it's from laughing or happiness over how much their friends even give a shit… Or something else.

All she knows is that they made sure she and Erik could see each other again.

"Alright, you bunch of drunks!" a loud voice booms over the speakers when the music comes to an abrupt halt. The lighting changes again, growing brighter as the cheesy disco ball is removed and the main lights in the building are turned on.

Lucy and Erik turn to look up at the DJ for the night. Laxus Dreyar. The most unlikely of students to join the AV club, considering he'd been a martial arts champion when they were still in school. Apparently, he's been roped into handling the music for the night - Lucy thinks this is probably for the best, since he was always a bit socially inept before.

They're both surprised when a spotlight shines directly on them, and everyone around them turns to look. Lucy's just a bit embarrassed when she sees how many people are smiling over whose arms are around her. She looks back up at Laxus, and it's unnerving when she sees the way he's grinning at her and Erik.

"The Class of 2008 never got to see their Prom King and Queen dance," Laxus says into the microphone.

Erik's jaw drops and his back goes rigid as he stares down at Lucy. Right, he never found out that they were crowned King and Queen. He never came back to school to graduate with them, so he wouldn't have heard it from anyone. She shrinks just a little bit and fails miserably at trying to smile. "What?" she asks. "We were an underdog couple."

"Were we even in the running?" Erik asks her.

"Well, yeah," she says. "Remember, you said we'd never win, and I bet you that we would. I put our names in. You even threatened Hibiki when he tried to interview you for the morning show." She smirks a moment later. "Which reminds me, you owe me a McFlurry."

"Dick," he chuckles.

"So we're doing this shit now!" Laxus yells into the microphone. He waits for their classmates' cheers to die down a bit. "I have it from a very reliable source-"

"We all know it's Cana!" Gajeel yells from somewhere by the buffet. "It's always fuckin' Cana! That drunk's been gettin' in people's shit since daycare, I swear to fuckin' Christ!" He's sloshed. Gajeel's always been a sassy bitch when he gets drunk. It's probably why he ended up marrying Cana in the first place.

"Damn straight!" Cana yells back. She's openly pouring two bottles of whiskey into the punch bowl that's just been refilled. Lucy has the errant thought that her spirit animal is a goddamn honey badger.

'Cana don't care. Cana don't give a shit! She just takes what she wants.'

"Anyway," Laxus says. "These two even have their own special song, guys."

Lucy blanches when several women coo and aww over the cuteness. "Oh my god," she whimpers, looking up at Erik. "Cana said she'd never tell anyone."

He just shakes his head and stares up at the ceiling. She can't tell if he's angry with her for telling anyone about their song, or that they're being called out on it. If there was one thing she knew about Erik, it was that he liked his privacy. He did back then, and she's sure he still does now. "She's such a fucking gossip," he sighs.

"We don't have to do this," she says quickly, taking a step back from Erik. It's stupid, really. Erik had called her late one night after she'd had a horrible day - namely, getting a flat tire two days after getting her license and not knowing how to change the tire, and ending up in tears on the side of the road until he'd ridden his bike down to the mall to change it for her - and he'd sung the song to cheer her up. It had worked at the time, and every time she'd been upset, he would sing it to make her laugh.

It had been their song, only because he knew all the words and he refused to tell her why. He didn't even like this sort of music. And yes, they'd been joking around in the park one day and danced to it. But they didn't have to do that now.

Actually, Lucy's positive she'll die of embarrassment if they do. Erik probably won't even want to dance to that with her. Definitely not that...

"We didn't get the satisfaction of watching them dance to whatever bullshit song the school picked," Laxus continues. "So, to the Prom King and Queen of 2008, this one's for you!"

Just before the song starts, Erik grabs her hand and stops her from running out of the building. "Take those shoes off and dance with me," he laughs. Lucy looks down at her feet - her heels really aren't for dancing the way they used to. She'll break her ankle, or snap the thin stiletto heel. And break her ankle in the fall.

"Cobra, we don't-"

His tender smile has her breath stalling in her lungs. "I'd only make a fool outta myself like this for you, beautiful," he says.

As the track starts and Shania Twain's voice comes in with her monologue about love, Lucy kicks her heels off. She smiles when Erik grabs both of her hands and pulls her closer.

"Looks like we made it," Erik sings, smiling down at her. "Look how far we've come, my baby." The fact that he's singing along with the song only makes her laugh. It's such a sappy love song, but his voice still rasps along to the lyrics.

She follows his lead and spins when he directs her to, but they'd never been professional dancers. And he knows she has two left feet sometimes, so he moves in behind her and holds her hands, and his hips are swaying in time with hers in their own version of a slow dance.

"You're still the one I run to," he sings. "The one that I belong to. You're still the one I want for life." And he's still singing right in her ear, even though she can barely hear the rest of their old friends laughing and cheering through the music when he spins her and dips her. He laughs when she flails and latches onto his shoulders. He rights her quickly and she's pulled back into his arms. They're stronger than they used to be, more filled out than the last time she'd felt them.

His hand curves around her cheek and he openly smiles down at her. "You're still the one that I love. The only one I dream of…"

She can't help but think back to how things used to be with Erik. How sweet a boyfriend he was, even though he'd dressed like an updated Judd Nelson Bender. Her father had said at one point, that Erik looked like he was just there to steal the silverware, but she'd seen past it. She'd actually liked his grunge-style.

And it had all started because she'd been too creeped out to dissect a frog in biology. If she hadn't done it, she would've failed. But Erik had partnered up with her - took pity on her is more like it - and he did all the work and put both of their names on the project. They were the only group to get a perfect score on it.

She and Erik had spent all of high school together. She's still loathe to admit that they were one of the Big Four couples - named as such because everyone thought they were going to make it forever. They were inseparable.

Lucy sat in her second period Biology class and unpacked her notebook and a bright blue gel pen for the lecture that was about to start. It was their first day back from winter break, and she was determined to do better this semester. She'd only just barely passed the exam with a 61%. It was just barely a D, and she was positive that Mr. Tucker had taken pity on her. She really did try to learn, it just didn't click. If only her dad understood that. She'd spent the whole break with her nose in her textbooks.

The bell rang and the last few stragglers rushed into the class before they could be considered late. As if Mr. Tucker would actually get mad at them for being late. He was too busy adjusting the picture on his desk of his daughter Nina to pay attention to that.

Halfway through the class, a piece of notebook paper, folded over again and again into a triangle with her name written in scratchy letters on the outer layer, landed on her desk. She frowned down at it, and glanced at Mr. Tucker. His back was turned while he wrote something on the board. She was tempted to leave it until after class. She really needed to listen to the lecture, but… Lucy quietly opened the note.

Lucy, will you go out with me? Check one.
- Yes. And I'll wait for you after class.
- No. But thanks anyway.
- I'd rather kiss the frog you dissected for me, Cobra.

Her eyes nearly fell out of her skull at the messily written note. Cobra? As in the kid who'd dissected a frog for her, and didn't tease her about being too scared to cut it open? The one who sat across the room by the window, and never talked to anyone, who slept through their English class every single day? The one with the really pretty eyes and awesome looking earrings that he changed every month because he was stretching the holes? That Cobra, had just… asked her out in a note?

She hid the note under her desk and leaned forward to find him sitting there, paying attention to the lecture. Cobra slouched in his seat, with one leg kicked out in front of him and his bright indigo eyes focused solely on what Mr. Tucker was writing on the board. He always paid attention in science, even if he never took notes. Levy had told her that he was the only kid to consistently get an A in every science class he took, even though he didn't seem like he'd care all that much about it.

She stared harder, hoping to get him to look her way. He didn't.

Finally, she glanced at Mr. Tucker again to make sure he wouldn't catch her, and checked her answer on the note. She folded it back up the opposite way and wrote Cobra across the outside, then tapped Bacchus next to her. "Pass it on," she whispered.

She followed the note across the class. She couldn't focus on anything else. She was too nervous to see what he'd do. Would he look at her? Oh god, what if he hadn't actually written the note, and it was just a prank?

Jellal took the note from Erza and handed it to Cobra, who unfolded it beneath his desk and read her answer. He frowned at the page and read it again. Slowly, his gaze lifted and he found her staring at him. His brows lifted as in a silent question of Seriously?

Lucy bit her lip to hide her smile, and nodded. Her ponytail bounced around her shoulders. The sight of his satisfied smirk had her blushing, but she felt just a little better when she saw the faintest pink tint to his cheeks while he shoved the note in his pocket.

Mr. Tucker turned around and walked over to Cobra, then held out his hand. "The note, Vivas," he said in his voice that could never really be as stern as it needed to be. Lucy's stomach plummeted when Cobra gave the note to him. "And what was so important that you were passing notes in my class?"

She hoped with everything she was worth that he wouldn't actually read it out loud. She was going to die of embarrassment if he did that.

"I wrote Lucy a note to ask her to go out with me," Cobra said, loud enough for everyone to hear him clearly. Was he not embarrassed by this? He smirked over at her, even as their classmates laughed. "She said yes."

"And this couldn't wait until after class?"

Cobra's lips pulled up into a grin that had her cheeks burning even brighter than before. "No way," he said.

Lucy sighed and leaned her head against the bathroom stall while staring down at her Nokia. The sides flashed once to let her know that she had a new text, and she clicked on it quickly.

Cobra: im here wats up?

She opened the stall and rushed over to the bathroom door, then pulled it open just a crack. And there he was, leaning against the wall, staring down at his phone with his Misfits messenger bag slung over his shoulder and her favorite zip-up hoodie with a giant Slipknot "S" symbol on the back. He looked up at her and smiled. "What's up?" he asked. "I told Mr. Clive I had an emergency call I needed to make."

"I started my period," she said, wincing slightly. God this was embarrassing. Telling her boyfriend that she'd started her period was bad enough, but… "And my jeans are ruined, and the machine in here doesn't have any tampons, and my period started a day early, so I don't have anything in my purse. I can't…" She was going to cry. By the suddenly alarmed look in his eyes, he knew she was about to cry. "I can't leave, because there's blood all over the back of my pants, and…"

She could probably get away with making a half-assed pad out of twenty million layers of one-ply toilet paper, then going down to the office to ask them to call her mom, so she could get a change of clothes. The nurse probably had tampons, too. Or she could get a tampon from the nurse, and then go to the locker rooms and just change into her gym shorts. But both of those options required her walking around the school with a huge blood stain on her ass. Anyone could see her like that.

Cobra came closer and pressed his lips to her cheek. "It'll be fine," he whispered. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Lucy couldn't really go anywhere, so she just nodded and watched as he walked across the hall to the Home Economics class. He knocked on the door and waited for Mrs. Curtis to answer it. Lucy couldn't really hear what he said, but she squeaked when the woman's narrowed eyes shifted toward her so quickly that her dark dreadlocks tied up into a ponytail nearly smacked Cobra in the face. Mrs. Curtis nodded to Cobra and he walked inside. It felt like ages before he came back out.

Cobra walked back over to her and grinned as he held up two tampons. "Handle your business, then come out, okay?"

She sniffled, still trying to hold back her tears, and took the tampons into the bathroom. She put one in her bag and used the other, then glared down at her ruined underwear and pants. Lucy dabbed at the stain on her panties with some toilet paper. Maybe if she could soak up most of it, it wouldn't be as uncomfortable. Her jeans were a different story.

Her phone lit up with another text message, and she sighed while giving up and pulling up her pants.

Cobra: u good? still here 4 u

Lucy smiled down at her phone and put tossed it into her purse. There was no point in texting him back and wasting his minutes when he was right outside the bathroom. She washed her hands and went back to the door, then peeked her head out. "Thank you," she said.

He was still leaning against the wall just next to the door, and with his back to the hallway, she was the only one who could see the way he smiled at her. "No problem, beautiful," he said. "Want me to walk you anywhere?"

"A butcher would be good," she laughed quietly. "I'll fit right in."

"Nerd," he chuckled.

"I can't walk out there like this. My pants… I'll just call my Mom and hide in here until I die," she finally said. It was more than surprising that he dropped his messenger bag to the floor and shrugged off his hoodie. Cobra loved this hoodie. He'd told her that it was the most comfortable hoodie in existence, and she was only allowed to wear it on occasion because she was his girlfriend. She had privileges, obviously. But they'd agreed that she was only allowed to have custody of it for a week before he needed it back. That way he could get the smell of her off of it, and him back onto it. Then she could enjoy it again.

"Here," he said, handing it to her. "It's big enough, it'll cover you up."

"But what if I get blood on it?" she asked, staring down at the spiralling S design on the back.

"It's black," he chuckled. "It'll be fine. Go on, take it."

Slowly, she pulled the door open the rest of the way. She didn't let him see the state of her pants, and instead quickly pulled the hoodie on. He was right, though. It really was long enough to reach down to her thighs. No one would be able to see her pants. And no one would question why she was wearing it in the first place, since he always had this hoodie with him. Cobra was pretty well-known for wearing it.

She'd gotten quite a few astonished looks the first time he let her borrow it at school.

He smiled down at her and pulled at one sleeve so her fingers were finally sticking out of it. Cobra held her hand and picked up his bag. "Where to?"

"Locker room," she said. "I'll change into gym shorts and grab my pants before I get on the bus." As they walked down the silent halls, past the classrooms full of students, she frowned up at him. "Won't Mr. Clive wonder where you went?"

Cobra shrugged. "It was an emergency," he said, smirking down at her. "My girlfriend was dying in a bathroom." They stopped in front of the girls' locker rooms by the gym and he kissed her cheek one more time. "Just hang out here until the bell rings, okay? Don't need you getting caught for skipping."

Lucy nodded and made her way inside, unaware of the assistant principal walking down the hall and giving Cobra a detention for skipping class.

Cobra's carefully sat down on her hips while she laid in his bed. She smiled up at him while he turned a little plastic bag over in his hands, his gaze focused solely on the contents. "You sure you wanna do this?" he asked, finally looking down at her. "You don't have to."

"Well, you said you like how they look," she replied. "And it'll heal up if I don't like it."

She hadn't expected him to frown at her. "It doesn't matter if I like it," he said. Lucy just laughed and rolled her eyes at him. It did matter if he liked it, but she understood what he meant. He didn't want her to do it just because he liked it. "Seriously, you look beautiful already."

"Well, I never knew how it worked," she said. Lucy wiggled beneath him and grinned. "But you do. Teach me, wise sensei!"

Cobra finally laughed. Yes, she'd pulled out one of the few words she'd picked up from those anime shows he watched. She was actually starting to really like that Inuyasha show he'd introduced her to on Adult Swim. "Fine, you've convinced me."

He tossed the little baggie on her stomach and leaned over to the dresser beside his bed to grab his drink. She couldn't understand why he liked his tea so sweet. It was way too sweet for her unless he watered it down with ice. He took a sip and set it down again, and she watched as he spit an ice cube out into his hand. She giggled when he put it against her ear lobe and water dripped down onto her neck.

"We'll start small," he said, rubbing it over the hole where her earring usually was. He pushed the melting ice into her mouth and opened the bag on her stomach to pull out a black taper talon earring that would gauge her ears up to a 10. He pointed to the wide end. "Don't think you're gonna get this far today. It'll take a couple weeks, if we take our time. You can do it in a few days if you hate yourself."

Lucy didn't hate herself, and she knew this was going to hurt. It was just a matter of whether or not she could actually deal with the pain of ripping her earlobes bit by bit until she could wear those super cute plugs she saw at the mall. They didn't look right with the smaller sizes. But the rainbow swirling pattern on a pair of plastic screw-back plugs… size 10 was the smallest size they had that looked halfway decent. "Maybe we'll take it slow."

"A solid plan," he chuckled. His brows drew together just before he picked up the vaseline. "Did you ask your parents?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "They're my ears…"

Cobra's lips pursed and he set the taper back down, then picked the house phone up from the bed. He used the phonebook in his cellphone and dialed what she already knew was her house. Was he seriously calling right then to ask if she could gauge her ears? She was positive that her mom didn't care. Her dad probably wouldn't like it all that much, but he didn't like a lot of things that could be associated with Cobra.

"Hey, it's Cobra," he said, tossing his cell on the bed while propping the house phone on his shoulder. "I'm good. Yeah, Lucy's over at my house."

When he rolled his eyes and feigned boredom, she laughed. Apparently, her mother was in a talkative mood. Then again, she'd always liked Cobra.

"Well, I was calling because she wants me to gauge her ears, and I won't do it unless it's okay with you."

Lucy really wished that he'd called on his cellphone so she could hear what her mother was saying.

"Gauging?" he asked. "Oh, it's where you stretch the hole and… Yeah, I'm not piercing her ears again for it…" He smirked down at Lucy. "I know, she told me you said she couldn't get a second piercing on her ears."

Which Lucy thought was entirely not fair because she was sixteen years old, and she was just a baby when her parents had gotten her ears pierced in the first place. She didn't even remember it.

"Well, she's gonna have these talon-looking earrings in, and she has to push them a little bit every day. It'll make the hole bigger," he said. He smiled when she crunched through the ice in her mouth. "Yeah, mine are gauged… Um…"

Erik frowned down at her.

"Lucy, how big do you want to make them?" When she shrugged, he set his attention back on the phone. "She doesn't know… Yeah, she's eating ice right now…" He chuckled. "Yeah, she's kinda weird."

Lucy stuck her cold tongue out at him. What a butt.

"Mine are a size zero," he said. "Well, normal earrings are 18, and the number goes down by two for every size you go up. Then there's zero, and double-zero, and then it's whatever the diameter of the earring is."

She thought it was actually kind of adorable that he was taking the time to explain this to her mom. But Lucy already knew that Cobra loved her mom.

"Yeah, it does hurt," he said. "Uh… I dunno. She asked me to do it and I said okay… Yeah, if she doesn't like it, then it'll heal right back up and she can wear normal earrings again." He laughed much louder than before and Lucy's head tilted with curiosity. "No, I'm not planning on making mine big enough to put dinner plates in them!"

"Me neither!" Lucy shouted so her mom could hear her.

"Okay, cool. Thanks, Miss-" He stops and Lucy's able to see the way he smiles, how he curls up just a little bit over whatever her mom said to him. His fingers fiddled with the hem on her shirt, flipping it back and forth where it sat at her belly button. "I know. Thanks, Mom."

Oh, that's why he looked like that. He always got a little weird when Lucy's mother said he should just call her Mom. And Lucy understood it, as much as she possibly could without being in a foster home like he was. Cobra's real mom, as she'd found out, was addicted to drugs and in prison. He didn't have any siblings, his father wasn't in the picture, and his grandparents were dead. He didn't have a family aside from his mother, and she wasn't going to get out of prison for a long, long time.

So, she knew that when her mom treated him like he was one of the family, it made him feel… happy, she supposed. She hoped that was how he felt. And Lucy knew that her mom did it partly because all of Lucy's friends called her Mom, and partly because she knew that Cobra didn't really have a family of his own.

He said goodbye and hung up, then tossed the phone onto the bed beside her. "You have permission to gauge your ears," he said. "Your mom is very happy to know that we thought to check with her first, and she says that she'll talk to your dad about it later on. Also, to wear your hair down for a couple weeks around him."

Lucy rolled her eyes again and laughed. Her dad was such a stick in the mud sometimes. "Well good. Now, please hurt me real good, Mister Cobra."

He snorted while putting the vaseline on the taper. "I'll show you how to clean them afterwards," he said as he brought it to her ear. "I've gotta clean mine before I put those new tapers in."

"You're going to double-zero?" she asked, and he nodded. "Sexy."

"Shut up," he chuckled.

Lucy was about to leave for school when she got a text from Cobra. She flipped open her Razr while putting on her seatbelt and turning on the car.

Cobra: Missed the bus stayin home 2day. Luv u.

Her lips pursed while she considered typing out a response. She could go and pick him up easily, but they'd both be late. But it would mean that he wouldn't miss school. Then again… She kind of didn't really feel like going to school at all that day. Senioritis was a thing, and it was real. He'd been staying on her ass about actually going to school for the past two weeks, because she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Luckily, the prospect of seeing her boyfriend of three years first thing in the morning was all the motivation she needed to get her butt in the car and drive the school.

But if he wasn't going to be there…

Lucy turned the key to start the car, then shrieked when it made a terrifying grinding sound. "It's already on, stupid!" she shouted at herself. Her poor steering wheel got the brunt of her glare, though.

She texted him back before putting the car into gear and triple-checking both ways so she could pull out of the driveway. Just a quick little K luv u 2 cobs.

He hated it when she called him Cobs. But she had seniority here. As his girlfriend of three years, she could do what she fucking wanted with his name.

Lucy drove away from her house, and instead of turning left at the light to go to school, she turned right. She'd long ago memorized where he lived. And then he'd been moved to another foster family two months ago that was a whole mile closer to her house. If he didn't ride home with her every day to avoid being stuck on the bus - sometimes so they could study, other times to hang out with their friends after getting their homework done - then she wouldn't have known the route to his new house by heart.

Cobra hadn't been happy about the move. He'd actually liked the foster family he'd been living with before, and he'd told her that he hoped they would adopt him. But then the wife got pregnant, and they needed his room to use as a nursery. So, he'd had to pack his things up and move on.

She parked in the driveway next to his new foster father's beat up Chevy Blazer. Ever since he'd moved to this house, Cobra didn't ask her to come inside anymore. He met her at the driveway. She wasn't sure if he was just trying to be respectful of the family's boundaries. Still, she turned off the car and got out, then made her way to the front door. She knocked and waited for someone to answer.

The door opened and Cobra was there, wearing no shirt and a pair of garish plaid boxers that she'd bought for him as a gag gift. Lucy's cheeks flamed at the sight of him like this. Sure, she'd seen him in a bathing suit when they went to Gray's pool parties during the summer, but not in his boxers.

Cobra took a second to realize that it was Lucy standing at the door. And then he squeaked and hid behind it. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. "You're late for school!"

She shook her head quickly and grinned at him. "Wanna play hooky with me today?"

"You need to go to school," he said with a frown.

"But baby," she said with a pout. "I'll buy you a steak, egg, and cheese bagel from McDonalds." She knew that she had him, hook line and sinker. It was just a matter of how much Cobra would try to fight his deep love for those stupidly filling things before he gave in. He always gave in. Sometimes, he would walk to her house and wake her up early before school just so they could drive down to McDonalds and he could treat her to breakfast.

He lasted all of 30 seconds. Cobra smirked and rolled his eyes at her. "And people say I'm the bad influence. Gimme a minute to get dressed. I'll meet you in the car."

"Grab your bag, okay?" He nodded and closed the door, and Lucy returned to her car to wait for him. She sat there for ten minutes before the passenger door opened and he got in. Once he was buckled with his bag having been tossed in the backseat, she pulled out of the driveway and their truant journey began.

They ate breakfast in the parking lot at McDonalds, splitting a large orange juice between them, and then Lucy drove out to the mall. It had been a while since they'd just walked around together, and she wanted to see what new things they'd gotten at Spencers since the last time she'd been. Last Friday.

He had no problems holding her hand as they walked. It was all the PDA he was alright with aside from the occasional kiss on the cheek. They stopped at the body jewelry kiosk, where he bought her a pair of size four stone plugs in a light pink that were carved into roses. They wandered to the candy store, and Lucy bought a pound of gummy worms that they shared while they kept wandering around.

She laughed when they walked through the food court and he fed her every free sample they could get.

By the time they made it to Spencers, it was already ten in the morning. She wasn't sure what else they could really do after they were done at the mall. She'd never played hooky before, and Cobra had told her he hadn't either. Yet another first they got to share.

After looking through every aisle in the store, staring at the psychedelic posters and the chain wallets - and, of course, joking around in the Adult section with the fuzzy handcuffs and strawberry flavored lube - Lucy snuck over to the belts and picked one off the rack, then rushed to the cashier and bought it as quickly and silently as possible.

She went back to grab Cobra, and they finally left. It was only after they found a bench to sit at to rest their feet for a minute that she handed him the bag.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A present," she giggled, bumping her shoulder into his. "Open it, silly."

He reached into the bag and pulled out a belt with three rows of pyramid studs that had been painted a bright red. She knew how much he loved these belts, but he just never got one for himself. And she knew that he loved the spiked belts even more, but they weren't allowed to wear those at school, so she'd had to go with this one. "Babe…"

"You like it?" she asked. It was always iffy with him, on whether he liked red or purple better. They'd had a purple one, too, but it looked a little too feminine. So she went for the red.

"I fucking love it," he laughed. He stood and removed the belt that was holding his baggy, weathered jeans up, tossing it onto the bench beside her, then put his new belt on and removed the tag. "And now I can throw this one out."

Her eyes widened as she looked down at his old belt. Sure the leather wasn't as crisp as a brand new belt, but it was worn in. And he'd had it since he started high school. The leather wasn't peeling or cracked. And it had the cutest little metal skulls going around it. "Don't throw it out!"

"But this one's better," he chuckled, pulling her up to stand in front of him. "It's a present from you." He leaned down and kissed her. Her eyes slid open after he pulled away, and she found him smiling down at her. "Thanks, beautiful."

"You're welcome. Thank you for the new plugs."

"They suit you. Pretty in pink, right?"

Lucy laughed and picked up his old belt, holding it up so he could see the buckle he'd yet to take off. He surprised her by taking it from her and wrapping it around her hips, then fastening the buckle. He pulled it a little to the left, making sure the buckle that said Parental Advisory, Keep Out sat right over the button on her jeans.

"Between this and my hoodie, you're gonna look like a total badass," he said.

Lucy blushed when he took her hand in his again, and they continued walking through the mall.

The sun had barely broken past the horizon and started streaming through her drapes. Lucy pulled back from kissing Cobra, brushing his sweaty hair back as she looked into his half-lidded eyes. She laid her head on his bare chest, snuggling up to him and enjoying the way it felt to have his skin brushing against her. She pulled the sheet higher to make sure her breasts were covered while he drew random circles on her shoulder.

"Feeling okay?" he whispered. She smiled up at him and hummed. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Lucy shook her head. No, he definitely hadn't hurt her. He'd been gentle with her, careful. Things had been a little awkward at first while she tried to figure out what to do with her hands, and was she kissing him too much or should she be doing it more, and hoping they didn't make the bed squeak. "I feel great," she sighed.

He let out a quiet chuckle and shifted to bring his lips to hers in a kiss that was packed full of the emotions she had simmering in her chest. Their fingers laced beneath the blanket as she was rolled onto her back. When they broke apart for air, he smiled at her in a way that had her heart pounding.

"I love you," he whispered into the stillness of the room.

"I love you, too."

The door to her bedroom opened, and Layla walked in with a bright smile on her face. "Lucy, downstairs for breakf-"

They sat up quickly, and Lucy clutched the sheet to her chest as she stared in horror at her mother. This couldn't be happening.

"Oh! Cobra's…" Layla's eyes widened as she took in their state of undress. Cobra's bare chest, how Lucy held the sheet to cover her breasts. Cobra's leg sticking out from under the blanket and giving her an uninhibited view of every inch of his tan thigh. "Oh… O-Oh! Oh my…"

Lucy was ready to jump out of her window when she saw how red her mother's face had gotten.

Layla let out a nervous laugh and stared up at the ceiling. "Okay then! W-Well, uh… Breakfast is ready," she said quickly. She glanced at them, then down at the floor. "Bacon and legs."

Cobra choked.

"Eggs!" Layla shouted, already backing out of the room. "Bacon and eggs! I'll just… Go make more!" She slammed the door shut and Lucy listened as her feet pounded down the hall. She was quite literally running away from the sight of her naked daughter with her equally naked boyfriend. Her naked teenage daughter who'd just lost her virginity when she woke up in bed next to her boyfriend who she'd invited over in secret the night before because she'd wanted to snuggle… and they'd just kind of ended up having sex as the sun was coming up.

"Kill me," Lucy whimpered, collapsing back onto the bed.

Cobra gulped and looked back at her. "Your dad's not home, right?"

"No, he left yesterday," she said. "That's why I invited you over last night, remember?"

Cobra nodded slowly, his eyes wide and horrified. He was probably thinking about the implications of what had just happened. And how much worse it would've been if her father had been home, and if he'd been the one to catch them like this. At least, with her mom, they had a few minutes before they had to face the music. "We should, uh… get dressed?"

Lucy sighed and got out of the bed, ignoring Cobra's nakedness while she pulled her pajamas back on that had gotten tossed one way and another less than an hour before. She turned and found him also wearing the pajama pants he'd slept in, along with the shirt she assumed he was probably wearing when he climbed the tree outside her window and crept into her room after midnight.

They kissed one last time before leaving her room and going downstairs to the kitchen. Layla was there with her back to them, grabbing the cranapple juice from the fridge and filling up three glasses to set on the breakfast bar. "Uh, Mom?"

Layla spun around and grinned at the two of them, but it was a little too wide to be any sort of relief for Lucy. "Happy breakfast!" she said, just a little too loudly, in a way that screamed I saw nothing, and we will not speak of this until it's just me and you, young lady!

The three of them ate breakfast together, and Lucy took a quick shower to get herself ready for school while Cobra changed into real clothes in her bedroom. Once she was ready, she found him waiting for her at the front door. She said goodbye to her mom and walked out to the car with him in silence.

It wasn't until they were already on the road that he said anything. "Your mom scares the shit outta me, man."

"What?" Lucy laughed. Cobra loved her mom, and the last person he should be afraid of was her.

"She says if you get pregnant, your dad won't have a chance to kill me," he muttered. "She'll be coming for my cock and balls first. Her words, not mine."

They reached a red light and the car stopped a little more abruptly than was necessary. She paled and turned to stare at him with wide, horrified eyes. Had her mother really said something like that? Granted, Lucy knew that Cobra wouldn't lie to her, but still.

"On the other hand," he continued, "She said that I also have her blessing to marry you, so…"

"Oh my god!" Lucy groaned, slamming her head on the steering wheel while Cobra laughed next to her.

"Green light, babe."

Lucy looks up into Erik's eye, her cheeks burning as his deep voice skitters along her flesh.

"I'm so glad we made it," he croons along with the song, and his steps slow as he brings her closer to his chest. His hands glide from her shoulders to the small of her back, and Lucy's body pulls her forward. It's not a conscious thought to lightly trail her hands across his chest, up into his long hair. "Look how far we've come, my baby…"

When he smirks as her thumb brushes across the scar on his cheek, she's a goner. The spark that they'd always had reignites into an inferno in her chest. She can't breathe, but she's not sure if she ever wants to again. Not with him looking at her like this again. Not when she notices a lock of maroon hair has fallen loose and curves around his cheek, well past his chin.

It's something she's always known, but she's tried to keep it buried under lock and key for ten years. Ever since he left. There's no denying it now. She loves him. She'd never stopped loving him. The relationships she'd had in the past were nothing compared to what they had together. Her marriage to Loke, even the fact that she started dating him in their senior year of college, was all done in the hope that she could find a way to move on.

She never had, and Lucy knows now, while she's wrapped in Erik's arms, she was always meant to love him.

"My mom always said you were the one," she whispers.

Erik chuckles. They've both forgotten that they're not alone, that their friends are standing around them, smiling, watching this moment. "I knew I liked Layla for a reason."

"Is it alright if I wanna be stupid and reckless?" She's tempted to just go for it, considering he just danced with her, sang their song to her… His voice made sweet, passionate love to her ears. Still, Lucy's scared. Just a little. Okay, she's downright terrified of making a fool of herself, throwing herself out there right here, in this moment, and having him turn her away.

"Stupid and reckless is my middle name."

"Your middle name is Monroe," she giggles. He huffs out a short laugh, and she knows. Right here and now, she knows that there's nothing to be afraid of. Not with him. Never with Erik. So Lucy gathers every ounce of her courage and grabs his face, then stands up on the tips of her toes and kisses him with everything she has.

Every lonely, tear-filled night after his disappearance. The love and happiness they'd shared all throughout high school. It all hits her at once when he reciprocates with a soft groan. When she feels the way he clutches at her just as desperately, as though this is the one balm that can soothe the devastation in his soul that's been ten years in the making, Lucy knows that she's not alone. He loves her just as much, and if she has any say in the matter, she'll never let him go again.

There is, at the very least, one more chapter for this story. By the time I got to this point, I realized that I'd only gotten through 3,000 of the 8,000 words from my outline for this… Like… What even...

So, I decided to break it up.

Yay!