Mirajane has a secret.

Actually she had a lot of secrets, from everyone, being a barmaid in a guild where everyone was family and no one knew how to keep their mouths shut, she had learned to burden a lot of secrets for others who needed a listening confidential ear.

But this secret was her own.

This secret was formed by the river, under a lightening scorched tree, where she had stopped a tall blonde during her midday walk. It was one of the consistent times she allowed herself to leave the guild and get a break.

Laxus didn't start walking with her until about a month after the Magic Games.

At first she had thought it was a fluke, him just leaving and walking in the same direction as she because he would always leave before they got to the part where it became just a trail and nature and not town anymore. They would make small talk and that was that.

Soon, though, he started continuing with her onto the trails. His arms crossed and his pace slowed to match her smaller steps.

Mirajane didn't know what to think at first but didn't object to his company. Truth was, they had a bumpy history. It was harder for her when he refused to help in such a horrible way when Phantom wanted Lucy because she knew, knew, the Laxus from when he was younger and full of bright expectations and not so much bitter disappointment. They had been friendly, especially before Lisanna when she was a little wilder and less sweet. They had been a fierce clash of energy and both enjoyed the burn.

After his father was exiled and her sister had, what they thought died, it changed.

Now though, they had both settled in the middle of who they had been and who they wanted to be. It was strange but at one point when he started to meet her at the door and held it open for her, she supposed that this is what growing up was like.

Their walks had gone on for a few weeks, the talking had become less pointless and more actual things they cared about. Mirajane saw the struggle Laxus had in conversing like this, his gruffness chafing until he became comfortable with her again and she him. One day she had laid a hand on his arm, electricity jittering across her arm, and asked him why?

He had looked at her with the closet thing to apprehension she had ever seen and asked if she wanted him to stop.

This was her secret: she simply leaned up on her toes and kissed him.

He had gaped, she had smiled, then he leaned down to wrap his arms around her waist and lifted her up to kiss her again. His kiss was a little more thorough. That walk lasted awhile longer.

Now, when they walked he would wait until it was them and the trees before reaching down to entwine their hands, or they would simply be content to walk closer. Sometimes she would find a cozy spot and pull him down to cover her with his jittery heat and surprisingly soft lips and he would indulge her whims but wouldn't fully give in.

No that would be his secret.

After a few months, after listening to Natsu on how he planned on going over to Lucy's later, and when asked how he would get in (to which everyone snorted because they all knew) he was pretty honest about her window, Laxus decided that he would try that out.

They had been well behaved mostly on their walks, it was day time after all, and she was only on a break from work. And, he grudgingly admitted to himself, he would never disrespect Mirajane by doing something that intimate out in the wild when she deserved softness and privacy. Plus he wouldn't share that. They both didn't really want anyone to get involved, savoring what they had between themselves for as long as they could.

So, like a teenager, he waited until Mirajane locked up the bar and went home before sneaking into her room. She was surprised and giggled like a young girl when he lightly dropped to her floor. He had smiled a little because when she looked truly happy no one could resist.

They spent the night in the dark, in her highly undersized bed, gently mapping each other's body. Not too fast, not too slow and leaving some mystery for later when the damn bed was bigger than a shoebox. He refused to take his or her bottoms off. She laughed and simply kissed his collarbone before snuggling down against his chest to sleep.

Well, he supposed a small bed had it merits.

Their secret was a while after months of sneaking caresses in the night, few that burned and left them shuddering and shaky, when they took a mission together. The jobs were slow and her siblings were gone on their own missions and the bar was covered. They took it quietly when no one else was there, and if anyone asked they would just say it was to practice as S-Class mages. No one suspected anything because he was a closed off jerk and she was untouchable Mirajane.

The mission was easy, the reward was a few nights at a rather exclusive spa and inn. One room with private baths.

Her sighs would linger in his mind for weeks afterward. His rough fingertips that made trails over her skin and his lips that always found her pounding pulse would distract her for weeks afterward.