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The club was busy. Fairy Tail pretty much always had a full house anywhere, but it was the start of the month and payday had brought everyone out, and many were on their way to being drunk despite it still being relatively early. Sting and Rogue were certainly tipsy. At least Freed hoped they were considering some of the moves they were pulling on the dance floor, drawing an appreciative audience and making him wonder if he was going to end up having to patch one or the other up by the end of the evening. Minerva was nursing a second glass of wine as she chatted with Yukino beside him, the other woman like him was sticking to soft drinks as she was opening the shop in the morning, and Freed had an extra shift at the hospital. Normally, he wouldn’t have even ventured out when he had a shift the next day, even if it wasn’t the earliest shift he could have, but he hadn’t been able to see much of Laxus for the past fortnight as their schedules had been a nightmare. Half-awake breakfasts, fleeting kisses and calls weren’t enough, and while his partner was working at the moment, on duty at the door, he would be able to join them for a while, and Mira had promised he could leave early tonight after a pleading look from Freed.
“Those two are making me feel old,” Minerva commented, drawing his attention back to Sting and Rogue and he whistled appreciatively as Sting all but undulated against Rogue who was a little pink in the face.
“You don’t fancy giving it a try?” He asked with a smile.
“Not tonight at least, especially as someone is going to have to get those idiots home,” Minerva retorted, but her smile belied her words, as did Yukino’s snort as she stared pointedly at the wine. “What?” Minerva asked innocently. “I never said it was going to be me.”
“But…” Yukino started to protest, and Minerva leaned in to whisper something that had her blushing and ducking her head and Freed laughed.
“Should I give you some privacy?” He teased.
He was just about to finish his drink and go to see whether Laxus was free yet when he spied Mira hurrying towards them, pushing through the crowd with the ease of someone used to navigating the chaos. “Freed!” She called, and set his glass down, stomach sinking. Had something happened to Laxus? It wouldn’t be the first time, because while Fairy Tail had a good reputation, some of the bars that Laxus worked out had a rougher clientele and his partner had ended up in the middle of more than one fight and borne the damage from it. He was already on his feet by the time she reached him, and Minerva and Yukino had quietened, picking up on his concern.
“Laxus?” He asked before Mira could say anything.
“No, he’s fine.” He could’ve hugged her right then for being so quick to reassure him, his stomach settling. “A girl took a tumble while leaving, and she’s cut her hand and forehead. We’ve called for an ambulance, but Laxus asked if I could get you?” She ended on a question, and there was a plea in her expression that told him that while Laxus might have been the one to suggest it, she had leapt at it.
“Of course.” Still a little unsettled by the thought that it could have been Laxus, he was eager for a chance to check on him, knowing that Laxus would have stayed with the girl. “I’ll be back,” he said, turning to his friends, seeing Yukino opening her mouth to protest. “Someone needs to keep an eye on Minerva, and those two…” He tilted his head towards the dancefloor, lips quirking as Minerva protested her inclusion as he gestured for Mira to lead the way, glad that he hadn’t given in to the temptation to have a drink earlier.
He wasn’t quite as skilled at weaving through the crowd as Mira and was grateful that her hair was easy to spot beneath the flashing lights of the nightclub as he trailed behind her. She led him towards the main entrance, and then off to the side and down the short corridor to her office. It was a little quieter here, and he could see that the door was open, and he could just make out Laxus crouched in front of a chair holding a slumped figure that he guessed was his patient. “Are you okay here? I need to make sure Elfman is okay on the door, and get the mess cleaned up before we have any more accidents,” Mira was saying, and Freed nodded absentmindedly. Having noted that the girl – barely old enough to be in the place - was sobbing loudly and clinging to his partner and that Laxus bless his soul looked more than a little awkward as he patted her hands and tried to loosen her grip just a little. Freed stepped forward as Mira rushed away, and Laxus spied the movement, and his head shot up, and the sheer relief in his eyes quietened the little whisper of worry that Freed had been refusing to acknowledge.
“Freed!” Laxus turned and said something to the girl, an explanation or a reassurance he wasn’t sure, and then extricated himself from her grip and then came to greet Freed. They shared a brief look, enough to reassure Freed that Laxus was okay, and then Laxus ruined the moment with a frown and a glance back at the girl who had wrapped her arms around herself and was sniffling loudly. “Have you had much to drink?”
“I’m not quite that much of a lightweight,” Freed protested, to which Laxus raised an eyebrow. Their first official date had ended in disaster because Freed hadn’t wanted to admit that he couldn’t match Laxus and had needed to all but be carried home. “Relax, I’ve had juice all night,” Freed stepped forward, kissed him, just a fleeting press of the lips. Enough for Laxus to taste the orange on his tongue, and to want more before he was moving past and heading for the girl as he slipped into a more professional mode. “Hello,” he greeted as he crouched down in front of her, taking in the bloodied cloth she was pressing to her forehead, and her arm which had several smaller cuts, a graze and would undoubtedly be badly bruised come morning. Probably not the end that she’d had in mind for her evening, and his expression softened, and he smiled at her. “So, what’s your name?”
“Grace…”
“Hello, Grace, I’m Freed. I’m an off-duty doctor. Is it okay if I have a look at your arm, and head while we wait for the ambulance?” He asked, noting that someone had already brought through the first aid kit and opening as he waited for a response.
“Y-Yes…” She managed to say, and he could smell the alcohol. He didn’t react though, reaching up and gently taking the cloth from her hand, pulling both away to look at the cut underneath. It was shallow and not too big, but it was still bleeding sluggishly, and she was going to have one hell of a bruise, possibly even a black eye with its positioning. Someone had cleaned it already because the skin beneath it had some dirt on it, but the cut and the skin immediately around it was clean, and he nodded approvingly, before rooting in the box for a clean bandage.
“Keep pressure on that cut for now,” he instructed, wrapping her fingers around the bandage and guiding it up, not letting go until he was sure she was going to hold it in place. He didn’t think it would need proper stitches, but he’d rather the hospital made that decision and stopping the bleeding was more important at the moment. Grace nodded and pressed a little harder when he encouraged her, wincing as she did so. He noted the wince as he turned his attention to her arm, so she wasn’t buzzed enough to miss out the pain he thought.
“So, what happened?” He asked, voice low and soothing. Aware of Laxus in the background watching over them as he reached for her injured arm, and carefully pulled it towards him so that he could get a better look at it, mindful of the cuts, and the swollen skin, fingers searching for any sign of a fracture. Apparently, the girl was too because her eyes darted towards Laxus, and then away again, and then to Freed and back to Laxus, and she was red-faced now. Ah… It had taken him a little while to get used to people making eyes at Laxus when he was at work, but that uncertainty was behind him, well apart from the odd whisper that he usually smothered ruthlessly before he could make a fool out of himself.
“I’m sorry!” She blurted suddenly, a little too loud and he nearly caught one of the deeper cuts as he jolted in surprise at the volume.
“What are you apologising for?” He asked, already knowing, but deciding that at least she was talking to him and hopefully sobering up a little more as she did so, releasing her arm for a moment so he could retrieve some sterile wipes from the box.
“… we thought he was single,” she said, softer this time, but still a little too loud and with a hint of slurring here and there. “He was nice when we came in…” Freed fought not to lift his eyebrows at that, knowing how awkward Laxus could be around groups of girls. Apparently, they had caught him in a good mood if he had come across as ‘nice’ rather than polite. Something to tease his partner about later. “… we kept talking about it.” We, he noted again, and he would need to ask about that in a moment, not wanting her to go off to hospital alone if possible. “And after a few drinks, Cana dared us to see if one of us could get his number. I went second… I think? And I had just said ‘hello’ when I found myself on the ground and…” She gestured with the hand holding the now bloody bandage, and Freed reached up and guided her hand back to the cut. “…but he was never going to look at us, was he?” She seemed oblivious to what he had just done and morose as she looked at him and Freed hesitated for a moment, feeling bad for her as he saw the embarrassed flush was deepening, tears still trickling down her face. But he couldn’t lie, especially when she had seen him kiss Laxus on the way in and her expression crumpled for a moment, and he thought she was about to start sobbing again, but then she sniffed loudly and sighed. “All the best ones are taken.”
“Not all of them,” Freed told her, starting to clean the cuts on her arms. “Just this one.”
“You’re lucky…”
“Yes,” Freed agreed, hearing Laxus’ sharp intake of breath from behind him and smiling. She caught it and smiled tentatively before sighing, and he could have sworn he heard her whisper ‘that’s so romantic’ and this time it was his breath that caught. “Now, you said you were here with friends?” He asked, deciding that now was the time to change the topic, feeling his ears beginning to burn.
“Mira had Kinana keeping an eye on them, most of them were a little worse for wear,” Laxus was the one to reply when Grace had blinked and looked confused, as though only just realising she was alone. Freed made a note of that to mention that to the paramedics just in case. “Cana, I think it was…?” He looked at the girl, who was red at being directly addressed but managed to nod. “Was sorting them out with a lift home, and then she was going to come and go with Grace once the ambulance got here.”
“Good,” Freed nodded. “You’re going to be very sore tomorrow, but you were lucky,” he said, turning back to Grace, who looked as though she wanted to argue with that assessment. “I…” There was noise from the corridor, Mira’s voice accompanied by several others, and he sat back on his heels as she guided the paramedics and a woman who must be Cana inside, moving aside to let them get to his patient.
He filled the Paramedics in on his assessment and what had happened, before turning Grace over into their care. Waving away her ‘thank you’ and another embarrassed apology, he let Laxus pull him away as she, her friend and the Paramedics moved out a few minutes later. Mira following them, pausing long enough to tell Laxus that he could call it a night, before leaving them away.
Freed waited just long enough for the voices to become undecipherable, before turning within the circle of the arm that Laxus had wrapped around his shoulders and leaning up to kiss him. This wasn’t the fleeting kiss of before, he lingered, soft and demanding, humming as Laxus all but melted into him. Eventually, he had to pull away, breathing deeply as he buried his face into Laxus’ chest, and this time he was the one to melt a little as Laxus pulled him into a proper embrace, holding him close, and he felt his partner’s chest vibrate as Laxus spoke.
“What was that for?”
“For being you,” Freed replied with a smile, nuzzling into him for a moment, before tilting his head up and pressing a kiss to Laxus’ chin. “And for being mine.”
“She didn’t have a chance,” Laxus murmured, arms tightening a fraction and Freed’s smile grew as he added almost plaintively. “None of them did.
“I know.”