Archive of Our Own ^beta

Lucy Heartfilia was in a really bad mood.

It shouldn't have been that surprising. She was annoyed pretty often, especially when she had to deal with her guild mates totally invading her privacy—most notably that irritating blue cat and his best friend.

As Lucy drummed her fingers along the wooden surface of the bar—the whiskey she had ordered left untouched—she could hear Happy bugging Carla, desperately trying to gift her a fish she clearly didn't want. Meanwhile, Erza was dutifully giving Wendy a lesson about swords while Wendy politely pretended she would ever use that information in the future.

Lucy could even hear Juvia fawning over Gray behind her, and she could hear Gray's nervous replies as he failed to convince anyone around them that he wasn't into her.

She could hear all these conversations going on around her, but Lucy wasn't actually looking at them. Instead, her eyes were intently fixed on a certain pink-haired dragon slayer she called her partner. Or rather, her eyes were fixed on the woman giggling at him in a clear flirting attempt that Natsu remained oblivious to.

Fairy Tail had been invited by the client of their last job to a huge party. It was celebration for the work Lucy and her team had done, and Lucy's guild mates were, of course, all too ready to party. It was held in a big inn that must have cost a fortune to rent out. The most notable feature, though, was the large bar at the front of the building. Everyone obviously drank like crazy as a way to celebrate Natsu and Gray not destroying the entire town for once.

Lucy thought everyone just wanted an excuse to drink a ton of beer, but she didn't really care. She complained about her guild mates being rambunctious, but she preferred that over the quiet loneliness of the house she grew up in any day.

What she did not prefer was watching this random girl chat up Natsu for the past half an hour.

"What are you looking at, Lucy?"

Lucy jumped at the sudden sound of Gray's voice. By the time she turned around to look at him, he was already sliding into the seat next to her.

"Oh! You scared me."

"Sorry." Gray scratched the back of his head. "I finally managed to escape Juvia because Gajeel wanted to talk to her. I'm hoping if I chat with someone else, she'll lay off for a bit."

Gray's tone didn't match his expression. He sounded annoyed, but there was a slight blush gracing his cheeks.

Lucy smiled knowingly. "Is that so?"

His cheeks darkened a bit, and Lucy had a feeling that both of them knew that she knew. Gray expertly deflected the conversation.

"Yeah. Anyway, why are you staring at Natsu like a hawk?"

Lucy stiffened without meaning to.

"What? Who's staring at Natsu?!"

Gray chuckled and pointed at the whiskey Lucy had ordered but didn't drink. She slid it over to him before resting her cheek in her palm.

"You're not exactly subtle," Gray said, causing Lucy's face to glow.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," she lied. "You have no clue what you're talking about."

In reality, Lucy had noticed quite some time ago that she liked Natsu more than she wanted to admit. Leave it to her to fall for an oblivious fool who probably didn't even know the difference between romantic and platonic love. Hell, she would be surprised if Natsu cared about anything other than food, fishing, and the guild.

More than that, Lucy was horrified that she found it to be part of his charm.

"Whatever you say," Gray replied smoothly, taking a swig of alcohol.

In unison, they turned to glance at Natsu, who was answering Mystery Girl with a huge smile on his face. No doubt she was thanking him for what an amazing job he'd done saving her town. How predictable. It was the exact thing Lucy would say to a guy she wanted to attract the attention of.

"It's kind of sad," Gray said blankly, and Lucy found herself really wishing he'd be quiet. Still, she raised her brow in question, prompting Gray to continue. "I mean, Flame Brain over there definitely just think she's being friendly."

Lucy's tapped her fingers along the bar again. She couldn't help but agree.

"Yeah, I feel bad for her. I mean, she's totally wasting her time!"

They sat in a rather uncomfortable silence as Lucy peeled her eyes off Natsu to focus on her nails running along the surface in front of her. Knowing she'd been caught staring left her completely and utterly humiliated as Gray tilted his head back to finish off his (her) drink with a final gulp, wiping wet residue from the corners of his mouth with the back of his arm.

Gray mirrored her drumming, and Lucy thought he was mocking her, but she turned to find him lost in thought. She began to form an escape plan in her mind while he was idle, but his next words made her spine go rigid.

"Oh, I think she's about to kiss him."

Lucy's head spun fast enough to snap her neck. Upon further inspection, she found Natsu and the girl at the same distance they had been previously. If anything, they seemed further apart than when she last looked at them.

With an annoyed furrow in her brows, Lucy glared at Gray, who was laughing his ass off at her misery. It took all of Lucy's willpower not to smash his emptied glass over his head and march back home to relax in her bathtub like she'd been wanting to.

"What is your deal?" Lucy asked begrudgingly. "If you're just here to annoy me, get lost."

Gray didn't take offense to her words, and she knew he wouldn't. Instead he wore nothing but a smirk and his boxers.

"I'm sorry, but you made it too easy. Why don't you just tell him?"

"Tell who what?" Lucy shot back. Gray rolled his eyes.

"You know what I'm talking about."

She did, and she hated it. But that wasn't something she was going to confess to Gray of all people. It's not like the two of them weren't close (quite the opposite, in fact), but they weren't this type of close—the type of close where Lucy could lay all her feelings for Natsu on the table and pretend it was normal. If Lucy wanted to talk romance, she would have gone to Levy, and unfortunately, she had gone home an hour ago to go read. Lucy wished she had left with her.

Lucy leaned her elbows on the table. "Even if what you're implying was right—and it's not—it wouldn't matter anyway."

She was ready to end the conversation there, but Gray's response was silence and staring. It made her feel like she had to continue.

"I mean, Natsu… He doesn't think about those things. If there was someone who was interested in him, he wouldn't be able to tell. Hell, I bet some girl could say 'Hey, I'm in love with you, by the way,' and he wouldn't understand what she meant." She jerked a thumb in Natsu's direction, who was still talking to the woman. "Exhibit A."

Though she'd been avoiding eye contact while speaking, Lucy snuck a glance from the corner of her eye to Gray, who shuffled awkwardly. Lucy frowned. If Gray was so uncomfortable with this topic, why the hell was he pushing this topic so hard?

Gray eventually shrugged. "I guess so. But maybe the results would surprise you—"

"I wasn't talking about me!" Lucy interrupted defensively. "I'm just saying if some other girl had feelings for him…"

"Right. Maybe the results would surprise 'some other girl.' Or just maybe he'd feel the same."

Lucy sighed. "Or maybe telling him would completely destroy their friendship. Or worse, what if he did feel the same way and it changed their entire dynamic?"

"Isn't that a good thing? For the 'dynamic' to change?"

Lucy squirmed in her seat. That was a question she'd been mauling over in private for what felt like years.

"…I like the way things are, Gray."

Gray smirked. "You mean this other girl likes the way things are."

Lucy finally turned to look at him again. Her cheeks were flaming at her own slip-up, but she scratched her cheek and nodded.

"Yeah. Her."

"Well, that's up to her. But I'd still say she's a pretty cool chick no matter what Natsu thinks of her."

Lucy smiled—her first real one of the night.

"And I know she'd really appreciate you saying that. A lot, actually."

She stood up and stretched her arms over her head, feeling her bones cracking and popping. Then she slapped some jewel on the counter to pay for the drink and turned to Gray.

"I think I'm going to go home and work on my book, but thanks for checking up on me."

"It's no problem," Gray answered honestly. He scratched the back of his neck. "Honestly, I'm not sure how much I helped. This isn't really my forte."

Lucy crossed her arms with a curious expression. "I know. I was surprised you wanted to talk about... that stuff."

"I didn't want to, but you seemed upset. I couldn't let you look all heartbroken. You're my friend, Lucy."

She blushed at his consideration. For a brief moment, she considered kissing his cheek as a thank you, but Lucy decided she didn't feel like being skewered alive by Juvia. So, she decided to give Gray a quick squeeze instead, making it his turn to blush. Lucy laughed lightly.

"Thanks again. I'll see you—"

She was interrupted by a familiar voice from across the guild.

"Oi, Snow Cone! Come fight me!"

They both turned to look at Natsu, who was now standing on top of a table in the middle of the guild hall. His hands were on his hips in a challenging stance, the woman he'd been talking to lost in the crowd.

Gray was already hopping to his feet when Lucy looked back at him, arms crossed defiantly.

"What'd you call me, Pyro?"

And the two were on each other, a mess of fists knocking into teeth, feet connecting to jaws, and broken furniture left in the wake. Lucy rolled her eyes before waving goodbye to a giggling Mirajane, who looked at the two of them fondly, and sliding off her bar stool, heading toward the door.

The first thing Lucy did when she got home was soak in her nice, warm bath. She decided to treat herself to a self-care day, trimming her nails and painting them a pretty pink, clipping the dead ends of her hair, and covering her body head to toe in her favorite lotion that smelled just like vanilla. When she was done, Lucy slipped out of her bath towel and into something comfortable.

Truth be told, she felt a lot better after her conversation with Gray, but the thought of Natsu and Ms. Giggles still sent a jolt of anger through her chest. Lucy knew she had no right to feel that way—Natsu wasn't hers, after all. Hell, he wasn't anyone's. Natsu was his own person and was free to mingle with any girls he wanted.

Even if those girls weren't Lucy, she thought bitterly.

Lucy was gently squeezing the water from her hair with a towel when she walked out of her bathroom to be greeted with none other than Natsu himself sitting on her couch. Lucy gasped in surprise, towel dropping to the floor. She was glad she'd already changed into her clothes in the bathroom. She hated Natsu seeing her naked (even though he'd seen it plenty of times before).

"Yo!" he said happily as he gnawed on a piece of meat from Lucy's fridge.

He looked so joyful and careless sitting there that Lucy forgot how much pain she was in, the feeling now replaced by anger. Her eye twitched as she watched him chew on the food. Her food. From her fridge.

"Natsu," she hissed, "how many times have I told you not to go digging through my stuff?"

"I dunno," he replied with a shrug, taking a deep swallow. He followed it up with another huge bite, tearing the meat off the bone with his teeth. Lucy rubbed her temples in frustration at his lack of consideration. How hard was it to just do what she asked?

"Whatever," she said before making her way over to her desk. She didn't feel like arguing tonight, and truth be told, she really wasn't in the mood to see Natsu. She was still upset at having to watch him be flirted with the entire night while she sat alone at the bar. Eventually, she did ask, "Where's Happy?"

"Didn't feel like coming," Natsu replied. "Something about wanting to talk to Carla."

"Figures."

Lucy reached into her desk and pulled out a pen, deciding to work on her novel. From prior experience, she knew Natsu would usually leave when he got bored, so she knew it was best not to entertain him. To her surprise, Natsu didn't leave after several minutes. In fact, Lucy swore that she could feel him staring holes into the back of her head.

Right when Lucy was about to cave and break the awkward silence, Natsu did it first.

"So," he said lazily, flipping the bone of the meat he'd been eating around his fingers, "what were you and Ice Breath talking about?"

Lucy blushed as she remembered their earlier conversation.

"What do you care?" she asked defensively. Natsu looked at her blankly, like he didn't have a care in the world. Since her desk was behind the couch, he had to crane his neck to look at her.

"I don't. It just looked like you guys were having fun."

"It was anything but fun. Trust me."

More like emotional, she thought.

Natsu frowned. "Then why were you guys hugging?"

Lucy blushed again. She didn't expect Natsu to have seen that, much less take note of it. Then she shook her head to herself. She could hug who she wanted—she shouldn't care if Natsu noticed or not!

However, there were bigger problems at stake. There was no way in hell that Lucy could tell Natsu that she and Gray were talking about him. Or more specifically, her feelings for him. She decided instead to deflect so she didn't have to answer his question.

"What about you?" she asked. Her voice was more bitter than she meant for it to be. "You looked like you were having a great time."

Natsu stared at her for a moment, confusion etched on his sharp features. He'd clearly caught her annoyed tone. Lucy could see the gears running through his head, trying to figure out what she was referring to. Eventually, he shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You were chatting up that girl, weren't you?"

No, that wasn't what happened, and Lucy knew it. She was taking her anger out on Natsu, which was completely unfair, but she couldn't bring herself to stop. She had to get it out somewhere, and she was already annoyed with Natsu for helping himself to her house.

"'Chatting up'? I don't know what that means, but yeah!" Natsu was grinning from ear to ear. Lucy wanted to puke. "That girl was really interested in Fairy Tail. Started asking me about jobs and stuff. Apparently, she uses Holder Magic, like you! I forgot what she said she used specifically, though."

Lucy chuckled humorlessly.

"Natsu, you don't actually think she cared about the guild, did you?"

Her partner, innocent as ever, raised a brow.

"Uh, yes she did? That's all we really talked about." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Then he shook his head dismissively. "I guess there was something else we talked about, but it doesn't really matter. Point is, I think she wants to join Fairy Tail."

"Natsu, she doesn't care about joining the guild. She was trying to sleep with you!"

"Really?" Natsu asked incredulously. His gaze flitted over to Lucy's bed before he furrowed his brows. "I mean, I'm not sure your bed will fit all of us, but we can try, if she really wants to."

Lucy banged her head against her desk and then stood up and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"First of all, my bed is not yours to allow other people in! Second of all, I didn't mean she literally wants to sleep with you. She wanted to have… s-sex with you!"

She wanted to punch herself for being embarrassed enough to stutter over the word 'sex,' but she kept her hands on her hips and her posture firm. Natsu took two giant blinks.

"What? That's ridiculous."

"Is it? She was twirling her hair and giggling, you idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot," argued Natsu, who looked severely offended. "Trust me—she was not interested in me. I would have been able to tell."

Lucy opened her mouth to speak before clamping it shut. She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Not yours. Not yours. Not yours.

"Whatever. You can flirt with whoever you want. It's none of my business," she said decisively, turning around and gathering the stacks of paper she was writing her novel on. Natsu made a guffawing sound behind her.

"You're so weird, Lucy. How in the world was I flirting?"

"Natsu," Lucy said, "I am not explaining this to you. It's not a big deal anyway."

"You make it sound like a big deal," Natsu replied, crossing his arms. "Besides, weren't you the one 'flirting'?"

Lucy spun around, eyes wide. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

Natsu motioned toward her. "You and Gray were practically making out at the bar. Duh."

"I did no such thing!" Lucy cried in horror. "Especially not with Gray! He obviously likes Juvia!"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?"

If Lucy didn't know any better, she'd say that Natsu was pouting, but she had no clue what he'd be pouting about.

"Gray and I are just friends, Natsu. That's like if I flirted with you! It'd just be weird."

Lucy expected Natsu to immediately ask more questions, but he didn't. Instead, he pouted even more as he crossed his arms and stared directly into her eyes.

"What's so weird about that?"

"I… H-Huh?" Lucy stuttered.

"What's so weird about flirting with me?"

Lucy bit her lip as her eye twitched. How the hell was she supposed to explain this to Natsu, the guy who she least wanted to have this conversation with?

"It's not that it's weird for someone to flirt with you," she explained. "It's just… It'd be weird if I did it, you know?"

"Why?"

Damn you, Natsu and your questions!

"It just would be! We're friends. Friends don't usually do that."

"Says who?"

Lucy reeled back, her mouth open slightly in shock.

"W-What?"

"Who says friends can't flirt with each other?" Natsu argued, hopping to his feet and facing her. They were separated by the sofa between them. The way Natsu looked at her made her legs feel oddly wobbly, so she leaned her butt against her desk for support.

"I don't know! That's just how it is. I don't make the rules."

"Would you hate it if I flirted with you?"

Natsu tilted his head to the side in genuine question. It made Lucy want to scream, or at the very least, throw something. Why the hell did she have to explain these things to him? Why couldn't he just let it go like anyone else would have?

"I don't know," Lucy repeated quietly. "I don't even know how you would."

"Well, how do people normally flirt?" Natsu asked. "Is it kind of like casting a spell?"

Lucy blanched. "Probably not…"

She played with a stray strand of hair between her fingers nervously. She figured the sooner she entertained Natsu's curiosity, the sooner he'd get bored and finally put this topic to rest. Unfortunately for her, Lucy wasn't exactly a master of the craft herself. The only time she really 'laid on the charm' nowadays was for a discount at her favorite stores. Natsu and Happy kept her too busy for anything else.

"I guess people normally flirt by just acting really interested in what the person is saying? And sometimes girls will play with their hair—"

"Like you're doing?"

Lucy's hands flew to her sides in an instant.

"N-No! Just shut up and listen! If you want to flirt with someone, you can look deeply into their eyes and tell them they're cute or something. I guess you could also look at their lips. I've read that in books." She scratched her head. "Wait, why were we talking about this again?"

She didn't notice Natsu standing right in front of her until his feet were planted next to hers. She shot up straight, startled, and blinked up at his face.

"Uh, Natsu? What are you doing?"

"Flirting," he replied, like it was obvious. He inched closer until there was hardly any space between the two of them. Lucy had to grip the edge of her desk for support as Natsu's body heat surrounded her. She felt her cheeks flush.

"W-Why?"

"I dunno. I just wanted to."

Natsu spent a long time looking into Lucy's eyes, leaning in closer until she could feel the air coming out of his nostrils. Lucy shook under him, fingernails digging into the wood of her desk. It took control of every nerve in her body not to run away.

"Erm… Natsu? How long are you gonna—"

"You're cute," Natsu said, "or something."

Lucy felt her entire face heat up as she swallowed thick spit. Did Natsu even know what the hell he was saying?

"T-Thanks," she squeaked, because she didn't know what else to do.

Natsu didn't react, instead following her advice by dragging his gaze down to her mouth. Instinctively, Lucy bit her lip awkwardly. She saw Natsu's eyes fixated on the movement, though she couldn't say she felt like it meant anything. It probably didn't mean what she wanted it to, at least.

Much to Lucy's dismay, Natsu was leaning in closer, his eyes still trained on her lips. She felt sweat flooding her pores, and she was afraid her hands might slip on the slick of her palms. It was overwhelming: his heat, his voice, his eyes staring straight into her…

"Lucy," Natsu breathed. She gulped.

"I…"

Then she snapped.

"I can't do it!" she squeaked as she shoved his face away. Natsu fell back with a loud cry, his ass colliding with the ground. Lucy covered her scarlet red face in her hands as she spun around so her back was facing him.

"Ow! What the hell, Lucy?" Natsu moaned, rubbing his sore cheek.

Lucy couldn't bear to look at him. All she could do was cry out, "I'm sorry!"

Really, it was Natsu's fault! Who the hell just leans in that close to someone of the opposite sex? Holy hell, she thought he was going to kiss her!

"Flirting sucks," Natsu complained. "At least I can say that's definitely not what that girl did to me."

"Sorry," Lucy apologized again.

Natsu ignored her. "I'm never flirting again."

Great. Lucy had ruined Natsu's entire love life! Now he'd never get a girlfriend. (She ignored the small put in her chest that told her that was wonderful news.)

Tentatively, Lucy twirled her hair along her pointer finger, looking anywhere but at Natsu.

"Um, if you don't want to, we don't have to… But maybe, erm, we could try again?"

Natsu jumped straight up.

"Sure."

Then Lucy spent the rest of the night letting Natsu 'flirt' with her.

Earlier that day, Natsu had been talking with a woman who had approached him. He had already forgotten her name. It started with an 'L'—Natsu knew that much, because when she said her name, his first thought was that it sounded a bit like Lucy's.

While everyone else was chatting and celebrating, 'L' twirled her fingers in her hair and smiled.

"Fairy Tail seems like a really cool guild!" she said, causing Natsu to grin brightly.

"It totally is! Everyone is really strong. Not as strong as me, of course, but they try their best."

The girl giggled behind her hand before her eyes flitted over to someone at the bar.

"And, uh, the blonde you were working with… She's also in the guild, right?"

Natsu cocked his head to the side. "Lucy? Yeah, she's one of our strongest wizards! She's my partner, so we do all of our missions together. Her and Happy are my best friends."

Natsu was reminiscing so fondly that he didn't notice the girl not bothering to ask who Happy was. For some reason, her cheeks turned a little pink and she twirled her hair nervously again.

"Lucy," she repeated, like she was tasting the name on her tongue. "That's a pretty name. And she's your best friend, you said?"

"Uh, yeah?"

This girl was acting a little weird. Natsu wished she would just get to the point.

"So, uh, you know, like, her preferences, right?"

"Preferences?"

"Like, in a partner!" the girl said, her face warm.

Natsu frowned. This girl wanted to work with Lucy? Too bad! Her, Natsu, and Happy were already a team, and Natsu certainly wasn't going to lose Lucy to this woman. He was preparing the ways in which he'd fight for Lucy's hand in partnership but decided to try and take things the civil route first. After all, Lucy hated when he picked unnecessary fights. (Although, Natsu believed this to be very necessary.)

"Uh, I just told you that Lucy is my partner."

So lay off, he added in his mind.

The girl shook her head—thank god, but then something even worse came out of her mouth.

"No, silly! I meant in a romantic partner." The woman flushed. "I guess what I'm asking is what her type is."

Natsu frowned deeper, if that was even possible. Great, another one of Lucy's many suitors. She already had enough men tripping over her (much to Natsu's annoyance), and now she was enchanting women too! Dammit! Why did she have to be so attractive? Maybe Natsu could ask Brandish to shrink her boobs or something.

Actually, scratch that. Lucy would never allow it. Plus, Natsu really liked Lucy's boobs the way they were.

"How should I know? I have no clue," he replied gruffly, turning his gaze away so she wouldn't catch the lie etched on his face.

Natsu actually knew Lucy's type extremely well, because she talked about it all the time. She liked guys who were sensitive, kind, tall, and funny. All the things Natsu totally wasn't.

(Well, Natsu thought he was pretty funny, but Lucy didn't always agree with his sense of humor. He always knew how to cheer her up, though. That had to count for something, right!?)

The woman frowned. "Well, do you at least know if she's dating anyone?"

"…She's not," Natsu admittedly tightly. He really wished this girl would just go back to asking about the guild. Natsu wanted to throw up when the girl clapped her hands happily.

"So, she's available? That's great!"

The girl turned toward the blond, causing Natsu's stomach to drop. His hand flew out on its own, grabbing her shoulder to stop her. She spun around with her mouth dropped open in surprise. Natsu pulled his arm away and scratched the back of his head to act nonchalant.

"Trust me—you don't want to date Lucy."

The girl's eyes widened.

"Really? Why?"

Natsu's brain did more work than ever before as he searched it for Lucy's bad habits.

"Well, first of all, she snores. Bad. She'll try to tell you she doesn't, but she totally does. Not to mention, she's totally stingy. She'll have stuff in her fridge that'll be sitting there for weeks. Then, the second you eat it, she'll start screaming about how she was 'just about to make something with that'!

"She's also the type of person to tell you 'I told you so' and rub it in your face whenever she proves you wrong." He smiled slightly. "But she'll still help you out, even if she doesn't want to. And, like I said, she's crazy strong, so she's great to have around when you're in trouble, especially since she's also wicked smart. She comes up with all these crazy plans that you'd never even think of. She's gotten me out of a pickle more times than I can count."

'L' (or whatever her name was) had her head cocked to the side, eyebrow slightly raised. Natsu coughed. He was supposed to be talking about Lucy's bad traits, not her good ones!

"Plus, she smells."

'Insanely good' was the part he left out. Actually, she smelled too good. It made it hard to focus. But Natsu wasn't sure that counted as a bad thing.

"And she's way too forgiving. There are people that are total assholes to her, but she loves to 'see the good in people' or whatever, so she ends up becoming their friend! Won't even let me punch their lights out or nothin'."

Natsu crossed his arms. Sometimes it felt like Lucy was meaner to him than all the people who had tried to kill her!

The girl had a small, knowing smirk on her face. Natsu wasn't sure what it meant, but he was pretty sure he didn't like it.

"It seems like you really like her."

'Like' her? Natsu liked her, alright, but he wasn't about to tell this stranger that. What he wanted to tell 'L' was that she should just give up now, because he knew Lucy better than anyone.

He knew that Lucy hated him in her bed even though she got cold at night and would fall asleep cuddling into him because he kept her warm. And there was no way any man or woman could keep her half as warm as Natsu could, so this girl might as well not even try.

He knew Lucy cringed at his jokes but would smile when he thought she wasn't looking. He knew that when she laughed too hard, she made this screeching sound that she found super embarrassing, so she'd try not to laugh too hard in public. But when she was alone with Natsu and Happy, she'd let loose since she knew neither of them cared. And Natsu knew that laugh was one of the ugliest sounds he'd ever heard, but he wanted to hear it every day for the rest of his life.

He knew Lucy called him reckless even though she got into danger just as much as he did, and Natsu knew there was no way this stranger in front of him—or anyone else in all of Earthland—could protect her like he could. In fact, there was nobody that could possibly want to more than he did. Natsu already promised that he'd make sure Lucy's future was safe, so 'L' wasn't needed for that, thank you very much.

And Natsu knew that Lucy was the nicest, prettiest, and bravest partner he could have ever hoped for, and he was not interested in sharing that with anyone else.

Natsu didn't say any of this to the girl chatting his ear off, because he didn't want her to know all of Lucy's best features, especially the laugh thing. If anyone else heard that laugh, Natsu thought he might die.

"Uh, yeah," he said awkwardly.

"Are you sure she's not dating anyone?" the girl asked. Natsu shot her a look. Didn't he just say that? At his confused glare, the girl pointed toward Lucy's direction and said, "It looks like she and that guy are hitting it off."

Natsu's gaze shot up to find Lucy and Gray hugging. He felt a deep frown form on his face.

Gray? Hugging Lucy? What a traitor!

He had to interrupt them. Natsu could go his entire life being Lucy's friend, and that would be enough for him. But he'd rather chop his own arm off than have to watch her cozy up to Gray of all people.

Immediately, Natsu shot up and called Gray a nasty name across the room. Natsu was definitely going to wallop him before going to Lucy's house. It had been a long night, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed that smelled just like her. She'd yell at him for 'sneaking in,' but Natsu knew she'd forgive him.

Lucy always did.