It was such a cliché that it seemed almost laughable but in reality there was nothing to laugh about. Lucy Heartfilia, she was just a girl he met one day and had ended up bringing her to Fairy Tail and not ever once has he ever regretted that decision. He was proud to know that he was the reason that she smiled so brightly every day, that is was because of him that she now finally felt like she belonged, and that she always seemed at her happiest when they were together.
He had to admit that he was at his happiest when he was with her too.
She seemed like the perfect girl to be in their Guild. She was always so weird but knew how to get into the action and was a great fighter. She seemed like any other person he had met in his life but she wasn't. He had never been so wrong before in his entire life. Lucy was not like the others because she didn't come from the same place that he and everyone else did. She was born from riches, he saw her old home and it still took his breath away when he thought about how large it was. She owned land that went all the way up to a mountain and back. Who wouldn't be shocked by that vast amount of wealth that she had.
Ever since that trip he's tried his hardest to not get their reward cut. It was not like he thought money solved all his problems but something inside him seemed to break the day he went to Lucy's old home. If this was the kind of life that she was used to then what could he ever do that could match it. He usually only needed money to buy food and if he couldn't buy it then he would always manage to find another way to eat, usually this meant going to Lucy's apartment, but after seeing her home he never felt so poor before in his life.
She lived in a giant mansion most of her life while he lived in a cave for most of his childhood before building his little shack. He had been so proud of his shack, he had built it with his own two hands and he was sure that Igneel would have been proud of him but what would Lucy think. Would she think it was pathetic and laugh at him? No, she was much too nice to ever do such a cruel thing but he still felt like he would feel ashamed if she ever saw his house. She lived in a mansion for most of her life before moving onto an apartment that made his little home seem even worse.
He liked going to Lucy's apartment. It always smelled nice and it was really clean and he always got a homey feel from it. He liked being there and taking a nice nap in her comfy bed, but he liked it even better when she was there with him because that homey feeling seemed to increase. He wondered if she ever entered his home would she feel the same. Would she say his house was homey and ask if she could sleepover for a few nights like he does with her apartment. He doubted it but it was always nice to dream.
He was no fool. He knew that if he compared his life to Lucy's or anyone's then he came in last place. His house was just barely big enough for him and Happy. How would Lucy even fit in this small shack without the two of them being crushed together. Not that he minded being close to her but he wanted her to feel comfortable if she ever came over.
He may come in last place in bad home living but he had other ways to impress her. He was one of the strongest mages in all of Fairy Tail and he made sure to always show it off to her when they went out on jobs. He wanted to hear her praises and be in awe at his magic as he defeated all the bad guys. He was never into playing hero until she came along but now he seems to have become addicted to playing the part of the hero. Lucy was a real life princess and if he acted like a hero then maybe she would fall for him like the princesses in the storybooks did. But he wasn't the typical knight in shining armor that rode a white horse to rescue the princess. He was sure that riding the horse would make him get sick and who could fight properly with all that dumb armor on.
Still he tried his hardest to appear like he was a hero and it seemed like it worked. Lucy was impressed with his magic, just not his behavior but she never once said that she wanted him to change. Most girls try to change the guy if he was doing something annoying but Lucy would just scold him before giving him a bright smile. He knew that she knew that everything he did was for the good of the team and the Guild and that made him smile himself. She loved Fairy Tail and would never leave, not even when her father almost made her get married to an actual prince. That piece of information made his heart stop for a moment. A prince and a princess were supposed to get married, it was in every storybook ever written and he couldn't help but worry that Lucy would leave him for that prince. Then he remembered who Lucy was and he knew that she was not the delicate princess type but that didn't mean that he still didn't worry.
She was so used to having riches and everything she ever wanted to come to her with a snap of her fingers. Could he do the same? Probably not. He hated shopping and usually when he went he always managed to get banned from a store at the end of the day. He had gotten banned from five different stores one day when he went shopping for Lucy once. Mira told him about some holiday about love where guys give girls gifts to show them how much they loved them. He found the whole thing stupid but he still went out looking for a nice gift to give Lucy. However he ended up getting banned from five stores and got chased by a few different police officers by the time the sun had set. In the end all he could give her was a bunch of stupid flowers he had picked while he had gotten chased. She seemed happy enough with that and seeing her smiling so brightly made his heart flutter with joy but then he saw the gold bracelet Alzack had given Bisca and he felt his heart being smashed with shame. It seemed like everyone in the Guild had given someone a special present and all he gave Lucy was a stupid bouquet of flowers that died within a week.
He let out a low sigh as he rolled over in his hammock. He house was still small and it was even messier now because he had been gone for seven years. He was amazed that it hadn't fallen down on him just yet. He had been spending most nights at the Guild or he would sneak into Lucy's until he felt it was safe enough to sleep in his home. Happy had not been as sure and the moment a strong wind came and made the house shake he bolted from the shack and flew off somewhere he deemed safe. Not that he blamed him. He was actually pretty tempted to leave and go to Lucy's but then his mind started to wander and he couldn't bring himself to move. If he went to Lucy's then that was just like admitting out loud that his house was as horrible as he thought and he was as useless as Gray said he was. He didn't want anyone, especially Lucy to think that he couldn't take care of himself or his family if he ever had one, so he stayed and tired hard not to winch everytime the house shook when the wind blew by.
He growled as his house shook and frowned at the thought of it coming down on him. This was his home and if it got destroyed then where would he go? He couldn't live at the Guild or suddenly move, that would be like publicly announcing that he was a failure at something and he would be damned if that happened. He could already hear the taunts of Gray and Gajeel if they ever found out so he would deal with his house, even if it was one shake away from crashing down.
"You do realize that you're about to be buried alive?" he jumped to a start when he heard her voice. He sat up so fast that he nearly fell out of his hammock but he kept himself from landing on his face. "I had to summon Virgo to keep this place from collapsing." she put her hands on her hips as she watched him.
"Lucy," he gasped out softly, eyes scanning her body that was dressed in her usual pajamas but with a light jacket over her top. Her hair was down and messy and his fingers twitched to run through her gold locks but he suppressed the urge. "What are you doing here?" he gripped his blanket in his hands, eyes quickly scanning over the entire house and for once he was embarrassed by the complete and utter mess of his shack. He did not want her to see this. He wasn't prepared to have her enter his home. She was only supposed to enter after he made it acceptable for her to enter and live in. Igneel taught him that he needed to make his home environment suitable for his future mate and he was nowhere near ready. He hadn't even told her yet, he was still in the process of trying to win her over and so far his advances were not going as fast as he hoped they would.
"Happy came crashing into my room and told me about your house," as she spoke his wide eyed blue friend/son appeared from behind her. His wings were out as he held tight to her shoulders as another breeze came by and made the house shake but this time not as bad as before. "I figured we should come by and get you before you woke with a roof on your head." she had a small smile on her lips but he could not bring himself to return the gesture. For once in his life he was ashamed and right now he just wanted her to go away and forget she ever saw this. If she saw this then she must be thinking that he was someone unsuitable to ever be with. If he couldn't even keep his house from falling down then how could he be a suitable life partner. She would never accept him now.
"I'll be fine," he frowned and the grip on his blanket tightened. "It's not like a stupid house could ever beat me and besides I don't like being pitied." he sounded like a dumb kid but right now he didn't care about that. His pride had been hurt and he was pretty sure that she was feeling only pity towards him because they were teammates.
He heard her release a sigh and he watched her walk towards him, her hand stretched out for him to take. "You idiot. You would get pity confused with concern. I'm worried about you so I came to offer you and Happy to stay at my place for the next few nights while Virgo cleans up the place."
He felt shame take over once again. He couldn't do anything right could he. He needed her help and now she would think less of him and then he really would have no future with her. "Maybe I really am hopeless."
"If it makes you feel any better I had to do the same with Gray and Gajeel." her words made him perk up almost instantly. "They're houses were in just as bad of shape as yours and they borrowed Virgo for a few days but it looks like your shack managed to get by. Virgo says it'll take a day to fix it back up," she smiled at him and grabbed his hand. making him jump out of his bed as she pulled him to the door. "It's to be expected, we were gone for seven years so of course some of our things were bound to get ruined," she turned around to give him another smile that this time he had returned. "That's why we need to remember that we're not alone and have the support of those who really care about us. Now come on, the sooner your house is all fixed up the sooner I can crash your place just like you do with mine."
"You want to stay over here?" he all but gasped out, fear and excitement running through his veins.
She sent him a look that made his heart beat faster and he had to literally fight down the flames that wanted to burst out. "Of course. I'm not sure why but your house feels really homey and I plan on taking advantage of this whenever I have the time." she didn't know it but her words made new hope bloom in his chest. She liked his house, she said it felt like home, and she said she wanted to come back. Hearing those words made him feel like the future he hoped so wasn't as far away as he thought it was. Maybe sometime soon instead of them walking to her house for him to stay over it would be them walking hand in hand to their own home to spend time together, just them and their family in their happy home life.