Natsu Dragneel was nowhere near to being a normal person. For one, he had pink hair. Two, he had an unhealthy obsession with fire, to a point where he even tried eating it. Three, he was around the weirdest group of friends.

On top of that weird group was Gray Fullbuster, a man who had an uncontrollable urge to strip wherever he was, whenever it was, then Juvia Lockser, a woman who somehow brought bad weather to wherever she went, then Erza Scarlet, someone who literally had no shame in anything.

And lastly, Lucy Heartfilia, whom he really just counted as a weirdo. She had an obsession with stars, she liked to write novels but would punch anyone who would try to read them, she'd go on and on about how she couldn't find the right guy for her, irritating him to no end. And she also a weird dog named Plue.

And… Lucy's tendency to show up at his door crying was the weirdest part of all.

*.*.*.*.*.*

A man with crimson coloured hair bit his lip as he balled up his hands into fists. The blonde seating across from him chattered away, oblivious to his silent demise.

"The furniture is amazing Dan! It was practically fully furnished, but you know we still have to transfer some of our own things but that's fine. I'm just so happy me and Juvia get to have our own apartment instead of staying at the dorms. I'll give you a spare key later, I'll get it duplicated." She flashed him an angelic smile.

No more. He could no longer hold it in.

"Lulu." He whispered lowly. Though the girl kept on chattering. "Lucy." He called, a bit louder this time.

She stopped and turned her brown eyes to him, raising a brow. "What is it babe?"

"I can't anymore…" He whispered.

"What? Stop mumbling Dan, you know I hate that." Lucy rolled her eyes and sipped her ice tea.

"Look… you're…. you'll get mad but please listen to me."

Dan's voice was quelling, as if he was trying to convince someone to calm down, though that someone seemed to be himself. Lucy frowned. The past year she's been dating this man, whenever he got like this, it was never any good. He either did something stupid or he broke something she owned.

"What?"

"…." Dan squeezed his eyes shut, as if he was feeling immense pain throughout his entire body.

"Spit it out Dan." Lucy said impatiently. She disliked where the conversation was going, , but absolutely hated it whenever people took their sweet time in saying something rather than just being forward about it. It annoyed her to no end.

"…I fucked Michelle."

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Then…

"…Excuse me?" She asked, confused. Dan's words failed to register in her mind clearly.

The crimson haired man took a breath one more time. "I… had sex with Michelle." He repeated.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Say something Lucy." He pressured. Dan's fear was increasing by each passing second as Lucy continued to stare at him. He never knew what to do in this situation, where Lucy was quiet and spacing out.

She was a very unpredictable person. There was a huge chance that she might implant his face into the wall beside him. There was also a huge chance where she was going to burst into tears and start crying right where she was. Then there was the very small chance that was to jus calmly stand up and storm out, not even daring to look back at him.

Then the fourth and most possible one of all. All of the above.

He hoped it wouldn't be the fourth one.

He couldn't take being hurt, embarrassed, and deserted all at once in such a public place.

Lucy bit her lip and began to look around the table with a horrified expression.

"When… how?" She breathed. "…Why?"

"Its…" It was no use in lying to her now. Dan knew very well that if he didn't answer it now, she'll come back demanding for answers later. "The family dinner a month ago, when she came to visit. I lied to you… I didn't wander off the mansion, I… she pulled me into the guestroom…"

He winced when cold, lemon flavored Iced tea hit his face. Lucy looked at him in anger, betrayal spread across her face.

"God… that bitch…" She spaced out for a second before glaring at Dan once again. "And you let it happen!"

"I… I couldn't help it. She was… she seduced me!"

"Couldn't have helped it? That's a pathetic excuse and you know it!"

"I tried to push her away Lucy! I swear I did but…"

The blonde beauty squeezed her eyes shut and in a pained voice she asked. "Did you enjoy it?"

He didn't dare to lie.

"Yes."

Not a moment after that, he found himself sitting in that café alone.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The first thing Lucy did when she got back to the Heartfilia mansion was storm into her cousin's bedroom and deliberately collided her hand against Michelle's cheek and proceeded to scream every curse word she knew.

"You snake! Bitch! How dare you?!" She screamed at the dirty blonde. Michelle screamed back at her, demanding the blonde to let her go. "How dare you sleep with my boyfriend?!"

"He was the one who wanted to sleep with me!" Michelle defended herself. "Maybe he was just so bored with you!" Gone was her shy and timid façade as she gripped Lucy's wrist as tight as she could hold them.

"That gives you no right to sleep with a taken man!"

"What the hell is going on in here?" An older woman's voice roared as Layla and Jude Heartfilia burst into the room, eyes widening at the sight of the two girls. "Lucy!"

Jude stepped between them, grabbing hold of the two and forcefully separated them. "What are you? Five? Stop it this instant!" He reprimanded them in his usual strict voice while Layla grabbed her daughter's shoulders and looked between her and the dirty blonde, annoyance, anger and concern flicking in her brown eyes.

"Now what exactly is going on in here?" She asked them. Lucy glared at Michelle and pointed an accusing finger in her direction.

"She slept with Dan, mama! And she's not even regretting it!"

Layla gasped, her brown eyes widening as she looked over her niece.

"He wanted me!" Michelle yelled back at her. The young Heartfilia attempted to jump at her again, only to be restrained by her father this time.

"Heavens Lucy, you are eighteen years old, this is no way for you to be settling a fight!"

"Lucy, calm down." Layla said. She never liked it how her one and only child inherited her father's patience. "Take a breath."

"Bitch!" Lucy snarled at Michelle, still glaring at her.

"Lucy!" Layla's voice turned strict. "Enough."

The young girl freed herself from her mother's grip, storming out the room.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

She always turned up at his place at every problem she had.

Family.

Money.

Friends.

But it was so rare for her to turn up at his door, crying about a guy. Probably because she rarely ever had a boyfriend.

Natsu Dragneel blinked, before opening the door further to let him into his apartment. To his surprise, she entered in his arms, her own wrapping around his torso and her face buried in his chest.

He blinked again before looking down on her mop of blonde hair before stroking it comfortingly.

"What happened?" He asked her softly.

"Dan…"

His face instantly sported a frown at the mention of the man's name. He never liked him. He was arrogant and needy of Lucy every chance he got, to a point where he would rarely allow her to hang out with her guy friends.

"What'd he do?"

"…He slept with Michelle."

"Eh?!" He had known Lucy his entire life. As children, they would often play in the garden of the Heartfilia mansion, and he was always there when Michelle Lobster came to visit every year. He had always thought that girl smelled funny. Literally.

He met Michelle as a very shy and timid girl who clung to Lucy like a leech. Though her attitude annoyed him, he never thought that her innocent persona was all an act.

"…Urgh." Lucy sniffled, swallowing a lump in her throat. Natsu sighed and let her in, eventually closing the door behind him.

When Lucy entered the apartment, the first thing she noticed was Gray dozing off on the couch. Though what she noticed was he was barely clothed and was only in his white briefs.

"You'd think he'd stop wearing tighty whities by now." She mumbled under her breath. She was used to Gray walking around naked, he had been like that since they were kids.

"Your one to talk, miss polka dot print." Natsu snorted as he made his way to his kitchen.

The blonde stifled a giggle. These were her friends that she found comfort in. She looked around the apartment once more, noting that there were still a few boxes left unopened. "You guys still haven't unpacked?"

"One of these days we will."

"You've been here for a month now."

"Any day now."

Lucy shook her head, a memory forming in her head. The day they decided to move into this particular building. It was only blocks away from Magnolia University and was only a few steps away from the town itself. They were quite lucky the building still had two remaining apartments for rent. Natsu and Gray decided to take this one, and moved in pretty early, while she and her other friend Juvia decided to take the one upstairs.

Which also happened to be the bigger, and better one.

Though she did remember how many coin tosses it took for them to decide who gets to take it.

"Here." Natsu disrupted her thoughts and handed her a mug filled with hot chocolate. Lucy smiled at him. He was an idiot, but he sure knew how to make a delicious cup of chocolate.

Probably the only thing he knew how to brew though.

"Thanks." Lucy moved to the couch, deliberately seating herself on Gray's feet, earning an irritated groan from the sleepy male. "Wake up, Gray!" She pressured her buttocks onto his feet even more.

"Oi, stripper!" Natsu seated himself in the arm rest just above Gray's head. "Don't make me fart on you again." The ink haired male shot up immediately, glaring at Natsu.

"I'm up, I'm up. Just stop doing that." He says to him, shivering at the memory of last time Natsu decided to wake him up with such a horrid odor. Gray looked at Lucy and tilted his head questioningly. "Well, I see you're here again. Is your boyfriend fine with you hanging out at a guy's place alone?" He raised his eyebrow, earning a slight kick from Natsu.

"We broke up." Lucy's lips whimpered, gearing herself up to cry again.

"Nice job ice princess, you made her cry."

"Eh?!" Gray's eyes widened as he desperately tried to calm down his blonde friend in panic. "H-Hey, I don't mean to… but hey, c-cheer up...Please?"

"You're making it worse freak."

"What am I supposed to do then?!"

"….Hick," Lucy sniffled. "I'm an idiot." She mumbled to herself, though earning an approving nod from Gray.

"…So, mind telling me what he did?"

"He slept with Michelle." Natsu answered for him.

"Ah." Gray nodded. "Expected." Lucy then looked up to glare at him.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Well, lets admit it, your high maintenance cousin is…. Well she sticks to men a lot. She even asked me to go out with her!" Gray laughed.

The blonde's jaw dropped. "You? When?!" She racked her memory, trying to remember a moment here Michelle had been with them. "Wait… is that why Erza was so mad at her?!"

"Yeah!" The ink haired male's laughter blared through the room. "That was junior year I think. She started confessing in the middle of nowhere right as Erza walked in. God, she almost killed both of us."

"What the actual fuck…." Lucy leaned back into the couch, a dismayed look on her face. "I never realized she was so…"

"Promiscuous?" Natsu said in a fake British accent, earning a laugh from Gray.

"And none of you bothered to tell me?!"

"Lucy, she stuck to you like glue. Do you really think we'd have the balls to tell you that?"

The young girl sighed. "Ah, I'm so stupid."

"Aw, not as stupid as flame brain."

"Hey!"

Lucy groaned. This was definitely not her day. "I hate this. A month before starting university and I get dumped." She said in annoyance, remembering that she and her now ex-boyfriend enrolled in the same program, and had the same classes. "This sucks!"

"Well what are we doing here drinking chocolate? Natsu, bring out the alcohol!"

"Aye sir!"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The trio were halfway through a liter of Empi Brandy when Lisanna and Juvia arrived. The two sweat dropped at the sight of their friends yelling at each other in a tipsy manner.

"No fair stripper, you definitely cheated!"

"Excuse me?! I won fair and square!"

"Shut up! You're all annoying me!"

Lisanna sighed as they let themselves in, closing the door behind her and placing the box of food onto the coffee table. "What is the matter with you guys?" She asked them.

"Lucy got dumped!"

"I dumped him, you idiot!"

"Juvia finds it very rude that you do not invite her to these parties often." The blue haired girl spoke, eyeing a now fully naked Gray, who sat in the middle of the couch. "Also, Juvia likes to note that Gray-sama is very indecent."

"Hey!"

"Anyone who doesn't know you three would make the mistake of assuming that you three were having an orgy." Lisanna bent down to pick up a pair of Gray's underwear and threw it at him. "Put something on Gray!"

"And, what's this about Lucy being dumped?" Juvia asked, seating herself beside Natsu and taking hold of the bottle, pushing it farther away from the three.

"Dan is the one who got dumped!"

"Why?"

"….Cause he cheated on me." Lucy frowned, reaching toward the table and helped herself at some pizza.

"Oh…" Lisanna nodded. "With who?"

"Michelle."

"Ah."

Lucy glared at the silver haired girl. "Try to look more surprised now will you?"

"Ah, I can't. I told you the moment I met him. He had the looks of an asshole." Lisanna giggled and took a shot Juvia poured for her. "Ah, Empi is really strong." She muttered, chugging a glass of water. "So that's why you guys suddenly invited us to drink."

Gray nodded approvingly, munching on some food.

It had become a habit for the gang to come out drinking on anything they found as an 'occasion' ever since they graduated high school three months ago. It all started when Erza and Gray broke up, Lucy and Natsu sneak into Ur's liquor closet in an attempt to comfort the man, while Lisanna and Juvia took the Scarlet at the bar Lisanna's sister worked at.

Then two weeks later, they celebrated when Erza and Gray decided to start over being friends once more. Eventually, any occasion they found interesting was an excuse to drink.

"Speaking of which, Juvia does not see Erza-san around. Where is she?" Juvia asked, pouring another shot and passing it to Lucy.

"She said she's busy with summer classes today. And we didn't tell her we were going to drink either." Gray replied to her. Juvia only nodded, noting that Erza had been a year older than all of them and had started college last year.

"I wonder…. If me and Dan will-"

"Get back together? Fuck no!" Natsu roared with laughter. Not a minute later, his face was hit by a pillow Lucy managed to get her hands on. "Lisanna, there's another Empi bottle in the kitchen, can you get it?"

The youngest Strauss nodded and disappeared of to the kitchen, coming back moments later with another bottle of brandy in her hands.

"To Lucy's single life!" He cheered, assisted by Gray and Juvia,

"You assholes!" Lucy reprimanded them, yet a fond smile began to form on her lips.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Natsu stirred and woke up later that night. Or rather, early morning as he'd call it. He placed a hand on his mouth, as his shoulders shook as he felt another wave of vomit rising up from his stomach. The man rushed over to the bathroom, his knees falling to the floor as he clutched his stomach.

It had been the sixth time he vomited that night. The liquid flowing out his mouth had now tasted like acid, and burned his throat, as tears started to spring from his eyes.

"….Urk." He groaned and leaned back, taking a breath. It was another moment where he promised his conscience that he would never, ever be drinking again.

Another promise he knew he would be breaking.

He stood up and approached the sink, washing his face in an attempt to wake up and soothe the growing headache. "Ah fuck… it's a lot worse than last time…." He groaned to himself and looked at the mirror. Hell, he looked like absolute crap. He washed his face once more before stepping out.

The pink haired man winced at the sight the moment he faced the living room. It was more of a mess than it usually was, his friends sprawled out on the floor in a drunken state. His eyes softened at the sight of Lucy, who slept peacefully and had Lisanna's large breasts as a pillow. He grabbed the nearest blanket and draped it at the two, completely ignoring that Gray needed it more than they did, as he was completely naked once again.

"Ah, Natsu-san." Juvia peered out from the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm more thirsty than hungry." He said and grabbed a glass of water, chugging it. "Ack!" He winced at the taste of acid downing in his throat. The residue had still been at the end of his tongue and he had swallowed it yet again.

"Juvia woke up earlier at the same state you are. Would you like some soup?"

"Gross."

"It is, but something hot really helps." The blue haired girl helped herself in opening the pantry, rummaging through it and finally pulling out two cups of instant noodles. "I'll go heat up some water."

"Thanks Juvia." Natsu rested his head at the kitchen counter, his eyes squeezing shut as he attempted to calm the throbbing pain on his temple.

"Juvia thinks we've been pretty wild tonight."

"You said it…"

"Juvia also thinks because its been a while since Lucy has joined us in our drinking escapade." The girl smiled at him knowingly when she noticed him eyeing the blonde again. "Juvia wonders if this is finally Natsu-san's chance."

"...Eh?" Natsu looked at her questioningly before her words finally sunk in. "W-Well…"

"Oh, the water's ready." Juvia deliberately ignored him and turned her back, preparing their small snack.

Natsu blushed and snuck a glance back at the peacefully sleeping Lucy. He could never deny the fact that he was glad Dan was now out of the picture, and he meant it with all good intentions. Not a single soul in their group besides Lucy liked the man. They all had the same impression of him.

Arrogant and horrible. What did his best friend see in a guy like that?

Dan didn't even bother to hide his true nature in front of them, and the arrogant jackass did his best to separate Lucy from her group of friends. A few weeks after they first started dating, Natsu saw less and less of the girl as her newfound boyfriend took up almost all of her time. He never allowed Lucy to drink with them, go out on adventures with them, nor was she allowed to turn up at their house.

He restricted Lucy of everything she liked to do. He made her 'happy' all on his own.

So Lucy resorted to meeting up with them secretly from time to time, though it never really lasted long.

Natsu remembered that prior to her meeting with Dan, she, Gray, and him were almost inseparable. He blamed the jackass for distancing their favorite girl. And Natsu…

He secretly felt bad for himself. He couldn't even take being alone with her anymore. He stopped texting her, only showed up whenever Gray or any of their mutual friends came along. He felt hurt that he was driven to that point.

Being inlove with a girl who he can never have did that to him.

Juvia's earlier words registered in his mind once again. Perhaps this was his chance. He could do it. Everyone but Lucy knew of his feelings, he never hesitated to show them. He could help her get over that bastard and finally give Lucy the love she's always deserved.

But then again, considering the small but vital fact that Lucy had her heartbroken just hours ago really put him in a difficult place. He couldn't take advantage of a vulnerable girl.

"Natsu-san, she'll melt if you keep staring." Juvia giggled, placing the cups in front of him and protruding two pairs of chopsticks from a nearby drawer.

"She won't. I've stare at her a lot and she's never melted." Natsu snickered before turning his attention to his food.

"You seem to be in a lot better mood."

"Ha, I'm gonna make things right this time."