Normal day at the guild. Normal day for Lucy. Except not; there was something in the air today. Something she didn't like.

Lucy sat at the bar, listening to Mira half-heartedly. Lucy blinked slowly before simply dipping her head on the bar. Mira stopped talking immediately, looking worriedly over to the blonde girl.

"What's wrong?" she asked, not quite used to Lucy's present behavior.

"Oh, nothing." Lucy responded. Even so, she looked longingly over to where Natsu, Lisanna and the others were hanging out. Ever since Lisanna had come back, Lucy had somehow felt so lonely. She knew it wasn't a rightful feeling; after all, Lisanna had disappeared without a trace and been dead to Fairy Tail for who knows how long. But this was after all an important day to her, and for the others to simply forget, not even a single word…

Lucy was disappointed, she really was. But mostly at herself for even expecting them to remember today. Still… the only ones she had told were Erza, Natsu and Gray.

She hesitantly made her way over to their table, all the while thinking 'Bad idea! Bad idea!' in her head.

"Hey guys." she said, feeling pretty nervous.

"Hiya, Lucy!" Natsu said.

"Um, hey. I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Lisanna" the white haired girl said.

"Lucy" the blonde responded.

Lucy seemed to be waiting for something the others would say, but when nothing came up, she slumped slightly and turned to walk away. Suddenly Natsu called.

"Hey, Luce, why don't you join us in celebrating Lisanna's homecoming?" he said just when she lifted her right foot to walk away. Lucy halted for a second, but continued walking and threw over her shoulder

"Thanks, but I'm not feeling so good. I think I'll just go home for today."

"Oh" Natsu said, a bit miffed, but soon continued talking animatedly to Lisanna. Mira looked on when the blonde walked right out of the guild, feeling the depression coming out of Lucy in waves. Unknown to both girls, an extra pair of eyes followed the blonde out through the door.

The first thing Lucy felt after coming out of the guild was a wet feeling on her cheeks. Surprised, she brought her hand up and felt tears. Tears. 'Stupid feelings' she thought angrily to herself. 'Always messing with me' as she rubbed her eyes furiously. Eventually though, she gave up and let the salty liquid run down her face, mixing with the rain outside. Lucy was already soaking wet, so there was no point in running home.

She strolled leisurely and slowly on the edge of the pavement following the river. Today there was no boatsman to call to her to be cautious and so, Lucy completely forgot that she wore high heels today and high heels were not appropriate to walk on stony ground on. Her right foot slipped and she almost fell in, had it not been for the arm catching her waist before she tumbled down into the water.

Lucy turned her eyes to thank whoever it was that saved her, when her own brown eyes met red eyes with slitted dark pupils. She studied his face for a few seconds before deciding that at least a 'Thank you' was in order. After all, she'd been raised properly by her father, even without love. But yet, she found her entire body actually, completely frozen. She wondered why. It wasn't as if she had feelings for him, right?

And yet, she was the one frozen. His voice woke her of her stupor.

"You're gonna get a cold if you walk out here in the rain, all by yourself." he said.

"So? What does it bother you?" she heard her own voice reply. Not exactly in a sharp tone, but not in a directly friendly tone either.

By now, she had stood up on her own.

"It doesn't." he said curtly. "I just thought I'd say it."

"Oh? Well, thank you, but I already know that. And, by the way, thanks for catching me." 'Good, now that was out of the way' Lucy thought.

"No prob." he said. Lucy started walking home, when she found him following her footsteps.

"What are you doing?" she asked, clearly not amused by the situation. Apparently he was, if you'd count the smirk on his lips.

"Just seeing to it so you don't fall again when I'm not there to catch you again." he replied. Lucy did a complete turnaround and stared at him, blushing all over her face.

"I'll be fine, thank you."

"Well, I don't think so."

"And that just proves how high your thinking ability goes."

"Hmph."

"Aw, did you get insulted?"

"Stop your yapping, bunny girl."

"Don't call me that!"

"Well, stop annoying me then."

"You're the one following me." she pointed out.

"Point taken and trashed."

When they finally reached Lucy's house, it had long since stopped raining and the night shone bright with stars. To be honest, Lucy was quite impressed with him for following her all the way and always shooting comebacks at her, even though slightly childish at times. She was satisfied with him, mostly because he actually was pretty funny at times.

Before she stepped into her apartment, she turned around and said

"See ya'round."

The blonde thought he looked a bit sad, but quickly shook it off. Him, sad? Nuh-uh. No way.

After closing the front door behind her, she walked straight to the kitchen for some food, since she hadn't had any except breakfast today. She rummaged through her fridge and found half a frozen loaf and some frozen butter. Why she had butter in her fridge was a mystery to her, but she nonetheless defrosted it and ate.

After the so-called meal, Lucy began to feel lightly depressed again and decided on a hot bath. Maybe it would do her some good. And what a lie that turned out to be, after she had descended in the tub, all she could think about was her 'supposed' friends back at the guild. Sure, she was probably pretty unfair to them by now, but still… hey, a girl had a right to be messed up in her own home, at least!

After what felt like eternity, but probably only was a few minutes, she couldn't take it anymore and quickly climbed out of the tub, dried up and crept into her bed only to find her personal torture there.

She shrunk to a ball underneath the cover, letting the tears run free silently once again. Lucy quivered but didn't dare change her position. She heard her bedroom door creek open, and a head with black hair and red eyes peeked in. After he saw the position she was in, he immediately walked over and hugged her to himself. Strangely, the blonde felt content in his arms. Eventually, she stopped crying and shivering.

"Why?" she asked. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because; aren't we what the flamehead always preaches about, nakama?" he answered.

Suddenly Lucy smiled. She didn't know why, but she did anyway.

"Baka. That's no reason to just randomly up and hug someone."

"So? What if I just wanted to then? Who are you to deny me something?"

Instead of answering, she just snuggled more deeply into his hug. And suddenly, he tilted her head backwards. Surprised, Lucy found herself following his movements. She gazed into his bloodeyes lovingly? Astonished? Forlorn? She couldn't decide, but he had her eyes captured and it came as no surprise when he kissed her.

Lucy'd had no idea she'd held these kinds of emotions for him, but apparently she had. For now, the blonde decided to just follow the moment and kissed him back. She closed her eyes and felt him open his mouth a little, just enough to let his tongue run over her lower lip. Lucy quickly complied, and savoured his taste. It came as no surprise when he tasted slightly metallic.

Eventually, they broke the kiss-turned-makeout. Lucy threw her arms around his torso and laid her head on his chest.

"Oh, and one more thing Lucy." he said.

"What?" she softly asked, on the verge of sleep.

"Happy birthday."

Lucy only smiled. By now, she was too tired to even try to ask about how he knew.

"Thanks Gazille."

With that, she snuggled deeper into his embrace. His comforting embrace.