Title: The Monthly Monster

Summary: Lucy educates Natsu about menstrual cramps. Nalu

Rating: T

Time: About 3½ hours

AN: Written because I have horrible cramps and wish I had a fire dragon slayer to melt them away at night. Or you know…to cuddle.

I've also come up with a system. *writes chapter draft for Falling Off Of Roof Tops* *Writes oneshot* *writes chapter draft for Falling Off Of Roof Tops* *Writes oneshot* …. So yes, that means two chapter of Fort have been written and just need to be edited!

The hard word of the stool made her tailbone ache. The way her spine arched so her head could be rested on the counter of the bar put extra tension in her already sore lower back. She wanted to get up and move, do something to forget about her current situation, but the cramps raging a war in her stomach rooted her to the uncomfortable seat.

Not the mention the large, angry zit on her upper lip. It didn't matter how much concealer she put on it, the red coloring was still very noticeable and Lucy felt self-conscious about it. She'd spent the entire day at the guild-the sun was already setting-trying her best to hide it when conversing with her nakama. The entire guild had pretty good skin. She couldn't recall onetime Mirajane, or Levy, or Cana had a zit. Even the guys, who took a shower maybe once on a good week, had brilliant skin. So why did she—who used skin products, washed her face twice every day, and took extra care when a break out seemed to be threatening her good complexion end up cursed with the horrible nuisance?

She'd never understand.

"Lucy, you look a little down in the dumps. Would you like something hot to drink?"

Glancing up in acknowledgement, Lucy kept the part of her face with the blemish hidden as she nodded her head to Mirajane. Her eyes felt heavy from the sleepless night. Her cramps reared their ugly heads late last night and prevented her from getting her solid eight hours. Letting out a wide yawn, Lucy directed her watery eyes to her friend. The white haired bartender smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes like it normally would. She pulled the ingredients for some hot chocolate out and began making it on the counter in front of Lucy.

"Are you ill? You much less peppy than you normally are." Mirajane continued, bright blue eyes shimmering with poorly concealed worry.

Clearing her throat Lucy sighed. "No, I'm fine," It was the truth, she was fine. Every girl went through this once a month, she went through this once a month. It was just harder this time around for whatever reason, "Just had a lot of issues sleeping last night."

Beside her, Cana chortled. Lucy didn't remember her being there when she first sat down. She must have moved over to get better access to Mirajane or something. "I'd say you're just missing Natsu. It's been what…three days since he's warmed your bed?"

Lucy's head shot up, suddenly more awake that she was the whole day. "How many times do I have to tell you it's not like that? Natsu and I don't have a thing. If anything you should be teasing Lisanna when she gets back!" She huffed, resting her elbow on the table and her cheek in her open palm.

Mirajane passed the hot chocolate over to her, the steaming beverage's smell delighting Lucy's senses. She took it into her hands and held it close to her face, but did not sip it yet. She wasn't going to add a burnt tongue to her already long list of woes.

Mirajane hummed to herself, leaning over the counter to meet Lucy's eyes. "Ooooh, someone sounds jealous!" She jeered with an all-knowing look.

Three days ago Natsu, Elfman, and Lisanna left on a mission. It wasn't a particularly hard one, in fact the majority of the time would be spent traveling there and back. And yes, Lucy had some feelings that weren't completely friendly towards the dragon slayer, and yes, she preferred he go on missions with her than any other woman, but she wasn't exactly the jealous type. If anything she missed him for his company, especially at night.

She would never admit it, but during that time of the month she didn't mind having him sneak into her bed. He had this ridiculously cute tendency to cuddle her in his sleep, and his naturally warmer body heat would ease her aches and pains and cramps to tolerable levels. She didn't know how many times she's had her 'not so friendly friend' and he'd unwittingly helped her with it, but now she never wanted to have it without him close to her.

Which, now that she thought about it, did sound a bit possessive of her. But she'd leave those thoughts for another day.

"But you don't have to moon over him too much longer, they should be back soon. It was only a three day mission anyway," Mirajane chuckled, winking at her, "Then you can have him all to yourself!"

Lucy ran a hand through her hair in minor frustration. She didn't have the tolerance for teasing right now. Sipping her hot chocolate cautiously as to not burn herself, Lucy hummed at the deliciousness of it. Mirajane must have put something new in it. "First off jealousy and missing someone are two different things. We are best friends, and have been pretty much joint by the hip since I first joined. Of course I'd feel a bit off when he's not around to keep me company." Lucy explained, going back to nursing her now manageable hot chocolate.

Cana patted Lucy on the shoulder, a smirk on her lips. "Yeah, best friends that share a bed. Sounds more like 'best friends with benefits' to me. But you keep telling yourself nothing's going on. See how far that gets you!"

Shaking her head in dismay, Lucy stood from the stool. "Well, this was a nice chat and all, but I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. I'm going to write some of my novel and hang low for the rest of the night."

"Okay, hold on one second though. I have something you need to try." Mirajane turned on her heels and into the back room, the doors swinging shut behind her.

Ignoring Cana's hot stare, Lucy worked on finishing the rest of her small hot chocolate. She dug into the pouch on her side and put down the 1,000 jewels for the beverage and an extra couple hundred for Mirajane as a tip. Just because they were close friends didn't mean it felt right leaving without tipping the bartender.

"You know, Natsu doesn't act the way he acts around you with Lisanna." Cana leaned forward, a huge mug of beer gripped in her fist. From the looks of it the mug was already half empty.

Lucy put her own mug down, content that she'd finished every last drop. It seemed that the hot beverage was just what she needed to clear up her cramps. Maybe when she got back to her apartment she actually would work on her novel instead of vegetating on her bed. "If you say so Cana." She really wasn't in the mood for Cana's comments now. She just wanted to go home and relax.

"Yeah, he's always so worried about you. Ha, well he worries about everyone here, but you especially. And I've noticed," She grabbed Lucy's wrist, pulling her closer to her face so she could whisper into her ear, "He watches you. When you're occupied doing something, and he's not directly beside you, he's always watching. Even when he's brawling with Gray."

Lucy jerked away, her eyes wide. "He does not! That's ludicrous!" Lucy said with astonishment. She could feel the signs of a blush on her cheeks.

"Oh but he does, Lucy dear. And when he was leaving for the mission with Lisanna and Elfman he was very reluctant to leave. He kept on going on about 'what if something happens?' or 'What if someone got hurt?' or 'What if someone got sick?'. But I knew he was really wondering 'what if something happened to you?' What if you got hurt?' 'What if you got sick?'"

Lucy outright blanched at her. "You're reading way too far into this Cana!"

"No, she isn't," Lucy turned her head to see Mirajane returning from the back room. She had a small bottle in her hands, "He was very upset when you never showed up to see him off. He almost aborted the mission to make sure nothing had happened to you. No matter what you may want to think Lucy, Natsu really cares for you, and although he may not realize the depth of it yet, we all have. And deep down I think you have too. So stop denying it and let what's supposed to happen, happen." Mirajane handed her the bottle, and to avoid the white haired mage's intense stare, Lucy turned her attention to the label on the little glass vial. Maybe reading it would help her calm her flustered and frantic thoughts.

Zit Zapper: One drop a day keeps the acne away

"Why don't you go home and try that on the monster on your upper lip. If it works I can get you more. That's the travel bottle Lisanna left here and from the looks of it, you needed some." Mirajane laughed, and Lucy looked up with a grateful smile for both the acne medicine and the change in subject.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to try it."

"Oh, and one more thing before you leave," Mirajane motioned to the now empty cup of hot chocolate, "Was the hot chocolate good?"

Lucy nodded, readying herself for the walk back to the apartment. It wasn't all that far, but she still needed to bundle up some. The late autumn air was chilly, especially now that the sun was almost gone for the night.

"Good, good. It's a new blend to help menstrual cramps I came up with a couple days ago when Lisanna went on hers. She liked it, and I just wanted to make sure others would like it too before I started selling it." Mirajane admitted.

So she'd been that obvious about her womanly woes? "Well thanks, it helped a lot!"

"I'll be sure to send Natsu your way when he returns. I know he'll be looking for you." Cana jeered as she waved in parting. Lucy rolled her eyes, exciting the guild quickly before Mirajane decided to make a poke at her love life too.

The first thing she did when she got home was put a drop of the 'Zit Zapper' on her monster pimple. It tingled at first, but after a while it begun to dull, and an hour later she looked in the mirror to see that the monster was reduced to a dwarf. She wondered if she was the only one in the guild who didn't know about the beautiful medicine. This could very well be the reason for the clear skin of the guild. It worked like a charm.

But besides her experimenting, she'd gotten a bit of writing done.

She'd written maybe four pages of the next chapter of her novel in two and a half hours before she gave up for the day. A decent days, she could have written at least half a chapter by that amount of time. If she'd not been preoccupied by Mirajane's words she would have had an easier time writing the serious battle scene she was attempting. But the more she tried, the more she felt like this chapter should be saved for another day. Nothing was coming out right.

All because of Mirajane and Cana's meddling. If they wanted things to happen naturally, then why'd they put those thoughts into Lucy's head? Now she couldn't stop thinking about Natsu. Sure, she'd admitted to herself a long time ago that her feelings for the fire dragon slayer could be extended to a more intense attraction, but she wasn't exactly head over heels for her friend either. But what had her head spinning was the possibility of Natsu having more than platonic feelings for her. Sure the guy was very protective of her, and he was always lurking in the background where ever she went, and sometimes she swore he broke into her house while she was changing on purpose, but he was Natsu. He didn't care about love and relationships, right?

That was what Lucy always thought, she she'd never put any effort into actually trying to sort her feeling out for him because she'd never even guessed he'd feel that way about her in a thousand years. Plopping down onto the bed, she nuzzled her pillow as she tried to put her feelings for her friend in order. She figured the first thing to do was to list her likes and dislikes.

She liked his smile, it made her want to smile too even if she was sad.

She liked his warmth, especially now since it was getting colder.

She did not like when he broke into her apartment unannounced, but even that was something she was getting accustomed too.

She liked the way he smelled, her pillow still kind of smells like him.

She doesn't like his love for fighting.

He's always saving her.

He's always there when she needs him.

"Lucy?"

She squeaked into the pillow, jolting into a sitting position from shock. Scrambling to get a look at the intruder-even though she knew his voice better than her own-she came eye to eye with the object of her recent thoughts.

"N-Natsu! You're back!" She could feel the heat in her cheeks flare, especially when he jumped forward to wrap her in a tight hug.

"Yep!" He laughed that laugh of his she likes, "Man, did I miss you. Going on missions with you are much more fun!" He squeezed the air right out of her, making her gasp from the pain of his bear hug.

"N-Natsu, C-can't B-Breath!" She coughed out, and he released her like he'd burned her.

"Oh jeeze," He smiled brightly at her, and although she was a bit upset about his sudden intrusion and attempt at her life, she smiled back, "why would you let me suffocate you, weirdo?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, used to his name calling. "I didn't really have a chance to." She muttered, eying him with some reserve. She guessed, in a boyish kind of way, Natsu was attractive. He had a nice body-from all that fighting so maybe it wasn't a completely bad hobby, his messy pink hair added an odd charm to him, his wide dark eyes were captivating, his smile contagious.

"Yoo hoo!" Natsu came closer, waving a hand back and forth in her field of vision, "Are you alright, you're lookin' at me weird. Cana did see you weren't feeling good…."

Lucy mentally rolled her eyes at the card mage. She didn't know when to quit. "I'm fine, she was just fooling around."

Natsu sat down next to her on the bed, dark eyes unconvinced as they stared at her. "I don't think she was. You smell funny," He sniffed around her, and Lucy backed away with an 'eep!', that was one thing that made her uncomfortable around him, he liked to smell her, "I think I've smelled this before on other girls. Lucy! Did the girls give you their weird disease while I was away?!" He asked in outrage. She noticed, as he retracted himself from her personal space that he was breathing a bit heavier than he would normally when just sitting. How peculiar.

Chuckling, Lucy nearly face palmed at his assumption. Leave it to Natsu to think like that. "No, Natsu, the 'sickness' I have comes every month for every girl. I've had it before, you just probably didn't notice."

"You mean on those days you smelled different it was because of this monthly sickness and not a weird perfume?" He asked, perplexed.

Lucy nodded, feeling a bit uncomfortable about the direction this conversation was heading. "Probably, if it was for a week each month then yes."

Natsu slid closer to her, sniffing her. Gasping, Lucy pushed him away. "W-What are you doing?" She gasped, her body automatically putting extra distance between them.

"Making sure it was it. What causes that…change?" His voice was husky, and Lucy thought back to what she learned in school about the menstrual cycle.

"Well, it's something we girls get when we are old enough to have children I guess. So the smell could be hormones changing." She put it gently so she wouldn't freak him out. She didn't know how much Natsu knew about this type of thing, and frankly, she didn't want to be the one to explain it to him in detail.

"Oh," He looked thoughtful for a second, his brow creasing with effort, "I remember Igneel telling me something about female animals going into heat, and that humans do it too. He said that they bleed from their—"

"I know what happens Natsu!" Lucy held her hands up, her face coloring at his words. She never thought of it like that, she always saw it as a mess, and a pain, and on the off chance that she'd been sexually active (which was never), she supposed it could be a relief. But she supposed 'going into heat' would be an accurate way of putting it too. Funny, whenever she was on her period, it seemed that guys would avoid her rather than be attracted to her.

"Oh, well I guess you do!" He rubbed the back of his neck. She noticed he did that when he was feeling awkward or nervous. "But I have a question about something Igneel said. When I asked him what he meant, he told me I'd figure it out one day. But I haven't…so can I ask you?"

Lucy felt uneasy about this. "Uhmm…What did Igneel say?"

"That when female animals go into heat it attracts males, but when girls do it repels them. He called it the monthly monster. I asked him what exactly the monthly monster was."

Lucy bit back a laugh. He was looking so serious, and she figured if she let the laugh out he'd be mad at her. So she answered with the straightest face she could muster. She explained the symptoms, and how they could vary, but how vile mood swings were present in most girls' time of the month. "So I think he was saying that when a girl goes on her period, they turn into a monster from all the hormones."

Natsu nodded. "I remember someone saying something about heat relieving those cramp things. So is that why sometimes you don't kick me out of your bed when I try to sneak in while you're still awake?"

Lucy flushed. Of course, the dense idiot would notice that of all things. "Yeah, your warmth feels good and makes me less achy so I can fall asleep." She said sheepishly, eyes finding interest in her plain pink bedspread.

Natsu stood from the bed, and she watched him circle it until he was on the side he usually slept on. "Why didn't you just tell me, you weirdo! I could heat myself up more so all your aches go away!" He grinned, slipping under the covers.

Lucy sat ridged on the edge of the bed. This whole situation was too strange to be real. She must have fallen asleep writing or something. "Uhm…that's okay, you just being there helps a lot." She replied lamely.

"Wipe that weird look off your weird face and come over here. It's late, I'm tired, you're tired, so lets just go to sleep."

Finding no flaw in his argument, she shimmied her way under the covers. She made sure there was a little space between them so it wouldn't get awkward. Peering over at him, Lucy caught him giving her a heated stare.

"Goodnight." She whispered for lack of a better thing to say. Turning over on her side so her back faced him she switched the lamp on her bedside table off. As the room descended into complete darkness she felt Natsu shift on the other side of the bed. She stiffened when strong arms wrapped around her from both underneath and above her body. She felt his hot breath on her neck as his body temperature started to rise.

She couldn't help the content sigh that flitted from her mouth. It did feel really nice.

"My hands hold the most heat, where do you want them?" He asked in her ear, making her jerk against him. She pretended to not hear the groan he made because that would make this whole situation that much more awkward. She fumbled for his hands in the dark, a weird feeling swelling in her heart as she tried to justify her actions. The pain relief from the hot chocolate earlier was starting to fade. She wanted him to leave her alone so she could go to sleep after the restlessness from last night. She missed him and his heat. She was still having a weird dream after falling asleep writing.

Whatever the reason, her mind gave her the 'okay' to place his hands on her lower stomach. The effect was instantaneous, and she relaxed into his hold with another content sigh.

"Goodnight Lucy." He whispered to her, his face resting close to the back of his neck.

She smiled to herself. "Thanks for this."

Natsu didn't answer, and as she waited for a response, be began to snore. Pushing herself closer to him, as his heat was dispersing a bit now that he'd fallen asleep, she was a bit delighted and a bit embarrassed when his grip on her tightened.

She followed him to the dream world shortly after, and it was the best sleep she'd ever gotten with her monthly monster since forever. Even if she'd gone to bed fully clothed, jeans and all.

In the future, she foresaw a lot less early morning arguments about personal space, and a lot more peaceful bonding moments. She wasn't sure how this new…habit would change their relationship, or how long things would remain peaceful before someone caught them and blew the situation out of proportion.

She supposed time could only tell, but she'd enjoy every second like this with Natsu until then.