The Roommate

A NaLu Fan Fiction

Chapter 1

Ever since she could remember, there was nothing Lucy loved more than reading a good book in a nice hot bath. It calmed and relaxed her, and sent her into a different world to Earthland, with all of its crazy adventures and people included.

Once Lucy finished cleaning, reading and soaking, she would exit the bath and wrap a white, feather like towel around her body, hugging her curves and helping her support the relaxed feeling she held on to for dear life.

The normal routine would be to relax in her towel until she was dry enough to put on her pink cotton pyjamas, and after a pampering brush of her hair, she would crawl into bed, and would fall into a deep sleep with a refreshing after effect. However, tonight was much different.

She had barely had time to dry herself from the bath before a loud, dominant knocking came from her front door. She ran over, and opened it slightly, so she could see if wearing merely a towel was right for whoever the visitor may be. She first caught sight of the visitor's bright pink hair, closely followed by his tanned yet muscular chest. Both prominent features happened to be soaked, with the rest of him, for that matter.

Lucy swung her door fully open and with a sigh, looked to her visitor and said in a way that suggested this happened far too often, "Come on in, Natsu." The dragon slayer could barely fit through the door, due to his extra baggage, literally. He carried a bag on each shoulder, and another in his right hand, and after giving Lucy a smile to say "Thanks", forced himself through her all too small door.

The dragon slayer was welcomed by the wonderful and comforting scent that was Lucy. It was always a clean and inviting smell, and it never failed to put him at ease, regardless of their situation.

He dropped his bags next to the sofa with a heavy "thud", and then turned to Lucy, waiting for a bombardment of questions to drown him. However, the celestial mage simply gave him a helpless smile and murmured "what am I going to do with you, eh, Natsu?" She ran into the bathroom, and quickly reappeared with an identical towel to the one she still happened to be wearing, and tossed it to her dragon slayer best friend. "Now, off you go in the bath, you'll catch a cold if you don't get that rain water off you soon." It had only came to her realization that it was raining, due to Natsu being soaked in rain water, and the cracks of thunder that had only recently been introduced to the dark evening.

At hearing Lucy's order, Natsu smiled to himself. She's so cute when she gets worried over little things. Immediately after thinking of Lucy as cute, Natsu shook his head as if thinking of such a thing about his best friend was an absolute sin. "You know, Luce, I can just use my heat to dry myself off." Though, Lucy wasn't going to accept that. "No, Natsu. Go in the bath and then dry off properly, I'm not risking anything." So Natsu followed the blonde's orders, and later reappeared in her living room with nothing but a towel wrapped around his lower half. Lucy, already dressed in her cute, pink cotton pyjamas, was alarmed by his appearance, turning tomato red and turning the other way. I cannot see him like this! Sure, he has a great body, but still, he's my best friend! These other feelings don't matter! The female mage thought to herself. "NATSU!" She squealed. "Why haven't you got your clothes on!?" she questioned, still looking the other way. "Well, my clothes are wet, Luce. So I thought it would be wrong to put them back on, see? I'm not totally dumb" he beamed at her, who was still looking the other way. "Anyways, I have all my clothes in my bag, so I'll just go change into them." Lucy calmed, before realising that he mentioned that fact that he had all of his clothes with him. Thinking about it, why did he have those three large bags with him?

Something wasn't right, and Lucy couldn't stay quiet about it.

"N-Natsu?" She stuttered. "W-why do you have all your clothes with you? Why do you have those three large bags? What's wrong?" She asked, concern clearly overwhelming her voice. Natsu looked to the floor, and let out a defeated sigh. Something was definitely wrong. Natsu never sighed like that. Never. "Luce, I'll be honest, but please don't be mad with me." He whimpered, reminding Lucy of what Natsu probably would have been like as a boy. "Fine, I won't get mad." She said, feeling as though this was a conversation between an adult and her child. "Promise, Lucy?" He asked, only enhancing the immaturity within himself. "I promise."

"I..I got kicked out of my house. I mean, w-we did. Me and Happy." He looked out the window, unable to stare Lucy in the eyes. She would be disappointed in him. He just knew it. "What? How? Natsu, are you alright?" She asked. She couldn't even hide the worry she had. She cared about Natsu, and to see him so weak, so helpless. It killed her to see her favourite guy so upset. "W-well, Happy and I didn't make enough money from our last job to cover the rent, so, our landlord told us that until we could make the money…" his voice went quieter, and eventually, he mumbled "we're kicked out." Lucy gasped at the story. Yeah, she knew they weren't rich, but she didn't realise it was that bad. Though, in all honesty, she was just so glad Natsu was alright. Then it hit her. "Wait, where's Happy?" Natsu gave a small smile and simply replied with "he's at Fairy Hills with Charle and Wendy. Cats are allowed there, so don't worry, Lucy, he's safe." That did calm her, and apparently, it put Natsu at ease too, as he began to relax a little at the thought of Happy being safe, warm and well looked after. "But anyways, I should go, I'm gonna go out in the woods and find a spot to call home for the meantime." Natsu looked at Lucy's face, and noticed how worried and scared she looked for her best friend. He couldn't help but smile at how utterly adorable she was. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" he comforted her, and then gave her one of his signature smiles which caused Lucy's heart to melt every time, guaranteed. Lucy being herself, though, she wasn't going to allow that. After a while of sitting in thought, she noticed that Natsu was already getting up to leave her home, his bags in the same place on his body as when he arrived.

Without looking back, he began to say his farewells whilst making his exit. "Well, thanks for everything Lucy, I'll see you at the guild tomorrow, and we'll go on a job with a big reward, alright? Now don't you worry about-" he stopped talking after feeling a soft, moisturised hand clasp onto his free, rougher and much larger left hand. It was Lucy, and she was pulling him back. "Natsu, don't go. I'd worry about you so much, and I would never let you spend a night alone in the forest, dragon slayer or not." After a pause, she slowly began to smile. "In fact, I know just the place for you to stay until you get your house back…" Natsu's face lit up and he dropped his bags as he turned to Lucy, still grasping her hand.

"Where is it Lucy? Where can I stay!?" He was desperate to know the answer. Not only did he slightly dislike the idea of sleeping in the forest, he also didn't want to worry Lucy, so staying somewhere indoors would put them both at ease.

"Here." She beamed at Natsu, using her free hand to gesture her house. Natsu was taken by complete surprise, and even stepped back out of shock. "L-Luce, are you sure about this? Because I don't want to intrude. I mean, this is your house, and I'd feel so bad for-" but before he knew it, Lucy had a finger gently resting on his lips, signalling that it was her decision, and didn't wish to argue over it. "I'm sure Natsu. Hey, it'll be fun!" She laughed, and Natsu began to laugh too.

The two best friends laughed together, and Natsu even pulled her into a thank you hug, causing both team mates to blush wildly. How they were going to cope with living together if they couldn't even hug was a mystery which would only be decoded over time. How this would work out was something that would come next.