A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've posted and for that, I'm terribly sorry. But, I am back and ready to contribute to the fandom again! With all the craziness that has been the last few Fairy Tail chapters, I've gotten nothing but inspiration to write again. And with that, I present to you all my newest story: From Across the Hall!

I am so excited for this story and excited to share it with all of you! I have outline pretty much the entire story and while the chapters do need to be written out, the plot and basis of the story has been established. I have a whole folder dedicated to this story! It's definitely going to be longer than Fallen Star. Fallen Star was shorter in chapters but each chapter had a significant length to it. From Across the Hall will have shorter chapters, but the length of the story will be longer.

So without stalling any further, I do not own Fairy Tail.

Enjoy everyone!

From Across the Hall

-O-

Chapter 1: It Starts with Hello

Nothing irritated Natsu Dragneel more than disturbance in his sleep.

It was Saturday morning and he could hear the construction chirping away like the notice on his apartment door said it would. Groaning into his pillow, he buried his head deeper into the depths of his sanctuary, hoping that the noise would magically disappear.

Unfortunately, it only seemed to grow louder.

With no other choice, Natsu begrudgingly pulled himself out of bed and headed towards the bathroom in his small apartment space. Looking into the mirror, the black bags were heavy under his onyx eyes and his abnormal pink hair was a disheveled mess.

But that was the aftermath of battling a raging fire all night long.

The strong scent of smoke and ash was still reminiscent as it engulfed his nostrils. He took a sniff at his body and realized that he reeked of the burning fire from the night before.

A shower would do well for him.

Jumping into the steaming hot water, he could feel the filth washing away from his skin. He winced slightly as the water stung at the slight burn on his hand. Trying to play hero always had a cost and last night, it was his hand.

He made a mental note to wrap it up once he was done with his shower.

Once out of the shower, there was a gnarl at his stomach. That was enough of an indication for breakfast. Knowing he was out of groceries, his mind had already decided where his choice of breakfast would be.

Slipping into a light sweater and some old worn out jeans, he made his way out of his apartment, internally cursing the construction that disturbed his slumber.

Before he made his way over towards Lemon and 4th, Natsu casted a glance over towards the vacant apartment.

After living here for more than a year, apartment 4B still had not been occupied.

He eyed the door for a moment before shrugging it off as his mind wandered aimlessly to the chocolate chip waffles that were calling his name.

"Good morning, Natsu."

At the call of his name, Natsu with shrugged shoulders turned to Yajima, the landlord of his apartment complex.

"Mornin'." he called out, putting a hand to his mouth as a yawn came out. Geeze, why did their need to be so much construction this morning?

"You doing alright, son?" Yajima asked as Natsu walked by with his hands in his pocket and a tired expression plastered on his face.

"Tell me old man…" the pink haired boy looked at him unamused. "Why the hell is there so much damn construction so early in the morning? Some people, like me, really enjoy their sleep."

The old landlord blinked once, but not before blowing out the smoke from the pipe in his mouth. He scratched his head and looked at Natsu with an unreadable gaze.

"This is out of my hands. I've let every patron in this apartment complex aware of the situation. Your own doing if you decide to sleep here knowing that the work next door was going to begin at 8am."

Frowning, Natsu pursed his lips. "The hell? This is where I live! Where am I supposed to go after work? That defeats the whole purpose of living here!"

Yajima shrugged. "You young folk and your demands to have whatever it is you please."

Already in a horrid mood, Natsu decided that Yajima was going to continue angering him. Choosing to take the higher route, he grumbled a goodbye and made his way towards Fairy Diner.

He could practically smell Mira's delicious Fairy Platter.

When the doors of Fairy Diner came into view, his grin grew tremendously. Food, more often than not, put him in a better mood. And he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into Mira's famous pancakes.

As he entered, he saw people coming out the door, which was a usual for morning brunch. Recognizing familiar faces, he saw longtime friends running around the restaurant as they attended to their tables. Being the regular he was, Natsu went over to his bar seat and spotted the familiar snow white haired maiden that always served up his favorite dish.

"Yo, Natsu."

At the sound of his name, called man turned to find a dark haired man with dark colored eyes taking the seat next to him.

"You gotta sit here, ice princess?" He grumbled as he anxiously waited on Mira.

The dark haired man glared at him. "You have a problem with that, flame brain?"

"Yeah, you're ruinin' my appetite!" He countered, growling with his canine teeth.

"I'll ruin that face of yours if you keep talkin'!"

"Bring it on, you damn stripper!"

Both men jumped from their seats and locked foreheads with one another, glares embedded deep on their foreheads. Not a moment later, they were rolling around on the floor, throwing punches at one another, knocking tables and people over.

"Oi! Watch it, you two!"

"Why the hell are you guys fighting so damn early?!"

"Can it, the two of you!"

Random voices that were used to the young men's antics shouted as familiar faces were accustomed to the routine of Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster.

"Oh boy. They sure are starting early." A soft, tender voice behind the bar counter said. She giggled, ringing in the orders for both the young men she had known for some time now.

"They're a pain in my ass." Another voice joined the fray as he stepped out of the back door behind the bar.

"Why don't you stop them, dear? Erza isn't here so you know it falls on you to do so." The man glared at the two men rolling on the floor and scowled.

Laxus Dreyar, owner of the Fairy Tail Diner sighed in annoyance as he uncrossed his arms.

"Why do I always have to clean up their damn messes?"

The man sauntered over to the two on the floor and reached down for them, grabbing them both by their collars. Their fighting and screaming of obscenities stopped almost immediately.

"Can the both of you stop being children for 5 damn minutes. I have a restaurant full of people to feed and I can't do that when the both of you are rolling around the floor like 3 year old toddlers!"

Natsu and his dark haired companion known as Gray both pouted in embarrassment as scattered giggles circled the room. They both refused to look at one another as Laxus dragged them back to their bar seats. Mira giggled as she looked at both with a remorseful smile.

"I don't want to hear it from either of you for the rest of the morning or I will ban you from entering inside these doors, understand? Natsu? Gray?" Laxus was eyeing them carefully, both men refusing to make eye contact with him. He sighed roughly and left towards the back.

"Tch. Stupid Laxus." Natsu muttered as he put a chin to his palm.

"You're obviously in a shit mood. Who pissed in your cereal this morning?" The dark haired man sitting next to Natsu asked.

Gray Fullbuster was a longtime friend of his. Friend was putting it nicely. He and Gray had always been at odds since the day the first met. They were polar opposites and disagreed on almost everything. Despite the vast differences in personality, they were best friends who relied on one another when things went south.

"They're knocking down the building next door to my apartment complex and woke me up. I only got around three hours of sleep because of that fire down on Lemon Ave last night."

Gray nodded his head, understanding Natsu's source of frustration. He was there last night as well as his rig was called in to transfer some civilians with smoke inhalation to the hospital. The life of a paramedic was just as erratic and dangerous of that as a fireman.

"That sounds shitty. Sorry man."

Mirajane Strauss giggled to herself as she watched the two boys she had grown up with conversing with one another. It was rare when they weren't bickering or going back and forth at each other. But, she knew that even though they had such polar opposite personalities, the two we're great friends.

"Thanks for ruining my meal, ya damn stripper." Natsu smirked as he laid money out on the table for Mira. "Thanks for the breakfast as usual, Mira!"

Mira waved goodbye with a candid smile

"To hell with ya, you damn pyro!" Gray shouted out in retribution, but Natsu paid no him no heed. He merely smirked and went on with his day.

His day consisted of heading back to the fire station, where he lounged around in the break room all day and got some much needed sleep that he was highly anticipating.

"Are you just going to hang around here all day, Dragneel?"

Natsu opened an eye and saw his partner and crime Haru Glory smirking down at him with that stupid grin of his as his flap jacket was hanging over his shoulder.

"I'm trying to sleep, asshole. Leave me alone." Natsu turned over on his side away from the silver haired jerk who was disturbing his sleep. Yes. Sleep. Sleep was calling his name.

"You know, I am just trying to help you out here. If boss man sees ya sleeping here, he's going to make you work."

Ugh, why him? All he wanted to do was get some damn sleep!

But Haru was right. If their captain saw him sleeping on his day off in the break room, he'd probably be patrolling for the rest of the night!

Nah uh! No way! He deserved a night off after that insane fire last night.

"I hate you." Natsu grumbled and Haru grinned.

"Why the hell are you here anyway? Isn't today your day off too? Didn't you have a date with Elie or something like that?" He asked as he pushed himself off the couch.

At the mention of his partner's girlfriend, he pouted, a sulk forming on his lips.

"Julia came over today and demanded to take Elie out since apparently I'm hogging her all to myself – what does that even mean!? Julia knows she's more than welcomed to come over! Let does all the damn time!"

Natsu laughed as Haru complained about the lack of quality time with his girlfriend.

"So here I am, picking up an extra shift because I have nothing better to do than save lives and stop raging fires from destroying the city."

Natsu snorted. "You make it sound like it's no big deal."

"Will you just go along with it?!" Another smirk from Natsu and Haru sighed, muttering an obscenity under his breath. "I could really use some support here, man!"

"You live with Elie, you idiot! You get to see her all the time. So what if her friends want to visit her too?" But that wasn't a satisfying answer for Haru as he shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but I hardly see her these days. She's teaching during the day and I'm sleeping. Then I'm out on patrol all night while she's sleeping. With our schedules, it's just been tough to get some quality time with one another."

Haru sighed again and Natsu rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't know what to say to his partner. Having been in only one relationship – one that was rather short to say – Natsu definitely wasn't the love guru. He was the last person to get advice from. And Haru really liked Elie. That guy always went over the top for her, worshipping the ground she walked on. Haru wouldn't shut up about her. The guy was always showing her off.

But, Natsu couldn't say he wasn't envious.

Even if Haru was a love struck fool, he was happy.

And that was something that the salmon haired man couldn't take away from him.

"I'm sure you guys will work it out." Yup, that's all he could offer without giving him some terrible advice that would result in a break up.

A shiver went down his spine. Haru was already a mess with Elie. He didn't want to imagine what Haru would be like without her.

BRRRIIINNNNGGGGG.

Hands immediately shot to his ears as that damn shrilling alarm went off in the station. Natsu had been working here for two years already and he could never get over that damn bell. It made his heart stop on more than several occasions.

The break room moved to chaos as men form their respective units began to scream and shout, gear began flying around, and individuals shoving others out of the way.

"Well, duty calls. See ya later, man!"

Natsu nodded as Haru threw on his flap jacket and ran down the steps. No, they did not have those damn poles. Wherever that stupid stereotype came from, Natsu wished it would disappear. People always mocked and teased him- the damn stripper would actually! About sliding down the pole to get to their damn trucks. That was not a thing. They use the stairs and half the time, fire stations are only first leveled buildings now anyway!

Tch, damn ice princess.

He watched as his colleagues, his friends, rode out onto the street, the shrill alarm of the siren echoing throughout the neighborhood into the busy streets.

The life of a firefighter was never a dull one, that was absolute.

Eye lids suddenly felt heavy as drowsiness began to overcome him. Sleep sounded so damn good right now, but damn Yajima for not telling him that the apartments next to him were being torn down. Maybe if he was tired enough, he would just fall asleep and not even hear the bulldozing of the building right next to him.

Fat chance of that.

So what was he to do now?

He grinned as the answer came easy to him. He grabbed his keys off the table in the break room and headed out the station as excitement filled him.

It was time to pay visit to an old friend.

-O-

"STOP RUNNING YOU BRATS."

"Run! It's the old geezer!"

Three kids went running past him as silly, but terrified grins were evident on their young faces. Natsu turned to follow the kids running down the hall to their class as they screamed and cheered with adrenaline. A smirked formed at the corners of his mouth.

"They are no better than you were at their age."

"They're good, I'll give you that. But, no one was better at causing havoc then the infamous Natsu Dragneel."

Natsu turned to find the headmaster of Fairy Tail Academy heaving slightly as an annoyed glare was etched on his brows.

The headmaster scoffed, an amused chuckled escaping his old lips. He turned his gaze up towards Natsu and shook his head.

"An enigma you were indeed, Natsu Dragneel. Indeed, you were." Makarov Dreyar, one of the founders of Fairy Tail Academy reminisced as the days of Natsu and co rummaged through his mind.

The headmaster gestured for Natsu to follow as they paved down the halls that Natsu once ruled. Memories were flooding of his academy days and he couldn't help but smirk. His class was a rowdy bunch alright. The amount of damages and expenses they cost the school was devastating. The amount of trouble they often found themselves in was even worse.

"So what brings you here, boy?" Natsu shrugged his shoulders.

"it's my day off. So I figured I'd stop by FT and say hello."

Makarov hummed lightly as the children filed their ways into their classrooms. "You have nothing better to do, is that what I'm hearing?"

Natsu cringed, caught red handed by his former headmaster. The older Dreyar chuckled slightly, knowing that he was under the right impression. When they walked into the staff building, the heavily respected headmaster was greeted by the numerous amount of administration working.

It was sad to say, but Natsu recognized most of the folk who worked up front.

Needless to say, Natsu was a frequent visitor to the admin office. He could still see his special chair lodged in the corner by the receptionist's desk. Between him and the ice princess, they had given the front office a run for their money indefinitely.

"My most frequent visitor to date. That hasn't changed in the slightest."

There were random chuckles and giggles throughout the office and Natsu's cheeks burned. Yeah, so what he was a mischievous child? And he was in the headmaster's office more times than he could possibly count?

"Yeah, well this kids can't hold a candle to the infamous Natsu Dragneel. It's all child's play to me."

"I'm not sure that is something you want to gloat about, boy. If I recall correctly, it was on my good word that you were able to enlist into the fire academy. With that infamous record of yours, other applicants would have been denied instantly."

Natsu clicked his tongue as Makarov's comment was followed by a hoarse laugh.

It was true that Makarov's good word was the reason he was allowed into the fire academy. Had it been solely on the merits of Natsu's personality and background, the pink haired man would not be a firefighter at this day. Causing a lot of trouble as a kid, he found himself always being scolded by either the headmaster of Fairy Tail or their student body president and his surrogate sister, Erza Scarlet.

Had it not been for those two, Natsu could have ended up in worst places that didn't involve being woken up at 7am in the morning due to construction work. He owed his life to the old man in front of him. Makarov Dreyar was not his grandfather by birth, not by a long shot. But, it was the closest that Natsu had gotten one. If it wasn't for his guidance throughout the years, he would probably be on the other side of town, having to worry about his next fix or his next buy out.

"Yeah, well, I'm making a decent living for myself now." Natsu grinned and threw his hands behind his head.

Makarov smiled. "Yes, you are."

"Oh, Master Makarov! The backorder of uniforms has arrived! If you could sign off on them?" A slender, busty woman handed the older man a chart and Natsu cocked his head. This woman had looked oddly familiar.

"Oh, right. Those damn things. Give it here."

"Thank you sir!" The slender woman with dark, raven hair turned towards him and smiled. "Hi there, Natsu. Long time no see!" She turned on her heel and stalked away.

Now he was confused.

"Say, since you have nothing better to do on your day off. Help this poor man and carry those boxes to the storage room, will you? You do remember where the storage room is, don't you?"

"Oh yeah! Use me for your labor work, ya old geezer!" Was his initial reaction, but that was followed with a pink hue. "And of course I remember where the storage room is!"

The storage room was an infamous hiding place where intimacy came more than once. One would think that they would all learn not to go into the storage room for their private moments. But, that didn't stop half the student population. It was almost tradition to use the storage room at least once while at Fairy Tail Academy.

Natsu could recall his storage room incident and it wasn't one he was particularly fond of.

The old man merely laughed as he waved off Natsu. "Come back here when you're done. It shouldn't take you to long to finish!" And with that, the longtime headmaster of Fairy Tail Academy disappeared into his office room.

Natsu shoved his hands in his pockets with a sour look crossed on his face while muttering incoherencies under his breath.

Stupid old man.

-O-

There was a sigh of relief that escaped his lips when his apartment complex came into view. Natsu could not be any happier when the silence reached his ears and the construction company had seized their work for the night. After a long day of unexpected physical work, he was ready to call it a day.

He did after all have a shift bright and early in the morning. His first day shift in almost 4 months. Natsu wouldn't complain though. Those long nights took a toll on not only his physical health, but his mental health. Lack of sleep and his constant toss and turning had him looking like the walking dead.

When the elevator stopped on his floor, Natsu practically ran to his room without seeming so desperate. As he searched for his keys, they of course fell from his hands and onto the floor. Groaning, he knelt and grabbed them, only to come face to face with a loiter of brown boxes in front of him.

Wait, what?

There were boxes stacked outside the apartment across the hall from him.

That was… different.

When Natsu noticed the boxes outside of apartment 4B, he almost took them for mistake as trash. Because no one lived in 4B. No one had lived there for the past year. Every so often, a couple of teenagers would try and break into the apartment, have their fun, and leave knowing that no one lived there. Every so often, people would break in and take shelter from the cold or from life because it was open to just about everyone.

So when Natsu noticed the stacked boxes outside the door, he was perplexed.

"Hey Mister?" broken from his thoughts by a tiny voice, Natsu shifted his gaze from the door to his surrounding area. His dark eyes went wide.

"Why is your hair pink? Pink is a girl color, duh."

"Allison!" the shrieking came from a much older blonde who came running at the small girl with her hands full of bags. She profusely apologized as she bent down and scooped what he assumed was her daughter in her hands. "I apologize for my daughter's rude comment. She has a habit of saying things, even when she knows she shouldn't." Natsu chuckled as he watched what possibly was his new neighbor gaze down at her daughter with a look of disapproval.

"But mommy! He has pink hair!" Natsu couldn't help but laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. What a cheeky kid, he thought.

"Allison Heartfilia." The mother scolded, and the child stopped the next words from leaving her tiny, little mouth.

"No worries, now. It is strange, isn't it?" The pink haired man winked at the child and she immediately blushed, hiding in her mother's shirt. The mother sighed with frustration as she fumbled with the bags in her hands.

"Well I do apologize again… umm…?"

He smiled, showcasing his pearly white canines.

"Natsu Dragneel."

The blonde giggled slightly, smiling at him with a look of amusement. "Lucy Heartfilia. And my daughter Allison." Natsu waved with a grin and she hid her face in her mother's shirt again. "Sorry again for her. She's a handful."

"All kids usually are." He certainly was.

They both laughed in unison.

Her smile was really pretty.

Hell, she was really pretty.

"Have a good night, Mr. Dragneel." She called out to him and Natsu shook his head.

"Call me Natsu. Mr. Dragneel makes me feel old." The pretty blonde, Lucy, set her child down as she struggled to unlock the door with all those bags in her hands. He should help her, shouldn't he?

"Right. Call me, Lucy." She unlocked her door. Bummer, he wasn't fast enough.

"Alright. Good night, Lucy."

With that, his pretty, blonde next door neighbor ushered her child into the door. She looked back and smiled at him before locking the apartment door behind her. Natsu couldn't stop the grin from spreading on his lips as he looked at the door of apartment 4B.

Lucy Heartfilia, huh?

A/N: If you are a Hiro Mashima fan, then you probably have noticed that some of our dear old friends from Rave Master our joining us in this journey. Yes, Haru Glory and some of the cast of Rave Master will be in this! While they may appear in this story, this is not a cross over between the Fairy Tail manga and Rave Master. This still very much focusing on Fairy Tail and our favorite mages.

Now, I hope you liked the first chapter! I won't make this author's note too long as my studies await for I am a senior at the university and have lots to do! Let me know what you think! Reviews and comments are always appreciated!

Until next time!

- Dark Waffle