This was written for n-a-d-h-i-e on Tumblr who made the adorable picture that is the cover for this story.


Lucy sighed as she entered her apartment after a long job. Her muscles were sore, and she needed a bath. A pungent sweat and outdoors odor followed her like a cloud; it was gross. Her hair was grimy from not washing it in two days. First things first: clean up. A shower sounded like heaven. She was thankful her idiot teammates didn't follow her. It took a lot of screaming and a sound crack against Natsu's head for him to get it through his thick skull Lucy wanted time to herself. Despite that, a smile worked its way over her features as familiar coral hair and a bright confident smile filtered into her mind. She'd better be quick with her shower. She'd meet them at the guild for dinner. Lucy was ravenous. Anything and everything sounded delicious, so she had to hurry and fill her poor belly before she wasted away. She dared that jerk Happy to say something about her weight.

Grabbing a cute seafoam green dress she bought on a mission before this one and fresh undergarments, Lucy hummed to herself as she headed to the bathroom. The tired girl abandoned her shoes at the door. Lucy placed her clean clothes on the black-and-white marble counter. She turned on the shower and stripped out of her weathered clothes. Those would go have to in the trash.

Soon the warm shower billowed, and the blonde stepped in. The water hitting her body was like a much-needed massage. Her abdomen and her back hurt, but the jerk they fought sent her skidding across broken concrete. She rolled many times during her fifty-foot trip. Wendy had healed her wounds, but the young dragon slayer wasn't able to heal soreness yet. Lucy would have to deal with it. A sharp pain worked its way across the lower portion of her stomach. It lasted for a few seconds and dissipated. Nothing some ice cream wouldn't fix.

After finishing her shower, Lucy toweled off and pulled her damp hair up into a high ponytail. She was so excited to wear her dress. It was form fitting, but flared out at the bottom, making it fun to twirl in. It tied around her neck, and the back had a deep swoop that stopped right above the curve of her backside. She felt so pretty in it when she tried it on. After getting dressed and applying a light layer of lip gloss, the Celestial wizard was off to her guild. Her stomach wasn't being nice to her at all; it protested at her for missing lunch.

"Oh, be quiet, will you?" she muttered. "I promise I will eat in just a few minutes."

Soon, she was pushing open the doors of the guild hall. As usual, it was bustling with guild members having a good time. A warm smile crossed her features when she saw Natsu sitting on a bench with Happy, Wendy, and Carla. Erza was making her way over to them, bright-red hair filtering over her armored shoulders.

Lucy walked over to them. "Hey, guys! You didn't eat without me, did you?"

"Thought about it!" Natsu said with a smile on his face. "You take forever, Luc."

"I want some mackerel!" Happy exclaimed, hovering just over Natsu.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Is there a day you don't?!"

The blue Exceed thought for a moment. "Well yesterday I wanted trout, and I ate that!"

Lucy just shook her head and sat down. "So, what did you guys eat?"

Mira made beef stew," Wendy said. "It was delicious with rice."

It must have sounded good to her stomach as well because it growled loud enough for her friends to hear it. Lucy held her abdomen as her cheeks turned pink. "Sounds delicious!"

That nagging sharp pain rolled its way through her stomach, but like the last round, it only lasted a few seconds. Was there still internal damage? It couldn't have been that bad since the pain was tolerable. Lucy didn't want to bother Wendy. If it got worse, she'd ask her. For now, food was the top priority. Lucy spent the rest of the evening laughing and having a great time with her friends. She was living an amazing life. After dinner, Gray made them snow cones using his ice magic. This made Juvia ecstatic. That was until Lucy thanked him for it after Mira put watermelon flavoring on it. Then it became a battle of who loved Gray the most. Lucy just wanted to blurt out she already had feelings for a different mage, but she doubted that would have calmed the deluded woman.

After that, it was bedtime. Lucy slept great that night. The next morning, she woke up and stretched, scratched the back of her wild hair and yawned. Today great for a trip to the nail salon. Lucy was just about to get out of bed when she the same discomfort stabbed her, but this time, intense throbbing radiated through her pelvis. She groaned and sat up. She placed a hand on her forehead in irritation for not realizing what the cramps yesterday were. Lucy always had mild cramps the day before her period.

She usually took a potion to help with the pain, and if she drank it the day before her cycle, she wasn't miserable. She'd also eaten snow cones the night before. Cold food always made her cramps worse. Now that she was awake, the pain was horrible, radiating into her lower back and only stopping every few seconds just to return stronger. Lucy whimpered and got out of bed. Since it had slipped her mind, there was something every girl had gone through at least once glaring at her when she got up from her bed.

She gathered up all her soiled sheets and padded down the hall to throw them in the washer. She needed a hot bath after taking the potion. It would take a while to kick in when taken after her period started. Lucy gathered clean clothes and shuffled to the bathroom. She doubled over as another wave of pain tore at her abdomen.

"I hate being a girl sometimes," she whimpered.

The blonde made it to the bathroom and started the water in the tub. The hotter, the better. Lucy opened her medicine cabinet and pulled out a small vile. It was a little ironic that the liquid was crimson colored. The celestial mage took a sip, wincing at the bitter flavor. Looking back at the tub, she saw it was full and stripped out of her clothes to hop in. She was on a time limit. If she didn't want to clean up a mess, there could only be seconds between removing clothes and getting in the tub. Lucy eased her way into the hot water, exhaustion washing over her. Her eyes squinted closed, teeth gritting as she rode out the next shock wave. When it was over, she exhaled. Something warm like soup would help.

After soaking for about twenty minutes, Lucy cleaned up and got out of the tub. She dried off and got dressed, glad she wasn't out of feminine products. She dumped her soiled clothes next to the washer until her bedding finished. Instead of going to the kitchen, the uncomfortable girl headed back to bed. Lucy was miserable, bloated, and drained. Maybe when she woke up, her uterus would have stopped trying to destroy itself. Her mattress was bare, but she had two more comforters underneath her bed. The suffering female threw them on the bed and face planted, not bothering to get underneath them. She was dozing off to sleep when she heard her room door slam open.

"Why are you still sleeping?! We've got a job!"

Lucy didn't even look up. "I'll pass thanks." Her mattress dipped so with a deep sigh, Lucy looked over at her teammate. "I'm just not feeling that great Natsu."

The fire dragon slayer frowned. "How come you always don't feel good at least one week out of the month? I think you're just being a slacker!"

"You don't know anything!" Lucy shouted, turning her back to him. "Go away!"

"What's your problem?" Natsu questioned. "You're moodier than usual."

A comment like that would make her respond with a witty remark, but this time, it hurt her feelings. Was she a moody person? Did other people think the same thing? Were her friends talking about her moodiness behind her back? They didn't like her, did they? They tolerated her. Tears sprang to her eyes as she turned to Natsu.

"You don't think that, do you?" she asked, her voice quivering.

A shocked expression crossed his features. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that!"

"You don't like me do you Natsu?!" Lucy whined, tears spilling over her cheeks. "I'm always rude and snarky and-"

"Hey, what's gotten into you?!" These extreme changes in attitude confused Natsu. It was then a scent hit his sensitive nose. "Lucy, you're bleeding!"

Said girl's face turned the color of a tomato. "Oh my god! I must not have cleaned up enough. I'm getting in the shower!"

"Wait, what?" Natsu questioned scratching his head. "What is going on, Lucy?!"

"I'm on my period okay!"

There was an awkward silence between them after that. So quiet she could hear her heartbeat echoing in her ears. Could she embarrass herself any worse? Defeated, Lucy pulled the covers over her.

"Just go."

A heavy cramp wracked her body, and she whimpered. Her pulse sped up when a hand rested on her arm.

"You're in pain?"

"Yes," Lucy whispered. "My stomach hurts bad. The pain goes to my back."

Natsu scratched his head, cheeks tinting a little. "I think I can help."

"How?" Lucy asked, cinnamon orbs looking over her shoulder at him.

Natsu got underneath the covers with her. The warmth of his body was like a furnace and she welcomed it, but this was the first time their bodies contacted one another in such an intimate way. Lucy swallowed, unsure of his intentions.

"Lay on your back," he instructed.

"What are you going to do?"

"Just let me help okay?!" he snapped.

Lucy watched his features as he propped himself up on his elbow next to her. His hand snuck underneath the blanket and alarms rang in her brain.

"What the heck are you doing?!"

"I'm not doing nothin' crazy!"

Lucy didn't think he would, but she didn't like not knowing. Natsu continued to move his hand underneath the covers until he reached her stomach. "Where does it hurt?"

Lucy's cheeks were still red, but she slid her hand underneath the covers and moved his larger one to where her cramps were. "Um… right here."

Natsu reached underneath her soft cotton shirt and laid his hand across her abdomen. She tensed, not used to being touched like this by Natsu. His warm hand mimicked a heating pad. He moved his hand in a circular motion, putting gentle pressure on her stomach as he did so. Lucy sighed with content. She smiled up at Natsu, he wasn't looking at her. He was gazing down at the comforter, concentrated look on his face. Lucy couldn't help it; she reached up and ran slender fingers through his coral hair. It was silky, and that small gesture made his dark orbs lock with her own.

"This is very nice of you," Lucy whispered.

"Well I don't like to see you in pain," he answered. "You're kind of pitiful when you're hurting."

Lucy frowned. "Be happy you're a guy."

When a rough cramp caused her to pull her legs up and scrunch her face, Natsu increased the heat in his hand and held pressure in that spot until it faded. He sat up and pulled her into a sitting position. "You said your back hurt too right?"

Lucy nodded before hooking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "My lower back."

The dragon slayer placed his legs on the outsides of hers and pulled her into his shoulder. Lucy threw her legs over his right thigh and grasped his shirt, trying to ride out another cramp. His hand traveled to her lower back, and he rubbed it as well to soothe her. His sweet gesture reminded her why she was falling for Natsu. It was hard not to. She buried her head into his shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

"Thank you Natsu," she murmured right before a yawn took the rest of her words from her.

"Anytime Lucy," he responded, placing his chin on her forehead. "Ready for another job?!"

Lucy rolled her eyes. That was Natsu for you.