NEW STORY! IM SO MOTHER FRIGGIN PROUD! SO MANY FRIENDS ARE LOOKING ME UP! OH, THE TEARS. JKJKJK, BUT 4 REAL, I WNT TO THNK U GUYS, MY FRENDS FOR HLPIN ME OUT, AND SUPPORTING ME, AND U GUYS WHO IDK, BUT APPRECIATE ANYWAYS. SO, ENOUGH WITH THE WATER WORKS, STORY TIME!


LUCY'S POV:

I figured it out. You know, when I think about it, I think I always knew, I was just scared. I was scared of the chances I might have, of how low they might be because he loves her; because he loves Lisanna. He's never outright said it to anyone, but I know without him having to tell me because I know him.

I hoped, I wanted, I prayed to be in love with Gray, but only because it wouldn't be painful, because the rejection wouldn't be unbearable. I wanted to fall for him, and now, I actually wish I had, because then, life would have been much easier.

Today, I was going to go up to Gray and tell him I liked him as more than nakama. Today, I was supposed to kiss him and give him a hug. In one instant, in one single second, everything changed; and then, I couldn't lie to my heart anymore, no matter how desperately I wished I could.

"Boo!" Natsu had said as he tackled me to the floor. His lips had moved against my ear, and it had taken all I had in me to not visible shiver, even though on the inside I couldn't suppress it. My blush, was another story, though. That, I couldn't hold back, no matter what I tried.

"N-Natsu!" I had yelled at him, but it had little to no effect since I was stuttering.

That's when I realized it. That's when I realized I was in love with the pink haired dragon-slayer known as Natsu. I couldn't be in love with Gray. Gray had accidentally tackled me one and I blushed, but nothing like this! Hell, we even landed in a sexual position and I didn't even stutter!

So now, here I am. I'm sitting here at the bar, at my usual stool. It's been exactly 8 minutes since Natsu tackled me, since he helped me up, since he left to go talk to Lisanna.

I sigh and hear a voice say, "you can't keep doing this. You've got to tell him you love him."

I turn and see my best friend, Levy. I open my mouth to ask how she knew, since I never told anyone, even her, that I didn't really love Gray, but she raised a hand, and stopped me. "Lu-chan, I know you. Just because I could see that you were in love with Natsu and not Gray doesn't mean you did too. I'm your best friend, I knew from the beginning, but it wasn't my place to tell you."

I was at a loss for words. Levy knew me so well! Smiling sadly, but adoringly at the blue-haired mage who was like a sister to me, I said, "Levy, I'm sorry, I should have talked to—"

"you were confused," Levy says with a shrug.

"thank you," I say, deeply grateful for her understanding.

Levy put an arm around me and said, "you need to go home and think. I hope you tell him, but I won't pressure you. You need to make your own decision, I can't force your hand."

I have the most amazing best friend ever, I thought as I stood up.

"and Lu-chan," Levy calls out before I leave.

"yeah?" I ask turning around before I open the guild doors.

"Think about it, really think about it," Levy says, her voice nearly a plea. Giving her the firmest nod I can muster, I walk out the doors and hear home.

NATSU'S POV:

I watch as Lucy walks out of the guild with her brow furrowed in concentration. Her teeth are nibbling her plush, pink lips, and her hands are twitching, always moving and never still.

"ha-ha, Natsu," Lisanna says interrupting my thoughts.

Out of habit more than anything, I flash her a grin. Lisanna grins back and asks something, but I'm so lost in my thoughts, I have no idea what it is.

"yeah, sure," I say absentmindedly. She squeals and captures me in a hug. It feels awkward and wrong, so I stay limp, and quickly wriggle out of her arms.

"where's Lucy?" I ask. Immediately, the effect of my question is seen on Lisanna's face. Her expression tumbled from one of happiness to one of pure hurt and confusion.

"Natsu," Lisanna says slowly, "do you know what you just said yes to?"

"no," I answer truthfully, "I wasn't really listening, I was looking for Luce."

"oh," Lisanna says, her voice laced with hurt. She looks down, but even so I smell her salty tears.

"why? What did I agree to?" I ask, curiosity overpowering me.

"to date me."

Oh. Oooooh. That might be a problem if I want to tell Lucy I love her. How am I going to get myself out of this one? I wonder. Of course, I think as the solution strikes me, just act as dense as always.

"what's dating?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"forget it. We're just really good friends, right?" Lisanna asks, and even though her voice is tight with emotion, I can make out the silent hope in the word right.

And, even
though I already feel bad for hurting her, I grin and say, "right," because this is just something that has to be done.

"go find Lucy," is all she says before she runs off. Even in the far off distance, my sensitive ears could hear her sobs, and her silent, "I love you, Natsu."

LUCY'S POV:

"what do I do? What do I do? He loves Lisanna!" I mummer into the quiet silence of my home.

My heart jerks forward and stops at the mere thought of Natsu and Lisanna together. That's when it hits me. The painful, but right solution is to just leave them alone, my thoughts tell me as tears stream down my cheeks.

"that's it," I tell myself out loud, hoping that if I say the words out loud, they'll become less painful. "Natsu loves Lisanna and she loves him back. I should just quit being selfish and let them be happy if I truly love him. I should just let him go."

"what if I'm happy with you?" a voice calls out from my window.

The blood in my veins goes cold and I gasp. Practically flying off my bed, I back away from the window until my back meets the bathroom door. Pink hair emerges from my window, and the tears continue to fall, making my attempts to stop them vain.

"you haven't answered my question, Luce. What if I'm happy with you?" Nastu asks, getting off the bed and heading towards me. I try to get my hands to work, to turn the knob next to me, but I can't and I know that honestly, I don't want to.

I open my mouth; I try to form words, but with his breath mingling with mine, my brain cells are too frazzled.

"so?" Natsu asks, his face serious, and showing no signs of joking.

"i…I," I stumbled, searching for the words that I knew wouldn't come.

Suddenly, my mouth is crushedby his lips and my body is being pulled into an , I realize he doesn't know what he's doing, and I smirk against his lips thinking, of course, Natsu's never kissed anyone before. I loop my arms around his neck and gently move my lips against he catches on, I insert my tongue into his mouth, and twirl it, until, once again, he catches on, and fights for dominance. Natsu tasted like….. like strong alcohol that burns and entices you all at once. It's indescribable, and in that one moment, I had never been more grateful that dragonslayers (or just Natsu period) never do anything half-assed.

I pull away because suddenly reality crashes down upon me, and I knw that no matter how good the moment is, happily ever afters never last forever.

"we can't do this….." I say, making hand motions inbetween us, "not if you love Lisanna."

Natsu sighed looking exhausperated and said, "but I don't love her! Not like I love you! I kissed you, not her! And then you say I'm the dense one!"

"that doesn't mean you love someone! Loke must kiss a thousand girls, but that doesn't mean he loves all of them!" I yell right back, because even though he just said he loves me-

Holy shit.

Natsu just said he loves me! He loves me! He- wait. Why did he ditch me for Lisanna then?

"damn it Luce! What do you need me to do? Shout it out to the whole guild?" natsu asks me, a growl hidden deep within his words, telling me that I didn't need to ask, he would do it anyhow.

"that would be nice," I say with a sugar-coated voice, "but even nicer would be if you told me why you ditched me for Lisanna! What was I, a replacement?"

"she was my best friend! And the she freaking died! She came back from the dead, Lucy! My best friend, whom everyone, including me, thought was dead came back from Edolas after years. What did you expect me to do? I missed her like crazy!"

I didn't need a mirror to see the hurt and pain that must be showing on my face. The tears that had stopped before no ran down my face stronger than ever.

"Luce, i—" Natsu started, clearly realizing what he just said, but I cut him off.

"Your best friend, huh?" my voice was laced with every emotion that was pent up inside of me. It was the pain, anger, hurt, angst, love, and venom all rolled into one. "Well, if you missed her like crazy, then you should go after her. Go, Natsu! After all, I'm just the sad little rich girl who ran away from home. I'm just the weakest link in Team Natsu. I'm just the girl who has almost gotten the guild killed. But, after all, let's not forget everyone's favorite reason for hating me; I'm just the girl that replaced Lisanna and was thrown away the minute she got ba—"

"STOP!" Natsu roared. He looked furious, but I wasn't scared of him, I was in too much pain to care about what he thought.

"Your telling me to stop? Natsu take a moment to look at what you've done. You ditch me for Lisanna, then kissed me, next you tell me you love me, and for your final act you tell me your crazy about Lisanna. I don't know what to think anymore. Playing someone is not something that the Natsu I love would ever do, so my only wquestion remaining is who are you?"

Suddenly, Natsu face morphed from one of fury, to one of hurt, that portayed exactly how I was feeling. "what do you mean who am i? I'm Natsu. I'm the same guy you just told me you love."

"no," I say with a sneer, "the Natsu I love would never ditch me. The Natsu I love woud never hurt me or make me cry."

Natsu suddenly looks down on the floor and I see something I thought I would never see on his face. Tears. "ok. I'm sorry. Maybe i—"

I cut him off right there. Tears or no tears, he needs to hear what I have to say. "Maybe?! Natsum it's been on week since Lisanna came back, and let me ask you this: how long has it been since we've gone on a mission? Since before Edolas Natsu! How long has it been since we had a conversation? One that was over 5 words, might I add! Since before Lisanna! So no, let me correct you, I'm sorry that I wasn't a good enough replacement. I'm sorry that I got attached, but most of all, I'm sorry that I fell in love with someone else's best friend."

"No!" Natsu growls, "you don't get it!"

"I don't get it?" I ask. I'm astonished. After all this, he has the nerve to say—

"no, you don't. Lisanna WAS my best friend. I MISSED her, but I didn't love her like that," Natsu tells me before he pulls me close, and whispers in my ear, "and above all, don't ever think you were a replacement for Lisanna! You are Lucy, the girl I love, the girl who OUR family loves, and the girl wh stole everybody's hearts. You are a member of Team Natsu; you are the glue that keeps us together, and you can give Erza's death glare a run for its money when you're angry. You are not a rich girl who ran away; you were a broken girl who needed love because your father didn't give you any. You came to Fairy Tail to become a mage, and in the process, you gained a family. You, are Lucy Heartfilia, and you are the girl that managed to steal the Salamander's heart."

I pull out of the embrace and sigh, all of my previous anger gone. "Natsu, I know what I want, just like I know who I am." I pause before continuing, running a hair through my blonde locks. "I want… I want us. I want you. But right now, the wuestion is what—or more like who, do you want?"

The room is covered in a defeaning silence that seems to drown us. It feels like 15 minutes have passed, but

I know it's only been about 5 seconds. He's not gonna answer, a little voice in the back of my mind says. Shut up! I tell it, he says he loves me! But he also said he was crazy about Lisanna, the pestering voice shoots back.

Finally, the silence is too much, and I head towards the door. He wants Lisanna, I tell myself. He wants her, but he wants to let me down easy, my thoughts tell me. Knowing that I'm right only makes my heart ache more, and my legs run faster towards the door, my desperation to leave my own home now greater than ever. It's not until I'm opening the door to exit when I hear Natsu's answer, and all the air is rushed out of my body. His voice is so soft, I almost don't hear it, but in the loud silence of this room, it froze me, the plead in his voice clear. "you."

I'm still too shocked to move when I hear Natsu stand from behind me to walk towards me. Numbly, I feel my hand being taken off the door knob, and the door that was only open a crack closing. I hear Natsu breathing, his breath once again being mingled with mine.

"are you sure?" a quiet voice asks. "I don't want my heart to be torn to pieces, Natsu. If we do this, then we have to make it work, because I don't think I could handle losing you." It's me. I'm the one talking. Somehow, my mouth is moving, and I'm able to talk again. Slowly but surely, I turn towards Natsu, only then taking in how close we are.

His rough, warm hands look inviting, and I want them to hold me. His onyx colored eyes are the only ones I want undressing me. His glistening, tan sking is the only skin I want to feel against mine. His lips, enticing and addicting, are all I want to taste. And when thinking all this I know. I know without a doubt, that even I he's not sure, I will somehow make him sure, because I love him, and because my forever has to be with him and only him. It's because I know this that I lean in. maybe it was because I leaned in or because of everything we've been throug, but if I'm truly honest, then I'll tell you I don't care, his answer took me up to heaven and left me there. "Yeah, I'm sure."

And then our lips finally met. Last time was amazing, but this time….. this time was perfect. This time, when we kissed we weren't scared of rejection because I knew he loved me just as he knew I loved him. This time, we were desperate for each other, each one begging the other to never let go. Without breaking our kiss, he picked me up, and sat down on the couch, with me in his lap. His hands were cupping my face, and my hands were tangled deep in his pink locks, pulling us closer, and closer. The need for oxygen was becoming greater, but I needed him just as much, if not more. So, it was because of this reason that it wasn't until my lungs were about to burst that I pulled away. When I pulled away, I noticed that I wasn't the only one in need for oxygen. We both panting harshly and I had to force myslef under control because I was about to pull Natsu back to me.

Finally when our breathing returned to normal, I leaned my forhead against his.

"hey Luce?"

"hm?" was my only response, because I was way too comfortable to move.

"I'm sorry," Natsu said, and I opened an eye. "you were right. I shouldn't hav left your side just because Lisanna was back."

I sighed and pulled away—for a moment, anyways. "Natsu, I'm sorry too. You hadn't seen Lisannna in years, I shouldn't have overreacted. I let the jealousy get the best of me, well, that, and I was being selfish too. I wanted you all to myself," I confessed.

"jealous, huh?" Natsu teased, but I silenced his lips with a kiss.

I guess some happily ever after's do last forever.


OK, SO GOOD? I KNOW I NEED TO UPDATE MY CHPTR STORY, BUT REMINDER, IM AT THE LIBRARY? ANTIWAYS, IM GETTING IT LIKE IN A CUPLE OF DAYS SO YAY! :) LUV YA'LL! R&R/F&F?