Lucy blinked twice, eyebrows furrowing together as she tried to refocus on her book. Her dimly lit apartment was quiet besides the humming fridge and the occasional murmur of voices from her neighbors. She squiggled deeper into her fuzzy blanket and read the same sentence for the fourth time. Sighing softly, she dog-eared the page, despite Levy's scolding in the back of her mind, and set the book on the floor, leaving her arm to dangle over the side of the couch.

A minute—or maybe ten—passed as she rested her eyes, drifting through the purgatory between sleep and wakefulness. A light rapping from her window across the room stirred her back to life, but her heavy body would not budge. The tapping grew heavier and more insistent, and she huffed before sluggishly pushing herself off the couch.

Looking towards her window, Lucy tensed slightly when she saw the dark figure behind the glass. She would never get used to that, no matter how many times he showed up. But not a split second later, a car passed by, and the soft headlights illuminated a scruffy shade of pink—sorry, salmon.

"You can come in, Natsu."

The dark could not hide his fanged smirk, and the window slid open as he slipped into her apartment. Noiselessly, he walked over to where she half-lay on the couch, cheek resting on her arm. She grumbled as he ruffled her hair, eyes twinkling mischievously. "I told you you're always welcome, why do you have to hear it every time?"

His smile hadn't wavered since he came in, and it was starting to wear on her, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly as he said, "You know it doesn't work that way, Luce. What are you doing up this late?"

She blinked lazily as she muttered, "T's not like you wouldn't have woken me up anyways." Her eyes followed his movements as he knelt down to pick up her novel.

He turned it around and ignored her comment, remarking softly, "Jane Eyre, huh? Charlotte was nice lady. Little quiet, though."

That got her attention. Her eyebrows shot to the top of her head as she exclaimed, "Natsu! I thought you said you were only 22!"

He laughed loudly and set the book back on the floor before rubbing his hands down his face. "Ooohhh Lucy, you're too easy." His laughter was reduced to chuckles as he watched her expression morph from confused to embarrassed to annoyed. "Oh, come on. Don't give me that look."

She struggled to keep her scowl, but broke under the weight of those green eyes, almost catlike in the dark room. "Whatever. I know you're hungry, so let's get this over with. And we're doing it in the bathroom this time, because I haven't been able to get the blood stains out of my carpet from Wednesday." She kicked the blanket off of her legs, but stilled when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Lucy looked up to see Natsu, who seemed almost somber, to her surprise. "You know you don't… have to do this, right?"

Her face immediately softened, and she reached up to rest her hand on his. "I want to." He stared at her with an unreadable expression, and she felt her cheeks warm as she averted her gaze and said, "Bathroom. Now."

Lifting herself off the couch, she made it all but two steps before her head swam and vision deserted her for darkness. She moaned softly as she felt the world tilt from its axis, barely registering Natsu's voice. "Lucy, what—"

She pitched forward when her knees wobbled, but didn't make it very far since a pair of strong arms caught her. Her shaking hands lay on his stable chest, and she focused on breathing deeply while blinking rapidly. She felt his heartbeat against her head, and after a few seconds her vision returned, albeit fuzzier than before.

With a deep breath, she gently pushed away, but he did not let go of her. She blinked a few more times to focus on his face, which was set in a thoughtful scowl. "Lucy, what did you eat today?"

Her eyebrows drew together as she struggled to answer the question. "Umm… I think… Oh! I had cereal at noon."

His gaze reminded her of a scolding mother. "Lucy! That was over—" he glanced at her microwave clock, "twelve hours ago!" His eyes widened, then narrowed in accusation. "And you were gonna let me drink your blood?!"

She flinched at his tone, despite feeling safe in his arms. "You don't take that much. I can handle it," she mumbled.

Natsu was silent again, and she took the opportunity to admire how well he pulled off that scarf of his. And then she wondered how quickly he could pull off that scarf—wait, vampires couldn't read minds, right? She realized belatedly that he was still staring at her, and something in his eyes flashed and she thought, oh God he can. She watched, transfixed, as his fangs grew ever so slightly, her heart racing when he cupped the side of her neck, smoothing away her hair. His breath warmed her neck, and she held her own in anticipation. Lucy closed her eyes, ready for those fangs to pierce her neck, when she felt a sloppy kiss instead that ended with a smack.

Her eyes flew open and she gasped as she faced the grinning vampire. "Natsu!" was all she could yell before he gently pushed her back on the couch and headed for the kitchen. Lucy was glad he had turned around, since her cheeks were on fire. She tenderly wiped away the saliva (gross) and tried to ignore the frantic beating of her heart. Besides, it wasn't the first time he kissed her there. But usually he feeds first, the back of her mind whispered. She used to think he did so to clean up the bite, but now she wasn't so sure.

He returned holding a bag of pretzels and a glass. "Orange juice!" he said, in response to her unspoken question. Placing them on the coffee table in front of her, he continued, "Man, if I could, I'd have this stuff every day. Start with these, and I'll bring you back something else soon." His tone was light, but she knew that wasn't a suggestion, so she didn't say anything.

Instead, she watched with curiosity as Natsu grabbed some pots, spaghetti, butter and salt. But wait, was that—

"Garlic?" Natsu asked, looking over his shoulder. She nodded numbly, and he set it on the counter before she sputtered.

"Wait, you can touch garlic? Isn't that, like, your kryptonite?"

Adjusting the oven to boil the water, he reached for the butter and laughed. "Geez, Luce, you can't believe everything you read on the internet. Though I appreciate the comparison to Superman. I am pretty awesome."

Choosing to ignore the Superman comment, she grabbed a handful of pretzels and replied, "Then why do I need to invite you into my apartment every time?"

He turned around and leaned against the counter as the water heated up, crossing his arms. "I don't make the rules. Who knows?" She snorted in a very unladylike manner, but her expression sobered as he continued to stare at her with that searching gaze. "Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

He did not speak for a second, merely looking at her with those restless eyes that she loved so—ahem! –

liked so much. He opened his mouth to speak when the water started bubbling, demanding his attention. He turned around yet again and poured the dry noodles into the pot, mumbling something under his breath.

"Huh?" Lucy asked, unsure whether or not he had spoken.

She watched as his shoulders rose and fell with his breathing, an uneasy feeling swirling around in her stomach. He stirred the pasta twice before turning once more, but this time he didn't look at her when he faced her, instead focusing on the book on the floor. "You know," he said, "you wouldn't have to eat any more if you'd just let me…"

His eyes connected with hers as he trailed off, and it took her a second to digest what he was trying to say. He continued hastily, before she could answer, "We aren't that much different than humans—I told you! You wouldn't live that much longer than your friends, maybe thirty years, give or take, and the whole blood thing isn't as bad as you think! It doesn't even taste the same after you've turned, trust me! It'll take some getting used to, but I think you might learn to like it, and I could show you the ropes of course. And we could, eventually, uhh…"

It was Lucy's turn to look away, though she could hear his fingers tapping the counter in a nervous rhythm. It wasn't as if she hadn't thought about it before, and really, it wasn't the first time he had suggested it either, but this time felt… different. She had to stick to her guns, though, no matter how cute he looked cooking spaghetti in her kitchen. "Natsu, you know I can't."

His fingers stopped tapping. "Why not?"

Something fluttered in her stomach in response to his question. All the other times she said no, he had just accepted it, but this time—oh, she was so not ready to tell him why. But she knew he deserved an answer. Her fidgety fingers started picking at her blanket once again and warmth flooded her cheeks before she mumbled, "If I'm a vampire thenwhosebloodwillyoudrink?"

Her head thumped to her knees, but she managed to peek up at him as he struggled to comprehend her mess of an answer. His head was tilted to the side, and she absentmindedly thought of a puppy for just a second. A very muscular, very handsome puppy who was looking at her like she had just spoken in ancient Greek, until he blinked and his eyebrows shot up. She was in so much trouble.

"Wait," he said softly. His deep voice sent a shiver running down her spine when he continued, "You're telling me that you won't turn into a vampire…" Pushing himself off the counter, he slowly began walking towards her, "because you're worried about me drinking blood after you've turned?" He crouched in front of her and locked his gaze with hers—she couldn't look away if she wanted to. "No, that's not it," he murmured. She took in a shaky breath, but it didn't help since all she could smell was him. "Luce," a sly smile made its way across his lips, "are you telling me that you don't want me feeding from someone else? Are you jealous?"

She was absolutely sure her face resembled a tomato at this point, so there was no use lying to him. Instead, she curled even further into herself and groaned in defeat. Of course she'd be jealous! What a stupid question. She refused to think about how he fed before he met her, since she couldn't control that, but he fed from her now, and she'd be damned before she let that go.

Strong arms wrapped around her, interrupting her train of thought, and after careful maneuvering on his part she somehow ended up on Natsu's lap. He held her close to his chest, and she could feel it rise and fall with every breath he took. While she was still working through which myths were true and which were false, she had learned very early on that vampires were not cold to the touch. Well, at least Natsu wasn't. As a matter of fact, he was really, really warm. Uncomfortably so, right at the moment.

She mustered up a semblance of self-control and pushed herself away from him so she could see his face. Of course, this meant that he could see the embarrassment painted on her cheeks, but she ignored that when she said, "So what if I was?"

His eyebrows shot up, and there was that unreadable look in his eyes yet again, but he didn't say anything so she went on. "What if I like this? What we do?" His thumb started rubbing against her arm, and she relaxed slightly in his hold.

He smiled softly down at her, and she felt her heart flutter in response. The traitor. "I like it too," he started quietly, "but you gotta know that if I only drank your blood, I'd either kill you from feeding too often, or I would die of starvation."

Lucy stiffened immediately.

He looked like he was going to say more, but he closed his mouth at the look on her face. She wondered if he knew his thumb stopped moving.

She turned slightly to look at the window and took a deep, shaky breath. Here she was, in her best friend's lap, feeling things for him that were definitely not appropriate for a best friend, and he just admitted to… what exactly? She almost didn't want to ask. Almost.

"Are you saying," she managed to say past the lump in her throat, "that you do… this," she gestured around her apartment halfheartedly, still staring at the window, "with someone else?"

She felt his muscles tense for half a second before he pulled her against his chest once more, and her betraying body let him. "No. No, no, no, Lucy," he spoke into her hair, "There's no one else." And oh how she wanted to believe that. He was Natsu—he'd sooner punch a guy for two-timing her than do it himself. Although they weren't going out… but as she breathed in his scent and closed her eyes, she could pretend they were. Vampire quirks and all.

But they weren't. And she was still confused.

Lucy pushed away from him, but he wouldn't let her get too far, cupping her face with his free hand. Her eyes searched his, and she found nothing but clarity. "Natsu, what were you talking about, then? If I can't give you enough, are… are you okay?"

He smiled, although it was tight around the edges. "Luce, that's what I've been trying to tell you! Do I look okay to you?"

She glanced from his eyes to his nose to his sharp jaw… focus. "Yes?"

"You know how I keep going on those hunting trips with Gajeel?"

"Mmhmm."

"As it turns out," he said with a shrug, moving his hand to support her back, "animal blood is not really any different than people blood." It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. "Sooo Gajeel got the idea from Levy after she talked about this book for, like, a week straight. There were vampires and werewolves and sparkles and shit, but apparently the vamps ate deer and called themselves 'vegetarians.'"

"Wait," Lucy cut in, "you guys drink deer blood because of Twilight?"

"Uhh," his signature smirk was back, "is there a right answer to that?"

She threw her head back and laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. But then she imagined Natsu and Gajeel chasing after venison in the forest, and her laughter grew even harder until she was clutching at her stomach. A thought struck her, and she calmed down enough to ask, "How do you even do that? Is it legal?"

He suddenly looked a little sheepish, and took a moment before answering, "Me and him are… working on the details. It's totally humane, though."

"Okay," she said, letting him slide for the time being. "So you're telling me that if I became a vampire, the three of us would drink deer blood for the rest of our lives?"

He pursed his lips, looking a little unsure. "Uh… yeah. Yes. Well, I guess Levy, too, if the nuthead ever grows some balls and asks her."

"Levy too, huh?"

"Ye-es?"

"Okay, well I have another question for you."

His dark eyes bore into hers, and she could see his uncertainty along with a glimmer of hope. "Shoot."

"If I turn, will you… will you stop visiting me like this?"

She met his stare with an unspoken challenge of her own, and he opened his mouth to say something before he closed it, and asked instead, "Do you want me to?"

Of course he would ask that. He put her first, forever and always. Her lips turned up into a smile, and she said softly, "No. No, I don't want you to stop."

His eyes flicked down towards her mouth, then dragged back up to meet her own, and he leaned towards her ever so slightly. "Lucy…"

Her eyelids fluttered, closing slowly, her heart racing a million miles a minute, when she smelled something… burning?

"Oh shit!" She let out a startled noise as she was unceremoniously tossed onto the couch, and could only watch silently as Natsu ran towards the oven and turned off the burner. She pulled herself up and stared at the scene for a minute, taking in Natsu's panicked attempts to quell the small fire, before she erupted into uncontrollable giggles.

She was still laughing by the time he drowned the soiled spaghetti with cold water and turned on the fan, and he scowled back at her from the tiny kitchen. She barely managed to say, "You—you burned— spaghetti!"

He strode back to the couch in four large steps before he collapsed over the side of it, and her, his body limp in her lap. "Just eat your pretzels," he mumbled into the cushion, ignoring her squealed, 'hey!'

She only giggled in response, and when he flipped over she ran her fingers through his hair. He looked up at her hopefully, "So you'll do it?"

She knew what he meant. "Yes, Natsu, I think I will. Just not today."

"Not today," he agreed, his smile radiant. "Tell me when, and I'll be there. Just make sure you eat first; the process ain't easy."

Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. "I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Who knew vampires could be so fluffy? Lol this was supposed to be finished for Halloween... whoops. Fun fact: I can't spell "spaghetti" for the life of me. Thank you autocorrect. Also, why do I keep interrupting these two? First I stuck Happy to a tree (see the previous fic) and now burnt spaghetti? Well, my next fic might just make up for all that (wink, wink). Let me know what you think, please! Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed it, even if it is a tad late. Find me on tumblr with the same profile name. Peace!