Natsu sat alone at the guild bar, fidgeting. No one was paying much attention to him at the moment, but the people nearest started to hear some small groans and whines until suddenly the mage burst into flame, shouting at the ceiling.

"ARGH I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

A call of 'nobody cares!' came from across the guild, sounding suspiciously like a certain Ice Mage. In his seething, Natsu barely even took looked up from her conversation with Levy a short way down the bar.

"What can't you take anymore, Natsu?" Wild eyes snapped over to the pair and Levy flinched back a little at his intensity.

"That weirdo… is… she won't… GAH!" Natsu continued gritting his teeth and clutched his hair tightly.

"Did you get in a fight with Lucy?" The fire-breathing mage froze. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Lucy around for almost a month! I don't remember the last time she came to log a job," Mira speculated, an index finger resting delicately upon her chin as she tried to recollect any sightings of the Stellar Spirit Mage.

A loud bang brought her attention back to the volatile dragon slayer. His fist had made a crack in the wooden counter.

"She won't talk to me, won't go on jobs, won't let me sleep in her bed and won't tell me why!" His voice steadily grew in volume. Mira let out an 'oh my!' at his comment about Lucy's bed, but Natsu continued. "She's driving me crazy!"

Levy quickly cut in before Natsu lived up to his reputation of Fairy Tail's number one destroyer of public property, "When did this all start? Did something happen?"

"At the beginning of the month. We got back from a big job Lucy picked and she was all happy and shit that I didn't cause us to pay out half the reward for wrecking the place," he replied gruffly. "Next thing I know, she's slamming windows and doors in my face and telling me to leave her alone. I don't think she's left her apartment more than three or four times. Something's gotta be wrong."

Levy looked thoughtful until Mira cut in again, "Oh my, Natsu, have you been checking in on Lucy even when she tells you to go away? How adorable!"

Natsu's face boiled over red, but it was hard to tell whether it was from embarrassment or indignation; Mira knew which emotion she preferred. As the male sputtered to respond to her accusation, Levy started laughing. Hard.

Clutching her stomach with one hand, she grabbed the countertop with the other to keep from tipping her bar stool over as she tried to overcome her sudden case of the giggles.

"Levy, what…?"

"Are you alright, Levy? Do you need some water?"

"Heh heh, oh Natsu, I know what's 'wrong' with Lucy!" Levy snorted. The Solid Script mage's eyes were twinkling as her pink-haired guildmate leaned forward, eager to hear what was so wrong with his partner. She considered withholding the information, but Lucy would be done soon anyway. "It's NaNoWriMo!"

"..Nano… Reemo?" Natsu's face screwed up in confusion. Was that a disease? Was it contagious? "Is that like the flu or something?"

"Haha, no, Natsu. Not like the flu," Levy leaned forward to whisper her next words to the man in front of her. Time to mess with his head a little, just to make sure I get first dibs on whatever she's writing, she thought. "It's just something Lucy's got to do. Allllllll month…."

Her conspiratorial wink and low tone helped send her vague and misleading sentence into a part of Natsu's brain that he didn't commonly use.

"Lucy… has to... do… Nonoreeto?" His eyes got wide as saucers and he unconsciously clenched and unclenched his fists. Levy counted down as Mira sent her a sly approving look. Three, two… "AW HELL NO!"

There was a sudden burst of heat and Natsu was gone, a few small flames lighting up the path he'd taken straight out of the guild and down Strawberry Street.

Levy started laughing even harder now as Mira leaned on the counter beside her and chuckled.

"You're bad, Levy-chan."

The blunette wiped away a tear and turned on Mira with mirthful eyes. "Oh what I wouldn't give to see what happens next. With any luck, Lucy's just finished up."

Mira nodded, looking at the calendar hanging over by the communications lacrima. "Well, it is November 30th."

To hell with how angry she's gonna be, Natsu thought at he broke down her apartment door with a flaming kick. "LUCY!"

He heard a startled scream and a couple of thuds, before he walked into her bedroom in the most intimidating manner he could. He hoped the snarl on his face alone wouldn't be enough to make this Notsonido guy run just so he could beat him in with his fists.

All of that posturing was drained completely when he crossed the threshold. Why? Because there was Lucy, wearing a sloppy tank top with the guild crest on it and a pair of sweatpants he was sure were actually his. Her hair was askew and sticking out of the weird bun on top of her head and a pair of Galeforce glasses were slipping precariously off her face. She was sprawled across the floor on her back, one foot hooked over the edge of her chair which was toppled over as well. Papers were scattered here and there, but the largest stack of them were neatly piled on her desk. She stared up at him blearily, confused and still a little dazed from his abrupt entry, and Natsu stared back.

Natsu didn't smell anything but Lucy, paper, and ink. This released a little bit of the tension that was still coiled in his muscles, until he remembered exactly why he had been ready for a fight in the first place.

"Lucy!"

"Ah! What?!" she flinched at the sudden declaration of her name.

"Where is he?!"

"Where's who?"

"Don't lie to me, Levy told me everything!"

"Levy... what?" She started to get up from the floor as Natsu began searching her apartment, looking in the bathroom, the kitchen, behind books… "Natsu, what are you doing?"

"Luce, now's not the time for this. Where is this Nosumano guy so I can beat the tar out of him?" His eyes locked on hers and she felt heat rise in her cheeks from the intensity.

"Nosu.. mano?" He took a step closer.

"Yeah, Nosagato. He can't just keep you away from me all month-"

"Gato?!"

"-and he certainly can't be allowed to do… well, that!" He'd resumed pacing, until he started scrutinizing her bed where a large lump was under her covers.

"Natsu-!"

"Especially not with you!" He ripped the pink quilt back with a sense of victory.

Only to find several large pillows lined up with flannel knit covers.

"Natsu… What did Levy-chan tell you?" Her voice sounded tired from behind him, but he was still staring at the pillows arranged in the spot where he normally snuck into her bed and contemplating how strongly the smell that Lucy always had was emanating from those pillows.

"She told me you were with some guy… all month… doing… stuff…"

Lucy righted the chair that was still laying on her floor and collected the papers that had scattered with her partner's explosive entrance before moving and sitting on the bed he was still staring at.

"I have been doing something all month, but the only guy that's been around is you. I guess Levy-chan didn't tell you the whole truth," she patted the space next to her and Natsu sank down, still feeling wired, but with no direction now that there was no one to pummel. "I've been doing NaNoWriMo."

"But you just said you weren't doing a guy…" he growled, turning away from her with a pout. Suddenly, she let out a laugh.

"Oh Natsu, NaNoWriMo isn't a guy!"

"Lucy!" His head whipped around, eyes big. Lucy could feel the blush run full-force from her head to her toes.

"Not a girl either! Jeez! It isn't a person; it's an activity!" She whacked him on the shoulder and he flinched. "It's called National Novel Writing Month. It's a challenge to write a whole novel start to finish in the month of November."

"Wait… so you've just been… writing all month?"

"Yes! And I knew I wouldn't get done if you kept coming in and hanging around. We finally made enough on our last job that I could stay home for the whole month to do the challenge without worrying about my rent!"

Natsu scratched the back of his head self-consciously and moved to get up. "Well, uh, if that's all it was then…"

"Hold it right there." Lucy grabbed him by the elbow and yanked him back onto the bed. "Why were you so concerned about me being with a guy all month?"

Natsu could feel the blood rushing to his face and tried to look anywhere but at her. "I wasn't!"

"Liar. You were about ready to burn my apartment to the ground and you were acting like a bloodhound, trying to smell all my stuff."

He snuck a peak back at the girl and was shocked at the force behind her whiskey-colored stare.

"Well, uh… was concerned for you!"

"Who was concerned?" She'd grabbed ahold of his muffler and there was little chance of escape. Natsu had to come up with something quickly.

"Happy! Happy was concerned!"

She raised a suspicious eyebrow, not really buying it.

"And what was he concerned about? Surely he knows I'm a big girl and can take care of myself."

Oh boy.

"Well, of course you're tough! I, uh, I mean Happy just doesn't want you to spend all your time with some loser."

"Me getting a boyfriend wouldn't mean I wouldn't spend time with you, Natsu. We're on the same team." Lucy could see Natsu starting to sweat nervously.

"Why are you telling me? I know that. Happy just doesn't understand why you'd want to spend time with some other guy!"

"Hmm…" Lucy pulled him down closer; Natsu gulped. She was onto him. "Some other guy… as opposed to you?"

When he didn't answer right away, she smirked victoriously. "You were jealous!"

"Hey! What- no- me?" He tripped over his denial and tried to get away until his eye caught on the pink flannel pillows that were currently occupying the very comfy bed. "You! What's up with the pillows?"

Lucy's victory grin faltered and he watched as her cheeks got all rosy. "N-nothing! They're just pillows!"

"Oh? Just pillows, eh?" He sneered as he leaned down again. The small hand that had been pulling on his scarf just seconds ago was now trying to push him away by his chin. Mildly annoyed by that, he grabbed her wrist and then her second one as she tried to reinitiate her pushing. "Then what are they doing arranged like that?"

"Ugh, Natsu, let go! They're just pillows! It's cold, alright? So I use them as a barrier from my window!" she yelled, red cheeks puffed out and head turned to the side facing the very pillows they were arguing about.

"Is that why they're in my spot?" Her flush deepened and Natsu grinned.

"Don't go claiming things that aren't yours, idiot," she muttered. "If you were jealous, you should have just said something!"

"If it was cold, you should have just let me in when I tried to come over!" He could feel the tendons in Lucy's wrists tightening. "I don't get it! You can't seriously be thinking of replacing me with a bunch of stupid pillows!"

"I couldn't concentrate, okay?! I just couldn't focus when you were hovering around me like that! I really wanted to write this story and I wanted it to be really good. I finally saved up enough for my rent that I could take the month off and I realized very quickly that it wasn't just the jobs that would stop me from doing it! I couldn't stop thinking about you!" Natsu sat back in shock, his grip on Lucy's wrists loosening. With a frustrated cry, she pushed him and he just toppled over, his shoulders bouncing off the bed.

"I had this great idea for a novel while we were riding the train back from that job and once I holed myself up in here, I lost it. All I could think about was you so that's what I wrote about, you big jerk!"

Natsu's eyes were wide but focused as he looked up at Lucy. She was leaning over him slightly, some of the hair that escaped her bun running down and tickling him. He could see that her eyes were tired and her nose was getting all red like it usually did before she cried.

"So I tried to block you out and get whatever words that were in me out as well, but damn it if I didn't miss you anyway!" She brought a hand up to scrub at her eyes from underneath the Galeforce glasses.

"Lucy…" He gently pried her hand from her face and removed the red frames. With a single tug, he pulled her down next to him, tucked into his side. "You missed me? And that's why you set up those pillows?"

He felt her nod into his shoulder and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. A small smile twitched onto his face. Well, if she could admit she missed him…

"I missed you, too, Luce." She clutched his shirt, still not looking at him. He scratched his face where he could feel the blush returning bit by bit. "And… maybe I was a little, tiny bit jealous."

"Well, don't be." He glanced up to the head of the bed where her pillow was pushed up right next to the line of pillows and knew she was right. However, something was still bugging him. He could feel Lucy's breathing slowing down and he didn't want her to fall asleep until he found out the answer.

"So you wrote about me?" He felt the instant his question registered in her brain since her whole body tensed up again. "A whole book?"

"It wasn't a whole book!" she squeaked. Frowning, he turned on his side to face her, arm still pillowing her head.

"But wasn't that the whole point of your Natobraito thing?"

"NaNoWriMo and yes, but I can't write a whole novel about my feelings for you!" Her tension sagged and she folded her hands against her chest. "I ended up just writing more for the novel I'd already started about my adventures as a mage."

"You have feelings for me?" By this point, Lucy was too tired to even care that it'd been put out there so bluntly.

"I did just say that, yes."

"You… have feelings… for me."

"I already admitted to missing you."

"You have feelings for me."

"Yes, you shitty dragon slayer! I already said I couldn't stop thinking about you!"

"Oh, good," he said and he slipped his arm out from under her head.

"Eh?" She watched him, more than a little confused now at his lack of a response. "What's good?"

He just reached over her and started plucking the barrier of pillows and throwing them on the floor. He kicked off his shoes and folded up his muffler. Just as she sat up with a frown on her face, Natsu dove back onto the bed, directly onto 'his' side. He pulled her back down.

"Natsu? Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Lucy, I already told you I missed you and got jealous. I'm pretty sure I couldn't stop thinking about you either. You were driving me up the wall by ignoring me."

"Natsu…"

"Get some sleep, Luce. Tomorrow, we're going on a job."

When she thought that he had finally drifted off, she reached up and placed a light kiss on his cheek.

"I guess I like Natsu the most."

And after Lucy snuggled down and did succumb to sleep, Natsu cracked an eye open and pulled her closer to bury his face in her hair.

"And I like Lucy the most."

A/N: That was unexpected, but I wanted to write a nice NaLu that doesn't involved someone being dead… And it's November, so NaNoWriMo was the inspiration needed! If you've ever done NaNoWriMo, that is legitimately awesome.

Still not sure how much I liked this one, but it will do for now. I'm still cranking out (very slowly) material for the new project and have hit over 5300 words over 11 pages. As a treat, there's a teaser for the yet-to-be named piece after I sign off. It's right from the beginning of the story.

Thanks for reading! ~zabeth

To anyone else, it might have looked like we were on a date. I mean, we were two young, attractive people, sitting on the outside patio of a coffee shop in East Magnolia on a warm early autumn day. Who wouldn't think we were on a date? The truth was far from it.

"Are you going to eat that, Luce?"

I sighed and tucked a blonde lock behind my ear, pausing from doodling in my notebook. Gesturing for my partner, Natsu, to take that last bite of my pastry, I watched as he flopped back into his seat. He muttered a 'thanks' and began munching on the confection as his eyes nonchalantly scanned the people walking on the street. He was the perfect picture of casual boredom.

But he wasn't. Natsu was scanning the crowd with intent. We were waiting for our informant. You see, Natsu isn't my boyfriend, but he is my partner. We both work for a secret spy organization called Fairy Tail. Currently, we're lying low, waiting for some intel to come in about our current job. That's probably why Natsu was so tense to begin with; he hates waiting for information and we'd been waiting for almost two weeks.

(Then later, …)

"These aren't good people, Lucy."

I finally turned away to look at my shoes.

"I know that." I knew what my orders were and that this mission was the first we'd been separated on since the Phantom Lord debacle. Speaking of… "Don't you trust me?"

Natsu suddenly shifted, jolted by my question. "Of course, I -What kinda question is that?"

"Like jump out of a building window because you think you heard my voice, trust me?"

His stiffened posture suddenly relaxed, the serious tension in his face slackened to mild amusement, and I tugged on the front of his jacket. "Oh jeez, c'mon, Luce…"

"Just trust me. Like I trust you."