Hello again! :) So I wrote another chapter because well I had the time and well I was too pumped not to! Alright to answer a question... Yes this story is rated "M" and yes I know it doesn't seem like a "M" rated story, but to cover my own hide I'm rating it as such. It will eventually become "M" rated and sometimes it may be too bloody or too heavily suggestive to be considered "T". I'm sorry for the confusion everyone.

Couple: NatsuXLucy

Prompt: Rain

Word Count: 2,425

Release Date: December 31st, 2012

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail.

Dear Mom,

Today it rained buckets, Natsu got me soaked completely.

Lucy laughed at Erza stuffing her face with some kind of rare strawberry cake that she'd brought back from her latest mission. The red head had been gone for two weeks on an S-class mission to the other side of the country. It had been a really easy mission apparently and the warrior had come back happily bearing gifts.

She'd brought Gray a few sets of boxers that looked almost like shorts; she figured that at least if he was gonna strip it would look a little less like he was in his underwear.

Happy was already eating his present; a rare fish that he adored beyond anything else and had demanded Lucy and Natsu take him to get more.

Natsu was munching on the fire cookies he'd gotten, glaring at anyone who tried to take one. Though his blonde teammate had gotten one and instantly regretted it.

Lucy was twirling around the green and blue patterned bandana she'd gotten. Erza had bought it so she could wear it in her hair to keep it out of her eyes.

"Hey Lucy do you want to go on a mission today?" The fire breather asked, clapping his teammate on the back. He was careful not to be too rough with her; he always was. She coughed a little in response, turning to glare a little at the salamander.

"I'm still a little sore from last time; can we just wait another day?" The busty mage smiled at her friend, remembering the last mission she'd gone on. She didn't think Natsu would ever forgive her for going on a mission alone. The dragon slayer looked over his friend, noticing the mark across her chest. He hadn't meant to stare, but he felt just a tiny bit guilty. He should have been there to help her or at least gone to look for her sooner.

"Natsu! What are you doing staring at my chest?" Lucy growled once, her eyes gaining a scary gleam. The Celestial mage even smacked her teammate in the chest once, knowing that she really wouldn't hurt him.

"Sorry Luce!" He exclaimed, holding his hands up in surrender. He backed away from her just a tiny bit, hoping she wouldn't hit him again. Even though a tiny part of him wondered if he deserved it for not being there for her.

"So you two are staying home again?" Erza asked, her plate seeming to disappear from in front of her. You wouldn't have ever realized that the ex-equip mage had been stuffing her face full of her beloved strawberry cake a few minutes before. Gray perked up beside the red head mage; the idea of staying in the guild hall all day less than appealing.

"I'm not. You guys can go alone if you want." Lucy smiled sweetly, knowing that they were all bored sitting around the guild day after day waiting for her to feel better. She didn't want to hold her friends back. They could all use the money.

"You sure Lucy?" The ice mage asked carefully, trying to hide his excitement of leaving the guild. He hadn't been on a mission in two weeks. There was one particular one that he wanted to go on and he knew that it was right up Erza and Natsu's ally. He felt bad for leaving the blonde mage alone, but he was really really really bored.

"Don't worry about it guys. Go on ahead." The mage smiled brightly, making a 'get out of here' motion with her hands. Lucy stood up, grabbing her purse and bandana before waving goodbye to Mirajane and the others by the bar. "I'm gonna head on home; it looks like it's about to pour down anyway. I'd like to get home before I get soaked."

They all watched their blonde friend leave the guild hall, throwing a hand up in goodbye as she went.

She had barely beaten the rain home. No sooner had she entered her apartment and taken off her shoes did the rain fall from the clouds. It came in one fell swoop, making her run threw her spacious home to quickly shut all of the windows she'd left open to provide some fresh air. Lucy had never been more thankful that she didn't have that many windows to shut; her floors would have been ruined.

The Celestial mage slumped on her couch, grabbing a blanket that had been slung over the side haphazardly from Natsu and Gray fighting earlier when they'd come to tell her Erza was back. A small smile light up her face as she thought of her friends antics. They were always barging into her home. The smile disappeared quickly.

Lucy wished she'd just lied and said she felt good enough to go on a mission. It didn't feel right to have to stay behind without her friends. Or not to have them come bouncing in her apartment and using her bathtub or Natsu sliding into her bed in the middle of the night, no matter how many times she yelled at him to stop it.

"Being alone sucks," sighing; she wrapped the blanket tighter around herself and reached for the romance novel left on the table. The blonde girl had left it there earlier after the whirlwind that was her two friends attacked her apartment; she was idly amused that the poor book had survived.

Rainy lonely days like this always called for a good love story.

She'd learned that years ago after living with her Father.

Lucy Heartfilia knew how to handle her loneliness.

"Hiya Luce!" Was Natsu's greeting to his teammate as he slid through the window, bringing in the rain as well. He'd been stopped from just sliding right on in and had to fumble with the window for a minute, getting soaked in the process. He quickly shut the window behind him, afraid he'd have an angry Lucy to deal with.

The sound of rain was all he heard from the eerie apartment. None of the lights were on really, except the one by the couch. Just a small little lamp on the table that didn't do much to illuminate the large room. He idly wondered where his teammate was. It was harder to distinguish her from the room, considering the whole place radiated her. The room was dark, but he could see enough. Plus he'd been in Lucy's apartment so many times that by now he knew it by heart.

Walking around the couch, the dragon slayer spotted something round and lumpy curled up on one end. The lumpy thing moved, rising and falling gently, a tiny hand poked out, dangling off the couch over some forgotten book. A smile inched onto Natsu's face as he crouched down next to the lump that was Lucy Heartfilia. It seemed his friend had fallen asleep reading her precious books.

"You really should know not to fall asleep on the couch; it's really uncomfy," he whispered, picking the sleeping girl up and heading towards her bedroom door. The blonde teen curled into his warm chest, murmuring in her sleep about being cold. Natsu's smile only grew. "You really are a weirdo Luce."

Very gently the pink haired teen laid the sleeping girl on her bed, having Happy cover her with her covers. He looked out the window, noticing the dark grey skies didn't seem to end over the horizon. It would keep on raining for hours.

"We gonna go on home Natsu?" The blue cat asked, trying to be quiet. His eyes traveled to the window and the storm outside. He really didn't want to head out in that. The weather was horrible and cats hated water. And that's all there was outside. It was like bath time, but only a million times worse.

"Naa, I think we'll stay here for the night," it was strange for him to whisper but he didn't want to wake her up. Knowing Lucy she'd throw him out. And he really didn't want to go out in that rain storm. It wasn't even that late but the dragon slayer felt sleepy. The rain always made him tired, always made him want to curl up and sleep the day away.

Happy was already curled up at the foot of the bed, snoring loudly by the time Natsu had made up his mind.

He was really glad Lucy had a big bed; it was easy for him to climb under the covers and lay next to her. The sheets and blanket smelled of nothing but her and it made him smile.

He thought about why he was here in her bed, instead of on the mission with Erza and the streaker. The dragon slayer had refused to go on the mission, choosing to stay behind with his blonde teammate. He was closer to her than he was to the others, except maybe Happy. He wanted to spend time with her; he didn't want to leave her all alone. Natsu knew how that felt to be alone and he knew the Celestial mage had had her fair share of being lonely.

Maybe that was why he connected with her more than the others, why he'd decided to team up with her. Probably the reason why she was his best friend besides Happy. They both knew what it was to be lonely to have to rely on their own will and strength to get by in the world. He'd lost Igneel and wandered around for a bit all alone until he'd joined Fairy Tail, and she'd been practically forgotten by her Father after her Mother died and ran away from home.

They weren't exactly the same but they understood one another. And for that reason Natsu decided that he'd never leave her alone again to go on a mission. The blonde mage wouldn't go on any solo missions either, not after what had happened last time. There would have never been any kind of way he could have found forgiveness in his heart if he'd lost his dear friend. He knew he'd have tracked down the mage that had hurt her until there was nothing left of him.

The pink haired mage decided to try and sleep for the night by rolling on his side and facing his partner. He watched the pretty blonde for a few minutes, relaxing in the clean calming atmosphere of the apartment. It was strange how calm Lucy looked; her hair was down and she seemed content and at peace. She didn't seem like she had a care in the world at all, even scooting closer to the heat source that was Natsu.

The dragon slayer decided that he liked the look of pure calm on the blonde mage's face, wishing it was there more often. He didn't like when she frowned; she didn't look like Luce then.

Maybe he should do something about making her look like that more often.

It wasn't every day that Natsu was awoken by screaming, and it was even more of an oddity that Lucy was laying on top of him screaming. He supposed he should have expected this, considering that as sleep had overcome him, the blonde had been scooting closer and closer to him. It was just a bit of a shock that she was on top of him.

What he did next he instantly regretted.

He'd really regret it for weeks afterwards.

Between the pink haired mage still being only half asleep and the fact that he had been awoke by screaming and oh dear lords he was a guy after all and guys had certain male problems that happen to them first thing in the morning in that area. Plus it wasn't like Lucy was unattractive and given the fact that her very large breasts were squished against his chest was making his very male problem worse, very worse. And on top of it was all of the shock that a very loud very screaming very pretty girl was laying right on top of him…

It was no wonder that Lucy went flying out the window.

And right out into the cold hard rain.

I really could have killed him! I mean it isn't that short of a fall from my apartment window to the ground! And it hurt really really bad! My back is now bruised and really sore. Natsu even lifted up my shirt in the mirror to show me how black my back is. I nearly cried in anger! I yelled and screamed at him, but now I feel a little guilty about it.

The look on his face, mom, was one of pure anguish, like I'd kicked him when he was down. I've never seen that kind of look on his face, it made my heart hurt. I know he feels horrible about this, really horrible. I'm not gonna yell at him again. It really was just an accident; I know Natsu would never intentionally hurt me. I'm his partner and his friend and Natsu would never hurt someone he cares about.

I had to stop Erza from beating the crap out of him, she was so mad! But in the end I think she saw my point, thought she did take him away from me where I couldn't hear and they had a really long talk. For some reason I have a feeling that I'm going to be stuck with Natsu for a while. He won't leave and I wouldn't be surprised if it was because of Erza. I think she told him to look after me. Well him and Happy, the blue cat is sitting around and eating all of my fish! But he's too cute to kick out.

On the upside, my heating bill this month will be really low. Natsu is like a burning inferno and with it being the rainy season it's pretty cold and wet. I don't even have to wear long sleeves or thick clothing; Natsu keeps the place warm and toasty. Though I've taken to wearing clothing that covers the bruising on my back; Natsu gets a guilty look on his face whenever he even catches a glimpse of it.

Well I believe that's all for now. Missions for us are put on hold until the bruising is all gone and I don't hurt every time I move.

Natsu doesn't seem to mind though; I'm glad for his company. He makes me laugh.

Love you,

Lucy.

P.S. Don't tell Dad.

What do you all think?