Chapter 2-
"Ugh" Lucy groaned, as she dragged the barely-conscious and very heavy Natsu on her back, "Why do I have to take Natsu home? It's not my fault he started a fire!" After pausing for a moment, she said, more to herself, "Well, okay, maybe it was kinda my fault, but it's Natsu's fault, too! He was the one eating stolen matches! Although matches aren't that expensive..." She trailed off, her voice quietening, and then, louder, "But it's the principle that counts! If you steal a little thing, you're definitely going to steal a big- Natsu, stop moving! You're tilting too much, and- Natsu, I'm not a vehicle, how are you getting motion sick- WOAH, STOP NATSUUUU!"
She tumbled down, Natsu's weight falling on top of her. Her nose smashed down onto the concrete and she yelped in pain, her eyes filling with reflexive tears. Blinking through them, she saw something red dripping onto the concrete. Blood. Her blood. Her blood from her broken nose.
"Natshuuu!" She mumbled, her mouth pressed against the concrete, "Ge offa me"
He didn't answer, didn't move. Lucy started to panic. Mavis, she was trapped and her nose was broken and there was blood everywhere and since when did noses bleed so much and why was she here, trapped under Natsu while she slowly bled to death?
'Get a grip' she ordered herself, 'You've been hysterical all day. You're not going to die. Now get up'
She tried, she really did, but Natsu was way too heavy. Seriously, he was all rock hard and heavy muscle, not a bit of any fat on him. Not even his stomach, which Lucy thought was highly unfair considering the amount he ate.
"Nashu" She said, muffled, then forced her head up, off of the concrete and spoke more clearly, "Natshu. I need you to get off of me now!"
Her stern voice seemed to jolt him awake. Her voice sounded different because of the broken nose, but Natsu didn't seem to notice. In fact, he didn't seem to notice anything other than his own predicament.
"Lucy?" He murmured, "Where am I? My stomach feels weird..."
"Natsu, get off of me right now or I swear I won't take you out to lunch for an entire month!"
"Huh? Lunch?" Lucy couldn't see him, but she imagined she could see his eyes lighting up with interest. She mentally sighed. Of course food would wake him up.
"GET OFF OF ME!" Lucy screamed, at the end of her patience, and he yelped and rolled off of her. Finally free, Lucy immediately sat up. Looking down at her clothes, she moaned. There were drops of blood everywhere. Quickly covering her still-bleeding nose with the palm of her right hand, she glared at Natsu.
And then her glare softened.
He was lying on the concrete, his face twisted in agony. She knew how much eating anything other than his element and food hurt him; she'd seen it when he'd ate the Etherion, after all. It wasn't his fault she'd broken her nose.
Hand still over her nose, she looked around. They were about two minutes walk from her apartment. He initial objective had been to take him to his house, but it wasn't like she could do that now. Besides, Natsu was always saying he liked her room.
"Alright" she said to herself, "I'll take Natsu to my apartment, then I'll stop by and see Wendy, and... Oh, wait, Wendy's on a mission... Guess I'll have to to go to the hospital.."
Realizing that sitting on the street clutching her broken nose and pondering her situation wasn't the best thing to do, she stood up and tried to pull Natsu on her back again. And failed.
"Moe!" She whined, "Erza put him on my back the first time, and there's no way I can lift him in my back without her. No way..." She murmured glumly, still trying to pull the heavy Natsu up.
Then a brilliant idea came to her.
"Open, gate of the lion! Leo!"
"Ah, Lucy. Of course you wanted to see me again, but you cannot call me simply for the pleasure of my company. Only call on me in serious-" he froze, realizing for the first time the blood dripping through Lucy's fingers, the unconscious Natsu on the floor, "What happened?" He demanded, looking warily around, "Were you attacked?"
"Nope, not attacked," Lucy said dryly, wondering just how in the world had her life gotten to a stage where if she had a broken nose people assumed she'd been attacked, "Natsu just tried to do some shopping"
Loke gave her a strange look, "So you need my help in picking out immaculate suits?"
"No, I just need you to carry Natsu to my apartment. He's too heavy for me"
"Oh, but Lucy, I'd much rather carry you" Loke smiled, "To our bright future"
"No, you're carrying Natsu to my apartment" Lucy corrected, "Now hurry up. I think I'll faint from blood loss"
And that was how a disgruntled Loke carried an unconscious and drooling Natsu to Lucy's apartment. Once there, Lucy immediately ran to her bathroom to survey the damage.
"Agh, crap!" She cursed, "It looks awful"
She washed her face, but it send a sharp pain through her nose. Wincing, she grabbed a tissue and began dabbing away the mixed blood and water. It was terrible, and her heart sank. She'd have to go the hospital, where they'd ask all sorts of odd questions, especially ones about her parents.
"Ah, Lucy, are you okay? You've been in there for a while"
It was Loke. He still hadn't gone.
"I'm fine" she called, "Thanks, Loke. You can go now"
"Regulus impact!"
Lucy shrieked as she dodged to avoid her flying door. It flew right above the bath, and when Loke entered he found her sitting in the bathroom sink. She'd jumped into it to avoid the door.
"What are you doing?" He asked, "The sinks not a chair"
Lucy stared at him. Then turned her head and stared at her now broken door. Then stared at him again.
"Loke" she finally said, "Why did you break my door?"
"The lock wouldn't open" he said, "And I'm going to fix your nose for you"
"You can fix my nose?" She repeated, baffled, "Wow, what do they teach you in the Celestial World?"
"First aid" he said blandly, before pressing a frozen bag of peas against her nose. The cold was biting, but it numbed her nose quickly, "Here. Hold this against your nose"
Still in shock, she nodded. He left the bathroom, then walked back in with a cup of water and painkillers. She gulped them down, then continued to hold the frozen peas to her nose. Loke surveyed the damage to her nose, then quickly gave her his diagnosis.
"It's not too bad" he said, prodding at her nose. She hissed in pain, "I don't think you need to go to the hospital. The swelling should go away in about a week-"
"A week!?" Lucy panicked, "I'm going to go around with my nose like this for a week?"
"And the bruising should go away in two weeks" Loke continued, "But if anything happens, or if you feel like you can't breathe, you should probably go to the hospital. Or Wendy, if she's back from her mission by then"
Lucy hesitated, and Loke's eyes softened, "I know you don't want to go, because they'll ask about your parents and your financial background. But you can't avoid going to the hospital for the rest of your life"
Lucy breathed out slowly, "You're right. Thanks, Loke"
"Anytime" he flashed her a grin, "Whenever your nose is better, call me. I'll make sure you have a better time" he winked.
"Yep, I'll keep in my mind" Lucy sighed, although there was a tilt to her lips, "Now, can I get off of this sink? Like you said, it's not a chair"
And that's when things started to go wrong.
It is, as you can imagine, very hard to get down from a bathroom sink, especially in a bathroom as small as Lucy's (well, it was a one-bedroom apartment, and Lucy didn't think she'd needed a giant bathroom when she'd rented it). So when Lucy tried to get down with only one hand (the other hand mashing the frozen peas to her nose) she understandably slipped. And Loke, who had been standing in front of her, was knocked back by her weight, and the momentum carried them both into the bathtub.
CRASH!
"Agh, Loke, get off of me! I can't believe this is happening to me again! Twice in one day I've been fallen on top of!"
"What're you talking about, you're on top of me!"
"Wha- just move over so I can lift my arm- OW!
"Why'd you turn the bath on for?"
"I didn't do it on purpose! My arm slipped because there's no room in this bathtub, because you broke my door and it fell in here!"
"Oh, don't blame me. Your bathtub is already small without the broken door in it!"
There was a shuffling from Lucy's bedroom, something neither of them noticed, caught up as they were in their own predicament.
"Loke, look, if you just move your leg-"
"I can't, because you're lying on top of it!"
"Well obviously I can't move because you're sitting on my legs! What'd you expect me to do?"
"Well, maybe if you dropped that bag of peas for a second, turned this stupid bath off, because the waters getting really hot now, we could get out!"
"I can't drop this bag of peas! If I do, what if the swelling lasts two weeks? I can't go more than one week with my nose looking like a balloon!"
The water had filled half the bathtub now. The shuffling from Lucy's bedroom grew louder, and unsteady footsteps began to approach the bathroom.
"Lucy, why didn't you listen to me when I told you to start eating salad? Honestly, you're so heavy it's-"
Bang!
"Ow! That hurt! How can you still hit me but not turn this water off?"
"Mavis, you're an idiot! I'm not fat!"
And then Lucy made the mistake of looking down. The clothes she had been wearing that day were mainly white. And when white gets wet, it becomes very easy to see through.
Lucy's face turned the same color as her bra. A light crimson. She immediately started wiggling harder, "Loke!" She wailed, "You need to get off of me right now!"
The footsteps grew louder still, until there was a figure in the doorframe, where the door used to be and a voice, Natsu's voice, "What's going on?"
Lucy's head whipped toward the doorframe, and her cheeks got redder still as she realized what this must've looked like, "It's not what you think it is!" She explained quickly, and a small part of her wonder why she was so concerned about what Natsu thought of her chastity, "I broke my nose, and Loke was just helping me, and-"
And then suddenly she broke off. Looking at Natsu's dazed look, and then looking at Loke's face, inches from her own, she felt bubbles of hysteria rising within her.
And then she started laughing.
She laughed so hard she couldn't breathe, and the tears were streaming down her face. She laughed, and tried to breathe air though her nose, and then she remembered it was broken, and she laughed even more. And when she felt a sharp jab into her ribs, she looked down, and saw a piece of what was once her door, and she finally just lost it.
Loke, as if finally realizing he could force his gate shut, said, "She's nuts" before disappearing back into the Celestial world, leaving only a few golden sparks of magic in his place. Lucy was still laughing when Natsu walked over to her, turned off the bath, and pulled her out of the tub. He looked annoyed somehow, and his dark eyes seemed even darker than usual.
However, when he spoke to her, it was gently, "Here" he said, handing her a towel.
It was thoughtful, nice, and out of character, "Thanks" she said, wrapping the towel around her body. She shivered. Now that she was out of the bath, the air felt cold.
And then before she realized what was happening, or before she could stop him, Natsu had his arms around her and had drew her into his chest. She knew that she should stop him, she should try to get away from him, but he was so warm, and so comfortable, she didn't want to. Exhaling, she let herself sink into him, and she almost forgot all of her problems.
Almost.
"Ow! Shit!" She reeled, clutching her nose. Natsu released her, and the moment was lost, "My nose!"
"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned, "What happened to your nose? If it was that bastard Loke-"
"You happened to my nose!" Lucy exclaimed, "I totally forgot, I'm supposed to be holding an ice pack to make the swelling go down!"
She dropped the towel and lunged back into the bath, triumphantly retrieving a luke-warm mushy bag of peas.
"Uh, Lucy" Natsu said, "I don't think that's going to work"
Lucy paused, examined the peas, then nodded glumly, "You're right"
And then, realizing that he was standing there, looking at her, and her clothes were see though and-
"Natsu, you pervert!" She screamed, "Get out! I'm not decent!"
He winced, "Why? It's not like I haven't seen you before"
It was the wrong thing to say. All the mortifying memories of her indecent clothing being torn to shreds in missions came rushing back as she screamed again, "Get out!"
"But there's no door!" He protested, "I'll still be able to see even if I-"
"Lucy kick!"
Natsu was launched out of the bathroom and straight onto Lucy's bed, which was an impressive distance. Huffing, Lucy quickly gathered the clothes nearest to her (her pajamas) and got dressed. Her hair, however, was soaked, and clung uncomfortably to the back of her neck.
When she was dressed, she wandered over to Natsu, who had once again regained consciousness and was sitting on her bed and rubbing his head with a scowl on his face.
"You didn't have to kick me so hard" he grumbled.
"Sorry" Lucy smiled sheepishly, "I panicked"
It was then Natsu realized something. Lucy's wet hair, damp, limp and lifeless, was the only unattractive thing about her. Her pajamas were small; too small, clinging to all the right parts of her body- her slim waist, her large breasts, her flaring hips, her long, perfect legs- and Natsu forced himself to look at her face, where she had a small smile on her face. Her face, too, was pretty- apart from her nose.
He'd always known Lucy was pretty, but it felt like this was the first time he'd actually understood it.
"If I don't dry your hair, you'll get sick" he told her, "And then Erza will kill me"
She laughed, and Natsu's stomach felt weirder than it had felt before. He dismissed it though. His stomach always felt weird after eating new things, and that fire was definitely something he wasn't eating again.
She sat on the bed beside him, her head resting gently on his shoulder. The mattress sunk slightly under her weight, and Natsu felt her body press against his; just barely. He lifted his left hand, summoned a fire, and smothered it in his hand. Carefully, he maneuvered his hand around her head, the heat drying her hair almost instantly.
"You're handy" she yawned, "Just make sure not to set fire to my hair, kay?"
"Okay" he agreed, a small smile on his face. It was then he realized that Lucy was using him for his heat. His partner was using him as a hairdryer.
Oh, well. At least that bastard Loke was gone.
"Gajeel!" Levy sighed, exasperated, "How am I supposed to cook when you keep on eating my utensils?"
Gajeel looked up from the knife he'd been chewing on, "What?" He grumbled, "This is my lunch"
"Yes, but what about my lunch?" She huffed, "Don't tell me you expect me to eat iron, too"
"Why don't ya just go to the guild to eat?" He asked, "Mirajane'll cook you something"
"Yes, but Mira cooks for most of the guild" Levy said, "I don't want to add to her problems. Besides, knowing how to cook is an important skill. And like any skill, you need practice. Tell me, Gajeel, how am I supposed to practice when you are eating my knife?"
Gajeel snapped his head up, "Huh? I wasn't paying attention"
Levy began fuming, "Gajeel" she said warningly.
"Look, shorty" he said, "Ya obviously can't cook for peanuts. Considering your sauce" he nodded at the pot, "Is burning. And you use a wooden spoon ta stir that, not metal, so don't blame me"
Levy looked down at her pot, helped, and rapidly turned down the heat. It was too late now though- the sauce had been ferociously boiling for too long, and as she stared at the dry sauce that had reduced too much, she sighed. Once again, Gajeel was right.
"Fine" she muttered, "I'll go to the guild. But in the way back, you're taking me to the bookstore"
He arched an eyebrow, "What am I, your dog?"
"I'm going to buy a cookbook"
"In that case, I'll go. Gladly"
Levy tried to fight back the growing smile on her face. Inwardly, she was dancing. 'Yes! He's coming with me! I get to spend more time with him!'
Outwardly, she feigned indifference, "I didn't care whether you wanted to or not"
He ignored her, "Are we going already?"
"Yep"
"No. No way" the bookstore owner vehemently said, "I saw what you and your friends did to the supermarket this morning. No way are you going near my store. Some of these books are priceless! Priceless, y'hear?"
"Sir, I'd only take a minute, I just want to buy a-"
"Go away and leave my books alone" the cranky owner barked, slamming the door shut. Levy's eyes squeezed shut as she realized the door was going to hit her in the face.
Well, at least the door would've hit her in the face, if not for a very pissed off dragon slayer who had put his foot in the way of the door.
"Now what," Gajeel glared, looming over the shorter man, "Do ya think you're doing?"
The man gaped, then began to shake his head, "No, no, I didn't mean anything by it! I thought... I just thought..."
"You didn't think enough"
"You're absolutely right! I'm really sorry-"
"Move" Gajeel shoved him, and the man stumbled into one of his bookcases. Gajeel nodded at Levy, "Go and grab your book. That's fine with you, isn't it?" He turned his blood-red eyes in the owner, who began nodding earnestly.
"Yes, yes, of course! Free of charge, free of charge" he assured her.
Feeling nervous, Levy grabbed the first cookbook she saw, 'So you want to learn how to cook?' And despite the mans assurances, left money on the counter as compensation. She didn't feel too good robbing people, even if the man tried to slam a door in her face.
When Levy walked back over to Gajeel, she saw the owner looking terrified, and Gajeel looking smug. Levy breathed out slowly, and walked out of the bookstore. Gajeel walked beside her.
"You didn't have to threaten to kill him"
"Ah"
"Gray-sama, I'm so sorry!" Juvia apologized.
She was in Gray's kitchen, after trying to cook him a late breakfast. Cooking, however, was not one of Juvia's strengths, and the kitchen was a mess. More to the point, it looked like the kitchen had vomited. It was not an appealing sight.
"Juvia, it's okay" Gray said, for the fourth time, "Don't worry about it"
"But, Gray-sama-"
"Juvia, stop with the apologizing. It's giving me a headache"
"My deepest apologies, Gray-sama"
"Please don't tell me you just apologized about apologizing"
Juvia said nothing.
"C'mon" he said abruptly, "Let's go out and eat. I'm starving, and I don't want to look at that kitchen any longer"
'A- a date?' Juvia froze, 'Is this a date? What does Juvia do? Should Juvia tell Gray-sama her true feelings-'
"You've already told them to me" Gray said dryly.
"G-Gray-sama, you can hear my thoughts? Wait- Juvia and Gray-sama are soulmates?"
"No, idiot" he said, shrugging his coat on. It was pointless, really, since it was probably going to come off on the walk there, "You spoke out loud"
"Ah, Juvia is embarassed!"
They left his apartment, and wandered through the streets of Magnolia. Almost immedietly, Gray noticed that Juvia was standing three meters away from him.
"Juvia" he called, amusement in his tone, "You can stand closer to me"
"Y-yes, Gray-sama!" Juvia flushed, walking over to him. Soon she was by his side, head down as she shuffled beside him.
"Juvia?"
"Yes!"
"Calm down"
"Yes, Gray-sama!"
He chuckled, and said, almost to himself, "You never understand, do you?"
"Understand what?"
"I tell you to stop apologizing, and you apologize. I tell you to calm down, and you become more agitated. Honestly, Juvia, you say one thing and do something completely different"
"I'm sorry, Gray-sama"
"It's fine. Don't worry about it" they walked past a cafe, where they were advertising a late breakfast of pancakes. He saw Juvia's eyes light up as she saw the sign. He nodded towards it, "You wanna go in?"
Juvia looked up at him guiltily, "Only if it's okay with Gray-sama... Juvia would never put pancakes over Gray-sama!"
"It's not like any other cafes would be selling breakfast at this hour" he said, "So, pancakes it is"
Juvia squealed, "Yes! I mean... Gray-sama, we'll only eat pancakes if you want to. Juvia can eat something else-"
"Yeah, let's just go in" he said, "Besides, I've never seen you be so passionate about something. Other than me. It's nice to see you interested in something"
A pleased blush covered her features, "Gray-sama is wonderful! He's so considerate and- Gray-sama, where are your pants?"
Gray looked down and cursed. They spent the next half hour searching for his pants, and when they'd finally found them, the cafe had stopped offering their breakfast menu.
"So much for the pancakes" he groaned, raking a hand through his hair, "Sorry, Juvia"
"Gray-sama has nothing to apologize for!" Juvia said earnestly, "Nothing at all"
"If my kitchen was still alive, I'd offer to make you some" he mused, "But considering it's not, we should probably just go to the guild and ask Mira to make us something..."
Juvia's head hung down in shame, and Gray quickly tried to cover up his mistake, "But that's fine! I can survive without a kitchen!"
Juvia's head hung lower.
'Shit' Gray thought, 'I'm awful at comforting people. Especially girls. What the hell do I say? Hell, it seems like she's upset over every little thing. But when something small happens to make her happy, sometimes it seems like her smile will never fade, it's so bright...
Agh, shit, what am I thinking about? Her smile? I'm turning into a creep'
"C'mon" he said, "Let's go back to the guild"
"Yes..."
"Juvia, cheer up" and then the words tumbled out of his mouth, and he wasn't thinking, "A kitchen isn't worth you losing your smile"
Juvia froze. Then she beamed, "Gray-sama, let's have 32 babies together!"
"W-what? So specific!"
"The first one will be a boy, and he will be called Gray-sama! And the second one will be a boy, and he will be called Gray-sama! And the third one-"
"Juvia, you need to stop talking!"
"Ah! Juvia is so happy!"
"Mira-nee, what's wrong?" Lisanna asked, noticing her sisters troubled frown.
"It's nothing, but... I received a message on my lacrima. It's from one of the journalists of Sorceror weekly"
"What does it say?"
"Be sure to pick up our special edition issue tomorrow morning... Um, there will be many- Oh, this is wonderful!"
Lisanna reached over and snatched the lacrima, and finished reading the message, "There will be many couples announced, and these aren't just rumors- we have proof. Huh. I wonder what their proof is?"
Too late, she looked over at her older sister and could already see the evil wheels turning. Lisanna gulped. This was her older sister, one of the most feared and loved woman in Fiore. She was known for her charm, her manners, her beauty, her terrifying magic ability, and most of all...
Her matchmaking abilities.
Special thanks to pplz90210 for picking up the typo at the start of this chapter.
