WAAAAHHOOOOOOOOOO! I'M BACK BITCHEZ!
And early too! Love me my loyal followers, shower me with praise. Just kidding.
God do I have stories for y'all.
Alright. So I let in the repairman to fix my washing machine. Totally normal occurrence. My mom wasn't home yet my sister would be do from school for at least an hour. So this old guy and me are in my house alone. I don't get a creepy vibe from him at all, seems nice and shit. He's working on the washing machine, we're going about our separate business. Companionable silence. Just met him. Best buddies. Anywho, I was exhausted. Day had drained me, high school is a bitch, and blah blah blah. So I just lie down on the couch, close my eyes for a few seconds. Five minutes later my ass is knocked out on the couch, I'm snoring, drool be drippin'. Old guy, I can't remember his name, Bert. Sure, Bert. Bert says ma'am a hundred times. He taps my shoulder eventually my log of a sleeping form wakes up and sees poor ol' Bert looking so guilty. I'm like sir do not at all feel bad about waking me up to ask me questions about my machine. You're here to fix it and I should not being sleeping alone in my home with strangers… Wow, that's me in nutshell. A dunce.
Okay story number two. I'm taking my sister to gymnastics right? Right. I go with my aunt this time and we decide to stay and watch her practice. The clever little gymnastics place decides, ya know what would be cute? If we put bleachers indoors for the parents to watch their children from. Screw that. Congratulations on putting the most uncomfortable seating inside a freaking building. So all these moms that are living through their daughters and are hardcore like sports people have bathed in perfume. It reeks of midlife mom in there. Chanel number gag me. Honestly. Then this one woman, is painting her nails. The stink was about to kill me. Not only this but the woman who leaned over in front of me? She was toting a PISTOL in her jean waistband and it was poking out of her sweatshirt something fierce. I get it, right to bear arms. Why you bearing arms at a place for 2-14 year olds to flip around on foam mats? Is that necessary. I was gonna die two ways that night. How'd the night end? My aunt and I run out of there, vow never to come back, and buy some ice cream. Alls well that ends well.
Alright on to business numba three. I have an update for ya! I know I said once a week but you'll be happy to know that for right now that was a lie. Lol I'll be updating twice a week for a little bit because I'm so far ahead in what I have written opposed to what I published. I also have the dreaded writers block and I'm hoping a little reviewer love will give me some inspiration.
Number 4! Huge shout out to my first reviewer Naluforever632! You're fantastic and I love ya! I will always try my very best to reply to all my reviews. Even if you're anonymous. It'll just be in the author's note. Usually at the bottom but considering you're my first you're at the top.
Umm, let's see.
My funny stories? Check. Why I'm updating? Check. Shoutout? Check. What am I forgetting? Well I couldn't be that important. Right?
This chapter is pretty much going to do a little plot push and some relationship developement. I hope it goes well. The next chapter is the one to watch out for. It'll be here Wednesday and it really starts the story.
Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail y'all know NaLu woulda been done by now.

Arc 1
Chapter 2: Set-up
To the station
Lucy felt the sunlight barring into her room without any mercy. Closing her eyes tighter, Lucy swung her arms over her eyes in an attempt to block out the sun. Her head was still pounding from the previous day's events. Just as she started to relax, she heard a tapping on the window. Lucy groaned and brought her pillow to her face. The knocking became more insistent. She threw her pillow in the direction of the impatient intruder and swung her legs over her bed, resting her head in her hands.
"Lucy, what're you doing? It's almost 11:00." Natsu jumped in through the window and landed with a flop onto Lucy's bed. Happy came flying in shortly after, landing with a soft thud. A small groan escaped Lucy as she laid her head back down onto her pillow subsequently shoving Natsu off with her legs, "Hey!" he groaned, rubbing the small of his back where it met her bed frame, "Get up, let's go, the giant snowflake wanna-be is going to be here any minute and I wanna beat him to the station."
After not receiving a response from Lucy for several moments, Happy shushed Natsu and flew over to the side of the bed that Lucy was facing. He settled into her arms and asked her, "What's wrong? Lucy, you're scaring me."
Lucy squeezed her eyes as tight as she could, trying to retrieve some of her earlier tranquility. Seeing that all her efforts were failing and not being able to resist the softness of Happy's fur, she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes.
Natsu propped himself right above Lucy's face, his arms braced on either side of it. He looked her full on and asked, "Luce? Are you feeling okay?"
Lucy felt an extreme heat radiating off of Natsu, whether it was because of his dragon slayer powers or his proximity to her face, she didn't know. She didn't care. He was warm and it made her head feel better. When she had regained enough of her senses she lightly pushed Natsu's shoulder just enough so that she could slip past him to get to her dresser.
"Can't you use a door?" Lucy chuckled at him over her shoulder as she picked something to wear. "I think I'm okay," she said with a little less confidence than usual, "I just can't get rid of this massive headache from a couple of days ago," she pulled out her usual pink tank and blue skirt and made her way over to her bathroom door.
"Ever since that Vulcan got a hold of you?" Natsu asked, letting the guilt slip into his voice as his eyes glanced at Happy to see that the Exceed obviously felt the same way.
"Actually, it started a little bit before that but I didn't want you to worry," Lucy let a slight smirk curve her lips. It was nice to see that they cared, even if it was just guilt.
"Then it's probably just a normal headache and not our fault at all," Happy chimed, excitedly.
"Yeah, and ever since Natsu," Lucy paused at a loss for words for what exactly Natsu had done to make her feel better, "was…looking at me, since I could feel how warm he is, my head felt better." Lucy finished lamely, realizing there was no way to make his position above her that morning sound as innocent as it was.
Just as Natsu was about to ask her another question, the front door could be heard slamming right below them.
"Hey Lucy, Natsu, and Happy, I know you're all up there," Gray yelled from the stairs, "if you lazy bums don't get a move on we're going to miss our train."
Lucy sent one last look in Natsu's direction. It looked as if he had one more question for her but instead he replied, "He's right, besides as long as you feel better it's okay, right?"
"I'll be ready in a second," Lucy replied, slightly shocked by Natsu's reaction to her headache, he still seemed worried.
"Yeah, you wouldn't want him to see you in just your pajamas." Natsu flashed her his signature full-toothed grin, "Only me and Happy can bust in on you like that."
Lucy rolled her eyes and went to change. She splashed some water onto her face and looked into the bathroom mirror. One look at her hair and she was slightly embarrassed that Natsu saw her that way, even if it was just Natsu.
She pulled one of her keys from the key ring, "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"
With a brilliant flash of light, Cancer passed through the gate and appeared before his wizard, "Hey, baby," he purred, "what kinda do are we looking at today?"
"My usual, I'm just going on a job," Lucy sighed. Her head was starting to sting a bit.
Cancer swung around, unceremoniously tipping over Lucy's shampoo bottle onto the floor.
"Lucy?" She could hear Gray's voice through the door, asking if she was okay.
"I'm fine," Lucy laughed lightly at the sound of underlying panic invading Gray's usually cool tone. Somehow it didn't soothe the ache in her head at all.
"So, baby, you sure you don't want a funky up-do?"
Another slight scuffle is heard, but this time it was on the other side of the door.
Then Natsu's voice is heard through the door, "Is someone in there?"
"It's just Cancer," Lucy scoffed, "calm down, no need to be hysterical." Lucy's head was pounding just as bad as before.
"Hurry up, Lucy," Happy yelled, "I want some fish before we head to the station."
"Me too," Natsu added.
"No way, ash for brains, we're not putting any seafood in your stomach before getting on some transportation."
"We don't want you to throw up, Natsu," Happy agreed.
"Who's side are you on?" Natsu shouted indignantly.
"SHUT UP!" Lucy screamed, emerging from the bathroom, "I'm ready, let's just go," she grimaced as she tried to remain standing upright, "Cancer, close the gate."
With a slight poof, Cancer was gone. Lucy could feel a bit of the pulsating alleviate, probably due to the fact that she was no longer using any of her magical energy.
"Alright," Gray threw his hands up in defeat, "Sorry, Lucy, let's go."
"Lucy's craaanky," Happy sang as he flew ahead of Gray and out of the doorway.
Natsu stayed back a moment, noticing that Lucy was gripping the wall for balance.
"What?" Lucy asked, disconcerted by Natsu's stare.
"You look like you're in a lot of pain," Natsu replied simply.
"I'm sorry," Lucy felt bad for snapping at him, "I am. I just, don't know why."
"Maybe you should sit this mission out..." Natsu suggested nonchalantly.
"And leave you and Gray by yourselves to kill each other, I don't think so." Lucy forced a smile, "I'm well enough to go on the mission."
"Whatever you say," Natsu shrugged. He knew better than to argue with Lucy when she was being stubborn.
"Wait," Lucy called as she and Natsu caught up to Gray and Happy, "why isn't Erza coming along?" Focusing on light conversation took her mind off the pain.
"She's out with Juvia," was Gray's immediate response.
"Alright, Mr. Quick, tell me. Why aren't you out with Juvia?" Lucy replied, amused with Gray's denial. Juvia loved him and had proven it numerous times, now it was time for Lucy to get Gray to admit it.
"Why would I go with Juvia?" Gray's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. It was his tell, like in poker, so Lucy could always know when he was nervous.
"Because," Lucy was going to implement a very complex plan to convince him to confess but alas…
"You liiiiiike her," Happy intruded using a far less complex course of action with, surprisingly, decent results.
"I do not!" Gray stammered, "I just, well, she… I was going to go with her. In case any of her teammates held a grudge."
"To protect her." Lucy grinned with a smile as wide as Happy's.
"To protect her, but," Gray continued begrudgingly, "she told me to stay here." A small frown crept it's way onto Gray's normally emotionless features.
"Did she give you a reason," Natsu jumped in on the conversation, "other than the fact that no one can stand your presence?"
"Listen, you overgrown matchstick, she said she'd love it if I tagged along!" Gray snapped.
"But?" Lucy asked, drawing his attention back over to her.
"Well, she told me that some of her old guildmates might hold a grudge against the Fairy Tail wizards. She said it was best that she go alone," Gray grumbled.
"And Erza wormed her way in," Natsu laughed.
"What did she say to convince Juvia?" Lucy wondered how much of Erza's special brand of convincing she used to get Juvia to agree to taking her over Gray.
"Erza told her she needed back-up; someone who could easily take down an enemy and would be clear minded enough to assess a situation. Whatever that means," Gray struggled to keep his voice from portraying his obvious frustration.
"And you would jump to conclusions if Juvia were to get in any danger." Lucy said, realizing how obvious it all was.
"Why do you make it sound like it's obvious?" Gray was exasperated. He knew there was little hope of denying his feelings, but he'd be damned if he didn't try.
"Because it is," Happy said absent-mindedly, as he flew ahead of the group a ways to see how much farther they had until they would make it to the train station.
"Can we stop talking about the ice cube's love life and talk about something more cool? Like food? Or me?" Natsu complained, catching up to Happy.
"Gray does the same thing that Natsu does whenever Lucy's in trouble," Happy told them.
"What's that?" Lucy asked through her smile. Both Natsu's and Gray's eyes were wide open and Natsu's jaw hit the ground, hard.
"He just gets..." Happy began.
Natsu tackled him to the ground. Even with a blush the color of his own flames tainting his cheeks, Natsu was intimidating.
"Gets what?" Gray prodded, while trying to pry Natsu off of Happy so that the Exceed could finish.
"Guys?" Lucy's unsure voice broke through the commotion.
They all popped their heads up, each one unable to answer. Natsu had his hands on both Gray and Happy's mouths and Gray, in turn, was covering Natsu's.
"Does anyone know where we're going?" Lucy was eyeing the train schedule, but the only times it showed were for trains that were going long distance, leaving Fiore.
The boys disentangled themselves and Gray approached the board next to Lucy, "The flier just said it's a city called, Supernus."
"Supernus." Lucy thought aloud. Suddenly, it felt like a small explosion went off in her head. She bent over in pain, exerting a small yelp in the process.
"Lucy!" the three boys yelled as they bent to her aid.
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could. Everything made her head hurt, the light, the noise, and the cold hard ground bruising her body as she fell on it. She saw stars in her eyes because of how dizzy she felt. She felt like she was floating away from her body. Then suddenly, she felt herself and her body collide. Actually, as the pain in her head ebbed enough so that she could form coherent thoughts again, she realized she felt strangled. When she was well enough to open her eyes, that's when she realized that it was Natsu.
"Nat-su." Lucy struggled against his strong arms that were enveloping her body, "Can't. breathe."
Natsu loosened his grip ever so slightly when he ever so smoothly realized that it was he who was causing the breathing problem, "Sorry," he said almost shyly, "I just kinda... freaked."
"How'd you know that hugging me would help?" Lucy was amazed that one of Natsu's spur of the moment plans had worked. Especially this one. What made him think of trying it?
"Well, back at the apartment," Natsu scratched the back of his neck, "you said that the first time you had a headache, it felt better, because of me…"
Lucy nearly facepalmed, "Of course!" At the apartment, Lucy's memory caught up to her, when Natsu's warmth washed over Lucy, her headache had felt better, "Natsu!"
"Yeah?" he asked, fully expecting a good signature Lucy scolding.
"That's brilliant," Lucy hugged him.
In shock, Natsu said, "Really?"
"I was the one in pain and even I didn't think of that," Lucy gushed. It was true that the pain had almost completely receded, but Lucy could still feel the faint traces of her mystery ailment. She would put those aside for the benefit of the team.
"They liiiiiike each other," Both Happy and Gray sang in eerie unison. Gray was just happy that the scrutiny no longer fell on his relationship, or lack thereof.
Natsu and Lucy jumped away from each other and straightened themselves up with also eerie unison, "No, we don't."
The two stood up and straightened out, very conveniently avoiding eye contact.
"Alright, so," Gray took to the board again to find the train to their destination, "Supernus is train number…"
"Come on, Lucy," Natsu said, lightly guiding her by the arm.
"Natsu?" Lucy looked at the dragon slayer, imploring him to tell her where it was they were going, "How do you know where the train is? Why would you ever be the first on a train?"
"We're not going on a train, silly," he flashed her a goofy grin.
"What are you talking about?" She yanked her arm out of his grasp, "How would we get to the job?"
"We're not going to the job," Natsu said, his eyes downcast and dark.
"Why the hell not?" Both Gray and Lucy exclaimed.
"Lucy isn't well enough," Natsu said, glaring at Gray.
"I'm fine!" Lucy yelled.
"Lucy thinks she's fine," Gray and Natsu took their head-to-head pose.
"Well, if you were really her friend you would know that she's not!" Natsu told him threateningly.
"Well, if anyone wants my opinion, I say we go on the mission!" Lucy tried to butt in, ultimately she was ignored.
"Lucy can't even stand up straight for long periods of time and you want her to go fight bad guys?" Natsu accused.
"I can too stand up straight," Lucy protested.
"Too scared of trains?" The fight continued with Gray' s comment as if Lucy hadn't said anything.
"I can take on anyone by myself. Besides, need something to entertain yourself while Juvia's gone? You're willing to put Lucy in danger?" At that, Natsu took it one step too far. Gray would never intentionally hurt Lucy and he knew that but his anger was getting the best of him, like it so often did.
"You just don't believe in her enough. I know she's strong enough, do you?" A silence fell over the group at Gray's words.
Natsu turned away from them, "Come on, Lucy, we're going home."
"No," Lucy stammered, "I know that it's not ideal for me to go like this, but I promise, I'll be fine. And I never break my promises."
"Fine." Natsu stubbornly conceded. He trekked ahead of the group back to the board.
"You have to go easy on him," Happy whispered to Lucy and Gray, "He lost Lisanna cuz of a mission, he gets nervous when people take on missions they can't handle. He wouldn't know what to do if he lost another member of Fairy Tail because of a job gone bad."
With guilt pitting itself in their stomachs, the Fairy Tail team set out on a quest, a quest they had no idea would change their lives.

Ooh okay jyes aljright I'm liking dis. When the accent comes out it's a good sign. Most of the time. Is Gray any better? Honestly I can't tell. Whatevs. I was reading Future Lucy's ya know. God I was balling. Eeeeh waaaah glump. Yep glump. I don't know I'm super emotional, don't judge.
Again you gotta tell me what you liked what you didn't like. Favorite part, least favorite part. I love you all for putting up with me. I'll see y'all butiful mugs wednesday.

-Inkwell