(A/N: Hey guys! So inspiration struck and I've decided to give you another chapter today. Thanks for the kind words and the follows/favorites. How do you guys feel I'm handling the POV changes? Good? Bad? Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated. Happy reading!)

Natsu's POV

"Ready to skate?" she asked me.

"I don't know… I was joking earlier but now I'm scared actually blowing chunks everywhere," I said unsure of myself.

"Here, take it," she extended her hand. Just the thought of taking it gave me some kind of rush and made my heart beat faster, "We'll go nice and slow so your stomach doesn't get upset."

Her hand was still out for me to take, so I latched on. I felt the smooth texture of her skin in my rough hand. As promised, we started off gliding slowly across the ice, but I couldn't really focus on that while she was holding my hand. I wobbled and she helped me steady myself. She switched which hand she held and wrapped her other one around my waist. It felt nice. I could get used to that feeling.

"I-I'm doing it," I said, smiling.

"Yeah, you are! Ready for me to let go?" she asked.

I probably would've been fine if she let go, but I wasn't ready to let go of her embrace.

"No! Not yet."

She didn't say anything, but she cleared her throat and looked at me, "Natsu, I know this isn't really a good time to ask, but what did you really mean earlier? You know when you said something about it being like a date? D-do you…," she trailed off and took a deep breath, "do you like me, Natsu?"

Oh fuck, how was I gonna answer that?!

She continued, "It's cool if you do… I mean… I think I- I think I kinda like you too…"

"Wait, what?!"

"Um," she let out an awkward laugh, "I lik-."

I didn't let her finish her sentence. That was what I'd been wanting to hear forever. In the heat of the moment I just acted on impulse. Before I knew what I was doing, I grabbed her by the waist and kissed her. She put her hands on either side of my face and leaned into me. When we broke apart, we smiled at each other.

"Does that answer your question?" I asked her.

She blushed and looked down. I put my index finger under her chin and lifted her face gently until her eyes met mine.

"I've loved you for a long time, Lucy."

"Really?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you liked me back because of the way you acted whenever someone said anything about us."

"I reacted like that because I didn't think you liked me."

"For real? Wow, I guess we should've said something sooner."

"Yeah."

Her face was so close to mine and she smelled like a mix of vanilla and lavender. I couldn't resist the temptation to kiss her again. I closed my eyes and my lips met hers. This kiss was even better and longer than the first one. She leaned into me again, but this time around, I lost my balance. We tumbled down onto the ice. Me, landing on my back, and her, landing right on top of me.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" She stood herself up and reached down to help me up.

I gotta give it to her, she's a lot stronger than she looks.

I smiled at her, "It's all good."

She took my hand again and we skated off. She gripped my hand tightly and we just went in circles around the rink a few times.

"Hey, what do you say we catch a movie later?" she asked.

"Sure, sounds like fun!"

"Alright, why don't we head back to my place and get some lunch and then we'll check what's playing?"

"Sounds like a plan to me!"

Lucy's POV

We returned the skates and went back to my house. I couldn't believe Natsu liked me back, he was my first real boyfriend. Wait, just because we kissed and admitted our feelings for each other, doesn't mean we're dating just yet.

"Um, so are we like, dating now?" I asked Natsu, breaking the silence.

"I mean, I thought so. We kissed twice and feel the same way about each other. You do want to be my girlfriend, right?"

"Of course! I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

"What do you think everyone's gonna say when we tell them?"

"I told you so."

We both laughed. We knew our guildmates all too well.

"What do you want for lunch?" I asked Natsu.

"Whatever you feel like making," he said, retreating to my bed.

"You won't yell at me for sleeping in your bed anymore, will you?"

"Nah. You can sleep there if you want to."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"YES! Your bed is so much more comfy than mine!"

I just laughed and returned to making lunch. I decided that a pasta salad sounded good for lunch, so I started to boil some water and got all the ingredients I'd need out of the pantry. About forty minutes passed when I announced lunch was ready, but low and behold, Natsu was asleep.

"NATSU! FOOD!"

That woke him right up. The only thing he loves more than sleeping and fighting is food. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Gee thanks, Luce," he said groggily.

"No problem."

We ate lunch quickly because we didn't want to miss the show. When I'd put the dishes in the sink and grabbed my keys, we left the apartment again. We set off toward the guild since the theater was in that direction, but we didn't get far until we heard screaming coming from the town and then an uproar of people yelling my name.

"LUCY HEARTFILIA!"

I looked at Natsu, who looked equally confused.

"What the fuck?!" I whisper-yelled to Natsu.

"What's going on?"

"I have no idea, but I don't have a good feeling about this," I was freaking out.

Those voices didn't sound familiar to me at all. Better yet, why were a group of people searching for me? Was it- shit! It was a search party! Why would there be a search party looking for me? I'd been away from home for a little over a year. Why would they suddenly start looking for me? It's not like my dad gave a shit about me anymore.

"LUCY HEARTFILIA!" the voices boomed again.

"We have to go, Natsu. Come on!"

"We can't go back to your place! Follow me, we're gonna get you somewhere safe."

He reached for my arm and we ran away from the city. I was going to have to tell Natsu about my past. Once we stop, he's gonna ask me what's going on. Not that I really know what's going on any better than he does but still, I have to tell him. I can't go any longer like this. He loves me, nothing is going to change his view of me just because of my parentage. Knowing Natsu, he'll protect me. I'm so glad I had Natsu to rely on right now because I don't think I could escape this on my own.

We ran until we couldn't hear the voices anymore. We were just outside the city limits, deep in the forest. We were both breathing heavily.

When Natsu regained his ability to speak, he asked me, "What was that back there?"

"In all honesty, I'm not sure. It probably has something to do with my dad. You see, there are things about me that you don't know yet…things I didn't want anyone to know. But it seems like I have to tell you."

Natsu looked at me seriously. I had this stupid urge to laugh because of how much he didn't look like himself. It made this feel like a dream. I didn't laugh though, because this was real, this was really happening. I wish this wasn't so hard for me. Here goes nothing, I guess.

(A/N: How do you guys feel about this chapter? Was the romance too rushed? I kinda feel like it was but at the same time, I really needed to move things along for the plot to progress at all. The absolute worst thing is reading something where the author drags a plot out. So tell me what you think. How can I improve? Any suggestions or comments will be taken into consideration. I'll try to post the next chapter really soon!" Thanks for reading!")