Pushing open the door to Levy's cafe Lucy glared at her brothers both of whom scrambled to their feet the second the door chimed signalizing someone opening the door. It had taken at least two more hours to get the conversation with Gildarts out of the way since he had insisted that he talk to Mira about the damages to the bar first, as well as have something to drink and eat as well. It had been one of the longest two hours of her day since he had flirted more then he had gone over anything that really mattered. And then he had still beaten around the bush until she had threatened to leave regardless of what he had to say.
"Lucy what happened?" Sting demanded taking a step towards her until she narrowed her eyes at him, shocking him.
"Did you know the owner was Gildarts Clive?" She demand.
"Uh, Rogue you take this one." Sting murmured and backed away with a wary look in his eyes.
Rogue sighed and shot his brother a glare before he softened his eyes and turned his full attention to her. "Lucy, understand something-"
"No," She cut him off with a swipe of her hand. "You be honest with me right now, did you or did you not know that he was the owner and you didn't warn me."
"We knew." He said after a hestitant moment. "Lucy, we didn't tell you because most of the time he has his assistant stand in for him."
"And who the hell would that be?" She snarled as she stomped over to the table that had all her expense papers spread out on it.
"This scary as hell woman whom you should be grateful that you obviously didn't meet cause you would have run in the opposite direction." Sting said then tensed as he realized what he had just said. Both of them exchanged a look before they stared at her and waited for the inevitable.
Lucy froze then slowly straightened and turned to stare at the two men whom regarded her with closed expressions. "That's what you wanted." She murmured softly in disbelief. "You wanted me to meet this scary lady and come running back to you two like a scared little girl so you guys could pat me on top of the head and tell me everything was all right and that you two would handle everything."
Rogue held up his hands pacifyingly. "Lucy-"
"No!" She shouted and slammed her hands down onto the table, completely shocking the two of them, as tears slowly welled up and she shook her head where she had it bowed. "I'm sick and tired of always being treated like I'm weak. I'm so sick of being told half truths because you guys don't think I need to know what's really going on. I'm sick of always being patted on the head and set aside even though it's my life." Shaking her head Lucy grabbed her messenger bag, ignoring the papers that she had on the table. "I won't be home until late, don't bother waiting up."
With that she rushed from the shop, her head down as the tears she desperately tried to hold back slowly rolled down her cheeks in thick rivulets. It wasn't often that the three of them got into fights, but it was very clear that they always somehow managed to win each and every one of them without fail since she almost always ran off during the middle of them. She didn't leave because she was mad that she wasn't going to win, she ran because she was afraid that she was going to lose her temper and say something that she was truly going to regret later on. After all she treasured her brothers more then she did getting her point across to the two thick skull'd idiots.
Hugging the strap of her messenger bag closer to her Lucy hurried down the sidewalk and past the front of the bar, wiping the back of one hand across her cheeks as she walked. She'd made it nearly about a block and a half from her shop before someone's arm shot out in front of her, halting her escape from her brothers. Jerking to a halt Lucy turned her head and blinked up at Natsu through her tears.
"N-Natsu?" She prompted in confusion as to why he was suddenly in front of her.
"Who the hell made you cry?" He demanded on a snarl, his eyes narrowing.
She shook her head looking away as she took a deep breath hoping to calm herself. "M-my brothers a-and I got i-into an a-argument. Don't w-worry about i-it."
"You're crying." He pointed out and moved closer, grabbing hold of her upper arms as if to keep her from escaping. "Why the hell would I not worry about it when you're in tears?"
"Because you d-don't know m-me." She pointed out dryly and shrugged still not looking him in the face.
"You know what Gildarts ordered, I'm to work with you on everything." He said and pulled her slightly closer before he tipped her chin up with one hand and gave her a soft smile. "That means I should get to know you since we're going to be spending so much time together."
"Yes but that's in regards to my shop." She denied and shook her head.
"But what's it going to hurt spending some time with me when it's not in regards to your shop?" He prompted then grinned as he reached down and threw her over his shoulder, grabbing her messenger bag as it hit the ground and taking off at a smooth run with her still over his shoulder. All of this done within the blink of an eye. "Consider yourself kidnapped until further notice!" He cackled.
"Natsu put me down!" She shrieked, her eyes wide as she her hands fumbled at the back of his black blazer to try and keep herself from smacking into his back to much.
"Nope," He said keeping a tight hold on her. "Not until we get where we're going."
"Then where are we going?" She asked her heart threatening to climb up her throat with her anxiety. She'd never been left alone with someone quiet like Natsu and she wasn't sure if she was ready to be alone with him yet. "Natsu where are you taking me?" She demanded when he didn't answer her.
"That's a surprise." He said as he rounded a corner and raced across the street, ignoring the car that blared it's horn at them.
"What?!" She shrieked and smacked his back. "Tell me right now where you're taking me!"
"No." He chuckled and jostled her slightly making her yelp. "Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you now would it?"
Smacking his back as she kicked her legs Lucy gritted her teeth in frustration. "I don't care-"
"Settle down!" He snarled in irritation when she nearly slipped off his shoulder. "I will carry you under my arm if you keep this up!"
Automatically Lucy ceased her struggles and her hands tightened in his jacket as she stared at the ground, silently taking note of what part of town that they were in in case she was able to escape. She'd always hated being yelled at, it wasn't that she couldn't take it because growing up with her brothers she was constantly yelled at by Sting since his temper was a hair trigger, it was just she didn't like it when she was the focus of peoples irritation or anger. Especially when she felt that it wasn't her fault.
Natsu sighed softly as he slowed his pace and Lucy craned her head to see a beautifully built two story house looming up in front of them and she blinked at it though she didn't say anything. Striding up onto the porch he dug into his pockets. "Watch you're head." He growled as he pushed open the large redwood door and strode through it and into a spacious hallway, kicking the door shut once they were inside. Slowly he lowered her to the floor and gently help onto her upper arms.
Lucy kept her face averted from him, annoyed at the entire situation she was currently in. It seemed that no matter what she said or did everyone whom was bigger or stronger then her would always treat her as if her opinion didn't at all matter. "Let go." She murmured softly and tried to shrug his hands off of her.
"Not until you look at me." He growled and waited.
Lucy sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat she turned her head and tilted it back to look up at him, her eyes locking with his.
Slowly his glare faded and he smiled down at her. "There you are, thought I lost you in all that pouting." He teased softly, surprising her with this very shocking gentle side of him. "Go sit down," He said and nodded towards the sofas and armchairs in a room directly off the hallway. "I'll bring us something to drink." With that said he let go of her and moved around her, heading down the hall and disappearing into another room that she assumed was the kitchen.
Lucy stood there in shock then slowly turned her head and noticed her messenger bag sitting on a side table beside the door. The door, her escape, he had let it unlocked and her unsupervised. Shooting a look down the hall Lucy tensed to move when she jumped as Natsu called out from the kitchen.
"If you run I will chase you and you won't like it when I catch you. And I always catch my prey." He threatened the honesty ringing in his voice.
Lucy froze for a second before grabbing her bag and hesitantly moved into the living room and looked around, taking in the wall mounted flat screen TV as well as the countless rows of DVD stands filled with both movies and games. Slowly lowering herself onto the couch stationed directly across from the TV Lucy toed off her Toms and pulled her feet up and hugged them to her chest as she stared at the intricately carved coffee table in front of her. It was clear that Natsu was either well off financially or he was really close to Warrod because upon a quick inspection from her seat the majority of the furniture in this room was pieces that had been constructed by either Warrod or his wood-smiths. Leaning forward Lucy ran her fingers gently across the top of the table admiringly.
"You like?" Natsu prompted from the doorway, two glassed of amber colored liquid held in his hands.
She nodded slightly. "Warrod's pieces are absolutely beautiful."
"You can tell that this was made by Warrod?" He asked impressed that she could notice that while arching a brow.
She nodded and accepted the glass from him. "Either him or one of his smiths, but yea you I can tell that it was made by them because no other wood-smith pours their heart into every ounce of the piece that their working. The wood just has this sort of...feeling to it when you look at it, it's hard to explain."
He stared at her before he slowly nodded. "Yea, you're right." He took a small sip if his drink as he sat next to her on the couch.
"Apple juice?" She asked softly, looking into her glass.
"Uh, something a little stronger then juice." He said in amusement as he watched Lucy bring the glass up to her nose and take a small sniff. Instantly her nose scrunched up and she looked over at him. "You looked like you needed a drink. Besides you grew up drinking wine."
"Wine is a lot different then hard alcohol." She retorted before slowly taking a small, tentative sip. Lucy instantly started coughing the second she swallowed the fiery liquid. tears springing to her eyes as her throat nearly caught fire. She had never really been one for any type of alcoholic beverages, which is why she had wanted Loki and the others to take over the winery. Slowly her coughing ceased and she settled back against the couch again. "Why?" She asked gently, staring up at the ceiling.
"Huh?" He prompted, frowning in confusion as he took another sip.
"Why did you bring me here?" She reiterated then held up a finger as if to silence him. "And don't say it's because I was crying or that it would be a great time to get to know me because that wasn't it."
"Those weren't lies, but they were half-truths." He said with a chuckle. Natsu sat there for a moment as if debating telling her why he brought her to his home, taking a deep breath he decided to go out on a limb. "Would you believe me if I told you I like you?"
Lucy's head whipped around in surprise before her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Don't joke about that. Don't say you like me if you're just joking. It's cruel."
"I'm not." He said completely serious. "I'm not lying. I'm not joking with you, Lucy."
"Why?" She asked in a small voice, fear and shock in her eyes.
Natsu sighed and looked away. "You treat me different then any other woman that I've met."
"How do all the other women treat you?" She asked, a small part of her not wanting to know how he was treated if her treatment of him was so noticeable.
Natsu sighed, frowning he ran a hand through his hair, tousling it even more then it already was. "They all treat me as if I'm just someone to fuck becasue of all of my connections. Without fail every single woman will try and weasel their way into my bed and then turn around the next day and ask for favors."
She stared at him silently for a minuet. "How do I treat you? How am I different then everyone else?" It wasn't that she didn't already know how she treated him, she just wanted to see what his thoughts of it were because she was just treating him like he was another person.
Natsu rested his head against the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "You treat me as if I'm just another person that you've met, someone whom you're supposed to work with, someone who you can get to know. I don't have to hide who I am around you, I can laugh and smile with you and not worry that you have a secret motive for trying to make me like you. I can bring you home and not have to keep a constant eye on you to make sure that you don't try and rifle through my shit trying to find something that you can blackmail me for. You're sincere and honest to the point it makes my stomach knot up in excitement at what you could possibly say next because you're so innocent it's adorable. You don't say things just to say them and hear your own voice, you don't make yourself laugh or do this bullshit fake giggle that gets on my nerves whenever I say something you think I mean to be funny. You've never once thrown yourself at me and begged to spend some time with me just you and me. You care about others before yourself. And most importantly you don't want Gildarts touching you, you don't try and throw yourself at him, hell you nearly attacked him."
Lucy blushed at the reminder that she did very nearly attack the older man. "So that's why you...like me?"
"Yea." He murmured then turned his head, still resting it against the couch to look at her. "That's why I like you. You're pretty impressive aren't you?"
Her eyes widened in embarrassment before she raised the glass to her lips and took a large gulp, instantly she started to cough as it burned down her throat.
"Not the reaction that I was going for but it'll do." He chuckled in amusement and reached out and patted the top of her head. "Don't worry I'm not going to pressure you into anything. I've been talking to Warrod and Cana since I ran into you in Warrod's shop. Between the two of them I've learned pretty much nothing about you besides you've never really shown an interest in men, so I'm not gonna try and rush you. Lets start out as friends okay? See where everything goes from there. Sound good?"
She stared at him incredulously. "You want me to be your friend knowing everything that you just told me?" She demanded.
He arched a brow at her. "Would you rather just jump straight into a relationship with me? I'm fine with either but I was just trying to think more about your comfort level." He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. "Never really thought all that much about relationships so I was just kinda trying to feel it out as I went."
Her cheeks flooded with color and she chugged the rest of her drink to Natsu's shock before she turned to stared at him after she'd finished coughing. "I've never, ever been in a relationship. I don't think that I could ever be you're friend. Not because of who you are, you seem like a nice person, a bit rough around the edges and very crass, but I'm not trying to sound rude or anything, but knowing what you just told me now? No, I could never be able to look past that, but I also can't be in a relationship with you because I don't even know anything about you. I've only spent about a day in you're company and most of that was with people around me and you were being all glares and snarls most of the time. I'm not going to just jump into a relationship with someone whom I don't know, and I know my brothers are going to pitch a fit when they found out that I just came over to your house, let alone all the things that you've told me. Which I'm not at all going to tell them and you better not as well." She paused and turned so she was staring at the coffee table, taking a deep breath Lucy closed her eyes as if not looking at him would give her some courage to say what she wanted to say. "I'm awkward in these situations, I tend to say things that I honestly shouldn't, and I ramble-which is what I'm doing now-but if you give me the chance I'll eventually work my way around to what I'm trying to say."
"Okay." He murmured, turning slightly so he was in a much more comfortable position to watch her as her face reddened. "Go ahead, I'm all ears."
Lucy gave a nod, her eyes still tightly closed. "Okay, what I'm trying to say is that you've really caught me off guard, I never ever thought that someone would come out so bluntly and tell me that they liked me. And then to tell me everything that made you like me, I know I asked you, but I wasn't expecting you to go into such detail without my needing to push. To be honest that scared me a little. It's not that I find you scary, well I do a little because you're so intimidating, but that's beside the point I'm getting off topic. What I'm trying to say is that I'm nowhere near ready for a relationship of the caliber that you're asking, but I'm willing to do as you suggested and get to know you first before committing to anything. I just don't want my brothers to find out because they'll cause trouble for both of us and right now I can't handle that plus worrying about my shop." Letting out a huff of air Lucy opened her eyes and turned to look at him. "Did any of that make any sense to you?"
Natsu slowly smiled at her and nodded. "You're willing to get to know me before you make the decision to date me or not. You don't want your brothers to know because they'll cause trouble. I scare you a little because of my personality, which is okay I can work on that. You've never been in a relationship so you're scared a little which is okay we'll take everything step by step. And lastly I shocked the hell out of you with my honest approach." He paused and arched a brow. "That sound about right?"
She stared at him silently before she nodded. "Yes."
Natsu sighed and smiled slightly down at Lucy as she lay with her head cushioned on his thigh, she'd fallen asleep nearly an two hours ago but he hadn't had the heart to wake her after the movie had ended so he'd simply started another one. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall he sighed and slowly slid out from underneath her head before slowly gathering her into his arms, freezing when she murmured and shifted slightly in her sleep. Letting out a sigh of relief he straightened and turned heading towards the stairs, a slow grin gracing his lips as he realized that he would have Lucy in his bed, right next to him.
Reaching his door Natsu pushed it open and strode in, thankful that his maid had decided to finally clean his room so it wasn't it's normal pig sty mess that he normally left it in. Gently settling her onto the unmade bed Natsu carefully pulled the blankets over her, grateful that she was wearing leggings instead of jeans that he would have to try and get her out of without waking her. Slowly straightening he stared down at her as she snuggled into the bed and rolled onto her side with a soft sigh. Forcing himself to turn and leave the room Natsu pulled the door closed until there was a crack left before he turned and headed silently down the hall and down the stairs pulling out his phone and dialing the only person whom would be awake at this hour.
Pressing the phone to his ear as he moved into his kitchen Natsu chewed on his thumb in thought.
"What are you still doing up at this hour?" Warrod asked with a chuckle.
"She's in my bed." Natsu blurted before he could stop himself.
"Whose in your bed and why are you telling me?" Warrod prompted with a laugh.
"Lucy is."
The sudden silence on the other end of the phone had Natsu himself holding his breath. "By Lucy do you mean Lucy Heartfilia?"
"Yes."
"Do tell why the one girl that I warned you to stay away from is in your bed?"
Natsu leaned back against his sink so he could watch the top of the sitars in case Lucy woke up and wandered down them. "She got into it with her brothers when I was still at the bar, saw her crying and went after her. Brought her home then we started talking." He paused then took a deep breath. "I told her I liked her and one thing let to another and we've decided that we're going to get to know one another before she decides on anything. We were watching movies and she fell asleep and I decided to just let her sleep since she's had a very long few weeks. So that's why she's in my bed."
"But do tell why you blatantly ignored my warning."
Natsu froze at the shocking anger that was very clear in Warrod's deep voice. "She's what Mavis was to Zeref." He said softly by way of explanation.
Warrod inhaled sharply at the blunt confession. "When did you figure this out?" He demanded softly after a moment.
"Not to long ago, when we were sitting on my couch talking." Natsu said and shook his head a smile on his lips. "You were right, Warrod, this girl is special. She's so funny, so sweet, so innocent, so dumb at times."
Warrod snorted. "That sounds exactly like her."
"What are we going to do?" He asked softly after a minuet. "The second it gets out that I'm getting closer to her then I have to any other girl she's going to become a target."
"We'll have to tell her soon." The older man sighed.
"Not yet, though." Natsu said hastily. "She's already slightly scared of me as it is, I don't want to terrify her when I'm just starting to let her get to know me."
"She's scared of you?" Warrod prompted with a snort. "How do you know that?"
"She told me quite bluntly." He said with a chuckle. "What'd she say? She's not scared of me she's just slightly scared of me because of my personality and how I act."
"Gods that girl is so dumb sometimes." Warrod sighed. "We can figure this out tomorrow, for now get some rest. And gods forbid do not do anything!"
"Yea, yea, yea I already promised her we would take things extremely slow." Natsu retorted. "G'night Warrod, speak ta ya tomorrow I'm assuming."
"Good night Natsu." Warrod said then disconnected the call.
Sliding the phone back into his pocket Natsu rested against the counter for a moment longer before he grinned and pushed off and turned to prep the coffee pot for tomorrow, hurrying to his fridge he pulled it open then grimaced at it's barren contents. Clearly his maid hadn't been happy with him about his room since she hadn't restocked his fridge like he'd asked in his note. Sighing he pulled open his freezer and pulled out a thick package of bacon and placed it into the fridge to thaw, making a note on the whiteboard to go shopping since the maid wouldn't be back for another week. Pausing to make sure that there was nothing else he needed to pull out from his freezer he nodded and turned, exiting the kitchen he headed for the sitars, taking them two at a time as he hurried back to his bedroom, switching off the lights as he went.
Quietly closing the door Natsu turned and stared at Lucy curled up in his bed, the moonlight washing over her and making her even more beautiful then she already was. He stood there for a moment just staring at her shocked at how much one small woman could make such a big impact on him in such a short amount of time that he'd known her. Reaching back he pulled his shirt up over his head and tossed it aside as he silently padded to his walk in closet and grabbed a pair of sweats, no way in hell was he going to sleep in his birthday suit like he normally did, at least not until he and Lucy had reached that level of their impending relationship. Slowly he strode to the bed and carefully climbed onto it, resting his chin on his elbow so he could stare down at her as she slept, smiling possessively at the way her lips parted softly in her sleep. She was stunning both on the outside and the inside. There was something about her that drew out the tender side of him that he'd pushed so far down that he truthfully thought that would never see the light of day again. But now he was genuinely smiling down at her, he was laughing with her, and he wasn't glaring as much as he normally would have been. All of it was shocking to him, in a way that made him want to lock her up in his room and never let her out for fear of something happening to her.
Growling softly to himself he settled down and on top of the covers and scooted closer to her, wrapping one arm around her while he slide the other under her head as he buried his nose in her hair and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be a new day, and he'd greet it wrapped around Lucy.