AN: Not much nalu fluff this chapter but important nonetheless! :) Please review as always :)

Chapter 7

"Lucy," he started in a serious tone, "where are your parents?"

Lucy froze at Natsu's words. Her parents? Why would he want to know about that? Then again, she supposed it was a bit peculiar that a teen was living in an apartment with no signs of anyone else living with her. Nonetheless, it was still a question that she was not comfortable answering with someone she had just met.

"That is none of your concern, Natsu," the blonde simply answered as she went to walk by him. That is, until a familiar warm hand wrapped gently around her wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"Do you live here alone?" Natsu persisted. "There wasn't anyone here last night either."

"Why does it matter to you?" Lucy asked in a harsh tone as she pried her hand away from Natsu's.

The pink-haired boy took a step towards her, to which the blonde stepped back. Natsu sighed, reaching down and grabbing her hand once again. Lucy tried to tug her hand away but it was to no avail. The warm hand clasping her own was not letting go. Natsu then stepped towards her once again. They were so close, Lucy's breath hitched in her throat at the touch of Natsu's breath against her skin. An unfamiliar warmth traveled to her cheeks and the pit of her stomach.

"Why do you have to be so secretive?" he finally said in a hushed tone that made Lucy's body quiver. "I was wondering because I never had anyone relate to me."

"Relate?" Lucy questioned, her brown eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

"You live by yourself, don't you?"

Lucy nodded despite her better judgement and continued to gaze into her friend's eyes. Brown bore into onyx for what seemed like an eternity.

"That's what I meant," he said. "None of my friends live by themselves. They all have someone to keep them company."

Lucy gulped as she struggled to find words. Lamely, she replied, "At least you have Happy."

Natsu chuckled. "You're right about that. Wanna talk about it?"

The blonde sighed as she led the way towards her couch and landed with a heavy plop. "You know, you really aren't as dense as I thought."

Playfully nudging the girl beside him, Natsu replied, "Thanks. So what's your story?"

"Don't have one."

"Oh c'mon, Luce. Here, why don't we make a deal?" Before the blonde could interrupt, Natsu continued. "We can make it into a game to make it easier. You can ask a question, then I'll ask a question."

Lucy was undoubtedly curious and wanted to know more about her friend but she remained hesitant. She wasn't ready for anyone to find out that she was wealthy or about her relationship with her dad. All she wanted was to forget the past and live for the future. However, she knew she couldn't run from it forever. All of the relationships she had built since coming to Fairy Tail High were built on secrets. If the girl wanted something real, they would have to truly know her. Which Natsu seemed to understand.

"Fine," the girl finally said with a lengthy sigh.

"Alright, I'm all fired up!" Natsu shouted, raising a fist into the air. A sense of pride erupted in him when he heard his newest friend giggle at his actions. "Ask me something!"

"Okay…" Lucy started, putting a finger to her chin in thought. "Where is your mother?"

"Don't have one. I was adopted when I was younger." Now it was Natsu's turn. "Who pays the rent here?"

"Huh? That's what you have to ask?" Seeing the boy's nod, she shrugged and answered. "I do. Where's your adoptive father then?"

"I don't know. I was waiting in our house for him to get off work one day and he never came back." Natsu noticed sorry sweep through Lucy's brown eyes. He never liked to talk about his father, but a sense of relief filled his body after he did. He felt undeniably closer to her. "Where's your parents?"

Lucy bit her lip as tears made their way into her brown orbs as she painfully answered, "Dead. My mother died of illness when I was younger and my father passed away a few months ago from working too much. Do you get lonely at your place?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm sure you do too. What is it like having two parents?"

"To be honest, I don't think I have the answer to that. When I was little everything was great and we were all happy, but after my mom's passing everything changed. I guess you could say that I look a lot like my mother and my dad was too pained by it. So he did everything he could to separate us. He became cold and distant and he tried to arrange my marriage a countless number of times. I hated him for the longest time. But then it got better. Have you ever tried looking for your biological parents?"

"Nope. Don't need them. I have tried looking for Igneel though. Oh, that's my dad. How did things get better between you and your dad? Seemed like things were really rough so it's just surprising."

"Well, someone took me hostage and I guess when I heard my dad screaming and crying for me I realized he loved me. After that, we had a long discussion and we forgave each other for everything. We were getting so close… and then I lost him too. Are you ever curious as to who your birth parents are?"

"…It's not so much as who they are but why they gave me up. But I'm glad they did because I got to meet Igneel and live with him for a while! Anyways, why were you taken hostage?"

Lucy frowned at the question. She definitely did not want to let anyone know about her wealth. After all, so many people had used her for it. The people at her old school pretended to like her in an attempt to get some of her money. Not like they needed it though, considering their own parents were loaded as well. Then she found out that their parents actually told them to get closer to her to better their relationship with her father.

She didn't want the same to happen at her new school with her new life. She wanted people to like her for her. Not her money. Yet, there was something about Natsu that made her want to let down her walls. His eyes held such sincerity and his voice was soothing in ways that she had never known before. Something about him made her trust him. After all, he had just shared some of his own painful memories, why not enlighten him of her secret?

"My dad is Jude Heartfilia," Lucy finally answered. Seeing the confused look on Natsu's face, she continued. "Jude Heartfilia? The owner of all of the railroads throughout Fiore? Are you telling me you've never heard him?"

Natsu shrugged and gave a sheepish smile as he replied, "I've actually got some bad motion sickness, so anything related to vehicles I tend to steer clear from. Anyways, what does that have to do with anything?"

"My dad is one of the top ten wealthiest men in all of Fiore. That's why I was taken hostage."

Natsu blinked once. Then twice. "Wait, so you're rich?"

Lucy frowned as she thought, "Here it comes…"

The pink-haired boy then asked, "If you're rich, why do you live in this cruddy apartment and go to our school?"

The blonde hit her friend lightly for his jab at her apartment. "My apartment is not cruddy! Anyways, I just always wanted to be a normal girl. I am tired of being Lucky Lucy, the girl with the money. I just want a normal life with normal people. That's why I came here. I figured I could keep it a secret and live happily. Yet someone had to be nosy."

"Yeah, yeah. You aren't Lucky Lucy. You're just Luce." Natsu noticed the way the blonde's eyes lit up at his words and he ruffled her hair. "Is that why you were so persistent on meeting me?"

Lucy awkwardly chuckled as she answered, "Yeah, I'm sorry about all that by the way."

"Don't worry about it! I know just how you can make it up to me!"

"How?"

"Making me dinner! I'm starving!"

With that, Natsu stood up with a stretch as he gave Lucy the widest grin he could muster. Reaching towards her, he helped the girl get up from the couch. His heart jumped at the feeling of her hand atop of his, making him quickly retract his own hand. He stared at it in wonder as a warm feeling erupted in the pit of his stomach.

"What the hell was that?" he wondered.

"Natsu? Earth to Natsu?" Lucy said, waving her dainty hand in front of his face.

"H-Huh?" Natsu asked, brought out of his thoughts. Seeing Lucy's face right in front of his own made his blush further deepen despite his efforts to retain the warmth in his cheeks. "F-Food! I'm starving! Make me something to eat, Luce!"

"Yeah, yeah. Is spaghetti good for you?"

"Yeah, I don't care."

"Good because that's all I'm making."

Lucy then waltzed into her kitchen, unaware of the onyx eyes boring into her retreating figure. Natsu watched as her long, golden locks of hair swayed side to side effortlessly while her long, creamy legs moved with such grace. Of course he noticed her curves, who wouldn't?

"She's pretty cute. Oh well."

Natsu shook his head and rid himself of the thoughts that were rising about his friend. Instead, he walked into the kitchen and leaned on the counter, watching as she gathered all of the ingredients needed.

"Can I help make it?" he asked with eager eyes.

Lucy giggled and nodded her head. "There's not much to do though. Just boiling noodles for the most part."

"That's fine!"

Lucy shrugged as she pointed towards a large pot. "Fill that with water and boil it."

Natsu did as he was told and filled the pot about three quarters of the way and turned on the stove. He was about to place the pot onto the stove when the flicking of fire caught his eye. Taking a quick glance at Lucy to make sure she wasn't looking, he focused his attention on the orange fire in front of him. Every couple of seconds the fire would flick above the metal plate above it. Finally, the boy slowly put his fingers above the fire and reached towards it. It was hot against his skin- obviously- but he relished in the feeling. That is until…

"NATSU WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Lucy screeched, causing him to drop the pot of water onto the floor. All of the liquid poured onto the hardwood floor and even made its way towards the carpet. "Ugh you idiot! Look what you did! Clean it up!"

"But Lucy-"

"Clean. It. Up."

"A-Aye!"

Lucy sighed as she retrieved another pot and filled it with water. Placing it onto the stove, the girl turned back around to face Natsu. He was currently using his scarf as a headband and was on his knees soaking up the water with a nearby towel. Granted, it was a nice towel that Lucy didn't appreciate being used on the floor. The blonde shook it off though. She could always buy more nonetheless.

Lucy smiled as she watched him wipe up the mess. He was so childish, it gave the girl a sense of fun that she hadn't had during her childhood besides the times she played with Loke. But even then, those were always so short. Her times with Natsu were unlimited. After all, neither had parents and lived alone and lived by their own rules. The fun was unending with him.

The blonde then admired the way his tanned arms were toned to the right amount of perfection. She remembered when she met him the prior day and relished in the memory of his abs. Then her gaze landed on his pink locks of hair. She had to admit, the way the scarf made his hair look when it was used as a headband was no doubt attractive. While yes, pink is an unconventional hair color and she had never expected to like it, she found herself thinking it was fitting for her new friend.

"Very fitting."

AN: Ahh, gotta love Natsu's obsession with fire! And ooh looks like these two are very slowly developing new feelings! Stick around! :D

Magnificent dragoness: Haha thank you for the review :D

Sidjr100: Well now you know! :D Thanks for another review :)

Dark Mystique: Thank you so much I'll try my best! :D

Fairyfan8: Chapter 5: Thank you so much I found it cute too haha! :D

An Amber Pen: I completely agree haha it's like they are meant to be! And yesss I love making Lucy and Loke childhood friends it just seems so fitting! Thanks for the review :D

Dogsrcool5: First, I must say that yes, dogs are in fact cool. Second, thank you for the review :D

Alexa60765: Thank you again :D I'm glad to have your support on this story as well! :)