A/N: My computer broke, literally the day after I said I would get back to my schedule then window's and Microsoft had a complete spas attack on me and deleted yesterday's and the day before that's chapter and I was just too tired with my various holiday activities to rewrite everything and so I will release a double chapter today, and for real this time I will be back to my regular update schedule as of today.
The last few day's stuck in Natsu's house went by relatively uneventfully although she still had trouble being around him when he sat in a tight singlet or shirtless which was often the case with her shoulder, she would catch herself staring for too long and then get annoyed at him, which he shrugged off as it wasn't abnormal behavior for her even if he thought she caught a fever the first time. And so Era was finally leaving to go back to her own home, She stopped by the door when Natsu stuck his head around the corner of the kitchen door, she raised a questioning eyebrow up at him.
"It's cold out," He said simply "Take my coat."
She stared at him for a few minutes "I'll be fine."
He frowned and walked around the corner, Erza wished she had just taken the stupid coat as she stared at the incredibly form fitting black singlet her wore "I'm serious, if you get a cold on your way back what am I going to do for the next few days?"
"Your kindness is overwhelming," she retorted sarcastically "I will be fine."
"Midget." He growled
She spun around to the rack and pulled the black zip up hoodie off of it, making an obviously slow attempt putting it on "I'll borrow this." She announced casually.
"Fine." Natsu replied satisfied that she wouldn't get sick.
She took a moment to examine the hoodie, it was one of the ones with the zipper more to the left then right it's collar had a button on the top and two zip pockets ran down the sides, she made a mental note to buy one of her own as she liked the style as she left the apartment and pulled the hood up over her ears, tail already tucked safely in her baggy jeans. Natsu's comforting smell surrounded her and she inhaled deeply and smiled as she set off home.
The following day Natsu spent alone with nothing but his thoughts, which for reasons he refused to admit dwelled on a red headed Nekojin, no matter how he thought about it he was happier with her around, his days were a little brighter after she came into his life and nothing could keep him down, he missed waking up in the morning and walking out into the lounge to see her peaceful sleeping face, one morning she had actually been purring into the blanket's and nothing had ever been cuter in his eyes, but Erza was just Erza.
For the four hundredth time that day, he sighed and tried to shake the red head from his mind but the same thoughts would resurface after a few minutes anyway, he stared at the mirror in front of him and sighed "I'm in love with my best friend." He stared at the mirror as if waiting for a response before shaking his head and raking his fingers through his hair 'But what am I going to do about it?' he thought as he walked out of his bathroom.
Erza lay on her bed limbs outstretched in every direction like a starfish, wrapped in the hoodie she had all but stolen from Natsu, true he gave it to her but it was unlikely she would be giving it back unless she actually demanded it, it helped her sleep. She stared at the white of her ceiling and sighed, she had spent almost a week stuck in a house with him and he had shown her a side of him she never would have thought existed, he was calm, cheery and his trademark scowl almost never graced his face at home and he had a body that would make supermodels drool, his smiles were the kind she wanted to do anything to see again, just thinking about him brought a warm pleasant fuzzy feeling to her chest, but despite all of these thoughts swimming around in her head, not even in her fantasies could she place the two of them together, he deserved much better than she could give him but she would be damned if she didn't say it at least once.
"I love Natsu Dragneel." She announced into the empty room before pulling her hood over her face closing her eyes and attempting to get a little more rest in her friends comforting smell.
"A Dance club?" She asked skeptically. "You want to go to a dance club?" she was obviously confused and annoyed at the prospect. Nevertheless, Natsu was determined to show her at least something normal people would do to have fun.
"What? I think it looks pretty cool." He was lying; he thought the idea was stupid. He hated loud parties and crazy music but Erza's newfound love of pop music gave him the idea that she might want to try it out.
"It looks stupid." She frowned at him but he couldn't let her know he agreed. "It's just not my scene, ya' know." she finished
Natsu refused to look relieved, so he lowered his head in mock disappointment and sighed, which made Erza feel a little guilty, she knew he was trying to help her experience some semblance of a normal pre-adult life, she looked at the small flier he held in his hand, she wasn't joking when she said it wasn't her scene, but it meant spending more time with Natsu so even if the club sucked she would likely still have fun.
"If you really want to go, I guess I can be persuaded to tag along." She chided while nudging his shoulder, Natsu at this point had no choice but to brighten, he flashed her a real smile and a fiery warmth threatened to envelope Erza's face causing her to look up at the clouds in the opposite direction.
"I promised you won't regret it!" He proclaimed. Erza sighed into a smile, she could be a sucker at times, well only for Natsu.
It may not be what she'd had in mind, mostly because she didn't have anything in mind, but time with Natsu was time with Natsu, after all.
The week ended with no drama and Natsu waited patiently outside of Erza's dorm, he was a little dressed up but only slightly- A nice long sleeve shirt and a pair of unripped, practically new jeans. He let his hair do its thing having learned years ago that no amount of gel would stop its spiky return moments later, he garnered he looked good from the various stares he got from the girls leaving for their own weekends.
From behind him, a familiar voice filled his ears "Alright Giant let's do this."
Natsu turned to see Erza's in an outfit he had never expected to see her wear, she was wearing a dark red ruffled, durable long-sleeve shirt and a pair of nice fitting jeans. A yellow scarf was wrapped around her neck. She held a slight frown on her face, obviously not too enthusiastic about the nights plan, but this was the first time he had ever seen where she wore nothing on her head whatsoever, her two ears twitched almost nervously atop her head.
He was about to ask when she said "I figured if everyone saw my ears, they'd throw me out earlier." She joked as she approached him. The real reason was she felt like taking a chance was because he was there with her. "Besides, I know your overprotective instincts will kick in just when they are not needed." she mused humorously.
She poked him in the chest and pushed him back a bit before walking past him, Natsu was still trying to get steady after not only seeing her in such a cute outfit bit also with her adorable ears shouting from the top of her head. He quickly pulled himself together and lightly smacked her on the back of the head.
"Just remember, if you get into trouble, cry out and tremble in fear and call out 'Save me! Save me!' just like you always do. Don't worry, I'll come running-" Her foot met his face, effectively silencing him.
Erza's excitement grew gradually as the approached their destination, she wasn't sure if it was the prospect of something new that excited her or if it was left over from Natsu's reaction her clothes and ears, she smiled as she walked and continued to sneak glances at Natsu while they walked.
A/N: So what do you think? I think I did pretty well, although it's a little short I haven't quite planned everything I will be putting into this next chapter, but they have admitted there own feelings, how long will it take to tell each other?….Well probably not too long knowing myself but guess what? You are going to have to wait anyway :P.
