AN: Hello again everyone! :) Hope you're all enjoying your day and I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter 10

Once finished at the two Heartfilia graves, Lucy and Natsu headed back for Magnolia. Though it went unnoticed by the two, they had walked even closer than they had before. Their arms had even slightly collided many times. When they boarded the train, the pink-haired boy collapsed ungracefully onto the floor, forcing his blonde friend to drag him to their seats. Once situated, Lucy allowed his head to fall onto her thigh and took it upon herself to run her fingers through his hair gingerly.

When they were finally in Magnolia, Natsu had instantly ran out of the train and kissed the solid ground, earning a kick to his side for embarrassing his best friend with his antics. In a successful attempt to get the blonde to stop hitting him, he grabbed her wrist and began to pull her towards her apartment. Entering the quaint home, the two slouched on the couch with heavy sighs. It had been a long day for the both of them.

"So why didn't you go to Mira's party?" Lucy finally asked. She had been wondering it since the moment he showed up at her parent's graves but waited until then to ask. "I helped you buy those gifts for nothing."

"Nah, I did go. Just not for long," Natsu replied.

"Why not? Was it boring?"

"I guess."

Lucy let out an annoyed sound as her friend wasn't elaborating on anything and making her ask all of these questions. "How was it boring?"

"You weren't there, duh."

Lucy cursed herself for asking as her heart sped up under her ribcage. It confused her, but she shrugged it off. Surely it was only because they were best friends, right?

"You know you gotta learn to live without me sometimes," she finally said.

"Nah. You're stuck with me."

"S-Shut up. You're talking like we are in a relationship or something!" Lucy shrieked as she slapped him on his chest. His bare chest. Which reminded her that she was still wearing his coat and his scarf.

"Why aren't we then?" Natsu teased. He was only kidding of course, as he smirked at the blonde in front of him.

Lucy smacked him again but this time let her hand linger on Natsu's skin. Just as she expected, his chest was as unnaturally warm as the rest of his body. Her chocolate brown eyes then roamed across his body even more. His abs were just as appealing then as they were when she had met him. Without even knowing, her slender finger had begun to trace over them, eliciting a shaky breath from the boy.

Natsu completely shook at the contact, all jokes completely tossed aside. He was unsure as to what Lucy was doing to him exactly, but he knew that it felt… good. She was just running her hand over his bare stomach, why did it feel so great? As her finger ventured lower and on its way towards the hem of his jeans, Natsu's body began to tremble. He quickly grabbed her hand and whipped his madly blushing face away.

Once Natsu had grabbed her hand, Lucy was absolutely mortified at herself. She had never lost control of herself like this before, and it was with her best friend. She didn't even know that she was doing that! It was as if her hand had a mind of its own and decided to indulge itself with Natsu's skin. Peeking through her eyelashes to see her friend's reaction, the blonde found that he was avoided her gaze and could see that his face was a deep shade of red.

"He's blushing," Lucy observed. A warm feeling sprouted in the pit of her gut at the realization. Then she remembered what she had just done once again and jumped to the opposite side of the couch and bowed her head. "I'm so sorry, Natsu! I don't know what came over me!"

"I-It's okay," he replied, still avoiding eye contact.

Lucy literally face palmed at her actions. The awkward vibes tainted the air around them and she felt as though she were being suffocated. Why had she done that? Could she have feelings towards the pink-haired boy she titled her best friend? Images of him shoving food into his mouth and breaking into her apartment clouded her mind and she shook her head.

"No, that can't be it. Oh, I got it! It's just because I've been in an all-girls school for so long that I was just so curious as to what abs felt like so my subconscious told my hand to find out! It all makes sense! As if I could like Natsu of all people!"

Lucy decided to voice her findings to relieve the tension. "Sorry, Natsu. I guess I was just curious what abs felt like. I went to an all-girls school, you know. I won't let it happen again though, I promise!"

Natsu frowned as a blush appeared on his face once more. Turning to look at the wall, he asked, "…Are you still curious?"

"Huh?"

"Are you still curious?"

Lucy's eyes widened, wondering if he was being serious. Hesitantly, she nodded her head. What? Why would she pass up the opportunity to feel a hot boy's abs? Her best friend was even being kind enough to quench her curiosity! Her hand traveled towards his body ever so slowly. It was just mere inches away…

"Hey, Lu-chan, you home?" a shrill voice rang from the door, which had been unlocked the entire time and now barged open. Levy stood in the doorway holding bags of what seemed like groceries as she was asking if she could spend the night. That was when her eyes landed on the two on the couch. Her eyes bugged out and she dropped the bags she was carrying. "L-Lu-chan a-and Natsu! I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt! I'll just go-"

"Wait, don't go!" Lucy cried out, retracting her hand. She couldn't let her petite friend leave when she didn't understand the situation. "It's not what it looks like!"

"Then what is it?"

"I-I was just curious and Natsu let me feel…"

Levy smirked knowingly at the two and snickered. Sauntering towards the two, she relished in the embarrassment that shown on their faces. Stopping in front of Natsu, her smirk only grew as she gained his attention. His cheeks were still a deep shade of red, causing Levy to stifle a laugh.

"Well then, I'm curious too, Natsu. Can I feel your abs?" she questioned, wanting to laugh more than anything.

Natsu grunted as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "No, only Lucy can."

"Why?"

"Because she's my best friend."

Lucy tried her best to ignore the sudden disappointment she had felt when Natsu said that. Why though? Did she want him to say something else? Perhaps that he had liked her? Shaking her head, she joined in the conversation once again.

"See, Levy-chan? We are just friends," she said, her heart pained by the statement, though she didn't know why.

"Mhmm, anyways," Levy said, changing the subject much to her friends' relief, "I figured we could have another girl night! It's been a while since we had and it's a Saturday night, so why not?"

Lucy sighed and then gave an eagerly bright smile. "You could've knocked first, but I'll let it slide this time. Yeah, let's do it! You got the stuff?"

"Yep! Mint chocolate chip for me and cookie dough for you!"

"I guess I'll take this as my cue to leave," Natsu announced, smiling at Lucy. He was glad to see her excited about a sleepover with Levy and he wondered when the two of them were going to have one.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry Natsu! I'll text you tomorrow?" Lucy asked. She had forgotten he was there.

"Sounds good."

Before leaving, he inspected the blonde one last time. She was still wearing his coat and his scarf. While the scarf made her look cute and adorable, the coat looked… sexy. Since she was only wearing a short dress underneath, it was as if she was naked underneath. Shaking the bad thoughts from his mind, he grinned at her and left through the window.

"I guess I'll let her wear them a little longer," he thought as he made his way through Magnolia shirtless.

Now that Natsu was gone, Lucy strode into her room and quickly changed into her pajamas: light blue silk shorts and a tank top. She then went back to her living room and plopped onto the sofa beside Levy. The blue-haired girl was setting up Netflix so that they could watch a romantic comedy movie. This was their usual, before they were too absorbed around Natsu and Gajeel.

Levy had actually been making great strides in her relationship with the scruffy teen. Since their date- the one that Lucy had forced Levy to ask Gajeel out- the two had been spending more and more time together. They flirted nearly effortlessly now and were going on more dates, to which Levy would call the blonde and excitedly give her the details as to what occurred. The two were clearly becoming an item and it was all thanks to Lucy.

Besides from the romance of her best friend, Lucy was also watching a romance ensue on her TV. It was a typical guy-meets-girl movie in which they both hated each other at first until they were forced to get to know each other. While the movie was cliché, it still forced Lucy to feel things she didn't understand. She watched as the two became closer and she watched how they acted. She watched as they gained feelings and fell in love. Love. Despite all of the romance movies she had seen, that one word always confused her.

Well, it wasn't that love itself confused her. It was more that she didn't know how to get it. After all, everyone around her was in love: Levy had Gajeel, Juvia had Gray, Erza had Jellal. Hell, Cana had a new guy every week! Even though none of them were actually dating, it was clear that they were all in love- well, besides her alcoholic friend, but it was clear that love wasn't her thing anyways. Yet, Lucy wasn't quite as lucky. At first, she wanted nothing more than friendship. She had been locked away from people for so long, that was all she could hope for. Now, however, after seeing everyone around her enjoying their love-lives, Lucy couldn't help but feel glum.

Where was her soulmate? Why wasn't he appearing in her life? Just how long did she have to wait? Great, now the characters were kissing in front of her.

"Kiss," Lucy thought. It was such a simple action, just two lips meeting each other. Yet, it held so much meaning. "I wonder what a kiss would be like."

Finally, the movie had ended, much to Lucy's relief. Well, except for…

"So, Lu-chan, do you like anyone yet?" Levy questioned, causing the blonde to choke on her ice cream.

"L-Levy-chan!" Lucy sputtered in response. "I already told you, I'm not looking for a relationship!"

"Uh huh, sure. Is that why every time I come over you wanna watch romance movies?"

"Hey! It's a romantic comedy…"

"Admit it, Lu-chan! You want a relationship!"

Lucy crossed her arms and huffed. "Fine! I want one! But it doesn't matter anyways! My soulmate is taking his precious time coming into my life, unlike you. Hell, I might not even have one."

"Oh you have one," Levy replied, turning her attention back to her ice cream. Her knowing tone made Lucy curious.

"What do you mean?"

"Natsu, duh."

Lucy began to choke once again, now knowing that she shouldn't have asked. She could feel her cheeks getting warm and just knew that she was madly blushing. "D-Don't be stupid! As if I would like Natsu! He's so not my type!"

"Even so, he's your soulmate. You two hang out all the time and you are always the happiest when you're with him. Just like me and Gajeel. You are just too dense to realize it. Oh, and he's the only one you told that you're rich and stuff."

Lucy's eyes widened and for the third time that day, she had choked on her ice cream. She really had to stop doing that. "W-Wait, how do you know about that?"

Levy shrugged as she answered, "I was looking you up to see if you had a Facebook or something so that I can find any embarrassing pictures of you and send it in the group chat-"

"Levy-chan!"

"Anyways, when I typed your name on Google, all kinds of stuff came up. So, yeah!"

"When did you figure this out?"

The petite girl placed a thumb to her chin in thought. "Hmm… I think the day after you joined our group chat!"

"A-And how does it make you feel?"

Levy stared into Lucy's brown eyes, causing her to look into her own lap with shame. It wasn't that she wanted to keep everything a secret, it's just that she also didn't want to say the words aloud either. Now Levy knew she didn't trust her with such sensitive information. Just then, the blue-haired girl burst into laughter.

"You really think I care, Lu-chan?" Levy asked after she finished laughing. "I'll admit, I was shocked at first. But then I realized that it all made sense! After all, how else would an unemployed 17 year old girl be able to pay for a nice apartment like this? Anyways, I understand why you kept it a secret. And don't worry, I haven't told anyone else. Your secret is safe with me!"

Lucy didn't realize she had started tearing up until she felt a single tear roll down her cheek. Wiping it away, she smiled at her friend. Fairy Tail High was full of such wonderful people and she knew that if she were to tell the rest of her friends, they would all have the same reaction. Lucy loved her life how it was. She loved her friends. She didn't need a love-life as long as she had them…

Or so she thought.

AN: I will always love Lucy and Levy's friendship. :')

Magnificent dragoness: Thank you so much! :) I liked that he talked to Lucy's parents too. I feel like that would make them so much closer and stuff! :)

Mavis Chase: Why hello! :D Thanks for the review on this story too! :)

FairyDancerHeartfilia: \(^v^)/

Alexa60765: Thank you so much as always! :D

CelesetialLunaPanda-Senpai: Thank you so much! :D Your review was so kind :')

FireShifter: Thank you! :D I just like seeing how Lucy sees her friends haha :)

Soul Eater Maka: Thank you for all of the reviews! :D And thanks for all of your reviews on all of my other stories too! :') Means so much! :'D