AN: THIS CHAPTER WAS SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS TO WRITE. I rewrote it a million times. But this is what I finished with, hope you guys like it. :') QOTD: What's your fav thing about FT? Mine is the friendship! I love all of the different friendships in Fairy Tail! Graylu is my brotp haha!

Chapter 11

Natsu's Apartment

As sunlight filtered through the cracks of her curtains, birds chirping their little tunes, Lucy snuggled closer to her pillow, a pleasant smile glued to her face. Her pillow was firm, her blankets were keeping her nice and warm, and Plue was perfectly snuggled between her arms in a tight embrace.

Lucy's eyes shot open.

Plue.

Plue was her puppy from her first lifetime. He wasn't around anymore.

So what was she cuddling against?

Lucy's eyes slowly trailed towards the object she was holding, which was firm beneath her. She was met with pink tufts of hair and Natsu's face as he peacefully slept, his arm tucked under her head as a pillow.

Lucy then let out a scream loud enough for all of Fiore to hear.

Scrambling out of bed, the blonde backed away until she was pressed against a wall. Her eyes were as wide as golf balls and her mouth was hung open like a fish out of water as she stared at the boy, who was now cracking a yawn and waking up.

Natsu blinked once, then twice before glancing at Lucy. Then, a wide grin spread over his face.

"Mornin', Luce!" he said with a nonchalant wave.

Lucy was struggling to form words. "Wha- What are you… What the hell are you doing sleeping in my bed!? What are you, some kind of pervert!? Get the hell out of here!"

"Oi! I ain't no pervert! That's all Gray!"

"Natsu! What are you doing here!?"

The boy shrugged. "I was bored and I wanted to hang out. So, I came here and saw that you were sleepin' still, so I was gonna let you get all the time you can to sleep. You're welcome."

"I'm welcome!? Natsu, that is breaking and entering! How did you even manage to get in here? Did you pick the lock!?" Lucy screeched, pacing around her room and flailing her arms everywhere.

"'Course not, ya weirdo! I climbed through the window like any other person would!"

"The… The window? Natsu, I live on the second floor, there's no way you would've been able to-" But sure enough, her window was opened a smidge and her doors were still locked. "H-How did you manage to…" She was at a loss for words.

"I climbed, duh."

"Natsu. You cannot just break into my apartment and sleep in my bed with me. Don't tell me you're too much of an idiot to realize that."

"I don't see what the big deal is. All we did was sleep. And I've been here a few times already."

"That's not the point! I-!"

Lucy glanced down at herself, remembering that she had just woken up. Adorned in pink, fluffy pajama pants and a white tank top, her hair a tangled mess, the girl closed her mouth and rushed to get a change of clothes. Running into the bathroom, she locked the door and leaned against it.

Waking up with her crush in her bed was not how she was expecting to wake up that morning, and she certainly didn't want to be seen a mess.

After changing into a pair of black shorts with daisies printed over them and a white tank-top, Lucy braided her hair to the side and brushed her teeth. Feeling refreshed, she headed out, ready to beat some sense into Natsu.

That feeling grew tenfold once she found him reading her journal.

"That's it!" Lucy shouted, rushing towards him. She kicked the side of his face, sending him flying out of the chair as she yelled, "Lucy Kick!"

Natsu yelped, falling straight on his ass and holding his cheek, which was sure to swell. "What the hell was that for, you crazy woman!?"

"I'm crazy!? You're the one that broke into my apartment and read my story!"

"It's not breaking in if I don't steal anything!"

"Yes it is!"

Natsu crossed his arms with a pout, glaring at the wall. "I just wanted to spend some time with you. That too much to ask for?"

"It is if you're breaking in," Lucy answered. She pinched the bridge of her nose. Then, she recalled their conversation from last night. A sinister grin stretched over her face, which was an unusual look for her as she said, "It's okay though. Because it's time I get my revenge!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're taking me to your apartment, remember? Once I find out where you live, I can break in any time I want!"

Natsu frowned immediately. With a churning stomach, he rubbed the back of his head. He forgot that was happening. Luckily, he prepared for this last night.

Once he returned to Fairy Tail after hanging out at Lucy's apartment, Natsu rushed towards the basement and barged into Erza and Levy's shared room. After Erza promptly bashed his head against the wall for entering without knocking, he explained the whole situation to them.

"You invited her over?" Erza asked in bewilderment, punching him for his mistake. "Natsu! Why would you invite her over if you don't have an apartment to show her!?"

"I don't know! She was really persistent since we keep goin' to her place! It was hard to say no without giving an actual reason!"

"I could think of plenty of lies, you moron!"

"Well maybe I don't wanna lie, you ever think of that?" Natsu shouted, glaring at the redhead. Usually, he knew better than to yell at Erza, but he couldn't stop himself this time. Lying was something he absolutely hated. Lying to Lucy was even worse.

Erza sighed. She understood where he was coming from. Immortals had no choice but to lie, and being friends with a mortal made it harder. It went against many of their morals, but they didn't have a choice.

"I get it, Natsu," she said. "But being immortal means that we have to take extra precautions to stay safe. Lying is one of them."

"Well I never signed up to be an immortal!"

"None of us did, Natsu. Do you really think that anyone would want this curse?"

Natsu grew quiet before slowly shaking his head. Those that wished for immortality didn't understand the consequences.

"Well, let's just try to think of a way to fix this," Erza suggested, cupping her chin in thought.

"Is there even anything we can do?" Natsu asked, his frown growing. "I screwed up big time."

"I might have an idea, actually," Levy chimed in. "We can ask Master Makarov if we can use one of the apartments under the school's name. We'll explain the situation, and we'll just use one of the rooms as yours for the day."

"That's a great idea, Levy!" Natsu exclaimed, rushing over and hugging the short girl.

Erza arched a brow. "Do you think Lucy would fall for that?"

"I don't see why not," Levy replied. "We'll just bring some of Natsu's things over there tonight and buy some toilet paper and other stuff that the apartment doesn't provide to make it more believable."

"Excellent thinking, Levy."

So, they made their way to Makarov's room, knocking before being allowed entrance. They explained the situation and were relieved that Makarov agreed to it- after slapping Natsu upside the head, of course.

Then, they gathered the rest of their group that was allowed outside of Fairy Tail and headed towards one of the apartment complexes under the school's name. It was a nice place, sparkling clean as it was waiting to be rented out. The group quickly got to work.

Levy and Jellal focused on the décor, framing some of Natsu's pictures. They also tacked all of his posters to the wall. Gray and Gajeel were in charge of making the place more Natsu-like, throwing his clothes on the floor and putting some dishes- that they went through the work of buying just for this occasion- into the sink. It wouldn't have been believable if the place wasn't a mess. Juvia and Natsu were in charge of stocking the pantry and the bathroom. Meanwhile, Erza was focusing on the finer details that may've seemed miniscule but brought it all together. For the sake of making it more convincing that someone was living there, she unraveled a quarter of the toilet paper roll and threw it away, sprayed some of Natsu's cologne around so that it smelled like him, and other small things.

They were ready.

Natsu rubbed the back of his head. "The others are gonna join us there too, is that okay?" Erza and Gajeel insisted that they'd be there to make sure he wouldn't slipup again. It was twice now in the last two days that he'd made a mistake.

"Of course!" Lucy replied with a smile. "I'm ready when you are!"

The two walked through town, engaging in idle chatter. Natsu started a game where they would see who could trip the other person the most. So far, he was winning.

"I can't wait to see your place," Lucy said, locking her hands together behind her back as she walked on the edge of the canal.

"I don't see why," Natsu replied.

"What do you mean? You were very excited to see my apartment!"

"That's different."

"How?"

"It just is!"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I want to see how you decorate your place since you were so persistent about me decorating mine."

Natsu gave her a mischievous grin. "I decorate it by throwing dirty clothes on the floor. Which, by the way, you promised to help me clean."

"I did no such thing."

"You sure did!"

The two bickered back and forth, reminding her of Levy and Gajeel's relationship. Did she and Natsu look like a couple?

She hoped so.

Natsu's stomach began to churn with anxiety as the apartment complex came into view. As they got closer, dread filled his body at a sudden realization.

He didn't remember which room was his.

"Fuck," he thought to himself, starting to sweat. It wasn't like he could just call Erza and ask which apartment was his. That would've been the most obvious thing in the world. And he couldn't just back out now. What was he supposed to do?

Luckily, his friends had prepared for this as well.

"Oi, Natsu! Lucy!" They saw Gray waving at them, probably told to stand there by Erza.

Natsu sighed in relief. "We're coming, Frosty!"

"Hi, Gray!" Lucy greeted as they approached the boy. "You beat us here!"

Gray smiled at her. "Hey, Lucy. Yeah, everyone's inside already."

"You all have keys to Natsu's apartment?"

The two boys tensed.

"Erza does," Gray lied smoothly. "She insists on having keys to all of our apartments so that she can do random checks."

"That sounds…"

"Stressful?"

"Very."

The three headed inside Natsu's apartment, Lucy walking behind the boys with baited breath. She couldn't wait to see his apartment and hang out with her new friends. When they entered the foyer and the boys moved out of her way, Lucy's jaw dropped on its hinges as she took in the state of the apartment. Clothes were everywhere, the sink was piled with dishes, and there was trash on the floor.

"Natsu! How can you live like this?" Lucy cried, feeling the urge to run out of there. Surely being in such a messy environment was a health hazard. She could only imagine what its effects were on Natsu, since he was actually living there.

The boy shrugged. They did make it pretty similar to how he used to live before he joined Fairy Tail.

"I don't see what's wrong with it."

"Natsu, you have actual trash on the floor! I can understand the clothes, but old food? That's gross! And look at all those dishes in the sink! You know you have to wash them, right? They don't just wash themselves!"

The boy smirked at her. "That's what you're here for, remember? You said you'd help clean."

"I just thought it'd be a little cluttered! I didn't expect it to look like a tornado swept through here!"

"Too bad! You agreed to it so now you're gonna clean it!"

"Lucy will do no such thing," Erza said, glaring at the boy and crossing her arms. "You will clean this place by yourself. All of it." That would be his punishment for inviting Lucy over in the first place.

"Flame Brains can do that later," Gray said. "For now, let's play some games."

"I'm down to kick your ass at some beer pong," Gajeel replied with an eager grin.

"You're on!"

Lucy watched the two boys relocate the chairs and move the table so that there was enough room.

Juvia, having been the one that stocked the pantry, knew where the plastic cups were kept and took it upon herself to poor some vodka into them. She and Levy situated the cups in a triangular formation on both sides of the table.

Once everything was ready, Gray and Gajeel stood on opposite sides of the table.

"Oi, I wanna join too!" Natsu shouted.

"Fine, we'll do teams. Me and Jellal against you and Gajeel," Gray replied.

Gajeel gave a look of disgust. "Why the hell do I get paired with this idiot?"

"I don't want him either!"

Lucy giggled, watching as the boys were about to start fighting- save for Jellal, who was the only level-headed one among them.

The girls watched as they took turns throwing the plastic ball, trying to get it into the cups. Gajeel was surprisingly good at the game and managed to sink the ball into half of the other team's cups before his turn ended. Gray and Jellal were forced to drink the vodka from the cups that Gajeel made it into. Now it was Jellal's turn.

Everyone was shocked as the quiet boy managed to toss the ball effortlessly into each and every single one of the cups before his turn ended.

"J-Jellal! You're like a natural at this game!" Levy exclaimed.

"He's a natural at everything," Natsu said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "It's unfair."

"Do you play this game a lot or something?" Lucy asked Jellal.

The blue-haired boy flushed from the attention and shook his head. "I've only played once before against Erza."

"He bested me, too," the redhead chimed in.

Natsu and Gajeel grimaced as they chugged down shot after shot. Their eyes were screwed tight as they swallowed, the liquid leaving behind a burning sensation.

Lucy took to Natsu's side, trying to make sure that he didn't drink too fast. It seemed like the alcohol was already starting to have an effect on him as he glanced down at her, his cheeks rosy.

"You feeling okay?" Lucy asked with a smile.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, it'll take more than that to get me tipsy."

"Really? Because your face is red."

Natsu's eyes widened and the tint of his cheeks grew deeper. He ducked his face behind his scarf. In truth, he was blushing because she was so close to him. But he was glad he had an excuse this time.

"O-Oh, yeah. I guess I feel it a little."

Lucy opened her mouth to reply when Erza's voice rang out.

"It's our turn!" she said with an eager grin. "Which one of you girls would like to be on my team?"

The rest of the girls fidgeted. Being put on Erza's team made things harder as she took everything seriously. Luckily, Juvia took one for the team.

"Juvia will be on Erza-san's team," she said.

Natsu smirked at Lucy. "Looks like you're up."

The blonde smiled back at him. "I guess so. Though, I'm not going to be any good at it. I've never played this game before. I've only watched from the side."

"That's lame! C'mon! Go show me whatcha got!"

Lucy nodded, taking her place by Levy. Even though she was sure they were going to lose, it was still exciting to play with them. Being given the ball first, the blonde bounced it off the table and tried to get it to land in any of the cups. Miraculously, it sank into one of the middle cups.

Erza smirked, picking up the plastic cup, throwing her head back, and downing its contents.

"Go again, Lucy," she said, tossing the ball back to her.

Lucy nodded. This time, she tried throwing it instead of bouncing. She ended up using too much pressure and the ball flew straight over the table.

"My turn!" Erza said, retrieving the ball. With great precision, she dunked it into a cup. Levy took a shot. The redhead made it again. Now Lucy took a shot.

Once Erza finally missed a shot- followed by her cursing- only three cups were left on Lucy and Levy's side. Levy grabbed the ball and cutely tossed it to the other side. It bounced once before landing in one of the cups. This time, it was Juvia's turn to drink. Levy tried to make another shot, but she missed.

"You've got this, Juvia!" Erza cheered as the blue-haired girl grabbed the ball.

Juvia swallowed thickly, hoping that she wouldn't disappoint the redheaded tyrant. Throwing the ball, she sunk it over and over again into the last three cups. Lucy and Levy grimaced, forcing the vodka down.

Lucy's chest felt warm from the alcohol in her circulation. After just one game, the girl was already starting to feel buzzed. She'd always been a light drinker. And with her slight tipsiness came a boost of confidence.

"Wait, I wanna play again!" she said, shoving Gray away, who was trying to play. "I think I've got the hang of it now!"

"Oho? You're challenging me to a rematch?" Erza questioned with a smirk and crossed arms. "Fine. Let's go."

And that was how the next thirty minutes transpired, with Lucy challenging Erza to countless of beer pong games and losing each one. By the end of their third game, her steps were wobbly and her speech was slurred.

"Again!" the blonde cheered.

"Uhh, I think you've had enough to drink," Gray said.

"Yeah, you should slow down," Natsu added. He grabbed a water bottle and held it out towards Lucy, who turned away from it with a huff.

"No! I don't wanna ssslow down!"

"Well too bad, you weirdo! Drink the water!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

A vein ticked in Natsu's forehead and his brows furrowed. Then, an idea popped into his head. With a smug grin he said, "Oi, Lucy. I bet I can drink more water than you."

Lucy gave him a glare. She snatched the water bottle out of his hand. "You're on!" She chugged it down in seconds. "I win!"

"Yeah, yeah, you win. Now let's get you home."

"I don't wanna go home!"

"Too bad. C'mon, Lucy. You're drunk."

The girl frowned at him. She fiddled with her hands. "Do… Do you not want me here?"

At this, Natsu blanched. "What? Of course I do, you weirdo! I'm just tryna be a good friend!"

"Friend?"

"Yeah! We're friends, right?"

The blonde smiled and nodded, latching onto his arm in a fashion similar to Juvia when it came to Gray. "Yeah. Best friends forever!"

"Hey! What about me!?" Levy cried.

Lucy laughed. "You too, Levy-chan! Best friends forever!"

"Good!"

Natsu sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to convince Lucy to go home. So, he was going to make sure to keep an eye on her. Which he was glad he did, because she looked like she was going to topple over any minute. Just to be safe, he looped an arm around her waist.

Lucy leaned into his side, savoring the warmth of his body. He was like her own personal heater.

"You're warm," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Natsu chuckled, glancing down at her. "Yeah, I've been told."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you warm?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

Lucy peeked at him through her lashes and gave him a smile that had his heart missing a beat. "It's because you're a dragon!"

Natsu grinned, raising a fist in the air. "Yosh! I'm a dragon!"

"A cute dragon!"

Natsu's cheeks turned red immediately and his body grew even warmer. Here he was, standing with his crush leaning against him and calling him cute. Was he hallucinating? "You think I'm cute?"

"Duh! A cute dragon!"

Natsu opened his mouth to reply when he heard a groan coming from his right.

Gray rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Can you two lovebirds get a room already? You're seriously grossing me out."

Natsu gently pulled Lucy away from him and got her to hold hands with Levy. Once he knew she was taken care of, he turned back towards Gray and lunged at him, all the while shouting obscenities. Gajeel gave a smug grin before joining the fray. The three boys brawled it out, not bothering to pay attention to their surroundings, bumping into Erza and sending her crashing into a wall.

The three boys gulped, watching as Erza turned to give them a look that could freeze all of hell. And with such tenacity like that of a demon, the redhead lunged at them and joined the fight. Everyone else watched, sighing.

Lucy could barely keep up with their fights when she was sober. Now that she was drunk, it was only worse.

Punches were thrown, kicks were delivered, and curse words were shouted as they fought. Natsu avoided a kick from Gray and cheered in victory before being punched by Erza. Not having had his feet grounded, he was sent flying backwards. His arm scraped against the corner of his table. Injuries were common in their fights, and he was going to jump right back in when he heard someone gasp.

Lucy.

"Natsssu, you're bleeding!" she shouted, shaking off Levy's hold on her.

Trepidation struck Natsu, and he tried to shield his arm away from Lucy, who was stumbling towards him. He'd forgotten she was there. Everyone else, finally realizing the problem at hand, became still as a rock.

Lucy arched a brow, seeing how Natsu was trying to avoid showing her his wound. With a pout, she quickly snatched his arm to inspect it. She felt Natsu tense as she pushed his sleeve upwards to get a good look. Finally, she found the scrape.

"That's a lot of blood, Natsssu," Lucy said, her words still slurred.

"I-It's not that bad," the boy replied, trying to pull his arm back. But Drunk Lucy was strong and persistent.

Lucy squinted at the injury. For a lot of blood, the scrape sure was small. There was a faint sizzling sound coming from Natsu's arm. Lucy watched with wide eyes as his scrape slowly started to close and heal on its own.

"Whoa," she breathed out.

Everyone's stomach dropped to the floor. She noticed it. Erza took slow steps towards Lucy, her hand ready to strike. She needed to do something. Knocking her out and bringing her back to her place would be the best course of action. Lucy would think that it was just a dream.

Natsu grimaced, watching Erza. He knew her intentions, he just wished there was another method. He didn't want Lucy to get hurt.

"I must be super drunk," Lucy said just as Erza was about to hit her. "Because it looked like your arm healed itself. Maybe I need to lay down for a bit." She cracked a yawn.

Natsu raised his brows. Then, he thought of another idea. "Whaaat? That's weird, Luce! Arms don't just heal themselves!"

"I know, I know," Lucy said with a laugh, shaking her head. "I really am a lightweight!"

"Maybe we should get your body more tolerated to it, huh? C'mon, let's play more games!"

"Okay! Games!"

Natsu gestured towards everyone to set up beer pong again. They shared a quick, confused glance before doing so.

"It'll just be me and you, Lucy," Natsu said once things were ready.

"Okay," the blonde said. She was swaying in her spot, already pretty drunk as it is.

Natsu took the ball and tried his best to make it. He made it into all but two of the cups before his turn ended. Lucy laughed before chugging down the contents of all the cups. Natsu winced. She was going to wake up with a huge hangover tomorrow morning, but he figured that would be better than having Erza hit her.

Natsu didn't know if his plan would work. He hoped that having Lucy drink more would make her forget about tonight's events. If not, then he would never be able to talk to her again.

Lucy laughed as she threw the ball. Being drunk, she was way off base.

It was Natsu's turn again. He took the ball and threw it into the last two cups, wincing as Lucy threw her head back and downed them both. Her eyes were half lidded and her skin looked a bit sickly and covered in sweat. Natsu knew that look.

Rushing towards her, Natsu led her towards the bathroom and lifted the lid. Lucy bent over immediately and began to puke. He held back her hair, knowing that it's what she would've wanted him to do and stayed by her as she continued to throw up. Guilt ebbed at him, knowing that he was responsible for this, but he knew that it was best to keep their secret safe.

Lucy could never know the truth.

"You're okay, Lucy," Natsu assured, rubbing circles on her back with one hand. "Get it all outta your system."

The girl nodded, throwing up some more. She let out a whimper once she was done, flushing the toilet.

"Let's get you home now, Luce." Natsu lifted her bridal style and carried her out to join with the others. Levy ran up to them, worried.

"Is she okay?" she asked.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, just dealing with the alcohol. I'm going to take her home now." Glancing down at Lucy, he found that she was asleep with her head resting on his chest.

"Find out if she remembers anything tomorrow morning," Erza said with crossed arms. "If she does, then we have to tell Master. We messed up big time tonight. I can't believe I made such a careless mistake!"

"It'll be fine," Jellal assured.

Natsu took that as his cue to leave. It was late in the day, but there were still people outside, giving him weird glances as he carried Lucy. He just hoped none of them called the cops on him. That would make the situation even harder than it was. And it wasn't like his bloody arm was any help.

Luckily, they made it back to Lucy's apartment problem-free. He struggled to search Lucy's bag for her keys while holding her at the same time, but eventually he saw her pink lanyard. Once he managed to unlock the door, he quickly headed inside and gently placed the girl on the bed, making sure that she was laying on her side.

Natsu frowned. Lucy seemed so peaceful now. Her golden hair was splayed around her. Moonlight gently washed over her features. Her lips were slightly parted. She was angelic.

And he may have just screwed things up with her tonight.

With a dejected sigh, Natsu turned to leave when something grabbed his coat.

"Stay," Lucy said. Her voice was quiet and breathy as she was just barely awake.

Natsu swallowed thickly and nodded. If this was going to be the last time he would be able to see her, he wanted to get all the time he could. Carefully, he climbed in bed beside Lucy, making sure not to squish her in the process. He left space between them, not wanting her to think he was taking advantage of her drunkenness. Lucy seemed to have other ideas, though.

Snuggling against Natsu's side, Lucy let out a content sigh before dozing off to sleep. Natsu was still, staring at the ceiling. Even though things in the last hour were hectic, he felt at peace with her in his arms.

He never wanted it to end.

At the crack of dawn, Lucy's eyes shot wide open, a hand flying to her mouth. Ignoring the lump beside her, she shot out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom, throwing the toilet open and puking what felt like all of her insides out. After throwing up, her stomach felt better, but her head was still pounding in pain.

"Shit," she murmured, clutching her head. "What the hell happened last night?"

"You got really wasted," someone said. Lucy glanced towards the voice and found Natsu. Instead of his cheery grin, his face instead adorned a frown. He looked scared.

"What are you so scared about? It's just a hangover," Lucy assured.

"So you're okay?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm okay. But I will be."

Still, Natsu frowned. It didn't seem like she remembered, but what if memories came rushing back to her later? Lucy's next words had him thanking the heavens.

"I don't remember anything after I challenged Erza to beer pong. I clearly must've lost," she said with a chuckle.

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief, tension uncoiling in his body. And even though he hated lying to Lucy, he didn't feel so bad this time. "Yeah, you passed out right after."

"And you stayed here with me?"

Natsu gave another look of fear. "You told me to!"

"Relax," Lucy replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm not mad this time. I'm glad you were there to make sure I was okay. You're a good friend."

Guilt pierced Natsu like a sword. He wasn't a good friend. He kept a huge secret from her, got her overly drunk to cover it up, and continued to lie to her face.

"D-Don't mention it."

"You want breakfast?" Lucy asked. "I'll make us some after I get ready. I want to freshen up after all of that puking."

"Yeah, breakfast sounds good."

Lucy nodded, closing the door so that she could shower and get ready.

Natsu took out his phone and sent a quick text to Erza, letting her know that things were okay. Before he met Lucy, he never really used his phone to talk to anyone. After all, he already lived with all of his friends. He preferred talking in person. But with Lucy, he wanted to talk to her every second of the day.

Once Lucy finished getting ready, she joined Natsu in the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea, hoping it'd help with her headache. Then, she got to making breakfast.

"Next time, let's hang out without getting wasted," Lucy said.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. You're hard to take care of when you're drunk."

"Am not!"

"Are too!" he argued with a mischievous grin. "You say things without thinking and you can't even walk straight!"

"I can handle myself just fine!"

"Oh yeah? You called me cute last night, you know."

Lucy choked on her tea, her face becoming a blushing mess. "I-I did not!"

"You sure did!" Natsu replied.

Lucy buried her head in her hands in mortification. "I can't believe I said that."

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal." Natsu fought back a blush as he continued, "You're cute too."

Lucy slowly lifted her head. "Was that a compliment?"

"Nah. Just a fact."

"You're annoying."

The two laughed together. Even though they felt a bit embarrassed, their bodies felt light. Things were easy between the two of them.

Watching Lucy cook up breakfast, a smile gracing her face, Natsu decided he would be more careful from now on. He couldn't afford to make any more mistakes with Lucy, or else he might have to stay in the basement with the rest of the immortals. And while he usually didn't mind that, he found that he didn't want to stay down there now that Lucy was in his life. He wanted her in his life, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure she was.

AN: Sorry if this chapter is a little sloppy. I tried my best. :') Anyways, another close call! Hope you guys liked the chapter! :D

Thank you to the reviewers: OneLivesAgain, Rein Serenity, valerioux, KawaiiKitsune13, MissVarta, shootingstarssel, Alexa60765, KarinStalker24, Guet, mumof4, MotherofDragons1227, KJacket, Cher, Firefly9917, beefcakebarbierenewed, animeflower107 (x2), stranger1999, ThaDesperado64, KatanaNoNeko, MasterGildarts, Mandapandaa, Kauia, Mannyegb, Mary Chou, itsxoi, Guest, Guest, Soul Eater Maka, RoyaldragonSevgisi15, MidnightLuz, mushi0131 (x9), Nalulove. You guys are very sweet to me!