Note: I hope you're enjoying so far! This chapter is going to be a little shorter since I am going on a trip to visit my parents tomorrow, and thought that I should update before I leave. There will be no chapter next week as far as I have planned, but I will post on Tumblr if I decide to. I want to spend as much time with my family as possible, and to do that I have to give myself almost a week break from writing. But I will still take small requests on my tumblr if you would like, and you can even request them in this universe if you so desire! :)

Thank you for all of your support so far, and thank you SO much for 100 reviews! It's the most I've ever gotten on a story :)

Enjoy the chapter, and see you later!

"Well, I don't see why you have to stay another night. You are free to go, Mr. Dragneel," the nurse said, and Lucy grinned at her. The same woman who helped her with medication also happened to be the one aiding Natsu with his, and both she and the doctor made the decision to medicate him before he left.

"Yay," Natsu said, throwing his arms up in the air, loud laughter escaping his lips. The medication took away his anxiety he had before, but it also made him a little loopy.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lucy asked with a worried look at the nurse.

"Yes. The medication will wear off in a few hours, so good luck," the woman chuckled and patted a nervous Lucy on the shoulder softly before hurrying off to assist another poor soul.

"Luce! Let's go home and snuggle!" Natsu grinned, his eyes looking both sappy and wild with energy. Lucy sighed and shook her head with a soft smile. At least the old Natsu was back.

Well, for the most part. Usually he wouldn't ask to snuggle with her if he was in his regular state. Not that she would particularly mind, though…

"We've got to get you home so you can eat and rest," Lucy told him while attempting to heave him out of bed. Thankfully Natsu could actually walk, and he slung an arm around her shoulders as he dawdled throughout the hallway. Lucy grabbed her phone out of her purse with one hand and pushed the buttons to get to Gray's number.

"Hello?" Gray answered, and Lucy sighed in relief.

"Gray, could you pick us up from the hospital? Natsu was just released," Lucy told her friend, and she could hear a familiar voice over the phone.

"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment," Gray said, and Lucy's brows knit in confusion.

"Why?" she said, gasping as Natsu just about fell over when he reached for a balloon about ten feet away at the gift shop. Grasping his shoulders, she grunted as she pulled him to his feet once more.

"Juvia's sitting on my lap."

'What?" Lucy shouted, and Natsu plugged his ear closest to her. "Why is she sitting on your lap?"

"She's here watching a movie with me, and this sappy moment happened and she jumped on my lap," Gray said, sounding embarrassed.

"How are we supposed to get home?" Lucy replied, exasperation seeping into her voice. She couldn't call Levy or Gajeel, they were both at work. The shop was only closed because Natsu was still in the hospital, and now that he was out it was going to open again soon.

"There are buses, aren't there?" Gray said, and Lucy sighed.

"Yeah. We'll take one. But you owe me dishes," Lucy growled, and Gray chuckled.

"Yes, ma'am," he said before hanging up without as much as a goodbye. Lucy huffed and shoved her phone back into the pocket of her purse, cursing Gray and Juvia's very being. She loved both of them dearly, but when they didn't want to leave the house just because of a stupid movie, it made her rather angry.

"What's going on, Luce?" Natsu asked, looking at her with his bright, glazed-over eyes.

"We're taking the bus," Lucy said, and Natsu cheered.

"Awesome! Can we stop to get lunch on the way?" he asked, and Lucy looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearly one, and it had been a few hours since she and Natsu's talk.

Lucy's face flushed when she thought of their conversation and Natsu's little comment. Her mind was filled with the memory of throwing her arms around his neck for the first time in a few days, and embarrassment began to curl at her stomach. It was so intimate that she fell asleep almost in the same bed as him and had conversations about their pasts that she felt her face becoming redder as the seconds ticked by.

"Sure," she said weakly, "I don't see why not."

Thankfully, both the embarrassment and the medications wore off after they ate and made their way to the bus stop. Lucy bit her lip as she found the next available bus and bought she and Natsu tickets. She knew this would be awkward riding in a vehicle so close with no seatbelts, but it would have to do for now.

"Ready?" Lucy asked, and Natsu clutched at his stomach with a pained expression.

"Y-Yeah," Natsu told her, and she eyed him carefully.

"What's wrong?" The way he grasped his stomach in that way was worrisome to her, and she felt a need to find out what the problem was. It was unlike Natsu to not tell what he felt, and that was what concerned her the most.

Natsu motioned for her to come closer with a finger, and Lucy inched closer at Natsu's will until he leaned in to whisper in her ear. His breath was hot on her neck, and she felt tingly all over as goose bumps traveled up her back. Her face flushed deep crimson as he sighed into her ear, and then revealed the secret that she was so uneasy over.

"I have motion sickness."

"What?" Lucy asked, pulling away and looking into his eyes. She saw shame and discomfort when she gazed in them, and she knew that he felt just as troubled as she. He

"That's why I like to drive," Natsu began, gulping, "because otherwise I'll throw up and the person will be pissed at me."

He looked at the floor as if inspecting it for dust and then flicked his eyes back to Lucy's. She knew that he was gauging her reaction. Any slight movement she made would be taken to account, whether it was good or bad.

Lucy smiled softly and genuinely at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Natsu looked at it in shock, surprised that she would even touch him after he said he would throw up in the bus.

"It's not a big deal, Natsu. A lot of people get motion sick. And it won't bother me if you threw up as long as you don't throw up on me." Lucy giggled, covering her mouth.

Natsu watched as Lucy's eyes shone when she laughed, and he noticed how her nose and eyes crinkled when she found something particularly funny. He liked her giggle, how it was light and airy but yet full bodied. It was if her personality was in her laugh, and he enjoyed that about her.

But most of all, he enjoyed seeing her smile and laugh, because that meant she was happy.

"Really?" Natsu asked, his mouth curling up at the corners, "So I can't throw up in your boots then?"

"Don't even think about it," Lucy laughed, and Natsu laughed along with her. Their laughs sounded good together, Lucy realized, and she loved hearing his laugh because that signified that his depression hadn't completely taken over. Of course, he could have depression and still laugh, but the laugh he had now was full of life and was not hollow or sad-sounding.

The bus honked, signifying one minute until everyone boarded.

Natsu gripped his stomach once more, feeling that dull ache of anxiety and depression hit him. What if Lucy found him disgusting once he really did throw up? What if she never wanted to be around him again? What if she decided to move out? What if-

Lucy holding out her hand distracted him from his anxious thoughts, and he looked at it in curiosity. She wiggled her fingers a few times with a giggle, and he detected a shimmer on her nails that was not there before.

"Well, c'mon! We're gonna miss the bus, silly," she said with the soft laugh he liked so much, wiggling her fingers once more.

Tentatively, Natsu pressed his shaky palm into Lucy's as he looked into her eyes. Her hair shimmered as the sun hit it, and he flushed as he realized she looked like a goddess with her glimmering blonde hair. Her eyes were gentle and warm, and she looked into his with a compassionate smile.

"Let's go," she said before pulling him alongside her as they walked to the bus to go to the apartment.

It wasn't until he got on the bus that he realized all of his anxiety was gone, and his motion sickness was slightly better than it ever had been.