Okay, you guys, like I said last chapter, things here are CRAZY. Really. I'm about to pull my hair out. But that would take forever because I have a LOT of hair. Ahem. Anyway. Like I said, my brother is temporarily crippled with a nasty broken leg (plus some nerve damage) and my parents are, once again, out of the country. On a cruise. To the Bahamas. And they didn't take me. My feelings are beyond hurt. But, oh well, I got to stay home from school to take care of not only my brothers, but my sister as well. So, basically, I'm running the house till my parents get back. Which is why I haven't updated in SO LONG. I beg for your understanding and (perhaps) forgiveness. I'm trying to make it up to you by updating today instead of on Sunday, which is my usual update-day.

Again, so sorry that I haven't updated in a few weeks. I'm trying to hold down the fort here, and since I have this small window of opportunity, I'm taking it!

Ahem. Forgive me?

Special shout out to Disappear500 for being the 800th reviewer! And special shout out to chibiininja for being the 850th reviewer! Two big marks at once guys! You have no idea how happy that made me! Really! I love all of you!

Adherence

o0o

The Date

She'd put this off for as long as she possibly could—and since she'd been around both Levy and Erza, that time had only surmised to a few hours at most. No sooner had Cana stalked off, her curvy hips swaying to an unheard beat with a smile on her face, were Erza and Levy both in Lucy's face; and the blonde knew immediately what her friends were plotting. The date. Their eyes had been shimmering, practically glowing with excitement.

A date.

She, Lucy Heartfilia, was going on a date with Natsu.

That was, if he even opened his front door.

…Or, rather, if she even knocked on said door first.

Sighing, Lucy shifted uncomfortably on her feet. They'd been a bit more swollen than usual, which was normal, she'd read in her trusty magazines, but the swelling made it difficult for her to stand for long periods of time. Already, even though she'd been standing for only five minutes, her heels and ankles were sore from the pressure being placed on them. And the funny thing was that Lucy hadn't even knocked yet. She'd just been standing there for five minutes, chewing her lip, worrying and thinking that maybe, just maybe, this wasn't so good of an idea after all. Because, what if he was angry with her? What if he laughed at her? Looked at her strangely? Said she was weird?

He'd called her weird plenty of times in the past, but now, just the thought of it was enough for her to start feeling strangely…achy inside. Her heart hurt. And Lucy honestly didn't know if it was because she feared rejection, or if it was because of her hormones—both seemed likely.

"C'mon, Lucy," she muttered to herself, eyes rolling up to the blue sky that was dotted with puffy, cotton ball clouds. A perfect day for an outing, as Erza had said. "You can do this… Just knock, it's not that hard. Just…knock." The blonde swallowed roughly as her shaky fist raised to the wood of his door.

A part of her really wished she wasn't so nervous. She'd been inside his house plenty of times—and she was positive that she'd never knocked before. She'd never needed to. Why the hell had she? After all, Natsu had made it a habit to break into her house and destroy her privacy on a near daily basis—though, not so frequently, as of late. It was only fair, she recalled thinking. Oh, where had that courage gone? Lucy sighed, about to turn around and go back home.

Erza and Levy could call her a flake all they wanted—asking Natsu out on a date was…the next closest thing to impossible.

As her booted foot clomped down the first of the cobblestone steps, the door behind her was suddenly swung open, and a shocked-sounding murmur of, "Lucy?" made her freeze. The voice belonged to none other than Natsu, naturally, as it was his front step that she was standing on, but even so…it made her insides shiver. She hadn't heard his voice in a while.

Feeling incredibly awkward and embarrassed about being caught loitering, Lucy craned her neck over her shoulder and with an impish smile said, "…Hey, Natsu…"

He looked fine, she thought—better than fine, even. His messy, pink hair was un-styled, flopping into his eyes and sticking out at odd angles, and his waistcoat was rumpled but presentable. His manner of appearance made her think that he'd been sleeping, or lounging on his couch. Her throat was suddenly dry; the image of him asleep, sprawled out, and bare was coming to the forefront of her mind…much to her embarrassment. It seemed that after seeing him that way, about four and a half months ago, would be leaving her with permanent mental images. Of him. Naked.

She gasped then, realizing that she'd been openly gawking at him, and shook her head as if the pictures would fly out her ears. Bad, Lucy, she chided silently. Bad, bad, Lucy.

Natsu made a strange face before letting the door open wider. He leaned against the support beam, his muscled, tanned arms folding over his broad chest in a cool manner. "…What are you doing here?" he asked after a beat of silence.

"I, um…" Lucy stammered, clasping her hands behind her back and squeezing them together. "I was just in the neighborhood…thought I'd, maybe, you know…drop by?" If her words were convincing, her tone certainly wasn't—and she could tell that he knew by the way that his dark green eyes narrowed in suspicion and a line formed on his forehead.

"In the neighborhood?" Natsu echoed as his brows lifted. "Luce, I don't know if you've noticed," he said, something akin to a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, "but I live in the middle of the forest."

She blinked. Oh. Yeah. He did live in the middle of a forest…no neighborhood to speak of. Damn, there went her lie—even though it was one of the most commonly used excuses in the book. The blonde chuckled nervously. "O-oh, yeah, that's right…silly me…"

In front of her, Natsu shifted on his feet, looking as though he wanted to reach out to her. "Something wrong? You're acting weird…"

Lucy's heart skipped a beat, her eyes growing wider with each passing second. Weird, he'd said. "No! No, nothing's wrong! I just… I…" She hung her head, hands unclasping from behind her back to come around and hug her shoulders. The breath that escaped her sounded weak and defeated. "…Can we talk? I mean, privately?"

Before asking him out on a…date…she had some clarifying to do. She owed him at least that much.

"Uh," Natsu hummed, blinking his surprise, "you wanna come inside?"

"Yeah…" Lucy looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes, hoping to Mavis that she didn't look too embarrassed.

The expression she wore had a strange effect on Natsu. He felt his heart rate double, maybe triple, when she made eye contact from beneath those thick lashes of hers, and from the angle, he could clearly see the shadow on her cheeks created by each individual lash. And it didn't help that her cheeks were tinted a healthy pink…or that she was doing that lip-biting thing again. She seemed to do it a lot lately—biting her lip—and while Natsu had never minded it before, it...bothered him now. But in a good way. Was there a name for a good type of bothering?

…Maybe he was just being weird.

Yeah…he was probably just weird. That was the best explanation. After all, who'd ever heard of a good type of bothering?

The dragonslayer snorted, more at himself than anything else, and blinked repeatedly. He'd zoned out for a little bit, staring right at Lucy the whole time—her face was redder than before. "It's messy," he warned, inclining his head towards the inside of his house. "I know how you like everything clean, like a weirdo, but I didn't know you were coming, so…" Stepping away, and realizing that he'd begun to babble, Natsu ducked his chin and let Lucy step inside.

She came forward hesitantly, casting a small smile. "It's okay. I just want to talk." And then ask him out on a date. Mavis, even in her head it sounded strange…

Without another word, or a glance behind her, Lucy meandered through Natsu's cluttered house—she had to step over piles of unwashed clothes, dirty dishes, and packrat-worthy mounds of junk, but she eventually made her way to his couch where she sat with a grimace. It smelled of mold. Not that it was surprising, really—Natsu wasn't the cleanest of people. Ignoring this fact, and the smell, Lucy began picking at her fingernails, looking pointedly down at her hands.

He walked right past her, seemingly unfazed by the mountains of trash and clutter on the floor, and into the kitchen. He didn't say anything to her.

Lucy abandoned the task of picking at her nails for favor of squeezing her knee caps. The silence that had settled between them was…uncomfortable, to say in the least. She didn't know how to strike up a conversation—without using a terrible ice-breaker, at least—and he seemed as though he was perfectly content with the quiet. From his living room, Lucy could hear the clinking of dishes and she could smell the scent of herbs. He was making tea—a rarity. She didn't think she'd ever seen him make tea. Like, ever.

Natsu was being…civil.

Which was a first in her book—and she had a very long and detailed book. He'd never been civil, really. Nice and charming in his own way when he chose to be, yes, but never civil—too much testosterone and male dominance in him for that.

And it was at this precise point that Lucy realized that while she had tried to assure that nothing would change between the two of them…undoubtedly, something had. The thought made her heart sink.

"I'm sorry," she blurted instinctually.

From inside his kitchen, two cups in his large hands, Natsu stilled; but he didn't turn around.

"You're…mad at me, right?" continued Lucy in a cautious manner. "I understand. I should have told you… In fact, I wanted to tell you. Out of everyone, you're the one I wanted to tell the most." Under her breath, barely audible to even his ears, she added, "Trust me," and closed her eyes. After a pause, she opened her eyes, and though Natsu couldn't see the sincerity on her face, she knew he could hear it in her voice. "You're my best friend…"

Natsu was partially glad that she couldn't see him, because he flinched and grimaced at the term. Best friend… Before, those words had sent a thrill through him, a satisfied rush, knowing that he had the highest title she had to offer. But now…now it wasn't nearly as satisfying. In fact, if he were to be honest with himself, he would have said that it hurt him to hear her call him her best friend. Like a punch to his gut.

…But, why?

He knew he should have been absolutely content with being one of the most important people in her life. Should have been, but, he wasn't. The realization both shocked and unnerved him—he was growing, as Gajeel had grumbled about once or twice, territorial over Lucy's affections. In other words, becoming greedy and needing all of her affections and attentions, and hating the fact that other people had them. People who were tall, tan, and had bleached hair. People like Galahad.

He was…jealous. And not in a good way. He'd been jealous before—over Lucy, in fact, though he was positive that she hadn't known then and still didn't know now—but the emotion had never been so potent that he'd wanted to literally wipe out his competition. Wanted to bludgeon them, rip their hides in half, and then feed the ribbons to ravenous wolves…

"Jealousy is a dangerous weapon for a dragon to wield," Igneel had told him.

Natsu had never understood why.

…Until now.

And it was because of this, because of this jealousy, that he unleashed a soft, throaty growl, though it went unheard by his companion in the next room over. "What about Galahad?" he groused before he could stop himself. As soon as the words slipped from his mouth, like a poison, he want to call them back and then slap himself. Hard. He knew what he sounded like: a pouting child who loathed the idea of sharing his favorite toy.

Lucy's scent spiked, her usually floral smell growing thick with the heady undertone of guilt. "So they were right…" she mumbled to herself, sounding marginally astounded.

Natsu inhaled deeply and leaned against his sink, feeling like a bastard. He hadn't meant to make her feel guilty about anything…

"Galahad… He's a friend," Lucy conceded carefully, as if she didn't want to anger him. "But he's not… He could never…take your place, if that's what you're thinking. He's not you; no one could ever be you. You're Natsu, my best friend, and no one can take that away from you. Ever."

Her words had an instant soothing effect on him, and the tension in his back—that he hadn't even known was present—uncoiled. Just hearing her tell him that he was irreplaceable, that Galahad could never have his spot, made him feel immeasurably better. But there was still that tiny part inside of him that bristled at the knowledge that Galahad was deemed a friend.

"He's…a friend?"

"Yes. Well…" Lucy paused for a brief moment. "I don't know if we're really friends…maybe more along the lines of acquaintances, or somewhere in between. I've only known him for four months. We've only known him for four months," she corrected quickly.

The confession appeased him more than it should have, he realized faintly. But he didn't damn well care at the moment, because Lucy had just confirmed that he was still more important than anybody else. More important than Galahad.

But, when he leaned around the corner, his eyes landed on her form and darted to the prominent swell of her stomach. Even from the distance he kept, he could clearly smell the soft scent of life that clung to her body—a scent that he hadn't known how to place until he'd connected the dots. Had he known that what he'd been smelling all those weeks ago in the guild, and on the train to the Waas forest, it probably wouldn't have come as such a shock to him when he'd accidentally eavesdropped on Lucy and Levy. Lucy was pregnant.

…He'd nearly forgotten.

He wasn't the most important male in Lucy's life any longer. Someone else was.

Like a coward, the dragonslayer ducked back into the safety of his kitchen, where Lucy couldn't see him grinding his teeth, and began pouring the freshly brewed tea.

Lucy, still sitting on his moldy-smelling couch, saw the face he made when he turned sharply back into his small kitchen. He still hadn't forgiven her, it seemed. She sighed. "I know, Natsu, I was wrong to keep it from you. Best friends aren't supposed to hide things from each other. But I want to make it up to you, if you'll let me…" Here it was, she thought, all or nothing… "…W-we could…go out, you know… Just the two of us. Like we used to."

There. It was out in the open. She'd extended the invitation, the olive branch.

Now came the worst part… The dreaded few seconds that it took for him to process the request and then reply. Those few seconds felt like an eternity to Lucy, who had closed her eyes so tightly that she thought the skin of her eyelids might rip.

Then, there was the familiar scent of tea, hot steam billowing directly under her nose, and her brown eyes snapped open to see Natsu standing directly in front of her, holding out a cup. His face was neutral. "…Oh, thanks," she murmured and took the warm drink, averting her eyes.

Natsu stepped back and fiddled with his own cup, looking down into the drink. His eyebrows were knitted together, eyes serious, as though he were seriously contemplating something. His voice was soft and low when he said, "Won't he mind?"

"He?" Lucy blinked at him.

Natsu looked up at her from underneath his brows and gave a not-so-subtle flick of his eyes to her stomach.

Oh.

Recognition swept through Lucy so swiftly that she almost choked on her own breath. Her hands tightened around her cup. "Oh…oh. Um, no, I don't think he'll mind too much." Lying again. She was doing it again. The knowledge of this twisted her gut and her heart in uncomfortable knots—she hated lying, especially to Natsu, but it was necessary. For now, at least.

Natsu wrung his hands around his cup. It almost felt like he was being given permission to be around Lucy—his Lucy, his partner, someone he'd known longer than any other male had. The throes of jealousy made him grimace again, and when he caught his own reflection in the surface of his drink, it made him blink in surprise. He wasn't being himself; this whole jealousy thing was so unconventional for him. And, after all, he really had no night to claim Lucy as his own.

She wasn't his lover, his mate, or anything in between. She was his friend, his partner, his nakama, but she was not his in any way—Lucy did not belong to him, she belonged to someone else. And while that thought strangely left bile in his mouth, he forced himself to bear with it.

"You're my best friend…"

Yeah. He was her best friend, and like she'd said, no one could take that away from him. Not Galahad, and certainly not her lover, whoever he was. And that would have to be enough for him. Because he was her best friend, her rock, her partner, and everything else that came with those titles. He was still irreplaceable.

His heart almost felt a bit lighter.

"Sounds like fun, then," he said suddenly, and he watched as Lucy jumped. The look she sent him was one of combined shock, incredulity, and hope—a deadly combination on her sweet face—and one he couldn't help but send back with an equally happy grin. For her sake, he would be happy. "I'm starving, wanna get something to eat?"

But Lucy only gaped at him. "You…you want to hang out?" she asked him with wide eyes.

"Why wouldn't I?" Natsu snorted back at her before mimicking her words, "You're my best friend." And he would have been lying if he said that hearing those words come from his own mouth left the equivalent of a pile of bricks settling in his stomach.

"Well, yeah, but I thought…" She trailed off, her hand lifting as if to help her explain and then falling down limply into her lap. "Never mind," she murmured.

And the soft, tender smile that graced her face was enough to make the bricks in Natsu's stomach evaporate like mist. Why that was, he didn't know, and he didn't care to know. She was happy, and that was all that mattered. After all, wasn't that his mission as her best friend? Make her happy, be there for her, let her lean on him. So far, he'd done a pretty lousy job of it… Antagonizing her, stressing her out, running for the hills when she'd needed him the most… But if he could make her happy by taking her out to eat…well then, hell, he'd do it every day.

Natsu set his cup down on the cluttered table before reaching across it and taking Lucy's to set next to his. He pulled her off of his couch, the action releasing the smell of mold to him—he'd have to have that fixed; mold couldn't possibly be good for pregnant women—and then tugged her towards his front door. "Whatcha wanna get?"

Lucy paused at this, her eyes rolling up to his ceiling as she licked her lips. "Hmm…" she mumbled and a hand flew down to her stomach to rub in small circles—whether the action was subconscious or not, Natsu couldn't tell, but his eyes were glued to her abdomen. "…Something spicy, I think." She completed another circle before patting the tiny swell of her stomach as though she were deciding something. "Yeah, definitely spicy."

Natsu couldn't help but make a disgruntled face at this as he opened the door and stepped outside. Not that he didn't like spicy foods—the heaven's knew that spicy was his favorite, hands down—but, rather, in all his years of knowing her, he'd quickly come to the resolution that Lucy hated spicy food. She loathed it. And while he'd never understood it, he'd let it be—different tastes for different people; Gajeel ate metal after all.

"Luce," he couldn't help but let the familiar endearment slide from his lips, "I thought you hated spicy food…"

Hopping down his steps, she paused in thought, and then looked over her shoulder at him. Her face was a bit flushed, as though she was embarrassed, and she said quietly, "Must be the cravings, I suppose…" Then she clasped her hands behind her back and pranced down the rest of his steps, looking like a carefree child.

Natsu pretended to understand when he nodded, though she didn't see. And while they walked side by side, smiles on both of their faces as though everything was back to normal, he couldn't help but wonder why the idea of Lucy having a taste for spicy foods made him feel so happy.

o0o

If she'd had any doubts that the child inside her wasn't Natsu's, they would be long gone by now, Lucy thought as she bit into another pepper. The burn that she'd hated all her life was now wondrously pleasant to her. She liked the way it made her lips and her throat tingle and itch, she liked the way that it set a fire in the pit of her stomach. And, while it should have alarmed her, this newfound taste for spicy food comforted her.

The baby was all too happy, too. He really liked spicy foods.

"You gonna eat that?" Natsu asked, eyeing the pile of spicy cheese-fries that were on her plate.

Lucy frowned at him. "Hey," she said, "you have your own plate. I'm starving." Pointedly, she dug into her fries again, shoveling in two at once with another slice of jalapeño. She grinned smugly at him as he frowned and bit into his own leg of mutton.

"You're not worried about getting fat or anything?" he muttered around a mouthful of mystery meat, cheeks engorged to the point that Lucy was surprise that they hadn't split in half. He swallowed roughly, throat straining.

Lucy snorted at him, choosing the swallow before answering. Manners, her mother had always said, were what separated humans from common monkeys. "Natsu, I'm pregnant. I'm supposed to gain weight. It's one of the only good things about being pregnant; I can eat as much as I want. It's justifiable now," she mused saucily, eyes aglow with happiness as she plucked another fry and popped it into her mouth.

Lucy had always liked food. But, keeping herself in shape had always been the priority. With that option completely thrown out the window now, there was nothing stopping her from eating as many fries as she wanted. And that made for one very happy Lucy Heartfilia.

Natsu stared at her longingly. For some reason, the sight of her eating spicy food, and loving it, made him feel…happy. Maybe it was because some part of him longed to know that they still had things in common nowadays. Or, maybe it was just that the sight of her eating excited him—she didn't know it, but when she ate, she tended to be unnecessarily erotic about it. Not that Natsu particularly minded or anything.

But, the sight of her plump, redden-from-spices lips wrapping around one fry at a time…and then her chewing so slowly in made him ache to watch, and then her swallowing… It was practically torture. Torture, but a good torture, nonetheless. He could watch her all day and never get bored, he thought. Although, some part of him knew that it was slightly creepy to think that way.

Had she known that he thought that, she probably would have hit him over the head. Like the good old days. In fact, he kind of missed those times when she would randomly hit him for doing something. He pondered on this for a brief moment.

"Hey, Luce…will you hit me?"

Lucy spluttered and coughed into her food, blinking back up at him like she thought he was insane. Which, he supposed, he probably was at this point. Lucy was driving him completely bat-guano crazy, giving him all these unknown feelings that he didn't know how to interpret.

"What?" she stuttered back, caramel eyes wide in utter bafflement. "What are you, some sort of masochist?" Lucy shook her head and went back to eating, muttering under her breath to herself.

Natsu had never asked her to hit him before…he typically asked her to stop hitting him. The weirdo. But, as she glanced up at him from underneath her eyelashes and took note of the confused, distant look in his eyes, she sighed. Well, if he wanted to be hit, then so be it.

Lucy reached across the table and bopped him once on the head with the palm of her hand. It wasn't too hard, or too soft, but Natsu jumped like she had poked him with a live wire. Constricted emotions passed over his face so quickly that Lucy had a hard time catching them all, but, his mouth slowly spread into a wide grin, and he laughed.

She sighed. Well, he was still as weird as ever. Shaking her head with a smile, Lucy went back to her spicy cheese-fries with renewed gusto, relishing the burn they left behind in her mouth.

Natsu, again, was watching. And this time, he grinned.

Things felt as right as they could be at the moment. Just the two of them, here, eating and laughing, and acting like two best friends should.

If only the good things lasted.

Finally! Some NaLu going on! Aren't they so cute? Next time! Chapter 26: The Reconsideration

KUDOS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED: abbeyabbey, Natsu Dragneel, Pamelia Cauas, ChaoticChild, iLikeCookies12, Xx4evaanimexX, DD42, theformulaofpudding, Venadrill, animegirl3226, X-StarMaidenGazer-X, European Mutt, TooLazyToLogIn, KawaiiDangoNeko, chibiininja, Devils pawn, LuvlyLadyLexi, Marshmellow Master, Pheonix from fire, Pikas, natsu, Caelith, QueenOfTheives, Octobersfall, pandasxpocky, Alice Harkey, Tabs Team, Guest, courtneylynn222, KristyKakes, SunsetRika, amkhe, firekeytothegoldenlock, nessa, inukagome9193, Ryujin65, ms incomprehensible, Kitsuri Mizuka, nalu93, chandlerra64, LilyAlina, Demon-Art-Lover1, DragonPrincessXx, KHLostEmpress, Reika Natsuki, leoslady4ever, Collaborative Lady, Wasabi-kun, Tiger90991, LoveIsARose, Elphaba818, WolfGirlHowlsAtMoon, QueenP19, Sinares, Kohryu, Guest, llulbabelle, shandulah84, ShinyMagikarp, TVfreak7, KawaiiOdango, Danny Phantom Fan 1, Person, GuiltyCrown09, Jean2, Disappear500, Cat Goliath, SeraphChimera, The Keeper of Worlds, TheLostHope, Guest, Please

Thanks to all of you who wished my brother well! He's doing better :) Still can't walk because of nerve damage, but, hopefully that'll change once his cast comes off and he starts physical therapy! Love and adore all of you!

Review?