A/N: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all the reviewers! You guys are just amazing. And believe it or not, your feedback gives me some sort of accountability so that I don't slack off with writing new chapters. Thank you lots! XD

I'm back with an extra long chapter in apology. This was supposed to go up yesterday... shit happened. But anyway, here's Chapter 3!


Chapter 3: Draconic Testosterone

Lucy had taken a 2-month solo job the following day. To be honest, she could have completed it in far less time, but she'd needed the distance from Natsu. Gray and Wendy, having sensed that something was wrong, had confronted her before she'd left. She had told them she just needed a little time to figure some things out. Her flimsy smile had fooled nobody, but they'd allowed her the privacy of her own thoughts- for the time being. No such luck with Erza. The requip mage had demanded that Lucy give her the name of the scoundrel that had put that despondent look on her face. Her fire had burned so fiercely and so brightly on her behalf that Lucy had almost broken down in tears again. She'd been able to distract the red head with promises of sweets from a renowned cake shop in Hargeon upon her return. Weary and unable to keep up her charade for long, she'd pointedly avoided Mira's all-seeing eye and dodged Levy's efforts to talk. Sure, she felt like an ass for making her family worry, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of something that she now knew wasn't.

So, Natsu didn't love her like that. Big deal. That oaf probably would've been a pain as a boyfriend, anyway. He already gave her headaches daily. No need to subject herself to even more of that. Those were the thoughts that had kept her lonely heart company for the last few days. She didn't mean them maliciously at least, not anymore. They were little jokes about Natsu's larger-than-life personality that made her smile both wistfully and happily. They had followed her on the last leg of her trip home, through Magnolia and through the doors of the guildhall.

Apparently her guildmates were waiting for her because as soon as she entered, she was accosted by Erza, Levy and Mira. All wore varying degrees of worry on their faces.

"Lucy! So good to have you back with us. I trust your mission went well?" Erza's strong arms wrapped her up in a bone-crushing hug that she just melted into despite the discomfort of the warrior's armor digging into her flesh.

Lucy sighed happily, if not as brightly as she used to, "Erza," the blonde sent her a happy smile as she's released from the hug, "It did, thanks."

Mira and Levy watched her warily, but each gave her a long, warm hug and an excited 'Welcome back'. She supposed the T-shirt and jeans ensemble was a bit out of character for her but Natsu's refusal was still fresh and in some dark corner of her mind, she wondered if maybe she had too much confidence in her body. A part of her now really understood why Erza wore armor all the time. It felt safer, like it was covering up all her soft spots so the world couldn't hurt her. That's what her additional layers were doing for her. Besides, it's not like it would kill her to cover up a little more.

The barmaid whispered into her ear before she pulled back, "If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

The blonde hugged her tighter to show her appreciation. A week ago, she might've burst into tears from that alone, but all her time alone allowed her to put her thoughts regarding Natsu in order and gave her the strength to face him.

Said strength was about to be tested. Brown eyes caught sight of the fire dragon slayer sitting with Gray in the back. The fire and ice mages strangely weren't butting heads despite Erza's momentary absence. They rarely needed more than a second to start fighting. Huh. That was strange.

He was faced away from her, nose deep in conversation with Happy. They were probably talking about food/fish. The sight of him made her resolve stutter in their tracks for a split second, but she reined back in that depressed aura and tried to be her same old happy self again.

Mira, who was about to head back to the bar, clapped delightedly mid turn, thusly, diverting Lucy's attention away from Natsu.

"Oh yes! We're having a costume party tonight, Lucy. I'm so glad you're back home in time!"

"Party? What's the occasion?"

Erza looked at her discerningly while Levy cocked her head in wonderment.

"Lulu, it's Halloween," the bluenette answered.

Oh yeah!

She grinned embarrassedly. How could she have forgotten the date? Wow. Whatever. The party would further help to raise her spirits and take her mind off the still fresh heartache. She was done dooming and glooming over it. At least, she hoped so.

"Been too busy, I guess. But a party is just what the doctored ordered, Mira!" The blonde beamed at the silverette in appreciation and sent her off with an excited wave.

Her remaining two friends started guiding her towards Natsu's table as they dove into conversation about costumes and accessories for the party that night.

"I have the perfect armor for the occasion!" Erza got that suspicious glimmer in her eye that always spelt doom, or at the very least- discomfort, for those in the vicinity.

Levy and Lucy laughed nervously in response. The blue-haired mage took her hand as they approached the table. Lucy spared a second to think about the odd timing of her gesture before Natsu's voice piping up loudly distracted her, "Hey Luce!"

The girls slid into the seat across from him and Happy. Erza kicked Gray out to the other side of the table so that all three of them could fit. The ice-make mage grumbled something under his breath about crazy, aggressive women as he moved to sit beside Natsu.

"What was that Gray?" Erza managed to loom over him even when sitting. The demonic look in her eyes was enough cause for the half naked man to shake his head furiously in denial.

He tensed in his seat. "N-nothing ma'am. Just wonderi-ring where my shirt was"

She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes in a menacing display of intimidation.

Lucy smirked fondly at their usual antics. She turned to Natsu with her best smile and swallowed the Plue-sized lump slowly squeezing up her throat. "Hey Natsu, Gray. How are you?"

"Same old. How ya' doin' Lucy?" Gray's question sounded loaded to her, but maybe it was just paranoia. He was more observant than their fiery friend and was already suspicious of her before she left. Either way, she couldn't risk him picking up on her reasons for leaving. She had no desire to cause any kind of discord in her team. Well anymore than she probably had. Though, in all fairness, knowing Natsu, they would just continue on like nothing ever happened. Which, in the literal sense, nothing did.

"I'm doing great, Gray. Hey, where's Juvia?"

The dark-haired mage started looking around frantically as if just by mentioning her name, Lucy would summon the rain woman. She felt a little bad for knowingly putting that panicked look in his eyes. She knew that their relationship was complicated due to Juvia's (obsession) persistence in pursuing Gray. And he wasn't helping by encouraging and running from her in equal measures.

Erza was the one to answer her question. "Yes… It is rather odd not to see her around, more so now that Lucy is back. Juvia has a sixth sense about you," the redhead sent her a pitying look. And Lucy had to agree with her. Juvia usually knew when any woman was around her Gray, especially when that woman was her 'love rival'. It used to exasperate her, but in recent years she'd learnt to let it go. If anything the water mage was admirable for so fearlessly going after what she wanted and not taking Gray's half-assed answers.

"I'm sure she'll be here soon," Levy giggled. A spark of mischievousness lit up behind her eyes as she turned to address Lucy, "By the way Luce, I didn't know when you'd get back so I took the liberty of getting you a costume for tonight."

The blonde woman wrapped her arms around her friend enthusiastically.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Levy! I really appreciate it!"

Natsu excitedly hopped up on the table. "Alllright! I'm fired up now!"

Lucy smiled fondly at his usual gimmicks, glad to see that she could still appreciate his buoyant attitude. "What are you coming as Natsu?"

He gave her a look she'd never seen on his face before. All eyes lowered, lips titled in a playful smirk with just the barest hint of fang over the upturned quirk in his lower lip. She's reminded by his heritage, by the slightest growl in his voice. "Well, that's a surprise, Luce."

The celestial mage tensed up momentarily, trying her best to form her usual unimpressed comments.

"P-Please, I doubt it will be," she chuckled to cover the slight tremor in her voice. Sadly, it did nothing for the red in her cheeks.

Mavis help her, she was going to give herself away in front of their friends!


Four hours before, Lucy had been dying to party it up with her rambunctious Fairy Tail guildmates. Now… not so much. The reason lied in the 'outfit' Levy'd gotten her for the party. Two months prior, it would've been her usual party fare, but seeing as she was trying to make more conservative clothing choices, it was breaking her new dress code rules. And it was just plain uncomfortable. What was more uncomfortable was the fact that she was obviously supposed to be some kind of fire dragoness. The red skirt was long, but that was its only saving grace because it slit so high on both thighs that that she had to wear a nude-colored thong as any other panties would have been painfully obvious from the sides. The piece ended in a triangular point by her ankles where her feet were adorned with a pair of strappy tawny sandals. A gold band wrapped around the end by her hips, which made for a convenient place to secure her keys. The top half wasn't scandalous per se, but it was embarrassing. The scaly, form-fitting crop top scooped up into a sweet-heart neckline with embroidered, golden threads expanding cross her chest in a burst of flames.

Lucy spun in the mirror once more, a hand fingering one of the loose tendrils that had been artfully left to fall from her lazy-sexy up sweep, that, even with Cancer's help, had taken an entire hour to style. It was worth it, though. The result was marvelous. And the ruby red gems scattered sporadically throughout her hair really complimented the tribal markings spread across her collar bones in gold glitter paint. The final touches of the outfit included a braided choker, same shade as her footwear, and a set of miniature red dragon wings. The blonde sighed and spun once more. This time checking out her rear. It looked… nice. She looked nice. And despite the lingering discomfort that she had from the fear of flashing anyone tonight, Lucy decided to make the most of her time out.

Though…

She blushed at her reflection. She wouldn't be making any sudden moves at all if she could help it.


The celebration was in full swing when the blonde mage got there. They'd covered the Guild Hall in fake creepy crawlies, spider webs, and jack-o'-lanterns. All probably the product of Reedus' magic. The eerie burnt-orange lights and smoke helped really to set the scene. With a long table set up by the bar, piled high with food and drink, and people chatting and dancing on the pseudo dance floor, Fairy Tail was in full party mode.

Lucy stood for a moment just taking in the sight of her friends gallivanting and having fun. She spotted Cana by the bar whispering sweet nothings to her almost empty wine keg. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Gajeel and Levy sitting in a corner booth in deep conversation. Throat deep conversation. Feeling like a total creeper for witnessing the couple's intimate moment, she quickly turned away from the sight of her innocent Levy trying to climb Gajeel like a tree. On the other side of the building, Mira tended to the bar with her usual enthusiasm and kind demeanor while her sister Lisanna scurried around behind her, assisting with mixing drinks and serving shots.

Her brown eyes scanned the crowd for her teammates but came up a few members short. Erza was suspiciously absent, and Gray was no doubt hiding out from Juvia. Natsu and Happy were uncharacteristically nowhere near the food table but by the bar talking with Gildarts. Wendy and Carla were apparently still visiting Lamia Scale. She'd thought the youngest dragon slayer would be back in time to party. Though, in all honesty, the young girl would've probably needed to leave once the older members got too rowdy for her innocent eyes.

Seeing as all her other friends were occupied, the celestial mage made her way over to the bar. The intention was to get a drink while not making it look like she was avoiding Natsu. Before she even got there, Happy zoomed passed her, heading towards the food table and muttering something about tasty fishies. He only spared a second to say hi as he did so. Lucy shook her head fondly at his unhealthy obsession and continued walking.

As she took her seat, it was Gildarts who noticed her first. Which seeing as she was sitting at Natsu's back, it was much expected.

"Wow Lucy, you look sexy!" His eyes slid over her body and stopped to linger by her chest. She smiled, blushed and thanked him. Cue Cana strolling -staggering- over, as if summoned by a sixth sense for when her father was being pervy. She smirked at the older man as his daughter dragged him off by the ear, kicking and screaming while lecturing the old perv about ogling her friends.

Natsu finally turned to take her in and his grin slid off his face for a second as he did.

"Oh wow, Luce. You kinda look like a fire dragon." She laughed as lightly as she could.

"It was Levy's idea. She got it for me," She raised an eyebrow at his costume, "I'm assuming you're supposed to be one too?"

The question distracted him from his analysis of her wings as he responded with his typical Natsu-esque enthusiasm.

"Yeah! I got the horns and wings and shit. And I'm already a fire dragon slayer anyway, so I think I pulled it off!"

Lucy laughed at his 'wings' and 'horns'. They were obviously made from paper. It was well done but guaranteed to be destroyed in very little time -considering his track record. And to top it off, he paired the whole thing with his day to day wear. In the low lighting, he looked kind of cool, if not somewhat ironic as he reminded her of a little boy who was playing dress up. It was very easy to forget the fearsome fire dragon king raised their Natsu. And that by heritage, he was an actual fire dragon.

"It looks a little… delicate for you," the woman poked one of his horns gently, "And if I'm not mistaken, didn't Igneel have a little horn on his nose and not his head?"

She tapped him on the nose, preemptively smirking at the inevitable outburst. "Oh, man!" he raised his hands to grab at his hair, knocking the pale grey horns off-kilter. "That totally slipped me!"

Lucy couldn't hold it in. She released her previously bitten down lip to guffaw in laughter at the pink-haired man's pouty-irate face. Her smile spread so wide across her face that her cheeks puffed up so high and her eyes closed. His expression was cute and so very… Natsu, that it warmed her heart to frightening degrees.

"Been a while since I've seen that look," she opened her eyes and saw him watching her with surprisingly keen eyes.

Eyes still filled with mirth and the barest hint of tears, Lucy quirked her lips as she sobered up, "What do you mean?"

Natsu, in that annoying way of his, kept staring into her brown eyes with a look so sincere, she felt flustered and flattered in equal measures. His boyish grin only made her heart stutter even more.

"I just haven't seen you that happy in a while. But it looks like you're okay now. That's good," another grin for her troubles.

The celestial mage's face slowly lost color in the face of that implication.

He noticed.

He noticed that she was sad.

He noticed, but the idiot didn't know why. He didn't realise that he'd crushed her heart and stomped all over her pride. Lucy expected as much and she knew her partner was oblivious. But for him to have no idea at all why she was keeping her emotions and distance was actually pretty freakin' amazing. She wondered if it was a good thing or bad. On one hand, he didn't mean to disregard her so easily, thus hurting her feelings; as far as he was concerned, she didn't confess to him. They could continue being a team without her feeling so uncomfortable because that event didn't happen for him. On the other hand, she'd have to go back to seriously hiding. She'd have to stomp down those feelings and swallow the words of love and devotion threatening to voice themselves in his presence.

Instead of an answer, she flagged down Mira to their end of the bar.

"Hey Natsu… Lucy, you look amazing! What can I get you guys?" Mira's sweet voice washed over her with a calmness usually only brought on by strong liquor. The blonde suspected that the real thing would still be better.

The oblivious idiot to her left grinned his hi like an exuberant puppy.

"Hey Mira, thanks. I see you're rocking the angel look. Nice!" she gave the smiling silverette a thumbs up on her pure white angel costume and received a giggle in response.

"Anyway, could I get a sho..." the dragoness turned to the dragon beside her and smiled at him fondly but in exasperation, "No, make that 3 shots of tequila, please?"

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise. He wisely kept quiet.

If Mira was shocked by the uncharacteristically high number for the Lightweight Lucy, she didn't show it. The bar maid gave her a no problem and served said shots with a smile before disappearing down the bar to a tipsy looking, but finally present Gray.

Clack! Clack! Clack! She downed each glass one after the other in under ten seconds. It was only after that that she turned her body to face Natsu's once more. Her slowly hazing eyes watched him watching her apprehensively. Whatever was said about Natsu's obliviousness, he was always good at sniffing out -and causing- disaster. He reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, but thought better of it. His hand fell back awkwardly on the counter.

"Lucy, are you all right?"

The new voice surprised her. She turned away from Natsu to see Erza hovering by her side, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Beside her stood the newly pardoned guild master of Crime Sorciere.

"Erza! And Jellal! How good to see you two. Here. Togeetheeerrr," she teased the blushing pair, "and matching too! How wonderful!"

Erza's face matched her last name while her partner greeted the playful blonde poking fun at them. The red head wore a white camisole-top with giant strawberries patterned all over. Her white leather skirt folded like a kilt at the top of her thigh high pink boots. She'd fashioned her hair into a pair of high pig tails adorned with a cat-eared head band with strawberries instead of ears.

"What the heck do you mean matching?" Natsu piped up beside her.

"I mean, she's obviously strawberry cake," he gestured to Erza with a flippant up-down wave then cocked his head towards Jellal with a raised eyebrow, "But what the hell is he supposed to be?"

The tattooed blue-haired man shyly scratched at his silver cheek as Lucy gave her idiotic friend an annoyed corner eye.

"He's obviously the fork, dummy. Note the fork on his chest." She waved at the man painted entirely silver with a black space spanning his shoulders to hips in the shape of a fork. "That's why they match. Fork eats Cake"

Erza pinked even more, "Well, no-not exactly. He doesn't eat me- I-I mean, not that I was thinking about him eating me! He's just used to eating me, a-as in not 'used to' like he 'usually' does but like used to- like-like…!" the fairy queen was so flustered that she got crossed eyed by her own explanation.

At this point the alcohol had evidently set in because the laugh Lucy let out, at Erza no less, was nothing short of her signing a death warrant. She held her bare tummy and fell off her stool- luckily, on both feet, crouched over, red-faced and out of breath.

"You two are so fucking adorable!" She disregarded - didn't notice- the look of shock on her friends' faces as the laughter died down and she straightened.

"Anyway, see ya later. I'm gonna dance!"

Pale green eyes watched as Lucy sauntered off to the dancefloor. Her steps were just a little wobbly, but she made it there with more grace than he expected after watching her down 3 shots of hard liquor in succession. His eyes were trained on her voluptuous body as she swayed and rocked to the music in the middle of the building. Natsu saw some other men in the guild watching her too, but with one dark look from him they quickly diverted their eyes or attempted to watch more furtively.

Something hot and cold settled in the pit of his stomach. It was a strange phenomenon that felt as if he was burning hot enough to freeze over hell. His friend made him heat in… in… something he didn't want to name. While his anger simmered like a blue flame. He didn't like it.

By now his whole body was turned to her on the dancefloor, and he studied the sway of her hips, the bounce of her beautiful tits and the smile on her face like the stalwart student he never knew he was. Lips suddenly dry as she spun and bent over, shaking her ass. His hand curled into a fist on the counter and he put one foot on the floor to… to what? To dance with her? Drag her away from here? Unsettled by these thoughts, the fire dragon slayer resettled on his stool and enjoyed the show.

For a second, she peeked over her shoulder coyly, smirking like a mischievous demoness. But she wasn't a demon, was she? No, she was the teasing little flame dragoness to his fire dragon. His pants pulled tight around the now familiar hardness hidden beneath. Every twist and turn she made felt like it was leading up to something. As if this party was some ritualistic ceremony, except his goddess was paying tribute to him rather than the other way around. It felt weird to think of the blonde that way, but Lucy did have a body fit for a goddess. All those dips and curves, those opulent breasts, full, buxom hips and thick, soft thighs meant to fit over his shoulders…

"Is- Is that Lucy?"

He hadn't even noticed that someone had sat down beside him. He turned to see Gray reclining against the bar, eyes bugged out at the sight of their teammate in such a sensual display.

The surprise at his presence knocked Natsu out of his inappropriate reverie.

"Huh?" he shook his head to clear it some, "What're you doing here, Gray? And where's Erza?"

The ice mage looked at him like he was an idiot. "She left to go privately make eyes at Jellal over there," he tilted his chin in a vague direction near the back, "I've been here for the past 20 minutes, flamebrain," he smirked at the pink-haired man, "You were just too busy ogling Lucy's ass like a pervy old man to notice. Wait till I tell her."

The raven was enjoying himself far too much for Natsu's liking. And he wasn't ogling her! He swore he wasn't. He was just… he'd get back to that thought when he thought of a good excuse.

"I- I was not!" he left it there seeing as none of his ideas sounded like a remotely good reason to be staring at the blonde woman so intently.

Gray laughed at his oblivious teammate. He shook his head at the idiot and swerved his eyes back on the dancing woman. So, he was the first to see the oncoming calamity. He murmured a quiet shit under his breath as he jumped off his stool and dusted off his non-existent pants.

"C'mon Natsu. We need to take Lucy home before she does something, she's gonna regret tomorrow."

The pinkette started turning his head, "What d'ya me…"

The sight that met his eyes on the dancefloor made their color blooded in fury. Oh, someone was gonna die. Preferably Laxus for daring to put his hands on his woman!

Lucy had one arm wrapped around the other blonde's neck from behind. Her ass was pressed squarely up against his groin and they were undulating far too sensually for the peppy, upbeat song that was being played. The lightening dragon slayer had a grin on his face as his hands caressed the other mage's hips. He lowered his mouth to the side of her neck to place a kiss there, but drew back with a confused scowl. His face looked like he'd smelled something unpleasant.

Her back got cold as the mammoth of a man withdrew from her body completely. Confused, Lucy spun to face him.

"What's wrong?"

The leader of the Thunder Legion looked so uncomfortable; it would've been cute had it not been her in this position.

He kept his hands on her waist but suddenly looked weirded out by it. He almost looked repelled by the feel of her hips.

"Hey look Blondie, you're freakin' hot. And I want nothing more than to take you home and explore all that hotness," she blushed. Laxus was good-looking, and she wasn't going to sleep with him, but his compliments and attentions so far were doing wonders for her wounded ego.

"But," he paused. Uh oh, here it came. "I'm not in the habit of poaching another dragon slayer's woman."

Ah, there it was. The it's-not-you-it's-me speech that every guy used to tell a girl she wasn't desirable or even likeable enough to- wait!

"What!" That sounded like an it's-not-you-it's-your-boyfriend speech and she wasn't familiar with this one at all. She had a strong suspicion which dragon slayer he was referring to, but she just had to ask to make sure. So she did.

"Natsu of course," he looked at her discerningly, trying to figure out if she was unaware or just dumb, "You smell like his and I'm not looking to fight a pissed off dragon king for his queen."

Lucy. Was. Floored. This was either some sick joke or… some sick joke. Only question was- who was playing it? Was it Laxus? Or just the freakin' universe?!

She stood dumbfounded for a while. Usually a brilliant woman, the words were taking an astronomically long time to process. So many theories and explanations ran through her head. How the hell was she Natsu's? That made little sense. Did Laxus mean like as a friend? No, she didn't think he would have any qualms about putting the moves on her if she was. But why-

"LAXUS!" an enraged yell echoed across the guildhall and the party paused in its tracks. The music died, and the people quieted. The entire night stilled in the face of the fire dragon's fury.

She turned to see Natsu being restrained by Gray and Mirajane. The silverette sent her a panicked look. And Lucy understood the meaning of it far too late. It seemed that even in her strongest takeover, the s-class mage couldn't stop him. Lucy saw his pink head dart out of both their holds only to be stopped by a fully armored Erza.

"Natsu! Get a hold of yourself!" The redhead shook him, but the man didn't seem to hear a word, he just raged against her with a madman's strength.

"I'll fucking kill him! Get your damn hands off of her, Sparkplug!"

Lucy felt the entire guild spin in her direction, pointedly looking at Laxus's hand retreating from her side. Nothing was making sense. Why was Natsu losing his mind over them dancing? Sure, he was a violent guy but never unprovoked and never at family. So why?

"Natsu?" his head turned to her for a moment and the look in his eyes scared her. He looked feral and vacant. There was evidently no one home.

The celestial mage only understood parts of what was happening, but she knew that Natsu would never hurt her. So, when he flew from Erza's grasp with a flaming fist aimed at her dance partner, she stepped in front of the lightening dragon slayer. Some part of her knew that her friend would kill the man if he got to him.

As hoped for, he paused in his tracks, mere inches from her face. His movements had ceased, but his anger was still raging. Her eyes caught movement behind him in the form of Levy. The bluenette was gesturing something to her that looked like… huh? Hug him? She squinted at the petite mage in confusion until the girl mouthed comfort him.

Everything was still so confusing, but it couldn't hurt to try. The blonde slowly raised her hands to cup his face.

Erza moved to step in. Presumably, to knock some sense into his ass. She shook her head at the requip mage. Something about the calm way Levy instantly knew what to do told her that the solid script mage understood what was going on so the blonde would take her advice for now.

They were given a wide berth as the fire dragon slayer stiffened at her touch. His eyes seemed to roll over in his head before his body slumped like cut string. The anger drained out of him as she slowly stroked his cheeks and moved in to wrap her arms around his neck.

A soft… purr rumbled through her body from his to hers. The sound was animal like but Sorta… cute.

"Lucy," his voice sounded calmer now, so she pulled back slightly to see his face.

"Natsu? You okay?" The blonde watched his consciousness filter back into his eyes. Then he bent his head down and buried his face into her bosom and took deep heaving breaths while clutching at her waist like a touch-starved koala.

A bit surprised at the movement, she almost missed him speaking into her boobs. Face red with embarrassment and trying not to meet anyone's eyes, she whispered back to him.

"What was that?"

Another deep breath. Just what the hell was he smelling there?

"He touched you" she didn't have to ask who he was. She elected not to mention his name but asked, "Mmm… why did that make you so angry, Natsu?"

His voice got growly. Like a dangerous, petulant child.

"Cuz… he touched you. You're mine, so no one is supposed to touch you. Especially him." He spat the last word like it burned his tongue to say it.

Lucy processed this. Allowed the words to place themselves in an order that made sense, but no matter how she spun it, she just got more and more pissed off.

Her small hands wrapped around his arms, or attempted to rather, and she pulled him up so he was standing over her once more.

"Excuse me?"

No answer was forthcoming, so the woman assumed she was right. And she wasn't pleased.

Smack! The slap echoed throughout the guildhall, and there was an audible gasp somewhere to her right. It must've been a shock to the rest of her family. No doubt they could see the tears in her eyes and the distress in her shaking arm.

Natsu's face barely colored from the hit, but the shock of it had spun his head to the side.

"Fuck you," she was mad, so mad. And while the proper bred lady in her demanded that she not air their grievances in the open, the rambunctious Fairy Tail mage inside acknowledged that this wasn't the open. This was family, and while the source of her anger was personal, she would need their support after this.

"Fuck. You. Natsu," she poked him the chest with every word, "You don't get to reject me over and over again then decide that I can't stop loving you."

Her voice shook. "You can't keep me but not want me. That's not fair, you asshole. So. Fuck You!"

Tears were rolling down her face at this point, and she felt so ashamed and… so upset at him. He remained quiet in shock, so she opted to rush out of the guild as fast as she could before he could reply.