TRIGGER WARNINGS: Description of wounds, mention of rape, lots of emotional turmoil

Hiya! Here's a late 21!

I totally zoned out on the fact that yesterday was Monday. It's 1AM where I am and I have to be up in 5 hours for work, but now that I realized I'm late, I can't sleep. RIP

Happy reading!

In spite of her father's confession, Lucy still had to sit through a long process the following day, and she had to face her father. To her surprise, he didn't argue and confessed about planning to take Natsu hostage to get to her and told Detective Cuberios about where evidence of his involvement could be found. As a result, the gang, who had been taken on by Jude's friend, Michael Lobster, were offered to cooperate against him for a chance at a reduced sentence.

After what had to have been the longest day of her life, Lucy was relieved to finally go home, where Natsu and Happy were waiting for her. Though she wanted nothing more than to stay up late and watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Natsu, she was so exhausted that she fell asleep on the couch before 9PM.

It was barely past midnight when she woke up with a gasp. It took her a moment to recognize her room, and she had no recollection of getting to it. She got up. If she tried to sleep again, the nightmare would just go on. She helped herself to some water, almost tripping over Happy when he came to meow at her. She picked him up and scratched his ears, the cat purring loudly as he rubbed his face against hers.

Lucy glanced at Natsu's half opened door. He usually woke up as soon as she opened the fridge and usually would have been out by now to ask if she was okay, and she really, really wanted to talk to someone right now.

She placed Happy back on the ground and made her way to his room, tapping on the door lightly as she opened it. "Natsu?" she called softly in the dark.

She could hear his deep breath, though she could barely make out his form on his bed. He had told her she could wake him up any time if she wanted to talk, but she didn't know if she could bring herself to do it when he was hurt. Hesitant, she moved in the room, and sat on the other side of his bed. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dimness, she could see his peaceful expression, his head tilted toward her, one arm across his body, the other flung over his head. His hair was as messy as always and his lips were parted. Though he wasn't quite snoring, he wasn't really quiet either. She reached for his shoulder, his skin warm under her fingers, despite the blanket being pushed down to his waist. Goosebumps peppered his skin and he stirred.

"… don't wanna…" he mumbled thickly, obviously still asleep. "… the fishes…" or so it sounded like. He strung a few more incoherent sounds together. Lucy smiled, leaning her head against her hand. He was cute alright.

...

It was past eight in the morning when Natsu yelped and groaned in pain.

"Happy!" he scolded the cat that was already scampering out of the room. "Urgh…"

"What happened?" Lucy asked thickly.

"Happy stepped on my ribs," Natsu mumbled back, rubbing the sore spot. Then he froze, turning his head to the side. He could see her, her hair shining in the light of dawn coming from the main room. She was really there, laying in his bed. "Err… Luce?"

"Mm?" Her eyes half opened to look at him, then she shot up, suddenly wide awake. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, scrambling out of the bed and straightening her shirt. "I didn't mean to… I… Hey, don't laugh!"

But Natsu couldn't help it, laughing until he finally winced in pain and calmed himself down – but not before he cried a bit from the hilarity and the pain. "Sorry," he snickered, obviously not meaning it. "I've never seen you so energetic in the morning."

"I'm not energetic, I'm…"

"Flustered?" he offered with a smirk when she fell silent. He had heard Levy say it often enough that it had stuck with him.

"Oh, hush," she mumbled.

"So… Do I want to know what you were doing in my bed?" he asked, wincing when he pushed himself up in a sitting position.

"You didn't wake up," Lucy explained, now serious. It took him a moment to connect the dots.

"You had a nightmare? I'm sorry, Luce. You can yell or shake me up, next time. I won't be upset." She decided against telling him she hadn't tried all that much.

"I know," she assured him. "I was going to, but I guess I fell asleep."

"You slept okay, though?" he asked.

"I slept like a log," Lucy admitted. "I can't remember last time I…" But even as she said it, she remembered when the last time she slept so soundly had been. She caught Natsu staring at her, waiting for her to finish what she was saying. "I had a good sleep," she finally finished.

"That's great!" he exclaimed. But she just stood there, looking at him pensively. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Don't know," she admitted. "Last time I had a good sleep was also when I slept in your bed."

"When you first moved in?" Natsu asked, perplexed.

"No, last month, when you worked overnight." She hadn't slept well in his room when she had first moved with him. Now that she thought about it, she had slept pretty well when she had slept on the couch in the blanket he had been using too. Even when she slept with him at the hospital, despite waking up completely sore.

"How about you sleep here tonight too?" he offered, carefully stretching. "I can sleep on the couch."

"No way. You're hurt, I won't let you sleep on the couch."

"But…" Lucy's eyes were full of warning. "Do you want to try to sleep here again?" he tried. "I can sleep in your room too. It's not a big deal."

"You don't have to worry about my…"

"But I do," he cut her off, "and you can't change that."

"You don't even know what I was going to say," Lucy pouted.

"Doesn't matter. You said 'my' and I'll always worry about anything that has to do with you. Simple." He grinned and Lucy felt her eyes sting a little.

"How are you so cute?" she mused.

"Cute?" Natsu repeated. Lucy laughed in spite of herself.

"Why do you sound so offended?" she managed to say between chuckles.

"Cause I'm not," he mumbled, crossing his arms. Lucy couldn't help but laugh some more. Who would have thought Natsu would be offended to be called cute, of all thing? He was even cuter now that he was pouting.

"So what are you?" she asked when she finally managed to calm herself down. He opened his mouth, seeming really determined to say something, but then his expression went blank and he slowly closed his mouth. "Would adorable suit you better?" She barely managed to say it without bursting in laughter.

"Don't make fun of me!"

"I'm not trying to! Well, maybe a little. You just make it so easy! Of all the teasing you got, being cute is what finally gets under your skin?"

"Just… don't tell Cana," he mumbled.

"Well, what would you rather have me call you instead of cute?" He still looked at her with a blank look. "How about sweet?" He seemed like he wanted to argue, but he sighed.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Alrighty then, quit being so sweet and let's go make some breakfast."

"Don't push it," he warned, still finally standing up to follow her to the kitchen. In the daylight, she could see he was actually blushing.

"You make it so hard," she laughed. Yeah, he definitely was cute. And sweet, too. Even when he only wore boxers and had most of his chest and abs wrapped in bandages and his face still bruised. "You should put some clothes on," she said and he blushed some more, turning around to at least get some pants.

...

Natsu insisted to walk Lucy to work until she finally gave in, but no amount of insisting was enough for Loke to let him work, not even for three hours. Not even to only work at the cash. "Beside, you still have bruises all over your face. Seriously dude, you're gonna scare customers away." Natsu had resigned to go home, telling Lucy he'd come back to walk her home then too, even if she insisted that she didn't need him to and that he should rest. But they all knew Natsu wasn't the resting type.

"I'll see ya later!" he simply called before leaving.

Loke had Lucy working on the drinks for the drive-through service to avoid customer recognizing and harassing her. She was grateful for it. By now, all of her colleagues had stared longer than necessary, a few more considerate had offered to listen if she wanted to talk. "Thanks, but I'm okay," she kept saying. She had her break alone in the back, Natsu's headphone on her head as a clear 'I don't wanna talk' sign.

Her shift was just about done when someone draped her arm around her shoulder, and she spun to see Laki.

"Oh, hi," she greeted her.

"Hey girl," Laki replied, her expression serious. "Looking forward to Friday?"

"Thanks, but…" Lucy realized halfway through her mechanical answer that Laki was saying something different. "Err… I don't really have any plans, yet" she admitted.

"You don't?" Laki asked, seeming really confused, and Lucy looked at her suspiciously.

"Why?" Laki's eyes went wide when she realized she made a mistake.

"No reason!" she said too quickly. "I gotta get ready," she added, running off. By the time Lucy noticed she was back, she was too busy to be interrupted and Lucy just clocked out. When she came out, Natsu was waiting for her.

"What's the look for?" he asked. "Had a bad day?"

"Eh," she shrugged. "Seems like Laki knows something I don't about my birthday," she sighed.

"Oh… So it's Friday, eh?" Lucy glanced at him, noticing that he was being a bit awkward about it. If he wasn't already hurt, she would have shoved him – playfully, of course.

"Don't tell me you're the one planning it?" He made a face.

"I can't be that bad," he argued. "She told you, hasn't she?"

"Nope, you're just that bad," she laughed. "Seriously, Natsu, I don't want anything big."

"You should be glad I had something planned, Cana was gonna take you out to a strip club."

"No, she wasn't."

"But she was," he assured her. He deemed safer not to mention that Cana said she would have tried to get him to put on a show if he hadn't been injured. He still didn't know how he felt about that.

"Well, I'm sure your idea won't be anywhere as bad," she sighed. "So, what are we doing?"

"I'm not saying," he scoffed.

"You can't lie, so I could guess it."

"Or you could wait till Friday," he suggested.

"I don't really like surprises," she reminded him.

"Levy agrees you'll like this one." Lucy's knowing smile made him groan. "I may be a lousy liar, but I won't have to lie if I don't talk about it."

"Awn, come on, tell me."

"No."

"Please?"

"No." She carefully wrapped her arm around his as they walked down the street, noticing lingering looks to Natsu's bruised face, usually followed by confused looks her way.

"Fine," she huffed, staying close to him. "I trust you." And he grinned so wide that her heart skipped.

...

That evening, Natsu kept glancing at her. "You should just go to bed," he called her out when her head dipped once again.

"I'm not tired," she argued.

"That's a lie," he chuckled. "Seriously, go to bed. You can sleep in my room if you want."

"I don't want to push you out of your room," she argued.

"But you don't want to sleep in your room either, do ya?" he understood. "I don't mind if you want to sleep with me."

"Don't say it like that!" she argued quickly, her face flushing

"Why?"

"Because people use it as a euphemism for… sex," she explained, still blushing.

"A what? Wait, I know this one. It's when you say something and it means something else, right?"

"Kinda. It's when you would use a different phrase to make something sound less crude or harsh than it is."

"So… What am I supposed to say? I don't mind if we sleep in the same bed?"

"Yeah, that works."

"Alright then, so do you want to sleep in my bed?"

"Kinda," she admitted, not quite daring to look at him. "Is it weird?"

"Is it?" he asked back, his expression serious.

"You're such a dork," she laughed. "I guess it's only weird if we make it so," she added. Natsu grinned.

"Then let's not."

"I guess I'll get ready for bed, then," Lucy gave in, standing up. She still went to her room to change and Natsu was brushing his teeth while sitting on the armrest of the couch, looking at his phone. She went to the bathroom to get ready in there. She could hear Natsu rummaging in his drawers through the wall. When she left the bathroom, he quickly went in to put his toothbrush by the sink, clothes draped his right shoulder, most of his bandages unraveled.

"Mind to stay up long enough to help with those?" he asked. She nodded and he dashed in for a quick shower. It seemed like his wound mostly bothered him in the morning or when he moved too fast or reached too far. Most of the time, he still was his usual self. It was easy to forget he was hurt so badly – until you looked at the fading bruises on his face.

He was only wearing shorts when he came out, placing a tank top on the counter when he sat, reaching out for the ointment. "When is Mavis coming to check in on you?" Lucy asked, looking at the wound on his side. Though it still looked pretty bad, it was a lot better than it had been.

"She's coming tomorrow," he replied, applying the pomade to his side. "I hope she's gonna remove those stitches, they're itchy." Lucy's fingers ghosted over the wound, not daring to touch him. Natsu looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm so sorry you got hurt," she whispered. "And you're gonna have a scar because of me."

"You kidding, right? It's gonna look super badass!" Lucy was so startled she could only laugh. Her eyes glossed over the scar on his neck. She had meant to ask so many times, but she couldn't bring herself too. It had to have been traumatic, right? She grabbed the bandages and Natsu stilled while she wrapped him up. He fought against a shiver when her breath rolled on his skin. He never noticed before how close she'd get to wrap it around him before, and yet they had done this every day for the last four days.

"Are you cold?" she asked. "I'll try to hurry."

"I'm not cold," he argued, looking at her.

"You're covered with goosebumps," she pointed out. A little voice in his head made him bite back his answers before he could say it was her breath on his skin that did that. He felt rather hot, especially after his scorching shower.

"Uh…" Lucy looked away from her work to catch his eyes and realized too how close she was from his face, forgetting to ask about his reaction as she focussed on finishing.

"Here, all done," she declared, straightening up.

"Thanks," he grinned, throwing his shirt on, the logo of his club branded almost exactly over where his wound was. "Ready for bed?"

"Yeah, I guess." It felt odd to follow Natsu to his room. Sleeping in his bed when he was gone or even by accident hadn't seem like that big of a deal, but her heart was pounding as she laid down. He turned the light off and made his way to the other side of the bed. Lucy's racing heart kept her awake, and Natsu's breathing didn't sound like he was sleeping either. He shuffled and Lucy felt the blankets move as Natsu pushed them off. She heard him sigh. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not used to sleep with a shirt," he admitted.

"Then why are you?" she questioned.

"I figured you'd care," he replied, a bit sheepish.

"I don't," she assured him. "I see you shirtless every day, now." He tried to sit up and made a pained sound.

"Can you help me?" She blushed but sat up. Luckily, before she could try to take it off for him, she noticed his outstretched hand and helped him sit up. She could barely see him as he lifted it over his head, the bed shaking when he chucked it toward the hamper. "It's warmer in your room," she noticed after they both laid down again. Or was it just her?

"You can get changed if you want," he told her, settling down once more.

"I'm gonna have to," she admitted. "I'll be back." It took her, to Natsu standards, an unusually long time to change, and he had begun to think she decided to sleep in her own bed when she returned.

"Better?" he asked thickly once she laid back down.

"I think so."

"Good," he murmured, a smile in his sleepy voice. "Night, Luce," he added, already drifting off to sleep.

"Night," Lucy replied. She rolled to her side, facing Natsu. Did he always sleep on his back, or only when he was hurt? She could barely make his profile in the night. She couldn't resist the temptation to touch his hair – she had wanted to ever since Cana had tried to help him settle on a style for prom and had been gushing about how soft it was. If Natsu woke up, she could pretend she thought it was Happy. She had seen him sleep by Natsu's head more than once.

His hair was ridiculously soft, and she rolled a strand between her fingers, listening to Natsu deep breathing as she played with his hair. He made a noise that sounded so much like a purr that Lucy wondered if Happy was in the bed too, but he shifted ever so slightly that she knew he was him. Her hand froze and she was just about to whisper an apology and disappear from shame. "… don't stop…" he mumbled, leaning into her hand, still mostly asleep. So she kept playing in his hair until she fell asleep, her hand still on his head.

So that's 21! That progress in their relationship! I know I always slept better with my best friend when we were teens (even thought there was two of us in a twin bed), it was just nice and comforting, and I don't recall ever having nightmares then.

Aannnnnddddd Lucy's birthday is looming and Natsu has a surprise for her! Anyone has guesses on what he planned for her? I never had someone planning a surprise party for me, but I know I would hate to know someone is doing it and not knowing what it is (especially if that someone was as mischievously playful as our favourite dork!)

Valerioux: I mean, of course Natsu would go for plan T, that's the only one he knows! I do love the friendship between Natsu and Mavis, I wish I had something like that with my in-laws!

SummeryNights: Thank you! Hope this update was to your expectations!

Bookwork129: Honestly, Jude's confession was not planned when I started this, but I think it works good enough. I hope this development is satisfactory!

Copperreign12: Thanks for the love! Obviously all the hurt won't just go away in a blink, but now they can truly move forward and that's what they need.

DaynatheAmazing: I don't know where your review went, but happy to see you on board!