Author's Note: I decided to write for this year's Nalu Week. I couldn't decide on if I should post this within my oneshot collection or create a collection for this year's Nalu Week, so I chose to do both (yay indecisive me), so if you happen to follow Those Who Bare the Mark of Fairy Tail and think that this chapter looks exactly the same, well it is. I thought that the Nalu Week oneshots should have their own collection, but also wanted to keep all my oneshots in one place which is why these will be in two places.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.

Day 1: On the Road

Lucy slowly sat up as she gathered her bearings and looked around her. She saw a beautiful night sky filled with hundreds of stars. The stars were twinkling with varying levels of luminescence as they danced around the dark sky that was clear of any clouds. She and Natsu had taken up a job a few days ago and were set to return home the next day. Needless to say, it had been a very awkward week for her.

She looked down at the dragonslayer who appeared to still be in a deep sleep. She chuckled as she watched his hands feel out for her once he registered the empty spot she left when she had woken up. The celestial mage found her fingers going through the sleeping man's pink locks, finding it to be soothing for the both of them as he settled down and she released a quiet sigh.

Lucy thought it was odd that Natsu had left Happy behind for this mission. The blue Exceed seemed to be glued to the dragonslayer's hip at almost any given time. When she had asked Happy to confirm if he didn't want to go, the flying cat seemed almost delighted about staying back at the guild. She hadn't questioned it any further and chalked it up to Happy deciding to spend that free time to win over Carla's heart.

Lucy found that the seemingly odd behavior didn't end with Happy. Natsu had convinced her to walk and skip the train. He pleaded with her and pointed out they would save money by walking instead of taking the train. He also said that the scenery on the way to the town was beautiful and that she would never have been able to see it from the dreadful locomotive. While avoiding the train was normal for Natsu, he was much more persistent in his begging this time around. She had simply shrugged and gave in to his childish antics.

The journey to the job felt a bit off to the blonde. Natsu usually walked much faster than her, often being several yards ahead of her. He also tended to be quite the chatterbox, spending the time bragging about how he was stronger than Gray or spewing some random nonsense. However, this trip was not like their usual trips which unsettled Lucy. Natsu's pace was much slower, rivaling hers at times, but she would often have to stop because he would start to lag behind her. He was almost silent the whole first day of walking. She asked him if everything was alright, and he would wave it off and simply say he was thinking about something.

He seemed to ease up the following days and would engage in brief conversations with her spread throughout the day. While it didn't make the blonde feel any better, she figured she would question him on the way home, so she wouldn't distract him from the upcoming job. She could only hope that he wasn't going to be so absorbed in his thoughts that it would affect their performance on the job.

Much to her relief, the job was successful and had no problems. Natsu didn't appear to be plagued in deep thought as he had been in the days leading up to the job which was a good thing because they had to take out several members of a dark guild that were wreaking havoc on a small village. The duo was able to maintain their fighting chemistry and took the criminals out quickly. Natsu had taken out the leader as she focused on the henchman and damage control which worked to their advantage. She had noticed that the pink-haired male kept his eyes on her as she worked her way through her share of the dark guild. She would catch his eye, startling him and causing him to focus on anything else but her. They brought the dark guild into custody and received the reward although there was awkward silence between the two of them as they ate dinner that night.

Lucy's plan of talking to Natsu about what was on his mind seemed to be squashed because their trek back to Magnolia was even more awkward than it had initially been at the start of the week. The only difference was that the dragonslayer walked in step with her instead of being far behind her. She was almost exasperated at this point and hoped that someone at the guild would be able to find out what was wrong with him because it seemed that he wasn't comfortable with telling her what was on his mind. She wished that he would let her help him.

Lucy didn't understand what could possibly be on the seemingly carefree dragonslayer's mind. She knew there was more to him than he let on, but she thought that as his best friend, he would be able to tell her what was wrong. She just didn't understand why he wouldn't open up to her about this. It was driving her crazy thinking about it.

Was she not as good a friend as she thought she was? Did he not trust her enough to tell her? Did she do something that he didn't like? It was these kinds of thoughts that had aroused her from her slumber.

"I just wish you would tell me what's wrong," Lucy quietly sighed as she looked down at Natsu, her fingers stopping their gentle massage in his scalp as she decided to go to sleep.

A few hours passed and the starry night sky soon became an ocean of blue with clouds scattered across it. The sun's bright rays signaled the start of a new day. Lucy slowly stirred as she felt the Sun's light beating down on her face. As she groggily wiped the sleep from her eyes, she noticed that Natsu wasn't next to her sound asleep as he normally would be. She looked around and saw that he was leaning against a nearby tree. After stretching as she stood up, she made her way over to where her partner was sitting.

"Hey," Lucy greeted as she sat next to the dragonslayer, "What are you doing over here?"

"Just thinking about something," The boy beside her shrugged, earning a sigh in response to his answer.

"You're really not going to tell me what's wrong, are you?" asked the blonde as she started to stand back but was stopped as she felt fingers wrap around her wrist.

"Luce, wait," Natsu sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "There's nothing wrong, but I'll tell you what's been on my mind."

"Okay," Lucy said as she sat back down, "Go ahead"

"I've been thinking about you. Its been some time now, but all I've been thinking about is you Lucy."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, clearly wanting her companion to elaborate. The boy showed his clear discomfort as he dropped his face into his hands for a brief moment before continuing.

"I've wanted to tell you something this whole week, but I couldn't figure out a way to tell you. I had Happy stay behind, so we could have no disturbances but looks like I still found a way to screw this up."

"Its okay Natsu. Its just you and me. There's nothing to worry about." reassured the blonde as she gently prodded the dragonslayer to continue.

Natsu shifted so he was directly facing Lucy and looking into her eyes. She had never seen him look so stressed out and anxious over anything. She was worried and thought that maybe it would've been better if she had waited until they were back home to pry out whatever it was on his mind. His onyx eyes were burning a hole into her own chocolate brown orbs. He licked his lips as he began to speak again.

"We've been partners for a while now. We've traveled to so many places and fought together in so many different situations. I was just following a lead to Igneel that day in Hargeon; I wasn't expecting to meet you there. I'm sure you weren't expecting to meet me either. We were just two strangers on the road seeing where it would take us. The thing is, I'm glad that we met in Hargeon because I can't imagine my life without you. I love you, Luce."

"Wow," Lucy breathily let out as she tried to find the right words to respond to what Natsu had just confessed, "I was definitely not expecting this."

"This was a mistake," Natsu hastily grumbled as he got up from the ground, "Let's start heading back now."

Lucy slowly rose from the ground with a small smile on her face. She grabbed the dragonslayer and turned him, so he was facing her. His eyes widened as he felt her soft, plump lips on his own chapped ones. His hands moved down to her hips and he let them linger there for a second before he dropped them to his sides.

"I'm glad I ran into you in Hargeon too," Lucy smiled as she pecked Natsu's right cheek, "I love you too."

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked, doubtful of what had just happened.

"Of course I'm sure," Lucy huffed, "I don't go around kissing just anyone, silly dragon."

"Does this make us a couple now?"

"Yes, it does."

"Does this mean I get to sleep in your bed without you kicking me out every morning?"

"Yes," Lucy sighed as she saw where this conversation was heading, "As long as you and that dumb cat of yours keep yourselves in check."

The two started down the dust road as they admired what nature had to offer as they walked back to their guild. Lucy was glad that she had found out what was troubling Natsu so much, grinning to herself as she stole a peek at the dragonslayer at her side. They would definitely have a lot of explaining to do to their guildmates once they arrived, and she knew an annoying blue cat with wings would be at the center of all the commotion bragging about how he knew they were in love all along. The sad part was that Happy had been right, and he was surely going to be rolling in a mountain of fish from the bets he had placed. She wouldn't put it past that conniving feline to gamble on their love life for fish.

She could hear Natsu telling her how he was going to rub it in that pervy ice cube's face how he was better at confessing his feelings to the girl he liked. Lucy sighed at her new boyfriend's childish antics before letting a grin break out on her face. After all, they had found love in rather an unconventional place. They had found their love while they were two strangers on the road, the road leading to other's heart.

Author's Note: I will try to get out the remaining Nalu Week prompts within the next two weeks, so that's one thing you guys can look forward to from me. :) Let me know what you guys thought about this, and feel free to leave any suggestions I should do in the future or edit in this piece. Your feedback is appreciated and helps me improve my writing. Thank you again for reading this.

Question of the Day: Are you currently reading Fairy Tail's sequel manga, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest?

I'm reading the manga, and the chapters just can't come out fast enough for me. (If any of you want to chat about the manga or anime, shoot me a PM. I don't really have any social media accounts, so I can't connect with others in the fandom outside of reading fanfiction )