Holy Hell I have missed you guys!

Sorry for such a long wait, the family is fine and now that Finals are over I'm free to write as I please.

How are you guys? Is anybody excited for V Day?

Let me know how you feel about the story and your thoughts or plans for Valentine's Day in the comments!

Love you all!

BlackRose999


"Just" Friends?

Chapter Four: Stormy Skies and Petty Lies


Natsu woke up groggy, with his new room a mess, and his bed depressingly empty. Lucy was undoubtedly in her room, still passed out. They'd put together the necessities of his room last night, and then promptly went their separate ways and passed out upon hitting their pillows. He stumbled half-naked into his walk-in bathroom; strangely Lucy's house had two master bedrooms… and splashed his face with icy water in the hopes to wake himself up. When that did nothing, he shed his boxers and hopped in the shower for a nice morning wake-up call. When he got out he checked his phone; he'd turned off the ringer and notification bell last night, and glowered at the message on his screen.

'19 Missed Calls, 10 New Messages'

He looked through the calls and noticed the majority came from Lisanna and decided to just delete the voicemails she'd left, he had nothing to say to her anyway. He did the same with her messages and was shocked to find they ranged from sweet and hopeful to violent and threatening to Lucy's health. That annoyed him, but he ignored it. He then came across the messages that meant something to him.

'Yo, what's up with Lisanna? She's blowing up everyone's phones screeching about how you up and left.' -Gray

'Natsu can you and Lucy come by the studio? I want to fully replace Lisanna with her and I need her to record some songs.' ~Levy

'NATSU! What the hell did you do to Lisanna!?' ~Mira

He rolled his eyes and texted everyone but Lisanna and Mira back, he'd talk to Mira personally so she didn't misunderstand him. Upon looking out the window to see the pouring rain, he threw on a pair of his heavier black workout pants, a dark red muscle t-shirt, and his lighter black leather jacket. Then he laced up his boots and headed out the kitchen for food. He was met by the sight of Lucy doing yoga in the living room, still in what was apparently her nightclothes. She wore a rose-pink halter-top that crossed at the top to keep her breasts pressed against her body, and a matching pair of shorts tied by a white drawstring with her hair pulled up into a messy bun like it had when they'd fought in the ring.

Her burned-caramel eyes were closed in concentration as she slipped into a difficult Warrior Pose with ease, making his eyebrows raise in appreciation. Most women, even the athletic ones, couldn't hold the difficult poses for too long, but she appeared to do them for fun. "Why don't you make breakfast instead of staring at my ass all morning?" She murmured teasingly as she dropped into a resting Childs Pose to finish off her morning workout. "Bu your ass is much more appealing to me than breakfast is right now." She grinned and rolled her eyes, then cracked her neck so loud Natsu jumped. "Ooooh… God that feels so much better… Warrior Pose cricks my neck every goddamn time." Natsu burst out laughing and walked into the kitchen to get coffee, which he promptly choked on when she started stripping as she walked back to her room. 'Holy fuck this woman is going to kill me…'

The doorbell and pounding on the wooden door yanked his attention toward the entryway, curiosity peaked, he opened the door and was met with the shocked and enraged face of Lucy's ex, Leo. "What the fuck are you doing here Dragneel?" Not liking his tone, Natsu quipped back menacingly "I live here." Leo snarled an oath under his breath and stormed past Natsu, screaming Lucy's name. "OI! What the hell?!" Natsu hurried after him, trying to figure out which way he'd gone when he heard Lucy shriek in surprise and bolted toward her bedroom. He found Leo holding her by the hair and screaming obscenities at her.

"I'VE BEEN GONE TWO GODDAMN DAYS! TWO. DAYS. WHO THE FUCK IS IN OUR HOUSE!?"

Lucy snarled as he ripped her hair back harder, and twisted to punch him in the nose. Natsu was faster. He rushed Leo and tackled him to the floor with his hand gripped tight around the man's throat, watching Lucy out of the corner of his eye. She was rubbing her throat and he watched the spark flare in her eyes, the spark she had when she was ready to kick ass. Lucy moved to pounce on Leo, but Natsu didn't give her a chance.

He grabbed his hair and forced his head back, then socked Leo in the throat and watched him choke. He immediately grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him toward the door, rage fueling him. "You… maggot, worm, flea… Will never come back here again. This is HER house." When he got to the front door, he pulled Leo closer and snarled "And if you ever lay your goddamn hands on her again I'll rip off what little testicles you have and shove them down your throat and let you choke to death…" Natsu kicked Leo out the door and slammed it home, locking the deadbolt and turning back to the now very aroused Lucy. She stalked up to him and pulled him into a furious, demanding kiss that lasted as long as their clothes did.

Looks like they'd be a little late…


They pulled up to the studio after Lucy had taken a shower and gotten dressed and with the storm brewing, she wore black heeled 'combat' boots, black jeans with barely-visible black embroidered roses sewn into the fabric, a dark red lacy silken tank top, and her trademark leather jacket. Her favorite black choker with her family's zodiac signs on it was clasped around her neck, a gold bracelet over her tattoo, and she bore simple gold hoop earrings to finish the look. He watched her lock the car and glared at the catcalls the idiots on the street whistled at her, he was very pleased to see her only response was to flip them off.

Unsurprisingly, Mirajane was waiting for them at the door.

"Natsu what the hell happened last night? I had Lisanna on the phone screaming about catching you cheating with Lucy and how you dumped her, left her an apartment she can't afford with her modeling jobs, and moved in with Lucy!" Natsu groaned, "Ok, half of that is true. The cheating is a bold-faced lie. She was cheating on me, I caught her in bed with Bickslow two days ago. Lucy helped me clear out most of my stuff last night and I moved into one of her empty bedrooms because I wanted no part of a bed my ex cheated on me in. That's all kinds of disgusting." Lucy's heart broke for Mirajane, she looked devastated as the illusion of Lisanna's kindness was shattered.

Mirajane was a sweet, lovely woman. She genuinely tried to see nothing but the good in people, especially her family, Lisanna had been the epitome of her 'perfect sister'. To Mira, she was kind, thoughtful, and even-tempered. To everyone else who knew the realities of her, Lisanna was cold, cruel, and careless with everyone else's feelings and loved to play the victim.

"Mira… I'm sorry for being the one to break it to you." Natsu said quietly, he didn't like hurting the sweet woman, but he knew he couldn't leave her in the dark about her sister forever. Mirajane sighed, but looked at him patiently, "It's ok Natsu, I had to find out sometime… I just wish she'd have the guts to tell me herself." She turned to Lucy, eyeing her up and down. "And you, Miss Heartfilia, I'd like a word with you."

For a brief moment Lucy felt abject terror run through her, Mirajane was not a completely submissive and patient woman, she was a very skilled Instructor for Lucy's self-defense class. She'd given Lucy one hell of a hard time during one of their assessment matches a month ago, without a doubt, Mira was taller and hit a hell of a lot harder than she did. "Yes ma'am!" Came her immediate reply, her obvious fear making Natsu snicker at her.

She shot him a deadly look that had him gulping as she followed Mirajane down the hall and away from Natsu. Mira pulled her to the side, eyeing her up and down. "What's going on between you and Natsu?" Lucy stared at her like a deer in the headlights, absolutely terrified. Mira rolled her eyes and leveled irritated blue orbs at her "Please, I'm a little dense sometimes but I'm not blind, deaf, or dumb Lucy… Spill. Now." Babbling, Lucy spilled the whole story so Mira wouldn't get it wrong and decapitate her for 'stealing' Natsu away. When she was sure the white-haired demon-woman had gotten the whole tale correctly, and that her life wasn't in immediate peril, she sighed and eyed her pleadingly.

"This stays between us ok? We don't want publicity, we don't want attention. We just want to be a little more than friends, but without the titles." Mira thought this over for a moment and nodded, "I can understand that, it's like me and Laxus." Lucy did a double-take. "You and who?" Mira blinked at her, obviously surprised that she hadn't picked up on it before. "Laxus. We've been dating for three years now, engaged for two months." She reached into her blouse and pulled out a ring connected to a golden chain. "You've kept your relationship hidden for that long? How the hell did I not notice!?" Mira laughed and carefully put her ring back into its hiding place, then she leaned over to stare over Lucy's shoulder and grinned. "You'd better go back to your little boyfriend there… Poor guy looks like he's going to have an aneurysm." Lucy grinned and winked at her.

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to give him one later."


Lucy and Natsu walked away from the studio, exhaustion on their faces. Lucy had been in the studio for hours, while Natsu had been going over the dreaded paperwork to replace Lisanna completely and legally. He had no idea what she'd been practicing and was anxious to hear it at the concert next week for her debut. When they got into the car, Lucy paused. "Hey Natsu, wanna go to The Phantom Fairy and see Levy and Gajeel? I could use some fun that isn't revolving around being wrapped around you like a second skin…" Natsu grinned at her wolfishly and winked. "You love being wrapped around me, almost as much as you love being in the ring with some poor unfortunate bastard…"

She smirked and headed to the house, letting them both get ready for a night out. Later on, she smoothed the skirt of her peach-pink sequined dress that showed off every curve and stopped just below her ass. It featured a clasped choker; to hide the red marks Leo had left, and a deep teardrop cut out where her breasts were. Diamond triangular earrings and a pink watch with diamond studs embedded into it. As she bent over to wrap the chords of her heels up her ankles she heard a sigh and Natsu's agonized voice behind her.

"Tell me you're not wearing that…" She gave him a red-lipped smile and stood up, waltzing over to him and running her fingers through the back of his hair. "And if I am?" She purred in his ear, Natsu was less than amused. "Luce, I can see your thong when you bend over." Lucy pulled away and kissed him, it wasn't the all-consuming kiss they were used to, it was a soft chaste kiss of reassurance. "The only one bending me over is you, tough guy." She walked toward the door as her concealed insult caught up with him, and as she grabbed her keys she heard an indignant "HEY!" as she slipped out the door laughing.

They paid the bouncer at The Phantom Fairy, Gajeel's club that he built for Levy, and headed to the bar. Lucy downed a few shots and slipped into the crowd of dancers, leaving Natsu to lean and eye the seductive temptress as she swayed to the music with her eyes on him, as if daring him to come to her. The music shifted to a rock song and unsurprisingly men began to notice her, making Natsu bristle.

That was his girl.

I judge by what she's wearing

Just how many heads I'm tearing

Off of assholes coming on to her

Each night seems like it's getting worse

She began swaying and a guy came up behind her, reaching for her hips. Natsu jerked to attention but smirked when she leaned back and whispered something into his ear that made him turn pale and back off immediately, seemed like she could handle herself… For now.

And I wish she'd take the night off

So I don't have to fight off

Every asshole coming on to her

It happens every night she works

He took a drink and turned back to see Levy and Lucy dancing, not sexually but still rather close enough for people to know they were close. This apparently was a sign that they needed a man to grind upon them, as two immediately swooped in and began forcing the two girls to dance with them.

They'll go and ask the DJ

Find out just what would she say

If they all tried coming on to her

Don't they know it's never going to work?

Natsu hurried over, seeing Gajeel hot on his heels with a menacing look in his eyes. He showed up just in time to see the guy grab Lucy by the hair and pull her head back to kiss her and grope her chest, Levy was pressed up against another guy whose hand was traveling dangerously close to where her skirt ended.

They think they'll get inside her

With every drink they buy her

As they all try coming on to her

This time somebody's getting hurt

Gajeel yelled out and got his girlfriend's attention, who immediately hit the deck as his massive boot caught the guy square in the face, at over six feet, and with the muscle to match, he easily reached the guy's face. Said kick sent him sprawling and whimpering over his broken nose. Levy was immediately helped up and ushered over to the tables where she could be properly guarded.

Here comes the next contestant

Natsu had a different approach, he stalked up behind him and wrapped his arm around his neck, forcing him to release her. The creep grappled as his arm as it pressed tighter and tighter around his neck, and then he was promptly punched in the eye and kneed in the balls by Lucy. Natsu let go and watched him drop unceremoniously to the gritty floor. Bouncers collected the men and Lucy pulled Natsu toward the door to leave.

Is that your hand on my girlfriend?

Is that your hand?

I wish you'd do it again

I'll watch you leave here limping

And I wish you'd do it again

And I'll watch you leave here limping

She smirked as he pushed her into the passenger seat, his hand on her upper thigh as he drove them home, he had a fantastic night in mind for them before she was forced to begin choreography for the concert next week. She'd be exhausted then, and likely in no mood for sex, so he might as well make it a wild night to make up for it!

There goes the next contestant!


The song was "Next Contestant" by Nickleback