I should have had this written and posted earlier this week, but I got super sick on Monday, then my little man got sick on Tuesday and neither of us were getting sleep, so it took me longer to get over it than usual. Thanks for all the love guys, I appreciate every little bit!

As always, happy reading!


Natsu was surprised at the anger he could feel through Lucy's mark as she called for him. He had very little experience with summoning tags, so he was still getting used to what accompanied it. He'd figured out early on that he didn't feel Lucy's emotions all the time, but when he did, it meant that she was feeling them very strongly. The anger she felt now was stronger than any other emotion he'd felt from her since making their contract and that worried him.

As he joined her in the entryway, he didn't have a chance to ask what was wrong before Lucy grabbed the cloth near his throat and yanked him down to her height. Her eyes were blazing, causing his words to die in his throat. She spoke quietly and firmly, leaving no room for discussion.

"I ignore every jab he makes about me 'loooooving' my guy friends. I ignore all the times he interrupts me when I'm working, despite having deadlines I need to meet. I ignore the dead animals he sometimes leaves at the front door because 'that's how cats let you know they care,'" she fumed, making one handed air quotes a second time before pulling him closer.

"I didn't freak out when he used the microwave to warm up his fish, despite it making the apartment smell like ass for an entire week. I didn't freak out when he clawed up my good spare sheets, despite how expensive they were. I didn't even freak out when he made a mess in the kitchen, his very first night here, despite ruining my food, covering everything in flour and running up my electric bill."

Lucy's face was only a hair's breadth from Natsu's at this point, the venom in her voice actually scaring Natsu as she finished. "I can't make them leave now that my friends know they're here, but I'm leaving you to find a good excuse for them being here. I know Happy is your best friend, but I have been more than accommodating. He is going back once this party is over." With that, she released him and went back into the kitchen, where Natsu could hear her starting a conversation with Loke.

He turned back to the people at the door, all four looking worried. It was obvious they had all heard her words, and the blue haired girl began to tear up. "I'm sorry, Natsu, I didn't know we weren't wanted here! Happy said it would be okay if we came!"

Natsu smiled, trying to ease her unhappiness. "It's okay, Wendy, it's not your fault."

The girl next to her humphed as she crossed her arms. "I knew this was going to happen. You can never trust the tomcat."

Happy's shoulders slumped a little before he looked up at Natsu. "I really did it this time, didn't I?"

"Not sure what you expected, little buddy. I would've expected her to respond like this after what you did to the kitchen our first night here. You shouldn't have tried to push her so hard." When Happy's eyes started to fill with tears, Natsu sighed and put a hand on his head. "I'll see what I can do, okay?" Looking up he looked at the the blue haired girl and the taller male. "I'm surprised to see you in that form, Lily, and you at all, Wendy. What are you guys doing here?"

"I'm in the middle of a contract," Wendy said proudly, her eyes still bright from her tears. "I made sure to get tonight off so I could hang out with Carla on this side, since I don't get the chance very often."

"I thought it would be a nice change, allowing Wendy to spend time among the humans, with me around, of course. When Happy suggested attending this party, I didn't have a good reason to say no, but now-"

"We don't want to overstay our welcome," came a deep reply from Pantherlily. "I admit, I had my doubts when he told us it was okay to come, but I didn't question it too much. We apologize for causing trouble."

"It doesn't appear your contract holder is very nice," Carla observed.

"Lucy is too nice," Natsu argued, glaring a little at the white Exceed. "She has very good reasons for not wanting any other demons here, ones that Happy knows and agreed to."

"Sorry Natsu." Happy still hadn't looked up, obviously upset with Lucy's words.

"Sounds to me like you weren't very nice to her," Wendy said. "If what she said is true, Carla, I'd say Lucy is super nice, since she hasn't sent him back before. You've gotten mad at him for less before."

Carla's cheeks pinkened a little as she looked away. "I suppose so."

"Don't worry, Natsu, we can leave," Wendy said with a smile. "We were just going to go trick-or-treating anyways, so this doesn't really mess up our plans or anything."

"How long before you go back?" Natsu asked. "I'd love for you to get to meet Lucy."

"Oh, I'll probably only be here for another couple days. I've almost completed my contract, it wasn't a long one."

"Maybe I can convince her to have you over, how does that sound?"

"I'd like that." Wendy moved forward, smiling as she hugged Natsu around his middle as he bent over to hug her back. "I'll see if my contract holder can spare me for a bit before I have to go back. It's kind of a twenty four seven thing, minus tonight."

"Oh-"

"Hey, you comin' in or what?" Cana's voice carried out the front door. "You're letting all the cold in, or something."

"Actually, they were just stopping by to say hi," Natsu said, pulling back.

"Well aren't you cute," the brunette said as she looked at Wendy, then at the rest of the group. "Why aren't you guys staying?"

"Like Natsu said, we were just stopping by to say hi," Pantherlily said. "We're sorry for interrupting."

Cana hummed she studied the tallest Exceed. "You drink?"

"What?" Lily's eyes widened a bit as she studied him.

"Do you drink, as in alcohol? What kind of tolerance you got?"

"Well, I mean, I do, and I think I can hold it fairly well-"

"You drive here?"

"Well, no-"

"Dibs!" Cana moved around the others and pulled Pantherlily forward by his arm. "Name's Cana. You and I are going to have a drinking contest. Come on, Gajeel's waiting, too." Pantherlily continued to try and argue as Natsu was shoved aside so the other two could pass.

"Gajeel! I found another! Did you convince Gray yet?"

"Should we stop them?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know if we can stop Cana, to be honest." Natsu sighed. "Well, you guys should come in, too. It'd be weird if you left now."

Happy tried to argue. "I don't know-"

"Buddy, the lava's already been spilled, so you might as well come in. Just let me do the talking, okay?"

He led the way as the others followed him into the apartment. Loke and Lucy were still in the kitchen, leaning on either side of the doorway as they watched Gajeel, Cana, Gray and Pantherlily sitting on the floor around the coffee table.

Lucy turned their way, standing with a forced smile. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. My name's Lucy." She reached over and shook hands with Carla and Wendy. She shook Happy's too, barely squeezing his hand.

"My name's Wendy, and this is Carla and Happy."

"Why hello there," Loke said, charm oozing from his smile. He reached out and kissed both Carla and Wendy's hands as he introduced himself. "How do you two know Natsu?"

"I'm actually Wendy's-"

"Carla and Happy are my friends," Wendy interrupted her friend before smiling up at Natsu. "I actually know Natsu from a really long time ago."

Natsu smiled back. "Yeah, Wendy is actually kind of a sister to me."

Lucy blinked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. There was a stretch way back that my parents…" Natsu paused, trying to figure out the correct terms to explain what Wendy was to him. "My parents fostered her for a while, when she was younger. It was during one of our longer stretches of staying still and her parents were, uh, unavailable for a while, so she stayed with us."

Lucy immediately felt terrible at Natsu's words. The way he spoke made her think that this girl was actually some sort of pseudo-sister to him, and she had basically told him to come up with a good reason to get rid of her. He probably missed seeing her. Who was she to make the girl leave when it might be the last time they saw each other for the next year?

"It's really nice to meet you," Lucy said, hoping the blue haired girl could read the apology in her words.

"It's really nice to meet you, too," Wendy said, her smile almost as bright as Natsu's.

"Yeah, apparently Wendy's in the area for a class trip and they were just going to go trick-or-treating tonight. They apparently saw me when I was out earlier and wanted to surprise me by stopping by and saying hi. Sorry they crashed the party."

"There's no need to apologize, it's a party after all!" Loke laughed. "I'd avoid the punch bowl, though. I think the only things not spiked in here are the cans of pop."

"Thank you for letting us know," Carla said.

Happy continued to remain quiet, causing Lucy to feel a little bad, but before she could address him, there was a commotion behind her.

"You can't just quit," Cana said.

"Why not? I'm not looking to get drunk tonight. I agreed to participate for a few rounds, that's it." Gray was trying to stand up, but Cana refused to let go of his arm.

"Actually, if he's-"

"You. Sit." Cana hissed at Pantherlily as he tried to stand. The Exceed sighed as he crossed his arms. Gajeel leaned his way to whisper to him as Cana continued to fight with Gray, who now had Juvia on his other arm, trying to pull him away from the table.

Juvia spoke up. "Cana, you have two other opponents. Why not just let Gray go?"

"This is a drinking contest and he's not even tipsy yet. He can't just bail!"

"Actually, he can," Lucy cut in. "My house, my rules, Alberona. Deal with it."

Cana gaped at her, then stuck out her lower lip. "Why are you betraying me, Lucy? Aren't I a good friend to you? You said I could have a drinking contest."

"And you can, but only with people who agree to join you."

"He did agree!"

"And now he doesn't want to anymore. They can tap out whenever they want."

Gray finished standing up, stumbling a little since Juvia was still pulling on him. He steadied himself as he thanked her. Juvia blushed as she let go of his arm, but she did not move away.

"Come on, Cana, where's the next round," Gajeel groused. "Me and my new friend are waitin'!"

"Friend?" Pantherlily asked, clearly surprised.

"Yeah, uh…" Gajeel pointed at the other man. "You."

Levy laughed out loud from where she watched. "Did you not even bother to ask him his name?!"

Gajeel glared at the woman, his eyes widening slightly as he seemed to notice her outfit for the first time. "Quiet, woman."

"You can call me Lily," the Exceed introduced himself. "I prefer to be known by my last name."

"Gajeel." The pierced man shook his hand before turning to Cana again. "So? Where's the next one? Serve it up!"

Cana grinned as she pulled a new bottle out from under the table. Lucy groaned as she saw what it was. "Cana, do you have to do that already? I wasn't a fan of you starting this so early, and those doubts are quickly increasing with your choice of liquor."

"What's wrong, Lucy, you scared of a little tequila?"

Levy and Juvia both groaned out loud with Lucy. Cana had varying stages of drunk, but tequila drunk was the worst. Lucy sighed as the shots were poured.

Loke spoke up. "Are you sure you want to do tequila so soon? You should give the new guys a chance."

"Does the choice of liquor really affect their chances?" she asked with a laugh. "Get over her Loke, join us for a few."

Loke's grin widened as he stepped forward. "Alright, I guess you've pulled my leg hard enough."

Lucy spoke up. "Now that Natsu is here, you'll have to crash on the couch, Cana, so try not to let anyone throw up on it this time, okay?"

Cana just grinned as she pushed the shot glasses towards her competition.

"This time?" Natsu asked.

Lucy turned towards the kitchen. "How about we just enjoy the food and get a little more acquainted? This won't last long." After leading the other three farther into the kitchen, Natsu finally moved to join them, keeping an eye on the living room.

Thirty minutes later, Cana shouted in victory as she jumped up from her spot on the floor. Both Pantherlily and Gajeel were both laying back on the floor, groaning as they covered their faces. Loke smiled from where he sat, his cheeks flushed, but his body still upright.

"And that," Lucy said with a smile as Cana moved to grab another beer, "is why you don't have a drinking contest with Cana."