Hellllllooooo! Sorry for the break, I'm trying to get the rest of the story written so I can work on MRNL again. But here is the next installment!

I hope you all enjoy! Let me know in your reviews and messages! I love reading them all.


Day 5

She was at peace… for the first time in a long time. The fan whirled on the ceiling above her causing a brisk breeze to glance over her bare shoulder, but she wasn't cold; in fact, she was rather warm. Lucy was still in that 'asleep but aware of your surroundings' phase, so she could feel the warmth that enveloped her.

It was centered directly behind her with it wrapping over her legs and arms. Feeling the cool air from the fan, she snuggled deeper into the warmth. She found it odd yet comforting when the warmth reacted. She heard an exhale in her ear and a heat wave ran over her arm to secure her tighter. It made her feel protected and safe… something she hadn't felt in a while either. She could get used to this… *ring*… or not.

Lucy furrowed her brows as she was ripped from her peaceful slumber by her annoying ringtone. She tucked her face into the crook of her arm; maybe if she ignored the phone it would just stop and whoever was on the other line would stop bothering her. Scratch that, she knew that tone, it was her father and she knew he would never stop.

After a few rings going unanswered, Lucy heard an audible groan from behind her. She furrowed her brows a bit more as she felt her whole body shift forward. The warmth that wrapped around her torso, which she now recognized as a man's arm, had left its spot to reach for her phone on the nightstand in front of them. She peeked through her lashes just enough to see the arm retreating with phone in hand. She couldn't help but smile when she heard the groggy voice of the man behind her.

"Hello?" Natsu questioned, in his gravely morning voice.

"Natsu? You sound like you just woke up," Jude replied.

"Uh, yeah…" he remarked as he removed his arms from the blonde beside him and sat up in bed. He glanced over at the blonde and couldn't help but grin as he ran his eyes from the top of her head down to where the sheets hung just above her waist. "We, uh, were out late with friends so we didn't get much sleep." He tried not to chuckle as Lucy nudged his leg with her foot.

"Well, if you two sleep in much longer, you will miss the games." Ugh, that's right. The last day of the festival was an all-day series of games among different townsfolk. They did everything from the cliché sack races and egg toss to volleyball tournaments. Natsu used to love the games; he and Gray would always compete to see who would come out on top for their age group… but honestly there was no chance since Erza always won. He hadn't played any of the games since the last time he was here for the festival… his senior year of high school. My how things have changed.

"Besides, we wanted to have lunch as a family before the games kicked off, so your mother told me to call you to make sure you both made it here." Of course, she did, he thought. "So when does she want us over there?"

"Lunch starts at 11:30 sharp." Natsu pulled the phone away from his ear to check the time, 10:32. He shrugged, not as late as I thought. "We'll be there on time."

Jude said his goodbyes and Natsu returned them before hanging up the phone. Natsu placed the phone on the nightstand closest to his side of the bed. He slid back down under the covers as he rolled over to resume his position next to Lucy. He pressed his chest up against Lucy's back, making sure no room was left between them. His right arm wrapped around the girl's frame and laid gently on top of her own. Lastly, with a sigh of pleasure, he laid his head down so her head was tucked beneath his chin.

"Who was that?" Lucy asked, not hiding the big grin she wore on her face.

"Your dad. Apparently, we are having a family lunch before the games this afternoon and we need to be there at 11:30 sharp or my mother will have a fit." The two chuckled; Lucy tingled at the rumbling of Natsu's laughter gently shaking her. "But that's not for another hour so…" Natsu leaned forward and began planting light kisses on the back of Lucy's neck. The girl chuckled as she moved her shoulder towards her ear in response. "No," she began, "but that does mean we need to get up."

"Not yet," Natsu stated as he rolled himself on top of the blonde and began kissing her on the lips. Lucy chuckled and responded by wrapping her arms around Natsu's neck and returning his kisses. Lucy was so happy right now; never in a million years did she expect to fall in love with Natsu while on this trip. In grand retrospect, this whole story seemed like some kind of romantic comedy… reminder to write a story about this!

She wrinkled her brows again when something grazed her arm. She peeled her eyes open to glance past Natsu's head to stare at her arms. Lucy moved her head just slightly to the left when she saw what was brushing against her forearm; Natsu took the opportunity to start kissing Lucy's neck once more. She stared intently at the diamond on her left-hand ring finger… and couldn't help but feel her hand growing heavier and heavier.

Worried, Lucy spoke up, "Natsu, are we bad people?" Natsu stopped what he was doing and posted up on his forearms to stare at Lucy's face. "Why do you say that?" he asked confused.

Lucy huffed and rocked her head slightly from side to side, "Because we are pretending to be engaged for my dying father…" Natsu sighed and rolled over onto his back to lie next to Lucy, "and then we hade sex?!" Natsu caught his breath as he stared at the ceiling. Taking his chance to furrow his brows, he turned his head to speak to the blonde, "Was last night really that bad?"

The blonder rolled over to face Natsu; she propped her head up with her right arm and pulled the sheets up to cover her chest with her left arm. "No!" she honestly comforted, "Actually… it was the best I've ever had." She couldn't help but blush at the statement, but she made no intention to hide it. Natsu smirked as he placed his arms behind his head confidently, "I know I'm not your first but I'm honored to be your best."

Lucy jokingly pushed Natsu's elbow, "But seriously… are we bad people?"

Natsu sighed as he rolled over to face Lucy and lean on his elbow, "Lucy…"

She continued, "I mean, I just got out of a relationship with a married guy so my taste in men is asque…"

"Lucy," he stated more sternly but she continued.

"Plus, you have Lisanna…"

"Luce!"

"Or whoever else you have in your life…"

"LUCY!" The blonde stopped and stared at the pinkette in front of her. He held her gaze with a firm look in his eyes, one of determination and confidence.

"First of all, you are not the problem with your relationships; the guys in your life have never appreciated you or gave you the respect you deserved." Lucy couldn't help but soften her expression and melt at his words. "Second, you didn't do this for any malicious reason; you wanted to make your father happy and as far as I can tell, he's the happiest I've ever seen him since Layla passed… and I'm honored that I get to help with that.

Third, Lisanna and I are NOT a thing and I don't have anyone else in my life right now... but I'd like there to be." Lucy's smile faltered. Her and Natsu go from best friends to barely speaking to pretending to be engaged then sleeping together and now he was practically asking her out?! She knew Natsu well and she knew without a doubt he was serious… which surprised her.

"Natsu…" she began cautiously.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, "I mean it, Luce. I've been contemplating us this week and I'm really leaning toward moving to Crocus."

She was stunned but happy, "M-moving to Crocus?"

"I'm not happy where I'm at and there seems to be nowhere for me to go there. I applied for jobs in Crocus…" Why was her heart beating so fast right now?! "I haven't heard back from any yet but...It seems like things in my life are all pointing to you." Natsu looked back at her with soft, honest eyes just pleading for an answer. She smiled, trying to contain her joy; she reached out her hand and laid in gently on Natsu's cheek. "Why did we never get together before?"

"Well…" Natsu began as he rolled his eyes and tilted his head in the same direction, "You were always jumping from guy to guy."

"Hey!" she yelled, "It's not like you were a free agent either!"

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Don't remind me."

"I thought you enjoyed your relationship with Lisanna."

"I did…"

"But…" Lucy teased Natsu to explain further. He chuckled at the blonde's attempt. "But… I didn't feel the connection was there. I mean, I always felt like there was something missing there." Lucy contemplated that statement. How many times had she given Natsu relationship advice from the female perspective? She pretty much coached him when it came to the major events: first date, first kiss, dances, etc. Looking back on it now, it was a little weird that she went there.

"Did you have any significant one in your slew of significant others?" he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Are you kidding me? You saw the guys I dated."

"Oh, come one. There was that one guy from the yearbook club…"

"You mean the guy who collected his toenails?"

"Or what about the guy who watched you at cheerleading practice?"

She just stared at him, "Are you kidding me?! The creep watched me at cheerleading practice."

"Well so did I," he defended.

"Natsu, you were on the field practicing at the same time."

"That doesn't mean my eyes didn't wander."

"No wonder you ran so many laps during practice, you weren't paying attention." Lucy chuckled before she realized something. "You were watching me?"

Confused, he reiterated, "Yeah… my eyes always seemed to find you." He said with a meaningful smile, but it slowly started to fade, "Sorry, that sounded creepy."

"No," Lucy placed her hand on Natsu's arm, "Even then you were watching me?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm just naturally drawn to you." He smirked after he shrugged.

"And I always ended up coming back to you," she smirked back as she leaned in closer to him. The two shared a small peck before Natsu slowly pushed her onto her back. Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck once more.

"I thought we were supposed to be getting up?" Natsu sassed.

"In a minute," Lucy replied and Natsu couldn't help but smile. Just as their makeout session started to get a little heated, the front door buzzer sounded. Natsu very audibly groaned in frustration as he rolled onto his back with a thud. Lucy chuckled as she pulled the sheet with her as she stood and walked over to the intercom.

"Who is it?" Lucy asked as she pressed the button.

"Lucy, it's me," Lucy's eyes shot wide open upon hearing her brother's voice.