*sniff sniff*

I LOVE YOU GUYS! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

okidoki. well, heres the next chapter! super super sry for updating l8. i have 4 projects, and one of them is for PE. i mean, WTF? PE? rly? DX

hope u guys arent mad or sad. if u are, im really sry.

well, hope u enjoy! =D

When Lucy got home, she was greeted with a hug as soon as she entered the door.

"Lucy. Where were you? I was so worried. Are you alright?" Natsu said, nuzzling his face into her neck.

"I'm fine, Natsu. Don't worry. I gotta talk to you."

Lucy and Natsu sat on the couch.

Lucy took a deep breath. "Natsu, I'm going to UCLA."

"You are?"

Lucy nodded her head.

"That's great! Gray and Juvia are going there also! I am, too!" Natsu reached over and hugged Lucy again.

Lucy smiled. "I know. But I want you to know, I'm going there for my mother, okay?"

"Well that's even better, Lucy. If you want to go there for your mom, then I respect that." Natsu smiled.

"Thanks, Natsu." Lucy smiled, and kissed him.

Natsu then stood up. "Well, I'm gonna call Gray and tell him the good news."

"Okay. I'm gonna go help Wendy cook dinner." She smiled, and got up to go to the kitchen.

Natsu smiled, then rushed to their room after she left. He opened his drawer, and pulled out a wad of cash. Natsu counted the money.

"3000 dollars. God, Gray, I sure hope you're right, you dumbass."

Lucy got to the kitchen. She saw Wendy at the stove, cooking some stir fry and white rice.

"Hey, Wendy. Need some help?"

"Hi, Lucy!" Wendy said, smiling at Lucy. "Yeah, that'd be great! Could you help me cut the orange chicken for the stir fry?"

"Sure." Lucy rolled up her sleeves, and washed her hands. Abruptly, they heard Natsu leaving, and him saying, "I'm going out! Be right back."

"Okay!" Lucy replied, and took out a sharp knife to start cutting the orange chicken. She was barely starting when they heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it Lucy!" Wendy lowered the fire, and went to go get the door. Lucy distinctly heard a man's voice at the door. Wendy came back.

"Lucy, it's for you." She went back to the stove.

"Thanks, Wendy." Lucy was confused. 'Who would be coming right now?' When she got to the doorway, she froze.

"Lucy."

"Dad..."

'Shit. Where the hell is Marcus' Jewelry Store?'

Natsu was currently running around town, trying to find the jewelry store where Gray had bought Juvia's ring. He told Natsu they had great rings in different colors and diamond cuts, so he decided to save his money and buy Lucy a ring. He wanted to propose to her on graduation day, and then get married a couple months later. He wanted to move things slowly, even though they really weren't.

"Found it!" He exclaimed, startling some other shoppers walking by. He entered the store.

"Hello. How may I help you?" The cashier said. He was about 20, and had black hair, and green eyes. (A.N. I love black hair/green eyes. Reminds me of Ulqui-kun in Bleach. ^^)

"Hi. Um, do you know which rings I can get for 3 grand?"

"These right here." He pulled out a small tray of rings from the glass case. There were 5 beautiful diamond rings, priced from 2500 to 3000.

"Wow. Thanks." Natsu looked at each one.

'Which one would Lucy like? Well, she likes flowers, and her favorite color is pink. Let's see...'

One had a small flower engraved around the ring, but the diamond was really small. Another one had a small pink diamond, but it was too big for Lucy's delicate hands. Another one had a flower, but it was black. The other one wasn't even a flower. But the last one-

'Perfect.'

"Excuse me. I'll take this one."

"Great choice. Let me get a box for you."

As Natsu was studying the ring, he heard someone call his name.

"Natsu?"

He turned around.

"Dad?"

HOLY FREAKING CRAP. U ARE GONNA MEET NATSU'S DAD! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

... IN 2 WEEKS.

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thats right. 2 weeks.

im taking a hiatus for about 1 to 2 weeks. im sry, but im barely on chapter 34 of HSH. and the 15 week report cards are coming out, and i gotta get a good grade. plz plz understand that i dont want to leave, but i just need to de-stress and stuff. im still gonna reply to reveiws on my hiatus, cause if i dont, then ill REALLY be screwed. XD

plz understand. i love u ppl, but im really getting queasy about my projects. which are due on friday. T_T

love and huggles,

Roro-chan ^u^