Natsu is much lighter than he looks. She managed to practically carry him to his car and was now escorting the drunkard home. Every few minutes he'd mumble something about dragons and wizards and maybe even a flying blue cat, but other than that, he was pretty harmless. She expected him to be a ball of furry, or depression being as though alcohol is a depressant. Although, he did drink two bottles of whiskey, so it surprised her that the idiot was alive. Maybe he really was a demon.

"Hey Lucy?" Natsu called, taking her out of her stupor.

"What is it?"

"Who hurt you so bad?" Lucy stepped on the brakes violently as they approached a red light. Hesitantly, she looked at the man beside her.

"What're you talking about Natsu? I'm fine?"

"No you're not. Someone hurt you really really bad didn't they?" As she light turned green she was looking back and forth between Natsu and the road.

"Natsu there's not a scratch on m-"

"That's not what I mean." He slowly placed his hand over his heart. "Right here… I think. It's okay, I was hurt there too." He looked at her, eyes practically closed and a sad smile on his lips. "I don't know who hurt you there, but I promise I won't let it happen again."

Lucy thought it was in her best interest to keep silent for the rest of the ride, if she didn't then she'd probably say something stupid, or even take them seriously. A man's true character comes out when they're drunk. She mused silently. She decided to keep his words to herself, because even if what he's saying where true, he'd never admit to saying them sober.

When they finally arrived at Natsu's palace, she had to practically drag him inside, being as though he was practically asleep. Lucky for her, Natsu barely weighed two hundred pounds. When they finally made it to his room, she stripped him of everything but his boxers and left to look for a t-shirt for him. Although, when she came back less than thirty seconds later, Natsu was doing the oddest shimmy out of his underwear.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" Lucy asked, unfazed. He seemed to be very concentrated. His brows were furrowed and his tongue peaking out of his mouth. It was actually the slightest bit cute.

"I'm getting comfortable, the hell else would I be doing?"

"I don't know what you demons do as your night time rituals."

"You know, that's not very nice."

"Night time rituals?"

"Calling people demons you dumbass!"

Lucy shrugged. "That's something a demon would say."

"Lusheee!" Natsu groaned and fell back on the bed, giving up on taking off his undergarments. Lucy decided to ignore him as she readied herself for bed. She opened a drawer and haphazardly grabbed an old t-shirt.

"Oohhhh," Natsu drawled as Lucy began taking off her shirt. "My Lucy's a naughty girl, changing in front of me to get me all fired up eh?" She continued to ignore him as she slipped on the shirt, and took off her leggings. She couldn't decide if she liked him better sober or drunk.

"How do you not have alcohol poisoning?" She mumbled, throwing the clothes in a hamper. She looked behind her to see that Natsu was lying unconscious. Shaking her head, Lucy decided to go and finish her nightly routine in peace.

Natsu wasn't surprised when he woke up with the blonde in his arms. When she first started sleeping in his bed, waking up next to her was more than a little alarming. He'd go out of his way to sleep on the opposite end of the bed, and facing away from her, but he always managed to end up with a sleeping Lucy under him. At this point, he'd accepted his fate, and thanked the gods that he always woke up before her. He didn't need her thinking that there were any emotions attached to this, even though he himself, didn't know what was going on. Being careful not to wake Lucy, Natsu slid out of bed to prepare for the day.

He quickly downed two tylenol dry. He didn't plan on drinking as much as he did last night, and regret began to flood his body. Not due to the killer hangover that he should be suffering - he learned that he was immune to those years ago - but from the memories that came flooding back. My naughty Lucy? I'll never let anyone hurt you again!? What kind of bullshit is that!? He cringed at himself as he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, and began to brush his teeth. He tried to strip in front of her for god's sake!

Wiping his face and stepping back into his room, he was met with a quite enticing sight. Lucy was just waking up, hair ruffled from sleep and fucking perfect, his shirt was falling of her shoulder revealing the creamy skin on her shoulder, her lips slightly parted, and her honey eyes were glazed over from sleep.

She was going to be the death of him.

"Good morning."

He grunted.

He didn't trust his voice at the moment.

He watched as she rose from the bed, and he didn't say anything as his eyes went straight to her thighs and were her legs always that long? She stretched her raised her arms above her head, causing the shirt to go up and reveal more of her thighs, and he briefly wondered if she had on any panties. Shaking his head, he thought it would be better to not dwell on the answer.

"How do you feel? I'm surprised you can even stand right now." Natsu decided that if didn't look away soon he'd take her against a wall. And dresser. And bed. And maybe even floor.

"Aside from a little headache, I'm fine. What are your plans for today?"

"Aw, why? You wanted to spend some time with me?"

"Lucy." She really knew how to test his patience.

"I'm going out with Levy and Erza. We'll probably do some shopping, grab something to eat, just some girl things. Why? Don't tell me you've got some pop up assignment for me."

"I don't give a fuck about what you do as long as you're back by 6." He said, buttoning up his shirt.

"And why is that?"

"Unless you would like to know why some psychotic bastard is after you, then by all means, stay out as long as you like." Why the fuck can't she ever do as she's told? Natsu pulled a pair of slacks from his drawer, ignoring the blonde as she puffed her cheeks and stormed out of the room. He couldn't seem to find a reason as to why he puts up with her the way he does.

Lucy sighed as she lugged several Victoria Secret bags over her shoulder. Even though they never carried her bra size in stores, they have amazing underwear and hoodies, and they were having a sell. How could she let up on an opportunity like that? She looked to the left of her to see Levy and Erza chatting up a storm. This was the first time she'd ever been out with friends like this. Growing up in a giant estate with too many hand maids to count, all of her shopping was done for her. She didn't have many friends being as though they were all too prissy for Lucy's liking, and after her father died, she did her shopping alone. The blonde wasn't exactly a social butterfly.

"What're you thinking about Lu?" Lucy was pulled out of her stupor. She looked down at the bluenette and gave her a practiced smile, saying that she was just daydreaming.

"About the Boss a presume?" Lucy whipped her head over to Erza, who had that knowing smirk that made Lucy want to kick her.

"Why would I ever dream about demons? Besides that's more of a nightmare."

"Denial isn't good for the soul, Lu." Lucy shrugged.

"Neither is all of that metal Gajeel has all over his face, but you don't see me saying anything about it." Levy huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Very mature."

"I know." Their conversation was cut short by a sharp gasp from Erza.

"We must go into this pastry shop. Their strawberry cake is to die for!" She said as she practically dragged them into the store.

When they were seated at a small both, Erza and Levy sat next to each other, and Lucy sat across from them. Levy asked for coffee cake, Lucy ordered a cinnamon bun, and as expected, Erza demanded that they give her the best slice of strawberry cake they had.

As they ate they talked about the mundane things in life. Who was dating who, the latest events coming to town, the weather and things of that nature. It was very refreshing for the blonde. She never noticed how tense she had been over the past several weeks. She couldn't tell if it was the neurotic pinkett she lived with, the people who apparently want her dead, or the stress from work. What she did know is that she was thankful for the friends she had. Without them she probably would've gone crazy by now. They're the ones she goes to when Natsu is driving her crazy, when she wants to laugh, or when her hormones are driving her crazy and she's having mood swings.

"So," Lucy began, taking her last bite of cake. She looked up at Erza. "Marriage?" The redhead chuckled and shoved the last of her cake to the side.

"I suppose so. Jellal end I plan to be wed before the end of the year."

"6 months to plan a wedding?" Levy interjected. "That's tough."

"Well, we know that in our lane of work, either of us could disappear at any given moment. Besides, I love him, and he loves me. We've also known each other for practically our whole lives. I see no point in waiting any longer, and neither does he."

Lucy chuckled darkly. "I wish my life was that simple." Erza gave a sympathetic smile.

"I suppose you are talking about our boss?" Lucy nodded.

"I mean… he didn't kill me when he had a perfectly good reason to, gives me a job, offers me a place to stay, let's me sleep in his bed and says shit when he's drunk. One minute he's sweet, and the next he's some cold hearted bastard. I swear he's bipolar."

"Well, I see the way you two interact, and let me tell you it's better than television."

"Levy, I hope you know you're small enough for me to pick you up and launch you across this shop."

"I'm serious Lu! You two argue like an old married couple, and I don't think it's such a bad thing. I'm pretty sure all of this is new for the both of you, and I've seen the way you look at him and vice versa. I don't

think Boss knows how to deal with all of these new emotions he has, if any at all. Just give him time, I don't think he'll disappoint."

"I agree with Levy." Erza said as she wiped leftover crumbs of her face "Patience is a virtue Lucy. I believe you two have something special."

Lucy gave them a nervous chuckle. "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. All I'm saying is that he confuses the fuck out of me."

"Denial isn't good for the soul Lu."

"Check!"

Tada! New Chapter! I hope you guys love drunk Natsu as much as I do! And let's give it up for Levy and Erza, those two need to knock some sense into Lucy. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and as you all see, I'm trying to get updates up faster. Starting on the next update, I'll fulfill my promise to shout out the first few people to review each chapter.

Till next time my little potatoes!