Title: She didn't spend as much time with him anymore

And this caused Natsu to be in a really bad mood.

When Lucy had started dating, except for going out to dine with Ark alone from time to time, she still spent a lot of her time with Natsu. Sure, Ark would usually tag along but Natsu didn't mind that. He treated Ark like he did Gray, Wendy and Erza. And Ark in return never complained about Lucy spending time with him.

But since they went on that mission where for the first time he and Ark had an argument, Lucy started spending less time with him.

It didn't help that there were currently no missions for them. Most missions available were small fries that were mostly dealt with by the less powerful mages of the guild.

Natsu was bored out of his mind. And in times like this, he would usually go and spend time with Lucy. Nothing seemed boring when he was with Lucy. But these days, he didn't even know where she was.

"Is she avoiding us?" He asked Happy as once more then entered Lucy's empty apartment.

"She probably went out with Ark." Happy said unhappily. He missed Lucy too. But what's more was that he really felt bad for Natsu. And he was kind of worried about him.

"And what does she do with him that she can't do with all of us together?" Natsu was beginning to get frustrated.

Happy had no idea either. Although he had some idea about being in love, his experience was limited to offering Carla some fish and talking with her. He had some notions about love and romance, but except for his own wishful thinking, he had no real experience with it. So he was just as lost as Natsu was.

Suddenly the door to Lucy's apartment opened and Lucy walked in with Ark. Natsu immediately noticed the radiant smile on her face as she laughed at what Ark was saying, and the fact that they were holding hands. This observation annoyed him.

It wasn't the first time he saw them held hands of course. In fact, when they used to spend a lot of time together, he was a witness to it constantly. But he had accepted it as what dating couples do, and as he would not mind Lucy holding Erza's hand or even Gray's, he also hadn't minded it with Ark.

But it seemed something had changed within him since his argument with Ark. Lucy is mine. Ark had said that. And suddenly the hand holding Lucy's held a totally different meaning for Natsu.

"Natsu!" Lucy's surprise was apparent as she finally noticed Natsu sitting on her sofa with Happy. "You didn't break my window again, did you?" She tried to act annoyed but she was actually happy to see Natsu.

In fact Lucy missed Natsu. But for some reason, since they got back from their last mission, being with Natsu and Ark together had seemed really awkward. The interactions between Ark and Natsu seemed forced and uncomfortable. And she felt like she was caught in the middle of a silent war.

Thus she tried not to get them together unless it was with a lot of other people. Unfortunately, there had been no missions and as Lucy was dating Ark, it had been easier to find reasons to be with him than it was to be with Natsu alone.

So she was glad to see Natsu again. But instead of greeting her, Natsu was giving Ark a disapproving frown and Ark in return seemed to be taunting him back with his eyes. And Lucy just had enough.

"Stop it you guys." She said in exasperation. She was tired of acting like she didn't notice their antagonism. "What is wrong with you two?" She gave both of them an angry stare.

"Please, let's get this out and over with so we can all go back to being friends." Then she faced Natsu. She removed her hand from Ark's and walked over to where Natsu sat. "Let's start with you first, huh Natsu."

Natsu looked up from where Lucy stood, his eyes widening innocently. "I don't know what you are talking about Lucy."

Lucy bent down and moved her face closer to Natsu's, as if observing him at a much closer range would enable her to extract information from him. Natsu had looked casually right back into her eyes, but the moment her face was a mere inches away his heartbeat unexpectedly went into overdrive and he suddenly found himself having a hard time breathing.

He quickly withdrew by leaning back on the couch and looking away to the side to where Happy sat, completely avoiding her gaze.

Lucy sighed and turned to look back at Ark, missing the blush that colored Natsu's cheeks. It was only Happy who saw the confused look on Natsu's face.

"How about you." She asked Ark. "You have been avoiding anything about Natsu since we came back. Can someone please tell me what is happening here?"

Ark sighed before giving Lucy a sad smile. "Unfortunately, I think Natsu is the only one who can tell you that."

Lucy's eyes narrowed at him. "Don't tell me you are not as much of a participant in all of this."

Ark's smile turned wry. "Of course I am. But I don't think it's fair for me to give you any information if you don't already know it." Then he moved to look at Natsu who had now his arm crossed stubbornly on his chest. "And I am definitely not helping this idiot either. I have not lost this battle yet. And if he wishes to stay an idiot then so much better for me."

The two men started glaring at each other openly and Lucy threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Fine. But you guys better deal with this situation else I am not seeing either of you. You can both stay at my apartment. I am staying at Levy's." Then she gave both of them a warning look. "Make sure nothing is broken or I will have both of you quartered and stripped. You can contact me when you have decided to become friends again."

And with that Lucy walked out the door slamming it close after her.