Back and ready to write. I hope you've all been enjoying it so far, I know I've been enjoying writing.

Lucy wasn't the only one who noticed it. Gajeel had told the guild Natsu was going through five different phases, but she didn't think they'd all happen in the time span of a month. After about a week of Natsu growth spurt, the second stage had kicked in. Not only had it flustered Lucy, but it enhanced her feelings towards the slayer. These stages we're making her go insane.

"You've noticed too, haven't you Lucy?" Mira had asked one day. She was leaning her elbows on the bar counter and sporting a mischievous smile. Lucy knew exactly what she was talking about, which had her blushing like a damn fool

"N-Noticed what?" She tried her best to conceal her knowledge about the subject and decided to play ignorant. Too bad Mira wasn't having any of that.

"You know what I'm talking about, Lucy. Don't play dumb with me." Mira waved a finger in front of Lucy's face, scolding her. Lucy inwardly groaned at the way Mira was interrogating her. As much as Lucy loved the white haired bar tender, she was just so nosy when it came to others romantic business.

"Okay fine, jeez. I noticed." Lucy grumbled and crossed her arms. She decided to turn away from Mira so she couldn't look at how her cheeks flamed a bright red. Mira was no fool though. She noticed the minute Lucy turned away. Giggling, Mira gazed over to the exact person they were talking about.

"He's so different now. Now only has he gotten so much taller, his voice is just...wow." Mira couldn't even finish her sentence she was so astonished. Lucy agreed with Mira on this one. It was around three days ago that Natsu's voice has changed from it's slight crack and on the higher side to this deep and husky tone. At first, Lucy just thought it was weird and kind of funny, but the more she heard it the more it would give her goose bumps of excitement. The more she have to conceal her moans every time he would talk even remotely close to her.

"Yeah really. It's going to kill me." Lucy mumbled quietly.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing!" Mira laughed and ran off to serve some of her other guild mates. Lucy sighed in relief and closed her eyes. The last week and a half had been so tiring for her and all she wanted was to go home and take a nap. But somehow, every time she tried to sleep he would be next to her by the time she woke up. It was getting harder and harder to keep herself back. Maybe she would just take a nap here...

"You Luce!" Natsu said, planting his hand on her back and leaning close to her ear. She squealed and swiftly lifted her head, only to bang it on his shoulder. Yelping, she leaned forward slightly and put a hand to the back of her head.

"Natsu! You dolt, don't scare me like that!" Natsu cackled and held his stomach from laughing so hard. Lucy huffed and pouted. He even laughed deeper! It was almost scary how much he was changing right in front of her. She kind of missed his older self. Missed his innocent boyish charms. But she wasn't exactly opposed to this new version of Natsu. He was still himself, but just more mature sounding...and looking.

"Oh Lucy, you should of seen your face! It was priceless!" She slapped his arm and turned away from him. Yeah, he was still himself. Still an annoying little kid.

"You're annoying!"

"Oh come on, you know I was only messing with you..." He whispered. "Besides, I know you can't stay mad at me for very long." He smirked, leaning into her ear once more. Growling, she pushed his face away from her with her palm. He was embarrassing her.

"Would you stop with that. What are you looking to accomplish?" She asked him in annoyance and tint of curiosity. Ever since all the nonsense had happened, he'd been acting really weird. He was being extra clingly and kept teasing her. To be completely honest, she kind if liked it, but she would never admit it to anyone.

"You're just so cute when you get embarrassed. I want to see more of that side." Natsu purred, grabbing a strand of her hair, putting it against his lips in an attempt to embarrass her once more time. Fortunately for him, it did work. Her face went crimson as she tugged her hair from out of his grasp.

"Stop teasing me..." She whined. He chuckled and pat her head, sitting down, he called over Mira. He asked her for a drink and started to make conversation with Lucy. They talked about their next mission and when they were going to take it. He started to eat once Mira bright over his food, but still managed to hold the conversation with Lucy.

"Say Natsu..." She asked suddenly. "what do you think about all the things happening to your body. I mean, you have to have noticed that your voice got deeper by now." Natsu stopped eating and looked up to the ceiling in thought. What did he think about it all?

"Kind of annoying I guess. I mean one minute I was this average height guy and now I'm as tall as Gajeel, one of the tallest in our freaking guild. And now my voice is as deep as his, it's something I'm not particularly used to, but I guess it would of happened sooner or later." He said thoughtfully. Lucy was surprised by his answer. It was a genuinely thought out answer, something she wasn't too use to when it came to the slayer. "But it's a lot of fun to make you blush"

And there it was. He always had to ruin his intellectual answers with something stupid. She hummed in annoyance.

"You're an idiot." She stated finally, she dug through her purse she had sitting on the counter and pulled out a book. Opening, she started to read.

"Ugh, Lucy~ we were having a conversation~" Natsu moaned. She just chose to ignore him and kept her eyes on the page, finally getting to the good part. He narrowed his eyes and started to poke her face so that she would pay attention to him. Feeling a spike in irritation, Lucy grabbed the back of his head and slammed it down on the counter. "Ack!" He yelled as he made contact with the wood.

"Shut up, idiot. Your voice is annoying." She started to run her fingers through his hair, making him relax slightly and give in to feeling. He got more comfortable and leaned into her touch. He then scooted closer to her, making her blush.

"You know you love my voice. Before and after..." He said as he started to dose off. Lucy scoffed and sighed.

"Whatever, think what you like." He grinned.

8:00 pm

"cy...ucy...Lucy, wake up." She moaned at the familiar voice. Her head felt heavy as she lifted it from off the bar counter. With tired eyes, she looked up at who called her name. It was Mira. Lucy smiled widely, drunk on tiredness and snuggled back into her arms.

"It's just Mira, no danger..." Lucy yawned. She heard Mira giggle softly and felt a hard shake to her shoulder.

"Lucy you need to wake up and go home, it's eight o'clock at night. You gotta get Natsu home too." Hearing Natsu's name sobered her up and she lifted her head once more. Glancing tiredly at the sleeping Natsu beside her, she sighed. She shook Natsu violently to get him up quickly. It looked like Mira kindly waited for them, but she seemed to have wanted to go home hours ago.

"Wah, I'm up I'm up." Natsu grunted. He stood up and brought Lucy with him. "C'mon happy, I'll carry you home." He hoisted Lucy up, making her squeak. Natsu stumbled out of the guild and made his way down the street.

"Natsu, wake the hell up. It's me, Lucy!" He looked down at the blonde mage and eventually realized that this woman was not, in fact, happy, but his best friend. He blinked and set done the mage.

"Mm, sorry Luce. Didn't know it was you." He grinned sheepishly

"Yeah whatever, ya pyro." She dusted herself off and slapped Natsu's cheeks to wake him up. "Wake up and go home." He nodded and turned, walking away from her. She shook her head with a smile and jumped on the ledge, heading to hee apartment. Her mind started to drift the fire mage. Natsu sure was something, even with everything going on with his body, he never changed his personality and his weirdness.

He always manages to make her smile, even with his annoying and relentless teasing that he started only recently. Lucy finally made it to her apartment and made it to her door, opening it, she set her down on the kitchen table. During her travel to the bathroom, she managed to get her shirt and pants off. She made it into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to the shower. She stepped in with a pleasurable sigh and squirted shampoo into her hair.

She scrubbed her scalp. She thought back to last month. How everything was normal. She thought how crazy life can just turn itself around in less than a month. She smiled fondly at the old Natsu she came to love so much. She guessed getting used to this new one is the best thing she can do for the time being. Washing the soap from her hair, she turned off the faucet and stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her body. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw that her face was red. Thinking about Natsu again had her all flustered.

She quickly dressed into her pajamas and ran to her bed. Getting under the covers, she turned off her lamp and snuggled close to her pillow. She shivered slightly at the cool with that seemed to have squeezed through her slightly opened window. She was cold...really cold. Her shiver became violent and her teeth chattered. If only her heater worked, but it had been broke down for a year now. She figured she wouldn't need it as she had her own fire mage to keep her warm during the winter. That was the only season she didn't kick him out like she would before.

She then felt a huge gust of wind blow into her room and heard the sound of her window opening. She heard a low voice cursing about not being able to fit. She felt a small smile tug at her lips. She should of known he'd come sooner or later. She bounced when he was finally able to fit though the window. He grunted and got under her covers, not bothering to be gentle.

"I know you're awake." He whispered. She froze. She wasn't exactly hiding it, but her back was turned so she didn't think he'd just be able to sense her awake. A dragon senses are far superior than a humans, she concluded. She then acknowledged his voice...it was so deep and soothing. Something that wasn't exactly apparent with his voice before. His voice now could lull her into a deep sleep as well as get her up in the morning. Smiling bigger, she turned to face him.

"Yeah, you're right." He gave her a smirk and held open his arms, asking for her to get into his arms. She was about to yell no at him before he spoke again.

"Come." It was soft but also firm and demanding. That voice was making her body moved on it's own. One word. She complied and shuffled closer to him, laying her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she responded by wrapping her own arms around his middle. It was slightly awkward at first, being wrapped into the dragon slayer. She tried to think about something else, but her thoughts always came back to him. "Lucy..." She jumped and shifted her eyes up to Natsu. He was looking down at her with troubled eyes. "Relax."

And she did. She just relaxed, immediately started to get comfortable. Something in his voice could make her do anything at this point. She was angry at herself for acting like putty in his hands but she just couldn't help it. She felt her ears burn and she dug her head into his chest to hide what she was feeling. She heard a faint laugh come from Natsu but she ignored it.

He was warm. Especially warm since it was getting so cold out. The warmth he was emitting was so different from warmth coming out of a heater. His warmth was making her drowsy, her eye lids starting to drop. "Hmm, Natsu." He grunted.

"Yeah Luce?"

"You're warm..." She paused. As if contemplating about what she was going to say next. "And I lied before...I've always liked your voice." And she drifted to sleep.

Natsu went frigid at her words. He groaned a little and shifted so that her head was pushed deeper into his chest as he brought a hand to his face in an attempt to hide his pretty noticeable blush. Lately, Lucy was being a little more open with her thoughts and feelings. For awhile now, she had stopped denying getting embarrassed by Natsu. She just accepted it and complained for him to stop teasing her. Even then, he didn't expect her to be this open.

It was something he wasn't used to so it surprised as well as embarrassed him. He sighed when her breath stayed steady and even. She was asleep. Good, she wouldn't see the visible and bright blush that was adorning his face. He laid his head on her pillow and thought back to Lucy. He knew about her feeling towards him, he just decided not to do anything about it so far.

He wasn't sure he was ready to be honest. As much as he loved his blonde friend, being in a relationship was far harder than others seemed to have made it. There was loads of drama, fighting, and moment where you doubt if you're actually compatible with your lover. It was alot of thinking and emotions. That sounded exactly the opposite of Natsu. He was the type of person that was shoot first, think later.

His thoughts started to get hazy as he closed his eyes. Yawning, he softly stroked Lucy's hair and felt darkness take over him. One last thought clouded his mind before he himself drifted to sleep.

Maybe one day he'd tell her he felt the same, but this was enough for now.

Morning

Lucy blinked open her eyes and yawned, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes. She wanted to lift her head, but there was an arm keeping her down on the pillow where she was currently laying. She looked up to see Natsu sleeping. She was about to scream at him until she remembered what happened last night.

"Natsu..." She said. She couldn't get up to shake him because her arms were trapped under his, but she was loud enough to stir the dragon slayer awake.

"Gah, Lucy it's too early."

"Yeah well, if we get up now we can get a job to take at the guild." That got the slayer to open his eyes immediately and untangle himself from the blonde. Lucy sat up and stretched, standing and digging through her dresser to pull out an outfit.

"Natsu, go sit on the couch while I get dressed in here." He nodded and stood, leaving her bedroom. She got dressed swiftly and went into the bathroom to brush all the knots out of her golden locks. She then brushed her teeth and sprayed a bit of perfume on herself. She grabbed her boots and put them on while she was walking to the living room. "Ready?" She asked him.

He looked at her with a smile and he nodded. They left their house in a hurry and made their way to the guild. They were about half way there when they heard a shout from behind them.

"Lucy! Natsu!" They turned to see happy with tears stuck in the corner of his eyes, flying towards them at incredible speed. He smashed right into Lucy, causing her to get knocked over. She coughed and lifted her body slightly to rest in her elbows. She gave happy a glare.

"Care to tell me why you're out to kill me?" She raised a brown when he dug his head into her chest with a wail.

"Natsu, I thought you said you'd be right back last night. You never came back and I woke up alone!" Natsu looked away with guilt. "I was so lonely!" Lucy stood up with happy and let him rest in her arms. She furrowed her brows at Natsu.

"Yeah Natsu, why'd you lie to him. You could of brought him with, I wouldn't have minded." To Lucy's surprise, she saw Natsu's cheeks darkened considerably. She looked at him in confusion and waited for him to answer her.

"I uh, didn't mean to just leave ya like that little buddy. I just wanted to be alone with...Lucy." He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed almost... sheepishly. Lucy was surprised. She would of never associated shy with Natsu, it just wasn't in his nature. She guessed there was a first time for everything.

"Oh is that so~" Happy said with a smirk. His mood changed quickly. Happy flew out of Lucy's grip and went up to Natsu with a hand covering his sly smile. Natsu looked up towards him and noticed this smile. He started to sweat, anticipating what the blue cat was going to say next.

"Yeah it is so."

"You liiiike her, don't you? Natsu wanted alone time with his Lucy-senpai. Oh Natsu, that's all you had to say. You didn't need to lie to me." Happy waved him off with a chuckle. Natsu gave him a look of absolute horror as he waved his hands in front of his face

"Ack! Hell no Happy! You're making up things!" Happy didn't give up his relentless teasing as they stepped into the guild. Natsu so desperately tried to shut up the flying cat as happy started to tease him louder, gaining attention from guild mates. They shrugged it off and went back to their business, figuring when it comes to Natsu, it isn't very concerning as he's always loud. Lucy pushed him towards a table and told him to say there while she picked a job. "Wait, why do you get to choose?" He asked her.

"Because you chose last time. It's my turn." Natsu clenched his fist in a pout but couldn't deny her words. He did choose last time. He watched closely as Lucy skipped her way up to the board and stood next to nab who was still looking for his own job. He greeted her to which she kindly greeted back. Natsu also watched as her face lit up when she saw what she liked. She tore the paper iff the board and skipped back to Natsu.

"Found one?" He asked rhetorically. She nodded anyway and handed him the job. Surprisingly, she chose one on the harder side. They were supposed to go search the woods in the outskirts of Hargeon for a ring that was supposedly guarded by a demon. It's said the ring would grant any wish you could possibly think of.

"Heh, the job says we get to keep the ring if we find it. Oh, we could wish for anything!" She gushed. Natsu looked at the job request and noticed that she was, indeed, correct. He grinned, thinking about all the endless possibilities for a wish. "We'd have to both agree on one thing though." Lucy said.

"Happy has to agree too!"

"Of course..." She smiled. Taking the paper from him, she ran up to Mira to get it checked off. Mira have her a smile and stamped the paper.

"Good luck on getting that ring! I hope your wish is something you truly want." Lucy gave her a weird look, but shrugged off her comment. Mira was always weird like that, putting in any hidden meanings into any conversation she could find.

"C'mon Natsu, Hargeon isn't too far from Magnolia so we can just walk if you like. We'd get there in about a day and a half. Natsu stood up and sighed in relief. He wasn't too excited for riding a train, but Lucy was always good to him so she wouldn't torture him so when it wasn't necessary to. Lucy grabbed happy on the way out and they left the guild. They were silent at first until Lucy piped up.

"I would of asked Erza and Gray along, but they took a job together about a day ago."

"They took a job together? Willingly?" Natsu asked her. She shrugged.

"Maybe because of that one time they went in a job alone together. Although, I heard from gray that he felt a chill the whole time there. That sounds awfully familiar, don't you think?" Natsu looked forward in deep thought, making Lucy sigh. "You don't know who I'm talking about do you?"

"Nope."

"I'm talking about juvia you dope. Anyway, I think it's pretty cute that Gray and Erza want to get closer. If I were gray, I would too. Having someone that gets jealous so easily, like juvia, around you can get a bit tiring. She even gets jealous at other men!" Lucy giggled. Natsu shuddered when remembering how juvia glared at him when he fought gray. She said he was only picking a fight with him because he liked him.

"Yeah, she's freaky."

"Oh yesh, she calls Lucy love rival." Happy giggled. Lucy sweat dropped and held two fingers to the bridge if her nose in irritation.

"She won't stop. I can't even look in Gray's direction without her glaring at me with those eyes!" She shivered while Natsu laughed at her. They turned into the woods to get there faster. They walked in comfortable silence, avoiding the fallen trees and branches as they walked. Happy made himself comfortable in Lucy's arrm while she walked behind Natsu.

"Hey Lucy? Are you okay, your breathing is getting heavier." He stopped and turned to see Lucy right in front of him. Lucy moaned and sat down on a tree trunk.

"Man, do you realize how fast you walk. I wish I was happy right now." Natsu smiled and shook his head.

"C'mon Luce, just a bit longer and we'll stop and make camp." His voice wws husky and quiet, getting Lucy to move in her own again. Lucy cursed to herself, stupid Natsu and his stupid sexy voice! Lucy stood up and followed Natsu's orders.

"Okay."

This chapter was particularly hard. It was even harder to stay on track with the big idea of this chapter. I hope you still enjoyed this chapter though, I have an idea for the next chapter, but you'll just have to wait until then to see it.