The words had been flowing through her for almost five hours, and yet it seemed as though only 15 minutes had passed. Looking up from her page, Lucy realised that her once clean room was now in shambles. This time, however, it wasn't due to one of her teammates making a surprise appearance. A soft smile graced her face because a mess like this one was always welcome. Stretching out her shoulders, a soft groan escaped as she reintroduced her upper body to the position that had long ago been drilled into her. Moving until she was once again sitting properly in her chair, Lucy started to reflect on what she had accomplished in the five hour period. Being glued to a chair for so long would often cause a person to become restless. But to a writer trying to overcome writer's block, however, this was not the case.
Lucy was practically glowing from it all. She had done it, finally gotten past the annoying block. She was use to having small ones now and then, but this was the first time that one had lasted several months. 'Levy-chan will be so happy' she mused to herself. After all, it had been even longer since her dear friend had read her writing. Lucy's musing quickly turned into a wince, when she remembered that she had left Levy on a critical cliff-hanger. Standing up, she casually looked around at the disaster. Papers, both crumpled and flat, had been launched far and wide. Knowing that not only did the mess have to be dealt with, but she also need to find and organise the new pages, she got straight to the task at hand. For in her haste to write, the blonde had thrown paper off the desk, not caring if they were precious work or not.
Truth be told, Lucy actually enjoyed the mindless task of cleaning. Because it gave the author time to go over all that she had worked on. There was the fact that her words had taken her to an ending that she hadn't planned. That she had simply thrown away the plot line, something that had many creative and frustrating hours behind it, was slightly unsettling. She had planned out, reasoned, and settled on Ella and Mike not ending up together. They were simply too different. Ella was adventurous and wild, while Mike was shy and cautious. And yet they had seamlessly come together.
Picking up the page that had unlocked her creativity, Lucy paused. Surprise shot through her as read the argument that Ella and Mike had, which ultimately caused them to realise their feelings because it was one that she and Natsu had had the day before. The only difference was how it ended. Ella had stopped Mike, admitting to him that she was wrong and that she loved him. Natsu had laughed, called her a weirdo, and let her storm out of the guild.
Unknowingly, tears started to well up in her eyes. "It's not like I'm in love with him," Lucy accidentally mumbled, "I just want to know he cares a little. Grey would have stopped me. Bu-but I don't want Grey, I want him…"
Accidentally catching a glimpse of herself, Lucy was shocked at her reflection; tears running down her cheeks, lips caught between unrelenting teeth, hair in nothing less than a nest, and eyes that shone of feelings that had been repressed for far too long, all met her. Dropping the paper, a sob suddenly wracked through her. She could no longer hold anything back. Each second brought a more violent sob. Hiccups bubbled from her lips, and yet there was nothing that she could do to stop them. 'This is stupid' she thought, 'I'm crying over Natsu.' And yet somehow she cried harder with that in mind. It was a long time before the tears stopped. By that point, Lucy no longer had the energy to fight the sleep that her body demanded.
This was how her best friend found her later that evening: surrounded by a paper disaster, half kneeling on the floor, hair in a way that he'd never seen before, head awkwardly wedged between the desk and the wall, and tear stains on her face. Natsu crouched so their faces were level. Slowly lifting his hand, he gently brushed some hair from her face. Guilt rippled through him. If he had come just a little earlier, would she still have the tear marks?
He knew he had messed up yesterday, even without half the guild pointing it out to him, but he had panicked. He didn't know that she would be angry, well angry enough to stay home all day. He had been counting on her coming in, convincing her to come on a mission, and apologising then. It was only when Mira had finally kicked him out, saying something about how he was making the whole guild hall become depressed, that he finally gave up on that plan. Only he arrived at her apartment to a sight that shook him to his core. A painful whimper caused the dragon slayer to focus once again on his partner.
Lucy had unconsciously shifted her head. It now rested at an angle that he knew would cause pain in the morning. Not even a second after this observation registered, she was lifted into his arms. Taking two swift strides, Natsu moved so he was in front of her bed. Shifting her ever so gently, so as not to wake her, he lifted the covers to place her in the bed. It was only after Natsu had lowered Lucy and was trying to pull away, that he realised a problem had occurred. Somewhere in the 10 seconds that he had held her, Lucy's arms had wrapped around his neck, and she wasn't letting go. Even though she was asleep, it seemed as though the blonde was not going to lose this fight. This time, however, the dragon slayer didn't have it in him to even pretend to resist. Blindly moving the rest of the covers, Natsu slid into bed beside her.
It took the pinket a few minutes to realise what an intimate position they were now in. Not that he really cared, it was only the potential for a Lucy kick that had him consider moving. He had spent far too many mornings on the other side of the blonde's foot not to do so. Just as he was about to move, Lucy beat him to it. Shifting closer, she tucked her head under his chin, resting her cheek on his chest. Natsu froze. It was only when she hadn't moved for several minutes that he finally allowed himself to breathe, and another several to get truly comfortable. This was not something he would ever forget. The feel of her tight in his arms, her light breath across his collarbone, or her sent consuming his nose. A smile graced his face before he held her just a little tighter and let himself sleep.
It was the demanding need to use the washroom, that half woke Lucy up the next morning. Still drunk on sleep, she slid from underneath her warm covers and stumbled to the bathroom. After succumbing to the demands of her body, Lucy headed back to her bed. She was in front of her bed before she noticed the intruder. The pink hair was enough of a shock to cause the memories from the previous night to rush back.
Writing.
The argument.
Crying.
More crying.
The tears finally stopping.
That was it. She had no memory of moving to the bed. Looking down, even her clothes were from the day before. "But if I didn't move, then how did…" her eyes moved back to the dragon slayer's face. "He must have moved me," Lucy trailed off into a whisper. Normally she would have been mad to know that he had slipped into her bed. But after crying her heart out last night, the only thing she could feel was just a little more love for the a soft smile, she slowly made her way back under the covers. A giggle bubbled out when Natsu reached and pulled her snug against him. He can have this morning, she decided.
What she didn't know, was that she would continue to say that until Cana handed the winnings over to a very smug Levy.