A/N This is a short, filler chapter, and it took two weeks to update! I'm so sorry :( I'll make it up to you guys, I promise! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favorited and followed once again! You guys are my motivation.

On a more positive note, in this chapter we meet Juvia, and Lucy confronts Natsu. Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 4-

For the rest of the week, Natsu didn't visit her apartment.

He barely looked at her. Whenever she tried to start a conversation with him, he'd give her short answers, then excuse himself. His usual optimism had dimmed into a faint-hearted glow, and he wasn't as loud as he always was. Even when he fought with Gray, he lacked passion.

To be frank, Lucy was tired of it. It was now Saturday, and although she had no goddamn clue where his apartment was (apart from the general vicinity he'd pointed out) she'd decided to go and visit him.

So she'd valiantly charged out of her apartment after breakfast, and was now wandering around aimlessly, marveling at the height of the apartment blocks.

"What a pain," she muttered to herself, "What am I thinking? I have no clue where his apartment is, anyway..."

"Lucy!"

Someone was calling her name. She whipped around, and saw Loke.

"Lucy!" He cried out jubilantly, "Such beauty! Such grace! Such style! I find it hard not to be in awe of-"

"Good morning to you, too, Loke."

He flashed her a smile, "And what a wonderful morning it is."

She huffed, but her lips had spread into a smile, "What do you want?"

"I was about to go to a cafe for breakfast," he explained, "And then I saw you. Do you want to come with me? You look a little lost," and then that flirtatious smile was back, and he added, "It's a date."

She rolled her eyes, "Right, right. I'd go, but I've already had breakfast."

"Oh," Loke looked like someone had killed his puppy. He stood there, and her heart betrayed her, sympathy overtaking her. It wasn't everyday that the loud and proud lion turned into a frightened kitten.

"I'll come with you. But just for tea. That's all."

He perked right back up, "You just can't resist my charms, can you?"

"I think it's the other way around. Where are we going?"

"Keys of the Zodiac. It's about five minutes from here."

They found it relatively quickly, and saw that it was extremely busy.

"It's really popular!" Loke told her above the noise, "They should still have a spot for me, though. I'm a regular."

True to his word, they were given a table. They didn't even have to wait long. Apparently Loke was here nearly every morning.

A waitress dressed as a maid walked over to them, "The usual?"

"Yep" Loke answered.

"Is it time for punishment?"

"No, Virgo."

She nodded and left. Lucy stared at Loke.

"Don't look at me like that," he sighed, "Virgo's just a little odd, that's all."

Lucy stared.

"I don't punish her. I don't punish anyone. I'm not a sadist. Or a psycho."

Lucy continued to stare.

"Lucy you're terrible."

She laughed, "It's not my fault you have weird friends."

He was blushing slightly, a rare sight on the confident playboy, "Be quiet, you. Like you have friends that are any better."

It was actually a lot of fun. Loke did flirt a little too much, but both sides knew the relationship was completely platonic. At least, Lucy thought so. The cafe was nice, although it was jam-packed with people. Lucy could already feel herself warming up to the place.

Just when Lucy was getting comfortable, Natsu walked in through the door.

She noticed him almost immediately. No-one had pink hair like his. As though he could feel her staring at him, his head turned and his eyes locked with hers. They narrowed as they took in Loke, and it was then Lucy realized how bad this looked.

It looked like she and Loke were on a date.

Natsu would understand, wouldn't he? He wasn't so gullible as to think that-

Natsu glared at the menu as he waited in line. Natsu glared at the cashier as he placed his order. And Natsu glared at Loke whilst he waited for his order.

Well, okay then. Natsu was apparently indeed gullible.

'Of course things turned out like this,' Lucy thought, frustrated, 'Today was supposed to be the day I fix things between us! And now it just feels like I've drive another wedge between us. Honestly, Natsu is such an idiot! Doesn't he know that friends can go out to cafe's as well?'

Loke noticed her staring, "Do you want to go and talk to him?"

She smiled at him, grateful, "Yes, actually. It shouldn't be long."

"No worries, it's fine. I need to be going, anyway."

He seemed fidgety, distracted. He held his phone in his hands, and he kept glancing down at it, as though he was worried it would explode. Lucy made a mental note to think about it later, but right now she had to fix things with Natsu.

Natsu had received his order and was now leaving the cafe. Glaring, of course. Lucy didn't think his facial features had twitched in the slightest during the past few minutes.

She chased after him, but the crowds of people made it hard to get through. She could already see the back of his head moving farther and father away from her line of sight, and she fought desperately to leave the cafe. She finally managed to squeeze her way through and bolted after him, not caring how it looked.

"Natsu!" She called, "Natsu! Stop! Please!"

Her foot snagged on something and she fell, her knees hitting the concrete and scraping. She shrieked, much to the annoyance of the people passing by, who jumped in fright at the sudden sound.

At the sound of her shriek, Nastu turned around almost instantly, and, upon seeing her scrambling up from the floor, his eyes softened. He started to walk back to her, and offered her a hand up.

She accepted, and he pulled her up with minimal effort, "Didn't you hear me calling you? You should've waited!"

"Sorry." He muttered, looking genuinely apologetic.

Lucy softened, "Natsu, what's going on? You don't even look at me any more, let alone speak to me. Is it me spending time with Loke? Natsu, he and I are just friends, and-"

"I know that!" He suddenly burst, then quieted, "I know, but..."

"Let's not do this here. Can we go to your apartment?"

"I don't know if you'd like mine. I haven't cleaned."

"That's fine, I don't really-"

"There's a dead rat under the sink."

Lucy would've screamed, if not for his hand clamping over mouth, cutting off any sound she could make.

"Don't panic," he told her, "Otherwise I won't take my hand away."

She nodded, and he removed it. As soon as she could speak, the words were tumbling out, "What the hell do you do to your apartment? Don't you understand basic hygiene? How is there a rat? What if there's a whole family of rats, living and breeding and creating a giant family of killer rats that-"

"Lucy!" He exclaimed, "I told you not to panic!"

But he was smiling. Lucy felt her heart ache at how much she had missed it. She didn't think it was possible to miss someone's smile, but Natsu's smile was everything about him, everything good and bright and colorful. Natsu's face expressed his feelings so well, and the absence of the smile meant that something was truly bothering him.

"My bad," she said, as a way of apologizing, "Anyway, let's hurry back. It's really cold outside today."

He tugged on his scarf self-consciously, and Lucy remembered the warmth of it, how willingly he had given it to her. It was a sign of his trust, because even though Lucy currently did not know the story behind that scarf, she knew it was precious to him. It was ridiculous to be upset about it, she knew. But the fact that he wasn't going to give it to her again stung.

She really had screwed up, but she was going to fix it. Natsu had snaked his way into her heart as a friend, no, more, much more- and she wasn't going to let him slip through her fingertips so easily.

They walked the rest of the way to her apartment in an uncomfortable silence. Lucy wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure what she could say. When they reached her apartment, he walked over to her lounge and sat down stiffly.

Lucy couldn't handle it anymore, "What's the matter with you?" She demanded, "I may have only known you for less than a week, but this is unusual."

"There's nothing wrong."

"Don't deny it," she replied, hands on hips, "You don't speak to me, you don't look at me, you don't even visit me! You can't tell me nothing's wrong!"

He was silent, then said, "Why didn't you trust me?"

"What?"

"You didn't trust me. When I asked you about why you don't like visitors at your apartment. Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"It's personal," she said quietly, "But you can't be serious. You've been ignoring me over that?"

"I haven't been-"

"Yes you have!"

He slumped, "Maybe I have. But Lucy, I don't get it. I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend, Natsu."

"Then why won't you trust me?"

"Because it's personal! And this conversation is going in circles!"

"Because you won't tell me what's wrong!"

"It's not only that," Lucy defended, "Even before that, you were acting strange. Why?"

He didn't say anything, and something flickered in Lucy's mind. Thoughts connected, and they came out in one perfect sentence.

"You don't like me being around Loke, because you're jealous."

He flinched, and Lucy realized it was true.

"Natsu," she said, much softer, "Loke and I are just friends. He's nice, but I wouldn't date him. To be honest, I barely even know him. I wasn't going to the cafe to meet him on purpose, I just ran into him on my way to your apartment."

He looked relieved, "That's all?"

"That's all," she confirmed, "But Natsu, you shouldn't get so jealous. I'm going to have guy friends. Besides, you shouldn't be so protective. I'm just your friend, not your girlfriend."

He nodded, "You're right. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk... I'll try not to let it happen again. It's just..." He looked troubled now, "You're my friend Lucy. You're special. I don't want you to get hurt."

She flicked him on the forehead, "Loke isn't going to hurt me." She said playfully, "So cheer up."

He still looked troubled.

"Lu-chan!" Levy said into the phone, "You won't believe what I've just heard!"

"What is it?" Lucy asked absentmindedly. She wasn't paying attention to her friends chatter, as she was too busy trying to finish an English assignment due tomorrow.

"Juvia is coming back!"

Lucy's eyes widened, snapping to attention, "Juvia?"

"Yeah, apparently she's well enough to come back to school. It's weird, though, because no-one knows what her sickness actually is. What do you think?"

"I don't know. Every time I see her, she looks healthy. It's not like she talks to anyone though."

"Yeah," Levy agreed, "She is a bit of a loner. Maybe she'll be more social this time."

"Maybe." Lucy replied, not believing it.

"Oh, I've forgotten to ask! How are things with you and Natsu?"

Lucy's fingers started drumming on the table, "I don't know," she sighed, "I didn't think he would get jealous over my friendship with Loke, but he did. Before it felt like whenever something happened, I could rely on him, but now he seems a little... Distant."

"Maybe he'll get over it," Levy offered, "It's not like him to act this way."

"I just don't understand. I understand he's upset because I didn't trust him. What I don't get why he is this upset. We only met a week ago!"

"That's just how Natsu is," Levy explained, "Even in middle-school. He treasures his friends a little too much. Like how when you were upset, he blew up and nearly broke our classroom. That's just the sort of person he is."

"I guess... Anyway, have you done the English assignment? I need some help."

"Juvia's name is Juvia Lockser!" She said dully, introducing herself the way she always did, dutifully reciting memorized lines, "Juvia been sick for a while, which is why Juvia has missed school. Drip, drip, drop."

...

"Welcome, Juvia!" Mavis said enthusiastically, completely oblivious to the mood in the room, "Isn't it great that you're better! Take your seat! It's normally next to Gray, but he's not here today!"

Juvia slid into her seat quietly. The whispers began almost instantaneously-

"It's raining again."

"It's always gloomy when she's around."

"What's her sickness? Does anyone know?"

"She's really creepy... I don't wanna sit here anymore! Swap seats with me!"

"No way! I'm not sitting in front of her!"

Simply put, Juvia was infamous. As far as Lucy knew, she didn't have any friends; but that was Juvia's fault, as she never attempted to make friends, and ignored anyone who tried to speak with her. Added to that, the fact that she'd never been at school for longer than two weeks made her a target of gossip.

It was at that moment, in class, when Lucy's phone buzzed with a text. She would only see it later, when she checked her phone on the train ride to her apartment. No matter what time she saw the text however, her reaction would always be the same.

'Lucy, I've let you play your games long enough. It's time for you to come home. If you're not back in three days, I'll be sending a few of my friends to pick you up.'

Of course her father wouldn't call. Her worth, in his eyes, was a single text message.