Lucy let out another sigh as she stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. Lying sprawled out on her queen sized mattress, the blonde came to the frustrating realization that she probably was not going to get any sleep. Sitting up, she flicked on her lamp and glanced around at her somewhat bare room.

It was the night before D Day, otherwise known as the day Lucy would finally head off to university. She was more than thrilled with finally getting to attend university and study subjects that actually interested her, but it also tinged with sadness after saying all of her goodbyes last night at her going away party that Levy and the others had surprised her with.

It was not like Lucy was moving across the world, but even the few hours distance would make a difference. She intended to return home as much as her schedule would allow her but the reality was that she would not see her friends every day anymore.

Suddenly, a soft click sound filled the room. It was a short tick, almost glass-like. Lucy glanced over at her window and saw nothing at first. Thinking she was losing her mind, she almost missed it the second time: a small rock hitting her window. Obviously someone was standing below her second story window and was tossing stones at it.

Lucy huffed, already having a pretty good guess as to who the culprit was. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, she reached for her bed robe and slippers before running over to open her window just after a third pebble had been thrown. She forced an annoyed glare down at the pink-haired boy holding a fourth rock in his hand, watching him gulp and quickly tossing it aside, ridding himself of any evidence, "What's your problem, Natsu? Do you want to wake the entire neighbourhood?"

"Yea, I really doubt a small rock is gonna wake up the whole neighbourhood," he retorted, "If anything, it'd be your fault for making me have to throw so many rocks to begin with."

Lucy huffed, "Whatever. What do you want anyways?"

Natsu was already making his way to the tall oak tree next to her house. Grabbing the nooks, the boy made the familiar climb up the trunk and into the branches of the great tree, heading towards her window. Lucy watched with a growing sense of nostalgia, losing count of how many times this had happened throughout the years of knowing each other.

"Saw your light on so thought I'd come say hi," he managed while hanging from the shaky branches, inching his way to her window. Lucy stepped aside just in time to watch him swing himself onto her window sill, "So, hi."

Natsu beamed and waved at her as he sat, perched on her window sill. Lucy giggled and held out her hand for him to take it and help himself into her bedroom. She noticed his smile dimmed somewhat as he took in the bareness of her room but chose to not acknowledge it in fear that she would tear up.

If Lucy thought she was bad with goodbyes, Natsu took the cake. Neither of them were good with people leaving them; it was what kept them together after so many years of friendship and love.

"Hey there yourself," Lucy sent the boy a small smile as they both made it to her bed and sat down, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Natsu sighed and laid himself down, tossing his hands up and over his head. Lucy could not stop herself from unabashedly glancing at the small amount of skin that was revealed as his shirt hiked up from the force. If Natsu noticed, he made no comment, "Do I need a reason?"

Lucy quickly joined him, lying down in the crook of his shoulder. Natsu quickly wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer, "Of course not, but still wanna know what brought you over here at this time of night."

She was met with silence.

The blonde lifted herself up enough to make out the expression her friend/boyfriend was making when she gasped. The boy was tearing up and once Lucy noticed, Natsu could not hold back the few tears that made their way down his face, tickling his ears.

"Natsu..." Lucy leaned up and kissed away the tears before pulling him into an awkward side hug, "wanna talk about it?"

She could no longer see his face but heard him sniffle and felt his free arm reach up to wipe away the tears, "I just...Luce...I can't do this..."

The blonde was struggling to not cry herself at the sound of Natsu's pathetic voice. He hardly ever cried and had become her center, her rock, for so many years. Seeing him so quickly brought to his knees in weakness was breaking the girl's heart. But holding her own tears back, she rose to the occasion and decided to be the strong one this time. It was only fair after so many times finding their roles reversed and she using Natsu's shoulder to cry on, "Natsu, you can. I believe it. You're always so strong, this is nothing."

"But it's not though!" Lucy was actually surprised at the rise in his tone as he lifted them both up. Grabbing her shoulders, he turned her to him as if demanding her full attention, "You leaving is not nothing. It's everything."

The challenge in his eyes was evident. Lucy sighed, "You make it sound like this is forever. I'm just off to university, only a few hours drive away. You could visit me whenever you want to, Natsu."

Luckily for her, he had stopped crying and looked more annoyed now at her brushing off his feelings so quickly. But she had a point, it was not forever and he could drive over anytime now that his car had been exchanged for an actually functioning and safe truck. It had been a heartbreaking day watching Natsu pathetically cry over saying goodbye to his car/project for the past few years but it had been almost laughable at how quickly Natsu fell in love with the four wheel drive.

Natsu sighed, but decided to not push the matter. He knew she would miss him just as much, if not more than, he would miss her. It definitely killed a small part of him inside at not being able to see her every day or crash her place like he was currently doing.

Oh, who was he kidding. A huge part of him.

But he knew how much this meant to her. He knew the many hours spent arguing and crying over her father and the pure unadulterated joy Lucy had felt at finally convincing her father to allow her to even attend university for something other than becoming the heir to their family company. Natsu had always been proud of her but in that moment especially he had been overcome with her infectious joy and remembered vividly holding her close and twirling her around until they were both sick and dizzy.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt her hand gently caress his cheek. Looking back into her eyes, he saw the small sad smile she sent him and the beginnings of tears crinkle in her eyes. They always were his favourite.

Without saying a word he moved in and softly placed his lips on hers, kissing her and hopefully communicating to her how much she meant to him. She was his light and strength and he thanked the gods daily for putting her into his life. A certain time out session back in preschool comes to mind...

Lucy gladly responds to the kiss, placing her other palm on his cheek, holding his face to hers as she lets her tears finally fall. She loved this boy, so much that she was terrified to admit it even herself. Despite his faults, Natsu was always her rock and foundation, keeping her centered throughout her life. Without him, she would not have even found the strength to fight for her rights to choose her own future and destiny.

It was just overly crummy that this goodbye had to tarnish what they had both fought for.

Natsu could not hold back anymore. His lips quickly leaving hers and kissing his way down her jaw and neck, whispering promises and sweet words that could make any girl blush. He wanted to worship her, make her realize how much he was going to miss her, how proud he was of her. Gently sliding her bed robe off and pulling her collar to the side, he kissed his way over her collar bone and shoulder. Noticing no bra strap, Natsu felt his need for her rise as his hands slowly made their way up her other arm and gently grazed the side of her breast through her shirt.

Lucy let out a small moan, overwhelmed by the emotions she was feeling. As he nudged her over, she lay down and lovingly watched as Natsu turned and raised himself onto her bed, on all fours above her. Lucy almost moaned at just the sight of this boy-became-man over top of her, at the look he was giving her. Finally he opened his mouth and whispered, "I want you Lucy. All of you. Forever."

Her heart nearly burst at the confession and she quickly nodded, tearing up again and raising her hands up to his face, tenderly grazing his cheeks. As he nudged his head into one of her palms, still watching her reaction, Lucy smiled, "Please Natsu."

"This isn't goodbye, Luce."

At the sound of her name coming from his lips, she nodded, "Never."

Although this was not goodbye for the pair, they would never waste an opportunity to shower the other in appreciation and love. The morning would come and Lucy would eventually leave him, but he would take this moment to show her that she was his and they would always have each other.

A/N: Cheesy af ending but you get the idea. Haven't written in a long time for these two so I thought why not. I didn't bother editing this one, I'm a lazy writer who can't be bothered atm...if you find any errors, please send em my way! Also, I wanted to keep this not-lemon so I cut the ending short...if enough people convince me otherwise, I miiight continue it. I just get meh about writing anything overly sexual.