A/N: So many kind reviews! *blushes furiously* Thank you for your kindness, dear readers! I hope you enjoy today's chapter too :)

I had cheer practice today, but I was exhausted. Drained. I needed to see my best friend. Even taking into account our quick conversations in homeroom, it had been way too long since we'd had a proper chat.

I decided to go find Levy in the library. But when I got there, I nearly stopped in my tracks.

"Gajeel?" My voice came out louder than I expected it to. But that was definitely Gajeel. His hair was tied back in a low ponytail, showing off a small tattoo of a gear behind his ear.

"Oh, hey, Lucy," Levy greeted, casual as ever.

I slowly sat down at the table with them. "I didn't know you two became friends."

"Not really," Gajeel muttered.

"You know how my parents own a car repair shop?" Levy said.

I nodded. Though it didn't fit Levy's image, she was actually the daughter of two mechanics.

"And you know how there's a rival shop down the street from ours?"

"Kind of." At least, it wasn't an unfamiliar statement.

"Well, Gajeel's uncle owns that shop."

"The rival one?"

"Yup." Wow. What were the odds?

I smirked. "Keep your enemies close, eh?"

Levy blushed. "Hey, that's business, and this is school. We were talking about cars. That's all."

"Shrimp knows her stuff," Gajeel said, nodding his head in approval.

Well. I hadn't expected these two of all people to get along, but if things were like this, it actually made sense. Levy was a closet motorhead and Gajeel was, well, a motorhead. I almost felt jealous he could bond with her in a way I'd never been able to, with my complete cluelessness about cars.

But at least Levy and I had our literature, which Gajeel was not a fan of, given the awkwardness with which he was regarding the books in front of him.

"Well, I was just stopping by to say hi before I go to practice," I said. I waved on my way out. "Have fun!" Gajeel scowled and Levy blushed, and I, meanwhile, was still not entirely sure what had just happened.

Practice went well, and by the end of it I was sweaty and exhausted. All I wanted to do was go home and take a shower and sleep, but I knew I still had homework to do. And I had to start that essay due next week. And Daddy asked me to do the laundry today, couldn't forget that. And—

I was passing through the lobby on my way out of the school, and found myself face-to-face with Natsu coming from another direction. I blinked.

"Hi," I said.

He looked at the ground. "Hi."

"What are you doing here so late?" I asked. Bboying, maybe? Soccer season was over a month ago.

Natsu's face flushed. "Detention," he said sheepishly.

"Detention? What'd you do now?"

"I, uh, had a little too much fun with the Bunsen burner in chem."

I smacked him upside the head. "You idiot! Can't you control your pyro instincts for one second?"

"I did control them," he whined, covering his head with his hands.

"Then how did you get detention?"

"Popsicle dared me to do it."

I sighed. "You and your silly pissing contests with Gray. Will you two ever grow up?"

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Apologize to the classmates you probably endangered with your little pyro habit. Bunsen burners aren't toys. They're dangerous."

"Yeah."

He looked really down from my scolding, so I patted his head lightly. "Well, just be glad nobody got hurt and they only gave you a detention."

"I was just waving it around a bit, nothing that'd get me suspended," he said, sounding a little too pleased with himself. I shot him a look before he could get too proud.

"Anyway, practice just ended so I have to go home and shower. See ya."

"Wait, Lucy!" He grabbed my arm to stop me. "Can I come too?"

I eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Just 'cause. You're always busy so we never get to hang out."

"I'm not gonna have much time to hang out. I have a lot of chores to do."

"I can help," he insisted.

I narrowed my eyes. "You're just using me to avoid going home, aren't you?"

He laughed nervously and put a hand to his neck. "Gramps is real mad about the detention," he said. "Please? I don't wanna die."

"Fine, you can come," I said.

"Yes!"

"But just this once."

"Aye, sir!"

"I take the bus."

He paled a little. "I, uh...that's fine."

"You don't have any dramamine, do you?"

"Wendy gave me some but I used it all up already," he said.

"You're going to build up a tolerance to it if you keep that up," I scolded. "Well, I hope you survive."

Natsu groaned, but he did follow me out of the school and all the way to my bus stop. Seems even his extreme motion sickness wasn't going to keep him from avoiding Mr. Makarov's rage. He did hesitate before stepping on, but he dutifully followed me to a seat. I picked one close to the door to make for an easy escape. It was a good idea, too, because he started to look ill the moment the bus started moving. I didn't know how he did it; who got motion sick so quickly? Well, apparently Natsu did. It was comical, really.

By the time it was my stop, he was looking really green.

"You sure you're gonna be okay?" I asked, half holding him up as we walked down the street to my apartment.

"This is why I usually jog here. That and it's good exercise. Coach loves it when I exercise outside of practice."

"I can't go back with you," I said.

"I know," he grumbled.

I patted him roughly on the back. "Well, good luck!"

"Urgh," he moaned, doubling over. "Don't do that, Lucy."

"Sorry, sorry."

"Why does your apartment have to be so far from the bus stop?"

"It's only a block, Natsu."

"Still too far," he insisted.

Back at the apartment, I let him lie on my bed to recover from his nausea. I stood over him, hands on my hips. I'd let him come over here, but I still felt sweaty and gross. He still looked sick, but now that he was lying down I could probably leave him alone for a little while as I washed the filth from my body.

"I'm going to take a shower," I announced.

"Don't leave me," he whined.

But I ignored him, scooping up a towel and change of clothes. "I just got back from practice, so I need to shower. Unless you'd rather I be sweaty and gross the entire time you're here."

He grinned. "You can be gross and sweaty when I'm here; I don't mind."

"No." With that, I left him behind.

He couldn't just smile like that. It wasn't good for my heart. Especially when he was lying on my bed. Especially when it was accompanied by him telling me I could be sweaty with him. Yes, it held an entirely different meaning from what he meant, but I couldn't get my mind out of the gutter.

"Get a grip, Lucy," I muttered to myself as I hung the towel on the rack. Now was not the time for that.

After my shower, I wrapped my hair in a towel and returned to my room to find Natsu still lying on the bed. He was alert now, eyes wide and hyper.

"Hey, I was wondering something," he said.

I let my hair down and started drying it with the towel. "What is it?"

"Why'd you get into cheerleading?"

"It's ladylike," I answered immediately.

Natsu cocked his head. "It is?"

I laughed at his confusion. "To my dad, it is. I really wanted to do lacrosse, but he didn't want me getting dirty all the time. I already did gymnastics as a kid, but I didn't want to do it competitively, so I'd quit a few years before I wanted to start doing sports. Cheerleading uses a lot of gymnastics, so it seemed like a logical choice, and my dad didn't mind it. Of course, in the end I still do competitive stuff, but it's better than nothing."

"Getting dirty is fun," Natsu said.

"I know. But I wasn't raised that way. My dad crushed any attempts at turning into a tomboy."

"But you like it now, right?"

"Cheerleading? Yup. I love it."

"Gramps pretty much lets me do anything. Dad was like that, too." His eyes got softer as he mentioned his adoptive father.

"What were you like as a kid?" I asked. I'd heard all about Wendy's awkward tween years (much to her chagrine), but we'd never had any childhood talk about ourselves. But then again, maybe it was for the best; Natsu's face became wistful at my question, fond and a little sad.

"I was a handful," he said.

"I can imagine," I said, joining him as he laughed a little.

"I couldn't sit still in school, so in the end Dad just decided to homeschool me."

"That bad, huh?"

"Hey, I turned out all right in the end."

"Props to your dad for that."

"Yeah. I...I toned it down a little after Dad disappeared. But then Mr. Makarov took me in, and he's a teacher, so he was having none of the misbehavior or the moping. So now I sit still in school."

"Depends on how you define 'sitting still in school,'" I said, sending him a smirk.

"I'm a good student," he insisted. "We just don't have any classes together so you don't see it."

"Honestly, I might be a little weirded out if I had a class with you and you actually sat through it like a regular student. You're kind of infamous as a class clown. Before we met, that's how I knew of you. The weird hyper kid with the pink hair." I laughed and he scowled.

"I'm not that hyper." He leaned back and sighed. "You know, it'll be seven years this summer."

"Seven years?"

"Since Dad went missing."

"Oh."

"It's easy for me to remember the date, too. 7th day of the 7th month. July 7."

"Same day Mom died," I muttered.

That surprised him. "Really?"

"Yeah." I laughed dryly. "Wonderful coincidence, right? We both lost a parent on the same day of the same year."

"Your mom was seven years ago, too?"

I nodded.

"Wow. This is weird."

"It'll be a fun day for both of us, I guess," I sighed, sitting down on my bedroom floor. He crawled down from the bed, sitting cross-legged across from me. Reaching his hands out, he took mine in his and squeezed them.

"We have each other now. How about this? You're gonna visit your mom on her death anniversary, right?"

I nodded.

"Then I— Wait, maybe this is a bad idea. Maybe I shouldn't be saying this."

"Just say it, Natsu."

"Could...uhh...could I maybe come with you? I just end up sitting at home all day feeling glum about everything so I thought maybe it'd be nice to have company and...yeah, sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

I blinked. Was...how was I supposed to respond to this? "I...I don't know, I..."

Back before the bank got bought out and he lost his job, Daddy used to have all his employees come to the cemetery and he would make a speech. But in recent years, it was only me. Daddy didn't visit Mom's grave with me anymore, even on her birthday. I suspected he did visit in secret on his own, but on her death anniversary, and even on her birthday a week later, I could spend the whole day kneeling in front of mom's headstone and he'd never show. It was lonely. It made the whole day sadder. Mom loved being around people, which was why I never minded that Daddy turned the day into an office gathering, but when I was the only one to pay respects, it just seemed wrong.

"Yes," I finally said, making up my mind. "Let's do that. It's only ever me on that day, and I could use the company too."

He smiled. "It's not until half a year from now, but I promise I won't forget!"

"You better not," I teased.

"And when they find Dad, you can meet him, too! Well, I guess it's more like I want him to meet you. He'd want to know who all my friends are. Especially the important ones." He was looking at me with those darn eyes of his, and I tried to pretend I wasn't reading anything into it. He doesn't mean anything by it, I reminded myself. He doesn't mean anything by it.

I withdrew my hands from his, slowly. "A-anyway, speaking of parents, does Mr. Makarov know you're here?"

Natsu shivered. "Don't talk about Gramps. He might show up if you say his name."

I rolled my eyes. "You're so dramatic. He's probably worried that you haven't come home yet. Just let him know you're here so he doesn't send a search squad out for you."

"He probably knows I'm here anyway. Where else would I be?" Natsu mumbled, though he dutifully got out his phone to text his foster father. "Hey, is your dad coming home today?"

"No," I answered, a little confused about why he was even asking. Daddy always worked late. Natsu of all people should know that well, given how often he invited himself over here. That one time had been a fluke.

"Good." He got a mischievous look on his face. "Let's watch a scary movie."

I eyed him warily. "Natsu, Halloween was ages ago."

"But scary movies are fun."

"You know I don't like them."

"But it'll be fun. Come on, please?"

"Even if I liked them, my dad doesn't let anything over PG-13 into the apartment."

"That's what Netflix is for."

"I dunno, Natsu..."

"Come on. Your dad doesn't have to know. After you told me you've never watched a horror movie, now I have to get you to experience it once. The adrenaline rushes when you watch them at home at night are amazing. And I'm here, so I can defend you from anything scary."

"I..." You know what? Why not? I was feeling rebellious. "Okay. Let's do it."

"Yes!" he cheered. "There's this movie I really wanted to watch and—"

"So that's what this is about."

"And because you've never watched a horror movie before!"

"Okay, okay, I get it. You find the movie and I'll find the stuff to hook it up to the TV. If this goes wrong and I have nightmares for weeks, I'm blaming you."

But Natsu wasn't listening, too busy looking up the movie on my laptop even without me telling him to. "I'm all fired up! This is gonna be awesome."

Chuckling, I rolled my eyes and went out to the living room to get the TV ready. It was going to be an interesting night.

In the end, I did regret it a little, because the nightmares that night were no joke. I had to sleep with a light on because the shadows were freaking me out that much. But Natsu and I did get to cling to each other throughout the whole movie (me in terror, him in terrified glee) so it was worth it if only for the copious amounts of cuddling. And if it was Natsu asking, I might even watch a movie like that again. Maybe. Probably not. Too scary.

A/N: I actually wrote a part in the girls' sleepover about them watching a scary movie (Levy and Lucy didn't want to, but Erza really had this movie she wanted to watch...) but it got cut in favor of getting Juvia to invite Lucy to the soccer game. So I recycled the idea here instead. Not quite a sleepover, unfortunately haha. That'd've been fun.

Look forward to next chapter! Let's just say good things happen hehehehehehe

Thanks for reading!