A/N: So it's November already and I think I only updated once in October. I blame it on school, I'm sure a bazillion other authors here have to. So since school is the common denominator, I think Mondays should be part of the weekend so I can actually update more. Wanna elect me for president/prime minister/the whole government? xD

Chapter 20 – The Hunt

I break into a big grin at the sight of one of my most favorite people in the world. She's wearing a simple lace collared shirt with faded jeans and awesome shoes. I jog over the rest of the way and teasingly say, "Hey, you're finally wearing that shirt I gave you!" We have a tradition that on the first Monday of every month we give each other a gift that has anything to do with clothes, whether it be shirt, jeans, socks, or hats- we're always on the lookout for the best. "I gave that to you in April, did Erza steal it out of jealousy?"

Lucy sighed, "That's all you have for your greeting?" She gives me a disapproving look and continues, "You gotta be more on the lines of like 'Hey you're lookin' so fine you blow my mind' or something like that."

I hold up my hands in surrender, "Ok, ok, try this on for size. I love you no matter what you wear, as long as I'm with you there."

Lucy develops the faintest blush on her cheeks as she raises an eyebrow, "You're stepping up your game, I like it." She grasps my left hand and interlocks it with hers, the contact sends an electric feeling crawling up my arm and I'm addicted. The pressure from her hand lasts less than a second as she springs back and deftly wraps my scarf around her neck. She smiles coquettishly, "But so have I."

"Aw come on, just because its spring doesn't mean it's not cold out." As on cue the breeze picks up and instinctively I shiver as goose bumps race up my exposed neck. "But it's you, so I don't mind. Anyway, we have a pre-teen to pick up don't we? Let's head over to your car, I really could use that seat warmer feature right now."

"Actually I forgot to mention this minor detail to you but I'm car-less today. Gray is using it so we're gonna have to walk," Lucy says apologetically. She continues, "But hey, we're getting our exercise for today. It's only like a twenty minu-"

I interrupt her with a 'wait a minute' and squint at her shoes. "Those look a lot like mine, man if I had worn them today we could've matched." I frown as I continue to stare and suddenly I realize that scruff mark from the other day looks awfully familiar. "Thief, those are mine! When did you get them?" I cry.

Lucy smiles and ruffles my hair. "Natsu, I've had these for months. It' cool how a piece of foam can make my foot fit into any shoe. It's magical," she says cheerfully.

"Wow, that's amazing Lu, I'm gonna have to try that with Gray's shoes."

A fit of laughter escapes her lips and I expect to her to say something like, 'actually I stole your whole wardrobe.' "I'm kidding, there's no way I want my feet to look that big, here." Lucy proceeds to rummage in her messenger bag and tosses out my shoes.

I skillfully catch them and smirk, "I always wondered why you bought the exact same pair of shoes and painstakingly tool the time to recreate them? I'm impressed, you even copied the scuff marks. How much time do you have on your hands anyway?"

Her face pales and then reddens, "You jerk, you were playing along the whole time!"

I shrug my shoulders and innocently say, "You shouldn't have stolen my scarf then."

I've never set foot onto the campus of Malcolm T. Preparatory School, but anyone who knows anything has heard about its little "curse". It all started a year ago when the school decided to require uniforms. So one student took decisive action and spray-painted the entire Fariy Law (Magnolia's version of a constitution) on the huge, century-old entryway doors. To sign off the culprit wrote, 'Change the code and I'll leave you alone, maybe'. Needless to say the school searched and searched for the troublemaker, but all they came up with was that the artist liked Cheerios- don't ask me how. The delinquent proceeded to paint on various places in the school, but the final straw came when the principals' dog Poochie-Kins's fur "mysteriously" became a hideous shade of green. Rumor has it the principal was in tears as she begged for the dress code to be revoked. The anonymous hero is known simply as, "the Saint," to the grateful students, which is pretty ironic considering people say things like, "Did you hear the Saint made the grass blue?" or "How did the Saint manage to get the classroom's desks on the room again?"

I'm pulled out of my thoughts as Lucy tugs on my sleeve, pointing to the two stone pillars that mark the entryway to the school. She's giggling, and upon coming closer I can't help but laugh too. Engraved on both pillars are plaques that read 'Malcolm T. Preparatory School,' except the right one was spray-painted over so it read, "Welcome To Purgatory Students".

"Like it?" A petite girl wearing work-out clothes and carrying a sky-blue sports bag makes her way towards us. Wendy's eyes sparkle as she says, "Everyone's reaction is priceless. Anyway, where's your car? My appetite is that of a teenage boy, which is a blessing as well as a curse."

I shake my head at the little delinquent, and wonder how a girl with near-perfect grades and captain of the soccer team could be this ruthless.

As if reading my mind she smiles, "It's all thanks to you Natsu. You kept telling me pranks you pulled in high school that I wanted to try, and then one thing after another happened, adrenaline rushes are great." She shrugs, "It's also nice to be called a saint."

"Well you'll grow out of it," is all I say. One half of me is impressed, and the other half begrudges the fact that she's the one having all the fun. I lower my voice so Lucy can't hear and say, "Ready for Operation Tchaikovsky?"

She winks and gives a thumbs-up in response.

Lucy's POV

I stare intently at the various flavors of ice cream. Should I get mint chocolate chip with fudge or should I go with my usual of the Coffee Mocha Blast, it even came with real chocolate covered coffee beans.

Wendy finally steps in and orders for me, probably to rescue me from the dirty looks the other customers are giving behind us in line. "All waffle cones for us, medium size. I'll take vanilla bean, she'll have the Coffee Mocha Blast, and a friend who's still coming will take the Raspberry Birthday Swirl," she says politely.

The cashier is none other than Cana Alberona. Her dad Gildarts owns the shop and named it Cana after her. She gets really annoyed if anyone tells her how cute that is, and the regulars know not to say anything. Sometimes Natsu and I come hang out here just to see if some unaware soul mistakenly remarks about her name.

With cone in hand, I search for the best seating among the crowded little shop. The brick walls create a retro vibe and the army green seating plus mahogany accented items creates a warm and cozy atmosphere. The problem with a perfect atmosphere like this is that it can get a little too cozy, like right now for instance.

"What about that high table over there by the window?" I point out to Wendy.

She dismisses my idea and points towards a table more toward the middle. "Naw, I think this would be a better place." Before I can protest that there are already people sitting down Wendy is by their side. I see them nod their heads and walk over to the spot I had suggested moments earlier.

I join Wendy at our new table and say, "I think in your other life you were a master thief." She just nods in agreement and I'm about to say something like 'pride cometh before the fall," when I hear the faint tap of a microphone being tested.

All across the room chatter fades as a familiar voice clears his throat and says into the mic, "This is working right? Um my name's Natsu and I'll be playing a couple songs for a special girl today." Cracking his knuckles like he does before every performance, he takes a deep breath in and begins to play.

He starts it off fast with lots of energy. His posture is perfect with back straight and feet to the floor, yet sometimes he breaks posture when he leans forward with the melody. While he continues to play, I am swept off to Fall, even though it's the first of May. I am taken back to the day before college started and mistakenly think the school gym is a dorm. Then the craziness of classes starts and too many times I was tempted to cry from the stress. In a barely perceptibly slow section I imagine the first time where Natsu purposely hide my textbooks so I would have to come with him to the theater to see a movie.

The song never lets up, just like rush of classes and swirls of falling leaves. And as quickly the song began it abruptly ends. With the new song I am swept off again to the more mellow moments of spring. We're on hiatus with the band, classes have settled into a comfortable groove, and despite the ongoing drama with Gray and Erza, Natsu and I remain constant. Whenever we're together we laugh enough for the whole world and then some. With two extroverts it's always high-energy, except there's those moments that we learned to just take it slow. Like that one night where we both were so wiped out form our two professors whom we were assigned to because of Juvia, that monster. Instead of ice skating like we originally planned, we just hung out at the mall and window shopped, walking slowly while sharing a cup of peppermint tea.

I hear the tap of the mic again, signifying he's finished but the sweet, soft notes at the end stay with me. "Just making sure it hasn't died yet," Natsu grins. He unconsciously flicks a hair to the side, something he always does when he's a bit nervous and continues, "The songs I just played are short piano pieces that Tchaikovsky penned in 1875, they are part of The Seasons, and each piece stands for one month of the year. The first song is called The Hunt, it stands for September, and that's a very precious month to me. That's when I first met my best friend Lucy. The moment I first saw her, I knew that my life would be changed. And it's only fitting that the next song I played was Starlit Nights that stands for May. I remember that time when we were so tired we went to the mall with only 5 dollars, ordered the largest cup of tea that we could afford, and just window shopped and admired the stars. Lucy you're gonna berate me for how cheesy I sounded, but thank you, for being such a precious in my life."

The only thing I feel is the heat rising from my body from embarassment. I can just sense that people are looking between me and him, and before I can sprint to the exit there is uproarious applause. Natsu waves to everyone as he makes his way and sits across from me. Thankfully people give us our space, but my cheeks are still so red it probably looks like I have a fever. "Natsu, you didn't' have to do that," I murmur as I stare down at my half-eaten cone.

"But I did," Natsu replies. He reaches over to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear and begins, "Recognize the seating and the flavors? This is the exact copy of when after the first day of classes we came here." Something in my head clicks and I nod slowly, remembering that day.

"Hey, wanna go finish our cones outside and take a walk?" he says cheerfully.

We head outside and follow the sidewalk as we walk, "Thank you, Natsu, that was really sweet." I didn't know what else to say, my mind feels like it got blended and a sinking pit falls like lead into my stomach, probably due to a mix of nerves and sugar from the ice cream.

Natsu downs the last of his cone before he replies. "Lucy, I've liked you since forever. And whenever I'm around you I come alive, and as funny as this sounds, I'm addicted to you. When you leave I can't get enough." He brushes a piece of his hair to the side again and we come to a stop at a rusted bridge that stretches over the Vermilion River. Seemingly oblivious to the cars whizzing by, he grabs both of my hands and asks sincerely, "Will you let me be your boyfriend? I would be the happiest man alive."

His hands are bigger than mine, and it feels so natural with mine in his. I turn my head slightly downward, knowing this day would come- to not being able to look in his eyes and say a positive yes. "But this changes everything," my voice quavering. "What happens if it doesn't work out? We're gonna lose all that we've created." I'm only nineteen, he's only eighteen. I feel so young, I want to live more life before being tied down.

"Lucy, Lucy- I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't mean what I just said. Will you give me a chance to prove it?" Natsu's eyes gaze into mine and my hands break free from his to grip the railing behind me.

"Natsu, I know you're not lying, I just think we're both so young still. Can we just," my voice rises and I'm beyond nervous. I'm cut off by him brushing my side bangs again and as on instinct I close my eyes right before he gives me a kiss that's so light and only brushes my lips I don't even know if that would be considered one.

He steps back, giving me space once again. "We can take it slow. I'm not in any rush."

I blink hard, and cannot believe how gracious he is. "Thank you so much for understanding," I whisper. I unwrap his scarf from my neck and getting on my tip-toes I gently wrap it around his.

Natsu grins and says, "Stay right there."

I give him a questioning look and don't, he should know being on tip-toes is hard work. Nonplussed, he lightly tilts my chin upwards and licks the tip of my nose.

"You had ice cream on you nose."

I flick his nose and laugh. "Tease, you give me a half kiss and then have the audacity to lick my nose. So for invading my personal space it's only fair to give me a piggyback ride back to campus."

He good-naturedly grumbles about how ungrateful I am and kneels to the ground. He looks back at me, eyes shining and says, "Even though I got rejected, I think I've won you over."

I smile back and think, yeah, you just might have.

A/N: Lucy and Natsu, such goofballs I love them. I made this chapter longer than usual to make up for my lame October stunt so I hope this was a good conclusion for them. Honestly if Lucy and Natsu ended up dating at the end I would be fulfilling every cliche and I would be ashamed to call myself a writer. It's bittersweet, just like Lucy's coffee ice cream *cries that they aren't official* Also chapter 21 will be the finale to This Crazy Ride. It's been so fun writing about these guys, but I just need a break from Fairy Tail. I'm disappointed in the direction it's going, I just want it to go back to the Team Natsu days. But whatevs, see this is why I should be the government. So then I could have Mashima make Juvia melt into the ocean and Grayza would be canon. Agreed? xD And here's to the shout-out corner! (I realize I didn't type shout-out corner last time, *whistles awkwardly because I can only half-whistle*) Also type "The Hunt" and "Starlit Night" into youtube if you want to see more clearly how Lucy's imagining all those memories. "Starlit Night" is really pretty, so at least check that one out!

FranFranWriter - So for some reason the system didn't register until after I posted chapter 19, sorry. *whistles awkwardly again* It's cool this started on your b'day!

ICEBERRY266 - It must be annoying having to share the computer with your sister huh? I'm glad that you fought your way to get her from your sister's evil clutches xD

Absolute-ZERO999 - Erza does have her moments haha. But I can see where she's all stressed from Gray she isn't thinking super logically xD

Viperhat - Yeah pacing is a weird thing. Honestly by the end I'm just like 'oh hope this makes sense' and then send it off to the world haha

BridgeBurn100 - Trust me, the finale is gonna be epic. Erza and Gray won't know what's comin'

AmantesPatriae - Sorry for the confusion! Erza's parents did die, but she calls her aunt and uncle mom and dad because she's close to them

xXRoxanneXx - I actually have hid in the bushes. I was playing hide n' seek with my cousins and they forgot about me so I was in there for like 4 hours waiting to be found- no joke, it was 4 hours xD

WelcomeToTheAnimeParade - Awww, thanks for catching up on TCR! It always makes me sad to see my readers/fave authors/anyone really move on from fanfiction

PinkKoala213 - That's the problem I have with FT, there isn't any real character development, like we all know Lucy is smart, nice, etc but that's all she is, even after 50+ volumes. I like to imagine she's funny, and that Natsu is more than a happy-go-lucky guy

That Awesome Indian Girl - Don't get me started on school- haha I've school tomorrow too *cries in a corner*