I'm back! I've officially started school now, so I may not update as often. I won't drop anything, don't worry, but don't count on consistent or frequent updates. I was sort of rushing, so I didn't really edit it. I just put my thoughts into words so that I could share them with you. It's good practice, right? Anyway, enjoy! :)

~Natsu~

Whoa. I was not expecting that. She'd just…freaked out. From what I'd seen at school, she was always perfectly composed, sociable, and friendly, (well, except for when it concerned me, of course). But, for some reason, she lost it when we were walking together.

She'd pretty much shouted her troubles at me. I just froze up, honestly. I didn't know what to do. As I said, I hadn't been expecting an outburst…especially not from the Princess. I hadn't even…thought about the fact that she might actually have worries in this world. I don't want to admit it, but something stirred in me. I didn't want to embrace the fact that my opinion of the Princess had changed, even the tiniest bit, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I could lie to myself and say that I still saw her in the same light, but that's stupid.

I awkwardly stood there for a while until I finally sat beside her. Shit, what do I say? The girl looked like she was about to start crying. Kissing her crossed my mind. Whenever girls started crying around me, it was usually because I would say no to them. If I kissed them and said goodbye, they'd just stand there in a trance and stop crying. I played out that scenario in my head.

I leaned forward almost as soon as I sat down and kissed her. She froze immediately and tensed up. I smirked inwardly. It was sort of cute how she didn't know what to do. Before I knew it, though, she'd jerked away and slapped me right in the face. That wasn't so cute…

"What is wrong with you!?" she demanded. She was angry, and for some reason that amused me. Her face was red and she was vigorously wiping at her lips with the sleeve of her uniform. Well…at least she wasn't about to cry.

I frowned and decided that I didn't need another slap in the face. Well, that was just my imagination; God only knows what she would do in reality if I kissed her. I was momentarily curious and then decided that the probability that she would slap me was much too high for my liking. I wiped the idea from my mind, and said the first thing that came into my head.

"Oh." I grimaced. That wasn't smooth. I should've said something to comfort her, to soften her heart so that she would let me in. I needed her to let me in if she was going to be my "girlfriend."

"Yeah," she said. I blinked. I figured she'd keep yelling at me. Nope. I decided to keep up the conversation.

"I guess I wasn't expecting that," I said. That was true…

As we continued talking, I found that I wanted to cheer her up. I didn't need her crying on me…I hadn't even gotten to her house yet, the fun part. We ended up messing with each other. She freaking dropped me on my ass…but I got revenge. But seriously…black? Sexy, Princess. Sexy.

"Never talk to me again," she huffed. She turned tail and walked away and I watched for a moment as her blond hair swayed with each step. I grinned and caught up to her.

"Don't you remember? I have to talk to you...you're my tutor," I said proudly. Her face and shoulder sank. She glared at me.

"It's hard to forget, what with you stalking me," she mumbled.

"Stalking?" I asked, "I thought we'd decided I wasn't a stalker."

"I changed my mind," she snapped.

"So I'm not a player any more?" I asked.

"No," she said, looking at me. I blinked. Huh? Not a player? I was a little happy, for some reason. I found her interesting. I wanted her to know that, I guess.

"You're both," she said smugly as if dropping the punch line of a joke. I mentally punched myself. You idiot. There's no way she doesn't see you as a player…you are one. That surprised me. Since when did I think of myself as a player? I just…lived life, I guess. Or…that's what I thought up until that second.

I stopped walking, "That's contradictory."

"What is?" Lucy asked.

"Me being a player and a stalker," I said. Yeah, it is contradictory, Natsu. What the hell are you doing? I ignored the devil on my shoulder for a moment.

Lucy stared at me, "I know." I guess she'd heard the sincerity in my tone, because her answer wasn't accusatory or joking.

I frowned and walked past her. She stared at me as I walked past her. I flashed her a fake smile, "I guess I'm just a walking paradox."

"What's up with you?" she asked. I stopped walking when I realized she wasn't following me. I turned to look at her, confused.

"What?" I asked.

"You're…" Her voice trailed off. She looked like she was trying to find her words. She kept opening her mouth and closing it, so I thought I might as well give her the words she was looking for. I strode towards her, popping her personal bubble.

"Devilishly handsome? Jaw-droppingly gorgeous? So sexy it hurts?" I offered. She glared up and me and I smirked down at her.

"Infuriatingly bipolar," is what she said. Way to keep it interesting.

~Lucy~

I whipped out my keys and unlocked the door. I heard the familiar click and realized something almost immediately. I wasn't completely dreading entering my house. I guess I always hated the loneliness I felt when I was inside, (well, except for when Gray literally jumped through my window). I hate to admit it, but I had Natsu to thank for that.

On one hand I was grateful that the only thing welcoming me home was loneliness because of him, but on the other I was annoyed because he wouldn't stop aggravating me. He kept asking me questions—questions he knew I wasn't going to answer—and…being Natsu.

"You should wear lace," he said, nodding as I swung the door open.

"Stop talking or I'll throat-punch you," I said casually.

He stared at me for a moment and then grinned, "You wouldn't do that."

I scoffed, "Yeah. Yeah, I definitely, would." He just shrugged and stepped inside.

"Holy shit, Princess!" he practically yelled. His voice echoed.

"Yeah, I know," I sighed.

"It looked big and fancy on the outside, but it looks even bigger on the inside!" he said, dropping his bag and racing into the living room like a little kid. I sighed and followed him.

When I got to the living room, he was already reclined on my couch. I groaned, "What are you doing?"

"You have a seriously huge TV," he said, staring at it wide-eyed, "I'm jealous."

"I hardly even use it," I said, flopping onto the love seat.

He bolted upright, "Whaaaaaaat?"

"What…what?" I asked.

"If I had a TV like that one," he said, pointing at it, "I would spend as much time as I could watching it. It's fucking awesome."

"Thanks…I think," I said quietly.

"Actually, your whole house is awesome," he corrected, "I would kill to live here; not actually, but…"

I sighed, "Well, it's not all its cracked up to be."

"Right, because of your dad," he said.

I stiffened. I still hated myself for letting him know all of my weaknesses. I'd practically shown my enemy the gap in my armor. Actually, that was exactly what I'd done.

"Sorry." I looked up, surprised. "I guess you don't want to talk about that, huh? Whatever," he said. He sat up and stared at me.

"Did you finally figure that out after asking me about it several times to no avail?" I asked.

He frowned and didn't say anything. I sighed and looked at my TV and then back at him. We were quiet for a while. "It is pretty cool, though," I said.

He looked at me and then grinned, "Ok, so when are we starting this tutoring thing?" Apparently I'd appeased him, but how long would that last? How long would it be before he started prying for more about things I didn't mean to reveal to him in the first place?

"Upstairs," I said, pointing to the ceiling. "Come on." I pulled myself to my feet and watched Natsu do the same. He seemed almost as tired as I was...or maybe even more tired. He'd lost most of his energy as soon as he lay down on my couch. I'd honestly been expecting him to launch off the couch…

"Are you tired?" I asked as he followed me into the next room.

"No," he said. I knew he was lying because he said that through a yawn. He stretched his arms above his head and I caught a quick glimpse of what was underneath his shirt: perfectly formed abs. I felt my ears warm up. I quickly hid them behind my hair. I let out a tiny sigh of relief when I realized that he hadn't noticed.

I turned away from him and ran up the stairs two at a time. I didn't need him staring at my butt like the perve he was as I walked up the stairs. If he was going to get an eyeful, it wasn't going to be a long one. I waited for him at the top of the stairs, my hand on my hip.

He rubbed his eye like a sleepy child, "Why the rush? Jeez."

"No reason," I said, twisting around on one heel and clasping my hands behind my back. I didn't hear his footsteps behind me. I stopped, sighed, and turned to him again.

"Why aren't you following me?" I asked.

"You look like her," he said. He was staring at a portrait of our family before I lost my mom. He looked at me and smiled. My heart twinged a little. I'd heard people say I looked like my mother before, and I was proud of it.

I smiled a little, "I know."

"I guess we're similar in more ways than I thought possible," he said with a smirk.

"Hm?" I asked as I turned to open the door to my room.

"My mom's gone, too. She died when I was ten. My dad left us a little while after that," he said. I froze. His voice sounded a bit wounded when he said that. I couldn't detect that in his next words. "Your room?" he asked.

I frowned and turned to look him in the eye. I didn't see anything there either. I'd missed whatever had just happened. I'd missed his tiny opening. Still, knowing that he had one made all the difference. I smiled at him and he looked surprised.

"Yep, my room," I said. With that I swung the door open and stepped inside. "Welcome to my heaven," I said lightly.

"Oh man, I could get used to this," he said, walking inside. He brushed my arm slightly as he walked past me and I felt his warmth for a moment. I immediately flinched away. Again, he didn't notice. Again, I was relieved.

"Shit, this bed is the size of my house," he said, grinning at me widely.

"Don't think about lying down on it," I said, "Or I will cut off-"

"I wasn't going to," he said, "Here?" My eyes followed him as he moved to sit down at the table I had my stuff for tutoring him set up on. He sat down and made himself comfortable. I stayed where I stood.

He looked up at me, "I can't tutor myself." I stared at him for a moment before something caught my eye. I'm not sure how I hadn't noticed it earlier, but there was something on my bed. I strolled over to it and cracked a smile as soon as I saw what it was. I picked up the note. Familiar messy writing stared up at me.

If this doesn't work, try the sword.

-G

I laughed. I couldn't help it. Gray was always my pick-me-up. "Why do you have pest repellant?" Natsu asked, leaning over my shoulder. I elbowed him.

"Back off," I said and then smiled again, "It's a gift."

"What kind of weirdo gives a girl pest repellant?" Natsu scoffed. I frowned.

"Whatever," I mumbled, "Sit down again."

He smirked, "And why are you so happy about it? I'd take that as an insult."

"You don't know anything about it, so drop it. Sit down," I growled. He looked disappointed.

"Then teach me about it," he said, leaning closer to me, "Isn't that what I'm here for?" He was practically pressed up against me.

"Please sit down, Natsu," I said, "I really don't want to tell you." I wanted to remain rational for at least a little while before he pushes me too far and I slap him again. We didn't need any more slapping today.

He sighed and plopped down at the table. He rested his head on his arms and sighed again. I sat down across from him. "One of these days I'll break through that wall of yours," he mumbled, staring at me.

"Good luck with that," I said, "Now can we focus?"

"I think you're just scared," he said quietly. I'd resorted to ignoring him. I'm sure if I hadn't, his words would have resounded more. Was I really scared? I'm not sure. I turned to my bag and pulled out my notes, the ones I would use to teach him. I had to get it over with, so I might as well do it now.

When I turned back, his face was hidden behind his arms, his head resting on the table. "Natsu, come on," I said. He didn't respond. "You're seriously ignoring me?" I drawled.

Still no answer. Well, I knew he wasn't dead. I wasn't making the 'seeing black' mistake again. He was healthy, so I knew he hadn't gone to heaven. Well, he was more likely to end up in hell. "Natsu?" I asked, leaning forward. I crawled around the table and it dawned on me.

"Natsu?" I whispered next to his head. His head shifted and his face was no longer hidden behind his arms. His eyes were closed. "Seriously?" I hissed. He was 100% unconscious. I then shut up, knowing that, if he slept, I wouldn't have to teach him. It was honestly a relief.

I sat down next to him, not worried that he was going to try to cop a feel in his sleep. I'd heard Gray's warning loud and clear. So far, though, he hadn't seemed to try anything that set off red flags, (I mean, other than the underwear incident). Maybe I wouldn't need that pest repellant after all.

I ended up staring down at him, wondering whether or not he was really what he initially seemed to be. He'd come across as a soulless player. At least, that's how I saw him. The other girls seemed to have a different opinion. I'd seen a little of him today that didn't seem the same as usual. Had I imagined the change in his tone earlier, or did it really happen? I had a lot of questions that I couldn't ask him because he was unconscious.

I lay my head down on the table, suddenly feeling mentally exhausted. This guy had that effect on me. It was going to take some getting used to. I stared at him for a long time, just sitting next to him. He didn't look like a player in his sleep. He looked almost innocent. I knew otherwise, of course, but he was sort of cute this way. I wish he could always be sleeping. Maybe I wouldn't dislike him so much that way. It's not like I could change his nature; no matter how much I'd like to think otherwise, people tend to stay the same.

Natsu's eyes briefly fluttered and I couldn't help but wonder what he was dreaming about. What was going on in his perverted head? His lip twitched and he sighed. I grinned. He was even more of a weirdo when he was asleep. I figured that maybe, if I stared at him long enough, I would start to convince myself that he wasn't as horrible a person as he was. That he wasn't a player who messes with people's feelings. Everyone has to wake up sometime or another.

Ok, so not ultra-fluffy this chapter, but we're getting there. The next one, which I hope you're looking forward to, will be awesome, (when I post it, that is...whenever that happens). Leave me a review!