(A/N:) So, It's about time I wrote an author's note! I'd just like to thank everybody for the 1,100+ views, I wasn't expecting that!

So far, every review I've received is positive, so I hope I can continue to entertain you all!

The past 4 days (including today), I've updated daily, and as much as I'd like to continue this, they may not always be so frequent, but I'll never fall into a horrible posting pattern, it'll be at least every few days!

Here's an extra long chapter to thank you all for the views! I'll see you next time! (END OF A/N)

The Roommate

A NaLu Fan Fiction

Chapter 4

No matter where the blonde mage ran, her pinkette companion was nowhere to be found. Firstly, she ran to the guild, only to be smothered by a worried Mirajane and a sarcastic Gray Fullbuster. After raiding every section of the guild, from the infirmary to even the library, Lucy gave in with her hopes of Natsu's appearance being within the guild.

-FLASHBACK-

On returning to her home twenty or so minutes earlier, a wave of relief washed over her as she came to the discovery that although there was no Natsu to be found, his bags were still messily piled up in the corner of her room. She decided that she would search for her nakama, regardless of the length of time it took. Firstly, however, she wrote a letter to Natsu, which she left on the top of his bags.

Natsu,

Words can't even begin to say how sorry I am for hurting you. I didn't mean it at all. You're my best friend! Why would I ever think that of you!?

Today, Natsu, the tables will turn. Today, I'm going to be your hero. I'll search for you, and I refuse to give up until you come out from the shadows and force me with all your might to stop chasing after you.

Don't leave here, please, Natsu. This place is so much better when you're around. We're Fairy Tail's strongest, remember? My life is so much better with you in it.

Please, Natsu. Come home.

From your nakama,

Lucy.

She folded the letter neatly and wrote her nakama's name on the front of the folded sheet of paper. Then, she ran with everything she had. Natsu would search endlessly for her, or anybody else in the guild, for that matter. So didn't he deserve the same? She started at the guild.

-END OF FLASHBACK-

She ran to every restaurant in town. She knew he wouldn't be dining in luxury inside, but he may have drooled on the windows of the establishment. On the contrary, her bright idea had no such luck.

She ran all over town, from main streets, to closing market stalls to shady alleyways. I won't give in. I will find you, Natsu. Despite her optimistic attitude, it was clear that she was seriously running out of places to search.

After searching every ounce of the town, she began to look on the outskirts. Put yourself in Natsu's mind, Lucy. Firstly, she checked the lake where Natsu would fish with his respectable elder, Gildarts, and his best friend, Happy the Exceed. There was no Natsu to be seen. She checked up every tree in the nearby forest. No pinkette present.

The search continued for hours, until Lucy came to terms with the fact that she needed a break, whether the liked it or not. She remembered a nice area Natsu showed her when she first joined the guild. She began to walk to the riverside with the grassy banks and beautiful view. The place where Natsu would fight with Erza and Gray when they were young. He's always dreamt of beating Erza, hasn't he? She smiled. Not a chance. Sunset was fast approaching, so she knew she'd have to be quick on finding Natsu, else sthey'd both be out after nightfall. As she approached her destination, she looked ahead to find a black silhouette of a person in the very spot she intended on occupying. She carried on walking closer, curious to see if she recognized the figure, before she stopped in her tracks when the figure was clear to her.

Black sandals, white pants, a gold trimmed black waistcoat. A white dragon scale resembling scarf. Pink, spiky hair.

She found him.

Sprinting towards him, he heard his partner's footsteps, and stood up, facing her direction. He looked to the floor, avoiding eye contact. Lucy stopped in front of him, panting for her life. She looked up at him only to see that his eyes were completely out of sight. He couldn't even look her in the eyes. "Natsu, I am so sorry. I should never have said that. That was completely unnecessary and you deserve so much better. I'm such an idiot! Sometimes I just-" She was stopped during her jumbled explanation by the dragon slayer taking a step closer and pulling her into his arms.

The celestial wizard blushed wildly, and hesitantly put her hands around his waist. His left hand was around her waist, and his right hand was gently stroking her hair, making her feel completely at ease whilst being held by him. "I-I'm sorry too, Luce." He said so quietly, so that she was the only person in the world to hear his apology, spoken so softly and out of character for what Lucy was used to. She was used to an over confident and egoistic dragon slayer, but this, this was something so much more different. Admittedly though, she loved it. She got the impression that very few saw this side of Natsu, and she was lucky enough to be one of the few. Why is my heart beating so fast? It's just, Natsu. However, she didn't bother trying to fight the feelings beginning to swell within her chest. She knew she felt something for him. This was something special, regardless of the size.

Eventually, Natsu ended the embrace, and held her at arm's length, finally able to look into her chocolate brown eyes, allowing her to return the favour, by staring into his deep onyx ones. Lucy replicated Natsu's famous grin, only for him to slowly begin the mirror that image.

"Well, Natsu, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. How about we go out for a meal? My treat?" Lucy beamed, and Natsu merely had to beam back for Lucy to comprehend his answer. "Mind, Natsu. This is only once, and I don't have much money, we're only doing this since the supermarket is closed. We'll be going back tomorrow to buy the groceries, since we still don't have any food again. Natsu let out a tired sigh. "Do I have to come, Lucy?" He whined. The blonde simply smiled lightly and replied "Then again, maybe I'll just go alone? Let's have one day that we don't fall out, eh?" She winked at her best friend, and they laughed as they walked back to the town, arm in arm.

As they sat in Lucy's favourite restaurant, "itsumo", Natsu had countless plates piled on one another. The waiter came back and forth several times as he tried to carry endless stacks of plates. Lucy, however, sat eating her favourite Spicy Ramen contently. "itsumo" always knew how to prepare the perfect spicy ramen. Lucy had learnt over her time in Magnolia that you shouldn't judge it by the name. Lucy wasn't a fan of spicy food; however, this was neither too hot nor too bland. It was the perfect dish, in Lucy's eyes.

As Natsu had finished his several meals, Lucy called for the waiter to hand her the bill, praying it wasn't too costly. When the waiter returned, he placed two mints on the tray along with the bill. Natsu hastily took his own, then looked at Lucy almost a millisecond later, basically asking if she was going to eat hers, just as she placed it in her mouth and threw Natsu a spiteful grin.

She almost choked on her mint when she discovered the price of the meal. "20,000 jewels!?" Lucy screamed. She stood up and placed her hands on the table in despair. Natsu stopped and stared at her, a sympathetic look in his eyes. His eyes were then led to the table, as he saw Lucy's tears crash on the table. "I-I can't afford this." She whispered quietly to Natsu. She wiped her eyes as she began to get ready to tell the waiter, accepting whatever punishment he was to throw at her, before a stranger walked over to her table, placing 20,000 jewels on the tray, with a 100 jewel tip to the waiter. He walked over to the waiter and smiled as he handed them the tray. "I'm paying for them two." He said smoothly and sophisticatedly. He then turned back to Lucy and Natsu. As Lucy looked up at him, she instantly recognized him. "Y-you! You're the guy from the supermarket!" She exclaimed, surprise filling her voice. The stranger chuckled as he looked up at her. He is very handsome. Lucy thought to herself, before shaking her head ferociously, as though it would wipe that thought out of her head. "How rude of me" he began to reply, "I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Ando Sukata, but you, my dearest" he gently lifted Lucy's hand "can call me whatever you like." He kissed her hand, and then gave her a discreet wink. Lucy blushed slightly, only for her nose to scrunch up. "I'm sorry, can you smell a burning? I wonder if they're okay in the kitchen- NATSU!" Lucy cried out in horror. Natsu had set the tablecloth on fire, leaving Lucy and Ando to glare at him in horror. A waiter ran over to put out the fire, only for Lucy to hand him 2,000 jewels, apologising embarrassedly. She then turned to glare at where Natsu was, only to discover he was already by her side, pulling the two apart, who still happened to be connected after the kiss on the hand. "Well, it was very nice meeting you, Ando-samaaaa, however, we must be off. Thanks for the meal." Natsu said without a single hint of kindness on the last part of his sentence.

"W-wait!" Lucy protested. "I haven't introduced myself to him yet, Natsu!" Though before she had the opportunity, Ando simply stood at the exit of itsumo, waving the pair off. "Goodbye, Lucy Heartfilia and her fiery friend. I'll be sure to have the delight of encountering you again, Heartfilia-san." With that, he disappeared into the darkness.

Lucy and Natsu began to walk off into the night towards her home, before she stopped dead in her tracks, with Natsu still walking, in a huff. "Natsu… H-how exactly did he know my name?" Natsu stopped immediately, turning back to her and lifting her up before she could even register what was happening. "N-Natsu! What are you doing?" Lucy cried out, her heart both fluttering out of the electricity when they touched and the fear of being lifted by such a current furious dragon slayer. The heat coming off him was almost scalding her legs. "We need to get you inside. I thought I could smell something weird on him. He's dangerous. Dammit! Why did I let him get away!?" Natsu was beating himself up about his protection over Lucy, and so began to sprint home. They were back at her appointment in a matter of minutes. Natsu carried her all the way into her house. "Natsu, could you please let me down? I think your anger might have left a permanent mark on my legs." Lucy asked, slightly afraid of the fire in his eyes.

Natsu began to head for the door, with no sign of any grin or happiness left inside of him. "I have to find him. He could try to hurt you, Luce. Nobody is allowed to hurt you. I will protect you with everything I've got. You're nakama and nobody hurts my nakama. I'm going to teach him to never mess with anybody from Fairy Tail. Especially you, Lucy. I'm all fired up!" His voice rose significantly at the last part, emphasised with a flaming fist. This side of Natsu should have scared her; however, she knew he only wanted to protect his friend. "No, Natsu. You're staying here. Look, we'll go to see master tomorrow and we'll ask him what he thinks, alright? But please, we've had enough trouble for one day. You need to rest, and so do I." Lucy sighed. She truly loved her best friend, and she loved his determination to protect her and the guild, but he had to learn to stop over exerting himself. I worry about you, Natsu. She thought to herself. Whilst pondering in deep thought and worry over her pinkette companion, he had begun to calm down and walked over to Lucy, and began to stroke her hair. "Look, I'll leave it for tonight, but we're at the guild first thing tomorrow, alright? Forget about that shopping, you come first. To me, anyways." Both Natsu and Lucy came to the realization of what he had just said, and both looked away at the same time whilst blushing furiously. Dammit, Natsu. Think about what you're gonna say first! Though Natsu had never been one to really hide his feelings. He was so used to just being honest to both himself and others around him. The blonde mage gave the dragon slayer a small smile before going into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Whilst she was gone, Natsu sat on the sofa and thought about this guy, with everything from his hair style to dialect.

You won't be able to lay a hand on Lucy. Natsu thought to himself. Though, one question was sitting at the front of his mind, and he couldn't sit back and ignore it.

Just who is this guy?