Chapter 4:

Walking around town went really smoothly for a while. Mr. Keter knew the route they had to walk really well so there was no trouble with getting lost or running into crowds. Wendy started to grow a little relaxed after an hour with nothing more than just walking through town and stopping in on some jewelry stores. Even though she knew it was a mission, it was really nice to wander around and see all of the people and stores.

It wasn't until about two hours after they had begun the mission that something unusual happened. Keter, their client, had set up a small stand with some necklaces, bracelets, and rings on it to show passers-by. He was busy talking to a couple potential customers and Romeo and Wendy were supposed to be keeping a look out for anyone acting suspiciously. Romeo was acting like a guard by standing a few feet away and watching the area. Wendy was trying to blend into the group around the stand while still keeping a look out.

Wendy noticed quite a few guys glancing at her as they walked by. Some gestured towards her and muttered towards their friends, but most just looked and smiled at her. This made her extremely embarrassed and she tried her hardest to ignore them. After a few minutes she moved a little closer to Keter and his stand and tried harder to make it look like she was interested in his products. She still looked around the area, but she was hoping her new position, being surrounded by few women and their partners, would prevent most guys from noticing her.

She didn't notice Romeo had also moved until he walked up next to her and muttered, "It looks like there are a couple of thugs around checking Keter out. We might have some trouble after all." He nodded towards a group of people a few feet away before walking back to his initial guard position. Wendy glanced at the group he mentioned and noticed that there were around 3 or 4 guys who were staring intently at Keter and his stand. She turned back around but remained alert.

The last few women looking at the jewelry left after making their purchases and they were left alone. Wendy saw Romeo flex and stand up a bit straighter. A few moments later Wendy felt someone walk up behind her. She turned to look at the newcomer and noticed one of the men from earlier. He and his friends had finally decided to confront Keter.

The man who was closest to Wendy smiled charmingly at her. "Hello Miss. Are you looking to buy some of the jewelry here?"

Wendy glanced at Keter and Romeo, both were glaring at the man who had spoken. On alert, Wendy responded, "Yes I am actually. There is so much beautiful stuff here I can't decide which to get."

The man gave a huge grin and put his arm around Wendy's shoulders. She flinched when the man touched her, but she forced herself to not move away. She looked away and noticed Romeo glaring at the man's arm. "Well you're in luck! My men and I happen to now own these beautiful pieces and can give you a great discount." Two of his men started to walk up to Keter on either side.

Romeo intercepted one of the men and blocked his path to Keter. The man stood a few inches taller than Romeo so he smirked and tried to push Romeo out of the way. Romeo responded by grabbing the man's arm, flipping him, and throwing him out of the way. His hands were engulfed in flame as he started walking towards the other of the two men trying to get to Keter.

"You're not going to touch him." Romeo told the other guy. His eyes issued a clear challenge, to which the man responded to by backing away.

The man next to Wendy, who seemed to be the leader of the group, glared at Keter and Romeo. "So you went and got yourself some protection huh?"

Keter nodded. "That's right. And these two are going to make sure you guys aren't able to steal from me again."

"Two?" the leader asked, looking around.

Without even saying anything Wendy grabbed the arm that was still around her shoulders and flipped him, slamming him on the ground. She turned around to face the group of thugs and said, "We're Fairy Tail wizards. You will leave Mr. Keter alone and not bother him again."

The leader laughed despite the fact that Wendy knew he had to be hurting from landing on his back. He stood up and brushed himself off, still grinning. "Fairy Tail or not, you're still barely more than kids. I'll spare you though, little Miss, if you ask for our forgiveness."

Carla, who had been sitting quietly on Keter's stand this whole time, stood up to scold him. However, before she could say more than, "How dare you," Romeo had lunged and punched the guy right in the face.

Romeo hadn't held back and the gang leader was sent flying into a nearby building. Wendy knew he shouldn't have used his full strength on a simple street thug, but she couldn't help feeling a little satisfied seeing Romeo's display of strength. Wait, why am I happy? I shouldn't be happy about this. It almost feels like Romeo was fighting for me though. But he wasn't fighting for me! He was simply defending Keter for our mission! What is going on with me?!

Wendy shook her head, trying to make her thoughts go back to normal. "Wendy!" Carla shouted, flying over to her protectively.

Luckily Carla didn't have to deal with any of the thugs while Wendy was distracted because Romeo was easily able to handle them. The obvious defeat of their leader had greatly lowered their morale and Romeo only had to knock a couple more of them down for them to full on surrender.

Keter was smiling when Romeo finished and Wendy calmed herself down. He had been focused on Romeo's quick work of the gang members and was clearly satisfied with the result. "That went great! It looks like they got the message and won't bother me again! I should probably pack up and go back for today, so if you just follow me back to my shop I'll get you your payment."

Wendy was afraid the gang members might come back with more men, and was very grateful when they didn't see any of them on the way back to Keter's shop. She was also too distracted with her own internal struggle to be able to focus on keeping a close lookout for sneak attacks.

Why was it that she had gotten distracted right at the most crucial moment? Why had she felt as if Romeo was protecting her? Was it simply the stupid mating season messing with her again? She kept these questions to herself, though she knew Carla noticed her distracted and worried expression. She made a mental note to talk to Carla later about things, when they were alone and couldn't be overheard.

They reached the shop in no time and the owner took them to the back to get their payment for the job. Romeo started to object, saying they didn't know whether the gang would come back but the owner waved at him dismissing the idea. "I don't think they'll come back so soon. And even if they do come back I can just request you to come help me again! You both deserve to get paid for how much you helped me today. And, as a little bonus," he reached into the bag all of his stuff was in and pulled out a bracelet Wendy had been looking at earlier. "I'd like you to have this Miss Wendy. I saw you looking at it and thought you deserved it."

Wendy shook her head. "Oh no, that's not necessary. The reward is plenty for our work and I didn't do anything that really deserves anything extra."

Romeo looked at her and the bracelet. "Would you like it?" he offered.

"It's really beautiful," Wendy admitted. "But I don't have money to pay you for it and don't think I deserve more than my half of the reward."

Romeo shrugged and looked at Keter. "I'll buy it then." He rummaged in his own bag and pulled out the amount the bracelet cost.

Keter smiled and handed Romeo their reward money and the bracelet. "You're such a nice boyfriend."

Romeo blushed. "Um, I'm not her boyfriend actually."

Keter frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. Well anyway, thank you both for your help today. I'll be sure to request you if I ever need any more help." He smiled apologetically and as a thank you.

Wendy smiled and nodded, still a little embarrassed but didn't want to be rude. Keter walked them to the door and waved them off.

They started walking towards the train station. For a while Wendy felt a little awkward since neither of them was talking. Then Romeo turned towards her saying, "Here." He held out a package for Wendy to take.

She took it, noticing it was the bracelet he had just bought. "Thank you. You really didn't have to buy this for me, you know."

Romeo smiled. "I know, but I wanted to get it for you. I probably would have bought it even if Mr. Keter hadn't offered."

Wendy blushed slightly. "That's sweet of you."

She glanced at Carla and saw that the exceed was giving her a very pointed look. It was clear she wanted to talk to her about the fight and bracelet. However Wendy could tell she wouldn't bring it up while Romeo was within hearing distance.

The silence continued and felt rather awkward. Wendy thought for anything they could talk about, desperately needing the silence to end. "That was a really quick fight."

Romeo grinned. "Yeah, those thugs really weren't that tough."

"I'm sorry I didn't help at all."

Romeo waved dismissively. "There was no need for you to do anything. I had it covered."

"Still, I could have helped."
"You did. You stayed by Mr. Keter and made sure none of the guys got past me. It would have been really bad if they had hurt him or been able to steal his stuff again."

Wendy smiled. "I guess you're right."

The rest of the way to the station was much better. She and Romeo chatted about different things. When they did reach the station Wendy offered to pay for the tickets back since he had paid for the tickets before.

"No, no, I got the tickets. I told you my dad told me to buy the tickets. I won't be able to hear the end of it if I don't buy them, so you're really saving me from my dad's lectures." He grinned at her as if to say she couldn't persuade him.

Wendy sighed and shook her head, but agreed. She sat down on one of the benches to wait and Romeo went off to buy the tickets.

"Are you feeling alright?" Carla asked, sitting down beside Wendy.

"Yes, I'm feeling fine." Wendy responded, smiling.

"Are you sure? You seemed distracted earlier."

Wendy frowned. "You're right, earlier I was distracted by a lot of stuff, but I'm fine now."

"What was it that was distracting you?"

Wendy blushed. "I don't really want to talk about it right now." She glanced over to where Romeo was in line for tickets. "I'll tell you when we get home."

Carla nodded though still looked really worried. Wendy knew it was unlikely for the exceed to stop worrying until all the symptoms of her mating season went away. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop worrying and second guessing herself until after these weird and unwelcome sensations went away. Even if she hadn't been acting as weird as before, not knowing what she thought or felt was quickly becoming frustrating.

She noticed a figure walk up next to her and looked up, smiling, to thank Romeo for buying the tickets. But the young man standing before her wasn't Romeo. He wasn't very old, probably only a year or two older than her. He had dark black hair and was rather attractive.

He smiled at her. "Hi, may I join you?" He gestured to the seat next to her.

"Sure," Wendy scooted closer to Carla to give him more room to sit.

"Is that your cat?" He asked.

Carla glared at him. She normally would have turned away, but she seemed to want to keep her eye on the suspicious guy.

"Kind of. This is Carla."

"And what's your name?"

"Wendy."

"Nice to meet you Wendy. I'm Alex." He was still smiling at her and Wendy began to feel awkward. "Where are you headed?"

"We're going back to Magnolia. We only came here for the day." Wendy glanced over to the ticket line but couldn't find Romeo.

"Oh, visiting? Or shopping? I've never been to Magnolia before but it seems like a much nicer place than here." He didn't seem deterred despite her no longer looking at him. If anything he seemed to want to try to get her attention back.

"We came here for a job." Wendy looked up to see Romeo standing before her. He wasn't necessarily glaring, but he clearly wasn't happy with the guy talking to Wendy. "We finished so we're going back to the guild to report."

It was silly, but Wendy was very grateful to have Romeo back. She wasn't sure if it was just because he was saving her from an awkward conversation or if it was just because he was back.

Alex turned to look at Romeo. "Guild?"

"Yeah, wizarding guild. Maybe you've heard of it. We're part of Fairy Tail." Romeo crossed his arms in front of his chest, showing off the guild mark on his left arm.

Alex saw the mark and tensed up. He looked back at Wendy and said, "Well it looks like your friend has returned to keep you company. It was nice talking to you." He smiled and stood up to leave.

Wendy smiled and waved as he left.

Romeo sat down where Alex had been. He may not have been glaring before, but now he was. He stared down at the ground in front of them as if that was the cause of his anger.

"Romeo? Are you okay?" Wendy knew it was probably her fault he was angry, but she still had to ask.

"You look really angry," Carla called out, moving to sit on Wendy's lap.

"I guess I am. What is with so many guys today? First that gang leader hitting on you and then again just now." He looked up when the conductor started calling for the next train's passengers to begin boarding. "We should get going."

Wendy nodded, frowning. It looked like her weird pheromones were affecting Romeo after all.

They quickly found their seats but the atmosphere wasn't much better with just the three of them around. Romeo was glaring out the window and Wendy kept on glancing at him guiltily. Carla was sitting on Wendy's lap and decided to take a nap while nothing was happening.

"Um Romeo?"

Romeo turned to look at Wendy, no longer glaring but not quite back to normal. "Yes?"

Wendy fidgeted, wringing her hands in her lap. "You mentioned that guys around me have been acting weird today. Have you been feeling anything?" She knew that asking might lead to her having to tell him about her condition, but she just had to know. If he was feeling weird she would probably have to stay away from him until her season ended.

Romeo scrunched his face in confusion. "I'm not entirely sure. I mean I don't feel like anything is different, but at the same time I don't know." He looked up at her again and smiled sadly. "Sorry, that's probably not what you want to hear. I'm probably freaking you out right now."

Wendy shook her head. "I'm not freaked out. I'm just concerned is all." She was concerned that she couldn't even interact with a friend normally. How was she supposed to function if she had to stay isolated for however long this stupid season lasted?

She mentally slapped herself. She had to get it together! Now was not the time to feel sorry for something she couldn't control.

She turned back to Romeo, who had gone back to looking out the window. "Thinking about it, you said this was the first mission without your dad! And it was a complete success!"

Romeo grinned. "Yeah! I still don't know why he insisted I always go with him, and this mission proves I can do things by myself!"

The rest of the trip went by nicely. They talked about whatever came to mind: what they were going to say about the mission, how they were going to spend the reward money, when they might go on another mission together, and more. Carla woke up half way there and mostly just watched. However she did comment on how they needn't go on another mission right away. Some down time would be good for both of them.

When they finally returned to Magnolia night had fallen.

"Dang, I hoped we would be back before it was this dark out." Romeo glanced around the deserted streets. "I guess I'll walk you home then."

Wendy's eyes widened. "Oh, you don't have to do that!"

Romeo grinned. "I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I let you walk all that way by yourself. Besides, it's mostly on my way home anyway."

Wendy knew Fairy Hills, the dorm she lived in with many of the other girls from Fairy Tail, wasn't anywhere near the neighborhood where Romeo lived. She'd never been to his house before, but she knew it was a couple miles from Fairy Hills. Even so, she couldn't bring herself to reject his offer a second time.

"That would be really nice. Thank you." She blushed and turned to begin walking.

"I've never asked, but how many of you live in Fairy Hills? It seems like almost all of the girls live there."

Wendy nodded. "Well most of us do live there. Juvia moved out a while ago, when she and Gray started officially dating. Erza is also gone after Jellal returned. Levy is still there, though I think she's thinking about moving in with Gajeel soon. Cana's there because Bacchus lives so far away. Other than that, nearly every Fairy Tail girl lives there. It's really nice being able to live so close to everyone."

"I heard that when Erza left the rules became much more lax."

Wendy laughed. "Yeah, Erza made sure everyone kept to the rules, especially the 'No Guys' rule. Though things haven't changed too much since she made it clear she'd still come back every now and then and get mad at anyone breaking the rules."

It was Romeo's turn to laugh. "Yeah, that would probably scare all the guys away. Even the potential threat of Erza is enough to put most of them on edge."

"It makes things much calmer at Fairy Hills though. If guys were allowed it'd be as crazy as the guild."

"You make it sound like the guys are the only crazy ones."

"I don't think anyone could say it's only the guys in Fairy Tail who are crazy."

"Well no matter. We're just a big crazy family after all."

"It's such a nice family. I still remember the day Natsu invited me to join Fairy Tail."

"I remember when you joined. It was nice to have another kid in the guild, though you were a few years older than me at the time." Romeo laughed and shook his head. "Though now I'm technically a year older than you."

Wendy sighed. "So much changed over those seven years we were frozen on Tenrou."

"Not much good happened though"

Wendy smiled sadly. "That was so long ago. It's so crazy how time flies!"

Romeo smiled back at her. "Yeah it is. And speaking of time flying, we're already here."

Wendy looked up, and sure enough they had reached Fairy Hills. She was grateful to be home, but she didn't want Romeo to leave.

"Thank you for walking me home." Wendy smiled.

Romeo grinned. "Anytime."

"We'll have to go on a mission together soon. Maybe in a couple of days."

"Definitely. I'll start looking for missions that seem reasonable."

"We should probably only take easy missions for a while. That way Carla and your dad won't worry. And we can get used to working together."

Romeo blushed a little. "Yeah. We should get more used to how each other fights, especially if we're going to be partners for the next S-class exam."

He glanced at the door and Wendy turned to see what he was looking at. She noticed Carla had already flown over to the door and was waiting for Wendy to join her. But that wasn't all she noticed. She glanced at the window and saw a head quickly disappear. She blushed when she realized they were being watched.

"Well, I should probably head inside and let you go home."

Romeo nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you at the guild tomorrow." He waved and walked away.

Carla huffed at Wendy when she joined her at the door. "Be careful about that boy."

Wendy nodded and opened the door. Sure enough, Levy and Lucy were just inside. They were smiling at her and had clearly been waiting for her to come inside.

"So," Lucy said. "Romeo?"

Note:

Well it's been a while since my last update, and I have no one to blame except myself. I hope this long chapter will help you all forgive me for how weirdly I update!

Let me know what you think about Romeo and Wendy so far! If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them as quickly and honestly as possible! Also if you have any suggestions let me know!