Thank you all so much who have given me feedback! Nothing makes me happier than reading your reviews! I look forward to them each time I post a new chapter! You are all so sweet and I am very happy that you enjoy reading this fic!

The end is near, everyone! Two more chapters! It's bittersweet, but all good things must come to an end, unfortunately. But I wouldn't be here without you guys, so thank you so much!

I'm just gonna go ahead and apologize for how awful this chapter is. I feel like it turned to shit after writing it...

But I hope you enjoy, nonetheless! Let me know what you think!

Lucy smelt faintly of perfume - the kind she didn't wear often. Natsu noticed that she only wore that particular kind for special occasions, such as when they were meeting someone important, or taking a more formal job request.

Something within Natsu burned white hot as the scent filled his nose - the scent that was also mixed with the distant smell of a certain someone.

Lucy had returned to the guild after her date the next day and she had the gall to act as though nothing happened and welcomed him back from his mission. Even so, like any other time, one thing led to another and she and Natsu were subtly teasing each other before they both made their way back to her apartment and landed on her bed in a tangle of limbs.

"N-Natsu," Lucy whimpered beneath him, fisting her hands in the sheets as she arched her back. The dragon slayer groaned and pushed her chest down against the duvet as he slammed into her from behind, two fingers pressed deep within her ass to fill her completely.

After he found her with Hibiki, Natsu quickly went back to the guild and decided to wait things out. Lucy didn't return that day, and Natsu began to wonder if she really had gone home with him. He still wondered...

Natsu growled and mentally slapped himself. No, Lucy would never do that. She wasn't that kind of girl - and if she had slept with the guy, she would be here now.

That didn't keep the anger inside of him at bay, though - the anger that boiled and turned into a blinding heat of possessiveness that he couldn't control. He looked down and saw the mark behind her ear that he had left the last time and the sight drove his hips harder and faster against her own.

Lucy wasn't his, was she? He liked to have thought so for the past several months, even if she wouldn't let him be more than a friend and less than a fuck buddy. Even so, she was still only with him. No one else.

Now that may all be ending.

And if it was, then he'd be damned if he left any part of her go unclaimed by him.

Natsu pulled out, and Lucy gave a cry of protest. When she turned around to glare at him, he fist his hand in her hair, and this time she cried out in pleasure. The fingers that were once inside her were replaced by something much larger nudging at her and she gasped, eyes going wide. He was unmoving, as though he were waiting, and Lucy whimpered out a breathy 'yes.'

Of all the times they had spent together, this is the one thing they had not gone all the way with, no matter how much the two of them wanted to. Why? They weren't sure, but it was finally happening and Lucy felt the desire in her gut grow further.

Slowly, he pressed in, and the both of them let out throaty groans and curses. Natsu released her hair and her head fell forward into the pillows, using it to muffle a loud cry as he completely sheathed himself within her.

"Fucking fuck, Luce," Natsu growled through clenched teeth. Tight, silky walls fluttered around him as he stretched her and he wasn't sure if he wanted to stay still like that or shove her down more and take her hard and fast.

Slowly, he pulled out and pressed back in, and the reaction of the two mages were the same, but Lucy wanted more.

"Take me," she breathed, brown eyes briefly meeting his own before falling closed. Natsu groaned and gripped at her hips and repeated his motions, gradually picking up the pace until he slid in and out of her tight heat smoothly.

Gods, she was squeezing him so tight and it was a wonder he was able to hold out, but slowly, he felt that possessive desire grow and he couldn't push it back. It consumed him and his pace grew faster and rougher, reveling in each little cry that escaped her sweet lips.

Lucy tightened around him as she came, but he was nowhere near done. At least, that's what the voice in his head growled at him. He had to keep going - he had to brand himself on her mind and memory so that she would think of him whenever she was with someone else.

Natsu bent forward and pressed his chest to her back as he ground his hips against her. Lucy whimpered, arching against him, and the dragon slayer dragged his tongue along the mark behind her ear, reminding her that it was there and he was the one who put it there. Reaching around, Natsu stroked her neglected core with two fingers before plunging them inside, squeezing in a third soon after.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy shouted, clutching more tightly at the bedding. His movements were rough, hips thrusting forward each time his fingers pulled out a little, and it wasn't long before she was clenching around him again, screaming out incoherent words. Natsu's vision began to blur and he clenched his jaw, reaching out to fist his hand in her hair to pull her head back to look at him. She forced her eyes open, looking into those impossibly dark irises with pupils blown wide. If she could think coherently, she would be concerned about how angry his eyes looked, but she couldn't think at all. Her body was going limp with exhaustion and everything felt so damn good and she almost didn't want it all to end.

A low, feral growl sounded from the man above her and she saw the way his sharp canines glinted in the light shining in through her window - was it sunlight or moonlight? She couldn't remember right now - and if she didn't trust Natsu as much as she did, she might have felt a little afraid.

He released her hair, her head falling back into the pillows, and pulled his fingers from her to instead grab her hips roughly and slam into her even harder, pulling her back against him to meet his thrusts with a force that had the bedframe shaking once again. She could just register the sound of glass objects rattling in their place on top of her dresser across the room.

Natsu suddenly pushed her completely down against the bed, hips flush against the duvet, and he gave a final hard thrust before stilling and releasing another low growl. His hot seed filled her to the brim and Lucy swore she could actually feel it burning within her.

Once he came down, Natsu pulled out of her and got off the bed, finding his discarded clothing and pulling everything on as though he were on autopilot.

"Natsu?"

"What?" Natsu grunted out as he searched for his vest.

"I… what's the hurry?"

"Just leaving. It's what we do, you know that." He wasn't paying attention to her as she got out of bed and found an oversized t-shirt to pull over herself. She wobbled a little, limbs weak from the satisfying treatment she just received, but she was determined to talk to him, even if all she wanted to do was curl up under her blanket and sleep.

"Yeah, but… I mean, you can sit here and talk, if you want." Her voice was soft, as though she were hesitant. And she was. He seemed so on edge the past couple of times they were together and it wasn't like him.

Natsu spun on his heel to face her, fire in his eyes. Lucy jumped.

"Talk? You want to talk?" he bit out. "Any other time I tried to talk to you the past two months you made excuses for why one of us should leave, and now you want to talk?"

"Yeah, I wanna know what the hell is up with you!" Lucy shouted, feeling her anger start to rise. She was suddenly wide awake. "Even if we leave after we have sex, we still talk a little bit! But now you won't even look at me when we're done!"

"Well, I just want to make sure I'm gone in case your boyfriend stops by," Natsu said in a low voice.

"Boyfriend? What the hell are you…" Realization dawned. He knows about Hibiki? Even so… "Hibiki isn't my boyfriend, you idiot!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess you're just that friendly with every guy you come to pass - even dressing up all nice for him."

"Were you spying on me?"

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. I just happened to see you. When were you gonna tell me? Or were you not going to at all? You wanted to have both of us, right? Keep me for your bedroom desires and him for everything else? Or maybe you wanted to have your own little male harem? Why don't you get all of Blue Pegasus in on your plan! Maybe even Quatro Cerberus - they seem like a pretty willing group of men!" Natsu's words were like venom and he knew what he was saying shouldn't be said. He knew it wasn't true, but no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't stop. That is, until his head snapped to the side and hot pain flared in his cheek. He looked to Lucy again who looked more pissed off than he had ever seen before, glaring at him as she stood in the follow-through motion of her slap. She lowered her hand and pointed a dangerous finger at him.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again," Lucy hissed, jaw clenched tightly. In the back of his mind, Natsu knew he should stand down, maybe even apologize, but he didn't. "I went out with Hibiki to get the girls off my back about dating. I told him that when he came to pick me up, and he said he'd help me. Yeah, I dressed up because I was playing the part! If I didn't go out with him, the girls would have begun to suspect that something was going on between you and me."

"And what the hell is so bad about that?" Natsu shouted, throwing his arms up and letting them fall to his sides again. "Do I embarrass you? Am I only good for sex? Why the fuck are you so afraid of being with me?" Lucy opened her mouth, but Natsu kept talking. He was going to lay it all out. "You walk around every day afraid to touch me because you think someone is going to suspect something, and I'm stuck here feeling like a fucking idiot because I want to touch you; I want be next to you and I can't stop thinking about you! I love you, Lucy, and every goddamn time I try to express it, you kick me out and push me away!"

Lucy's eyes were wide with shock, her mouth open. Natsu was panting, eyes still blazing, but she saw a flash of hurt in them. Slowly she shook her head, holding one hand out and taking a step back.

"No. No, Natsu, you can't say that. You don't have the right to say that!"

"The hell I do! What makes you think I don't?" And now she was telling him that he didn't know his feelings? His nails were sharpening, digging into his palms as he clenched his fists tightly.

"Because this was your idea! You came to me and said you wanted to keep doing this - as friends! You didn't ask me out. You didn't tell me you wanted to be something more. You -"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the dragon slayer spat out, "how foolish of me! Of course, right after fucking a couple times, I should have told you 'hey, Lucy, wanna go out?' Like you wouldn't have kicked me across town! You would have taken it the wrong way and never have spoken to me again!"

"Then why are you saying this now?"

"Because it's been five fucking months! I can't do it anymore, Lucy!"

"That's not my fault! You wanted to keep this up! Yeah, I agreed to it, but you brought it up! You don't get to tell me you love me! You don't get to want more!"

"So you just planned on fucking me until you found someone else? Was I never going to be a possibility to you?" Lucy said nothing and Natsu let out a bitter laugh, casting his eyes at the ceiling and shaking his head as she continued to glare at him. He waved her off. "Okay, yeah, I should go."

"Why, before you fuck me?" Lucy's voice was mocking and acidic. It is how almost all of their arguments ended. However, Natsu's eyes turned cold and his voice was eerily low.

"No, before I say something I can't take back." Lucy's eyes widened - what could he, Natsu Dragneel, possibly say that was so awful that he would consciously regret saying it at all? - and he turned to leave. Just before he left, he turned back to her. "And I'm right. You are afraid."

And just like that, he was gone.

Two days had gone by since Natsu had last spoken to Lucy in her apartment. He'd seen her around, but they did not meet each others eyes and kept a great distance between the both of them. They both must have looked pretty pissed off, because nobody in the guild commented on the strange behavior.

Natsu lift a mug of ale to his mouth and kept his attention on Makarov on the stage - he felt Lucy's eyes on him once and he didn't want her to catch him looking at her - and discussing the next mission he was assigning people to go on.

Natsu hadn't been paying attention to the details of it and, for the first time, he hoped he wouldn't have to go. He wasn't up for it unless he could destroy everything in sight. Besides, after just returning from a mission, Makarov wasn't likely to pick him again soon, anyway.

Already Makarov had chosen Laki and Nab - yes, Nab. Bixlow had volunteered, saying he needed the money. The master's eyes scanned the crowd, tapping a finger to his chin as he searched for a fourth and final mage.

"I'll go, too!" Many eyes widened at the shout that was a little too loud for the moment, and the one who shouted knew it, flushing at the outburst.

Natsu didn't even need to look - of course, the voice gave it away, but even if she hadn't spoken, he knew Lucy had been the one to volunteer.

Makarov nodded and said that would be fine, then went on about the mission. They would be leaving early in the morning, and the mission should take about a week, maybe less.

That was two weeks ago.

Mages were posted around Magnolia to keep an eye out for the dragon slayer. Yeah, he was on house arrest - or more, guild arrest. After they'd been gone for over a week, Natsu began to get restless and demanded a search team be sent out, and if not, he'd go himself. However, Makarov refused to allow it. It wasn't an overly difficult mission, but even so, it was a group of mages who never exactly worked together before. It was expected that it may take a little more time. After all, Natsu's mission shouldn't have taken much time at all, but ended up lasting a few days.

But that didn't mean he wasn't worried. And it was driving him crazy that he was being watched so closely, as everyone knew the Natsu would run off in search of them any chance he got. For the first week, that's what he tried to do, but always ended up caught and dragged back to the guild. It irritated him to no end that he was the only one this worried.

For now, he had exhausted himself and finally became fully aware of the fact that he wasn't going to get very far if he tried to run off. So, he sat at the river running next to his home, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the water.

His ears twitched at the sound of distant footsteps slowly growing closer.

"I'm allowed to sit at my own home, aren't I?" he growled.

"Juvia isn't here to watch over you." Natsu straightened and turned to see the water mage walking to him, clutching a book to her chest. She offered a small smile.

"Sorry," he muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Juvia was worried about you," Juvia said, kneeling next to him. Natsu scoffed.

"What for? I'm fine." He felt a little bad about being cold to her - she was a great friend and an even better training partner (fire and ice is one thing, but fire and water? Sign him up for the challenge any day). The two got along exceptionally well, much to the surprise of many Fairy Tail members.

"Juvia… well, she knows." He had been watching the river again, but at her comment, he turned his head so quickly it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash.

"You know what?"

"About your feelings for Lucy."

"I don't -" Juvia was giving him a pointed look, and he stopped talking, turning his glare back to the water. "What makes you think I have feelings for her?"

"You hide it well, but Juvia has become quite acclimated to romantic feelings since joining Fairy Tail." There was a twinge of pride in her voice, but Natsu let out a bitter laugh.

"Yeah, it sure is doing a lot of good for ya." The moment the words left his mouth he instantly regretted them, looking to the woman with wide eyes. Juvia was looking down at her hands with a frown. "Shit, Juvia, I didn't mean that… Fuck, I don't know what's getting into me."

"It's okay," Juvia said, looking up at him with a smile that made him feel like even more of an asshole. "Juvia isn't very successful right now, and she knows it."

"Yeah, but I didn't need to say that. It's not true. Don't listen to me, okay? I'm just… not myself right now."

"Juvia knows that, too," she said, holding the large, age-worn book out to him. He raised a brow, but took it. "This might be helpful to you."

"How so?" he mumbled as he idly flipped through the yellowed pages.

"Juvia has known Gajeel for a very long time, and because of that, she knows quite a bit about dragon slayers. When I first joined Phantom Lord, I wanted to know everything I needed about the magic of my guildmates. When I learned that Gajeel was a dragon slayer, I knew I had to look even further to find out everything. I wanted to know all about my guildmates' powers so I would know their weaknesses."

"You're a lot scarier than you let on," Natsu commented, and Juvia just smiled.

"Eventually Juvia came across this book that told her more about the dragon senses that a dragon slayer would take on. Hearing and smell aren't the only traits that get passed on." Natsu looked at her with his nose scrunched up.

"You aren't gonna tell me I'm going through a mating season or somethin', are ya?" Juvia flushed softly, but shook her head.

"Juvia isn't sure if it goes that far. Just read it." She stood with a smile and made to leave, but Natsu reached up and grasped her wrist. Wide eyed, Juvia looked down at him.

"Thanks, and… again, I'm sorry." She tried to tell him that he didn't need to apologize, but he continued, standing up. "I don't know if this makes up for it, but I'll tell you that… well, just give Gray some time, okay? He may act like he doesn't care for you, but it's a stupid act he's struggling to keep up. So keep doing what you're doing. My guess is he actually likes you doting over him."

A laugh sounded from the water mage, and it managed to lighten Natsu's mood, if only a little. She smiled warmly at him.

"Juvia knows she's getting through to him," she said with a wink. "She is still willing to give him all the time in the world."

Natsu watched her leave and he truly wished he had her patience. How could she appear so crazy to some people (not him, though - he thought she was pretty great how she was), but really be so wise? He looked down at the book and remembered what she said about learning weaknesses. Not to mention scary and clever.

Natsu was restless as ever. Makarov continued to tell him to have faith in his guildmates and to trust that they will finish the job and return soon. However, even he sounded a little uncertain.

She's fine. They all are, he kept telling himself as his leg bounced beneath the table at which he sat. To distract himself, he turned to the book Juvia had given him the week before.

He was still a little confused about the possessiveness he had felt the previous two times he had been with Lucy, but understood that it now came from his dragon instincts. He found the whole thing to be incredibly strange. Why didn't Igneel tell him about all of this? Well… perhaps he did, but Natsu may not have been paying attention.

That, or Igneel didn't think he was ready for such a talk. After all, it dealt with sex and mates.

Yeah. Mates.

This is so fucking weird. I'm not an actual dragon!

Still, the book said that just because he had certain traits he learned for his magic - the sense of smell and hearing - there were still actual dragon-like traits that transferred with the others, and that included, well… mates.

That didn't mean it was as intense as an actual dragon. He wasn't bound to Lucy for life now that they had slept together (though, he'd like to be) and was free to do as he pleased with his love life, but the possession and jealousy he would originally feel without the sense of a dragon because of Lucy's little date was now doubled. Or tripled. Really, it was just intensified by a great deal, from what he understood.

That explained his odd need to claim her the way he wanted to, and why he felt like he couldn't control himself. Still, it was weird.

But it was the least of his worries right now, and the book wasn't distracting him well enough. He slammed it shut and stood.

"That's it! I can't just sit around while they're out there! It's been three weeks, gramps! Three fucking weeks!" The entire guild was shocked by his sudden outburst, some even flinching in fear.

"Natsu," Makarov began dangerously.

"No! None of us know what could be happening to them right now. A week and a half was fine, but three? Something ain't right, and I'm not gonna wait around until their bodies are found!" He made his way to the doors, but was stopped by Makarov's large hand hitting him, and he flew back against the stage.

Natsu was seething as he stood up, fists engulfed in flames.

"How can you just sit here and wait? We're family, and you're not concerned for them in the slightest!"

His mind was racing, and he kept trying to tell himself that they were okay - that she was okay.

But images of her lying on the ground kept filling his mind of her drained of magic; drained of energy; drained of life…

And the last things he had ever said to her were cruel and hateful.

I'm right. You are afraid.

"I'm not sitting around anymore!" Natsu yelled as he charged at Makarov, who was standing large and in his way.

Just before he reached him, though, the guild doors swung open, revealing four silhouetted figures.

"This is why I only do solo jobs… or no jobs at all," came the voice of Nab. Natsu, now unfocused and staring at the door, fell to the ground with wide eyes, not even listening as Makarov explained that Warren was in contact with the missing group the entire time.

Supported on the shoulder of Laki was Lucy, looking a little worse for wear.

But alive.

I brotp Natsu and Juvia so hard. I really wanted to throw in a moment with them in here at some point. So I did. And it sucks. I'm sorry.

Also, I wasn't sure if I wanted to slap Natsu in this chapter (for how he was acting in the beginning) or hug him because my poor boy is so in love and so in pain.

Last thing, it's mentioned that they were sleeping together for 5 months, and in that time Natsu had tried to be more romantic, but Lucy wouldn't let him. I eventually ended up listening to a song I used to love and I feel like it portray's Natsu's emotions so perfectly.

The song is Clockwork by Easton Corbin. The main verse really gets me every time.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!