Chapter 2:

A/N: I actually got this written after much trying to write something prior typing this up. But I realize, I can't really plan for these things - I just have to have a basic idea of what I want to happen in a particular chapter. It's been awhile since I've actually written something more than short stories ranging from 500-2000 something words. Anyway, hope this chapter is satisfying in some way ^-^/

Lucy was still in chagrin as she walked to the guild with Plue clutched to her chest. He trembled in her arms and she held him a little tighter, wondering if he just always trembled or if something was actually wrong. It couldn't be that he was cold since the sun was pressing down its harsh heat on Magnolia. She dressed lightly because of it and wore a pink tank top with thin straps and an inside blouse to cover most of her cleavage. Her blue skirt stopped mid-thigh and she more boots that covered her calves and stopped some inches below her knees. The heat didn't seem to affect the others around her though. Women were dressed in their long dresses with full skirts, some of their heads wrapped in bonnet-like caps. The men, clad in trousers and shirts, the fabric of which seemed a little too thick to Lucy to be wearing in this heat, didn't seem to care about the humidity.

Each time she inhaled, her chest felt tight from the hot air and made her feel dehydrated. She neared the door to the guild and the first person to meet her when she opened the door was Levy. The younger girl had her hair pulled back in a ponytail and a yellow ribbon, that matched her dress, in her hair. The smile that had been on her face some seconds ago now disappeared behind the pout she gave to Lucy.

"Lucy, you went back on your promise."

Lucy raised a brow, clueless as to what Levy was talking about as she stepped over the threshold and inside the guild. "What do you mean?"

"You promised I'd be the first to read one of your stories but," she pointed behind her, her finger trained on an oblivious Natsu who was wolfing down some chicken while Happy chewed on a whole fish. "You gave Natsu first read, and I didn't know you were writing stories about us."

Plue nodded and mumbled his agreement as he looked between Lucy and Levy then squirmed out of her hands, running off to Natsu and Happy – abandoning Lucy. She sighed and shook her head, rubbing her temple. "Oh, that's not even much; it was more like a script outline," she lied, feeling a bit bad about it. "I was going to burn it but Natsu beat me to it before I could, this morning."

"Burn it?" Levy repeated, tilting her head as she stared at Lucy with mute curiosity and blinked at her. "Was it that bad?"

Lucy couldn't help how her cheeks flushed at the memory of one of the scenes she had written. "Hm, it was terrible. I was having a bit of a block and just thought I'd do some free writing. But it turned out awful." That much was true and she was happy that Natsu was too stupid to realize that Fiona was actually…

"Lucy!"

Before she could turn her head, Natsu came behind her, a hand looped around her shoulder and his face was close to hers. She turned to look at him, a surprised and short yell issuing from her as she faced him. Gravy was smeared around his mouth and his breath smelled like a mixture of chicken and fish.

"Took you long enough to get here."

"And whose fault is that? Burning that story took me awhile and your breath is awful." Her palm pressed over his mouth and nose as she shoved him back and away from her. She didn't really mind his breath, but she needed an excuse to put some distance between them. And also an excuse to identify why her heart was racing so much from having him so close to her. His body was warm, as it always was. Having him this close never affected her much in the past, but she could hardly find it within her to ignore the way it made her feel now.

"Burn? You burned it?" He asked with a frown; his cheerful disposition slowly leaving him as he looked down at her. "Why?"

"W-why do you look like that?" Lucy asked, her hands slightly lifted – palms out – in defence as she looked at him, her gaze almost suspicious. "Did you like it?"

"It was about me, what's not to like?"

"And it's the only time Natsu gets a girlfriend, who seems to resemble Lucy in the story." Happy mumbled that last part, his eyes on Lucy as a mischievous and knowing smirk came to the cat's face.

"Shut up!" Lucy spat and lunged for Happy, who still easily managed to dodge while laughing at her. "And since when do cats even read!" She was surprised Happy picked up on that detail, while Natsu didn't even seem to have the first clue that the character's description was exactly Lucy's profile.

"What're you talking about Happy? The girl in the story is far nicer than Lucy; she's almost as scary as Erza."

She grabbed him up by the lapels of his shirt and dragged him up to her. "Do you want to say that again?" she asked, the levelness of her tone quaking from the anger that slowly boiled inside her from Natsu's comment.

He laughed nervously and waved his hands, closing his eyes as he tried to talk his way out of insulting Lucy. "I'm just playing. You could be nice if you tried."

She let him go and folded her hands across her chest, lifting her chin slightly. "Since I'm so scary, I guess I should really burn the story." She shrugged to herself as she started walking towards the open doors of Fairy Tail to leave.

Natsu grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back. She paused and looked at him, her cocky expression retracting behind the curious gaze she held with his much more serious look. "Don't burn it, Lucy. I liked it. So finish it, and let me see how it ends, okay?" He smiled at her and she saw the color in his cheeks and she blinked in surprise.

When did Natsu learn to blush like that?

She nodded, finding it almost impossible to tell him no when he looked at her like that. Her voice was small as she answered, "Okay. Come over later, okay? That's when I'll finish it. If you wait until tomorrow, I'll definitely burn it. So tonight."

"Yeah. Leave your window open."

So he was back to the window, after all.

O.o.O.o