Lucy fidgeted pulling her bag closer to her chest. She could hear Natsu growling behind her and was doing her best to keep a smile in place. The man in front of them was just too creepy for her taste however and it was making it difficult. Her partner's distaste for transport was also not helping as he continued to growl in her ears.

"So…" the man drawled out eyeing her once more, "How does that sound Miss Lucy?" a lecherous smile playing on the man's face.

Lucy found it hard to physically restrain herself from grimacing in disgust at the carriage driver. Sadly this creep was her only hope of not being forced to walk since he was willing to go as far west as he could travel that day for them. The only problem was he was being way to forward with her and didn't seem to have enough manners to not stare blatantly at her chest. Hence the reason for her to have a death grip on her bag in an attempt at covering herself some. Reaching behind her and tossing a hopefully pleasant smile to her a partner she silently pleaded he would calm down and not start freaking out about riding the whole day. "Those rates sound acceptable." was the only answer she offered to the driver.

"Great," the driver said. Offering her his hand he continued, "If you like you can ride up front with me." A suggestive wiggle of his brow was added.

Before Lucy had a chance to attempt a polite decline at his offer Natsu stepped up and slapped the man's hand away from her. "She's my partner. She's ridding with me." He growled glaring menacingly with a silent promise of dismemberment. Ignoring the man's shock Natsu took that moment to drag Lucy with him into the carriage, Happy following closely behind.

Natsu was pissed. He'd like nothing better than to tear that freaky pervert apart limb by limb then set it all ablaze. Yes setting fire to the creep would make him feel better. He knew though that Lucy would freak out on him, even if she was obviously uncomfortable with the guy's advances, and then she'd be pissed about having to walk to the next town. "He's not taking us the whole way across. We're ditching him tonight. Got it?" He growled suddenly glaring at the woman seated across from him.

Lucy's gaze snapped up to meet the extremely pissed off look on Natsu's face. Could it be he was jealous, or even being overly protective of her? He normally would grumble when a member of her fan club would stop her and flirt but he never reacted like this. Maybe it was a mix of that and the fact he had agreed to take a carriage? It honestly didn't matter because for once she wished she had chosen to not beg they take transportation but to actually have walked to the next village over. Nodding her agreement she said, "No shit. I couldn't have said it better." This driver was too much for her and she was extremely grateful for whatever caused Natsu's outburst.

"Aye! That guy was making weird faces at Lucy." Happy said as he settled down on the same side as her and started drifting off.

Natsu growled again and opened his mouth to continue to complain, only to quickly shut it as they started moving. Flopping over he groaned. "I hate transportation…" came out in a mumble as he tried to keep his breakfast inside.

Lucy giggled at his expense. Feeling like she owed him for his 'help' earlier she pulled his blanket out from his bag and placed it under his head in way of a pillow. Brushing the bangs from his forehead she said, "Just try to sleep, it'll make it go by quicker." Hearing him groan once more in response she just smiled. Patting his head she went to go back to her seat only to be halted by Natsu grabbing her wrist. "Eh?"

Coherent thought and talking was out of the question currently so he voiced the best he could what he wanted, "Felt nice… Please Luce?" Not finding the ability to talk further he pulled her hand back to his head hoping she'd figure it all out.

Lucy blushed a bit at the action and request. If she were to comply the only way for her to sit comfortably the whole trip would be to share the same seat as Natsu. That wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that in order to comply he'd either have to sit up and snuggle with her or have his head in her lap. Both options seemed embarrassing and made her heart race. When he groaned out another, "Please," she finally relented. Grabbing her bag with snacks and books she pulled it over so it would be easily accessible. Lifting his head and placing it on her lap she took the blanket and draped it over him. Reaching down she pulled a book out and started to attempt to read and stroke his head.

Natsu shifted a bit to be more comfortable and brought his arms to encircle her waist. This was the nicest way he'd ever traveled. For the first time ever his stomach settled a bit. He was still queasy but didn't feel like any moment he'd revisit his food. He ignored Lucy's indignant squeak of surprise and continued to enjoy the feel of not wanting to die. Shifting a bit once more so his nose was pressed against her stomach he sighed in relief and began to enjoy the small amount of comfort he had. Sleep would have been great but since his stomach was still doing flips he knew it wouldn't come too easily. At least he was content.

Lucy's nerves were a bit rattled. She was willing to help the guy out but she couldn't help but wonder if he was taking advantage of the situation. Glaring down at what appeared to be the sleeping man she mentally groaned. The only time he ever looked this content was when Erza had enough of his complaining and knocked him out. Should she be happy that their current position brought this on or disturbed that such an intimate act would probably go unnoticed as such? Banging her heat lightly on the wall behind her she cursed to herself.

How she wished she could just go back to a few weeks ago and be able to dismiss her thoughts. Sure she had been having them for a long, long time now but before everything in Crocus she could just ignore them. Now, every little thing he said or did with her or to her had some strange effect. So maybe what she had thought was a crush has turned out to be more. So what? It was one sided. She really needed to get a hold of her emotions or she risked messing up the great friendship she had with Natsu. She wanted to be mad at herself for letting things get like this but at the same time she realized what woman wouldn't have fallen for the idiot?

Seriously, this is the guy that rushed to save her in the blink of an eye, taking on all manner of man or beast, or would make her laugh just because he knew she was upset, he would give her strength when she felt weak, this was the same man that clung to her just as much as she needed to cling to him because of things they witnessed. Who could blame her honestly? Even if he was childish, obtrusive, messy, and annoying he was also unrelentingly loyal, brave, honorable, and caring. He'd beat the hell out of anyone that dared to touch his nakama then turn around and ask what was for dinner like it was everyday behavior. But for him it was. She wasn't sure if it was how Igneel had raised him or Makarov's influence, but deep down she assumed that his dragon father taught him to protect what was precious and it was Makarov that showed him how precious the guild was. It made sense at least considering everything her mother taught her or she ever read on dragons and how much Master doted on all of them, even if he complained about their behavior.

Chuckling at her thoughts she mentally gave up. Try as she might to figure out what was going on and what was happening to them she couldn't. Why not take a chapter out of Natsu's book and just go along with it all? Then again that wasn't how she was. She was the calculated, think ahead type. It was hard to break one's self from their own character and she dared not try. Lord knew there needed to be one sane and level headed one in the team. Sighing she lifted her book and began to read. This was going to be one hell of a long trip.

rariccia TY! I try to keep them in-character as much as possible and havin fun LOL Also, I'm so glad to hear that this is something you're looking forward to :) Makes me all warm and fuzzy LOL

leoslady4ever *giggles* I had to! He has some of the funniest most random perv moments that get overlooked! There are TONS of them but you have to do a double take to ask "did he?" LOL

Kuronekohimesama TYMV! ;) Just stay tuned and all will be reviled... eventually MMMUUHAHHAHHAHAHAHAH

Link LMFAO yeh He's all messed up in the head and only a bit of it shows... For the most part he's still acting normalish for him but not when he's thinking, or in his case not thinking and just saying stupid shit!

So there's my response to my reviewers for last chap! Hope everyone's still is enjoying!

On a SUPER INSANELY SAD AS HELL NOTE- My fam reunion is tomorrow and it's like an all day thing and I gotta set up at like 7am and leave the house by like 6am and yeh... I'm gonna be beat to hell so don't expect a chappy outta me...

You may all cry now. I'll wait a moment while you grieve.

Ok moment's over. Anyway I'll be back to norm Mon so no worries. And on top of that I have no where to go and no more planning of dumb things and nothing to worry on so I can just sit and write and post and all will be amazing... ~~ That was the worst run-on sentence ever! LOL

Don't miss me too much folks but you better sniffle a bit at the least! :)

Hope you all enjoyed this chap! Keep sending love and readin!

~Gemi