Natsu had hung around for a while, watching Lucy as she made her way through the apartment. He'd watched her carefully, his dark eyes glued to her face, evaluating her expression as she encountered every single piece of herself that she'd forgotten.

He could tell it was an important moment. He stayed out of the way, not saying a word, choosing instead to watch her battling emotions flash across her face, light up her eyes.

Lucy wound her way around the place, eyes flickering up to the curtains, down to the floors. Every single aspect of the little space was heavily evaluated, run through her mind a million times. Her eyebrows were knitted together tightly, her body tense, her eyes focused.

She was determined to know herself, fully and completely.

Lucy worked her way through the apartment, assessing what she saw before her, surveying and classifying every object she laid her eyes on. She tried to make sense of it all, tried to relate every bit of the home to what it meant about herself. That fabric—had she picked it out? Had she fallen in love with the pattern, with the soft yellow color of it? Had she chosen it specifically to be her bedding? Had it meant something?

She made her way to the tiny little desk in the living room, covered in a mess of scattered papers. Lucy's eyes locked on the pages, focusing on the little tiny writing that absolutely coated the white sheets. Head cocking to the side out of sheer curiosity, Lucy picked up some of the papers.

From what she could tell, it was a story. She assumed it was her own writing and that this, in fact, was a story she'd written. Lucy hesitated for a moment, wondering why she'd never let Natsu read any of the content, but shrugged it off, deciding instead to continue on. She flipped through a couple pages, reading some of the dialogue and descriptions.

An epic adventure story, by the looks of it. It wasn't half bad. A story about magic users, people with the ability to throw blades of ice out of thin air, people who could turn their bodies to water.

Lucy read on, frowning for a long second as she made sense of the words on the page. Some characters were speaking now—and the names were horribly familiar.

"I'll protect you!" Natsu cried, voice strained with paralyzing fear. "I promise, Lucy!"

Lucy blinked, reading over the passage one more time. Natsu? Lucy?

Had she written a story about people she knew?

Another second passed as Lucy flipped back a couple pages, reading over the names of the enemies her and her friends were facing in the story. Her eyes flashed up, and she spun on her heels, turning to face Natsu. He was back, still beside the front door, patiently and silently allowing her to roam the apartment without interruption. Lucy's cheeks went red, realizing that she'd been taking quite a long time and that he'd been watching her weird behaviour the whole time.

She turned her head slightly, trying to push her embarrassment to the back of her mind. "Did we ever...fight a guild called Phantom Lord?" She'd read the name in the story.

Natsu's eyes went a little wide, brightening. "Yeah—wait. You remember?"

"No," Lucy said quickly, shaking her head. She lifted some of the papers, shaking them a bit. "It's in here." Her brown eyes flickered back down to the pages, and she carried on, running her gaze over the small, neat writing. "I think..." She trailed off, taking a second to gather herself. "I think I wrote about our adventures, Natsu."

He made his way over to her, stuffing his hands in the pocket of his vest. "Huh." Natsu stood beside her, looking over her shoulder at the pages, beginning to trace the words with his eyes.

"Hey!" Lucy snapped, dropping her hands to her sides and swiftly taking the story out of the boy's view. "No looking." She turned to her right, watching him; their faces were so close she could smell him. His scent put a tiny smile on her lips, despite her attempts to choke it out; he smelled like campfire.

He'd been right—it was her favorite smell. She could tell already.

"Aw, can't I just read a little?" Natsu asked, whining. His shoulders slumped.

"There's gotta be a reason why I didn't let you read it before," Lucy replied with a smirk, watching the boy's face fall even further. "I don't want to betray my own wishes."

He crossed his arm, pouting, now. "Fine. Meanie."

She couldn't help but smile at him. "I'll read it through, and if there's nothing too horribly written, maybe I'll let you look at it."

"...Really?"

Lucy shrugged. "Sure. I was probably just self conscious about my writing." She paused for a second. "But, right now...it doesn't feel like my writing, so I guess it'll be alright."

Natsu snorted. "Sounds good. You better read it fast—I've been trying to read that thing for a solid two years. I'm excited."

"I'll try."

"So," Natsu huffed, flopping down on the couch and peering up at her. "How do you like the place?"

Lucy turned, her eyes washing over the whole place. "It's...cozy."

Her words weren't a lie; overall, the apartment had given off a cute, quaint charm. There wasn't much about it she didn't like—the windows were big and would let in a lot of sunshine; the bed was large, and the tub was a nice soaker.

"Find anything out about yourself?"

A smile touched at her lips—that seemed to happen a lot in Natsu's presence—and she scanned the place another time. "Well—I write a lot, which seems...right." She sucked in a breath. "And I've got a knack for decorating."

Natsu's eyes searched the apartment, too; he gave a nod in agreement. "Yeah, your place is pretty nice. Oh, man—you've gotta lay on the bed, though. Seriously. It's a like a cloud floating over dream land." He reached down and grabbed her hand, tugging her gently towards the bedroom, a look of determination on his face.

Lucy blinked down at her hand, looking at his grip on her. His skin was surprisingly warm on hers. She didn't mind his touch.

"How do you know how soft my bed is?" Lucy questioned cautiously.

Natsu glanced back at her. "I sleep in it, silly."

Lucy sputtered, choking on her own spit; she coughed for a couple seconds as he hauled her into the bedroom, tugging her to the side of the bed. "You what?"

Natsu turned her so that she was facing him, clapping his big hands down on her shoulders. Their bodies were close—too close for normal conversation—and the heat radiating off of his bare chest and arms rolled into her, making her cheeks blush red.

"Alright," Natsu grinned, ignoring her. "Lay on it."

Lucy hesitantly sat back, her bum squishing into the mattress below her. She was actively aware of Natsu's hands, still resting on her shoulders. She was also actively aware of how now, since she'd sat down, she was staring directly at his bare stomach, thanks to his open vest. Her ears went hot.

"Soft, right?"

Lucy was blinking, too shocked by the rather intimate—well, intimate by her standards, considering they were strangers—situation she was in. "I—well—I mean...it's nice."

Natsu released her and flopped on the bed beside her, landing on his stomach; his right leg nudged against her side as he did so. He snuggled into the mattress. "I love this bed."

"Wait, wait, wait—remind me again why you are so well acquainted with my bed?"

Natsu's voice was soft and dreamy, like the bed had induced him into a half-coma. "I already told you, Luce—I sleep in it."

"Why?"

"You let me, if you're feeling nice."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Lucy said with a frown.

Natsu pulled himself up so that he was resting on his elbows, still facing away from Lucy. Even from this position, though, she could tell that his expression had changed. The atmosphere in the room shifted; the air went a bit colder. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, more reserved than usual.

"I get these nightmares," He muttered, like he was embarrassed to admit it. "And usually me and Happy would crash on your couch. But you caught me crying, and—" He cut off, swiftly stopping himself; he didn't continue his sentence. His cheeks went a little red from admitting he'd cried. "It helps."

Lucy looked over at him, eyes focusing on the back of his head. His rosy hair was messy, spiking up in every which way. She could just catch the side of his face; his lips were turned down at the corners. She didn't want to press him too far, didn't want to invade. Clearly, it was tough for him to talk about. So, she didn't.

Instead, she asked another question. "Who's Happy?"

Natsu was still for a moment, and then he swung back, flopping onto his backside to face her. "Holy shit, I forgot that you don't remember Happy!" He sucked in a breath. "He's our other best friend. I raised him."

"Oh," Lucy said, shocked. Natsu, this boy right in front of her, was capable of raising someone? That was oddly impressive. Perhaps she needed to re-evaluate the guy—clearly he was more mature and capable than she'd originally thought. "Wow. Okay. So, I should meet him, then?"

"That'll make him happy." He paused for a second, face crumbling into a frown. "But only when you're ready, alright? There's no rush to meet people. Don't wanna stress you out more."

Lucy nodded. As easy as it was with Natsu, she knew introductions with other people she'd forgotten would be a lot harder on her—she was already plagued with the guild, knowing she'd lost all of their special moments together. "Maybe in a few days."

"Well, until then, I'll just have to keep you occupied."

She smiled at him again; it was beginning to become habit when she looked at him. "Sounds good to me."

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Since Lucy wasn't ready to head to the guild hall and meet her forgotten friends, Natsu had figured they better stay in, get some rest. After all, she'd had a long day of trying to find out who exactly she was.

He'd dug through her movie collection—complained thoroughly about her selection of strictly romcoms—and then settled on one that he happened to know was her favorite. He tossed the movie in and then plunked himself down on the couch beside her, crossing his legs and staring intently on the screen.

She had to admit, it was hard to focus on the screen when the pink haired boy was sitting so close to her. His knees touched the side of her thigh every so often, and it sort of sent her into a frenzy. The idea of this strange boy, who, in her eyes she'd only met today, sitting so close to her and accidentally, casually touching her without even a second thought seemed so...intimate. And really, it was stupendously intimate, in the most intimate way a friendship could be.

Because, after all, they'd been friends for years. To him, she was Lucy, his best friend forever. This wasn't out of the ordinary for him. Watching a movie, knees accidentally bumping, staying the night and sleeping in her bed...that was a regular occurrence. He was so used to being on that level of intimacy, it barely registered to him anymore.

But now, Lucy was glaring down at their knees, watching as the space between them diminished as the movie went on; he'd started to slump against her, began to use her shoulder as a cushion to lean against. By the time the movie was over, he was basically lying in her lap.

She would've smacked him off, yelled at him. After all, she didn't know the guy in the slightest. But she could tell, just by his body language, that he was used to this. And he was so used to Lucy that he'd forgotten how much she'd forgotten, and she really didn't have the heart to kick the guy off of her.

So, she just stared at her legs and how his arms had now draped across them, the back of his head smushed into the crevice between her arm and her torso, and tried to stop her heart from hammering.

By the time the movie was over, Natsu's snores were filling the room. Lucy wasn't quite sure when he'd fallen asleep, exactly, but the sounds of his snores had ripped through the quiet air twenty minutes ago. The credits rolled and the living room was dark, and she leaned over and peeked down at him, trying not to jostle him enough to wake him up.

Natsu's face was totally serene, a stupid little smile breaking onto his lips.

And quietly, to herself, Lucy giggled, amused.

She watched him for a bit longer—she swore she wasn't being creepy; he was just sort of funny when he slept, that was all—and then began to yawn herself. She gently moved him off of her lap and made her way to her bedroom, digging through her drawers to find where she put her pyjamas. She located a raggedy t-shirt and some fitted shorts and tugged them on, and then went back into the living room.

Natsu hadn't moved; he was still snoring. Lucy crouched beside him, her face close to his, and poked his cheek.

"Wake up, Natsu," Lucy whispered softly. She prodded him again, a little harder this time. "Wake up, sleepy."

He snored louder.

"Jesus," She muttered under her breath. She'd have to work hard. She reached out and shook his shoulder rapidly. "Natsu, wake up!"

The boy bolted upward in shock, mumbling out a "Whassat?" before crashing his forehead directly against the blonde's. He staggered back in surprise, blinking down at her. "Oh, hey, Luce. What're you doin' down there?"

The contact of his rock solid head against her dainty one had sent her tumbling to the floor, hand holding her throbbing head; she let out a cry of pain as she went down, knees buckling. Her whole world was spinning; everything ached. She couldn't open her eyes—her head hurt too much.

"Owwww," Lucy hissed. "You attacked me, you idiot!"

He frowned at that. "Oh—sorry."

Lucy sat up, rubbing her temple. "I was just trying to wake you up, and you go and head butt me."

Natsu laughed. "Why'd you try and wake me up?"

Lucy let out a grunt as she pulled herself up to a standing position; she brushed dust off of her shorts. "Because," She huffed, letting out a sigh as she glanced up at the clock, checking the time, "It's bed time, and you said I let you sleep in the bed, so I was coming to get you."

He made a face. "Figured you'd want your bed tonight."

Lucy blinked. "I do."

Natsu's head cocked to the side. "But you were gonna let me have the bed?"

Suddenly, the truth dawned on her: when Natsu had the bed, she took the couch or the floor. But the realization had come too late; she'd already openly offered sharing the bed with the pink haird boy. She'd caught on too late.

Lucy's face went beat red, her gaze dropping to the floor. "You know what? Nevermind." She spun on her heel, desperate to get away from the horrible embarrassing awkwardness she'd brought on herself. "Night, Natsu."

"Wait," He spat, reaching out and grabbing her wrist, preventing her from walking away.

Lucy peered back, eyes dropping, not meeting his gaze. She was far too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

Natsu held onto her wrist, his touch gentle. "You wanted me to stay in the bed...with you?"

She blushed even harder. God, this was embarrassing. She'd just figured, since they seemed so close, that she would've allowed him to share the bed with her. If she'd known that she'd crashed on the floor, she never would have offered! She just didn't want to act differently than her normal self. She just wanted to be as much like her real self as she could.

But she'd messed it all up, and now everything was strange.

"I didn't mean..." She trailed off, still glaring at the floor. "I just thought..."

Natsu didn't look the slightest bit phased; in fact, his face was incredibly stern, incredibly serious. "Are you scared to be alone?"

Lucy blinked at him. She hadn't thought about it—sleeping alone in her apartment, totally blank of memories, totally void of her past—but now, it did seem rather daunting. And it hadn't been her intent when she'd stupidly invited him to the bed, but she figured that since it was technically true, she'd use it as an excuse.

Lucy gave him a nod.

"Then, I'll stay with you." He said it so simply, like it wasn't the slightest bit odd. "Nothing to be scared of with me around, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy whispered back, still thoroughly embarrassed.

Natsu didn't seem to care about how horribly she was blushing; his grip on her wrist pulled down, his palm sliding against her hand, now. He intertwined their fingers and pulled her along, softly holding her hand, leading her to the bedroom.

"Get in—I'll turn off the light," Natsu said gently, voice smooth and comforting. Clearly, he was trying to make Lucy as comfortable as possible. It was kind of sweet.

Lucy hopped in the bed, pulling the blankets over herself. It was weird, laying in a bed that felt alien to you. The entire room was a little daunting, a little creepy. She had to admit, she was afraid to sleep there. It felt like a strangers' room.

"Wait," Lucy cried just as Natsu went to flick off the light. "Wait."

"You ok?"

"I'm scared of the dark."

Natsu gave her a crooked smile. "I got it."

He flickered off the light, but at the exact same instant he turned the lights off, he flicked his palm upwards; a little flame shot out, hovering about his hand. It lit the room dimly, just enough to keep it from being creepy. It was a soft, glowing light, one that made Lucy feel safe.

"That okay?" Natsu asked.

Lucy nodded, and Natsu made his way over to the bed; he hauled himself to the open side, careful to balance the little flame perfectly in the middle of his palm. He leaned back, still sort of sitting, against the headboard, letting the little flame keep the room lit softly.

Lucy flipped so she was facing him, snuggling into her pillows a bit. "Thank you. For everything."

Natsu looked down at her, eyes going soft. "You're welcome."

She let out a yawn. "I can see why you're my best friend. You're so nice."

He laughed. "Go to bed. You can't even keep your eyes open."

Lucy's eyes were shut, but she still mumbled out, "Least I don't snore like you."

Her eyes were closed, but she could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke. "Night, Luce."

Lucy let herself relax into her pillows, the soft glow from the flame making her feel safe, like she was perfectly at home.