Always Love You

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

The boisterous guild instantly fell silent when Team Natsu burst through the doors. Natsu was the first to walk in, fists clenched angrily at his sides and his usually happy face was contorted into a menacing scowl. Lucy was hot on his tail, her left arm held up in a sling. She was the one that had announced their entrance. Erza, Gray, Wendy, and the Exceeds followed them inside, all of them looking a mix of annoyed and worried. "What's wrong with them?" Mirajane asked quietly as Gray sat down at the bar. He shrugged.

"They've been going at it the whole walk home," he said, rolling his eyes as he ordered his drink.

"Why don't you just stop and explain this to me?" Lucy asked, putting her good hand on her hip. Natsu spun around.

"Since when have I ever explained anything to you?" he spat back.

"Now would be a good time to start!"

"No, it wouldn't!"

"Yes, it would!"

"No!"

"Bullshit!" There were collective gasps among the room. Lucy never swore, other than "damn" or "ass." Lucy lifted a hand to her face. "Oh, for crying out loud…" she groaned.

"You're not crying," Natsu stated in a strangled voice. He paused or a moment, and added, "Yet, anyway."

"I know that!" the blonde screeched, throwing her hand up for emphasis. "Now stop whatever it is that you're doing! Were you trying to get rid of me or something?" Natsu's eyes widened with shock, and she almost regretted saying the words at all. Almost. He seemed hurt that she had even suggested it.

"Well, shit," he said, his brows pinching together. "If that's the way you see it, then fine. It wasn't safe."

Lucy blinked. "Excuse me?" she said softly, earning nervous stares from several boys in the guild. "I've thrown myself off a tower, been through countless battles like the rest of you, and I have the guts to stay with you – an egotistical, temperamental, fire-breathing brute of a man!"

"Don't be fucking stupid, Lucy!" he snarled. "I'd never hurt you on purpose, you idiot—"

"How am I the stupid one? You're the one—"

"It's because it's my fault!" he roared, coming toward her in a rush with his hand raised. Lucy flinched, and he halted immediately. Realizing what he'd almost done, he used that raised hand to rub the back of his neck. They stared at each other, breathing heavily.

"What's your fault?" she asked slowly, refusing to take a step back.

"You got hurt. You were right there, right under my fucking nose and I let that bastard get a hold of you! You were so close I could've grabbed you!" He ran a hand through his messy hair, and eyed the nearest table as if he wanted to slam his head into it.

Lucy felt her blood boil. "I am not some damsel in distress, Natsu! I can take care of myself and you know it!"

"Look where that got you," Natsu hissed, gesturing to her broken arm. "That could have been prevented if I had been faster."

"We've been over this before, Natsu! The two of us have been in millions of life or death situations! What makes this time so different? Why are you beating yourself up so much over this mission?"

"It's different, dammit!" They were stepping closer to each other with each retort as the tension heightened. Their faces were red from fury. And nobody watching dared to try and stop the argument.

"How," she grit out, "is it different?" Natsu paused, trying to come up with the best way to phrase it. But Lucy mistook his pause for hesitation. She spoke in a softer tone, but still held the anger. "I've told you this countless times before. It's not your fault that I got hurt. We've all broken limbs before." She poked his chest with her finger, jabbing him rather painfully with each word. "It's. Not. Your. Fault."

"It's different because…" He trailed off, still not having a firm grasp on what he wanted to say. Lucy held up a hand.

"Save it." And with that, she turned toward the guild doors. But before she left, she sent him a look over her shoulder. "Why don't you stay at your place tonight?" Before he could respond, she left.

Natsu kept his little shack in the middle of the forest for situations like this. Knowing his infamous temper, he needed a place to cool down away from people who could agitate him further – i.e. Lucy. She had a special talent to piss him off beyond his limits. It didn't happen very often, but when it did, he felt ready to kill her. Although they both know he would never lay a hand on her.

Right now, he was lying in his hammock, his foot pushing up against the wall, causing the hammock the swing back and forth. He felt bad. He knew Lucy was right. He did overreact about her getting hurt. But… she's his wife, now. He needs to protect her. He has to protect her. And knowing that he failed to protect her… it killed him inside. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, sinking farther into the fabric. He jumped when there was a knock at the door. "Whaddya want?" he snapped, instantly knowing who it was. Lucy was the only one who knew where his house is besides Happy. He heard her try to open the door.

"Natsu," she said, her voice muffled from the wooden door. "Open the door."

"No," he said stubbornly.

"Dammit, Natsu, stop being a drama queen."

"I'm not a drama queen! I'm a guy!"

"Whatever," she sighed. She sighed and spoke in a softer tone. "Natsu, please open the door."

"Make me."

"Stop acting like a toddler, Natsu. You're twenty-three." The Dragon Slayer folded his arms across his chest and stuck out his tongue toward the door, something he knew she couldn't see. "Put your tongue back in your mouth. You'll catch flies." Natsu blinked, slowly retracting his tongue. How…? There was a long pause. "Are you seriously not gonna open the door?"

"Nope."

"Fine." He heard her take a breath. "Natsu, I'm sorry." The Salamander felt his eyes widen. She was… apologizing? Why was she the one apologizing? He scoffed.

"Well, I don't accept," he said childishly.

There was a pause. "You can't just deny my apology!" she yelled.

"I just did." He changed the tone in his voice. "Besides… you didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't be apologizing. I should be the one apologizing."

"Then do it." Natsu took a deep breath, running a hand down his face. He stood from his hammock and approached the door, unlocking it and opening it. There she was, looking as pretty as ever, her good hand perched on her hip. She was looking up at him expectantly. "I'm waiting."

"Lucy, I…" he began, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry."

"For…?"

"For overreacting about you getting hurt. For yelling at you, for making you think I consider you as a damsel in distress. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He growled in frustration as he ruffled his hair. He hated apologizing, and he was never very good at it. He was expecting Lucy to yell at him about making his apology more meaningful or something, but her lecture never came. He jumped in surprise when stepped closer to him and wrapped her arm around him.

"Was that so hard?" she asked teasingly, leaning against his chest. Natsu smiled and returned the hug, taking care to not agitate her arm. He lowered his head to kiss the top of her head.

"Just so you know, I know you can take care of yourself," he said into her hair.

"Oh, really?"

"Don't be like that. You're a member of Fairy Tail. It's obvious that you can take care of yourself." They stayed like that for a moment. With the side of her face pressed up against his chest, she listened to his heart as it thrummed against his ribcage. Before she could stop it, tears pricked at the back of her eyes. He could feel her shoulders shaking. "Luce?" he said softly, resting his chin on the top of her head. "What's wro—"

"I'm sorry," she breathed. The tone in her voice caught him off guard, and when she sniffled, that's when he realized what that salty smell was. She was crying. No… No, no, no… He didn't want her to cry. He hated seeing her cry. Her grip around him tightened. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey," he said gently, putting his hands on her shoulders and pulling her back so he could look her in the eye. "Hey. None of that." He cupped her face with both hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "Look at me, Lucy." She did as told, lifting her face to look at him through tearful eyes. He smiled. "I already told you, didn't I? Don't apologize. You didn't do anything."

"I… I screamed at you," she whimpered, sucking in a shaky breath. Natsu laughed lightly.

"So? I still love you." Lucy sniffled and lifted her hand to grab his wrist, holding his hand in place against her cheek. He shrugged. "Besides, you scream at me all the time. I don't know what made this time any different." He used the hand she wasn't holding to brush her hair behind her ear. "Nothing could ever drive me away from you." He whispered the next part. "I'll always love you." With that said, he ducked his head and kissed her. She instantly returned it, stepping closer to him. "Hey," he muttered against her lips. She hummed in response. "Can I come home?" Lucy laughed breathily.

"Of course."

Author's Note: Ne, mina! Wow! I've been updating like crazy lately, haven't I? And we've hit chapter twenty, the second milestone in this story! (The first one was reaching 100 reviews.) Speaking of reviews, why don't you drop one off before you leave?