I'm really amazed that so many people are reading this! I know that to other authors, it may not be a lot, but to me it is!

I really appreciate the readers as well as the reviewers. I like to know that I'm doing a decent job every once in a while ;)

Feel free to leave your thoughts/comments.

Please excuse any errors, I read this multiple times, but I still make mistakes.

I promise that we will get to an action scene here soon! I need to build up to it!

Enjoy!

***

Lucy's face began to feel hot from the sun that beat down on her through the curtains. She toyed with the idea of opening her eyes, but the room had yet to stop spinning. Her mouth tasted horribly, most likely due to the mixture of drinks she had engulfed the night before. Just thinking about those drinks made her want to hurl. Had she even brushed her teeth when she returned home? She tried to think about it, but couldn't remember. Her head hurt from the effort.

From what she could remember, Gray had escorted her home. She fuzzily remembered fumbling with her keys, even attempting to use one of her spirit keys to open the door. She groaned as she remembered that it was Aquarius she had summoned. Lucy would definitely pay for that later. It was no secret that the water bearer spirit detested the spirit mage.

She would also have to bribe Gray. Hopefully he hadn't told anyone about her drunken, mindless rambling from the night before. She supposed that she should feel sorry for continually reviving Juvia's crush on the ice mage. Perhaps after his help last night, she would.

"Shomshing's comingsh!" She heard the faint mumble from next to her. At first, she thought she was imagining the voice—a faint after-effect from her drunken coma. She turned her sore neck and throbbing head toward the voice. She risked peeking though her heavy lids, only to come face-to-face with a slumbering (and sleep-talking) Natsu.

Lucy momentarily forgot her aches from the night before. She ignored her pounding head and rotating room as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"You idiot! What are you doing? In my bed no less?" she throatily shrieked.

Natsu, being a deep sleeper, didn't stir. Lucy sat upright, slipping from under his outstretched arm. How had she not felt his arm draped across her stomach? She stared in wide-eyed amazement at the man who was sharing her bed. Had they...? No, Natsu wouldn't take advantage of her. Sure, he would easily use her apartment for his own needs, but he would never, never do that!

Lucy scrambled against the wall, drawing the sheets to her chest. She was wearing only a bra and underwear, the rest of her clothes discarded in a heap across the room. Natsu merely grumbled some more, rolling over to face away from her. She leaned forward and poked him in the back.

"N-Natsu?" her voice was soft, as if she feared waking him.

She pulled her finger back, covering her face with her hands. When--? Before she could finish the unspoken question, she saw two eyes peeking at her from the bottom of the bed, as Happy yawned and stretched in a very cat-like manner.

"I found Natsu," he replied groggily.

"I can see that!" Lucy snapped. "What are you two doing here?"

"What does it look like?" he replied sleepily, before pulling the covers over his head.

Lucy stared, her mouth agape in shock. Why was someone always in her apartment? This was getting to the point where it was ridiculous. And now, now, she had shared a bed with Natsu. And Happy, too! she told herself, as if to make the situation less awkward.

It wasn't that she didn't trust them. It was more about her integrity. She was a defenseless, single woman who lived by herself. If these two could easily break in here, then couldn't anyone?

She angrily placed a bare foot flat against Natsu's back, kicking him. Hard. He rolled off the edge of her warm bed, hitting the ground with a satisfying thud. He had managed to pull the covers with him in the process, leaving a partially-nude (and very angry) Lucy crouched against the wall. She could tell that Natsu had not stirred by the sound of his snoring as it emanated from his new sleeping spot on the floor. Lucy glared angrily at Happy, who was comfortably snoozing at the foot of her bed. She leaned forward and pushed him off, too.

"Get off!" she squealed as she shoved the tiny blue cat from her bed. Two intruders were now slumbering on her floor, the effects of their fall unknown to them.

Lucy huffed, as she angrily pounced to her feet. She quickly launched herself toward her bureau, pulling on a much-too-long t-shirt. It covered her thighs, which she thought was enough for now. She stared at the two morons who were sleeping contentedly on her floor. An evil smirk spread across her features as she scanned her desk with weary eyes. Where had she left that permanent marker....?

She turned the water off, her body dripping from her cool shower. She had hoped the chilly water would sober her senses. She squeezed the water from her hair, reaching for the towel. She dried herself off and quickly wrapped the towel around her body as she stepped from the tub.

Lucy was rubbing her weary eyes as she realized she was not alone in the bathroom. Standing with his back to her, in front of the toilet, was the swaying figure of a groggy Natsu.

"What the hell!?" she screeched, as she pulled her towel tighter around her body. Her wet hair sent icy water droplets down her back.

"Huh?" Natsu said, turning toward her. "Oh, hi Luce," his voice was raspy with sleep. With a quick motion of his hands, he had closed the front of his pants and flushed the toilet.

"Hi? Hi?" she hissed, "You're in my bathroom.. while I'm taking a shower, and all you can say is hi?" Her face was turning bright red from her screaming.

Natsu looked at Lucy, blinking his eyes as he realized his current predicament. His face, too, turned red. "S-sorry, Lucy!" he quickly dropped his eyes to the floor, turning his back to her. He must have glanced at his face in the mirror.

"What the fuck? What. The. Fuck. Happened. To. My. Face?" he howled as he attempted to rub the drawn-on glasses from around his eyes. When the ink didn't budge, he leaned down and splashed his face with water.

Lucy stood, in mock confusion, "Those are drawn-on glasses?" Sometimes being blonde worked to her advantage.

Before Natsu could answer, Happy swayed into the bathroom. He looked up at Natsu, a lopsided smile on his face. He blinked at the dragon slayer, obviously confused by the hieroglyphics on Natsu's face. Natsu returned the quizzical look, staring at the new, black, facial hair littered on Happy's blue face. Within moments, the two were pointing at one another and jumping around the bathroom.

"What the--?" "Who did that?" they said in unison.

Lucy brought her hands to her face, trying to hid the growing smirk that would not go away. Both Natsu and Happy turned angrily toward Lucy, suspecting the same illustrator. Natsu's eyes grew wide as his face became a deeper shade of red. Happy's face turned more purple—mostly because of the effects of having blue fur.

"What?" Lucy asked, confused by their sudden expressions.

"Y-your towel!" Natsu squeaked, as he quickly leaned down to cover Happy's eyes.

"What about--" Lucy looked down, realizing her cotton towel was crumpled at her feet.

"GET OUT!" she screeched as Natsu and Happy sprinted from the bathroom.

Lucy scrambled to pick up her towel, shoving the door shut behind the two freeloaders. "Don't you two dare come back here today!" she warned them from the other side of the door, her crimson face hidden by the wooden barrier between them.

Natsu and Happy stood at the front door; Natsu with his hand on the door knob. He glanced nervously at Happy, who returned his confused—and somewhat admiring look.

"Should we go?" Natsu whispered.

Happy looked toward the closed bathroom door, "Unless you want Lucy to kill us..."

Natsu opened the door, casting one last look toward the bathroom, a wide, toothy grin spread across his face. He shook his head as he closed the door behind them.

Lucy heard the door to her apartment shut. She slammed her head against the wooden door. Why did these thing always happen to her?

"Well, at least those two morons are gone," she said in an attempt to cheer herself up. She opened the door, peeking into her apartment. Yup, definitely gone!

She opened the door, stepping out into her small studio apartment. She looked at the crumpled sheets on her bed—Natsu's poor attempt to clean up after himself. She glowered at her bed; she hadn't even had the chance to ream out Natsu for breaking into her apartment and sleeping in her bed. With her, nonetheless.

She rolled her eyes, remembering that tonight was the gala. She would see him later, no doubt. If he remembered about the formal, that is. Lucy opened her closet, pulling her new dress from the rack. She smiled to herself, if this dress didn't make her look sexy, nothing would. She stared thoughtfully at the shimmery, dark blue material with its deep v-neck. She would need to do some shopping, to find a nice pair of panties and a bra that would work well with the dress. She wanted to enhance her figure, or so she told herself.

And her hair! She raised her hands to her wet mane, which was now tangled thanks to Natsu and Happy's shenanigans.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Perhaps Cancer will help me!" Her eyes sparkled as she thought of how well her hair would look after he styled her hair and did her makeup. She was definitely going to be the best looking sorceress there. No doubt about it!

Natsu, she thought darkly, is not going to know what hit him! A very satisfied smirk spread across her face as she envisioned what tonight would hold.

Lucy was allowing Cancer to put the finishing touches of makeup on her face when she heard the knock on her door. "Ooh, you have to go!" she squealed at her celestial stylist.

"But I'm not done, ebi" he pouted. A frown was evident by the furrow of his brow behind his dark glasses.

"But Natsu's here!" she whispered frantically.

"As you wish," he shrugged. "Have fun, Lucy," he winked behind his glasses as he looked over her once more. "You look hot!"

Lucy blushed before she closed the gate, returning Cancer to the Spirit World. She quickly glanced in the mirror as she rushed toward the door. She pulled the door open, only to find Natsu pacing nervously in the hall.

"..damned thing is so uncomfortable..." he mumbled with his back to her. "...stupid having do dress up.."

"Natsu?" Lucy asked hesitantly, her eyes falling over his outfit.

His body went rigid as he heard her voice, and he slowly turned toward her. Lucy gasped at the sight: his hair was neat! In fact, he looked rather handsome in his black suit with a thin, shimmery blue tie with a matching vest. His pink hair was gelled and combed, making him look more studious than Lucy was accustomed to. She risked a glance at his feet, silently praying he had worn decent shoes. And he had. She let out a sigh of relief, realizing she had been holding her breath.

"T-these are for you!" he growled, shoving the bouquet in her face. It was a dozen deep red roses, littered with bright greens and tiny white tea roses. It was quite breathtaking.

"Natsu," Lucy choked, in utter shock at his appearance as well as his handful of flowers.

"Well? Aren't you going to take 'em?" he muttered, his face turning pink.

"I, uh...thank you!" she whispered, taking the flowers from his hands. She breathed in their scent, closing her eyes and reveling in the aroma of the fresh bouquet. "How...er, romantic of you!" She batted her eyelashes.

"Mirajane told me I should," he countered, staring at the floor.

Lucy's face fell, as if he had smacked her. "Oh." Why couldn't he just take credit for the gesture? It would have meant much more to her if he had. She had almost convinced herself that he had bought her flowers because he wanted to. Not because Mirajane told him he should.

"W-well, come in," Lucy gestured toward her apartment. "I just have to put on my dress and I'm ready to go."

"You're not going in that?" Natsu asked eyeing the pink cotton robe.

"Of course I'm not!" Lucy snapped, his most recent statement still stinging her ego.

"I'm just kidding, Luce," Natsu waved his hands, "What's bothering you?" He studied her face, as he awaited her answer, his face serious.

"Nothing," she sniffed as she turned and pranced into her apartment. She threw the flowers on the table—she would find a vase in a minute. Lucy waltzed over to the closet door, pulling the dress from its hanger and scooping up her shoes from the floor.

"I'll be ready in a minute," she called over her shoulder, as Natsu settled into the futon.

Fifteen minutes later—much to Natsu's chagrin—Lucy was finally ready. She opened the door, her face flushed like a child's. Natsu's head turned when he heard the faint tapping of her shoes on the floor. When he saw her, his mouth fell open.

"Well? What do you think?" Lucy asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

"I-I...y-you l-l-look..." he trailed off, his mouth suddenly becoming dry. Sure, he had seen Lucy dressed up before, but never like this!

Lucy smiled; she had done it. She looked great and she knew it. Her dark, shimmering blue dress hugged her curves, accentuating her bust as well as the feminine dip of her hips. She knew that the neckline plunged low, but a little tape and a good bra would keep her inside the dress. The slit up the side of her dress showed off her well-toned legs, as well.

She would thank Cancer for his miracle work on her hair and makeup, later. He had managed to make her look glamorous without applying too much product. Her hair was in a neat updo, a few wisps of hair framing her face.

It was just the reaction she was looking for. "Thanks!" she smiled.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she responded sweetly. It was true, he did look rather...hot. Especially for Natsu. She had been really worried that he would not dress up enough for the event. She mildly wondered if Mirajane had picked out his outfit. She wouldn't be surprised if she had dressed him as well.

"Thanks, Lucy," he mumbled. "It's...er, rather uncomfortable! I mean, it's really constricting my neck. And, I can barely move my arms," he rolled his shoulders forward to demonstrate.

Lucy ignored his complaints, as she reached out to take his arm. "Are you ready to go?" she purred.

Natsu licked his lips, his eyes momentarily falling on the plunging v-neck of her dress before nodding his ascension. "Y-yeah."

"Good," Lucy cast one last look over her shoulder as she locked the apartment behind her. "Let's go have an awesome time!"