Chapter 2 it is! Holy moly I would just like to thank you all for the wonderful response to the first chapter! I never expected such great feedback! :D What a great way to be welcomed into a fandom!

This chapter seems a bit odd to me, but hopefully it won't to you. I'm still messing around with the characters. XD

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Job

I frowned, squinting at the tiny print on the job request form. Being body guards for a one-night event? That didn't exactly fit the bill for the job I was looking for. Levy had set me on the task of finding a perfect job, while she went and tried to convince Gajeel to come with us.

Natsu was surprisingly picky when it came to jobs. If it was our whole team he didn't care if the job was harvesting corn, but if he was going with only one other person, or with a different team, he was oddly choosy.

I shook my head at the next job. It would only take a few days as well. We needed one that would take an extended amount of time. Maybe a week or two? That would be just about the right amount of time.

"Lucy!" Levy sang from behind me, skipping over to my side and bouncing on her toes.

"What'd he say?" I asked. I had expected it to take longer for her to convince Gajeel to go on a job with Natsu of all people.

Levy grinned, "He was just fine with it; and he said to pick out an interesting one."

I groaned, "Easier said than done."

"It shouldn't be that hard," Levy said, her face shooting forward to read a request, her nose almost plastered to the job board.

I stood back, looking over to where Natsu was still sleeping. I hoped that he'd be willing to go. Surely he'd want to go on a job with me even if it wasn't with our regular team.

"Oh these don't sound fun at all," Levy groaned.

I looked back to where she was standing on her tip-toes, reading a job that was pinned to the board much higher than she could normally see. I sighed. We would need to find one that was more than just, 'fun' if we wanted Natsu to come along.

"Looking for a job?"

I glanced over my shoulder to where Mira was sashaying toward us, a small stack of paper in her hands. I nodded just as she reached us and peeked at the papers. The new round of jobs. Maybe there would be something more interesting in there.

I made a dive for the papers but Mira quickly held them out of my reach, a sneaky gleam in her eyes.

"I don't think you should take any of these," she said, instead pulling out a small folded piece of paper and handing it to me.

I unfolded it carefully, curiosity biting at my stomach as I pulled open the sheet of paper. Another job request. I glanced up at Mira and she nodded, telling me to read it. I slowly looked back down at the request and the first thing I noticed was the picture. It was of a small blue statue in the shape of a dragon. I cocked an eyebrow. Surely if a job had something to do with dragons Natsu would be more than intrigued.

"To whom it may concern," the job started off. I frowned, that was a weird way to start off a request. I read over it quickly. Apparently the gist of the job was to catch a band of thieves that had robbed a few nearby museums. They had stolen three relics in the course of three days and the curator which ran all three of the museums was desperate to get the antiques back. It wasn't anything special, there were jobs to catch thieves all the time, but what really caught my attention was the reward price at the bottom.

"1,000,000 JEWEL!" I practically yelled. That was the equivalent of an S-class quest. Normal jobs never paid anywhere near that much.

Levy snatched the paper out of my hands and quickly began reading over it. I was frozen in place, my mind swimming with the possibility of that much money. I would be set on rent for months!

I heard Mira giggle, "I thought you might think that. But also it has something to do with dragons I think, based on the picture."

I nodded, swallowing the surprise lodged in my throat, "Why does it pay so much?"

Mira shrugged, "Master made a few calls because he thought it was a joke but it turned out to be very real. I don't really know why they're offering so much."

"This sounds perfect," Levy said, handing the request back to me. "I think Natsu and Gajeel both will be excited for it."

"Natsu will be excited for what?"

I jumped as the paper was once again yanked from my grasp, this time by a very sleepy and confused looking Dragon Slayer. I hadn't noticed that he had woken up. Natsu read the paper carefully, his finger tracing the lines of text as my heart rate calmed down. He always did have a way of sneaking up on me. I should've been used to it by now.

Natsu nodded, giving the paper back to me, "So you're going to go try out that job, Luce?"

I nodded, "Yeah, Levy and Gajeel are coming, and I was wondering if you'd want to come too?"

My heart rate again skyrocketed. I had to blurt it out quickly or I wouldn't have had the courage. My mind was flooded with 'what ifs'. What if he said no? What if he thought I was crazy just for wanting to go on a job with him? What if-

"O'course! If it has to do with dragons, I'm all in!" Natsu yelled, his fists engulfed in flames almost instantly.

I didn't want to kill his party but I also didn't want him to be surprised out on the job. "It is just a statue of a dragon, you realize that right?"

Natsu's flames went out, "Sure! But with a reward like that there's got to be some action in there somewhere!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. Natsu was always so gung-ho about everything. I envied him sometimes, wishing I could get as excited as he did over anything, even something as trivial as breakfast like he did. Natsu turned around, shaking Happy, who was still dead asleep on the table, awake. The blue Exceed rubbed his eyes sleepily as Natsu explained to him that we were going on another job.

"So what'd you pick, Shrimp?"

Another voice joined our group as Gajeel sauntered over, resting an arm on Levy's head as he read the job request that I had put down on the table. His eyes scanned it before he nodded.

"Good choice; when're we leaving?" Gajeel asked, peering down at Levy.

"Well, we," she said, motioning over to me, Natsu, and Happy, "Are leaving tomorrow morning?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow to ask me if the timing was alright.

I opened my mouth to tell her it was fine but Natsu spoke up before I could.

"Alright! Tomorrow morning it is!" Natsu pumped a fist in the air as Happy nodded, giving him a weak 'Aye sir' before yawning.

Gajeel groaned, "I can't believe you convinced me to go along with this asshat," he said, shooting a glare at Natsu.

Levy shoved Gajeel's arm off her head and put her fists on her hips, her face flushing in embarrassment because of the foul name. "Yes, Natsu's coming; and don't be so mean," she said, giving Gajeel a disapproving glare.

Gajeel chuckled and rolled his eyes but didn't speak up further on the subject.

"Okay," I said, oddly happy that it had been as easy as it was to convince both Gajeel and Natsu to come. "We leave tomorrow morning at nine. We'll meet at the train station, and then head off to…" I trailed off, looking down at the request form for a location. "Ratsel Town," I finished, nodding to myself before folding the paper again and stuffing it into my pocket.

0=0=0=0=0=0=0

I walked out of the bathroom few hours later, a towel wrapped around myself as my hair dripped onto the tile floor. A shower had been just what I had needed to calm my nerves down, a good night's sleep would come easily.

I padded over to the fridge, pulling out a half sandwich and closing the door to the appliance. I set the sandwich on the counter and brought my hands to my hair, wringing out the tangled mess before running my fingers through the blonde locks a few times.

I was excited, I had to admit. I always got the little pinch of anticipation when we were about to go on a job but I had to admit this was a bit different. This job had a purpose, and that purpose was to get Natsu to realize how he felt about me. I shook my head. I was thinking of it as a fact now. Levy and Mira both thought that Natsu felt something, however I still had my doubts. But surely if he did in fact care for me as more than a friend, the confession would come soon, just like Mira had said.

I sighed and walked over to the small table and plopped down in one of the chairs, adjusting the towel around my chest.

We had hand-picked this job especially for this purpose. It would be an easy one, one that gave me and Natsu more time together. I wondered for a moment if Levy was right, that if Natsu saw a couple he'd end up wanting to be in one. I shook my head. I had no idea what to expect out of Natsu this go around. He always seemed to surprise me and I doubted that I'd ever be able to predict how he would react.

I reached down for my sandwich, still deep in thought but my hand hit the table instead. I looked down and noticed my dinner was gone. My eyes widened, shooting up as I whirled around to find the culprit. It didn't take me too long to find the thief as a certain pink hared Dragon Slayer was once again present in my apartment even though he hadn't been invited.

"Aaah, Lucy you make the worst sandwiches," Natsu coughed, now lying on my bed, moving his tongue around in his mouth like he had eaten a bug.

"NATSU?!" I yelled, my hands flying to the towel around me and pinning it closer. He just didn't know boundaries.

"What?" he asked, stretching and collapsing across my bed, his leg hanging off one side with his hands behind his head.

"Get out!" I yelled, afraid to move for fear I'd give him a little flash of what was beneath the towel.

"Oh, come on Lucy! You know you have like, the most comfortable bed in the world," he whined.

"It's true!" Happy's voice chimed in as he flew out of the bathroom, doing a small loop in the air before landing with a thud next to Natsu.

I smacked my hand to my face. Of course Happy would be intruding as well. I shot them both a glare before standing up carefully and scooting back into the bathroom. I threw on some clothes, all the while cursing to myself. I knew Natsu was completely innocent, just simply wanting to sleep on a comfy bed, but Happy was another story. I was pretty sure the Exceed knew everything, and he also knew how uncomfortable it made me when they spent the night. But invasion of privacy seemed to be the Dragneel way, cats included.

Once I was fully dressed I stormed back into the main room, ready to give them a proper yelling but Natsu took me by surprise. He had scooted to one side of the bed, up against the wall and quickly patted the bed beside him once he realized I was back in the room.

"What?" I squeaked, my face instantly engulfed in heat.

He patted the bed again. "Come on. We both need our rest if we're going to go out on a request tomorrow."

I swallowed, any feeling of malice toward the boy dissipating. I hobbled over to the bed awkwardly, sliding on next to him and lying down, stiff as a board.

It was quiet for a long time. I was now way too tense to fall asleep but by the absolute quiet in the room I figured Natsu already had. But I was proved wrong as he spoke up.

"So why're we going on a job with Levy and Gajeel anyway?"

I relaxed a little, turning my head to look at him. "Levy suggested it. She said it might be fun for the four of us to go."

Of course I was leaving out the big chunk about this basically being one gigantic date. Or… pre-date.

Natsu nodded. Apparently I had answered his question to his satisfaction. Another long silence filled the room. I looked around, tapping my toe, waiting for any hint of sleepiness to come. But it didn't. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Natsu. He was staring at the ceiling as well, a smile on his face.

"That bastard just better leave all the fighting to me," he mumbled with a grin before flopping onto his side, facing me and closing his eyes.

I smiled, forcing down a chuckle. I was curious to see in the end how Natsu and Gajeel got along. They hadn't ever been on a job together. They had fought against each other, and they had been on the same side in fighting with a large group of people, but never just the two of them out fighting on a job. They had only been together once, in the Grand Magic Games, and that hadn't ended too well. I hoped that this time it would go a little better.

Natsu's snore rang out in the air and I jumped. There was no way I'd be able to sleep with that. I sighed, looking down at Happy who had been curled up at the end of the bed sleeping but also jolted awake by the bulldozer that was sleeping next to me.

Happy crawled up to sit on my left, on the opposite side of Natsu and gave the boy a disapproving glance. I had no idea how the Exceed could put up with this snore for however many nights they had spent together.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as Natsu's arm swung out to the side, flopping across my stomach. My breath hitched and my cheeks flushed, my heart pounding. I had to look to Natsu again to make sure he was asleep and not playing some prank, but by the peaceful look, I realized he was most certainly not awake.

I sighed, a goofy smile stretching across my face. My giddiness was short lived however as I was interrupted by a certain flying feline.

"She liiiiiikes him."

"Shut up, cat!" I hissed, shoving him off the side of the bed.

So there it is! I hope you liked it! A filler chapter and it's only chapter two. *bows profusely* So sorry. XD And there was a bit of fluff... if you squint hard enough.

Again thank you for the wonderful faves/follows/ and especially reviews I love them all.

And a big thanks to the reviewers last chapter: Musical Teardrops, KanaeHitomi, Puma, AmethystxViolet, IfYouLovedMe, kurisu313, pokeninja6600, and Let's Build Our Own Heaven. You guys get a big gigantic internet high-five from me!

I hope you have a great week!