Sorry for the long break between updates. I've been trying to get stuff out every other day but I had two days in between seven and eight. However, I've been rather busy, though no fear, this shall continue without slowing progress. I really like to write these chapters and I hope you enjoy them too! Until next Author's Note, enjoy!

Here's Chapter 8!

7:30 A.M. Lucy's house was silent, until an extremely annoying alarm clock decided to go off. With that, Natsu's eyes shot open and he growled, remembering how annoying the stupid thing was in his house and he didn't think that anyone else could have something so annoying. At Natsu's growl, Lucy started to giggle, completely forgetting the fact that Natsu was sleeping right next to her without her permission. She was comfortable, therefore, she was happy.

"I guess they don't have those in Earthland, do they?" Lucy asked.

"Nope, since we can take jobs whenever, we wake up whenever and can do whatever we want. It's actually pretty sweet."

"Wow, sounds great. I'd do anything to not have to hear that stupid thing go off again and again."

"Yeah, I'm not really used to them. But thanks for letting me sleep in your bed Lucy." Natsu ended with a smile.

3...2...1...

"NATSU DRAGNEEL WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? YOU CAN'T JUST SLEEP IN SOMEONE ELSE'S BED, ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT PERSON IS IN THE BED AND IS A GIRL."

"Woah jeez Lucy, no need to yell. I heard enough loud noises from that damn alarm clock."

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING? YOU CAN'T SLEEP IN MY BED WHEN I'M IN IT."

"So I can sleep in it when you're not in it?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" With that, Lucy shoved Natsu off the bed, since he was lying on the side of the bed that wasn't facing the wall.

"Worth it." Natsu mumbled.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"I said it was worth it. Your bed is so comfortable, and it smells so good too! I REALLY like sleeping in your bed."

"Well it's not about to become a regular thing. Get ready for school, it starts in an hour."

"I'm already wearing my uniform so what would I need to do besides like brush my teeth and eat breakfast."

"Wouldn't you need to shower or something? I mean when was the last time you showered?"

"Umm... I think the night before I came here. I was going on a long mission so I was going to clean myself before going."

"So that was what? Three days ago? Are you serious? You're going to smell really bad you know. Quickly take a shower because I need to take one as well."

"But I don't want to."

"Natsu if you have any dreams of ever sleeping in my bed again then you better take a shower!" Lucy wasn't going to let him sleep in her bed ever again, but that was a good enough of a motivator for him. He ran right into the bathroom and took a shower in under ten minutes. When he got out, Lucy could tell he smelled a LOT better than before.

"Alright I'm clean. I'm just gonna wait here, tell me when you're ready to go."

"Okay Natsu, I'll be out soon enough."

When Lucy exited the bathroom it was 8:10, and she saw Natsu sitting in the same spot lighting his hand on fire and then putting it out. He did this several times and still found it exciting.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah, lots of fun Lucy."

"Alright, lets go, class starts in twenty minutes."

"But I'm hungry Lucy!"

"Then grab a muffin or something, I don't know, but the school is at least ten minutes by walking so hurry up!"

Natsu walked into the kitchen and came back a minute or two later empty handed.

"Weren't you going to eat a muffin, Natsu?"

"Already did."

"Okay then let's go. It's 8:15 and school starts at 8:30"

The two of them walked out of her apartment and closed the door. They began to walk down the street to school when they passed by a familiar bench. It was the bench that Natsu left Dan on. It was empty. That could either mean he woke up and left or he was taken away by someone. Lucy didn't really care for either possible outcome. She wouldn't have cared if Dan was dead.

About five minutes after passing the bench, the two arrived at school slightly earlier than expected. It was only 8:22 when they arrived and it turned out their classrooms were right next to each other so they agreed to meet up after first to walk to second together. After they went their separate ways, Natsu walked into English class, his first period. He hoped Sting got the joke, so that the Minerva person he was talking about would be okay with him and Sting hanging out. From Sting's description, she sounded like another Erza, and one Erza was definitely enough for her.

"Yo Natsu, I see you did a number on Dan yesterday. Not only did you complete the bet but you beat the shit outta Dan. Good job man!" Sting said cheerfully

"Dan didn't put up much of a fight. Even when he had the sword out he couldn't do much at all." Natsu responded.

"He pulled the sword out on you and you managed to still win? Wow, you're awesome!"

"Yeah I just knocked him out, that's all. He didn't really do much at all. Just a bang on the back of the head and he was out."

"I heard you knocked him out so hard that he completely forgot about it. He came into school today with a bunch of bruises on his face and had no idea how he got them. We started laughing at him and telling him that it was you and he sounded so pissed off."

"I got a friend who taught how to knock people out right just enough to cause partial amnesia. It's a pretty neat trick, knocks them out so that they don't remember the last hour or so before they were hit." Natsu explained. Erza and Natsu didn't have a friends relationship. More like little brother and big sister.

"You got to show me sometime dude, that sounds awesome."

"Sure thing."

"Yo he also said he couldn't find his sword, what'd you do with it? I woulda kept it as a souvenir." Sting asked. Oh shit, Natsu thought. Well he couldn't say he melted it. He and Sting were friends of course, but there was no way he would have believed it.

"Threw it in the river next to the road. The thing sunk pretty fast."

"Maybe we should tell Dan where it is and see if he goes to search for it." Sting joked.

"He'd probably hire like fifteen professional divers to find that thing before buying a new one." Natsu added.

"Hey you wanna meet up after school? The rest of the guys want to congratulate you for beating the shit out of Dan." Sting asked.

"I'll tell you in fifth. Dan might want a rematch or something." Natsu said.

"Alright, we should probably pay attention now. Class started fifteen minutes ago." Sting said.

"Those were the best fifteen minutes of this class I'll ever have." Natsu mumbled under his breath. Sting heard him and laughed. He couldn't help but agree.

After first was over, Natsu met up with Lucy in the hallway. Unbeknownst to him, some were staring at Natsu with compassionate eyes. They felt bad because they thought he'd have to face the wrath of Dan. No one else besides Natsu and Lucy knew that Lucy broke up with Dan. A few kids knew from Sting that Natsu beat Dan up, but besides them, everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing. However one pair of eyes were staring him down with anger. The owner of those eyes, Dan Straight, walked up to Natsu.

"Hey pinky, what do you think you're doing talking to my Lucy." Dan said with anger in every word he spoke.

"Your Lucy? I'm not anyone's Dan. Though I doubt you'd care, because you already have your Angel." Lucy said back. She didn't have time to think of a good way to officially break up with Dan, but since there were already lots of people staring, she might as well do it now.

Immediately Dan froze. He then looked at Natsu. Maybe by blaming him he could hide the fact he was with Angel a lot.

"So, you're the one who told her I was with Angel?" Dan said to Natsu.

"Yeah, I kind of am. Though I didn't mean to, it's just she doesn't belong with a heartless bastard like you."

"How dare you! Do you even know who I am?"

"Yeah, you're the guy I kicked the shit out of yesterday, in front of your ex-girlfriend."

Nobody could believe what they heard. A nobody, pink-haired freak, who insisted it was salmon, just started trash talking the Dan Straight. Oh poor Natsu, they thought.

"So you're the one filling my girlfriend's head with lies, huh?" Dan asked again, looking almost as pissed as he sounded.

"Lies? You're the only lying to your EX-girlfriend. I heard you yesterday yelling at that kid for talking to YOUR Angel. Don't tell me that I'm lying because you know I'm not. And if you're going to lie to your EX-girlfriend's face, I suppose you'd have a lie as to how you found out about how I was talking to her yesterday. I heard that kid say that someone was talking Lucy and you immediately grabbed your sword and began to chase us down. How else would you have known if I was talking to her?" Natsu emphasized the ex in ex-girlfriend. No way was she letting Dan still call her his girlfriend.

Dan froze up. He was caught in the act. Natsu heard everything from that conversation yesterday. There was no way he was getting out of it. But Natsu didn't stop there.

"And if you REALLY loved Lucy, you wouldn't have to protect her as much as you do. It's not right to prevent her from talking to HALF the human race you know. She has feelings too. And you can ignore them all you want because she's not going to be your girlfriend any longer!" Natsu ended his speech there.

"And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?" Dan asked again.

"I'm not letting a heartless bastard like you get your hands on her again." Natsu said defensively.

"And what are you going to do about it? Fight me?" Dan was beyond pissed. Some pink haired stranger was telling him that his girlfriend (really ex-girlfriend) was no longer with her.

"If that's what it takes, I'll do it." Natsu answered.

"Alright fine, front of the school, after 7th." (7th is the last class in this school).

"Sure thing Dan, would you like to bring the crowd? It'd be nice for them to watch me kick your ass." Natsu said, egging Dan on.

Dan turned around and faced the crowd saying, "FRONT OF SCHOOL, AFTER 7TH, I'M GOING TO FIGHT THIS PINK HAIRED FREAK."

"Hey Dan, wanna make a bet?" Natsu asked. Dan turned around.

"And what would that bet be?" He answered Natsu's question with a question.

"If I win, you don't see Lucy ever again. If you win, I don't see Lucy ever again." Natsu said, full of confidence.

"Deal. Better say your final goodbyes to Lucy." Dan said as he turned and walked away.

"Good luck, NATSU" Lucy said, emphasizing the Natsu part loud enough that Dan could hear it. She wasn't afraid that Natsu was going to lose. No, Natsu was most definitely going to win again. Now that Dan didn't have the sword, Natsu could easily destroy Dan.

Then the two remembered, it was time to get to class.

As they walked into their history class, they were told they were going to get a group project, but that they could pick their partner. Natsu and Lucy obviously paired up for this one. They were the only friends each other had in the class. There was no way Lucy was going to pair up with Dan, who happened to be in the opposite corner of the room.

When Dan saw those two pair up, he was beyond furious. He watched as the person he thought was his talk casually to the pink haired guy. No way in hell was he going to lose that fight. Even if it meant Lucy was going to have to do the project all by herself, he was most definitely going to win. Dan pulled out his phone and called one of the servants of his house to get him a new sword. He was whispering so quietly that no one could hear him.

No one, that is, except Natsu Dragneel, who had the hearing of a dragon. He was elated to work on the project with Lucy, but when he heard that Dan was getting a new sword, he needed to do something. He would ask Lucy during lunch.

Nothing interesting happened during third. Natsu talked a bit with Rogue but didn't do much else. During fourth, when they were both in the class, Natsu broke the news to Sting.

"So Dan's challenging me to a fight after school today in the front entrance." Natsu said casually.

"Oh, I'm definitely going to go then! I can't wait to watch you put Dan in his place again." Sting said.

"With that bet added, you're certainly doing Lucy a favor." Rogue said.

"What bet?" Sting asked.

"Oh did you hear? Natsu made a bet with Dan since Lucy just broke up with him. The loser isn't allowed to talk to Lucy for the rest of their lives." Rogue said.

"Wow, you're certainly doing a favor for her. You two friends or something now?" Sting asked.

"Well yeah, we're really close friends now. We got a group project together, and she chose me to be her partner instead of Dan, which is totally awesome." Natsu said, smiling.

"That's nice. Well I can tell you one thing, she definitely owes you one for keeping her away from Dan. Dan is a man of his word after all, and it's pretty good he forgot about what happened yesterday so he doesn't know how strong you are."

Natsu had lunch after fourth. He looked around and found Lucy sitting alone, while trying to fend off an annoying Dan.

"I told you I'm not going to eat with my EX-boyfriend." Lucy said. She too, was emphasizing the ex part.

"Listen darling, we can get back together. You know I love you, right?" Dan said.

"Not as much as you love Angel. And don't call me darling, Dan. I don't want anything to do with you." Lucy said.

Dan realized it wasn't just Natsu who told him that he was no longer dating Lucy and he was not going to take it.

"You take that back, Lucy." Dan said.

"Make me!" Lucy responded.

Before Dan could do anything, Lucy's best friend and pink-haired protector showed up.

"You won't do anything to her. She doesn't want anything to do with you and if you can't understand that now, I'll have to beat it out of you after school today." Natsu said.

"Thanks Natsu." Lucy said with a smile.

That smile killed Dan on the inside. He was jealous because that smile wasn't for him. No, it was for Natsu. He was in no position to fight, however. He didn't want to get detention and miss the real fight. Besides there'd be a crowd for him to show his strength to when he beats Natsu up. Dan went away.

"Ok so I heard Dan was going to get a new sword today." Natsu said.

"What are you going to do, you can't use fire." Lucy said.

"Umm... does anyone in this world use fire in anyway possible, like at all?" Natsu asked.

"Some people drink alcohol, light it on fire in their mouths and breathe out. It's really complex. Nobody around here can do it though. Besides we're underage for drinking. You gotta be 21." Lucy answered.

"Oh well, do they have root beer in this school?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, only in bottles though." Lucy answered.

"Are they brown bottles?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, they do look a lot like beer bottles too. Don't tell me you're planning on..." Lucy trailed off, thinking Natsu was going to try the alcohol trick.

"No way, I'm not going to drink. Though, I do have an idea as to how I'm going to win." Natsu said.

"What's your brilliant idea?" Lucy said, nervous that it was really stupid.

"Duh, I'm gonna get a root beer bottle, fill it with apple juice because it looks a lot like beer, and then put the cap back on. That way if Dan pulls his sword out, I can pretend like I'm drinking alcohol and breathe fire at him!" Natsu said cheerfully. Lucy was shocked. He really does know how to fight. But there was a major problem with that.

"You know you're underage right?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah but there aren't going to be teachers there, and no one's gonna rat me out." Natsu said.

"Dan might, you know he's going to hate you if you burn him to a crisp." Lucy said.

"I think he already hates me. But I'll just give the teachers the bottle, and tell them it's apple juice, jeez shouldn't be hard, right?"

"Yeah but then if they question how you summoned the fire..."

"Yeah that's right... Probably should think of something else..."

A minute passed. Then Natsu perked up.

"OH I KNOW!" Natsu shouted cheerfully.

"What do you know?" Lucy asked playfully. Even if he wasn't smart, she found it amusing to talk to him.

"Matches will work right? I can hold a pack of matches and pretend that I used them to light Dan on fire. Works like a charm right?" Natsu said.

"As long as you don't eat them..." Lucy knew about his craving for fire. He loved fire, a lot.

"I'll try not to." Natsu said, as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. Somehow, Lucy didn't seem convinced by Natsu's answer.

"And if you kill Dan you're going to be stuck in prison." Lucy deadpanned.

"I can easily escape but... I'm only going to burn his arm enough to the point he drops the sword. He shouldn't be hurt too bad." Natsu said, relieving Lucy. He wasn't a total idiot.

"Alright, but be careful Natsu. You know I want you to win, but if you go overboard I don't want you to get arrested or anything." Lucy said.

"I'm not going to go overboard. I only made the bet to keep Dan away from you, not to hurt him or anything." Natsu said.

"You...did it for me?" Lucy asked, surprised.

"Of course, Lucy! What wouldn't I do for you?" Natsu said cheerfully. At that, Lucy blushed so much that she looked down to hide it.

Lunch ended just after that, and Natsu had a strong feeling he was going to win.