Lucy looked at the blue cat clock on the kitchen wall. The tail swept side to side as the eyes shiftily glanced from one end of the room to the other in time with the second hand. Natsu would be back soon.

She had gotten out of the office earlier than usual, having Levy to thank for taking up some extra articles that the two of them were covering for their senior Jason. She adored being able to write for the magazine as the hours, though long, were relatively flexible when she needed them to be. Well, as long as there wasn't a deadline coming up.

So with her spare time, she had decided to sneak home without telling Natsu and get started on dinner. Tonight would have usually been his night to cook, as he didn't have work, but rather coached at the local youth sports club. He had been volunteering there since he'd gotten out of high school and Lucy had watched him coach all through college and beyond. He was excellent with kids and the thought always brought a secret smile to her face.

Not that he'd proposed or anything, she thought, sighing as she reached for the carefully prepared tray of Cajun marinated chicken breasts and potatoes she had wrapped in foil and stuck a nail through. Shoving the metal platter into the hot oven, she pushed the thoughts out of her head. She was happy with their relationship, but Levy had confided in her that she'd found a ring her long-time boyfriend had stashed in his toolbox and it was planting strange ideas in Lucy's head. She set the timer and looked at the clock. She still had another 30 minutes before he arrived.

Rooting through the refrigerator, she found some lemons. She snatched the jar of sugar from next to the range and a juicer. From under the sink, she pulled a nice glass pitcher that she had gotten on a whim at a yard sale and set about making some lemonade.

Natsu ran a dirty hand through his pink locks, ruffling them to catch the light summer breeze on his scalp. His tanned skin felt a little warm, even for him who was accustomed to heat, and he wondered if he might have gotten sunburn for the first time ever. Lucy always warned him about it, but she was fair, both in skin and hair color. That girl could get a sunburn in November.

Regardless, he had spent even more time outside than was normal for a day of volunteering. Some of his favorite sports club members had been there today and they had wanted to play nearly every waking minute. Romeo had even challenged him to a one-on-one game of basketball. Now that the kid was in high school and growing like a weed, Natsu had had a little more difficulty in suppressing the boy in shooty-hoops.

Wendy and Chelia had been there as well, and they, along with various other youth group members had requested games of ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and even flag football. Natsu didn't have a problem with any of these, but he hated to think he was starting to feel his age… he was only 24 and these kids were running him into the ground!

His hand fell to his side and he released a loud groan with his face turned to the sky.

It was his turn to make dinner tonight. He felt so tired that he could only hope that Lucy would be okay with having pizza delivered or something.

He glared banefully at the stairs to his and Lucy's apartment. His watch told him it was a little before the time he normally got home and he wondered if he had enough to take a shower, order pizza, and have it arrive all before Lucy got home. He took a breath and sprinted up the stairs trying to use up his last bit of energy. In his hazy mental state, he practically slammed the door and the loud crash against the wall made him wince.

There was a loud crash and a yelp coming from the direction of the kitchen that had his head whipping around. The last surge of adrenaline in his veins widened his eyes and narrowed his pupils as he sought the source of the noise. There was some more noises coming from the kitchenette that sounded like someone mumbling to themselves. He carefully shut the door and with one hand curled into a first, he crept to the kitchen.

The sight he was greeted with instantly relaxed his fist and his posture. Lucy was standing in the center of the tile floor, barefoot and on her tiptoes. The white tiles were slick with a yellowish liquid and sprayed with broken glass. That explains the noises then, he thought. He'd find out later why she was home early, he was sure.

Lucy looked up at him from over her shoulder. "Natsu! You're early!"

She made to take a step forward, but Natsu quickly crossed the room to keep her unprotected soles off the glass-covered minefield. She yelped as he lifted her nearly off her feet and he caught sight of the oven timer clicking down; the aroma of spicy meat greeted his nostrils happily.

Lucy's hands were pressed into his shoulders as he brought her up to eye level. Her face was a little red and pouty as she mumbled out a 'surprise!' He grinned and leaned in towards her, her eyes crossing trying to focus on his face.

"Thank you, Luce." He moved to close the rest of the space between them and just as Lucy's eyes slid shut, he jostled her in his hold and threw her over a shoulder in a fireman's hold.

"Eh?! Natsu! What are you doing?!" Her sudden reorientation caused her to grab onto his lower back. "Ugh, you reek!" Nastsu just shrugged, shifted her again so he could hold her thighs with one arm and reach out with the other to put the oven on warm.

He hauled her bodily to their bathroom, kicking off his sneakers before fully exiting the kitchen. They could clear this mess in less than ten minutes, but he still wanted to clean up first. Dinner would now be ready in 45 minutes. Just enough time for him to take a shower and for Lucy to get the sticky lemonade off her feet and calves.

Well, if they shared their shower time.

Prompt: Imagine that A drops something and shatters glass all over the place while they're barefoot and so are stuck in the center of a field of glass shards. Enter B, wearing shoes, to carry A to safety, care for their feet and clean up the mess.

A/N: Ah that made me feel a little better. My grad class is draining me of my free will and motivation to do anything. But I did promise a new chapter of this. Sorry to all who didn't get the Notebook references in the past chapter! I have only seen it maybe twice, but it is pretty moving I guess. I'm sure that Lucy and Natsu will be doing another cute movie night in here at some point. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Love, zabeth

PS. If you have prompts that fall into the category of 'this could happen any day to anyone/any couple,' feel free to send them my way. I'm open to trying new prompts, though I can't promise to get to them all.