Lucy looked over at the green tinged dragon slayer, and a small giggle escaped her lips. Team Natsu was on their way back from a monster slaying mission. The mission was a success, but Lucy had to be saved by Erza when her magical energy became too low. The fog started to creep its way back into Lucy's mind, and she shook her head rapidly in a futile attempt to hold it together until she was alone.

Erza looked at her questionally, but didn't say anything about the celestial mages strange behavior. Truth be told, their favorite blonde had been acting weird for the past few weeks, spending more and more time alone. She wanted to ask Lucy what had been bothering her, but she knew better than most not to push for information.

"Hey flame for brains, if you throw up on me, I'm going to make you regret ever being born" Grey yelled at Natsu as he curled up on Lucy's lap with a hand over his mouth.

Muffled sounds could be heard coming from Natsu, but the only discernible words were "Grey" and "stripper". With that, Erza gave Grey a look that could chill even the ice mage, and then proceeded to knock Natsu out. Erza then turned towards her novel and continued reading.

Lucy looked down at her favorite dragon slayer. He looks so peaceful, she thought. The normally fierce expression on his face was relaxed into one that resembled that of a sleeping child. Lucy ran her fingers gently through his hair, and was perplexed as to how it continued to be so soft even though she knew that he rarely took baths. He always smells like a fireplace, and it was so comforting.

Natsu's lips turned up at Lucy's touch, so Lucy continued to hold him during the rest of the train ride back to Magnolia.

As soon as the train stopped, Natsu bolted up and out of the train.

"Hahaha freedom from that metal death machine" Natsu shouted as he began to kiss the ground. Everyone at the station was used to Natsu at this point, so no one even gave the mage a second glance. Erza however, glared at him as she went to go collect the luggage.

"Let's go back to the hall and tell Master how the mission went" Grey said as he ran his hands through his raven hair.

"Grey your clothes!" Lucy said as she turned and walked towards town.

"Oh shit!" She heard Grey say as she continued to walk ahead of her team. It had been about a week since she had last had some time alone, and it was almost becoming unbearable.

She heard footsteps fall in line behind her and she knew that her nakama had finally caught up with her. Which wasn't very hard to do considering how exhausted she was lately.

"Hey Luce, let's get another job when we get back to the guild. Something with more action" Natsu said with his signature goofy smile. Seeing him smile gave Lucy some hope. Hope that was quickly squashed by the overwhelming feeling to cut. To feel. To be normal.

"Sorry Natsu" she began to say slowly "I really need to take a bath and rest right now. Maybe in a few days" she finished saying with a slight smile on her lips.

The flash of disappointment in Natsu's eyes was gone before she could even process it, replaced by that goofy grin again.

"Alright Luce, see you later" he waved as the rest of Team Natsu headed towards the guild hall.

Lucy stared trying to process on what she had seen in Natsu's eyes, and then continued back to her apartment. As soon as she got there, she locked her window. She didn't want to risk Natsu coming in while she was doing it.

She made her way towards the bathroom, palms starting to become clammy in anticipation. She couldn't wait to do this. She needed this. She smiled slightly, and then began her usual routine.

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"Natsu do you mind if I ask you something?" Mira said hesitantly

"Sure Mira what's up"

Natsu noticed the dark look that plagued the takeover mages eyes, and despite himself, a tickle of fear began to creep its way up his spine. Mira was rarely ever upset about something.

"Could you go and check on Lucy" Mira continued "Last time I saw her, she looked a little down. And Grey mentioned she was acting the same way after your mission. Maybe you could take her out to dinner or something"

"Lucy? Naa she's fine. She's just probably worried about rent or something again" Natsu said.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he began feeling odd. He had noticed that Lucy's once shining eyes had lost their usual luster. Maybe something was wrong after all. It probably had to do with what Lucy described as "boy troubles" last time he had asked. When he tried to press for more details, she had just laughed and mocked him for being dense.

Truth be told, the fire mage understood more about dating than everyone knew. He had grown up in a guild full of perverts for crying out loud. He just pretended not to know what was going on because that seemed to make everyone seem more comfortable around him. So Natsu understood that even though Mira was worried about her nakama, there was also another side to what she was asking. A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes as she awaited an answer from the now silent dragon slayer.

"'Course I'll go check on Luce. But I think she's fine Mira" Natsu finally said

Mira let out a squeak and clapped her hands together, only to be silenced by a hard look that Natsu had given the barmaid.

He then began to make his way to Luce's, contemplating how to make her spill what was wrong without earning him a Lucy Kick.

The sky had just started to turn dark as night began its descent. His heart began to race as he thought about dinner with Lucy. Truth be told, any time he thought of Lucy lately his heart began to run a marathon in his chest. He knew this is what everyone at the guild described as a crush, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to Lucy about it. She was his precious nakama, and the guys Luce normally went for were far different than the dragon slayer. They were all intellects or well mannered. The complete opposite of Natsu.

As he finally made his way into her room, Natsu stopped and took a long sniff of the air. It smelt like Lucy. Strawberry's and vanilla. But there was also new, foreign smells that filled his nose. One burned the inside of his nostrils, and he grimaced at the smell. The other was easily recognizable though. He smelt it almost every day in the Guildhall, or on almost every mission they went on. Blood. There was blood in Lucy's apartment. His eyes narrowed into slits as he slid in through the window and began to search around.

He was shocked to be greeted with a kick to the face, that sent the fire mage flying into the wall.

"NATSU WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU PERV" Lucy shouted

Lucy looked a little pale, but otherwise had the same annoyed expression he had come to expect when visiting her home.

"Natsu what are you doing here" Lucy said again, her hands going straight to her hips as she gave him a look that would send anyone else running for the hills. But not Natsu.

"Why do I smell blood Lucy" Natsu asked quietly

He watched as his blonde friend flinched and visibly paled at his question. But he continued to stare at her with an unwavering gaze as she finally answered his question.

"Natsu how much do you know about girls" Lucy asked with a pink blush creeping onto her cheeks

Girls? Makarov and the other guys at the guild constantly told him about girls. How to treat them and how to "satisfy their needs" But he could tell that's not what Lucy was referring to.

"What about them" he finally said

She bit down on the inside of her cheek as she continued to blush.

"A-about their bodily functions and such" She continued, averting his gaze

"About their...OH" Natsu finally realized what she was getting at, and hastily turned away from the celestial mage as his entire body began to turn pink.

Natsu, with his superior sense of smell, was always able to find out things about his guildmates that he wished he didn't know. Who had been with who. Who had been reading smut. He had learned that when he smelt blood on his female nakama, he was best to avoid them for awhile. He asked Erza about it once, and that resulted in him spending the night in the guilds infirmary. Suffice to say, it wasn't Natsu's favorite topic.

Natsu quickly dropped the subject as he began to rummage around Lucy's fridge, and he heard her sigh with a slight smile on her lips. This confused him. He didn't understand why she was so happy about him knowing that.

"Luce you barely have any food in here, you weirdo. Let's go out and eat" Natsu said

"Only if you pay for your own damn food. I don't need you to bankrupt me so close to rent time" Lucy countered with a grin plastered on her face.

A small price to pay to see Luce smile again. Though it didn't quite reach her eyes. He decided not to bring it up and to just enjoy his partners company.

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As the evening went on, Natsu's heart began to beat faster and faster. He could hear Lucy's heart do the same any time he moved closer to her, and a sliver of hope began to form. Maybe she really did feel the same way. He'd ask her, he decided. He hated not knowing. He hadn't realized that they had reached Lucy's apartment until she started waving her hands in front of his face.

"Thanks for dinner Natsu. I think some time out was just what I needed"

"No prob Luce" he said, leaning in closer to her

She slowly began to move closer to him as well, until their chests were almost touching. She then wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace.

This caught Natsu off guard, because usually any contact with Lucy involved a lot of pain after. His body began to feel like it was on fire, and Natsu wondered how one girl could make him feel this way. Make him feel alive.

She stepped out of the hug and turned to go walk into her apartment, waving goodbye to him.

"See you tomorrow Natsu" she said

"See you tomorrow weirdo" he responded to her now retreating form.

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Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed, and feel free to message me with any errors that I made or any criticism. I decided to make Natsu slightly out of character because for this style of content, I needed him to be more mature. Sorry if that upsets any of you!

I forgot to mention these in the first chapter, but I will be updating every week, maybe even twice a week. It really depends on my work schedule and how much time I have.

Also, this story deals with some mature content. I personally have had feelings much like I'm writing Lucy to feel, so if anyone needs to talk about it, feel free to send me a message through here or on Twitter ( leanne452659). I'm always around. But I encourage you to seek help if you are feeling depressed. You don't have to go through this alone, remember that.