Happy belated Valentine's Day everyone. I hope you are all well.

As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading.

Natsu groaned as that dreaded beeping went off again. Reaching over, he slammed his fist onto his alarm clock. Before he could roll over, it went off again. Blindly, he reached for the wall and yanked the cord out of the outlet. Once he rolled over, he sighed and snuggled further into his blankets.

Until the ringing started again.

He reared back, ready to smash the poor machine to smithereens, before he realized the noise was coming from his phone. He pulled it close and checked the time, cursing when he realized it wasn't even noon.

He hit the answer button without checking who was calling and growled. "If you don't have a death wish-"

"Natsu, you idiot, what have we told you about keeping track of your things?!"

Completely baffled, and completely exhausted, Natsu sorted through the information as best he could in that single sentence. "... Levy?"

"Yes, Levy," came the huffy response. "What were you thinking, losing your things again?"

"Wha- what are you talking about?" He flopped onto his bed. "And why are you calling so early to talk about this? You know I work overni-"

"Because you really messed up this time," Levy said. "Some of your things are in the new museum exhibit."

"WHAT?!"

Natsu bolted up, completely awake. What had he lost? When had he lost it? He had gotten better at properly packing up his things over the years, and keeping them stored where people couldn't get to them.

Being immortal meant that hoarding things was very precarious work. He had to make sure he properly stored anything that got old enough to interest the humans, and he had a lot of that kind of thing. He had a few rooms in his house that no one but fellow immortals could go into, and one storage unit in town that he only had until his new shed was built so he could store it on his property. He'd recently consolidated, so that was everything. What had he forgotten?

"Wait, Levy, what stuff did they find? I haven't lost anything recently, I'm sure. You even helped me get a new place and move everything here or in storage."

"You remember back in 1763 you were doing your earthwide solo expedition?"

"Wha- tha- why do you remember the exact year?"

"Focus Natsu," Levy said. "You told me you stored away a bag before you walked the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, remember?" Natsu's heart sank. "According to the display, they found it during a recent excavation. They were completely baffled because the boulders it was found under were much too large to be moved by humans without modern technology."

"Yeah, because I didn't want them finding it!" Natsu rubbed his face. "I can't believe I forgot about that. I mean, I suppose I'm glad they at least didn't find anything personnel. Since I forgot about it for this long, that means… they didn't… get…" Natsu's palms began to sweat as he began to remember what was in that bag. "Oh no."

"Oh yes," Levy countered. "That made it through the years too, apparently. It was completely free from water damage, and they managed to restore what had worn away."

"Shit, I gotta get it back!" Natsu froze. "Wait. You know about this but Lucy doesn't?"

Levy sighed. "She was busy today, but she's planning on seeing it soon. You know how she is," Levy said.

"Even more prone to outbursts about scientists' crap theories and assessments of the past? Yes, I do know," Natsu groaned. "Damn it, what am I gonna do?"

"The only thing you can do is tell her about it. If she finds out-"

"I'll steal it back!" Natsu jumped out of bed, right onto his belt buckle. He cursed as he hobbled across the room. "I can get in there easily and get it back."

"Wait, what?"

"I gotta go, Levy. I gotta call in for work tonight."

"Wait, Natsu-"

"No doubt Lucy will go see the exhibit tomorrow when she's not busy, so I gotta go tonight."

"Natsu, you can't! With all the cameras-"

"Bah, you know that doesn't matter."

"But Natsu-"

"It's either this, or I burn it down, Levy," Natsu said, glaring at his window. It was so bright and he was so tired… He shook his head, trying to focus. "And you said I couldn't do that again."

"That was unnecessary last time and would be this time," Levy hissed. "Just tell her it's there, what's the problem?"

"She can't know, Levy," he said. "It will ruin everything!"

Levy sighed. "You don't know that, Natsu."

"I have to go," he insisted. "Thanks for letting me know."

After ending the call, he turned off his ringer and tossed it on his bed. The screen immediately lit up from Levy calling him back, but he ignored it.

Scrubbing his hands over his face, he began to plan. He needed to get the night off, then go out for supplies. He'd have to wait until night time to break in, but that was a good thing. There were some things he'd need to find so he could get in undetected.

Natsu jerked awake. When had he fallen asleep? Glancing at the window, he could see that the sun was nearly set.

"Shit." Natsu rubbed his eyes, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw that his phone was ringing. The vibration had probably woken him.

Lifting it, he saw Lucy's face smiling up at him and he instantly got nervous. Glancing across the room, where his supplies for the night were sitting, he decided to stretch his legs. Once he was out of the kitchen, he cleared his throat and hit the green button. "Hey Luce."

"Hi Natsu!" Her honeyed voice, so warm and bright, instantly soothed Natsu's frayed nerves, even as his heartbeat skyrocketed. "How are you doing?"

"Tired," he blurted out. Frantically, he continued, "B-because I-I've been so busy with work, you know. It's fire season and there's always something to do around here."

"Do you want me to come make you some dinner on your next day off? We could watch crappy movies and sleep on the couch, like old times."

Natsu's heart squeezed in his chest and he had to clear his throat twice before he could answer. "That would be great, but I think it'll be a while. I've been working a lot of extra shifts and overtime."

"Boooo. You need a break, Natsu. You never listen to me when I tell you that you work too hard."

"I know, I'm sorry," Natsu said with a grin. "I just need a way to use up this extra energy. There's not as much space to move around anymore and I feel cooped up sometimes."

"Yeah, I know," Lucy said gently. "It's getting harder all the time to find room to breathe with all these humans around."

"Right?" Natsu smiled as he tried to decipher the background noises he could hear so he could figure out what she was up to. Maybe cooking? There was some sort of murmuring. No, was that music? There was a consistent beat, unlike what you'd hear with a-

"Oh, I've got it!" Natsu heard her clap her hands together. "There's a new exhibit at the museum I wanna go check out!" Natsu's heart sank and his throat closed up. Mouth dry, he couldn't even say anything as she continued. "It's based on one of the areas we used to live in a few centuries ago. It just opened today but I was busy so I couldn't go with Levy. Do you wanna go with me tomorrow?"

"Uh- ye- yeah, I'd love to, but I can't! I got a double shift tonight, so I won't be back until late tomorrow, well after the exhibit closes. Sorry."

"Oh." There was a brief silence and Natsu's heart began to beat even faster. "Are you… sure that's the reason?"

For a full three seconds, Natsu was certain his heart stopped. Even as an immortal, if his heart stopped long enough he would probably die. Right?

"Wha- what do you mean? I go to these things all the time with you, what reason could I have to say no? I'm working! It's not like I'm trying to avoid going, I'm just busy." Natsu's voice rose in pitch as he spoke, and no matter what he tried, he could not stop the rambling. "Really, that's it. Just busy."

"You promise?" she asked.

Natsu cursed silently. He would not lie like that- she hated broken promises. But what could he do? "Whaaaat, if you wait until this weekend? We could go on Saturday instead. I'm not busy then."

Her silence was more than he could take, and he was almost certain he lost decades off his life when she didn't respond. How could he fix this? He had to say something. Avoidance wouldn't work, but if he-

"Natsu…"

Just one word. His name. In that tone…

He sighed. "You already know."

"Of course I know," she hissed. "I never miss the openings to these things."

"But Levy said-"

"I went this afternoon," Lucy cut in, "so I didn't go with her, and I barely made it this time. I had to pull some strings." She sighed. "Natsu, why didn't you just tell me?"

Oh no. Natsu flopped onto the couch, his body heating up because of his embarrassment. She knows. She saw it- she saw it and she knows and now everything is ruined.

"Natsu?"

Oh gods, what could he do? She'd already seen it, already knew.

"Natsu, why didn't you tell me?"

Deflect. Deflect!

"How could I?" He sighed. "I didn't even remember it, it's been so long. And why would they be digging there?! There's no resources worth having in that area, I checked! I spent hours sniffing around, trying to find a good spot."

"Natsu, that's not what I meant."

Oh no. "You're mad, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm mad!" she shouted. "Instead of just telling me how you felt, I had to wait almost three hundred years to read that love letter! And in a museum surrounded by people! Do you know how embarrassed I was?!"

"I didn't want you to read it! I didn't even plan on… giving…" Natsu sat up. "Wait. You're upset that I… didn't give it to you?"

"Yes!"

"Because you- wanted me to have given it to you?"

"Yes!"

"Does that mean-"

"It means I like you too, you idiot!"

Natsu flung himself across the room to get dressed. He barely remembered Lucy still being on the phone, but her voice finally broke through the buzzing in his ears and he lifted it in time to hear her threatening to beat him or worse if he didn't answer.

"I'm on the way," he said breathlessly.

"Y- you are?"

"Yes. I'll be there in ten, no five minutes."

"Natsu-"

"I wrote that note with no intention of giving it to you," he said, interrupting her. "If I had known now what I knew then, I would have flown across that ocean to give it to you."

"Natsu-"

"I'm going to come tell you in person," he said as he grabbed the doorknob, "so be ready to do the same."

"Natsu, wait-!"

He flung open the door, but as he went through, he ran right into Lucy, who was already standing on his doorstep.

Lucy had already been moving backwards, so the force of him hitting her sent her falling backwards down the short stairs. Before she hit the ground, Natsu somehow managed to flip them around and landed with her on top. He grunted and cursed when he knocked his head on the pavement.

"Natsu! Are you okay?!" Her hands on his cheeks were warm and soft, and the pain in his head instantly disappeared.

Without saying anything, he surged up and grabbed her face with his hand before pulling their faces close to kiss her. He breathed in her gasp as he pulled her close. Her own hands slid into his hair, pulling him closer as well.

"You're an idiot," she gasped before kissing him again. He hummed as he continued to hold her close.

He'd never anticipated this- never, ever considered that she'd feel the same. Their friendship had always been the most precious thing to him. The thought of losing that connection had kept him from ever pursuing more- but look at what he'd been missing out on!

He pulled away, leaving scant inches between his mouth and hers. "Move in with me."

"What?! But you just-"

"I've got plenty of rooms for your stuff, and barely any furniture."

"Natsu-"

"Just consider it," he said. He begged with his eyes as he studied her. Those rosy cheeks, her bright eyes… he wanted to see them every day. He wanted to see her, be around her, hear her voice and her laughter, and never miss out on anything she ever did for the rest of forever.

"Don't you think you're rushing a bit?"

"Not at all." He smirked. "Unless you want me to wait another few hundred years?"

She gave him another kiss, ending it with a loud smack. "Not a chance. But, I'm not moving in. First we're going to date." She interlaced their fingers. "Fall in love." With a grin, she pressed her forehead against his. "Then maybe, if I'm not still mad at you for not telling me sooner, we'll move in together."

Natsu chuckled. "Deal." After he finished sitting up, he pulled her legs around his waist and then stood up with a grunt. "Let's get started."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm going to make you dinner."

"We'll order in."

"But I wanna-"

"You know you can't cook and I'm not willing to die yet."

He chuckled as he ascended the stairs. "Fine. Next time, though, I'll cook. With your help."

"We've tried that before. You think you can do it this time?"

"I'll figure it out eventually," he answered with a smirk.

"We've got forever, don't we?"