Okay so first of all I just want to apologise for not updating in the last few weeks. I went home to go to Comic Con and had an essay due in and had a bit of a mental breakdown, but actually writing this out helped a bit so there's that I guess.

Though it might not seem it your reviews really cheered me up when I was feeling down and stressed, I literally get a giddy smile whenever I get the notification that I've got one, so thank you all.

Answers to reviews will be at the end! Thank you for sticking with me after the random hiatus. As always FairyTail doesn't belong to me but the strange ideas surrounding these two lovable dorks do.

Chapter 6 – Family Dinners are always fun

Lucy pushed through the large doors and made her way to the pink-haired maître d'. Her eyes lit up with recognition as she ushered Lucy and Natsu towards the back of the restaurant. They were directed towards a small private room that Lucy's father regularly booked out each time they were on holiday here.

As they entered said room, Lucy realised the rest of her family were already sat down. Lucy's father was at the head of the table a stern look already etched onto his face. Laxus, Mira and Lisanna were sat on his right side, whereas her other cousin Michelle was on his left side leaving two empty spaces for Lucy and Natsu to fill.

Lucy did her best to smile and apologise for being late while she and Natsu took their seats.

Michelle turned to give Lucy a hug and asked her some general questions about how she was. They weren't particularly close but didn't dislike each other all the same. So pleasantries were exchanged.

Though they'd only been there 5 or 10 minutes, Natsu could sense a growing tension in the room. He didn't know why it was there, and he didn't know how to get rid of it, but it made him uncomfortable.

The clothes he had already turned up in made him uncomfortable, despite the material being quite soft; it was the style of dress that had him feeling odd. This wasn't what he wore. He wore old t-shirts, and sweatpants or baggy jeans and a hoody, not these fancy clothes. And now he was surrounded by people wearing those clothes.

Lucy's dad, Jude, was a large business tycoon used to the finer things in life, and not too welcoming to new people unless they had money. Laxus Dreyer, Lucy's cousin who had kick started his own business that seemed to be taking off. Mira of course was used to the fancier clothes and upper class crowds, what with her being a model and all; Lisanna probably was too thanks to Mira's popularity.

And yet here he was, Natsu Dragneel the orphan, among the high and mighty. He felt so out of place, the only thing grounding him was the fact that Lucy was beside him. But even then he wasn't at peace, there was something odd about her behaviour.

A nervous smile was plastered on her face, the kind she wore when she had to present in front of her seminar group, not the kind she should be wearing around family. She held a strange posture, her ankles crossed neatly under the table and when not in use her hands were folded gently in her lap.

The worst part was the lack of her voice; she only spoke when spoken to apart from to address the waiter with their order. After finishing her own, she shot a soft smile to the nervous boy beside her and ordered for him as well realising he had no idea what any of the dishes on the menu even were. But she stopped talking when the waiter left

What was happening?

This was Lucy. His best friend. She shouldn't be sitting like any of them. She wasn't like that, or at least she wasn't comfortable acting like that.

Instead, she should be sitting with one leg crossed under the other, slouching in her chair. She should be shouting loudly across the table to argue with one of points someone had made, or at the very least she should snort out that cute laugh of hers when he did something ridiculous.

She should be comfortable.

But now, every time her lips quirked up and a bright smile or a snort threatened to slip through, she would meet her dad's eyes from across the table and her expression would fall.

Because of his unusual fixation of watching how Lucy behaved around her family or more specifically her dad now, he couldn't say he was really paying attention to the conversation and it didn't seem she was either. Answering small questions here and there, but his heart wasn't really in it. However, after noticing Lucy's lips curl up after one of his previous replies he jumped at the chance when Mira turned to him near the end of the main course to carry on the vague conversation he had been listening to before.

"So how or when did you or Natsu actually meet?" Her blue eyes met his as she asked him.

"Oh, I met Luce in First Year!" Natsu beamed at that, he remembered the event quite well. He wasn't quite as enamoured with her back then, but she definitely left an impression.

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It was the sports fair during Freshers week on campus.

Natsu, Erza and Gray, who were all miraculously attending the same university, Erza having gotten in the year before, were helping recruit people for the club promoting their Dojo. Both Natsu and Gray, though first years, were helping out since they were seen as prodigies in their clubs before Uni.

Natsu left on break to grab them all some water, and hopefully to fill Gray's with salt or something to piss him off but on his way saw a golden head of hair mixed into with crowd of girls.

"Wow, so this is the Salamander!?" He heard one of the group say.

Salamander? Did someone else have the same nickname as him? He hadn't heard of him. Natsu was given the nickname due to the ruthless and lithe way he managed to beat opponents in matches.

"Yeah I heard he was one of the youngest people ever to master some fighting moves or something!" Another one squealed. Who the hell were they talking about? He had to find out.

He pushed his way through the crowd to get to the centre where a lad, maybe a few years older than himself, was preening and showing off 'his moves' to the crowd. Natsu rolled his eyes and spoke up challenging the guy's identity, and revealing that actually he was in fact the 'Salamander'.

There was that golden head of hair again, and a large pair of chocolate brown eyes to match. Their eyes met as he spoke and her face twitched in recognition. Had they met before?

Regardless of her, the rest of the girls pushed him outside of the barrier accusing him of trying to steal the spotlight.

Ouch.

It was his spotlight in the first place. He was tending to his sore ego when a delicate pale hand filled his vision.

It was the girl form before. The blonde one. Offering him a hand to help him up, and thanking him for stepping in and trying to explain how the guy was a fake.

She carried on talking and he didn't really catch her name properly, but she offered to grab his a snack and drink so he went with it.

Hey free food, ya know?

"Thanks Luigi, that was real nice of ya." He started as he scoffed the Krispy Kreme she bought him, managing to scarf it down in only three bites.

"Lucy you idiot. My name is Lucy." She deadpanned, before following where he was headed, with three water bottles in her hand.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, continuing to walk towards the Freshers fair again.

""Didn't you say your friends needed these?"

"Yeah."

"Oh uh sorry here you go," She handed him the water bottles and he shoved them in his rucksack. "I was kinda just hoping to meet some of the people from the FairyTail dojo club, I used to follow their progress a lot."

Natsu's entire demeanour changed at this. So this girl was interested in their club? Hah. Suck it Gray, he got a new recruit before you did.

"Oh well then follow me! I'll take you to FairyTail!"

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But before he could delve further into that fond memory, he heard a light teasing voice opposite him. Lisanna had a knowing smirk on her face and he knew why when she opened her mouth.

"Luce, huh?"

"Well yeah," He continued. "A nickname, though hers for me is better." He paused slightly, they pretending to be going out so he could make his nickname anything he wanted. "She calls me handsome." He added with a slight flick to his hair and the inflation of his ego.

A snort.

He heard a snort from Lucy, as she leaned forward and scoffed at him. "You wish it was that. Pinkie."

He would have been elated, he made Lucy laugh for real, had it not been for the next 5 minutes. Everyone around the table let out a chuckle, or a badly muffled giggle, apart from her dad. He inhaled deeply as he glared at her, pushing her with a silent force to return to how she was before.

"Lucy." He started. "Manners." He finished. With those two words he shut her down entirely, before turning to face Natsu, who wasn't too happy with the way he just addressed Lucy.

"And why, pray tell, do you have that coloured hair? It's rather unprofessional. Don't you think?" He quirked an eyebrow up in disapproval and looked to Laxus who just shrugged, rather uninterested in the conversation. Lisanna was preoccupied looking at Lucy and Mira jumped in saying that his hair had always been that shade of pink ever since they were little.

"But why would it need to be professional?" Natsu countered. "I'm a university student."

Jude looked amused at his answer and only quirked his eyebrow a little higher. Lucy started fidgeting slightly in her seat, knowing where this particular conversation was going and silently pleading for her dad not to make a scene.

"Well prospective business employers wouldn't even consider you for a position with hair like that."

Aaannd he went there.

Natsu heard Lucy exhale quickly, before gathering her courage to speak up.

"Father, I don't think…"

"Good," Natsu interrupted her, shooting her a slightly confused look before facing her dad again. "I don't do business. I specialise in automotive engineering."

Jude basically recoiled at that statement, as Lucy was getting increasingly distressed beside him. Natsu reached for her hand to hold but couldn't find it, so he settled on placing his hand on her leg to try and reassure her.

"You're only training to be a simple mechanic?" He repeated as if he were trying to wrap his head around what Natsu had said. Natsu felt so small under his unforgiving gaze. It was lucky they were in their own private room, for he was sure that nearby tables would have heard the way Jude spoke just then. Opting to stand up for himself, he spoke again.

"Well I- I'm not sure if I'll even-"

"Lucy please." Jude interrupted him, leaning forward in his seat a disapproving look across his face. "You know I have multiple appropriate suitors for you to wed."

Natsu recoiled at that. Wed?! He looked over to Lucy for clarification but she was staring down at the fists balled on her lap.

"We both know Loké would take you with him at the drop of a hat. It really would be better for everyone if you stopped seeing this boy and started going out with someone 'cut from the same cloth' I doubt he can provid-"

"ENOUGH!"

Lucy shouted the word, gaining the attention of a few of the tables near the private room and alerting one of the servers to close the partition between their room and the main restaurant. Her balled up fists were now by her side as she stood, minutely shaking with anger as she spoke and tried to keep a level voice.

"Father, I can put up with you insulting my choices but don't you DARE make Natsu feel like he isn't good enough. For anything. Especially me."

Safe to say, no one was butting in. This was the first time both Laxus and Michelle had seen Lucy speak back to her dad. As for her best friend, he was beside her his breath quickened and his skin prickling with adrenaline coursing through him, both from Jude's words and Lucy's spark of anger.

"He is a better person AND boyfriend than anyone you could EVER pick out for me."

Just as Lucy's own breath began to even out, expelling her anger as best she could, Jude began to rise from his seat. Lucy noticed this and flinched slightly as he did, losing some of her resolve.

"Do NOT raise your voice at me young lady." He began. "I was simply pointing out that you would be better suited to someone who would be able to help with the business."

Lucy stepped backwards and as a result stumbled back to sit in her chair. Visibly deflating her tone of voice changed from wet anger, to a calmer anger.

It terrified Natsu. He'd never seen her like this before.

"How would you know who I'm better suited to?" She started and laughed bitterly as she held a hand up to her head in exasperation before continuing. "And why does it matter!? He makes me happy!"

Natsu would be lying if he said hearing her say that didn't do funny things to his heart. The thought of making her happy had himself overjoyed, but he was purely focusing on her clearly unhappy mood as Lucy deflated to a quieter, defeated voice.

"Which is more than you've ever done..."

Jude scoffed at her, sitting back down again.

"Stop being such a petulant child around others."

The silence in the room was palpable. It was clear nobody was at ease. The look of discomfort on everyone's face (apart from Jude's) was something to go by at least. The only sounds were the short breaths Lucy seemed to be taking, and the scraping of metal against porcelain plates.

Natsu was stunned into silence.

He had essentially short circuited. It took a while for his brain to catch up to him, he was still reeling from the whole 'wed' situation, the fact Lucy had jumped in to defend him, and the horror that he hadn't jumped in to defend her when Jude was verbally crushing her.

When his brain eventually caught up, he began to stand and try to support Lucy, but Lisanna had seemed to jump up before him and began speaking.

"Sorry to interrupt the meal but I need the bathroom, Lucy would you be able to show me where it is?" Lucy looked up from her plate, the rims of her eyes seeming puffier than usual, and swiftly nodded jumping up from her place at the table.

As she left she brushed her hand over Natsu's shoulder, her way of letting him know she was or at least would be okay.

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They entered the bathroom, and Lisanna checked the stalls seeing that it was completely empty and nodded towards Lucy.

"Thank you."

"Hey, don't mention it." She paused for a second, to cautiously look Lucy in the eye before asking her next question. "Are.. are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm used to it.. it's just.." Her voice cracked as she spoke. The quivering of her lip matched the tears welling up in her eyes. "It's just I tried to be good- I-I- I try to listen to him but I can't help being a disappointment when everything he asks is- is too much." She hiccupped through her explanation.

Lisanna enveloped her in a hug, squeezing her tight.

"And- and I couldn't just let him speak to Natsu like that! He knows nothing about him ya know!"

"Hey, shh I know.. shhh.." Lisanna held her against her shoulder. Parts of her white hair dampening with each one of Lucy's tears, yet she still held her until her sobbing calmed down.

Lucy ended up telling her the whole truth behind her bringing Natsu here. Even explaining his reaction and how confused she was that he agreed straight away, maybe she forced him into it and he felt he couldn't say no? Lucy even went into detail about their adventures beforehand, making sure Lisanna knew they were just friends, even apologising to her that they were pretending.

Lisanna just laughed slightly, handing her a couple of tissues from the stalls during her story.

"Don't worry about me Lucy," Lisanna started. "I guess I did used to like Natsu before I left." Lucy's face fell and she was ready to accept that she would try to set those two up.. when Lisanna spoke again.

"BUT… whilst I was under protection I met my current boyfriend. Bixlow. Sure he's an absolute weirdo but I still love him."

Lucy's head snapped up in shock, and she automatically opened her mouth to ask more about him when she saw the look on Lisanna's face.

"And I'm pretty sure it's the same way you love Natsu."

Lucy felt her body temperatures rise a couple degrees. Her cheeks darkened and eyes widened as she tripped over her words trying to defend herself.

"Wha- what! I don't love him I-"

"Mmmhmmm sure ya don't Lucy." She sighed and looked up at the white haired girl in defeat, a small but sheepish smile across her face. "Don't worry your secret is safe with me." Lisanna finished with a wink and held up her pinkie to make a promise.

They shook pinkies.

After a few more minutes of preening and mindless chatting they made sure Lucy's makeup was fixed and that she was happy with her appearance before they made their way to the bathroom door.

"Ready to go out there again?" She asked, looking at Lucy softly with one hand on the door.

"Yeah I guess…" Lucy suddenly pulled the other girl into a quick hug, before pulling away and holding her at arm's length. "Thank you again Lisanna. Really. I'm glad Natsu has you back in his life."

"I'm glad he has you too Lu."

And with the open gratitude for the other agreed, they walked out to join the others in the private room once more, but weren't ready for the sight they were greeted with.

Mirajane and Laxus were both missing, who knows where they could have gone and Natsu and her Father were both standing up from their respective seats. Poor Michelle was sinking into her chair, no doubt wishing the ground was swallow her whole.

Neither of the two men recognised that the two girls had made their entrance, both two focused on the silent death glare they were sending one another.

Natsu's chair was pushed back, as if he had stood up without warning, and he stood rigid.

Like he was ready to fight.

Fists curled and shaking slightly at his side, and his breathing being carefully controlled. He was holding himself back.

But from what?

Her father on the other hand, had both hands on the table leaning forwards as if he were scolding a child. His blonde eyebrows knitted closely together, not in concern but in anger. Wow, he must be angry if it was plainly visible on his face.

Lisanna let out a small awkward cough from beside her, making Natsu flinch and turn around previous expression still on his face. Lucy would be lying if she said it didn't scare her slightly. She didn't think she'd even seen him with an expression quite so dark before.

"Luce. I'm heading back to the cabin. Do you want to come with?" His words were forced, and his jaw locked tight.

"Well I- uh- yeah okay." She mumbled, looking back at Lisanna to ask if she wanted to join, but the kind girl just gave her a small push towards Natsu. Telling her it was fine and she'd get back to the cabin after them.

Lucy swiped her coat from the back of her chair, and walked over to Natsu.

"Thanks for the meal, Mr. Heartfilia." He seethed through gritted teeth, before marching them both out of the room and restaurant, not pausing to let her actually put on her coat. She unfortunately only noticed this when the biting air hit her skin as they stepped outside.

Natsu didn't say a word when they walked home. Nor when they entered the cabin. Nor when he stormed upstairs to her room.

Lucy heard the slam of the door and figured it would be best to let him cool down by himself. She knew he didn't like anyone being around him if he was particularly worked up.

So to the kitchen it was.

The kettle was flicked on, the cream and marshmallows were out and it was time to make hot chocolates. A nice warm hot cocoa was enough to cheer him up sometimes, especially when she added a couple drops of hot sauce like she just did.

She thought it best to also grab a couple of snacks from the pantry, as she didn't really know what he thought of the meal, and it was always better to be prepared.

As she reached the door, she balanced one mug on top of the other announcing her arrival to Natsu. The door swung open slowly revealing him lying on his back on her bed, one arm draped over his face as he was still steadying his breathing.

Closing the door gently behind her, she walked over and placed the mugs on the nearby shelf, dropping the snacks down with them before crawling onto her bed to sit beside him. He looked like he was calming down, but the tightness in his jaw suggested otherwise.

She didn't know what to do. He was usually fine after a couple minutes of breathing or sometimes sparring with someone, but she wasn't exactly the best to do that with. So she sat there next to him, hearing the controlled inhale and exhale of his breath.

Her hand unknowingly made its way to his head and he jolted slightly at her touch, but more in shock than disgust, so she kept it there, weaving her hands through his hair just like she did on the plane. And no more than 5 minutes later his facial features, including his jaw relaxed slightly. She thought it best to speak now.

"I like your hair." She said, twiddling the soft ends of his hair in her hands. His breathing hitched but he replied.

"I know."

A short reply, but a reply none the less. So she continued.

"I don't care what your degree is, or what job you want to take as long as you're happy." Her hands stilled as his eyes fluttered open slightly, and he moved his arm to look at her.

"I know."

Again, a short reply. She sighed as she leaned back on her arms and he sat up to face her this time. A strange expression in his eyes that she couldn't quite grasp. Usually he was like an open book, but not right now. Not this time.

"You okay?" She tentatively asked, not sure whether or not she wanted to open that can of worms right after it occurred. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before looking her in the eye again.

"Honestly Luce? No." He said bluntly. His reply made her blood run cold, had she done something wrong? Was she the problem? Her heart sunk and her blood pressure increased tenfold when she heard his next question.

"Why didn't you tell me about the arranged marriage?"

DUHN DUHN DUUUHHNNNN. So sorry again for taking so long to upload this, there's a little explanation on my other story 'Early morning is a haven.' (Self-promo? Yes sorry..)

Thanks again to:

Shaddowddark: Your review really pushed me to keep writing this

CuteBubbles: I hope to have another chapter switching the POV around, but couldn't find a way to add it in here : (

Michiamotippete: I know they can't understand XD they are dumb babies and I love them. And ooh I didn't think of that! I have a rough idea of what might happen but there is a bit of plot that needs to happen first me thinks.

ALL THE GUESTS!: Thank you I love you, your reviews kept me going.