"Natsu! I told you a hundred times!"

"Luucyyy-"

"No! No means no! Get out!"

A snigger. Happy was watching the mess unfold before him, munching on his packet of fish chips. There was something definitely entertaining about witnessing his flame-headed partner get smacked around by a girl, and he acknowledged it as quality drama. Hehehehe.

"Luce let me sleep on the floor then-"

"You have a house! Natsu, why are you so stubborn! And you, cat!" - Happy jumped out of his skin - "I just cleaned that counter!"

"Aye!" Happy said.

"Don't 'aye' me!"

She massaged her temples, taking in deep breaths to calm down. There was a silence, where they gave her a wide berth - knowing her knack for kicks. When the sound of Happy's munching had become unbearable, Natsu decided to poke the ice.

"Lucy, are you okay?"

"No Natsu, I'm not okay!" She yelled at him, missing the hurt that flashed through his eyes. "Why can't you just understand?"

Silence.

Like every night, Natsu and Happy had climbed the window into Lucy's place. It smelled good, and Lucy fed them, so there was no reason to not go everyday. But it seemed like she had just dry cleaned the couch Natsu usually slept on, in addition to cleaning and tidying the whole living room, and didn't want anyone ruining its 'pristineness'.

Even though, Lucy knew faintly in the back of her mind that she was overreacting. She had initially just meant to tell them off a bit, just enough to make them feel grateful she was letting them sleep at her place. But then Natsu had turned into a big stubborn baby, and her residing stress and failed mood lately had rushed in for relief, and before she knew it, she had started to vent it out on him.

As she took more breaths to calm down, she slowly started to realize this, and knowing he wasn't going to leave anyway..

The unexpected sound of the window door opening pulled Lucy out of her state.

"C'mon Happy."

Huh?

The blonde stared at him. She turned to the blue cat on her kitchen top, and was glad to find that he looked as pleasantly surprised as she was too.

He wasn't leaving, was he?

"It's like you said, we have a house," Natsu was speaking in a different tone she had never heard him use. "And we should probably never trouble you anymore."

"Natsu, what.. I mean, wait-"

And with one last call for the exceed, they were gone.

Lucy just stood there, dumbfounded.

Cold air from the open window brushed past her, breaking her out of her trance, and she rushed to close it. She stood at the window for a while, waiting to see if she could spot them out there, walking home. She wondered if it was just a prank, and they were right below the building, waiting for her to come look outside - But no.

Natsu had gone.

Had I been too harsh?

Lucy's thoughts swam as she showered, and swam even more as she let herself sink into the confines of her bed later. She had tried to get her mind to relax, by cracking open a book, but to no avail. Every other attempt to sleep, or calm down - even summoning Plue - had accomplished nothing but drain her magic energy.

But she knew.

She had been harsh. Natsu never spoke to her like that - not even on days she yelled at him enough for her throat to go sore - and the fact that he did now meant she really had hurt him.

"And just when I had started to calm down too.." She mumbled.

She hugged Plue closer to her chest, but it did little to the knot that had formed.

She remembered the way he'd turned away. Why did it feel so bad?

She had had fights with people a lot of times, and had not talked to them for ages after it too, but never had she felt the way she felt now. Was it because he was her best friend?

Was it because it was their first fight?

Her mind rushed with so many thoughts that she couldn't pinpoint them.

Now that she thought about it, she guessed she had been getting mad at Natsu a lot lately. He had unknowingly become her venting machine, and she realized he had still been there. She couldn't remember a time when he had yelled at her.

"We should probably never trouble you anymore."

Lucy blinked tears she didn't know had formed in the corners of her eyes. She wiped them hastily, only to find that more had begun to flow. Plue tried to comfort her, but it just made her cry more.

Stupid Natsu.. I hate him so much. I'm never speaking to him ever again..

Tossing and turning, Lucy pulled her blankets closer. It was colder than usual, but an hour and a bucket of tears later, Lucy found herself drifting to sleep.

The sky was still dark when Lucy began to stir.

Somehow, it was warm now. Maybe it was because she couldn't sleep well, or that the change in temperature had some effect on her, but Lucy had returned to a semi-conscious state. Her mind was half-awake, but she still felt tired. Sleep sounded tempting, but the heat kept her awake enough to appreciate the comfort it offered.

She had begun to doze off again, when the air grew warmer. Lucy almost moaned in her daze; the comfort had reached blissful levels. Do I have a heater in here…? She started to wonder in the back of her mind, when it hit her.

How could she not distinguish his presence? The warm, smoky, cinnamon scent that had enveloped her room only belonged to one person.

She tried to call out for him, her voice sore from all the crying. "Natsu..?"

There was a shift in the sheets, after which strong arms wrapped themselves slowly around her thinly clothed waist, alongside a grunt, and Lucy felt the source of the heat against her back. Her drowsiness, the warmth he gave off, and the weight of all the crying had done its part in dimming her reaction, but Lucy was still shocked enough to feel her mind return to almost full function.

What was he doing here, this late? And.. in my bed?

And.. am I being hugged right now?

Lucy's face grew involuntarily hot as she realized the position they were in. And it definitely didn't help that she had been crying about him a few hours earlier.

Maybe I'm dreaming. I cried about him so much that now he's in my dreams too.

They lay that way for a few minutes - or an hour, Lucy didn't know. Despite the newness of the whole situation and the surprise she felt from it, she was more amazed and surprised at the gentleness he was expressing. Natsu had begun to draw little circles on her waist with his fingers, and later resorted to giving her warm rubs. Over her waist, her back, her stomach. Slowly, yet unknowingly, she found herself easing in, and he pulled her closer.

Her disbelief and amazement had faded to a lesser degree, as she tried to focus on him and what he was doing to her. Thoughts rushed through her mind, prodding her most vulnerable emotions, but with great difficulty, Lucy shut them off partially; enough so that they didn't intrude on her too much. She was curious as to why this was happening, conflicted, confused even; but she was also tired, and she'd be lying if she said that there wasn't something strangely comforting in the way he held her, despite the comfort of his heat. It was like she was getting something out of him she had always longed for; something she didn't know she needed so bad. It seemed as though he was assuring her he was there for her, that he wouldn't leave regardless of anything that happened between them, and Lucy could only think of how sweet it was; and how grateful she was for him. If this was a dream, she didn't want it to end.

But then he buried into the back of her neck, and Lucy heard something that made her world stop.

Something she was sure Natsu would have never told her in her wildest dreams, and suddenly Lucy was sure that she wasn't in one. She had always been aware, except that her exhausted mind had insisted on trying to trust the opposite, just so she could save herself from the complicatedness of the place they were in, but now that her illusion had broken in on itself she felt more clearly; the warmth of Natsu's slow breathing, the weight of his body against her, her rough, calloused hands against her skin. Of the more-than-platonic gestures Natsu was exhibiting towards her.

Everything went silent after, and the blonde lay in his arms, contemplating on the most important part. On what she had just heard her best friend say.

She replayed it in her mind, his voice a clearer whisper each time.

"I'm sorry Lucy… but I can't live without you."

Thank you for making it this far and bearing through me :) Please do review and let me know what you think!