Heyyy double digits. I like this chapter, I love the Nalu, and I hope you guys do too :3 This story about to go by real quick. Here we go wheeeeeeee

Erza opened her front door, Lucy standing in front of her. "Thank you so much for doing this." she spoke as Lucy stepped inside.

"Of course! I would never leave you stranded from school, of all places." the blonde laughed. Erza's car was being fixed, and in turn she was getting a ride to school with Lucy. "You ready?"

Erza nodded, grabbing her house keys from the hook on the wall. "Yes, I'm- " She patted her jacket pocket, feeling that it was empty. "Wait, I left my phone upstairs. I'll be only a second."

Her friend waved her off. "No worries! We're- " She suddenly erupted into a coughing fit.

Erza frowned. "Are you alright?"

Lucy shook her head, holding her elbow to her mouth and a finger in the air. She reached for her waterbottle, taking a long swig. "I'm fine, just a cold."

"Are you sure? I can call Mira, or Cana to drive me, if you're not feeling well."

"It's fine! I'm sure it's nothing."

Erza gave her a reassuring smile, before running up the stairs. She stopped in the doorway of her room. Her eyes scanned her desk, but her phone was nowhere to be seen. "That's weird, I could've sworn I left it up here…" She was searching the bathroom when she heard Lucy yelling to her.

"Your phone's down here, you want me to bring it up?"

Erza heard her cough loudly. "No, I'll come down."

"Wait, you're getting a call. Do you want me to answer it?"

"I- " she froze, remembering the frequent calls she had been getting lately. Her eyes widened in fear. "No, don't!" she told her. She sprinted downstairs, seeing Lucy in the kitchen. She looked at her expression, expecting her to be angry.

Lucy held the device out to her. "It's not a number in your contacts." she said, and then frowned upon seeing her fearful expression. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She gave the phone a nervous look, before hanging up. "Probably a butt dial." she shrugged.

"True. It might have been- " She started coughing again.

Erza scrunched her face. "Goodness, you sound awful."

"Gee, thanks." Lucy responded, rolling her eyes.

"Seriously, I can hear the liquid in your esophagus." The redhead reached toward a cabinet by the fridge. "Do you want some cough syrup? Or cough drops?"

"I'm good, Erza, really."

Erza was about to reply when her eyes fell on the clock. "Oh my god, school!" she realized. She ran straight out the front door.

Startled, the blonde sprinted out after her, Erza locking the door behind her. "What's the rush?" she asked, coughing again.

"We're going to be late!" she told her, running down the driveway and getting in the front seat of the car.

"Late? We're twenty minutes early!" Lucy frowned, getting in the driver's seat.

"That will only give us ten minutes to walk to class!"

"It's called five-minute passing time?"

"HURRY UP!"

Gray walked into the empty lab room. It was lunchtime, so Mr. Conbolt was in the teacher's lounge, but the empty classroom was still off-putting to him. "Lyon?" he called, looking around the room. He reread the open text in his hand. He said to meet here...

"-Gray! Good, you're here." Lyon sighed in relief, entering from the door on the other side of the room.

Gray crossed his arms. "Look, I'm honored you want to spend time with me, but meeting in all these places is really- hey!" Lyon suddenly grabbed his shoulders and sat him on a lab stool. The white haired boy calmly sat across from him. "What's wrong with you?"

"I need help."

"Yeah, I got that, but- "

"You remember that friend I was telling you about?" he asked, face completely serious.

Gray recalled their previous conversation in the locker room. "Oh yeah, how's he doing?"

Lyon sighed in relief, knowing that Gray still had no idea his 'friend' was actually Lyon himself. "Fine, but the situation's different now." Lyon clasped his hands together. "What if there's another girl who's showing equal interest in him?"

Gray shrugged. "So?"

"So? How does he decide between the two?"

Gray pursed his lips, shifting his weight. "That's a weird situation."

"I know, I know, and he feels weird about it too, but he really doesn't- "

"-I'd make sure he gets to know each of them well enough, and then decide which is worth his time."

Lyon scrunched his face. "That's it?"

"Well, he should also keep note of who makes more of an effort to get his attention, and in what way. That usually helps a lot."

"Oh. I didn't think of that." Gray frowned. "I mean, I didn't think to tell him. About that. Because I forgot." Lyon stammered, shaking his hands.

"Right." Gray looked at his phone. "Anyway, I'm getting lunch." He stood from the stool. "Next time your friend needs help, tell him to ask me. These 'meetings' you organize are weird as hell."

"Oh, right, of course. I'll, uh, let him know." Lyon agreed. As soon as his friend was out of the room he breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down at his phone, remembering the reason he asked Gray to meet in the first place: on his screen were two text messages from both Meredy and Juvia, asking if he was free for lunch. "I wish it were as easy as Gray made it sound..." he sighed, walking out of the room.

"Meredy please, I don't want to hear it." Ultear told her friend, holding her hand up.

"But I have a dilemma!" Meredy whined, swatting Ultear's hand out of the way.

"Is it the same dilemma you have every week, of not knowing whether to ask Lyon to have lunch or not?"

"It's different!" Ultear gave her a curious raise of her eyebrow. "...I already texted him that."

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes. "Wow, what a development. I might even faint." she remarked sarcastically.

"Come on, this stuff is hard! Besides, this wouldn't be a problem if you just talked to him for me…"

"Like I said a million times, it's a weird family friend thing. And if you don't know who to eat with, you could, y'know, eat with your friends."

"Actually, now that you mention it, Mirajane asked me to have lunch earlier..." the pink haired girl pondered the thought, but shook her head. "But I want to have lunch with him!"

Ultear sighed, but laughed nonetheless. "Meredy, eat with Mira. It's the best kind of non-conflicting, hormones-free, strictly platonic lunch hour you could possibly- " Her senses suddenly jolted in alarm as she felt an arm drape around her shoulder. Her muscles instinctively tensed, ready to smack whoever it was away from her with two years of kickboxing experience. Who the fuck-

"You'll never guess what I'm holding." came Jellal's surprisingly excited voice.

Ultear turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "What's up with you being in my personal space lately?" she remarked, nodding at his arm. Realistically, it wasn't like she minded it. His arm always felt right around her, and it was actually quite an honor to have a body as fine as his so close to hers and...wait, what?

Meredy snorted. "PLEASE, Ultear, it's not like you mind it. Either of you, anyway."

Ultear's jaw dropped. Her pink haired friend was far from psychic, but sometimes she had her doubts. "I- what?"

"Come on. There's so much between you two that that isn't a problem at all."

"Yeah, what?" Jellal added, as surprised by Meredy's comment.

Meredy looked at the two of them, a smirk on her face. She clapped her hands together, nodding. "Well, that's all for me. I'll see you two later, I guess." She gave them a wink, before walking away.

Jellal laughed. "When'd she get so direct? Does she have a boyfriend or something?"

"You'd think she does, with all the time she spends thinking about him." Ultear chuckled.

Jellal laughed, but regardless, pulled his arm down, much to her unknowing dismay. "Right, you mentioned a guy she was into." He faced her, cheeky grin on his face. "So, guesses?"

"I'm not quite sure where I'd start."

"True." He smiled, handing a folded sheet of paper to her. "I'll let you see for yourself, then."

She arched her eyebrow at him, unfolding the paper. Her previous sarcasm was suddenly lifted, a red letter staring back at her. "Oh my- Jellal, this is great!" she exclaimed, instinctively pulling him into an energetic hug.

"I know, right? I knew I felt good about the test, but I didn't know I'd get everything right, and extra credit!"

Ultear nodded, smiling at his A+ grade in her hands. "I'm really impressed. Isn't this your third A?"

Jellal nodded. "And the quarter isn't over for another couple weeks."

"I'm proud." she laughed, handing his test back to him. "That can go on your fridge."

"Yeah, it definitely will…" he trailed off, a silence settling between them. "So, I wanted to thank you. None of this would have been possible without you."

Ultear nodded. "You got that right." she responded, sarcasm back in her system.

"No, really, I would probably be getting three C's by now."

Ultear looked at him, seeing him look sheepishly to the ground. She frowned. Did he look...shy? That's impossible. This is Jellal: bold, charismatic, definitely not someone who would be anything less than confident-

He looked back at her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Let's get lunch."

She almost flinched. "Sorry?"

"As a way of saying thanks, I want to get lunch with you. I mean, if you're down."

She nodded, returning his smile. "I'd like that."

He was grinning again, the confidence back on his face. "Alright, great." She felt him nudge her shoulder, turning her to the direction of the school's courtyard. "We can start now."

"Wait, what?" Ultear stammered, turning to him in surprise. "But I- I have- "

"-No lunch plans, so you'll have them with me. Unless you actually do?" He looked at her cautiously.

She shook her head, slowly feeling herself let go. "I don't, actually." she agreed. Her heart was beating faster than usual.

Jellal nodded. "Good. I'm glad." he said, the two of them making their way outside.

She noticed how close they were, his arm casually brushing hers. Was this really happening? Ultear looked at him, noticing the smile on his face, and that she was smiling too. The boy beside her had really changed.

Her walls were finally coming down.

"So, you're sure Lucy's at home?" Natsu spoke into the phone, driving through the smoothly curved roads of a suburban neighborhood.

"Yeah, I saw her leaving after second hour. Had a fever, or something. Why?" Gray asked from the other line.

"Mm...no reason." Natsu lied, pulling into a driveway outside a massive house. "I'll see you later."

"What are you talking about? Aren't you at school- "

Natsu pressed the red circle on the screen of his phone, abruptly hanging up on his friend. He put his phone in his pocket and unbuckled the brown paper bag in the front seat beside him. He held the bag securely against his body, jogging up to the house and ringing the doorbell.

He waited, but nothing came. No movement in the window, no sound of footsteps coming toward the door. He frowned, ringing the doorbell again. He thought for a second, before setting the paper bag on the ground. "A lot heavier than I thought." he mumbled. He paused, pressing the doorbell a third time, only to be met with more silence. "Weird." he muttered. He turned and looked around, checking if the girl he was looking for was outside, but he started to notice the flowers around him instead. It then dawned on him what a beautiful day it was- the sun was out, the pink azaleas in bloom around him. He was about to smell one, just out of curiosity, when he heard a loud buzz against his ear.

"Ah!" he yelped, hearing a bumblebee zoom past him. He looked around, realizing that there were actually several bees around him. He heard another by his ear, smacking it away just in time. He suddenly stood up, looking at his hand. "What kind of bumblebee…"

"Oh, my god!"

He spun around: he didn't hear the door open. "Holy shit, Lucy- " He stepped towards her, the blonde holding her eye in pain. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I- "

"What the actual fuck, Natsu?!" she exclaimed, covering her eye with her hand.

"I didn't hear you open the door! And there were bumblebees, and I got scared, and...I didn't hear the door!"

"Okay, but what are you doing here? At my house?!" Lucy seethed, looking at him with her uncovered eye.

"Um, yes. Uh, I wanted to give you something at school, but Gray told me you went home sick, so- oh!" He stepped outside, grabbing the paper bag left on the porch. He closed the door behind them, handing her the bag. "This will help."

Lucy took the bag, walking inside the house. "Wow. What a blessing you are." she remarked sarcastically.

Natsu followed her, trying to see if she was actually mad, but she was faced away from him. "I, uh, I wanted to apologize. For dinner, the other day. I didn't mean to lie to you, or put you on the spot."

"Really? You sure about that? Like how you were sure that my eye was a bumblebee?!" Lucy asked, turning to the kitchen. She set the bag on the countertop, and opened a cabinet, still facing away from him.

"I was quite sure, actually, until I realized it wasn't, y'know, a bumblebee." Lucy was silent. He gulped, sitting down at one of the stools. "I really am sorry about dinner. The last thing I would want is for you to be in trouble. So I got you some gifts." He motioned at the bag, but Lucy still wasn't looking at him.

"That paper bag'll make me forgive you?"

"N-not necessarily. I mean it could help, if you have an open mind- "

"Will it help the black eye you just gave me, on top of my fever?!"

Natsu chuckled. "Black eye? Come on, I'm sure it's not- " Lucy turned around, and Natsu gasped. His eyes widened- the soft skin under her eye was definitely not its usual warm tone. "That's, um...not that bad."

"Natsu, it's purple."

"I would actually call it a mauve- "

"Get out!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing at the door. "You've done enough, so if you're all done with your games I'll be- " she suddenly erupted into coughs, each one shaking her body.

Natsu took that as his cue and jumped up, walking her to the living room. He put his hands on her shoulders, gently sitting her on the white couch. "Stay here." he told her.

She flinched at his seriousness, but glared at him anyway. "Why, so you can get my other eye?" she grumbled, but her comment went unnoticed as Natsu returned to the kitchen. She heard him unwrapping things, and opening various cabinets. "You better not be making a mess in there." she called hoarsely.

Natsu was silent, however, spending a few more minutes in the kitchen before returning to the living room. Lucy watched as he set a tray of food on the coffee table in front of her, before sheepishly sitting in the chair across from her.

She slit her eyes, hesitantly taking the bowl of chicken noodle soup. "What's this? Lunch leftovers?"

Natsu stuck his bottom lip out, pouting. "C'mon Luce, I'm trying my hardest here!"

"You didn't answer the question."

He sighed. "No. I originally brought you chocolate to make up for dinner...But then Gray said you were sick, so I figured I'd stop by the store and get some other things while I was at it."

Lucy stopped sipping the hot liquid, looking at Natsu with wide eyes. "Wait, so this is all for me?"

He nodded. "There's more in the kitchen too. And don't worry, I called myself in absent for the rest of my classes, so I'm here as long as you need me!" he added cheerfully, pointing his thumb to his chest.

Between his unexpected presence and comfort food delivery, Lucy felt her previous anger fade away. She smiled at Natsu. "Wow, thanks. This...really means a lot."

"No prob, Luce."

She felt her heart beat rapidly, making her head feel ten times hotter than it already was. Her thoughts raced wildly as she thought about what to say next. "Natsu, I think I like- " Her confession was cut short by yet another coughing fit. "Jeez, I really am sick." she wheezed.

Natsu took her soup from her, this time laying her down. "Maybe no talking." He stood up, turning around.

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked, sitting up.

"Back to school, duh."

"What? But what about calling yourself in? And being here when I needed you?"

"I mean...yeah, but you're like...really sick. And I don't want ebola."

"What- I don't have ebola!"

"That's exactly what you'd say if you did have ebola, right?" he snickered, giving her a final wave. "I'll check on ya later, Luce!" he spoke, leaving out the door.

"Wait! But I need some- ugh!" Lucy watched him leave, cursing her fever for almost making her admit her feelings for him. Idiot… she thought. But her eyes fell on the tray of chicken noodle soup, and she couldn't help but smile.

Erza walked down the sidewalk, arms crossed tightly. She was deep in thought, thinking about something she had seen at lunch: Jellal and Ultear, together, outside. Sure, it had been a while since their breakup, and spending time with her friends helped keep her mind off him. And of course, she had seen him and Ultear countless times before- they were close friends, after all. But there was something about today...she frowned, recalling how happy Jellal looked. He looks so good with her...

"-Erza?"

She spun her head to the side, seeing a black car pull up to her. Gray was inside, looking out the open window. "Gray, hello." she greeted, surprised.

"Uh...are you headed to Lucy's?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes, how did you know?"

"Good," he nodded, "because I am too." He reached over, opening the door. "Hop in."

Erza paused, before nodding in agreement. Lucy did live relatively close to school, but if Gray was offering to drive, she wouldn't pass. And maybe, by some chance, Gray could help clear her mind...somehow.

"Did she ask you to pick up her homework too?" Gray asked, getting back into the road.

"Yeah," Erza nodded, pulling out two biology worksheets. "I'm glad she went home, she sounded awful this morning."

"True. Speaking of going home, did you see Natsu at all?"

"No, why?"

"Just wondering. I haven't seen him at all today." Gray pointed to an upcoming intersection. "Turn here, right?"

Erza nodded. "Maybe he was hungry." she suggested.

"Yeah, probably." They soon arrived into a familiar suburban neighborhood and reached Lucy's house, pulling into the driveway. The two of them grabbed their things, before heading to the front door. Gray rang the doorbell, hearing the chimes echo in the house.

After a few seconds, the door opened. Lucy stood in front of them, wearing an oversized t-shirt and baggy blue pajama pants. "What, no bumblebees this time?" She asked angrily. She paused, blinking at Erza and Gray in front of her. "Oh, hey guys. Sorry." she apologized, stepping back. "Come in."

Gray and Erza walked in, stepping inside hesitantly. "What about bumblebees?" Erza asked.

Lucy held up her hand. "Don't ask."

Gray cleared his throat, looking Lucy up and down. "Sorry Lucy, but you look…"

"...Awful?" Erza finished.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you don't say."

"Well, I'm sure it could be worse. But you're so pale, and your voice, and…" Erza suddenly leaned toward the blonde, facing her completely. "Oh my god, is that a black eye?"

"What? Where?" Gray asked, peering over Erza's shoulder.

Lucy waved them off, shaking her head. "I said, don't ask! But yes, it is Natsu's fault." she exhaled sharply, leading them to the kitchen.

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Natsu- ?"

"NO ASKING! Can I get you guys anything?"

Gray snorted. "Lucy, you're sick."

The blonde slapped her forehead. "Right." she realized, and began coughing.

Erza reached into her backpack, pulling out the worksheets she had brought with her. "These are for bio," she instructed Lucy, placing the sheets on the counter. "If you don't understand something, the class website has the slides we covered today."

Gray nodded, following suit. "These are from English and History," he told her, adding to the Erza's papers, "It's pretty straightforward."

Lucy smiled weakly. "Thank you so much for doing this, guys."

"How have you been feeling?" Erza asked, concerned.

"Pretty okay. I've been sleeping a lot."

"Do you need us to get your other classwork?" Gray added.

"Nah, I got Natsu on that." She fell into another coughing fit, muffling the noise with her arm.

Erza gave her a pitying smile. "Well, if you need anything else, don't hesitate to- " She stopped herself, feeling a familiar vibration in her pocket: someone was calling her. Her face fell, looking warily at her phone.

The two leaned towards her. "Erza? You good?" Gray asked.

"Yes! Fine! Excuse me." she exclaimed. "Gray, I'll be in the car." She left out the door, phone in hand.

Lucy frowned after her. "Hm."

"What?" Gray asked.

"It's weird," Lucy responded, "Someone's been calling her lately, but she never answers it."

Gray put a hand under his chin. "Now that you mention it, she did get called several times before we went to dinner that one night."

"Same with this morning. I looked at the screen, but there wasn't a caller ID on it."

He shook his head. "It's probably nothing. A job interview, or something."

"Still, I hope she's okay…" She started coughing again, more forceful than the last time.

Gray took a step away, instinctively holding the crook of his arm to his face. "Right, so I don't wanna get ebola, or whatever you have, so...I'll see ya later." he told her.

"What- " Lucy groaned, remembering Natsu saying those exact words. "I don't have ebola!" Lucy shrieked hoarsely after him.

"Bye!" Gray called, walking out the door before Lucy could say anything else. He walked down the driveway, seeing that Erza was in the car, looking worriedly at her phone. The uncertainty in her expression was enough to make him frown. When has she ever looked that worried? he thought.

He opened the door, sitting next to her. "You good?" he asked.

Erza swiftly tucked her phone in her bag. "Yes, I'm fine. Is Lucy okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be good." He backed out of the driveway, hoping Erza's expression would change. But her face remained the same, her brows etched with uneasiness. "You sure you're good?" he asked again.

Erza turned to him. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because I can see that line in your forehead."

"Gray, please- "

"And when the stress wrinkle is out, that means something's up. So," he pulled the car to the curb, "what is it?"

Erza shook her hand at him. "It's nothing. Nothing important. I simply...need to prioritize a few things."

Gray raised a brow at her. "Does it have to do with the calls you've been getting?"

Her face immediately reddened. "W-well, yes, but again, it's nothing important. It's just me."

"Well, good. Because we're having lunch."

"I- wait, what?" Erza looked at him, searching for the joke, but he stared at her, just as serious.

"You. Me. Lunch. Tomorrow."

"But...why?"

"Because you look like you need company," he told her, beginning to merge back onto the road, "and I'm fantastic company, if I do say so myself."

Erza slowly nodded. "Alright. Lunch tomorrow, then." she agreed, hoping her smile wasn't too big.

Ayyyy it done. All your reviews make me happy x10. See u all soon!

-Pinky