After a couple relaxing days at the beach, everyone was back from the beach and went through with their original schedule. The adults had returned to work and the kids had gone back to school. The weekend was full of fun, laughter, and lots of yummy treats courtesy of Grandine and Layla of course. Lucy nor Romeo had drowned a second time and while Lisanna continued to try and stick by Natsu's side the entire time, Natsu surprisingly had spent more time with Lucy than anyone else.

He claimed it was because he felt bad for her and was thankful she had saved his little brother's life but in Grandine and Layla's eyes, it had turned into more.

Grandine's match making duties which were getting even more difficult with the way Natsu and Lucy were. They were always having some kind of argument whenever they were near each other and it was horrible. It was like having a civil war happen right before their eyes and it was unpleasant with all the shouting and name calling. Even though she thought the two were going to be a bit more civil after what happened at the beach, it was still the same.

Natsu just teased her more often but Lucy took it more so as making fun of so she always blew a fuse by the time Natsu was done teasing and she was red to the face.

But the blue-haired Dragneel had been watching them recently and progress has been made.

In the beginning, she didn't think much about the two being more than friends but as she continued to watch and be around the two, an idea had popped into her head.

The two suited one another and what's not better than to put her son with her best friend's daughter? It was a win-win situation for all!

But of course her idiotic son who only wanted to play sports was making it difficult for her. He just had to be the asshole he was (where he got the personality, she has no idea!) and he was not making it up Lucy's favorite ladder anytime soon! He was being annoying and loud and what girl wants a man like that?

Letting a loud and heavy sigh fly out of her lips, Grandine put down the glass cup she was wiping dry on the countertop to make Lucy glance her way.

"Is everything okay, Mrs. Dragneel?"

"Yeah, everything is okay." She lied as she went back on wiping her belongings. "Just a bit bored."

With Romeo sitting at the dining table finishing up his morning fruit his mother had prepared, he and Lucy shared a look with each other. Grandine had been sighing all morning and making some sort of face as she cleaned and prepped and no matter what anyone said or did, she always said the same thing back.

Bored.

Well, how fun could it be being a housewife? With no jobs and it being the weekend with the kids still home, Grandine still couldn't find any time to do anything with herself.

Granted, her fun consisted of her trying to set up her son and future daughter-in-law together but it was hard not to make it obvious when Natsu was holed up in his room and Lucy was helping her out with dishes downstairs. Why couldn't Natsu make this easier for her and just come out of his room?

Just then Natsu came down the stairs with his hands shoved in his pockets, the look of boredom and tiredness stretched across his face. Grandine beamed at the sight of him, hoping he had come down to join in on their lazy Saturday morning but as soon as he looked at Lucy, she knew there was trouble brewing in his head.

"What up, housemaid?" He snickered, smirking at the sight of her wiping down dishes.

"Natsu Dragneel!" Grandine scowled, making Lucy roll her eyes while she finished wiping a plate dry. "Apologize right now, mister!" She threw her finger in his direction as the male went over to the fridge to grab the water to walk over to where they were drying cups to grab one.

"She's fine with it, mom. It's called teasing." He said as his eyes flickered towards the blonde who stuck her tongue out at him making him scoff. "What are you? Five years old?"

"Says the five year old." She shot him a dirty look as he snorted while taking a drink.

"Is that your best comeback?"

"What do you want me to do? Go all out?"

"Why not? Let's have a war right here, right now. Bring it, baby." He smirked her way while she rolled her eyes again and set down the cup on the drying rack, a scowl on her face.

"What happened to being nice?"

"I'm teasing. That's a nice gesture. It's what friends do."

"We're not friends."

"Did you hear that, mom?" Natsu suddenly raised his voice, pointing right at the student who grew rigid in her spot. "I'm trying to be nice and she shot me down so you can't blame me for this one."

Grandine didn't know how to respond as she stared at her son who was snickering at the red-faced blonde. She was scowling at him but it seemed like Natsu was enjoying it more than anything, grinning at her while moving over towards his younger brother. He ruffled the dark hair of Romeo who cried out, trying to swat at the hand of his older brother but Natsu was quick to jump back and cackle at his pout.

With her cellphone ringing, Grandine was quick to rip her attention away from her sons and went around the counter while drying her hands on her apron. Hearing the soft chatter from the kids behind her, Grandine put her cellphone to her ear, answering the call.

"What?" Grandine said over the line, waiting for the other person to respond. She could hear the kids grow hush and the burn of their stare on her back. "Oh.. hey! Hey, sorry, I must have completely forgotten!" Her voice grew higher as she stood up straight, her eyes wandering over to stare at the three who were staring right back. "Oh, no worries, I'm sorry about that! I'll be there! Yes, yes, see you soon!"

"Who was that?" Natsu asked and Grandine simply ignored him, rushing throughout the house as if she was late.

"Romeo!" Grandine called for her youngest as he was still in the midst of finishing his after-morning snack with Natsu picking at his plate. "Quick, get ready! We need to head out!"

"Where are we going?"

"Just—!" She waved her hand in the air frantically before she spun on her heel and left.

She couldn't stop the smile that was spreading across her lips as she was quick to get ready and dressed, giggling to herself as if this was the best thing she's ever come up with.

Igneel and Layla will thank her later on and so will Natsu and Lucy so she couldn't see an issue with this even if she tried. The grin was the only issue since she couldn't stop herself from smiling so much while she tossed on a dress and quickly exchanged her purses. She was rushing out of her room with her hair haphazardly tied up and as she ignored the looks of worry coming from the others, she tried her best to pretend she was actually super late for a super important meeting.

Muttering all kinds of nonsense into the air and ignoring the questions her sons were spewing her way, Grandine coughed to hide the giggle that was leaving her lips while she dug through their closet for some shoes.

"Mom, where are we going?"

"Are your shoes on?" She asked while she dug out a pair of nude heels from the back.

"Yes, but where—"

"I'm sorry this is so sudden, Lucy!" Grandine spoke as she pushed Romeo towards the door and began to hop on one foot, trying to shove her toes into her heels. "This is urgent so take care of yourselves before we come back and eat dinner, okay?!"

"Y—yes ma'am." Lucy said still a bit confused as she watched how Grandine tugged on Romeo.

"Hurry!"

"Wait, why isn't Natsu coming with us?!"

"Because he needs to study!" She shot him a look as she flashed another smile towards Lucy before quickly dragging Romeo towards her car which she practically threw her son inside. "Don't wait up, honey! Behave and good luck!"

"O—okay..." Lucy muttered as Grandine blew a kiss towards the two high schoolers before driving off leaving the two alone.

Lucy and Natsu both awkwardly stood in the driveway as it was now just the two of them alone in the big empty house for who knows how long. What was going on with her that she was so frantic to leave so suddenly? And why is she dragging Romeo along but leaving Natsu behind?

Lucy could only peek over at the rosy-haired jock who was standing beside her and watching his mom and brother drive off.

Just then, he turned to look at her too and she quickly twisted her head away to cover the blush that painted her cheeks.

Seeing how he spun on his heel to walk away, Lucy called out to him. "Where are you going?"

"Going to go out and buy something to eat." He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lucy reached for him, pinching the fabric of his shirt as he turned to look back at her. She quickly retracted her hand and gave him a wide-eyed look, a bashful expression on her face. "I'll cook for you!" She cried out a bit too enthusiastically as he stared down at her. "Because... I'm grateful..."

"You?" He asked as a small scoff came out of his mouth making her frown and playful smack his bicep.

"Hey... I'm not the daughter of a great baker and cook for no reason! I said I'll cook!"

Natsu scoffed, crossing his arms across her chest as his eyes dragged up her figure. She tried her best not to shiver, her arms crossing across her torso to hug herself.

"Do you even know how to cook?"

"How hard could it be?"

Natsu stared down at her for a moment longer which made her want to shrink down and hide away from his stare.

How dare this guy question her ability to cook? She's seen her mom cook a hundred and million times so it shouldn't be too hard. She knew the basics enough to get around the kitchen… and she'll really blow him away with a nice meal.

"Sure, whatever, go ahead and cook." He finally said, sighing while flicking his hand over his head. "Call me when it's ready."

Watching him leave and disappear up the stairs, Lucy could only huff while popping her hip out. "What a dick... doubting my cooking skills... I'll show him." Lucy muttered under her breath before spinning on her heel to head to the kitchen.

She knew Grandine had a bunch of cook books around and she's seen her use them so the recipes in there shouldn't be too difficult for her to understand. Picking a random book, Lucy brought the thick hard cover over to the counter to flip through the recipes. Seeing the delicious looking dishes but seeing the instructions, Lucy felt a bit discouraged to see the many ingredients and steps listed.

Was cooking really this complicated? Why did this dish take over two hours to make and prep when this one was only forty minutes? But the differences in the dishes were huge and as Lucy tried to find a meal with a short cooking period and good-looking enough, she was finding herself struggling.

She suddenly stopped when a meal caught her eyes, her hands reaching down to pick the book up and read the title and description.

"Hawaiian Locomoco?" She read out loud as her hazel orbs went from left to right. "Nice and warm rice with chewy beef drenched in gravy sauce... with the yoke from the egg as sauce for the beef, this is really a great and easy family dinner meal..." She stared at the picture for a good second or two before a smile broke out on her lips.

"Alright, Natsu Dragneel, prepare to be blown away."

Sitting at Layla's bakery with fresh bread and pastries everywhere, all sorts of customers were seated around as they happily drank tea and smoothies, eating the lovely and delicious creations. For a Saturday, the bakery was buzzing with patrons who wanted to try a piece of the fresh baked goods and or for some hot cup of coffee.

Grandine sat at the counter, people watching and sipping on her smoothie as Romeo sat beside her, breaking apart his croissant while he had his own drink beside him.

"This is the super urgent meeting you had to attend?" Romeo asked as Grandine smirked and took a large sip of her fresh smoothie.

"Yes... isn't mommy a great actor? The lady down the street called and she must be so confused from what I said to her!" The older woman giggled, sipping through her straw as Romeo rolled his eyes.

"Well you suddenly called me over—I thought something happened!" Igneel spoke up, his mouth stuffed with all sorts of pastries. His blazer hung over the chair and his sleeves were rolled up while his large body almost hung off the small chair.

Grandine exchanged a sneaky glance with Layla who simply giggled, wiping down the counter with a wet rag.

"Oh, nothing happened, sweetheart."

"Say, Layla," Igneel said, leaning across the counter while he pointed at her with his half-bitten scone. "You truly have a talent for this. This is the best scone I've ever eaten."

Blushing from the compliment, Layla gave him a playful scowl while nudging him on the shoulder.

"Don't be ridiculous, Iggy."

"You and that Lucy of yours… heaven sent." He sighed dreamily before shoving the rest of the pastry into his mouth. "Lucy is seriously a great girl."

"Yes, Lucy is amazing!" Grandine was excited to join in on the conversation, beaming. "She is a great woman with lots of strength! Anyone that can handle Natsu is definitely a strong person in my eyes!"

Layla merely giggled and blushed embarrassed as she got all the great praise from her childhood friends. The adults all laughed together and returned to eating once more when Grandine suddenly got a glimpse of a picture hung on the wall right by the register. She recognized Layla and small Lucy with another man standing right next to her, a protective hand clamped on Layla's and Lucy's shoulder.

Layla realized what she was staring at and smiled as she remembered that day. "Oh, that day was when I first inherited this place from my mother. Though, she wasn't there at that moment, Jude and Lucy was there. We took it right in front of this store and I think Lucy was about the age... four?"

"Do you ever think about getting remarried?" Igneel asked, making her blink and look away in uneasiness as she shrugged.

She offered a small smile as she looked back at the red-haired male. "If a guy like you comes around, I'm sure I would, Iggy."

"Stop flirting with me, Layla. My wife is right here." Igneel teased as the adults all started to laugh once more, making Romeo feel a bit uncomfortable.

The younger lad just turned in his seat and glued himself to his phone, not wanting to be a part of their awkward conversation.

"But really... what are you going to do when Lucy gets married?" Grandine said, making Layla perk up.

Laughing lightly, the older blonde placed a hand over her cheek. "Married? Well... I don't know about that but... of course my Lucy would leave one day… I'll be a bit lonely but it's a bit too early for that, isn't it? She doesn't even have a boyfriend."

"Yet." Grandine coughed into her hand and Layla gave her a sly smile. "But lonely? You won't ever be lonely, Layla, you can just live with us!"

"H—huh?"

"Sounds great, doesn't it? It'll be like having a sleepover all the time!"

"Erm," Igneel sounded a bit uneasy as he exchanged looks with Layla as Grandine giggled.

"It'll be fun!"

"I mean... I guess so... but then Lucy would be all alone with Natsu."

Grandine suddenly giggled and covered her palm with her hands, offering a sly smile towards the two others. "Purposely... I left the two alone back at home." She said making Layla and Igneel both tense up at the comment as they exchanged looks once more. "Geez, those two are always fighting and arguing... I got so sick of it... I heard if you just leave a couple alone together for a while... everything gets sorted out with time." She winked, leaning in to whisper at the adults who were gawking at the blue-haired Dragneel.

Igneel coughed awkwardly and scowled slightly as he reached over and placed his palms on the side of Romeo's head to block out hearing while Grandine went back to sipping her drink, completely unaware of the glances her husband and best friend were exchanging.

After what felt like hours and his stomach screaming for some type of food, Natsu came down the stairs with a frustrated scowl decorating his face. He had yet to hear from the blonde he lived with and he had left her nearly two hours ago to make something since she was so insistent but where the hell was his food?

"Hey!" He shouted, rounding the stairs to come into the kitchen. "Are you going to feed me or not—?!" He started to say but stopped as the smoke started to suffocate him making him cough and cover his mouth and nose.

Lucy suddenly backed away and dropped her spatula as Natsu's scream scared her, her eyes wide as she looked a bit embarrassed.

"Hey," he coughed as he tried waving the smoke away. "what the hell are you doing?"

"Erm... sorry... I kind of uh, burnt the meat just a... tad bit... just a tad." She smiled nervously, holding her fingers together to show him the amount she had burnt.

Natsu gave her a bewildered look, looking around the smoky messy kitchen. It was almost as if some kind of explosion went off in his kitchen and there wasn't even a single surface that was clean. Splatters of oils decorating the stove top. Cut up vegetables and trash just piled up. All sorts of cutting boards, knives, and utensils out in the open.

He's never seen someone make such a mess in the kitchen and he didn't know how to act.

Hearing the smoke alarm start to ring, Natsu was quick to rush to the windows and fling them open. Lucy coughed while swinging around the cookbook, trying to air the place out but ended up smacking Natsu right with it when he came rounding the counter. He yelped and she gave him a wide-eyed look, holding the book up between them so if he decided to counter back, she would have the cushion of the thick novel.

But after simply giving her a glare, Natsu managed to get the smoke out of the house and the alarm to shut off.

And now finally having things plated and Natsu stood at the counter with Lucy right beside him, the two looked down at the plated dish that consisted of what looked more like grits than cooked rice and a very burnt crisp of meat.

"What is this horrendous piece of crap called anyways?"

Realizing he was speaking to her, she looked up and bit her lip. "H—Hawaiian Locomoco..."

"Hawaiian what?"

"Loco... moco..."

The silence that stretched between them made Lucy feel even more uncomfortable, squirming in place. She knew she messed up. She shouldn't have been so confident in her cooking skills but she truly thought it would work out. She's seen her mom do this before but why is it so much harder than she thought? Watching and doing were two different things and now as she was proven wrong by none other than Natsu, she was feeling the embarrassment of her failure swallow her whole.

Letting out a sigh, Lucy leaned against the counter with one hand coming up to press against her forehead. "I'll just order us some—"

"Fuck that, you should have done so earlier then. I'm not waiting another two hours for food." He came beside her to bump her with his hip. Lucy nearly fell over, not expecting him to do so, as she looked over at him scowling. "Wash the plates for me while I cook." He ordered her, making her look up in surprise while he went to the fridge and grabbed a couple of eggs.

"You know how to cook?" She asked while Natsu returned to the fridge to pull out whatever vegetables they had remaining.

"Dice these." He said, dumping them on the counter before he was moving around the kitchen to grab whatever else he needed.

As Lucy re-washed the dishes and dried them, she watched the pink-haired jock who surprisingly, knew how to cook.

He poured some beaten eggs into the fry pan as a sizzling sound was heard, soon putting in some sliced up ham in the middle of the egg to fold the flaps and make an omelet. He grabbed the plate he used earlier and placed the omelet into the plate, going on to do the second one.

In matter of minutes, he was done and he placed two plates full of omelet and a side of fresh salad at the table.

Lucy came over with the jar full of water and placed it right between them as she witnessed the perfectly made omelet that was right in front of her. She glanced at the male who sat in front of her as he was already eating, the blonde sitting down to stare in awe.

"Wow... it's actually looks amazing... I didn't know you could cook."

"I can't and I don't." He said with a mouthful of food.

"But you just did."

"I can make easy things like these. And I only can make breakfast foods so it doesn't really count," he said as he eyed the blonde in front of him who took her spoon and carefully cut her omelet corner off to put it in her mouth. Her eyes went wide with amazement as the flavors burst in her mouth, her taste buds tingling.

"Mmm... this is good! How'd you make this? You made the eggs perfectly and it didn't even take you thirty minutes!"

"It's because I'm talented." He answered as he grabbed his cup of water and took of sip of it. "And smart."

Lucy scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You're not smart."

"That's why I can cook better than you."

"Who says you need brains to cook?"

"You need to know the correct temperatures and what mixes with what, stupid. That's why you burnt all your food." He scoffed making her scowl at him. "And you say not to doubt you because you're the daughter of a baker and cook."

Ignoring the last comment, she smiled at him. "So, I guess my mom is pretty smart since she's a great cook!" She giggled as she was about to eat more until she realized something. "Wait... does this mean Dan is smart, too?"

At this, Natsu stopped doing whatever he was doing to finally look up at the female in front of him correctly. He couldn't control the twisted look that pulled on his face and he was one second away from throwing his entire plate out the window.

"Dan is a very good cook, too!"

He scoffed as he continued to eye her, absentmindedly stabbing his omelet. "Good cook my ass..."

"No, I'm serious!" She frowned at his mean comment as she eyed Natsu seriously. "At one of the school festivals, Dan had a food stand and he sold a lot of rice dumping soup! It was so good."

"Hey," he stopped her making her pause and raise a brow. "how is rice dumpling soup cooking?"

"Making those is much harder! People like those more. His dumplings were on point and his rice cakes were so soft and chewy! His soup just had the correct amount of salt and pepper and gosh, it was one of the greatest rice dumping soups I had—"

Suddenly, Natsu tossed down his spoon on the table making Lucy stop and jump in her seat, her eyes wide as he shot her a glare.

He stood up and grabbed his plate making her quirk a brow. "You're already done? You didn't even eat all of it!" She said as he suddenly reached forward and grabbed her plate, too. "Hey! I'm not finished! I only had one bite!" She cried out but he ignored her as he walked over to the full sink to toss the plates in the sink.

"Wash the dishes and scrub the ashes away." He ordered before walking away making her frown and pout.

"But I really just had one bite..."

—X—

Setting her cellphone down on her bed, Lucy stretched her stiff limbs to let a small moan slip out. After laying in bed for nearly three hours and catching up with Levy and Cana, she was feeling stiff and honestly now, a bit bored.

It was almost ten and nobody was home, yet. It was still her and Natsu and it was so far, pretty fun. They didn't fight as much as she thought they would since they were either in their rooms or anywhere else. As much as she did want to hang out with Natsu, she realized she didn't want to be one of those clingy girls that followed him around or even be forced into another argument because of how annoying he could be.

Just like earlier when they were eating their omelets and she started to talk about Dan and his cooking—what was that about?

They were doing just fine and then he suddenly storms off after throwing both of their meals away. What was his deal?

But then again, he always acts weird and on his own terms so she shouldn't think too much into it… right?

But why did he act like that in the first place?

Deciding to brush it off, she decided to get ready for bed and read a bit of her novel that she got from Levy a couple days ago. It was a bit on the spicer side but Levy had convinced her to read it since there was an actual plot to it and so she relented in the end. She was in a real interesting part and she was excited to read it some more but as she went over to her desk to get it, she realized it wasn't there making her body run cold.

"Where did I put that? Oh my god, if somebody sees that book... I'm dead." She muttered as she started to frantically look around, picking up books and papers to see if it was there. "Shit, where is it?!" She cried out as she tried thinking of some place it could be.

She only had it upstairs since that's where the adults really don't come around and she only read it in her room or the bathroom…

"Bathroom!" She gasped as she opened her door and ran over to the bathroom to see if it was there but once she stumbled into the bathroom to see no book, she gasped. "Please don't tell me he took it." She muttered as she closed her eyes shut and prayed to whoever was up there that it wasn't him.

If Natsu knew what kind of book she was reading.. she would never hear the end of it!

But why would he take her book? He doesn't even enjoy reading!

Peeking through the crack of the door, Lucy eyed the surroundings to see if anyone was around. Noticing the coast was clear, Lucy slowly tiptoed out of the bathroom, making her way over to his closed door. She hovered over it, trying to listen if he was awake or what he was up to but she cursed internally when she couldn't hear anything.

Could he be already asleep?

Lucy slowly and quietly opened his door to peek in the room, looking through the small crack. The nightlight was on and the said male was seated on his couch with his back towards her.

She once again prayed it wasn't her book since her book choices weren't really... kid-material.

And as if somebody hated her, Natsu suddenly raised his arms to stretch and Lucy got the glimpse of her book in his hands making her cry out in protest. He was quick to turn around and look at the blonde who was gawking at him through his doorway.

"What the hell?!" She shrieked as she ran inside and tried snatching the book from his hands but he was faster and pulled it away before she grabbed it. Her fingertip brushed against it and it was gone as she face-planted on his sofa, her body bent awkwardly as Natsu stared at her questioningly.

"What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?! What are you doing?! You don't go reading people's books! This is mine!" Lucy shouted as she stood up and tried grabbing the book from him once more but he easily moved his arm away as she moved her body and threw her arms around. "Stop! This is mine!"

"Oh, this porno book, you mean?"

"It's not a porno book!" She cried out as her face exploded in flames making him smirk.

"If it's not a porno book, why are you blushing so hard?"

"I—I don't know but it's not a porno book!"

"Yeah?" He asked as he quirked a brow at her blushing figure before he cleared his throat and looked down, reading a sentence. "My core was aching for him as he traced his finger pads against my milky flesh, goose bumps following his trail. I could already feel his hard-on and the fact that we were trusting our tongues against each other didn't make it—"

"STOP!" Lucy screamed as she tried grabbing the book from him once more. He started to laugh and move the book out of her reach, waving it in the air.

But with her frantic movements and his arms waving around, Lucy was unaware of her shoving herself against him and practically pushing her generous breasts right into his face. Natsu grew rigid in his spot as he went cross-eyed with her chest, feeling the warm pillowy mounds press against his face.

"Give it back!"

Growling, Natsu grabbed her wrist, yanking her towards the other side of the couch where Lucy yelped in surprise and tumbled against the cushion. She was quick to recover and flip on her back, staring wide-eyed at the male above her. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, her body growing numb at how close this jock was to her and what kind of position they were in.

Her eyes flickered down to see Natsu's knee between her own and his hand planted on the back of the couch, the other one still holding onto her borrowed hardcover novel. "Hey Heartfillia... what kind of books do you own?"

"W—w—why does it concern you?" She sputtered, trying to curl into herself as he leaned in.

"Do you buy these kinds of books for some sort of pleasure? Do you imagine somebody is doing these kinds of things to you while reading?" He asked in a low husky voice as he leaned down closer making her cheeks flare up and her head turn sideways. "You're a dirty girl, aren't you?"

"W—why are you doing this?"

"Why? Thought you wanted this, Luce." He smirked as he noticed how uncomfortable she looked. "That's why you're here. And that's why you have this book with my name on the back."

"W—what?!" She cried out as she whipped her head to look at him as he snickered and flipped to the last page to show it really did say his name with a bunch of hearts around it. It wasn't even her handwriting and she knew Levy put her up to this.

She took a mental note to go kill her, later.

"T—that wasn't me! I—it was—!"

"Stop lying," he cut her off as he leaned in even closer. "you know it was you."

"I—it's not like that, really!" She waved her hands in front of her, face growing even more red the closer he came.

"Really? Come on... it's just the two of us in this house... we can make a lot of noise if you want." He offered, making her stiffen up. One hand was placed on his shoulder as another clutched the front of her shirt, watching how he got even closer and closer towards her face making her eyes flicker down at his lips before his eyes. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest and she swore she saw faint.

"N—Natsu... wait! I think—I think we should, uh, I think we should properly date first before we, uh, y'know..."

"Properly?" He repeated as he started to grin, amused. "What the hell does proper dating look like? Who says that?"

Natsu pulled away from said girl and stood up, chuckling as he went over towards the single chair in the corner to sit down. Lucy was relieved he had given her the space she desperately needed and as she sat up on his couch with her hair messy and face red, he was bursting into laughter.

"Properly... who the hell dates properly? What does that even mean?" He asked himself as he started to laugh even harder, making Lucy quickly stand up and bolt out of there.

She quickly shut his door and pressed her back against it as her face was still flaming hot, her heart racing as she wondered if that actually happened. What did just happen? Was Natsu Dragneel going to kiss her? And what was he talking about making lots of noise? Was this a set up? Was he doing this on purpose?

Lucy could only press her hands to her flamed cheeks, feeling the embarrassment swell inside of her even more. She just wanted to throw herself off the roof of the house and maybe push Natsu with her. Or just him.

The audacity he had to call her weird when he's the one who has been acting weird. She had no idea what this meant and why he was treating her this way. The hot and cold thing was confusing her and as Lucy stood against his closed door, she whipped her head over towards the staircase when she realized somebody was standing there and she quickly ran to her room as Romeo stared at her in wonder.

He then went to his shared room and opened the door to see his older brother reading some kind of book in the corner of the room.

"Hey, what's wrong with Lucy? Her face was red as a tomato."

"Was she really?" He asked, pretending he didn't even know about it. "I wonder what happened." He smirked to himself before flipping to the next page.