"Do you want to hang out since you don't work today, Lu-chan?"

Lucy frowned apologetically at her best friend and shook her head. "Sorry, Levy-chan. I can't hang out today. I'm checking out an apartment."

Levy was Lucy's first and best friend since she enrolled in college. She was a petite girl with bright, messy blue locks of hair that stood out among the sea of students. Well, it would have if she wasn't hidden due to her short height. She was a junior as well, though she was majoring in Linguistics while Lucy was majoring in Creative Writing. She also happened to be one of the smartest students at Magnolia University and was offered a full-ride scholarship.

"You found a place?" Levy asked, a wide grin forming on her face.

Lucy mirrored the expression and nodded giddily. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the flyer and handed it to her friend. "I did! Get this, it's only three hundred a month!"

"You're kidding! What's wrong with it?"

"I don't know, that's what I'm going to find out today. The guy that's renting it out made it sound nice though."

Levy stopped and stared at the blonde as if she had grown another head. "Whoa, whoa, wait. The guy?"

Lucy chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. She was hoping Levy wouldn't catch that. "U-Umm, yeah. Guy."

"You're planning on living with a boy!?"

"Don't say it so loud! And I don't know… We would have our own rooms, we would just share the bathroom. And he seemed the least strange of all the people that live there."

"Who else lives there?"

"Someone he calls Stripper and another one called Lug Nuts."

"That is weird. Is that where you're heading to now?"

"Yep."

Levy furrowed her brows and gave her friend a skeptical look. "You're going to a house where a boy and his friends are waiting? The house with the sketchy flyer? By yourself? When you're a cute girl?"

Lucy groaned and dragged a hand over her face. "What is this, twenty questions? Yes to all of them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You know what, you don't even have to answer that. I'm coming with you."

"No, Levy-chan. You don't have to do-"

"I'm coming whether you want me to or not, Lu-chan. So we can either argue all the way there or you can accept it now."

Lucy gave a long sigh in defeat. "Well then, let's get going."

The walk was longer than they expected, taking them a little over forty-five minutes. The bus would have to be her method of transportation if she moved there since she didn't have a car and didn't intend on buying one soon.

To Lucy's surprise, Natsu's place wasn't an apartment. It was a white, one-story house in a not-so-decent condition. The paint was chipping in many different spots, there wasn't much of a yard (only a small patch of grass in front of both windows), and worst of all, there was something that looked a lot like dried blood on the front steps.

Lucy and Levy shared a glance and contemplated turning around and never coming back. Yet the cheap rent had the former hesitantly approaching the door. Raising a loosely formed fist, she was about to knock on the green door when it was suddenly thrown open, revealing a boy that appeared around their age.

Lucy admittedly thought the boy was strange looking at first, solely because she had never seen a boy that looked like him. Despite this, her heart still thrashed around her chest at the sight of him because damn was he hot. With tanned skin, the boy stood a head taller than her and peered into her eyes with his own onyx orbs. A wide grin was etched over his face, revealing particularly sharp incisors. His clothes brought a bright red hue to her cheeks as he was adorned in baggy white pants and a weird vest with only one sleeve. He wasn't even wearing anything underneath and was showing off a perfectly chiseled set of abs. The strangest thing about him, however, was his pink hair.

"Yo!" the boy greeted. Lucy was immediately able to recognize his voice as Natsu's. "Is one of you Lucy?"

"U-Umm, that's me," Lucy answered, taking a step forward. "And this is my friend, Levy-chan. You're Natsu, right?"

"That's me! Wanna check the place out now?"

"I have two questions first," she replied. "First, were you looking out the peephole or something, waiting for me?"

"What? Of course not! That's creepy! I just have really good hearing."

"You're telling me that you heard us coming? Are the walls thin?"

"Nah. Metal Mouth and I have good hearing compared to everyone else. Ice Pick never hears it."

Lucy briefly wondered about the new nicknames but decided not to question it. "Okay, fine. Second, is this dried blood on the cement?"

Natsu chuckled and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. But it's nothing weird, I promise! Stripper and I just got into a fight. Happens all the time."

"Yeah, because that's reassuring."

"C'mon, Luigi! It's no big deal, just a couple of brawls!"

"It's Lucy!"

"Ehh, whatever. You guys coming in or not?"

The two girls shared a look before shrugging. They already came this way, they should at least check it out. They followed Natsu inside the house. The design of the home was simple. Upon entering, they were in the living room. Going forward led to the open kitchen and to the left were two doors, which Lucy presumed to be two of the bedrooms. On the right were two other doors, which of course were the last bedrooms.

To Lucy's relief, the house was well-kept. There was no trash lying around, no dirty dishes, and the place didn't smell like weed. Already a huge improvement from her own place.

"You have a nice place," Levy mused, strolling around the home to get a feel of it.

"Thanks," Natsu replied, giving the short girl a grin.

"Where's the nearest laundromat?" Lucy asked.

"There's one on-site so you don't have to drive anywhere."

Lucy wanted to squeal from excitement. Taking the bus to the laundromat was one of her least favorite parts of her week. Carrying a laundry basket on the bus was embarrassing for her and perverts would always unashamedly stare at her undergarments.

"Can we see the room?" Levy asked, her eyes shining with curiosity.

"Sure," Natsu said with a shrug. He led the way towards the door to the right closer to the kitchen.

The room was decent sized, bigger than Lucy's current room. She could picture all of her stuff here. Her bed would go in the corner and her desk would be pushed in front of the window. That way, she could use natural light when she worked on her stories. So far, things were looking good. There was just one thing left to see.

"Can I see the bathroom?" Lucy asked. Upon Natsu nodding, the girl headed for the door that had to lead to the bathroom. Opening it, she found that the bathroom had another door connecting to Natsu's room and was a little cramped, but it didn't matter because there was a clean bathtub to make up for it. She absolutely loved taking long baths. Whether she was happy, sad, angry, or just bored, she would take an hour-long bath filled with bubbles to relax.

"It's perfect!" Lucy exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

"Really?" Natsu asked, arching a brow. "It's just a bathroom. And the paint is chipping off the counter, you know."

"I don't care. There's a bathtub and that's all I need."

Natsu stared quizzically at the girl. "You're weird. I like it!"

"I feel offended even though it was supposed to be a compliment."

The boy laughed, patting her on the shoulder. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to everyone else."

Lucy and Levy followed Natsu back out and watched in horror as he banged loudly on one of the doors, doing the same with the next.

"Open up, losers!" Natsu shouted. "Come meet our new roommate! Oh, and her friend!"

Lucy didn't bother telling him that she hadn't decided yet. She had a feeling it would go in one ear and out the other with him anyways.

Both doors were thrown open, bringing Lucy out of her thoughts and revealing two other boys. One was bulky with long, untamed black hair. His eyes were a deep and somewhat frightening shade of red. He wore all black and his overall image was that of a delinquent, especially with the multiple piercings on his face.

The other boy was leaner rather than bulky and his skin was paler. He had spiky, raven locks of hair and had equally dark eyes. Lucy could faintly see a scar hiding underneath his hair and over one of his eyebrows. A large necklace with a sword pendant hung around his neck. However, the most prominent- and unsettling- thing about the boy was that he was clad in nothing but boxers.

With that, it wasn't hard to tell who was Stripper and who was Lug Nuts.

"Don't bang on my door like that, flame freak," the shirtless boy said, his brows slanted in annoyance.

"What's this about our new roommate?" the other asked, crossing his buff arms over his chest and giving a hard stare to both girls, making them feel uneasy.

Natsu gestured towards Lucy and said, "This is Luigi-"

"Lucy!"

"And this is her friend, Levy. Lucy is thinking 'bout moving in with us. Oh, the Stripper is Gray. And that piece of scrap metal over there is my cousin Gajeel."

Lucy and Levy gave small bows while the boys dipped their heads. The shirtless one, Gray, continued to glance between Lucy and Natsu. The blonde turned to her friend to see how she was holding up only to find her in an intense staring match with Gajeel. Much to her surprise, Levy's cheeks were painted red and her mouth parted slightly. It wasn't hard for Lucy to tell that her friend was smitten.

"So you planning on moving in, Luce?" Natsu asked, bringing Lucy's attention back to him.

The blonde thought about correcting him again but decided she didn't mind her new nickname. It was much better than Luigi, after all. Instead, she focused on the more pressing matter. Should she move in with them?

She didn't know much about them and there was still the possibility that they were murderers or something. On the other hand, the rent was insanely cheap, her bedroom was nice, there was a laundromat, and the place was clean. What else could she possibly need?

"You know what? I'll take it," Lucy said, beaming at the boy.

"Really?" Levy questioned, finally tearing her gaze away from the boy that had her heart beating wildly in her chest. "You aren't even going to take some time to think it over?"

"Nope. I hate my apartment. I like this place. What more is there to think about?"

Levy had plenty in mind but chose not to push her friend. If this was what Lucy wanted to do, who was she to lecture her? Besides, though she found the boys strange, she had a good feeling they weren't evil or anything like that.

"Congratulations then, Lu-chan!" Levy said, wrapping her friend in a tight hug.

"Thanks, Levy-chan!" Lucy replied, her smile growing even wider. "When can I move in?"

"Whenever you want!" Natsu answered with a fanged grin. He went to his room and retrieved the contract for Lucy's lease. It wasn't anything too serious. After all, he made it himself. The main point of the contract was that he reserved the right to kick her out at any time if she didn't pay the rent or was a terrible roommate. But he doubted it would come to that.

Lucy stifled a squeal as she signed her name in neat cursive on her contract. With that, she had finally found her new home.

The next morning, Lucy eagerly got ready for her day. She didn't bother showering, knowing that she was going to work up a sweat that day. Instead, she got dressed into a pair of gym shorts and a loose tank top, slipping her feet into some tennis shoes.

It was time to finally move out.

Everyone decided yesterday that they would come help. Well, Gajeel complained at first but complied once he heard Levy was going to join in. Lucy wanted to tease him, for it was so obvious he was just as smitten for her tiny friend as she was for him.

A knock sounded at the door. Lucy quickly finished tying her hair up into a high pony before rushing to answer the door.

Levy immediately tackled her into a hug and greeted, "Morning, Lu-chan! You ready to move?"

"Yep!" Lucy answered, returning the hug. "The boys aren't here yet though. I barely slept at all last night because I was packing all of my stuff into boxes."

"It's not good to do a lot of manual labor without a good night's sleep!"

"I'll risk it just this once. Do you want to see my room? It looks a lot bigger now that everything is packed!"

Levy nodded eagerly, prompting them to rush into Lucy's room. Just as she had said, her room did look bigger. Her bed was still there along with her desk, but everything else being packed up left more space.

Not only did the place seem bigger, it was also cleaner now. Lucy was a normally tidy girl, never letting her room- or any room in her apartment for that matter- become dirty. She always washed her dishes, she never left clothes on the floor, and she even dusted every other day. But of course, there were some nooks and crannies that went unbothered. But now that she was moving, she cleaned every inch of the place so that she could ensure her security deposit.

"You're lucky Gray has a car," Levy said, situating herself onto the other girl's bed. "Otherwise you would've had to rent a moving truck."

"I know," Lucy replied, leaning against the wall. "And I'm sure Gajeel is going to be a great help. Did you see those arms of his? I'm sure he could lift all of my stuff without any trouble at all!"

"Oh believe me, I saw them," Levy answered, her cheeks turning pink. "What about you? You weren't discreet when you were checking out Natsu's abs!"

"Oh please! I barely even looked at him!"

"Whatever you have to tell yourself, Lu-chan!"

Lucy was about to retort when there was a loud knock at the door. With an eager grin, the blonde rushed out of her room again and opened the door to find her new roommates standing outside, their hands shoved in their pockets.

"Yo, Luce!" Natsu greeted with a fanged grin. "Ready to move out?"

"Yep!" Lucy answered, beaming at him. "I don't have that many boxes. But I do have my bed and my desk. We'll have to disassemble it but I don't have the manuals anymore."

"I'm on it," Gajeel said gruffly, stepping past her and strolling into her room as if it was normal. He stared at Levy, a blush spreading over his cheeks. "Move it, Shrimp. Gotta take apart the bed and I can't do that with you on it."

"Who are you calling Shrimp?" Levy shot back, glaring at him and crossing her arms. If he wasn't so damn cute, she would be yelling her tiny head off for his rudeness.

Lucy chuckled nervously, glad that it didn't escalate any further. With that, the group went to work packing everything. Lucy and Levy handled the lighter boxes while Natsu and Gray carried the heavier ones. Gajeel worked by himself, taking apart her bed and her desk with some tools that he brought over.

It took them three hours, but eventually they had finally finished. Lucy's room was completely empty and spotless after some last minute tidying up. The group of five sat in a circle on Lucy's floor, digging into the sandwiches Lucy had made for them.

Lucy and Levy deadpanned as they watched Natsu and Gajeel stuff sandwich after sandwich into their mouths, chomping into them like animals. Lucy was glad she laid a blanket underneath them in case of one of them making a mess, for food was flying all over the place thanks to their barbaric behavior. Luckily, the supply of sandwiches ran out, putting an end to their eating-spree.

"So why don't you tell us about yourself?" Gray suggested, leaning against the wall as he cracked open his can of soda. Lucy blushed from the attention she received as everyone turned to look at her. And she wasn't blind. Her new roommates were no doubt attractive, all in their own ways.

"Umm, I'm a junior at Magnolia University," Lucy said, her eyes glued to the ceiling as she tried to think of anything interesting to say. "I'm majoring in Creative Writing… That's all I can think about."

Natsu laughed from beside her, gently nudging her side. "What about any hobbies?"

"Well I like to write," Lucy admitted, her face turning red. She was embarrassed about her works and was reluctant telling people that she liked to write mostly because they usually asked to read her stories. And that was terrifying in her opinion.

"I'm going to be her first reader," Levy added with a wide grin.

"What about you, Shrimp?" Gajeel asked. "What are you majoring in?"

"Stop calling me that! But I'm majoring in Linguistics."

"She is fluent in ten different languages," Lucy added with a light laugh. "She's a genius."

"I guess you could say that."

Lucy and Levy shared a quick smile before the former turned her gaze onto Natsu, her stomach tingling just from looking at him. "What about you?"

Natsu gave her a face-splitting grin. "All of us go to Magnolia University, too. We're seniors, though. I'm trying to become a pyrotechnician."

"A pyrotechnician!? Wait, do you do experiments and stuff in your room?"

Gray scoffed. "All the time. Sometimes he does it in the living room too. Why do you think the paint on the door is new but the rest isn't? It's because we had to paint over it thanks to Flame Freak over there leaving scorch marks on it."

"That's not safe!"

"It's fine, Luce!" Natsu said, patting her on the back. "My experiments don't go wrong most of the time!"

"That's not reassuring!"

"Well you signed the lease already, so."

"Oh no," Lucy whined, leaning her head on Levy's shoulder. "I'm going to die, Levy-chan. My body is going to be blown to bits."

"My experiments are the least annoying thing you have to deal with," Natsu muttered. "Gray always keeps the damn place cold so that his stupid ice sculptures don't melt and Gajeel is always working on car parts. So it's always loud and cold thanks to them! I only cause occasional explosions."

"Oh Mavis, what have I done now."

"You'll be fine, Luce! Now c'mon! Let's get your stuff back to our place!"

Moving all of Lucy's stuff to her new home took hours and multiple trips. All of the compartments of her bed took one trip, her desk pieces took another, and her mattress required a trip of its own. Not to mention the trip it took for her boxes. But after a day of nonstop work, she was finally moved into her new home.

"Thanks for all of the work today, Levy-chan," Lucy said, hugging her friend tightly. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

Levy nodded. "Gray is going to give me a ride home."

"What about Gajeel?"

"Well… He'll be there too…"

Lucy smirked elbowing her friend lightly. "You're head over heels for that guy."

"Oh hush," Levy replied, glaring at her friend. "I better get going now, I have a lot of studying to do."

"Okay. Goodnight, Levy-chan!"

"Night, Lu-chan!"

With that, Lucy closed the door to her room and headed straight for the bathroom. She made sure to lock both the door to her room and the one to Natsu's as well. With an excited grin, the girl turned on the faucet and let the tub fill with hot water and poured soap into it to create a thick layer of bubbles.

Once the bath was ready, Lucy stripped and submerged herself into the hot water, hissing as it turned her skin red from the heat. Though it stung at first, she preferred her baths to be scalding hot. It helped them last longer.

Natsu paused from tinkering with a new firework he had been working on and turned his gaze to the bathroom door when he heard the faucet turn off. It didn't take a genius to deduce that Lucy was taking a bath. He swallowed thickly as fire coursed through his veins and electricity jolted within him. His new roommate was absolutely gorgeous with her golden locks of hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a curvaceous body. He couldn't help but picture her taking a bath in the bathroom he just so happened to share with her.

Shaking his head, Natsu forced himself to get his mind out of the gutter. So what if Lucy was attractive? All of his female friends were attractive! Besides, he had only known her for barely over twenty four hours. He had no right to be thinking about her in such a way.

His new roommate wasn't just pretty, however. There was so much about her that had him curious to know more. She was funny, kind, and weird. Speaking of weird…

"She's been in the bath for half an hour now," Natsu thought, sporting a frown. "I have to pee."

He waited another thirty minutes until his bladder felt like it was going to explode. He hopped towards the bathroom, his legs crossed while he bit his lower lip in an effort to keep from wetting his pants. He hadn't gone to the bathroom in hours, having worked on his project the moment he helped Lucy getting her things.

Knocking on the door, Natsu called out, "Lucy? You good in there? You didn't drown, did you?"

"Of course I didn't drown!" the girl shouted back.

"Oh. Well you've been in there for an hour and I really gotta pee."

"It's only been an hour! You can wait a bit longer!"

"Only?" Natsu asked in shock. "Wait a minute, is that why you were so curious about the bathroom? Do you usually take hour-long baths!?"

He heard Lucy groan. "Yes, okay? I love taking long baths. My apartment didn't have a tub so this is my first bath in a while!"

"Alright, alright." Natsu returned to his desk and resumed working on his new firework. With a small grin, he wondered, "What kind of a weirdo takes hour-long baths?"

It had been two weeks since Lucy had moved into her new place and in that short time, many things had happened. She grew closer to her roommates, especially Natsu, and learned a lot about them. She had witnessed- and also broke up- many of their brawls, which had always ended in disaster. What was most surprising to find out, however, was that Natsu had a severe problem with boundaries.

Ever since she moved in and the two had gotten closer, Natsu was always inviting himself into her room through their conjoined bathroom. When she locked it, he climbed through her window. If that wasn't bad enough, the boy would even try to sleep in her room despite his room being teen feet away. Some days, Lucy was too tired to bicker with him and even let him sleep on the floor.

Natsu wasn't the only one with quirks, however. Gray stripped just about any chance he got and somehow lost every article of clothing he managed to remove. It was as if they were teleported to another world, never to be seen again. His girlfriend, Juvia, was also a strange one. She talked in third person and seemed obsessed with Gray. She had even referred to Lucy as her 'love rival' when they first met and was hostile towards her in the beginnning. Lucy couldn't figure out what happened to change Juvia's attitude towards her, but one day when she was watching TV with Natsu, Juvia came out of Gray's room and gave them a long look before beaming and saying, "Juvia understands now!"

Gajeel was weird as well. Though he looked like a delinquent, he was surprisingly into all things cute, which explained his crush on Levy. She was the epitome of cute. He also played the guitar and wrote his own songs, which would've been cool had his singing not been terrible.

Lucy had also met their other friends. There was Erza, the Student Council President with a strict ruling but caring heart. She used to be the person living in her room until she moved in with her boyfriend, Jellal. He was the Vice President, shy but kind. Then there was Mira, a girl that belonged in magazines because of how downright gorgeous she was. She was also sweet and a motherly figure towards the group, but also had a match-making problem.

Lucy rubbed her temples as she walked into the library to begin her shift. She had barely slept a wink because Friday nights were reserved for movie nights. To make matters worse, her longest shifts were on Saturdays.

Luckily, the first half hour went by smoothly. Nobody needed anything from her and all she had to do was restock shelves. The quiet atmosphere of the library was a perfect environment for her and she had plenty of time to properly wake up.

Another great feature of working at the library was that Lucy didn't have to do much, especially since she was Crux' favorite employee. She was allowed to read whenever there was nothing to be done or work on homework.

Now was one of those times. Lucy left the front desk where Crux was working and headed towards the fiction area, passing by working students. A head of pink caught her attention and stopped her in her tracks.

Natsu was sitting alone at one of the tables, fisting his hair as he stared at the work in front of him with his brows furrowed and a frown sporting his face. It was clear that he was having a hard time with whatever he was doing.

This was the first time Lucy saw Natsu on campus. Her lips curled upwards into a smile as she approached him. Natsu was easily one of her best friends and she wanted to help him in any way she could. Not to mention that she may or may not have developed a crush for him over the past two weeks.

Lucy knew that having a crush on her roommate wasn't a good idea but she couldn't help it. Natsu was kind, funny, and interesting. There was so much she wanted to learn about him and the best part of her day was returning home and finding him waiting in her room already. She couldn't explain her feelings well, for this was her first time having such feelings.

Lucy shook her head, forcing her crush to the back of her mind as she sat in the seat beside Natsu, who raised his head to look at her. A wide grin immediately graced his face.

"Lucy!" he exclaimed.

"Shh!" Lucy scolded. In a hushed tone, she continued, "We're in a library, Natsu!"

"Sorry, sorry!" he whispered back.

"So what are you doing? You look like you're struggling."

"Because I am. I hate English."

"English?" Lucy repeated, her brows skyrocketing. "Aren't you a senior?"

"Yeah," Natsu answered, rubbing the back of his head. "I know most people take it their first year but I saved all the boring stuff for last."

"You sure are backwards."

"Shut up."

"Why didn't you ask me for help? I'm majoring in Creative Writing, you know."

"Well I didn't wanna bother you."

"You aren't bothering me," Lucy said, giving him a reassuring smile.

"You sure?" Natsu asked skeptically.

"Positive. Now c'mon. Show me what you're working on."

The moment Natsu stepped foot outside the library, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "I'M FINALLY FREE!"

Lucy, who was walking out with him, slapped his arm. "Natsu! Don't yell so loudly!"

The boy only gave her a fanged grin. "C'mon, Luce! Let's go pick up some food before we go home!"

Natsu slid his hand in Lucy's, intertwining their fingers and causing the girl to blush as he dragged her to the dining hall. Natsu was grateful his scarf was thick enough so he could duck his face into it, for his cheeks were equally pink.

Natsu wasn't as dense as everyone made him out to be. In fact, from the first day he met Lucy, he knew there was something different about her. Hell, he figured that out from their phone call alone. Something about her made his heart race and his body warm. Why else would he have stayed in the library for hours pretending to be working on homework after Lucy had helped him? He was just waiting for Lucy to get off.

The two picked up some Chinese food before walking to the bus stop. Usually Natsu would walk home because he had severe motion sickness, but he didn't want Lucy alone at night. So, he sucked it up and suffered for the twenty minute ride.

When they reached their home, the two headed straight for Lucy's room. Gray was out with Juvia and they had no clue where Gajeel went off. Lucy had a feeling he was with a certain friend of hers, however.

Natsu and Lucy sat down on the latter's floor, happily munching on their friend rice and chicken. They placed Natsu's laptop in front of them and watched a new show on Netflix. Lucy leaned into his side with a peaceful hum- she had long ago found out that Natsu had abnormal body heat.

Once they finished eating and their episode ended, the two shut the laptop and leaned with their backs against the bed.

"So what's your deal with the scarf?" Lucy questioned, leaning her head back against her mattress. "I've never seen you without it and it's still technically summer."

Natsu swallowed thickly, playing with the end of his scarf. He knew the question was going to come up eventually. It always did. He glanced towards Lucy, wondering if he should tell her or not. It wasn't like it was a secret or anything, it just wasn't something he chose to talk about.

"It's from my dad," Natsu finally answered. He stared at his scarf and frowned. "It's the last thing I have from my dad. Well, that and this place."

Lucy's eyes nearly bugged out of her sockets as she turned to face him. "Oh, Natsu. I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me about it."

"Ehh, it's fine. Your room used to be my room, actually."

"Really?"

"Yep. My room was Igneel's. Gray's was Igneel's office and Gajeel's was a playroom. That's where I learned to read. My dad and I also played a lot of video games in there."

"He sounds like a great father."

"He was!" Natsu exclaimed, grinning at Lucy. She could see the grief in his eyes, however, as he continued, "He got sick, though. Before he died, he got me emancipated so that I didn't have to go into the foster system and left me this place. The house was already paid off, I just have to pay for utilities every month. Which is when I started renting it out.

"Gray was my closest friend and in a similar situation, so I let him move in with me. Then after high school, Uncle Metalicana, Gajeel's old man, passed too. So then it was just the three of us. Then we met Erza and she moved in." With another smile, he faced Lucy. "And now there's you."

Lucy nodded, blinking back the tears that welled in her eyes. "Now there's me." She placed her hand over his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"What about you?" Natsu asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you aren't the only intuitive one. You are secretive over your last name, even though we've been friends for weeks now. And we live together. Even when you sighed the lease, you gave it back to me so fast that it was obvious you didn't want me to see your last name."

Lucy gulped loudly, tearing her gaze away from him. "I-It's nothing."

"Does it have something to do with your letters?" Natsu implored, pointing to a box that was on her desk. "I didn't read them, I swear! I was just trying to find your story so I could read it but then I found those. Why don't you ever send them?"

Lucy frowned and answered, "Because my mother passed away when I was a little girl. I just write them to feel connected to her. And about my last name, it's only because my father is Jude Heartfilia, owner of the railroad company that dominates Fiore."

"That's it? I thought you were a secret assassin or something!"

"Of course not, idiot! Why the hell would I be an assassin!?"

"Well why else would you hide your name?"

Lucy shrugged, fumbling with her fingers. "Most of the friends I've made that knew about my father were only using me for his money. They didn't know that I cut off all contact with him the moment I moved out and that I don't get any of his money. My first genuine friend was Levy-chan."

"Seriously?" Natsu asked, his brows furrowing. "If I were you, I would've-"

"I know, you would've beaten them up. Not everyone is a fighter like you, you know."

Natsu smirked and ruffled her hair. "You could be if you wanted to. You have one hell of a kick."

Lucy giggled and turned her head to face him again. It was then that she realized how close they were, as their faces were only inches away. Her heart felt like it had pounded up into her throat and jolts of electricity sparked through her veins.

Natsu's eyes darted to the girl's plump lips and he couldn't help but lick his own. Swallowing his fears, he slowly leaned towards Lucy, his eyes beginning to droop closed. Before they did, he saw her start to lean in as well. He could feel her breath fan his face as their lips were just about to graze.

"Oi, Lucy. You got any paper I could borrow?" Gray asked, barging into the said girl's room. His eyes widened as his jaw dropped to the floor when he saw his roommates just seconds away from kissing. "Shit. My bad."

Lucy squeaked and jumped to her feet immediately, her cheeks set ablaze. Her head was a jumbled mess as she walked to her desk, looking for whatever Gray came in for. Which in truth, she didn't know.

Natsu growled, giving Gray the nastiest glare he could muster, baring his teeth. "You're a senior in college, Ice Dick! You don't have your own paper!?"

"I ran out!" the other boy shot back. "I didn't expect you two to be making out in here!"

"Salamander and Bunny Girl were making out?" Gajeel asked, popping into the room. "'Bout time."

"We were not making out!" Lucy denied, about ready to faint. Shoving the paper into Gray's chest, she gritted out, "Knock next time."

"Will do," the boy replied.

"I'm bored," Gajeel said. "Let's play some Call of Duty."

"I'm down," Gray replied, unbuttoning his shirt.

Natsu's eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet seeming to have forgotten about the attempted kiss. "Hey! Now that Lucy is here, we have an even number of players! Let's have a Call of Duty tournament!"

"You're going down!" Gajeel said, cracking his knuckles. "Gray and I will go set it up. Make whatever this is quick, lovebirds."

With that, the two uninvited guests closed the door behind them, leaving Lucy and Natsu alone. Lucy wanted to face-palm. She was just about to have her first kiss but it was ruined. Her eyes widened as she felt Natsu interlock their hands.

"C'mon, Luce!" he said, giving her a heart-stopping grin.

"I-I don't know how to play," she replied. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest and she couldn't help but drown in his dark orbs.

"That's okay. We'll teach you! Let's go!"

Natsu began to drag her out to the living room, never letting go of her hand. Lucy glanced at their joined hands and smiled, her cheeks rosy. So their first kiss didn't happen yet. That was okay. They had plenty of time in the world.

Four years later.

"Natsu! Let's go!" Lucy shouted as she slipped into a pair of black heels to go with her maroon dress.

"Alright, alright!" her husband called back. He left the playroom, hand-in-hand with their two-year-old daughter. He was adorned in a black tuxedo along with his sacred scarf. He left his pink locks the way they were, however, rather than gelling them back.

Nashi, their daughter, sported a pink ruffled dress and had her pink hair tied into pigtails.

It had been a little over three years since Gray and Gajeel moved out, deciding to find their own places with Juvia and Levy. Since then, Lucy and Natsu and tied the knot and got pregnant soon after, eventually giving birth to little Nashi. Lucy took it upon herself to turn their home into one that Natsu had once described when she had first moved in. The house that he had grown in with Igneel.

Gray's room had been turned into an office for Lucy to work on her novels. Gajeel's room was turned into the playroom while Lucy's was turned into Nashi's room. She now shared a bedroom with Natsu. And Natsu got the whole garage to himself to work on his fireworks.

"You two are going to make us late," Lucy muttered.

"Sorry, sorry. I was trying to teach Nashi some Call of Duty terms."

To prove this, their daughter smiled and shouted, "Camper!"

"See!" Natsu exclaimed, hugging Nashi tightly as proud tears streamed down his face. "She's learning so fast!"

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "Gray's going to kill you."

Natsu scoffed. "I'd like to see him try."

"It's Yuki's birthday and we're going to be the last ones there! C'mon!"

Natsu propped Nashi on his hip and led the way out of the house. Just as he was about to pass Lucy, he pressed his lips against her forehead and gave her a grin. With that, he headed to the car and began to buckle Nashi in. Lucy smiled as she stared at her family.