"Luce." I glanced up from my writing to see Natsu sitting casually on my bed, the window open behind him.

Sighing, I gestured to it with my hand. "How many times have I asked you not to climb into my room? Can't you just knock for once in your life?" I rolled my eyes at him before returning them to my book. I'd grown used to him breaking into my apartment and besides a short lecture every now and again I couldn't really bring myself to care anymore.

"Lucy," I heard Natsu get up softly, but I did my best to tune his noise out. I'd been experiencing some intense writer's block for the past 15 minutes and I wasn't willing to give in just yet. I had promised to have the next chapter to Levy by tomorrow and I still hadn't reached a good stopping point. Biting my bottom lip, I slowly brought my pen to the paper but before I could write any more, I felt a heavy hand fall gently on my shoulder. Surprised I turned again to see Natsu inches from me. Glancing up at his face I saw that his eyes were dark and filled with an emotion I'd never seen on him before. If I didn't know anymore I would have labeled it as lust.

"Natsu...are you okay?" I asked, leaning backward in an effort to create some more space between us. In response to my movement, Natsu leaned forward, bringing his face close to my own. His breath mixed with mine and I could smell alcohol mixed heavily in it. "Did you get in another drinking contest with Cana, Natsu? I know you hate losing but haven't you figured out by now that that is one challenge you can't possibly win?"

"No Lucy." I frowned in confusion and he continued. "I'm not okay, I'm hungry. Starving really."

"Alright, well if you move, I'll go make you something to eat." I tried to move around him but suddenly his lips were pressed against mine. Startled I tried to pull back, but his hand snaked up my arm and to the back of my head, holding me firmly against him.

After a minute or two, he pulled back slowly, his pitch black eyes looking into mine. "I don't want food Luce. I want you."

͠

Jerking awake, I stared up at my ceiling for a moment. Heat was coursing through my veins and I struggled to suppress it. It had been almost three weeks since our hookup and I had been dreaming about it ever since. At the time it had been the best night of my life, but now...it brought me nothing but pain.

"Lucy!" I flinched at the sound of my partner. For once he remained outside my apartment, but I knew if I didn't responded quickly he'd be up here in flash

Without moving, I called back to him, "I'll be right out Natsu, just give me a minute to get dressed." When he didn't reply I figured he got the message and slowly climbed out of bed.

Slowly, I made my way to my bathroom. Closing the door, I went to the sink and splashed some water on my face before looking at myself in the mirror. My eyes were red and had deep bags underneath them; I couldn't remember falling asleep last night, which meant that I had cried myself to sleep again last night. Ever since that night three weeks ago I'd been miserable, but I did my best to hide it from everybody. It wasn't like I could exactly explain it to them or that they could make me feel better.

Taking a deep breath, I thought over what had happened that night and what had followed afterwards. Natsu had been drunk that night but as soon as he had started kissing me I had forgotten that fact. Besides he had seemed plenty in control of his actions. So I had given into the feelings I'd been repressing for the past few months and slept with him. Shortly after falling asleep however, I had woken up to find myself alone; Natsu gone sometime in the night. Despite that, I had been happy. Natsu and I felt the same way for each other. Our night together was proof that he loved me too; or so I thought. Yet when I arrived at the guild, I found that I was wrong. So wrong. Natsu remembered nothing about our night together, apparently he couldn't remember anything after getting in a drinking contest with Cana. I'd been heartbroken upon hearing that and to make matters worse, he spent the rest of the day glued to Lisanna's side. Things had only gotten worse since then. About two weeks later I had started feeling nauseous around certain foods and I was late by over a week. For days I'd been avoiding the inevitable, but deep down I knew. So last night I had left the guild earlier than usual and bought myself a pregnancy test and sure enough, it came out positive.

"Lucy?" Startled, I cried out. Spinning around, I saw Happy floating in the doorway to my bathroom. "Sorry. It was just taking you so long. Natsu sent me to make sure you were alright."

Smiling weakly, I nodded. "Of course Happy. Why don't you and Natsu go ahead to the guild? I'll be right there. There's just a few things I have to take care of first." He nodded once before his face turned mischievous.

"Does it involve fish?" Taking a deep breath, I shook my head.

"No Happy it does not. I have one in the fridge though. Why don't you go ahead and take it. I need to go to the store soon anyway." He smiled and raced towards me; giving me a hug.

"Thanks Lucccyyyy!" Seconds later he was gone and I was free to continue getting ready.

Upon reaching the guild, I quickly took in where everyone was: Natsu sure enough was shoveling down food and seated next to Lisanna who was conversing with her sister, Erza was arguing with Grey about his stripping problem while Juvia looked on from afar and Gajeel was seated by himself watching a certain bluenette from the corner of his eye. Following his gaze, I spotted my best friend and quickly made my way over to her.

"Levy." Glancing up from her book, she smiled up at me.

"Hey Lucy, how are you?"

Without bothering to answer her question, I spoke hurriedly. "I need to talk to you. It's important." Immediately Levy's face grew serious and she closed her book as she stood up. She followed me as I walked towards the back of the guild where there was a room we normally went to whenever we needed to gossip or just have some alone time.

As soon as the door was closed, Levy turned on me. "What's going on Lu-chan?"

I bit my lip. I had never told her about the whole Natsu and me thing to begin with and now it seemed so much harder. "I need you to let me finish before you say or ask anything. okay?" She nodded, miming zipping her mouth shut. I giggled slightly at her action before starting. "Well, I don't know how much you've noticed but something's happened recently and it's kind of big. Really big actually. Levy...I'm pregnant." I paused as her mouth dropped open; questions filling her eyes. "And before you ask, you're the first person I've told and I just found out last night. I've suspected for a while now though and I'm scared Lev because the father doesn't even remember us having sex and it's not exactly something I can just tell him. And it hurts Levy, that he can't remember because I'm pretty sure I'm in love with him and that he's in love with someone else and that even if I did tell him what happened it wouldn't mean anything to him or even worse he'd view it as a mistake and I can't handle that Levy. I'm already going to be raising this child, this beautiful creature, by myself and that'll be hard enough, but if I tell him and he tells me it was a mistake...I think it would break me. I couldn't handle it Levy. I couldn't." By the end of my explanation, tears were streaming down my face and Levy had tears in her own eyes.

"Oh Lu-chan! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Oh that doesn't matter. What matters is that you won't go through this alone. The entire guild will be there for you. All of us: me, Erza, Mira, Grey, Wendy, and Natsu too!" At his name, my sobs increased and Levy seemed to realize her mistake. "Lucy...was it...it was...?" She seemed unwilling to say his name again and I nodded. "But if it's...he doesn't remember?"

I shook my head. "It was after he got drunk. He came to my apartment and it just happened...but the next day he told everyone he couldn't remember a single thing from the night before. I was so happy Levy, how could he forget?" Levy pulled me against her in a tight hug as sobs racked my entire body. Everything I had been doing my best to hold in and keep from everyone was spilling out all at once and as painful as it was to explain it all, it also felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

"I don't know Lu-chan. I really don't."

We stayed like that for a few minutes; until my tears had slowed. "Thanks Levy, I needed that."

She smiled briefly at me as she pulled away before her face grew serious again. "Lucy are you going to tell him?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. But I think I have to...I just don't want to either."

"He deserves to know. And you know he would never abandon you. You're his best friend." I flinched at the label and Levy grimaced apologetically.

"I know. I'm just scared. He clearly has feelings for Lisanna and I wouldn't be surprised if she was his mate at this point. If I tell him it could ruin all that for him. I don't want to be the reason he's miserable for the rest of his life." Levy shook her head.

"This couldn't possibly make him miserable Lucy. You're his nakama. Besides we don't know that Lisanna is his mate. For all we know you really are his mate and he just really did forget! I know you don't see it but to me and everyone else it's always seemed like Natsu had feelings for you." I smiled at her and shook my head sadly.

"I don't think so Lev. It just doesn't seem all that likely." Levy gripped my hands tightly in her own.

"Lu-chan. Promise that until you know for sure you won't give up. Natsu loves you. I know it." outwardly I smiled and nodded my agreement, but inside I was adamantly in disagreement. There was no way that Natsu loved me as anything more than a friend. However, if it appeased Levy I'd find out for sure.

"How about I talk to Gajeel? Find out from him before I confront Natsu?" Levy cocked her head to the side but nodded her agreement. "Alright. Well we better go back outside before someone starts wondering what we're doing back here."

Right on cue there came a knock to the door, "Luce?" I closed my eyes briefly at Natsu's voice. Opening them, I saw Levy mouth the words 'You okay' at me to which I nodded.

Walking to the door, I pulled it open. "What's up Natsu?" He studied me for a moment before giving me his signature grin.

"Great news!" I raised my eyebrow at him as Levy slipped out the door.

"And what would that be Natsu?" His grin seemed to falter for a moment but when I blinked it seemed as permanent as ever.

"I talked to Lisanna, Erza and Grey and we've all decided to go on a job." I blinked at him, ignoring the pit in my stomach.

"When are we leaving?" His grin fully slipped away and his face grew serious.

"Well, actually Luce," He raised his hand to scratch the back of his head nervously. "I was- I mean we were kind of hoping to keep it to just us four." My eyes widened and his dropped to the floor as he continued. "Before Lisanna disappeared, we were going to form a team just the four of us and now that she's back...we wanted to..." He trailed off unsure how to continue.

For a moment I only stared at him in shock. As much as I had expected Lisanna to take back the place I had filled while she was gone, I had never expected this. Natsu and I had been partners since he had first brought me to the guild, but here he was throwing it all in my face. All but telling me I had only been a replacement for the girl he had lost. Despite the betrayal and hurt I felt, a part of me recognized this as a blessing. Now I wouldn't have to come up with an excuse for not going on jobs until I was ready to tell the guild the truth. I was free to refrain from going on any dangerous or difficult missions that would be deadly for the human being growing in my stomach. All the same, it hurt to know my friends were in fact not truly there for me.

"Oh, my mistake!" I laughed to cover the strain in my voice. "Sorry. Of course you guys would want to go back to how things used to be! I should have seen it myself sooner. You guys really will be the strongest team now." Natsu's head snapped up at my words, his eyes drilling into my own.

"That's not what this is about Luce." I shivered at the intensity in his gaze and glanced away.

"I just meant that I was fine with it Natsu. You don't need to worry about me. I understand." My eyes roamed the guild behind Natsu and landed on Gajeel, my promise to Levy flashing into my mind. I didn't want to wait to confirm what I already knew to be true. "If you'll excuse me, I need to talk to someone..." Without waiting to hear Natsu's reply I quickly strode past him and towards the frightening Iron Dragon Slayer. Currently his eyes were focused onto a certain solid-script mage who had returned to reading her book.

"Gajeel?" Red eyes flashed to meet mine and I smiled weakly at him. "I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute.." He raised an eyebrow, but nodded slowly. When he didn't move, I awkwardly gestured towards the guild doors. "In private? It's not exactly a conversation I'd like for others to over here." His normally expressionless face turned questioning, but he stood and walked with me out of the guild.

When we were a few meters away, he turned to me. "Whatcha got to say Bunny-girl?"

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I avoided his speculating eyes as I talked. "It's about Dragon Slayers...and their mates or whatever you call them." I paused wondering if he would say anything, when he didn't I quickly continued. "If a Dragon Slayer found his mate would he know?"

Gajeel studied me for a moment before answering, "Yes and no. It's not exactly cut and dry. We have one mate, but we wouldn't necessarily know as soon as we lay eyes on them. A dragon and their mate have an unbreakable bond and it takes time to develop."

"How much time?'

"Years. And that's if they spend almost every day together. Otherwise...decades." My eyes widened at his words. The entire process seemed complicated and exhausting. To wait so long for the person you were meant to be with? It sounded horrible. I could feel my curiosity burning; wanting to know more, but I still hadn't received an answer to the question I'd been avoiding. The one question I needed an answer to.

"Would they know it was their mate if they...mated with her." I winced internally at my own words; my eyes focused intently on a pebble between my feet.

"That's not exactly something we could forget." With those words all my hope came crashing down around me. So I had been right. There was no way that Natsu and I could ever really be together. I wasn't his mate. I wasn't anywhere close to that. Just a one night stand.

"Thanks Gajeel..." Thankfully my voice had remained steady, but even I could hear the obvious pain in my words.

"Why-" I shook my head and finally raised my eyes to meet his.

"For my novel. Levy told me that I should do some research before I continue writing this one scene I had planned out. She recommended a book, but I figured there was nothing more accurate than an actual Dragon Slayer. So thanks. You really helped me out." I smiled brightly at him before I turned to head back to the guild; not missing the critical look in his eye. I hadn't exactly fooled him, but I figured for the time being it didn't matter. Natsu would be leaving with Lisanna and the others on their mission soon and I could figure out how to cover myself after that. All that really matter was that Natsu remained clueless.