Chapter 3

"All clean!" said Natsu with happily; thankful they are finally done.

The space looks pretty spotless, almost as if nothing had happened in the first place. The broken pieces are stacked on top of each other on the table along with the books in a sturdy pile together.

"Whew..." Lucy pants; bending a little to catch her breath from the strenuous chore. Strands of her hair stick out due to the static of the books and her braids have gotten messed up.

"Man…that was a lot of work. Doesn't help that Miss P already had me working hard earlier." Lucy exhales, a wave of relief washing over her knowing they are all done. She then leans upwards after taking yet another breath, as a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration rose within her.

Lucy stares at Natsu who seems as though he isn't tired at all from the work. His bangs are now messily covering his face due to the sweat but nonetheless, she saw no exhaustion written his face whatsoever. She notices he isn't wearing his scarf, he took it off earlier leaving it behind the chair so it wouldn't get too dusty while cleaning.

"This guy…" Lucy feels her lips begin to curl into a small smile.

She can't help but feel impressed.

That Natsu Dragneel is always so full of surprises.

So lost within her own thoughts she hasn't even realized she is being watched.

"Uh i-is there something wrong...Lucy?" Natsu asks curiously; having caught her staring at him.

Not even giving her a moment to respond he anxiously looks to the opposite side, slowly turning around acting as if he hadn't seen anything. He feels his body temperature rise at the thought of Lucy knowing he saw her possibly smiling at him, but he worries she probably won't appreciate him knowing.

"Uh…No…Nothing." Lucy replies sharply. As she allows herself to snap back into reality Lucy's eyes follow Natsu observing his odd behavior.

To continue his act of pretending he plays with one of the short sleeves on his shirt. He does this a couple times but during one of the times, he gets an idea. He lifts the sleeve a bit higher revealing some muscle. Natsu wonders if Lucy's eyes are still glued to him so he keeps his hand up for a bit to let her see if she's looking that is of course.

And to his luck she is.

At the sight of the muscle, Lucy feels her face burn and she is unable to look away at Natsu once again.

Is this guy… teasing me?

She puffs her cheeks out in embarrassment in a gasp realizing he is so totally teasing her.

Natsu can't help but snicker after listening to a sound that resembles a gasp. He pulls the sleeve down—having had his fun— and turns around to face a rather red faced Lucy.

"H-Hey um, are you okay….?" Natsu decides to try asking the question as normal as possible. He tries his best to act like he doesn't have an idea of what's happening but he covers his mouth to withhold a laugh desperately wanting to escape.

Lucy gulps as she's frantically trying to hold it together while giving him a glare at the same time.

"Y-Yeah I'm okay!" She squeals.

"Hey look at the time!" Lucy blurts trying to hide her embarrassing failure of a reply. She points at the clock to veer his gaze away from her hoping that is enough of an excuse so that he wouldn't press on.

"Huh?" Natsu looks over to the clock plastered on the wall his eyes widen realizing they have been there so long it's nearly black outside along with it being near closing time for the library shop.

"Oh man, it's late. I better get home. Happy is prolly mad I haven't fed him dinner yet." Natsu sighs knowing its way past feline friend's feeding time.

"Oh? Who's Happy? Is he your pet?" Lucy asks her eye's sparking with interest.

Natsu feels himself so taken aback by her question. Lucy has been really nice to him lately. Talking with him, helping him, now she's even interested in his pet. Despite his plan today not going the way he wanted things actually have been looking up now.

"Y-Yeah! Don't laugh but, he's got blue fur, but he's totally normal don't worry. The little guy has a really big thing for fish though." Natsu chuckles thinking of Happy.

He whips his cell phone out to show Lucy a picture of Happy. It's a picture of a blue round feline on the floor near a plate, with a heap ton of fish. There is also some dangling out of his mouth and he appears to be smiling in the photo.

"Aww, he's so cute! I wanna meet him one day." Lucy coos looking at the picture.

"I-I'm sure Happy would love to meet ya too Lucy." Natsu shyly answers back. He grins as he watches Lucy practically fangirling over his cat. He wonders if Happy would enjoy her company. Lucy is nice after all and totally would spoil him.

He snaps his phone gently after a minute or two of letting her look at him and starts to head out to the exit but stops midway feeling another bout of courage strike within him. He closes his eyes taking a deep breath before exhaling.

"Uh sorry about today…I'll hopefully see you tomorrow?" The words came out faster than Natsu wanted but he tried his best to convey them in a way Lucy can understand.

"Of course! Bye Natsu!" Lucy waves with a smile as she watches him exit the door.

"Miss Heartfilia!" A familiar elder voice spoke sharply. The voice seems like it came from somewhere close by but Lucy can't tell where. She turns around to see Porlyusica standing right behind her.

"Woah!" Lucy nearly stumbles backward.

"Very tidy. You two did great." The pink haired woman closes her eyes as she nods with praise. She opens one eye though and notices Natsu isn't there.

"Where did Natsu go?" Porlyusica moves her head around to try and see if she can spot him.

"He went home already," Lucy answers as she and Porlyusica begin to walk back towards the front desk. "Actually he just left."

"Hmph. Didn't even stay until I gave him the okay to go." Porlyusica grumbles as she chews the inside of her cheek scowling.

"But I guess I can let the boy off the hook just this once." She chuckles.

Lucy can't help but smile with her too.

The two females gather their stuff together for the night and just before Lucy put her hoodie on Porlyusica stops her.

"Oh and Lucy I would like you to come in an extra earlier tomorrow if that is alright."

"Of course! I'll be there bright and early." Lucy says with a small wave as she accepts being given the keys and then leaves out the door.

Porlyusica gives her a nod bidding her farewell and is about to leave herself until she sees something way back on the chair near the spot where the bookshelf broke.

"Huh..." Her eyes squint and she in view she can see a white cloth draped behind a chair.

Porlyusica hurries over to find out her discovery and then takes it into her hands. She studies it closely and realizes that it's Natsu's precious scarf that he usually wears. She can't understand how he can forget something so valuable to him. Then again he is a bit of an air head.

"That boy." She rolls her eyes going back towards the front desk and drops it off in a box then leaves.

The next day…

Lucy came in extra early like she was supposed to.

Lucy put her usual hoodie on the rack and her purse on the desk near her cubby. She is about to get to work when she saw that a certain scarf had been left in the lost and found bin.

"Eh, isn't this Natsu's?" Lucy thinks to herself. "I better give this to him when he comes here today."

Lucy would always see Natsu wear it, no matter what outfit he wore. It was always wrapped around his neck. It seemed to her that it was definitely an important item that belonged to him.

Lucy looks at it in great detail seeing the intricate designs on the fabric. Her fingers brush against the scarf, touching the soft texture, amazement flashes in her eyes seeing the craftsmanship.

Lucy looks around to make sure no one is around and wraps the scarf carefully around her neck, smiling like a giddy school girl.

"Ah, I think he wears it like this…" Lucy mumbles to herself. She opens her purse to grab her makeup mirror and looks at her reflection. She blushes a little, having not only touched but now is wearing Natsu's scarf.

"Miss Heartfilia, what in the world are you doing?"

Lucy feels her heart race at the sound of the voice. Her body doesn't want to move but she has to hurry and take the scarf off or at least make it look like she isn't goofing off.

"It's Miss P, oh crap." Lucy quickly tries to take it off. Fortunately for her, she gets the scarf off just in time before Porlyusica gets into view.

"Lucy didn't you hea-oh…" Porlyusica pauses midway. An eye brow curiously rises looking at Lucy then what she is holding in her hand. "That's right he left his scarf yesterday."

"Oh, he did?" Lucy presses with curiosity in her voice. Natsu would never forget something like that. She thinks to herself how strange it is he would have forgotten to take it then remembers he took it off before they finished cleaning the broken bookshelf mess yesterday.

"Yup, it was left in front of one of the bookshelves over there, on the chair; I don't know how that boy didn't realize it was gone in the first place," Porlyusica explains with her arms folded.

"I'll give it to him later today when he comes in; at least I hope he does," Lucy suggests, she bites her cheek trying to stifle a smile, thinking that she might be able to hold onto his scarf longer.

"Oh, that boy always comes here dear. Be sure to keep your eyes on it in case anyone tries to take it." Porlyusica adds as she takes off her jacket getting comfortable for the day.

Lucy's eye brows raise high and she nods with great enthusiasm.

"You bet!"'

Hours pass and it hit around late afternoon.

Lucy is currently on a break in her usual spot. The scarf on her lap neatly folded and a book in her hand. She looks up at the clock to check if her time is up only to spot a rather sorrowful looking Natsu walking slowly in the door. She sees that Natsu is back to his old self, wearing his sweater and jean, and has his glasses on, but something about him is very off.

She gets up with both the scarf and book in hand and rushes to his aid concerned about why he looks so gloom.

"Hey, Lucy…" Natsu mourns softly. His voice is dull, his eyes droopy, and dry tear stains cover his face. His glasses seem to be dirty from crying.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asks urgency in her voice.

"No…I lost my scarf and I can't find it anywhere." Natsu sobs a little; tears wetting his glasses. He takes a handkerchief out of his pocket to clean the liquid off. Within the process, he feels something warm be put around his neck.

"You left it here silly. Thank goodness Miss P found it." Lucy said relief taking over her as she saw Natsu begin to cheer up.

"It was in the Lost and Found and I noticed it when I came in this morning. I kept watch over it all morning and I was hoping you'd come today so I could give it to you."

"You d-didn't have to Lucy, but wow thank you very much!" Natsu's lips twitch; fighting back the urge to let loose a big smile as he is given his scarf and wraps it around his neck.

"Ah don't thank me it's nothing! That's what friends are for right?" Lucy winks elbowing him trying to get him to release the smile he is trying so hard to hold back.

"We're friends!?" Natsu repeats her question in shock rather loudly.

"Of course we are Natsu! Plus I've always wanted to get to know you anyway." Lucy beams. She doesn't care that her voice mirrors his volume or if anyone heard her. Lucy holds his hands together as she gives him a face full of nothing but kindness to truly let him know she wants to be his friend.

"Lucy...I" Natsu pauses as a sudden wave of shyness washes over him leaving him unable to let words come out of his mouth.

Lucy scoots her face a little closer to Natsu's, more so near his ear, so it will allow her to speak in a softer tone so no one can hear her.

"Listen, actually Natsu I thought maybe we cou-"

"MISS HEARTFILIA!"

Lucy groans from being interrupted but tries to hurry and get to the point.

"What I'm trying to say I-"

"MISS HEARTFILIA!"

Lucy sighs in defeat as she gets up.

"I'll be right back."

"Okay..." Natsu says quietly watching her leave. While doing so he adjusts his scarf to fit more comfortably as he thinks about what she had wanted so badly to tell him. He feels kind of dumb for forgetting he left it in the first place.

"Huh...?" Natsu's nose twitches a little as he brings the scarf more closely to him. He notices a faint scent of cotton candy around a majority of the scarf.

"It kind of smells like Lucy's scent...what the...?"

Back at the front desk.

"Did you give him his scarf?" Porlyusica simply asks. She has a blank look on her face as she continues to stamp a few books.

"Uhm...Yeah, I did." Lucy nods slowly, unsure why Porlyusica has called her up just to ask something like that.

"Hm." The elder woman hums as she puts the stamp down and then hands Lucy a book who looks at it with a confused expression on her face until it dawns on her.

"Oh! Hey, this is that book Natsu's been waiting weeks for to come in!" Lucy happily holds the book tightly against her chest knowing that this will definitely make his day.

"Mhm. Care to give it to him for me?" Porlyusica proposes with a gentle smile.

"Of course!" Lucy exclaims.

Before she leaves to give the book to Natsu an idea comes to mind. A really good idea at that.

"This will make things so much easier." Lucy giggles to herself as she takes a piece of paper and writes something down.

Afterward she walks back and finds Natsu sitting in one of the chairs messing around with his scarf.

"Hey, Natsu~ Guess what?" Lucy whispers a hint of playfulness is mixed in with her voice she can't help but release.

"Oh, Lucy you're back! Hey, w-wait isn't that..." Natsu stops playing with the scarf in an instant and turns to face her; eyes growing bigger as he sees the book in Lucy's hand and his hand begins to shake a little in excitement.

"Hehe, here." Lucy laughs as she hands the book to the boy who looks as if he is going to explode from joy.

"I'm so excited!" Natsu flashes a wide bright smile as he takes the book while spinning around in circles almost knocking into Lucy if not for her arms instinctively wrapping around with his so he doesn't fall.

"Careful now you, don't wanna trip. You're pretty lucky though. I wanted to read that one as well but I guess I'll wait till you're done." She chides him.

She lets go shyly of his arm after realizing what she had done.

Natsu pauses for a moment after hearing her last comment.

"H-Hey you know we could always uh...read it together if you want?" He looks at her with sincerity in his eyes hoping she will accept his offer. He feels like he went too bold but the moment is too perfect to not ask her. Plus they can spend more time together.

"Hm." Lucy hums in response, a smug look taking over her face.

She decides not to add anything after that. Instead, she whispers something in Natsu's ear and goes back to the front desk.

Natsu does what he's told and opens the book and notices a sticky note with handwriting on it, more specifically a phone number.

"Hey Natsu, this is my phone number.

It'll be a lot easier for us to talk like this at least until I'm done working my shifts.

Let's hang out sometime okay?"

Natsu stares at the note while trying to not spazz out and embarrass himself. Emotions are barely containable and he lets loose a wild cheer.

He shifts his attention back at Lucy who winks at him while pointing to her phone. Natsu nods vigorously, smiling back at her, as his fingers type in her phone number on his phone. He jumps for joy giving off a heroic pose as he holds onto his glasses so they won't fly off him.

"Quiet you're in the library!" He hears Porlyusica's voice echo within the building.

Natsu stops jumping and looks at Lucy and her him and they both laugh.

The End.

A/N: ANNNND THAT'S A WRAP. ^_^ I decided to cut it off there due to losing motivation and inspiration. ;-; I'm not sure if everyone likes it plus I'd only continue if I got enough people that wanted it. ;w; So, for now, Iam done. Unless stated otherwise. D:

I hope everyone liked it though! n_n It wasn't supposed to be a multichap series but I decided to stretch it out just a bit. x3

Also, :D If you're curious as to see what they look like check out my tumblr. ^^ I'll also be putting a link in my description on my profile so you can see if that's any easier. Wish there was a way to insert links in here. T_T