Hey heyy lads. I'm back! Sorry for the disastrously long wait, I'll explain more at the end, but for now let's just get into the story!

(As per FairyTail does not belong to me! - Also please let me know any grammar or spelling mistakes it really helps to know!)

Chapter 8 – Botched Conversations

A soft light filtered through gaps in the curtains above Lucy and Natsu as they slept, illuminating dry tear tracks on Lucy's cheeks and Natsu's chest. Though their hug had loosened throughout the night, Natsu's arms were still haphazardly wrapped around Lucy's small form. He became vaguely aware of this as the soft light in the room grew harsher.

He blinked away the heaviness in his eyes and groggily looked around the room. Lucy's dress was hung over the chair at her desk, and his shirt and trousers were in a messy pile at the foot of the bed.

A soft whine caught his attention as Lucy shifted closer to him in her sleep. As she tucked herself into his side, he once again tightened his hold around her. The memories of their fight last night caught up with him.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't still hurt. It hurt to think that Lucy was going to marry some random old man, and that she hadn't even told him about it. It hurt that he was caught so off guard by this information, and that he hadn't picked up on it before. Small comments here and there whilst talking at Uni flooded his mind and suddenly made sense. The tone of her voice when she said how she wished she could have romance like the characters in one of her lovesick romance books. It wasn't hopeful. It was sad. It was as if she had already resigned herself to being unhappily married off.

Not that he recognised that back then.

Natsu unconsciously clenched his jaw, and tightened his fist. He wouldn't let that asshole do that to Lucy. She would be happy. She deserved to be happy. With anyone she chose.

His chest tightened as he thought about somebody else making her happy. Somebody else bringing her hot chocolates with a shot of mint and a 'couple of marshmallows', when really she meant a whole lot more. Somebody else eating pizza with her on a movie night as they sat close. Somebody else holding her the way he was now. Protectively. Trying to keep her safe.

The thought that he couldn't do that, that he couldn't be that man hurt. More than anything else.

He realised at that moment, he couldn't let himself get carried away on this trip. As much as it pained him to hear yesterday, they were only pretending to be going out. Though real on his side, he couldn't force that kind of thing on Lucy, especially as she needed him here as a friend. And only a friend.

Figuring he should give her some space, and not wanting to overwhelm her so early in the morning, he shuffled out of her grip to throw on some clothes and head downstairs. A quick glance at the clock on the far wall told him it was about 7 o'clock. He would head downstairs and grab himself a quick breakfast before she woke up. 'A good plan' he thought to himself as he made his way out the door quietly.

The first half hour downstairs was quiet. He grabbed a coffee, with a shot of hot sauce from the kitchen, and downed it quickly so he didn't have to dwell on the taste. Mirajane and Laxus passed through, letting out a polite greeting before heading for the slopes to get in the best runs, and not long after Lisanna came downstairs.

Her hair stuck up at all strange angles, and her eyes were still half closed. It reminded him of when they were kids and they used to have late night sleepovers.

"Still need that weird morning coffee to wake you up?" Lisanna's head turned towards him. She hadn't noticed anyone else there, but was pleasantly surprised to see him.

"You know me, I'm practically a zombie till I guzzle down a triple shot Americano." She attempted to be enthusiastic, but it failed miserably leaving Natsu to laugh to himself. He jumped up and entered the kitchen with her, flicking on the kettle so she didn't have to.

After making her coffee and taking a few sips she felt awake enough to properly open her eyes and start a conversation.

"So, we still need to catch up. It's been.. a while." She smiled over the dark frothy liquid swirling around her mug. Natsu huffed out a small laugh in response.

"It has." He nodded, agreeing with her.

Four years was definitely enough time to have a whole buttload of questions that he wanted to ask. And began to decide exactly what question he should ask first when he heard her speak up instead.

"But first." A sly grin made its way onto her face, and she narrowed her eyes. "What's up with you and Lucy?"

Natsu froze. His posture stiffened slightly, and he had to make a conscious effort not to break eye contact with her. She was always good at picking up on that stuff.

"What do you mean?" Okay, he played it cool. He sounded normal right? Had she heard them arguing last night? Oh god had she heard him raise his voice at her, he already felt guilty enough about that without her adding to it.

"Come on, you know!" She egged him on as she stepped closer to him to keep his attention. Then she went in for the kill. No way he could deny it now. "Lucy told me all about it."

Well. That definitely caught him off guard. Did Lucy bump into Lisanna when she had gone to cool off last night? It was pretty late, and to be honest he didn't think she was even home at that point. Lucy wouldn't have deliberately sought her out would she? They only met yesterday!

"She.. she did?"

"Yeah!" She got even closer, quickly looking around the room before reaching up and whispering to him. "You know, the whole 'fake dating' thing." She prodded him as she spoke, putting emphasis on her words.

"Ohh.." He let out a sigh of relief. He didn't think he could handle both Lucy and Lisanna mad at him at the same time. The relief didn't last long as he realised the implications of her words. "OH."

Eyes widening as Lisanna gave him a knowing smirk and he lifted his hand behind his head in embarrassment at being caught. At least he wouldn't have to lie to her.

"Well, ya know, she needed someone to come with her," He rationalised. "and I guess she didn't feel comfortable asking any of the other guys in our group?"

Lisanna gave him a look. The look. As if to ask if he was serious.

"Really. Is that all?" She started, thinking she could have a little fun at his expense.

In no way was she a mean spirited person, absolutely no one would say that about her. But she had four WHOLE years of teasing him to catch up on. So why not start now?

"Are the guys in your group bad then?"

Natsu looked confused. Why would she questions his judgement, they always shared a friendship group, and to be honest even whilst at Uni, it hadn't changed much from when they'd last seen each other.

"No? Apart from that ice queen Gray. Can't seem to shake him." A scowl made it's way onto his face. He supposed the ice queen was annoying and a pain in the ass but he wasn't exactly bad.

"Awh you still hang out with Gray? You know you love him, you guys are just too far into this 'hating' thing to admit it!" He glared at her, slightly angry she picked up on his subconscious thought process. Just as he was about to tell her to piss off, she silenced him with another question.

God, was she always this interrogative?

"So why did you agree then? Doesn't seem like the kind of thing you would do? I didn't even know you could ski?"

"I can't." He said simply, shrugging. "Luce said she'd teach me."

"Okay but don't avoid the question Natsu. Why did you agree to come here with Lucy?"

"Because she's my best friend? Why else?"

"Natsu.. you forget how long we had been friends. I know you. I know you're a great friend, and you would give an arm and a leg for your friends … but this?" She trailed off at the end.

Looked like she might just have to call him out on it. It didn't look like he would offer any explanation of his own.

After speaking to Lucy she knew, she just KNEW, they were made for each other. It was pretty clear that Lucy liked Natsu, after watching them 'act' together and then finding out they actually weren't? Well, it definitely explained the light blush Lucy sported whenever they were in close contact or hugging. AND the fact they never kissed directly on the lips. It was always on the cheek or forehead. The talk with Lucy in the toilets had also been informative, although it was just a hunch at the time.

To be honest, she was completely fooled. The looks Natsu gave her.. it would've made her younger self very jealous. He looked at her like she was the night sky. Like she glowed an ethereal light, and offered a peace and guidance that one could usually only acquire through years of meditation. And Natsu has never been a particularly good actor.

So she sussed out his feelings pretty quickly too. Especially once Lucy told her they weren't really dating.

What fools.

All she had to do now, was get him to admit it.

"I mean," She started. "You hate the cold! You just said you don't know how to ski, you thought you knew nobody but Lucy here, so why would you want to come?"

"Because she asked me?"

"What and you'll do anything she says?"

"Yeah. If it makes her happy." He said, solemnly reminding himself of the thought he had this morning. What if Lucy asked him to stay away from her? Or to never speak to her again? Oh god, what if he really had pissed her off last night and she regretted him being here?

So many negative thoughts rushed through his mind before a short whistle stopped him from spiralling.

"You have it bad my friend." Lisanna sent a soft smile his way, as his face heated to a darker shade than his hair.

"No I- " Lisanna cut him off by poking his chest.

"Mhhmm sure, and Happy isn't blue."

"You know he- oh, shut up." He lightly held onto her shoulders to push her away, before deciding against it and instead hushing his voice down to a whisper. "Don't say anything Lis. I haven't told her and I don't plan on it."

"What? Natsu why not?"

"She's got too much going on and I don't want to add to it."

"Look she's right here I mean-"

"Lisanna I can't." He raised his voice, unaware of the footsteps coming down the stairs. "I cannot tell her anything, especially that I- I like her. I just can't. Not whilst I'm here anyways."

A creak from the hallway caught his attention, and he saw a blonde mop of hair through the crack in the kitchen door. A second later and his face blanched. Lucy walked into the kitchen in her skiing gear.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disrupt. It sounded like a pretty important conversation." She gave them a small smile. Lisanna noticed it was similar to the one she had in the bathroom the other day. The smile she gave when she wasn't very hopeful about the situation with Natsu.

Natsu, on the other hand, wound himself into such a panic that she may have heard his basic declaration of love for her that he didn't even notice the slightly subdued tone of her voice.

"Lucy I-"

"It's okay!" She held her hands up in defence to stop him speaking. "It sounded private! I'm just here to grab a granola bar." True to her word, she grabbed one from the cupboard nearest Lisanna. "I'm headed to the slopes. I thought you guys and everyone else were already there."

Lisanna turned to look at Natsu to see if he would give an answer, or reassure her that they were talking about her and not someone else. But nothing. He just gave her a blank stare, so Lisanna just nodded for the both of them and said they'd be getting into their gear first, but starting on the baby slopes.

"Okay, I guess… I'll see you guys there soon?" And with that she rushed out the door, grabbing her ski gear off the sofa and made her way outside of the house.

Lisanna turned to Natsu with a worried look on her face, and sighed.

"I have a horrible feeling she just got the complete wrong end of the stick."

Natsu and Lisanna sped up after bumping into Lucy, quickly showering and putting on their skiing gear so they could make their way up to the slopes as well.

Surprisingly enough, Lisanna had never been skiing either, so whilst on the baby slopes an instructor on site showed them the basics in terms of stopping and starting. They ended up just snow ploughing down the entire slope at first; well at least Lisanna did because she actually had a head on her shoulders. Natsu on the other hand, immediately forgot all stopping techniques and collided full speed into the wooden fence at the bottom. Which to be honest was quite a feat; as there was another slight slope opposite to avoid that kind of thing.

Every now and then, he spotted the pastel pink of Lucy's ski suit flying down the slopes and then slowly making her way back up on the ski lift. After two hours of practice, and very little progress he and Lisanna decided to take a break and sit at the side. Whilst doing so, Lisanna herself noticed Lucy's form come to a calculated stop a few metres from them and without hesitation she called out.

"Lucy!" Her head shot up, confused as to who was calling her. But she relaxed when she saw it was Lisanna and gracefully skied over to them.

Pulling off her goggles, and her fluffy hat, let her wind tousled hair fall down and frame her face. With her face pink from the cold and physical exertion, she looked flushed.

"You guys having fun? Picking up much?" She plopped herself down in the snow next to Lisanna and jumped slightly when they both shouted their replies.

"NO-"

"YES!"

They replied at the same time, looking at each other incredulously. Whilst Lisanna found they hadn't been making much progress, apparently Natsu felt differently.

Lucy just chuckled to herself. "Have you guys at least learned the basics of stopping and starting? And how to wipe out safely?"

"Uhh yeah sure! Can we go on harder routes now?" Nats

"Natsu. You know you have to use chair lifts right?" Lis

"Yeah but-" oh god he didn't take his medication.

"You forgot your medication didn't you?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny purse. A purse that he recognised. "I thought you would forget. So I've packed one of these into a couple of my jacket pockets so I always have some on me."

She handed a couple to him and he quickly took them. She got herself up and popped her skis off. They were pretty uncomfortable to wear whilst sitting down anyways.

"Come on, we'll all grab a hot chocolate whilst we wait for them to kick in. I'm surprised you were able to ski at all without having taken them." She gestured for him and Lisanna to follow her to the slope side café not 500 metres from them.

Lisanna only raised a slight eyebrow at him as they popped off their own skis as well, carrying them behind her. He shoved her gently and followed Lucy to the café. At least there he wouldn't have to deal with the relentless teasing of the she-demon who had taken over his former best friend's body.

Lisanna chuckled to herself following slightly behind to watch the two idiots fumble over one another.

After grabbing them a table Lucy went to grab their drinks. The decadent mugs she brought back could hardly be called hot chocolates; a more fitting name would be a masterpiece!

The mugs were standard but inside them, good god. On each hot chocolate there were different toppings. Though they all had an artistic swirl of whipped cream with chocolate shavings on top, they different slightly. Lucy's had a small candy cane sticking out of the side, and what looked like crushed candy canes dusted over the top. Lisanna's on the other hand had a few coffee beans scattered over the cream, Lucy had gotten her a mocha instead.

"A little birdy told me you like your caffeine?" Lucy chuckled as she sat down.

Natsu looked at his own hot chocolate and realised there was a stick of some kind sticking out of it, and a few red flakes mixed in with the chocolate shavings.

"It's a cinnamon stick, and chilli flakes. A spicy festive treat." She smiled softly at him as she tried to sip at her own hot chocolate.

He avoided looking across the table at Lisanna, because he could just imagine the look she had on her face now. Especially after everything they spoke about this morning.

"Oh no," She started. "He still has that weird obsession with making every food spicy?"

"Ohmigosh yes." Lucy began to recount to Lisanna all the strange 'Natsu-fied' food she'd made or accidentally eaten without knowing he had changed it.

** FLASHBACK **

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled from her kitchen.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, neither of them planned on going out that night unlike the rest of their group. Instead they decided to have a 'bake off' of sorts.

Lucy would be making her signature red-velvet cookies, whereas Natsu would be making his 'demon cookies' as Lucy called them or in other words his sriracha and chilli chocolate chip cookies.

Because both sets of cookies looked so similar, red in colour with white chocolate chips throughout, they decided they could have fun and finally pull a prank together.

Natsu pulled pranks all the time, and whilst Lucy tried she had never really gotten the hang of it. One time she even went to 'break in' to Natsu's place, to get him back for all the times he randomly shows up at hers, but ended up cleaning his room and falling asleep before he even returned! Natsu still liked to bring that up from time to time.

They patted themselves on the back for their idea. It was genius really. They would bring the whole lot of them to the gathering they were going to on Monday, saying that they were red-velvet cookies. And from there they would watch the drama unfold.

However, it didn't exactly go to plan. Once they finished baking them, Lucy herself forgot which tray was which as she had tried to make them look as similar as possible.

"Do you know which ones which?"

Lucy looked back at him with indignation. As if she would admit that to him.

"Yes. Of course I do." She snapped in return. A sly grin crawled onto his face as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, how do yours taste?"

Refusing to let Natsu think she could make such a silly mistake, she just grabbed the nearest cookie to her, hoped for the best and took a huge bite.

Regret.

Regret was the immediate reaction she felt and she spat chewed up cookie over the floor and rushed to the fridge to guzzle down some milk and save her burning tongue.

Natsu on the other hand loved the situation. He knew Lucy couldn't handle spice, and seeing the confidence in her move drastically drop was more than enough entertainment for him. He dropped to the floor and absolutely lost it.

"Haaaahhh Natthhuuu, ith nop thunnyyyy!" Lucy tried to speak with her tongue out of her mouth, which sent him into further hysterics.

He wiped at his eyes, as he eventually calmed down.

"Luce. Your only successful prank has now been- pfft- against yourself!" He grinned with mirth filled eyes as he struggled to hold back more fits of laughter.

"Oh thhup up." She grumbled.

** FLASHBACK **

Lisanna was almost in tears by the time Lucy finished recounting that last story about the cookie mishap. Lucy giggled, and Natsu found himself start to chuckle along at the memory.

"But it's never boring being best friends with Natsu. I can tell you that much." A gentle smile crossed her face, before she shook her head gently and looked up at the man in question.

"Well," She glanced at the slim watch on her wrist. "It's been about a half hour, do you think your tablets have kicked in yet?"

"I mean, I think so?" He replied. "I don't feel too sick thinking about going on the chairlifts?"

"Hmm.. okay we'll leave it a little longer and finish our hot chocolates."

"Yeah, waiting a little longer won't-" A faint beeping sound cut Lisanna off. She reached into her bag and grabbed her phone. Her face lit up as she recognised the number that popped up on the screen. "Oh.. yeah! Yeah! Are you here then?! Okay I'll come and meet you!"

She grabbed her things and went to stand up before she even realised what she was doing. Stopping in her tracks, she turned back to them and looked a little guilty.

"Sorry guys Bixlow is here, is it okay if I go meet him then we can all ski together later?" Lucy gave her a little shove towards the door.

"Of course it is! Don't be silly! We'll see you later!"

They both waved Lisanna out of the café and turned to automatically smile at one another. However, they both caught themselves before they finished the action, looking down into the rest of their hot chocolates.

Five minutes they sat there in silence. Five minutes! That's almost a record breaking time for them both, but the awkwardness of their fight and the overheard conversation that morning definitely knocked them out of their normal banter filled routine.

Speaking of that morning…

"Lucy, about this morning, what.. what did you actually hear?" Natsu was almost too nervous to ask. His palms had gotten all sweaty holding his hot chocolate, so he placed the mug back down on the table and wiped his palms on his salopettes.

She seemed to squirm in her seat, apparently uncomfortable with the question he asked.

"Nothing much to be honest.. something about you liking someone?" Lucy tried to sound as casual as she could, but overhearing his words earlier that morning had affected her a bit more than she would like to admit.

Natsu on the other hand was slightly confused. So she didn't know it was her?

"Me… liking… someone?"

"Yeah, that's what I heard…" Her voice died off at the end. "Is.. is that why you've been acting strange around me? Because there's someone you like and you feel bad staying best friends with a different girl?"

Natsu couldn't respond.

Good god, she didn't know it was her. He felt relieved but conflicted at the same time. Should he tell her? He didn't want her thinking he was into some random other girl? Unbeknownst to him, Lucy had continued talking; rambling on slightly.

"I mean it makes sense, we are pretty close, so others might find it odd. But I thought you said you would tell me if anythi-"

"Lucy. I don't like another girl." He turned to face her, grabbing her shoulders and pulling himself close enough to look her in the eyes. He did not want her thinking he liked some other girl. Not when she was everything he could want and more. "You have got to believe me."

"O-Okay." She blinked a couple times, trying to reduce her oncoming blush and get over the fact he has brought himself so close to her face.

ADD IN MORE?

As he pulled away Lucy got up from her chair.

"Let's go ski then." She gave him a playful wink and just like that, it felt like things had clicked back to normal. Maybe not completely, but they could pretend right?

They made it safely up the mountain to the first green run without Natsu blowing chunks anywhere. So at least his meds had kicked in. After a few tries of the green, Natsu wanted to up the ante a bit so practically forced Lucy to take him on a blue or red run.

Lucy, being the sensible girl she was, stopped Natsu before he could just plough down the slope to talk to him about the dangers to skiing, and made him promise not to go off-piste.

And with that, she cautiously led them down the mountain stopping to check on him every few minutes. Natsu was fine, he was actually enjoying himself. Well, up until the moment he went slightly too fast and his skis caught the back of Lucy's throwing him off balance.

Lucy, on the other hand, felt the collision and started to turn around to see if he was okay, but all too quickly got wiped out by Natsu toppling over onto her. They ended up rolling down the slope over one another and losing a ski each before unceremoniously landing in a pile of snow.

They both came up for air, goggles half torn off and hair mangled into the snow. Lucy's arm felt a bit sore, but she wiggled her legs best she could and didn't feel any pain so she thought she would be okay to ski the rest of the way down. Natsu on the other hand was already yelling about how fun that was.

"YOOO Luce! That was awesome! We basically just slid the whole way down! Wait- are you okay?"

She slapped him on the back of his head. Natsu grimaced as he rubbed the sore spot with his wet gloves, the cold seeping through his hair onto his scalp. His hat must have fallen off in the tumble as well.

"Natsu you idiot!" She turned to face him, her expression pinched together in a mix of worry and anger. "That could have been really dangerous! We're lucky we didn't break anything!"

She was obviously more shaken up than he was, despite him being the beginner. Natsu flicked her forehead and pulled her in for a quick but firm side hug.

"Yeah but Luce.. we didn't?"

A hand flew to slap her own forehead as she sighed in exasperation.

"God, you're insufferable sometimes." She picked herself up, brushing away as much snow off her suit as she could, before offering her hand to him. "Let's just head home now instead of going on any more slopes today, I've got snow all in my suit and it's getting cold."

He mock saluted at her whilst she rolled her eyes.

"Lead the way, captain."

They grabbed their stuff that had spread out around them in the tumble and checked themselves over for any sore spots. The only thing bothering Lucy was her arm, whereas Natsu was pretty sure Lucy's elbow had collided with his jaw in the fall.

Luckily, they made it to the bottom with no further incidents taking the time to take their gear off to dry at the door and making their way up to their room.

Lucy called dibs on the shower first, giving Natsu plenty of time to think to himself as she usually takes a while washing her hair. Fifteen minutes in as he lay on the bed, he decided he would have to tell her. He needed to let her know how much she meant to him. That she was the only one he wanted. Especially now since not only Gray but Lisanna knew, he didn't want to lie to her.

Another fifteen minutes later and the shower turned off. Lucy popped her dripping head out the door in no time, in her winter pyjamas. They were dark blue and covered in constellations, a stark contrast to the usual soft pink of her summer floral pyjamas.

"Shower's all yours, Nats." He nodded heading straight for the shower, grabbing a towel on the way. He didn't want to take too long or he might lose his nerve. Hearing the hairdryer from the other room seemed to calm his nerves for whatever reason. A quick but thorough wash should do it, a bit of all in one body wash and shampoo and the job was done.

Grabbing a set of boxers and pyjamas from the radiator in the bathroom he quickly changed, opting to grab a pyjama top from the drawer in the bedroom instead.

After exiting the bathroom and pulling an old t-shirt over his head, he headed over to Lucy as she had finished drying her hair and was instead brushing it through now.

"Look Luce, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday."

She paused the rhythmic brushing of her hair as she froze for a few seconds, before setting down the hairbrush and turning to face him.

Now that she had washed her face, the bags underneath them became a lot more prominent. And her movements were sluggish as she just shrugged her shoulders to brush him off. She was tired.

"It's okay Natsu. You already apologised yesterday anyways." She sighed softly and stood up from her desk making her way to sit on the bed.

Despite the hesitation he felt, he stepped closer to her and sat next to her.

"No Luce, it isn't okay." He started, okay here it goes. "I only got so mad because I care about you."

"Natsu.. I care about you too." His breath hitched in his throat. Lucy hesitated as she placed her hand atop his. "You're my best friend."

"No. Luce Look, that's not what I mean." He paused for minute, trying to sort his words out in his head before he just blurted out any old thing.

This was important.

At least it was to him, it was important that Lucy knew exactly how much she meant to him.

Okay. He just had to take deep breaths.

His face hardened with resolution and he met her gaze firmly. "Lucy, I mean that I-"

His words were cut frustratingly short by the door to their bedroom being slammed open. Both of their heads whipped around in shock and annoyance to see who had interrupted them.

"So guys, you kept this little secret under wraps didn't you."

He was now propped up on the door frame giving them both a doubtful look. His dark blonde hair brushed over the top of his glasses he pushed them further up the bridge of his nose.

Lucy and Natsu almost did a double take. They looked at one another, to confirm they weren't going crazy, and then looked back at the door incredulously.

"LOKÉ?"

Okay guys sooo what do you think will happen next! I have a little planned but not all of it. Also I am so so SO sorry for not uploading in so long. I know things were hella stressful for me before, but I've been put on some new meds and they're really messing with my drowsiness, but I think it's starting to wear off! So hopefully this is me back!

(Also does anyone know how to go about getting a beta reader?)

To answer questions, comments and reviewers: I love you all. Although I haven't been writing, I have still been reading. Honestly, getting you reviews and favourites through is what kept me going and cheered up my day sometimes. I really do love you guys. Even if it's insignificant to you. J

I want to thank everyone who reviewed: Fangirling02, heyitsmeduhnat, CathJorda, CuteBubbles, Michiamotippete, Nina-chan202, Joeclone, Timrocks99, SunsetRika, Ushindeshi, Shadoweddark, CrazyZaika.

I love that you guys liked the fight. I wasn't too sure as to whether or not I would do it justice. Reading through I still feel it is a bit rushed and that I could have dragged out the consequences (still might lol) but I guess that is what practicing is for!

Let me know if you like this chapter in the reviews! And I am always up for a chat so don't ever feel nervous to message me!

Hope you are all well and that this isn't an annoying chapter!