Happy birthday to me! :) As a present to myself, I am hereby posting the very first chapter to my brand new and my very first Fairy Tail full-fic! I'm very excited to know what you think! So, as a little birthday present for me, be sure to leave a review and let me know if I should upload the other chapters at later dates! Thanks all and have fun reading!

Adherence

o0o

The Prologue

This sucked, Lucy decided as she peered at herself in the mirror. Her blonde hair was a mess, sticking up this way and that, her face was red and puffy, her eyes were watery and her nose was stuffed to the point that she, in order to not suffocate, needed to breathe through her mouth. It was official, Lucy Heartfilia was absolutely, positively sick as a dog.

"No," she moaned, sniffling. "Not today, any day but today…" Lucy leaned closer to the mirror, inspecting her swollen face with tender, cautious hands; she pressed against the small bags under her eyes. "I promised I'd be there…"

And promised, indeed she had. Today marked the long anticipated eighth anniversary of Bisca and Alzack's wedding, and Lucy had been oh, so looking forward to attending, as last year, due to certain circumstances, she had missed the party. But, afterwards she had assured the couple, and their adorable angel of a daughter, that she would absolutely make it this year, no matter the circumstances. With a determined scowl at her disturbing reflection, Lucy huffed and grabbed her makeup bag.

There was no way that this cold was going to get the better of her. Snatching her foundation, Lucy roughly unscrewed the lid and dabbed her finger in the pale liquid.

"Lu-chan?"

At the sound of Levy's voice in her apartment, Lucy stilled, gazing at her locked bathroom door. "Levy-chan?" Lucy called, sounding surprised. Afterwards, she felt that annoying scratch in her throat and she couldn't help but unleash a fit of ugly-sounding coughs.

"Lu-chan," Levy's voice was aghast, "are you alright? You sound awful!"

Lucy turned and glowered at her sickly reflection again, grumbling, "Because that's just what I wanted to hear from my best friend."

"Ah, sorry," the timid girl on the other side of the door apologized sheepishly. "But, you really don't sound okay…"

Inside the bathroom, staring intently at herself, Lucy rubbed on layers of her foundation, rubbing her puffy cheeks in circles. But it didn't seem to work, she noted, as she added yet another layer. "I'm fine, really I am."

But, when the word "fine" came out as "fibe", Lucy knew that Levy wouldn't be able to let the matter go. She grimaced.

"I don't think you are…I think you have that cold that's been going around all of Magnolia." Levy's voice was firm as she came to her conclusion. "Lu-chan, open the door," Levy said, knocking lightly.

Inside, Lucy huffed. "I don't have that cold…I may just be having an allergy attack." She pulled away after counting five layers of foundation; her skin seemed to be a somewhat normal color again. She smiled triumphantly, grabbing her powder and mascara.

Lucy heard Levy scoff. "In the middle of July? Lu-chan, just open the door." The tiny girl was knocking again.

"Who ever said that allergies were strictly a spring thing?" Lucy countered, ignoring her friend's request.

"Lu-chan, if you don't open the door – "

Lucy let one of her eyebrows rise in curiosity. Her best friend, the quiet Levy, the sweetheart, was attempting to make a threat? Really? Lucy glanced at the door, halting the process of her powdering for a brief moment.

And the thing that Lucy hadn't expected the most, happened. One second Lucy was standing there, staring at her perfectly intact door, and the next, she was jumping back as her once perfectly intact door collapsed inward, slamming noisily against the tiles in the bathroom. Lucy shrieked.

"My door!"

Oh, her landlady was so going to kill her!

"Levy and I gave you fair warning, Lucy," Erza's strong voice berated.

Lucy felt herself freeze up, her joints locking. Oh, Mavis, if Erza was here, that meant that Lucy had already lost the fight. But she looked up at the redhead angrily, coughing before shouting, "Erza, you can't just kick down my door! I have to pay for that!"

"You weren't going to open the door, so I had to create an opening," Erza simply replied, crossing her armor-plated forearms.

The blonde in the room squatted next to her dismantled door, staring at it with disdain. Great, just one more thing that she would have to fix later. She heaved a sigh, which, scratched her throat again, and induced another round of nasty coughs.

"Lu-chan," Levy murmured, sounding concerned. The bluenette let her firm stare fall into a worried look and she dashed inside the bathroom to Lucy's side, rubbing her friend on the back comfortingly. "You do have the cold… Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Levy asked.

Lucy glanced from between Erza, who still had her arms crossed almost expectantly, and Levy, who was pinning her down with an extremely worried stare. Lucy groaned, sighing, and went to stand up. "I…I didn't want to miss their anniversary again," she admitted with a frown. "I missed it last year because of a mission, and I promised that I would be there this time…It's just a stupid cold, though, I can still go. I don't even feel all that bad."

Which, of course, was a lie. Lucy, in fact, felt simply awful. She couldn't breathe, her eyes were leaking, she was sore all over, her throat felt like she had mistakenly swallowed one of Natsu's main courses, and she had been coughing up phlegm for two hours. It was the mother of all colds. No wonder there was such a buzz about it in Magnolia.

"Children have been sent to the hospital because of that cold, Lucy," Erza reminded, her brown eyes hardening a considerable amount. "Going to the party in that condition, not only would it be a miserable experience for you, but you would also have the opportunity to infect other people in the guild. Like Asuka-chan." The combat expert unfolded her arms to place them on her metal-laced hips, much like a stern mother.

Lucy swallowed roughly, wincing as it grated her sore throat. Honestly, she hadn't even thought about what might happen to the others if she went. But, Erza was right, this was a nasty and highly contagious cold, so anyone she came into contact with would more than likely catch it. Including Asuka, who, because of her small stature, would have probably been hospitalized. Lucy felt herself grimacing at the image of the happy-go-lucky child confined to a sterile room. She would have hated herself for putting the girl in such a situation.

Erza was right.

"You're right, I wasn't thinking." Lucy went to sit on her bed, followed closely by Levy. "I just," she started as she plopped down on the plush comforter, "I feel guilty, not being able to go and all…especially since I had promised Asuka-chan."

"Lu-chan, I'm sure Asuka-chan would much rather you stay home and rest than force yourself to attend the party." Levy patted her friend on the shoulder reassuringly, her golden eyes shimmering with understanding.

"You're right, you're both right," Lucy hummed as she fell backwards onto her bed. She exhaled, burying her head in a soft pillow. "I'll stay home…"

Levy smiled with relief and Erza nodded.

"But, could you apologize to them for me?" Lucy asked with another long sniffle.

"Of course, Lu-chan, you just stay home and rest."

o0o

"Oi! Erza, where's Lucy?"

The two returning women, Levy and Erza, were greeted by a rather rambunctious and eager Natsu Dragneel rounding on them with an ecstatic grin lighting up his roguishly handsome face, Happy floating aimlessly nearby. The grin he wore let his sharp teeth poke through, and his green eyes sparkled with mischief. No doubt he was planning to play another prank on his best friend, Lucy.

"Natsu," Levy greeted with her own smile. "Um, actually, Lu-chan stayed home…she's not feeling very well."

Natsu grin fell into a frown. "She's sick?" he asked incredulously. His sudden enthusiasm was replaced with solemnity and Happy fluttered down to the ground, seeming equally distressed about the news. Natsu glanced at his cat out of the corner of his eyes before mumbling, "Let's go, Happy."

"Aye, sir!" the blue feline replied, saluting.

"Wait, Natsu." Erza's voice was commanding and chilling.

Natsu paused, an incredibly nervous look plastered across his features. He was going a bit pale as he stared at Erza, probably imagining the scolding she was about to give him. "Y-yes, Erza?" he squeaked.

The adept swordswoman pierced him with a stare. "Lucy is highly contagious, it would be foolish to visit her right now. She needs her rest, anyway, and you would only cause a disturbance."

Immediately, Natsu began to think of protests—something along the lines of, "I don't cause a disturbance!". Then he quickly reminded himself that this was Erza he was dealing with, the most stubborn, bull-headed and violent woman in all of Fairy Tail. Going against her wishes was the same as asking for death. He knew from experience.

Submissively, Natsu ducked his head, a pout forming on his childish face.

Next to Erza, the tiny solid script mage reached out and rested her small, petit hand on Natsu's bulking shoulder. "Sorry, Natsu," Levy apologized with a small smile. "Lu-chan felt really bad about not coming, but she needs her rest more than anything."

But he turned on his heel with another bright smile upon his face, mouth stretching and K-9's just barely poking his bottom lip. "We can just visit her tomorrow, isn't that right, Happy?"

Happy flew in a circle, holding out a paw. "Aye, sir!"

And the two strutted away, seemingly happy, without another care. Levy exhaled. It appeared as though Natsu had taken the news relatively well, but, then again, Natsu was usually very good at concealing his doubts and worries.

As his cat flew in circles at his shoulder, Natsu glumly sulked to the bar, a depressed frown taking over. Lucy wasn't coming. He had so been looking forward to seeing her, since he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her in the past few days. Being sick certainly explained it, though, Natsu thought worriedly, Lucy very rarely came down with anything. It was unusual for her to be sick, and the Lucy he knew wouldn't have let it stop her from attending the party she had seemed so excited for.

Natsu sank into an empty seat at the bar.

"Natsu," Happy sang, "I see Charle!"

The dragonslayer looked over his shoulder at his eager companion and grinned. "Go have fun!" he exclaimed.

The Exceed flew off, loudly asking Charle if she would like to go fishing with him.

Natsu sighed, watching the interaction between the two flying cats. Charle, though initially reserved, eventually agreed to the request, much to Happy's delight. Lucky cat, Natsu thought wryly.

"Missing Lucy, huh?"

Natsu jumped out of his skin. Cana laughed at his surprised face, swatting at his back reassuringly.

"Easy there," she chuckled.

Natsu exhaled. He hadn't even heard her approach, much less sit down directly next to him, which was slightly troubling in itself.

"Don't give yourself a heart attack." Cana smirked at him before reaching out to grab an incredibly large mug of ale. Faster than anyone could think to be possible, Cana had swung the drink up to her mouth and chugged nearly half of its contents. She slammed it down on the bar with a large exhale. "Nothing like a good drink."

Natsu blinked.

"Wanna try?" Cana asked suggestively, an elegant brow lifted.

Curiously, Natsu inhaled the scent of Cana drink and he promptly gagged. Never had he ever smelt anything so bitter, it made his lips curl. Spicy things were much more his taste, not bitter. "No," he snorted, shaking his head.

The drinker laughed, swinging her mug. "How about some firewhiskey, then?"

He fixed her with a contemplative stare. Firewhiskey? It sounded…spicy, like a firecracker. And Natsu did like firecrackers, though Lucy had berated him countless times for trying to ingest them.

Cana noticed this look, of course, and smirked, before turning to the barmaid, Mirajane. "Hey, Mira, get this kid a glass of firewhiskey."

"Coming right up," Mira chirped.

"I didn't say I wanted any," Natsu said defensively as he crossed his arms. He glared at Cana.

She only snorted and waved away his glare. "I saw you thinking about it, besides, you're all depressed now that Lucy's not here, right? So drink all your problems away, it's what I do."

Before he could protest again, a large glass was slid in front of him. It was empty, he noticed. Pinning Mira with an analytical stare, his eyes were sharp and calculating and watching her every movement as she grabbed bottles of whiskey, rum and a package of cinnamon and matches. This piqued Natsu's interest. Matches. He leaned closer.

Mira poured cinnamon into his bare glass, and quickly followed it by dousing the cinnamon in whiskey. Afterwards, she dropped two large ice cubes inside and gave the glass a few good shakes to stir it. As she set it down on the countertop again, Mira filled the rest of the glass to the top with rum. Natsu's nose quickly picked up on the heady, spicy scent and he kept watching with anticipation.

Then, Mira removed a single match from the box and…set Natsu's drink on fire. Flames began licking their way along the top of the liquid, reaching high up into the air with disembodied fingers.

"Well, don't just sit there," Cana mused to Natsu's right, "drink it before the flames go out!"

Natsu blinked, startled, and then made a grab for the enflamed drink. He downed it without thinking and Cana slapped him on the back again, causing the dragonslayer to choke. But he dropped the glass back onto the countertop after feeling the burning sensation in the back of his throat. Natsu decided that like liked firewhiskey.

"More!" he spluttered excitedly.

"Coming right up," Mira sang again happily.

Meanwhile, Levy watched from afar as Natsu gallantly drank glass after glass of firewhiskey. His raucous behavior insinuated that he enjoyed the exotic beverage, and was stopping at nothing to have just one more drink.

"That can't be good," she whispered to herself apprehensively.

Natsu had never been the type to drink, instead, he had always focused on eating or consuming anything flame or spice related.

"What's there to worry 'bout, Shrimp?" a gruff voice asked to her left. "Salamander's only getting drunk off his ass."

Levy turned to her companion, her amber eyes full of worry. "Exactly. Natsu doesn't drink, you know that, Gajeel."

"Just let him be…" the iron dragonslayer grumped as his studded brows tugged downwards over his narrowed eyes.

Levy was right, though, he knew. It was unusual for Natsu to consume anything alcoholic—actually, not just Natsu, it was unusual for any dragonslayer to consume something alcoholic in nature. With their keen abilities, dragonslayers were much more sensitive with their sense of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste; especially taste. And alcohol always had a bitter aftertaste that dragonslayers found hard to swallow. Gajeel frowned. Natsu was upset over something.

As if sensing her partner's thoughts on the subject, Levy twirled her cropped blue hair around her slim index finger and murmured, "I think it has to do with Lucy…"

Gajeel snorted. "Bunny girl?"

She nodded. "Erza-san and I told him that he couldn't visit her. He's probably upset." Levy kept watching the fire dragonslayer with a distressed tone to her body language. Gajeel didn't like seeing her so distraught.

"Then just tell him he can go visit her. Problem solved."

Levy looked at him over her small, shapely shoulder and sighed. "The last thing Lu-chan needs is Natsu breaking into her apartment…she'd go berserk." The solid script mage shuddered as she imagined her best friend clobbering a good one to Natsu and Happy, berating them severely about invasion of privacy and whatnot.

Gajeel regarded the fool at the bar once more, observing the way his hands flung themselves around and his head bobbed. "He's drunk," Gajeel muttered sourly, lips twisting into a disapproving snarl.

"He's what?" Levy cast her attention to the fire dragonslayer again, her mouth dropping open in shock. "Natsu…" she sighed. Levy rose from her seat, locating Erza just across the room, talking to Bisca and Asuka. "Erza-san!" she shouted.

The redhead looked up.

"Natsu is…" Levy simply pointed to the bar, a hopeless expression on her soft face.

Erza took once glance in the direction of Levy's hand and immediately recognized the situation. "Natsu," she hissed, her fists clenching at her sides. "Excuse me, Bisca," Erza muttered to the markswoman before stalking off in the direction of the bar. Her footsteps collided painfully with the wooden floorboards, and by the time she had reached Natsu's seat, he had turned himself around to smile at her.

"Hey there, Bearza…No. Wait, Erza, Erza's your name," Natsu mumbled drunkenly, his glazed eyes peering at her. Suddenly, though, he pursed his lips together, a small ripple of laughter coming from his mouth. "Bearza," he repeated. And then, he burst into uncontrollable laughter, slamming his hands down on the counter for support as he hunched over.

Erza had never considered herself a patient woman, so sitting there, watching her friend make a drunken fool of himself for more than thirty seconds impressed her. Normally, she would have apprehended him in five. But either way, Erza grabbed the dragonslayer harshly by the back of his collar and yanked him off of his stool and onto the floor.

"Go home," she commanded, brown eyes sparking.

"Yessir, Bearza, sir…ma'am." Natsu began laughing again.

No one was surprised when Erza threw her armored arm around his neck and placed the drunkard in a choke-hold. Unsympathetically, she dragged him to the door as he protested and kicked and whined like a child. Erza's thin patience had been put to its limit. She hated drunkards, and she hated jokesters. So when the two were combined—aka, Natsu—it was surprising that she had even given him a chance to speak in the first place.

But when she got to the large double doors, she paused and turned to Levy.

"Levy, have you contacted Lucy since we left?"

The small mage shook her head, chewing her bottom lip. "I tried calling from the phone in the back, but Lu-chan didn't pick up…I wonder if she's okay."

"She should be fine, but, just in case, we should check up on her tomorrow morning," Erza conceded, her grip around Natsu tightening.

"Yeah." Levy nodded. "I'll go."

Unbeknownst to the two, however, the drunk dragonslayer was paying acute attention to their conversation. Lucy. Sick. Needs to be checked upon. He could do it, he thought to himself hazily. He could go check on Lucy and make sure she was alright.

"Now, as for you, Natsu, go home and sober up." Erza threw open the doors and harshly tossed Natsu outside into the warm night. "I mean it," she said with narrowed eyes, "go home." And the doors closed.

Go to Lucy's home. Priority alpha in Natsu's brain. He needed to make sure Lucy was okay, that she hadn't, like, died or something. So, turning in the direction of where he thought her apartment was, Natsu stumbled along in the night, talking to himself.

"Can't go see Lucy…when she's sick," he muttered, glaring at the cobblestone street. "I'm gonna see her whether you want me to or not!" he shouted to the night sky.

And his march of determination continued. He wasn't sure when or how he reached her large apartment complex, but, somehow he had managed to arrive in one piece. Natsu didn't bother to be quiet when he yanked open the front door to the complex, or when he marched up the stairs to Lucy's quarters. Without knocking, he thrust open the door, stormed inside and called out, "Luuuucy, I'm home!"

He received no response.

Puzzled, the dragonslayer staggered around in the spacious apartment, searching for his friend. "Lucy," Natsu said aloud again. And again, he repeated her name as he entered the kitchen. Still, there was no response from the girl. So, he strode to her bedroom, the only other likely place she would be at this time of night. Again, Natsu didn't bother to knock first before entering and he tossed the door open.

Lucy's familiar scent bombarded his alert senses and he sighed, completely content. This was what he had missed. This smell of comfort. Seeking the source of the comfort, Natsu stalked over to the plush mattress on the left-hand side of the room. Lucy was there, under mountains of covers and sheets, and she was huffing and puffing in her sleep, sweat glazing her brow.

She smelled sickly, Natsu wearily noted, his dazed brain trying to think. He didn't think about it twice. Natsu crawled into her bed next to her. And he buried his sensitive nose in her fresh-smelling blonde locks. Yes, his mind whispered, this was what he had wanted. Lucy was okay.

"…Nng…too…hot…"

At the sound of her voice, Natsu perked. Too hot? He could fix that.

Natsu's fumbling hands reached for Lucy's clothes.

Well? What do you think? Please be sure to let me know in a review! I had such fun writing drunk!Natsu, I really did, so I hope you enjoyed it! What will happen next, some of you may - if you liked the story - be wondering? Well, the only way for you to find out is if I upload the next chapter, and I will only do so if I find that people like this story! So leave a review! Leave criticism as well, I'm always looking for ways to improve!

Love, Neena ~