Pneumonia

Lucy was sick.

And not with the kind of simple cold she had had the day of the Cherry Blossom , no. She would kill to have that cold rather than whatever this abomination of an illness was. Pneumonia as her doctor had called the horrid thing. This was by far the sickest she had ever been in her life and she had gotten sick quite a lot as a child. But this really took the cake. Lucy currently laid propped up on some pillows in her bed in her apartment. Loki had been kind enough to make sure her head was elevated to help alleviate her coughing fits, by stuffing a bunch of pillows beneath her head and back. When she tried to thank him he only replied with 'That's what lovers are there for.' And with a wink and a wave he disappeared back through the gate which he had forced open himself.

Her body felt as heavy as lead and all of her joints ached. Her whole body felt chilled despite being wrapped in multiple layers of blankets. Her usually neat hair sat in a disarray at the top of her head. Her face was flushed and her lungs made a sickly wheezing noise every time she breathed. And when she had a coughing fit…dear lord… her whole body shook and the action physically hurt her throat and lungs as she tried to regain her breath. Yes, this pneumonia was clearly the work of some truly evil being who wished for her demise. Even more sadly, Lucy didn't even have the strength to work on her novel, so she simply sat on her bed and stared at the wall; unable to do anything, but too uncomfortable to fall asleep. She desperately wished someone would take care of her. She couldn't summon any of her celestial spirits because she was so weak, and Loki had already come and gone.

Of course, many people at the guild offered to help her when she told them she was going to go home for the day because she wasn't feeling well. Mirajane had offered to come over later and cook soup for her, but Lucy politely refused because she knew Mirajane was already busy at the guild, filling in for Master while he was at another Council Meeting. Erza said she would take care of Lucy, but once again Lucy declined because, let's face it, Erza is not so good with 'gentle nurturing'. Hell, even Gray wanted to help his nakama in her time of need. Lucy pondered it for a moment, but the daggers being shot at her from a certain blue-haired guild-mate made Lucy decline his offer as well. Natsu wasn't even at the guild at the time, and it's not like he could really do anything to help her, even if he were. Natsu is much better at 'destroying' rather than 'fixing'. Lucy sighed, at least he would've made things less boring, though…

Tap!Tap!Tap!

Lucy jerked her head toward the incessant tapping noise coming from the window directly next to her bed. She turned to look, and was met by a face staring directly at her, only separated from her face by an inch of glass. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to scream, but her sickly lungs protested and her attempted scream just turned into a coughing fit. After her coughing subsided, she took a deep breath and looked at the window again. This time she recognized the face, and the rosy pink hair that went along with it. Natsu was at her window with his hand pressed up against the glass as if reaching out to her, and his normally happy expression, replaced by one of worry. With his eyebrows drawn together and a slight frown on his face, Natsu tapped on the glass again, softer this time, and signaled for her to let him in.

Lucy mustered up the remaining strength she had left in her and raised the window up, before collapsing back onto the bed in exhaustion. Natsu climbed through the window and sat on the edge of her bed, facing her. He took in Lucy's disorganized appearance and noted with great worry, the wheezing sound coming from her chest every time she took a breath.

"Man, you're really sick, Luce!" Natsu exclaimed. Lucy winced as his voice was just a bit too loud, and upset her slight headache. Natsu cringed, realizing he had hurt his dear teammate.

"Yeah. I feel pretty crappy." Lucy rasped to her friend. Once again, Natsu's brow furrowed with concern.

"I'll bet." Nartu whispered, much quieter this time. An awkward silence fell upon them.

"Well, uh, maybe I should let you rest, and not bother you. I'm probably only making you feel worse." The dragonslayer let out an insecure chuckle. There really wasn't anything he could do for his important person, no matter how much he wanted to. He wasn't like Wendy; he couldn't just magically make her feel better. As he stared at his blonde friend, who was somehow still beautiful even in this state, he decided that he would gladly give up his fire power for a little while for some healing magic. Really what had he been thinking when he came here? He was probably only bothering her. Well, the truth was he hadn't been thinking. When he came back to the guild and was informed by Gray that Lucy was really sick and had gone home already, he didn't even think twice. His legs carried him to Lucy's apartment as fast as they would go. Little did he know, once he left the guild, everybody shared a knowing look. "Who knows? Maybe this can finally make those blind idiots realize their feelings." Gray had stated with a smirk, looking at the doors the pink-hired mage had sprinted through only moments before. Mira agreed with a nod and a smile. 'Like you're one to talk.' Erza thought as she watched Gray fail to pretend to remain oblivious to Juvia staring at him from across the room.

Natsu hesitantly got up to leave. He didn't want to leave her side when she was this weak and vulnerable but he also didn't want to make her feel any worse then she already did. But as he turned to leave, Lucy wrapped her hand around his to keep him there. Natsu's eyes widened as slowly sat back down on the bed. Does she really want me here? he thought. Lucy looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"No! Please stay, I'm actually bored myself. You're not bothering me at all! So please stay. I mean, er, if you want to that is. Uhm, I mean, you can go is you don't want to be here. I don't blame you, this is probably really tiresome and bor-" Natsu pressed a finger against Lucy's lips to stop her adorable babbling.

"You talk a lot." Natsu noted lightly with a smile. Lucy blushed slightly and rolled her eyes. Of course he would say that. Lucy would always be "the loud weirdo" to Natsu.

"Okay I'll stay." The pink-haired mage stated. "Thank-you ." Lucy whispered before shivering violently.

"You're cold?!" Natsu exclaimed. She was wearing a sweater and sweats and was wrapped in about 10 layers of blankets. Lucy nodded slightly.

"Yeah. I've got the chills." Lucy muttered before another tremor wracked her small frame. Natsu's grin became impossibly wide. Finally! Something I can do for her! The fire-mage thought excitedly. Natsu climbed into the blankets with her and wrapped his arms tightly around her frame. Lucy's eyes nearly popped out of her as she questioned him.

"Wh-what are you doing Natsu?" Natsu rolled his eyes, as if the answer was obvious.

"Well, obviously I'm trying to warm you up. I am the salamander after all. At least I'm good at this." He pulled her a little closer to him, liking the feeling of having her in his arms.

Lucy tried to push him away a little bit, even though that was the last thing she wanted. It felt surprisingly…nice to being his arms.

"I'll get you sick." Lucy protested slightly. She was already losing the battle though, because she was suddenly super drowsy now that she was nice and warm. Natsu scoffed at her.

"Since when do I get sick?" He asked.

"On trains." Lucy mumbled sinking her face further into his chest.

"That doesn't count." Natsu said indignantly. "I don't get sick because my body temperature is hotter than most humans. Germs can't live there when it's too hot. So I can't get sick. Or at least that's what Igneel told me."

"Oh." Lucy whispered, and that was the last thing she said before falling fast asleep in Natsu's arms. Natsu took this time to look at her face all he wanted without her scrunching her nose and asking worriedly, "What? Do I have something on my face?"

She really was very pretty. And having her this close in his arms he could smell her soft scent that he could recognize anywhere. Like lavender and honey. Soft and sweet. Just like her. He reached up and gently stroked the side of her face. When had it become like this? When had he started feeling this strongly for her?

"You lllllllllllike her!" Natsu could hear Happy's voice through the glass of the window. A smile crept onto his lips as he stared a Lucy's flushed, beautiful face.

Yes, he definitely did like her. A Lot.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked this story! It was just a kind of fluffy, cheesy drabble I felt like writing when I was sick :) Sorry if it got a little OOC, I tried to keep it as realistic as possible. Anyways, please let me know what you think and if you want me to continue. Reviews are like candybars for my soul ;)

Love,

Jacky