CHAPTER 1

Natsu Dragneel.

Asshole.

Heartless.

Bastard.

Also, this piece of shit was my boss.

Call my job what you will, a caretaker, maid, slave, it's not far from the truth at all. Now you are probably asking yourself, why were you working for such a thin-hearted fuck? That's where things get good. I wasn't here on my own free will, oh no, no. Turns out doing criminal activity gets you in trouble by a criminal. Doesn't make sense? Let me explain.

You could say I had the minimal amount of luck when it came to life. For example, I was born to a prostitute who lived on the streets and to a man who I didn't even meet till I was fucking 17 and then what do ya know, dies a couple months later. So if it wasn't already obvious, I was poor, the ultimate of poor actually. And to survive on the cold and heartless streets of this money-ruled world, yeah, I did shit and I stole.

But, one day I pick pocketed the wrong rich prick. I ended up stealing $10,000 when I only meant to take 100$. But not from a normal spoiled rich bitch, nope, from a pink-haired mafia boss. Apparently, they don't take too kindly to criminal activity (so much irony) and told me that I could die by a bullet or die by working my ass off for their dumb mafia base.

Loving my precious life, I decided to take the one that would take longer to die from. Though, most of the time I wished I wasn't such an dumbass and died right then and there. Instead, I had to cook for these murdering bastards, clean up their shit, and nurture them. To be honest, not all of them were bad. Just the Boss, Natsu, made me want to drill a mop through my eyes. Still does.

But anyway, this was my life as the babysitter for a lethal Mafia. Enjoy my long and blissful life in Hell.

The base was nothing more than a tall, glass buisness building. Gorgeous on the inside and out (thanks to me) also home to more than 50 mafia murderers. Every morning I had to travel 3 miles by foot from my shit hole home just to clean 20 stories and go home then repeat.

I found myself traveling up the elevator to the top story, also the the main office or as I like to put it "the Hoodlum Hangout." As I entered the room, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The floors and windows were still clean, all the boys were either sleeping or drinking on the couches and Natsu was at his desk smoking (probably his 3rd pack of the day. Did I mention it's 7am?).

I cleared my throat to try and get everyone's attention and was successful except for Natsu's. "I am making coffee. Who wants some?" Half raised their hand and I took a mental count. "Tea?" The other half raised their hands.

I sighed loudly and looked to the pink haired asshole whose attention were on papers, "Boss?"

"Quit being so fucking annoying." He growled, shooing me off like some sort of mutt.

Annoying?

You know if he wasn't so good with a gun and fighting, I would have plucked out his eyeballs by now. I shook my head and left, returning only minutes later with a platter of everyone's drinks. After I passed them out, I moved onto vacuuming...every...single...floor.

My hands moved the machine around the Hoodlum Hangout and tried to move it under Natsu's desk but his feet wouldn't move. I took a deep breath, "Boss, you need to move your feet."

"I need to do what?" He growled at me as though I just cursed his entire family.

I swallowed and pointed down to the carpet timidly, "...Carpet..." He looked down and groaned.

"Annoying."

I frowned, moving the vacuum faster than before, "You know, if you think I'm so annoying, you can fire me?"

His gaze met mine and I felt a drop of sweat slide down the side of my face. His eyes had as much of a threatening appeal as a shiny loaded gun. "Impossible." I deflated in defeat and turned off the vacuum, moving it to the storage closet.

So, after 2 years of working for this place, I'd managed to pick myself up a bit and instead of sleeping on streets I slept on a floor of this real shitty shack in a bundle of blanket. So yeah, this new home is basically Heaven to me. No help by Natsu at all, the bitch wouldn't spare even a penny for me. He's really such a saint it's too much. Nah, I managed to get ahold of this shithole with no rent or anything. How? Well, it wasn't necessarily legal and may have been broken into and the previous owners maybe no no longer heard from. So, y'know, typical methods.

"Why don't you wear more flattering clothes?" Natsu spoke as I washed the window next to him. "You look like a man."

I growled, "For one, you don't pay me to do this shit for you... Boss." I sighed, ignoring the anger he received from my hostile tone. "I'm poor, there's not much I can do about it."

"So don't be poor and get a job, dumb ass." He lit another cigarette, putting it in between his lips.

I had to admit, this cruel, heartless, bastard, was illegally made beautiful. He had moments where even his subordinates would admire him. But! He's still a stupid evil Demon. So, therefore he is less attractive.

"Are you offering to pay me?" I smiled, leaning into his desk.

He pulled out his gun and held it to my head, "Are you offering me your life?"

I nodded frantically and backed up laughing, "I was joking, Boss! Don't be so serious!"

Natsu's main man was Gildarts Clive, much older than the pink-haired bastard and he acted more of a parental figure rather than a subordinate. But, once you see him fight... It's hard to deal with his nice personality knowing he could pop your head like a zit with two fingers.

"You should be nicer to her," Gildarts sighed, "Without her, your office would be a pig sty."

"I'm not nice to poor bitches." Natsu said bluntly.

I tilted my head, fighting back all the slanderous comments I wanted to shout. Suddenly, I flinched hearing the loud ring of my phone. Almost instantly, all eyes went onto me as though they were ready to jump and kill me. I let out a breath seeing the caller ID, "I'm taking this."

Natsu growled "Wait-" I shut the door. I could basically feel his childish pout through the wall. I flipped open the phone and let out a relieved sigh, "Erza?"

"Wow," the female voice sighed, "It's rare to actually hear your voice these days."

I let out a breath and leaned my elbow against the wall, followed by my head, "Yeah well, that's not exactly my damn choice."

"Mmm, I suppose it's better than that one year you went missing." She seemed to be silent for a moment before continuing, "How're you doing these days?"

I looked up to the ceiling and then slowly closed my eyes, slowly leaning my back onto the wall, "Does it matter?" I swallowed a bit, "How's everyone else?"

Silence.

Then I heard her take a breath and then speak, "Well, ever since you left, everyone's been doing their own thing." She chuckled, "Pretty boring."

I nodded slowly wrapping my arm across my stomach as I tried to think of a response, "... Why are you calling me? You haven't exactly contacted me recently."

"Like you're one to talk. You're always too busy sucking your Boss's dick to have any sort of contact with anyone." She laughed.

My face quickly busted red in irritation, "You think that's fucking funny?"

"Ah, calm down." She simmered her snickers down, "Anyway, a local gang's having a party tomorrow night. They invited you specifically to attend with me. Same with Juvia."

"Juvia, huh?" I lifted a brow, looking down to my feet, "Now there's a face I haven't seen in a while."

"You haven't seen any faces in a while. For Godsake, I'm the only one you are barely in connections with now." She hissed as though she were scolding.

I sucked in a large breath, "And how do you expect me to get out of here? This place is more confining than a prison." I shook my head, "And what makes you think I want to get back into this whole party and gangs scene?"

"Cause, it's been a while since you've lived a little." The crimson haired companion of mine spoke, "Besides, it'll just be a few drinks and some fucked up people. Maybe you'll get laid. It's been a while right?"

I was silent for a moment and then I heard her voice crack through the tense air, "Sorry." She said, "I shouldn't have said that-"

"I'll see what I can do." I spoke, my voice quickly overlapping hers, "I'll contact you if I can come up with a plan."

Erza chuckled, "See you then."

Then I hung up.

I know what you're thinking, how could such a poor girl afford a cell phone? Well the perks of working here is that Natsu always needs to be connected to me just in case I decided to be stupid and escape. Or when he's drunk and needs a ride. Or is simply an ass and gives me more trouble than I need.

I took a deep breath and slipped into the main room with a huge, obvious fake smile on my face. Lying wasn't something I was good at. Natsu glared at me, making my heart drop into my stomach, "What're you hiding?"

I shrugged, lifting my head up, "I have my secrets! Don't butt in, creep."

"Creep?" His eyebrow twitched. Almost immediately, he basically tried to fly off his desk to strangle me but Gildarts and Gray (one of his best hit-man) held him back. "Your life is mine! Your secrets are mine too!"

I stuck out my tongue and booked it to the third floor, into my panic room (the storage room) until he calmed down. By the time I decided it was safe to come out, it was 10 p.m. I yawned, taking the elevator to the main room so I could get my things.

What I came upon was unsuspecting though. Natsu's sleeping body. It was leaned against his desk, his right hand supporting his flushed cheek. His pink hair was a little messy with loose strands covering his face. I smiled a bit at his innocent expression and instantly pulled out my phone, snapping millions of pictures. "The boys will love this."

I stopped as I got closer to him and let my expression grow soft as I caressed a small portion of his hair. How long did he work? All day? I sighed and grabbed a blanket from the empty couch and placed it over his peaceful body.

Even a demon can look nice sometimes. Even if it was he deception of precious slumber. It was nice to see.

The absolutely amazing cover art is by my extremely talented friend: Leluciana37 :) Thank you so much for drawing this - it's absolutely stunning.