A/N: As a self-proclaimed writer, I like to focus on one character in third-person and I tend to 'get-into-character' a little more than I should (genders and personalities are obstacles to overcome, not barriers to stop me). So since I'm currently 'becoming Natsu' expect a lot more little swears/explicit language (I doubt there's anything too explicit though). I apologize in advance if there are any words and/or situations that make any one of you feel uncomfortable (offended, etc.).

But this fic is labeled as Rated T, so it really shouldn't come as a shock. Still yet, this is my disclaimer (even if I put it in the overview for the first chapter).

Expect OOC-ness though. I was in a exceptionally fluffy mood while writing this, so he's probably more in-tuned with his emotional side than a normal Natsu would be. I tried to stay in-character with him, but I just left tumblr a couple of hours before writing this and I was running on a NaLu high. Blame tumblr. Always blame tumblr.

Long bonus to make up for the wait! Enjoy and as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima

Seven Attempts to Fall

Bonus Chapter: 01 January x792, 12:30 a.m.

"Oh! Look, Natsu! It's snowing!"

The golden-haired woman tore herself out of his arms, missing the indignant whine as she did so. It had been nice just holding her after the last few days of her avoiding him like the plague and the salmon-haired man wanted to protest against her sudden fascination with the little, white-specked devils. However, the overjoyed look she shot him over his shoulder made the words die in his throat immediately.

Instead he just smiled at her, the once foreign action stretched across his lips like second nature. Almost instantly, her face flushed a pretty pink and she beamed happily at him before prancing away to press her hands against the glass windows.

He watched her go with an amused smile. If those little white devils made her this happy, then he'd just have to deal with it. Besides, this expression beat the panicked ones she wore whenever she saw him before. He liked a happy Lucy much more than the wary Lucy she was earlier. The salmon-haired man resisted the urge to walk over and fill his suddenly empty hands with her, instead opting to clean up their mess. He knew that she liked to keep her coffee shop tidy and being the thoughtful boyfriend that he was, decided to help out a little.

Natsu nearly dropped the coffee mug with a surprised curse. He waved Lucy's questioning look with a bright grin and she turned back around, but not without shooting him a playfully suspicious look. He rolled his eyes and walked behind the counter to enter the kitchen. He used the term without thinking, but he supposed that's what he was.

Lucy's boyfriend.

He wasn't stupid; he knows that he practically told the woman that they were going to get married (which may or may not have been on purpose), but they haven't really discussed what they were.

When he walked her café an hour earlier, Natsu only had one goal in mind: to make Lucy like him. He didn't care even if she considered him an acquaintence after he left, it was better than her thinking he was the spawn of some unholy creature. Romance would have come eventually. All he wanted to know was that he had a chance and he would've started the new year that much more determined.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly when curious interest for the blonde turned into a pressing want just to be near her. If he had to guess, however, he supposed his curious interest started after their second meeting where she appeared back into his life with no warning– her hair a mess and her clothes equally rumpled, yet he knew he'd never seen a sight quite like her.

The urge to understand who she was started just before the Halloween party where he learned that she was dangerously addicting. The moment in the room he was never allowed in left him reeling and resisting the urge to pull her back into his arms. It really was a strange feeling, but he loved it.

As he waited for the sink's hot water to heat up, he reflected back on everything that happened that happened in the last five months.

Like he told her earlier, his forgot to pay his water so he sucked in his pride and went to the icy-bastard to use their guest shower. But what he didn't tell her was that Gray was pretty easy-going about it and told the salmon-haired man that he had the whole place to himself because he was going to head out with Juvia. If it was two years ago, the dark-haired man wouldn't have trusted him ten feet near his apartment while he was gone. This Gray, however, just wrapped his arm around his fiancée and gave the salmon-haired man free reign.

There was no doubt that Juvia played a huge part in Gray's change and he was happy for them, truly. In fact, the only reason why he moved back to Magnolia three months earlier than planned was to support them because the dark-haired man himself called him up, freaking out about how to propose to the girlfriend that he got after Natsu moved. The salmon-haired man remembered the shock he felt after picking up the man's call, asking if he was serious.

They had kept in touch often, they were friends first and foremost after all. He heard about Gray's girlfriend a couple of times, usually from Levy whenever Gajeel reached out to him, but he was surprised that the icy-bastard was actually that serious about her. The Gray he knew would've broken it off months ago, not because he was a bastard or anything, but because Natsu knew the man had some serious detachment issues. Especially in relationships that runs high on emotions.

Knowing that Gray had enough balls to stay with a girl for more than a year and actually wanted to propose, was a thought that made Natsu depressed.

He said he would be fine moving back into the family house in Alvarez for the last two years to support his half-sister in her last year of high school and waited a year to spend time with the family. In doing so, however, he missed some important happenings in his friends' life. Gray got himself a girlfriend and changed for the better while some sick twist of fate hooked up his rotten metal-faced cousin, Gajeel, with one of his childhood friends. Who knew what else he missed?

So after a quick okay from his little sister, Natsu packed whatever he could and jumped on the earliest flight to Magnolia. He planned to tease the crap out of his rival the moment he arrived, but made sure to tell Gray that his decision to get married was backed up and supported with the Dragneel stamp of approval.

He managed to accomplish his mission even through his lingering motion sickness and the lucky bastard proposed later that night.

Unfortunately, Natsu's old apartment needed a healthy dose of TLC after his two year absence and would take at least a week. So while the cleaning people did their jobs, he crashed in Gajeel and Levy's place (with their—mostly Levy's—permission) that was conveniently two floors above his apartment and directly above Gray and Juvia's. They were lucky to score an apartment with three bedrooms. Strangely enough though, Levy was adamant for him to sleep in the guest room deep into her apartment rather than the one that was near the door.

Natsu questioned why, but the woman refused to explain and Gajeel deadpanned that he'd beat his ass if he even took one step foot into that room. He never tried, but the dirty looks he'd get from Gajeel was enough to make him curious. He feared that they'd kick him out if he tried and there was no way he was going to ask Gray when all he heard were some very soft, very explicit noises that rose from between the floorboards (damn his naturally good hearing).

There was one time Gajeel took a swing at him because he accidentally tripped onto the door (he swears on his live that it really was an accident!) after returning from a run and he never forgot it. It took a few days for him to 'repay' his cousin's kindness because he refused to barge in Gajeel and Levy's bedroom while the tiny bluenette was sleeping in it too.

One reason was because Levy was his childhood friend and he had more respect for her to not disrupt her sleep because he waned to play a prank on his cousin. The other reason was because he could only guess how many books the woman kept in her bedroom; there was no way he was going to rouse the tiny woman's wrath with that many weapons around.

So after the fifth day of staying at their place, opportunity knocked on his door and he was too eager to ignore it.

Natsu was stepping into his temporary room, still dressed in his running gear, when a knock rapped quickly onto the door. He was about to head back out to answer it, but Levy breezed past him from the room she shared with Gajeel, telling him that she got it. The salmon-haired blinked for a moment before shrugging and stepped back into his room.

Voices squeezed from under his closed door and then another door opened. It was too loud to be the front door and too quiet to be Levy's, so he swiftly decided the noise came from the door that he was nearly slugged for tripping into. He contemplated to stick his head out out of curiosity and would've had a perfect view into the room, but decided against it and settled for listening instead.

Levy's voice was distinct even past the loud rustling of plastic but it was the soft chiming of the second voice that peaked his interest. After meeting Juvia a few times in the apartment lobby, he knew it wasn't hers. The voice was more of a caress– a soft whisper that lingered without you knowing it. Juvia's voice was more clinging, too bold to be ignored for too long.

It also helped that the voice didn't say her name nearly seven in a sentence (no offense, Natsu thought warily).

He grinned when the unfamiliar voice shouted out a loud, triumphant ta-dah right before a song he knew Gray hated played around the apartment. His grin only grew when mad cackling from both women filled he silence the song left and he went to open the door but Levy's farewell shout to the apartment and the slamming front door stopped him.

There was a moment of regretful wonder of what would've happened if he opened the door earlier, but deemed it not important because with Levy gone (and he knew his metal-faced cousin was still sleeping the morning away), he could finally replay his cousin with a good ol' face drawing prank. Natsu spent the rest of his morning laughing at Gajeel as the crimson-eyed brute tried to wash the permanent inking of a dick from his face.

The soap and water did absolutely nothing to help. Gajeel growled at him before yanking the smaller man by the scarf, saying that after they found Levy (because she had some magical way of getting permanent ink off, apparently) he was officially kicked out of their apartment.

Which was fine by Natsu, the cleaners called him ten minutes before Gajeel woke up and told him him that his apartment was ready to be lived in once again. So he didn't mind it when his rust-bucket of a cousin dragged out of his temporary home. And when he entered his apartment later that day, with a small, rectangular slip of paper in his hands, he was actually glad that Gajeel kicked him out.

Because that's when he first met her.

Natsu's olive-eyes glanced out of the kitchen doorway, easily pinpointing the blonde's form pressed against the glass of the café. He turned off the faucet with a smile, loading the last of their mugs into the dishwasher and wiping his hands on a dishtowel. He took note of Lucy's awed expression as he came up behind her while she continued to watch the snow lazily fall from the sky.

Unable to help himself, he slid his hands against her waist and curled her back into him. He sighed in content, filling his arms with her once again and pressing his face into the crook of her neck. One of her hands slipped into his hair and tangled her fingers into his salmon-colored locks. The other hand reached for one of his that rest on her stomach and threaded their fingers together. She instantly melted against him, making him smile and press a soft, grateful kiss over her languid pulse.

"Happy New Year, Lucy," he whispered against her neck and felt her shoulders bounce slightly as she giggled.

"I completely forgot about that," she whispered back, lazily dragging her fingers through his hair, "Happy New Year, Natsu." She tilted her head so she could rest it comfortably on his, her hand never ceasing their movement, "So tell me," she engaged conversation when he snuggled closer, "what do you want to accomplish this year?"

"A New Year's resolution?" Lucy nodded. "Honestly, I got what I wanted before the new year started."

"Oh?" Her tone was curious. "And what was that?"

"You."

Natsu felt her pulse quicken and he muffled his laughter against her neck. "You're going to be the death of me, I swear," Lucy muttered softly. "Do you really have to be so blunt about stuff like that?"

He lifted his head and rest his chin against her shoulder, humming thoughtfully. "Don't see why not." Even with his eyes closed, he could see her rolling her big chocolate-colored eyes. "What about you? What do you want to accomplish this year?"

"You're going to think it's stupid," she murmured shyly.

"Try me," he challenged, eyes popping open to eye her reflection in the window.

Lucy hesitated and sighed when he squeezed her reassuringly. "I... wanted to see snow this year."

"Well you got your wish," Natsu grinned, his sharp canines making an appearance. "What's up with you and snow anyway?"

The golden-haired woman pursed her lips before shrugging her unoccupied shoulder. "I grew up in Acalypha and it never snows there. The seasons actually don't affect that area at all. Of course, it was colder in the winter and hotter in the summer, but neither were too significant." She gently tightened her fingers around his, her hand in his hair pausing its motion. "July will mark my third year since moving here and it never snowed."

"Not even once?"

"Not even once."

"Weird," Natsu muttered.

"Yeah. Levy said that too," she sighed, leaning her head back to rest it on his shoulder, "makes my first name seem all the more ironic."

He chuckled and then smirked, "you really do have crappy luck– ow! Geez, let me finish at least." Lucy grumbled under her breath and apologetically smoothed her fingers over the locks she pulled in retribution. "What I meant to say, was that I think your luck isn't meant for you," he pressed a forgiving kiss on the underside of her jaw and continued, "your luck isn't selfish, Luce. You have a big heart for others, I saw it when you hugged Wends without even knowing her."

"You may think you're not lucky, but that's just because you've already given away your share before you could use it." Natsu gently smoothed his free hand against her stomach to pull her closer. "The stripper told me you nearly slapped him for being an ass to the water lady. You helped him gather enough courage to ask her out, y'know. So don't think that your name brings bad luck, okay? You deserve every letter in it."

Lucy turned her head and whispered her lips against his temple. "Thank you."

"Only speakin' the truth, Luce," he smiled.

The golden-haired woman untangled herself from him and he found himself starting to protest, but his throat dried up when she turned around and pressed back into him. His arms immediately reclaimed its place around her waist while her arms circled around his neck, dragging him closer– not that he minded; he was already completely and irrefutably under her control.

Being the instigator of their past few kisses, Natsu eagerly waited on bated breath as Lucy leaned further onto him, using him as support as she rose on her toes. He was more than happy to accept her weight and willingly lowered his head when her skillful fingers tangled back into his hair to pull him in. He could already taste the lingering aroma of coffee on her breath and normally, he hated anything to do with the drink that reminded him of tar and nightmares.

But damn did she make it taste good.

Before their lips could meet, however, a ringtone shocked the pair out of the little world they bubbled themselves in. Natsu groaned, softly dropping his forehead against Lucy's. He muttered a low curse that made his partner laugh and push his scarf down so she could leave a sweet, lingering kiss on his lips. In his chest, his heart expanded and warmed even as she pulled away to search for her phone.

And as his olive-eyes traced the way her golden tresses swayed with each step she took, he was suddenly beyond doubt now.

He was undeniably and completely in love with this woman.

Oh gods was he ever.

Lucy was nearly bouncing on her feet as she answered the phone call; her entire body quivered and exuded excitement. Natsu chuckled at the sight, remembering the nickname his metal-faced cousin called her and the costume she wore for Halloween. It seemed all too fitting for her when she looked as if she was ready to bounce off the walls. Natsu decided to let her be for the moment and flipped a metal chair off of one of the tables and sank into the cushion-lined seat.

He dropped his chin into his hand and was contented to watch the blonde wave her free arm wildly as she chattered on about things lost to him. Sitting down in this area reminded him of the time right before the disaster at Juvia and Gray's place. He wasn't lying when he said Juvia sent him to make sure Lucy made it to the Christmas party.

He had his own motives as well.

Natsu noticed her busily closing her café before the Halloween party. He figured that she was alone, probably because she let her employees off or something. It was at Thanksgiving dinner where he learned her name and the reason why she didn't show up.

Lucy never took a day off unless it was absolutely necessary and she wore herself out that day. She stubbornly refused any help her employees would offer and would, more often than not, close the shop by herself on Holidays. He didn't give out his respect easily, but the golden-haired woman took all of it without even trying. She was just being her and maybe that's why he fell so hard.

He admired her strong will and her fierce loyalty towards her employee's personal and familial lives. She was so deeply integrated in anything family related that she would sacrifice her own time so others could enjoy their time off. It both intrigued him and frustrated him to no ends. Here was a woman, so strongly loyal to her job and her friends, yet she was so blind to the family she had around her.

He gets why she wants to help others.

But, really, who was helping her?

She was too stubborn to accept help but he was immensely glad when she allowed him even the menial task of putting up chairs. He needed to show her that she didn't have to do things alone– that there were always people willing to do what she does and give up some time for others to enjoy theirs. Every time he saw that distant look in her eyes, he finally understood what it meant to be so close but feel so far away. Every time he saw that look, his hands twitched to pull her back to them– to him.

He felt much better now though, because she goes to him willingly. Like now, even as she was too excited to keep still, she still gravitated towards him and accepted his invitation to curl onto his lap, lean her head on his shoulder, and let him absentmindedly play with her fingers as she talked to whoever was on the other line.

At this moment in time, Natsu felt way too loved for his own good. He was still in a daze like this was all a dream– like he was a teenager in one of those sappy movies, pining after a girl who never even knew his name, and trying to muster up the guts to talk to her.

"Yes, I'm at Celestial Fire," the blonde's voice muttered into his mind, drawing him back into reality. "Well, yeah– what? NO! How about you, huh? How bad was rust bucket's proposal– don't 'wh-what are you talking about, Lu' me!" Lucy mocked and then let out a sarcastic laugh that made Natsu chuckle. "Two people can play this game, Levs– no. I was the one that went out to help him pick a ring– the fu– no he did not. He's the biggest friggin' liar in the world– NO, you kiss my ass, Rusty nuts!"

Natsu burst out laughing, too amused at this new side of Lucy to keep quiet. Her responding sass to his cousin's smart-ass comments was probably the best thing he has ever heard and couldn't help but chortle. The blonde had to lift her head to keep her mind from bouncing.

"Yeah, he's here–" Lucy's face scrunched, "no, I am not giving him the phone... I'd rather crawl through Tartaros' flames than– oh yeah? Well feel free; it'll take you guys half an hour to get here and I can easily pack up and leave before– oh yes, I would dare. No– wait! Wait, Natsu stop!"

He ignored her protests and pressed the phone against his ear. "Dragneel speaking." The answering hollers mixed both male and female but every voice was too garbled to make out. Still, he grabbed the phone for a reason and he was intending to follow through with his plan. "Yes, yes," he muttered boredly over their mixed voices, not listening to them anymore. "Of course, it was nice talking to you too. Now I'm going to hang up on you because you bothered an important moment of holiday celebration. Goodbye."

There was a collective shout of 'Wait!' before he jabbed his finger into the 'end-call' button. He turned the phone to silent and placed it on the table next to them, grinning at Lucy's gobsmacked expression as he did so. The salmon-haired man curled his arms around the blonde's waist and secured her onto his lap. Her mouth flapped open before closing and repeating a few more times before she actually made out words.

"Now look what you did!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What did I do? I just hung up on them."

"Yeah, but now they're going to think–" Lucy's face reddened as she cut herself off, a hand rising to hide her cheeks. He didn't have any of that though, and captured her hands in his. He purposely smiled to make her face flush deeper.

"Are they wrong?"

"Wh-What?"

"Are they wrong to assume what they were thinking?"

Her chocolate-eyes widened and she shrunk into his embrace, shyly looking up at him from her eyelashes. "No."

Natsu's answering grin must have gave her the confidence she lost while talking to their friends because her smile turned mischievous. She slid one arm around his neck and used her free hand to tug down his scarf. He reacted almost instantly. It was funny how just a few kisses between them gave birth to a tall-tell sign to know when he was about to kiss her, or when she was about to kiss him. Just the simple act of moving his scarf away so it wouldn't tickle Lucy's chin made their hearts race in anticipation.

He wasn't disappointed.

The pinkette let her lead the kiss, enjoying the way his lips automatically moved in time with hers– the way she silently coaxed him into sucking a plump flesh into his mouth. There were no barriers between them like this and he worshipped every command her lips mouthed onto his. There was something intimate about the way she led them. Compared to his lead, she walked them through a slow, languid pace, but no less passionate. And despite the the slow pacing, it always ended way too soon.

Lucy pulled away slowly and Natsu felt the smile on his lips when he stubbornly followed, but gave in when her hand dipped into his scarf to lightly trace the scar on his neck. If there was one thing that made him tremble besides having her fingers tangled in his hair, it was when she traced his scar. Rationally, he knew that a decade-old wound shouldn't have felt so sensitive under her touch, but it did and had no explanation why.

"How good are you at acting?"

Natsu could clearly see the confusion on her face when he asked that. "Why?"

He grinned mischievously. "I'd bet everything I have that the gang will be barging in here in the next five minutes."

"That's a trap bet," Lucy mumbled, resting her forehead against his, "that's obviously going to be the case."

"Let's prank 'em."

Blinking, the blonde's smile matched his. "How so?"

"I'll be here, and you go sit in the farthest booth away from me," he smirked, "and when they come in, shoot me your deadliest glare and make sure it looks believable. I want them to think we hate each other's guts."

There was a brief moment of silence before Lucy cackled, the positively evil laugh somehow making his admiration for her grow. She jumped off of his lap, ready to move into position. However, before she could take a step towards the booths, Natsu snatched her hand and pulled her back to him. He steadied her when she stumbled and smiled warmly at her confused look.

"I love you."

Her mouth popped open in bewilderment, just like he knew it would. She always found it shocking whenever he said it and it always amused him whenever she flushed a deep red. Then again, this would be his third time saying it (the second time was in the midsts of a heated kiss), so she probably hadn't gotten used to hearing it. Well then, he just had to make sure he kept repeating it until she did.

Finally, the golden-haired woman got over enough of her shock to tug his scarf down and press another sweet kiss to his lips, mumbling words that spread through his chest like fire before fleeing get into position.

"I love you too."

A/N: Aaaaand that's a wrap, my nerdy-nums!

People a-many (mainly two) had asked me if I was going to do a wedding scene because I teased it in the other two chapters, and the answer was most likely. It'll either be a spin-off fic, or in the same universe, but the fic would be promoting a different pairing. At this moment in time, it is unclear– pfft.

Sorry. Tryna be formal and stuff.

But anyway, I want to do it, but I don't know which couple to choose from. I always wanted to do a story with Wendy (I'm obsessed with RoWen right now), the baby of the group. Unfortunately I don't know where to even start with them. Gajevy and Gruvia is already a thing and I'm not gonna dual wedding Gruvia and Nalu. Nope. Too much weddings in one fic.

To (my multiple Guests) Guest and Guest: I'm so very sorry for not replying to you guys throughout this fic ;–; please forgive me. I really appreciate the support you brought and I really hope you liked it! Thank you for stopping by and giving this story a read and a review, it really means a lot to me!

Signing off! -808Lionfire