A/N: Hey everyone! I'm super sick, but I wanted to try and get a little something out to you guys for New Years before it's too late! Granted, I'm starting this at six o'clock, and writing on my phone, but still! Let's see how it goes!

Lucy sighed softly as she stares out the window of her apartment, her chin propped on her hand and a few stray tears trickling down onto her flushed cheek. Things weren't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to be smiling and having a great time with her friends and family in the guild. Watching the couples that everyone knew about dodging Mira Jane and her attempts at making them perform ludicrous public displays of affection. Laughing as people were picked off one by one in a drinking contest with Cana. The arm wrestling matches that Gray and Natsu had every time there was a party, that always ended up in a guildwide brawl.

She was supposed to be there with them, but she wasn't. No, instead she was stuck at home with the flu. Forced to stay in bed and rest, with Wendy's strict orders that she shouldn't even get up to grab her manuscript and try to write. Simply because she could be spending that time sleeping and getting better.

Her apartment had been essentially quarantined. So, not only was she stuck feeling utterly dreadful, but no one had even come to visit her. Natsu had tried, but somehow… Erza had gotten a hold of him just before he was able to jump up the tree and into Lucy's window. The blonde had watched it all from her bed, both laughing at the exceedingly feminine shriek of terror that spilled from her best friend, and crying because she just wanted a damn hug.

If it wasn't bad enough that she'd been bedridden during Christmas, and had spent it alone with the exception of Loke and Virgo opening their gates, then this took the cake. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she was able to see the one man that always made everything better, but even her boyfriend of nearly a year was MIA. She hadn't heard from him for two whole weeks, but the last she'd heard, he was going to be coming to the guild sometime around the new year. Hopefully.

"Jackal," Lucy sniffled softly, watching flakes of snow drifting lazily down the panes of glass. "Come home already…"

She let out a heavy sigh, a deep frown pulling at her lips while she dropped to the bed and wrapped her comforter more snugly around herself. All those nights leaving her window open out of habit had caught up to her, and now she was paying the price.

One slender arm shakily slid out from beneath her fluffy pink cocoon, and she blindly reached for the box of tissues that was supposed to be next to her pillow while she started coughing.

Her throat rumbled while phlegm was stirred up, and her chest ached by the time she was done, but as soon as her fingers closed over a tissue she sighed in relief. One of her least favorite things about being sick was having to cough up the disgusting mucous that her body created. Everything else she could probably deal with, but not this. It was revolting.

Lucy whimpered, grabbing another tissue to blow her nose, then let out a heavy breath. "I want my cutie puppy," she mumbled to herself.

"Speak of the devil," came the soft rumble of the one voice Lucy had been wanting to hear for weeks.

"Jackal," she grinned, her eyes half-lidded as she peeked over the edge of her blanket. "I missed you so…" She paused in her speech to sneeze. Twice. "... Much."

Jackal smiled down at the blonde, shaking his head while he grabbed a fresh tissue and wiped her nose again. Much more carefully than she had been doing, considering just how red it was. "I missed you too, Doll. You ready for me to play doctor?"

"Can you make the flu explode?" she giggled. "Because I won't complain about property damage if you do."

"Hmm," he hummed, unwrapping the plush comforter from around the blonde and laying himself down next to her. "I've never tried, to be honest. But I think I'd rather experiment on Lamy than you, where that's concerned… She's got clones."

"Well, you can experiment on me," Lucy pouted. Then she grinned cheekily while rubbing her cheek on his suddenly bare chest. "I like it when you explode… Things…"

"Is that supposed to be an innuendo?" he chuckled, wrapping his tail around her. It definitely was no issue for him to do it, and honestly he'd been more than surprised that Lucy loved his tail as much as she did. Hell, she was the only one that seemed to remember that jackals were part of the canine family, regardless of how much he seemed to resemble a cat. Even his own guild mates, the demonic little shits, couldn't keep the feline comments to themselves.

"Maybe," Lucy crooned. "Should you be here though? I'm under quarantine."

"Yep," Jackal whispered. "Demons don't get sick like you humans do, and even if we did… I told Wendy that I'd set off the fireworks early if she tried to keep me away."

Lucy let out a stuffy laugh, tilting her head slightly and pressing her lips to his jaw. "Set them off early… Where?"

"You know me so well," he chuckled. "I may have threatened the alcohol supply… In front of Cana. I now know how to put her in tears and make her scream like a banshee." When Lucy shook her head at him, Jackal gave her a proud grin. Sure, he and the other members of Tartarus had turned over a new leaf, and they were technically one of the good guys, but that didn't mean that he had lost his not-so-secret enjoyment of finding other's weaknesses. Bringing someone to tears was always a bonus. Luckily, Lucy was secretly the same way.

"It would have worked faster if you held her leg hostage," Lucy sighed sleepily. "Cana won't attack you if you're holding her beer. You might spill it."

"I love you," Jackal chuckled.

"Love you too, sexy little puppy." Lucy's eyes slowly creaked open. "Go on, bark for mama."

"How about I don't…"

She pouted, then giggled when he nipped at her lip. "You sure you can't get sick?"

"Positive," he whispered, letting his lips brush over hers gently.

"Good, because it's time to count down."

"Count down?" Jackal asked curiously.

Lucy nodded, a slow smile spreading across her flushed face. "Best way to start the new year," she whispered. "Five, four, three, two…"

"... One," Jackal finished, inhaling sharply when he felt her lips on his, and her tongue plunging forcefully into his mouth. His eyes fluttered closed as he pulled her overheated body against him until there wasn't a single inch of space between them, a low and predatory growl rumbling in his chest.

She shivered as he pushed under her shirt with his tail, the fur on his tail tickling her spine at the small of her back. Never in a million years did Lucy think something like this would happen, that she would be in a relationship with a demon - one that had tried, and very nearly succeeded, to kill her - or that she would get to kiss him on New Year's and share one of the many human traditions that he still knew nothing about with him. Her head was spinning but she wasn't sure if it was from her illness, or just from the fact that Jackal was kissing her. Honestly, it didn't matter. Because either way, she had everything she wanted right then and there.

Jackal pulled back from the kiss, panting just as hard as Lucy was. He could hear millions of explosions just outside the window, and saw the vast array of colors lighting up the night sky in his peripherals. 'Odd,' he thought. 'I thought those fireworks were in my head…'

Still, there was no way in hell he could look away from her as their breath mingled between them. Any other day, definitely. He would have been jumping up and down at the sight of so many explosions, but… Not then.

No, the best way for him to start the new year was with his arms wrapped around the woman be loved. He grinned and leaned down to kiss her again, and once their lips met… He saw all the fireworks he needed.

Gah! So, that's it! My first JackaLu, written in less than an hour! I hope it's not complete crap, but… Well, there's only so much I can do with my brain all muddied up with meds.

I hope all of you have a safe and wonderful New Year's. Don't drink too much! And fingers crossed that we all keep our resolutions for more than a couple weeks! Haha!

So, Review, Follow, Favorite! I love you, guys!

~~GemNika