Well, lookee here. I've written another fic. And a multi-chapter fic at that. Granted, Midnight Kiss could've been multi-chapter if I wanted it to be. That was a long one-shot. And this is a short chapter... I CAN'T FIND THAT PERFECT MIDDLE :P

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, and this fic is for the sole purpose of entertainment.

Third Person POV

Lucy woke up feeling very warm. It relaxed her for a bit, until she realized why she was so hot.

"NATSU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED AGAIN!?"

Natsu groaned. "Stop yelling so early in the morning, would you?"

"THIS IS MY HOUSE! I CAN YELL WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT! NOW GET OUT OF MY BED!"

"Geez, fine. Hey, what's for breakfast?" When Natsu saw the look on Lucy's face after saying it, he realized his mistake, but it was too late.

Lucy gave him a swift Lucy Kick to the window he so often used to get in and out of her house. "That is IT! YOU GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU BACK IN HERE FOR ANOTHER WEEK, AT LEAST! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!? AND MAKE SURE YOUR CAT KNOWS THIS, TOO! I DON'T WANT HIM BARGING IN THE MOMENT HE'S BACK FROM HIS MISSION WITH WENDY AND CARLA!"

"But L-" he tried to plead his case.

"OUT!"

Natsu groaned and jumped out the window. Geez, what's her problem? All I did was sneak into her bed and ask for breakfast... He thought about that. The rest of the guild was always telling him that it wasn't normal for him to be at her house all the time, that he had feelings for her, obviously.

He had already realized this himself, of course. He was pretty dense, but he wasn't so dense that he didn't realise that he felt something for Lucy. Figuring out what to do with those feelings was a different story, though. Should he tell her?

Nah, that wouldn't do anything. If her yelling and kicking me out is any indication, then it's not like Lucy loves me like I love her. Natsu gulped. He may have known for a while that he had feelings, but it was only a few days ago that he had figured out that he was in love with her.

It was then that Natsu realized that he had no clue where he was going. He looked around, and seeing that Lucy's apartment was next to him, he realized that he had walked around the block once and made his way back to one of the places he called home.

Feeling a draft around his neck, he also realized that his scarf was still in Lucy's place. "Well, I'm already here, might as well get it now." He hopped up to Lucy's window, expecting it to be open, but almost fell back to the ground when it wasn't. He also found it to be locked. Wow, she's really serious about me staying out of her apartment... He knocked on the window a few times and called for Lucy, to no avail. Looking in, it appeared to Natsu that she had already left.

Natsu jumped back to the ground. He sniffed the air and quickly found the scent of his partner. As he expected, she was en route to their guild hall. He groaned. "Hopefully she'll give it to me at the guild..."

xxx

When he arrived at the guild, Lucy was sitting at the bar, talking to Mira and drinking tea.

"Hey, Luce! D-" he started to say as he draped his arm across Lucy's shoulders. There was an abrupt end to his greeting when Lucy tossed Natsu off and he fell to the floor.

"Natsu, I'm not really in the mood to talk to you right now. Come back later."

Natsu scrambled up off the floor. "But I left my scarf at your house! I need it!"

Lucy turned her head and glared at him. "That's too bad, isn't it? You can come get it when your week is done." When Natsu started trying to give a puppy-dog face to her, Lucy then added, "Maybe if you're good, I'll give it to you in a couple of days..."

Natsu jumped up and gave Lucy a big hug, to which she reacted first with shock, but then she melted into it. When he jumped away, she spoke again. "Now, Natsu. I am still in a bad mood. I'll be fine in a little while, but I would appreciate some time without you in the meantime."

"Hey, does this mean I can go to your house again?"

"No."

"Why?!" Natsu whined.

"Because I still don't want you sneaking into my bed. So until next week, you are hereby banned from my house." Natsu groaned and pouted. He sat down on the stool next to Lucy's. Mira, who had watched the conversation without knowing how to react, brought out some food for Natsu, hoping to cheer him up.

xxx

The day in the guild was a pretty standard one. Natsu had started a brawl after a while of sulking, Gray had unknowingly stripped his shirt and pants, much to the enjoyment of Juvia, until she realized that love-rival Lucy could also see his shirtless chest. Erza had yelled at them all after her cake had fallen to the floor due to the fighting, and Lucy had talked to many of her guildmates. About books with Levy, a weird conversation about life with drunk Cana, and, to Lucy's chagrin, a conversation about Natsu with Mira. Mira was always trying to set them up, and it annoyed Lucy. Sure, Natsu had his good points, he was... Passionate, he was... Warm?

I mean, I guess it's possible I like him. She kept thinking about it, as she had done so often before. He was always there to protect her. So many times, when she thought all hope was lost, Natsu had been there for her, and for Fairy Tail.

She thought about the frequent times he had saved her. From Phantom Lord, from Edolas, from the Infinity Clock, and from so much more.

She had protected him plenty, too, mostly just being there for him when his motion sickness left him as an easy target.

He was willing to do anything for her...

...And she was willing to do the same for him.

But I can't be in love with him...

...Can I?

xxx

When it started getting dark, Lucy decided that it was time to go home. Following her out was Natsu.

The walk to Lucy's was quiet. Natsu was surprised that she hadn't told him to go away, but he wasn't going to complain.

They arrived at her house and Natsu turned to leave.

"Where are you- oh. Oh, right," Lucy said, wondering if she should just let him in. Whether I love him or not, he needs to learn about personal space.

"Well... Good night, Natsu. I'll see you tomorrow."

Natsu stuck his tongue out playfully. "It's gonna be too quiet at my house, with Happy gone on that mission with Wendy and Carla! Anyways... Good night!"

Lucy pretended to be fumbling with her keys as she watched him leave until he was out of sight. She went in, and looking at the window, debated with herself about whether or not she should unlock it. She decided to unlock it and did so before flopping on her bed. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm in love with the idiot.

After she got up and changed into pajamas, she laid down again and drifted to sleep.

xxx

It was completely dark except for the fire from Natsu's fighting. He was hurt pretty bad, and I was laying here kissing death. The rest of our team was scattered, fighting other powerful enemies.

Natsu was dead on his feet, injured the worst I've ever seen.

I wanted - no, needed - to get up and help. I just couldn't, though, I was already completely drained of magic and hurt almost as bad as Natsu.

I heard Natsu yelling, hitting his opponent over and over. Then I heard a different yell, one of pain, as I saw him get hit back.

He landed close to me. I heard his straggling breath, only just keeping him conscious. I needed to get to him! I needed to comfort him! I needed to save him! I couldn't let him die! C'mon, body, work!

"...Lucy..."

That's what did it. Hearing him say my name, I found enough strength to get to him.

"I'm here!"

"...Lucy... I..."

"Hold on just a little longer, Natsu! Wendy will come, she'll heal you!"

I knew that my words were probably false.

"Natsu... I love y-"

Suddenly, I felt a blinding pain in my back as our enemy shot his magic at me.

"Lucy!"

The last thing I felt was Natsu's arms wrap around me before they went limp just as I did.

xxx

Lucy POV

"Natsu!" I woke up in a cold sweat, crying. I didn't know what to think, just that I needed Natsu. I looked at my clock. It was a little past one; there was no way Natsu was still awake. I couldn't bother him, not over a nightmare...

What do I do? What do I do!? My heart is beating a hundred times a minute, and I know it's ridiculous, but I'm worried about Natsu!

He's probably just sleeping in his bed, perfectly fine and fast asleep!

Yeah, Natsu is just fine...

I turn over in the bed and try to fall back asleep. After ten minutes of continued franticness, and not feeling tired at all, I get up and start pacing.

I know Natsu is perfectly fine, so why can't I settle down!?

Maybe I could work on my book to calm my nerves.

I stumble to the desk and turn the light on. On top of my work is Natsu's scarf, right where I put it this morning after finding it. Just seeing it, I'm already feeling calmer. I grab it and turn the light off, already feeling my exhaustion now that I've settled down.

Argh, I never should have yelled at him. As soon as I see him tomorrow, I'm removing the ban. He can come to my house whenever he wants. I love him; there's no denying it.

I wrap his scarf around my neck and get into bed, Natsu's scarf calming me down enough to drift off.

Any doubts that I had before are gone. I'm certain now:

I completely and utterly love Natsu.

So, how do I do with multi-chapter fics? Did I make the chapter too short? I'll try to post the next chapter soon. The entire fic is actually done, but I've got to keep you guys in suspense *\(~w~)/* When I post multi-chapter fics, I will almost always have the whole thing done, just to make sure it won't become one of the 'lost' stories that people like but never gets finished. I'm sad when I find those.

-KatanaNoNeko

EDIT: Okay, so it seems that the doc editor is deleting my line breaks of asterisks and tildes. Anyone have a fix?

EDIT2: Welp, I did some searching and apparently we have to use those ugly black lines for breaks. EEEWWW. IT LOOKS TERRIBLE. WHY CAN'T I USE MY WHIMSICAL PATTERN OF ASTERISKS AND TILDES? IT WAS A LOT BETTER AT TRANSITIONING THAN THOSE BIG HONKING LINES.

EDIT3: No, you know what? I'm not going to use that jarring thing in my stories for transitions. I'm using some bold x's. Hopefully that won't be as bad. My tildes and asterisks were perfect, though... ( ,*-*,)