Hey guys! Wow, three days in a row I'm updating? What the mess? Hah.

I wrote this at work when I was insanely bored. I just got to thinking of our precious Fire baby and how we never get to see his thoughts. This may be deeper than he is canon-wise.. yet I think it's not because he is actually very mature, we just don't get to see it because he is very carefree and laid back. But I hope you do enjoy this :)

Fairy Tail and its characters belong to Hiro Mashima

Natsu stared across the guild hall. He was sitting alone at the bar one rainy day, most of the members had already left for the evening.

There hadn't been much excitement throughout the day either. Laxus and the Thunder Legion were out on a job, Gray had given up and finally let Juvia cook dinner for him, Erza had decided to stay home for the dad and reassess her armor, and then Lucy said she was tired from their last job and planned on staying home for a few days.

He sighed heavily, laying his head on the bar. He could have just gone out with Happy on a small job… But…

"It's always more fun when we're together."

It had been a while since she had uttered those words on Tenrou Island. They had just got home to their new guild hall after their win in the Grand Magic Games a few days ago, after all.

"What did she mean by that?!" Natsu squeezed his eyes shit. He was at a lost.

Looking over at her again, he smiled behind the folds of his scarf. Lucy and Levy were excitingly talking about a book they both read, Lucy's whole face lit up, it was adorable.

He furiously scratched his head, he didn't know what to do now!

"Natsu, what are you doing?" Happy put his fish in his lap to stare at his friend. He had been watching Natsu for a while now; he would look at Lucy, put his head down, act all weird and put his head back down. Then look at her again and start over.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You're acting weirder than Lucy."

"I am not," he groaned, trying to keep the goofy grin off his face, "she's the weirdest person we know."

"Whatever you say," the blue feline was done with the conversation, he happily dug back into his meal.

Natsu hummed before he glanced over to Lucy yet again. She said that in the midst of battle, her head was being crushed by that insane sumo… yet she wouldn't run.

Natsu had ever had so much respect for one person than in that moment.

And then after that, he watched her die…

Well, not her. Her future self. But it was still Lucy. He watched the life drain out of her eyes. It could have easily been his Lucy that was hit.

His Lucy… he buried his head in his arms. She wasn't his. She never would be. He was her best friend and partner. That's all he'd ever be.

"Here you go," the beautiful white-haired bar maid set down a tankard of Fire Whiskey in front of the dragonslayer.

"Thanks!" he grabbed it and immediately guzzled it down.

"My, my. Calm down, sweetie," Mira watched Natsu for a moment, "Are you OK? You've seemed a little down today."

"Uh… I'm good!" He grinned sloppily, raising the drink back up so she wouldn't bother him with more questions he didn't have answers to.

Mira didn't seem convinced, but she smiled and walked away.

"You lied to her," Happy whispered.

"I ain't lying!" Natsu growled, spilling a bit of the fire, "Nothing's wrong!"

"Sure, ya dummy," Happy's white wings shot out and he flew over to Wendy and Carla who were leaving the guild. He tried to share his fish with Carla but to no avail.

"I'm fine," Natsu rested his hands on either side of his drink, "I'm… fine…"

But one more look at the blonde Celestial Wizard told him he was dead wrong.

What was wrong with him?

He realized on Tenrou Island that he cared about her more than a friend and he had no idea how to handle that.

He realized during the GMG that he couldn't live without her and really had no idea about dealing with that.

And now… he was afraid he'd never get to tell her. Because he wasn't what she was looking for. He was the furthest thing from a nice, intelligent, well read, quiet, princely type of guy she told Levy she was attracted too.

He could protect her and provide for her… but could he make her happy? He thought he did a pretty good job of that for a long time, but his oversensitive hearing debunked that idea. He wasn't even sure if Lucy was physically attracted to him at all… Not that it mattered. But he was always kinda half naked and she never seemed bothered by it. He always freaked out when she was naked, but he hid it well enough to fool everyone. It wouldn't be fair if she wasn't effected either!

"So… what do I do with these feelings?" he asked himself, raising his hand to pull on his scarf, wishing for the millionth time Igneel was here to help, "I don't want them to go away."

He stood from his bar stool and headed over to her table. She may not feel the same, but that was OK. She was his friend first, no matter what. And for now, that was enough. Plus, he made it his personal goal in life to keep her safe. There was no way anyone was going to hurt her while he was still breathing.

That's why in a few weeks, when he left after the battle with Tartaros, she would be the only one to get a proper goodbye from him. He was leaving to become stronger, so he would be able to protect her.

But he didn't know that the dark guild was getting ready to attack. He didn't know he was about to have another run-in with Zeref, or learn about END…

Right now he was just a member of the strongest guild in Fiore. And he believed he had all the time in the world to spend with Lucy.

Grinning, he ran the last few steps to her and threw his arms around her, "LUCYYY!"

"Gah! Natsu! What are you doing?"

"I'm bored, let's go do something!"

"I told you I'm not going on a job for a few days."

"I didn't say let's take a job. I said let's do something. Let's go to your house and play games!"

"I don't want to play games, I'm talking to Levy."

"But I'm boredddd!" he held on tighter to the blonde, not noticing how pink her cheeks were at the contact.

"I am not going to go home just because you're bored! Go to your own house and do something with Happy."

"Happy went home with Wendy and Carla. Guess I'll go see what kind of food you have…"

"Wait! Don't go to my apartment without me!"

Thanks for reading :)

XOXO-Smile