Not that it was much of a hindrance. He could have easily pushed it open regardless of whether it was locked or not. It wasn't what he would call an obstacle, and certainly not the reason why he was standing outside of her apartment instead of inside.

But she had locked her window and this perplexed Natsu.

Natsu had just come back from a two month mission. Although it was a solo mission, he did bring Happy with him. And now the exceed was looking at Natsu with eyes filled with curiosity.

"Did you two have a fight I didn't know about?" Happy asked.

"Did we?" Natsu scratched his head as he thought about it with a frown. "The last time we talked, I remember her saying that she had to do an all girls mission with Erza and Mira. It was something about disguising themselves as teen idols to infiltrate a dark guild. So I told her I would do a solo mission instead."

Happy's look turned suspicious. "Did you somehow insult her looks and her talents instead of giving her your blessings."

Natsu's eyes widened innocently. "I only advised her to wear skimpy clothing to compensate for her lack of abilities. I was being a good friend."

Happy sighed. "Dumb Natsu."

"Come-on, I've said worse." Natsu crossed his arms in front of his chest as he stared accusingly at the locked window.

"That's true." said Happy contemplatively. "And although she kicks and punches you all the time for entering without her consent, she never locked you out before." Then he shrugged, "Maybe we are overthinking things, guess we have no choice but to break it open."

"As you say!" Natsu didn't even hesitate as he balled one hand into a fist, jumped up, and punched the window open.

"Or we could knock at the door..." Happy's second suggestion came too late as a girl's scream was heard inside Lucy's apartment.

"What the hell Natsu!" Lucy yelled before she even opened the door to her bedroom where the destroyed window was.

"Hey Lucy I'm back." Natsu grinned while sitting cross-legged on Lucy's bed.

"Hiya Lucy." Happy greeted as he entered through the window and landed on Lucy's bed beside Natsu. He was prepared to be the audience of Natsu's punishment as was the norm, so he was surprised when Lucy closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to calm herself instead.

When Lucy opened her eyes a smile was plastered on her face. "Welcome back Natsu and Happy. Next time, please knock on the door instead."

Natsu too was surprised, but he had the habit of simply accepting his blessings instead of wondering about his good fortune. "It was your fault, cause the window was locked."

Although Lucy was smiling, it was obviously forced and there was a glint of anger in her eyes. "Then maybe you could have taken the hint instead of breaking it."

"Huh?" Natsu looked confused. "What hint?"

"Lucy, is everything okay?" A guy's voice came from Lucy's living room which seemed to make Lucy look at Natsu uncomfortably.

"Please Natsu, get off my bed this instant." Lucy hissed as she pulled at his arm.

Natsu stubbornly tried not to budge. "Why? I'm tired. I just came home from a tiresome mission, I'm going to sleep." He laid on the bed instead.

"Lucy?" The male voice called out again.

"Get off this instant!" In a feat of strength that Lucy rarely possessed, she pulled Natsu off the bed in one full sweep. But the force she exerted made her loose her balance and she toppled into the floor with Natsu landing on her lower half.

The door to her room opened and Lucy was mortified as the new comer's eyes widened in surprise at what he was seeing. A young man with longish red hair tied into a queue had entered the room.

Lucy quickly recovered and pushed Natsu off her as she got up on her feet. "Ark!" She exclaimed. "Ugh, I'm so terribly clumsy sometimes." She began smoothing her hair and her clothes to make herself look as presentable as she could. "Natsu just came back and... well... as I was greeting him... we both stumbled... and... and we fell on the floor." She ended on a lame note.

Ark blinked at her explanation. "Natsu?" It seemed that was the only word he was able to latch on.

Natsu sat up while rubbing his hurt arm. Unlike Lucy, he didn't get up on his feet and remained sitting on the floor. He looked up at Ark with suspicion. "Lucy, I think you have an intruder."

Lucy used her fist to punch the top of Natsu's head. "You are the intruder here." Then she smiled at Ark. "Sorry he does this all the time, please ignore him."

It seemed Ark's disbelief couldn't grow more than it did at the moment. "All the time?"

Lucy just realized what he might have thought she meant and she blushed crimson. "No, I mean... this guy just rudely enters my apartment all the time..." That still didn't sound right.

"He's just..." Then she seemed to give up on an explanation and sighed. "Anyway, Ark this is Natsu. And the cat over there is Happy." Lucy gestured at Happy who looked really intrigued with this new set of circumstances. "Natsu, Happy..." Lucy moved towards Ark and shyly linked her arm with his. "This is my boyfriend, Ark."

Natsu looked dumbfounded before he burst out laughing. "Lucy, are you in one of your delusions again? You must be getting desperate."

Ark looked at the laughing boy on the floor and frowned. "I am her boyfriend."

Natsu stopped laughing. He looked Ark directly in the eye with a serious expression. "You shouldn't really feed into her delusions like that."

"It is no delusion." Ark stated calmly back at him.

Happy flew over to Natsu's side and looked both Lucy and Ark over. "Natsu, I think he is telling the truth."

The room was silent for a few moment. Then Natsu got to his feet and walked towards Lucy. Lucy looked at him pleadingly, willing him not to do anything to embarrass her further.

As Natsu stood close to the couple, Ark seemed to stand defensively beside Lucy. He was a few inches taller than Natsu, but even without any menace emanating from the pink haired boy he still sensed a power greater than anything he could fend off.

Then Natsu's face broke into a grin. "Then I am happy for you Lucy." He stood closer between the couple and placed an arm each on both their shoulders. He grinned genuinely at Ark.

"Welcome to the family."