Author's Notes: Hello everyone. This happens to be my first attempt at a story (ever) and, believe it or not, my first entry for this fandom. I decided to go with a pairing that I hardly see; Although I'm a Natsu/Erza fan this pairing one is also one of my favorites and is criminally underrepresented IMO. I felt like I had to add something to the fandom to represent these two. That being said, I hope you enjoy it!

Une dédicace à mon amie Kumiko-no-baka. Cette histoire est un peu tard mais j'espère vous l'aimerez!

Also a small shout out to FaiRy-TaiL-MaGe202 who gave me some encouraging words that set me on the path to actually writing this. If you're reading this you may remember me as FlamingLexus :P. New name for a new story.

Boy's-Friends and Girl's-Friends

A Fairy Tail story

By The Wumbologist

CRASH

"Say that again, Flamebutt!"

BANG

"You got snow in your ears, you damned exhibitionist?"

SHOVE

"Oi, Salamander..." A menacing stare. "You better apologize for bumping into me you bastard. You almost made me knock over Lily."

"Huh?" A low growl. "And who's gonna make me, metal freak?"

"REAL MEN SPEAK THROUGH THEIR FISTS!"

And with that declaration, the melee began. Furniture was overturned. Cups lay strewn about, their contents long forgotten in the heat of the moment. Icicles, fireballs and every kind of magical spell in between were flung heedless of target. It was brutal. It was chaotic. It was... A normal day at Fairy Tail.

"They're so lively today, aren't they Lucy?" Ducking under a stray fireball, Mirajane continued her duties polishing the glassware at the bar, her ever-present smile directed at the Celestial Spirit mage currently rubbing her temples across the counter.

"They're like this every day, Mira." came the tired reply, "I don't know how anyone can have this much energy at nine in the morning..."

Mirajane laughed as she set away the last of the beer mugs. "Oh, I think it's nice that everyone is in such high spirits. Wendy looks like she's having fun too, isn't that right?"

The aforementioned Dragon Slayer nodded happily as she sipped on her juice. Beside her Carla mimicked Lucy in rubbing her temples. It was all well and good that everyone was feeling energetic but did they have to start a brawl first thing in the morning?

"Oi! Look out by the bar!" The warning caused the foursome to look behind them at the chaos, just in time to see a table soar through the air... And on a collision course with Lucy. Now Lucy being the calm, sensible person she was did the only thing she could think of. She screamed. Hard.

"EEEEEEEEEK! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" The airborne table was fast approaching and she held her arms in front of her face, bracing for impact. It would be a matter of seconds before she was flattened by the rogue furniture.

KABOOM

"Are you injured, Princess?" At the sound of the smooth voice, Lucy looked up from behind her forearms to see Loke, his hands shining brilliantly and the remains of the table scattered around the ground in front of him.

"Loke... T-Thanks." came the shaky reply.

Straightening his tie, he clasped her right hand with both of his. "At your service, Princess. As I've said before: I'll always be there when you need me." Then came the wink and smile. A perfect entry, he thought proudly, I've got her for sure this time!

Unfortunately for him, he was snapped out of his thoughts when a potted plant had come sailing through the air, making direct contact with the back of his head. From her seated position, Lucy could see the vein throbbing on the Celestial Spirit's forehead.

Letting go of her hand, Loke spun around quickly to search for whoever had thrown that plant. Fortunately, he didn't have to look far as he saw Gray, in naught but his boxers, openly pointing and laughing.

"Oi, Gray! Watch where you're aiming! What if you had hit the Princess?!" He yelled.

"What was that, little kitty? I couldn't hear you from all the way over in the ladies' section." came the mocking reply.

Oh, that was it. Turning once more to face Lucy, the Lion spirit gave a suave bow. "If you'll excuse me, I've got a pervert to beat up." And with that, he rushed off into the battlefield, making a beeline straight for the Ice Mage.

Lucy could only sigh as Mirajane let out another cheery laugh. "It seems you can take the mage out of the guild, but you can't take the guild out of the mage." As they watched Loke get caught up in the brawl, a thought struck Mirajane. A mischievous smile adorned her face as her eyes shifted towards Lucy. Yes, it was time for the barmaid to practice her favorite hobby: prying into the love lives of her fellow guild mates.

"Say, Lucy. I'm a bit jealous of you, you know..."

"Huh, what makes you say that, Mira?"

"Well you have such a charming and handsome man watching over you," She smiled innocently at the blonde before continuing, "It's obvious that he likes you a lot Lucy. He must have asked you out... Won't you ever consider becoming a couple?"

Lucy simply rolled her eyes at the barmaid. "Mira, every time he appears you find some way to ask me that and the answer is always the same. Loke is a powerful spirit and a great friend but that's it." After having this conversation for the umpteenth time, Lucy lost any interest in trying to dissuade the S-Class mage. Instead, she stuck to the same old answers over and over.

"Hmmm... Then there must be someone else, isn't there?" Mirajane scanned the riot, looking for anyone that would be a good fit for Lucy. It was a matter of seconds before she found her target. " I know who it is... It's Gray isn't it!"

Lucy let out a groan as her head hit the counter. 9:10 in the morning and she could feel a headache coming on. "Not at all Mira," came a strained reply, "and besides, I'm sure the only things occupying his mind are fighting and... Actually, just fighting."

Mirajane observed as Lucy sighed, turning her head to watch the ongoing fight in the main hall. With great interest she noted that the young mage was looking directly at the almost-nude Ice Mage, who was currently struggling to break free from a headlock by Elfman. Lucy may not have realized it but Mirajane certainly did... It was only a matter of time.

That train of thought had reached its end, however, and Mirajane turned her attention to her next target: the petite Wind Dragon Slayer who sat a small ways down the counter.

"So, what about you Wendy?" She called from across the counter.

"Hmm? What about me?" came the quiet reply.

"Well you're at that age where you're starting to become interested in boys. Lucy may like to keep her affections a secret but you don't have to be that way Wendy..." Her smile widened as she saw the blush creep up on the blue haired girl's face.

"Um... I don't..."

"Oh Wendy, there's no need to be shy. I can see it written all over your face! So, who's the lucky guy?" Her interruption ended on a louder volume as the sounds from the riot in the main hall increased. The addition of Loke to the brawl had gotten its participants even more fired up, their attacks renewed with even more energy. Mirajane was not deterred, however. She was so close; all the Dragon Slayer needed was a little coaxing...

She drew closer to the young girl as she spoke, leaning over the counter and giving her a reassuring smile. "You can tell me, Wendy. I promise this will be between just the three of us, right Carla?"

The white Exceed merely shrugged, meeting her best friend's timid gaze with an indifferent stare. Being Wendy's closest companion, she knew who Wendy's crush was. It was up to Wendy whether or not she wanted to tell anyone or not. The problem was the girl was just so shy; if Mirajane could coax it out of her it might even be beneficial... If she told Mirajane then maybe the older woman could give her some confidence. Then Wendy would stop keeping her up at night talking about him, or instinctively grabbing her and crushing the small cat against her chest whenever he walked in...

... Or more likely none of the above would happen and things would continue on as they always did. Carla didn't mind playing emotional advisor to the young Dragon Slayer. Really, she didn't. But dammit, a cat can dream!

Taking the shrug as a positive sign from Carla, Wendy began to speak. "Well... The truth is there is someone I like..."

Mirajane's eyes brightened despite the fact that she could barely hear Wendy speaking. From the sounds of it a hole had just been blasted through the far wall. Out of the corner of her eye she could see some of the bewildered pedestrians hurriedly passing by. Taking no heed, her volume rose another notch as she coaxed the young mage. "And? And? Who is it?"

"I-It's -" The quiet voice was cut off by a series of loud creaks and crashes. From the sounds of it, a load-bearing column had been accidentally broken.

"Hmm? I didn't quite hear you, Wendy."

"I said that it's nrhsmphs" Her reply was muffled by a series of screams and the sounds of some serious demolition. It seemed a section of the roof had come tumbling down, a small number of the guild being caught in the debris.

"ONE MORE TIME PLEASE, WENDY!" Mirajane was yelling now, as a deafening crash resounded through the now-ruined guild hall.

Wendy, on her end, had begun sucking in a large amount of air. With the noise caused by the partial destruction of the guild hall she would need to yell to get her message across to Mirajane.

What happened next turned out to be every young girl's worst nightmare.

KABOOM

"NATSU! GRAY! STOP THIS FIGHTING AT ONCE!" The Queen of the Fairies had arrived on the scene and wasted no time in subduing the two most troublesome members of the brawl. At her commanding voice the chaos of the last thirteen minutes had vanished into an uncomfortable silence; each guild member looked on in horror as the Titania stood, a barely-conscious Natsu held up by his scarf in her left hand and a terrified Gray held at sword point with her right.

It was at this moment of silence that Wendy let the air collected in her lungs rush out, the sound of her voice resounding through the guild hall:

"I SAID I LIKE NATSUUU-SAAAAaaaannnnnnn... Huh?"

All eyes in the guild shifted to Wendy as she looked back, bewildered. Beside her, Mirajane and Lucy both gasped, the former feeling incredibly guilty and the latter just as surprised as the rest of the guild. Carla in turn watched her best friend, a look of pure pity on her face. Of course she had wanted the girl to have some more confidence but yelling her deepest secret at the top of her lungs was not what she had in mind.

"What about me...?" a strained voice broke the silence. Fairy Tail's collective attention turned from Wendy to the source of the sound: Natsu, who lay in a heap on the floor at Erza's feet. He sat up slowly, confused at the sudden awkward silence that enveloped the guild hall.

"Hey, what just happened?" he broke the silence again, looking directly towards the bar. "Why's everyone so quiet?"

"... Did you guys smell that too? 'Cause I swear I didn't—"

His small tangent was interrupted by a loud wail. Before anyone could react, a crying Wendy bolted from her seat at the bar, her legs carrying her out the door with hands shielding her crying face from the rest of the guild. Carla was hot on her trail, wings out and following the Sky Dragon Slayer at full speed.

"Wendy?" A mixture of confusion and worry showed through as he watched the young girl run away. What the hell was that about...?

More Notes: I revised this story as of 11/21/2012; I split it into two chapters and did a bit of editing. I think it's better this way... ~6600 words is too much for a oneshot I think. If you've read this story already then nothing has really changed, but you should read it again because it's so good :)