Lucy laid in her bed, still cuddled up in the blankets and enjoying staring at the ceiling. It was quiet and the birds were chipping happily and the sun was shining. There was not a cloud in the sky. The blond thought this would be a wonderful start to this glorious day. Maybe she would even get to fit in a bubble bath.

"Lucy!" A familiar voice screeched.

Lucy let out a sigh, but did not move from her spot. Of course the peaceful morning would have been ruined. She honestly expected too much. His barging in had become a regular thing. Turning her head to face her open window, the friendly dragon slayer was at his usual perch, smiling down at her.

"Happy Birthday, Lucy!" he shouted with a large smile on his face. He hopped off the window sill, walking across her bed to get inside her room, leaving shoe marks on her blanket. Lucy took a couple deep breaths, trying to remind herself that he was here being nice, not purposefully causing a problem.

"Is it really necessary to come barging in on my birthday? Couldn't you have used the door at the very least?" she sighed, stretching and sitting up, looking at Natsu. He had his hands on his hips, head cocked to the side.

"But then you would have had to have gotten up. I didn't want to make you answer the door for me on your birthday," he told her. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. He made it sound like he used the door any other day of the year.

"Why are you here so early anyway?" the blond asked as she finally got out of bed, rubbing her stomach and yawning. Her bed head was horrendous, but she didn't mind looking messy around Natsu.

"It's your birthday! I have a surprise!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow at that. Natsu had a surprise for her? She hoped it didn't have anything to do with fire. Natsu and her house plus fire usually equaled disaster, and she so did not have the jewels to pay for any repairs that needed to be done. She was still paying off the work she had to get done when Natsu and Gray destroyed her kitchen trying to make her soup.

"You have a surprise for me?" Lucy asked him skeptically, grabbing a sweatshirt and pulling it over her head. "I know it's my birthday and all, but you really didn't have to."

Natsu let out a laugh and waved her off, walking around and looking at her apartment. It was then that Lucy noticed that Happy wasn't with Natsu. The blue exceed was usually hanging around her best friend, and she didn't think Happy forgot her birthday. He usually offered her some type of fish.

"Well, let me get dressed then-"

Natsu waved his hands in the air, "no, don't get dressed! You don't even have to leave for this." The dragon slayer paced the room, looking really nervous. "I mean, we can go to the guild and see everyone after I give you the surprise."

Lucy tilted her head to the side, crossing her arms under her chest. "Well? I'm waiting."

Natsu shifted from side to side, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Lucy pouted. Natsu never acted this awkward. Even in awkward situations, he never understood them enough to be embarrassed. So, for Natsu to be embarrassed made Lucy worried.

Natsu shoved his hand into his pocket before pulling out a small black box with a red bow tied around it. Lucy's eyes widened as he held it out to her, his head turned to the side so he wasn't looking at her. She could swear that he was blushing and that thought made Lucy's heart beat ten times too fast.

Taking the box, the celestial spirit mage slowly opened the box, trying to peek inside before actually opening it. She didn't want any fire surprises or explosions to pop out at her. This was Natsu. He could have planned anything. He did say it was a surprise. Inside was just a plain silver ring. There wasn't anything identifiable about it, no diamonds or ruby's or anything of the sort. Lucy raised her eyebrow at the plain band.

"Check inside of the ring," Natsu muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Lucy pulled the ring out of the box and rolled it between fingers, peering inside the band. There, engraved in small letters was a statement that made Lucy almost drop the box and burst into tears.

I like you.

Lucy looked up at Natsu, eyes wide eye and eyebrows furrowed, tears brimming in her eyes. Natsu looked back at her with a grin.

"I engraved that myself, you know," he said smugly.

Lucy let out a laugh while she wiped away a tear that had fallen free.

"You really like me, Natsu? Like that?"

Natsu scoffed, "of course, Lucy! You're my nakama-"

"Oh, Natsu, you don't say that to your nakama!" Lucy shouted angrily.

Natsu rolled his eyes at her, "you didn't let me finish, weirdo."

Lucy opened her mouth to retort but closed her mouth, waiting for him to continue.

"You're my nakama, Luce. You're precious to me. From the moment I met you, I knew you'd be special. Sure, you're like the biggest weirdo I know, but that's okay. I'd give my life for my nakama. But-Lucy, you're the only I wouldn't give my life for. I can't die because then I wouldn't be there to protect you, care about you, and show you how much I love you."

At this point, Lucy was crying, trying desperately to wipe away the tears. Natsu just smiled at her as she cried.

"You're such a weirdo, Lucy. Crying at something like this," Natsu told her.

"I'm happy, you dolt!" Lucy shouted back.

She placed the box on the table before slipping the ring on her finger, admiring the plain piece of jewelry for a moment before walking over to Natsu and wrapping her arms around his waist. The dragon slayer wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close to him as he rested his head on hers.

"I love you too, you flame eating idiot."

"Hey! That wasn't necessary."

Lucy smiled into his chest.

"Natsu, did you use your flames to engrave the ring?" Lucy asked curiously, pulling away to look at the boy.

"Yeah, why?"

"Your handwriting is awful."

"If you're going to be stingy, I'll take it back," he held out his hand for the ring. Lucy held it close to her chest.

"I like your awful handwriting."

Happy Birthday, Lucy Heartfilia!