As an early teen, it was pretty clear what my romantic type was.

I could be seen around my villa with a responsible and respected young man on my arm. Future politicians, businessmen, and doctors. But none of them gave me the thrill I yearned for deep down. Being responsible made you... well, boring.

Natsu was so far past responsible that he couldn't be trusted to take care of anything but himself and his cat. If I was younger and if I didn't know what I do now, he definitely wouldn't have even crossed my mind.

There was something I could feel from him. When I stared into his eyes and memorized the details of his face, I felt like I was sitting by a crackling fire while the calming ocean waves rolled onto the sand. His arms around me felt like a weighted blanket and were easy to relax into.

He walked behind the shops in town, avoiding the judgemental eyes of the shoppers browsing. We approached a tall building looking out into the water. It had a symbol plastered all over it and the flags waving in the wind.

Natsu must've noticed that I was confused and he chuckled lightly. "You don't know where you are, do you?"

The doors burst open and a blonde woman with sizeable [Redacted ;)] angrily stormed out. Her keys glistened in the sun as she marched towards us. 'Hm. A gatekeeper.'

"Where in the name of Aquarius have you been!" She screamed, pointing her finger in Natsu's face. He rolled his eyes and walked past her, annoyed. "Answer me!"

He turned around and motioned at me with his head. I could almost swear I saw jealously plague her face for a split second. "You can't just leave me alone like that." She pouted.

"Girlfriend troubles?" I asked.

Natsu shook his head, "She's far from my girlfriend."

"Oh."

"We only met a few days ago and she already treats me like it, though."

I cringed. "Sounds like a handful."

"Well..." He paused. "I don't care for her much."

I looked up to see that we were approaching a long bar. A white haired woman had her back to us and was humming softly as she cleaned some fairly sizeable mugs.

"Mira. A little help here." Natsu said and lifted me onto the counter.

She turned around and sighed.

"Wh-" I gawked. "Mirajane?"

"Oh it's so nice to have fans!" She said brightly, grabbing the first aid kit and putting it beside me.

"Wow." I sighed, breathlessly. She cleaned my wound and wrapped it tightly. "I can't believe I met Mirajane in person."

I climbed down and landed on my feet. Natsu saw that I was still a little unsteady and helped guide me to some nearby benches. A woman was sitting there, dozing off. She was beautiful and her hair was a deep red, like the lipstick I owned before all my stuff got blown up. Natsu snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Hey. Erza."

She sat up fast. "Why you stupid little-"

"Help her get the stamp." He said nudging me.

"Oh." Her drawn arm fell back to her side. "Natsu, you can't just bring in random people."

"She's not random." He said.

"He saved my life and I just... protected us." I shrugged. Natsu blushed.

"Nuh-uh!" He said. "You're being too humble. It was awesome! She put up a forcefield around us. We could've died otherwise!"

Erza's eyebrows raised. "Well, then."

I turned away and in a flash I saw a fist coming towards Natsu's face. My magic kicked in and Erza's fist collided with a translucent pink wall. She winced from the pain and shook it off. Natsu looked shocked. "Did. Did Erza just flinch?"

"Mira!" Erza called out loudly. "The stamp."

She nodded and brought out a wooden box. I tried to stifle my grin as she opened it and brought out an ink pad. "What color?"

"I was thinking purple."

She brought out the ink pad and stamped down hard on my back around my upper left shoulder. I reached back to touch it.

"It's permanent for as long as you're in the guild." Natsu explained. He watched me as I walked back to the bar with Mira.

She poked me. "Soo... Are you interested in Natsu?"

"I mean, he's cute. And nice." I blushed. "We've only just met."

"I'm sure you two will become good friends."

She poured me a beer and motioned for Natsu to come sit and poured him one too. I drank the sweet drink and sighed. As she walked away, she caught my gaze and winked.

"Fairy Tail means a lot to me." Natsu said, chugging his beer. "It's always been there, even through my hard times."

I nodded. "It feels like a very supporting community of wizards."

"It is."

"Hey, do you want to come with me? I need to go check out some apartments."

"Oh I already took care of that. You can stay at the apartment I used to rent."

"Used to?"

"Oh I was hanging out with Lucy for a while, and occasionally I slept in the guild." He said. "I still own it, I think. Rent's paid off through next year."

"That's a generous offer. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

"Oh it's no biggie. There's two bedrooms anyway, so I'll just stay in one and you can have the other." He smiled.

I bit my lip. "I don't know how to thank you."

"Come on, I'll show you where it is." He said, grabbing my hand.

We walked out of the guild and down the road. I noticed that he still hadn't let go of my hand as we made our way towards the houses, and I interlocked my fingers with his. His skin was warm and his cheeks flushed.

I looked around at the stores lining the sidewalks and the river in the middle of the street. The sun was making it's way down to the horizon, illuminating the trees lining the riverside. Natsu pointed down the road at a quaint little house in the center of the line of shops. "There. You see?"

We approached the door and Natsu held it open for me. I frowned. "Why is it so..."

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeaahh... I mentioned before that I haven't really been staying here recently. This is why."

Trash littered the floor and there was rotting food scattered among it. "Nothing a little picking up won't help." I said and patted Natsu's back.

"Natsu?" A voice said from upstairs. We met eyes from across the room and he seemed just as confused as I was. "Is that you?"

The blonde haired woman came running down the stairs. Natsu groaned. "Lucy. Why are you in my house?"

"How did you even get in?" I asked.

She gave me a dirty side-eye. "It was open."

Natsu opened the door wider. "Leave."

Her lower lip jutted out and her shoulders sagged. "Pwease."

"Ew." Natsu said, dragging her out. "Go home."

He closed the door and clicked the lock into place. I looked out the window to see her scream and angrily run away.

He picked up the last of the garbage from the floor and stuffed it into a big, black bag. I carried it outside and put it in a bin that was sitting in front of the house.

"This is the first time I've seen the floor in months." Natsu said and scoffed.

"What?" I asked, brushing a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"I'm really unhygenic."

I laughed. He smiled and stretched. "Oh right." He said, snapping his fingers. "I've gotta show you to the guest room. I mean, your room."

I followed him upstairs. He motioned to a room where the door was creaked open. It was clean, with white sheets folded over the pillows and thin curtains flowing with the breeze. "From downstairs, I honestly expected it to be dirty."

He chuckled. "Yeah, it would seem that way. I just don't really use this room, I guess."

I walked out into the hallway and entered the other room. He followed, cautiously. "My room."

I ran my fingers over the soft, gray bedsheets. The room had a few random things here and there, like a blue cat sleeping on the center of the bed and a scale shining in the sun rays.

"Oh by the way, there is only one bathroom." Natsu said. I shrugged.

"It's fine."

"Well, that just about does it!" He said and clapped his hands.

"It's a nice place!" I said, stroking the scale.

He motioned over his shoulder. "Do you... Want to catch some dinner?"

I moaned. "I haven't eaten all day."

"Great!" He yelled. "I mean. Good. Fine."

I giggled. He held out his arm and I linked mine through his.