-~NATSU~-

"I reek of hospital. Eww." Luce made that cute little pout and stuck her shirt that she was wearing a little out.

"You'll tear it if you kee-

Torn.

"I told you." I shrugged, while rummaging my closet to find a perfect shirt for Luce to wear. She was annoyed, thinking that she stank and wanted to take a shower. I was finding a shirt that could actually fit her properly and not... reveal... a lot of stuff...

"You jinxed it!" She yelled, pointing at me and blaming me.

"You should have been more careful. It isn't my fault." I shrugged again.

Voila!

It was one of my favorite shirts. It was a turtle neck half sleeved white shirt that had a fire dragon printed on it. It was my 15th birthday present from Igneel. I loved that shirt to bits but once I accidentally spilled a little ink on it, so I had it washed and untouched since then. I knew it'd look really good on Lucy so I threw it at her face and slammed the door shut. She caught it before it slipped and glared at me.  I gave her a sweet smile and winked to which she rolled her eyes and smiled, red tinting her soft and pale cheeks.

"Do you want my shorts too?" I asked her proceeding form.

"I always keep extra undies and shorts with me." She replied.

"What about a shirt and-

"No shirts because I wear extra shirt on me and yes I keep a bra too." She snarled.

"Oh Luce, it's so fun to tease you." I said in a fake British accent to which she laughed and went inside. To spend my time doing something productive while I wait for her, I decided to search more regarding... Zeref...

Zeref had been eerily quiet these days. As an older brother who left me under the care of Igneel, not came with me and meddled in my personal affairs, I hate him, but as a brother who even after leaving me like that made my ends meet and helped me from the side lines, I forgive him. He had always hated death, so when I was at the verge of it, he had Igneel take me in with him. But he ran away, doing God knows what and now is successful in his business. I would hate to admit it, but I kind of miss him.

"Yo Natsu?" A beautiful voice chirped besides me. Shutting down my laptop, I moved my head to see a golden haired, porcelain beauty wearing my shirt, and may I say that it was meant for her? That darn shirt fitted her perfectly, revealing her smooth legs and arms. The light she was standing under illuminated her figure, making her look no more less than a goddess, with the colours from the shirt glowing a little and making her shine further.

"I feel like a badass bitch right now! Darn, this shirt is hella comfy." She stretched, ran and jumped on my bed, laying down on her stomach while I blushed and tried to compose myself.

"Yep, it suits you." I added.

"Boy, I'm taking a few of your shirts. I'm definitely taking them." She laughed and blew her stray strands away from her face.

"Take as many as you like, Luce. By the way, what do you want to eat?" I asked her, laying besides her.

"Um... I don't know... " She said.

"I'll ask Wendy to whip something up-

"You're going to ask your little sister to cook for you? That's child abuse." She said with a stoic face.

"Wendy always cooks for us. She loves to cook." I retorted.

"Don't overburden her. I'll cook-

"Luce, no. You just got out of the hospital." I held her soft arm.

I want to hug her so bad.

"I'm fine Natsu, I recovered. I even had a shower and-

I hugged her. I threw myself at her, making her fall down on the bed. Nuzzling my nose in her neck, I smelled her and sighed. There was her original scent lingering but she mostly smelled of my shower gel and shampoo. I could even smell the faint smell of alcohol if I focused more.

"Heal properly first, Luce." I whispered, loud enough for her to hear. She sighed, raking fingers in my hair and slowly massaging it.

"You worry too much." She said in a hushed tone.

"It's my job to worry about you. You're too selfless for your own good." I said.

"Speak for yourself, Dragneel." She chuckled. I raised my head and caressed her cheek. She nuzzled further, closing her eyes and breathing slowly.

"Luce," I breathed. She opened her eyes and gasped while I bit my lip and looked intensely at her. Her brown doe eyes had all sorts of emotions swirling in them. Her breathing had hitched, and I could feel both of our hearts beating faster. If I could just move a little closer-

I heard a knock.

"Natsu? Can you come out for a second?" Wendy spoke from behind the door. I quickly stood up to open the door. Lucy instantly sat up and hid her face.

We had almost kissed Wendy! She just had to be a cockblocker!

"Yeah?" I asked her annoyed, slamming the door shut behind me. Boy, was I mad! I finally had a chance! A perfect moment!

"Why're you acting like a hormonal teen- wait- were you guys...? OMG I'm so sorry!" She 'eep'ed and turned around, scurrying away.

"Hold your fucking horse, you little- what is that?" I had pulled her back by grabbing her shoulder and had also had a glimpse of something in her pocket shining.

"What's what?" Wendy hurriedly asked and covered her pocket.

"The thing you're hiding, Wen. What is that?" I asked her sternly?

"It's nothing-

"A text from Romeo? Wendy Candy oomph-

Wendy, when tried to hide the key that I could spot from a mile away, had turned on her phone on accident and Lucy, who came out of nowhere, was reading the text but Wendy had pushed her, shutting it and trying to run away. Speaking of which-

"Wendy." I glared at her.

"Yes?" She asked, scared.

"Was that dad's office key in your pocket and why is Macao Conbolt's son texting you?" I asked her, serious vibes dripping from each word I said. Wendy gulped and shivered. She must definitely not have dad's office's keys. She'd be in danger and there's too much stuff in there.

"I... Uh... HeisjustafriendIsweartoGodandthatkeyisnotoftheoffice." She closed her eyes and spoke very fast.

"Repeat it, and this time, loud and clear." I snarled.

"Hey, calm down Natsu." Lucy said. "Wen, chill out and tell him slowly."

"I swear Natsu, he's just a friend! We were volunteering on the same platform and had to exchange numbers to update each other! It's nothing more than that!" She exclaimed.

"Well 'Wendy Candy' said otherwise." I snarled again.

"The girl said it's nothing more, Natsu. Believe in her. She's your sister. Besides, I had met Romeo once and from what Macao told me, he's a nice and shy kid." Luce said in between.

"Boys change like your mood when they hit puberty, Luce." I turned to Wendy and said, "I don't want you talking to him or getting all buddy buddy-

"I have my own life! You can't force your ways into it! I know you worry but he's trustworthy!" Wendy yelled, her eyes tearing up. It hurt to see her and do what I was doing, but I was doing it for her. With a few people running wild around, I can't afford to let her be completely free.

"Wen, you will withdraw. You're not to volunteer anymore and-

"No!" She screamed.

"Natsu stop!" Lucy stood in her front of her and made an eye contact with me, boldly standing. "That girl is supposed to figure out who she is to trust and who to not on her own. You can't force her to do something to satisfy you. She's a human. She'll make mistakes. You're to correct her and help her where she is wrong. You're trying to protect her but your method is wrong. It's hurting her. If you can't then I will." She stared into my eyes, challenging me to fight back through them. At that moment, I was supposed to give up and be proud of her fighting back, but what I said out of stress was what I would regret later.

"You can't even protect yourself. How are you supposed to protect my sister?"

"Natsu, you didn't-

"He did stoop that low, Wendy. You think I can't protect myself huh? Well then listen, you motherfucker. I. Don't. Need. You. Around. Me. I can't protect myself right? I need you to protect me. Newsflash, I don't! I never even asked you to! So don't you dare come near me!" She yelled and stormed out of the house.

"Luce stop! I wasn't thinking what I was saying! I'm sorry! Wait!" I ran after her, leaving Wendy shocked in the house.

"Lucy! Stop!" I ran after her. Even without wearing any shoes or slippers, she ran ridiculously fast on the road.

"Don't come after me!" She screamed and ran in the forest.

"Luce! Wait!" Before I could catch her, she disappeared in the forest. Trying to use my heightened senses, I tried to locate her. Silently moving, I tried to smell her scent and listen to any sign of voice I could hear. My gut told me she was close by, but where? I suddenly heard a faint snap that came from north west side. Picking up a faint smell of her, I slowly tiptoed and found her, eyes tightly shut, mouth tightly covered with her right hand and her left holding her foot.

Found you!

"Luce," I breathed. She cursed and tried to run but I grabbed her and caged her in my arms. I fell down when she tried to escape, pulling her on top of me. She pushed me and tried to run again, but I flipped her and got her trapped between the ground and my body.

"Hear me out Luce-

"I don't want to listen to your crap! Just let me go-

"LET YOU GO WHERE HUH?!" I snapped, "Let you run off to God knows where in the dark near a forest with no sign of human life and people after us?! Are you crazy? If you have to run, run around in a populated place! Don't ever run off alone here!"

"Shut up!" She screamed. "Shut up," she sniffled again and started sobbing.

"I'm sorry, Luce. I'm so, so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't mean it. You're strong. You're brave. You're kind. You're intelligent. You're bold. You're beautiful. You're absolutely amazing. I'm a liar to say that you can't fight back. You always fight back! You never back down from a fight! You're strong... Luce? Don't cry, please." I tried to remove her hands from her face when she tried to suppress her cries. She slowly gave up and let me see her. I bit my lip and cursed. I so wanted to punch myself for doing that to her. I hated myself for doing that to her. I wanted to make her happy and make her feel loved and protected, but I failed. So, in the heat of moment, I did what I had wanted to do since I was a little kid and what I could think of right now.

I kissed her.