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HEY READERS! I know, I know, I haven't updated in FOREVER! It's just high school is so rough! I got girls, boys, schoolz, parents, clubs, softball, choir, everything! I'm super super sorry!!!!! :'( I hope you'll forgive me!Anyhoo, here's Chapter 17, ENJOOOOOY!

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Natsu P.O.V

In my opinion, I don't think cooking is a man's job. Especially when that man is me.

"Natsu, what on earth are you doing!" My mother scolded, hitting my wrists with a wooden spoon. "You're gonna burn the sausages if you keep doing what you're doing!"

I winced from the pain and glared at my mother. "Do I look like I was made to cook!" My mother had the nerve to hit me again, this time on the head. "We have to make this perfect! We're making most of Lucy's favorite foods: sauseges, chicken biryani, kalbi, and banana lychee! Everything needs to be perfect!"

"Geez, why does this girl love Asian food so much," I muttered. My mother groaned with frustration and moved on with my sister. "How's it going at your station, Wendy?"

"I've finished a giant bowl of the chicken biryani, and the kalbi is almost done. I haven't started on the banana lychee yet, but I'll start as soon as I finish this."

My mother squealed. She kissed the top of her forehead and exclaimed, "You're my prodigy, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mama!" Wendy cheered.

"Geez, brag why don't you," I muttered. Again, my mom attacked me with a wooden spoon. I cried out this time in pain. "You know what? This is a woman's job. Just go upstairs and get ready. Lucy and ren will be here in twenty minutes!"

"Alright, alright!" I hissed, cursing at my mother. Before she could get the chance to smite me once more, I ran out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and into my bedroom. I sighed with relaxation and went into my giant closet. As I looked for a clean shirt and jeans, a familiar object caught my eye.

Juliet.

I crouched down an picked up the little white rabbit. I had repaired her over the years: Lucy's blood stains had disappeared after over ten washes, I sewed back her ear, and repaired what was a giant tear in her stomach. I breathed and said, "You really want to see the princess again, don't you?" I imagined the little rabbit slowly nodding her head. "Well, you have to be patient, okay? When she's ready, Lucy will embrace you in open arms." I put the little rabbit in her special corner and began to pick out my clothes. I ended up with my red jeans, black graphic-t, and a giant necklace with a steel feather on it. I looked at myself in the mirror and ran my fingers through my hair. "You look good, Natsu," I told myself in the mirror. "You look nice."

"Natsu!" My mom called from downstairs. "Lucy and Len are here!"

It was show time.

I walked out of my bedroom and down the stairs and saw Lucy first thing.

To be honest, she looked stunning. 

 I've known Lucy for a really long time, and not once had I seen her in this light. Her hair was down and bouncy, wearing a shiny rose hair clip. She wore a read sweater with black jeans and leather boots. When she looked up at me, her black rimmed glasses made her eyes shimmer. I was going to say something, to but nothing but nonsense spilled out. She smiled and sheepishly waved up at me. "Natsu, is that the way you treat out guests!"

"Eh?! Wendy?!" Len exclaimed.

"Len!" Wendy exclaimed back. She ran up to him and embraced him in a giant hug. Everyone looked at them in confusion, and it ended up being me and asked, "Wait, you two know each other?"

"Duh! He's my best friend!" Wendy said, clinging on to his arm.

"Hey, Wendy," Len muttered. "Not in front of your parents." We all laughed at his embarrassment. We all walked over to the dining room. I quickly walked by Lucy's side and whispered, "You look really nice."

Lucy smiled. "It took me forever to find a decent outfit."

"Well, it looks like you've succeeded," I whispered back, smiling. We sat in the dining room. My mom, Wendy, and Len sat on one side of the table, while Lucy and I sat on the other side. When Lucy saw all the food on the table, she looked like she died and wen to heaven. "This all looks amazing!"

"Jus don't eat the sauseges," Wendy warned. "Natsu made them." I blushed with embarrassment as Mom and the others laughed at me. To my surprise, Lucy grabbed her fork and went straight for the sausages. Everyone went silent. She took a sniff of the sausage and took the first bite. Everyone, including me, watched as Lucy chewed the food slowly. She swallowed, and surprisingly smiled. "I can tell you made this," she chuckled. "You put lots of peppers in it, which makes it spicy. You remembered how much I loved spicy food."

I sighed with relief. "HA! See! She likes my sausages!"

Mom scoffed. "Let's just eat okay? I don't want a gloating son ruining my apetite." We all began to dig in by grabbing different foods. Lucy squealed at every bite she took, making me laugh even more. As we ate, it ended up being my mom doing all the talking. "So Lucy, are taking a liking into FA?"

Lucy nodded. "It sure is interesting. The drama classes are absolutely wonderful!"

"And what about Erza and Levy? Have you guys talked about Fiore School Tournament?"

"Eh? You're participating in tnat?" I asked, taking a bite into my kalbi.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I am. We've been practicing very hard. It's in a few weeks."

"And with all this weather that's been going on, they might even have to extend it to the spring," my mother said.

"Really?!" Lucy exclaimed with shock.

"Yeah," Mom sighed, "there's supposed to be a snow storm the week of competitions. Plus, they've changed the theme of the whole thing. Beauty is now what it is." Lucy groaned as she twirled her noodles around. She looked down at my plate and stole a piece of kalbi. "Hey!" I growled.

"You were letting it get cold!" Lucy exclaimed. "You don't let kalbi get cold!" We all laughed and continued to talk about various topics. Once dinner was over, I decided to take Lucy up to my room. She gives me a confused look. "Isn't it strange to take a girl into a boy's room?"

"Hey, what do you think I'm going to do, kidnap you?"

"I'm just saying, I'm a screamer." I smiled and opened the doors to my room. She looked around and sat down on my bed. She whistled. "So this is a boy's room." I smirked and closed the door behind me. She took a whiff of room and grimaced. "Yup, this is a boy's room."

"Hey, don't make fun of my room!" I laughed. Lucy got up and looked around. She went over to my movie collection and gasped, "What's all this?!"

"Every single Good Cop Bad Cop book ever made. It's  my special collection," I sighed, taking pride into it. She took out a book and examined it. She looked at me, raising the case. "What, do you want to be a cop?"

I nodded. "Yup. I applied for the Fiore Police Academy last spring, and I'm taking the test in March. I wanna be just like Julious from the show." Lucy was staring at me, and it turned into a sheepish smile. "So, to be frank, like your dad?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, like my dad."

"Where is he anyways? I haven't seen him yet."

"He's in LeShewa up North. There's a growth in homicides lately, so they called him."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Lucy put the book back in it's shelf, but something fell out as a result. Curious, she picked it up, and her eyes bulged. Her cheeks turned red as she stuttered, "N-N-Natsu....W-W-What's this?!" I looked over her shoulder, and my sanity dropped.

In her sweaty, nervous hands, were the playboys.

I panicked. "H-H-Hey! Give those back!" But she didn't she quickly jumped on my bed and began to look through the pages. "These girls are so lewd!"

"Don't look at it!" I jumped on the bed and tried to grab it, but she kept moving around. Finally, out of frustration, I grabbed both of her wrists together to keep her from moving. She finally stopped, but immediately her face turned red. It took me a while to realize the position we were in. My face was inches away from hers. My knee was between her legs, and and her sweater was slightly raised to the upper part of her stomach. I gulped. "This is your fault."

"M-My fault? How is this my fault.? You're the one on top of me," Lucy muttered.

"If you give me back my magazine, I'll get up," I told her.

"I don't think I can do that."

"Why?"

"Because," she muttered. She gestured her head towards the left side of her chest. "...you're making my pacemaker almost explode."

My eyes widened and my face reddened. I could feel Lucy release the playboy, but only to squeeze on to wrists. Now my heart was beating fast. "I want to do something to you...but I don't know if I have you're permission." She looked as if she was thinking for a while. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She nodded. My eyes widened. My heart practically exploded inside of me. Slowly, I  closed my eyes and lowered my head. 

Closer.

Closer. 

Then, I felt something soft against my lips. I slowly opened my eyes and and saw it.

I was kissing Lucy. I could feel Lucy's arms getting stiff, but slowly getting more and more relaxed. To my surprise, she kissed my back. I released Lucy from my clutches, who moved her hands to my back, gripping my shirt tightly. 

To my surprise, I was enjoying the kiss.

Throughout my whole life of knowing Lucy, I've never thought of actually kissing Lucy before. But when I was kissing her, on my bed, with our family downstairs playing Jenga, I realized what I've been missing out on. 

I began to feel dizzy, so I slowly pulled away. We were both panting for air, as if we've been submerged in water for a long period of time. We stared at each other's flushed face. Lucy then suddenly began to speak. "Ever since we reconciled, I was confused...with my feelings...my feelings towards you."

I wanted to say something, but she wasn't finished.

"I was told that I shouldn't have feelings for you. I was told that I would have everything taken away from me...but I don't care anymore. I just want to stay by your side...What I'm trying to say is that...is that...I like you, Natsu."

Likes me? She likes me? My childhood friend, my best friend. She looked at me, as if expecting an answer straight from my mouth. 

"Lucy! Let's go! It's getting late!" My body jolted still, as did Lucy's. I quickly got up and made way for Lucy. She slowly got up, fixed her hair, and left my room. We walked downstairs together, but weren't looking at each other in the eye. "Lucy, it was so nice to have you over! Came back anytime!"

"Thanks for the invitation, Mrs. Dragneel."

"It was my pleasure, Lucy. If only Iggy was here to see you," she sighed. She opened the door, and Len ran outside. Lucy turned to me and and waved goodbye, her face slightly flushed. My mom closed the door behind them and sighed. "Well, I think that was a success, don't you?"

"Um...yeah, I would think so," I said, the red on my face still not disappearing.

Lucy P.O.V

The next day, I agreed to meet Erza and Levy before school started. In my opinion, I needed that. What I did last night was unlike me and almost horrifying. 

Natsu and I kissed. And to make things even worst, I liked it. As I walked in the snow, my mind continued to rewind that moment yesterday. I gently touched my cold lips and and shivered, and not from the cold. "It's strange," I said to myself, "I can still feel his lips."

When I got to the school, the first thing I noticed, was Erza pacing and Levy was sitting on the table. Curious, I asked, "What's going on?"

"What do you mean 'what's going on'! Were you serious when you told us that everything changed!" Erza exclaimed.

I nodded. "They changed the theme, date, everything. It's gonna be in March, and the theme is Beauty."

"So now we have to change our whole entire routine. How can I turn Academics into something beautiful?"

"And Athletics? How can that be beautiful!" We sat down at the place mat and thought about it for a while. I looked at Erza, and immediately, I noticed her long red hair. Her hair must've been beautiful when it blew in the wind. And her legs looked so creamy and white. I snapped my fingers when a sudden light bulb flickered above my head. "Gymnastics!"

"Huh?" They both said in unison.

"Erza can do gymnastics! It's beautiful and athletic!" I exclaimed.

"Gymnastics....I've never done that before," Erza admitted.

"And Levy can do science experiments to create beautiful things, like fireworks, or lights!"

"Interesting...I can see where you're going!" Levy exclaimed. This was good. This was going somewhere! Then, another idea. "You guys can come over to my flat!"

"You're what?"

"My flat! A sleepover! We can think up routines and ideas at my place. We could do it this weekend! My brother's staying over at a friend's!"

"Yeah, I guess I could go!" Levy cheered.

"Anyway to leave my house is an okay for me," Erza smiled.

"Alright, then it's official! You're going to my flat after school on Friday!"

For the rest of the day, I just decided to hang around Erza and Levy. I knew Erza wasn't really that popular, and people were ignoring Levy for some reason. And for the rest of the day as well, I didn't see Natsu as well. Today was a block day, so I didn't have calculus. By the end of the day, I was waving goodbye to Erza and Levy when I realized I had forgotten something in my locker. I was just about to open my locker, when I was suddenly stopped by a pair of eyes. 

Natsu's eyes.

He was looking at me, and it looked like he'd been actually looking for me. He was sweaty despite the cold weather. His hair wasn't neat at all, it was completely messy and sticking out everywhere. I slowly walked away from my locker and towards him. I walked up to him and muttered, "Hey."

"Where have you been?" Natsu panted. "I've been looking for you all day."

He's been looking for me? "I was busy, that's all."

"I texted you five times. I called you seven times. You don't have the nerve to reply to either of them?"

"I just....I just didn't know how to talk to you...you know, after last night." It was getting awfully cold. I didn't know who's idea it was to put the lockers outside, but they weren't very smart. "Natsu, I really don't have time, I have to-."

Lips were suddenly pressed up against mine. My eyes opened as I was suddenly pushed against the cement wall. Natsu pulled away, taking a deep breath. "I wanted to forget. I wanted to pretend that I didn't kiss my best friend. I just wanted to put it all behind me and pick you up like I normally did. But you know what? I couldn't. Because all night I kept thinking about the way your hair smelled when I kissed you, and how soft your lips were, and how your lips had a mixture of barbecue sauce and milk...I want to kiss you again, God damn it! I want you to grab my shirt  the way you did last night...I want to be yours and for you to be mine."

I was speechless. I couldn't tell whether this was a confession or him ranting on about how he wanted to forget me. Either way, it got tears in my eyes. Natsu gently moved a strand of hair from my face. He pressed his forehead against mine and whispered,

"I like you too, princess. I think I've liked you ever since we were little."

I covered my mouth to keep out the noises I'd make from crying. I didn't look him in th eye. I couldn't look him in the eye. 

I was so happy I thought my pacemaker would explode that second. 

I could hear Natsu chuckling a little when he saw my tears. "I'm assuming you'll accept me, right?"

I nodded, trying to wipe the tears out of my face. I grabbed his face and brought it closer to mine. "Hell yeah I'm accepting you. And I'm not letting you go."

And with that, I pressed my lips against his. He immediately kissed me back, running his fingers through my hair. He suddenly moved his lips to my nose, making me chuckle a little. He moved his lips to my eyes, and then to my forehead as well. He looked at me and began to laugh. "Why does it seem like I'm the only one enjoying this?"

I shook my head. "Don't worry, you're not." He reached down for my hands and held them so tightly they were getting warm in the immense cold.  He smiled his adorable smile, making me smile even more. I slapped my hands against my cheeks. "Ugh, you're making me blush too much. I still haven't gotten what I needed from my locker."

"Well hurry up!" Natsu exclaimed, pinching my noise. I laughed and pushed him away skipped to my locker. I couldn't help myself but smile. "Aish, Lucy, calm down. You need to calm down." I opened my locker to see a weird wooden box. Curious, I picked up the box and looked around it. "What in the world are you."

Then, something went wrong.

 I began to feel a sudden burst of pain chest. I cried out in pain, squeezing my chest so tightly. I fell down to my knees, and then to the ground, practically crying. l

I slowly began to lose consciousness.

The world was fading from my eyes.

The last thing I heard was Natsu.

The last thing I saw was Natsu.