I'm so sorry for the crappy updates. School is stressing me out lately (which is probably why it's taking me so long to recover from my sickness) and I have so much homework that it could literally kill a person (aka me). High school sucks. *cries*

Host of Contest: N/A

Won: N/A

~~~

Author's POV:

She didn't know when she got it, but when Lucy woke up one morning, she realized she had a bad case of the cold. It wasn't like the other colds she had. This one in particular made her feel like she was internally dying. Her throat felt like the Sahara Desert and her nose was very stuffy, making it hard for her to breathe. There was no way she could go to school in his condition.

Getting her phone from the table, Lucy decided to text Natsu that she wouldn't walk to school with him. She would always wake up early in the morning to meet up at Natsu's house, so the both of them could go to school together. It became like a little tradition.

She remembered the first time she walked with him. She was passing by his house, but she failed to notice that he was about to run into her, which ultimately caused her to fall on the ground and hit her bottom. Being the gentleman he was, Natsu apologized to her and that's when they started becoming best friends.

Lucy texted Natsu, saying how she wasn't feeling good and had zero energy to get up from her bed. Normally, she would wake up, brush her teeth, change into her clothes, eat breakfast, and then leave. Even if she was sick, she would suck it up and still go to school. That was how much she valued her education. However, that wasn't the case today.

Lucy heard her phone ring and assumed that it was from Natsu. Groaning from discomfort, she picked up the phone call and placed it next to her ear. Seconds later, she immediately regretted picking up the phone call. Natsu kept yelling all sorts of words that she couldn't process and though it did happen to her quite a few times already, she never learned her lesson.

"Oi! Shut it, would you? I'm already sick as it is," Lucy said, not having the decency to be polite.

"Well, you shouldn't have gotten sick then," Natsu said, sounding a bit pissed and disappointed.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I can't control my body! I never asked to be sick!"

Natsu sighed. "I'm sorry, I just really wanted to walk with you today."

Lucy chuckled. "We'll walk again tomorrow, dummy. Plus, we always walk together. Don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Whenever I'm around you? I could never get tired of it," Natsu said, a smile casted on his lips.

"Stupid..." Lucy muttered. "Why do you even want to walk with me to today? Was there something special I was supposed to know about?"

"You mean, you forgot?" Natsu asked, shocked by her lack of memory.

"Forgot what?" Lucy asked. "I'm pretty sure I didn't forget anything."

Natsu was saddened. "Never mind. You need to get some rest. I'll come over at your place and take care of you."

Lucy smiled. "Later, loser."

Natsu laughed. "I love you too."

Natsu ended the call, leaving Lucy a bit taken back by what he said. She knew he didn't mean it in a romantic way, but it brought butterflies to her stomach, nonetheless. She really did like Natsu a lot, but she was too afraid to admit it. Often, she would try to brush the feeling away or make it seem that she was interested in some other guy. It was irritating, really. All she had to say were three simple words and be over with it, but it was much easier said than done.

Trying to fall asleep, Lucy recalled a memory from about a year ago. It was the memory of when she figured out she had feelings for Natsu. She didn't expect it to be the first thing that came into her mind, but she didn't complain. After all, she really did love the memory a lot. It had some sentimental value in it.

It was Lucy's birthday and she wanted to go hang around with her friends. Due to the abundant amount of homework she received, she wasn't able to do that. She had everything planned out from top to bottom, but she didn't take homework into consideration. She sat on her seat and started her Trigonometry homework, not having the best birthday so far.

Then, out of nowhere, Natsu climbed in from her open window and spooked her to death. He was known for scaring people out of nowhere, which was why Lucy was most of the time careful when she was alone. Rarely did Natsu have the opportunity to scare her, but when he did, he could tell he was going to have a lot of fun.

"Holy mother of cheese, you scared me!" Lucy shouted, disapproving his scare tactic.

"Sorry," Natsu laughed, "but I never get the chance to scare you, so the opportunity was golden."

Lucy pouted. "You have some nerve to go in here, uninvited."

Natsu smiled. "I have good reasons, though."

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" Lucy asked, not believing in a word he said.

Natsu came up to her and pulled out a gold necklace with the letter, "N", engraved on the locket. He knelt down and grabbed all of Lucy's hair, putting it to her back. He placed the necklace around her neck and locked it at the back of her nape. Lucy looked at the locket and opened it up to reveal a picture of both him and her, making silly faces at the camera.

"Why 'N' and not 'L'?" Lucy asked, knowing that 'N' was meant to be the first letter of his name.

Natsu looked the other way. "So that when you look at the necklace, you'll always think about me..."

Lucy blushed profusely. "Stupid, I see you almost everyday."

"I know, but if there comes a time when we both have to be separated," Natsu held her hand, "I want you to look at the necklace and know that I was the one who gave it to you, so you won't ever forget about me."

Lucy chuckled, rubbing his hair in the process. "Selfish much?"

Natsu's cheeks reddened. "Hey! I really do mean it. I never, ever want you to forget me, okay?"

"Of course, I won't," Lucy said. "I could never forget you, even if I tried."

Natsu smiled. "Happy Birthday, Lucy."

The memory was still fresh in her memory, as if it just happened yesterday. She looked at her clock and saw that she had been sleeping for six hours. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon. That meant that Natsu got off school already, so he should be here in around ten minutes if he walked.

Getting up, Lucy thought she should at least look normal if she was having a guest over. She went to the bathroom and looked at her reflection to see her hair all tangled up and her face showing her tired self. She was, what she would call, a dead person. Sighing, she picked up her brush and started to untangle her unorganized hair.

Though the process was agonizing, Lucy was able to soften her hair and look semi-decent. Setting her brush down, she brushed her teeth and splashed water over her face to make her feel refreshed. Exiting the bathroom, she heard the doorbell go off, indicating that Natsu must be here. She got up from her seat and opened the door to reveal none other than her pink-haired friend, grinning ever so childishly.

The first thing that Natsu did was laugh. "Someone woke up from the wrong side of the bed."

"No shit, Sherlock," Lucy said, feeling a bit grouchier than usual. "I just got up from my bed, so I can open the door for you."

Natsu rubbed her hair and crashed onto the couch, stretching his arms and legs out. Lucy grumbled and landed on his stomach, making him release a strange sound from his mouth. The both of them laughed and wrapped their arms around each other, liking the warmth of their presence.

"Did you really forget what today is?" Natsu asked, trying to hold his disappointment in. Lucy looked at him with a blank face.

"It's a Wednesday, right?" Lucy answered. "I'm pretty sure I know what today's date is."

Natsu sighed deeply. "I'm going to go give you some medicine." He got up from the couch and looked at the various medications that were placed all over the top drawer. He had no clue which one to give her. "Which medicine do you normally use?"

Lucy pointed at the white paper bag that was in front of him. "See that bag over there? Open it up and you'll find it."

Opening the bag, Natsu saw the medication and handed it over to Lucy. She quickly thanked him and opened the medicine. Pinching her nose, she straight up drank the medicine right out of the bottle. Once she was done, she let go of her nose and made a weird face before putting the tap on.

"Why don't you use the little measuring cup to drink the medicine?" Natsu asked, holding the tiny cup in front of her.

Lucy grabbed the cup and put it back in the white bag. "I usually estimate the amount of medicine I need to drink. It's always been correct." She placed the white bag to it's original spot and went inside her room. "Hey, Natsu? Can you do me a favor?"

Natsu nodded. "Sure."

"I need you to close your eyes, " she said. "There's something I don't want you to see."

Natsu gave her a weird look, but did as he was told. Knowing that his eyes were closed, Lucy went to her little jewelry box and pulled out the object she was looking for. Clasping it inside her hands, Lucy walked to the couch and sat perfectly still. She wondered what to do next. She hasn't exactly prepared for this moment, even though she knew it was coming. How could she forget such a big occasion?

"You can open your eyes now, Natsu," Lucy said, squeezing the item inside her hands.

"What's that?" Natsu asked, wondering why her hands were balled into fists.

Lucy opened up her hands, revealing a watch with the letter, "L", engraved on it. Grabbing his hand gently, she put the watch over Natsu's wrist and secured it in place. Natsu looked at the watch and was taken back by the brand. This was not just any ordinary watch. It was custom made. It was then he realized how much money she had to go through just to give him a one of a kind watch.

"Before you start jumping into conclusions, my uncle was the one who made the watch, so don't give me some crappy excuse and tell me that you can't keep it, because the watch only cost me about forty-five dollars," Lucy tilted her head down. "There's also a no return policy..."

Natsu laughed and the both of them lied down on the couch, wrapping their arms around each other. "Did you put the 'L' there, so that I know you were the one who gave the watch to me?"

Lucy looked at Natsu. "Yeah, but that's not really it."

Natsu looked confused. "Then, what's the reason?"

"Well..." Lucy blushed red. "If there's ever a time when we have to leave each other, I hope that when you look at the watch..." Lucy hid her face on his shirt. "I hope that you'll never forget me."

Natsu's heart beat uncontrollably at the words she said. "You're not leaving me are you?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, but after high school, do you know if we'll ever see each other again?"

"I don't know..." Natsu said, making Lucy a bit disappointed. "But... I know that whatever time left we have of high school, I want to spend it all with you."

Lucy was lost for words. She had no idea what to say next. Of course, she would want to spend all of her high school years with Natsu, but she didn't want that to be the only time she could see him. She wanted there to be a future where they were still best friends, hanging around at their favorite coffee shop and chatting about how eventful their day was.

"Can you promise me something, Natsu?" Lucy asked, hesitancy in her voice.

Natsu nodded. "What is it?"

"Promise me," Lucy paused, "promise me that the last day of high school will not be the last time I see you."

Natsu smiled. He didn't want the end of high school to be the last time he could see her too. There were still some things that he would like to do with her. When the both of them were in sophomore year, they made a bucket list and vowed that they would complete it together. So far, they were able to complete three, but he still wanted to finish whatever there was left.

"Remember the bucket list we made when we were fifteen or sixteen?" Natsu asked. "There was one that wasn't in it that I would like to do."

Lucy frowned. "And what's that?"

Natsu moved to a position where he was hovering over her body. Leaning closer to her face, he could tell that she was feeling a bit nervous due to the overwhelming amount of blush around her cheeks. He faintly smiled and closed the space between them, sharing his first kiss with his best friend. Though it may feel too soon, there was one thing that Natsu knew for sure. He was falling in love with Lucy Heartfilia.

Pulling away from the kiss, Lucy was the first to speak. "You know I'm sick, right?"

Natsu laughed. "Yeah, but if I get sick, then it's a good thing."

"How?" Lucy asked. "Being sick is terrible."

Natsu smiled. "Because if I get sick, I have you to take care of me."

Lucy playfully rolled her eyes. "You're so stupid."

"Yeah, but you still love me," Natsu said, lightly tapping her nose.

Lucy smiled. "Happy Birthday, idiot."

~~~

Next Update: ??/??/??

I swear to strawberries and shortcakes that I need to update more. AHH! Anyways... I hope you enjoyed this one-shot! I PROMISE THAT I WILL MAKE A ONE-SHOT EITHER THAN NALU! I keep procrastinating, which is not a good thing for me...

~TheKonfusingKK