Hello all! Welcome to my newest fic! I actually wasn't going to post this until I had the entire thing finished, but not that I have Dungeons and Dragons on hiatus I had to post something or I was going to go crazy haha

This particular fic will probably be anywhere from 5-10 chapters total, so I hope that you'll stick around!

I obviously don't own fairy tail because this is a fan fiction site and if I owned any of these guys I probably wouldn't be here

enjoy!

"Natsu Dragneel." Lucy took a deep breath, desperately trying to keep herself from choking the fire mage right then and there. The look of absolute fear in the dragon slayer's eyes was hard to miss as he nervously managed to look just about everywhere but his teammate's eyes.

"Natsu, would you care to repeat what you just told me? I must not have heard you right." The dragonslayer reluctantly brought his onyx eyes up to the celestial mage's chocolate ones.

Bad idea. He thought in absolute terror as he starred into what could only be called a glare straight from the depths of Hell. If looks could kill, he'd be dead a hundred times over already.

"Well Natsu? I'm waiting." Lucy spoke in such a sickly sweet tone that Natsu found himself praying that Gray would materialize and sock him unconscious on the spot. However, no such gods smiled down on the young fire mage today, as the whole guild was currently stunned into silence by the intense death-aura their usually calm and collected guild mate was giving off. Even Erza had looked up from her strawberry cake to bare witness to the unusual scene.

Natsu gulped and tried to string words together from under the weight of her chilling stare, "Ikindasortamaybemighthavesetyourhouseonfirepleasedon'tkillme" he rushed out all in one breath, desperately wishing that a hole would open up in the floor beneath him.

Lucy's eye twitched. She slowly wrapped her fists in the dragon slayer's shirt and yanked him down to her eye level, which only made her that much more terrifying. Natsu whimpered at the look of anger in her deep chocolate eyes.

"You." Her fist tightened around his vest.

"Did." Natsu's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates,

"WHAT?" She finally screeched, whatever shred of patience she had left finally shredded,

"I-I kindasortamaybe might have set your house on fire please don't kill me," Natsu clarified shakily, tensing as he braced himself for the inevitable. For a split second, the blonde's eyes went calm as she entered a state of shock.

And then Lucy Heartfilia snapped.

"I ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU! YOU DENSE, FIRE BREATHING, PYROMANIACAL MORON!" Lucy shook the fire mage so hard he was starting to see stars around the blond mage's head,

"HOW COULD YOU BE SUCH A FREAKING IDOT? HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO SET THE WHOLE DAMN HOUSE ON FIRE!?" She screeched so loudly her guildmates were sure they'd heard her all the way in Hargeon.

Deep breaths Lucy, deep breaths. The celestial mage reminded herself. After a moment she managed to stop shaking the poor boy like a rag doll and the blonde counted to ten in her head a few times. At this point Natsu was so far out of it all he could do was lull his head back and count the pretty stars that danced in and out of his vision.

When the dragonslayer finally decided to re-join the land of the conscious, he snapped his head up groggily, only to find one very peeved Celestial Mage glaring daggers at him, her fists still in his shirt. Lucy let out something of an irritated growl and bonked the fire mage on the head, causing the later to let out a yelp of pain,

"Ouch!" He cried, rubbing the spot, "That hurt!"

"Good!" Lucy snapped back, releasing her grip on the dragon slayer's vest and grabbing the back of his shirt collar. Natsu yelped as the blonde mage began to drag him behind her,

"Lucy wher-" The celestial mage turned and shot him a menacing 'not-a-damn-word-out-of-you' glare, complete with an equally threatening aura to match. Needless to say, the dragon slayer shut his mouth without a second thought.

"I really, can not believe you Natsu Dragneel." Lucy sighed as she glanced around her charred apartment. She stood in the doorway of her once cozy living space, her teammate's collar still in a death grip behind her. She let out another sigh and finally released Natsu's collar from her hand, and he rose sheepishly to stand beside her. He didn't look at her as he bowed his head in shame.

"I'm really sorry Luce, I never meant for this to happen.." He mumbled, still unsure of what kind of mood the blonde was in. The celestial mage glanced at her pink-haired teammate and best friend. His head was down in shame and guilt, and he honestly did look really sorry. Lucy's eyes softened. Of course he wouldn't do something like this on purpose, although he was a dolt and just a total idiot in general, he wouldn't purposely burn down her apparent.

Ok, well, maybe it wasn't totally burnt down. Natsu had definitely made it sound worse then it really was, although the place definitely wasn't in livable condition. Lucy tried making a mental checklist;

The bed? Scorched.
Carpet? Toast.
Couch? Medium rare.
Coffee Table? Salvageable.
Desk? Mercifully unscathed.
Bathrom? Usable.
Closet? Ashes.
Kitchen? Something out of the seventh ring of Hell.

Well, Lucy thought optimistically, It could be worse.. The blonde let out a final sigh and bumped the depressed dragon slayer with her shoulder,
"Hey it's not that bad," she mused. Natsu glanced over at his teamamte, searching for sarcasm or anger in her deep hazel eyes, but they only looked sincere and positive. He managed a small smile at the celestial mage,

"I really am sorry Luce.." He muttered, eyes downcast. The blonde mage just waved him off,

"You're just lucky I have insurance you dolt," she scolded as she walked into the living room, carefully testing the floor and hoping she wouldn't suddenly find herself plummeting down to the first story.

The young mage made her way over to her desk which -by some blessing from the gods above- had been relatively sparred from any burning,scorching,charring,or otherwise descriptive toasting. Lucy ran a delicate hand over the smooth wooden surface, before finally reaching up and resting a finger on a rather large brown box. The spirit mage let out a sigh of relief,

"Well at least this is still here." She let her gaze wonder along the surface of the desk, "The pictures are ok too, how lucky.." Her thoughts began to trail off as her gaze landed on a certain picture frame, her mother's picture was ok as well….

Something brushed silently against her arm, and Lucy just managed to stifle a screech before she realized her fire-breathing partner had come up behind her,

"Natsu! Jeez, you scared me, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?" The pink haired dragon slayer offered something of a sheepish smile,

"Haha, sorry Luce, you were just kinda spacing out over here." Lucy turned her head back to the objects left unscathed on her desk and dropped her hand from it's surface,

"Yeah, sorry, I was just checking to make sure everything was still here," The blonde tossed a smile to her best friend, "Somehow it's completely unscathed.. weird huh?"

Natsu decided to withhold the fact that the whole desk would be ashes by now if he hadn't dragged the damn thing out of her room the second the fire started. At least I put it back before she came home.. Instead he offered her a fanged smile and a laugh,

"Yeah, pretty weird alright." The celestial mage cocked an eyebrow at her fire breathing friend, sure he would have more to say, but dropped the thought as she let out a long sigh,

"Now I guess all that's left is to call.. her." Just the thought of the crabby old lady was starting to send chills down Lucy's spine.

Natsu gave his teammate a confused look, his head tilted slightly to the side,

"Her?" He echoed. Lucy paled a bit as she bit her lip in response. The blonde mage turned away from her teammate and yanked open one of her desk drawers, which was in total chaos, much to Natsu's surprise.

Lucy began to shovel through the various papers and unidentifiable objects in the drawer, letting out a frustrated sigh at her inability to locate what she needed. After a good minute or two, she let out a soft "Ah!" as she pulled out a small lacrima and what looked like a business card. In swirly, sharp letters, the name Malvinian etched it's way across the surface of the paper. On the back, Natsu could make out a string of numbers in a similar font.

The dragonslayer cocked his head to the side, and Lucy gulped, "My, er..Insurance Agent, I guess.." Lucy stole a glance at her partner,

"It'd be easier if you just watch.." The blonde trailed off before sucking in a breath and dialing the number on the back of the card. After a few seconds, a long, sharp, feminine face with pointy black glasses appeared on the surface of the lacrima. Natsu noted she looked like some sort of combination between a pissed crow and constipated librarian.

The crow lady pushed her thick black glasses up the bridge of her long, curved nose,

"Oh," She said in a scratchy, irritated tone, "It's you." Lucy tried her best at a weak smile,

"Hey there Ms. Malvinian, you see I've got a bit of a pro-"

"Oh what have you done now you irritatingly pathetic girl? Destroyed another Cathedral? Demolished a city? I swear you are the most irresponsible, thick-headed, dimwitted, unattractive,-" Lucy's eye twitched and Natsu let out an audible growl.

Only he was allowed to tease Lucy like that! How dare this constipated crow chick insult her like- Lucy interrupted his thoughts as she put up a hand and shook her head slightly in his direction. Natsu reluctantly ceased his growling and folded his arms in a pout.

Lucy glanced back down at the communication lacrima, where her cranky Insurance agent was still sprewing insults at the blonde, "-weak, idiotic, pathetic little girl I've ever met!" A vein popped on Lucy's temple as she desperately tried to keep her cool around her apartment's only hope at restoration.

"Yes, well, you see, I kinda had a house fire.."

"You WHAT?" The woman screeched, "Oh you stupid, stupid girl, what were you doing, playing with matches? Didn't your parents teach you anything? No of course not, even if they did you were probably too dumb to listen."

This time, Natsu couldn't contain himself. Another growl slipped from his lips and her stalked over to Lucy's side, bringing himself into view,

"Hey listen here you cranky old bird lady, it's not even Lucy's fault it's mi-" Natsu was suddenly cut off as Lucy clamped a hand over the dragonslyaer's mouth. Natsu sent the blonde an irritated glare, which she pointedly chose to ignore. Instead, she gave an extremely wide, extremely fake smile at the lady on the other side of the lacrima,

"What he was saying, was that it wasn't technically my fault, one of my kitchen appliances must have caught on fire, you see."

Lucy laughed nervously, still not releasing the hand clamped firmly over the dragonslayer's mouth. I won't get any insurance money if the witch finds out the fire was started by this moron..

The crow lady let out a low grunt,

"Whatever, you really are such a useless girl. I'll send over a few people to assess the damage on you pathetic little house, and we'll do what we can." The older woman waved her hand dismissively at the two,

"Just stay out of your house for about a week. Not too hard of a direction, right, you dumb little girl? Do I need to repeat myself for your slow brain to catch on?" Natsu's eyes narrowed dangerously as the celestial mage nodded her head enthusiastically,

"Oh, no no, that's ok, I understand, really! I'll just stay out of my house for a week! Yep, got it, thanks Ms. Malvinian!" Lucy quickly tapped the communication lacrima and the picture of the crabby insurance agent instantly flatlined.

Lucy let out a grand sigh of relief, and somehow managed to forget that her hand was still clamped firmly over her partner's mouth. Natsu, however, had totally not forgotten. The dragonslayer grinned slyly against her palm.

"Eeeik!" Lucy suddenly screeched as she jumped several feet away from her partner, who was now grinning triumphantly at the blonde, "Ew! Natsu, you so did not just do what I think you did!" The fire mage grinned slyly before sticking his tongue out at her,

"Teaches you to cut me off!" He threw back playfully, still grinning. Lucy frowned at him and strode over to the cocky dragonslayer, promptly wiping her damp palm on his jacket,

"I can't believe you licked me you weirdo!" She scrunched up her face in disgust as the pink haired mage proceeded to burst out laughing.

Lucy stuck her nose up at the young fire mage, but couldn't help a small smile at his playful antics. The celestial mage lifted her hands above her in a long stretch, feeling the bones in her back crack satisfyingly,

"Now," She mused, coming back down out of her stretch and balancing in the balls of her feet, "I've just gotta find a place to stay for a week.." At this, Natsu, who was still doubled over laughing next to her, sobered up,

"What're you talking about Luce?" He inquired, a questioning look on his face, "You're staying with me, duh."

At his words, Lucy's eyes widened, "Wha- N-Natsu, are you, uh, sure that's ok?" she managed to stutter out, her mind reeling with questions. Was it really ok? Just them? I mean, he sleeps over at my house every chance he gets, plus we're teammates… so it should be ok right? But that's still pretty much just the two of us living under the same roof!

Natsu suddenly interrupted the celestial mage's jumbled train of thought, "Well yeah, duh you're staying with us, it's our fault your house is such a mess, so it's only right you stay with us."

Lucy only heard about half of that, however, as her mind spiraled into overdrive, Us? Oh yeah! Happy, Happy will be there too, duh. Pull yourself together, Lucy, this is your teammate! Natsu, the most oblivious, dense guy to ever grace the face of the planet. He's just letting you stay at his house because it's his fault yours is a disaster in the first place. Right. Good, yes, that's all, he's just being a good friend,you idiot. Jeez, when did I start overreacting like this? Plus I feel kinda hot, am I sick? Lucy blinked as she realized her teammate was waving a concerned hand in front of her face,

"Hello? Earth to Lucy! You there?" Natsu's face was so close to her own their noses were practically touching, and Lucy felt another wave of heat flood to her checks,

"Huh?" The blonde blinked intelligently, still uncomfortable with how unnaturally hot she was,

"You feeln' ok Luce? Your face is all red." Natsu question, worried about the celestial mage's mental state at this point.

The blonde gave her head a good shake to clear all lingering thoughts, "Yeah, I'm ok, just feeling a little…weird." She concluded. Natsu nodded and gave her a cute half smile, Wait, cute? Did I really just think that?

"You should probably grab whatever you're taking with you, then." Natsu pulled his face away from hers, and Lucy noticed the weird stab of disappointment in her stomach, What the heck is wrong with me? It must be all the lingering smoke in here.

"Uh, yeah." Lucy answered distantly as she moved towards her closet door, which, much to her horror, was pretty much non-existent at this point.

Lucy managed to focus herself long enough to gather the clothes that hadn't been turned to ashes, which unfortunately for her, were a slim few. I'm going to kill that damn pyro, then I'm going to drag his dumb dragon butt out shopping with me. The blonde mage smirked evilly, but something in her couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of the two of them out shopping together, This smoke is seriously getting to me, time to bolt. The celestial mage concluded as she scooped up what was left of her wardrobe: two skirts, a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and some grey shorts she was pretty sure were once white. Lucky for her, she kept her undergarments in her dresser (which was miraculously still in one piece), and not the closet.

While Lucy picked through the rest of her undergarments, Natsu had been sent on a mission to locate a usable bag. After a thorough rummaging of Lucy's closet, the dragonslayer had managed to unearth a bag that was pretty much usable, minus the fact the straps had burned off. After a minute or so, the two dumped their findings on the coffee table, which had escaped with only some scorch marks along the legs. Lucy had managed to salvage a few clothes, along with most of her toiletries and other girly crap that Natsu decided to skip over.

"The bathroom's actually in pretty good shape," Lucy noted, "It seams the fire didn't even reach it." Natsu nodded and twirled her toothbrush between his fingers absentmindedly, his eyes unfocused and his mind suddenly elsewhere.

The celestial mage gave her teammate a puzzled look. It was unlike Natsu to be so quiet and…deep in thought? Lucy's eyes widened. Natsu? Thinking? Oh, something was definitely up. I know he's a fire dragonslayer and all, but maybe the smoke's getting to him too? She wondered as she tried to get her teammate's attention,

"Heeey, earth to Natsu, what's up?" Lucy waved a hand in front of her partner's face, similar to what he'd done to her only moments earlier. Natsu's head snapped up and he offered the celestial mage a sheepish grin,

"Sorry, I sorta spaced out there, why don't we pack all this junk up? I'm pretty sure Happy's gonna strangle me for being late to dinner," The dragonslayer jabbed a thumb towards the window, which let in the waning evening light.

Lucy blinked, when on earth had it gotten so late? The two had arrived at her apartment only a bit after lunch. Time sure flies, huh.. The celestial mage thought as she shoved her possessions into the canvas bag Natsu had found. She was just about to grab the bag and head out the door when a pair of larger, callused hands beat her too it,

"I've got it," He said as he shot her a sideways glance, and Lucy felt her body temperature increase again, Dammit of all the times to get sick! The blonde scolded herself as she followed her pink-haired teammate out the door,

"..thanks," She finally managed, and the fire mage tossed a fanged smile back at her,

"No problem, Luce,"

Lucy gulped.

Oh please Mavis, tell me I'm really just sick…

Thanks for reading, your reviews mean the world to me! Even if it's just a ' :)' or a ' ! ' it still means the world!

Thanks again!

~Ria