"You are so fucking stupid."

He only grunted at her in response, honestly in too much pain to say anything back to her. She kept murmuring those words, seemingly trying to give herself comfort as she tried to patch the tear in his torso. It had stopped streaming blood on his walk to her house but was still creating red blotches on the cloth she pressed there.

"Of all the fucking stupid shit I have ever seen you do, this is by far…"

Absently, he tuned her out in favour of watching her dainty hands pull some thread into a needle. In the back of his head, he wondered how she managed to look so lovely with her hands covered with blood. He did prefer her without the blood but with it…she still looked pretty. As long as it wasn't her blood he guessed it was fine. Having her injured wasn't fun at all. He could feel his stomach drop from the mere thought of her covered in her own blood. He probably wouldn't survive it.

"…the worst. You're not even stupid anymore, you're fucking insane! I…"

On the other hand, he didn't mind himself covered in blood. He didn't particularly enjoy killing and had never done it purposefully before but…if it was for her, he'd probably not hesitate to end someone's life. It was weird. Life was all sacred until she was in danger. It wasn't as if he wouldn't feel regret. He probably would but at the spur of the moment…things would just…happen. He wasn't bred a killer. No one in the guild was. But most people in the guild had done things they weren't too proud of to protect each other. It had only taken a plea, or a scream or just a slight push to turn some of their kindest members into monsters.

"…have put up with you pulling me off buildings with you…"

The light in here needed changing. It was making an annoying buzzing sound and would keep flickering. Once or twice, he had heard her suck her teeth in frustration. Her hair did look pretty in this lighting though, as terrible as it may be. On top of the smell of medicine, her hair did smell pretty too. It must be all the bottles of colourful liquids she uses in it. There was a good deal of bloody rags on the floor and he wondered how difficult it was to remove blood stains. He'd just throw away his clothes that were too bloody and tattered and he secretly believed that the dry cleaners were giving him a brand new set of clothes every time he went there.

"…reduce historical monuments to slabs of undistinguishable concrete…"

He was pretty sure those blood stains he made across her carpet and down her bathroom wall would be an absolute bitch to remove. He had trouble removing ketchup stains from Happy's fur so this has to be a pain in the ass. That reminds him, did he do laundry before he left? Maybe he did. Or maybe she took his laundry and did it herself. She was one for those random acts of kindness. He comes over and wrecks her living room and what does she do in return? Answer: his laundry. Man, she must be an absolute saint.

"…you've taken fucking national treasures like no one's business. Who fucking does that?"

Except saints don't swear like that…
He wondered if she had anything cold in her fridge. Considering how crappy he felt at the moment, he doubted she would mind him pigging out on her ice-cream or something similar to that. But, also considering how angry she seemed to be at him and how she reacted in times past, she'd probably go bat-shit if he took it. Natsu Dragneel wasn't going to be killed by monsters, bullets or fire. No, he would be killed by his blonde teammate that drowned him in her bathtub because of her ice-cream. He felt himself laugh a little at that thought. Drowning over…

"Ow! Shit!" he heard himself whine. "Lucy, that hurts!"
Her eyes snapped from the wound she was trying to stitch to his face and he instantly swallowed. She looked damn near roasting him over a fire pit.
"And whose fucking fault is that, Mr. Dragneel?"
"My fault."
"I'm very happy you know that. Now shut your mouth and let me help you."

Did he mention how pretty she is?
Every girl in the guild was pretty. It was common knowledge. Cana sweats alcohol and she's pretty. Juvia is a crazy psycho-stalker and she's pretty. Erza is hardly a woman and she's pretty. God bless Jellal's soul on that one because he fails to understand how those two were so crazy over each other. It's like you go out to buy ice-cream and get offered all the flavours in the world and you see the one with chunks of broken glass in it and say "You know what? I want that one. Yes, the one with all the pieces of glass in it." How do you even do that? Then again…Jellal was blood sacrifice crazy at one point so…

"I don't even understand where your level of insanity comes from…"

Anyway, Lucy is a different kind of pretty. She has that type of prettiness that comes from the deepest part of her soul but still manages to come out and illuminate everything she says and feels and looks and…gosh. Is that prettiness anymore? Is that even the right word? God…she's just…something. She has those sun-kissed locks of hair that make her look as if she stepped straight out of a story book. She has those coffee coloured eyes and that perfect smile that makes him grin like an idiot every time he sees it. He could testify that her skin is as soft and as smooth as it looks from all those nights he spent snuggling next to her on her bed. He smiled at that thought. She hardly even looked up.

"What the hell are you smiling about?"
He shrugged.
"I don't know. I was just thinking and…"
She rolled her eyes, piercing the needle through his skin again before continuing her rant.

It felt kind of weird looking at her work from between his legs. Funny thing is he didn't even come here for first-aid. In fact, he didn't even know she could do first-aid. He was going to wait till morning for that but as soon as he had stepped into town, his mind instantly thought "I wonder what Lucy is doing? Don't mind that it's fucking-forget-it-and-go-home-o'clock at night. I wonder what she's doing. She's weird. She might be doing something weird…"
Before he knew it, he was jumping through her window (into her bedroom, where he saw her getting ready for bed like every other normal person) and she was freaking out over the gash in his chest.

"…every single time we go somewhere, something has to get…"

The bathroom was really hot. Even without the heat from the light, the place was still sweltering. Tuesday nights without air-conditioning in the middle of summer tended to be hot. The bathroom had no windows so he couldn't crack open one to help the heat. God, it stank of medicine in here. She had a fine sheet of sweat on her body and she would huff every time a few strands of hair got stuck to her forehead. From his seat in the sink, he could see how her pyjama pants hugged her hips and the way the sweat trickled down her cleavage. Exasperated, she threw her golden hair over her shoulders and furrowed her brows in concentration. He felt a grin coming on even as she pulled the hooked needle through his flesh. She was beautiful. That was it. Drop dead gorgeous…

"…and every time you go somewhere alone, you come back to me in shreds."

…and she was crying.
She was beautiful, kind, angry and crying.
"Lucy?" he asked softly, reaching a careful hand towards her. She shrugged off his hand, wiped her tears with her sleeve and continued to work on him.

"If-If you're going to continue being that fucking reckless, at least take me with you. Let me be there to-to hold you back or patch you up as soon as or something! You can't-"

She stopped in favour of wiping the corner of her eyes then under her nose. She took a deep breath, steadying herself then pushed the needle through his skin again. He waited for her. He couldn't tune her out anymore. Not when she was this upset.

"You can't just go and leave people wondering what the hell is happening to you. We won't have any peace of mind." She paused for a second here, sniffed then went on. "I won't have any peace of mind."

Her shoulders were shaking slightly. She still managed to make even stitches on his skin. After a few minutes of her working in silence, she cut the string and sat back on her heels. She was breathing deeply with both hands covering her face. Finally, she let down her hands and looked him in the face. Her nose, ears and the area around her eyes were pink. Her eyes were bloodshot. He felt his chest tighten in guilt. This was his fault. She pressed her lips together before opening them to shoot the question at him.

"Where were you?"

He looked away from her gaze, feeling a little ashamed.

She sighed exasperatedly. There was a slight shudder in that breath.

"You won't even let me know that. As far as you're concerned, I'm nagging you."

"I went to Ufuria Cove."

She gave a stunned look.

That's where monsters live.

"That's a monster haven, Natsu."

He sighed. "I know."

"And what in God's name were you even doing there?"

He couldn't open his mouth to say all the words on his mind.

"Diving."

She stood up this time.
"You were diving?"

He nodded.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?"

He looked down at the off-white bathroom tiles.

"What the bloody hell were you even thinking?"

He stayed quiet.

She ran her fingers through her hair in disbelief.

"I can't believe this. I can't even fucking believe this."
She let out a bark of laughter he could almost hear the tears in. He was almost on his feet, ready to comfort her. She turned to him with a flaring glare.

"Don't you dare get off that counter Dragneel! If you burst those stitches, I'll kill you."

He quickly resettled himself. A heavy silence filled the air.

She looked so angry; a different sort of angry than usual. She was absolutely livid.

"I'm sorry."
She scoffed.

"Of course you are."

"No, Lucy, I am so sorry."

She burst into tears this time.
He was on his feet holding her and she was hitting his shoulders.

She was screaming about how stupid he was and how much she hated him and all his stupid shit. For all the frustrated words she threw at him, he stroked her hair and whispered his regret to her and how much he wouldn't do it again and he asked for her forgiveness. Finally, she stopped pounding and she held him back, still crying.

Eventually, they ended up on the ground, still in each other's arms. The tears were done. The heat had multiplied. They didn't care. The yellow light kept buzzing and blinking. They kept murmuring promises to each other. Some were just emotional spur of the moment things. Others were things they couldn't be more honest about. After hours of this, she fell asleep in his arms.

He didn't count the time.

When he coaxed himself to get up and carry her to bed, the clock in the hallway was blinking seven past five. He could feel the stitches on his torso pull slightly and he hissed. He struggled into her bedroom and placed her gently on the bed. He stood up straight, stretching his muscles slightly. His gaze fell on her face and he felt his heart tighten again; half with guilt but half with something else. Her lips were a bit swollen and her eyes were puffy. There were still long tear stains on her cheeks. Still, even in all this darkness, she looked absolutely gorgeous; that fairytale beauty with the red cherry lips and sunshine locks. He felt himself smile. He left the room for a few seconds before returning with his rucksack. He pushed his hand into the bag and pulled out a small pouch. He placed it on the table next to the bed.

I went diving for pearls, for you. I thought you'd like that.

He smiled at her sleeping figure again and whispered a good night. After turning off the lights, he walked over to the window and pushed his feet out. His movements paused and he glanced back at her. Making a quick decision, he pulled himself back through the window, walked over to the bed and flopped down next to her. He pushed the covers off the bed before propping himself on his elbows. He stared at her for a few seconds before chuckling and lying back.

This girl was perfect. All the swear words and crying didn't take away from that. Those were kind of his fault anyway. He felt warmness settle in his stomach. It was that inside prettiness of hers again. What a weird thing.

He glanced across at her.

"I think I might..." he shook his head with a grin.

He turned his eyes to the ceiling. He felt oddly content despite tonight's events. It must've been the warmness.

"Good night, Lucy."

Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed this thing. I was too tired to proof so thanks to my friends who did it for me. I know some of you guys are cold right now but where I live, it's pretty hot. So I was inspired to write this. Umm...yeah. Tell me what you guys think.