Sleepovers, Sickness, and Switching Sides

When she had invited him to stay the night, it seemed like the most casual thing ever. And it still felt that way…right up until about half an hour before he was supposed to come over.

It all started the day before when they got back from a short mission. Her cut of the commission though was just enough to pay her rent for the next month, so everyone decided to take some time off. Err, rather Natsu had declared that he didn't want to take another mission for a week at least and everyone else more or less agreed. Gray had been feeling kind of down recently and Erza was going to off to some place a few towns over to look at some new armor.

It was while they were at the guild hall, celebrating their victory and time off by drinking heavily, that Lucy had whispered the suggestion in Natsu's ear. They had been together for coming up on three months at that point, but had never spent the night together. Not together in the most important at least. Sure, they had spent the night with one another on missions and such, but they had never ever shared the same bed. And certainly not in a romantic way.

Natsu didn't seem to think much of it when she offered it to him. He just said that he was really tired that night and that they could the next day. Which was great! …Until the next day came.

Not only was she hungover, but she was also rushing around to clean up. Which was really silly when she thought about it. It was just Natsu after all. And it didn't matter if she cleaned the place spotless; he'd only make a mess anyhow.

Still, it just gave her something to do to keep her mind off…well. Not to mention, she did kind of need to pick up. And she called on Plue who was more than happy to help. She explained to him first though that when Natsu showed up, he was going to have to go back to the spirit world, that she and Natsu were going to be on a date of sorts. Plue only nodded in understanding before giving her a thumbs up.

Honestly, why she ever felt the need for friends outside of him was beyond her.

Lucy was busy scrubbing the bathroom floor as Plue more or less just slid around on the tile, when she heard a crash from her bedroom. As the door was open, she just peaked in there, not shocked to see Natsu had stumbled in from the window. Who he had with him did shock her some.

"Lucy," Happy called out. "We're here for the sleepover!"

"Yeah." Natsu was quick to head over to the bathroom. "We even brought sleeping bags, stuff to make S'mores, flashlights, and Happy and I both know a bunch of scary stories!"

There she was, on her hands and knees in the bathroom painstakingly scrubbing away, only to hear that. Ugh. Could her life get any worse?

"What are you doin', Luce?" Natsu asked as he stood in the doorway, staring at her. "You don't look ready for a sleepover."

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning. Just from what he had described to her a minute ago, she had a sinking feeling that Natsu had no idea what exactly she had invited him over for.

"We're having a sleepover, aren't we?" He stared at her in wonder. "You sure don't look ready to go hiking or nothing. Do you even have your sleeping bag?"

She just stayed there on the floor for a moment or too, gapping at him before slowly saying, "Natsu, I invited you to a sleepover. Not a campout."

"Eh?"

"We're not going camping, you big dope! We're going-"

"Oh, cool, Plue!" Happy, who had been fluttering around with his wings, hit the ground then before running into the bathroom and sliding on his furry little feet as well across the tiled floor. "This is so much fun."

"Happy," Lucy huffed. "Stop that."

"Why?" He slid around some more, narrowly missing the shaking celestial spirit. "Plue's doing it."

"Plue's helping clean."

"How is what he's doing any different than what I'm doing?"

"Because I say it is, cat!"

Natsu only sighed. "So are we not camping? Because I was totally planning on making us a really awesome fire for our S'mores and everything."

"Yeah." Happy came to a stop in front of Lucy, frowning. "I wanted to go camping."

"You can go do whatever you want, cat," she told him with a matching facial expression. "You weren't invited to sleepover anyhow."

"What?" He looked to his best friend then. "Natsu, you said-"

"What do you mean he's not invited, Luce?" Natsu scratched the back of his head, frowning down at her. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling fine, Natsu."

"You sure? 'cause you sure are acting funny. I mean first you invite me to go camping-"

"I never invited you to go camping!"

"-and now you say you didn't. Then you say that Happy can't come over," he went on. "I mean, is something up?"

She was actually beginning to feel rather silly down there on the floor, so she slowly got up, dusting herself off while she was at it.

"Nothing's up, Natsu," she told him with a frown. "It's just…this was kind of a date."

"A date?" More head scratching. "You sure? 'cause I could have sworn it was a camping trip-"

"No, Natsu. It was totally a date." Then she made a face. "You didn't…invite anyone else did you? Like Gray and Erza?"

"No. Then we'd have to share our S'mores."

She blinked. Then she sighed. "Natsu, didn't you think that when I asked if you wanted to sleepover that I was, you know, implying that it was something…between us?"

"How is this not between us? Me, you, Happy, and Plue." He just stared blankly back at her. "You know, the four of us?"

"Yeah." Happy wasn't over being left out. "How come Plue gets to be here then if I don't?"

"Plue was helping clean." She looked over at the little white spirit. "Huh, Plue?"

He nodded his head in agreement.

"I think you're confused about whose side you are on here, Plue," Happy grumbled before looking up at Natsu. "Does that mean that I have to go?"

"Well…" Natsu was clearly confused by the whole thing and no doubt still bummed out about not being able to start that bonfire. "It was Lucy's sleepover thingy. So if it's a date, I guess so, little buddy."

Happy's ears fell down some then as he looked to Lucy. She just shot Natsu a dirty look for putting her in the situation.

"Fine, Happy, you can stay."

"Really?" And just like that, he was perked right back up. She only rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, if you want to." Might as well. "You can stay for awhile too, Plue. If you wanna."

So they two of them went back to sliding around on Lucy's floor which she begrudgingly allowed because, really, what was the point anymore, while her and Natsu headed back into her bedroom.

"So did you really not know what a sleepover was?" Lucy asked with a frown. "Because you totally described a campout."

"Campout, sleepover, what's the difference?" He had dropped his and Happy's pile of stuff in the middle of her floor without a second thought. Ugh. "'cept apparently sleepovers don't include S'mores which, quite honestly, was my only reason for agreeing to this whole thing."

That made her huff slightly. "You are not serious?"

He just peeked into the bathroom once more at the sound of Happy letting out a slight yelp. He had slid into the toilet which caused Natsu to call out if he was alright.

"Aye, sir!" was his response which only made Lucy roll her eyes.

"I offered to send Happy home if that's what you want, Lucy," Natsu told her then as he turned his vision back to her. "But I mean, I just don't get what the big deal is. We always all hangout together. And-"

"But this was a date, Natsu. We never get to go on dates. And I planned for us to-"

"How is it a date if we're just going to stay here in your apartment? At least camping would have been fun."

"Really?" She was about done with him. "You can think of nothing remotely entertaining about staying at my apartment, ordering takeout, and just being alone? Alone, Natsu?"

He blinked. "What sort of takeout?"

Groaning, she went to sit down at her desk. "Whatever Happy wants since apparently our whole lives revolve around him."

That made Natsu frown. "If you're just going to be miserable tonight, Luce, Happy and I can go do something else. Like real camping."

"I don't care what you do, Natsu. I really don't."

Of course they ended up staying. Which was fine…if she hadn't totally planned on being alone with Natsu that night. Happy had a thoroughly grand time sleeping over, even after Plue left for the night. He had such a great time in fact that he didn't even end up using his sleeping bag. Nope. He ended up curled up right in between Lucy and Natsu in her already too tiny bed, completely running any chance at snuggling.

There went her night. And her drive to ever invite Natsu to sleep over again.

Natsu sat with his head down on the bar, staring aimlessly at the mug in front of him and the foam spilling over on the sides. Mirajane, who had been busy dealing with everyone else, finally took notice of his down attitude and immediately went to see what was bothering him.

"What's wrong, Natsu?" she asked in that overly concerned tone she had. And honestly, she was concerned. It wasn't like him not to be fighting with someone. "Don't tell me you're the same as Laxus."

"Did Laxus make Lucy hate him too?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "Laxus has somehow managed to catch a cold."

She thought that hearing that would cheer him up, but it didn't. Usually Natsu would take to mocking the man, especially considering he wasn't around, but he must have been really down if he wasn't even up for that.

"Sick, huh?" was all Natsu mumbled.

"Mmhmm. He woke up this morning and could hardly breath, his nose was so clogged. And his throat's killing him. I offered to take off to care for him, but he refused. He's a big baby about me treating him, well, like a baby. He's so cute."

Natsu only grunted. His head hurt.

"I did make him some tea before I left for work though," she went on. When she started talking about something, she couldn't stop. Especially if that thing was stupid Laxus. Ugh. Giggling, Mira added, "I even held the cup up to his mouth for him. He sure complained at first, but didn't dare stop me from doing it."

Gah! The last thing Natsu wanted to hear about at the moment was possibly the worst relationship in the world. Honestly, the thought of Laxus in a serious relationship still weirded him out. And to Mirajane?

"Mira." Suddenly Lisanna was in the seat next to Natsu, smiling at her sister. "I don't think that he really wants to hear about Laxus right now."

She smiled in apology. "Sorry, Natsu. It's just that I've found that no one wants to talk about Laxus. Except for Laxus, but then it's only him talking about all his accomplishments and-"

"Sister."

She giggled again. "Sorry. I guess my mind is else where today. What's your problem then, Natsu? Something about Lucy?"

"Yeah," he sighed, lifting his head slightly then. "She asked me to, like, spend the night last night, so I thought that we were going camping. Then she got mad at me."

Lisanna blinked. "Why would you think you were going camping?"

"Why wouldn't we go camping?"

Mira cocked her head to the side. "Is that all that happened? You thought you were going camping so she got upset? That doesn't sound like Lucy at all."

"Well," he began slowly before rubbing the back of his neck. "I might have invited Happy to come along too. I think that's what she was most upset about. But how was I supposed to know it was a date? I mean, if you offered Laxus to go camping, would he think it was a date?"

"I think that he'd think I was a tad crazy," Mira responded slowly. "But if I asked him to sleep over for the night, yes, I think he would presume that we were going to be alone. He wouldn't invite Freed or anyone, no."

"But Happy's not like Freed," Natsu defended. "He's not just a friend. He's…well, he's always with me. If she didn't want him there, she should have said so. And if she doesn't want him there, then maybe she should rethink even inviting me! It's not- Ah! Lisanna-"

"That's a very foolish thing to say, Natsu," she told him, having been unable to keep herself from thumping him in the head. "Honestly? Lucy's dating you, not Happy."

Mira grinned at the sight of Natsu rubbing his head. "Where is Happy anyhow, Natsu?"

"We slept over at Lucy's last night and when I woke up, they were both still super tired, so I left him over there."

"Wow. So you just invited him to sleep over without asking and then you left him for her to deal with?"

Natsu glared at Lisanna then. "You know, you're not being very supportive here."

"Why should I be? You're coming off as a real jerk."

"Lisanna," Mira sighed. "Natsu didn't know that it was a date. Maybe Lucy should have been more clear."

"Yeah! And you don't even know all the prep that I went through to go camping," Natsu told them. "I got our sleeping bags all ready, got stuff for S'mores, got flashlights, was all ready to make an awesome fire-"

"But she never said anything about camping, Natsu," Lisanna reasoned. "That was all you being silly. And no doubt drunk."

The last thing he wanted at that moment was to be scolded by the other woman in his life when the first one was all pissy with him. Laying his head back down, he looked to Mira.

"You think that I should apologize?"

"Do you think that you did something wrong?" Mira asked.

"Does he- Mira, are you serious?"

"Shush, Lisanna," was her sister's response, still just watching Natsu. "Do you?"

"Well…this is the first time that she's been mad at me since we started dating. And I don't like her being mad at me."

"That's not what I asked."

He moaned. "I guess I could have been a little nicer. Like sending Happy home when I realized that it was a date. But-"

"There are no buts in apologies, Natsu," Mira reminded him.

"Would you make Laxus apologize if he ruined one of your dates?" Natsu asked her then.

"If? He does all the time." When she started giggling again, he realized his flaw. Now she was going to start talking about him nonstop again. "Like this once, he-"

"Sister," Lisanna sighed.

Another giggle. "Oops. Well, I just meant that Laxus messes up a lot. I'm used to it. But you and Lucy have only been dating a few months, right?"

He blinked. "Uh…"

"Natsu, honestly?"

"Well, a few months sounds about right." It was hard for him to differentiate the memories from when they were a couple against the ones when they weren't. His whole life just kinda blurred together. "The point is that we don't fight. And last night I could tell that she was really upset with me."

"Well, leaving Happy over there wasn't a good plan first off," Mira told him. "But what's done is done. Now you need to focus on the rest of the day."

"What do you mean?"

"You aren't planning on going on any missions, are you?" Lisanna asked to which he shook his head.

"Nope."

"Then you need to make it up to Lucy," Mira told him with a confident nod of her head. "You should do something nice for her today. That'll fix things."

"And apologize," Lisanna reminded. "Don't forget that."

"What should I do for her though?"

"Whatever you think is right," Mira told him. That made him lift his head again in excitement.

"Alright! So camping is back on."

Sighing, Lisanna said, "Maybe, Natsu, since you're trying to make Lucy feel better, you should do something that she would like to do."

"Like what?"

"You're the one that's dating her," she pointed out. "You have to know something that she would like to do."

"Hmmm." That one took some thought for him. "Well, she likes paying her rent."

Mira giggled while Lisanna only grinned slightly. When he was being sincere was when he was the cutest.

"And she likes…well…writing. A lot."

"Oh, Natsu," Mira sighed before shaking her head. Someone was calling her name down at the other end of the bar. "I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're just going to have to learn to organize your time, okay? It's not about choosing Happy over Lucy or vice versa. It's just learning that they're both important to you and deserve some time alone with you. That's all."

"Yeah, Natsu," Lisanna assured him as her sister headed off to get back to work. "You know that Lucy loves Happy too. But she's your girlfriend. Sometimes you just have to be alone together. I mean, Happy doesn't take you everywhere with him, does he?"

Natsu grunted. "Guess you're right. I only-"

"Uh-oh," Lisanna cut him off, staring off behind them. Turning slightly, Natsu saw what she was so concerned about. "Mira's about to be very-"

"Laxus Dreyar!"

"Here she goes," Lisanna said with a frown. Natsu only watched as Laxus, looking worse for wear, came walking over to the bar, falling onto the stool next to Lisanna with a groan.

"What are you doing here, Laxus?" Suddenly, Mira was right back over to them. "I told you to-"

"Keep your voice down, woman," he grumbled as he laid his head down on the bar. "Aggravating my headache."

"Good." She had her serious look on then, that fake happiness disappearing quickly at the sight of her sick boyfriend. "Did I not tell you to stay in bed and to wait for me to come home? Huh?"

Grunt.

"Laxus-"

"I ain't sick, so I don't know why-"

"You are sick, Laxus. We went over that this morning. Have you forgotten already?"

Grunt.

"Laxus-"

"Stop saying my name."

"You could get everyone else sick. Do you realize that?" Mira wasn't letting up. "You're contagious."

"Can't be contagious if I ain't even sick."

She huffed then, clearly getting nowhere. Lisanna was giggling while Natsu was only staring at the man, watching as he shivered slightly despite the fact he had his huge coat on.

"Did you even rub that stuff on your chest like I said? That gel? It'll help clear up your nose."

"My nose is fine," he said through a sniffle.

"Laxus-"

"I can't do it," he told her, sounding so miserable that honestly Natsu was ready to just put the poor guy down. "Takes too much energy."

"But you had enough strength to walk all the way down to the bar?"

Grunt. Then, lifting his head a little, he stared up at her with his blood shot eyes and pale face. "Can you do it for me?"

"Laxus," she sighed. "I offered to stay home today with you, but you said that you didn't want me to."

"That was before."

"Before what?"

"Now."

"Lax-"

He sniffled, giving her his best sad face. Honestly, Natsu wished he had a camera because he was definitely using the whole scene as ammunition later. After all, all was fair in love and war.

"Come home? Make me soup?"

Groaning, she looked to her younger sister who was still staring at Laxus with an amused expression.

"Lisanna, can you watch the bar for me for, oh, two hours?"

"Two hours?" Laxus complained, but Lisanna only nodded her head.

"Of course, sis."

"Thank you." Then Mira looked to Laxus. "Come on then. Two hours only. Use them wisely."

"But-"

"One hour, fifty-nine minutes, and forty seconds."

He got to his feet slowly. "I hate you."

"Come on then," she said before giggling and smiling at Natsu. "See you later. Hope everything works out with Lucy."

"Thanks," he said softly as she walked around the bar, heading over to her boyfriend. She easily slipped her hand into one of his before dragging him along, right back out of the bar.

"They really are the weirdest couple I know," Lisanna said thoughtfully before jumping up. "Anyways, I have to get to work now, Natsu. You think that you can figure the rest of this out all on your own?"

"Guess so."

"Good." She patted him on the head then, to make up for before. "Just remember, Lucy likes more than paying her rent and writing. You just have to figure out what that is."

When Natsu got back to Lucy's apartment, he was honestly expecting Happy finally to have been kicked out. Instead, when Lucy answered the door (he figured it best to use that since it only made her more upset when he used her window), he found the Exceed still running around in there, cleaning.

"Hey, Natsu," Lucy greeted with a smile. "You disappeared this morning early."

"Yeah." He looked passed her, watching as Happy continued to dust Lucy's bookshelf. "Uh, buddy? What'cha doin'?"

Happy didn't even look over at him. "I'm cleaning for Lucy."

"Oh." Natsu blinked then as he slowly came further into the apartment. Shutting the door behind him, he asked slowly, "Why?"

"Because, Natsu, he felt bad about ruining our date last night," Lucy told him, laughing slightly. "When I woke up and you were gone, I thought that he would be too. But he was busy in the bathroom, cleaning the toilet and sink."

"Really now?" Natsu cocked his head to the side. "That's really, uh, thoughtful of you, Happy."

"Yeah, well, Lucy wasn't too happy with us last night," the cat told him with a nod of his head. "So it's the least I can do."

"Aw!" Lucy grinned over at the cat who sent a devious smirk back to Natsu. That's when something dawned on him.

"Hey, cat, this was totally my job to get her happy with us again," Natsu whispered to him with a hint of a hiss as soon as Lucy was distracted with something else. "I'm the boyfriend here."

"Yeah, well, I'm the loveable ball of joy that she's going to like way more."

"You don't even really like Lucy!"

Happy stuck his tongue out at him. "So? Who's she happy with now? That's right. Me. So ha."

Growling, Natsu turned his attention back to his girlfriend, who was also picking up around the apartment.

"Ah, Lucy?" He went over to her. "Here, let me help out some, huh?"

"No, that's okay, Natsu." She smiled at him. "I think me and Happy have it covered. Don't we, buddy?"

"Aye, sir!"

What? Natsu was seething then. How dare they both switch sides on him! Now what? It was the two of them against him? No fair!

"Well…maybe we could go out on a date tonight then?" Natsu asked then. "I mean, you don't have plans, do you, Luce?"

"Oh, Happy already said that he'd be fine if you and I spent the night together tonight," Lucy told him with a shrug. Natsu sent a glare over at his friend who only grinned back at him. The cat had thought of everything. "So why don't you go home for now, Natsu? Come back home around eight or so? You too, Happy. You've been more than enough help."

"Yeah, Happy," Natsu grumbled. "More than enough."

It wasn't until they were outside of the apartment (that time he totally used the window just to spite Lucy), that Natsu unleashed on his friend.

"What's the big idea, buddy?" Natsu asked in annoyance as his friend flew above him. "This was totally my chance at getting Lucy alright with me again and you went and ruined it."

"Sorry, Natsu," Happy said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "It was you or me."

"Yeah, but she's my girlfriend," he pointed out. "Isn't there like rules against stuff like this? We're supposed to be friends!"

"She's not angry at us anymore," Happy told him. "So why does it matter?"

Natsu just hung his head with a sigh. Maybe he'd just have to pay her rent the next month or something. Because at the rate he was going, Happy would be her stupid boyfriend before long.

"Cheer up, Natsu," Happy told him then. "We still have stuff to make those S'mores, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Natsu grinned at that. "Then get ready, buddy, 'cause that's what we're going to be doing until eight. S'more, S'mores, and more S'mores."

"Aye, sir!"

In short, Natsu and Happy both got so sick once they got back to their place that they couldn't even move and Lucy had to come over and take care of them. Maybe Natsu did learn one thing from Laxus that day. If you can't make your woman happy, just make her your nurse. That absolves all problems, every time.

Started out being purely about Natsu and Lucy, but then Laxus and Mira somehow got added because I just can't help myself. I think they're slowly becoming my favorite couple (I'm not hating it).