"Talking"

'Thoughts'

And his moods keep swingin'

Chapter Three

Lucy lay sleeping on the couch in her matching red tank-top and pajama shorts, she had been looking after Natsu until she thought it was safe for him to sleep. All night she had been trying to avoid him when his mood changed, and making up excuses when she hit him over the head with something.

She was so tire she couldn't go to her own bed, so she stayed on the couch and now she had the feeling she was being watched. She cracked an eye open and looked at the clock, '6:45 am'. She shifted her eyes to the side and saw Natsu in an arm chair across from her, leering.

"Natsu?" She asked sleepily. "How'd you turn back?"

"Tripped on a potted plant, hit my head. And don't worry, love, I didn't do anything to you while you were sleeping." Natsu said and grinned at her. "Love the pajamas by the way."

"Idiot. You better not have, because I would've thrown something at you and attacked you… again."

"That wasn't very nice, love. When you threw pepper in my face I could have sneezed and set this place on fire."

"Well, you shouldn't have tackled me. The pepper was just a distraction."

"That wasn't a tackle, I just happened to trip and fall on you."

"Lies! I saw the look in your eyes!"

"That wasn't a tackle, Lucy. I can show you a real tackle." A wicked smirk spread across his face.

"No, that's ok…"

"You know you secretly want me to. When I get a hold of you, you know you can't deny me. I can tell from your reactions."

"Yeah right, I bet you figured that out when I hit you with the bat. Anyway, I try to slip out of your grip and get away, but you keep pulling me back. I'll always get away somehow."

"You really think you could escape me? Start running, babe", Natsu smirked in amusement, crouching into a predatory position.

Lucy's eyes widened and she jumped off the couch, running for the door, but Natsu appeared suddenly in front of her, blocking it. And Lucy backed up laughing nervously.

"Don't be shy, come to me, my love. I'll show you what you've been missing." He stepped towards her with his arms outstretched.

'Can this really be my Natsu? Why doesn't he show any signs of wanting me normally, though?' Lucy thought confused.

He pulled her to his chest, leaning down, he whispered in her ear, "I'm feeling beastly, I might just let the dragon out."

'Whoa! I like this way too much!' Lucy thought and tried to back out of his arms, but this grip didn't loosen.

"I'm not letting you go, I left you alone while you were sleeping, that's all the time I'm going to give you. We can continue where we left off, now that you're awake." He grinned, almost charmingly, moving a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

~X~

Later that morning Lucy walked through the Fairy Tail doors dragging a tied up, screaming Natsu behind her on a rope. The whole guild went silent and watched as she walked straight up to Gray and said in a hauntingly calm voice, "Fix this."

"She's crazy everybody run!" Natsu yelled, but was stopped when Lucy glared down at him in a way that could turn people to stone.

"W-wha, I don't-" Gray stammered.

"Fix this now or I will make sure you never mold ice again." Lucy growled, showing him the ice at the back of Natsu's head.

"But that ice isn't easy to melt, there's no telling how long it will take!" Gray said in disbelief, looking at her and pointing at Natsu's head.

"Then you better start now, and hope to God it melts soon." She said demonically.

"Aye!" He chirped like Happy, in fear. Building up energy, he put his hands on the sheet of ice, ignoring Natsu's protests. Lucy walked away.

"Lu-chan, where are you going?!" Natsu yelled, but was disregarded as Lucy walked over to the bar where Mirajane was cleaning glasses.

Mira smiled when Lucy approached and asked, "Eventful night?"

"You have no idea." Lucy mumbled dryly, looking at her. "I didn't get much sleep. I woke up at six forty-five, only to be practically molested and then pushed onto a table, where he nearly kissed the life out of me. It was like reverse CPR, I tell ya!"

Mira raised an eyebrow and looked at Lucy intently, wanting her to continue. She tried desperately to hide a smirk and not laugh so she didn't upset the younger girl.

"But it gets worse, Mira-san." Lucy leaned towards her, eyes wide.

"No! What happened?" tried to sound surprised.

"I kind of liked, no ones ever held me the way he did. I felt so wanted, I mean, I hit him repeatedly and he kept coming back!" She pointed at Natsu, still tied up on the floor arguing with Gray.

"Oh my! But how'd you get him back to that weird, drunk-child Natsu?"

"He was normal for about ten seconds, and he just stopped and stared down at me in shock, because we were still on the table." She blushed. "So I took the chance to tackle him, and I tied him up with my whip, until I found some rope."

"You keep rope lying around you house?" Mira smirked, mind wandering

"Don't make weird assumptions, Mira-san.", Lucy blushed.

"Sorry, what happened next?"

"He started flirting with me again, so I left him on the couch and went to get ready to come to the guild."

"Wow."

"I know. When I came out to get him, he launched himself off the couch, but missed me. He hit his head on the table and then I yelled at him and dragged him here."

"That's so romantic, spending the night with a lover. The passion!"

Lucy's mouth dropped, "No it's not! It was insane and I could have died!"

~45 Minutes Later~

"Hey Lucy, I finally melted it Gray!" Gray called from the middle of the guild room and Lucy got off her barstool to go look.

"Gray! Put some damn clothes on!" someone yelled from the back.

Gray looked down in surprise and Jubia threw him another pair of pants, which he put on quickly.

Natsu looked around and blinked as though he'd just woken up, then his eyes stopped on Lucy and he just stared at her, as if realizing something.

"Natsu?" Lucy said uncertainly, looking at him on the floor.

"Luce… please untie me, I'm kind of hungry." he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"It's ok, everybody! He's back to his stupid self!" Gray shouted walking away.

"What! I dare you to say that again! Lucy, untie me!" Natsu growled, but stopped when he heard her laughing.

Lucy had sat down next to him on the floor, laughing like she had never laughed before, "Amazing! I never thought I'd be so glad to have the normal annoying Natsu back."

She untied the ropes and helped him get up. She started to walk away, thinking, 'But I'll miss his attention, just a little bit'. But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Natsu say something.

"Hey Luce…can I talk to you?" Natsu said, dragging her away before she could answer.

"Are you ok, you got hit in the head a lot?" She replied, nervously following behind him.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm a dragon slayer it won't hurt me too bad." Natsu muttered looking around for a place with less people. He dragged her to an empty hallway, then, he turned to look at her.

"Lucy…I'm sorry that I caused you all that trouble. I remember all that happened and all I said, and I couldn't control it. They really are just other insane parts of me I don't let out."

'What he knew the whole time?' Lucy thought in amazement.

"Lucy, you know how I said, I never noticed how cute you are? Well you're beautiful and I've always known that." Natsu looked into Lucy's eyes, blushing. "I just wanted you're attention but it went really wrong!"

Lucy was momentarily stunned, but then a smile spread across her face, and she laughed. "Yeah. It went horribly, horribly wrong. But that's ok, I'll get over it.

She threw her arms around Natsu's neck, and stood on her toes to kiss him. It took Natsu by surprise, but he pulled her closer and returned the kiss.

They were so distracted, that they did not see Mirajane and Gray look out from behind a wall and high-five each other with a smirk.

"Lucky she came in when she did, that ice wouldn't have lasted another hour." Gray and Mira laughed.

"That 8 hour ice of yours comes in handy. The way you made it seem like it was accidental was amazing." Mira giggled.

"Thanks. But the personality shift potion you slipped him was pretty powerful stuff, and I can't believe you could link it to the ice so well." Gray smirked, as he and Mira left Lucy and Natsu alone, to go cause havoc in other peoples' love lives.