Dragon in Shining Armour (COMPLETE)

Chapter 33

I sat up in bed panting, clutching my chest with wide eyes. I looked around my room and oriented myself, realizing it was that stupid nightmare again. I started to calm my breathing down, but my heart still pounded in my chest. I felt the sheets next to me shift and I jumped, completely forgetting about the snoring pinkette next to me. I sighed and a small smile danced on my lips as I remembered the events of yesterday, and settled back down next to him. He grumbled in his sleep before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his chest. I breathed him in and sighed, feeling myself forget about the night terror I just had.

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I opened my eyes to find a pair of emerald eyes staring intensely at me. I blushed and nervously searched his face.

"Natsu? Quit staring at me, you're making me nervous." I said, slinking the blanket up to my nose. He paused before grinning at me.

"We're going out today. Swimming and stuff." He said with a light blush dusting his cheeks. I looked up at him and before I could start my protest, he rolled us out of bed and onto the floor. He jumped up and stood over me with a triumphant look and a goofy grin, before making his way to my closet to rummage through my clothes.

"Get out of there, baka! I can get my own clothes!" I yelled, wrestling with the blanket I was still trapped in.

"But I wanna pick it out!" He whined, not bothering to turn around. I stood up winded from my fight with the blanket, and opened my mouth to retort when a pile of clothes were thrown at my face. "Get dressed!" He grinned at me before walking out my bedroom door, closing it behind me. I sighed and was surprised when I picked up the clothes at my feet. I slipped into the bathroom and took a much needed shower. I got dressed in the grey jean short overalls and white t-shirt Natsu picked out with the white bikini underneath.

I peeked out the bathroom door and made a run for it; quietly shutting my bedroom door behind me and turning the lock. Opening my closet, a sigh of relief escaped my lips when I saw that what I was hiding went untouched. I picked the black box up and sat on my bed with it, tracing the red letter "N" on the lid. I opened it and stared at all the envelopes containing letters that will never be read. I sighed as I fumbled with one in particular before opening it to read the scribbled ink.

"Natsu,

I know you won't ever read this, because I have no intention to give it to you, but...

I miss you. You will never know how much I miss that goofy smile of yours, and how you always know the right things to say to make my heart soar. How much I love just being in your presence, because you put me at ease.

I'm so lost without you.

But I don't deserve you.

I can't find the courage to face you and I'm pushing you away. I know how worried you must be, because you call at least 20 times a day-no exaggeration.

I can't deny my feelings for you anymore. I fell in love with you when we first met, but that's different now right? Is it? So much has changed so quickly and I don't have time to catch up. I feel like I'm drowning and I don't want to bring you down with me.

I have nightmares every night about losing you, because I dragged you down with me; because I couldn't be strong enough on my own. I suppose it's why it's been increasingly easy to ignore your calls and swallow the guilt. I keep telling myself once I'm stronger, then I might deserve you, but if I can't get through this then I might as well...

I hope you'll forgive me.

xx"

I re-read it before shoving it back into the box and shutting the lid tight, blinking back the tears. I scrambled to get said box back into the closet when I heard a knock on my door. I opened the door after patting down my hair, revealing Natsu with a plate of pancakes and extra crispy (borderline burnt) bacon in hand. He smiled at me sheepishly and I walked out to sit with him at the table.

"Thanks for cooking breakfast, Natsu." I cooed, not realizing how hungry I was until now.

"Sorry I burnt the bacon." He whispered, eyeing me as I scarfed my food down. I smiled at him and swallowed my food before I spoke.

"No it's great! I like crispy bacon." I reassured him as I took a bite. We finished up breakfast fairly quickly before setting out on our adventure. We spent our day just being in each other's company, a good change of pace from what I was used to. After a few hours swimming, we went and picked up some food, before he insisted on taking me shopping.

"Natsu, why are you dragging me out to go shopping? I have enough clothes, and I know how much you hate shopping." I groaned, dragging my feet-almost literally.

"It's a surprise, Luce. I promise you don't have one of these in your closet." He grinned at me as we walked hand in hand down the busy streets of Magnolia. We stopped in front of a small traditional clothes shop with several yukatas in the display windows. I turned and raised my eyebrow, but he was already dragging me inside.

"Natsu-san! How good to see you! I'll go tell mama you're here!" A short little girl with blue hair shouted from the front desk.

"Yo Wendy!" He shouted as she ran through an employee's only door. I took in my surroundings and noticed the rolls of different fabrics surrounded with racks of dresses and yukatas. The muffled sound of a sewing machine stopped and the little blue haired girl returned with a tall slender woman with white hair.

"Natsu, it's good to see you. How's Igneel?" The woman spoke with a smooth voice and a kind smile.

"He's good! And he's free aaaall weekend!" He gave her a cheesy grin and thumbs up. She rolled her eyes at him and turned towards me with an outstretched hand.

"Since Natsu is too busy talking nonsense and won't introduce us, I'm Grandeeny. It's very nice to meet you! What's your name, dear?" She said with a smile. I took her hand and shook it, returning her kind smile.

"I'm Lucy, it's very nice to meet you too!" I grinned at her, as she looked me up and down.

"Now what's such a pretty young lady doing with this troublemaker?" She said with a smirk, pointing thumbs at Natsu. I opened my mouth to speak but a certain pink haired bozo cut me off with a tight side hug.

"She's my girlfriend! And I'm not a troublemaker... most of the time." He shouted, whispering the last part. Surely my face was red because of his declaration. "And I need your help!" He whispered something into her ears and I swear I saw her eyes light up with a sparkle. She grinned and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, and a tape measure and walked towards me.

"This will take just a minute dear!" She chirped and started taking my measurements, writing them down on her pad of paper. She picked up a few rolls of fabric, rolling them out in front of me, mumbling to herself while scribbling on her paper. "All done! See you in a few days, Natsu!" She beamed as she shooed us out the door.

"Bye Wendy, bye 'Deeny!" He yelled. The rest of our afternoon was filled with him shooting down questions about what he was planning. Eventually, he dropped me off at my apartment and we parted ways, promising to meet up in a few days.

Its been like 6 days since I updated last I'm sorry! T_T I'm almost done with chapter 34 so I will post soon! Lots of fluff coming up~ Don't forget to comment and let me know how you like the story so far! Follow, vote and add to your library so you don't miss any important updates! See you in the next chapter!

As always Fairy Tail and all of it's characters belong to Hiro Mashima!~