《e i g h t》

| Natsu's POV |

"SO, NATSU," I looked up at Sparrow from my perch on the back of the couch with a raised eyebrow. "What's going on between you and Y/n?"

I felt my cheeks flush red as I opened my mouth in shock. "W-What the hell are you talking about, Uni?" I growled, avoiding her piecing gaze. She let out a scoff, clopping her way over to me with a death glare written in her grey eyes.

"I don't care if you two ever get together or not, but if you ever try to hurt Y/n, you'll have to deal with me. And I'm pretty sure you know by now how sharp my horn is. It can pierce through your skin very easily," Sparrow threatened. Just the sound of her voice sent chills down my spine as I glared back at her.

"Well, she doesn't even like me in that way, so-" I started, crossing my arms over my chest, but was interrupted by Happy.

"Oh, come on Natsu! How stupid can you be?" Happy cried out, flying up in the air with his blue arms outstretched. He was about to continue, when the door to our house slammed open, sending the familiar drastic change in the atmosphere. It was peculiar, once again. Jumping off of the back of our couch, I ran, more like stumbled, over to the foyer to greet Y/n as she stood in the doorway.

"N/n, you're back!" I cried out in excitement, thankful that she had made it back home okay. As I took in her figure, I suddenly noticed how she had deep circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept in days. Tilting my head to the side in confusion, I gently placed my hand on her arm and pulled her inside, noticing how she was fiddling her hands together.

"Is everything okay, hun?"

♡♡♡

| Your POV |

"Everything's fine," you pulled your best lie out of your mouth like you were reeling a fish. "But I do have something I need to tell you."

"Oh? What's that?" Natsu asked curiously, claiming his seat on the back of the couch once again as you plopped down on the floor in front of him. He leaned forward, placing his knuckles under his chin, looking at you with that same childish interest you loved. Taking in a deep breath, you messed around with your hands nervously as you debated your words. How on earth would you get him to agree to this? You knew how protective he got over you, and letting you go to this party on your own with a girl you just met to see the phony Salamander would never be something he would approve of, on any level.

"I'm going to that party that the Fake Salamander is throwing tonight," you said slowly, trying to sound sure of yourself. Looking up, you saw pure anger flash across Natsu's face as he arose from the back of the couch, standing on the cushions. Darkness fell over his eyes as he stared at you, unblinking for what seemed like hours. You shivered, looking down at the ground like a scolded dog. You had to be strong. You had to go.

"...What?" Natsu finally asked, his tone not one that you remembered hearing. Turning around slowly, you looked to Sparrow and Happy, who were both looking at you in exasperation.

"Sparrow, Happy... Can Natsu and I have a minute? Alone." You requested. The duo stared at you with big eyes until glancing back at Natsu, then back at you, and finally rising from their seats and walking up the stairs, almost noiselessly (which was unusual for them), up to their shared room. Once they were gone, you turned back to Natsu, only to find him already staring at you. This time, there were no butterflies or blushes. Only the racing of your heart as your pulse thumped against your neck in hurried nervousness.

Rising on your shaking legs, you craned your neck to look up at Natsu and began your plan to get him to let you go. "Natsu, I know you don't like me going anywhere just by myself, but it's for a good cause! I have a feeling that Fake Salamander is going to do something horrible tonight at that party, and isn't it our mission as guild members to stop evil doings and inflicting harm on those below them?"

You looked at him with your pleading, liquid e/c eyes, trying to find any glimpse of his ground breaking. But sadly, there was none shown as he hopped down from the couch, and stood nearly two inches away from you. You felt your cheeks turn a bright red at the sudden closeness and your heart rate thump even faster as you stared deep into his onyx eyes. They were so... so dark, like the bottom of the ocean. There was anger and betrayal written through his irises and in the way his brow was creased slightly as he looked at you. You let go of a breath you didn't even know you had been holding in and looked between his two eyes in a thick film of silence that seemed to go on forever.

"You're not going," he breathed, almost dangerously. "I'm not going to lose you to that scumbag."

He was scared of losing you? Taking in a shaky breath, you performed the most risky action you had ever done before, as physical contact was still a new thing to you when it came to romance. Your hand trembling, you gently cupped it around his left cheek, staring straight into his eyes with glistening eyes. You watched as his cheeks flushed bright red from your sudden touch, and you did your best to ignore it. This was all for getting him to let you go to the party, that was the only reason why you were doing this... right?

"Natsu," you exhaled his name, trying to avoid his wide eyed stare by looking at his spiky salmon hair. "I need you to let me go. I need to make sure that nothing bad happens at that party or I'll be kicking myself forever for it. Plus, you and Happy and Sparrow can wait at the harbor for me in case I need any help!" You looked back into his eyes with glistening hope in your own orbs. "I can try to use my telepathy o-or transform into peregrine form and send you a signal! I'd be fine! I am a Peculiar wizard after all!"

You offered him a lopsided smile as you removed your hand and hesitantly stepped away from him, reminding yourself of the fear of what would happen if the two of you ever split. He finally took his gaze away from you and looked down at the ground, contemplating his words inside his head. You waited for what seemed like days until he finally answered.

"I don't know..." he whispered, taking you by surprise. "What happens if we can't make it in time?"

"You will," you reassured him, feeling the butterflies smugly float back into your stomach and bounce against your insides. A small smile crept back onto Natsu's lips. Just seeing his smile, even if it was a small one, made your day a hell of a lot better.

"...Alright," he finally mumbled, grumpily. A goofy grin spread across your lips as you clamped your hands together, nearly jumping up and down in excitement. Crossing his arms and slouching slightly, but smiling at you, he continued. "I guess you can go. BUT, we will be following you to make sure everything is okay. The second anything goes wrong or that sleezbag tries anything, you tell me!"

Nodding your head rapidly, you quickly sprang forward to engulf Natsu in a hug without even thinking. Wrapping your arms around his warm torso and gripping handfuls of his vest made your heart soar as you buried your face into his chest, listening silently to his heart beat. It was beating quicker than usual, you noticed. You hoped this wasn't another part of his serious condition where his face turned red all the time.

But he didn't give you an opportunity to ask as he quickly returned the hug, resting his chin on the top of your head, and pulling you closer, if that was even possible.

The two of you stayed like that for a long time, but you didn't mind. Feeling the overwhelming urge to tell him of your feelings, you bit your lip in order to keep them from coming out. Finally, the two of you pulled away from one another and Natsu ruffled your hair playfully, smirking at you.

"Alright, now I know how you girls are, so go get ready! I'll convince Sparrow and Happy to tag along." You beamed back at him, punching him playfully in the arm and running past him to bound up the steps.

"Yeah, yeah, Pyro! I'm going!"

♡♡♡

You had arranged to meet Natsu, Sparrow, and Happy at the harbor before you boarded the party boat, but you had been running behind due to a little fashion mishap. You had never/always been one for fashion, but today was a special occasion where nothing in your closet seemed to fit your needs. You had finally settled for one of your old dresses and combining it with some of your other ones you never wore, summoning your inner fashion designer.

The final product was a beautiful, flowing purple dress with a terrain that almost touched the ground below your feet. It had three layers, each a different shade of purple, with royal purple flowers embroidered to flow down from the waist wrap that was tied around your waist. On the left side of the waist wrap was a beautiful purple flower made of fabric and decorated by pearls beads and ribbons. On the back of the dress were long flowing bunches of ruffles, and on the back of the bodice was a regular cross stitched pattern to secure the dress to your back like they used to have in the older days. The front of the bodice was just the regular purple color, with beautiful decals printed in the fabric along the seams, and there was a small bow that doubled as a choker around your neck to further secure the dress to you. You also sported a pair of old purple gloves you had found in an old box that had little purple flowers on top of big navy violet bows that were secured around your wrists. And finally, you had a gorgeous hair piece secured to the back of your head (if your hair isn't long enough, just ignore it) that had big felt flowers with pearls and ripples leading down to jeweled beads that swung in the wind as you raced through the streets. You had to lift your terrain slightly as you ran until you spotted the faint figures of a unicorn, an exceed, and your best friend.

"Hey, guys!" you waved as you slowed your pace, meeting the three at the harbor. The wind from the water rushing up against your skin cooled your nerves as you glanced over at the mob of girls waiting to board the boat. When you turned back around, you were greeted with three stares of pure shock. Happy and Sparrow were sweat dropping and Natsu was on the verge of turning into a tomato from seeing you all dressed up.

"What?" You asked, confused. You reached your hand up to touch the back of your head. "Is there something in my hair? On my face?"

The three of them shook their heads rapidly, Sparrow forming tears in her eyes. "My little baby is all grown up!" She fake cried. You rolled your eyes at her as she looked up to the sky, sniffling. Natsu forced himself to look away from you, a firey blush coating his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Y-You look... you lo-"

"He means you look beautiful!" Happy blurted out, smacking Natsu above the head. He whipped his neck around to stare at Happy, pressing his lips together with a tick mark on his forehead.

"Hey! I can speak for myself!"

"Well, you didn't seem like it a minute ago!"

Shaking your head, laughing, you smiled warmly at the three as they took in your glowing form once more. Even in the outfit you had on, you still felt a boost of self esteem as you watched them all watching you. Finally, you straightened out your gloves and hair, and hiked up your terrain once more.

"Well, I better get going. I'll let you guys know if I run into any trouble, alright?" You looked straight into Natsu's eyes above the other two and felt your heart flutter once more.

He smiled his signature grin back at you and nodded with the other three. But then his look became more serious as a frown replaced his grin. "Be careful."

"I will, Pyro. See you guys soon!" And with that, you were off, willingly running into the danger that was ahead.

Only, it was unknown to you.