Brick by Brick (NaLu one-shot)

Brick by Brick

There had been days when she'd threatened him when he'd burst through her window unannounced. She said she wouldn't go on jobs with him, she said she wouldn't feed him anymore, she said he couldn't sleep in her bed, but they both knew they were empty threats. She'd never actually go through with any of them.

Because even if he was incredibly annoying at times, scared the living hell out of her when she'd get out of the shower to see him lounging comfortably in her kitchen, and didn't know the meaning of the term personal space, she still loved him to death. So those threats meant nothing.

That was, until today. Technically yesterday, when she'd come home to find him sprawled on his back, sharing her novel with Happy as they both read in silence. She'd screamed a blood-curdling screech and promptly threw them both out. She had seemingly inhuman strength when she was angry and so picking up even Natsu by the back of his vest and tossing him through the threshold was feasible.

He'd teased her about reading her novel before. She'd rolled her eyes because she knew he'd never do it, but apparently, she'd misjudged him. Not only that, but the novel he happened to be reading wasn't her main focus, it was the side story she'd been working on that had characters whose personalities were suspiciously close to her and Natsu's. And those characters may or may not have been in love with each other.

She had to draw the line.

If Lucy had been told she'd be going to the hardware store at two in the morning to buy bricks, she'd have scoffed. But two trips and five bags of seemingly two-ton bricks later she was sitting in front of her window with determination and a spade in her hand.

Was she going a little far, barring her window shut with bricks? Maybe. But she'd be damned if he'd read that novel, even after she'd made it glaringly clear that she wanted no one to even lay eyes on it. He needed to learn a lesson. When training a small animal you had to establish boundaries. And while Natsu was more of a large animal, she figured it would have the same effect.

Two hours later she wiped the sweat from her face and marveled at her work. It looked messy, but it would do its job. She could take down the bricks once he'd learned his lesson.

Thoughts and dreams of having a completely peaceful apartment filled her head as she happily cleaned up, exhausted from her work. Yes, everything would be nice and quiet. She'd be alone, and it would be heaven.

What she hadn't expected was a deafeningly loud thud in the morning followed by a howl of pain that rivaled even the volume of a train whistle. She jolted up in bed, her eyes whipping around in panic. What had that been?

"Dammit! What the hell is this?!"

Oh. He'd found her little overnight project. She'd put the bricks on the inside window ledge in hopes they'd be easier to take off that way. He'd probably seen the glass and thought it was normal. He'd been wrong.

There was pounding on the bricks. "O-Oy, Luce! Someone totally bricked over your window! What bastards!" She could nearly picture him scowling at the red stone.

Lucy sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples. He didn't even realize she'd done it on purpose. What kind of person would sneak into another person's apartment and brick it up from the inside-out? He was either very dense or too trusting in her. Which was sweet, and yeah she felt just a little guilty, but it was for his own good in the end.

"Luce!" he called again. "You want me to try and burn through or do ya want me to go find a hammer?"

Oh boy. "Neither," she answered, slipping out of bed and padding over to the window. She couldn't see him and he couldn't see her but she figured maybe they would be able to hear each other easier.

"W-what? You wanna break it down then while I go find the culprit?"

She sighed. "No Natsu, I don't. You already found her."

"What?"

"I'm the culprit," she groaned. "I put the bricks there last night." There was a long pause and she pictured the gears turning in his head.

"What?" Or maybe not.

"I'm tired of you breaking into my apartment! It was fine at first but you crossed the line and you know it!"

"You mean when I came in and read your book?" he asked.

"Yes!" she yelled back. "I'd told you not to ever look at it!"

"There's nothin' to be ashamed of Luce! It's really good! I like that Gregor guy! He seems like a badass!"

She flinched as she felt her face begin to heat. Gregor had been the character based off of Natsu. Of course he'd think he was awesome. At least he hadn't made the connection… yet. Although, she couldn't deny that having him compliment her story was fueling at least half of the blush.

"It doesn't matter Natsu!" she called, trying to keep her voice steady. "You need to learn to use the front door like a normal human being! I'm tired of having you climb in in the middle of the night, unannounced."

There was another pause before she nearly felt the pieces click into place in his head. "Oooh! Is that all you want, Luce? You just want me to use the front door instead of the window?" Sort of. She figured it was at least the first step, that way she could lock him out if she really didn't want intruders. "I can do that!"

There was a thud and a whoosh and then everything was quiet. Lucy's eyes flicked to her front door and she waited. She waited for those glorious knocks…

BOOM!

She screeched in surprise as suddenly her door flew from its hinges, bursting at the seams and clonking with a thud onto her living room floor, revealing a grinning and very proud Natsu. "If that's all ya wanted you could'a told me sooner!"

And as her head nearly exploded with anger she yelled, lunging at him as he turn to run, asking what he'd done wrong, she realized it was possibly a step in the right direction… and that once he'd replaced her door she'd have to teach him how to knock.