"Don't tell me no, you're such a liar, Lu!" Levy's teasing tone made Lucy roll her eyes in playful annoyance. "You and Natsu would be so cute together and you know it!"

"I don't know what you guys are talking about, can we just drop it?" Lucy sighed and shook her head. Around her included Levy, Erza, Cana, Juvia, and Mira; they were all part of a larger group of friends, Lucy having been one of the last people to befriend them while at Magnolia University. The girls were having a night together at Erza's apartment, the older girl having graduated from the university just the year before. Lucy was a senior and well on her way to graduating with an English degree focused on writing, and she usually spent most of her time writing or spending time with her best friend, Natsu Dragneel. Which brought her to the point she was at the moment; she needed some time with her girl friends, she had been pretty illusive with them and she had felt rather bad about it, so she suggested a girl's night. She should have known that conversation would always slip into some sort of conversation about boys, it didn't matter what age, her friends still loved to tease and prod each other about information of their love lives, or lack of one.

"Someone's a little defensive, eh?" Cana smirked and Lucy huffed in exasperation. They were always on her about leading some secret life with Natsu, which wasn't at all the case. She had met him when she became friends with all of them; in fact, it was him who introduced her to them all. She had been taking a break her freshman year and was shopping in Hargeon when she had met Natsu, as boisterous as ever. She had actually accidentally bumped into him; her eye had caught a boat coming into the port and she was focused on that and hadn't seen him step out in front of her. He had been carrying an unholy amount of food and when she knocked into him, the contents of said food spilled all over the sidewalk. She had apologized profusely and actually offered to take him to lunch to make up for it. It was one of the bigger mistakes she made with Natsu since he ordered just as much food as he had been carrying; she had figured he was bringing it to a party or something, but no, it was all for himself and apparently his cat Happy whom he made sure to order fish for. However, it was quite the fateful day because Lucy and Natsu become fast friends, much to Lucy's surprise. Over the years, she and Natsu always found themselves hanging out with each other, they nearly did everything together. Natsu had even taken to breaking into her apartment through her window shortly after they had become friends, much to Lucy's horror and chagrin. They took trips together and hung out almost daily, but Lucy didn't think much of it. Natsu was her best friend, they were inseparable and she wouldn't trade it for the world. He was one of the best people that she had ever had in her life, and his refreshing outlook on life was probably what made Lucy migrate towards him so much.

"Not at all," Lucy flipped her hair over her shoulder for good measure, "You guys really do scrutinize every little detail of a person's social life, don't you?" She pointed out, sweeping her gaze over the group of girls.

"Aw, we're sorry Lucy, we're just interested…" Mira apologized, a sweet smile on her face, but Lucy wasn't fooled. She was damn near the ring leader of the whole charade; she loved knowing all the details of someone's potential love life, and Erza wasn't far behind on the need-to-know list.

"We just want to know because if you two do enter a romantic relationship, I need to know whether or not I need to discipline Natsu," Erza clasped her hands together on the table in front of her, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes. "Even if you aren't together, let me know if he ever needs a good smack." Lucy blanched; Erza was far too intense sometimes.

"N-noted… But I don't think it's necessary since we're not dating, and besides he's always perfectly nice so long as he's not crashing through my window…" Lucy sighed at the last bit, he mind going to the many times he decided that the window was a far more suitable entrance than the door.

"He still does that?" Levy asked in shock and Erza scowled in disapproval.

"How ungentlemanly! I cannot believe that that boy is still doing something so brash!" Erza growled and Lucy sighed, she knew she shouldn't have said anything. She felt like warning Natsu that Erza might set a booby trap for him at his apartment, but she didn't feel like getting into that conversation at the moment.

"It's really not a big deal, I'm used to it." Lucy shrugged, dismissing the problem. "I appreciate the concern though, but Natsu is the only ruffian breaking into my house." Lucy laughed and Erza still had a murderous glint in her eyes.

"Isn't it kind of… Suspect to always be with a boy who isn't your boyfriend?" Mira asked, genuine interest lacing her words. "I mean, he's always at your house, you guys are always together… You feed him, you do everything together! I think it's sweet, but you have to understand our questions, right?" Mira pointed out and Lucy pondered the idea for a moment. She could understand that, from an outside party, it may seem like they were intimately involved, but Lucy couldn't help but feel a little bit defensive.

"Well, sure, but that's because we're best friends. I could argue the same with any one of us. We're all friends, you guys spend a lot of time together, even not as a group; does that mean that some of you are dating one another?" Lucy countered and the group went silent.

"You can think of Juvia and Gray-sama as lovers, if you'd like," Juvia chimed in, her eyes in a glaze as they always were when she thought of Gray.

"Well… If you put it that way meaning you guys are open to it…" Cana piped up, a suggestive smile on her face as she sipped on her beer. Lucy snorted out a laugh; Cana always found a way to make a conversation sexual.

"Moving on!" Levy suddenly chirped and Lucy chuckled, rolling her eyes. Whether her and Natsu's relationship was the center of attention or not, Lucy was happy to have had a night where it was just the girls, she had really missed it.

"How are you and Jellal getting on, Erza?" Lucy asked and Erza's cheeks flushed a bit. Jellal was Erza's long time crush, and it had totally been mutual. Everyone could see how much they loved each other, they had known each other since they were years and in an orphanage together. They had been separated, Erza being taken into a foster home belonging to Makarov Dreyar; he had fostered many children, including all of them aside from Lucy. He was kind of like a grandpa and the only family that they had.

Jellal and Erza had met once more when they got to college, and after a long time of some good old mutual pining, the two had finally started dating. The whole group had had bets on it, lead by Mira of course, and Lucy had ended up winning 10,000 jewels for being one of the guessers who picked the correct timeframe that they would start dating.

"O-oh, we're doing well." Erza cleared her throat, brushing her hair behind her ear. "We're thinking of moving in together." Lucy laughed at the congratulatory uproar that her friends gave Erza. She was glad to see them all so happy. After a few moments of cheering for Erza, Lucy decided to switch gears and put the heat on Levy.

"Hey, Lev, how are you and Gajeel?" She smirked at her blue haired friend and innocently took a sip of her drip. Levy's cheeks flared pink and her eyes bulged out.

"Gajeel? Hm, that name sounds familiar…" Mira tapped her chin in thought and Cana's eyes widened.

"Hey, ain't he that wicked big guy with all the piercings and shit?" Cana questioned and Levy shot a scowl at Lucy. If Levy was going to tease her about Natsu, she had no problem doing the same to her.

"Oh, Gajeel is a friend! He is a little rough around the edges, but…" Juvia interjected and Levy eyed her.

"Yes… But he's just a friend! Don't get weird!" Levy insisted, her face getting redder by the second.

"Didn't I see you guys out in South Gate Park the other day? You guys looked pretty close for friends." Lucy refuted, a snort of laughter leaving her, until a devious smirk spread on Levy's lips.

"Yeah, you sure did see us, but that's only because you and Natsu were there. Together. Again." Levy jabbed and Lucy clamped her mouth shut. "You two looked cute together."

"That was nothing," Lucy brushed it off with a sniff, "Natsu and I were just went to go see the cherry blossoms in bloom. It is the season for it."

"That's literally a date, Lu!" Levy choked out a laugh and the other girls added in some snickers as well.

"I have to say, Lucy, that is quite adorable. Laxus and I like to admire the cherry blossoms this time of year as well."

"Yes," Erza agreed, nodding her head. "I wanted to bring Jellal there since he hadn't spent much time in Magnolia before now." Lucy felt her cheeks burn from annoyance and the amount of teasing she was getting. She supposed that she kind of deserved it for poking fun at Levy, but she digressed.

"Whatever…" Lucy mumbled and Levy's gaze softened.

"If it makes you feel better, Lu… Gajeel and I were on a date. W-we've actually been seeing each other for a few weeks," She revealed and Lucy's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I was going to tell you all, but I hadn't found a good way to bring it up… I guess now's as good of a time as any!"

"Wow, Levy… That's great!" Lucy smiled and Levy looked away bashfully.

"Ay, you can get some now and join the 'I've done it' club," Cana giggled and Levy blanched. Lucy nearly spat out her drink in laughter. "I think Lucy might be the last since Juvia will probably climb Gray in his sleep. Unless…. There's somethin' you need to tell us?" Lucy glared across the table at Cana, more out of embarrassment than anything.

"I would never do such a thing!" Juvia defended, looking slightly horrified at Cana's implication.

"And, uh, no." Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "My… Intimate life is none of your business!"

"Or lack thereof." Cana shot back, tipping back the last contents of her beer, winking at Lucy. Lucy pouted a bit and the sudden realization that she was the only one really without an intimate life. She wasn't jealous or anything, she just hadn't put much thought into it before. She contemplated the thought for a few moments and decided it would be nice to have a boyfriend to go on cute dates with and to spend her weekends with.

"Well, that doesn't matter!" Mira waved a hand in the air to dismiss the conversation. "Everyone works at their own pace."

"It's not very polite to talk about other people's sex lives," Erza agreed, "But if anyone wants to share anything, feel free." Lucy shook her head; her friends were as nosy as ever.

"Well," Levy began, her gaze resting on Lucy, "No matter what happens, I think one day you and Natsu will get married. You guys are like perfect for one another." Levy giggled and this time Lucy felt herself blush at the thought of Natsu and her actually being married. She had been teased by them before about their relationship, but she never really took it seriously, let alone think about getting married. It was an odd concept for Lucy's brain to handle, and it took it to the extreme as she imagined walking down the aisle, them kissing, having children, and all kinds of family related things. She knew that, if it was possible, steam would be coming off of her because the heat of embarrassment was rolling off of her in waves.

"U-uh, that's nice? B-but I think I'll pass…" Lucy stammered, but the other girls seemed to be nodding in agreement. Lucy sighed and just let them have their moment; she knew in her heart that that was something that just wasn't going to happen. She and Natsu would best friends and that's all that it extended to.

Lucy let the sun hit her face as she walked out of the English building. It was nearing the end of the semester, and graduation was right around the corner. Lucy was excited to finally be done with school, though she did enjoy learning. She was hoping to get a job at Sorcerer's Weekly as a journalist; Makarov had a connection with Jason, the head writer for the magazine, since he had done quite a few stories covering his foster home and the help he's given children in the system. Makarov promised that he would see what he could do for Lucy; he had also kind of taken her under his wing since she became friends with everyone. She lost her mom at a young age and then lost her father when she was seventeen. Though she hadn't ever been put through the foster child system, she still had been young when she was left parentless. She was mainly raised by her caretakers back at her father's estate before she went off to college. She was happy to get out of the house and move on with her own life, it held too many sad memories that she wanted to get away from. She was happy to have met such a great group of people because of Natsu; they had really become her new family, always loving her and keeping her busy. She wouldn't trade it for anything else.

Lucy was done with classes for the week and that meant that she had Friday and the weekend to kick back and relax, do some writing, and hang out with Natsu, of course. She was sure that he'd already be at her apartment, probably lounging in her living room and eating her food. It was just part of their weekly rituals. She reached her apartment in no time and, sure enough, there Natsu was, food strewn about her living room floor, and his cat, Happy, curled up asleep on her couch.

"You know, you could have a little curtesy and not make such a gigantic mess for me." Lucy pointed out, setting her belongings on her kitchen table, Natsu grinning up at her in greeting. "I'm not going to vacuum the rug this time, you can take your lazy butt and do it yourself."

"Aw, Luce, it's not that big of a mess!" Natsu whined and Lucy stared at him authoritatively, her arms crossed over her chest. "Fine…" He pouted but actually did drag the vacuum out from her closet and cleaned up the bits of crushed chips and cookie crumbs. The noise of the vacuum woke Happy and he jumped away from the couch and wove between Lucy's legs in greeting.

"Hello, baby," Lucy cooed, picking him up and cuddling his purring face near her own. "How are you?"

"Traitor…" Natsu muttered, eyeing Happy in Lucy's arms. "He doesn't even do anything useful to help me and he gets a hug? What a rip."

"Sorry, was he eating the chips and making a mess?" Lucy questioned, her tone lilting. "No, he wasn't. If you wanted a hug too, then you shouldn't make such a mess in my apartment." Natsu pouted as he shoved the vacuum back in the closet, and flopped down on her couch. Lucy rolled her eyes good naturedly and placed Happy back on the floor, and joined Natsu in the living room, flipping on her television. "How were classes?"

"Boring." Natsu sighed, his head resting on the back of the couch, rolling it to one side to look at her. "You?"

"They were fine. Ready for graduation?"

"Eh," Natsu shrugged and Lucy tutted in disapproval. "I'll be fine."

"Natsu, you should be putting more care in the end of the semester!" Lucy lectured and Natsu grinned at her.

"Don't freak out, ya weirdo. I'm doin' fine in my classes, you know that." He assured her and Lucy relaxed a bit, she knew Natsu was. He was smart when he wanted to pay attention and was a physics major with a pyrotechnics minor; what could she say, he liked to set things on fire, he might as well do it on purpose and know the how's and why's they happened. "How'd your girl's night go?" He asked, a bit of a sneer in his voice. He always got mopey when Lucy didn't invite him to do things, and he had felt put off not being able to come with her to Erza's.

"Don't say it like that," Lucy rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit. "It was good. You don't need to be so upset by not being invited, you wouldn't have enjoyed it anyway."

"Why's that?" Natsu questioned and then a look of horror spread across his face, "Did Erza try to teach you things? She's a freakin' scary teacher!" Lucy snorted out a laugh at the dismay on Natsu's face. He had told her that when they were younger and in Makarov's foster home, Erza had taught him how to write and spell because he had never actually been in a proper school. He had been scared by that time period for life, apparently, and developed a healthy fear of any time Erza wanted to 'teach him a lesson'.

"No, nothing like that." Lucy laughed and then suddenly felt awkward talking about the girls' conversation. "Uh, they were actually just talking about, uh, relationships and stuff. Nothing really interesting."

"Why are girls so obsessed with that stuff?" Natsu wondered curiously and Lucy shrugged.

"I guess they're just curious about their friends, I mean, it's nice to know what's going on in their lives." Lucy supposed. "I like romance though, it's always nice to read about a good story about lovers." Lucy clasped her hands to her chest, her mind going dreamy thinking about her favorite love story between the characters Haru and Elie.

"Lovers?" Natsu cocked a brow at her and Lucy felt her face heat up.

"Uh, yeah." She laughed lightly. "A-anyway, Levy was telling us about her new boyfriend, Gajeel."

"What?! No way! That guy is a prick!" Natsu leapt up, his fists clenched, scaring Happy who had been sleeping underneath her coffee table.

"What?"

"He's been hangin' around with us, Gray is more friends with him than me because that guy is a punk." Natsu folded his arms in defiance and Lucy bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"A punk, you say?" Lucy was on the verge of a fit of laughter, but Natsu was completely serious.

"Yeah, he's a real asshole! Always got a smug look on his face, tch…" Natsu flopped back down on the couch and Lucy let out a little giggle.

"Well, someone is just so heated on the matter." Lucy snickered and Natsu shot her a scowl. "Why don't you go tell Levy she's forbidden to date him."

"I can't do that…" Natsu muttered back as if Lucy had been serious. "I can't tell someone who they can and can't like."

"Sure, sure…" Lucy patted Natsu's cheek affectionately and got up to make a snack for them. "You know…" Lucy began, Natsu's gaze flicking to her in the kitchen, and Lucy suddenly felt self-conscious about what she was about to say. "They seem to think…"

"Think what?" Natsu prompted her; the words seeming to stick in her throat.

"U-um, they think that you and I will get married one day, isn't that silly?" She finished her words quickly, adding in a small laugh for good measure. Natsu seemed to sit there for an eternity, not saying a word, and Lucy couldn't bring herself to look at him. After what seemed like ages, he finally spoke, just as Lucy was finishing making a couple sandwiches for them.

"Huh." Was all Natsu said and Lucy nearly threw the sandwich at him. She was nearly incredulous; how could that be all that he could say about the matter. She rigidly walked back into her living room and handed him a plate.

"P-pretty silly, huh?" Lucy reiterated and Natsu shrugged. Lucy wasn't sure whether or not he just wasn't getting it or didn't care, but it infuriated her for some reason. "Y'know, since we're best friends and all." He took a large bite of his sandwich, flipping through the channels on the television.

"Eh," Was all Natsu managed to get out between the food in his mouth. Lucy was virtually gawking at him with her mouth open; he was being so nonchalant about the whole topic. Lucy decided to drop it; she guessed it was just not a conversation that Natsu was invested in.

The semester quickly came to a close and graduation came and went without a hitch. Lucy couldn't believe that everything had ended as quickly as it had begun. It was bittersweet, but Lucy knew that she still had her friends. None of them were going far, that had mostly decided to stay around Magnolia; it was where they grew up and they didn't want to move far from Makarov anyway. Lucy was cherishing the days she had with everyone before she started her job at Sorcerer's Weekly. Makarov had managed to get her in as Jason's assistant, and while Lucy was eager to start, she knew she's had less time to spend with everyone. So, that's how Lucy found herself at Natsu's apartment, helping him pack up his belongings. He was still in on campus housing, and needed to move out of his apartment by the end of the month. He was in search for a new place, but he hadn't settled on anything.

Ever since she had told him about the conversation that she and the girls had had, and what Levy had said, she felt like there was a strain in their relationship. Of course, she was figuring that it was her overactive mind, but they hadn't really spoken about it since. Lucy figured that it just wasn't important to Natsu, he had a knack of being a pretty straightforward guy, so if it had phased him, she was sure he would have said something about it by then. One of the things that had been bothering Lucy was that she was actually feeling sad a lot of the time after their conversation. She couldn't quite figure out why at first, but every time she recollected back to their conversation, she felt a pang of frustration at the fact that Natsu had pretty much brushed off what she was telling him. She thought that it was just due to the fact that Natsu had been fairly flippant about what she was telling him, but then she realized that there was something deeper to it. She had, to her dismay, been feeling sad because Natsu didn't seem to even put thought into them being together. Of course, Lucy hadn't put much thought into it either, but it was like that conversation had opened a whole new door in her that she hadn't known existed. There were feelings that were bubbling up inside her and she couldn't ignore them or push them away. The more she thought about it, the more she realized just how close she and Natsu were, and how couple-y they acted. The tons of brick-like realization kept crashing down on her; she never had dated anyone really throughout college, let alone ever, and she had always spent all of her time with Natsu. The same went for Natsu, he never dated a girl or even talked about girls, to her knowledge. It had always been her and Natsu, everyone else around them seemed to be expanding their horizons, even dating each other. Lucy had been fine with spending all of her time with him, but maybe that was because, deep down, she felt that they were something more than just best friends. Maybe, the fact that she was saddened by their conversation, was all the proof she needed for that theory to be correct.

"Oi, Lucy!" Natsu's raspy voice broke Lucy from her thoughts, "C'mere, can ya help me!" Lucy wandered over to where Natsu's bedroom was and poked her head inside. His room was strewn with belongings and Lucy had to pick her way through to get where he was. She sat down on his bed, peering over the edge to see what he was doing while seated on the carpeted floor.

"What do you need?" Lucy asked curiously, and he looked up at her, a cheeky grin on his face. "Since you're so good at organizing stuff, can you help me separate my things and label them in boxes?" Lucy rolled her eyes a scoffed.

"So, you want me to do everything?" Lucy pointed out and Natsu's brows shot up.

"No! Not everything, I'm doing the heavy lifting." Natsu stood and flexed his arms, "Better be careful, these guns are loaded." Lucy snorted in laughter and sprawled out on Natsu's bed.

"You're such an idiot."

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot. Aren't you proud?" And just like that, Natsu's words had Lucy's heart hammering in her chest. It was like everything that he had been saying had a double meaning in Lucy's brain. What did he mean that he was hers? The way he said it made Lucy's heart beat like crazy and she felt her cheeks burn. "Earthland to Lucy?"

"Huh?"

"Are you gonna help me or not?" He asked, standing with his hands on his hips. Lucy couldn't help but agree, his arms were nicely toned. Natsu was strong and in shape, that was something that Lucy never denied. He was attractive, without a doubt, but Lucy had always been drawn to his personality and friendship before she had ever put thought into that. Now her brain was a jumbled mess of hormonal thoughts that could put a teenager's brain to shame. "Oh my god, Luce!" He snapped his fingers in front of her and she sat up, an apologetic smile on her face.

"Yeah, sorry." She slipped down onto the floor where he had been and dragged over an empty box to fill. Most of what she was going through were his clothes; she didn't mind it, she folded all of his shirts into a pile, and separated the rest of his clothing, blushing a bit when it came to his boxers. She had memories from some of the clothing; she had worn numerous amounts of his shirts throughout the years, a smile spreading across her face as she packed them away. Lucy was hoping that he didn't find an apartment that was too far from her, she didn't want to lose what they had due to distance.

When she had finished up with his clothing, she pulled a box out from his closet, thinking it was an empty one Natsu had left for her. However, it was heavy and when she opened it, she nearly gasped at what she found. There were pictures of the two of them, and their other friends, from throughout the years. Lucy flipped through them, recalling each memory that they captured with fondness. She lightly touched a picture from Halloween two years prior; she had decided it would be a good idea to dress as a maid, Lucy still didn't know why she wanted to pick that as her Halloween costume, and she didn't know where that costume had gone after that night.

"I still have it, you know." Natsu's deep voice startled Lucy from behind her, and she quickly shoved the pictures back in the box.

"I-I'm sorry!" She squeaked and he knelt down beside her, opening the box back up.

"Don't be," He smiled softly, digging through the contents of the box and miraculously pulling out a wrinkled, but very clearly her, maid costume.

"W-why do you have that?!" Lucy asked, baffled, and Natsu grinned sheepishly.

"You got really drunk, remember?"

"I remember everything before Cana nearly gave me alcohol poisoning." She clarified and Natsu snorted.

"Well, I was taking you back to your apartment, but you insisted on going back to my place." Natsu explained, the tips of his ears red in what looked like embarrassment. Lucy felt like she was about to be horribly embarrassed of herself, a knot in her stomach forming. "So, I took you back here and you wanted me to change your clothes."

"Oh my god…" Lucy groaned out in horrification. "Why didn't you tell me?" Natsu ignored her question and continued on with the story.

"So, I put one of my shirts on you and kinda managed to get you out of the costume…" Natsu revealed awkwardly and Lucy felt like she was going to combust. "I didn't see anything, if you're worried. Not that your daily outfits don't give me a good idea of what I missed…" He teased, a sheepish grin on his face. Lucy gave him a mortified glare and he flicked his attention back to the box. "There's a lot of stuff in here…"

"Like what?" Lucy asked quietly as he began pulling things out.

"Like this," Natsu held out a faded movie ticket stub from three years before. "This was from the first movie you and I went to go see together. Remember? It was that really awful zombie movie, Night of the Living MEEEEN." He chuckled at the name and Lucy nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah, I remember." Natsu pulled out a handful more of ticket stubs, all movies that they had seen together. He kept pulling out things from the box and Lucy's heart squeezed.

"These are notes we passed back and forth when we had that English class together like Freshman year and you were trying to help me," He laughed at the thought and Lucy looked at it in amazement. He had every little knick-knack that she had given him for holidays; even a medical wrist band from when she broke her arm one year.

"Th-this is…" Lucy stammered, completely enamored with how thoughtful Natsu was. It was completely shocking to her that he had been that sentimental over the years. Lucy placed a wide-eyed glance at Natsu and he looked back, his face difficult for her to read. "This is really something else… You're a really great friend, Natsu. Better than…" Lucy trailed off and Natsu swallowed almost uncomfortably. Suddenly, to Lucy's utter shock, Natsu was kissing her. She almost didn't understand what was happening at first and before she knew it, it was over. Her eyes were bulging out of her head, she was sure, and Natsu looked at her sort of uncomfortably, but more so determined.

"Wh-what...?"

"We're not just friends and you know it, Luce." He whispered to her in a low, raspy voice. His face was mere inches from hers and Lucy felt like her heart was about to leap right out of her. He stared at her hard, a small crease in his brow as Lucy soaked in what had just happened.

"O-okay-" His lips were back on her in a flash and this time Lucy had time to respond. She kissed him back, leaning forward to get closer to him. He surprised her by hoisting her up and leaning her back on his bed, never breaking the kiss. It was fervent and needy, almost as if to pack in all the years of built up feelings in one kiss.

"Yo!" Gray's voice called from the hall and before they had time to break apart, he was in the doorway. "I was wonderin' if you guys needed any- Oh my god, never mind." He blanched and backed away from Natsu's bedroom.

"Gray!" Lucy gasped out in horror and Gray's feet continued to retreat.

"Nope, nope, I was never here." And with that, they heard the front door close. Lucy groaned and Natsu broke out into a laugh, shocking Lucy.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, his fingers brushing away stray hairs from Lucy's face. Lucy was sure that her face was bright red, but she brought a hand up to caress Natsu's cheek momentarily.

"Why?" She asked and the question seemed to take Natsu off guard.

"You know why." He answered after a few moments of contemplation. Lucy had been right to be feeling like there was tension between them, but she thought it had only been one sided.

"I… Didn't think you felt that way."

"I didn't know I did until you told me what Levy said." Natsu replied, sitting on the bed next to her.

"Me too, actually." Lucy admitted. She hadn't put much thought into them ever being romantically involved until that moment, until the nagging emotions wouldn't go away.

"We're pretty stupid, huh?" Natsu murmured and Lucy let out a giggle.

"Apparently everyone else could see it, but I guess we were already doing everything else like a couple." Lucy chuckled. "I guess we are pretty stupid. The feelings were always there though, weren't they?"

"That's why we aren't just friends, Luce." He smiled down at her. "I don't know if we ever were. I mean, we are best friends, without a doubt, but…"

"It's kind of like we just… Became part of each other's lives. Like it was meant to be." Lucy said softly and Natsu chuckled.

"What a fairy tale thing to say. It's right up your alley." Natsu snickered poking fun at Lucy's love of romance and happy endings.

"Yeah," She laughed and sat up, kissing his cheek. "Like a fairy tale."