Author's Note: Another NaLu piece for my dear buddy phantombones from tumbles :) She wanted to see my take on high school NaLu and here's this thing. There might be a part two to this! But I'm marking it as complete because I'm not sure when I'll find the time to write it, but I do have a few more scenes in mind :) Regardless, this can stand on its own anyway. Hope you like it!

Eight Days a Week

Summary: Eight days a week is not enough to show I care. [NaLu]

She almost made it too easy.

Whether Lucy would admit it or not, she was not a morning person. She always came into class half awake, having barely slept the night before. While Natsu would be texting her at three in the morning for homework help, Lucy would be doing something like reading for fun, which always confused him, but she actually seemed to enjoy doing it.

Her few hours of sleep often left her easily irritable, and Natsu found himself quite eager to take advantage of that.

"Hey Luce," he called, lightly poking her back with the end of his pencil.

She was hunched over her desk, her eyes closed with her face buried in her folded arms.

"Lucy." Poke. "Luce." Poke poke. "Luuuce—"

"Mmh," she mumbled, moving her arm backwards and swatting the pencil from her back. She turned her face to the side and glanced back at him, loose blonde strands falling over her pretty brown eyes. "Not now, Natsu."

He merely stared back at her, ignoring the way her half-lidded stare did weird things to his heart.

"But Luce," he replied, poking her once more. "I have to tell you something."

"Later," she yawned, nestling into her arms once more.

"But it's important!"

"Shh."

"Luuuce—" Kick, "Ow!"

"Quit poking me!"

"That hurt!"

"Can't you just let me close my eyes?"

"But I need to tell you something!"

"Wait until after class!"

Natsu whined, sitting back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine," he grumbled. Lowering his gaze, his face warmed slightly before he looked away. "You look kinda good in pink, s'all."

Lucy suddenly flinched, jerking around and tugging the back of her blouse down. "You—You were looking at my panties?!"

Natsu frowned back at her despite the faint blush on his cheeks. "I told you I had to tell ya something."

Smack!

"Ow!"

"Pervert!"

Idle chatter filled the halls as students shuffled between classes, huddled in small masses.

Lucy stood with Levy, Erza, Mira and Juvia, placing her books in her locker before a rush of footsteps and loud yell caught her attention.

"Lucy!"

The girl turned, only for her eyes to widen when Natsu practically pounced on her, crushing her to him in a tight hug.

"Eep—!"

She felt her feet leave the ground for a moment before stumbling back from his sudden weight. A deep blush painted her cheeks, ignoring the snickers of Levy behind her while Natsu seemed to pull her even closer.

"N-Natsu—what—"

"It's been so long, Lucy!" he shouted, lifting her off the floor and swinging her side to side.

She winced under his tight grasp, fighting the blush threatening to spread to her ears and neck as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "It's—only been one period—"

He suddenly set her down, and she gasped for air when he released her from his choking hug. "Oh! You're right. Never mind! See ya!"

"E-Eh?!" she stammered, watching him flash a toothy grin before turning on his heel and running off to Gray and the others. "Wait a minute! Why did you—"

"Um, Lu-chan—"

Lucy turned to Levy, tilting her head when the smaller girl stared pointedly to her chest.

"Your—um—"

She glanced down, only to shriek at her unhooked bra pressing loosely against her blouse.

"KYAA!"

Covering her chest and flushing red, she whipped her face towards Natsu. His obnoxious laugh echoed down the hallway as he fist bumped Gray, turning to Lucy with a cheeky grin and teasing salute.

"NATSU!"

Exhaling an aggravated sigh, Natsu curled his fingers in his hair, slouched over the library table while Lucy read quietly beside him.

"Did you finish the problem set?" Lucy asked quietly, peeking to his blank graph paper before glancing at him.

Natsu set his face flat against the open math book, grumbling under his breath. "This is impossible," he whined, setting his pencil down and ruffling his hair.

"Finish, Natsu," the girl ordered, placing the pencil back in his hand. "I'm not going to let you fail Algebra 2. You have to pass it to graduate."

"But why are there letters? As if numbers weren't confusing enough!"

"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for," she replied, giving a soft smile as she took his hand and guided it back to the paper. "Now finish. You only need to do seven for homework."

Natsu blinked, glancing to the warmth of her hand against his. She gave him a reassuring squeeze, but when his eyes met hers, her face turned bright pink, as though realizing her hand was lingering longer than necessarily. Hastily removing it, she fumbled her hand in her lap before retrieving her book and forcing her attention to it once more.

Natsu frowned, quiet for a moment before glancing back to the problem and scratching his hair. All the numbers and letters hardly made sense, but he vaguely recalled Lucy teaching him how to do it. She smelled really nice that day too, like fresh flowers and a warm spring day… wait, what had she taught him again?

Biting the end of his pencil, he mumbled under his breath before scribbling down answers. He eventually finished, and when he announced it, Lucy flashed a nervous smile at him. Why she looked so nervous was beyond him, but there were always weird girl things he'd never understand. Taking his paper from him, she lay it before her, flipping to the answers at the end of the book before comparing them with his.

Her eyes flickered back and forth, intent and astute and so studious. Natsu idly watched her, leaning his cheek into his palm and tilting his head. The sun rays streaming from the library window outlined her in a pretty golden glow, making her hair brighter and skin fairer.

"Oh my god," she said quietly, and her eyes grew wider the more answers she read. "Natsu—these are—"

"I told you I don't get it," he mumbled quietly, already anticipating her scolds.

She quickly shook her head, placing an assuring hand on his shoulder. "No, that's not—these are all right!" She beamed at him, a smile so bright it stunned him for a moment. "You did it!" she squealed, her pretty brown eyes sparkling with delight. "I'm so proud of you! See, I told you—"

He wasn't sure what made him do it. Maybe it was because she was just so happy, gleaming with excitement. Maybe it was her radiant smile, or her giddy tone, or the fact that all of this was reserved just for him and only him.

Either way, he figured it had to be one of the above that made him lean forward and kiss her.

He didn't notice her muffled gasp against his mouth, too preoccupied with how soft and warm her lips were. His hand came up and cradled her cheek, tilting her head so he could kiss her harder. He wasn't aware of her response until her fingers curled in the front of his shirt, clutching tight while a soft sound escaped her lips. He liked that sound, made him want to get her to make it again, and when he nipped her lip before swiping it with his tongue, he found he was able to get the same sound, only louder—and it thrilled him.

She was the one to pull back, making him realize he had left her breathless as she took slow, shaky breaths. Her lips were a little flushed, matching her rosy pink cheeks, and the daze in her eyes—whoa. Had she always been this pretty?

He swallowed, steadily meeting her unfocused eyes.

But his gaze fell to her lips instead.

"I…" he began, making a poor attempt to explain himself.

She didn't seem to care.

"You dummy," she whispered, and he cringed, expecting a smack. But then her hands grasped his scarf, pulling him towards her as their lips met once more. "You silly, silly dummy."

She kissed him several times more, settling in his lap when he pulled her towards him. As her hands ran through his hair and her lips slanted over his, Natsu quickly learned that free periods were definitely his favorite time of the day.