Author's Note/Disclaimer: This fic is based off of a Not Always Right post titled Drunk On Love. I'm not sure if this idea has been done a lot before, but I found the little exchange hilarious and adorable and had to base a one-shot off of it. This is my first fanfic, so any constructive criticism is welcome. I also apologize if they seem too OOC. The characters in this fanfiction belong to Hiro Mashima.

*Before you read*: This chapter is markedly the same as the original. The only difference is that my past self did not make sure all of the first chapter existed before posting. So, if you're new, enjoy! If you saw this update and are wondering what changed, scroll towards the end. Happy reading!

Lucy Heartfilia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Just to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she closed her eyes and quickly pinched her forearm. When she opened them, nothing had changed, meaning this was reality. The guild hall was a wreck, which was normal. Everyone was either drinking or picking themselves up after the daily all-out guild brawl, which was also normal. But that wasn't why she stopped short in the entrance to the guild.

Her partner, Natsu Dragneel, was drunk. Stupid drunk. He was leaning precariously against his hand, grinning widely at nothing, half-way through what was going to be his last mug of fire whiskey (if she had anything to say about it). Lucy looked around the guild hall, wondering who it was that allowed him full access to the alcohol, eyes narrowing on a particular white-haired barmaid and blue Exceed separately. They seemed the most likely suspects, what with Mira's matchmaking schemes and Happy's penchant for playing pranks on her and making her life even more difficult.

Lucy sighed and made her way to the fire mage, fully intent on taking the mug away from him and cutting him off. She marched up to his table, arms crossed in an attempt to put herself in charge. Natsu certainly was not in good condition to be, that was for sure. He lifted his head and sniffed lightly before turning towards her and smiling wider.

"Hey, Luce," he slurred, slinging one tanned arm around her waist and putting her off balance. It certainly was not the cause of the pink blush across her face. "You missed one helluva fight. I beat the shit out of Ice Princess." His grin turned devilish at that. Lucy put her head in her hand, but jumped when she heard Gray shout from across the guild hall.

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH, ASH FOR BRAINS! I WON THAT DAMN FIGHT AND YOU KNOW IT!" A half-naked Gray stood unsteadily on his feet, his face red with alcohol consumption. He nearly fell over before Juvia appeared, as she tended to do, and held him up. He hastily turned to her, gripping her shoulders tightly. "You saw me, right, Juvia? I totally beat that punk's ass, right?" Juvia couldn't very much answer him as she was too busy sighing in pleasure that her shirtless, beloved Gray-sama had embraced her.

"You wanna go at it again, ya icy bastard?" Natsu slurred, getting to his feet. Well, Lucy had to help him, seeing as he couldn't stand steadily on his own. It was also a measure to hold him back as neither he nor Gray were in a condition to fight.

Natsu squirmed in her hold a bit, but surprisingly decided to settle back in his chair instead, bringing Lucy with him. She felt a blush creeping up her neck that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she was sitting in his lap with his arms around her waist. It also had nothing to do with the fact that he was currently nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, making himself comfortable. Some guild members stared in shock, while others (like Cana) laughed uproariously at their position. Lucy swore she saw some of them exchanging jewel amongst each other.

Lucy tried to keep her voice from shaking when she asked. "Natsu?" He hummed into her skin, causing shocks of electricity to shiver up her spine. Well, that didn't help at all. Ignoring the heat of her cheeks, she pressed on further. "Are you drunk?" She felt him laugh, a rumble against her back that did nothing to ease the flush of her face.

"Silly Luce," he giggled. Lucy couldn't believe it: Natsu giggled. Like a child. "I'm only a little drunk, not drunk drunk, ya know?" Lucy sighed again. Of course he wasn't going to admit he was totally hammered.

"Hey, ya damn pyro! I ain't finished with you yet!" Now lacking his pants, Gray began advancing on them with Juvia wrapped around his middle, intent on starting another fight with Natsu. Well, Lucy wasn't about to let that happen. She certainly didn't want to get caught up in another one of their stupid fights. She had to get out of the guild. She turned her head to see that Natsu was still very interested in her neck, skimming his nose across her skin. Her face heated, coming to the conclusion that, if she was leaving, Natsu was more than likely coming with her.

"Hey, Natsu," she poked one of his arms, gaining his attention in the form of another hum. "You want to go back to my place?" She grimaced at her own choice of words, wishing she could have asked the question differently. But Gray wasn't exactly giving her enough time as he kept staggering closer, Juvia's weight halting his progress ever so slightly.

Natsu, on the other hand, seemed ecstatic she had asked and nodded eagerly. Lucy sighed in relief, removing herself from his lap. However, when she tried prying his arms loose from her waist, he pouted at her, making her throw her hands up in frustration. And so, they walked out of the guild. Well, walked is a general term: he stumbled and leaned into her, while she did her best not to fall over from his weight.

She couldn't reach her apartment soon enough. She could practically hear her bath calling her name. But there was a slight problem: Natsu was still wrapped around her waist and didn't seem to intend on letting go.

"Natsu," Lucy exhaled tiredly, "I need to take a bath. Why don't you go lay down? I'll be back out in a bit." She felt his arms slowly unwind from her midsection, still reluctant to let her go.

"Okay, Luce," he mumbled drunkenly, heading in the direction of her bed. She heaved a sigh of exasperation, berating herself for not specifying her couch as where he should lay down. A smile crept onto her face anyway. She supposed it was routine for him to sleep in her bed now. And it really wasn't a problem for her, since he made such a lovely space heater. Or, she thought, face quickly reddening, maybe she didn't mind because she could curl into him like she wanted under the guise of deep sleep, no questions asked.

Shaking her head, she started toward the bathroom, intent on soaking until he passed out. That is, until Natsu followed her into her tiny bathroom, too close for her comfort. He gave her a tipsy smile before wrapping his arms around her shoulders and replacing his nose in her neck. She stammered as she attempted to push him off of her.

"N-Natsu, get off! I need to bathe," she reasoned, her face reddening under his attention.

"But Luuucyyy," he whined, his lips brushing her neck, "You smell soooo gooood." He continued nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck to prove his point. Lucy's face began to rival his hair as she kept attempting to push him off. He kept speaking. "I'm soooo lucky Lucy smells soooo gooood. Lucky Lucy, lucky Lucy, lucky Lucy." He trailed off, giggling like a child again before sighing and resting his face in one spot on her neck.

Lucy wasn't sure she could take any more of this. "N-N-Natsu, bed. Now. I need a bath and you need to go lay down." He seemed to ignore her and settled for pushing her back against the bathroom wall. Now she was trapped and he was obviously not too keen on letting her go.

"But Lucy smells good," he pouted, clutching onto her tighter. He backed up a bit so he could see her better and she felt him stagger backwards. She pulled a bit to keep from falling on him. "Jus' forget your bath. I'm sleepy and I want you with me." He said it with the seriousness and demeanor of a bratty five-year-old, but that didn't stop her from thinking very non-"just friendly" thoughts about her partner. Did he have to say things like that so casually all the time?

She felt steam emanating from her head as she gave one final push, effectively knocking him off of her. "J-jus-just wait in the bed, please. I won't take long, I promise." Natsu stumbled back a bit before giving her a look and sulking back to her bed. As soon as he left the doorframe, she shut the door, breathing heavily as she turned the lock. Who knew when the drunken idiot would pop in after deciding she was taking too long for his liking? It seemed soaking in the tub until he was peacefully asleep was no longer an option. She gazed longingly at her bath salts, but opted for a quick shower instead.

After changing into her standard t-shirt and cotton shorts, she unlocked the bathroom door and strolled into her room, drying her hair idly with a towel. Placing it on the back of her desk chair, she saw Natsu grumpily clutching her pillow, looking anywhere but at her. She rolled her eyes and smiled gently, prepared for the childish outburst she knew was coming.

"You took too long," he grouched, his words muffled by the pillow. Of course that would be the first thing he said. Still turned away from her, he pointed petulantly to the spot next to him on the bed, indicating she sit there. She hesitated until he finally looked up and pinned her with those dark eyes. Well, that look certainly wasn't fair. The blonde shook her head, turning to head towards her couch, making him release her pillow to pull her into him. She let out a yelp before landing on top of him and releasing a breath of air. He seemed pleased, however, now that she was back in his arms and his face was back in her neck, the largest source of her scent.

"Y'know, Luce," he slurred, pausing to hiccup, "Ya always smell so nice, especially when you don't put on that, whatchacallit, perfume stuff." He smiled into her throat, pleased that he had gotten out a full sentence without screwing it up.

Meanwhile, poor Lucy was struggling to find a comfortable position as she had literally just been thrown onto his lap without any sort of warning. Eventually, she gave up and settled for placing her legs over one side of his legs and angling herself as far away as she could manage from his invasive nuzzling. Her entire body froze when she felt something cold and slimy touch her neck not long after. Jumping off of his lap, she shrieked and smacked Natsu across the face, scrubbing her neck vigorously.

"NATSU, WHAT THE HELL?" Her face broke the redness scale while her scream broke the sound barrier. To be fair, a pink-haired drunk just licked her neck. Said drunk was upset with the slap and lack of contact, reaching for Lucy as she crab-walked away, one hand still on her violated neck. Really, the girl couldn't get a break.

"I wus jus' wond'rin' if Lucy tasted as good as she smelled. And you do, so get back here." The childish way he ordered her did nothing to change how the words fell on her ears. It was like something out of the torrid novels she secretly loved to read, except the dashing male opposite her blushing heroine was a drunken five-year-old in her best friend's body. Mavis, this wasn't fair.

Lucy wasn't sure how long she stayed frozen, but Natsu soon hovered over her, his eyes glazing over as if he were in a trance. "Why you gotta be so difficult?" He frowned down at her, brows furrowing as if he were trying to figure out the answer to his own question. Lucy tried backing further away, but ended up against the side of her couch, Natsu caging her in with his arms on either side. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she thought ruefully.

"Now," Natsu grinned boyishly and put a finger up in her face, swaying slightly as he was off balance, "you can't move." He inched his face closer to Lucy's neck, wrapping his arms around her to make sure she didn't try to run again. Lucy flinched as she felt his nose skim her throat, fully expecting his tongue to be there instead. He hummed a bit, then began kissing his way up and down her throat, as if this sort of thing were completely normal.

Squirming as much as she could, Lucy decided this most definitely was not normal and should be stopped immediately before it continued. Or, before she took advantage of his inebriated state and followed his lead, her thoughts supplied, giving her a wonderful mental image that was almost too easy to imitate given her current predicament. Shaking her head to rid herself of the image, she pushed against the dragonslayer's chest, still determined to be the adult in this situation. He simply ignored her, opting to get more adventurous and kiss his way to her jawline, dangerously close to her mouth.

"Natsu," she breathed shakily, making him lift his head and pause. He slowly pulled back and stared quizzically at her, tilting his head to one side.

"Do you love me, Lucy?" His sudden question caused her to make eye contact, more confused than when she first saw him drunk not too long ago.

She smiled kindly, bringing one of her hands to his cheek. He leaned into her hand, pressing his nose into her wrist, still staring at her intently. "Of course, I love you, Natsu. You are my best friend. Don't you remember what I said? I've always believed in you, ever since I joined the guild." She didn't need to tell him that her feelings had evolved from much more than friendship. As if Natsu, the almighty Salamander, harbored the same feelings for her. Yeah, her thoughts broke in again, slightly sarcastic, because he went around kissing and licking the other girls in the guild repeatedly because they smelled good.

He shook his head against her hand and brought his forehead to hers, not breaking eye contact. "Tha's not what I mean. Do you love me? The way Alzack and Bisca love each other? The way I love you?" Lucy was speechless. Did-did Natsu just-?

She didn't have time to respond as Natsu, in his drunken state, had gotten impatient. He closed the distance, bringing his lips to hers eagerly. However, it was more of him pressing against her mouth with his own as she stared at him in shock, still processing the information.

He pulled back slowly, eyes closed, before he dropped to her shoulder and began to snore. It took the stellar spirit mage a full ten seconds before she screamed, "Don't kiss me, then fall asleep, you idiot!" Red-faced with embarrassment and anger, she looked down at him on her shoulder, ready to tear him a new one. However, when she saw him, her face softened into a smile.

He was turned towards her neck, the slightest hint of a grin on his face. She brought her arms around him, one hand landing in his hair and stroking the pink muttered and sighed under her ministrations, that slight grin giggled to herself, then whispered, "Yes, Natsu. I do love you. I'll tell you again when you're sober and as much as you want after that." And so the two mages slept on Lucy's floor that night, tangled in each other with smiles on their faces. It was about time, too.