Natsu was tangled in the sheets of Lucy's queen sized bed. The blonde herself was comfortably lying on top of him, in a rather compromising position. Currently, Lucy's collarbone was the main focus of Natsu's attention; his lips were attached to her skin there, sucking and nibbling roughly, earning a long string of sounds from Lucy.

A few weeks had passed since Natsu ditched Lisanna at the dance. Even though it was her idea for him to leave, he'd still felt really bad about it. Thankfully, Lisanna hadn't been mad at him at all. She told him she had a feeling something like that would end up happening, and even confessed that she was surprised that he'd asked her to the ball at all. She said she was sure he would ask Lucy. Thinking back, he wished he had.

Lying in Lucy's bed now with the girl firmly pressed against him, Natsu smirked against her skin, remembering the day they first met. More than half of their freshman year had been over when Lucy transferred to his high school. Everyone was talking about the new girl, since the small school hardly got any new students. Natsu remembered the dreaded feeling of being late for class and running down the hallway. He also remembered the dreaded feeling of clashing into another person.

As he apologized and gathered his books, Natsu had hear Lucy sniffling. When he caught sight of her sad face, a feeling came over him that he'd never felt before. Still to this day, he didn't really know quite what is was. All he knew in that moment, crouched on the floor of his high school hall way two years ago, was that he would do anything to make Lucy happy again.

At first, Lucy had acted annoyed with Natsu's persistent efforts to become close with her. She would blush and ignore him when he would obnoxiously call out her name in the hallways, and would groan and tell him to leave her alone when he'd offer to walk her home. Still, Natsu didn't give up, and soon enough, Lucy warmed up to him.

They really got close once he started crashing at her place, though. He'd made up some excuse about how he lived far from school and hated the commute, but the truth was, Natsu absolutely loved walking from his small home out by the woods into the city. It gave him a lot of time to think and enjoy the beauty around him. But when Lucy confided in him about how her dad treated her, basically pretending she didn't exist and making her feel worthless, Natsu couldn't stand the thought of her being alone in her huge house. So he spent all day with her in school, and walked her home to spend the rest of the day with her as well.

Thinking about it all now, Natsu was surprised he hadn't realized he was in love with his best friend sooner. Lucy had always been his safe haven, his happy place, the only person he never had to try for. Pulling away, Natsu smiled up at the flushed, out of breath girl above him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lucy asked, smiling shyly. She was well aware that she hadn't been exactly quiet while the boy worked at her skin, but she couldn't help it. Now that the overwhelming feeling of pleasure was gone, Lucy suddenly felt embarrassed about it all.

"I can't smile at you?" Natsu asked, his smile growing with his words. Lucy looked so cute like this. The girl was always attractive to him, but his absolute favorite look on her was the one she was wearing right now; messy hair, flushed cheeks, clothes as disheveled as her breathing. Damn, she looked good.

Squirming, Lucy removed herself from Natsu and readjusted her off the shoulder crop top. She tried to cover the mark on her collarbone the best she could, which caused Natsu to smirk. Standing up, Lucy walked over to where she'd discarded her sandals and slipped them on. "Come on, we'd better get to Fairy Tail before everyone starts to notice we're not there."

Natsu lazily made his way over to Lucy, biting back a chuckle when her eyes widened at his closeness. He tugged at the soft material of her cropped tshirt, pulling the hem as far down as it would go, which was barely halfway down her torso. "Do you own any shirts that go farther than your belly button?" Natsu teased, causing Lucy to frown and slap his hands away.

"Yes, I do actually. You've seen me in them, stupid. Some of them are ones I stole from you," Lucy explained, annoyance clear in her voice. Natsu tried not to laugh. Lucy's sass could be so adorable sometimes.

"You should wear them more often," the pinkette suggested, moving away from Lucy to put his sandals on as well. He never really cared what Lucy wore; he had a kind of "your body your choice" kinda attitude towards the whole thing. Plus, who didn't like to see Lucy in painfully tight miniskirts and low cut crop tops? But that was Natsu's problem. There was no one who didn't want to see that, and guys weren't shy about their staring either. Hell, even Cana would grab Lucy's tits on a daily basis.

If Natsu was being honest, he was starting to lose control of his jealousy. He wanted to punch out every creep that laid eyes on Lucy (including Cana). But he knew he couldn't do that - not because he wasn't capable, because he definitely was, and willing too. What stopped him was Lucy; she would totally think Natsu was a crazy, obsessed maniac if he did anything of the sort. Especially since she herself was completely oblivious to all the people who obviously liked what they saw. Natsu's only option was to ask Lucy to dress differently. He hoped his suggestion would be enough.

On the way to Fairy Tail, Natsu noticed that Lucy was unusually silent. He didn't ask her what was wrong, he just observed. He was normally able to figure out what was bothering his best friend just by looking at her, but today was different. It was as if there was a solid wall between them as they walked the short way to the cafe.

When they entered the familiar, coffee scented shop, Lucy went straight to the front counter. Natsu watched her to with a frown on his face. What was going on with her? She took a seat on one of the stools, and immediately started talking to Mirajane. Natsu wondered what their conversation was about.

"Hey, Natsu!"

"Oh hell, when did you get back in town?" Natsu asked, grinning despite his intended harsh words. He was suddenly giving a rough hug to his childhood father figure, Gildarts.

"Early today, actually. You know, I was expecting to see you and Lisanna together, but damn. You're getting it on with that blondie over there? I taught you well," Gildarts said, a smug smile on his face as he looked towards Lucy. Natsu stilled. Gildarts could be the biggest pervert he knew, and the pinkette was analysing what he'd said, trying to determine if he should be upset or not.

"No kidding. Would ya take a look at that rack she's got on her? I'd make her my woman, too," Laxus joined in, resting an arm on Gildarts' shoulder. At that, Natsu growled.

"What did you just say?" he asked, his voice nothing if not menacing. He quickly got into Laxus' personal space, daring him to take the first swing. Laxus only rolled his eyes.

"Calm down, pyro. I'm not going to make a move on your girl. Now back away before you get your ass kicked and embarrass yourself in front of her."

Get my ass kicked?! Natsu thought angrily. "That's it!" he shouted, his rage taking over as he pulled his fist backwards.

"Alright, alright. That's enough!" Gildarts firmly stated, pushing the two younger boys away from each other. With a frown on his face, Gildarts turned to Natsu. "I suggest you walk away and cool off."

Natsu wasn't an idiot. Laxus, he might be able to take. Gildarts? Not so much. Angrily, the pinkette left the two males and walked to find some other friends to sit with. He was purposely leaving Lucy alone for now, giving her some space. Natsu hoped that after awhile whatever it was between them would be gone.

Sadly, that was not the case. After about an hour or so, Natsu made his way towards the front counter, and noticed that Mira was giving Lucy a worried look. Levy and Wendy were also next to her, their expressions much the same. Natsu decided to handle this the Natsu way, so he smiled and threw an arm around Lucy's shoulder.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Natsu asked, feigning obliviousness. All the girls were silent for a moment before Mira looked at Natsu and said, "Lucy won't eat."

"Huh?" he asked, looking at Lucy in confusion. The girl refused to meet his eyes.

"I'm just not hungry," Lucy explained, shrugging. Natsu didn't believe it for a minute. They hadn't eaten since early that morning when Natsu snuck into her bedroom through her window and asked her to make him breakfast. Something wasn't right.

Shrugging, Natsu gave an "Eh" and looked away from Lucy and towards Mira. They shared a knowing look, and Natsu said, "Could I get an order of the usual, Mira?" Right away, white haired girl got to work, and Natsu pulled Lucy away to their own table, away from everyone else.

"So, have you met Gildarts? He's been away since before you moved here, I want to introduce you guys. The guy's a total jerk, but I love 'em, ya know?" At this point, Natsu was just talking to fill the silence. Lucy was looking down at the wooden tabletop, making random patterns with her fingers. Did I do something? Natsu started to wonder, rethinking everything that had happened between him sneaking into Lucy's room and right now.

"Here you go! One order of loaded cheese fries and a chocolate milkshake!" Mira announced happily, placing the items in front of Natsu. He thanked her before she walked away and then turned his attention back to Lucy. She was staring at the food on the table, and her stomach growled loudly, just like he knew it would.

Truthfully, Natsu had already eaten with Gray and Erza. He wasn't hungry at all. That's why he purposely ordered Lucy's two favorite things - he knew she wouldn't be able to resist. Smiling, he pushed the food over to her, and was answered with a sullen look.

"You're giving me your food?" Lucy asked, hesitantly.

"Nope. I bought you food. I already ate, this is all yours," Natsu explained, half smiling and resting his chin in his hand, elbow leaning on the table. Lucy seemed to sigh in defeat and started to munch away at the fries.

"You set me up. You knew I wouldn't be able to resist the bacon cheese fries."

Natsu openly laughed at Lucy's expression and tone of voice. She was acting like a child who was being forced to eat her vegetables. "So you gonna tell me why you didn't want to eat? Are you feeling constipated or somethin'?" Natsu asked, purposely trying to annoy his friend. Lucy was always more honest when she was mad.

"No! It's nothing like that! Gross!" Lucy frowned in disgust, shoving more fries into her mouth. She angrily grabbed the milkshake and shoved the straw between her lips, taking a few sips while glaring at Natsu. He only shrugged at her.

"So? What is it? Just spit it out!" Natsu growled, dropping both hands onto the table with impatience. He watched while Lucy froze and immediately looked away.

"I...just felt fat today," she spoke softly, a blush coloring her cheeks. Now Natsu was really confused. He looked at Lucy through narrow eyes, and asked her to repeat herself. "I felt fat today so I didn't want to eat! What's so hard to understand!" Lucy almost shouted, crossing her arms and pushing her food away. Suddenly, she seemed disgusted by it.

Natsu quickly shook his head, trying to force himself to comprehend what the heck Lucy was saying. "What? You feel fat today? You're the farthest thing from fat I know, Lucy. What would give you a crazy idea like that?"

"Oh I don't know!" Lucy threw her hands in the air in exasperation, her tone sarcastic. "Maybe the fact that you're always telling me I'm heavy! 'Ugh Lucy! You're too heavy, go on a diet!'" she mocked in a voice that was nothing at all like Natsu's.

"Tch," the boy scoffed, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. He smirked at a fuming Lucy, and leaned forward to say, "You've been on top of me for the better part of these past few weeks and you didn't hear me complaining, did ya? You're not heavy, Luce," Natsu full out grinned now that Lucy's frown was gone, replaced by a wide eyed, embarrassed face. Leaning back comfortably, the pinkette finished with, "I just say that kinda stuff to mess with you."

Lucy once again entertained herself by tracing random patterns on the table. Her cheeks were pink with blush, and she was chewing on her bottom lip. Natsu could tell something was still off, but he waited. If he pushed her any more, she would just clam up. After a few moments, Lucy spoke in a soft voice. "But this morning...When you told me to stop wearing crop tops...I thought it was because you thought I was…" Lucy refused to finish her sentence. Instead, she bit her bottom lip hard and looked away.

"Oh." Lucy thought she was fat all because Natsu had asked her to wear longer shirts? He guessed he could see where she would get that idea, but that was by far not his intention. Now it was Natsu's turn to blush and look away. He was awful at admitting feelings, especially the ones that he was embarrassed by.

Lucy was looking at him curiously now, and Natsu sighed. "The truth is, Lucy, I only asked you that because I get jealous over other guys checkin' you out. You don't notice it but it happens all the time and it seriously pisses me off. I thought that maybe if you dressed differently it would help. It was really stupid of me to say to you. I'm really sorry, Luce. Please don't starve yourself because of me, or for any reason! You're perfect; you've got nothin' to worry about."

After giving him a shocked look, Lucy broke eye contact with Natsu and returned to eating her fries. "I don't know why you're worried about that. It's not like you're my boyfriend or anything." And the tone of Lucy's voice as she spoke the words was what made Natsu feel like he'd shattered. He couldn't tear his eyes off the blonde, but she didn't even notice what she'd done to him. When she finally looked up from her food to see why Natsu hadn't spoken, the boy quickly blinked, clearing his mind.

"You're right. I'm not." Natsu stood, earning a confused look from Lucy. He pulled out his wallet and placed a few bills on the tabletop, just enough to cover Lucy's food. "I'm gonna go. I'll see you later," Natsu mumbled, ignoring Lucy's requests for him to stay. He needed to get away and think about some things on his own.

Natsu let his mind wander while he walked, not paying attention to where he was going. He figured he'd just turn down random streets and back alleyways, and end up wherever he ended up. He cursed to himself when he "ended up" at the Heartfilia mansion. His mind must have led him there without him realizing it; he guessed he subconsciously thought of going to Lucy's any time he was upset. The girl was usually the one he went to when in distress. But now she was the cause of it.

Grumbling, Natsu sat down on the concrete ledge that overlooked the river flowing by Lucy's home. He had to admit it was pretty peaceful out here, and while his feet dangled only centimeters from the water, Natsu tilted his head back to look up at the clear sky.

"It's not like you're my boyfriend or anything."

Lucy had seemed so angry when she said that. But why? Angry because Natsu was jealous when he had no right to be, or angry because he wasn't her boyfriend? Either or could be the reason, but knowing Lucy, Natsu was leaning more towards the latter.

Since the night of the winter ball, Natsu and Lucy had entered into a sort of "friends with benefits" relationship. They'd started to kiss a lot -in between classes, after school, before school, on the way to school…- and started to do other stuff too, like cuddle as they fell asleep, and hold hands while walking the school halls. All of it just felt natural to Natsu, it was something that just happened. He didn't spend much time worrying about what their title was because to him that wasn't important. She was Lucy and he was Natsu, and they were simply Lucy and Natsu.

But deep down, Natsu was starting to realize that to Lucy, it probably did matter. After all, she'd grown up with books as her only source of entertainment. When they first became friends, Lucy confessed that she really didn't have contact with people her own age until she convinced her father to move to Magnolia. So she'd spent her whole life living inside the (really crappy) romance novels she'd grown up reading. And Lucy probably wanted a love life like that. Like the books.

Was Natsu even capable of giving her that? He wasn't really the type of guy to be romantic - hell, he wasn't even the type of guy to feel like this about a girl at all! After losing his father when he was young, he'd learned to keep everyone at a safe distance. But of course Lucy had to be annoying and ruin that for him. Would Lucy even want a boyfriend like Natsu? Should he even bother trying to ask her out, or should he just give up and save their friendship before they went too far?

"Gah! I need a sign!" Natsu yelled up at the open sky, hoping - no, praying - that some type of higher force would hear his plea.

"Natsu?"

"Huh?" the pinkette turned around when he heard a familiar voice. None other than Jude Heartfilia was standing there, on the other side of the street, a sleek, black car waiting for him to get in. Natsu grinned at the old man. "Yo, Mr. Heartfilia!"

"I thought that was you. Say, I'm going on a business trip. You take care of Lucy while I'm gone, you hear?" Mr. Heartfilia instructed him, and Natsu nodded obediently.

"You can count on me, sir!" Natsu beamed, though his heart was full of daggers. He'd have to confront Lucy soon then, but what would he do? Just pretend everything was okay? How long could he keep that up?

"And one more thing, Natsu. I've been meaning to tell you this for some time now; you have my blessing," Mr. Heartfilia announced, opening the back door of the car. He placed his briefcase on the seat while waiting for Natsu's response.

"I have..your blessing?" the boy asked, feeling completely lost. His blessing for what?

"What I mean is, Natsu, whenever you decide to grow a pair and ask my daughter out, I'll be okay with it. Oh, don't give me that face," Lucy's father scolded, rolling his eyes at Natsu's shocked expression. It was obvious the boy hadn't expected this, and Jude could hardly blame him. "I know how you feel about my daughter. You look at her the same way I used to look at her mother. I couldn't think of a better boy for her than you."

Jude Heartfilia meant every word he spoke. Just recently, he and Lucy had gotten in a fight over him trying to arrange a marriage for her. If she married the son of Jude's rival, they could combine businesses, and Jude wouldn't have to stress so much. Lucy, obviously, had rejected the idea, and shouted something that hit Mr. Heartfilia in the core. "Mom would never let you do this!" And she was right. Layla would have been appalled by Jude's actions, and the mere reminder of that made him hang his head in shame. As Jude drove away in his car now, he felt happier, knowing that at least in this small way, he could honor his wife.

Well if that wasn't a sign, I don't know what is, Natsu thought to himself, shaking his head and running his finger through his hair. So this is it. He was going to ask Lucy to be his...girlfriend. He was equally excited and nervous by the thought.

"Hey, was that my dad?"

Natsu looked up to see Lucy approaching him from the same direction Mr. Heartfilia had drove off in. She was pointing her finger down the street, emphasizing her question. As Natsu started to explain, Lucy took a seat next to him by the river.

"Uh-huh. He said he had to go on a business trip; asked me to look after you," Natsu looked over at Lucy with a sly grin, despite himself, and the girl widened her eyes at the sight. "Guess that means I'm in charge, and you'll have to do whatever I say, right?" His eyes had a playful glint to them and his wicked smile sent a shiver down Lucy's spine.

"You wish!" she laughed, nudging him with her elbow, earning a laugh in response. "Hey," Lucy said, turning serious as she looked into Natsu's eyes, "Are you gonna tell me why you left me back there?"

This is it! Natsu thought, sighing deeply with nervous. He looked away from Lucy for a moment to gather his thoughts, and nodded. "Yeah, I think it's about time we had a talk, Luce." When Natsu looked back at her, he noticed that her face had paled and she was sitting rather stiffly. Did she honestly think he'd have something bad to say?

"Listen, I'm not - ugh! This is so awkward!" Natsu growled, face palming before running the hand up his forehead and into his hair. Although she was nervous, the action caused Lucy's features to soften as she looked at Natsu.

"Look," Natsu tried again, making direct eye contact with Lucy. "I'm not good at this kinda stuff, okay? I'm nothin' like those guys you read about in your books. I can't quote stupid poetry or - you know - I don't know - buy you a gazillion roses or something dumb like that! But I can't think of another person I care about more than I care about you, Luce. What I'm trying to say is," he paused to take Lucy's hand in his, "I want to be your boyfriend."

Natsu made it a habit of his to always be confident. He hated showing any weakness, especially nervousness, and so he decided a long time ago to just never feel that way again. And it had worked. You know, until Lucy decided to do a thing and mess it all up. Now, it was all Natsu could do to keep his hand steady while he held hers.

After a moment of looking at Natsu with wide eyes and blushing cheeks - and doing a damn good job of nearly killing him with nerves - Lucy's face broke into a smile. The expression reached her eyes and Natsu's heart was beating so hard it hurt.

"I want to be your girlfriend," Lucy replied with a small giggle. Natsu visibly relaxed at the words and pulled Lucy closer to him, pressing quick kisses to her lips over and over again. Soon, though, he was kissing her smile because Lucy couldn't contain the happy laughter that was escaping her now.

"I think you've had enough kissing practice, Natsu," Lucy said, a few more giggles escaping as she pushed her boyfriend away. Natsu shook his head, trying to resist and pull her back to him.

"You're right, I've had enough practice," Natsu agreed, finally able to get Lucy into his arms again. "Now it's time for the real deal," he teased, pressing his lips to Lucy's, kissing her expertly.