Lucy angrily stomped home after leaving the café. Honestly, can't people just leave me alone?

It was one thing to have Juvia trying to set her up with Natsu, and to a degree Lucy could understand this. But to have a total stranger wanting to play matchmaker with her and the pink haired man was absolutely ridiculous. Granted, Mira knew Natsu since he was young, so she supposed she might just be doing this for an old friend.

But Lucy got the feeling that that wasn't why Mira was plotting to get them together.

How come no one could understand she didn't want to ruin her friendship with Natsu?

"Ugh, I just need to go take a nap."

"Talking to yourself Lucy?" she jumped at the voice, quickly turning around and almost losing her balance. Upon seeing who it was, she internally groaned. She was so not in the mood to deal with this right now.

"What are you doing here Natsu?" she was right around the corner from her apartment, and she knew he had no reason to be around this area of town.

Frowning, Natsu crossed his arms, looking a little hurt at her reaction. "Well, I was gonna go visit my best friend but apparently she doesn't want to see me."

Feeling a pang of guilt, Lucy stepped forward with an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry, I'm just not having a very good day."

Walking up beside her, they continued to venture to Lucy's apartment, "why? Did someone say something to you? Do I need to hit someone? I swear if it was Gray I'll kill him."

Lucy chuckled at his antics, feeling slightly better already. "No, no it's nothing like that. You don't have to hit anyone, especially Gray."

Pouting, Natsu looked at Lucy with sad eyes. "Aww, but I really want to hit the bastard." Lucy laughed, and Natsu couldn't help but stare at her, with a slight look of awe on his face. She really is beautiful.

"So," she recovered from her laughter fit and smiled over at him, making his heart stop for a fraction of a second. "What were you coming over for?"

It wasn't like he never came over, in fact he came over all the time, claiming he needed a break from Gray, but in reality he just wanted to be near her.

He shrugged, taking her hand and started jogging to her apartment, as he would rather talk to her there. "Just wanted to see you."

Lucy blushed, though she tried really hard not too. Once they reached her apartment, she unlocked the door and immediately Natsu made his way to her kitchen, opening the fridge.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy just took off her shoes and made her way to her couch, laying down and closing her eyes. She had been serious about her nap. "I'm going to start charging you rent I think."

Looking over at her, Natsu chuckled, knowing she wouldn't actually follow through with her threat. She always had some of his favourite foods for when he came over, and he couldn't help but-

No, do not finish that thought.

Natsu shook his head, grabbed some of the spicy chicken wings and put them in the microwave. He stared at her while they heated up, and he was glad she decided to close her eyes because that meant he could look at her without worry of being caught.

He wondered why his 13 year old self thought it was a good idea to pick on the angel that was in front of him. She was one of the nicest people he knew (but that didn't mean she couldn't be scary), and she was so forgiving and smart, and beautiful and-

He needed to stop before this got out of hand.

The beeping of the microwave made him jump, having completely forgotten that he was even cooking something. Grabbing the wings out of the microwave, Natsu made his way over to the couch, lifted Lucy's legs and sat down, putting her feet on his lap.

"You better not get any food on me."

"You have no faith in me, do ya Luce?"

She smiled, "of course I do Natsu."

Natsu said nothing, but he had a small smile on his face while he ate. They just stayed there for a while, not really saying anything, with Natsu eating and glancing over at Lucy every now and then as she slowly drifted off to sleep. He wondered what had happened to make her so exhausted, she didn't typically take naps.

Watching her sleep made him a bit tired too, so as he finished his plate, he set it down on the coffee table, leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep along with his best friend.

Lucy woke up to the sound of light snoring, along with a heavy weight on her chest. Slowly opening her eyes, she glanced down to see a head of pink hair on her chest, with an arm hanging off the couch and the other on her hip. Honestly, her first thought was of how uncomfortable that must be, but then her mind started to wake up and her eyes widened in horror. "KYA! NATSUUUU!"

He immediately jumped up, falling off of her and the couch in the process. "Oww, Lucy what the heck?" He rubbed his head, standing up from the floor.

She couldn't stop the blush that had formed on her face and neck, which was slowly reaching her ears. She probably looked like a tomato.

"You deserved it." he probably didn't, she thought. He most likely just fell asleep along with her, and ended up falling over. But it was too much for her to handle.

He grumbled, obviously not agreeing with her. "Whatever, not like you were comfortable anyway."

Her blush of embarrassment quickly started to turn to redness out of anger. "Then don't use me as a pillow next time, jerk."

"Fine, I won't."

"Good."

The two of them stood there, looking defiantly at the other. Lucy upset for reasons she couldn't really explain and Natsu angry because he was woken up from a really good dream, and despite what he said Lucy was really comfortable.

"Why are you still here anyways?" usually he would leave after eating if he were bored or if she had something else to do that would mean she wouldn't have time for him, so she found it odd that he was still there.

What was with her today? he thought, upset that it seemed like she really didn't want him there. "Whatever, I'll just leave then if you don't want me here."

"Huh?" she seemed slightly confused as she saw him start to leave for the door, until it dawned upon her that her word choice wasn't all the great. "No, Natsu! That's, I didn't mean...I just don't understand."

"You're being weird again Lucy. What don't you understand?" he turned back around to face her. He didn't really want to leave, but he would if she asked him to. He would probably do anything she asked.

She shifted around, not knowing how to explain herself. "Well, uh, I just don't get why you stayed here and fell asleep for one thing. You usually just leave. I figured you would have more important things to do than just sleep here."

There was a slight pause before Natsu started to laugh. He couldn't help it, Lucy was just so oblivious that in a way it was hilarious, even though it hurt him sometimes. Sure, he usually did leave if she was busy or tired, but that was more out of respect because he knew how seriously she took her school work and he didn't want to bother her.

After his little laughing fit, he noticed that she was once again red with irritation.

"Oh Lucy," he started, taking a few steps closer to her. "You really don't get it, do you?"

Lucy's heart started to beat slightly fast, and she had a strong urge to take a step back the closer he got. What was going on here?

"Wh-what do you mean?" because she couldn't, wouldn't believe that that statement meant what she thought and hoped it did.

Two steps closer.

"I want to be here with you."

Another step.

"I want you to want me to be here."

Another step.

"Do you want me to be here, Lucy?" He was so close now, and her urge to take a step back was so strong she almost did, but her urge to stay exactly where she was was even stronger.

She couldn't form any words, she could only stare, her face bright red. When did he get so confident?

Natsu was having a similar thought, he really didn't know what had come over him. He supposed he was just tired of waiting for her, tired of being so close to her but not as close as he would like.

Lucy felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. "I-I.."

Natsu reached forward with one hand, cupping her cheek. "Do you really not know?" his voice was low, and he was starting to loose his confidence at her lack of reaction and obvious confusion. He didn't know if he should tell her, didn't know if it was worth risking her friendship.

Lucy suddenly seemed to snap out of her flustered state, staring him in the eyes with newfound confidence. Why was she so afraid? Was he not basically telling her right now how he felt? She knew he wasn't good with words, knew he might falter soon, stopping his advance. And she realized, she realized she wanted it. All of the nagging from Juvia, the obvious gleam of happiness and mischief she saw in Mira's eyes. They wouldn't be so hell bent on this relationship if they didn't think it would work, would they? Juvia was one of her best friends, and while she might have been attempting to set her up with Natsu for slightly selfish reasons, she knew that she wouldn't try so hard if she didn't think they'd be good together.

Then there was Gray, who never stopped Juvia, and she knew he would if he thought it wasn't a good idea, because Gray was like her brother.

So why was she holding back?

She saw slight fear in his eyes, and she knew he was thinking that it was a mistake, that she didn't feel the same way.

Time to change that.

She smiled at him as she felt him start to pull his hand away, and she reached up to stop him, placing her hand on his while putting her other hand on his chest, taking another step towards him to bring them even closer. His eyes widened at her action, and was sent into a slight state of shock.

"Lucy?" his voice cracked a little, hoping against hope that he wasn't dreaming.

"I think I've always known." she shyly glanced down, gathering her courage. "I-I just could never admit it though." she looked back up at him, her eyes bright with a small, happy smile on her face, but he could tell there was a hint of nervousness.

In that moment, Natsu couldn't help himself. She just looked so goddamn beautiful, her smile lighting a something inside himself, something only she could ever do to him. So, without really thinking, he dipped his head down, and suddenly his lips were on hers. To his surprise, and delight, Lucy responded right away, and they were kissing. It was gentle and slow, and held so much emotion. Her hands were in his hair, his hands moving to her waist and pulling her closer.

It ended much too soon for his liking, but he couldn't help the grin that rested on his face as he rested his forehead against hers, her eyes closed and face slightly flushed but with a delighted look. Slowly her eyes opened, and his grin only widened.

She bit her lip, and leaned in to hug him, knowing they didn't need to say anything else right now, because they were happy that it was just them, finally acknowledging their feelings. Natsu couldn't be happier that he went to the library that day.

He would have to give Happy extra servings of fish for about a month, he decided.

Final chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it! (also longest chapter yet, wooo!)

Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows, it really means a lot to me and I really appreciate it :)

Until next time

~567random