First Nalu fic and fairy tail fic in general! Dedicated to my friend Mary. Find me on tumblr as cupcakecana!

Dumbfounded

by miraskey

Natsu was her best friend – or as close to it as anyone could be – but just this once she would throttle him if he took one more step closer to her. She backed up, foot slipping on the uneven ground, and he gave a laugh that sent out a little burst of flame.

"Natsu," she warned, watching the flame longingly as it flickered and died in the ground.

"Lucy," he repeated, his hand lowering. Despite everything she knew about him – and despite the devious quirk of his brows – she still lowered her defensive hands, letting out a small breath that appeared like smoke in the air.

He jumped at her before her hands fully reached her side. She screamed, flailing to no avail as he slipped snow between the collar of her clothes and her back.

"KYA!" She squealed, jumping and yanking on her heavy jacket as something very cold drizzled down her back, rapidly approaching the top of her pants. "NATSU!"

Natsu sniggered, opening his mouth, but whatever he said came out as a yelp as Lucy tackled him, toppling him back into the bed of snow outside of the guild, the cobblestone rushing up to meet them as they fell in a tangle of limbs. With her palms pressed to his chest and her legs on either side of him, her heart gave an odd little thump that she hoped he didn't hear. He grinned – no, he hadn't heard it, but he didn't think she could do anything in this position.

She glared down at him and, without another word, scooped up snow and shoved it in his face as he spluttered.

"Lucy!" but because her fingers pressed against his lips and the snow covered most of his face all that came out as a muffled sort of "Oocy!" She felt his breath on the pads of her fingers, warming them, and for an instant, his lips brushed her skin. She drew her hands away, swallowing away a reaction before it could appear.

"Don't shove snow down my shirt, got it?" She ordered before her brain could say something potentially stupid.

"Okay," he agreed too easily.

It was her own warning before he rolled them over with a hitch of his hips; the remaining snow felt off his back, cascading around them as Lucy jolted in his hold with wide eyes. His hands were on either side of her head, holding his weight largely off her. The snow against her back sent shivers through her as it clung to the fur of her jacket, but the warmth of his body shielded her from the brisk wind enough that her teeth didn't chatter.

The cold made her heart splutter, not the toothy grin on his face as he hovered over her.

"Uhm," she said articulately.

"I didn't shove ice down your shirt so you can't get mad," he replied, his eyes twinkling down at her. Her breath caught in her lungs; had they always looked that way or was it her imagination?

"No, I suppose not," she said slowly, blinking rapidly to get the stupid idea out of her head. He wasn't going to kiss her, don't be stupid, Lucy!

He stared, confused. "What?"

"What?"

"Are you that cold? You're supposed to clobber me like usual."

"Do you want me to clobber you?"

"Now that you mention it, no, but you usually do," he pointed out.

"Aren't you supposed to be oblivious to things like that?"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Never mind."

"Lucyy."

"Natsuu, I'm cold," she whined.

"Are you going to shove snow in my face if I let you up?"

Damn, he knew her. She had considered it, but the cold allowed a shiver worked its way up her spine instead and she decided against it. He let her up after she shook her head, rolling neatly off her and to his feet in one rather smooth movement. Later, she would be impressed, but the snow clung to the back of her legs and more trickled down her back as it fell from her hair; she couldn't think of anything else except how uncomfortably cold it was, worse now that the warmth of his body had left.

She lifted her hand, brushing the snow off her bottom, but he caught her fingers in his own, dragging her hand over to him. Against her will, her fingers trembled as he brought them up to his face. Lucy, stop it, this is Natsu, he wasn't going to—

He caught her other hand, studying them both with narrowed eyes—

Her heart stuttered.

He brought her hands up to his lips—

Her face turned bright red, anticipation shooting through her and the cold faded away, leaving nothing but the strength of his hands and the warmth of his breath on her hands—

"Your hands are freezing, Lucy," he muttered, stepping closer to her.

"Natsu?"

With a whoosh of his breath, the cold of her fingers disappeared entirely. "Weirdo, where are your gloves?"

Her heart returned to normal though the flush on her face hadn't faded in the slightest. In fact, she suspected it had changed from the pink of his hair to the scarlet of Erza's. Stupid Lucy. "I didn't think I would need them," she said, aiming for dry and ending up with breathless. Before he could notice, if he would notice, she continued, "But clearly I underestimated you."

Natsu laughed, still warming up her hands, trailing his fingers down her wrists to her elbows, the cold fading as he moved. Was it her imagination or did it sound breathless as well? Lucy, stop, stop, just stop, this is Natsu still.

Internally, she scoffed because it wouldn't be such a big deal if it was someone other than Natsu. It was all his fault that her heart did summersaults when he got too close or that a cheesy grin came across her face whenever he laughed, even when it was at her. It was all his fault that a simple touch made her ache for something more that would never be.

The fact was that she could tell her traitorous thoughts to stop all she wanted – and maybe she was guilty of not really wanting that - but she couldn't stop the hum in her body at his closeness.

It was ridiculous, really, maybe even pathetic, because Natsu was as dense as they came and he hardly noticed the difference between the Lucy he met and the one who loved him.

Not that they were entirely different, she figured, but a foolish, hopeless romantic part of her wished he would notice, damn it. The heat in her cheeks faded replaced, dread replacing all else, because though she wanted him, a smaller part of her knew nothing of what would come after. If he did notice, what would he do?

Before everything else, Natsu was her friend. Her best friend and no matter of poetic nonsense would make her wish for something less than that.

"Lucy?" Ordinarily, her panic could override her hearing, but something in his voice had her thoughts dropping like a stone.

She looked up at him, freezing at his expression. "E-Eh?" The look on his face wasn't flattering to either of them; it was the sort of look that someone gave when they were walloped on the head with something hard. Had she missed something in her thirty second lapse of concentration? But she didn't see anyone nearby nor did she—

He kissed her without a word, his fingers tightening around her own briefly before easing, as though leaving her room to draw back and wordlessly hoping that she wouldn't. His lips moved inexpertly against hers in a type of kiss that was too new to be anything except gentle; she froze for a second till a pleasant warmth shot through her and she leaned into him.

She had wondered, in those daydreams in the guild, what it would be like to kiss him, and what she would do when he did, but instinctively, the pieces worked themselves out. Her hand curled around his, holding tight to his strong fingers and she drew in a shuddering breath against his lips before returning to them, her entire body buzzing with happiness.

It was like Natsu to use action instead of words. She heard, beneath the breathless kiss and beneath the way he drew their twined hands closer to him, the words that he felt. She stepped closer to him, their hands squished between them, aching to be closer and dreading the seize of her lungs that demanded they separate.

Too soon though it had been minutes, he pulled back, the dumbfounded look on his face replaced with bright-eyed knowledge. "I like you."

She giggled, unable to hold it back. "Yeah?"

"Yup."

"I like you, too." The words felt strange and when they escaped her, she felt a momentary dread, the same as earlier, but it faded as the grin on his face spread wider. She smiled back, heart pumping fiercely; a snowflake landed on her nose, but she didn't notice it at all, too excited to feel anything except the tingle of her lips. "What happens now?"

"Now?" Natsu thought hard and let her hand go. "We should go on a job, but I'm hungry."

"Hungry?" She asked blankly before her lips twitched, her own epiphany making her laugh. Nothing had to change, really, a great romance wasn't that different than a great friendship, it just came with extra pieces and extra parts, ones that would slide into place with time.

"Well, yeah, I was coming to get something to eat when you ambushed me— "

Her laugh didn't end. "What? You ambushed me!"

"No, I don't remember that," he said, letting her hands go and backing up towards the guild.

"NATSU!"

With a final snort, he ran into the guild.

A few seconds later, a snowball pelted the back of his head courtesy of Lucy.

Some things never changed.

...

...

Fin.