Summary: Prompt was: "Someone needs to write a 'the fire alarm went off at 3 am and now the cute guy from the flat next door is standing next to me in his underwear'" (Nalu, modern AU, slightly saucy but nothing really racy)

This is actually a pretty old work that's been sitting around in a folder while I wallow in writer's block. I figured since I couldn't seem to create anything new, I should finally polish this up a bit and put it out there. I tried to catch any errors, but my block seems to extend to my editing too...

Lucy tugged her robe closer around her. Contrary to how she was huddled, the night air was really quite refreshing rather than chilling. Nope, that wasn't the issue. It was the fact she was standing outside in her bed clothes with everyone one else because the fire alarm was blaring loud enough to vibrate the air.

At 3 A.M.

Even this wouldn't normally be enough to rattle her since it wasn't an uncommon occurrence when you lived in an apartment high rise. It could be that someone's midnight snack of toast had burned and smoke wafted into the hallway while they frantically fanned at the air. Or maybe an inebriated renter grabbed for purchase as they stumbled only to tug down the alarm lever. Possibly it was just those stupid pipes in the basement leaking everywhere again. It wasn't a surprise. No, her problems were three small but very significant ones.

The first was that in a few hours she would have to be back at the high school, bright eyed and bushy tailed, to give an entire day of final exams to her very stressed out students. Yawning and slurping coffee while frantic teenagers scribbled down their essays wasn't exactly the best way to inspire them.

Point two, more troubling, was that after a long week of giving these tests she was already feeling drained, and this had led to putting on her sexiest, sheerest no-one-will-ever-see-it-but-me nightgown in an effort to perk herself up. It had worked... right up until now when she found herself outdoors with all the other tenants - wrapped in the matching almost-see-through dressing gown and her ancient bunny slippers. She really couldn't decide whether the lingering looks of appreciation or criticism were worse.

Item three was the most distressing by far, however. The pink haired, drop-dead-gorgeous man that stood next to her was the very same neighbor she'd been infatuated with since he moved in eight months ago. And right now, he was wearing nothing but flip flops and his flame printed boxers.

She was going to die from embarrassment. That's what it would say on her headstone: "Here lies Lucy Heartfilia who burst an artery from blushing too hard."

Unlike every other single (and a few not so single) woman in the vicinity, Lucy was very conscientiously not looking at his glorious sculpted abs, luscious toned legs, and beautiful muscled arms. Certainly, she wasn't staring at the wicked scar on his neck that made her want to bite it and see how sensitive the skin was. No, sir. Not Lucy. She would never do such a thing.

At least not until he heaved a loud sigh and started tapping his foot impatiently.

He glanced at his bare wrist and then patted the area absently as if just realizing he wasn't wearing a watch. When he looked up, those fathomless black pools of his met her boring brown eyes, and he smiled.

She'd been wrong. She wasn't going to die from embarrassment; his magnificent grin had just stopped her heart.

"Hey," he said, and every muscle in her body tensed up in anticipation. This was it, the moment she'd been waiting for. A chance to strike up a friendship that would lead to a romantic whirlwind - "You live on my floor, right?"

That felt like getting slapped upside the head. They'd been right next door to each other for eight months, and he didn't even realize it? Ouch. So much for being memorable.

"Yeah…" she mumbled, pulling the flimsy material she was clutching even tighter around herself. It was stupid to be offended since they'd only exchanged words a handful of times, but it still stung. Honestly, her imagination could be such a pain when it ran away into the sunset, dragging her unwillingly behind.

"Are you cold?" he asked, eyes flickering over her curling form. "It's pretty warm out here tonight -"

"No. I'm fine," the blonde cut him off softly, not feeling like layering misery over inconvenience right now. If she was going to be exhausted and uncomfortable, she didn't need to have her pesky heart stomped on too.

Rubbing the back of his spiky, sleep mussed head, his smile faltered. "Oh… Uh... That's good..."

He cleared his throat, and she briefly caught him shifting his weight from one foot to the other out of the corner of her eye. She was so fixated on the tattered ears of her bunny slippers that she shrieked when his head suddenly came into view. He ducked down so he was in her line of sight and cracked a brand-new smile at her noisy reaction. "I'm Natsu!"

This was something she was already aware of from overheard gossip and just a tiny bit of judicious asking around. It didn't stop her from stammering, "L-lucy!" The woman tried to will her heart to quit banging so hard on the inside of her chest. "I'm Lucy."

His eyes lit up as he straightened. "Lucy! Not Luigi... Sorry if I forget. I'm bad with names."

She glanced around and realized that her shout had garnered quite a bit of attention, and more than a few residents hadn't bothered to look away after realizing she was unhurt. Of course, most of them were ogling Natsu's six pack, but she couldn't really fault them for that. "It's fine…"

"Man, their response time is just dragging."

Turning her head toward him, Lucy frowned. "I'm sorry… What?"

"The department… Uh, the fire trucks," he clarified. There was a slight hesitation before he added, "I'm a firefighter."

This too was something she had learned shortly after he'd moved in. There was a group of women who lived on her floor blocking the elevator one morning, but Lucy hadn't minded in the least when she caught what they were discussing. Her brain had been full of sweaty, smoky Natsu for the rest of the day. "That must be a bit weird, then. Standing out here waiting for them..."

He shrugged and gave her another sunrise grin. "A little. Usually I'm the guy showing up covered head to toe while everyone's standing around in their PJs." When she didn't respond, just watching him blankly, he prompted, "So… what do you do?"

"Me?" Her index finger poked her sternum, and Lucy suddenly felt a bit foolish. Who else could he be asking? "I teach English at the high school."

"A teacher. Reeeaaally…" The way he drew out the last word made her involuntarily cringe. It wouldn't be the first time a person started to perv on her due to some weird adolescent teacher fantasy, but Natsu mainly looked thoughtful as his forefinger and thumb cradled his chin. "What do you do during the summer?"

"I usually end up teaching summer school, actually. And then there are curriculum meetings, professional development courses, new educational technology seminars - "

He waved his hands in surrender, chuckling. "Okay, okay! You don't really get the summer off after all." The way he was beaming ear to ear made something warm bloom under her ribs, and she couldn't fight the little smile of her own that answered.

Natsu opened his mouth to speak but abruptly cocked his head to the side, listening. It took her a moment to hear the wailing sirens in the distance. "Looks like they're finally on their way. I'll have 'ta razz them about that later," he said.

Everyone lapsed into silence as the bright red trucks slid into place at the curb, spilling out a small pile of casual looking firefighters dressed in heavy gear. One of them tipped his helmet back upon seeing Natsu and laughed while her pink haired neighbor rolled his eyes and made a shoo-ing gesture. "Get on with it!" he grumbled. The man headed into the building with shoulders still visibly shaking from his chortling.

"Jerk," Natsu muttered but didn't look the slightest bit insulted.

Murmurs picked back up around them, but Lucy found herself gazing at the concrete and racking her brain for something clever to say. They were actually having a conversation and all she could think to mention was that the color of his charcoal boxers matched his eyes. She was concentrating so hard, she jumped when her companion beat her to the punch, "What do you do for fun?"

"Oh! Uh, read?" Nice one, she thought, make it sound like a question. She tried to cram some composure into the rest of her response. "And I write a bit. I'm not very good, though."

"Aww, I bet you're great!" he insisted. "You're super smart, so it's gotta be good." She blinked at him, puzzled, and his eyes darted side to side for a second. "Y-you're a teacher and stuff, so I figured you're pretty smart…"

"Thanks… I think." His reaction was strange, but the way he awkwardly patted his thighs like he was searching for pockets to hide his hands in was just adorable. "You do martial arts?"

The interest that popped onto his face told her she'd made a mistake. There was something intensely calculating about that expression he leveled at her. "How'd you know?"

How'd she know, indeed. She knew from months of staring longingly out at the grass while drinking her morning coffee and sighing about the fact she was still solidly single, and he was still solidly… solid. "Uh… I saw you once or twice out on the lawn doing… Tai Chi?"

"Only once or twice?" The strangely suggestive tilt of his mouth made her flush bright red. A small step he made towards her didn't help. "I'm pretty sure I've seen your face in the window more than once or twice."

Lucy turned away. She was so busted but desperately wanted to argue that half the people on that side of the building did the exact same thing. "Well, there's not much else to look at outside."

He nodded slowly, edging even closer, and Lucy felt like she'd stepped into a mouse trap. Apparently, all it took to lure her in was a lack of sleep and a hunk of handsome neighbor. "I guess that is true. You know," he drawled, voice dipping into low tones, "you could always join me some time. It's good for... stress relief."

What was going on here? Her brain was struggling to figure out where things had suddenly spun around a corner into a steamy alley. "What makes you think I'm stressed?" she squeaked, head snapping back to notice he was now so very, very near.

"Well, about that… I heard from… someone that you're giving final exams all this week," he hedged, face taking on just the slightest chagrin even as his arm brushed hers. The contact burned right through her gauzy robe, forcing her to suppress a shiver.

Lucy frowned at him and then gaped. The only person in the building she'd talked to about her job lately was their notoriously tight lipped landlady. How the hell had he heard that from her? Unless he'd specifically asked -

He'd been asking around about her?! That would mean he'd known full well that she was a teacher and had posed the question anyway. But why?

She goggled at him as his eyes were trained on the firefighters emptying out of the building, still looking calm and speaking to the traitorous landlady who'd apparently been divulging her confidences to anyone who asked. "Wanna get some coffee later?"

The blonde was fighting to keep up, brain leaping through an obstacle course of thoughts and competing with her libido for the finish line. "W-what?"

"I dunno about you, but I'm gonna have some trouble getting back to sleep after all this." He beamed at her, white teeth picking up a gleam from the streetlights. "Looks like they're giving the all clear, so we can go back in. C'mon." A shockingly warm hand lightly touched her arm as he started to move back towards the building.

Mind still whirling, Lucy followed without comment. She passed into the elevator, squeezing in with all the other tenants, and still couldn't seem to sort out what had just happened. Had Natsu really been trying to learn more about her even as she was cautiously collecting information about him? Was that even possible? Was he actually hitting on her or was she hallucinating due to sleep deprivation?

The pack of people slowly dwindled as they rose up the building, stopping at each floor. He was standing shoulder to shoulder with her, body heat radiating right through her thin covering. Even as the crowd lessened, he didn't seem inclined to move away, and Lucy found herself looking everywhere but at him.

His fingers on her shoulder made her jerk, and she had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming in surprise. This was getting really embarrassing. Natsu grinned again, very obviously amused. "So jumpy… Our floor, Lucy," he breathed into her ear.

"R-right!" Scurrying down the hall so she didn't have to meet the eyes of all the people who she'd realized were staring at her, the teacher quickly arrived at her door. Fumbling with her keys which had been clenched so hard in her hand they left imprints, Lucy managed to drop them. Twice.

Her neighbor's snickering didn't help as he leaned on his own open threshold. "Need some help with those?" The way he oscillated between flirty and teasing was driving her crazy.

"N-no." She scowled then, irritated with herself for acting like some teenage girl with a crush. She was a grown woman, dammit… with a crush that was standing just a few feet from her in his underwear and giving her looks. "I've got it." The lock clicked, but as she turned the knob his voice halted her.

"We still on for coffee later?" She really wasn't sure if she was imagining the hopeful lilt in his voice.

Focusing on the gold painted plastic numbers of her apartment door, Lucy opened her mouth to reluctantly deny him. It would be just too awkward after all this, and she really needed time (and sleep) to rationally process what was happening. It would be better if they - "Sure."

Wait. What? Had that just come out of her mouth?

Natsu was smiling when she glanced at him, still mostly naked and looking excited. "Sweet! You work early, so how 'bout around 6:30?"

"Yeah. That'd be… nice," she murmured, not at all sure she was really awake.

"You know, I've been waiting for a chance to get to know you better," he said. "You always seemed so busy, I didn't want to bug ya."

A quick, jerky sweep of her hand tucked some unruly blonde hair behind her ear. "R-really?" And there was that stupid stutter again.

"Yep," he nodded, making the rosy spikes atop his head bounce. "You're so nice and weird I just had to find out more. Looks like all it took was a fire alarm in the middle of the night."

Lucy just blinked slowly at him, trying to decide if he felt like 'weird' was a compliment or not. She'd been called that before, but never by someone who was trying to ask her out. Maybe he was just being friendly and going about it a very strange way? It wouldn't be the first time she'd misread social cues.

He turned to enter his apartment but paused with a strong hand on the door jamb. "Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you something." Those starless black orbs pinned her down, smoldering over the smirk that curled his lips. "That nightgown looks really good on you. I hope I get to see it again soon…"

Her shock must have been plainly written all over her body judging by the crooked slash of a grin that took over his face. All the blood in her veins felt like he'd just tossed a match into the suddenly volatile liquid. Dark eyes sparkled when he boldly added, "Maybe someday you'll even let me find out what it looks like on my floor."

Lucy gaped at him dumbly as he shut his door. So much for 'just being friendly.' Her face felt like it was going to burst into flames, but that lead to another thought that made the blushing even worse: at least if she spontaneously combusted, she knew a fireman to help her put it out.

Author's Note: Natsu got pretty ribald at one point, and I had to back things up. I typed a line of him saying variations of "I bet it'd look better on my floor" about three times in different places but kept deleting it. Apparently, he really wanted to say it because it wormed its way back into the story at the very end. It's kinda over the top, but I just couldn't seem to remove it completely. Oh well.