A/N: Welp, I'm really here publishing another fic with so many #wip. Clown? Yes. That's me.

FEVER DREAM

Lucy stared at herself in the mirror, ensuring that all the details were in place. Her makeup, she thought, was on point that night as was her outfit. It was inviting but it didn't reveal too much. It felt strange to be heading out to the bar so purposefully, but she'd been single for almost 18 months now. She had never done this before, but oh what the hell. If she got herself just drunk enough to not care about it, and also to forget about it the next day, there wouldn't be anything to regret.

Ten minutes later, she was waiting downstairs impatiently, waiting for her friend Cana to pick her up. Finally, the car pulled in, and Cana let out a whistle. "Wow, somebody's getting laid tonight."

"Sure hope it's me," said Lucy, shaking her head as she got into the car. "You're late, you know."

Cana rolled her eyes. "By ten minutes."

"Ten minutes is a lot," said Lucy, arms crossed as Cana hit the pedal.

"God, loosen up, will ya? You're not takin' home anyone tonight, not with that attitude."

Lucy stuck her tongue out at her friend, making her laugh, and the two headed to the bar. If they got too drunk, they'd leave the car at the club. The bartender, a friend of theirs, didn't really mind it. Mirajane didn't mind anything, in fact. The woman had more patience than most, it was practically awe-inspiring.

Half an hour later, Lucy felt just a tad tipsy, but nowhere near as drunk as she needed to be. She'd danced with a couple of guys, but she didn't feel it. She didn't know what she was supposed to feel like, maybe even nothing, given how she was just looking for a one-night stand, but… it didn't feel right. Now, she was just sitting at a bar stool, sipping on something, she wasn't sure what, as she lazily watched the club. She was buzzed, but not drunk drunk. She hated the crowd, the music and the annoying lights. If she could just find some-

She felt a masculine body sidle up next to her and she saw a guy with brown hair and sharp facial features, really, sharp facial features, eyeing her. Oh well.

"Like what you see?" she asked, uncrossing her legs as she turned, leaning her side into the bartop as she kept her lips around the straw of her drink.

The guy smirked, as he stepped into the gap between her thighs. He was now looking down at her, smile not leaving his face as his hands closed around her legs to use as leverage to pull himself closer. He was literally towering over her now.

"Maybe I do," he said, and just as she was about to reach to grab his tie so she could pull him closer to her face, she felt someone standing behind her.

Before she could say something, a familiar warm hand had closed around her elbow in a firm grip as she felt herself being pulled away from the bar stool. She squeaked as she hopped off of it, looking over her shoulder to see the brown haired man shaking his head as he tore his eyes away from her. She knew it would be futile to fight anyway, so she let herself be dragged out of the backdoor of the bar and into the cold.

She shivered slightly, and felt a jacked being wrapped around her shoulder before being spun around to face her extremely livid best friend.

"Hey, Natsu!" she said, trying to grin at him. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to give Gray company," he muttered. "And good thing I came too! What do you think you're doing?" he hissed, hands on his hips as he towered over her.

"Trying to get laid," she said, shrugging.

He frowned at her. "What?"

"It' been so long," she said exasperated, throwing her hands up. "I just wanted…. Sex."

"It's so unlike you to take strangers home!" he said exasperated, eyes roving around their area to make sure none of the lecherous creeps had followed them out. "Have you seen the way they're looking at you?"

"I know how they're looking at me," she mumbled. "I dressed for the occasion..."

Natsu pursed his lips, but his grip only tightened on her hand. She was his best friend. He couldn't bring himself to let her go back in. This was not the kind of thing she did and he was a hundred percent sure she'd regret it in the morning and spend at least two weeks beating herself up about it. It's just not the kind of thing she did.

"Luce," he said, shaking his head. "This is not a good idea. It's just not… your kind of thing to do."

"What does that mean," she asked, almost challengingly.

"It means," he started calmly. "You're not the kind of person to take a stranger home and not have a freak out after it."

Lucy huffed. "Well. Do you have a better idea? I can't possibly ask someone that I do know to have a one night stand with me now, can I?"

"I… don't know. What are your possible options?" he asked, quirking a brow at her.

Lucy gasped, swatting his chest lightly. "I'm not discussing this with you. It's weird…"

"We're best friends," he shrugged. "Let's make one of those lists you really like."

"List of people that I know who I could potentially ask to screw me?" she asked skeptically.

"Isn't that what you want?"

"Ideally I'd rather not take a stranger home, but-"

"Fine, let's make a hypothetical list, then," said Natsu. "Maybe then at least, you'll come to your senses and see the folly in this dumb idea of yours."

Lucy scowled. "Can't believe you're cockblocking me."

"Hey, what are best friends," asked Natsu, laughing. "So, now… Gray?"

"Juvia would kill me," she muttered, and when he widened his eyes teasingly, quickly added, "Not that I'm interested in him that way."

"Laxus?"

"No, he's our professor," she said, face scrunched up with disgust.

"He's only a few years older than us," said Natsu earnestly. "And I've known him all my life, and he's my friend. And-"

"Natsu!"

"Alright, alright," conceded Natsu. "Gajeel?'

Lucy snorted. "That idiot is hung up on Levy and he's the only one who doesn't know. Next."

"Jella-"

"No."

"Lyon?"

"Gray's cousin?! No."

"Rufus?"

Lucy grimaced. "His obsession with learning things by rote drives me up the wall. If he says 'memory' once more, I might just kill him."

"Alright, no Rufus then," Natsu laughed. "Oh, how about Dan? Doesn't he have a massive crush on you?"

"Which is exactly why a one-night stand him would be the worst idea ever," she grunted.

"Sorry, Luce, end of the line," shrugged Natsu, linking her arm through his as they headed to the parking lot. "Maybe tonight just isn't your night."

Well it would have been if you hadn't interrupted me ten minutes ago, she thought, sliding into the passenger seat of his car. Her gaze flickered to him, and she came to a realization. Before her brain could catch up with her mouth, the word was out as she said, "You."

He turned to look at her quizzically, as he revved up the engine. "What about me?"

"You're single," she said simply, strapping on her seat belt after shrugging out of Natsu's jacket and putting it in the backseat. "I know you. And I trust you. That's all three criteria. Check, and check, and check."

He stared at her at her for a few seconds before checking the rearview mirror and looking over his shoulder. "Are you drunk?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, I'm not," she replied, indignant. "I'm serious… When was the last time you had sex."

Natsu frowned, forgetting their current predicament, as he drove out of their parking lot. "I…" he held his fingers up trying to count. "...don't remember."

"See? Problem solved," said Lucy. "We've both been having a... dry spell for a while now. So… let's just…" she shrugged. "Shake it up a little."

Natsu scrunched his nose. "It will make things weird…"

"No, it won't…" insisted Lucy, slipping off her shoes as she pulled her feet up onto the seat and tuck them under her.

"What if it does…" asked Natsu, worried.

"It won't," repeated Lucy. "We're best friends."

Natsu pulled the car over to the side with a sigh, just a couple of blocks away from her apartment. He turned to look at her, wary and found her looking at him, waiting.

"Luce…" he started. "This could go wrong in so many ways."

"We won't let it. Tomorrow, we'll forget it ever happened."

He didn't have time to react because Lucy leaned over and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth, making him yelp. She drew back, but not entirely, stopping just a couple of inches from his face, looking at his face searchingly. He could see mirth in her eyes and she looked so pleased at shocking him.

Fine. "Tomorrow, we'll forget it ever happened," he repeated, before smirking at her.

Satisfied when her eyes widened just a little bit from the look on his face, he closed the distance between them to kiss her fully on the mouth. His hand cupped the back of her neck, holding her in place as he kissed her. He felt her hands moving to unlock his seat belt and as it zapped back to its place, her weight shifted. She climbed on top of him, lips never leaving his as she straddled him. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she moaned into his mouth, and when they finally pulled back for air, they were both breathing heavily, staring at each other.

"N-No going back now," said Natsu, his throat dry as he stared up at her, his hands resting on her hips.

She leaned forward, their noses almost touching as her hand came up to rest against his cheek, grazing his jaw with her thumb. "Sounds good to me," she whispered sultrily.

With a growl, his hands unzipped her dress as she worked his shirt off feverishly while he kissed her neck, biting and sucking on her supple skin. Her dress pooled around her hips and he gasped in shock.

"Why the heck aren't you wearing a bra," he asked raspily, unable to keep himself from staring.

"I told you," she breathed, planting a kiss on his forehead before bending further to run the tip of her tongue over his jaw. "I dressed for the occasion."

She felt a low rumble in his chest as he kissed the soft flesh of her breast before biting it gently. She hissed against his neck - fuck, that felt good - but continued her ministrations, sliding her hands under his shirt, pausing only when she felt his hands slide over her thighs, stopping short of the seam of her underwear.

"Last chance, Luce," he said breathily, looking up at her to make sure she understood that she could ask him to stop if she wanted to.

She leaned down to kiss his lips, one hand leaving his hair to grab his hand over her leg, pushing it just a little more so it rested against her now wet core. "That good enough an answer for you?" she whispered against his lips.

The ride home was… quiet. Natsu kept his eyes on the road and Lucy had shrunk into the corner of the seat. Wow. She could feel the light shafing of her underwear against her inner thighs, serving as a reminder to how worn out it had become; it made her wish he'd bothered to remove the panties off of her first. He'd laughed throatily when she'd asked, saying that the material was stringy enough and that he'd just "make it work". And he had. Boy, he had.

As she sat in silence, she was momentarily distracted from her mourning her lace underwear, by his hair. It was more dishevelled than she'd ever seen; she'd done that. Both of them had red marks on their neck, and both knew that similar marks were on Lucy's breasts, and that scratch marks, sharp red lines on the shoulder blades, adorned Natsu's back and front as well.

The car stopped at Lucy's apartment, and they sat in silence, Lucy starting to worry her lower lip but wincing immediately; it was swollen and very mildly bruised from where he bit her. Natsu cleared his throat before looking at her.

"That was… er, nice," he said, feeling like that word didn't even cut it close to how it had actually felt.

"It really was… nice," she repeated. "We should do it again sometime," she said, a habitual response to that statement, and her hands immediately flew to cover her mouth.

Natsu raised his eyebrows, looking at her questioningly. "Huh?"

"Habit," she squeaked, before getting out of the car.

The seconds her feet hit the ground, she felt her knees shake and she had to compose herself before she could walk. She almost lost her balance again, but steadied herself as she caught the open car door. How embarrassing. She took another slow step, testing, and she managed, but barely.

Fuck, I'm sore.

Behind her, she heard Natsu snorting with barely contained laughter and she turned around to slam the car door shut, scowling at him. "It's not funny," she barked. "This is your fault."

Natsu didn't try to suppress his laughter anymore. He cackled, looking at her smugly. "Don't blame me, it was your idea to go two rounds," Pause. "Three if you count the-"

"Natsu!" she cut him off, face tinging pink as she remembered the deft and lithe way his fingers had worked her up first.

He laughed lightly. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm completely spent too."

She flushed brighter, her lips quirking in a small smile. "Idiot."

"See you tomorrow, Luce," he said, now grinning at her.

"See you tomorrow," she nodded, watching as he drove away.

She was relieved. On their drive here, she was worried about the tension, but it seemed to have dissipated now.

Nothing's changed after all.

But deep down, she knew everything had. It felt like a fever dream. So unreal. She never in her wildest dreams thought that this was how the night would end. She'd really had sex with her best friend in the whole world. In his car. And it had been great. So great. Who knew… She shivered again, trying to shake the thoughts out of her head.

She was glad that it hadn't been anyone else.

A/N: Yeah, I know kind of out of character, huh? But WELL love me angst and it's one of my favourite tropes... Tell me what you think! Please .-. Also, yeah, I'm aware that this could be physically impossible but just give me the creative license please sdjklfjkl