A/N: I know this is pretty done to death, but I just felt like writing one of these. Besides, you can never have enough of them, right? But yeah, finally got this one done. Started it a good long while ago...
As the dust settled and Team Natsu looked to the huge monster they'd just been fighting, whoops of excitement left their mouths as they saw it defeated. Everyone was grinning except for one person. As a certain someone looked to his best friend to see red lines and multicolored bruises painting her skin, he frowned.
"Yes! We stopped the beast and I've got a paycheck!" Lucy shouted. "C'mon guys, let's go get our reward before Natsu and Gray decide to destroy more!" Erza and Happy acknowledged their agreement while Gray groaned in response, saying something about how "Flame Brain" always started it. Lucy was surprised not to hear similar excuses from the closest of her teammates and friends and turned to the Flame Brain himself to give him another quip until she saw his tense form. His arms were crossed, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes were firmly shut.
"Nats-"
"What the hell was that!?" He suddenly shouted, his arms dropping and his eyes bursting open. The rest of the team turned to him in hearing his outburst, but they went unnoticed as he stared Lucy down.
"Natsu, what? What's wrong?" Lucy questioned as her own arms crossed in confusion.
"You! In the battle! What the hell were you thinking!? You could've gotten hurt! Or worse, killed!"
"Natsu, you need to settle down," Erza stated.
"Yeah, she's fine! Stop being dumb!" Gray offered. Happy gave his own words in line with Gray's.
"I'm not being dumb!" Natsu argued, frustrated that no one else seemed to get it. "That monster had her for a few moments, remember!? Something could've happened!"
"But Natsu, something didn't happen. I'm not hurt!"
"But you could have! You-" Lucy and Natsu realized that Erza and Gray were staring at them in stunned silence.
"Natsu, I'd really prefer if we didn't have this conversation with an audience."
"Fine." Natsu gestured to the other three. "Get out of here. Go get our reward."
"Natsu, that's not what I meant," Lucy remarked firmly, beginning to look angry at her partner.
"I don't care. We need to talk, whether these guys are here or not."
"Natsu-" Erza began.
"No, Erza, it's fine. You guys go. If he wants to talk, we'll... talk." The three all shared an uncertain look before sighing and leaving Natsu and Lucy on the battlefield. "Now, are you going to tell me what the hell your problem is, idiot!?"
Natsu looked stunned for a few seconds at her outburst before he gave another shout. "My problem!? Your idiocy!"
"My idiocy!? How am I the idiot between us!?"
"Were you even paying attention in that battle!? You were standing right next to the stupid lion thing!"
Lucy scoffed. "It's called a manticore and when someone is fighting a monster, they typically have to stand by it! You were standing by it!"
"Because I use my fists when I fight! You use your spirits and there's no reason for you to stand so close to the monster!" Natsu reasoned as he continued shouting.
"Well, maybe you're right about that," Lucy admitted, "but you're being way out of line!"
"I'm not being out of line by telling you not to be so damn stupid!" The two were standing so close that they were literally screaming in each other's faces.
"You are telling me not to be stupid!? Now that has got to be the dumbest thing I've heard all day, and I've spent the day with you, Gray, and Happy! You do stupid reckless things all the freaking time, you idiot!"
"But I- It's just different for me!"
"Why!? Why is it different!?" Lucy clenched her fists as her face flushed in her anger.
"Because! I! I don't know! I just- I know how to get out of the dangerous things better than you!" Natsu's arms waved wildly in the air.
"Oh, is that it!? You're better than me!?"
Natsu shook his head quickly. "No, that's not what I meant! You're plenty strong, I know that, you're just- I'm just-"
"Listen, Natsu, I know I'm not near as experienced in battle as you are or as skilled, but I can still handle myself!"
"Lucy, you could've been poisoned! You would've been if I hadn't grabbed you out of the way of its tail in time!" Natsu had grabbed Lucy's shoulders as he spoke much in the same way he'd gripped her wrist to protect her earlier."And look at your stomach! It scratched you, you're bleeding! If it had gone any deeper, the wound would've been way more serious! And you have nasty bruises everywhere!" A hand came off her shoulder to gesture to some of her worst bruises.
Lucy slapped his gesturing hand away. "So do you! And don't forget about me bailing you out from a poisoning, as well!"
"That's beside the point! If this had been a solo mission, you'd've probably died!"
"Except it wasn't a solo mission! We all came as a team! We have each other's backs! It's part of being in a fucking guild, knowing that we can count on one another!" Lucy had angry tears in her eyes at this point.
"I know that! But that doesn't mean you can be stupid!"
"And I know that! I already admitted that I was kind of dumb standing so close to the manticore in that battle! But you are hardly the one to lecture anybody on not being dumb! You go off and do stupid things all the fucking time! Because of your stupidity, I've almost had to watch you die!" The tears fell in near streams.
"And I've had to watch you die! Not just almost, completely! I watched the life drain from you right in front of my eyes!"
"But I'm fine! That wasn't me you watched die, that was Future Lucy!"
"It doesn't matter that it was Future Lucy! She was still you and she still died even though I was right fucking there!"
"I know it was sad and horrifying and terrible to see, but you didn't have to deal with seeing your best friend injured to the brink of death, wondering if he would make it and if your best friend would ever see you or your stupid radiant grin ever again because of you doing another stupid, idiotic thing!"
"Except I have seen you injured and almost dead because of other idiots! Did you forget about Phantom!? And how Edolas was gonna execute you!? And when you decided to stay when the big dude was fighting us on the island!? And when you fought the bitchy lady at the Grand Magic Games!? I've seen you almost die plenty of times and seeing Future You's death just made me realize how fucking scared I am of losing you for real!"
"Just about everyone in the guild has been injured horribly at some point! Erza, Gray, Levy, the list could go on forever! So why are you so worried about me compared to them!? Why!? Huh, Natsu!? Why are you so worried about me specifically!? Why aren't you yelling at the others!? Why are you taking the time to lecture me!? Why!? Why!? Why!?"
"Because I love you!"
"Oh yeah, well I love you, too!"
"Oh yeah!?"
"Yeah!"
And with that, they both pulled the other into a heated and fiery kiss, Lucy grabbing Natsu's scarf, and Natsu's hands immediately going to her hip and around her back. As their mouths moved against one another, they couldn't help but grip their hands tighter, Lucy pulling Natsu harder against her with the scarf and moaning as she felt the tiny pricks of pain underneath Natsu's hands from his possessive hold. Lucy's tears were still falling, and Natsu dragged his mouth from her lips in order to kiss them away before going right back to pecking her lips frantically.
"Na... tsu..." Lucy gasped out before she was silenced by his tongue pushing its way in her mouth, desperately, as if this one act decided his entire fate. Lucy responded eagerly, letting him explore every bit of her mouth and appreciate the taste like it was the first drink he'd had after a thousand year long drought. It was sloppy and it was uncoordinated, and it certainly wasn't the 'first kiss' Lucy had always imagined and dreamed of, but they both savored the kiss, the feeling of having each other at their lips.
"Lucy..." Natsu murmured against her mouth as they separated for breath, gasping. "I love you so goddamn much... I can't stand seeing you hurt..."
"Shut up and kiss me," Lucy urged before devouring his lips again, this time taking his surprise to do exploring of her own. It didn't last long, Natsu quickly dominating her, but Lucy loved it. Craved more of it. She wanted to give him all she could offer and let him take it with that raw power he possessed. Oh God, when did I become such a pervert? Lucy thought as a surge of heat went racing through her veins, right to her core, and threatened to force her knees to buckle.
Natsu had to pause, his lips still resting against Lucy's, in order to let himself appreciate the sudden arousal he could just feel and, oh God, smell radiating from her. After taking his moment, Natsu growled as he felt his own arousal spike higher than it had been before. He dragged away from Lucy for just a second to glance around the environment. When he saw a rock face not far away, Natsu knew where he was going.
Lucy whimpered when Natsu stopped kissing her and then again when he moved his oh so wondrous lips away. And then suddenly, she was being lifted up, Natsu's arms wrapped under her butt and around her back. Instinctively, Lucy gave a small shriek and pressed herself closer to Natsu. Then she felt it and suddenly wasn't scared anymore, merely more aroused. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, basically sitting directly on his hardening shaft. Heat surged through the both of them once again and they both groaned as Natsu pressed Lucy against the rock and started kissing her fiercely again. Lucy started grinding against his arousal, feeling the evidence of her own soak into her panties. "Oh God, Natsu," Lucy moaned, moving her hands up and down his hard, muscular back, eliciting groans from Natsu every time her fingernails scratched against him, his skin hot and sensitive.
They didn't know how long they'd been kissing for but neither wanted to stop. Neither wanted it to ever end. Everything was so heated and fiery and oh so fucking perfect. They didn't have enough sense through their delirium to fully rationalize where they were going, but they knew they were headed there, and fast. "Fucking hell, I love you, Lucy."
"Godddd," she groaned as he found a sensitive spot under her jaw and immediately began sucking at it at her reaction. "Oh my God, I love you too..."
"Whoa, called it," Natsu and Lucy suddenly heard cut through their heat. Their eyes widened as they realized who it was and jumped away from each other. Natsu started scratching at the back of his neck while Lucy started fixing and fidgeting with her clothing (when had her bra been unhooked!?), both faces painted with fierce blushes. In front of them was Gray, who'd said the words that interrupted them, as well as Erza and Happy.
"Heh heh heh... you liiiiiiiiiikkkkeeeee each other!" Happy called.
"We got worried when you never came back to the hotel," Erza commented with her own blush, definitely not expecting to find them like that despite Gray's speculation.
"No, Erza and Happy got worried," Gray corrected. "I said we should just let you guys bang it out,"
"Gray!" Lucy shrieked, her blush only growing.
Gray shrugged. "I mean, you can't deny that that's what was going to happen if we hadn't come when we did. You were making out like the world was coming to an end, Natsu's lost both his scarf and his vest already, and Lucy's shirt was up to her shoulders. You might wanna buckle your belt, too, Lucy."
Lucy flushed as she fixed the belt on her skirt while Natsu put his arm in front of her defensively and yelled at Gray to stop looking at her. "Well!" Lucy tried to come up with a counter quickly to Gray's accusations. "We- No- We di- I nev- He s- Oh, just shut up!"
"Yeah! Shut up, Gray! You're just jealous!"
Gray rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. Now, as glad as I am -we are- that you two have finally figured shit out, I never wanna see that again." Erza and Happy nodded in consensus.
"We are still, technically, on the job," Erza pointed out, "so I trust that you'll be acting professionally from here until we get back home." She punctuated her 'request' with a glare.
"Yes, Erza!" Natsu and Lucy confirmed quickly.
When they arrived back at the hotel and after everyone's wounds had been taken care of, Erza, Happy, and Gray were begrudgingly convinced to share one of their two rooms and let Natsu and Lucy share the other. The new couple were forced to promise that there would be no "fraternizing", but they did need to talk, and it couldn't really wait until they were back in Magnolia. They had stuff to figure out together.
They said goodnight to their companions before Natsu pulled her into their room and gave her a quick but passionate kiss. Lucy smiled as he moved back, even just the simple kiss on the lips making her dizzy with happiness. "Okay, we've gotta talk now," Lucy insisted as she lead him to sit down on one of the beds. "Two things, how long have you kept that pent up and how long have you kept your fear for my safety pent up?"
"The kiss?" Natsu started, even as he tried to goad her into another one. "I don't even know. I just knew that I fucking loved you and that that meant I should kiss you. And now that I have, I know how great it is," he pecked her cheek. "And now I don't ever wanna stop."
"Natsuuu..." she crooned as he moved down to kiss a sensitive spot on her neck. "Yeah, kissing's great, but I want to talk. How long have you been this concerned about me?"
Natsu sighed and reluctantly moved his lips away from Lucy's face. "Fine fine, I'll stop. And I still don't really know. I mean, I've always been a little worried for you. I don't know when it escalated into this."
"Okay, how about this? When did you realize this was love?"
Natsu chuckled. "Ah... that would be a few months ago."
"What happened a few months ago?"
"Nothing, really. We were just sitting in the guild and you were talking to Levy when she made you laugh about something, and as I watched you smile and giggle, it just hit me. I suddenly realized why I cared so much about you."
"That's odd," Lucy started. "I never would've thought you'd figure out something like that through the mundane..."
"Huh?"
Lucy waved him off. "No, don't worry about it. Just talking to myself."
"No, I wanna know!" he urged.
"Okay, fine! It's just weird to me that you figured out you were in love because of something so normal."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" he teased.
"You know very well that neither of us are normal so shut up!" Lucy teased right back as she whacked him with a pillow. The two collapsed backwards on the bed, laughing and grinning.
"So how about you?" Natsu asked.
"Hm?" she responded, acting oblivious.
"You know what I'm asking about. When did you know you'd fallen for me?" Natsu asked genuinely.
Lucy sighed. "I... I just woke up one morning and I knew. You had your arms wrapped around me because you'd snuck in again and it just dawned on me. It was just a few months ago, as well."
"Oh," Natsu replied simply, although he had a grin on his face and was thinking of wrapping his arms around her much like he'd often done when sneaking into her bed.
"Natsu?" Lucy started quietly.
"Yeah?"
"You know I've loved you for far longer, right? I don't know how long it's been, but-" Natsu finally did turn and pull her into a hug.
"Yeah, I get it. I'm the same way, y'know? I've loved you for a long time, I just didn't figure it out very quickly." They laid there in silence for a good while, Lucy on top of him, listening to his slowly steadying heartbeat.
"So..." Lucy started again. "Are we officially dating, then? I'm your girlfriend and you're my boyfriend?"
Natsu shrugged. "Yeah, sure." He didn't really care about labels, but as he let the words swirl around in his head, he grinned widely. "Yeah. My girlfriend. You're my girlfriend."
Lucy smiled, too. She could tell Natsu was going to be a bit possessive of her, but she loved it. It just showed her how much he cherished her. She gripped onto his scarf and propped her head up to look at him. "And you're my boyfriend." Natsu grinned at that.
"I love you," they declared again, simultaneously. They started giggling again.
"Do you wanna... pick up where we left off? From the battlefield?" Natsu suggested with a cheeky smirk that Lucy thought made him look oh so sexy.
Lucy smiled. "I do, but Erza would kill us, remember?"
Natsu groaned. "So we'll just be quiet," he whispered, nuzzling his nose against Lucy's ear.
"Oh yeah, like we can be quiet," Lucy halfheartedly argued as she leaned into his caresses. Lucy moaned as his hand came up to start rubbing along her side, as he sensed that she did want to continue. "Yeah..." Lucy gasped as he nibbled at a sensitive spot on her neck.
"No! None of that!" They suddenly heard Erza shout through the door. "Lucy, I thought better of you!"
Natsu groaned in frustration while Lucy gasped in annoyance. "Were you eavesdropping!?" she shouted in disdain.
"No..." Gray's quiet denial leaked through the door.
"You were! Knock it off and leave us alone!"
"Yeah, what she said!" Natsu shouted. "Leave me and my girlfriend alone!" Even through their irritation, Natsu and Lucy couldn't help but grin at each other at the titles again.
"So... we'll continue in Magnolia?" Lucy laughed.
"Continue in Magnolia," Natsu agreed, however much he'd have liked to continue then and there. But for now, they'd have to suffice with cuddling in bed.
A/N: Who knows, maybe I'll eventually write a smut for it. No promises, though.
Thank you for reading!
