Written for the summer fic exchange (hosted by fic-writer-appreciation) for tuxiedjabberwock.

Erza smiled sweetly and held onto Lucy's hand with an iron grip. "The student council already agreed you would be one of the female additions to our fundraising activity."

"Why me? I have too many other obligations." Lucy shook her head and failed to remove herself from Erza's hold. "I'm practicing for the debate team that night!"

"You can practice before or after. Just show up at the kissing booth."

"I wouldn't be good at it, I haven't had my first real kiss!" Lucy looked down and away, unwilling to meet the student council's president's eyes. "…you were talking about debating, weren't you?"

"Excellent! We can add novice kisser to the posters to drum up interest." Erza grinned and released Lucy's hand. "I wonder if Natsu is any better equipped to man the kissing booth?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Of course not. You've never had a boyfriend, never dated, not ever had one chance to kiss." Erza ticked off each point on her fingers and continued mortifying her friend. "You're pretty but your dad's reputation scares off all interest in you, doesn't it?"

"…"

"Well, it's only a two-hour shift and after that, you and your tested lips will be free to go." Erza rummaged in her book bag, withdrew a ledger and scribbled notes. "Remember, it's for a good cause."

Some of her smarts making a comeback, Lucy looked perplexed at the student council president. "We're raising money for our class trip, not for charity."

"You must be magic at the debates." Erza nodded with a wide smile on her face. "Thanks for proving my point; our class trip is the greatest of causes. Three days and two nights of semi-supervised fun in the big city!"

"Fine." Lucy rubbed her forehead. "I never had a choice anyway, did I?"

"Excellent! I also put you down for construction. I'll send Natsu over to you with the schematics of the booth and you two can get building it straight away." Erza nodded, pivoted and strode with confidence, away from Lucy's mumbled complaints.

Natsu found Lucy hunched over a book in the library. He tapped her shoulder twice and failing to get a response, he cleared his throat. "You ready?"

"How'd Erza rope you into this?" Lucy sighed, bookmarking her place. "She could have gotten any of the woodworking students to make the structure. Laki loves that sort of thing! Why would she need us to do this?"

"I volunteered!" Natsu grinned affably. "And all the woodworking students are already busy with fixing the old booths and working on projects. Laki is super busy - so I told Erza we could do it together."

Distracted by her own special thoughts of 'doing it together,' Lucy stared blankly at Natsu.

"Eyes up here!" Natsu waved the work instructions. "We can pick up what we need from Shop class and get most of it done tonight."

"Wha? Okay." Lucy shook her head and blinked rapidly. "This is going to be more fun than working the booth."

"Oh, I don't know. You haven't seen how handy-challenged I am. And at least during the festival we get to people watch." Natsu admitted his less than stellar workman abilities with a giant smile. "It's only two hours and like Erza says, it's for a worthy cause."

"Not you too! The whole point of the booth is to raise money for the class trip, not charity." Lucy shuffled her homework papers, took her book and stuffed both of them into her satchel.

"Having fun is a pretty good cause," Natsu spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. "But would it make you feel better if we donated any extra over our goal to an actual charity? I bet more people would shell out the big bucks if they knew they were supporting both."

"I don't want to get Erza upset."

"Heh! Only someone suicidal would, but it must be important to you, so we should at least try. I'll mention the idea to Gray and he can bring it up at the next student council meeting." Natsu led the way out of the library and towards the Wood Shop classroom. After a few minutes of Lucy struggling to carry her heavy satchel, he tugged her sleeve to make her stop. "Do you need all that stuff? Can't you dump it in your locker?"

"Um, no." Lucy bit her lip and shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I finished my homework, but I need to study every night. If I don't get straight As my father …" She trailed off, breaking eye contact with Natsu. "Anyways, he wouldn't be happy."

"Give it to me then." Natsu didn't wait for Lucy to answer, taking the school bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "I'm good at carrying things at least." He started walking again, cheerfully whistling.

Bemused, Lucy scurried to follow. Even if Natsu had never been romantically linked with anyone in school, it seemed he was capable of gentlemanly behaviour. "Tell me why you agreed to help make the booth when by your own admission you're not that good with construction." Lucy flinched. Way to sound like a controlling harpy. "I mean, I'm curious about that."

"Easy answer! Cana told me I'd learn a thing or two if I did."

"I'm not that experienced with hammer, saw and wood either." Lucy scratched her head. "But I'm excellent at reading and following directions. Maybe this won't be so hard."

Natsu agreed, "Ya, we can figure it out together."

Lucy got lost in a small personal fantasy - Natsu had such a nice smile. She pressed her lips into a straight line. Time to focus! No time to daydream.

Inside the Wood Shop classroom, they found a beehive of activity. Elfman, Lahar, Mest, and Vjeter worked on with various projects while Laki ran back and forth helping each of them in turn.

Carefully Lucy and Natsu made a pile of the framing lumber and plywood, checking and re-checking the instructions. The regular shop students worked, shouting at one another casually. An alarm sounded from Laki's wristwatch. As one, all the students stopped working. They turned off their equipment and cleaned their messes - exiting one after the other.

Surprised, Lucy jogged over to Laki who was evidently also leaving. "Hey! Is anyone staying who could help me and Natsu?"

"Ooh, shouldn't think so. We've got time during class for this, today was just a bit of extra time before my date with Max." Laki grinned, tugging Lucy closer to the door, further from Natsu. "You dating Natsu?"

Lucy sputtered, "W-what, what, what? Why would you even think that?"

"My bad." Laki did not look sorry. "All you have to do is lock the door behind you once you guys finish whatever you can. I'll have a few students work on the rest of it tomorrow."

"Erza seemed to want us to do all the work."

Laki shrugged. "If you want, but are you really prepared to stay for hours and hours?" Another softer alarm sounded. Laki smiled and silenced it. "I'm leaving. Work safe!"

Lucy turned around, the whole room was empty save for her and Natsu.

"C'mon Luce!" Natsu waved the instructions. "I need you! We gotta measure and cut the frame first."

"Coming!" The imp inside of Lucy's brain giggled. 'That's what she said.'

The shop room echoed without extra voices and the noise of saws.

Lucy giggled. She couldn't help it. Natsu had managed to tangle the measuring tape - again. Holding out her hand she requested its return. "I'm gonna have to demote you." Shaking her head, Lucy held the end hook securely against the end of the two by four that was their first planned cut - and then grabbed Natsu's hand and moved it into place. "You get to be the anchor." Lucy extended the tape measure and marked off four spots. "We'll check it twice and then cut."

"Won't that take longer?"

"Yes and no." Lucy explained, "If both marks are at the same point, I've got them in the right spot - but if they aren't, then we look to see where we made a mistake. It's all about checking and double checking before we do something we can't fix."

"Y'mean kinda like, 'least said, soonest mended'?" Natsu gave Lucy an earnest look. "Or if I'm punching Gray as hard as he deserves, but if Erza is about to show up, we pretend I wasn't kicking his ass?"

"More like the first example, but yeah." Lucy nodded. "Or like how a pound of 'cure' is worth the ounce of 'prevention.' If we don't make mistakes, we don't have to rip apart our work."

"Hmm." Natsu shrugged and held the end of the measure against the end of the board. "Then let's double-check our work."

"Okay!"

Lucy and Natsu measured all the cuts listed in the instructions twice and then began cutting. Never one to shrink away from new tasks, Lucy took command of the saw. Without complaint, Natsu held the other end still and encouraged Lucy. Alternating chores, they finished sawing quicker than anticipated.

"What's next?"

Lucy flexed her hands, they were a little sore. Picking up the blueprints, she scanned the information. "We can cut the plywood next."

"Ugh. Measuring and cutting is boring. What about starting to assemble?"

"We can't put together pieces that aren't ready."

Natsu looked at the much larger than expected pile of cut pieces. "But we're not gonna make any progress if we don't start assembling."

Blueprints still within her grasp, Lucy settled her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "You may have a point. This isn't a puzzle, so, sure, let's get the frame done and then do the rest of the cuts."

"Huh. Cana was wrong about you." Natsu confided, "She said you wouldn't be open to changing plans."

"…" Lucy nodded jerkily. A lot of the fun of this experience had gone out for her right there. Most of her schoolmates didn't really know her, so it was easy to shrug off the popular misconceptions. But - in this short work project, it had felt like she and Natsu had started to become friends.

"She says a lot of dumb stuff, things that only make sense way later, but I think this time she was wrong." Natsu continued speaking, all without noticing how stiff Lucy had become. "You're a good student, I knew that from the posted grades - but you're an even harder worker than I guessed. I bet I could learn a lot from you." Finally noticing Lucy's rigidness, Natsu put down his hammer and the nails he'd been holding ready. "What?"

"…" Lucy looked down and away. This was her standard response to every awkward situation. She flinched as Natsu tentatively touched her shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

Lucy bit her lip and steeled herself. She could face him. Not everything he'd said had been hurtful. Matter of fact, after the first bits, Natsu had sounded like he admired her - which was weird. "More than what we both have time to deal with." Forcing a laugh, Lucy looked into Natsu's eyes. That was a mistake. They were concerned, not condemning. "At first I thought you were saying I was stuck-up."

Natsu frowned and shook his head.

His confusion egged Lucy into saying more. "I've heard that time and time again. People think that I think I'm too smart and won't follow anyone else's advice."

"D'uh! Of course, you're smart! We all can see the posted grades!" Natsu smiled - and it was his smile that convinced Lucy he wasn't being cruel.

"I'm sorry. I'm used to most people getting defensive. I don't know how to react when people are sharing honestly." Lucy picked up a hammer and then a nail. "Why don't we start putting this together like you suggested?"

"That's a good plan, even if it's mine." Natsu laughed and Lucy relaxed.

An hour later, very pleased with their accomplishments, Natsu and Lucy tidied their mess. They swept and dumped the sawdust into the dustbin, hung the hammers and saw back onto the peg-board, and put the nails away.

"This was … an experience." Lucy smiled at Natsu. "I'm glad we got to work with each other."

"I had fun," said Natsu, "and I think you did too."

"Fun isn't usually one of my goals," Lucy admitted, "I have to keep my grades up so my father doesn't freak. Fun doesn't rate high on his list of things to do."

"Pity." Natsu picked up Lucy's schoolbag. "I understand about keeping a parental figure quiet, but y'know we're only young once. Fun shouldn't be forgotten."

"I have some fun. I take dance lessons every Thursday."

"Oh, ya got me there." Natsu's tone did not agree with his words. His voice picked up some pep as he continued speaking. "Pfft. I'm talkin' stuff your dad doesn't approve of kind of fun! The fun that is spur of the moment - somethin' you can't believe you had the nerve to do right after ya do it!"

Hardly able to wrap her brain around calling her father, 'dad,' Lucy stood lost in thought. Natsu had made a lot of good points. Fun was a commodity she hadn't experienced enough. "Will you be mad if I take your advice?"

"Naw, I'd be proud. I bet people wouldn't believe me if I told them the Lucy Heartfilia had taken advice from me." Natsu smiled.

"Remember, you can't get mad." Lucy bit her lip and giggled softly. "I suppose I could apologize ahead of time. You sure?"

"You look like you need fun."

Taking all Natsu's words to heart, Lucy gathered her courage. Heart beating wildly, she moved in front of Natsu. "May I kiss you?"

"Are you joking?"

"Even though your words made me think I could steal a kiss - I respect you too much to do that." Lucy knew her cheeks were climbing way past pink and into tomato red territory, but she wanted to explain herself. "The fun I want is a mutual experience. If I take without your consent, then I'm not respecting your rights. I wouldn't want that for myself so I will not do that to you. I like you. I like you because you're nice to me."

"You're not joking." Natsu blushed. "You're not that good at jumping into fun, but you are so not joking."

"Nope." Lucy swallowed hard. She cursed herself for not thinking harder about how awkward it was going to be after Natsu refused her request because she was too weird. Dammit!

"Okay." Natsu dropped Lucy's books and held her gaze. "You can kiss me - and then… can I kiss you?"

Lucy blinked, knowing her mouth had dropped open. "Huh?"

"I like you too," Natsu spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You like me?"

"Yeah." Natsu smiled. "For a long time now, not just on account of today. You didn't treat me like a dummy while we worked on the booth. I know my reputation. Most people think I'm dumber than a box of bricks."

"You sure?" Lucy inched closer to Natsu.

"I'm sure." Natsu inched closer to Lucy. "Everyone in school thinks I'm stupid."

"You know that's not what I meant." Fire flashed in Lucy's eyes. "You like me? The girl everyone in school thinks is stuck-up? Too smart for her own good and so rich she can't understand anyone else?"

"Yeah. The thing is, I know you're not like that. Not one bit."

Lucy nodded, an anxious smile on her lips. They'd reached an agreement of sorts - mutual respect with a side of pining. She could do this - it was just a kiss, right? Well, she had permission and the time was ripe. Lucy leaned forward, angled her head slightly, closed her eyes and captured Natsu's lips against her own. Seconds later she pulled back, heart racing like she'd been running a marathon.

Natsu licked his lips, his fingers tracing where Lucy had touched him. This made the sudden experience more real. He slowly reached out; caressing Lucy's jawline, then cupped her chin as he kissed her. It lasted perhaps half a minute and felt like an eternity at the same time.

"Wow." Lucy was aware her response was inane, but Natsu still held her in his arms and the warmth of his body distracted her. "That…was…fun."

"You sound like you need more convincing." Natsu squeezed Lucy and then relaxed his hold. "May I kiss you again?"

"I'd like that." Lucy set her hands on Natsu's shoulders and locked eyes with him. "And then maybe I could kiss you again too?"

"Hells yes."

A/N: This is a complete one-shot that *could* be given extra chapters if there's any interest ... Thanks for reading!