A/N: Okay, this is just another oneshot I've been working on. I wanted to try writing something shorter- though I have no idea how this even ended up having over 3000 words. In my mind, the word count had been somewhere around 1000-ish... Oh, well.
Summary: Maybe Cana was right. He should have just kissed Lucy from the start.
Warnings: Language, Romance, Humor, NaLu, Sexual Tension, Implied GaLe, Implied Gruvia, Implied Miraxus.
Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, Gray wouldn't have been the only male exhibitionist in the series.
"What the hell do you think you're doing to her you bastard?!"
That was the only warning Natsu gave the man bending over Lucy before his flaming fist firmly connected with his jaw.
He smirked, satisfaction clearly apparent on his face, when the pervert was sent flying across his friend's sitting room. His joy was short lived however since the man only ended up lodged in the opposite wall.
Damn it. He had been aiming for the window.
"What is wrong with you, Natsu?" Lucy yelled at him once her initial shock had worn off. "Why the hell did you do that?"
He chose not to answer her questions. They were both so offensive.
He had come over to tell her something important, but seeing her current state, he guessed he could wait until she calmed down- which didn't look like it was going to happen any time soon given the way she was glaring at him.
When Lucy went on to complain about him knocking her friend unconscious – please, the son of a bitch deserved it – Natsu decided to fully ignore her. She didn't seem to be in an understanding mood, so chances were she wouldn't even listen to him even if he tried to explain his actions. He spun around and headed to off to her kitchen to raid her fridge.
Yes, food sounded like a very good idea. Maybe by the time he was done, she'd have cooled down by then.
He'd already made it to the door when he heard Lucy click her tongue in annoyance. Next thing he knew, her harried footsteps pounded away on the wooden floor as she rushed to the unconscious man's side.
He couldn't help it. A wave of jealousy coursed through him, and it took all his willpower to stop himself from attacking the man once again.
Why was Lucy even siding with the pervert?
Didn't she see that he had protected her from him?
"Come on, come on." She pulled the man out of the wall as gently as she could, taking care not to aggravate any of his injuries. The relief that shone on her face when she finally freed him instantly made Natsu hate the bastard even more. Great, even unconscious the man still managed to piss him off. "Ne, Lucy? Why are you even helping that creep?" He asked, honestly curious.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he awaited her answer.
"Jason's not a creep!" Ah, so they were on a first name basis. Natsu really would have to take care of him later. "What makes you think you can just waltz in here and punch people? If this is about those articles he published about you then you should just grow the hell up. That was eight years ago for crying out loud." Her voice, which was heavily laced with acerbity, steadily rose with each word she spoke. "And who gave you permission to just come into my apartment and break stuff? I swear the repairs for the wall are coming from your reward money this time."
Natsu had a feeling Lucy didn't even realize she had left Jason's side during her fit of rage. She jabbed a finger at his chest once she reached him, calling him a jerk, an uncultured buffoon, an ignoramus and various other insults he did not know the meanings of. That was around the same time he tuned her out again.
Looking at her was so much better than listening to her anyway.
From afar, she had looked relatively angry, a state he knew how to handle oh so well. But up close, she looked positively furious. Her cheeks burned red, vehemence radiating off of her. Her nose flared, and her body shook with barely-held-back rage.
Lucy's anger should have scared him, but oddly, it didn't.
"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" She asked, finally having finished ripping him a new one. She glared at him through narrowed eyes, undisguised fury swimming behind her vibrant brown orbs.
She looked like she wanted to murder him.
So why did he suddenly find that sexy?
"Hey, are you even listening to me?"
Natsu blinked. Right, she was still talking. Since he had no clue what she was yelling about, he decided to wing it and hope for the best. "I don't get you. What are you even complaining about now?" Upon reflection, he figured that maybe that hadn't been the right thing to say at such a time.
Immediately after hearing his question, Lucy's hands balled into fists.
He instinctively took a few steps back even though she made no move to attack. Inwardly, he scoffed. Her minor show of control did not lull him into a false sense of security. Having fallen victim to her violent bursts several times in the past, he knew full well that it was only a matter of time before she exploded.
The seconds ticked by, but Lucy remained silent.
He took that as a bad sign.
Discreetly, he tried to inch as far away from her as possible without looking like he was running. After all, there was no need for him to be at such a close range when all Lucy looked like she wanted to do was kick him all the way to kingdom come.
"You come here, attack my friend with your freakish Dragon Slayer powers, destroy my wall and you still have the nerve to ask what I'm complaining about?" Her tone was frigid, harsher than the chilly winds of Mt. Hakobe.
Natsu frowned. He really couldn't understand why she sounded so enraged. As far as he knew, he'd done her a favor.
When he had walked into her apartment, she had been bending, almost halfway to the floor while the bastard - Jake? Jackson? Jason? - stood behind her. He had been leaning way too close to Lucy, his crotch practically pressing against her behind as she begged him to stop, crying that she couldn't go on anymore.
All Natsu had seen from that point on was red.
His instincts had overrode him then. The only rational part of him that remained unaffected by his ire was snuffed out and pushed to the back of his mind. He only knew that he had wanted to save her, to protect her from the bastard that had dared lay his filthy hands on her.
So, like any decent mage of Fairy Tail, he had sent the man flying.
"He was forcing himself on you." He said plainly. He spoke with the same matter-of-fact tone he used on Lucy whenever she was being a wierdo. "You should be thanking me for saving you."
Expecting more anger, he was slightly thrown off when all that greeted him was the sound of her laughter.
Natsu furrowed his brows in confusion. None of the things he'd said were funny.
When he'd entered, Lucy had honestly looked like she was suffering. She'd screamed, moaned and cried out in pain, while the slimeball had the gall to laugh at her as he continuously rubbed himself all across her lower half.
"Oh, God." She said, finally stopping long enough to actually breath. "I can't believe that you actually thought Jason was–" She doubled over in laughter, unable to continue with the sentence. "Wow, that's just–" Wiping away a lone tear from her eye, the last of her giggles died out once she was finally able to compose herself. "He wasn't doing anything wrong. He's my personal trainer."
Personal trainer? That guy barely looked like he could defend himself. What business did he have training Lucy?
"Why? He doesn't even have magic." If she really wanted to train, she should have just asked him. Or Erza. Or Gray.
Besides, there was no way that scrawny bastard was even capable of training her. If anything, he was probably just using it as an excuse to hump his way into her bed.
His jaw clenched, the very idea of that man being anywhere near Lucy making his blood simmer with unfettered rage.
Unaware of the thoughts swirling around Natsu's head, Lucy spoke. "He's not training me in magic. He's just helping me stay fit. You know, a girl's gotta work extra hard to keep her body this sexy." She struck a pose, chest thrust forward, a hand on her hip while the other dug into her golden hair. Suddenly, she crossed her arms, her excitement deflating. "I wouldn't expect you to understand though. It's not like you even notice my sex appeal."
"What makes you think I don't?" Natsu blurted out. Sure, he had made it a point to always play down the effect her body had on him, but now, with her arms crossed over her chest, squeezing her breasts like that; and the tight yoga pants clinging to her thighs, hugging them like a second skin, all he noticed was her sex appeal.
He could tell by the look of shock plastered across her face that she had not been expecting his response to be anything like that. He'd always downplayed her beauty, and basically ignored any mentions she'd made about being cute, so it wasn't that surprising that she was stunned by his underhanded admission.
After a moment of awkward silence, she blinked. "What?" Her arms dropped to her sides in confusion.
Natsu silently mourned the loss of the view, but he didn't dwell on it for long.
He had more important things to deal with.
Oh well, it's now or never.
"I said," Taking a deep breath, he moved closer to her. "What makes you think I don't notice your sex appeal?" Personally, he thought he'd made his acknowledgement of her rather obvious ever since he'd met her. After all, she was the only female he knew that actually had him blushing like a schoolgirl whenever he – accidentally – saw her naked. In fact, he even made an effort to sneak up on her while she showered sometimes.
That had to count for something.
Granted, they hadn't confessed to each other or anything of the sort, but to hell with that. They were together, end of story. He'd tried to ask her out, several times in fact, and he had failed spectacularly on all accounts.
Complement her, make her feel special. Gildarts had told him when he'd gone up to him and asked for advice the previous week. Natsu had then approached Lucy at the bar and told her that the skirt she was wearing made her butt look beautifully huge and it was just the right size to showoff her gigantic hips.
Needless to say, even he agreed that he'd deserved the kick she'd sent his way.
Prove your worth. Gajeel had said as he punched him in the solar plexus. Natsu had countered with a fiery kick to the larger man's face, all the while asking himself just how desperate had he truly been to go seek out advice from the Iron Dragon Slayer of all people. But since Gajeel had managed to score with Levy, he figured that he might as well give it a shot. So, following that little bit of advice, he challenged Lucy to a spar. She had refused of course, saying she didn't want to die just yet so he had done the next best thing. He'd attacked and hoped she'd be fast enough to dodge.
Half an hour later, after Lucy had landed in the guild's medical wing, Natsu decided that maybe beating the shit out of the girl he was trying to impress wasn't the best way to prove his worth in her eyes.
Strip. He had punched Gray for even suggesting such a thing. That may have worked for him and Juvia, but he had a feeling Lucy didn't have that kind of kink. She would probably beat him up the moment she saw him unzipping his pants. So, no.
Just no.
Let her know that you consider her as nothing less than your equal. Laxus had told him when he'd asked him in between blows during their weekly I-swear-I'm-going-to-beat-you-this-time-Laxus spar. Thinking that maybe he should actually take the older Dragon Slayer's advice since he had managed to convince Mira of all people, to go out with him, Natsu rushed to Lucy's apartment with a job offer he knew she couldn't refuse. When she'd accepted, they both left Magnolia the following day and made their way to the neighboring town being attacked.
Their enemies were an aspiring dark guild that had managed to make a name for itself through sucking out the magic and eventually killing any mage that went against them. Once they reached their targets, he had promptly left her alone so she could deal with all twenty three criminals on her own. If he could take them, then so could she.
Lucy had managed to beat them, just barely though. And as they returned home with their reward money, he had a feeling she was keeping a twenty foot distance from him because she thought he really was trying to off her.
Tell her how you feel. By then he'd already given up, knowing that anything he did would either directly or indirectly risk Lucy's life, so Mira's words didn't fire him up like they were supposed to.
Of course that had been the exact moment Cana had decided whack him on the head with an empty beer bottle and kick him out.
Kiss her, Natsu had desperately convinced himself that that had been the word she had used when she threw him out of the guild. Kiss her senseless, kiss her brains out. Dammit, kiss her till the cows come home for all I care. Just mark her so she knows she's yours. And don't you dare come back here unless you've thoroughly kissed her until she can't even walk properly.
Which brought him back to his current predicament.
Finding Jason there, hovering all over his woman - his, yes, he liked the sound of that - had really made him start considering Cana's words as an actual solution.
"What is wrong with you this time?" Lucy asked sharply, moving back in tandem with every step he took forward. She tried to sound angry when she yelled, but the effect was somehow diminished due to the slight flush painting her cheeks. He was definitely way too deep into her personal space. "You've been acting weird all week."
Considering he had a feeling she thought he'd been trying to kill her for the past seven days, Natsu was glad that she'd used the word weird instead of murderous.
Still, he didn't stop approaching her.
And Lucy didn't stop moving away.
She gasped when her back hit the wall, and Natsu took that moment like the chance it was.
He got in her face, placing them nose to nose. Their breaths mingled, her decadent scent of vanilla and orchids assaulting him unrelentingly.
He bit his tongue. It wasn't grand, but the effort was still enough to stop him from ripping out her clothes then and there.
Bringing up his arms, he braced them on either side of her and caged her in. Lucy's eyes widened, and her gaze latched on to his, blazing with a heat so strong it could have rivaled his deadliest attack.
"Natsu." She sounded hesitant when she whispered his name, almost like she was afraid of what was about to happen. However, despite her uncertainty, he could still detect tendrils of excitement underneath her voice. "Don't start something you won't finish."
"What?"
"Don't start... We shouldn't do this." Even she didn't sound like she believed in what she said.
Unfazed by her rejection, Natsu brought his hands down to her waist. He pulled her towards him, pressing their bodies close. "Do what?"
Feigning cluelessness had always been his strong suit.
"This." She flattened her palms on his chest, silently willing him to stop. "We're... We're friends." She bit her lower lip, sight trailing down to his mouth. "Friends don't-"
"Not good enough."
"What?"
"You're reason's not good enough."
He almost smiled when Lucy blushed. She was about to say something else, but seemed to change her mind and shake her head. Subconsciously, her tongue darted out and licked her lips.
That simple action had been Natsu's undoing.
Any and all slivers of his control vanished.
He jerked his head down and meshed his lips against hers. He wasn't surprised when her mouth instantly opened, welcoming him in as if she'd been expecting it from the start. Their tongues met, thrusting against one another in a hot, wet duel. A searing heat rushed through him as her taste of vanilla flooded his senses. Never in his life had he felt more desperate, more needy.
Hot-white passion sizzled between them, a blazing inferno, twining and joining them in ways they'd never have imagined.
Moaning, Lucy pressed deeper into the kiss, all her previous inhibitions gone. Her hands fisted his salmon locks, and she angled her head to let him go deeper. The fervor with which she kissed him proved she wasn't about to let him conquer her just like that. She gave just as good as she got.
Natsu almost smirked.
Good. He wouldn't have it any other way.
He let out a guttural growl when she rubbed against him. Almost immediately, he broke the kiss and shoved her back against the cold wall.
Uncaring of the pain shooting up her spine, Lucy peered at him. "What's wrong?" She sounded winded. Her long lashes cast shadows on her flushed cheeks, and her gaze was glazed over, still clouded with desire. "Did I... Did I do something wrong?"
"No." Natsu sucked in a breath. "But if you keep doing this," he gripped her hips and mashed them against his for emphasis. Her resounding gasp was music to his ears. "Kissing might not be the only thing we'll be doing toda-."
Lucy was already pulling him back to her before he even finished. "Don't care. Stop talking. Kiss. Now." Her voice then took on a huskier edge. "I've been waiting for this for months. Don't you dare think I'll let you leave without finishing what you started."
Wait, hadn't she been against them doing anything a while ago?
God, Lucy was so confusing.
"I wasn't leaving but," he hissed, "Aren't you girls all about taking it slow and shit?"
Lucy laughed. "You've been sleeping on my bed with me for months, you've seen me naked multiple times and now you wanna talk about taking it slow? Shut up and kiss me before I change my mind."
Natsu obliged. He couldn't possibly say no to a request like that.
He dove in for another kiss, but the sound of a pained groan cut them off before their lips could make contact once more.
The low growl that escaped Natsu's throat was enough to show his displeasure at the interruption.
Pulling away from him, Lucy shot him an apologetic look as she moved towards the half-conscious man on her floor. "Jason? Can you hear me? Are you awake?"
Either the man was an idiot or Natsu had hit him pretty hard because the only thing he kept saying was the word, 'cool' over and over again with varying syllable intonations.
"I think I broke him." Natsu deadpanned once he had quieted, probably having lost consciousness again.
"No." Lucy expelled a sigh. "He's pretty much like this all the time. But we should probably take him to a hospital." She stood up, dusted off some debris from her pants and walked towards Natsu. "I can't believe I forgot about him."
He shrugged. "It happens."
She shot him a look. "You don't sound very repentant."
"That's 'cause I'm not."
"Well you should be. Jason's been working out with me for almost a year and he's been nothing but helpful."
Natsu blanched. Jason had been doing that to her for a whole year?
It was decided then.
The man had to die.
"Hey Natsu, where's Happy?" Lucy asked, unaware of the nefarious plans. She must have been thinking of using the exceed to fly Jason to the hospital.
Right on cue, the blue exceed came bursting through her front door. "Natsu, Lucy, look!" He exclaimed excitedly as he pulled out a three-headed fish from his backpack. "I got it for 700 jewels."
"I think you got swindled, buddy." Natsu winced.
Lucy conked him. "Don't say such things so casually." She then flashed Happy a smile. "I think that's wonderful. You should definitely go show the others back at the guild. I'm sure Pantherlily and Carla will love it."
Happy nodded, and turned to leave when something caught his eye.
"Natsu, why's your hand on Lucy's butt?"
Natsu nearly groaned. How had his hand even reached there?
The young exceed stayed silent as he scrutinized them. Natsu knew full well that one look at his and Lucy's disheveled appearances, and their slightly swollen lips, anyone, even Happy would be able to deduce what they had been doing.
A look of comprehension dawned on Happy's face.
He giggled, his dirty mind undoubtedly imagining inappropriate scenarios involving both Natsu and Lucy. Smiling, he pointed an accusatory paw at them. "You guys were kissing."
"Mind your own business you damned cat." Lucy screamed. She didn't look like she was in any mood for his jokes.
Hoping to save Happy before she exploded, Natsu said, "Hey buddy, do me a favor and get that guy outta here, okay?"
Happy, having already tired of teasing them, readily agreed. "Aye, sir!" He grabbed Jason and moved to the window, where he sprouted wings and flew out of the building.
Once both Jason and the Happy were gone, Natsu turned his full attention back to Lucy.
"He's definitely off to gossip about us back at the guild." She smiled, shaking her head. "Seriously, you'd think he had better things to do."
"Tell me about it. But on the bright side," He stalked towards her, a predatory gleam settling over his eyes. "We're finally alone now."
Lucy gulped, all the while shivering in anticipation.
Natsu grinned.
Maybe Cana was right. He should have just kissed Lucy from the start.
A/N: I don't even know what to say... I have no idea what came over me... Anyways, I hope you all liked it ^^
Please don't forget to leave a review before you go :)