This is a whole day/two days late, but let's be real-it's never too late for some New Years kissing fluff.

Coming back to college after a dull Thanksgiving break, Lucy was greeted with not only the strangling embrace of her tiny roommate, Levy, but also a giant bag filled to the brim with paper bows. As Lucy held one up under the fluorescent lights of their dorm, Levy dangled two, tiny stockings from her hands, a giant grin illuminating her face.

"It's Christmastime!" Levy shouted.

So, for the next hour, Lucy followed the careful instructions of her best friend on where to put each bow. It was slow work that nearly made her tear her hair out when the bows wouldn't stop falling off, but eventually it was finished and they had the cute, Christmas-themed door that Levy had been dreaming of since they first moved in.

"Now for the finishing touches." Levy attached two small hooks at the center of the door, and then from each she hung a tiny red stocking. One read 'Levy' and the other read 'Lucy.'

Everything was a blur after that. Levy and Lucy met back up with all the other friends that they had missed over Thanksgiving break at Cana's apartment. As always, the lush had her entire kitchen stocked with booze, and when they arrived it seemed the entire campus was there tapping into it. Lucy was greeted from behind with a fumbling squeeze of her boobs by the tipsy host, making everyone burst into laughter as Lucy frantically slapped her away and screamed until the attention wandered away to someone breaking out a new keg. Even Levy and Erza wandered away from her to grab a cup and join in on the crowd.

Never one to be particularly fond of the partying scene, Lucy found a spot near the stereo where she could just stand and watch everyone have fun while she sipped on the same beer the whole night, letting the alcohol slowly swim through her veins and warm up her skin under the the thinness of her dress. She kicked a heel against the scratched hardwood floor, and then nearly jumped through the ceiling when she felt a scorching hand against her elbow.

Turning, Lucy was met with the burning eyes of a pink-haired boy she hadn't seen before. He wore a wide grin that made the tip of his nose crinkle up a bit, and he held up two red cups.

"You've been over here for a while." His voice was deeper than she expected, but still light and cheerful over the bass pounding in her ears. "Need a refill?"

She still had a sip or two left in her first cup, but she smiled and nodded anyway, placing her mostly empty one on the mantel beside her head so she could take the one from his hand. They both took a deep sip then awkwardly bobbed their heads along to the music side-by-side until the boy cleared his throat and held out his empty hand.

"Natsu."

Quirking an eyebrow up at the weird name, she placed her hand in his warm, firm grip. "Lucy."

"Were you the girl who got groped earlier?"

She choked on the lukewarm beer that was just about to go down her throat. "You saw that?"

"I'm pretty sure everyone saw that."

Groaning, Lucy buried her flaming face in the crook of an elbow. "How embarrassing."

Natsu left loose a laugh that made Lucy peek up from her hiding place just to see how his face scrunched up as the deep, lilting sound spread fuzz through her chest that had little to do with the alcohol she had been sipping at. She was fascinated by him, watching the myriad of expressions that crossed his face all within the span of a few minutes—all with that smile hanging off his soft-looking lips. Maybe it was the heat of the room, or the leftover blush lingering on her skin, but she couldn't help but he reminded her of a flame jumping and erratically tossing up sparks. She had never met a more captivating person.

"Ehhh, don't worry about it." He rubbed the back of his head, fluffing up the pink of his hair. "The expression on your face was actually pretty cute."

"What?" Her eyes popped open, staring at him as he took a sip from his drink and nodded. He wasn't even looking at her anymore, and looked the perfect picture of casual with his hand stuffed in his pocket.

"Yup." He tilted his head towards the part of the room that was more focused on dancing. "You wanna join 'em?"

"Huh? Me?" She waved her hands back and forth in front of her face. "No, thanks. I don't really dance."

"Oh, come on."

Taking her drink, he set both of their cups down on the mantel, then grabbed her hand.

"Everyone dances!"

Unable to say another word, Lucy was tugged out into the middle of the dancing mass. There, she turned her back to him, expecting him to press up against her and grip her hips like all the other guys in the room, but he just popped right back up in front of her.

"That's not dancing," he said, shaking his head. "This is dancing."

For the next couple hours, Natsu introduced Lucy to a plethora of dance moves that were just as embarrassing as they were unknown. At first, she felt stiff and awkward as she tried to follow along with his wild, flailing movements, but then he took her hands in his and for some reason she felt everything melt away. She let loose, dancing whatever way she could think of as she laughed and shouted along to the lyrics blasting. All the while, Natsu's eyes never left her face, making her feel even more flushed than the dancing already made her. But at the same time, she loved it. She loved the way her heart fluttered whenever she found his eyes on hers, and how her skin tingled whenever they accidentally brushed up against each other. She found herself feeling higher than the alcohol ever did. But that still didn't stop her from knocking back the shots that Cana would occasionally come by with and shove in their faces.

By the end of the night, Lucy felt a little more than tipsy as she stumbled outside into the cool air. She was leaning on Natsu for support as she laughed in his face over a story he had been telling her about a prank he had pulled on his best friend, Gray. Lucy was pretty sure she had met Gray at some point, the name tickling at the back of her memory, but she was too high on everything to think even remotely straight. So it was no surprise that when the pair had made it to the intersection between their separate dorms, Lucy tugged down the hem of her tight dress that had ridden up, licked her slightly chapped lips, and invited him back to her room.

Surprise flickered across his face at first, which only made Lucy spew out a fit of laughter again. Then he seemed to suddenly sober up as he ran his eyes all down her frame and back up again, seeming to hesitate.

"Come on," she pleaded, leaning over a bit to use the gift known as her cleavage as she blinked up at him through her lashes. She saw him swallow. "Just for a little bit."

Tearing his eyes away from her, he ran a hand through his hair as he looked up at the sky. Finally, he groaned and repeated, "Just for a little bit."

Lucy through her arms around his neck, hugging him flush against her. "Yay!"

The tipsy part of Lucy wanted to immediately jump on Natsu the second she had gotten the door open, but the more practical part of her sobered up and turned shy the second she saw him standing in her room, examining the knickknacks lined up on her desk. He was bent over slightly, allowing her a peek at the tanned skin of his back, and he had a small smile lighting up his features.

"What are all these from?" he asked, poking a pink, glass figurine of a ram.

Lucy came up behind him, peering over his shoulder at all the glass animals precariously lined up beneath the light of her lamp. "My mom was a strong believer in the zodiacs, so my dad got her this collection of them for their first anniversary. It was her favorite thing in the world."

"And she gave you them as a going away present?"

"No." She leaned back and tied her hands behind her. "She passed away when I was seven, and my dad couldn't bear to look at them after. So I've been taking care of them ever since."

Even from behind, Lucy could see Natsu flinch as he whispered a quiet, "I'm sorry." He was still poking at them, seeming to inspect each one with great care.

Suddenly, he leaned back and looked at her. "If these are of the zodiacs, where's the fish lady one?"

Lucy cocked her head to the side. "You mean Aquarius?" Natsu nodded, and she frowned in turn. "Oh, my dog, Plue, accidentally knocked her off my dresser one day and she shattered. I looked all over for a replacement, but…I guess they were one of a kind."

Natsu took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly. "I'm sorry, Luce."

Surprise at the sudden nickname, Lucy found all she could do was blink up at him as her heart stuttered painfully. "I—It's okay."

Silence overtook them, and the room began to seem suffocatingly small. She could feel herself gravitating towards Natsu as she swallowed hard, preparing for the moment when their lips would meet. Natsu was coming closer, too, his plump lips parted as his pupils dilated in a way that made her fingertips tingle. But when they were close enough for their noses to bump, he snapped backwards, blinking as if trying to rid himself from a trance. She watched as the bump in his throat bobbed up and down.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he announced, voice deeper than she had heard it all night.

Lucy was struggling to get her breathing under control. "O-Oh. It's just down the hall. To your right."

"Got it."

Natsu left, shutting the door softly behind him, and all of Lucy's nerves chose that moment to crash down on her. Clambering over to the mirror, she groaned over the sight of her smudged eyeliner and ratty hair before doing her best to damage control her horrid appearance. Then, at the same time as coating her lips up with her favorite peppermint-flavored chapstick, she kicked her heels off into the closet and jumped into bed, trying to make herself look as casual as possible, as if she wasn't still too drunk to think and flooding with nerves.

That, however, turned out to be a bad idea. Five minutes later, Natsu walked back into the dorm to find Lucy blinking hard against sleep, curled up around a decorative pillow, her hair falling in her face.

"Natsu?" she mumbled, lifting her head a little bit. When she saw him leaning in the doorway, hands stuffed in his pockets, she patted the unused portion of the bed beside her. "Join me."

Shaking his head, Natsu sat down beside her and smoothed her hair behind her ear. "I should get going. You're tired."

Lucy sat up and took his face between her palms, drawing it near hers. She looked at him from beneath her dark lashes again, making sure to stick out her chest so that it pressed against him. "Then wake me up."

With wide eyes, he leaned towards her, and she let her eyes flutter shut, eagerly awaiting the feel of his lips against her own. But instead, she felt their soft warmth press against her forehead, and her eyes flung open.

Natsu was grinning, as he always seemed to be. "When you're not drunk."

"I'm not drunk," Lucy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

He chuckled, standing up. "Well I know I'm definitely starting to feel it." Looking down at her, he again brushed some loose strands behind her ear, staring at her with an unfamiliar look in his eyes. "I had a great time tonight with you. I'll see you around, Luce."

It wasn't until he was out the door that Lucy could think to say, "You too, Natsu."

The pink-haired, grinning, horrible dancer from the night before seemed like a dream to Lucy when she woke up the next morning. But if even if he had been a figment of her dream, she almost would have been grateful—then she wouldn't have to come to terms with the fact that she had purposely shoved her cleavage at a boy—more than once.

Grinding the heels of her palms into her eyes, she kicked erratically in bed, flailing about until she fell out with a thud that was loud enough to startle Levy awake, shouting, a few feet away. This was already turning into a great morning.

After relaxing her hangover away the entire day with Levy, the next day brought the usual grind of school. There was just one week left of classes before finals week, and as a result she found herself slammed with last-minute essays and quizzes and worksheets. When she was done with the mountain of work for that week, she was burying herself in textbooks trying to study all the material she needed to for exams.

Before she even had the chance to think about getting in touch with Natsu, she was packing up all the stuff that she needed over break into her car and heading home. It wasn't until she was sitting in her room reading a book that she remembered she'd completely forgotten about him. How was it even possible that she had forgotten about a man with pink hair?

Next semester, she thought determinedly. I will definitely ask Cana for his number next semester.

Turned out she'd be seeing him a lot sooner than she'd thought.

Earlier on during break, Lucy's old friend, Yukino, had invited her to her boyfriend's apartment for a New Year's Eve party. Since none of her college friends lived around her, Lucy was completely open and completely grateful for the invitation. So on New Year's night, she dressed up in a soft blue sweater and her favorite pair of leggings, reading to finally get a break from being cooped up in her house all day long.

Unlike Cana's parties where everyone was so drunk and crazy that she couldn't feel comfortable for one second, this party was more toned down, as Lucy had come to expect from the quiet, bubbly girl. There were just as many people as there had been at Cana's when she walked in, but everyone was simply milling around, chatting, and slowly nursing a drink. Yukino and Lucy hung around each other near the snack table most of the night, catching up on their first semester of college while munching on this and that. A little before midnight, though, Yukino's boyfriend, Sting, so that he could get some alone time with her before their midnight kiss.

So Lucy knocked the cap off her first bottle beer on the edge of the table and decided to wander around the apartment, hoping to find in the massive crowd someone else that she'd gone to high school with. Instead, leaning against the walls in the corner of the living room with his hands stuffed in his pockets was a tall, tan, pink-haired boy.

"Natsu?"

Despite the fact that she had only spoke his name at a normal volume and there were at least ten loud people between us, he somehow heard her, his head snapping towards her with parted lips and wide eyes. For a moment, everything froze as they locked eyes and soaked in the shock of seeing each other. Then, breaking out into a bright grin that Lucy suddenly realized she had actually missed, Natsu waved at her and made his way over until he was standing inches away.

"Hey, Luce! How ya been?"

Swallowing around the sudden bundle of nerves that clustered at the bottom of her throat, Lucy offered a small smile. "Really busy. You know, finals and all." She cleared her throat when her voice cut out at the end. What was wrong with her? "But what are you doing here? You don't live in Hargeon, do you?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm from Magnolia. Sting's my cousin, and my dad wants me to spend 'quality time' with him." He rolled his eyes when he finished making air quotes with his fingers.

"I'm sorry," she said, laughing. "How long are you up here for, then?"

"The rest of break."

"Oh!" The word burst out of her mouth before she could stop it, sounding more excited than she'd care to admit. She laughed again, but it was weak, just a breath of air trying to cover up her weird tone of voice.

Natsu didn't let it go, though, his lips twitching up as his eyes grazed her face kindly. "You excited about that?"

"Psh." She elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "I was just going to offer to save you if Sting ever gets on your nerves. My apartment isn't too far away from this place."

"As long as you promise no more drunkenly trying to get me to sleep with you, I'm game," he said with a wink.

The sip Lucy had been swallowing was suddenly caught in her throat, and she coughed over and over while Natsu laughed at her. When she could finally breathe again, she glared at him through watery eyes.

"I—I was not trying to get you to sleep with me," she spluttered. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. "Shows where your mind was that night."

"Yeah," he snorted. "It definitely didn't have anything to do with the boobs you were shoving in my face."

Groaning, Lucy covered her face with her hand and stomped her foot. "I'm so, so sorry—Mavis—that was so embarrassing. I—"

"Hey."

Suddenly, Natsu's voice was really gentle and he was holding her hand in a tight, warm grip as he pulled it away from her face to look into her eyes. She was trapped by their color, getting lost in the heat of all the dark shades she found there.

"Don't worry about it. I didn't mind."

Around her, the countdown from ten seconds began.

It took her until eight seconds to get what he was implying with those simple, little words.

Her parted lips began to tremble as her body lit up in an overwhelming blush for the second time that night at seven seconds.

Six seconds, and Natsu was leaning in. His lips were right at her ear, brushing the side of her cheek when he whispered, "You're not drunk right now, are ya, Luce?"

When he pulled back to look at her face, she slowly shook her head. She just now noticed that their hands were still entwined.

Natsu's gaze flickered down to her lips, and her heart slammed against her ribs, begging to be let loose.

At one second, Natsu swooped in and pressed his lips against her just everyone around them cheered and tugged at the strings of their poppers. Lucy dropped her beer to the floor and flung her arms around his neck. As brightly colored confetti showered down around them, they melted against each other, all too ready to see where the fiery spark between them would take them in the new year.

There are probably a lot of mistakes in this! But I'm too tired to edit and wanted to just get this posted for you guys, so I hope it wasn't too much of a bother. Hope you enjoyed!

Please Review if you liked it! They make me smile :)

-Jess