"Luce, I really need your help," Natsu whined, throwing himself onto Lucy's bed. Both teenagers were still clad in their school uniform, having walked straight to Lucy's home after the final bell. Throwing her friend a glare for rumpling up the sheets on her perfectly made bed, Lucy sat down beside him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, more curious than worried. Natsu never worried about anything, and when he did, it was usually about stupid things. Like the time he got all worked up about Happy going missing when in reality he'd just forgotten that he'd let his younger cousin, Wendy, cat sit for the night. Natsu was nothing if not an idiot, at least in Lucy's book.

The pinkette had started to run a hand through his hair nervously, refusing to meet Lucy's gaze. That's different, she thought as she waited for him to speak. "Well, the winter ball is coming up, and everyone's expecting me to ask Lisanna to be my date. So now I have to ask her and -"

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Lucy reminded her friend. It seemed that she often had to do this with Natsu, since he was always pushing himself to make everyone happy. It was something that came naturally to him, but took a lot out of him at the same time. Lucy was usually his safe haven, the one he would come back to when he needed to relax and recharge. To Natsu, being with Lucy was easy; it seemed like just his presence made her happy, and something about that fact calmed him in a way nothing else could.

"I know," Natsu paused to sigh deeply, "But if I don't ask her to be my date, she won't have anyone else to go with."

Neither will I, Lucy thought, a tiny bit of bitterness making its way through her. Natsu and Lucy were best friends, and have been for almost two years now. They did everything together, so when things like school dances came up, everyone just assumed Natsu and Lucy would go together. That stopped other guys from asking her, which usually wasn't a problem, since Lucy and Natsu would end up just going to school events together. As best friend, of course.

But ever since Lisanna moved back to Mongolia a few months ago, Lucy and Natsu had been thrown off a little. Lucy respected the fact that Lisanna was Natsu's childhood best friend, and happily gave them as much time and space as they wanted. She didn't mind it at all. And normally, Lucy wouldn't mind going to a dance by herself either, but the winter ball required that everyone attending have a date. If Natsu went with Lisanna, Lucy would have to miss it.

"It's not like I care that she'll be my date," Natsu continued on, not noticing the face Lucy was making. "It's just that everyone knows that during the last song of the dance, you're supposed to kiss your date. And knowing Lisanna, she'll be expecting a real one, not just a kiss on the cheek. So I'll have to kiss her and I have no idea how to kiss someone."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Lucy repeated, casually slipping off her uniform cardigan and standing. She walked over to her closet to hang the sweater, causing Natsu to groan.

"I know that, okay?! But would ya just help me out, please? I don't have anyone else to turn to."

Lucy looked back to the sincere face that Natsu was giving her now. His cheeks were slightly pink with embarrassment, and his eyes were wider than usual, their normal alertness gone, replaced by...pleading. Sighing, Lucy's shoulders slumped slightly. She stood by her closet still, all of her weight on one leg, her other bent at the knee in a casual position.

"Fine. What is it?"

At her question, Natsu began to squirm, and immediately broke eye contact. That's weird, Lucy thought, narrowing her eyes. "Well...like I said, I've never kissed anybody...and I was wonderin'...if I could practice on you?" Natsu's entire face was red when he finished speaking and Lucy could only imagine that hers was too.

"What?!" she almost shouted back in response. Practice kissing, on her?! This was not how she pictured her first kiss, or how she wanted it to play out at all. Lucy wanted her first kiss to be romantic, and intimate, and most importantly with someone she was in love with...or at least dating! Composing herself, she tried to reason with Natsu. "But I've never kissed anyone either. I don't know how much help I could really be."

"But that's just it. I figured since neither of us know what we're doing, it would help us both out. And you're the only one I can trust with this, Lucy, please? I'll do anything you want, for a week - no, a whole month!"

Slowly, Lucy walked back over to her bed and sat back down next to Natsu. He never took his eyes off of her, still silently begging her. Was he this desperate to give Lisanna a good kiss? Lucy straightened her shoulders and faced her best friend. "Alright, but I'm only doing this because you're my absolute best friend, and you'd do the same for me. Also," Lucy cut in before Natsu could do his usual happy dance, "No one can find out about this."

"You got it," Natsu nodded, and then paused. The two shared an awkward moment of silence, neither knowing what to do. Lucy expected Natsu to make the first move, since it was his idea, but the boy just stared back at her blankly.

Finally, with a roll of her eyes, Lucy began to lean in. That seemed to wake Natsu up, because he followed her lead, leaning closer to her as well. They both paused once their noses brushed, both too nervous to make their lips meet. Lucy looked into Natsu's eyes; you're turn, she thought at him, and he seemed to get the message. Licking his lips quickly, Natsu tilted his head, and leaned in the rest of the way.

When their lips met, there weren't fireworks, or electric sparks, like Lucy read about in the books she read. Instead there was an awkward pause in which neither of them moved; they were just pressing their lips to each others.

Lucy felt… uncomfortable. She wanted to lean away so badly, but she knew that would be selfish of her. Natsu had swallowed his pride to ask her this favor, and she wouldn't let him have this awkward moment at the ball with Lisanna. Sharing a kiss with the youngest Strauss sibling was obviously something Natsu was taking very seriously, and Lucy would be a shitty best friend if she didn't do all she could to help him out.

Instead of leaning away, Lucy leaned forward, bringing her hand up to cup the back of Natsu's neck, holding him to her. She tilted her head in the opposite direction of his, and started to move her lips slowly against his. Admittedly, she didn't know what she was doing, but she'd read enough romance books to at least know how to fake a little bit.

Natsu wasn't someone who allowed another to outdo him, though. Quickly, he followed Lucy's lead, leaning into her even more. Their lips were moving in an awkward way now, but Lucy cupped his face with both of her hand, sort of cradling his jaw, forcing his mouth to follow the rhythm she'd established. That wasn't enough for Natsu; he wasn't going to let her win.

Without thinking at all, Natsu let pure instinct guide his actions now. His mouth opened without his permission, but he became satisfied by the action when he heard Lucy's surprised squeak. He snaked his tongue out and quickly Lucy opened her mouth, allowing her tongue to slide against his. Their movements were still clumsy, but they hardly noticed, too distracted by the feeling of their tongues colliding.

Lucy's back was starting to cramp from her awkward position on the bed. She was sitting facing forward, with her torso twisted to the side towards Natsu. Knowing that she couldn't stand sitting like this much longer, but also not wanting to break the kiss, Lucy simply turned her waist to the side as well. She was fully facing Natsu now, with one leg up, half kneeling on the bed. Suddenly, Natsu's hands were gripping her waist, and Lucy gasped as he pulled her onto his lap. Both of her knees were on the bed now, pinned on either side of Natsu's hips as she straddled him.

The pinkette was thankful for their new position; his back had started to hurt as well - not that he would admit that, though. He made a soft noise when his breath caught in his throat, the feeling of Lucy's nails scraping over his scalp while her fingers tugged at his hair was driving him crazy. The sound seemed to boost Lucy's confidence since she immediately pushed herself closer to him, her breasts firmly pressed against his muscular chest. Now if that didn't cause a whole flood of new feelings to overwhelm Natsu…

Lucy wasn't the only one feeling confident now, though. As thoughts and images filled Natsu's mind - all of them foreign and centered around Lucy - his hands moved down from her hips to her thighs, and slowly back up, just barely going under her skirt. He'd seen the contents of her underwear drawer before when Happy had decided to make a temporary home inside it the one time Lucy accidentally left it open. None of the items left much to the imagination, and at the time, Natsu couldn't fathom how they were even supposed to be worn - or how they even classified at articles of clothing, really. But now his hands began to shake slightly as they traveled upward, farther up her skirt. He wondered which one he would find on her, and the thought excited him in a way it shouldn't have, seeing as Lucy was his best friend.

This was starting to become too much for Lucy. She was well aware that Natsu's hands were slowly sliding under her school uniform skirt, and she was letting him do it, too. When she started to wonder if he would find her purple, lace tanga cute, Lucy knew they'd crossed a line she never thought they would. And she needed to stop it.

Before Natsu's hands made contact with the lacey material, Lucy leaned away quickly, pushing Natsu back a little as well. They looked at each other through wide eyes, as if some spell over them had broken. Natsu's hands were still on Lucy's upper thighs, but after a few moments he slowly removed them and placed them on the bed by his sides.

"So, was that enough practice?" Lucy asked, finally breaking the silence. She took in Natsu and all of his raw glory - dark pink, kiss swollen lips, flushed cheeks, and disheveled hair. He looked good that way, Lucy decided. She wondered if this was how he would looked after kissing Lisanna, and found herself pondering if he would kiss Lisanna this way, too.

"Uh-um...y-yeah, I guess so," Natsu agreed reluctantly. He wasn't sure why, but the idea of being detached from Lucy made him a little disappointed. As the blonde climbed off his lap, he look at the blush coloring her cheeks, and wondered if kissing Lisanna would feel anything like this.