Hey everyone! So this is a little side project that I've decided to work on between chapters for my biggest attention seeker idea. Had to have a break. Plus it was a great a time to gift something to my great friend neato-ft on tumblr. She asked for this a looooong time ago, and welp, here it is!

It does get steamy towards the end ;) (but it's nothing worht puttin up purity marks for)

Other than that, enjoy!

How Far We Go

He was in a bit of a jam. Well, more than just a jam. But how could he say no to his little sister?

That's right. The big macho older brother Natsu Dragneel had been tossed into the ocean known as baking all for his younger sister, Wendy, for her bake sale.

Why ask him? She knew he couldn't bake! How the hell was he supposed to help her?

Natsu ran a hand down his face, contemplating how his life will end if he doesn't deliver for Wendy. She just had to be busy, a stupid over-night field trip and poor planning on the school's part. What is this shit? He was a college student, almost a graduate, practically raising his younger sister. And their parents had to leave on vacation to "find themselves". It's been years.

He grumbled as he made his way through their home, stomping into the kitchen to try to get this started.

This was going to be a nightmare.

No.

He wasn't going to ruin this for Wendy.

This called for backup.

He whipped out his phone and called the best person for the job. The best friend.

Lucy Heartfilia.

It rang and rang, and Natsu began to chew on his thumbnail out of worry. What if she-

"Hello?" Finally, she picked up the phone.

"Luce! I need your help, ASAP!" Natsu bumbled around the kitchen island, whining like a twelve-year-old. Thank the lord she picked up!

"With what? ...Did you blow something up again?"

"Huh? What-no! I'm trying to prevent a fire here!"

She giggled over the phone. "Natsu, you trying to prevent a fire is like pigs flying. Seriously, what did you burn this time?"

Natsu rolled his eyes and leaned against the counter. "Lucy, there is no fire, I promise. I need to do somethin' for Wendy and I need your help."

"Oh-ho? So this is for Wendy now?"

Dammit Lucy, why does she have to do this to him? It was like every time he had to do something for Wendy, or something that even involved Wendy in the slightest, he was automatically put on the fast track to suffer through her teasing. So what if he was a nice older brother and did things for his younger sister? Did she really have to tease him about it all the time?

"Yeah, it's for her. She has this bake sale thing happenin' and asked me to bake her some cupcakes so she doesn't miss out on it."

"How many cupcakes does she need?"

Natsu shrugged and flopped his hand around dismissively. "Um…I dunno. Maybe a couple dozen or so?"

"When is her bake sale?" Praise her for actually getting down to business this one time.

"…Tomorrow?"

"What the hell, Natsu? Why didn't you call me sooner? We could have been done with them by early afternoon!"

Natsu checked the clock on the microwave. It was only ten in the morning, did it really take that long to bake cupcakes?

"Ugh, I'll be over, make sure you have a recipe or something." He listened to her shuffle around on the other end of the line as she scrambled to get ready, already going back to his room to get his laptop. "And make sure we have all the ingredients we need, we won't have time to go to the store to get some."

"Yep, I got it, see ya when you get here!" With that, he clicked off the phone.

Natsu heaved a sigh of relief. He could always count on Lucy. From getting Wendy to and from school to helping him with groceries every other week. It was crazy how much she did for him and Wendy, hell, it practically made her family at this point, and all on top of being a college student like him. Someone give that girl a medal.

He sat down at the dining room table and booted up his laptop, tapping his fingers on his desk as he waited for it to get its life together. The damn thing was closing on being seven years old, it was ancient. It was practically a dinosaur, but when you lived on your own and were raising your younger sister, you did what you could to get by. At least they had internet.

Lucy was barging into their small apartment by the time he had pulled up a recipe that looked easy. Judging by the pictures, this could be done in a couple hours, even if they doubled the batch. That was how it worked right?

"Did you find anything?" his best friend asked, bumping his shoulder.

"I think so? I don't know, I know nothing about baking." He pushed the laptop towards her and let her look at it. Natsu still had no idea why Wendy asked him to bake for her when she was the one who did all of the cooking for them.

Lucy stared at the screen and brightened up instantly. "Natsu, this is great! I already know this recipe!"

"Gre-!"

She gave him a quick hug, squeezing some of the air out of him, before disappearing to go rummage around in his kitchen. He was dazed for a second, just staring at her. She was flitting around the kitchen, her blonde hair streaming behind her like an after-trail. Lucy piled everything on the counters, from sugar and flour to the mixing machine and bowls.

Natsu felt a small smile creep onto his face as the item count grew and grew. She looked at home here, dancing around his kitchen like she lived here all her life. Lucy had everything organized from dry ingredients to wet, all the spoons and bowls set aside with the mixer. Once she was satisfied that she had everything she needed (half the stuff Natsu had no idea they had in the first place) she stood there admiring her work with her hands on her curvy hips and proud smile on her face. Her eyes sparkled with determination and when she turned to smile at Natsu, she caught him smiling with the same smile he started with.

"What's with that dopey grin? Get over here and help me," she teased, her smile mischievous now.

Natsu blinked as he realized that he had zoned out completely while watching her. He got up mumbling something. He didn't even know - it was like his mouth and brain were disconnected, words didn't want to work. But as he was watching Lucy work, it was like he was coming to the realization that he was…he was falling for his best friend. Even as he started to help her measure and pour the ingredients she needed, Natsu was mentally slapping himself. There was no way he hadn't noticed it before. They had been friends for years. Years! So now he decided that he wanted to pick up on that? He couldn't be any denser than he had been all this time. No wonder his and Lucy's friends constantly teased and rolled their eyes at them.

"Natsu! We don't need five eggs; we only need four!"

"Huh?" Shit, he was zoning out again. Leave it to him to have a revelation while making cupcakes.

Lucy sighed, and nudged him out of the way, armed with a spoon. "The normal recipe only calls for two eggs, and we are doubling the batch, so we only need four. So why did you add a fifth?"

Natsu could feel the wheels turning in his head as he stared at her, mouthing gaping like a fish. "Well, um, for good measure?"

Lucy rolled her eyes in exasperation. Who knows what's gotten into him, Natsu had been acting out of it since she got here. She scooped the extra egg out into a small bowl and set it aside, they could scramble it with a couple others for a meal later.

"Stick that in the fridge so it doesn't go bad right away," she instructed as she turned back to what she was doing previously.

Natsu mechanically took the bowl and put it in the fridge. What was wrong with him? He never had a problem talking to Lucy and now, after realizing that he was basically in love with his best friend, he couldn't form a sentence if he even tried. He was a blubbering mess!

He shut the fridge and leaned on it, trying to put his thoughts and feelings in order. He just had to make it through the day with her, make the cupcakes and she would go home. Who could he talk to about this? Levy? No, she would instantly go and tell Lucy. Erza- nope, no way, she was too scary and she clammed up when it came to relationship stuff. Forget even talking to Freezer Burn of the Iron Rod. They were worse than Lucy about making fun of him. Jellal was studying abroad…

Natsu was so engrossed in thinking through his friend list that he didn't even notice that Lucy had come up to him, calling his name.

"Natsu? Are you okay?" She placed a hand on his shoulder.

He jumped and spun around to face her, a blush spreading across his nose. Shit, she was going to notice that.

She looked up at him, concern making her brown eyes bright, her hair framed her face perfectly with her bangs and a few other locks escaping her side ponytail. Her brows were furrowed and she was biting her bottom lip, waiting for him to respond.

Damn, she was beautiful.

"Natsu?"

Shit he forgot to answer her. Again!

"Oh, um, uh, yeah?"

Lucy reached up and pushed his bangs aside, feeling his forehead for a fever. "Are you okay? You're flushed and seem really out of it. Are you sick?"

He shook his quickly, dislodging her hand. "Nah, I'm fine. Let's just finish these cupcakes up, yeah?"

She sweat-dropped. "We have barely even started…"

"Oh, well, then let's get going, we don't have all day ya know!" Dammit.

"Uh, we do, but okay." Lucy turned away from him and poured the four eggs he cracked into the mixing bowl, turning on the mixer.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was making no sense. Glancing at the microwave, he saw it was only half past ten. Too early for a nap, and let's face it, he needed one to calm his nerves right now.

Natsu mentally kicked himself. Get yourself together man, this is not the time to be pining after your best friend. Make the damn cupcakes and worry about it later!

Sighing, he moved to stand next to Lucy, following any instruction she gave him to the letter. Within in the next half hour, they had the cupcakes rotating through the oven. They were working on the frosting now.

Lucy was seconds away from throwing a fit. She couldn't get it to the right consistency.

Natsu couldn't help but laugh. His turn to nudge her out of the way. The couldn't afford to have her throw it in frustration.

"Luce, I got this, check on the cupcakes." He took the whisk from her and pulled the bowl toward himself.

Lucy huffed but left him alone. No use getting in his way when he stayed out of hers. The cupcakes were coming along well. Nothing had caught fire…yet. It was still too early to tell. A few trays were cooling on the table, all they needed the frosting and dash of sprinkles, then they could call it done.

"Luce?"

She turned around to face Natsu. He was caught off guard again with how inherently pretty she was, it took his breath away and it took him a moment to recover.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, um, is this right?" He held the whisk out to her, a small peak of frosting coating the top of it.

Lucy gaped at him, her eyes flicking between him and the whisk. "H-how? How did you manage to…how?"

Natsu shrugged and took a swipe of the frosting with his finger. "I dunno why you were having a hard time with it, it's just stirrin' the stuff around." He tapped her nose.

Frosting covered her nose, and through Natsu's snickers, he could hear her making indignant noises. He wasn't going to get away with this. She stole the whisk from and smeared the frosting on it across his face in retaliation.

An evil grin spread across Natsu's face slowly. "Ya sure that was a good idea, Luce?" he purred.

Lucy squeaked, and he took pride in making the light blush that was covering her face. Her eyes were wide, slightly scared of what they just started. Natus's eyes were lidded, pinning her down with his heated stare. He looked like a predator, and he just cornered his prey.

Natsu slowly reached up and wiped some of the frosting off of his cheek, licking it off his fingers.

"Perfect, just sweet enough…"

Lucy shivered visibly. How could she even try to think coherently when he talking like that. She watched his slow movements as he reached for the bowl and dipped his hand in. The frosting was a bright white against his tan skin, nearly as bright as his smile.

"Uhhh, Natsu?" She squirmed under his gaze.

"Hmm?"

She took slow steps away from, knowing full where this was going. "W-we don't have to do this-"

"Oh, yes we do," he interrupted her, wagging a frosting covered finger. "You know you started a war…" His smile grew a fraction larger. "And I'm determined to win."

Hell broke loose.

Lucy squealed and ran away from Natsu, seeking protection from the other side of the dining room table. Natsu simply stalked after her, a handful of frosting in his hand.

"The table ain't gonna help ya, Luce," he sang.

Lucy snorted and searched for some sort of shield as she jeered, "I don't see you with anything!"

He chuckled, shaking his head, pink hair flopping to and fro. "You misunderstand, Luce, I don't need a shield."

Natsu launched after her, fainting to run around the table. Lucy dashed to the other side, trying to head back into the kitchen to find a weapon. He caught her at the entrance around the waist, pulling her into his chest. Frosting was smeared all over her face and some of it ended up on her neck and shoulder. She struggled against the arm that held her to him, but there was no breaking away from his strong grip, his martial arts proving too much for her. Even as he held her to him, Natsu began to tickle her sides.

Natsu laughed as Lucy yelled out in shock and her struggling increased tenfold. She stomped on his foot and elbowed him in the side, hard enough to make him gasp in pain, letting her go to hold his side.

Lucy dashed away, scooping two handfuls of frosting up on her way through the kitchen. Time for payback.

"That was a cheap shot!" Natsu yelled after her.

"That's what you get for tackling me! I could have kicked you instead!" she shot back.

Natsu grabbed the bowl of icing and raced after her.

Lucy stood at the other end of the kitchen, hands full of icing. She stood at the ready, waiting for him to make his move. Natsu took his share and set the bowl aside (they couldn't afford new dishes this month) and faced Lucy again.

"You ready for this?"

A triumphant grin from Lucy matched his. "You bet."

Lucy leaped forward, tackling Natsu to the ground. They wrestled each other, both trying to pin the other to smear the frosting on each other. They rolled across the floor, knocking in the cabinets and walls.

They flipped over and Natsu ended up straddling Lucy, his knees on either side of her hips and both of his hands were holding her wrists. They were panting and icing was everywhere, covering each of them equally. Natsu was sure he had some in his hair, but Lucy somehow escaped that punishment.

They met each other's eyes and after a second of heavy breathing, they broke out in laughter. Natsu was breathing heavier than when they had ended the wrestling match, and Lucy had tears trailing down the sides of her face from.

"Haha, you good, Luce?" Natsu was still trying to recover.

Lucy took a deep breath. "Y-yeah, yeah I'm good."

She licked her lips, and Natsu found himself fixating on them. The icing was thick enough that it was a struggle to lick off of anything without having to work at it for a moment.

"Natsu?"

He only hummed in response, his eyes never leaving her lips. They glistened with wet frosting. Did she feel the same way about him? Did she fall for him too over the years?

Natsu let go of her wrists and leaned down on his elbows, their foreheads touched.

"H-hey, Luce? Can…can I try something?" he asked quietly.

She didn't respond right away. She was suddenly aware of how close they were. Natsu was practically lying on top of her and she found herself…okay with it. After all these years, her pent up feelings were screaming at her to let him do whatever he wanted to do to her. Lucy met his eyes and she could the desire and wonder in Natsu.

Nodding slightly, she gave him the go ahead.

Her friend took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he leaned in closer. Timidly, his lips cover hers. She tasted like sugar from the icing and strawberries. It was heaven.

The kiss didn't last long, and after a second, Natsu tried to pull away but Lucy had wound her hands in his hair while he was lost in her flavor. She pulled him back down, moving her lips against his, deepening the kiss. Natsu followed her lead, reveling in the way she responded to him. This was the best reaction he could have asked for.

Lucy had no idea what she was doing but she let her heart run away. It had been years since she had to push away all the unwelcome feelings she had towards her crazy pink-haired friend. One year and she was head over heels for him, but Natsu was completely oblivious to her. Now? After seven really, really long years, he finally made a move. Was this what heaven was?

Natsu licked her lips, lapping up the frosting on them. She opened her mouth and met his tongue hers, and pulled him closer again. He moaned as she pulled at his hair, loving the way her fingers raked against his scalp.

Their tongues danced with each other, Lucy nipped at his lip, causing him to lose all reasoning as he pinned her hips down with his. She wound her legs around his waist, encouraging him further.

Something was burning between them, and they gasped for breath when they broke apart.

"That…that was…" Natsu couldn't even form words right.

"Something is burning…" Lucy gasped.

Natsu chuckled. "Well, yeah, something is burning. It's us, Luce."

Lucy wiggled under him, rolling them over. "No, Natsu, something is burning."

"What? You know I always run hotter than everyone else." What was she going on about?

"No, Natsu- The cupcakes! The cupcakes are burning!"

Lucy jumped off of him and scrambled to the oven where smoke was wisping out of the cracks of the door. She grabbed and oven-mitt and threw the door open, pulling out the cupcake pan and tossing it on the counter. Natsu hauled himself to his feet to see the remains in the cupcake pan.

Small, black stones lay in every cup. The cupcakes were ruined in this pan.

"Shit," he muttered, slamming his fist on the counter. Does this mean we have to make more? This was the last pan they had in the oven.

"Well…at least this was the last pan," Lucy managed to cough out. The smell was terrible and the whole apartment was going to smell like burnt cupcakes for the next few days. Great.

A thought struck Natsu and he burst into another bout of laughter. He laughed so hard, he nearly fell back onto the ground. He hung onto the counter for dear life as he cackled.

Lucy stared at him as he lost his mind. Well, more than either of them already did. That kiss they just shared was enough for her to lose hers.

"What the hell is so funny?" she asked incredulously.

"Hah...haha, you-you said that… that I al-always-manage," Natsu stumble over his tongue in between his fits of giggles. "That I always manage to… to catch something…on fire when I cook."

Lucy blinked at him and soon enough she was chuckling along with him. "That's true, I guess."

Just as she finished speaking the fire alarm blared, causing them to both laugh harder.

There was no denying that it was always more fun when they were together.

So, did ya like? Make sure to pop on by and leave a review if you please! I always love feedback. ^^

Until next time,

Mogi