Moshi moshi! Just a little something that popped into that brain of mine ^^. I hope you enjoy this one-shot. I had a fun time writing this one. I was seriously cracking myself up the entire time.
"Oi, Lucy. I've got a job for us! We'll leave in a few hours." Natsu exclaimed, bursting in through Lucy's window uninvited... Again.
"NATSU! They created doors for a reason, baka!" Lucy yelled at him. The blonde let out a low sigh of frustration. "Besides, I can't go today."
The pink-headed dragon slayer hopped down from his position on her window ledge. He cocked his head at her in confusion. "Huh? Why not?"
She tinted pink at the question, twiddling her fingers. "W-Well... I have a blind date tonight." She muttered barely audibly.
Those words caused Natsu to stiffen. His onyx eyes widened, if only slightly. Why did that sentence feel like a kick in the teeth? "What?"
"Mira set it up... Something about getting someone's attention." The girl scratched her head, kind of lost about the whole situation. "Anyways, she went through all the trouble to make reservations and set everything up. I'd feel bad if I didn't show up."
Natsu grit his teeth. A blind date? That means she's never even met the guy before, right? What if he were some crazy murderous psychopath? What if he were some sleazy womanizer? What if he was apart of some dark guild that was targeting Fairy Tail?! Her life could be in danger!
Lucy sweatdropped as Natsu started his mental freak-out. "Natsu?" She called gently. "Natsu?!" Now she was getting irritated. He was just pacing back and forth, hands knotted up in his hair murmuring something to himself about 'Kicking ass and protecting nakama'. "NATSU!"
"Huh? Oh, hey Lucy." Natsu responded, momentarily forgetting that they were in the middle of a conversation. Something seemed to register in his mind after a few moments of her glaring at him. "Gahh! Lucy, you can't go on that date!" He suddenly exclaimed, pointing a finger at her almost accusingly.
"What are you on about?" Lucy asked, a bit put-off by his strange behavior. "I already said I have to go. Mira really tried to make everything per-"
"But he's a total stranger!" Natsu pointed out, cutting her off. "What if he tries to kill you? Or hold you hostage? Not that that'd be a first, but..."
The boy trailed off at seeing Lucy's unamused expression. He smiled nervously at her, scratching the back of his head. Lucy let out a sigh. "Believe it or not, I can take care of myself, Natsu."
"I-I know that." Natsu replied. The stutter didn't serve much to help his case. Lucy's eyes narrowed.
"Whatever." Lucy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"So that means you aren't going? Perfect! So about this job-"
"No, Natsu. I'm still going. I promised Mira! I'll go on a job with you tomorrow, okay?"
The pink-haired dragon slayer didn't seem to be too fond of this idea, however. Actually, he looked angry and kind of... hurt? Lucy was almost convinced that she was imagining it. Almost.
"Why are you so set on finding a guy anyways?" He pouted bitterly, crossing his arms over his toned chest.
Lucy's warm brown eyes widened. She certainly wasn't expecting that one. "W-What?"
"Yeah! You've been going on dates a lot lately."
Lucy thought about it for a minute. He had a good point. She thought about the past few months, and how she'd been asked out a few times for lunch or a walk around. She would kindly accept, not really wanting to hurt their feelings. I mean, it was only a few hours. How bad could it possibly be?
"You never went on dates before!" He continued. "Now it's interfering with work."
Lucy sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry." She decided to leave out the part that she had nearly given up on the dense, pink-headed idiot she was truly interested in, which was half of the reason she had been accepting those lousy dates anyways.
"So you won't go?" Natsu asked hopefully.
A vein popped in her forehead. "Natsu..." She muttered, trying the keep the frustration from her voice. "I have to go. Now get out so that I can change."
His face fell again. What was so great about these pricks she kept running off with anyways? Why couldn't she just stick with him, he was her best friend after all. Why should she need a boyfriend? A lovey-dovey Lucy wasn't exactly something he could picture... And even if he could, picturing her that way with some guy made him upset for reasons he didn't understand.
"I'm not leaving." He declared stubbornly. Lucy attempted to push him from her room, but soon found the effort futile. He didn't even budge! He just stood there watching her with some kind of unimpressed look on his face.
"Why are you being so difficult about this?" Lucy groaned. "Just go and I'll see you tomorrow!"
Yet, our dense little Natsu decided not to move. Lucy was starting to get angry. He was going to make her late! She had made a promise, dammit! She tried again with pushing him. When that didn't work, she started hitting him. She left the room and came back a few minutes later. Now she was throwing ice cubes at him. Lucy knew he didn't happen to be too fond of ice.
"Dammit Natsu, get the hell out!" Lucy exclaimed, chucking an entire handful of ice cubes at him. Instead of bouncing off of him like they had been, this time the little bits of frozen water had evaporated on impact.
Now Lucy noticed that his face was set in a stern frown- something Natsu didn't sport often outside of battle. He seemed to be deep in thought about something. The very tips of his fingers were sparking with fire. She gulped, taking a step back. What was with him today?
He shook his head, snapping out of his daze. "What's that look for, Luce? You afraid of something?" He asked, totally nonchalant. Now Lucy was starting to get really concerned. What had gotten into him? He seemed so out of character! Talk about mood swings.
"What's wrong with you tonight? You're acting all weird and- NATSU! MY CARPET IS ON FIRE!"
The dragon slayer looked down, seeing the small flames twisting around his feet and legs, licking at his skin. He extinguished the fire he had subconsciously formed. "Eh? Nothing is wrong."
"..." Lucy stared at him with a blank look, mouth hanging open dumbly. "Maybe you should see Porlyusica or something."
"Only if you come with me." Natsu argued.
Lucy slapped a hand to her forehead. She spoke through gritted teeth, "Natsu. I can't go with you... I have a date."
"Tch- He sounds pretty lame to me. Do you even know his name?"
"Natsu, I haven't even said anything about him yet!" Lucy exclaimed, throwing her arms around wildly. Was he doing this on purpose to piss her off? "And his name is Sly."
"Fly?" He asked, face scrunching up into a confused expression. "What kind of name is Fly?"
"Sly, Natsu... His name is Sly. With an 'S'." Lucy muttered. Her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. Now she only had about an hour and a half to get ready and actually be there.
"This Psy kid sounds pretty shady to me." Natsu continued, still managing to mess the poor boy's name up. He tapped a finger to his chin. Lucy could only imagine the schemes he was thinking up. She paled.
"Why do you even care?" Lucy half-mumbled to herself. Unluckily for her, the fire mage had heard her loud and clear due to his super hearing abilities.
Natsu paused a moment. He thought it over. Why did he care? It wasn't really that he didn't wanna pass up the mission... No, he wasn't really bothered by it. What was it then? Why was it that every time Lucy would go out on a date, though they didn't happen as often as he liked to make it seem, something in his stomach felt uneasy. His chest felt tight, almost like he was in pain.
He scratched his head for a while. Didn't Igneel teach him something about meeting a special woman? Something about taking interest in a certain girl... Oh, yeah! He told him it'd happen eventually! It had to do with mating. Love, right? But not the same kind of love he felt for the others at Fairy Tail. Something deeper than friendship, deeper than nakama. Like a special bond... Or something.
"Lucy, do you love anyone?" Natsu questioned, head turning to the side. His eyes held pure innocence.
Said celestial spirit mage turned a fantastic shade of red upon hearing his question. "E-Eh? What brought that on?"
The Salamander hummed to himself. He was thinking again. He took the liberty to sit down on Lucy's bed and mull over whatever was making him act so strangely. First he was hurt, then he was angry, and now he's... What is he now? Curious? No, that didn't really work there...
He shifted his attention back to Lucy, taking in how flustered she looked from his random question. He smiled inwardly. She looked cute. "So do ya'?"
"D-Do I what?" She managed to stutter.
"Love anyone." Natsu stated as if it were obvious.
Lucy took a deep breath, averting her eyes to the floor. "Well..." She began, trying to come up with a way out of this conversation. "Um, I... I guess you could say that." She hoped he could just leave it at that, though somehow she knew he wouldn't.
"How can you tell if you're in love?" Natsu continued, genuinely curious about this whole situation.
Lucy felt her heart racing. Why was he asking questions like these? Baaakaaa. "I guess when you want to be around someone all the time. You're attracted to them emotionally and physically. They're all you can think about. You care for them more than anyone else." Lucy paused. "They make you feel really safe, but also really vulnerable. You'd risk your life to save theirs... Things along those lines."
He paused to think some more. It was true that he always wanted to be around Lucy, thus the reason he broke into her house all the time. He thought about her a lot, too. He cared for everyone in the guild, but somehow it seemed that he cared for Lucy a little bit more. Do I love Lucy?
"Say, Lucy..." Natsu spoke up again, catching the blonde's attention. A thin blush spread across his cheeks as he averted his gaze from hers. "Do you... Do you love me?"
Lucy's eyes went wide. Her entire body froze, save for her heart, which was beating rapidly in her chest. The color of her face could easily put lobsters to shame. She was completely shocked by the question, not knowing how to respond at all.
"Because..." The pink-headed boy spoke up again. "I think I love you."
He looked up at her again to gauge her reaction, slightly shocked to find her gaping at him dumbly. He lifted an arm to scratch the back of his neck. Should he take this as a good or bad reaction?
"I think I broke Lucy." Natsu mumbled to himself.
The blonde shook her head, seeming to come back to reality. She mumbled something so soft that had there been a breeze flowing through, it could have easily carried it away.
"...Yes."
Natsu let a giant grin break out across his face. He chuckled lightly, standing up from Lucy's bed. He took a step forward to envelope the celestial spirit mage in a warm hug. She hesitantly returned the hug, wrapping her arms around the boy's waist. He pulled her closer against him, breathing the scent that he adored so much.
"So about that job..."
"NATSU!"
Ahh, I can never write a fic with Natsu in it without putting my own little tidbits of humor in. I mean, he's such a hilarious character. It's so hard to make a serious story with him... Well, unless he's kicking ass. Anyways, please review. It makes me happy inside.
I just reread this and only now do I realize how freaking fluffy and unlike my usual things this story is.