Hey there!

Just a cliche, short story I randomly came up with.

I obviously don't own any of the original characters mentioned, I am merely using a twisting an existing material to accomodate the needs of the story.

Something Different, Something New

Lucy slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark, so she initially supposed it was either early morning, or late evening. However, focusing her vision and seeing the blinds tightly shut behind the window glass, helped her come to the conclusion that it could morning, noon, early evening or anything in between.

As she stirred under the blanket to get more comfortable, and perhaps catch a few hours of sleep, something next to her groaned, followed by a tanned, muscled arm , appearing from under the covers, that curled itself around Lucy's shoulders.

Lucy weakly attempted a few movements, but soon gave up, knowing that trying to escape her friend's deadly sleep-grab was futile.

The blond girl sighed and leaned back against the pillow. As she wiggled her legs, half expecting a startled mewl from Natsu's Russian blue cat, Happy , she suddenly noticed both of her legs and waist feeling strangely heavy.

Finding it odd, Lucy racked her brain for the last time she engaged herself in any kind of excessive physical activity. Failing to remember and due to her mild headache, writing it off to some crazy goofing around she would probably be embarrassed by later, Lucy turned to look at the tuft of pink hair peeking from under the blankets.

"You don't plan on waking up, huh?" She mused, half to herself, reaching a hand to ruffle his hair.

Before the hand reached it's destination, however, Lucy noticed she was wearing one of Natsu's long sleeved shirts. It wasn't much of a big deal, really - Natsu didn't mind lending her his clothes, when she forgot her own pajamas. He even once offered to put aside a couple of shirts for her to use, as she was a frequent guest.

Lucy's hand, failing to reach it's destination, landed on what was probably Natsu's shoulder, causing him to elicit something between a groan and a purr and stir, resulting in him tightening his hold of her and pulling her closer. The movement caused to covers to shift from above Natsu's head to his chest.

Lucy, this time not even bothering to resist, relaxed into his hold, and was beginning to drift away when she felt her thigh brushing against a fabric, that was probably Natsu's underwear.

This alarmed Lucy, and she turned to look at him once more. She found herself staring at his bare chest. A very nicely shaped one, but Lucy hurried to banish such thoughts away.

That now was a big deal, as Natsu always slept fully clothed, when she was staying the night. As her thoughts began to wander the halls of the previous day's memories, she noticed, that she herself wasn't wearing any pants, or anything under her shirt, as she realized a moment later.

The thought of sleeping in nothing short of a thin shirt and her underwear next to an almost naked Natsu, set the alarm in her head ringing. Taking a deep breath she attempted to calm down telling herself they were probably too drunk and too tired to think straight when going to bed. She reminded herself, that even when she wore revealing tops or the kind of skirts her dad would probably call a belt, Natsu never seemed to notice. Aside from being clingy and grabby in his sleep he never initiated, any other that purely friendly, physical contact.

Taking a deep breath she finally felt herself calming down.

Nothing happened. It was Cana's birthday party yesterday, so she should be thankful for them making it all the way to his apartment and not passing out somewhere on the street, or worse - at the bar.

Lucy took another deep breath and turned to face Natsu, this time determined to shake him off.

"Natsu!" She began. "Let me go! I need to get up!." He merely groaned and tightened his hold.

"Natsu! It's too tight! Let go!" This time Natsu seemed to hear her, as he loosened his grip. However, before Lucy had the chance to use it to her advantage he rolled them in one swift movement so that he was laying atop her, pressing her into the bed.

"Natsu! Wha…" Lucy's words died in her throat as her eyes widened, when his hot breath tickled her neck. A very vivid memory flashed before her eyes.

"Are you sure, Luce?" His eyes were deep, and she swore she could see her own reflection in them.

"There's no going back…" He went on, gently brushing the bangs from her forehead. His hand was so warm.

"...Luce?" He asked again. His other hand rubbing circles on her hip, just above the band of her underwear.

Lucy froze.

….…..

Lucy Heartfillia first saw Natsu on a campus tour during summer break. What caught her eye was, obviously, his pink hair. It was so unusual, that she didn't notice herself staring. It became even worse, when she found him standing in front of her, grinning.

"H..Hi.." Lucy stammered, desperately trying to find a decent excuse, for her most improper behaviour.

"Hey, I'm Natsu. You are?"

"I'm Lucy… Nice to meet you." She forced herself to smile. "I wasn't staring at your hair, I was looking at the library building! They say the collections there are rather impressive." As soon as what sounded good in her head, left her mouth, she felt herself warming up, hoping some giant worm would magically appear from under the ground and swallow her whole.

A snort made her look up, to find her newly made acquiesce, obviously holding back a fit of laughter.

"Don't sweat it, really. I'm used to it." He waved his hand dismissively, taking a breath to calm himself down.

"Um.. So what are you planning to take in the first semester?" Lucy hurried to change the subject, deciding the pink hair was probably the result of some lost bet.

"Planning to take?" He furrowed his brows, apparently, understanding the question. "Ah. No, I'm not a student." He finally said, just before Lucy could rephrase herself.

"I'm just tagging along with a friend. Off work today." He said, answering the question in his companions eyes.

"Oh."

Lucy wasn't sure how to continue the slightly awkward conversation, so her eyes started to wander, looking for an accessible escape route.

"Yo, ice princess! C'mere!" Lucy, and almost everyone else around, jumped and turned to look at Natsu, who was waving his hand towards someone at the crowd in the back.

He turned to Lucy, and flashed her another toothy green. The blond girl, offered a strained smile, and starting slowly stepping back, hoping to avoid further embarrassment.

"Wha'd ya want?" Said a voice, marking every word with a tone of annoyance.

"That's Lu…" Lucy flinched at the sound of her own name, not abandoning hope to escape unnoticed. Her hope, however, was rudely banished away, as she felt a strong arm landing itself around her shoulder.

"There you are, Lucy. Anyway, that grumpy creep over there is Gray." Natsu went on, completely ignoring the apparent discomfort of his victim.

"Thought you might wanna talk, since he's the one enrolling." He announced and turned her to face a tall, dark haired young man, who was, in Lucy's opinion, strangling Natsu in the realms of his imagination.

"Well, you two chit chat. I'll go grab something to eat." Natsu gave Lucy's shoulder a friendly pat, and hurried towards a nearby sandwich stall.

Lucy followed him with her eyes, before turning to look at her forced company, who sported a murderous gaze, that made Lucy once more wish for a giant worm to swallow her.

"Sorry 'bout that. As you can see, this flame brain is lacking the basic understanding of tact."

The dark haired mad sighed, and rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm Grey."

"Oh, Lucy. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, well, I'll see you around." Gray offered a more peaceful smile, and angrily marched towards the sandwich stall.

Lucy released a nervous breath and hurried in the opposite direction, her ears picking up the echo of some very violent verbal outbursts.

….…..

"Levy, are you home?" Lucy called as she locked the apartment door behind her.

"Hey, Lu! How was the tour?" A small framed young girl popped her head from the kitchen.

"Don't ask…" Lucy collapsed on the couch and dragged her hand over her face.

"Yikes… Want some pancakes?"

"Sure…" Lucy sighed and looked around to find almost all the boxes that occupied the small apartment that morning gone, replaced with neatly stored books, folded clothes, and clean dishes in their appropriate places.

"Why didn't you wait for me? I would've helped you unpack..." Lucy suddenly got up from the couch and looked around her. She could swear she smelled a cologne a second ago.

"Levy." She called and went to the kitchen.

"Yes?" Lucy couldn't help noticing that her friend was slightly flushed and fidgety.

Lucy arched a brow, crossed her hand on her chest and gave Levy an all knowing look.

Levy offered a guilty smile, muttered an apology and turned her back.

Lucy sighed and went to her room. This day was just great.

….…..

The next day Lucy woke up to a series of loud knocks on the front door. She pulled an all-nighter in order to finish an original project for her blog, and thus went to sleep only around noon.

Lucy lay in bed, hoping that her more responsibly roommate would be the one to answer it, however another series of knocks, or rather, bangs, forced her out the comfortable bed.

Passing by the bathroom the door, she heard the sound of running water and sighed.

Just before she opened the door, the impatient visitor had the nerve to bang again, which forced Lucy out of her still sleepy state rather rudely.

"Yes?!" She almost yelled, opening the door.

"Oh, hey…" Lucy was staring at a rather tall man with long dark hair, tanned skin and way too many face piercings for her liking. "Say… Bunny, is Levy around?"

Lucy blinked.

"Excuse me?"

The man looked at her, and scratching the back of his head looked around. Apparently, not having come up with anything he looked back at Lucy.

Seconds before Lucy's mind voted for shutting the door in the man's face, Levy appeared from behind her.

"Oh, Gajeel! You're early! Come in!" Levy chimed, and before Lucy knew it, Gajeel was shoving himself past her inside the apartment.

"Levi! Wait, who is that?" Lucy furiously pointed her finger at the intruder.

"Oh" Levi gasped. "You haven't met, how silly of me. This is Gajeel, my boyfriend."

"Yo." The man saluted.

"And this is Lucy, my roommate, and best friend." Levi came up and gave Lucy a tight hug.

"Hey, Shrimpy, you might wanna get moving, we don't wanna be late." Gajeel said.

Levi gasped and hurriedly disappeared in her room.

"What's with the nicknames?" Lucy turned to Gajeel once more, becoming more annoyed by the minute.

He shrugged and went past her to the fridge. Suddenly Lucy picked up the same cologne fragrance as yesterday. She bolted into Levi's room.

"Levi! Seriously!?"

Levi looked up from applying a liner to her left up.

"You want to come with, Lu?"

"What? No! That's not what I'm talking about!" Lucy grunted deciding it wasn't the best time to have this argument. "Where are you going, anyways?".

"There is going to be a performance at a local bar… I think it's called "Fairy Tail", or something…" Levi answered, while applying liner to her right eye.

Lucy shuddered. Levi going to a bar? That was new.

"Fine, I'll tag along." She announced and went to take a shower, trying to ignore the noise coming from the kitchen.

….…..

The bar was full and loud, the performance was, to say the least, not to Lucy's liking, and she was starting to get a headache. Initially, joining in order to keep an eye on her, in her opinion, naive friend, and drag her back home as soon as possible, Lucy was seeing more and more flaws with her plan, as a certain couple was being very affectionate right in front of her.

Lucy was starting to think that for returning home any time soon was an overall bad idea for her.

"Gajeel, is that you?" Lucy flinched. Why did that cheerful voice sounded familiar?

Her face fell. The guy from yesterday. Great, she thought.

"Oh, Lucy, hi! Didn't see you there." Lucy forced a smile and flashed an angry look to Levi, who didn't seem to notice.

"You know bunny-girl?" Gajeel turned to Natsu, pointing his thumb towards Lucy.

"We met at the school thing Gray dragged me to yesterday." Natsu quickly answered before Lucy had the chance to say anything.

"Oh, and where's he?"

"Pervy popsticle is over there, having fun." Natsu shrugged and waved his hand in the direction of the bar stand behind him.

Lucy let the, yet another affectionate nickname, slip past her attention and looked in the direction Natsu pointed. Gray, was indeed there, however, as she noted with amusement to herself, he seemed to be receiving far too much attention, for his liking, from the girl sitting next to him.

Lucy's triumph in spotting someone who was having a worse evening than herself was short lived, as she saw Levi whispering something to Gajeel.

"I'll be taking Shrimpy home. So you guys have fun." The latter announced and the couple was quick to disappear in the crowd.

Lucy sighed and slumped her head into the table.

"What's wrong?" Asked Natsu, who came to sit in front of her.

"Levi is my roommate… And I left my keys at home…" Lucy stammered, feeling defeated.

"That's rough.." Natsu whistled.

"Wanna sleep at our place?" Lucy locked gazes with Natsu, but couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"Great, then I'll go get Cana, and we'll go." He smiled and vanished in the crowd.

"Don't worry, he didn't mean anything by it. He's just being nice." Lucy heard a voice above her head and saw Gray leaning on the back of her chair. He seemingly managed to escape the clutches of his fan.

"Who's Cana?" Lucy managed.

"The bartender. Her shift is about to end, and she usually crashes by our place, when she has night shifts." Grey replied, and yawned.

"Okay, people. Let's go." Announced a skinny brown haired girl, leaning on Natsu's shoulder, and seeming slightly tipsy.

Lucy sighed and got up.

The drive was rather quiet, apart from Natsu and Cana laughing about something Lucy couldn't understand on the front seats.

"All three of us grew up together, so we go way back." Gray explained.

Lucy nodded absentmindedly and dosed of, to be woken up by Natsu's cheerful announcement of their arrival.

It was a six storey building, with four apartments on each floor.

"Alright, the girls can take my room, and I'll sleep on the couch." Natsu said as he opened the door. "Oh, hey, Happy! Missed me?" He purred as a small chubby cat rubbed himself against his leg.

"Happy?" Lucy looked at Gray, who shrugged.

In the mean time, Cana danced her way to what seemed to be the bathroom.

….…..

Lucy woke up feeling the urgent need to use the bathroom, having fallen asleep before Cana went out. She carefully slipped off the bed, past a snoring Cana and opened the door.

As she exited the bathroom, she noted to herself that the apartment was in a decent shape, given the fact that both it's occupants were young men in their twenties.

"Morning." Lucy turned around to see a yawning Grey, standing in the kitchen, clad only in his underwear.

"Morning…" Lucy stammered and lowered herself onto the couch. To her sheer horror the surface beneath her shifted, and groaned.

Lucy shrieked and fell to the floor, gaping at the mass of blankets, that soon spat the sleepy form of Natsu, who, Lucy sighed in relief, was clothed.

"Shut it, stripper." Natsu muttered angrily, throwing a pillow in the direction of Gray who was laughing at the whole scene. "And go put some pants on."

"Yeah, yeah…" Gray threw back the pillow and disappeared in his room.

"Why are you lot so loud?" Cana's head appeared from Natsu's room.

"Morning, Cana." Lucy greeted, and decided to make herself useful by making coffee.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to drive me?" Lucy asked as Cana shut the back door of the car, and Natsu pressed the gas pedal.

"Yeah…Where do you live again?" Natsu suppressed another yawn.

Lucy typed the address into the GPS device, and looked outside the window.

"Oh, that's rather close to campus." She noted.

"Yeah, 'guess so…" Natsu nodded and stuffed himself with mint candy.

"By the way, if you ever feel…erm…disturbed at your place, feel free to stop by. As you said, it's close to your uni." Natsu suddenly said and pulled over.

"Disturbed?" Lucy quirked a brow.

"You'll see what I mean…" Natsu waved his hand dismissively. "I put my number in your phone." He grinned and sped towards the changing traffic lights, before Lucy had a chance to say anything.

"Really! The nerve!" She muttered to herself and headed towards the apartment, hoping she won't be greeted by sights to horrible to forget.

….…..

The clock on Lucy's table showed twelve pm, and she was growing more and more agitated by the minute. The first week of school left her with more than a few introduction assignments, which she chose to do later, in favour of working on her blog and finishing other independent writing projects. These assignments were due tomorrow, actually, today, and Lucy was growing impatient.

She loved Levi, they were, after all, best friends since elementary school. Levi was anything Lucy could wish for in a best friend - studious, cheerful, responsible, fun and caring. However, what Lucy didn't like was the fact that, as it appeared, Levi was also rather loud when a certain black haired man stayed over.

Lucy took off her headset, and sighed. Knocking on the wall, or Levi's door was bellow Lucy's Hertafillia's pride. She almost came to terms with the idea of failing her first assignments, when a certain pink haired boy's echoed in her mind.

She hurriedly typed a message and pressed "send" before she had the chance to regret her decision.

Her phone soon vibrated, and having read the new message, Lucy dashed to her closet, throwing some clothes and her laptop into her sports bag.

"Told ya', didn't I?" Natsu flashed his usual toothy green, as Lucy made herself comfortable on the back seat and pulled out her laptop.

"How did you know?" She asked, but immediately regretted it, as she met Natsu's eyes in the rear view mirror, who emitted a small chuckle.

"Let's just say, that he's got it in him to please a lady…" He added, and started the engine.

Soon Lucy found herself spending almost every weekend, and sometimes days in the middle of the week (only on emergency occasions) , pulling all nighters at Natsu and Gray's, with Happy purring in her lap and Cana falling asleep on the couch, after finishing her shifts at the bar.

Of course the arrangement was far from ideal, Lucy wasn't blind to that, however she felt bad to abandon Levi alone in their three year contract with the landlord. Besides, Lucy hated to admit it, but she knew she couldn't afford the rent all by herself, and asking her father for help would mean listening him career choice all over again. Thus, after learning about a few burglaries and other less than pleasant events at the dormitories, Lucy decided to leave things as they were.

As the time flew by, Lucy has came to see Natsu in a new light. Despite passing himself as slightly foolish with his goofy behaviour, was in fact kind and caring, and not as hot headed, when situation dictated. Although Lucy still saw his frequent, and rather colourful verbal clashes with Grey, as childish, she grew to like them, as her friends.

It was early morning. Lucy was still wide awake, sipping her fourth coffee and racing to finish yet another assignment. Natsu just came back from his night shift and Gray just woke up. Lucy could hear the boys bickering, the subject of the argument being Nastu's appetite and the fate of a certain limited edition instant ramen, that Gray was saving for breakfast. Lucy thought she heard steps in front of the front door, but payed no attention. Suddenly, she realized that the bickering died and the only noise was the sound of her typing. Lucy, slightly surprised, turned to look at Natsu and Gray whose gazed were frozen to the front door, with what could be, if Lucy didn't know any better - horror. A few seconds later, the was a loud knock on the door.

Lucy watched Natsu gulp audibly and muttering "your turn", elbowing Gray towards the door.

As Gray opened the door, he fixed a fake, and if Lucy was honest a rather creepy smile.

"Good morning." Lucy heard a loud female voice.

"Morning, Erza." Gray tried to sound as confident. "What brings you here so early?"

"I was awoken by your some loud verbal profanities." The voice stated calmly. Lucy, whose curiosity was peeked, rose from the couch to see the owner of the voice was a tall young woman, with long red hair, that was carefully braided.

"I am sorry to hear that, but, as you know, Natsu and myself get along perfectly." Gray widened his smile, speaking in a excessively formal tone.

"Is that so?" Erza quirked her brow and that was when she spotted Lucy. "And who is that?" She inquired.

"I'm Lucy! Nice to meet you!" Lucy raced to the door and introduced herself, pushing to stand in between Gray and Erza and shaking her hand. "I can assure you these two were behaving perfectly well this morning." She added smiling widely.

Erza took a few moments to scan Lucy, who continued to shake her hand.

"Alright, then. It's nice to meet you, Lucy. I trust it that you two continue to behave." She announced and promptly turned on her heel.

Gray peeked out of the door, and quietly shut it as Erza disappeared in her own apartment.

"Who is she?" Lucy asked as she watched both Gray and Natsu release a breath, as if they narrowly escaped death.

"That would be Erza. She's the building manager, and to be honest, she's just scary." Gray answered, scratching the back of his neck.

"She doesn't seem so bad." Lucy said as she moved to sit on her abandoned spot on the couch.

"You just didn't see her when she's pissed."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I feel for the kids."

"She seems young, she has children?"

"Nah, she's an elementary school teacher." Natsu whispered, while sipping tea.

….…..

As winter grew near, the air became colder. However, oddly enough, Lucy felt nice and warm. That feeling quickly vanished, however, when Lucy opened her eyes, and realized she was in Natsu's room, or more specifically, in Natsu's bed.

"Natsu! What?! Why am I here?!" Lucy kicked her way out of the bed. Natsu sat up, rubbing his head, which was violently kicked with a elbow.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, sounding slightly offended.

"That's what I should be asking you!" Lucy countered, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself, as she pressed her back against the opposite wall-closet.

"I didn't do anything, relax!" Natsu grunted and fell back into the bed. "You were shivering, so I brought you here so you won't catch a cold." He added and facing her way, brought his hands in a posture of surrender.

"Sorry, Alright? I shoud'a woke you up." He finally said, when Lucy kept quiet.

"It's only eight, let's sleep for a few more hours." Natsu moved to the wall and patted the free space next to him.

Lucy eyed him with suspicion.

"No funny business?" She said, extending her pinky towards him.

"Promise!" He looked at her for a moment, then grinned lacing her pinky with his own.

Sleeping, or sharing a bed, as Lucy preferred to call it, with Natsu was nice. Lucy even caught herself laying awake, waiting for him to cuddle into her in his sleep. As she has learnt by now, Natsu had no whatsoever issues with personal space, and thus didn't demonstrate any respect for those who did. In his sleep he was no different - he was clingy, sometimes grabby and most of all, very warm. A few weeks later, Lucy confided her experience in Cana, who laughed and said, that it was exactly who Natsu was - ridiculously warm in both body and spirit. A few glasses of wine later, Lucy learnt that in their childhood, their parents would often find Gray and Cana curled around Natsu, whether at nap time or at sleepovers.

That conversation took place almost two years ago

….…..

As Lucy lay, Natsu's chin almost painfully pressed against her collar bone, the events of the previous day resurfaced, becoming clearer by the minute.

They were not drunk, as she initially assumed. Perhaps a little tipsy as they left the bar.

"Whoa… Careful there!" Natsu caught caught her as she almost slipped on an ice puddle.

"Sorry… Guess wearing heels at this time of the year wasn't my brightest idea." She smiled .

"Guess not…" He agreed, and they started walking. Lucy noticed that he was still holding her hand.

She didn't mind. They have been through a lot. They weren't a couple a middle schoolers to shy away from holding hands, she told herself.

When he put her hand on his arm, she didn't mind either.

"For support. Don't wanna having to carry you all the way, if you sprain your ankle ." He explained.

She hummed in agreement.

During these two and a half years they managed to become close, she didn't know how it happened, she didn't keep record. All she knew was, that when he was sick, she was there to feed him his mother's awful smelling soup while softly scolding for not taking care of himself. He was there when she drank too much for the first time in her life, and spent most of the night in the bathroom. He sat beside her, keeping her long hair from her face, rubbing her back and telling her stories.

Reminiscing about those, and other, incidents Lucy found herself being led up the stairs to his apartment. Gray left the party even before they did, with one of the female guests. It wasn't the first time they would be alone, but the thought still made her just a tad nervous. It's the alcohol, she convinced herself. As he opened the door, they were greeted by the familiar mewl. Lucy bent down and started patting Happy, who eagerly encouraged her to proceed.

"Here." Lucy looked up and saw Natsu offering her a towel. "Go take a shower. I don't want you catching a cold."

She nodded and went ahead, while Natsu took her place in playing with Happy.

The hot shower indeed felt nice, Lucy could slight blurriness leaving her mind.

As she entered his room, he was taking out a set of clothes and another towel.

"Good night." He smiled, and left the room.

She tucked herself in, browsing through the freshly updated photos from the still ongoing party. One of the photos features Natsu, Grey and Cana. Lucy smiled, it was really a nice one. Suddenly, she noticed a comment under the photo.

"Looking good! Too bad I couldn't make it. Love you guys!"

"We love and miss you too, Lis!" Said a newly added comment below. Lucy realized the reply was from Natsu. She knew Natsu, she knew he probably didn't mean anything by it, but still she couldn't help the unpleasant feeling piling up in her stomach.

Lucy remembered Lis, or Lisanna was another of Natsu's childhood friends. Judging by certain photos, she was also his date on their senior prom. Yes, Lucy wasn't proud of herself, but she did scroll through Lisanna's profile, hating to admit that she seemed nice.

Hearing that the water in the shower ceased from flowing, she put the phone away and sighed. She was over thinking it, Natsu had the liberty of doing whatever he liked, after all, they weren't even dating…

Lucy was brought back from her thought, when Natsu's steps died in the next room and she heard the door closing.

Lucy was surprised enough to let herself walk to Gray's room without second thoughts.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Hm? I think we're both a bit drunk so… We should sleep separately." He smiled, but Lucy did catch the slight strain hiding behind it.

"I'm perfectly sober." She announced. "And judging by the fact that you hardly drank, I assume so are you."

He didn't answer.

"So what is it, Natsu?"

"Nothing, Lucy, go to sleep. I'm just tired."

They stood in silence, which was growing more and more awkward. Despite all that, Lucy couldn't bring herself to move.

"Say, Natsu…" She began, leaning her head against her wall.

"There was a guy, at the party. He was asking for your number…" Natsu cut her off, or perhaps he didn't even hear her.

"Oh…" Lucy was surprised, was this that was bothering him?

"Listen, if it makes you feel better, I'll just block any weird calls or texts, okay? No big deal." She said hoping, that would settle the matter.

Natsu was silent, he wasn't looking at her, which meant there was something else troubling him.

"Natsu…" Lucy came to stand in front of him, bringing her hands to rest on his shoulders, searching his face.

"I didn't give it to him." He finally said.

"Oh…Alright." What was the problem, then? Lucy was really at a loss.

He took her hands in his, and was obviously meaning to detach them, signaling her to leave, however, instead his hands lingered grasping hers. Lucy could swear he gave her hands a little squeeze.

"It's not how we're supposed to talk about it…" He muttered and lowered her hands.

"Talk about what?"

"Nothing. Never mind." He turned his back to her. "Just go to sleep, Lucy."

"Natsu!" Lucy came to face him yet again. She could see he was struggling, but something selfish inside her was urging her to press the matter.

"Luce, I mean it. Forget it." Natsu sighed and brought his hand to the bridge of his nose.

Luce. Lucy looked at him. He rarely called her by that name. In fact, as far as she could remember he only called her that twice. Once when she was throwing up, at her apartment after the senior party, while he was threading his hands through her hair, telling her it will be alright. The second time was…

As he made eye contact, she leaned forward, and leaning on his chest for support, kissed him. It was almost like last Christmas, when he kissed her under the mistletoe. Except, it wasn't. It felt different from the time when he pressed his lips against hers in a friendly peck and whispered in her ear "Merry Christmas, Luce…". It felt different because, it wasn't a chaste kiss anymore. His lips were moving against hers, and from the way his hands immediately went to her waist, she could tell he was holding back.

Lucy inclined her head, attempting to go in for more, however he pulled away, pecked her once more and rested his forehead against hers.

"This was not supposed to happen." He said in a breathy laugh.

"That's why you wanted separate bedrooms?" Lucy teased, feeling his thumbs rubbing circles on her cheeks.

"This… And some other reasons." He smiled and backed away to look at her, his hands still cupping her face.

"And what do you have in mind?" The longer he looked at her, the more his fingers gently massaged her face, the more it fueled the little pint of hope, she had hidden deep at the back of her head.

"That's probably not a good idea…"

Lucy leaned in again, but anticipating his reaction, playfully pecked his nose.

"Luce, I'm serious here…" He sounded almost desperate, however his hands refused to let her go. Something that found very encouraging.

She wanted to kiss him again, perhaps his cheek this time, however her leg stumbled upon something soft. They both looked down to see Happy rubbing himself against their legs.

"I think Happy would like it much better if you slept in your bed." Lucy said, receiving a mewl from the cat, which she took as an affirmative.

Natsu switched his gaze between the girl in front of him and the cat, until his features relaxed.

As Happy walked away, jumping on Gray's bed, Natsu closed the distance between himself and Lucy, and hugged her tightly.

"I'm afraid Happy won't be joining us tonight…" He whispered in her ear. Lucy slightly shivered, but then gasped when he nipped her earlobe.

….…..

The rest of what Lucy could remember, was… Well…She didn't quite know what to think of it, yet, anyways. Natsu suddenly grunted, and rolled to lay his side, switching her position as well. Having more freedom to move her limbs, Lucy reached to stroke his hair. As he purred, she blushed at the realization, he was probably awake. Gathering all what was left of yesterday's courageous and kinky Lucy, she let her hand travel to his face, caressing his cheek.

His left hand, leaving her middle, covered her right one, as he turned to plant a kiss on her palm.

"Natsu!" Lucy laughed, his unshaved facial hear was tickling her hand.

She tried pulling her hand back, but his grip tightened. He opened his eyes, and suddenly, her heart sank. His expression was strained, even more than the previous evening.

"Natsu, I…." She began, but never finished as words failed her. She could feel tears gathering at her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said.

A single sob escaped her, as she felt tears running down her face.

"Luce…" He said, wiping some of tears with his thumb. "We can't take it back…But I don't want it to…"

"I'm sorry Natsu… I ruined it… What we had… I… I always put things away and then rush through them…" Lucy was now sobbing, curling herself into a ball, and attempting to turn away.

"No!" Natsu was now hovering above her, staring intensely into the brown eyes that he adored for so long. "You didn't ruin anything…" He pressed his lips to her forehead. "I just don't want it to be a one time thing… Not with you."

Lucy looked at him, felt his hand warm against her wet face, and words failed her. She took the terrified look in his eyes as a new wave of tears made it's way to the pillows. She couldn't do anything other than lift her hands to hug his neck, nuzzling his shoulder. She trusted him to support her weight, to let her continue hugging him. After all, he was always there for her.

"Neither do I…" She uttered in a shaky whisper. "I'd do it again."

Natsu swallowed, and unlocking Lucy's embrace lowered her back into the bed.

"We could make that happen." He whispered hoarsely into her ear. Enjoying the feeling of the blond shuddering underneath him, he looked up, and seeing her flushed face, pressed his lips to hers, before she could protest.


Author's random drabbles:

Well, that's it. As I said, cliche and VERY predictable.

There are probably some plot holes, if there is any plot, that is, and some spice, but It was a "spur of the moment" type of story, so ...

Hope you enjoyed it.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome!