Here's just a quick little drabble that I hope you all enjoy(:

Disclaimer: I own nothing


"Gross!"

"I think it's pretty cool." Natsu grins, poking the dead frog with one of the scalpels Mr. Makarov had passed out to the class.

Lucy's hands come up to cover her mouth, the blonde feeling queasy at the sight.

"Uhh, Luce? You okay?" The boy asks uneasily, noting the girl's changing skin tone. "You're lookin kinda green."

"Natsu, I don't think I can do this."

The boy pouts. "Aww, come on. You're the one who's good at all this book stuff, remember?"

"This isn't 'book stuff' though! This is tearing apart a helpless creature!"

She cringes at her own words.

Natsu frowns. "It's already dead, and if anything, not dissecting it would kind of make the death in vain, ya know?" Lucy kept having to remind herself that he was trying to be helpful. "Besides, it may not be book stuff exactly, but you know the anatomy part. And, I mean, come on…" he grins, waving the tool. "Don't you remember our deal?"

The girl sighs, remembering the beginning of the school year when they'd coincidentally been assigned partners in both biology II and gym. It'd been a little rough at first, what with her thinking he was a mindless jock and him, in turn, thinking she was an uptight bookworm with a stick up her ass.

However, two weeks into the semester they'd been handed back their first test results, and she'd seen the way his usually eccentric shoulders drooped and how a shadow fell across his normally bright features… She'd shifted uncomfortably in her chair at the time, not really knowing why she cared so much.

Whether it was intentional or not, Lucy had been extra careful not to bring his intelligence into any arguments they got into after that.

But maybe the ultimate game changer was in gym class a week later when they'd been instructed to run the mile. Lucy would have rolled her eyes when the star running back finished his mile while everyone else was still on their first lap, that is, had she had the energy.

It was almost pathetic how tired she was so early on, only halfway through her second lap, but she felt as if her breakfast was going to be making an encore if she didn't stop. Plus, her lungs felt as if they were going to collapse in on themselves, not to mention her calves-

"You're breathing is wrong…" She would've shrieked had she had the breath to do so. The girl looks over to her left to the newcomer.

"What are," she huffed, "you doing? You already finished."

The boys shrugs easily, running along beside her at a steady pace, granted, not a very fast one on her part.

"No offense, honestly," he was careful with his wording, knowing how easily his lab partner got offended, "But you just, uh, looked like you could use someone to run with." To be honest, he didn't really know why he was helping, just that watching her struggle wasn't as fun as he'd thought it would be.

"Try breathing in through your nose and out your mouth, see if that's any easier."

After that day, neither really knew when it happened or how, but they realized that maybe the other wasn't so bad after all.

They'd even made a deal and shook on it.

She'd help him pass with at least a B (hey, she had to be realistic) and he'd help her maintain her 4.0 GPA (and keep her safe on the days Mr. Elfman, the gym teacher, would have his weekly "manly" dodge ball competitions).

"Yeah," she now says, resignedly. "Hand me the scalpel."

"Alright!" The boy beams, (carefully) offering the blonde the sharp knife. He holds up his hand to her.

"Really, Dragneel?" Comes a snickering voice from behind the pair. "You're gonna give your girlfriend a high five?"

Yeah, that'd happened too.

Lucy blushes at the mention of "girlfriend" seeing as how the pair had only just made it official, but she liked the sound of it.

"Shut up, Gray!" Natsu frowns, but does reconsider the high five. Lucy shifts uncomfortably when the boy suddenly turns to her with a bright grin.

She gasps when he swiftly swoops towards her to kiss her on the cheek, but Natsu, bless him, hadn't taken their safety goggles into account.


I realize Natsu never calls Lucy, "Luce" in the actual series, but if you guys don't mind it then we'll chalk it up to ~creative license~ because it just makes the flow easier sometimes(: hope you all enjoyed!

Please review, they always mean a lot(: