I'm trying to improve my writing. *sighs*

"Lana…"

Oh, the way he says my name… It's the perfect combination of sweet and seductive. So gentle… Yet so steamy that I have even more trouble breaking eye contact with him. He moves a step closer, pausing to see if I'd back away. I don't.

My eyes grow larger –if that were possible right now- when he takes another step. His legs are so long that that last step places us face to face. The way he looks down at me with such need in his eyes make me feel insecure. I've never seen them this way before. Those eyes shouldn't belong to him. They should be on a little boy's face when he wants a lollipop. They should be on a tiger that's eyeing its prey. What's going to happen now?

At this point, I decide this can't go on. I can't stay to find out how all this is going to end. I take a step back and freeze; something cool hits my back almost immediately. The flat surface gives me a panic attack that sends multiple waves of chills down my spine all the way to the back of my knees. Tell me that's just a shelf, and I can throw a book at him.

Odds aren't in my favour. My palms search behind me for a bump, an object, anything! My eyes still don't move from his striking pupils. How have I never noticed the dark, captivating onyx? I've stared into it so many times; it filled with fear, joy, and sadness. I've brightened them up, and felt good about it. It's gazed into mine and given me hope that everything was going to be fine. It's guided me through the toughest moments. Why is it only now that it suddenly terrifies me?

The warmth that spreads through the back of my left hand is enough to snap me out of my daze. It surrounds four of my fingers and peels it away from the wall, bringing it up to his face.

The same feeling goes over my chest when he presses his body against me. Our faces have almost non-existent space between them. I'm breathing really slowly; feeling embarrassed if he ever caught my breath that probably stank from having yet to brush my teeth. I try breathing through my nose, and curl my lips into a tight line. Big mistake. He's eyeing them now.

He grabs my other hand and directs them to reunite behind his neck. And what surprises me terribly is when I allow my fingers to lace together, sending him an unwanted message that I'm not going to break away.

Finally finding enough strength to not lose myself in him, my eyes shift downwards to his Adam's apple. I caught a glimpse of it bobbing. Is he as nervous about this as I am?

From his neck, his arms lower themselves back down and wrap around my waist, effectively pulling me closer. My grip around his neck tightens. Crap, it was a reflex. Despite his shaking finger, he lets out a short laugh.

"So you do want this."

And that's really all it takes for everything in my mind to clear up. The moment blurs my mind. His voice, so welcoming that I launch myself upwards, tip-toed and pulling his head downwards, and crash my lips into his. He doesn't let out a surprise muffle like I expect. Instead, a hand flies up to cup my cheek. He caresses the skin below my eye with his thumb, making me shiver and bringing my shoulder up to it.

His other hand roams all over my body. From waist, he goes up my arm, cups my other cheek for a second and dives all the way back down to flutter over my hip's curve. They explore every dip and corner for him, almost making me want to purr. I stifle it as best as I can and kiss him slightly harder to prevent myself from drowning in contentment.

I shiver. If I could pull him closer, trust me I would. I'm almost strangling him right about now. I'm not satisfied with the closeness. In fact, I don't think I ever will be satisfied no matter how much our body rubs against each other. My fingers trace the back of his neck until they're lacing through his locks. He smiles against my mouth and lets out a soft groan.

I comb his bangs back, smoothing it against the top of his head even though they just keep plopping back in place. Nevertheless, I continue doing so, seeing as it gives him a little pleasure. Besides, it really is softer than it looks. For a moment, I wish that for just one day, I could switch bodies with Happy just so I can snuggle up there in his nest of fluffiness.

I feel his hand move back as he begins to play with my earlobe. They roll around between his thumb and index finger, feeling suddenly warm and suddenly cold when they connect and leave his touch.

"Mm.. what're you doing…?" I whisper between kisses.

He doesn't answer me, but the fast, needy kiss slows down to longer and more passionate ones. He catches my bottom lip between his and licks it while his arm presses the small of my back. The sudden pressure surprises me. I place my free hand between our chests to separate at least that part of our body. But my face turns red anyway when we grind against each other and he groans louder.

"Mm… Lana… L-Lana.. That-"

"Did it feel good?"

"Do it again… Please…"

And I do. It doesn't register in my mind what I'm doing until I do. I just oblige with his request. I'm too fuzzed up to know or care what's going on. I move my hips up and down against him slowly, pressing my thighs together for security. Again he pulls me closer, this time with more force that seems… irrepressible.

Cool air rushes to the back of my legs when they disconnect with the wall. I can already tell there're going to be sweat stains on it. But what's on my mind right now is far from related to the cleaning I'd be doing later on. Lips and limbs still connected, he barely drags my limp body along as he makes his way to the one place in my bedroom that could either make me the happiest girl on the planet, or kill me altogether.

Everything goes haywire when my head hits the mattress. My mind is screaming at me to stop him. My brain is sending a million signals to my arms to push him away. My guts are telling me that this isn't something you can just go through and forget. This isn't something that will give you a happily-ever-after at once. There are going to be misunderstandings, fights, regrets, pain. For all you know, this could be a one night stand. He could be sleepwalking, drunk!

But my heart…

Deep down, even if he doesn't love me like I love him, even if he's doing this as a joke, even if all hell breaks loose when I realize truly what I'm doing, I know my heart wants this.

And don't they always tell you to follow your heart?

But what if my heart shatters because of this? Then what would I do? After all this shit, how do I follow my heart anymore when it's in a million pieces?

"Lana." He whispers in my ear. So soft… so safe… So sure that everything will be alright. "Are you okay with this?"

His head looms over me, just like his entire being. His eyes watch his own fingers tuck a strand of hair behind my ear before gazing back into mine. I don't respond, which doesn't really make things less awkward. It becomes more of the opposite, actually. "I won't do this if you don't want to…" he adds.

"I-"

I stop myself. What do I say? What can I say?

"I never knew…" I half whimper, "…you felt this way… about me."

"Goes to show how well I hide it from you." He grins. There's that charming smile again. "And everyone else, for that matter." This time he laughs; his voice a mixture of calmness and quivers.

"I didn't think you'd let me kiss you though." Under the dim light that radiates from the lampstand, I see his face go red. He's blushing… Wow. Haven't I seen him blush once? Yes, once only. And it wasn't for the reason I thought it would be. "I was actually preparing for a hit… You know; your Lana-kick or something?"

He takes a deep breath and lets out a long sigh, "I've been having these strange feelings these days. All I can think about is you. All that's on my mind is you. It bothered me for a while. Every time I looked at you, this strange urge to hold you close irritated my mind." He scowled.

"I've never felt it before. It just came to me whether we were together or not. It's not something that's different, but when I look at you," I'm caught off guard by the look of utter terror in his eyes. Is he… afraid? "I feel this need… that I must be able to look into your eyes every minute. If not, every second. I need you by my side. I need you with me. I can't bear the thought of losing you. Not again."

He dips his head low and snuggles into the crook of my neck. He can't maintain eye contact. Thank goodness, because neither can I.

"I love it when you hug me." He hugs my shoulders and gives me a safe feeling. Point taken, I like his hugs, too.

"I love your smile." I feel him smile against my throat.

"I love your determination in battle. You're strong for yourself and everyone's sake. You're never too scared to run away. I love your strength." I smile at his words. "But…" And my smile half fades. "I absolutely hate it…" It disappears completely.

"…when I can't protect you."

Oh.

"I need to protect you. That's my only priority."

Unknown to me, my arms had slid around his chest. I hold him close, letting him shake and whimper like never before seen.

In all honesty, I feel bad for smiling. But it can't be helped. All this time, I thought my feelings were one-sided. I never thought he'd ever feel the same way towards me. Heck, I never thought he'd feel stuff like this at all. Yeah, he can be cute, demonic and weird all too suddenly. It all came in his package. But love? Like?

After a while, he lifts his head. He doesn't reveal his face first, but instead wipes away unseen tears behind his bangs. "I think…" he smiles.

"You think…?" I finally speak. I know what's coming. I've been waiting for it. Here it comes.

"I think-"

"…I… lo-heerrrve you-hoo-hoo AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Gray couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing all too loudly and fell onto his knees, the stack of papers falling onto his lap. He hugged his stomach in an attempt to lessen the cramps from laughing so hard, but ultimately failed. "She wants to switch bodies… with HAPPY!" he choked. Tears stained his eyes.

"Gray! Don't stop there!" Erza scolded, dabbing her watery eyes with the tips of her middle and ring finger. "What happens next? Do Lana and Nat get together?"

"Erza-san… I don't think you understand who the story is really about…" Wendy hid her red face behind her hands and shook it violently. "I need to forget this…" she chanted to herself.

"I told you I heard strange sounds that night!" Happy flew overhead in pride, clearly finding no problem in stating: "I read the entire thing, guys! They tooottaaallllyyy did it! They liiikkkeeee each other!" He did a flip in the air, advancing into a small blue hurricane and landing flat on the table, laughing just as loudly as the ice-mage.

"Who knew Lucy would write all of this down…" Charles shook her head. Her white fur made it too obvious that the story read aloud had had an impact on her, too. "And so detailed…"

"We need to show this to everyone else! We have solid proof that they could've been the ones who messed up the guild storeroom yesterday." Gray announced. He grabbed the chapter of Lucy's unfinished novel and jumped out the window before anyone could stop him. From Lucy's bedroom, Erza, Wendy and the Exceeds shot each other terrified looks when they heard him yell from outside, "Hey guys, look! There they are right now!"

And then another deep but recognisably different voice was heard, "Oh hey, bastard."

"Hi, Gray. Wait, did you just jump out of my bedroom window? And what's that… you're… holding…"

"Oh shit."

GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I AM SO NOT SATISFIED WITH THIS. I TOTALLY RUSHED THROUGH IT *EXTREMELY LOUD SIGH*. Anyways, please, please, please, please, plleeeaaaassseeeee take just a couple of minutes to leave a review? Both good and bad needed ahahah and thanks for reading! :DD