The massive shock etched on the Dragon Slayer's face turned into a wide-eyed look of mild confusion as he stared into the eyes of his partner. Lucy felt herself melting just a bit under Natsu's gaze, but adamantly refused to give in to the quickened heartbeat that Natsu's penetrating stare was causing her. She knew that if her suffering was to end, she would have to be steadfast. No softening was to be allowed.
Lost in her mind's attempts to steer herself towards her cause, she didn't notice when Natsu looked up, changed his expression turned into a soft grin, and asked,
"What's up Lucy?"
Lucy almost jumped as her partner momentarily scared her out of her wits. She sighed to herself. How did he manage to change his mood that quickly all the time? She really needed to be more on guard around the unpredictable Natsu Dragneel. Looking down at her partner, who was sitting against the frame of her bed, she felt a determination to solve her problem once and for all.
"Natsu," the blonde Celestial Spirit Mage began, trying to keep up her stern visage as much as she could. "I've been experiencing a lot of back pain lately you see, and I think you're -"
"Well, yeah," the ever excitable Natsu interrupted. "Gray told me one time that that happens a lot to girls with big -"
"Natsu!" This time it was Lucy's turn to interrupt her friend as she shrieked, feeling like she was about to explode. "That's not what I meant."
Natsu scared at her in confusion. Knowing that the dense idiot she called her best friend wasn't going to figure this out for himself, Lucy continued.
"See...you're part of the reason why my back hurts so much lately..." she trailed off towards the end, and inwardly cursed herself. Is it really this hard for me to tell Natsu off about this? I want him off my bed so I can sleep on it again...don't I?
"A-Am I!?" Natsu stammered, causing his partner to look curiously at him. "I-I'd never wanna hurt you like that, Lucy. I swear!"
Lucy looked down at the babbling dummy before her and let out a deep sigh. She knew it. She really couldn't bring herself to tell him to get out and leave her be. How could someone whom she cared for so much, and cared so much for her in return, cause her so much pain. Lucy's cheeks reddened as she gazed at the look of despair on Natsu's face. Is the thought of hurting me this distressing to him? she wondered to herself.
"Natsu." Lucy began, deciding to come clean as she kneeled in front of her partner, bringing them to eye level. "It's just that you've been sleeping in my bed for a lot these past nights now, and I've had to sleep on the cold, hard floor during that time...you know?" There, she told herself. It's out in the open now. I wonder how he'll react.
Lucy once again got the scare of a lifetime, for the second time that night, when she left her thoughts to find Natsu's face extremely close to hers.
She felt like she was about to burn to a crisp under Natsu's gaze as his inquiring eyes bore intently into hers. He looked away, however, sighed (much to Lucy's surprise), and offered her...an apology.
"I'm sorry, Lucy." he told her flatly, his voice sounding uncharacteristically defeated. "I don't wanna hurt you. You know I'd never do anything to harm you, right?"
Lucy felt her heart beginning to melt as Natsu asked his last question. She offered him a meek nod and a soft smile of assurance.
Natsu began to get up and leave, and while this was what Lucy had thought was what she wanted, the downcast look in his eyes made her reach out and grab his arm. The move shocked her as much as it did Natsu. She had done that almost upon instinct.
"Sit." she directed him simply, and Natsu again assumed his position sitting before the person who was beginning to make him feel a little weird inside. Keeping her grip on Natsu's arm, Lucy spoke up. "It's not that I mind you being here, Natsu. Really I don't. I guess the back pain was just an excuse for me to ask you..."
"Ask me what?" the Dragon Slayer inquired of his close friend.
"Why?" she said simply.
Natsu blinked at her confusedly. Figuring that he wasn't going to connect the dots, she resumed.
"Why do you sleep here all the time? Coming over to visit, I get, but what does coming over here to sleep do for you?" Lucy looked up to try and get a reaction from Natsu. Instead, what she found was the pink-haired dummy giving her a look she'd never seen before. It almost looked...embarrassed. She decided to press further to get the answers she sought.
"Is it because your place is so messy?" she offered with a soft giggle. "I swear, I can come over there from time to time and clean it for yo- Huh!?" she squealed as she looked up at Natsu to find that he'd placed his hand on top of her head. As mortifying as it was, it felt...nice. It was almost like being petted. Damnit, shut up Lucy! she reprimanded her inner self for allowing such a thought to form in her head.
"It's not that, Lucy." Natsu began. "Thanks for the offer, though. And thanks for that last time when you cleaned up me and Happy's place." he concluded, flashing her one of his signature smiles.
She pouted at him, recalling the time she went through the trouble of scrubbing his place clean, only to have him not come back that day because he was too busy waiting for her at her apartment. It...probably wasn't that great of a prank, now that she thought about it.
The Fire Dragon Slayer let his eyes linger on Lucy's face. Wow, she's cute when she's angry like that..wait, what!? Natsu reddened. Cute!? Since when did he find anyone...cute? However, against his will, with his body being more in-tune with his innermost thoughts than he was, he found his hand beginning to run itself along the top of his partner's hair. Am I petting her right now? It felt so wrong to be doing this, but so right at the same time. He wished inwardly that they could stay like this forever. Okay, maybe not forever, he had people to fight and things to destroy, but he had to admit that being alone with his partner and...petting her, was quite nice.
"It's just that..." Natsu began, before trailing off and gazing into the distance. How am I going to say this without sounding like a total weirdo?
"Natsu." Lucy spoke up again. Looking at Natsu with what he swore were the most beautiful features he'd ever gazed upon. "Just tell me." She encouraged him, simply.
Letting out a deep breath, the not-so-great-with-words Natsu Dragneel began to explain himself.
"It's just that...I miss you sometimes, Lucy."
Lucy perked up upon hearing these words. Did he...really just say that?
"You see enough of me during the day, don't you?" the Celestial Spirit Mage offered gently. "We hang out in the guild together, we do missions together, you annoy me in my own house and somehow that's...together. But you still...miss me?"
The Dragon Slayer rubbed the back of his pink hair and gave Lucy a heart-melting smile. It was so energetic, just like Natsu, and yet his smile seemed almost nervous, she thought to herself.
"I know it's weird, Luce." Natsu admitted, eliciting a blush from his partner. When did he start calling me that? she wondered.
"But I really like being with you. It makes me happy. And being over here reminds me of you. It's hard to sleep when I don't sense you being around. Your bed smells great, just like you do. I guess...I just wanna be close to you?" the Dragon Slayer concluded, though his last words were spoken rather softly. He looked down to gauge how his partner was reacting, only to find her face redder than a tomato as she stared into his eyes. Looking at her was beginning to elicit feelings akin to those of being on a moving vehicle for Natsu, though this particular feeling was warmer and nicer. He was beginning to like it a little.
"Anyways, I tried talking to Gramps and Mira about this" Natsu continued. "Or rather, they get up in my face about this sort of thing, and I always thought what they were saying made no sense, but..."
"But?" Lucy managed to squeak out, in sheer disbelief over what she was hearing from her dense, idiotic, stupid, cute, combustible, sweet partner.
"But I guess they were right. I...think I'm a little in love with you." he concluded, a nervous smile plastered on his face. "If you don't feel like hanging with me for a while after all this, I understand, but I really just wanted to-"
"Don't be silly, you moron" Lucy cut a surprised Natsu off, as she stretched out her arms and placed them behind Natsu's neck, pressing her forehead against his. Locked together like this, Natsu was forced to stare deep into Lucy's eyes. The Dragon Slayer gulped at the close proximity being shared between him and his partner. He felt himself becoming intoxicated by her smell, her presence, her beauty.
"Okay, I think I'm a lot in love with you." Natsu amended, not sure of what he was trying to prove with that statement. He just needed her to know.
Okay, so I uploaded chapter 1 and then said I was going to upload chapter 2 within a day...and then promptly took over two weeks to do so. :P Teaches me about making promises about these things I guess. Anyway, chapter 3 will DEFINITELY be up within the day...because I already have it written! So yeah, read, (please) review, or do whatever you like.