Two hours later, they returned to Lucy's apartment.
- See, it wasn't that bad, was it? – Natsu looked at Lucy, as she was slowly walking up the stairs behind him.
- It was! But ok, it's not entirely your fault. I know I should have exercised more instead of sitting and daydreaming about my new story. – Lucy answered, and walked in her apartment after Natsu, and closed the door behind her.
Natsu went to the kitchen and poured water in two glasses.
- What do you mean "no entirely" my fault? I didn't push you do all the exercise after the run.
Ne handed Lucy one glass and sat next to her on the couch.
- Yes, you did. You said that you will leave me all alone. I didn't even knew where we were! – Lucy answered, sounding a little offended.
- Come on, Luce, I was only joking. – Natsu answered and tousled her blonde hair.
– I'm taking a shower. Wanna join me?
As soon as the question left his lips, he understood the meaning of it. They would be naked, together in one shower. The funny thing was, it wasn't the first time asking this question, but it was the first time imagining what it would be like. Natsu felt frustrated.
- Hell no, you perv! I've told a thousand times NO! Somehow, your jokes seem to be less funnier than usual. Ok, go and leave me, so I can rest before taking a relaxing bubble bath. You know where the towels are. – Lucy answered with her eyes closed, wondering to herself: "Was it only me, that found that question out of place?"
She opened her eyes and went to take off her trainers. Doing that, she noticed Natsu's backpack in the hallway.
Natsu left Lucy on the couch and went to look after a towel in her bedroom. The closet was open, so he saw the towels first thing walking into Lucy's bedroom. As he took a fresh towel from the shelf, he noticed that her underwear drawer was open. He stretched his hand and took one of her briefs. "Is she always wearing such relieving panties? Even under her skirt?"
- Natsu, you forgot you backpack with clean clothes, you know, the one you… – Lucy walked in her bedroom and blushed as she saw him holding her blue briefs. – … left in the hallway. – She finished her sentence slowly.
They both stood and watched in each other eyes surprised. Lucy was blushing, she realized she never leaves her drawers open and the one time she did, Natsu is looking at her underwear and even holding one in his hands. Natsu saw that Lucy was blushing and the thought of her wearing such revealing panties in this very moment run through his mind. His gaze focused on her crotch and the image of her standing in her underwear made Natsu feel hot. "What is this?! Nice one Natsu, you haven't seen her for three weeks and all you can think about is seeing her naked, " he tried to calm down. When he looked back into Lucy's eyes, he saw that she was breathing harder and had blushed even more.
- I… I… I.. The drawer was open… - Natsu began and realized how stupid that sounded. – nice panties.
He put them down, went to grab his bag from Lucy and rushed to the bathroom. He closed the doors behind him, sighed and started to undress. "What else could I have said?! My mind went blank." The image of blushed Lucy in revealing underwear once again popped in his mind and he felt a pulsing sensation in his crotch. "The fuck, idiot. It's Lucy you're thinking about, like she ever thought of you that way." Natsu was panting; he got into the shower and let the cold water run down his back. He was leaning against the wall, and tried to calm down. "You promised that to yourself you would never do that again. But no, the first thing you do is stare at her breasts the second you meet her. And now you even almost started to fantasize about her being turned on in revealing underwear. You promised to never screw up this friendship. " Natsu was mad at himself. He broke his promise. That's why he was so surprised this morning when he caught himself looking at her breasts. He hit his fist in the wall and grunted in anger. "And you almost kissed her neck…"
When Natsu grabbed his bag from Lucy, she stood speechless for a minute. "Was… Was he just looking at my underwear and then down… there? Oh my god, I'm burning. I am bright red!" Lucy exclaimed in her mind when she looked into her mirror. "What the fuck is going on?! Ok, he was just curious, and it's your fault for leaving the drawer open. If something would be wrong, he would have left…" she vigorously tried to calm down. She went back to the living room, took the empty glasses and went to kitchen to wash them. After that, she put the glasses where they belong and slowly walked back to her bedroom.
"Breath Lucy, it's just a misunderstanding. Right?! Right. I should look for clean clothes." She took her white shorts and a pink t-shirt, put them on bed and turned to grab underwear. The drawer was still open. "Geez, it's just panties," she took the blue briefs Natsu was holding minutes ago and looked for matching bra. She put that all on her bed and threw a clean towel over the clothes the minute Natsu came out of the bathroom. He didn't see the underwear she chose.
- It's free. Are you taking a shower or a bath? – Natsu asked.
- Shower, the bath can wait another day. – Lucy answered and took her clothes.
- Luce, about the… drawer… it was just … I wanted to play a prank. – Natsu tried to talk calmly. His was tousling his pinkish hair with his hand.
Lucy smiled at him and said:
– I pretty much suspected that is was something like that.
Natsu felt relieved and smiled back at her.
- I will make us some dinner. Do you have something in the fridge or should I buy something?
- No, I went shopping when I returned. Will you make your delicious pasta? I think I should have all the ingredients. – Lucy said, went to the shower.
- If you want, I can make it. – Natsu said, while walking to the kitchen.
"That went well; she didn't even ask what kind of prank I tried to pull." Natsu thought to himself in relief.
Lucy went in the bathroom and sighed: "Stupid Lucy, of course it was just a joke." She stopped thinking about it, and started to undress while humming a song that Mirajane liked to sing.