Lucy knew next to nothing about rugby. She knew that people could get easily injured while playing the sport: their arms could get broken or their faces badly beaten. She even knew someone who had their foot in a cast after all the bones in their foot were crushed. If she was honest, she cared little about the sport.

But she cared so much about one person that played it.

Natsu Dragneel had been her one and only crush all throughout high school. She entered into class one day like normal, and during a boring lecture she peered out the window and saw him throwing around a ball with his teammates. His rose colored hair shone in the sunlight and stood out against the rest of the hues of brown and black, catching her attention right away. After he tossed the ball to a teammate, Natsu looked up and saw her staring at him. He waved and smiled, which stole her heart and further took her attention away from class.

From that moment on, Natsu knew that they were destined to be friends. Yelling a quick goodbye to his friends, he bounded up the steps and began to search for her classroom. After a few moments of hunting, he burst into the room and asked who the 'weird blonde girl who was starin' at me,' was. Natsu's green eyes stared into hers when the entire class turned and gaped at Lucy, and a grin spread across his face as he strode toward her quickly and stood above her with his fists on his hips.

"Weirdo," he began, leaning over and picking her up out of her chair, "you're comin' with me."

Slinging over his shoulder, Natsu marched out of the classroom as the teacher and Lucy's classmates ogled the strange sight. Lucy pounded on his back with a shout, hoping to get someone's attention.

"Where are we going?" she asked, and Natsu grinned.

"We're playing hooky, Luce."

"How the hell do you know my name?" Lucy was surprised, and even more shocked that he now had a nickname for her.

Not that she didn't like it, though.

"Easy. Your homework had your name on it. You wanna go get ice cream?" he asked, and she sighed.

"I'm supposed to be learning, not eating desserts!" Lucy replied with a roll of her eyes. Was this guy completely insane?

"School is a drag, Luce. It's the same thing every day, and you gotta switch it up every once in awhile! So how about it?"

She found herself considering it. He was rather attractive, and she thought going to ice cream was somewhat of a date. But skipping school for something as insignificant as ice cream? It was very unlike her. She wasn't a straight-A student like her best friend, but she did want to get into college one day.

But what could one day hurt?

"I guess that's fine. Let me down, please," Lucy responded, and Natsu let her down.

"Awesome! I'm Natsu by the way. Natsu Dragneel. Nice to meet ya, Luce!" he smiled again, and her pulse raced.

Moments later they were at the ice cream shop. Lucy ordered a pistachio ice cream, which Natsu dubbed 'disgusting' as he piled on hot pepper flakes on his plain vanilla. Why the shop had pepper flakes as one of their toppings, Lucy would never know. As they sat down and began to eat, they began to realize that they were more suited for one another than they originally thought.

At least, Lucy hoped so.

The bell rang, shifting Lucy's thoughts back to the present. She saw Natsu sleeping in the chair next to her, and with a smile she nudged him awake a few times before he awakened.

"Luce? What time is it?" Natsu asked, and Lucy giggled.

"Class just finished. Time for lunch," she said, and Natsu practically hopped out of his chair despite being fast asleep moments before.

"Sweet!" he replied, getting ready to go out the door when he remembered something. Nervousness rushed through his body as he turned to Lucy with a smile.

"Uh, Luce?" he asked, "You're gonna come to my game tonight, right?"

The corners of Lucy's mouth turned up, and she peered into Natsu's eyes. He wanted her to watch him play? This was a first. Usually he just assumed that she would be there, but Lucy guessed that today was different. Maybe there was something finally changing between them.

"Of course, Natsu. See you then."

The game started right after school, and Lucy was more excited for Natsu than she ever had been. His team was facing off against a rival school's, and she was also nervous for their victory as well. The other team was undefeated, and their school had a few losses itself. Their team was one of the best, but sometimes testosterone got in the way of playing the sport correctly.

Lucy blew into her gloved hands as she sat outside in the cold, waiting for the players to come out from their hideout. She wanted to be the first to see Natsu, and so she parked herself at the very first seat in the stadium. Checking her watch, she noticed that it was only mere moments until they would be out.

"Waiting to see Natsu, Lu?" Levy teased as she flopped down into the seat next to her best friend, and Lucy swiped at her arm with a grin.

"Shush, Lev. It's not like you sat next to me so you could get a good look at Gajeel," Lucy poked Levy's cheek, and Levy batted it away with a palm.

"I sat next to you because you're my best friend, not because I like that stupid oaf," Levy said, grabbing her book bag and unzipping it to rummage around for a book.

"Sure you don't. Why do I see you in the back of the class again?" Lucy contemplated, tapping her pointer finger on her chin with a smirk, "Oh, that's right! Cause you get a 'full view of the board' when you sit back there."

Levy blew a raspberry at Lucy, and Lucy grinned victoriously back at her companion. She knew when Levy was lying quicker than everyone else did, and it was obvious that Levy had a slight crush on the tall guy who always seemed to be messing with her. Lucy had known Levy since they were children, and never once had Levy felt that way about someone. It was a nice change of pace for the girl who always seemed to be ignoring everyone else with her nose in a book.

After a few moments, the players finally came out of their HQ and the stadium cheered when Natsu was announced. Lucy cheered the loudest, of course, but she couldn't help but hear a few other feminine shouts screaming Natsu's name. Jealousy boiled within her, but she decided to ignore it. After all, she was the one that he invited to go watch his game with him, right?

Natsu threw his arms up in the air and roared, showing off his dominance to the opposing team. It was his signature move, and Lucy thought it was quite cute. He had done that ever since his first game that he played, and Lucy was there to see it.

The game started within a minute, with the referee blowing his whistle. The ball was passed a few times, and a goal was made quickly by the opposing team. Boos were heard from the Magnolia side of things, and then the next play started.

Everything happened so fast that Lucy could barely even comprehend what was happening. Natsu grabbed the ball and was about to throw it to someone else when he was tackled by a much bigger player, and Natsu went down quicker than Lucy had ever seen. A collective gasp went throughout the crowd, and Lucy covered her hands with her mouth.

"Natsu!" she shouted after her shock had taken place, "No!"

Instantly an ambulance was on the field, and two guys carrying a stretcher wheeled out and pushed Natsu onto it. Lucy pushed through her fright and hustled down the steps to see her friend and crush being taken into the ambulance. The last thing she saw was Natsu's eyes wandering to hers and then slowly shutting before she began running toward Levy.

"Lev?" Lucy asked, and Levy gathered up her things rapidly and held out a palm to Lucy to steady her. Sometimes the two would grasp palms when things got rough, and this was one of those times.

"You don't have to tell me twice, Lu. Let's go."

Lucy realized that when Levy told her that she would go as quickly as she could that she actually meant twenty miles over the speed limit. Lucy's stress levels were already at a high point, but possibly getting pulled over by the cops almost sent her overboard. They got to the hospital within seven minutes flat, and Lucy vowed to never write with Levy in a crisis again.

"I'll let you go. I'll go see how the rest of the team is doing," Levy said, and Lucy saluted before running off to Natsu's room, which the receptionist said was 513. Bounding down the hallway and dodging a few nurses, Lucy was desperate to find him. When she finally saw the room, she tiptoed in and saw Natsu hooked up to a bunch of IV's and machines. His leg was bound up and his face was bandaged.

"L-Luce?" Natsu asked after seeing her standing there, and Lucy gasped. His voice was raspy, and all she wanted to do was comfort him and fix it so she could take him home. They could spend time watching Netflix and eating popcorn and have a good night. Natsu didn't deserve any of this.

"Hey. How are you doing?" she asked, and he grinned. It was the only Natsu-like thing about him at the moment.

"I wasn't hurt that badly. The doctor said all my bleeding was internal. That's where my blood is supposed to be," Natsu said, and Lucy smiled and shook her head.

"You really had me worried back there," she said, and Natsu shrugged.

"Well, at least with this cast I look badass," Natsu told her, lifting up his leg the tiniest bit. He winced at the pain, and Lucy's eyebrows rose at his expression.

"Is–Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? You want some food?"

"Maybe later, Luce. There is something I want more than food." Natsu said, and Lucy laughed.

"More than food? It must be pretty important then. Alright, what is it?" Lucy shook her head again, wondering what the heck he must want that would be more important than filling his belly.

"I want a kiss."

Lucy's blood turned to ice as her mouth dropped open. He wanted a what?!

"You-You want me to kiss you?" she asked, and he motioned her to come closer so he could whisper in her ear.

"More than anything in the world," he whispered, and she shivered as his warm breath tickled her ear. Lucy smiled as she stared into his eyes, and he wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her to him.

Their lips met softly at first, but slowly became much more intimate as it deepened. Lucy grasped Natsu's locks as she pulled him flush to her, and Natsu held back the tiniest of moans when she carefully slid her tongue into his mouth.

They kissed for a few more moments before deciding to stop, and Natsu grinned wider than he had ever before when they broke away.

"Wow, Luce. I shoulda kissed you a long time ago," he said, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.

Lucy flushed, turning away. How long had he been waiting to kiss her like that?

"Nuh-uh," Natsu said with a smirk, grasping her chin with his palm gently and turning her face toward his. "This is a game, Luce. And I'm playing for keeps."