This is for the lovely MasterGuildars who requested a story of Natsu confessing to Lucy. I'm so sorry this has taken so long, end of summer and new baby makes for crazy mommy! Not entirely sure how I feel about this one, but I kept you waiting long enough!

let me know what you think!

~Dream

It had been a long day, in Lucy's opinion. Their job to take down a group of bandits had been relatively easy, and their location didn't require travel by automobile, so she'd been fully expecting the trip to be a good one. It had, until one of the bandits got the drop on her during the battle. Thrown back and pinned against a tree, Lucy found a hand on her thigh and rotten breath in her face as the prick leered at her.

"Such a pretty little doll," he'd said. "A useless little thing to bring along to a fight, fire breath must love you sitting on his face to put up with your weakness."

Lucy remembered scowling at the cockroach of a man, his hand sliding higher up her thigh as she reached for her keys, ready to summon cancer to slice this guy to pieces when Natsu gave an unholy growl and ripped the man away from her.

Lucy watched where she'd slumped to the ground as her pink haired partner mercilessly beat the man into the dirt. The excited smile usually on his face during a fight nowhere to be seen as his fists turned bloody and the bandit lost consciousness. Lucy remembered grabbing Natsu around the waist and pulling him back with all her strength lest he kill the man.

That was hours ago, and they'd long since dropped the bandits at the town and collected their reward. Yet, Natsu's black mood hadn't gone away. As they settled around the fire he made, Lucy sitting on her mat with her legs folded beneath her she regarded her oldest friend. Sometime between Hargeon and Alverez he'd grown up without her noticing, he was taller than her now by more than a head, his shoulders were broader, and his face had lost its childhood softness leaving behind a chiseled face with sharp handsome features. In some ways she'd always known he was good looking, she probably wouldn't have trusted him as much when they first met if he hadn't been, but his eyes were what had changed the most. They'd always been expressive, always flickering with emotion. They were harder now, no less mischievous, but they seemed to track her like a predator calculating as he watched her every move. It was a little unnerving, and very arousing, a point that she would never acknowledge unless in the safety of her bedroom under cover of darkness.

Now they held a rage inside she wasn't sure she understood. He hadn't talked to her since the battle, hardly speaking to anyone in the town when they dropped the bandits off, not even to boast which was the most startling. Sighing, the blonde watched her partner intently stripping the bark of a twig for a few moments before voicing her concern. "What's wrong, Natsu?"

His green eyes met hers for a moment before returning to his task. "I want you to sit on my face." He rumbled.

Eyes wide and ignoring the shot of unadulterated lust that shot to her core, Lucy could merely gape at her friend. "That's not an appropriate thing to say, especially when you don't know what it means." She huffed, cheeks pink as she fought her body's reaction to his misguided confession.

"I know exactly what it means, Lucy." When had his voice gotten so gravely?

"You can't just say that to a friend! How do you even know what that means? It's not like I've ever seen you seek out girls in that way!" Not knowing what to do Lucy reverted to her safe mode of shouting and denial.

"Are you asking that for real? 'cause I don't think you're actually wanting an answer to that." He inquired, eyes meeting her across the fire as a smirk settled across his lips. "And I didn't say it to a friend, I said it to you."

Anger welled in her chest as the blonde took his words in the worse possible way, "Not a friend?" She scoffed. "You don't get to say awful things like that to me, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be reverted to some booty call now that your balls finally decided to drop."

In a huff she got to her feet and left the clearing, not entirely sure where she was going but letting her anger consume her as she blindly walked in whichever direction would get her away from that fire, and those glowing green eyes of his. How dare he! Insinuate that after all these years they weren't friends? That they hadn't nearly died for each other, that he hadn't promised her they'd be together forever?

She knew she was probably being a crazy, she's never known Natsu to be intentionally mean, but damnit, the last person she expected to proposition her in such a lewd way was her best friend! Her very innocent, naïve best friend whose eyes had sparkled as if he knew something she didn't. It made her feel debased, and like she didn't really know Natsu as well as she thought she did. With that final thought, she let the tears fall, not noticing the figure lurking behind her as she sat down as the bank of the river.

In retrospect, Lucy figured she should have known something was up sooner. Natsu had always told her to be careful when the forest goes silent, and at that exact moment, not a sound could be heard, and she started to regret her hasty decision to run away in a huff.

You just had to be dramatic didn't you, Lucy? She thought to herself as she backed into the rocky cliff, covering her back as she scanned her surroundings. Bringing her whip out she studied the darkened tree line, noting the hair that stood on end as she felt something sinister catch her in its sights. She really shouldn't have wandered off, hadn't they just been warned about dark mages sometimes using the woods as cover? Why hadn't she insisted on getting a hotel room, she could have just kicked Natsu out and locked the door. She could be soaking in a nice hot bath right now crying her eyes out and wallowing in her missery, but no she was stuck on her own miles into the forest and had thrown a hissy fit and insulted her best friend before walking away. To be fair, he had insulted her first, but she was usually the mature one between the two of them and Natsu had never been known for his diplomacy.

Mavis, she really needed a drink.

Rustling to her left had her back stiffening as a sickening cackle started to fill the air around her, "Well aren't you just a delectable little ray of sunshine." A voice croaked from the tree line. A figure immerged of a man in long robes and a hooded cloak shadowing most of his face, from what was showing though she could tell her was old. A walking figure from a villains' cliché, she rolled her eyes. Couldn't these guys get the least bit original with their looks?

Lucy sized the old man up, repressing a shiver as his gaze never left her cleavage. She could feel the magic coming off him, not nearly as strong as Erza, Gray, or Natsu, but strong enough to pose a threat.

That was ok though, because she was still pretty pissed and could use the excuse to break stuff. Extending the whip in her right hand, Lucy cocked her hip and put on her haughtiest 'I'm better than you' princess look. "So original, I've never heard that one before." Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Creeps like this were a dime a dozen, and if she couldn't talk them into respecting her, then she'd beat it into them. She'd long given up the roll of damsel in distress.

The man moved forward, a lascivious smile on his lips as he sized her up, "OH, the bitch has bite, does she? I can fix that." He smirked as his hands sparked a vicious magenta color, throwing a magic attack directly at Lucy.

Anticipating the move, Lucy dodged the attack before sending her whip flying towards his chest. The wizard couldn't deflect well, which confirmed Lucy's suspicions: Like her his magic was for long range battle, not hand to hand. Luckily, Lucy had gotten stronger in that area since learning to use her star dresses. Quickly shifting into her cancer dress, she continued her melee attack, staying close enough that he couldn't use his magic well. Dancing around his attacks as she continued to push him towards the water's edge. One final knee to the chest had the man flying backwards into the water where the river rapids quickly washed him down stream.

Releasing her dress, Lucy was just contemplating going after the guy to make sure he didn't drown when clapping from behind her caught her attention. Natsu leaned against a tree, with a smirk on his face and a single sharp incisor peeking out between his lips, "That was fucking great." He praised, his eyes holding a light she hadn't seen in them before: lust.

Huffing she quickly turned back to the water and saw that the old wizard had hauled himself up onto the bank a few yards down from them before running away into the trees. Well, that's one less thing on her plate.

Lucy turned and ignored Natsu as she made her way back to camp…at least where she thought camp was. Natsu groaned as he followed behind her, "seriously we need to talk."

"You've talked enough already, I'm not in the mood to be insulted anymore."

Grabbing her elbow, he stopped the blonde in her tracks and turned her towards him. She ducked her head avoiding his eyes as he gently caged her against a nearby tree. "Look at me Luce."

She refused.

"Ok fine," He sighed before straightening his spine. "What I said earlier came out wrong. Actually, it wasn't even supposed to come out at all."

The blonde glanced up to find Natsu nervously running his hands through his unruly hair. "I was pissed off, and then you asked what was wrong and I didn't know how to answer you, so I panicked and said the first thing I was thinking of."

"And you just happened to be thinking about me sitting on your face?"

"Well…" He trailed off, color staining his cheeks as he avoided her eyes.

The silence was uncomfortable as it stretched on between them before Lucy finally decided that her curiosity outweighed her anger. "I didn't know you had thoughts like that," She said softly, a blush coloring her cheeks a rosy red.

Letting out a strangled groan Natsu mumbled, "fuck it." Before taking a deep breath. "Of course I have thoughts like that. You're fucking gorgeous, and funny, and so damned weird that I never know if I'm coming or going with you. I didn't mean to make you think we weren't friends or that I saw you like some sex toy, I just meant that you and I have always been different kinds of friends, something more."

Lucy could only stare as the green-eyed man in front of her rambled, not daring to hope that he was saying what she desperately wanted him to say. Natsu cursed again, "this is coming out all wrong!" He gestured wildly before huffing. "I love you! I have for a long time, but I knew you just wanted friends and a family so that's what I gave you, I didn't think you'd want anything more and to be honest I wasn't sure I was ready for anything either. Lately it's started changing, after future Lucy died, and you rewrote that book for me it really kicked my ass into gear and I realized that I wanted more than to just be your friend. I didn't know how to bring it up and then I was always fucking hard around you and then I couldn't stop thinking about having sex with you and I didn't want you to think that was all I wanted from you, but that guy earlier today said all those rotten things about us together and I just saw red. Then you asked me why I was so angry, and I didn't want to confess to you when I was so pissed off, so I panicked and…here we are now."

Lucy gaped at her best friend, trying to process everything he was saying to her. He loved her? He thought she was beautiful? He didn't want to push her? When had her hotheaded dragon become so mature? As he grew more and more agitated she realized he was waiting for her to say something, cutting him off mid ramble she threw her arms around the pinkette and slanted her mouth against his.

The reaction was instant, his arms tightened around her waist and she found herself pushed back against the tree as he dominated the kiss. It was like he lit her on fire from the inside out, spreading from her heart to her finger and toes in a dizzying array of colors. The feel of his strong arms wrapped around her and the hard muscles of his chest pressed against hers was stealing her breath. She broke away at the last minute, filling her lungs with air as Natsu's lips descended on her throat. "Does this mean you feel the same way?" He asked before nipping her collar bone.

"Yes," she groaned, pushing herself more firmly against him, desperate for him not to stop the wonderful feelings he was eliciting.

"Say it," he growled, nipping her ear and grinding his hips into her.

Lucy gasped at the sensation, momentarily forgetting his request. "What?" she questioned in a daze.

"Say, 'Natsu I love you and I want to sit on your face'."

She gasped in outrage before hauling back and punching the laughing dragon slayer in the shoulder, "You Jerk! We were having a moment!" The blonde pouted as Natsu continued laughing, her embarrassment leaving her as she took in his handsome face, so care free and joyful. She really did love this dork.

Stepping back up and standing on her toes, Lucy wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders again and kissed him sweetly, lingering for just a moment before pulling back and looking him in the eyes. "I Love you, Natsu Dragneel."

His eyes lit up as she pecked him on the lips once more before slipping up to his ear and whispering, "And I'd love to sit on your face."

With that, the smirking blonde sauntered off towards the camp with a very excited dragon slayer on her heels.