"I always wanted a tattoo."

Natsu's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Really?"

Lucy leaned back, resting her head on the tree behind her. A warm gust of wind whistled by gently, and she tucked a wild blonde strand behind her ear. "Yeah."

The facility had opted to give their group an activity, and Juvia had decided the kids would benefit from a hike; they'd been bussed to some national park with a beautiful forest that morning, where they'd began the walk. They were walking up the side of a tree filled mountain; by night, they would reach a river-side campsite.

The sun was just setting now, and the group had taken a half-hour break; Lucy had to pee and was afraid to go alone, so Natsu had joined her. He'd stood behind a tree, facing the opposite way while she'd relieved herself. Then, they'd opted to head back towards where the group was. Everyone was still resting, so Lucy went and sat near a tree. The spot overlooked the valley below, and the golden glow from the sunset lit the sky on fire in a blaze of orange and pink; the winding river was visible far down below, twisting down from the top of the mountain. Birds chirped and whistled nearby.

"What kind of tattoo?"

Lucy shrugged, the sound of nature easing her mind. She couldn't help but smile. "Not sure. Something pretty." She turned to look at Natsu. In the glow of the sunset, his hair was a dusty rose. Her smile grew. "Pick for me."

He flashed her a devilish smile. "How about a dragon, with-"

"Pretty, Natsu."

He pouted. "Dragons are pretty."

Lucy shook her head. "Name one dragon in the history of anything related to dragons that was pretty."

Natsu feigned anger. "Haven't you seen Shrek? I'll have you know that Dragon from Shrek was beautiful in her own way." He paused, giving Lucy a sneer. "Asshole."

The blonde giggled. "Okay, fine. They're pretty. You're right, you win."

Natsu pumped his fist. "Knew it."

"I still don't want a dragon tattooed on my body forever. More ideas, let's go."

"Uh—cats?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "You calling me an old cat lady?"

Natsu shrugged. "I could see it." Lucy smacked him a second later, making him retract his statement. "Ow—okay, dog, then? Jeez, you're hard to please."

Lucy hissed through her teeth, "No animals, jackass."

Natsu grinned brightly. "How about me?"

"You?" She stammered out.

"Yeah. My face. Get it tattooed on you."

"And where the hell do you expect me to get you tattooed on my body?"

Natsu pondered that question for a moment, tapping his chin as his dark eyes slowly flickered over her entire body. Lucy almost smacked him for checking her out, but he spoke before she had the chance. "Right here."

Lucy frowned, glancing down to where his hands floated over her body. His big, clumsy fingers were directly over her breasts, as if he were cupping them; he had a big, goofy grin on his face. There was a split second when they made eye contact, Natsu looking absolutely pleased and Lucy's expression turning into absolute fury.

Smack. "Pervert!" She screeched.

Within seconds, Lucy was stomping her way back to the group, Natsu in tow. He rubbed the side of his head, grimacing.

"You didn't have to do that," He muttered, grumpy.

Lucy grinned back at him. "Don't be a perv, then."

"Alright then, where do you want your tattoo to be?" He questioned, trying to divert her back to a safer—less abusive—topic.

Lucy looked down at her body, thinking; she glanced at her arms. Her expression crumbled into a frown. Seconds later, she murmured, "Maybe I can't get one."

"Why not?"

Lucy flashed him her forearms. "Too bumpy. I don't know if they can do that. Even if they can, it wouldn't look good."

Natsu's eyes flickered, morphing into a softer gaze. "Is there anywhere that isn't..." He trailed off, meeting her eyes. He didn't finish his sentence; he didn't want to offend her.

Lucy bit her lip, letting out a heavy breath. "No. Nowhere."

That seemed to impact the boy; for a moment, he stared at the ground, hands balled up into fists. After a while, he turned his eyes out to the valley below, to the sunset sky. When he looked back at Lucy, his eyes were soft, warm. Without saying a word, Natsu simply reached out and held her hand, twisting his fingers so the two were intertwined.

He seemed to be holding her hand a lot, lately. Lucy didn't really mind. She was pretty sure her heart was pounding so hard that he could hear.

They walked back to the group, where Juvia was trying to convince Mira to eat some of her granola bar. The whole group was urging her, saying she needed the energy for the walk and that it was necessary; she eventually gave in and took a bite. Everyone cheered; Mira looked like she was about to cry.

Lucy watched Natsu the rest of the way up the mountain. They talked the entire time—mostly about movies; Lucy had lots of films lined up for Natsu to watch, since he hadn't seen any of her favorites—and the hours passed quickly. Once it got dark—it was pitch black out; everyone kept close and had to turn on flashlights to even see where they were going—they walked closer together, afraid that one of them might get too distant.

Everyone in the group had picked up on their oddly close dynamic. They had a connection, a strange bond, and it was evident that they cared about one another; Lucy had caught Mira and Erza whispering about whether they were dating or not. She tried to ignore them, but the thought plagued her.

Were they? Not literally, but really, weren't they practically? They spent as much time together as possible; she was absolutely addicted to his presence, and he appeared to feel the same way. They cared about each other, took care of each other, and supported each other.

No, no, Lucy reminded herself. We're friends. That's what friends do.

Except that he'd held her close when she'd been crying and she'd held him when he was upset, and he held her hands nearly every day for whatever reason and her heart went nuts whenever she thought about him too much. She didn't even want to think about how he'd plagued her dreams lately. Was it bad that she was sort of in love with his voice?

Just friends my ass!

"Okay, everyone!" Juvia's voice broke through the chatter of the teens. "We're approaching the campsite. We've got five tents—one of those are for me. How are we gonna split up sleeping arrangements?"

Lucy ran her eyes over the group. There were several pairs she could tell were already decided as sleeping partners: Mira and Erza, Gray and Gajeel, Laxus and Loke—a boy who'd arrived after Lucy. He was a returner; he'd been at the facility to help him cope with his sex addiction, but lost track and was sent back by his family. That left...

"Wanna be my sleeping buddy?" Natsu asked, bright and cheerful. Sometimes, he reminded Lucy of a young child.

Lucy's heart stopped. "Natsu—you know, we, uh—can't."

He stuck his bottom lip out. "And why not?"

"Because, you idiot!" Lucy snapped. "You're a boy and I'm a girl, and..."

He shrugged. "There's an uneven number, I'm sure Juvia will understand. Besides, you're the only one I wanna sleep beside!" His voice was loud enough that everyone in the group could hear them.

Lucy gawked; she could hear Erza and Mira snickering behind them. Gray called out from the back of the group, yelling something about how they should 'just bang already'. Lucy's face flooded red, and she walked with her head down the rest of the way. Natsu didn't seem bothered.

The group eventually got to the campsite, and each pair started setting up their tents; everyone appeared to do it with ease, except for Lucy and Natsu. Natsu kept messing it up and Lucy kept giving him bad directions. After a while, Gajeel did it for them, saying he was sick of hearing Natsu attempt at flirting.

"Attempt?" Natsu cried. "I'm the best goddamn flirter this place has ever seen!"

Gajeel, still setting up the tent, cocked an eyebrow. "Really? So far you've only been hitting blondie with pretty mediocre stuff."

"I've hit her with good stuff!" Natsu turned to Lucy, begging for assistance. "Tell him, Luce! Tell him how good of a flirt I am."

Now, Mira and Erza were practically dying; even Laxus was snickering along with the shenanigans.

"You don't flirt! We don't flirt!" Lucy cried.

Natsu ignored her completely, turning back to Gajeel. "I knock her off her feet. That's how good of a flirt I am."

Gajeel smirked. "Prove it."

Natsu spun back to Lucy. "Luce!" His eyes were big; his lips spread into that typical Natsu smile: wide and mischievous. "Have I ever told you that you're beautiful?"

Her cheeks burnt. Everyone grinned.

"Terrible," Gajeel murmured. "That's just complimenting her, idiot. You have to flirt."

"What's the difference?"

Mira shook her head. "Natsu, complimenting someone is nice, but it's not flirting." She sighed. "Flirting is...that banter you and Lucy always have going, that's flirting."

"Oh," Natsu said, straightening up. "So I am good at flirting."

"We don't flirt!" Lucy snapped.

Juvia clapped her hands, interrupting yet again. Clearly, she'd heard what the teens had been arguing about; she simply smirked at them. "Have we figured out sleeping arrangements yet?"

"Erza and I will go together!" Mira waved her hand.

"Me and Gajeel," Gray called.

"I'll go with Loke," Laxus responded.

"Great," Juvia nodded, turning to Lucy and Natsu. She frowned for a second. "Are you two comfortable being in the same tent? Lucy, you could always join me in my tent if that would suit you better."

Lucy stood there, frozen in her place. She glanced at Juvia. How awkward would that be, having to share a tent with her counsellor? Yuck. "Um, I'm comfortable with Natsu, if that's alright."

"Perfectly fine. Natsu, is this okay with you?"

Natsu beamed. "Oh yeah."

Juvia gave him a concerned look. "No funny business, you two."

"See?" Natsu demanded, turning to look at Gajeel. "Even Juvia knows we flirt!"

Lucy smacked her forehead, choosing to ignore the boy this time around. She pulled her backpack off and tugged the sleeping back and blankets tightly backed within it; she set them up in the tent after Gajeel completed putting it together.

While Lucy set up her things, another body crawled in the tent; she heard the door zip closed. She turned, surprised to see Natsu sprawled out on the floor of the tent, no blankets or sleeping bag.

"Get your stuff out, Natsu—campfire is in ten minutes."

"Ugh," He groaned, sighing. He snatched her pillow and laid on it. "Can't we just stay in here? It'll be more fun."

"You don't like campfires?"

"Not really. I like you more."

Lucy turned back to her bed, tidying up the blankets. She hoped he hadn't seen her blush.

After a couple long moments, his innocent voice broke into the tent again.

"We flirt, don't we?"

Lucy slammed her eyes shut. Had he really just asked her that? In person? Alone? This had to be a nightmare. Only things this personal and awkward happened in nightmares. "Uh..."

Natsu's voice was quiet, like he was upset. "I thought we did."

Lucy turned to him, a little confused. "Natsu..."

"Flirting means we're friends, right?" He said, blinking at her.

Of course he'd think that. Of course. Why hadn't she thought that sooner? Natsu, the boy who was an absolute goof and didn't know any better. He thought friends flirted. He thought that's what friends did. This whole time, outside, he'd been arguing with the boys that they were friends, not anything more...

Lucy choked back her disappointment. "Of course," She said, flashing him a hurt smile. "We're friends."

His expression brightened. "Good."

Lucy sighed; her stomach dropped, as though it weighed 100 pounds. She tried not to be hurt by his words—after all, he hadn't said anything mean. So, he wanted to be her friend. Could she really be mad about that?

Of course not. But it was disappointing.

"Let's go. I can hear them try and start the fire."

Natsu nodded, face growing solemn. "Can we only stay a little while?"

Lucy frowned. "Yeah. Is everything okay?"

The boy shrugged. "It's fine. Just reminds me of—" He cut off, cringing. "I won't stay long."

Lucy's brown eyes softened, and she looked at him a little differently. He was just a breakable little boy who tried so hard to put on a show that he was tough as nails. She pushed her disappointment to the back of her mind, ignoring it. Right now, Natsu needed her to be his friend. "I'll come with you, whenever you need to go. If you don't want to go at all, we can stay."

Natsu smiled softly; clearly, that meant a lot. "We can go. I know you want to."

She did. Lucy loved campfire. "I don't mind."

He grabbed her hand, tugging her out the tent door. "Come on, weirdo."

The whole group sat around a fire, once they finally got it roaring. Natsu and Lucy took the seats furthest away from the flames, the most pushed back. Everyone chatted for a while, gossiping and telling horror stories. Juvia broke out the marshmallows, and everyone had smores; Natsu asked Lucy to make him one, and she browned it to perfection. She could only giggle when she looked at him and saw marshmallow smeared across his lips and cheeks.

The pair didn't stay long by the fire. Natsu was itching to leave, uneasy by the flames that brought back too many memories; Lucy didn't mind—the walk up the mountain had left them exhausted. They excused themselves, saying they were heading to bed, which caused Gray and Gajeel to shout jokes about them heading off to have sex. Juvia ignored them, choosing not to berate or chastise, not wanting to ruin the fun.

Lucy had to make Natsu's bed on his side of the tent, since he was too lazy.

"Can't I just sleep in yours?" He asked as he lounged on her bedding. "It's comfy."

"Not a chance!" She cried, laughing. She rolled his sleeping bag out and laid a soft comforter over top. She delicately placed the pillow where his head would rest. "Here you go, lazy bum."

Lucy went to her bag and grabbed her pyjamas. She peered down at the boy with the pink hair, who had his face half stuffed in her pillow; he watched her with one eye. "Don't look, okay? I'm getting changed."

He smirked. "Okay."

"Close your eyes, idiot!"

Grumbling, Natsu stuffed his face in the pillow. Lucy changed as quickly as possible, too scared to hesitate and look at Natsu. If she wasted even a single second, he might look back, thinking she was finished.

"Okay, done—get in your own bed."

Natsu had a strange grin on his face; his cheeks were a little pink. He stood, looking Lucy directly in the eyes. "I gotta change."

"Oh!" Lucy mumbled, attempting to shield her eyes. "Okay, I'll—"

Natsu snorted, tugging his shirt off. "You can look, weirdo."

She almost wished she hadn't. His body was tight and toned, the tan splashed across his arms travelling all the way down across his stomach. His stomach was so magnificent Lucy could've cried; a beautiful six pack, straight out of her dreams. His arms were toned bulges of muscle.

Suddenly, different urges than usual were at the forefront of Lucy's mind.

The more she looked, the more she realized the light dusting of markings that spread from his left hip and up: old, faded markings of a once horrific burn. She could imagine what it once looked like, bulging and pink and ugly—but now, it had faded to a tone just slightly lighter than the rest of his flesh; it was flat now, on an equal pane with the rest of his beautiful body. It flickered up his side, looking like a flame itself.

Faded so much that it was nearly impossible to see, but a terrible reminder of what he'd been through.

He seemed self conscious. His dark eyes watched her for a reaction.

Lucy met his gaze, cheeks red. "Natsu?"

His voice was careful. "Yes?"

Her throat was tight. "You're really hot."

Seconds passed. Silence. And then, he burst into laughter. He keeled over, holding his stomach; as he did so, his arms flexed. Lucy felt faint.

"Get into bed, perv," Natsu muttered, still grinning as he shook his head. He flickered off the lamp that had been lighting the tent.

Lucy crawled into bed, heart still pounding, mind still replaying the image of him tugging off his shirt over his head. God, why did she have to see that? That did not make anything easier. She had a feeling she wasn't going to sleep at all tonight. Not with him over there being all shirtless and all. Why was it so hot in there? Why was she sweating? Why was his tummy so nice?

She stuffed her face into her pillow and tried not to scream.

After a few seconds in the darkness, Lucy heard a sliding sound. Within another quick moment, Natsu's voice was directly beside her, whispering to her.

"Gotta be closer to you. Don't like being far away."

She smiled, turning so she was facing him. "Okay," She whispered back. "I don't mind." No, she definitely didn't mind. Definitely.

Another moment of silence before he spoke up again. "You cold?"

"Freezing, actually." The sleeping bag and comforter did little to warm up her toes.

Lucy felt a tug on her blanket and heard lots of zipping. He'd unzipped his sleeping bag, as well as hers, and connected the two; he laid the blankets over top both of them. She felt his big hand snake around her waist, pulling their two bodies together.

"Um, N-Natsu!" Lucy whispered, shocked.

His voice was deep, tired and rough. "Shhh," He murmured. "Don't freak out."

He snuggled in closer to her. His fingers had pushed up her tank top to her midriff, so the tips of his fingers were touching her bare skin; where he touched her, her nerves went into a wild frenzy. Natsu's body was close to hers; she could feel his stomach occasionally make contact with hers when they breathed in sync. His feet tangled up with her smaller ones. Lucy's hands fell to his bare chest, having nowhere else to go.

"I'm not freaking ou—"

Natsu chuckled, clearly amused. "Cool it, weirdo."

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"

"I make you nervous," He responded, as though it were obvious. He pressed a hand to her chest. "I can feel your heartbeat."

"Y-You do not," Lucy hissed back. "I'm just...mad."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" She growled.

He brought his face in close; his breath was hot. His body was hot. In fact, just about everything about Natsu right now, in Lucy's opinion, was hot. His lips nearly touched hers; she nearly melted on the spot. "You're cute when you're mad, you know that?"

Thank god the lights were off, or else Natsu would've seen Lucy turn purple. She squirmed in place, a little too excited by his lips close to hers, whispering things like that to her, his semi-naked body up against her scantily clad one.

Lucy fought all of her raging hormones and whispered shakily, "Go to bed, loser."

He leaned back, grinning, fairly satisfied with how much he'd bothered her. "Fine, but I'm not rolling away. Gotta keep my girl warm."

Lucy froze. Did he just say what she thought he said?

Natsu let out a sigh. "Night, buddy."

And yet again, disappointment flooded her. Disappointment and confusion. What the hell was going on? What kind of mixed signal was he trying to give her? Gets her all hot and bothered, calls her 'his girl', and then calls her his buddy?

Lucy sighed, closing her eyes. Natsu was an idiot.

"Night, Natsu."

Edited 22/06/18.