As she walked up the stairwell to her apartment Lucy grabbed her keys which were clipped to her belt. She was aware of Natsu's playful mood as he chased up on her heels as they ascended the stairs. His mood changed to a different kind of playful as she stood in front of her door finding her apartment key. He snaked his arm around her waist and firmly pulled her closer into his well-toned body, his free arm he reached up and he gently removed the hair from her neck and he inhaled deeply. He whispered into her neck "Hurry up Luce."
Lucy was instantly flustered and distracted, she seemed to lose the ability to put the key into the door. He let out a low and lazy chuckle "what's wrong? Having a hard time?" tugging her in a little tighter to himself, with gently roll in his hips he grazed his lips against her ear and breathed "I know I am." He could feel the quiver in her body and he gave himself a mental high five because he knew he got her.
At this point, she almost lost all ability to function and her reason was quickly vanishing into a lusty haze. 'Dammit, he's not even trying that hard and I am losing my shit.', she steeled her mind from his flirtatious actions and got the door open with an exasperated sigh. She hurriedly walked in and broke herself from her distraction 'this is gonna be harder than I thought.' She walked with purpose over to her desk and grabbed her chair, effortlessly she carried it and placed it in front of the couch. She looked at the man in front of her and pointed to the chair she placed "Sit."
Natsu strode over to the seat and did as he was instructed. He watched as she went ahead and sat on the couch across from him which was, much to his dismay, very far from him. "But you're all the way over there," he said with a pout.
"Exactly!" she had a small look of triumph "We need to talk and I can't have you being all close and sexy. Only when we are finished do you have permission to move from that chair. Got it?"
"Yes my Mistress" he gave a sly grin. He watched her shift uncomfortably, satisfied with the reaction.
"Shut it! Just because you spell out that you love me on the bar at the guild does not mean you get a pass straight into my pants. So please…" she was starting to falter and looked down at her bandaged hand as she realized it was only this morning that she was one hundred percent convinced her love was one sided. Things escalated quickly and before she could allow herself to yield to her desires she needed to know what he actually truly felt. She needed to be sure that he wasn't riding and acting on her wave of emotions.
Natsu felt the shimmering waves of doubt and insecurity, he wanted to play dumb and tease her but he knew that now was not the time. He wasn't sure why she was feeling this way but he knew that as much as he wanted her physically right then and there he had to push that away. She was right, they needed to talk, he needed to know why she guarded herself so much about this. He decided that he would show his seriousness by starting the conversation. "Why did you hide it for so long?"
She looked up at him being pulled out of her downward spiral of thoughts "Hide what?" she wasn't entirely sure she knew exactly what he meant.
"You love me, it's been that way for a while hasn't it?"
She shifted under his gaze and inhaled sharply "ya" she let out her breath with a hint of a self-deprecating chuckle "ya I do."
He studied her face trying to read her, realizing she still was not answering what he wanted to know the most "Why haven't you said anything before? Why did you hide it for so long?"
Something about his question spurred one of her own "What make you think it's been for a long time?"
He leaned forward in his chair resting his forearms on his legs, clasping his hands he fiddled with his fingers. "Lucy, I know you better than you think. You've been an open book to me. Nothing was ever held back between us. You may have been more reserved with others, but not me. Then I noticed you were slowly pulling away a part of yourself. You've been that way for a while now. Call it a slayer's instinct, but I knew there was a part of you that you were hiding from me. It wasn't until this link magic happened that I figured out what it was." he gave her a sheepish but encouraging smile "Don't keep guarded against me… please."
There was a slight fracture in the way he said please and she could feel the stinging of tears in her eyes. She sniffled involuntarily not wanting to cry "I tried hiding it because I was afraid." She looked into his eyes and saw the questioning in them "I was afraid because I didn't want you to push me away. I love our life together, we are like a little family, the family that I missed after my mother died. Then after losing my father I… I wasn't willing to take the risk of being rejected." her voice was even but the tears were releasing themselves automatically.
He sat up straight in the chair and couldn't believe what he had heard. "What in the world would make you think I would reject you?" After saying that, he realized he did something similar. He held onto his true feelings for her because she started hiding part of herself from him.
She let out a noise that was part sniffle and part giggle "Because I'm an idiot... I convinced myself that you weren't emotionally mature enough to hear that kind of confession. I know how you hate to see me truly upset and you always go out of your way to keep me smiling. I told myself that if you didn't love me the same way, you might actually feel obligated to stay with me out of fear of making me upset. The bottom line? I was afraid to lose you because losing you would be like losing my soul." she was completely open with him and despite the thread of fear she couldn't shake, she felt so much relief putting it all out on the table. She didn't know how heavy the burden was that she placed on herself. She looked up at him and before he could respond, she asked the other question plaguing her even to this moment "Are you sure what you feel for me is genuinely your own feelings? Are you sure you're not getting it confused with my feelings for you? Thinking that how I feel is what you feel?"
Natsu snorted "Of course not, my feelings are my own Lucy and they've been this way for a long time. We were both dense and apparently not mature enough to handle this like adults. I'd be mad that you didn't have more faith in me but honestly, I kinda did the same thing. I get it, that fear of rejection." He raised his arms over his head in a stretch as he mentally prepared himself for what he wanted to say next. "I've considered you my other half, as corny as it sounds, since day one. Ya, you're right, at first I didn't know the difference between love you feel for family and friends and the love I feel for you." he paused briefly to chuckle "But it didn't take me long to figure it out, maybe I should have just said it then when I knew how I felt. Instead, I waited, I don't know why exactly, fear of change maybe? I also held back because you started guarding some of yourself against me and I was afraid you'd get pushed away if I told you I love you." he shifted uncomfortably "Can I pleassssse get out of this damn chair now. It hurts my ass."
Lucy laughed "yes you can." she watched him as he practically jumped out of the chair and walked over to the couch he hesitated momentarily unsure of where to sit but the warm smile she gave him was all the encouragement he needed to sit down beside her. They both shifted so they faced each other on the couch. There was hesitation in the air, neither one of them knowing what to do next.
Natsu grabbed Lucy's hands in his "I am going to show you how much I love you." Her heart started racing at his words almost sure of what was going to happen next. "Close your eyes." she did. "Good, now do that meditating thing you do, but don't let go of my hands." She peeked open one eye to look at him, she was lost as to what he was going to do. She anticipated something else completely. "Hey, no peeking just concentrate." Doing as she was told she started to concentrate on her magic letting it flow freely but not letting it completely take over.
Natsu wasn't entirely sure it would work but after they did their unison raid the other day he was feeling confident. While holding her hands he stirred at his own magic, he gently raised the heat in his hands watching Lucy's face for a reaction. It didn't take long before both of their hands were engulfed in brilliant flames unlike any he had seen. "Lucy open your eyes"
She gasped and stared in awe at their hands. They were on fire but the flames were not red and orange, and there was no searing pain. Instead, they were a soft gold with a hint of pink in them, they were beautiful and they were wild. "It's amazing" was all she could manage to say.
"Lucy, words can only do so much, actions can do a little more, but this - this pretty much sums it all up." They didn't have to share any more words to know exactly how they felt toward one another while they looked into their flame. Lucy was overwhelmed with pure joy and all her fears were relieved in that moment. Natsu removed his hands first and he gently cradled her face in both his hands. "You're beautiful, you know that?"
Lucy had a mischievous smile "yes, yes I do." she winked at him and she inched closer to his face in anticipation of a passionate kiss. She watched as a devious grin flashed on his face and he pulled back "Your turn now." he pointed to the chair "go sit." She eyed him warily and did as she was told. She folded her arms over her chest and plopped down in the chair and pouted, "But you're all the way over there." she mocked.
"Yup, it's your turn on the hot seat now. Tell me, and be honest, what was Cana talking about earlier?"
Lucy put her head down and a wave of embarrassment came over her but it was tinged with a bit of excitement. "It was nothing really. Cana and I had a girls night in and… well, you know Cana and drinking. One thing led to another and ya…" she cut off hoping that her answer was enough, stupidly.
"Hmm... Is that so." He leaned back on the couch with his fingers weaved behind his head. His expression was unreadable, "I didn't know you liked girls like that."
"I don't… it was a one-time thing and it was completely one-sided."
"So, is there anything else you want to tell me?"
She caught on, he wanted to know her experiences, "Look if you're asking if I have had sex with anyone, the answer is a resounding NO. What about you? Is there anything I should know?"
He shook his head lightly, "I have no doubt that you haven't gotten down and dirty with anyone, you were saving that for me." he grinned at her "I was just surprised you did anything at all, never mind with a woman… and no, I haven't, you're the first woman to ever appeal to me in that way." He almost looked a little ashamed at the admission.
She started to feel a little squirmy "Like ever? Seriously with all the horn dogs in that place, you never looked at any other women like that?… wow."
"Nope, would be like fantasizing about your sister, just gross, so back to your night with Cana?" he wouldn't let her switch subjects that easily.
"Look I was just as surprised as you, she was telling me about her conquests and that kind of sparked things because she got me talking about what kind of guy I would want to.. How did she put it?... oh yea "make me a real woman" and how I would want it. Before I knew it we were talking about you and that's when she started putting the moves on me." she paused trying to figure out how to explain it in more detail, but she just felt awkward about it. She decided to go with the truth, that always worked for her,"I'm sorry, I just feel silly trying to go into the details."
He felt her unease and understood she was uncomfortable with talking about her sexual encounter. He wanted to know what turned her on, and this was something he could cross off his mental list. "No worries, sounds hot but you don't have to go into the details." His smile his usual large toothy grin.
"I'll be right back." Lucy suddenly got up and jaunted lightly into her bathroom. She pulled out what Bisca had slipped her earlier and read the instructions in detail to make sure she took the dosage properly "One vial every 7 days - effective 30 minutes after dosage taken as directed" she twisted the cap off and without a moment of hesitation downed the contents of the vial. She gave herself a once over in the mirror, satisfied with what she saw she left the bathroom. She saw a curious smile on Natsu's face "Bisca gave me a little present, give it about 30 minutes and we will be worry free."
He was baffled by what she was talking about "Huh? What do you mean worry-free in 30 minutes?" She laughed lightly "Birth control silly, you and Happy are the only children I need in my life right now."
Natsu frowned mockingly "We haven't even kissed yet and you already want to get in my pants."
"Damn right" She smiled deviously while shifted her hips and swayed her ass in his direction and gave it a good slap "like you aren't itchin' to hit this." She saw him jump off the couch and make a move toward her.
"Ah ah ah… you have to catch me first." Lucy giggled loudly and dashed away making her way to the other side of the couch.
"Now, I'm getting fired up… just you wait until I get ya!"