KTKG Says: I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did, Lucy and Natsu would be married and on their fourth child by now. Anyways, I wanted to send a quick shout out to those that have read and reviewed! You guys don't know how much it means to me to hear your feedback! Love you guys!

Chapter Fourteen

Man, it was hot.

That was the first thought that ran through Lucy's head as she felt herself slowly becoming awake.

It wasn't like it was anything new to her. As a matter of fact, for some reason, Lucy's body temperature always rose for some reason while she slept, causing her to normally just sleep in her underwear, or sometimes nothing at all. So with this in mind, it was no surprise that when she finally woke up, she found herself in nothing at all under the covers, one of her legs poking out in an attempt to cool herself down.

What was a surprise however was that the comforter that she was currently under was the color red.

Lucy's comforter wasn't red; it was white, with pink flowers.

Following this line of thought, and at the same time becoming more and more awake, Lucy began to look around when a sound from behind her stopped her dead in her tracks.

Was that a snore?

Instantly freezing in place, Lucy slowly extended the leg that was still underneath the covers backwards and felt her eyes practically pop out of her head when she came in contact with what could only be another human.

A very warm human at that.

Wait a minute. That meant she was naked, in bed, with someone else? Instantly she went into panic mode. What the hell happened? More importantly WHO THE HELL WAS SHE IN BED WITH?!

Slowly, excruciatingly so, Lucy closed her eyes as she rolled herself over to face whomever it was that was lightly snoring away behind her. With the same excruciatingly slow pace, she forced her eyes back open and instantly released a huge sigh of relief when she caught sight of the pink-colored hair on top of the other person's head.

Whew, it was only Natsu…

HOLY SHIT, IT WAS NATSU!

Scrambling into a sitting position, Lucy miraculously held in the epic squeal that was fighting its way up her throat as she struggled to cover herself. She held her breath as Natsu shifted, taking a deep breath that forced his very toned and tanned chest to rise and fall. Thankfully he didn't wake up, and Lucy let the breath she was holding out as quietly as possible. Trying to tear her eyes away from the sight that was a half-naked Natsu, and trying to busy her hands so she didn't lift the covers to get a peek at what was underneath, Lucy began to look for her clothes.

She was utterly and completely confused. What the hell happened last night? Finally locating her clothes thrown over a chair in the corner, she slipped out of the bed as ninja-like as possible and started dressing at an almost inhumane speed. She turned her attention back to the man sleeping in the bed the whole time, watching for any sign that he was going to wake up as she reached back in her memory for what could have possibly happened to get her in this situation. Zipping up her pencil skirt and reaching for her blouse, the answer hit her like a ton of bricks along with her newly emerging headache.

She had got drunk and more than likely thrown herself at Natsu.

A groan ripped itself from her mouth at the thought and instantly she slapped a hand over it as Natsu shifted yet again on the bed. He rolled over onto his side, his back in full view, making Lucy's face heat up in instant embarrassment at what she saw there.

Oh shit, she left scratch marks.

Quickly shoving her arms through the sleeves of her blouse, she did a couple of the buttons and snatched her matching blazer up before practically making a mad dash out of the room. Once in the hallway, she froze and listened for any sounds of the apartment's other occupant and practically sagged with relief when she was met with nothing but silence.

Thank goodness Wendy wasn't home. She wasn't quite sure how she would have explained her creeping out of her brother's room at… damn it was eight in the morning?

Looking around, she found her purse lying on their dining room table, her shoes a ways up by the front door. Snatching the purse up, she made a beeline for the front door, slipping her feet into the much-dreaded stilettos and opened the door as quietly as possible. Once out in the hallway, she heaved her third sigh of relief that morning and let her thoughts consumer her as she made her way out of the building and to the bus stop at the corner.

She couldn't believe she was doing the walk of shame.

She had only done this once before, and the last time had been while she was in college. It had been embarrassing then and it was actually a million times worse this go round because she actually really liked the guy. Her eyebrows came together in confusion while her mouth turned down into a frown as she distractedly boarded the bus and paid her fare.

How much did she have last night? And while she was at it, how much did Natsu have that he went along with things? Moving to the back of the bus, she sat down on a seat and turned her attention to look at the moving buildings and trees on the other side of the window.

It was a mistake. Well, at least on his part it had to be. There was no way that he would have done that with her had he been sober. While she knew she felt something deeper than friendship for Natsu, she couldn't be sure that he felt the same way since he hadn't bothered to indicate otherwise in the last couple of months that they had been spending time together. They had just been drunk, and well, got carried away.

It was as simple as that.

Her face instantly heated as she was bombarded with flashbacks of the night before. While she had been drunk, she hadn't been blackout drunk apparently, and now she was recalling everything that had transpired once they had got back to his apartment. Her head dropped into her hands as a particular memory of her hiking her skirt up after demanding a piggyback ride from Natsu flashed through her mind's eye.

Ugh, how was she going to act normal around him after everything that happened?

Realizing she had finally reached her stop, Lucy numbly got off the bus and headed up the street to her own apartment building. Once inside, she was relieved to not find Levy lounging on her couch or in her kitchen eating her food. She was alone, and could finally let the squeal she had been holding in loose as she unceremoniously dropped her purse on the ground, kicking her shoes off in random directions as she made her way to the bathroom.

She wasn't worried about her neighbors thinking something was wrong or she was losing her mind. She actually did this on a regular basis when she was frustrated about something, and the Sanos next door had learned to live with it. If anything, Mrs. Sano probably heard her and would be over later with a freshly baked batch of cookies for her to drown her sorrows in.

Turning on her shower, she stripped and left her clothes where they fell. They were already wrinkled from the night before so didn't bother to hang them. Getting in, she stuck her head under the stream of hot water, allowing her head to become completely soaked. She hoped that the steaming liquid would help her clear her thoughts, unfortunately it only helped to muddle them further as a thought popped in her head at yet another flashback.

Had Natsu wanted it as much as she did?

She seemed to remember vaguely when they had initially started kissing that when they had broke apart, he had been a bit hesitant to continue on. Of course with liquid courage coursing through her veins, she had been quite focused on getting him to go with the flow, but one thing had stood out to her that had made her pause as well.

There had been blatant want, need, and something else she was probably imagining shining in his eyes when he had looked at her.

Screwing her face up in a frown at the thought, she shook her head and grabbed her bottle of shampoo, squeezing a generous amount on her head before scrubbing vigorously at her scalp. She had to be making this stuff up! There was no way that what she had seen in those onyx orbs of his could have been real. But then again if it weren't, why could she recall it so vividly? Resuming her vigorous cleaning of her scalp, she closed her eyes and leaned back into the stream of water.

"Ugh, why does this have to be so confusing?!"

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Lucy stood outside of the door she had been desperately trying to avoid for exactly a week now, her hand half-heartedly raised to knock.

Okay, so she hadn't been exactly desperate to avoid this particular household, it was just she was still confused, not to mention the events of last week were still fresh enough that she wasn't sure how she would react if she were to come into contact with him. She would probably either run in the opposite direction screaming in embarrassment, or jump him.

It was really fifty-fifty at this point.

None of that really mattered though because she had promised Wendy she would come over and cook her an Italian-styled dinner.

Lucy had thought that she could get by with having Wendy over to her place during the week. Things had worked out great, as Natsu had remained busy with work (she learned from Wendy that he worked for some big named software company), so Wendy had been spending her evenings with her and Levy. She had even spent the night Wednesday night, Levy being their ride to school and work in the morning.

Natsu being busy meant little communication had been going on between the two of them besides him checking on his sister. This didn't upset Lucy, in fact, she was happy about it because it gave her time to try to figure things out, even though she still hadn't come to a conclusion on anything yet. Well, except for the fact that she wasn't really sorry about what happened.

But then Wendy had asked for her to come over and cook. At first, she had declined, throwing something in about how she had a lot of work to do (which wasn't really a lie), and asking Wendy if Asuka wanted her over at her house because she could have sworn she said something about that.

When Wendy informed her that no, she hadn't said anything about hanging out with Asuka, not to mention throwing puppy dog eyes her way while telling her she really wants some of her cooking, Lucy knew she couldn't say no.

Damn, Wendy knew how to get her way with her.

So, here she was, standing outside of the Dragneel's residence praying to any deity that was listening that the elder of the two was at work. Throwing one final plea towards the heavens, she finally brought her hand down and knocked twice on the wood in front of her. Silently, she contemplated how fast she could run down the hallway when suddenly the door opened and revealed the one sight she was hoping to not see.

Natsu Dragneel, confused and just delicious as ever.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and Lucy found that she was extremely happy that he chose to put a shirt on, while at the same time extremely disappointed. Was that even possible for a person to feel both at the same time?

"Luce? What are you doing here?"

She gave him a confused look before she remembered that she hadn't talked to him in a couple of days. Looks like Wendy didn't tell him about her request either. She held up her bag of ingredients, a sheepish and nervous smile making its way to her lips.

"Wen wanted dinner so…"

He moved aside, seeming to snap back to reality at the mention of food, and slowly Lucy made her way inside. Looking around as she slipped her sneakers off, she didn't see hide or hair of the little blue-haired girl.

"Wen just went to the store with Gajeel. She should be back soon though."

Lucy nodded silently as she watched Natsu amble over to the couch and sink down into the cushions. He let out a sigh of content and swung his gaze in her direction, his eyebrows coming down to meet in confusion. Swallowing her nervousness, she set the bag down in the kitchen and then made her way over to him, sitting on the loveseat instead of next to him on the couch. He seemed to notice something was up, but he didn't say anything right away, leaving instead a pregnant silence to envelope them.

Honestly, she didn't know what to say. She hadn't been back here for a whole week, and because of her confusion and his schedule, they hadn't been able to talk at all. Not to mention he was probably still confused about why she left so suddenly without any explanation.

"Lucy."

Her attention remained on her clasped hands in her lap for a second before she forced her head upwards and plastered a smile on her face. He wasn't buying it, but she kept it there anyways. She wasn't prepared for this!

"About last weekend…"

"Sorry!"

Her outburst instantly shut him up, and she mentally slammed her head on the coffee table in front of her. Unfortunately for her, her brain decided to stop functioning the moment their eyes connected and the verbal vomit came up her throat before she could stop it.

"I'm… I'm sorry about what happened. Well, I mean, I'm sorry I'm not sorry… fuck, does that even make sense? Okay wait, let me start again. I'm sorry I kinda got drunk and came on to you while you were drunk and you ended up sleeping with me and I enjoyed every minute of it. And I'm sorry for leaving scratch marks on your back. I know you wanted to just be friends and I crossed the line by taking advantage of you when you were vulnerable-"

"Luce."

"I'm really sorry, I just… I dunno I couldn't help myself and-"

"Lucy."

"God, this is horrible! I'm really not easy like that you know? I just… hell I don't know what came over me…"

"LUCY!"

She shut up at his shout, her face burning when she noticed he was staring intently at her. He wasn't angry, but rather looked as if he were trying to hold back laughter. What the hell? He thought this was funny?! She just thoroughly embarrassed herself and the bastard was stifling laughter?

"Luce, come here." She looked at him warily, but after a few moments complied and made her way over to where he sat, leaving a good foot in between them. He looked at the space and huffed with annoyance before reaching out and pulling her flush against him. She was stiff as a board at first, shocked and confused about this turn of events. Her cheek vibrated with the rumbling of his chest as he spoke.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear; I was not, nor will I ever, be upset with you for so called taking advantage of me while I was under the influence of alcohol."

She relaxed a little, sinking a bit into his warmth at the statement. "You… you're not?" He chuckled again, the arm around her shoulders bringing her in even closer to his body. "No, I'm not. In fact, I should be the one saying sorry since I wasn't actually that drunk." She raised herself up from him instantly at his words to look him in the face. "YOU WEREN'T?!"

He winced a bit at the sheer volume of her voice, but nodded nonetheless. Her eyes widened at the implications of that statement, but before she could ask anything more he tacked on "So I guess you can say I'm sorry I'm not sorry that it happened either."

Her face had to be as red as the color of his shorts he had on, and not being able to help herself, she buried her face in his side and muffled out a "so what does that mean?" He was silent for almost a minute, making Lucy chance a glance up to his face only to find him lost in thought. She still couldn't believe what he had just revealed! Does that mean that she hadn't made up what she thought she had seen in his eyes that night?

"I guess that means… well… that we're much more than friends?"

Once again, Lucy felt like her eyes were going to explode out of their sockets. Was he saying what she thought he was? She lifted herself off of him, moving herself so she was looking him in the face. "Are you… are you saying to want to make this an official thing? Like… girlfriend boyfriend, or friends with benefits?" She winced at how direct she was being but she had to know what he was getting at when he meant 'more than friends.'

He made a face at her last question but reached for her hand that was in the space between them that she had created. Lacing their fingers together, he thought for a moment, the look on his face seemed as if he were debating something in his head before he turned his now serious but nervous eyes back to her curious brown ones.

"I don't do friends with benefits, so if you're on board with this, it looks like you just got yourself a new boyfriend."

Lucy was silent as she looked at their linked hands and let his words sink in.

Boyfriend. She had a new boyfriend.

Nastu Dragneel was her new boyfriend.

She suddenly reached up and pinched her right cheek to make sure that she hadn't dreamed up everything that had happened since she walked through that door. Wincing, she rubbed the now sore spot on her face as Natsu broke out into laughter, his own nervousness gone at her actions. Joining in on the laughter, she flung herself in his direction, their arms wrapping around each other as they fell back on the couch. Eventually they calmed their laughter down, Natsu pulling away to smirk down at Lucy's smiling face.

"So, does this mean I can kiss you any time I want? Like right now, for instance?"

"Oh, please do."

Lowering his face the few centimeters that separated them, Natsu gently placed his lips against hers and instantly Lucy melted into him. Although this kiss wasn't as passionate as the one she remembered, it still made her stomach flutter delightfully as his lips softly caressed hers. Closing her eyes, she shifted to get as close to him as possible—

"Nii-chan, I'm hom—WHOA!"

Instantly Natsu and Lucy flew apart like two teenagers being caught by their parents. Sheepishly, Lucy turned her attention towards a very surprised and shocked Wendy who seemed as if she were frozen to the spot. Faintly, she heard Natsu clear his throat beside her. "Wen…"

"How… um how long have you guys…?"

The two adults looked nervously at each other before Natsu answered "Not too long." Lucy turned her attention back to the young girl to see her looking between the two of them before she asked, "So, are you two… together? I mean, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

From the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Natsu scratch the back of his head in nervousness. "Um, as of today, yes. But only if you're okay with it Wen." Lucy was suddenly struck with a pang of guilt as she thought about the fact that she hadn't even considered Wendy in this whole thing. She decided that if Wendy weren't okay with it, she would just remain friends with Natsu, even though that might be impossible. If Wendy didn't want it though, she would find a way to stay strictly platonic with him.

"Nothing will change… will it?"

This time, Lucy answered the young girl's question. "Well, besides me being around a lot more, and you possibly having to witness your brother and I kissing, nothing will change. I promise."

The two adults watched with bated breath as Wendy considered the slight changes, shifting back and forth before finally shrugging her shoulders and flinging herself on the couch in between them, throwing her arms around both of them. Bringing them in for a hug, she sighed. "Okay, I think I can handle the kissing. Just keep it down to a minimum, okay?" Lucy giggled as she linked pinkies with the younger girl, sealing their promise in the most solid way possible.

Well, as solid as possible to an almost twelve year old girl.

Suddenly, Natsu threw his arms around both of them, easily pulling Wendy onto his lap and Lucy back into his side. Both of the girls laughed as Natsu yelled out "group hug" before squeezing them both breathless. Eventually Lucy managed an escape and headed in the direction of the kitchen. "Oi! Where do you think you're going?"

She paused to throw a glare over her shoulder, smirking as she watched Wendy try to squirm her way out of her brother's grasp. "I'm going to make something to eat, I'm starving!" At her declaration, Wendy finally managed to break free and raced over to where Lucy stood. Natsu smiled and relaxed back on the couch, the thought of food no doubt making his smile wider. Lucy was about to yell at him to get in the kitchen when she stopped herself, a goofy smile similar to the one on Natsu's face spreading on hers.

Well, she guessed she could cut her new boyfriend some slack. He did like her cooking after all.

Oh my goodness, she had a boyfriend.

"Ne, Lucy. Now that you're dating my brother, does that mean you're my big sister for real now?" Smiling, Lucy ruffled Wendy's pigtails as they made their way into the kitchen, Natsu nonchalantly flipping through the channels. "Wendy-chan, I was your sister before your brother and I got together and I'll be your sister no matter what happens from here on out." Wendy was silent as she mulled over Lucy's words. Silently, she held out her pinky, which Lucy immediately hooked with her own.

"Alright nee-chan! Let's make this first family dinner an awesome one! I got cake from the store!"

Lucy froze at the word family, but relaxed at Wendy's excited smiling face. Family eh? After all the months she had spent with them so far, she guessed she shouldn't be so surprised. After all, the Dragneel household was turning out to be her second home, and she knew the same went for Wendy when it came to her home (and Levy, she couldn't forget Levy). Smiling, she began pulling out the ingredients from the bags she brought and started instructing Wendy on what pots and pans she would need.

Today turned out better than she thought.

She gained herself a new family.

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KTKG Says: Ahhhhhh. Another update! And now my favorite couple is together! YAAASSSSS! So what did you guys think? I wrote this thing at like, four in the morning, so I hoped it turned out okay. Anyways, review and let me know! UNTIL NEXT TIME!