As they made their way to the guild hall, they both mentally prepared themselves to be ambushed the second they walked in. Despite this, Natsu kept Lucy's hand held firmly in his own. They stopped outside the guild hall doors and nodded to each other, before taking a deep breath and going in. When they walked in, everybody's attention turned towards them, then their entwined hands. But to both of their surprise, nobody commented on it. They told Lucy they were glad she was alright, and returned to business as usual.

"That's weird." Lucy said to Natsu. He agreed, and led them to one of the booths near the bar. Lucy's hand rested on the bench with Natsu's on top of hers. Members of the guild would occasionally glance over at the couple. They all caught sight of the way Natsu's hand rested on top of Lucy's. They saw the way Lucy was positively glowing, as if none of the recent events ever happened. They all took notice of the way Lucy and Natsu both grinned from ear to ear, never taking their eyes off the other, as if they were the only two in their own perfect world.

Mirajane smiled as she approached the two, offering them dinner, on the house. She was beaming as she brought them both drinks and plates of food.

Gray slipped into the other side of the booth, followed by Juvia. He didn't say anything, he just sat there, smirking at them.

"What?" Natsu asked, with a mouth full of food.

"Nothin'" He started, before conspicuously looking at Lucy's neck. "You covered that pretty well." Gray continued, a smug look on his face as he watched Lucy's face turn scarlet. Juvia's eyes flashed with jealously seeing the obvious way Gray checked out Lucy's neck.

"Dunno what you're talking about." Natsu responded.

"Neither does anyone else… yet." Gray informed them complacently. Lucy perked up at this.

"You haven't said anything? Is that why we haven't been ambushed yet?"

"There isn't anything to say, nothing happened." Natsu informed him.

"Oh please," Gray crossed his arms, rolling his eyes at them. "You don't honestly expect me to believe that bullshit."

"We're telling the truth." Natsu insisted as he took another bite of food.

"Then why are you so nervous about everyone else finding out." The ice mage questioned.

"Because we know the way it looked. But seriously, nothing happened." Lucy tried explaining.

"So those hickeys just showed up on their own?" Gray asked, eyebrows raised. Lucy turned red again, praying that she did a good enough job covering them. Juvia was confused as she sat there, enviously listening to their banter.

"Well, no but-" Lucy began, insecurely played with her hair, trying to use it to cover her neck.

"You were in bed together." He deadpanned, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"We were sleeping!"

"Natsu's clothes were on the floor."

"It was just his shirt!"

"I'm not buying it."

"It's the truth!"

"So then what about this morning? What was that all about?" If Gray thought Lucy was red before, it was nothing compared to now. Natsu simpered as he watched Lucy struggle to answer. She turned to him, annoyed.

"Aren't you going to deny any of this?!" Lucy asked him, irritated. Natsu shrugged. "I tried." He said with his mouth full. He knew that he should have made more of an effort denying these claims, but he also knew that nobody would believe him even if he did. It didn't matter how true everything they said was, the evidence was stacked against them. The guild members have never believed their relationship was platonic, even when it was. They would have a field day once they found out he marked her neck. And he was surprised to find that he didn't care, actually, he was proud to show her off.

"Lucy and Natsu are together then?" Juvia asked. If love rival is with Natsu, she won't be as much of a threat to Juvia and her beloved she thought to herself. Natsu and Lucy looked at each other and blushed. Neither of them really knew what they were. They both confessed their love for the other, and the night they spent together certainly made it seem like they were together. But they never actually defined what their relationship was.

"So let me get this straight." Gray started, a self-satisfied smile on his face. His initial plan was to tease Natsu, but seeing as how he was unfazed, Lucy was an acceptable substitution. "You're trying to tell me Natsu was sucking on your neck, and fell asleep in your bed half naked, yet nothing happened?" He watched as Lucy's face somehow managed to get even redder, her expression faltering as she tried to think of a response. Natsu sat there, surprisingly quiet as he continued eating with an amused look on his face, watching their back and forth. Juvia was annoyed by the amount of attention her love was giving the celestial mage, and glared at her self proclaimed love rival from the other side of the booth.

Lucy almost forgot that this was Gray she was talking to, someone who went without clothes quite frequently. "WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE OTHER PEOPLE FOR NOT WEARING CLOTHES?" Lucy yelled at him. " I ALWAYS CATCH YOU WALKING AROUND MY APARTMENT NAKED!" Lucy screamed, becoming embarrassed once she realized that she attracted the attention of every guild member in the room. The idea of Gray naked at Lucy's apartment was too much for Juvia to bare. In a second, she manipulated all the water on the table, and shot it directly at Lucy. Juvia didn't know what came over her, it was like a reflex. She covered her mouth with her hands once she realized that she attacked a friend, a friend who was already recovering from a traumatic experience. Juvia apologized profusely, going into hysterics as she reabsorbed the water. Lucy, while disgruntled, reassured Juvia that she was okay.

"Uh, Luce?" Natsu said hesitantly. She turned to face him, confused by the worried look he was giving her.

"What?" She asked, noticing the way Juvia was staring at her, mouth wide open. "Is there something on my face?"

"No. But there is something on your neck." Gray told her. Realization hit her and she turned to Natsu with a horrified look on her face.

"I'm guessing that makeup wasn't water proof?" He whispered to her sheepishly. She looked around to find all of her guild mates gaping at her.

"I KNEW IT!" Elfman screamed, sticking his hand out to Max. "Pay up!" Begrudgingly, Max fished around in his pocket.

"Now wait a minute, the bet was on when they got together, not when we found out." Macao interrupted. "This could've been going on for days now, which in that case, I would be the winner!"

"But didn't it all start on vacation?" Wakaba added. "Cause that was my time!"

"Not if it was the last night we were there. That was the day Mira and I picked!" Lisanna added, her sister nodding beside her.

"I don't know, those look pretty fresh." Cana said, observing Lucy's neck. "I'd say it was either today or the day before."

Lucy and Natsu looked at each other, confused as their guild mates continued to argue. Finally they all turned to the couple in question.

"So, then when was it?" Guildarts asked them, smirking at their obvious discomfort.

"When was what?" Natsu asked, an even mixture of embarrassment and confusion on his face.

"When did you two finally get it on?" Cana asked bluntly.

"We didn't!" Lucy told them, her face turning bright red.

"What a load of crap." Cana started, tossing her empty barrel on the floor. "You don't get those kinda hickeys from a friendly encounter." Cana told them frankly. "Those are sex hickeys." She turned to face Natsu, pointing at him accusingly. "And I guarantee you're the one who gave them to her."

Natsu and Lucy continued trying to deny the allegations, both red in the face.

"They're telling the truth." Gajeel spoke up, to Lucy's relief. "I would be able to smell it if they did anything" He sniffed the air a few times. "They didn't." Gajeel gave Natsu a bemused look. "I don't get why he would wanna admit that, but it's true."

"But, you guys are together, right?" Levy asked hopefully.

"Well…" Lucy started.

"Uhh…" Natsu began, at the same time. They both looked at each other, blushing madly, unsure about whatever this was.

"Oh, come on!" Cana groaned. "You can't be serious right now."

"So that means I can still win this!" Gray added enthusiastically. "Can you guys put a hold on your sexual tension for like, another day?" Gray asked them. He turned to Lucy, eyebrow raised. "I can split the profit."

"NOT A CHANCE!" Lucy yelled at him, unable to believe the nerve of the ice mage.

"So it'll be today then?!" Elfman's loud voice boomed throughout the hall.

"I'M NOT HELPING YOU IDIOTS BET ON MY LOVE LIFE!" She screamed to everyone.

"Aw, C'mon Luce. We might be able to make some money off of this." Natsu told her, a slight smirk on his face. Lucy's looked at him, surprised. Did that mean he did want to make things official between them? Her heart thundered in her chest as she considered their relationship. There was no doubt in her mind that she was absolutely, one hundred percent, in love with Natsu. She was elated to know that her feelings were reciprocated. Of course she wanted them to be together, and she was almost positive he wanted that too, but she didn't want to just make that assumption without talking about it first. She looked down at the hand she had under his and couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face.

Natsu noticed Lucy direct her attention to their hands, and was momentarily blinded by the smile she emitted. He entwined their fingers and quietly pulled Lucy out of the booth, trying to get away before anyone noticed them missing. Mirajane watched silently with a smile on her face as Lucy trailed behind Natsu, her hand held firmly in his.

Lucy asked no questions as he led her out of the guild hall. Once she thought they were a safe distance away, she turned to Natsu curiously. "So where are you taking me?" She asked him.

"I just didn't wanna be there for that, and I assumed you didn't either." Natsu smiled at her.

"Oh, yeah. I can't believe they were actually making bets about us."

"I can. There's another one going for Gray and Juvia."

"Really? Did you put anything in for that?"

"Nah, ice prick doesn't have the balls to fess up." They walked to nowhere in particular, both blissfully unaware of anything going on around them.

It was dark by the time they finally made their way back towards Lucy's apartment. The two of them went inside, and Lucy turned Natsu to face her.

"So…" Lucy started, uncertain.

"So?" Natsu watched as Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. "You alright Luce?" He asked as she stood there, frozen.

"Yeah" she told him, pulled out of her trance. She turned a light shade of red. "I was just wondering…" Lucy trailed off awkwardly, not knowing how to bring this up. "What are we, exactly?" She asked him, nervously biting her lip.

"What do you want us to be?" He responded, equally nervous.

"I don't know." She lied, knowing exactly what she wanted. He could hear her heart speed up as she tried to think about what she should say next.

Natsu knew what he wanted. There wasn't a doubt in his mind, he wanted Lucy. She was beautiful, funny, sincere, and he absolutely adored everything about her. Never in his life had he been so hung up on a girl before, he never met someone so perfect. Sure he found a lot of girls attractive. Most of the girls in Fairy Tail were pretty cute. But Lucy was the only one he ever had the desire to hold, or kiss, or more. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead.

"I love you." He told her earnestly. "And I want you to be mine." Lucy's smile was dazzling as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss, and letting her fingers run through his pink hair.

"I love you too." She told him breathily. "And I've always been yours." Natsu grabbed her waist, pulling her up against his chest as he kissed her.

Lucy was drunk in love and thought her heart would burst with the way Natsu was making it pound. Despite the warmth she felt spread throughout her body from his kiss, she also had chills running up her spine at his touch. Natsu broke their kiss, gazing at the beautiful blonde before him, and Lucy bit her lip as she looked up at his handsome face. The feelings she stirred up inside him were unexplainable, and Natsu had the overwhelming urge to pin her up against the wall. He tucked Lucy's long blonde hair behind her ear, hardly able to believe someone could be so perfect.

With her arms still around him, Lucy began kissing up Natsu's neck, making his jaw tense. She stopped at his ear, whispering softly.

"I thought about what you said last night." She said in a sultry tone. "And I'm sure this is what I want." Natsu's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at her longingly. He tilted her jaw up to look at him, and they both stared at each other with desire.

He remembered that time him, Gray, Erza, and Happy stumbled upon her underwear drawer. At the time, he was unable to comprehend why her underwear was so fancy. It didn't make sense to him, it wasn't like anyone would ever see it. But now, Natsu relished the idea of seeing Lucy in her lacy panties.

"Are you sure?" He asked her thickly, wanting to be one hundred percent certain that this was okay.

"Yes." She said breathlessly as her fingers made their way up his shirt. "I want you."

Natsu's hands wrapped around her body, grabbing her thighs and lifting her up. Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him carry her into her bedroom. He gently placed Lucy on the edge of her bed, getting down on his knees to be eye level with her. He cupped her cheeks, looking at her profile for any signs of uncertainty.

"Are you really sure you wanna do this? It's okay if you don't."

"I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life."

Finding no signs of hesitation, Natsu leaned in, closing the distance between them. Kissing her tenderly, he ran his fingers through her long blonde hair, and lightly pushed her down against the mattress.

Sorry it took so long to update. I only did a quick edit, so sorry if there are any spelling or grammatical errors.

Next chapter will be rated M for lemons