CHAPTER 4

By the time Lucy recovered, Natsu was already pushing her inside the room he spontaneously decided to take for them.

"Have you lost your mind?" She asked. Okay, more like screeched like a banshee but come on, if she would be making a list of people you simply should not cross, Erza Scarlet would be on the top of that list.

"She is going to kill you. Clean and for good. Well," Lucy laughed bitterly, throwing her stuff around as she kept scolding him. "It was nice knowing you!"

Meanwhile some part of her was still questioning how out of the place that encounter was. It was a miracle Natsu was still breathing, but not only did Erza let him go, she also didn't stop them. Also, for some reason she answered Natsu with caution. The celestial mage was not sure what these all meant.

Since answers didn't seem reachable until she at least talked about this with Erza, Lucy turned her attention to her partner, who by then was… almost naked.

What?

The blonde felt her entire face heat up, her eyes tracing the hard lines of his chest, noticing the way his muscles moved as he threw his clothes around like they personally offended him. She tried to say something, but words got stuck on her throat, which by then went dry as a desert.

"I-"

"I'm taking the shower first." Natsu said and looked her expectantly. Lucy wasn't sure what he wanted her to say so she just nodded, but clearly that was the wrong move.

His eyes got narrowed as he "tsk"ed, as if her reaction was not good enough. The next second he walked towards her, and Lucy found herself unintentionally stepping back. One, two, three and soon he had her caged by the wall.

He put his right forearm on the wall a little bit above her head and leaned on, making her breath hitch. It was such a simple move, and Lucy knew handful of ways to get out of the position he got her into, yet it was powerful enough that she felt so small under him. Helpless.

And her body, the traitor, loved it.

She squeezed her legs together, hoping it would ease up the throbbing between them and raised her chin up.

Fake it till you make it.

"What do you think you are doing, Natsu?"

The slayer, however, completely ignored her and kept staring as if he were calculating the size of the fight she was about to bring.

"Am gonna take a shower." He repeated slowly, like this entire night was not weird enough already.

"And?" Lucy asked. "What? You need help or something?" she asked, trying to imply that he can't even take a shower himself but the question ended up sounding genuine.

Natsu gave an abrupt laugh, the anger in his eyes dissipating a little bit. "You are staying here." He said, voice lighter but leaving no room for arguments. "Don't leave the room." Then he pushed himself off the wall with the help of his forearm and left the tomato faced blonde behind.

It took a few minutes for her blood to reach her brain and restart it.

"Where the hell would I even go?!"

x.x.x

Calming down was no easy feat for Natsu this time, he turned down the heat to the point where water was freezing, but his emotions were so out of the place that the water was simmering even before it reached his skin. Eventually he managed to calm down enough to take an actual shower. Which, at first, seemed to be an impossible task because the soap they put in smelled disgusting to his sensitive nose but after growling around for a few minutes he remembered Lucy insisted on bringing their own stuff to the long missions.

Up till now, Natsu found that very unnecessary because there was just one time where they had a shampoo accident with her hair puffing up like it was Aries's wool. Natsu laughed half an hour before Lucy started tearing up and well…

That was one crispy town nowadays.

But still, you did not, like, need so many fancy things to clean up. A simple soap would work perfectly, and water was enough on its own if you had nothing, so carrying so much stuff with them did not made sense to the slayer.

However, as he generously used the scented body wash Lucy somehow found for him that did not disturb his nose, he couldn't be more thankful. He felt like the disgusting smell of the town sank in his skin all day, which did not help at all because he was already halfway ready to rip his own skin off. So, the nice scent of the body wash helped a little, blocking his nose to the scent of the memory.

And if he spends a few minutes with her stuff, getting calmer with every breathe, that was between him and his nose.

By the time he finished up in bathroom, Lucy was out of patience and she just rushed in as soon as he got out. Unfortunately for her, however, she was not fast enough that the slayer would miss the way her eyes travelled over his wet form, tracing his lines, the way she licked her lips or the scent that started clouding over her form.

It was not something new for them, not really. He knew Lucy liked the way he looked, there were even times she said so herself, half drunk with sleep or completely drunk with Cana's influence but he still couldn't stop smiling like a smug bastard until she came out of the bathroom.

x.x.x

When she got out of the shower, hair still wet and a towel in her hands to try to dry that mess, Lucy found Natsu on the couch, glaring at the bag of food he brought. His expression was so serious that Lucy couldn't help but tease him a bit.

"Trying a new technique where you burn things by looking at them or what?"

The slayer turned upon hearing her voice, eyes first traveling over her body then landing on her eyes with a scowl on his face. When he refused to respond further, Lucy felt worry creeping up on her. "Natsu?" she put the towel down, slowly settling by him next to the couch. "What's wrong?"

"It stinks."

"What?"

"It stinks."

"What stinks? Do you mean the food?"

"Yes. Well, no-" The slayer let out a frustrated sigh, hands messing his pink locks as he groaned. "The food. The room. The hotel. This entire town. It stinks!" Natsu growled, hands on his eyes as his mouth twisted down in a frown.

Lucy watched him worriedly, then took the bags from the coffee table. Inside she found two plastic containers that had a greenish coloured soup-like thing. Sure, she supposed, the food didn't look appealing one bit, but it didn't smell bad for her. She also didn't notice any bad smells inside of the room. But maybe it is a slayer thing, she thought.

She put her hand on his leg, which made Natsu put his hands back in his hair and look down at her. "Is-Is there anyway I can help?" For a second, Lucy thought his eyes get darker but then the next second he smiled and told her not to worry.

She tried to take his advice but seeing his half-eaten plate made her worry.

x.x.x

When it was time to go to bed, Lucy noticed a problem. Before Natsu came and caused this mess, the way they split the rooms meant that the key in Lucy's hand was for a room with double bed. The plan was one person to take the bed and the other to take the couch, and switch on a nightly basis.

If Lucy was staying with Juvia, this arrangement was no problem. However, she knew that there was no way she could convince the slayer to sleep separately in the same room. She knew that he could fight her for 4 hours straight on the matter, only to run out of excuses and just plop down on the bed and letting his heavy body win the fight for him. If Lucy gave up and went to sleep on the couch, he would just follow her and find a way to squeeze next to her. If not, he would just lay on her.

That is how he made Lucy cave into their sleeping arrangement back at home.

So, accepting defeat without the fight even started, Lucy grabbed her hairbrush and made her way to the slayer who was on the bed, waiting for her as he glared at the ceiling. Sometimes, especially when they were on missions he didn't particularly like, Natsu would wait for Lucy to settle in before going to sleep.

No, Lucy did not think it was cute.

No.

She flopped down on bed with her legs crossed, facing the room, and looked behind her with a grin. "Help please?" The slayer snorted at her fake courtesy for asking and grabbed the brush she kept waving towards him playfully.

He settled behind her, legs on her sides as Lucy hummed and let him deal with the mess she created by letting her hair dry without brushing it. "Hey Luce?" he asked, leaning close and making a shiver run through her by the sdden warmth he brought.

"Hmm?"

"Want me to curl it for ya?"

"Will you?" Lucy asked, her caramel-coloured eyes looking back to his emerald ones, shining with excitement. He laughed and dipped his head down to bite her cheek before answering, making the blonde girl squeal in process. "Of course, weirdo."

It took longer than just brushing it, obviously but compared to how long Lucy had to struggle with curling her long hair herself, he was as fast as blink of an eye. First, he brushed her hair carefully, then split her hair in somewhat even pieaces which he wrapped around his fingers to heat up. Maybe it wouldn't fully last to next morning, but he enjoyed touching her silken hair and the fact that she trusted him enough to come close to her hair with his fire made him happy at all times.

Lucy on the other hand, has found the idea of the famous, dangerous, intimidating fire dragon slayer being a willing curling iron because he enjoyed playing with her hair adorably funny.

x.x.x.x

They must have been really tired, because they both failed to hear the tiny alarm clock, they carried around for their missions sometimes. What woke Lucy up was a growl on top of her, which came from a very sleepy and angry dragon slayer. Then she heard Gray on the door, banging again and yelling at them to get a move on.

Considering the other alternative was to face the wrath of red danger herself, Lucy tried to push Natsu off of her to get up but failed, unsurprisingly. Because this morning, slayer was not sleeping with his limbs on top of her, he was sleeping entirely on top of her.

Lucy was laying on her back where his body had caged her to the bed, with his nose buried deep in her neck. One of his hands was on top of her head, fingers lightly tangled in her blonde locks. The other hand was bent under her and was holding her shoulder, as if he wanted to keep her in place. Their legs were tangled as well, which helped Lucy not one bit. She was already blushing due to feeling of his body and his warm breath tickling her neck. Also, she could feel his growls in her own chest as Gray got louder.

And the worst part was that apparently her body decided it was a very good idea to treat him with the same way, so that one of her own legs were wrapped around his but from such a point that as if she fell asleep with her legs wrapped around his waist.

As her brain went to one of the many scenarios, she created involving that position, Lucy tried pushing him again. This time he growled threateningly and bit her on her neck, which ended all of her squirming.

Of course, that was the moment the door slammed open, making the mages flinch and Natsu raise up and look for the danger immediately.

Unfortunately, the danger code was red.

Fortunately, the danger herself was red as well.

But that didn't last long.

"Natsu," With a tone reserved for her enemies, Erza calmly asked, "Have you taken advantage of Lucy?"

Natsu frowned, raising up a little more but still refusing to get up from on top of the celestial mage, no matter how much she pushed or wiggled under him.

"What?"

"Have you," Erza repeated, slowly unsheathing her sword," taken advantage of Lucy last night?"

"Of course not!" Natsu yelled, finally letting go of the struggling blondie to fully face Erza. "How could you even ask that?" He genuinely sounded insulted.

As they argued, Lucy was busy regretting her life choices in the bathroom she escaped the minute slayer let her go. They went to bed in regular, normal clothes. Okay? Normal. She had a long-sleeved shirt that originally belonged to Natsu (but she stole it because she can) and her knee length shorts. He went to bed with a thin sleeveless shirt and his sleep pants. So, see? They wore normal clothes!

But sometimes, when Natsu was having trouble sleeping or wasn't comfortable, he started running hotter during the night. Lucy blamed it on his magic being so tied to his emotions that it reacted even when he wasn't fully conscious. This however, meant that sometimes sleeping together became a problem for them when it involved many pieces of clothing. Which was why sometimes Lucy or Natsu demanded less clothes so they could just go back to sleep without the stifling heat.

Lucy wasn't sure who was the culprit this time, but clearly, he had trouble sleeping last night which resulted in them getting rid of their clothes. This was why Lucy woke up under a very growly slayer that had nothing but boxers on, whereas she only had her shirt on with her underwear, a pink thong.

And her entire team saw her in that.

As the celestial mage was having a mental breakdown, the aforementioned slayer was still arguing in his boxers with a now more embarrassed than angry Titania.

"I-I just thought, since you didn't have clothes on and was sleeping with Lucy-"

"So what? I always sleep with Lucy!" The slayer yelled, getting frustrated with his friends and their ridiculous ideas. Take advantage of Lucy? As if!

"What the hell?" Gray asked, frowning and holding out an accusing finger towards Natsu "You two are together?"

Before Natsu could answer however, bathroom door slammed open, revealing the celestial mage now wrapped in a bath robe.

"H-He means that he stays over in my place all the time!" Lucy went on, explaining their situation by blaming the heating system of the room and what not. She wasn't sure if she had done a decent job but it was good enough that their team decided to give them a couple minutes to get ready and meet at breakfast, leaving two behind as the blushing red haired girl avoided looking at them.

Once they left, Lucy sighed and let her body fall back to the wall behind her, sliding down a bit. She looked up and saw that Natsu was glaring down at her.

"What?"

Natsu just glared her for a bit, then scoffed, grabbing his clothes for the day and getting ready for the shower without a word.

x.x.x.x

After a very awkward breakfast, they decided to split into teams and scout out the city before the festival started. The aim was to make sure all the problematic spots were safe but as they didn't know anything about this town, they decided not to split up completely but in pairs.

"Okay, so Juvia and Gray" Erza counted, looking down at the map in her hands as she spoke, "You guys will be checking out here and here. Natsu and Lucy, I want you two to make sure this and this spot is safe. On your way back to main square stop by this place as well, it is not marked as a trouble area but that seems off to me."

After they voiced their agreements, Erza turned to Riku. "I thought it would be best if you would come with me, Riku." With one last look of her map, Erza gathered it up and put it back in her pocket. "That's all. Any questions?"

While they were all mumbling no, Riku raised her hand up. She was simple a ball of sunshine today, smiling and joking around even though Lucy could swear she had a different gleam in her eye since their encounter in the morning. She was also wearing a dress that happened to be Lucy's favourite dress that she refused to wear today.

Even though that was her plan.

She saw that Riku wore it today and opted out, deciding on a short skirt and a crop top instead, combined with her pumps. Her hair still had most of the curls Natsu made for him on the previous night, which made her very happy.

Overall, she was feeling pretty and was glad that she managed to avoid being yet another copy of Riku.

Speaking of which, was smiling sweetly as Erza nodded for her to go on. "Um, I was hoping that I could actually be on the same team with Natsu-san? If it's not a problem?" She mumbled, blushing as she twirled her fingers.

Lucy felt her left eye twitch.

Suddenly raising her hands up in panic and stopping Erza before she got a chance to respond, Riku frantically said "I- I – I do not want to cause any problems! I just thought that, I mean I read somewhere that dragon slayers have better sense of smell so I thought maybe Natsu-san could help me with it? I met a mage once, who were able to use wind and she could also tell the scents apart, but she used her wind for it." She scratched her head, looking up to Natsu under her eyelashes. "So, I hoped that maybe Natsu-san would be kind enough to help Riku try it?"

Which was how Lucy found herself teamed up with Juvia, out on a very quiet patrol as she felt anger boiling in her blood. Then Juvia snapped her out of her thoughts "Juvia thinks Lucy-san is very strong."

Lucy turned her curious gaze towards her friend as they made their way up to the stairs that led to the alley they were supposed to check up on. "Thanks Juvia, I also think you are very strong but where did this come from?"

Juvia just hummed, shaking her head a bit and cleaning imaginary dust from under her nails as she easily kept up with Lucy on the stairs. "Because if it was Juvia, she would have hurt that girl by now."

Lucy laughed and told Juvia that she wasn't sure who Juvia was talking about, ignoring the very realistic and, more importantly, possible scenarios that appeared in her mind that featured Riku and a lot of pain when she squealed happily and jumped into Natsu's arms.

Because if she didn't ignore that, she wouldn't be able to ignore the way Natsu let her hug him and hold onto him as they left for their own patrol.

Or the way that there was no emerald to meet her caramel-coloured eyes either.

I am sorry this took me so long. At this point, all my reasoning sounds like excuses and I won't be bothering with it.

As always, I wasn't able to proof read this, so if you notice any mistakes or problems don't hesitate to let me know. I will come back and re-read another time for mistakes though.

I do know that story is going very slow in terms of time, but i plan to fix that soon, I just get caught up writing those two idiots and forget the plot behind sometimes...

Also fun note, I thought I forgot Happy. Like, just plain old forgotten to write him. Then I realized i actually yeeted him out of the way with like one sentence, so congratz to my past self.

Anyway, I would like to thank you all who commented, liked, followed, whatever just thank you anyone who let me know one way or another that they liked this story. It took me long but I am back thanks to you guys. I love reading your thoughts on this, so if you share your thoughts with me that would be amazing, but as always any shape or form of feedback is appreciated 3

Hope you guys are doing okay. Stay strong folks, we got this far we will get through as well!
Take care till next time!