"C'mon Luce, it's going to take forever to get home" Natsu whined at the celestial mage behind him who was walking along at a much slower pace.

"I shouldn't have let Levy convince me to wear these shoes," Lucy grumbled as she tromped behind him.

She heard Natsu laugh, "Alright then, let's go."

She looked up in time to see him scoop her up by one leg and toss her across his back, piggy back style. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck just as he took off down the street, ignoring the squealing celestial mage on his back.

"Natsu! Slow down!" she yelled as the houses flew by her already disoriented eyes. How could he run this fast after drinking so much? Stupid dragon slayers. She squeezed her eyes shut and held on tighter, hearing him laughing as he ran. With her eyes closed, she realized where his hands were placed. His fingers were gripping the inside of her thighs to hold her on his back, but she would swear his hands were further up her thighs than they needed to be, his fingers stretching up toward her...

Before her mind could take those thoughts anywhere else, they were already disappointingly turning down her street. Natsu released his grasp on one of her thighs to twist the knob to her place and pushed the door open with his foot.

"Alright, now put me down you monster before I-"

At her empty threat, he put her down with an arm around her waist, keeping her alarmingly close. "Aww, what's the matter Luce?"

"You can't just pick people up like that" she said with her sternest, drunk face possible. That was when she noticed his eyes. He reached a hand out and brushed away a stray hair that had fallen into her face and her breath stuck in her chest. She felt his fingers lightly brush past her skin, and suddenly she was very aware of how drunk she was, and how much she liked feeling his touch, and how his vest was splayed open once again, revealing his chest. She felt a flush start spreading out from her chest, looking to give her away. Natsu was in one of those moods again, now that no one was around of course. She sighed in frustration. She knew she was too drunk to control herself around his teasing. He never followed through anyway and she wasn't in a good enough state of mind to be disappointed again.

"I.. I'm going to shower. Don't wait up," she said hurriedly, pushing him backwards and removing herself from his grasp, and the room, as quickly as possible.

She needed to shower to calm her thoughts... and her body, down. She stepped into the water and showered with as much caution as she could, still drunk. It was harder than it seemed. She dried off and slipped on her tank and shorts. Cracking the door open, she saw Natsu already in bed, just like she hoped.

Good. She sighed as she slid through the opening and shut the door gently. Pulling back the covers she slipped into bed, careful not to move much.

"You take forever to shower," Natsu yawned groggily. Guess he was still awake.

Suddenly, she felt the bed shift and he was beside her, pressing up against her back lightly. Mavis, he was practically spooning her. Sometimes they woke up this way, but he never had done it consciously... right? She held her breath as she felt him lean his face by her neck, closer than usual.

"Mmm, you smell good Luce," he murmured against her hair.

She froze as she felt his hand slide over her hip to her stomach with a gentleness she didn't know he was capable of.

"And you feel good..." he murmured again, his lips closer and closer to her skin. She could smell the hint of fire whisky on his breath, but it didn't stop her traitorous body from giving her away as she instinctively pushed her hips back into him.

Oh, Mavis, what was she doing? She was not sober enough for this. Her mind was clouded with alcohol and poor judgement. Natsu's breath rasped against her ear as he felt the pressure from her hips, pressing his fingers into her stomach with slightly more force. She knew he could hear her breathlessness, her heart pounding in the quiet room.

"Too good..."

She felt his body leave hers for a second before his hand on her stomach guided her onto her back, his own body leaning over her now. Lucy looked up at his face just in time to see his eyes alight with a different kind of fire, a wanting kind of hunger.

And then his lips were on hers, and she lost all ability to think. Was this really happening? His lips were surprisingly needy, and impatient, as if they were running out of moonlight.

It didn't take long for her body to override any rational part of her brain that had survived the alcohol. A moan escaped her lips as she lifted a hand to his face, then slipped it around his neck as he continued his pleasant assault on her mouth.

She had been right. She wasn't imagining all the lingering touches, the closeness in the middle of the night. Her mind was swimming with emotions as he greedily slipped his tongue between her lips, deepening the kiss. A warmth started to fill the area between her hips as he moved his hand from her stomach to her side, lifting her body ever so slightly toward his own. She moaned again at the contact, breaking the kiss to let her head fall back, catching her breath. He wasted no time trailing hot kisses down her jaw to her neck. Every touch sent warmth to her core. He found a particularly sweet spot, smiling to himself at the change in her breathing when he found it.

"Mmm… Natsu," she moaned.

He froze. Suddenly she was very aware of his rigid body over hers. She opened her eyes and found his squeezed shut.

"What… What is it?" she asked.

And then there was nothing. The weight lifted off her body as Natsu moved himself back to the other side of the bed, no longer touching.

"Let's get some sleep, you've had a lot to drink," his voice was thick..

"Right..." she let out a heavy breath, trying desperately to hide the sound of disappointment – and hurt - from her voice. She stared at the ceiling in the dark, confused. Natsu didn't move again.

Lucy vexed herself. She shouldn't have let the alcohol control her like that. They had never done anything like this before. What would this do to their entire relationship?

She crooked her elbow across her face as she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to think about that right now. The alcohol was making it hard to contemplate the consequences of poor life decisions.

With a last thought of his lips, she drifted away to sleep.

Lucy woke up the next morning with a headache and a vague sense of regret. What the hell happened last night? She remembered coming home with Natsu, and then…

Natsu.

She didn't have to open her eyes to know he wasn't there. It wasn't as warm when he wasn't in the bed. She opened her eyes and saw the emptiness she was expecting. She sighed heavily, closing her eyes again. What had she done?

Rubbing her hand on her forehead, she thought back. Why in the world had she acted on her feelings? She had been doing so well keeping them in. One night of drinking and she couldn't even handle Natsu being in her bed.

But no, he was the one who had instigated, hadn't he? He was on top of her, not the other way around. Then… he had stopped so suddenly.

Had he changed his mind? Or had he sobered up and realized it was her? Where was he now? Embarrassed? Ashamed? Ugh.

Thinking it would be better to not be alone with her thoughts, Lucy got dressed and headed to the guild. She could use the distractions there, not to mention a big, greasy meal to cure this hangover.

It seemed like most people had recovered from the previous night rather well.

Elfmann was avidly denying passing out at all, while Lucy noticed Bickslow and Cana stealing X-rated glances across the room. Lucy saw Natsu not far from Cana, sitting at a table with Erza. She tried to divert her eyes quickly and head for the bar, but Erza noticed her too soon and waved her over. Sighing internally, she walked over and plopped down next to Natsu, sliding a piece of bacon from his place. She regretted it as soon as she did, but it was just habit. He eyed her as she took a bite.

"Good morning, Lucy. I see you are well in light of the evening's festivities," Erza said approvingly.

"Mm," she nodded while chewing.

"I'm just finishing up here, I can get you something from Mira," Erza said as she stood, picking up her plate and heading toward the bar. Lucy smiled her thanks, leaning one elbow on the table, looking at Natsu.

"You're up early," she remarked as he finished the rest of his bacon before she could pillage any more.

"I wanted to get to the guild and get a job for me and Happy before anyone else was here. I know that ice freak was eyeing it yesterday."

"You're going on a job?"

"Yeah, today."

"Oh," she said, pausing. It wasn't odd for him to go with just Happy, but she didn't know why it almost... seemed intentional. She chewed her lip as she thought about last night. Did she dare?

"When you get back…" she started.

His body tensed as soon as the words left her lips, eyes forward, hesitant.

"Natsuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" came a loud whine from a blue cat who had made his way through the open doors of the guild.

"Ey, Happy!" Natsu jumped up and waved, leaving Lucy alone at the table.

"I was looking for you at Lucy's but didn't find you," Happy said as his pink-haired companion jogged up to him. Lucy looked after him as he jogged away from her, probably not doing a good job of hiding the confusion on her face. Was he.. avoiding her?

Mavis. This had gotten messy already.

"Tche," Cana said to no one in particular as she watched the exchange. Hopping off the bar stool, she sauntered over to Lucy. "It's time you stop fussing over him," she said, standing behind the blonde.

"Wait, what?" Lucy sputtered, trying to cover up her distraction. "No, I.."

"Yeah, yeah." Cana cut her off, waving a hand, "I'm taking you out tonight. Wear something tight."

Lucy blushed as the card mage turned and walked away.

"Am I not invited to your night out?" Bickslow teased as Cana walked past him. She looked to see her response, but didn't hear it. Judging by the amused snicker from Bickslow that followed, tongue out and all, she probably didn't want to. Sighing, she looked back toward where she had last seen Natsu, but he and Happy were both already gone.

What a mess.

"So this is the one?" Porlyurisca stood cross-armed, watching Fairy Tail's newest arrival make an explosive entrance.

"Mmm," Makarov nodded in response.

A loud cackle lit up the guild hall as a pint-size Natsu managed to light a moody-looking dark-haired mage's shorts on fire.

Porlyurisca shook her head, "Tch, looks like he's going to be a handful."

The dark-haired mage was quick to shoot a dozen small icicles back in Natsu's direction, shattering on impact and making him yelp.

Makarov chucked, "Then he fits right in."