A/N: For those who had been following me for the new chapter update, I'll post it in just a few days! Thanks guys for your patience!

Chapter Eleven

A Confession To Make

"Alright, spill it, Lucy! Why are you acting so weird?" Natsu demanded, pointing his finger at her.

Lucy averted her gaze from him. Heat scorched down from her ears and spread around her neck. As his sandals shuffled through the pebbles towards the shore, the question loomed over her like a shadow. She squeezed herself, hoping her arms could do a much better job at covering her chest. No matter how deep she'd submerged herself, the clear water barely covered her shame.

Happy snickered. "Maybe she wanted to go skinny-dipping when nobody's watching."

"Shut it, cat!" She snapped. Even though, oddly enough, his usual teasing almost made everything between them feel normal again. As if her actions hadn't provoked something deep and unspoken in the foundation of their friendship and they were still cracking jokes at each other. She looked up into Natsu's face. Her heart clenched. He hardly cracked a smile at his joke. He folded his arms. "Well!"

She narrowed her eyes. "I'll explain once you stop staring at me, pervert!"

He arched a brow and straightened up, looking towards the sky, working his jaw to the side, then exhaled. "Fine." Turning around, he grumbled under his breath, arms folded.

Lucy tried not to roll her eyes at his childish antics whenever their routine suddenly changed on him without a heads-up. One of the many things she'd respected about him to maintain a strong team chemistry. Could she really blame him though? She would be upset too if Natsu was the one running away from her all day. She breathed out the sudden desire to swim away with the exotic fish and drown in guilt. "I'm sorry. Maybe if I'd walked with you guys to the guild, you would know the truth. About why I was scared to say anything."

Natsu turned his head halfway with an expectant ear, his brows drawing together. "Scared of what?" His tone softened into warm concern.

You. She wanted to say. But the humiliation of fantasizing Fairy Tail's pyromaniac in the hunkiest fashion had her tongue-tied. "It's complicated."

There was silence, yet Lucy could sense their disappointment. Happy said, "That's the worst answer you can say to a guy, Lucy. At least tell us how we can help you."

"The way I see it." Natsu intervened, turning to face her, then stopped, remembering her earlier demand. "We'll always be together, no matter what you tell us." His mouth moved without words coming out, closed shut, and he looked towards the forest in front of him. This struck Lucy odd. He rarely becomes speechless about his standpoint. After a moment, he said hoarsely, "Just need to know you're still on my side."

Her heart warmed her chest, thawing the tiniest snowflake of Mt. Hakobe, and extended towards him. So that was his main concern. How easily she forget the one thing she admired about him: his unconditional loyalty. And he trusted her enough to do the same for him. She wouldn't want him to change that for the world. "Of course, silly. It's a promise worth keeping."

She took a deep breath. This was it. Her time to confess to the guy who may not be interested in her, while drenched in snow-melted water where she'd never imagined confessing. Talk about being wet for the guy, Cana would say once Lucy shares this story with her girlfriends. She shook her head. Focus, Lucy! Her chest tightened in cold suspense. Right when she opened her mouth, she stifled to see the talking cat still perched on a boulder, wagging his tail with anticipation. Seriously, did he really need to be here as the viewing audience? "Happy, can we get some privacy?"

Happy exchanged confused glances with Natsu. "For what?" Happy asked.

"I can't tell you. It's something personal for Natsu. Kind of a big deal here."

His eyes widened as his tail flicked excitedly. "And miss the good part? No way!

Lucy gave him the evil eye. "How bad do you want me to tell him?"

His ears twitched as he fiddled with his paws, weighing his options.

"Happy, go find her clothes." Natsu spoke. And she felt relieved, and glad that he seemed to understand the value of privacy. His persistent stare was all it took for Happy to sense the gravity of the situation. He hopped off the boulder and made his way down the riverbank sulkily. "You guys owe me a fish then."

As soon as Happy was out of earshot, Lucy seized the moment before chickening out. "Natsu, I like you more than a friend." Her stomach steeled, bracing for the impact of rejection. Thank goodness his back faced her, so she couldn't see the look on his face. But when silence stretched between them, her mind raced with the possible scenarios that could arise from his delayed response. Ok, maybe seeing his face would be better.

"What?" His voice was inaudible, but loud enough to hear.

"Yeah, crazy huh?" She choked from the tension. "It sorta just happened."

Wow. Real smooth, Lucy. Could she just sink underwater and drown her answer out? This way, she could make herself disappear from his existence.

"Wait." He shook his head, still wrapping his mind around it. "What happened?"

"Last night, watching your audition, I couldn't stop…" Fantasizing how hot he was on stage. But admitting that would scare him away. "Standing so close to you, I felt happier with you."

He turned his cheek towards her, looking at the boulder instead of her. "Okay? What else is new?"

She winced and quickly added. "That's the thing. We get along so well together that we could. Maybe. Get along as a couple? I mean, not that it would matter or anything." She paused. "Ok, it would matter. But I figured, why not try it out and see if this works? If it doesn't, great. We can totally forget that this ever happened." She closed her mouth to keep from rambling further.

His brows furrowed while pondering. "Ya mean for the Dragon Prince and the Princess, right?"

She blinked. "Wow, you're really gonna make me draw this one out, aren't you?" She exhaled with a brazen face. "I want us to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

An immense weight lifted off her chest. Her words echoed into the dense tree canopies illuminating scattered sunlight. They'd also touched him. A crimson hue filled his cheeks, his face disappearing beneath pink disheveled hair. Lucy held her breath. He finally understood the message.

Then he said, "What kinda prank you're pullin'?" He whipped his head around to the other side of the stream where Happy landed beside the pile of clothes. "Happy! You're in this too?!"

Happy twitched his ear. "Eh?"

"No, he's not!" Lucy exasperated. "I'd never joke about us."

Natsu glanced briefly at her and maintained his gaze on the boulder, his jaw clenching and unclenching. His reaction was not a sign of rejection, she reasoned to herself. It was too soon to conclude that. Her confession was a new experience that he needed time to consider. After all, how many girls had approached him so directly? But if he is rejecting her… With renewed inner strength, she placed her hand on the boulder, near his line of sight. "I know this is unexpected. And change can be scary." He rested his gaze on her hand. "Just know that you mean everything to me. Because of that, I won't hold anything against you if you don't want to date me." Even if her feelings for him wouldn't die out for a long time, she would have to make promises with someone more willing to commit. "All I ask is one romantic date with you. If you don't like it, that's ok. We can still be friends. Do you think that's possible?"

After a moment, his gaze trailed up her arm and onto her face. There were no signs of disgust or abhorrence in his eyes. And she found herself not minding his gaze on her one bit. Then, he formed a smirk. "Ya know, people usually don't run away from the person they like."

Her heart swelled. Everything was going to be fine. Her confession didn't leave any awkwardness between them. She giggled. "Easier said than done."

With ease, he kneeled down in front of her, her heart nearly stopping. He moved in till she could see the pores on his tanned skin. Was he going to kiss her now? Heat rushed to her cheeks. Then, another form of heat surrounding her body. She blinked as the bubbles simmered around her shoulders. Natsu had dipped his hand into the water, keeping her warm.

"Happy! What's keepin' ya with the clothes?"

1