Lucy knocked on Natsu's door with vigour and more than a little desperation, regretting the last cup of coffee she'd thought would be a good idea. She shifted the bag she carried to her other shoulder and hammered it louder. They'd agreed to meet at his house so where was he? Oh, there was no way she'd make it back to Magnolia to find a public restroom. And even if Natsu didn't care about such things, Lucy did not want to empty her bladder outside. Nope.

Cold sweat on her forehead, Lucy gulped and looked heavenward for salvation. She found it, the edge of a key glinted on the top of the door frame. Mumbling heartfelt thanks she rushed inside, dropped her purse and bag, bolting for the bathroom.

Now much more relaxed, Lucy walked back to where she'd dumped her bag of groceries. Their plans were to make food together but she could get a head start, yeah? May as well. It was unusual for Natsu to be late - especially when it'd been his idea to cook - and at his own house! Figuring there had to be a reason, (and she gave it a fifty percent chance it was ridiculous) Lucy shook her head. As much fun as doing things with Natsu was, cooking went smoother when he wasn't begging for taste tests.

In the kitchen, Lucy found a miracle. The counters were clean and each piece of cookware needed tonight were waiting. A certain dragon slayer had to be gunning for boyfriend of the year. Lucy was inclined to reward his thoughtfulness in the only way she could imagine.

Brownies! Thick and chewy. Homemade; with hot sauce spiced icing.

At that moment, Lucy knew she had to hurry. You obviously had to make dessert first in order for it to cool enough to enjoy at the end of a meal. She looked down at her clothes. She wasn't wearing anything fancy but she hadn't counted on making brownies. Every foray into baking had given her the knowledge she'd be covered from head to toe in ingredients.

Shit.

Checking her watch, Lucy discovered she was actually early. Oh. No wonder Natsu wasn't home. Now she needed to make the brownies as an apology for letting herself into his home. The desire to keep clean or at least as clean as possible directed Lucy to Natsu's bedroom. There had to be something there she could use as a makeshift apron.

It was suspiciously clean. No dirty clothes on the floor, no discarded food or magazines. It was neat and orderly. Lucy felt even more uneasy to be trespassing Natsu's personal space. But she needed something to protect her clothes, so she lifted her chin and yanked open her boyfriend's closet.

Sigh. Sleeveless jackets and off-white baggy trousers weren't going to protect her clothes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. Shit. She'd have to search his drawers for a long-sleeved shirt. Fine.

Keeping her ears cocked in case Natsu came home early, Lucy slowly pulled open the first drawer and looked inside; nothing but socks, underwear, and handkerchiefs. How weird was that? Had she ever seen him wearing socks? Or using a handkerchief? She wasn't touching the issue of his underwear. No sir.

On to the next drawer. Ah, a semblance of normalcy! T-shirts and belts - things she could touch without feeling like a sexual deviant. But a t-shirt wasn't going to be enough. Nope. Mumbling a brief and impassioned prayer, Lucy opened the third and last drawer. Salvation! A bundle of plaid and long-sleeved shirts. All she had to do was pick something long enough to keep her from wearing flour and gritty sugar on her own clothes. Hmm. And something that wasn't Natsu's favourite, something that would clean easy - something she wouldn't swim in either.

Lucy shoved aside the lighter coloured choices and lifted out the only real contender. Constructed of sturdy denim and not so big as to dwarf her frame, this shirt was the best option. Lucy smiled and shook the wrinkles out - gasping as something unexpected flew out of the folds.

No! It couldn't be! Was that her missing blue camisole? Oh my. It was. The blue camisole she'd assumed her laundry had eaten. It was safely here - in Natsu's house. So very odd… Not as odd as her holding Natsu's t-shirt hostage. Or was it exactly the same level of odd? Yup. And suddenly Lucy was inspired.

Natsu sniffed the air outside his cottage. Chocolate and …? Spice! He grinned. Lucy had been unable to wait and started their cooking date without him, must be already half done if his nose wasn't lying. The savoury scents of chicken intermingled with tangy tomato - and Natsu salivated.

He ran into the kitchen and hardly paused before lifting Lucy into his arms and hugging her tight. "Hi!"

More than a little breathless, Lucy squeezed Natsu back and let herself cling, relishing his heat. "Hi yourself!" Suddenly shy, she pushed out of Natsu's arms. "I hope you don't mind, I borrowed this to keep my clothes clean." Lucy pointed to the shirt she wore. "You know how I get when I bake."

"Does this mean what I think it does? Yosh!" Natsu pumped his arm in celebration. "How'd I get so lucky?"

"Hey!" Lucy admonished Natsu but her tone was teasing and lacked any real heat. "I told you I'm the lucky one. I'm hungry for chocolate is all."

"Whatever you say, Luce." Natsu was unable to stop grinning. "Whatever you say." He finally noticed what Lucy was wearing. A very familiar denim long-sleeved shirt - exactly the same as the one he'd hidden Lucy's camisole in, way inside the third drawer of his dresser. "Um…" Unable to ask outright about the camisole, Natsu decided to divert attention. "How much of dinner did you leave us to finish together?"

Lucy smiled. "Not much. I'd rather spend time with you talking as we eat rather than struggling to talk and cook at the same time."

Her smile didn't give Natsu much relief but he needed to respond. "Well, everything smells great!"

"It should! I worked hard!" Lucy blinked at her date. "Help me take off my make-shift apron?"

"Of, of course!" Natsu lifted his hands to the buttons at Lucy's neck and willed his tremors to subside. This was nothing in the grand scheme of things - who hadn't unbuttoned a shirt before? But this was Lucy and while they'd kissed passionately more than once, never had they ever removed clothing. Urk. "I can do that."

Lucy nodded and kept her eyes glued to Natsu's eyes as he fumbled with the buttons of the denim shirt she wore. She did her best to keep from smirking as Natsu's obvious uneasiness grew and grew the more buttons he released. She inhaled at just the right moment as he exposed her blue camisole. Game over. Fufufufu.

"I'm so hungry!" Lucy wiggled out of Natsu's shirt and pretended she wasn't wearing the very item she'd complained about losing all last week. "Hope you brought your appetite!"

"Yeah…" Natsu was oddly subdued. Seeing Lucy wearing skimpy clothes was both titillating and wrong. Did that make sense? He sure as hell liked what he saw but it made him feel odd. But not in the way Gildarts had gone to such extreme measures to explain to him (with grossly inappropriate real-life examples). "You cold?"

Lucy could have given in to Natsu right then and there. But this was bigger than right or wrong - bigger than anything she'd ever imagined. Time to pretend. "Don't be silly! How could I be cold with a fire dragon slayer? You're all the heat I need."

"Um, okay." Natsu gave Lucy a weak grin. She was working on something and he should just let her play. "Let's eat."

All through dinner, Natsu waited for Lucy to drop her pleasant act. His partner was playful. She served him and kept the conversation light and easy. Lucy was acting like the very definition of a perfect hostess. It was annoying.

"I'm stuffed." Natsu covered his mouth and belched. No sense in denying who he was - he didn't need to lie about his rough edges. Lucy had been witness to worse. "Thank you for the meal!"

"Glad you enjoyed." Lucy smiled.

Her smile creeped Natsu out more than anything. He could sense a few of the underlying tensions in Lucy but he was confused too. She smelt receptive and angry. Not a good combination. "But I've got room for dessert."

"I did happen to make a batch of brownies." Lucy rose out of her chair and sashayed past Natsu - her hips were screaming illicit promises that Natsu had only ever dreamed about. "Want some?"

Torn between wanting to answer, 'fuck yeah!' and 'anytime you wanna give it up,' Natsu settled for a meek 'yes, please.'

"I hope you enjoy." Lucy slid a plate of delectable brownie slathered with her own creation - icing containing hot sauce - to Natsu. "You deserve all this and more."

Pushed to the edge, Natsu gulped and cracked. "You got it all wrong! I don't deserve you being nice! At all! I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what?"

"I stole your camisole because you kept my shirt! Sorry!"

"But I'm wearing my camisole. How can you say you took it, Natsu?" Lucy dipped her pinky into the decadent icing as she pushed the brownie towards her partner, then slowly licked away the evidence. "I'm wearing it."

Natsu squinted at Lucy. Part of him wanted to throw Lucy over his shoulder and act like a caveman. It would be good until she punched his lights out.

Lucy sauntered back to her seat and sat, never breaking eye contact with Natsu. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"I really admire and respect you?" Abruptly Natsu shook his head and squared his shoulders. "I mean, um, no?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes and pinched her lips into a straight line. "Fine."

Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck. He heaved a sigh. "Um, maybe?"

Lucy curled her lips into the most menacing smile Natsu had ever seen. "Fine."

Oh god. "Wait…" He nervously licked his lips. "Can I throw myself on your mercy right now?"

"Why would you need to do that?" Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "Why?"

"Because I want to live?" Natsu pleaded with his eyes. "I dunno! I'm just horny and scared and did I mention turned on?"

Lucy opened and closed her mouth, unable to articulate any words. Natsu's honesty was refreshing even if unnerving. She had to admire that about him.

"I know I'm not making any sense right now, but how can I when you're wearing that and smelling so good?" Natsu gestured to Lucy's upper body. "I can't. I just can't!"

"Enjoy your dessert." Lucy lost her urge for vengeance. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"The dessert that's mine?"

"What else?"

Natsu stood up, knocking over his chair and marched over to Lucy. "The brownie can wait."

"Huh?" Not her most eloquent moment, but Lucy was still thinking about Natsu admitting he was horny and turned on.

"I want to enjoy some dessert."

Lucy pointed to the ignored brownie. "It's over there."

"Yeah, the brownie is there, but don't you think I don't know what's sweeter?" Natsu lightly glided a hand down Lucy's bare arm, smiling as she gasped. "You're all the dessert I could ever want."

"Yeah?"

Natsu nodded. "Only ever you, Luce."

Lucy smiled. "Only ever you, Natsu."