Happy New Year! Here's a little one-shot to celebrate!

Summary: Lucy was ready to celebrate 2016's death. What she wasn't ready for was the next morning and the consequences that came with it.

Pairing: Nalu

Word Count: 4,890

Genre: Humor, friendship, romance

Misunderstanding

Lucy woke up with a dull pounding in her head. She blinked, vision blurry for a moment before she could focus. Her eyes landed on the curtain on the wall, narrowing as she realized those weren't her pink curtains. They were yellow with black and red flames at the bottom.

'This isn't my room... It's-'

Her eyes widened as she bolted up, only to realize she wasn't wearing a shirt. She clutched her arms over her chest, thankful she was at least wearing a bra. 'What the hell is going on?'

The light shining in the room stung her eyes, her head still throbbed painfully, and her nose was now being filled with a familiar scent. Eyes flitting from item to item she slowly realized she was in his room.

Just then she heard a heavy snore coming from her side. Lucy gulped, then slowly looked down to see none other than her best friend, Natsu Dragneel, sleeping next to her. She covered her mouth with a hand to muffle her gasp. Natsu was shirtless as well, the sheets stopped right at his hips.

Her eyes lingered on the pink happy trail leading to the sheets, then raked over his toned abs and chest before her eyes fell on his face and neck. His pink hair was a little more messy than usual, but that wasn't what caused her chest to tighten.

Natsu had something pink smudged all over his face and neck. Lucy's eyes widened more when he recognized that shade of lipstick. Lucy pressed her fingertips to her lips, finding her lips dry with only a little bit of lipstick left on them. It was her lipstick all over Natsu's face and neck.

Panic flashed through the girl. 'What the hell happened last night?!' It was a dumb question. Any idiot could see clearly what happened between them. She just didn't understand how it happened.

Despite her flustered state, her eyes wandered back to his lower half again. If she just raised those sheets she would surely see more of her best friend than she ever had before. Or at least the sober version of her would. Drunk her probably saw plenty.

Lucy had no memories of last night after she took her fourth shot of tequila. She partially blamed Erza for that one. The redhead challenged her, saying she couldn't handle it. The joke was on Lucy.

Clearly she really couldn't handle it.

It wasn't completely Lucy's fault she drank so heavily last night. She was celebrating just like everyone else. 2016 was finally over, and it had been a rough year for her. Not only had her mother passed away, making it hard for her to even finish the last semester of college, shortly after that her father's business started to fail, causing her to take two part-time jobs just to handle her tuition while he sorted things out. She actually considered dropping out for a while.

Only recently Heartfilia Corps. started doing better, meaning she could quit one of her jobs, but it still didn't make the loss of her mother any easier. Lucy had wanted 2016 to end, and it finally had. And to celebrate she decided to drink.

Of course she'd drank in the past, but not like this, and not in such a manner that happened last night. Natsu's fraternity threw the huge party, and everyone who didn't go home for winter break was there, partying and drinking til they passed out. Lucy just didn't count on passing out in Natsu's bed, or what happened before that.

A fierce blush stained her cheeks when she remembered her current situation. It was obvious what happened between the sheets. Why else was she in her underwear and he naked in bed? In his bed!

Lucy slowly slipped away from the covers. Sure enough she was in her panties. A little black thong that left nothing to the imagination and her bra were her only cover. It took her a few minutes looking around his room to find her jeans.

Lucy cringed, realizing her shirt was nowhere to be found. She threw on her jeans, then grabbed one of Natsu's old shirts to wear outside. There was no way she was doing the walk of shame without at least being decently covered.

Lucy sighed, a slight pang in her heart when she realized she was no longer a virgin. She would have been more upset if it had been with a different guy. She was saving it for someone special, which happened to be Natsu -if he ever decided to ask her out, but she didn't want it to happen like this.

Hell, she would have liked to at least remember it! She hoped at least he remembered it, but there was no way she was going to ask him about it. Maybe it was better if they both didn't know. She didn't want to ruin their friendship with a one night stand, but she didn't see very many plausible ways to get out of this one.

Lucy grabbed her high heels, not wanting to make the clinking sound on her way out of Natsu's room as she escaped. She saw her phone tossed in the corner of the room by his bedroom door, so she grabbed it, only to realize it was dead. 'Figures.'

Lucy carefully opened the door. Knowing Natsu had extraordinary hearing, she made sure to be quiet. She felt successful in her attempt, until she stepped on a loose board and made a loud creaking sound.

Her heart stopped for a moment when she saw Natsu's eyes snap open. She froze in place, not knowing what she was supposed to do. She panicked when he looked over at her, then bolted once he said one word.

"Lucy?"

She was down the stairs and out the door in an instant. Lucy sprinted across campus to her sorority. No one had a chance to talk to her since she ran right past them, not stopping until she reached her room.

With her heart pounding wildly in her chest she went to take a shower. With what had to happen last night there was no way she was not washing her body. Lucy plugged up her phone, started the water, then washed away her slight regret. She couldn't say she was upset Natsu was the one to take her virginity.

She'd been in love with the guy since they were in high school. At the time she didn't feel comfortable asking out a guy, assuring herself if he wanted to he would ask her out. He didn't, so she tried to give up on her feelings.

Of course that was easier said than done.

As time passed her feelings for him grew, but so did their friendship. They became so close to the point she didn't want to risk ruining what they had with a relationship. She already planned on telling Natsu how she felt when they graduated college, but now she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.

Was it just a hookup to him? No, that didn't make sense. Natsu caught a lot of attention from the ladies, but he never dated anyone. His excuse was wanting to focus on school, which made since because the boy had the attention span of a squirrel. Don't get her wrong, Lucy knew he was smart as hell, but he became distracted easily, causing him to need to study a little longer and harder than most kids.

A girlfriend would surely be the ultimate distraction.

Lucy tried dating. It always ended miserably. She always found herself comparing the guy to Natsu, even on accident. She knew it wasn't fair. There was only one guy like Natsu, and he was unavailable to her. They'd been friends for years and he still hadn't given her any reason to think he was interested in her.

So she tried to move on, only to realize her heart wouldn't let her. She never let anything get past making out with her dates, and it always felt a little wrong, like she knew she wasn't with the right person. She blamed it on her damn feelings for the pink haired frat boy, but it wasn't his fault she fell hard for him.

When Lucy finished her shower she got changed into some of her lazy clothes. Her outfit consisted sweatpants and a shirt, both adorned with the college's logo. Lucy decided to sort the whole thing out with Natsu later. If she remembered correctly she had a big test coming up when winter break was over, so she needed to study. She curled on her bed, ready to get to work. However, her plans were stopped when she turned on her phone.

Lucy's draw dropped when she saw all the messages piling up, so many her phone froze for a moment when she tried to check it. When the device was done loading, she clicked on the first message. It was from Natsu, asking where she went. Lucy ignored it and the way her heart beat a little faster at reading his name.

The next text was from Juvia, calling her a love rival. Lucy furrowed her brow, not understanding. It'd been a few months since she last referred to Lucy as a love rival. Her confusion ended when she saw the next text. It was from Levy with a few links to some YouTube videos. Lucy clicked the first link, breath hitching and nerves going numb when she watched a video of drunk Lucy dancing rather provocatively next to Gray, Juvia's crush.

Lucy cringed when she saw Gray take off his shirt, seemingly for no reason, only to have Lucy copy his actions and rip her own shirt off. 'Well that's where my shirt went.' Lucy already felt embarrassed. How many people had seen this video? Would anyone know it was her if they didn't already know her? Luckily she was wearing a pair of lime green sunglasses -that she didn't own- and a black beanie -that she also didn't own. The only reason Lucy recognized herself was from her outfit, giving her a small sense of relief.

Lucy watched a little more of the video. Right after her shirt came off another male joined in. It was Natsu, quickly throwing a towel over her shoulders to cover her torso. He sneered over at the camera, shouting, "Turn that damn thing off!"

A few seconds later the video finished. She guessed whoever took it decided to listen to Natsu's warning tone. Lucy was thankful Natsu looked sober enough to take care of her. She didn't remember that moment at all. Hell, she didn't even know if it was during 2016 or 2017. That was how wasted she was.

Lucy clicked on the second video, cheeks flooding with warmth when she saw what played on her screen. The video was focused on her friend Gajeel doing a keg stand, but in the background she saw Natsu sitting on the couch with a very drunk Lucy straddling him. That towel was still around her, so she guessed it took place after the first video. Judging by how close their faces were and the way she moved her head it looked like she was kissing him. Her back was facing the camera, so it was hard to tell, but it looked like Natsu wasn't moving an inch.

Was it that she came on to him and he just accepted it? Why? She couldn't imagine Natsu taking advantage of her drunken state. That just didn't fit his character. Was he pitying her? Accepting her advances despite not feeling anything for her? Lucy felt her chest constrict with pain. Not only was she embarrassed, she was upset Natsu would let her do that to him while she was in that state of mind. She clearly didn't know what she was doing.

She couldn't hear anything over the loud sounds of people chanting "Chug chug chug!", so she moved on to the next link. The third video was by far the most incriminating. The video was titled "Cana vs Bacchus" but in the first ten seconds of the video Lucy saw Natsu dragging drunk Lucy up the stairs, presumably to his room, while his face was covered in her lip stick and she was barely holding onto the towel covering her torso.

Lucy choose not to finish the video after Natsu and her disappeared. She honestly felt a little hurt. He really had taken advantage of her. She was drunk and he led her to his room to do whatever it was he wanted. A tear pricked at her eye before more followed. Lucy scrubbed at her face, not wanting to feel so let down. She wanted to give her virginity to Natsu anyway, but to find out he was just going to take it. Well that just didn't sit well with her heart.

Lucy felt a lump form in her throat as her thumb hovered over the fourth link. She didn't want to press it. The others had only made her lose respect for herself and her best friend. Still, she had to know what else happened last night, so she pressed the link.

The video barely started before she heard a heavy knock come from her bedroom door. Lucy let out an 'eep', finger clicking the side button to shut off her phone and end the video in one motion. Lucy stared at the door, wondering who would bother her on a Sunday morning? She really didn't want to see anyone. Her head still throbbed and her heart felt mangled. Despite that she let out a weak, "Who is it?"

"It's Natsu," the voice behind her door said.

Lucy felt her whole body clench. She really didn't want to see him. She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to see him again after what she saw. "Go away!" She managed to yell, legs coming up to her chest as her arms wrapped around them.

"What?" Natsu sounded confused. "Why?"

"You know why!" Lucy yelled, finding her inner strength as she went.

"Can I please come in? I think we need to talk."

Her eyebrows darted inward. "No!"

"Lucy, please? I brought coffee and donuts?"

Lucy's stomach betrayed her as it let out a growl. She cursed herself, realizing she hadn't had anything to eat or drink, and both those items sounded delicious. She reluctantly stood up, opening the door to see her bribe.

Natsu was grinning like a fool, hands revealing two coffees and a bag of donuts from her favorite cafe. Draped over his arm was her shirt, reminding her of how exposed she was in front of him last night. His face and neck was cleaned up, no lipstick in sight. He was also fully dressed, but that wasn't as surprising.

With a huff she swiped the bag of donuts, marching over to her bed to take a seat. Natsu might have been able to take advantage of drunk Lucy, but this Lucy was fired up and ready to go. She watched as he closed the door, a little smile on his face now as he made his way over to her.

"No!" Lucy held up a hand to stop him. "You sit over there," she said while shifting to point at the chair by her desk.

Natsu raised a brow, but obeyed. After setting her coffee on her nightstand and placing the wrinkled shirt by her bed he walked over and sat down on her chair. "How ya feeling?"

Lucy felt her eye twitch. "How am I feeling?" She felt angry he would even ask that, while wearing a smile at that! "Pretty embarrassed." Not to mention humiliated, ashamed, appalled, revolted, the list could go on and on.

"There's no reason to feel embarrassed," Natsu laughed, taking a sip of his coffee before saying, "I know you were drunk and couldn't help yourself. I forgive ya."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "You forgive me?" She was ready to bolt up from her bed and smack him on the head. "Why the hell would you forgive me? You should be the one asking for forgiveness!"

Natsu raised a brow. "But I didn't do anything wrong." He sounded genuinely confused, but she wasn't buying it.

"How can you say that?" A little of Lucy's sadness slipped into her voice, revealing how hurt she was from his nonchalant attitude. "I trusted you Natsu!"

His smiled faded, a look of concern crossing his face. "What do you mean?"

Lucy couldn't believe he was acting like this. "You had sex with me," she choked out, "while I was drunk!"

Natsu's eyes widened. "What? No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!" Lucy curled on her bed, feeling small in front of her best friend. "You took advantage of me."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Natsu stood up, barely placing his coffee on her desk before walking up to her, only to stop when he saw her flinch away. "Lucy. Do you really think that little of me?"

"Well why else would we both wake up naked in bed." Lucy felt her heart cracking the longer he denied it. She'd rather he own up to his mistake instead of pretending like it didn't happen.

"Naked?" Natsu furrowed his brows. "Sure you went to bed in your underwear, but I still had my jeans on!" He dragged his hand against his face as he groaned. "Lucy, I promise I didn't have sex with you. We didn't even kiss!"

"I know that's a lie!" Lucy narrowed her eyes. "I saw the video!"

Natsu froze. "What video?"

Lucy's emotions conflicted. She felt victorious for catching him in a lie, but also sad that it was coming to this. With shaky hands she grabbed her phone to turn it back on. The video she was on was paused, so she exited out of it to go to the second link in Levy's text.

Lucy pressed play, then showed him the video where Gajeel was doing the keg stand and Lucy was clearly making out with Natsu in the background. Natsu stared at it for a few seconds, then frowned. "Damn..."

"Yeah," Lucy all but growled as she jerked her phone away from his view.

Natsu slowly nodded his head. "It really does look like we're kissing."

Lucy blinked. "What do you mean it 'looks like' we're kissing. We clearly are."

She felt aggravated when he started chuckling. "Okay, so maybe some kissing happened, but I promise I didn't kiss you back."

What was supposed to make her relieved only crushed her heart. She was right. Natsu was only going along with it because he pitied her. A few tears welled up in her eyes as she lowered her head. "O-oh..."

Natsu furrowed his brows, "Do you honestly not remember?"

She didn't say anything, only shaking her head before she sniffled. Natsu's eyes softened, his lips twisting into a frown as he sat next to her on the bed. "Look... I really didn't want to show you this, but I guess it's better than you not knowing..."

Lucy slowly raised her head, seeing Natsu pull out his own phone. "Gray promised he wouldn't post this, but he did send it to me." Lucy watched as he clicked a video in his messages, only for it to play on his screen.

The video started with Natsu sitting on the couch, his head tilted back as he stared at the ceiling. From the angle it was obvious the person recording was sitting a few feet away from him on his side. Gray's voice sounded, letting her know he was the one recording. "Sorry about that man. I didn't know she was dancing there."

Natsu shook his head. "You're fine. I didn't know Lucy would be stripping like that. Guess she's even more weird drunk."

Lucy narrowed her eyes, but chose to keep watching without interruption.

"So what'd you do with her?" Gray asked, camera shaking a little.

Natsu kept staring upwards. "I put her in my room. I'm hoping she sleeps it off."

"What if someone goes up to mess with her?"

Natsu stole a glance at the camera. "Door's locked. I wouldn't let anyone touch her. You know that."

"Sure do," Gray laughed. "'cause you're saving her for yourself."

"Shut up," Natsu groused, his cheeks tinting red. "And turn that thing off. Why are ya recording anyways?"

"Someone dared Gajeel to do a keg stand. There's no way I'm missing it."

"So you're just going to record until he shows up?"

"Yup," Gray said, camera moving to show the keg stand, then flashed back at Natsu. "I don't think he can d-"

"Naaashhhuuuu," Lucy's voice was now heard in the video.

Lucy felt her stomach twist. Is that was she sounded like drunk?

"L-Lucy," Natsu stared off to the side. The camera followed where he was looking, landing on drunk Lucy swaggering over to him on the couch. "I thought you went to sleep?"

"Nope!" Lucy stumbled over to him, barely getting her knees on the couch before straddling the frat boy.

"Wh-what are you doing?" He tried to scoot back on the couch, but that only made Lucy shift closer to him until she was resting on his lap.

"I wanned ta play." Lucy leaned in, her head swaying as she curled a finger under his chin. "Can I make you puuuurr Nashuu?"

Lucy felt mortified. As much as she wanted to stop the video now, she needed to know what really happened.

"Come on Lucy." Natsu tried to push her off, but it was obvious he didn't want to accidentally hurt her by shoving her off him. "Let's get you back to bed."

"I dowwne wanna." Lucy nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. Her voice was now muffled as she said, "I wanna shhtay wif you."

Natsu looked over at Gray, then held up his hands, mouthing, "What do I do?"

The camera shook, but Gray said nothing. Natsu tried looking at Lucy's face, but it was still buried in her neck. "You can hang out for a little bit, but no more stripping." He grabbed the towel that was slipping from her shoulders to secure it on her body again.

"Why?" Lucy pulled back, glossy eyes staring up at him. "Are ya jealoush?"

Natsu's eyes darkened in an instant. "Very."

Drunk Lucy raised a brow, then smiled wide. "I knew you liked me too!"

"Wha-" Natsu didn't get to finish before Lucy was leaning in to place a kiss on his face. She missed his lips, hitting between his left cheek and nose.

A pout escaped her as she tried again, only to have Natsu shake his head. "Please don't kiss me on the lips."

Lucy stared blankly at him for a few seconds before saying, "Okay!" She proceeded to place messy kisses all over his face, barely avoiding his lips as he stayed perfectly still. The camera was shaking, Gray's laughter muffled but clearly heard since he was so close to the camera. She could hear the people in the background chanting, "Chug, chug, chug!"

When Lucy covered a decent amount of his face with kisses she moved on to his neck. That was when Natsu forcibly stopped her. "That's enough," he said sternly, a little anger in his voice. "You had your fun, now please just go to sleep?"

Lucy jutted out her bottom lip. "Y-youu d-don like meh?" Before Natsu could say anything, drunk Lucy admitted, "Buh I la you."

Natsu blinked. "You what?"

"La!" She whimpered. "I laufse you!"

Natsu still looked confused, so Gray helped him out. "Hey Lucy?"

Said girl rolled her head until she looked at him. "Huh?"

With a laugh, Gray asked, "Do you mean you love Natsu?"

A bright smile crossed her face. "Yesh!" She looked back at Natsu, trying to give him a kiss on the lips, but he turned his head, causing her to land another kiss on his cheek. "I's love you Nassshhhuuu!" Drunk Lucy said when she pulled back from him.

Natsu just stared at her, lips slightly parted as she looked up at him. Gray was the one to progress things, saying, "But only as a friend, right?"

Natsu shot him a glare, opening his mouth to say something, but was cut off when Lucy shook her head. "Nope! I love hims for real!" She dropped her head on his chest, eyes fluttering closed as she muttered, "Shoo, shoo much."

Lucy drifted to sleep then, head resting on his chest while Natsu stared down at her in disbelief. "Sh-she's just drunk," he said, then looked up at Gray. "She didn't mean it."

Gray scoffed, "Dude, she obviously loves you. Just ask her out already." After a pause, he added, "But probably when she's sober."

The two males laughed, Natsu running a hand threw his hair before sighing. "I'm gonna take her to my room. I'm getting tired anyways."

"You're not gonna date rape her or anything?" Gray joked, but there was a hint of concern in his voice.

"Please," Natsu said. "I'd rather chop off my balls than do that."

The camera shook again, Gray laughing as he said, "Good answer."

As Natsu tried to get Lucy up, she startled awake. "Where I am?" She looked at Natsu, then smiled. "Hiii."

"Hey," he said softly before tapping his finger to her nose. "Wanna have a sleepover? We can go watch a movie in my room?"

Her brown eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

That was all he needed to say to get her off him. He carefully took her hand, leading her over to the stairs then up towards his room. Shortly after that the camera shifted until Gray's face was on the screen. "Those two are so dumb." Then the video stopped.

Lucy stared at the blank screen for a moment, collecting her thoughts as she fumbled for something to say. While she did that, Natsu put the phone back in his pocket.

"We went up to my room, you took off your jeans, I told you to put them back on, you started crying, so I said fine, we watched 'Big Hero 6', you passed out, then I went to sleep," Natsu said without pausing. "I promise I didn't touch you Lucy."

Lucy slowly nodded, feeling ashamed she ever thought Natsu would actually do that. "I'm sorry for doubting you."

Natsu shrugged. "I get it. You were pretty drunk."

"So..." Lucy didn't know what to say about the last part of the video. Would he consider what she said a confession? Judging from his reactions it was clear Natsu felt something for her, but she was scared to ask about it.

"Wanna go to dinner with me?" Natsu asked, quickly changing the subject.

Lucy startled, not sure if she should laugh it off and say, "As friends, right?" In the end she decided against it. "I'd love to."

After a few seconds, Natsu's cheeks puffed out as he tried to stop himself from laughing. "Don't you mean you'd laufse to?"

"Shut up!" Lucy groaned, grabbing a pillow to cover her face. "I'm never living that down, am I?"

"No way," Natsu laughed, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "But if it helps..." He gulped, cheeks growing red. "I... I laufse you too..."

Lucy couldn't help herself as she asked, "But as a friend... Right?" She looked up, seeing Natsu shake his head.

"Nope. I love you for real."

Lucy's bottom lip quivered, her heart pounding as a blush spread over her neck and chest. "Really?"

"Really," Natsu smiled, leaning in to place a soft kiss on her cheek. "For a while now."

"How long?" Lucy found herself asking, cheek warm from the feeling of his lips.

"Hmmm..." Natsu shifted his gaze so she couldn't see his eyes. He mumbled something, but she couldn't understand him.

"What?"

"A few years," he whispered, pink locks shielding his eyes as he took his hand off her shoulder. "Sorry..."

"For what?" Lucy raised a brow. She was shocked to find out he loved her just as long as she loved him, but she couldn't understand why he was sorry.

"For not saying anything earlier. I..." Natsu glanced up at her, a weak smile on his face. "I really didn't want to lose my best friend."

Lucy couldn't help but smile with him. "I was worried about that too..." She looked up at the clock on her wall, seeing it was just past noon. "Want to hang out for a little bit before dinner? I have to study... If you wanna keep me company."

Natsu's eyes brightened. "Yeah. That sounds good."

So that's what they did. Both sitting on Lucy's bed, her laptop on while his phone was out, casually talking while she studied. Lucy apologized a few more times about the misunderstanding, but Natsu shook it off each time. He was just glad she trusted him again, saying it really hurt to hear her think so low of him.

They talked, laughed, and eventually went back to how they were before Lucy got drunk last night. They were just Natsu and Lucy again, but this time both knowing their feelings weren't one-sided.

Maybe 2017 was going to be better than 2016.

Hope you liked this little one-shot. It was supposed to be only 2k tops, but you know how that goes. Anyways, Happy New Year! Bring it on 2017! Stay safe!