» chapter three

» in which lucy does something they'll both regret

"Ooh, Ricardo," Vanessa moaned as she swooned into Ricardo's strong, tanned arms, "I would never have imagined that you, of all people, would capture my heart."

"My love, nobody could catch that burning phoenix," he replied, brushing soft lips against her forehead and tucking loose strands of brunette hair behind her flushing ear. "You've only given to me what I've silently prayed for for years."

"Ricardo," she whispered lovingly, reaching up and caressing the sharp line of his jaw.

"Vanessa," he said in the same tone, as if she was his sun, his moon, his stars, the tone that made her feel as if she was flying and falling all at the same time. Slowly they gravitated towards each other, the wind calming to a standstill as the heavens above went to witness the perfect pieces of each other—

Lucy dropped her pen with a sigh, arching her back and stretching her arms. She had a pretty productive night by her usual standards—she might even have a whole chapter ready for Levy by tomorrow. She got up to eat some salad from the fridge, then took a bath and brushed her teeth. It was when she was about to close her window to stave off the cold night air that she realized something a bit alarming: Natsu hadn't come by. He always came by religiously just as she was getting into the bath.

Maybe he's still sore from that fight with Laxus, she thought, hands still curled around the window. It was a possibility, but injury has never stopped him before. He couldn't have been at the Guild either, since it was closed by that time, so he must've been at his place, the place he barely spent any time at. She waited by her window for five minutes more before shutting it with a disappointed sigh. Had it been anyone else, she would've assumed that he had finally taken her "get outs" seriously, but he was Natsu.

"Could you for once not break into my house like a bandit?" Lucy sighed, dropping her purse and shaking her head at the sight of Natsu and his partner-in-crime lounging in her armchair and eating off her watermelon for the third time that week. (Never mind the mess they were making—watermelon was expensively out of season!)

"Aw, but that's half the fun!" Happy protested, at which Natsu vehemently nodded to. He probably would've agreed aloud had his mouth not been stuffed, not that that ever stopped him before.

"Don't you guys have other places to break into, like Gray's apartment? It's a lot bigger than here." She picked up Natsu's sandals, which he'd tossed across the floor, and set them in front of the door.

"Why would I?" he said, swallowing. "It stinks like him—I'd never get the smell outta my nose." She didn't think Gray smelled as bad as Natsu frequently complained about, then again she didn't have a Dragon Slayer's nose, and she also didn't despise him as much.

"Actually, Gray smells sweet to me. Kind of like ice cream," she said thoughtfully.

"Really?" Natsu's mouth skewed as he exchanged a look with Happy, then he muttered something under his breath he quickly covered up with more watermelon.

"Hey, don't get the juice everywhere! I just cleaned!" She worked on shooing Happy and his pile of raw fish from her manuscripts while Natsu practiced his sharpshooting skills by aiming the seeds at a lamp. "Natsu! Why don't you just take my watermelon and go home?" she grumbled.

"Because it's more fun being here with you," he answered easily. "Right, Happy?"

"Aye!"

"I don't see how it's fun to mess up my stuff," she pointed out. He grinned at her in response.

"'cause you need to loosen up some. It's fun here, messin' with you and seeing you pull your hair out." He sniggered as she growled at him. "And I like being here with you, too."

In the morning, she would surely go find out what was wrong.

It costed her a fair amount of beauty sleep, but Lucy woke up early to start the trek to Natsu's house. By the time she made it, the two had already left for the Guild, so it was simple for her to get in.

She had almost forgotten the huge mess that they lived in. Old clothes, dirty dishes, and half-eaten meals were everywhere, and that wasn't even including his "junk collection." Still, she pushed up the sleeves of her pale pink cardigan and got to work—summoning Gemini to help.

"Why are we rooting through his stuff instead of asking him?" they asked off the bat, staring at Lucy with her own ruffled expression. Lucy huffed as she worked on sorting through a pile of charred firewood.

"Because he won't say anything. I've never seen Natsu hold onto a secret as hard as this."

"But won't he be upset when he finds out you were snooping, if he's intent on keeping this a secret?"

"He'd be more upset to see his secret hurt our friendship," she pronounced, dropping Gemini into a thoughtful silence.

"…Lucy," they started, then stopped, then rephrased their words: "Have you considered that maybe, Natsu likes you? It's possible considering how he's been acting lately."

"No way," she said immediately, looking up at them. "Natsu's a slave to his emotions—always has been. If he felt something for me—and trust me, I've checked," she added, thinking of her prodding him on two separate occasions, "then he would've made some sort of slip-up, or at least told me."

"We think you're underestimating his emotional capacity," they remarked. "He's shown that he can be caring a lot of times, like when you were taken by Jose, when you were beaten by Minerva, when Éclair died… Maybe he just can't express love in means that you understand?"

It was an interesting thought, actually. Natsu vibrated on a frequency that very little humans could comprehend. Maybe then, he was confessing/expression his love for her, but in very Natsu-like terms. But that couldn't be, because he never said anything about her going on dates, not even with Loki. For someone that was constantly open with whatever he was feeling, she highly doubted that he would take that in stride. Then again, Natsu did a lot of things pretty weird…

"And besides," they added as an afterthought, "you already like him, so it wouldn't be a problem, would it?"

"I don't—I don't like Natsu!" she protested, red burning on her cheeks as she accidently toppled a stack of dirty dishes in her flustered state. They fell and smashed into pieces over the concrete. "Oh damn it," she muttered, getting on her hands and knees to work on collecting the bits.

"You can't lie to us, Lucy—we see your thoughts."

"I… Maybe, but it's a little crush, it's nothing serious," she said lowly.

"And you think that going out with Loki would change that?"

"I don't know. That's not what I had in mind either, going out with him. It's just, he's been begging for a date for a long time, so I thought why not?"

"Well, because of that what if scenario, Natsu attacked him," Gemini said blandly. "You know it wasn't just a coincidence." Lucy fell silent as she collected the clay shards into a pile. "We're just saying, Lucy, that if he is in love with you—"

"Ow!" Lucy cried, interrupting them. A piece of clay had stuck into her palm, cutting a clean line from the base of her pinky to her thumb. She hissed in pain at the injury, then blood started running in a stream down her palm and arm. Gemini started towards her, then the door slamming open caught their attention.

"Lucy I smelled blood!" Natsu exclaimed, eyes narrowed and fists clenched as he looked around. Once he was sure there was no one there to punch, he marched over to her purposefully and crouched down to her height. "What happened?" he demanded. He didn't sound particularly upset—did he not hear any of what they were saying? Actually, as Lucy looked around, Gemini had oddly taken their leave. Wow.

"Nothing, I uh, didn't you hear anything? I thought you were going to the Guild?"

"I came back 'cause I forgot my money, and Mira won't spare me any freebies today." He pouted for a moment, bringing a small smile to Lucy's lips before the pain brought her back to the moment. He extended a hand and she rested her arm in his calloused grip easily, trusting. His skin warmed fractionally as he inspected the wound, and the heat made her sigh in relief as the pain waned a bit. "I wasn't even paying attention—well, not until I got close and I heard you in pain." She blushed slightly at the implication but he didn't even notice, scrutinizing her hand with the expertise of one that had experienced more than his own fair share of injuries. "It's not that deep," he sighed with relief, leaning back on his heels. He walked off to a smaller pile of his stuff and started rooting through it. "Why'd you come here anyway?"

"I was…worried," she admitted. "You didn't come over last night." He tensed but quickly resumed his search.

"Sorry, I crashed kinda early." His voice came out strained, which she picked up on immediately: it was his guilty tone.

"Natsu."

"That's the truth, really." He came up with a battered first-aid kit and returned to her side, drawing a towel from the case.

"Isn't this your workout towel?"

"It's clean, trust me—I washed it myself." She did not, in fact, trust his cleaning capabilities, not after seeing how much of a wreck he slept on top of every night. But if nothing else, he was surprisingly gentle as he took her arm and carefully wiped away the blood. She barely even felt any pain as he swiped across her palm. "Clumsy," he muttered.

"What?"

"You're clumsy," he repeated louder, taking out a bottle of alcohol and dousing the towel with it.

"You're not going to change…?"

"Why? It's still a good towel." I guess this is why he's not a doctor, she thought, deadpanning as he used the last bit of clean space on the towel to clean the area. How does he even survive, living like this? "And I'm not clumsy."

"Then how did you smash those plates?" he challenged with a smirk.

"Because you don't know how to put things away! I don't know why you have cupboards and shelves in the first place!"

"I keep clothes and stuff in there," he explained.

"What sense does that make?" He was bandaging now, which was just as crude as his cleaning technique.

"Well, clean clothes, so I can know which are clean and which aren't. That makes sense, doesn't it?"

"No."

"Well it's 'cause girls are weird about their stuff. Like you have an entire drawer for your underwear—well, there's a lot of it, so I guess it's warranted—"

"Wha— When did you go looking through my underwear drawer?" she demanded, red in the face from embarrassment and anger. He didn't quite catch on, staring at her blankly.

"While you were taking a bath that one time. Happy and I were using your underwear like slingshots, then we got bored and used your bras as parachutes. They didn't work," he complained.

"Because that's not what they're for, you stupid dragon!"

"You don't need to shout in my face," he grumbled, clasping the cloth and ensuring it was tight enough not to fall off. He looked up, mouth open for another smart comment, when their eyes met. They were close, unexpectedly so, and the distance made her heart skip a beat, which she blushed at when she realized Natsu could certainly hear it.

"Well…thank you," she mumbled in a rush, getting to her feet. She was prepared to dart home and pretend the whole thing never happened when, suddenly, his rough hand clasped around her good one, squeezing slightly to catch her attention. She turned to ask him what was the matter but the words fell flat on her tongue when she met his eyes. He was staring at her with his usual Natsu expression, but somehow it seemed more…personal? She swallowed and licked her lips anxiously, and he followed her tongue with his eyes seemingly unconsciously.

"Wait," he said after what felt like an eternity, his voice low. He was still gazing at her with all the intensity of a burning bonfire, eyes dark, and she felt more blood rise to her face the longer he watched her. Then he released her, shifting his hand to cup her cheek. His palm is still warm like a hearth, and her eyelids fluttered at the contact. One of them drew a sharp breath—she wasn't even sure who in her fugue. His callouses gently scraped across her face as he took a lock of her hair between his fingers. "Here," he said, effectively breaking the spell as he tugged her hair slightly. Her eyes widened as he brought his hand down, showing her an old fish skeleton. "This was caught in your hair."

"Na— You moron!" she shrieked, embarrassed beyond belief as her foot went flying into his stomach. He was reeling from the impact, probably more from surprise than pain as she was sure she twisted her ankle from the attack, but she took the reprieve all the same to beat her hasty retreat. He probably thought she was crazy, but she couldn't even manage to care. Instead, his facial expression was filling every brain cell, even if it wasn't genuine.

Maybe he just can't express love in means that you understand? Gemini had said, and maybe it was true. But if it was true that Natsu was in love with her, and there was a teeny tiny chance that maybe perhaps she lo—liked him back, then what would that mean for the two of them? That was the most chilling thought of all.

It wasn't often that Team Natsu had time for vacations, mostly because it seemed that at every turn, there was some new catastrophe happening, and in the case of the Tower of Heaven, it happened while they were on vacation. Still, they had to at least try, so one sunny weekend while Natsu, Lucy, and Gray were having lunch at the Guild, Erza marched over and slapped four tickets down on the table.

"What are these?" Lucy asked, looking up from her smoothie.

"There's a new beach resort in a town a few miles from here," she explained. "I did a favor earlier for the owner, so he provided some complimentary tickets. I decided that we could all use a little getaway."

"Actually, I was gonna go a fishing trip with Happy," Natsu said.

"And there's a new ice cream shop in downtown Hargeon I wanted to check out," Gray added.

"I had some shopping to do," Lucy said helplessly. Erza's eyes gained a nasty glint as the next thing that hit the table was her metal fist.

"I said that we could use a getaway!" she repeated with an edge to her tone.

"A-Aye!" they agreed, completely changing their tune. The glint turned into a full-blown sparkle as she smiled victoriously.

"We're catching the train at noon, so be packed by then."

"Train?" Natsu squeaked, paling. "Can't we walk, or can't we run?"

"We're not all wild animals like you, Hothead," Gray muttered.

"Yeah? Well you smell like one."

"At least I know how to use the shower for more than just drinking water, you fiery mouth breather."

"Eh?" he snarled, butting foreheads with him. "Ya wanna say that again, droopy-eyes?"

"What, couldn't hear me over the sound of nothingness in your head, slant-eyes?" Gray retorted. They broke into their usual bout, which Erza ignored on account of beach excitement, and Lucy ignored as she was still amazed at their normal interactions. Granted, the events of the other day most likely didn't register as odd in Natsu's peculiar brain, but she couldn't help thinking about them two…or twelve hours of the day. She felt a light blush coat her cheeks that she hid by ducking into her smoothie, avoiding Gray's left boot as it went flying from their brawl.

"Hey, Erza," she asked as a thought hit her. She had to look away as the stars in her eyes were practically blinding. "Do you have an extra ticket for Loki?"

All of a sudden the fight ended as Natsu took a particularly hard punch to the chest. He didn't seem particularly bothered however, as his expression shifted from battle-crazed to plain pissed. He muttered something about getting an early start on packing before practically stomping off, leaving a trail of smoking wood in his wake. Gray stared after him more with concern than confusion as Lucy did.

"Loki?" Erza said, having missed the whole affair. "Right, I've forgotten you two are a thing now."

"We're not exactly a thing," she mumbled, twirling the straw around her finger.

"Well what would you call it then?" Gray said with more interest than he arguably should've. "A fling?"

"I wouldn't— I wouldn't call it a fling. That makes it sound cheap."

"So you really have deep feelings for him?" he continued. Lucy flushed harder and directed her attention on her pale pink fingernails.

"Why do you even care?"

"And where are your clothes?" Erza interrupted, turning to face him. Gray looked down and swore loudly as he realized he'd lost his jacket, shirt, pants, and one sock, although he still had his other boot. He went to go search for them while Lucy basked in the reprieve his bad habit got her. "You should get home as well to start packing," she suggested. "We'll only be there for the day, so it won't require much."

"Got it," Lucy said, more to appease Erza and get her silence than anything else. She finished her lunch and tossed her trash away, and she was just ready to head home and pack when Mirajane ushered her over to the bar.

"Give these to Natsu the next time you see him please?" she said with a saccharine smile, handing over a thick orange envelope. Lucy recognized it as one they sent magazines in, but she didn't take Natsu for a Sorcerer's Weekly type of guy. Maybe there was a Fire of the Month magazine she never heard of? It certainly was possible.

"Alright, Mira."

"And have fun on your vacation!" she added with an extra teaspoon of sugar, making her smile border creepy territory. Lucy returned it nervously and gave her a quick nod before hurrying past. Maybe, if she walked fast enough, she could escape the Guild's weirdness behind her. She was heading through the downtown area and towards Strawberry Street when she heard an odd noise in the alley towards her side. She had barely even turned when rough hands seized her around the wrist and mouth, choking off her surprised gasp, then she was thrown back into the grimy wall.

"Would'ja lookit my luck," the man leered, eyes roving her body hungrily. She knew she wasn't dressed too conservatively in her tank top and short shorts, but whatever layers she currently wore were being stripped away in his squinted vision, soon to be in reality as well. "A sexy broad walkin' by herself…" His breath stank of booze as he leaned in close to her, rubbing his nose up and down her neck. She gritted her teeth in disgust.

"I'll have you know I don't deal with drunks, not even from my own Guild." She grabbed the handle of her whip and prepared to swing before a sudden invisible force had her pinned against the wall, arm out. The whip and the envelope fell to the ground with a soft noise, followed by his pleased sniggers.

"Didn't know I'm a Mage too? Can't ya tell?" he sneered, taking the whip from her hand and patting her down. She shivered at the feel of his hands on her as he unhooked her belt with her Keys and tossed it into the shadows. "Can't have ya usin' these either. Now…" Still bound, she was helpless as he grabbed her tank top and pulled it up to her neck, exposing her pink bra. "Pretty plain—well, doesn't matter, it's comin' off in a second." His rough fingers felt cold as they reached around the back, fumbling drunkenly with the hook. She was suddenly reminded of warmer, more familiar hands, and squeezed her eyes shut with her jaw straining.

"Na…tsu," she managed past the force of his magic.

"Eh?" he muttered, looking up at her. "What's that?" When she didn't speak again he shrugged a shoulder and dragged his hands down her stomach, bringing another shiver, before hooking his fingers around her ample hips, raising his face to hers. She tried to turn away, but his magic was strong even with the alcohol in his system, and the panic built in her throat until she could barely breathe—

"You bastard!"

That was the only warning her would-be molester got before a literal fireball slammed into him, tackling him to the hard ground with fists flying before they even made impact. Lucy hurriedly pulled her shirt down and watched with wide eyes as Natsu relentlessly pounded him left and right, left and right, as his face swelled and burned beneath his blazing flames. The heat was unbearable even from her distance, and she had to wonder what it was like for the other guy. Suddenly her mind flashed back to Loki, the attack he committed on him, and she clenched her fists.

"Natsu, stop it! He's unconscious, just stop already!" He ignored her, or maybe didn't hear her, and continued thrashing. Giving an irritated breath, she moved forward and clasped her hands around his waist, digging her thin sandals into the ground and pulling back. She didn't quite have the physical build to move him, but maybe her presence brought him back, because his flames sputtered out as soon as she made contact and his body went limp, causing them both to flop on the ground from her effort.

"Oh, gods," he groaned, rubbing his eyes with the base of his palms, "not again. At least this asshole deserved it…"

A crowd started to form around the edge of the alley, which soon was followed by the police as expected. They asked Lucy a few questions, which she answered a bit shakily, then cuffed the man, although he had to be taken away to a hospital rather than jail. Natsu's jaw was clenched with a muscle at the base jumping every so often, and she was afraid for a moment that he'd give chase, and grabbed his arm to steer him away from the commotion. "It's over. It's okay. Come on, Natsu," she urged. He turned and squinted a little, scrutinizing her. The intensity of his gaze felt all too personal.

"So you're okay?" She shuddered once, involuntarily.

"I've had worse things happen to me—both of us know it."

"Yeah, but—but he touched you! And he almost, he almost…" He growled and grabbed fistfuls of his hair, shaking his head out like a feral animal, before directing his sharp stare at her. "If that'd happened, Lucy…"

"It didn't," was all she had to say, shifting her gaze to her feet.

"If it had," he said in the same tone. "That's all I'm sayin'. You gotta be more careful. I don't want to see you like that again." It sounded like a statement, but it came out more like an order. Like something said in desperation. But when she looked up, he was focused on something that wasn't her, expression aloof.

"Says the guy that throws himself into danger at every turn," she said dryly.

"That's different," he muttered crossly. "When I get hurt and when you get hurt are two different things."

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. He didn't answer, just grunted something unintelligible as he rubbed the back of his neck. She sighed in defeat, letting her hands hit her thighs. "And anyway, we don't have time for this. I got to get home to pack, and so do yo…" It was then that she saw the magazines scattered from the envelopes. She bent over to pick them up and caught an unwanted glimpse inside one that was splayed with pages open. "Natsu, what's this?"

"Uh, your magazines?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"No, I was asked to give these to you. By Mira."

"Oh," he said, sounding a little anxious. "Well, uh, those are…"

"You know what? I don't want to know." She quickly shoved them in the envelope and pressed them into his chest.

"I-I'm not a pervert!" he protested as she avoided his eyes.

"I didn't say you are."

"You're thinking it! Look, I can explain—"

"No, really, it's alright," she said, putting her hands up to ward him off. He looked like he was caught in a huge internal war as she hurried off, hands over her burning face. I guess Natsu is more sexually aware than I thought, she thought, amazed. Is that a good thing…or a bad thing?

Author's Note - I really do feel like, compared to everything Lucy's been through, an attempted pervert's the least of her problems, especially since she's more than capable of fighting on her own. Just this once though I had her play damsel in distress - please do not burn me at the stake for it. Because it's Lucy, the event seems pretty fast-paced and insignificant, but I want to get back to it one time in Natsu's point of view, especially to show the significance of his lines. p.s. The next story to update after this will be The Iron Maiden after two Zeref-brand eternities! No really I'm going to increase the pace with updates after this, or at least put my best foot forward in an attempt.