Lucy was grateful to Natsu for letting her stay with him since her apartment burned down. Of course, it's not going to be easy. She can just imagine the horror that she's going to have to deal with while staying with Natsu. As she sat on the floor of his bedroom, she looked around the place.
"Okay. I'll admit that his place is a lot cleaner than I thought. Probably wants it to look nice so he can get laid." Lucy said. She just sat there since all she had were her short pajamas. Natsu had to get some of the stuff she lost in the fire.
"Lucy! I'm back!" Natsu called.
"Did you get some of the stuff I told you about?!" Lucy called.
"Yeah." Natsu said as he stepped in his room carrying some bags. "I got you a new phone and got it set up with all your contacts. I also got you some clothes. I thought that part would be difficult, but it was actually easy." He walked closer to her, but Lucy held up her hand to stop her.
"I would appreciate it if you kept your distance from me until I get some decent clothes." Lucy said.
"Sheesh. I'm not some creepy stranger that's going to take advantage of you." Natsu said as he set the bags down. "I'm your friend from high school. I'm letting you sleep on my bed while I'm sleeping on the couch."
"I'm hoping the sheets were washed." Lucy said. Natsu groaned with annoyance. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. I just think some ground rules should be set since I'm staying here."
"I get it, Lucy." Natsu said. "You're a single and attractive woman. You women are always keeping your guard up. Boundaries and everything. You just need to lighten up a little."
"Thank you." Lucy said. "You're also right. I really do appreciate you letting me stay here until I get some of the stuff back."
"Speaking of which, I went by your apartment to check out some of the damage." Natsu said. "I actually found a few things that I could salvage that survived the fire."
"You did?!" Lucy said as she was happy to hear that.
"Yeah..." Natsu said as he pulled out a bra, a very seductive looking wine red bra with garnet-colored lining on the cups. "This was one of them. When did you start wearing this?!" He waved it around to tease Lucy and Lucy was getting embarrassed. "How daring of you, Lucy."
"Give me that!" Lucy said as she took it out of his hands. "Hands off, you freaky pervert."
"Relax. I'm just teasing, but I never knew you would wear something like that." Natsu said. "In the meantime, I need to get a workout." He walked over to his closet and removed his shirt. Most women would have been infatuated with his muscles, but Lucy's focus was more on the bruise he had on his back. He got it from when he pushed out of the way from a piece of the ceiling burning down on them.
"Natsu..." Lucy said.
"Yeah?" Natsu said.
"Is your back okay?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. Don't worry about it." Natsu said. "Sometimes, this happens when you're rescuing people from a fire. I'll be okay."
"Well, that's good to hear. I feel terrible you got hurt because of me." Lucy said. Natsu didn't want her to feel bad.
"Come here." Natsu said as he grabbed her by the arm and placed her in his lap and held her tight. "You got nothing to feel bad about. I would have done it all over again for you." Lucy would have been flattered, but she was becoming red because she was uncomfortable with this.
"Hands off, dummy!" Lucy said as she pushed against his face. "There's not enough clothes to make this comfortable!" She was able to break free from his hold.
"Oh! Speaking of clothes, I found something else!" Natsu said as he reached into the bags. "I found the matching thong!" He pulled it out the thong with the sides broke into three.
"Give me that!" Lucy demanded as she snatch it. "Don't go through my stuff like that!"
"It would seem you're bolder than I thought." Natsu said. He teased her, but Lucy took a rolled magazine and smack him in the face for that.
...
The Next Day
Once Lucy got enough stuff, she was able to return to work at the magazine she works for. Lucy was a writer for a couple articles and she was hoping to be more of a writer because of it.
"There you are!" Lucy looked up and saw a dear friend of hers.
"Hi, Levy." Lucy said.
"I've been trying to get a hold of you. I've been worried about you." Levy said. "I heard your apartment caught on fire. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. You remember that friend I have? I told you about him before, I'm sure of it. The fireman that's a little childish?" Lucy said.
"Oh yeah! Natsu! He was the one that saved you?" Levy said.
"He sure was. Natsu might be a little annoying, but he's a good friend. He's there when I really need it." Lucy said. "Anyway, some of my stuff was destroyed in the fire. So until I'm able to get myself back together, Natsu is letting me stay with him."
"Really? I bet there are a lot of girls that would love to be where you are." Levy said.
"Don't get me started." Lucy said. "It's not going to be easy staying with him, but at the same time I've got nowhere else to go. Still, Natsu's being understanding. I'm just not going to fall for any of his games with that womanizer."
"Sounds like you're going to have it rough." Levy said. "If you think you're going to be uncomfortable there, why don't you stay somewhere else?"
"I can't afford to stay in a hotel for a long time and I got nowhere else." Lucy said.
"I see... I offer you to stay at my place, but it's design for one person." Levy said. "What about your father? Wouldn't he be able to help out." That was a tough subject for Lucy.
"My dad...doesn't even know about the fire. I haven't told him yet." Lucy said. "Even if I did, what could he do? He lives on the other side of the country and we never really agreed on much. It looks like Natsu is my best bet."
"I guess when you put it like that, you really have no other choice." Levy said. "You sure you can handle it?"
"It will be fine. I might not like what I see sometimes, but Natsu wouldn't do anything to hurt me." Lucy said. "As long as he keeps his distance, things should be fine."
"Why does he need to keep his distance?" Levy asked with a smirk on her face. "If you and he are just friends, why does he need to keep his distance?"
"What are you insinuating?" Lucy asked as she's not sure she likes what Levy might be thinking.
"Nothing." Levy said as she walked away and left Lucy more annoyed.
...
Natsu
"What up, homies!" Natsu called as entered the fire department and found Sting and Gary in there.
"Hey! There's the lucky dog!" Sting said. "How's it going living with the hot blonde?"
"Sting, please. You should talk about Lucy with a little more respect than that." Gary said.
"Whatever. So how's it going with her?" Sting asked. "How are things at your apartment now that Lucy is staying at your place?"
"Pretty good. She just needs to relax more." Natsu said.
"Well, it might be hard for her to do that." Gary said. "She just went through a fire with the possibility of her about to die. Not to mention that you and she seem to have a hard friendship. She knows you like to sleep around with women. She's probably keeping her guard up so she doesn't end up as your next victim."
"Lucy's my friend. I wouldn't do that to her." Natsu said. He looked around and spotted some brownies on a table. "Sweet. Sweets. Where did these come from?"
"Lisanna actually stopped by earlier." Sting said. "She said they were for you and it was her way of thanking you. She had fun the other night."
"Lucy was right. She's a nice one." Natsu said as he took a brownie and ate one. "So how are things going with the investigation? Do you know what really started the fire back at Lucy's apartment?"
"It looks like some wires that run through the walls of the building broke somehow and the electricity sparked against the building material." Sting said. "Although, something about that doesn't seem right with me."
"Sting, I'm sure that's all it was." Gary said. "No one really found anything else that could have started the fire."
"I guess you're right." Sting said.
"Of course I am. There weren't any casualties and we got the fire under control." Gary said. "Let's just be glad with that."
"Gary's got a point. As long as the people are safe, that's all that really matters." Natsu said as he enjoyed the brownies. "Damn, these are good. Lisanna knows how to bake."
"Lucky dog. You got a girl like Lisanna being sweet on you and you got a hottie like Lucy living with you." Sting said.
"Sting..." Gary said with a disapproving tone.
"Quit being a stick in the mud." Sting said.
"Sting's right, Gary. You need to lighten up yourself." Natsu said. It was then he noticed something with Gary. He had a silver brace on one wrist, but not one on the other. Natsu thought that was weird. "Hey, Gary. Don't you usually have two of those metal bracelets on your wrists?"
"Yeah." Gary said as he held out his arms. "I'm not sure what happened to the other one. It must have fallen off, but I don't know where it went."
"That's too bad. Anyway, Natsu, stop hogging the brownies! Learn to share!" Sting said as the two of them argued about it with Natsu trying to keep him back.
...
Natsu's Apartment
Lucy was the first to arrive back at the apartment. After having a rough few days, she needed a relaxing shower to take some of the edge off. She stepped out of the bathroom and begin to strip out of her clothes and turned on the shower. She let the water roll down her body and was beginning to feel more relaxed.
"Oh man. Between work, fire, and Natsu, this feels really good." Lucy said. "Now let's see what Natsu has." She looked around in his bath products, but didn't really like what she saw. "Doesn't Natsu have anything more soothing? Men..." Lucy just worked with what she got and finished her shower. What Lucy didn't know was that right when her shower was done, Natsu came in.
"Home sweet home." Natsu said as he walked inside. Natsu felt like he needed a shower himself. Without even bothering to check if Lucy or anyone was here, he stripped out of his own clothes. Lucy was still drying herself off and neither was really aware the other was home. Both of them walked for the door, but when Lucy opened it, Natsu walked right into and they both ended up falling on the floor.
"Natsu?" Lucy said.
"Lucy?" Natsu said as they both looked at each other. When Lucy saw all that really kept them apart was her towel, she freaked as she screamed.
"Get off me!" Lucy shouted as she practically pushed him off. "Oh gosh! I can see everything!" She complained as she looked away.
"So what? I can just about see everything too. Nothing I haven't seen before." Natsu said.
"Shut up and just cover yourself!" Lucy said. Natsu reached for a spare towel and wrapped it around his waist. "What were you even doing?"
"I was going to take a shower, but I didn't know you were in here." Natsu said.
"Did you even bother to call?" Lucy said.
"Well, no." Natsu said.
"Next time, be more careful." Lucy said.
"Sorry, but we're friends." Natsu said.
"We're friends, but that doesn't mean it's okay for you to see me like this!" Lucy said. "You need to understand that since I'm staying here, you need to respect some boundaries and don't try anything. We're...We're not like that. Got it?"
"Sorry, but for what's it worth, those look bigger than I remember." Natsu said. "You've really grown into a woman." Lucy didn't really take that well out of embarrassment as she grabbed a bottle of soap and it hit him right in the head. Lucy is beginning to see this might be tougher than she thought. As she realized that, the flames of tension were being fanned and those flames were only going to grow.