Now that Natsu and Lucy have moved past their problems with living together, it's actually gotten easier. Natsu is doing his best to respect Lucy's boundaries and Lucy isn't giving a hard time so much anymore. Lucy was able to work peacefully now.

"Well, nice to see you're smiling again." Levy said as the two of them had lunch. "I take it things have gotten better between you and Natsu."

"Yeah. A lot better." Lucy said.

"That's good." Levy said. "So are you still working for a place of your own?"

"Yes, but I don't feel like I'm in a hurry to do so anymore." Lucy said. "Things have gone well lately." Levy giggled when she heard Lucy talk like that. "What's that about?"

"It sounds like you're REALLY comfortable there." Levy said.

"Levy, what are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

"Come on, Lucy. You're living with a fireman that is an old friend, might seem like a player, but you get along well and everything." Levy said. "That sounds like the recipe for a romantic story and it ends with happily ever after."

"Hold on! Are you saying Natsu and I would be... No!" Lucy shouted. "Nothing like that is going on! He and I are not like that!"

"Things change. Friends do become lovers." Lucy said.

"No way. He and I have been friends for years and nothing ever really clicked." Lucy said. "Why would something like that change if nothing has happened before?"

"It happens, Lucy." Levy said.

"Maybe in stories, but this is reality." Lucy said and tried to forget the whole thing. She just thought the whole thing was just ridiculous.

...

Natsu's Apartment

Lucy headed back for the apartment, but she couldn't forget everything Levy said. It still bothered her. She's also wondering why she's letting it bother her so much.

"Hey!" Natsu said as he saw her answer.

"Yeah... Hi..." Lucy said.

"Oh man. Someone sounds upset. Why? What did I do this time?" Natsu asked and that got her to snap back to her senses.

"Sorry. It's not you. A friend of mine just said something that's bothering me." Lucy said. "It's nothing. So how about we decided what we're going to do for dinner."

"I was actually thinking we head out to dinner." Natsu said.

"Go out? Are the rest of your fireman buddies coming with us?" Lucy questioned. "Is this another attempt to get with some girls. If you want to sleep with someone, you take it back to her place."

"Very funny." Natsu said. "No, the others aren't coming. I just thought it would be the two of us. We grab a couple drinks and get a nice meal." Lucy had her doubts with what Levy said before, but Lucy also believes that there's nothing going on between them and nothing will. "What do you say? Are you in or not?"

"Sure. I don't see why not." Lucy said and she really doesn't because there is nothing between them. At least that's what she keeps telling herself.

...

The Restaurant

Natsu and Lucy headed for a restaurant. It was pretty casual and laidback. Nothing to fancy, nothing that made it look like it was a date. That's just how Lucy wanted it as she chugged down her beer.

"Take it easy." Natsu said. "It's just dinner. It's not like this is a party. It's only the two of us."

"Sorry." Lucy said.

"Is everything okay? What did your friend say that has got you going?" Natsu asked, but Lucy couldn't really bring herself to say anything. She couldn't tell him that because she's not quite sure what he would think or say and she wasn't so sure she wanted to know.

"It's nothing." Lucy said. "I'm sure it will just blow over by tomorrow. For now, let's just focus on right now and have a nice meal."

"Fine with me. I'm always up for a nice meal." Natsu said.

"Same old Natsu. I remember back in high school, you were like a bottomless pit." Lucy said. "It's actually impressive you're not a boulder at the moment that people need to roll you out of the way."

"Are you saying I'm getting fat?" Natsu said. "If I am, I wouldn't be able to fit in my firefighter pants anymore." Both of them had a good laugh at that. "Be right back. I'm just going to make sure I have enough room for my food." Natsu got up from the table and headed for the restroom.

"Okay. Things are going good. I knew there was nothing between us." Lucy talked out loud. "Not that I think he's a bad guy, but..." Lucy stopped herself as she reached for her beer and chugged it down again until there was nothing left. "Excuse me." She said as she stopped a waitress. "Can I get a refill?"

"In a minute." The waitress said and kept walking. Lucy just sat there and enjoyed herself. When she took a look towards the restrooms, she noticed Natsu was talking to some lady.

"There he goes again." Lucy said as she looked away. "I really hope he takes it back to her place."

"Who takes what to what place?" Lucy was surprised as she saw Natsu came back and had a seat.

"I just saw you talking to that girl. You're not going to try to seduce her or anything?" Lucy asked.

"Give me some credit." Natsu said. "I came here with you. I'm not going to blow you off just for some random girl. I told her I was here with someone and she backed off."

"Don't make it sound like we're on a date." Lucy said. "Natsu, if you want to flirt around with some girl, go right ahead. I bet these last few days have been pretty slow for you since you haven't been able to get in some girl's pants."

"Sometimes I can't believe you would actually say something like that to me." Natsu said. "Lucy, I'm a better guy than you might think. I came here with you and I don't blow off my friends just to sleep with some girl. You mean more to me than that." Lucy felt a little flattered that Natsu would say that, but that doesn't mean anything is going on between them.

"Here you go." The waitress said as she came and brought Lucy her refill.

"I guess I'm just overthinking things." Lucy said as she reached for it. "Let's just try to enjoy the evening." She took another sip of her drink and that's when things got a little out of control.

...

Natsu's Apartment

The both of them went back to their apartment. When they did, Lucy had a little too much to drink. She didn't exactly had a clear head when the two of them got home.

"That was actually a nice dinner." Lucy said.

"How drunk are you?" Natsu asked. "You had about three glasses of beer. Why would you drink that much?"

"I would say I'm at some sort of halfway point between really drunk and still sober." Lucy said. "So maybe I won't get a bad hangover tomorrow. As for why...does it matter?"

"Let's just get you in bed before you do something you'll regret." Natsu said as he helped her into his room and Lucy leaned against him.

"You're a good friend." Lucy said.

"Well, you've always been good to me." Natsu said. When he said that, Lucy got a little anxious and tried to get out of his hold, but Natsu wouldn't let go. "Hey, stop squirming around. What are you doing?"

"Just let me go before something happens." Lucy said.

"What could happen?" Natsu said. As they fought around like that, they ended up tripping on each other's legs. They ended up landing on the bed, but Natsu was right on top of Lucy. That's not all with how they were positioned. Natsu and Lucy accidentally kissed each other when they landed on the bed. This was what Lucy was trying to avoid as she pushed him up.

"What was that?!" Lucy said, but Natsu didn't really answer. He just looked like he was in shock. He moved his hands and placed them against Lucy's face. "Wait."

"No." Natsu said under his breath. He closed the distance between the two of them and kissed Lucy on purpose this time. Lucy didn't know what to think of this. It actually wasn't as bad as she thought, but she wasn't sure if this was a good idea. When Natsu pulled away, he wasn't stopping there. He reached for the buttons of her top and opened it up and Lucy didn't even stop him. She was too caught up in the heat of the moment. Natsu slid his hand under her bra and massaged her breast. Lucy was starting to experience what other women go through with him and his hand alone felt so good.

"Natsu... I... I..." Lucy couldn't find the words because it felt that good, but she tried to resist. "No. This isn't a good idea."

"I say it is." Natsu as he slid his spare hand up her skirt and removed her panties. Lucy wasn't sure if she was ready, but she just went with it as Natsu opened up his pants. Natsu closed the distance again and kissed her again as he moved his pelvis under her skirt. Lucy barely showed any resistance as Natsu pushed himself against her and his tongue in her mouth. Natsu reached up with his hand and grabbed Lucy's. Natsu had them stay like that as he pushed against her at a steady beat and Lucy welcomed it. As Natsu kept pushing against her, he slid his hand that held her breast around her back and undid her bra as he tossed it aside. It might seem nice, but Lucy pulled her thoughts together to have them roll over so that she was on top and pulled away from as she straddled him.

"No. We shouldn't." Lucy said.

"Really?" Natsu said with a grin on his face. "I don't see why not." He reached for her top and tossed that off her as well. He sat up and removed his shirt and tossed it aside. "It might seem wrong to you, but it feels right to me." Natsu kissed her again and held her by the waist so she wouldn't leave. Lucy kept trying to resist, but the feeling was too strong for her.

"No. Natsu, stop." Lucy said, but he kept going as he placed his lips against her neck and he could clearly hear all her moans. Lucy might keep telling him to stop, but Natsu just kept going and it seemed like Lucy was loosing this battle. Lucy still fought back as she pushed Natsu back down on the bed. "We can't."

"Yes we can. You know you want to." Natsu said as he pushed his pelvis up and Lucy could still feel him down there. Natsu kept pushing against her like that and Lucy was going with it again as she sat on him and didn't even try to stop him. No matter how much Lucy want this to stop, she wanted it to keep going as well. Natsu had no problems at all as he slid his hands up and grabbed both of her breasts and kept a firm hold on them and the bouncing movements added to the pleasure in his hands.

"Stop. Who said you could even touch those?" Lucy said.

"Probably the same person that's allowing me to do this." Natsu said. Lucy couldn't take it anymore. It seemed like she was loosing this battle. She couldn't take it with Natsu have a firm hold on her chest and pushing against her from below. Lucy pushed Natsu's arms away and it seemed like she was going to keep resisting. Instead, she gave in to the heat she was feeling and dropped down to kiss him again as the two of them went on. What was once flames and heat of tension has now turned into ones of passion and those flames have just started to burn.