Lucy had still welcomed Natsu into her home, hoping to try to explain the situation without any confusion left between the pair. Her home wasn't lavish, a secret lifestyle she had left hidden long behind her. She was quite content with the quaint and minimalistic look she had style…also because it was all she could afford.

Natsu's cat, Happy, had leaped down from his shoulders and strutted into Lucy's apartment as though it was his space as well. He jumped up on a familiar chair and already had cozied himself to fall asleep in seconds. Plue was more interest in Natsu than Happy anyway.

"Hey buddy!" Natsu greeted as he started petting the dog happily. Natsu had always loved Plue, he seemed so much more like a dog person, yet with Happy, their friendship just seemed right between them. Natsu had said he wouldn't want to get a dog that would disrupt Happy's lifestyle, he was way too compassionate about his cat's happiness than his own.

"I think he's missed you." Lucy smiled, letting the pair greet each other as she went to boil the kettle and start making them some drinks. Lucy had a rule: no coffee for Natsu. The fiery persona that he was, was simply too extravagant without caffeine, when they added caffeine into the mix, Natsu was a menace. He was ten times louder and feistier, and after one too many cases where he had drunken the cups of coffee, all of their friend group had joined together and cut him off.

When Lucy had made each of them a simple cup of tea, Natsu joined her in the kitchen, though Plue waddled behind him, eager to stay near them for company.

"So," Natsu began. Lucy started to panic as she had no idea how to remedy what must be going on through his mind, she didn't want him to think she'd been in love with him for years or something along those lines.

"I love our friendship, Natsu." Lucy started, she could even visibly see the raised stress in his shoulders drop as he smiled back at her. Natsu was extremely loyal to his friendship, especially Lucy. It was something Lucy admired about him, she never did feel alone around him.

"I love being your friend too Luce." She couldn't help chuckle lightly, it seemed they were honestly worrying over nothing.

"Come on, tell me about your novel and your plan." She felt more confident now and the pair sat down at the kitchen table as Lucy placed her drink down and watched Natsu gulp away. It was amazing how the hot heat of the drink wasn't burning away at his tongue. Either that or he simply ignored the pain. She would wait for it to cool down, blowing away the steam every few seconds.

"You know my history, I didn't get to grow up and get crushes." She started and Natsu nodded, he was the only one who knew the truth about the Heartfilia name he bore.

"Yeah, it must have been tough, not having a real childhood and getting to be a rebellious teen." She waved her hand at him, as though ushering away the slight sadness and pity there was lingering in his tone.

"Being around you and Gray means I get to experience a lot of rebellion." He grinned at that, Natsu sure knew how to take the group on an adventure. And by adventure, more than half of those trips would get them into trouble, more so if they got caught.

"Childhood crushes are a lot overrated anyway." Lucy hummed as she was unaware of Natsu's childhood. He had always said it was uneventful. He moved to Magnolia when he was young, met Gray and Erza in school and the rest was history. "You've got extreme emotions and hormones and it's all over the top."

"You're extreme and hormonal now too Natsu." He scoffed at her and rolled his eyes, though didn't deny it. "Mira has a little sister, Lisanna and she was the first person I ever had a crush on." What Natsu was saying intrigued Lucy, it was nice to see a softer side of Natsu, he only really showed it when there was something important happening, it was nice to see it casually.

"I thought it was only the two Strauss siblings?" Natsu barely acknowledged this, simply nodded to show he understood.

"Lisanna got ill," Lucy noticed a dark tone surround Natsu, it was apparent by ill he didn't mean just a normal common cold "it was so bad, we nearly lost her."

"Natsu…"

"They moved her outside of Fiore, a place called Edolas, it had better healthcare, so she's still up there so they can still administer constant tests and monitoring. It's good, she's doing well, I think." He seemed unsure himself.

"You haven't tried getting in contact?"

"Oh, I used to, she was up with her brother, he moved up there with her and they have their uncle and aunt as well. Mira keeps in contact, I would ask about her from Mira over the years and eventually one day she told me Lisanna was seeing someone." He seemed to hesitate in finishing his story. "Just seemed a bit pointless keeping a childhood crush alive."

"She was more than that, she was your friend." Natsu and Lucy shared an intimate smile and Lucy got up from her chair to give her friend a hug, it was clear he needed it.

"What about you, first awkward crush?" Natsu pressed, though he was careful not to press too hard as he knew Lucy's father had been strict and she never really got to experience social events outside of her estate.

"The year my mum died." Lucy could see Natsu was going to tell her she didn't have to continue but he stopped him by supporting a proud smile. "My dad held a huge Christmas party, I think neither of us really wanted to be alone. A boy gave me a flower when I was ten and I started crying because I associated flowers with funerals." Natsu gave a sympathetic chuckle to the account, thinking of poor Lucy crying in front of her first admirer, albeit sad, was slightly amusing.

"And this guy was your crush?" Natsu cheered on for her to continue.

"Yeah, I barely remember him or the night, I just remember my dad being mad and throwing the flower away."

"Yeesh."

"Yeesh indeed." Lucy lifted up her mug and Natsu repeated the action as they clicked their cups together, being careful not to spill any liquid remaining. "To being unlucky in love."

"I had a crush on you." Natsu spilled and Lucy felt herself slightly choke on the tea she had begun to drink. "Ah sorry! Wow, that insulting huh?" Lucy swatted away at him and forcefully swallowed the liquid down her throat, coughing a little.

"When?" He asked, curious to when this was.

"Um, when my dad died." Lucy felt herself relive those painful memories. "You were the only one who understood what it felt like. I just looked at you as though you were beyond incredible." Lucy smiled, it was rare for someone to compliment her past her looks on the outside.

"Do you still-?" The question left hanging in the air and part of her was left disappointed when Natsu started shaking his head.

"I guess, it was just clear for me that you were brilliant because you were my best friend." They had known each other for a few years now, not once had Lucy ever regretted being best friends, except when she first met him.

"When we first met, I had a little crush on you." Natsu's eyes widened, clearly not expecting that.

"Really? I had no idea!" He said in surprise, a little too loud as even Happy meowed in annoyance as the sound had woken him up.

"You were this guy who just showed up and took me in and gave me a life here." She smiled fondly at him. "You didn't care about my name, you liked hanging out with me because I was me." He leant back in his chair, please to receive some compliments in return. "Over time, there just wan't any sexual or romantic thoughts there and I realised I just cared about you so much for a different reason."

"'Cuse I was your bestie?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively and Lucy scoffed, but had to agree.

"Yes, because you're my bestie." The two of them laughed together and Natsu slowed down the laughter to confess another thing.

"Lucy, if helping you write a best-selling novel means all I gotta do is take you to a dinner a few times, I'll do it." Lucy was thankful for Natsu, she doubted anyone could have been as selfless as him. "Besides, I once also had a crush on Erza, so you're definitely a lot better than going down that road again." He knew it was coming but hearing the thundering laughter was Lucy was embarrassing. Erza was incredibly strong and easily defeated him in any fight or competition they had, it was obvious he had a little crush on her. He soon realised he was more crushing on her power than her herself.

"Natsu, that's something." She said, her hand raised covering her mouth which was still slightly laughing at the idea of a younger Natsu fancying the red-headed Amazon that was Erza Scarlet.

"Let's move on from that, please." He was begging, and Lucy regretfully agreed, only to help her novel.

"So, I had an idea, the main character had always been a sceptic of love and so this guy says he can make her fall in love with him."

"And this is where I come in?"

"Natsu, I have absolutely no idea what people do on dates, what they talk about, what they feel. I need the experience!" She practical screamed, so frustrated by her lack of knowledge. She had only managed to escape her father's clutches when she was 18, and by law could live away from him. It had been years since then, but she never did look back, even when the rent bills piled in and the work was hard.

"All right, I'll do it, we'll try this dating thing, and when you inevitably fall in love with me, I'll marry you for your money." Natsu laughed and Lucy joined in, though she pounced on him and began swatting at his spikey pink hair. He yelped as he fell back, and Lucy came toppling down onto him and wasn't stopping her swatting actions anytime soon. He grabbed at her arms and attempted to get on top, but Lucy was surprisingly persistent. "Luce! We should at least have dinner before we get this intimate!" He laughed out as he watched her skin turn a peculiar shade of red and she let herself fall to the side, off of him.

"You raise a good point." She pondered, and he made out an audible 'hmm?' sound. "We should establish some rules and boundaries whilst we're doing this."

"A rulebook, nice." He said sarcastically, and he watched as he friend bounced up from the floor and ran to her room to grab a notebook and a pen.

"Firstly, no sex." Lucy didn't have to look at Natsu, she knew he would have a bewildered expression on his face.

"Yeah…ew…sex." Lucy scowled at him as she looked back at him and let herself fall on the couch to begin writing in her notebook on the sofa.

"You know I'm waiting." Natsu nodded, of course best friend meant no secrets, Natsu knew no man had touched her before. He personally didn't think it had anything to do with her wanting to wait, he thought she was just scared. Natsu sat up on the floor and watched her scribble down a few lines. Lucy was timid to most people, being raised to act a certain way had affected just how much she presented her true self. Natsu loved when Lucy shot back remarks at him, he loved their playful nature they had with each other. He also knew the abuse her father had forged into her heart, he respected her internal desire to never let another man hurt her, and for Lucy part of that was sex, something so intimate, she was keeping for herself.

"I know. I was just joking." He got up and lay on the sofa, his legs putting themselves over Lucy's lap, they had done this many times, it was the comfort of their friendship.

"Do you have any rules?" She politely asked him, after all he was half of this relationship. It was only right to go in 50/50.

"Can we not tell people it's fake?" Natsu asked, and Lucy blinked, slightly confused.

"I think if we tell people it's fake, they'll think someone will get feelings and get hurt and try stop it. But, they don't know us." He explained, and Lucy nodded, though this wasn't as important to her, if Natsu didn't want to appear as though they were using each other in some way, she would write the rule down.

"I'd like handholding and hugs, cuddles for cold nights of course." Lucy said, though he knew she was also asking for permission.

"No kissing?" He asked, to him that seemed the most obvious aspect of a relationship. There was something extremely intimate about using your lips to convey feelings which couldn't be said.

"On the cheek and hand is acceptable." Lucy started writing and also added, "And we go even on any bills for dates." Now, Natsu lifted his foot to her face, causing her to squirm to get away from his touch.

"Luce! You're my date! I have to treat you!" He yelled. Lucy knew Natsu would protest, hence why she got to the point before he did and insisted he treat her every step of the way.

"Non-negotiable." He stated firmly, clicking the top of her pen for confirmation. Natsu sat up pand leaned in.

"Is kissing negotiable?" He watched the blush return to her cheeks, Lucy was easy to tease.

"Maybe." She said, clicking the pen again and writing it down. She looked over to him, swallowing a lump in her throat. He looked slightly lost, much like herself. It was odd discussing this.

"Tomorrow I'll take you to dinner." Now Lucy's interest was focused back on Natsu, she was genuinely excited, not only for her novel, but to have some fun.

"As long as you're fine with me paying half." He huffed, looking like he did have something to say, but he didn't voice it. "And you're sleeping on the couch, don't think you're welcome in my bed just because we're going out! The last thing Lucy heard was Natsu's laughter as she slinked back into her room to sleep.