~ One Scandalous Night ~

It was a typical Friday afternoon and students were fast spilling out of their last lectures and tutorials, making their way to the main entrance with more skip in their steps than usual. Like everybody else, Lucy Heartfilia felt the same about Friday afternoons and she briskly weaved through the crowd, cutting across Mavis Garden. But when she briefly looked up from her phone, she abruptly halted her footsteps.

Shit. Natsu. The blonde immediately did a 180 degree turn when she saw the pink-head in the distance and kept walking against the general direction of the crowd. Natsu, on the other hand, had not seen her for he was busy raking fallen autumn leaves into a pile.

As she continued speed-walking away, her mind raced with self-conscious thoughts. Why is he there?! Please tell me he didn't see me!

"…Lucy… …Lucy–"

"WAAH!" Unable to break in time, Lucy rammed straight into Loke.

The strong leo steadily caught her in his arms and broke her fall, saving his princess from yet another episode of public humiliation.

"Are you alright? What were you thinking of so intently? You didn't even hear me calling you."

"Nothing."

Loke didn't believe her for one second. "Here, let's get out of the way first," he manoeuvred through the crowd, gently guiding Lucy off the cobblestone pathway and onto the green lawn.

"Alright, what's wrong?" With one hand on either side of her shoulders, he sternly looked into her eyes, unyielding.

"Nothing! I'm perfectly fine!"

"Uh-huh, yeah right," Loke said. "I haven't even made a move on you today but you're totally flustered already and your eyes keep darting away. I know something's up."

"Alright, alright," Lucy gave in. "But can we have this conversation someplace else?" She wondered if it was just her imagination, but there was a burning sensation at the back of her head and her intuition told her that he was looking.

"Why? Why can't we talk here? It's not like–" Loke's words stopped all of a sudden when he glanced up over her shoulder. He understood straightaway. What's that punk doing there? So when she bumped into me earlier she was fleeing, trying to avoid him? Hmm…

"Is he still bothering you?" Loke's eyes narrowed at Natsu in the distance. At that point, the pink-head shifted his gaze from the back of Lucy's head to Loke and now glared daggers at the orange-haired playboy.

Lucy was frazzled; she didn't know how to lie to Loke and she didn't want to make eye contact with him for more than two seconds lest her eyes gave her away. As such, she didn't realize that Loke had already spotted Natsu and the two of them were engaged in a glaring contest of their own.

"Wha – who? C'mon, let's go to the café or something." Lucy made to walk past him but Loke held her firmly rooted to that spot.

"I'm talking about the guy with the bizarre pink hair who had the balls to openly declare that he's wooing you when he so obviously knows who I am." The steely coldness in Loke's voice was unmissable.

"Erm… not really…? He hasn't bothered me at all in the last 2 days." Ever since he tried to kiss me on Lisanna's death anniversary, she silently added. Maybe he was just messing with me again. Or maybe he's giving up? She didn't know why, but the thought of Natsu leaving her alone from now on made her both relieved and sad. In that moment, she felt stupid for running away from him. If she'd nonchalantly walked past him and ignored him as usual then everything would've been fine. But the thing was she didn't. She didn't and that made her frighteningly aware of how conscious she had grown to be of him.

"Then it's fine." Loke smiled endearingly at her. When he looked up again, he saw that Natsu was still staring at the two of them and this ticked him off. Because you so boldly declared war on me, I'll gladly play along.

"Hey, you wanna go get coffee?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure." Loke's presence had a strange calming effect on her, he made her feel secure, and she soon forgot about Natsu who was somewhat nearby – near enough to see everything yet not quite near enough to hear what they were saying.

"Let's go." Loke put his arm around Lucy's shoulder and walked closely to her as they now headed toward the Starbucks outlet on campus.

The girl complained and shrugged him off, but when Loke's arm slipped down to encircle her waist instead, she shrieked, "What the hell, Loke!"

"Don't shake me off," he said as he moved his arm back around her shoulders. "Or I can't guarantee my hand won't stray from the neutral areas." He playfully whispered near her ear. Lucy didn't try to shake him off again after.

As they walked toward the café, Loke turned his head to look like he was facing Lucy, but from the corner of his eye, he was actually making sure that Natsu was still watching them. And then he made his move.

"Lucy," he called.

"Hm?"

When the blonde turned to face him, Loke smoothly leaned in and ambushed her with a kiss. It was a perfectly executed move that looked effortlessly casual to onlookers and, more importantly, to Natsu. Still with his lips on hers, Loke, with one eye, glared sideways at the one who had now stopped raking leaves, successfully staking his claim on Lucy and telling him to back off.

The pink-haired temp sweeper was unquestionably livid at that sight; he saw everything – from the instant Loke walked off with Lucy to the moment when Loke glared at him. And while he seethed with jealousy, his grip on the rake had subconsciously tightened and then, under the immense pressure of his hands, the long thin stick that was the handle snapped cleanly into two.

Lucy was caught off-guard by Loke's actions but she made no move to push him away. Number one: it wasn't the first time they had kissed nor was it the first time he had kissed her in public. And, number two: with his well-known identity as her boyfriend, he would occasionally do this to ward off potential stalkers and the like. So, really, unless she wanted everybody to start suspecting that their relationship was fake, she would not reject him in public.

When Loke deemed it had been long enough, he pulled away. He gave Natsu one last glance and, in that fleeting exchange of looks, conveyed an absolute warning. Know your place, Natsu Dragneel.

"Let's get out of here," he then said to Lucy. And with his arm protectively around her shoulder the whole time, the two walked off.

When the handle of the rake snapped like a twig in his hands he came to his senses. Or rather, he was dragged to his senses by the looming prospect of…

"WHY YOU LITTLE…!"

Eep! She's back!

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" The redhead who had approached him from behind saw the broken rake and began yelling at the top of her voice. "YOU'RE HERE TO SWEEP LEAVES, NOT BREAK THE GARDENING EQUIPMENT. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW THAT THE RAKE IS BROKEN? PICK THE LEAVES UP WITH YOUR HANDS ONE BY ONE?!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am– I mean, no!" He saw her expression turn even scarier when he said 'yes' and instantly adjusted his response accordingly. "No! I'll buy a new rake! I'll buy ten new rakes for the school!"

"YOU'RE ALREADY BEHIND SCHEDULE AS IT IS AND NOW THIS. THIS WHOLE AREA," Erza gestured wildly with her arms. "WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CLEARED TEN MINUTES AGO. What, I turn my back for ten minutes and you start slacking off?" She grabbed onto his ear and mercilessly pulled him toward her.

"O-Ow, ow, ow! No!"

"OH, so I turn my back and you start rebelling and breaking rakes?!" Her voice went higher towards the end of the sentence.

"No, nooo! It's not like tha- OWW!" He cried out in pain when she twisted his ear.

"GO AND BUY TEN RAKES NOW," she ordered, forcefully shoving him away by his ear. Then in a forebodingly composed tone she said, "Run to the store and buy them back one by one."

"W-Wha…?"

"You heard me – one by one," she repeated herself for emphasis.

"One by one? But th-that's–!" She silenced him with one piercing glare and he meekly complied, "Yes, ma'am…"

"WHY ARE YOU STILL DAWDLING HERE?! GET MOVING!"

"Y-YYES, MA'AM!" Natsu shouted with gusto as he ran off to complete the ten round trips – twenty laps back and forth in total.

"AFTER YOU FINISH BUYING THE RAKES I WANT THE GARDEN LAWN LEAF-FREE, YOU HEAR ME? LEAF-FREE EVEN IF IT TAKES YOU ALL DAMN NIGHT!" She shouted after him.

As Natsu made his escape, he inwardly cursed, she's a demon, that Erza! A demon…!

Lucy spent the rest of the day with Loke and after having late dinner at an Italian restaurant, he sent her home. Being the gentleman that he was, he walked her all the way to the doorstep and watched her go inside before taking his leave. It was half past ten when Lucy got back. She bathed and changed, and finally settled down in the bedroom. She noticed that Juvia was missing but that wasn't her top priority now – after all, that blunette had a tendency to disappear without telling anyone. It almost seemed like a magic trick where she would evaporate into thin air. She could be halfway across the country by now and you would only find out after she returned or updated her status on Facebook, depending on whichever happened first.

Thanks to Loke, Lucy had been able to take her mind off of Natsu for several hours but now that she was all alone… … Wait, now that I think about it, why didn't I see him downstairs?

On Sunday morning, one night after the pipe in the girls' apartment had burst, Gray had complained about how Natsu 'snored like an animal' and how Natsu's body heat had been too 'suffocating'. Natsu, of course, didn't let it go and he complained about how Gray slept in the nude but kept kicking off his blanket throughout the night. The two of them argued over breakfast and eventually, they came to the solution that Natsu would sleep in the living room. But…

He wasn't on the sofa, Lucy recalled. Does that mean he's not home yet? …well, who cares. I'll just do what I always do.

And just like every other night, she lazed around in bed with her laptop, scrolling through social media for a little bit before continuing with her novel for a while.

Never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that, right outside along the corridor, an uneasy teenage male was pacing back and forth. Natsu had just come out of the shower (with only a towel wrapped around his waist) and had wanted to grab some clothes from his room only to discover that the door was closed and Lucy was home. And that night, for many different possible reasons but no definite one, he was hesitant to barge in. For once, he felt apprehensive.

She's back. When did she get back? The door's closed. Should I just go in? He paused in front of the door with one hand reaching out for the doorknob.

No, he swiftly turned on his heel and walked away. What if she's in the middle of changing or something? She'll definitely hate me if I walk in on her changing. Just when we were starting to get a little closer… Maybe I should come back later?

What the hell am I doing? Just get in there already. He turned and walked back to the door again. It's not the first time I've barged in anyway. Besides, it's my room. He reached for the doorknob.

But, his hand paused 2 centimetres away from it. What if she's concentrating really hard on her novel? And if I just waltz in in a towel she's going to scream the house down. He walked away from the door again. Plus, Juvia might be inside too. I dunno, I didn't check earlier.

But wait. I need to get my CLOTHES. He halted midway and looked down at himself. ARGH – what am I doing?! He ruffled his damp hair in frustration. I just want to get some clothes. Why is it so difficult to just enter my own room?!

…Forget it; I'll just steal some from that pervert. With that final decision, Natsu confidently strode over to Gray's room and went in without pausing. The lights were off so he knew that Gray was already asleep. In the dark, he quietly sneaked to the chest of drawers and opened the top one. Then, he let the towel around his waist drop to the floor before randomly grabbing some underwear and putting it on. He put on some track pants as well, and then as he pulled a shirt carelessly over his head, he shut the drawer and turned to leave. He was about to pull the shirt down over his abs but froze on the spot because of what he saw.

Now that he had turned around, he was facing the bed. A sliver of light came through the slightly ajar door and fell perfectly onto it. Because of that Natsu saw that there was more than one person on Gray's bed. He saw that, in bed with that raven-haired male was a certain female with long ocean blue locks, Juvia.

Natsu had no idea what the hell he had just seen. After taking a moment to be stunned, he scuttled out of the room and silently closed the door behind him. Since when did they–? I mean what the heck? Gray, you sly bastard!

And that was when an idea hit him. Natsu knew what to do now. Time for bed.

It was nearing midnight, and now in her pink comfy pajama set of an oversized top and sleep shorts, Lucy was about to turn in. Yet just as she pulled the covers over herself, the door suddenly opened and she sat up in surprise.

"Don't you know how to knock?" The hostility in Lucy's voice was evident.

"No, I don't," Natsu retorted.

She watched as he kicked the door shut behind him and then stood there in a plain black T-shirt and grey track pants, hugging a pillow.

"Well," she said, her tone filled with annoyance. "What do you want?"

"These past few days I've been thinking about us and about what I need to do in order to get closer…"

"Huh?"

"…And," he kept talking. "I've come to the conclusion that we need to sleep together–"

"What?!"

"Not 'sleep together' as in sleep together but sleep sleep together, you know?"

"No, I don't know!"

"And so," he continued despite her protests. "I'm going to sleep in this room tonight."

"No, absolutely not! No way in hell. Just– no!"

"Aww, c'mon, I'll even lend you my arm as a pillow."

"That's not even a deciding factor here! Do you even realize how nonsensical this all sounds?!"

"Really? It makes perfect sense to me though." Then he went on to explain his logic as though it were the most matter-of-fact thing in the world. "Usually people have to go through some sort of scandalous incident together before they can become closer, no? I think we need to get closer, so let's have a scandal!"

"Are you crazy?! Get out of my room!"

"It's my room, you know?"

"Fine, you sleep here then," she said as she got out of his bed. "I'll get out."

As she headed for the door, Natsu threw the pillow down and wrestled her back to the bed using both hands before getting into it with her. Her desperate attempts to break free were rendered futile the second he pinned her down by entwining his legs with hers and locking her arms in an embrace. Lucy, of course, wouldn't go down without a fight; she thrashed about and tried to push him away. Nevertheless, he was a whole lot stronger than her and, with the way he hugged her like a bolster, she was hopelessly and utterly trapped.

"Have you gone mad?! Let go of me!" She yelled as she continued to writhe and squirm in his arms.

But that just made Natsu tighten his hold on her.

"Alright, fine!" The amount of pressure he exerted to keep her down was smothering her. "If you let go of me now, I promise not to shout for Erza!"

"She's not even back yet!"

What?! "LET GO OF ME!" She panicked and struggled even harder.

"If you keep moving around, I can't promise not to do anything else to you!" He threatened. "Just go to sleep!"

And just like a spell had been cast, she instantly quietened down and ceased to struggle. With one of his arms draped around her waist, his torso squashed against her chest, and his face mere inches away from hers, she laid there, motionless, not even daring to breathe. She simply stared at his face, wondering to herself, how did this happen?

At that moment, Natsu's eyes were shut as he pretended to sleep. He could feel her eyes on him, intently studying his facial features, and as much as he loved delving into those lovely brown orbs of hers, he fought the urge to open his eyes so that he would have an excuse to stay with her longer. The seconds ticked by torturously for Natsu as he could feel her bosom moving up and down in time to her breathing. Eventually, he gave in to temptation and slowly peeled open his eyes only to find her staring blankly at him.

He stared back, admiring her faultless beauty and her beautiful brown eyes, and the longer they looked at each other, the more their feelings blossomed. The pulsing mutual attraction had become crystal clear at such precariously close proximity and, in him, a burning desire had awakened. His midnight orbs now gleamed dangerously and that slight change in how he regarded her did not go unnoticed by Lucy. She could tell that he wanted to… that he wanted her so much to the point that it was almost unbearable.

And then he snapped.

Forcefully, Natsu pressed his lips against hers and, shocked by his sudden ferocity, her eyes flew wide open. However, when he so easily broke through her defences like that, Lucy found her resolve waning, and in no time at all, her eyes naturally fluttered shut. When he didn't show any signs of withdrawing, she finally caved in and threw herself into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and running her hands through his soft pink hair.

Searing hot against her skin, Natsu's hand smoothly travelled up along the back of her thigh. He got to her ass and squeezed it hard, eliciting a sharp gasp from the girl. The bad boy took the chance to shove his tongue into her mouth. First, he gently brushed his tongue against hers as though asking for permission to carry on. Then, when she didn't resist, he deepened the kiss.

When she felt his hot tongue against her own, Lucy momentarily forgot to breathe. Her nerves fired wildly, sending a million tingles through her body per second, and it seemed like it was impossible for one human being to feel so many things all at once but when he kissed her like that, she felt everything.

She felt his body urgently pressed against hers, setting her skin on fire. She felt his smouldering heat seep through their clothes, melting all her bones to jelly. And with the non-existent space between them, she felt like her heart might implode in her chest at any moment. The way his tongue teased her made her blood sing and she surrendered to him completely, allowing him to have his way with her. And Natsu damn well took full advantage of the situation.

His tongue was extremely persuasive and it only took a moment before she was kissing him back and grabbing at his hair, desperately trying to match his intensity. This, along with her intoxicating scent, drove Natsu over the edge and he didn't want to stop. But at the rate this was going, he knew it was only a matter of time before all his blood would be rushing down there.

And that was not what he had in mind when he first stepped into this room. So before any of that could happen, he mustered every bit of his willpower to push her away. All too soon for Lucy, the ardent kiss ended. She was panting and Natsu, too, took some time to catch his breath. In the next minute, the silent room filled with nothing but the hushed sound of their heavy breathing.

Out of the blue, Natsu spoke, "I saw you together with that guy today."

Who…? Still recovering from that mind-blowing kiss, she didn't get what he meant right away. All she could think of was his tongue and how freaking sexy his voice sounded.

Her flushed face didn't help ease his lingering urge to pounce on her, so Natsu shifted to put some distance between her and his ravenous self on that king-sized bed. Their locked gaze remained the only form of contact between them.

As he got lost in her cosmic eyes once again, he musingly wondered aloud, "How long will it take to convince you that I'm the one you should be kissing?"

So… how'd you guys find chapter 5?

Before your thoughts start going astray, I'd imagine that Gray was topless but Juvia was fully-clothed so nothing reaaaally happened between them. I think this matter will pop up again in a later chapter, not sure when.

And regarding the location of Layla's grave (somewhat related to the chapter 4), it was moved out of Heartfilia Konzern after Jude went bankrupt in the anime. But seeing as they are not bankrupt in this story, I will still take it as her grave is in the garden of the mansion.

Hope you have enjoyed this chapter! All your reviews, favourites and follows are very encouraging so keep 'em coming! Thank you ^^