The Morning After
The chirping of nearby birds brought Lucy out of her peaceful slumber and she groggily opened her eyes.
"Wha?" She said sleepily, staring at the surface before her. This pillow looks weird... oh... wait. I remember now. She thought with a blush. There was a thunderstorm and Natsu came over and comforted me and then we fell asleep... Which means that this isn't a weird pillow... it's Natsu! Her mind screamed and she immediately tried jumping backwards to put space between them. She was stopped, however, by something around her waist. Is that...? Lucy slowly tilted her head downwards only to blush, close her eyes and snap her head back up. Natsu's arm... is around my waist... oh god... Once she had calmed down slightly she opened her eyes to find herself looking at Natsu's sleeping face. He's... kinda cute... No! Lucy you can't think like that... he's just your nakama! She thought with a pang in her chest. Sure they had slept together but it wasn't anything intimate... just a friend helping out another friend. Why did that make Lucy so upset? Just then Natsu's eyes fluttered open.
"Oh... hey Luce." He murmured groggily. "What's up?" Lucy blushed but he didn't seem uncomfortable so she answered him with a small giggle.
"The sun, sleepy head." Natsu blushed.
"Sorry... I was up later than normal cause I was... uhm..." He trailed off, unsure as to what to tell the girl in front of him. Staring at you while you slept obviously. His mind pointed out and then he winced. That just made him sound perverted. Lucy, thankfully, hadn't noticed him wince since she was too busy awkwardly twisting her hands with a scarlet blush. Natsu looked down and snickered.
"What?" Lucy demanded. "Is there something on my face?" She asked in a panic, reaching up to cover her face. Her outburst made Natsu's snicker into a full on laugh and he pulled her into a big hug.
"Nah... you're just cute when you do that." He pointed out in a 'duh' manner.
"R-really?" Lucy stuttered, embarrassed. Natsu nodded his head vigorously.
"Yup... really cu- agh!" He said suddenly, face palming himself with one arm still around Lucy.
"What? Are you okay?" Lucy cried out worriedly. Natsu nodded, jumping off the bed. Unfortunately, he had forgotten he was still holding Lucy and the momentum carried her with him. Letting out a shrill yelp Lucy grabbed Natsu and just hoped she wouldn't die. Natsu, realizing his mistake, twisted in midair to cushion their fall and protect Lucy while praying that she wouldn't kill him. With an 'oof' they landed and Natsu braced himself for what was forthcoming.
"Thanks..." Lucy muttered, sitting up. Natsu looked at her and uttered a very sophisticated 'Wha?' to which Lucy laughed and said, "For 'saving' me... I didn't fancy getting crushed." Natsu blushed.
"And I'm sorry too... I forgot I was holding you..." He admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Lucy laughed before turning serious.
"What were you upset about?" Lucy asked, looking at Natsu expectantly.
"Err... I uhh... kinda have to... doErza'slaundrytoday." He said in a rush. Lucy tilted her head to the left.
"Wha?" She asked with bemused expression. "Could you repeat that?"
"I... kinda have to do Erza's laundry today..." Natsu repeated carefully. Lucy gave him a 'wtf' look and asked why. "Gray's out on a mission with Juvia today... Erza usually makes him do stuff like that so... well I'm the only other option... heh..." Lucy sweatdropped and asked, "She makes Gray do her chores?" Natsu nodded.
"And I'm late so she'll kill me and then I'll have to work double time... can you get some ice ready? And possibly a splint too please?" Natsu begged her, crawling over to where she sat. Lucy nodded immediately.
"Absolutely! Ice, a splint... make that four splints just in case, probably some rubbing alcohol, bandages... oh god... I'll probably need to get you a tombstone instead!" Lucy wailed hysterically. "Wait! What am I saying? I'll just go with you! Erza won't kill me right? And I'll cut your workload in half too!" Natsu blanched.
"You sure? I don't know if you can afford two tombstones..." Lucy glared at him.
"I won't need to get one! We'll survive this together... although you are right... I'd go bankrupt! But I'd be dead so it'd be okay. Wait, no! We won't die. I can't afford it so we'll live. It's decided then, let's go to Erza's!" Lucy concluded, standing up and brushing herself off.
"Really? Risking your money for us? Thanks Luce!" Natsu shouted jumping up and giving Lucy a giant bear hug. Lucy grinned and hugged him back but not before yelling, "I am not risking my money! We won't die!"
"THEY LLLLLLLLIIIIIIIKKKKKKEEEEE EACH OTHER!" Happy suddenly screamed, jumping out of Lucy's closet.
"Gah!" Lucy and Natsu shrieked, tumbling to the ground. Lucy, who had managed to gain some semblance of normality, cried out, "NO WE DON'T!" Natsu frowned.
"Sure we do Luce... you're risking your life for me!" Lucy face palmed. "Shut up! It's not like that!" She told him with a pout. Natsu laughed, "Oh... Luce, you're making a cute face again!" Lucy blushed and jumped up, turning away.
"I am not!" She wailed, covering her face. Natsu just laughed while Happy flew around purring, "They llliiiiikkkkkeeeee each other!"
"Oi!" Natsu called out upon noticing the time. Happy and Lucy looked at him.
"What?" They asked simultaneously. Natsu grimaced.
"Erza's laundry!" Lucy scrambled into action.
"Out!" She said, shoving Natsu and Happy out the door. "I'm getting changed! You guys wait in the living room and don't touch anything!" Lucy finished, slamming her door.
"Natsu... Lucy's mean!" Happy wailed. Natsu shushed him, "No she's not... she's helping us at Erza's house today."
"So I don't have to help you anymore?" Happy asked with a large grin. Natsu glared at him.
"You still have to help you damn neko!" Natsu all but shouted. Happy gave Natsu a pout.
"No you're being mean like Lushy... wah!" Happy cried, receiving an, "I heard that you damn neko! And it's Lucy!" from Lucy which made him frown at Natsu.
"See?" Happy prodded with a 'told-you-so' look. Natsu just smacked Happy, which sent the poor exceed flying, and then noticed the absence of his scarf.
"Wha? Where did it go? Wait... it must have fallen off in Lucy's room. I'm going to get my scarf... stay here Happy." Natsu said sternly, walking off towards Lucy's room. Upon reaching her door Natsu gave a firm knock only to watch as the door swung open quickly and silently and too late Natsu remembered the weak latch. A mere second later showed Natsu a once-again-in-her-underwear Lucy and he had a quick nosebleed before averting his eyes and swiftly walking past a gob smacked Lucy to grab his scarf, which he had spied tangled in her blankets. As soon as he had his scarf he gave her a small apology before hurrying out of the room and closing the door before Lucy could kill him. Lucy, on the other hand, was still standing in the middle of her room, frozen on the spot. What just happened? Did Natsu just...? What the hell? And he apologized after? I'm so confused. Concentrate... get dressed and then go do Erza's laundry. There isn't much thinking involved with that.
(^.^) (^.^)
Back in the living room Happy was nursing a bruise from Natsu's smack earlier and Natsu was trying to stop his nosebleed. However, Natsu's efforts were pretty futile as soon as he saw Lucy. Maybe he was just noticing but Lucy was... wow. Today she had decided to wear something more modest than normal which just seemed to enhance her natural beauty. Her outfit consisted of a mid-thigh length, puffed out whited skirt with a light blue sleeveless blouse. As she approached Natsu he realized that she was holding a light blue ribbon in her hand as well.
"Luce, what's up with the ribbon?" Natsu asked with a nod towards said object.
"Oh, thanks for asking. It's for my hair but I can't do it so I was wondering if you'd help." She admitted with a slight blush, fiddling with her fingers awkwardly. Natsu blushed.
"Umm... But I can't really... uhh..." Lucy gave Natsu her best puppy dog eyes and he gave in. I mean, what else could he do? Natsu heaved a sigh.
"Unfair advantage Luce..." He muttered but picked up the ribbon and stepped behind her anyways. Happy snickered and muttered a good bye before snatching a fish from Lucy's fridge and heading to Erza's house.
"Uhh... what do I do with it?" Natsu asked with a slight frown. Lucy just shrugged.
"I don't know... just make it stay up." She replied. Natsu raised his eyebrows but she wasn't saying anything else so he just started playing around with her hair to see what he could do. As soon as she felt Natsu's warm fingers on her head she leaned back slightly, balancing her weight on his chest. Natsu shifted his feet subconsciously to give her some space and continued with her hair. About ten minutes later Lucy was starting to fall asleep and Natsu was just about done.
"There!" He exclaimed, taking a step backwards. Lucy let out a cry and closed her eyes. This time she was sure she'd hit. Instead, once again, she was caught not two seconds later by Natsu.
"Sorry..." They both mumbled, making Lucy blush and Natsu grin. With a quick tug Natsu had Lucy on her feet and they headed out the door.
"Oi!" Natsu called out. "I forgot Happy, gimme a second." And with that he walked back in only to exit ten seconds later with a, "He's gone." Lucy panicked.
"Wait, what? How could he be gone! No! I lost Happy!" Natsu gave her arm a light bump.
"Nah..." He said, sniffing the air. "He left a couple minutes ago... he headed in... that direction!" Natsu exclaimed, pointing towards Fairy Hills. They both looked at each other with a 'we're-screwed' face and took off after Happy.
(^.^) (^.^)
Back at Erza's place Happy had just concluded what he had seen that morning to Erza and was happily munching on a fish from Erza as a thank you gift. Erza, on the other hand, was eating a piece of strawberry cake while wondering how to kill Natsu. He was two hours late! Just then a knocking on the door interrupted Erza's cruel thoughts.
"I'll get it!" Happy yelled, flying over to the door. Erza walked up behind him and gave the person standing there an evil smirk.
"Natsu... glad you could finally make it. Please do come in." Erza said, menace dripping from her words. Natsu shuddered and then something behind him moved.
"Hi Erza-San... Sorry we're late." Erza's jaw dropped.
"Oh yeah... heh heh... did I forget to mention that Lucy would be joining Natsu today?" Happy questioned Erza while flying backwards to hide behind her couch. Erza growled, turned and flung a random object at the exceed who let out an 'oof' before falling unconscious to the floor. Natsu shuddered and Lucy sweatdropped, shuffling behind Natsu. Erza turned back to the frightened mages at her door and looked at Lucy. She gave a small smile when she noticed how the two were standing and said hi to Lucy before rounding on Natsu.
"First of all... you are two hours late! I've been waiting for you since 7:00am this morning! Secondly, you can't force Lucy into helping you, that's not right!" Natsu shrunk down and muttered, "But you force me into helping you..." Erza sent him a glare that said 'shut-up-or-I'll-kill-you' and continued on her rant. "Thirdly, I can't believe you would force yourself upon Lucy! You slept with her and you two aren't dating? What kind of sick pervert are you? You make me sick!" As Erza continued to rain insults down upon Natsu Lucy took a timid step forward, ignoring the hold Natsu had on her wrist.
"Erza-San... please forgive Natsu. It's my fault we're late and I offered to help Natsu, he didn't force me to. Plus it's not the first time we've slept together but those times, just like this time, weren't intimate! So don't plot revenge on Natsu and please don't kill us. We're just here to help you with your laundry, okay? Then we can all go to the guild or something and forget anything ever happened... I hope?" Lucy finished with a weak glare. Erza took a step forwards and Lucy skittered behind Natsu, who was just pushed out of the way by Erza two seconds later, and then Lucy found herself in a rib crushing hug from Erza who seemed to be angry and extremely happy at the same time.
"You were so brave Lucy, good for you! Also... I guess that if you're happy I'm happy but let me know if Natsu ever hurts you and I'll come and crush him!" Erza stated, her chest puffed up in pride, while Lucy sweatdropped and Natsu blanched. "Oh, and Lucy? Don't you ever stand up to me again or I will kill you too." She finished with a sickly sweet smile. Lucy managed to offer Erza a weak smile before she and Natsu were shoved into the house. Lucy gasped.
"This is your Fairy Hills home? It's so... it's huge! How did you... I mean Levy's is only the size of my place and the same goes for everyone else as well... how?" She trailed off, utterly bewildered. Erza gave her a large smile.
"Well, since I am the Titania after all, Master agreed to let me choose my house first and I was also the first one allowed to make renovations so I decided to take the whole right side of the building. You know how it is, a girl needs her space, ne?" Lucy didn't answer, she was too busy drooling over everything. "Anyways," Erza continued with a self satisfied smile. "Here is my laundry room and I expect it all done by three o'clock this afternoon." She declared stopping at a pair of red double doors. With a step forwards and a firm shove, the doors swung open smoothly to reveal a pile of laundry so big that Natsu mistook it for a mountain at first. Lucy was amazed, jealous, and tired all at the same time. Look at all the clothes... sigh. Then there was a high pitched squeal and Lucy dove towards a random pink object.
"Erza! You have one of these? They were only on sale for... three seconds or something! Plus there were only five!" Lucy screamed, scaring Natsu. Erza just chuckled.
"Well of course. And they were only on sale for two seconds and thirty two milliseconds." She told Lucy with a smug grin. "You can have it if you'd like... I've got four others after all. Consider it your payment or something." Erza finished heading towards the doors.
"Hey! What about me? Don't I get paid or something? Erza!" Natsu whined but Erza was already gone. Natsu turned around with a huff. "No fair... what is that thing anyways Luce?" Lucy looked up at him.
"Oh... you know. It's just a sweater by the number one clothes maker in all of Fiore. There were only five made too! To think that Erza could get her hands on five of them... wow. Wait... Erza got five... there were five... how did she? What the hell! Natsu just blinked.
"Girls and their clothes are just so weird... Luce... you're really weird." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Lucy glared at him.
"I am not weird!" She yelled. Natsu shrugged.
"Eh... sure you're not Luce... anyways... we should probably start cleaning now... how come all you girls have so many clothes?" Lucy chose to ignore his last comment and they spent the next five or so hours in a companionable silence.
(^.^) (^.^)
Back in Erza's living room Happy was awaking from his daze as Erza strode back from her laundry room. Upon spying Happy Erza gave a grunt of greeting and sat down to finish off her delicious piece of strawberry cake.
"Erza?" Happy called, clumsily standing up. Erza replied with a glare and a, "What?" Happy shivered.
"Well... maybe... after Lucy and Natsu finish your laundry you could bring them out for ice cream and give me enough time to make it to the guild and tell Mira-Chan... she'll want to know what happened last night. Natsu left in a rush once he found out Lucy had gone and Mira-Chan put on her weird, creepy face." Erza gave Happy a calculating smile. "That's the face!" Happy cried, covering his eyes.
"Well Happy... that's not a bad idea. Go get yourself another fish." Erza announced with a grin. For an idiot, Happy is pretty smart at times... just like Natsu, I'll give them that much. She thought, grabbing herself another slice of cake which she munched thoughtfully.
(^.^) (^.^)
"Wow... and I thought cleaning your place was hard work!" Lucy wheezed, sliding down to the floor. Natsu grinned.
"But we did a pretty good job eh?" He asked, sliding down to lean on her. Lucy groaned.
"Off! I'm hot!" Natsu just laughed, "I can't help you there Luce... unless..." He trailed off thoughtfully. Lucy looked at him.
"Unless what?" She asked apprehensively. Natsu gave her his trademark grin, teeth and all.
"Unless this!" He said, jumping up and grabbing the laundry tub hose. Lucy jumped up.
"DON'T YOU DA-AGH! NATSU!" She shrieked as a stream of cool water hit her in the shoulder. Natsu laughed at her.
"Stand in the middle of the room Luce!" He started. "There's a drain so Erza can't get mad at us!" He finished, jumping up and down in glee. Lucy tried to glare but was enjoying the cool water so it was a really pathetic glare. Realizing that she actually didn't care that she was soaking wet, Lucy walked over to the centre of the room, much to Natsu's surprise. He actually thought she was going to kick him for a second there.
"Fine, but I get to spray you too." She declared, sticking out her tongue.
"But Luce... there's only one hose... what do you want me to do? Just hand it over? No way!" He declared but Lucy ignored him, closing her eyes. The water feels nice. Ugh... water... Juvia's water lock... hmm, I wonder how Juvia's doing with Gray. Hey! The water stopped! She realized, opening her eyes. Natsu was standing in front of her, offering the hose. Lucy giggled.
"You don't know what you're getting into." She stated with a squeeze of the handle. Natsu let out a yelp as the cool water hit him in the forehead.
"Not fair! I didn't hit you in the face!" He cried but Lucy just stuck her tongue out again. "Fine... be that way. Cause now it's on!" Natsu yelled, jumping towards her. Lucy screamed and ran to the other side of the room, all the while keeping the spray of water directed at Natsu. With a large leap Natsu landed behind Lucy and scooped her up, pulling the hose out of her hands. Letting go of the hose Natsu twirled Lucy around and she grabbed his neck yelling, "Put me down!" Natsu just laughed and said, "Erza's coming... you really want me to let go? You'd be on the floor... I'd be above you... we're soaking wet..." Lucy blanched. It would look... well it wouldn't look like what they were doing, that's for sure!
"Just... let me stand on my own two feet and dry this place up! Quickly!" Natsu sighed since the fun was ending but did as she said. When everything was dry and Erza was basically right outside the doors Natsu realized that he and Lucy were still soaking wet.
"Luce, c'mere!" He whispered. Lucy turned towards him.
"Why? And what are we whispering for?" She whispered back. Natsu smirked but they didn't have any time so he just ran over and scooped Lucy up into a hug while kicking his body temperature up a few degrees. In a matter of milliseconds they were both dry but Erza, with her impeccable timing, happened to stride in just then and spotted the two. She lifted an eyebrow.
"So I see Happy was right? I should have guessed as much by the way you two were acting earlier..." Natsu just tilted his head in confusion and Lucy blushed. What exactly were they doing earlier? They both wondered. Erza smirked. Of course those two were too oblivious to notice. "Anyways," She continued. "I guess it's only fair to offer you payment of some sort. Would you like to join me for ice cream?" Happy flew in then.
"Erza!" The blue exceed whined. "I don't want ice cream! I want fish! You're being mean like Lucy! First Natsu and now you! Wah!" Erza sighed dramatically.
"Fine Happy. I won't buy you ice cream. Are you satisfied?" Happy sniffled.
"You didn't have to be so mean about it... but I guess so. I'm going to go to the guild and get Mira-Chan to find me a fish!" He said in a huff, turning around and flying out the door. Just before he vanished from her sight though, he gave Erza a smile and a thumbs up. Erza took in a deep breath and released it slowly. I've done it! I, Erza Scarlet have acted without a flaw! So this is what long awaited victory feels like. Ahh, so satisfying... She was brought out of her thoughts when Lucy quietly cleared her throat.
"Uhm, Erza-San... is our work okay? If so... can we, uhh, go now?" Erza looked around slowly, taking in the fact that she could see the floor and all of her clothes were neatly put away.
"I suppose so." She responded. "Let's go." And, with a crisp turn on her heel, she was off. Lucy followed immediately after, hindered for a second as she realized Natsu had not yet let go, but they were right behind Erza as she exited her house. A few minutes of walking later, they arrived at a quaint café. Lucy ordered a plain vanilla but added coconut shavings at Natsu's urging. Natsu then ordered the new peach and pecan mix with a waffle cone and Erza, of course, ordered a strawberry ice cream with strawberry sprinkles, a strawberry cone and even strawberry syrup. They then began the short trip back to the guild. By the time they arrived at the guild Natsu and Lucy had switched ice creams. Erza chuckled.
"Sure you don't like each other." Natsu and Lucy were too busy finishing off each others ice cream cones to care, or even notice for that matter. With a slight shake of her head Erza shoved open the doors and the trio was immediately surrounded by guild members who were whooping and cheering for Natsu and Lucy. Lucy went an unbelievable wild cherry red and Natsu just stood there. However, the cheers weren't getting quieter so neither of the two could explain what actually happened. Instead of trying to gain their attention Natsu just scooped Lucy up, thankful that they had managed to finish off the ice cream. Lucy shrieked but the guild just got louder, if that's even possible. Then he turned around and hightailed it out of the guild, ignoring Lucy's protests. Eventually the noise from the guild died down and Natsu realized that Lucy had stopped complaining and was just sitting there, snuggled up against his chest, watching the guild fade away to a mere nothing behind them. Upon reaching a large field at the edge of Magnolia Town, he set Lucy down beneath a willow. When she didn't protest or complain he sat down beside her.
"Sorry..." He mumbled, unsure what to do. Lucy shrugged.
"It's okay. You weren't trying to hurt me or anything... you were just trying to get us away from them. But... why didn't you wait till they calmed down so we could explain?" Natsu looked down at her and noticed slight goose bumps on her arms. He gave her a shrug of his own and put an arm around her, pulling her up to his side. She tensed slightly but almost instantly relaxed again, curling up.
"I... I guess I didn't want to say they were wrong..." He admitted with a blush. Lucy stifled a gasp.
"W-what?" She stuttered. Natsu didn't look at her.
"You heard me... I... didn't want to say they were wrong... last night was nice... it felt... well it felt right. I was hoping maybe you would be okay if... uhh... well if we could make that a... permanent thing?" He asked her apprehensively, fearing the worst. This time Lucy didn't bother stifling her gasp.
"R-really?" Natsu nodded.
"I... I think I like you Luce... as in like more than a nakama... or a partner... or even a best friend. I-I think I may l-love you..." He stated, blushing but instead of looking away he turned his head and caught her eye. "So... w-what do you say Luce? Please?" Lucy looked up at him, her eyes shining. With a quick nod of her head she replied, "I-I love you t-too." And then she stretched up and kissed him firmly.
The End!