AN: See that? I'm really fast actually, when I don't lose my notes. I think I'll be able to finish this story rather quickly if I can keep this up, which I think might not be that hard, since I just love the plot of this. My inner fangirl is just way too much into this story, it's like I can't stop writing it. (I'm actually already at chapter five, but it'd be boring if I updated every day.)

On another note, Natsu and Lucy may both be a little OOC in this story. But I guess that's unavoidable since they're not cannon yet, so please bear with me.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Because I'm certainly not Hiro Mashima, as you might've noticed.

About the Simple Things

Chapter 2: The Thing with Becoming Lovers

- In which there's a symbolic shirt and some magic -

Lucy woke up when she felt a stir in her bed. She drowsily opened her eyes just a bit as the blanket was carefully folded back, vaguely feeling her bed becoming a little lighter than before. There was a pressure on that one plank of her parquet floor that creaked, waking her up entirely as she opened her eyes all the way. Her vision still blurred from sleep, she could only dimly make out Natsu's silhouette, watching in fatigued confusion as he slipped in his pants.

Leisurely sitting up in the bed and rubbing over her eyes, she murmured huskily, "Natsu?"

He flinched a little, turning around to her with an apologetic grin. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Her mind started to clear up bit by bit and Lucy was finally able to realize that she was still naked. Not feeling comfortable with that yet, she quickly covered her breasts with the covers, cheeks coloring a pale shade of pink. She caught Natsu smirking at her actions and scowled half-heartedly at him.

"It's okay," she said.

"I carried you to the bed," he told her with a muffled voice as he wrapped his scarf around his neck, which looked oddly sexy since he was still not wearing a shirt; Lucy quickly stopped herself from drooling. "You fell asleep on the bathroom floor right after we were done."

And suddenly, Lucy's eyes widened, feeling that unpleasant heat creep to her cheeks as all the pieces of the past night came flooding back to her, rushing through her mind with threefold sonic speed; Natsu on top of her, naked, cheeks flushed, his sweaty body pressed against hers, kissing her, sucking and licking, moving, pushing, fast, hard, and oh God.

I had sex with Natsu, she thought appalled. With Natsu, her best friend, of all people. What had she been thinking?

No, right. She hadn't been thinking at all. There had been something magically seductive about him last night, making it unable for her to resist. Even now when she looked at him, it was impossible to see him as Natsu, her silly teammate, because somehow she only ever saw Natsu, the sex god. And the dim moonlight shining through her window directly on his toned muscles didn't really help her state either, if anything it only made it worse.

Lucy didn't even notice that she was gazing longingly at him, until Natsu caught her stare and gave a smug grin, reading her thoughts. She quickly shook her head, looking away with fiery cheeks and nervously playing with the sheets as she cleared her throat.

"Um, so… we kinda…"

"Yup," Natsu said nonchalantly, taking off his scarf again. "Shit, it's not dry yet."

Lucy blinked at him, thoroughly baffled. Did that guy not care at all? Feeling a small sting in her chest at his indifferent reaction, she lowered her head so he wouldn't see how disappointed she was. "Then dry it. You're a fire-mage, idiot."

"Can't do that. What if I burn it by accident? It's too important," he said, tying it around his waist instead.

More important than me? she wanted to ask, but didn't. Really, she completely understood that Igneel's scarf meant a lot to him, but they had just been really intimate with each other, the most intimate you can possibly get, and yet… He didn't seem to be affected by it at all.

She bit her lower lip, brows knitting up. "You going home or something?"

Natsu blinked at her, confused by her quiet voice. "Err, yup. You know, it's probably for the best if I'm there before Happy wakes up. He'll only get worried."

"Ah," was all she managed to say.

"And also, I heard Erza telling Mira that she wanted to stop by your place in the morning. It'd be bad if she saw me here."

Lucy narrowed her eyes, looking down at the sheets. "Yeah," she murmured silently.

Natsu cracked a grin. "So, I'll just go grab my shirt and I'm outta here," he said rather cheerfully, turning around. "I think I left it in the bathroom."

"Is that it?" she heard herself utter, unable to avoid the tremor in her voice.

He spun around in bewilderment, puzzled eyes focused on her flock of golden hair that she had lowered. "… What?"

Her hand closed to a trembling fist as she wrapped her other one around her wrist, squeezing it tightly as she bit her lower lip. Shit, her eyes were starting burn with that painful sensation she desperately tried to suppress. No tears, not here, not now, not in front of him. Not because of something like this. It hurt; yes it really hurt, seeing him so untouched by everything they had shared the past few hours. But she absolutely must not cry.

Because he was not like that. She kept telling herself that. Natsu was not like that.

"You wouldn't do that," she whispered, looking up at him through glassy eyes, a sad smile gracing her face. "Right? You're Natsu. You wouldn't do that to me. You wouldn't do those things if you didn't mean them. You wouldn't pretend nothing special happened."

Natsu's expression was suddenly as solemn as it was the night before, when he had kissed her. "Luce, what are you talking about?"

"You're Natsu," she said once more, forcefully, almost desperate; vaguely wondering if she was really just trying to tell herself all those things. "You wouldn't do that. I mean too much to you. We were too good friends for you to thoughtlessly ruin everything. You wouldn't have ended our friendship just because you were horny."

"I haven't ended our friendship," he said, blankly staring back at her, suddenly feeling a strange sort of fear welling up inside of him. "I'd never do that."

"But you did," said Lucy, smiling sadly at him. "Don't you know, Natsu? We can't be friends anymore after so much happened between us. There's no way we can act like nothing changed. Because everything has."

Natsu was giving her a look so insecure, so uncomprehending and intimidated that she was unable to hold his gaze, looking down at her hands instead that gripped the sheets tightly. And yet, her mouth just wouldn't stop moving and the words just didn't stop pouring out. She couldn't even do anything against it.

"For me anyway, a lot changed. I can't be friends with you anymore, Natsu," she said quietly, somehow finding the courage to look up. "I – I wanna be more. I wanna be more than friends."

What was she saying? What on earth was she saying? Had she actually implied, claimed even, that she wanted a relationship? With Natsu. Natsu, her friend, her teammate; and sex god? It was stupid, and irrational and obviously so not what he wanted to hear. Insecurely, she studied his features, trying to name his expression, but she couldn't. His face was totally unreadable this time and for a moment, Lucy thought that the world would shatter to pieces in front of her.

But then, Natsu surprised her with a reaction she had never bargained for: It started with a little twitching around his mouth, and soon he was grinning at her in utter disbelief, like she just said something incredibly hilarious and foolish. Lucy was so shocked for a second that she couldn't move, let alone say anything, her mouth just hanging open in bafflement.

He let out a small laugh, running a hand through his hair. "You're a freak, Luce." He just couldn't believe how dense the girl could be sometimes.

We're more already, idiot, he thought as he turned to head for the bathroom without another word, leaving the blonde and her state of utter shock alone for a moment.

"What the…" Lucy barely managed to whisper when she found her voice, watching in some sort of dumbstruck daze as Natsu returned just a few heartbeats later, holding his shirt and looking quite pleased.

"Ah good, it's dry," he said rather blithely, smirking at the dumbfounded girl before him as he held the fabric out to her. "Here, put this on. You're gonna catch a cold."

Lucy finally seemed to snap out of her shock, knitting her brows at him for a disappointed scowl and then slapped his outstretched hand away quite violently. "What the hell is this, Natsu? Some fucked-up sort of apology?"

Natsu groaned in exasperation, rolling his eyes. "Just put it on, weirdo," he said rougher than intended, throwing his shirt at her. "And move over, will ya. I'm sleepy now."

Now he had lost her completely. Was that guy plain dumb or did he just need a little encouragement so he would actually shake a leg? Either way, she could only gawk at him in pure bewilderment as he proceeded to take off his scarf and pants, presenting her once again his flame-patterned boxers. Lucy couldn't explain why, but something about this situation had such a paradoxically feeling of security and warmth about it that it made her blush a bit as she squeezed her head through his shirt.

That feeling increased when she was engulfed by his comforting scent the shirt was emitting, serving to let her cheeks burn even more. "You're much weirder than me, super-weirdo."

Natsu grinned at her as she slowly shifted over in her bed to give him some space. Grabbing the cover, he quickly slipped beneath, giving a small sigh as he crossed his arms under his head with closed eyes. As he felt her stare practically scanning him, he cracked one eye open, smirking when he saw her still puzzled looking expression.

"Yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Lucy stared at him in disbelief. "But you said that Erza…"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be gone when she shows up."

"What about Happy then?"

"Eh, I guess he'll survive for another hour," he told her. Smiling smugly, he added, "Don't want me to stay?"

Lucy felt her cheeks color a slight shade of pink. "That's not what I meant…" she mumbled bashfully.

"Then come here." Natsu gave a lopsided smile, spreading one arm to make room for her to lie on his shoulder.

For some reason, she found herself thinking that this had got to be the single most romantic moment in her life. There was something magical about him right now, something she couldn't put into words. The way he was waiting for her to lie in his arms and smiling up at her with that cute grin was enough for her to lose herself in his eyes for a breathtaking moment and just smile warmly down at the picture.

"Err, Luce? My arm's starting to go to sleep," he pointed out.

Lucy surprised herself with a giggle and lay down in his arms, nestling against his shoulder and slinging an arm around his bare chest as he held her in a loose embrace. It was crazy how a simple thing like this could make her feel more content than she ever was before, comparable only to a mother's hug. She gave a relieved sigh as the fingers of his free hand grazed over her arm, pausing at the back of her hand and closing gently around it.

Natsu smiled at her, giving her a fleeting peck on her nose. "But just for another hour, okay?"

"That's more than enough," she whispered.

As she slowly drifted to sleep, Lucy thought that maybe, just maybe, completely unconsciously, they had always been a little more than friends from the very beginning.

tbc