Heyy guys! Sorry for the slightly late update, Uni work ya know? I have been trying hard to get this out today though! So if there are any mistakes (or constructive criticism) you're welcome to let me know! Especially spelling errors as they frustrate me and I kinda rushed getting this chapter out.

Thank you for all your reviews: Especially those of you reviewing multiple chapters (I know it seems a bit wet but your reviews really motivate me to get these chapters out and just make me feel so warm inside ya know!) So thank you again everyone, and I hope you enjoy these two idiots!

Chapter 3 – The Devils in the Details

A yawn escaped Natsu's mouth as he blinked his eyes open, slightly confused to not see his own red bedsheets around him. Not a second later, he realised he was at Lucy's place.

"Shit.." He said under his breath, running his not-trapped hand through his hair. To be honest, it was a common occurrence for him to fall asleep at hers; sometimes he would go so far as to sneak in so they could have an impromptu sleepover. Of course her reaction would always be to 'Lucy' kick him out of bed, or scream at him in embarrassment, but lately she seemed to have calmed down a bit; almost as if she had gotten used to it, or had given up on the thought that he would stop.

Because they had been sitting up and slightly hugging each other, when they eventually fell asleep it was clear they had fallen into a more comfortable position. Both now leaned towards Natsu's 'side of the bed', Lucy on top with him underneath. He was pinned underneath her. The arm that had wormed its way around her shoulders in a protective hug was numb, and he wiggled his fingers to try and get some feeling back into them.

As he tried to shift into a more comfortable position, he noticed a strand of hair had stuck itself on Lucy's lips. He brushed the hair off of her face and let his hand bury itself in her soft hair. His eyes drifted to her soft cheeks, tinted a slight red through heat and covered in her adorable freckles. The familiar scene pulled at his chest and reminded him of the first full night they spent together as best friends.

His thoughts darkened as he remembered that night. If he could turn back time he would've knocked that guy out right then and there. How dare that scumbag lay a single finger- no how dare he even look at her. He was worthless. And he should've shown him that by knocking his fucking teeth out.

But… Lucy was more important and at that point he had to get her somewhere safe. Looking back on it now, if he hadn't done what he did, their friendship wouldn't have deepened and he didn't think he would have the same appreciation for her that he had today.

It was definitely worth the slight awkward morning afterwards.

Even after the events at the club had taken place, both teenagers were still slightly intoxicated and their emotions were still running high. Lucy was still sniffling and calming herself down. Natsu was still shaking with anger. After leading her into his flat and sitting her on the sofa, he made her one of Gray's fancy teas. She mentioned liking them, and somehow in his state he managed to remember that.

Lucy admitted she would rather stay over at his tonight, than chance walking back to hers in case she bumped into him or any of his friends. Natsu agreed with her, seeing her break down and cry really threw him off. She was always so… happy? Seeing her cry made the world feel like it was off balance, and he hated it. Before he could linger on why he hated it though, Lucy's voice, scratchy from the crying broke through his thoughts.

"Umm.. do you have any pyjamas that might fit me? I don't really want to sleep in this.. it's kinda uncomfortable.."

He thought about this for a second, he probably had some spare clothes she could borrow.

"Why wear it then?" He asked whilst heading towards the door.

"Because.. it looks pretty? I don't know.." She visibly deflated a bit. Why did she wear the outfit? Even she had to admit the skirt had been digging in a little bit, and the heels were biting her toes.

Natsu had paused in the doorway, looking at her

"You look pretty without the outfit dummy." Natsu said his lips loosened through alcohol. He thought she knew that. How could she not? It wasn't like he was blind; even he knew why his best friend was so popular with the guys.

"Yeah, I'm the dummy.." Lucy whispered to herself as he walked out the room and up the stairs, feeling the familiar rush of heat over her cheeks. Surely it was only from the jaeger-bombs they had earlier right?

Gods.

His room was a state.

There were multiple piles of clothes covering the length of his floor and the notes from his lectures were thrown about the room, no doubt when he grabbed his stuff in a rush to go to pres earlier. As he stepped over the other things he stacked up in his room, he came to one of the clothes piles and found an old shirt. Giving it a quick sniff to make sure it didn't smell too bad, and grabbing the only pair of pyjama bottoms he had actually brought with him to uni, he made his way back downstairs.

Lucy was patiently waiting for him when he returned, and she quickly changed in the bathroom nearby stepping back into the living room with her clothes in her arms.

Oh.

Natsu stopped for a moment to see her come in the room in his clothes. They looked surprising good on her. She had taken her hair down from its fancy plaited updo, and it now fell over her shoulders and framed her face. The puffiness and the blotchy red areas around her eyes were the only thing giving away what had transpired that night.

"I had to roll up the trousers as they're a bit long," She paused and he saw a smug smile making its way onto her face, "Loving the dragons on them though." After placing her clothes on the other sofa, she made her way back over to sit down next to him. As soon as her butt grazed the sofa, she was pulled into a tight hug.

"Sorry for not getting there sooner Luce." He breathed into her neck as his arms tightened slightly around her. She tucked her head into the nape of his neck and let out a shaky breath, pulling away to meet his gaze.

"Oi," She started softly, "you still got there didn't you?"

He nodded joining their foreheads together and sighed softly, warm breath fanned over her face. It still smelt vaguely of the beer he had been drinking earlier that night.

When they eventually pulled apart his arm stayed protectively wrapped around her and they began to lazily chat about things, both trying to use the idle chatter as a distraction. Since they were still slightly drunk their giggles filled the room at the most ridiculous of comments.

Natsu had begun to start another joke when he felt Lucy's head loll onto his shoulder. She had fallen asleep. He tried to remove his arm from underneath her head, but as soon as he shifted she leaned further into him so he gave up. Liking how comfortable he felt in this situation he decided to stay put and pull the blanket up over her.

The alcohol haze still present in his head didn't allow him to stay awake for much longer. He took one last look at Lucy's sleeping face, a curtain of blonde hair covering her left eye. Brushing it behind her ear with his free hand, he realised just how much she meant to him, though it could've been the alcohol thinking. That was the last thought he had before drifting off to sleep.

CU-CHCK.

A flash filled the room, and startled Natsu awake. His eyes blew open and he jerked up causing a pang of pain to ricochet through his head. (Ugh why had he drank so much..)

"You look like shit."

Natsu didn't need to look up to know that his flatmate Gray had been the one to comment. He had forgotten that Gray would come home last night, and that he had an ungodly ability to wake up early in the morning even after a heavy night of drinking.

"Thanks asshole."

He looked up to see him with his camera in his hands. Stupid Photography major. Whilst trying to sit up to relieve the tension in his head, he realised he was still pinned to the sofa under Lucy's weight. Due to his squirming, a soft groan came from Lucy and she groggily opened her eyes and tried to sit up.

After unknowingly rubbing the rest of her mascara around her eyes, she blinked them open and jumped back slightly when realising where she was. Once the initial shock wore off, she shared a smile with Natsu trying to convey her thanks for letting her stay over.

"Looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake then?" Gray said from the kitchen, turning on the hob and pouring in some mixture he just whipped up.

"Holy shit Gray.. wait.. are those… pancakes?" Lucy was very easily distracted in the morning, and when she was hungry. She practically climbed over Natsu, who was still holding his head, to stand by Gray and wait to steal one of them off of him.

Gray laughed, passing the first one to her on a plate, and told her how he'd found them when he got in last night. All snuggled up on the sofa, Natsu with his arm around her and Lucy tucked under it. She ate the pancakes, complimenting his cooking skills, and grabbed her stuff as Levy had driven her car round to pick Lucy up. She gave Natsu a quick goodbye hug, giving him a glass of water to help his head, and she was gone.

"I've got some great photos. You're practically drooling in her hair in some of them." And so the teasing for Natsu began.

Lucy mumbled something intelligible in her sleep, knocking Natsu out of his hazy memory as she nuzzled further into his neck. Her hand found its way to softly rest on his chest, making lazy circles with her thumb seemingly unconsciously. Natsu's own arm automatically squeezed her a bit closer as his chest warmed at her actions; even if she wasn't doing it purposefully.

Her light curtains barely kept the early morning light out, so how she could manage to sleep in a room filled with light he would never know. The soft sunbeams illuminated her hair, giving it a golden sheen and even though he could see sleep in her eyes, and dark circles under them, he could also see the way her blonde lashes clumped together and the delicate sprinkle of freckles she had over her cheeks.

… So he may have a little crush on his best friend.

Honestly? He hadn't even known it himself until recently, though he supposed it would explain the strange familial feelings he had always felt around her.

He was comfortable with her, and though his heart felt like it stopped when she gave him that lazy smile, it simultaneously felt like it would never stop beating. Not that he would ever tell her that, he didn't think he was even able to describe his own feelings, he never had a way with words like she seemed to. Their friendship was clearly very strong if it elicited such reactions from him. Maybe this is what a real best friendship should feel like?

In the beginning he had quickly shut down anyone's opinion that he felt more than friendship for the blonde. He didn't see it, so he was sometimes a little protective of her, so what? She was important to him. All of his friends were. And not only that, but Natsu was actually her first friend at University.

However once he began to realise his feelings, he never really answered people's questions and just feigned ignorance. He would be damned if he lost her because he made her uncomfortable with his stupid feelings. She was so nervous around anything regarding that topic, so he avoided it for her.

He cherished her too much to make her uncomfortable.

And it wasn't like he had fully accepted it. He was hoping it was just 'best friend' feelings caught up in the want for something else. He wasn't in love with her or anything. Just appreciated her.

So he would like her silently, would protect her fiercely as any good best friend would, and would try to keep anyone who wasn't good enough away from her.

Natsu sighed.

He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the ceiling to laugh humourlessly.

He couldn't believe his situation.

He would get to be her boyfriend, but it would be fake. He didn't know why the first part filled him with such warmth, and the second with such fear. This would expose him to everything he didn't even know that he wanted and it would be ripped from his grasp before he even realised what was happening.

But he wouldn't change the weird feelings he had for the world. Not if it helped her. Not if it made her happy. He knew how lonely Lucy had been last Christmas, everyone her age had coupled up in the last few years leaving her as an awkward 5th wheel, and she didn't exactly have the best relationship with her dad.

To be honest, she spent most of the trip facetiming Natsu when he could answer and complaining about being miserable. If she was happy doing this, then so be it. Cruel as fate was he wasn't going to dismiss this opportunity.

He would be the best damn fake boyfriend the world had ever seen.

He would treat her exactly how she deserved to be treated and not an ounce less, because she deserved to see at least that. Then maybe he wouldn't have to scare away the next guy that thought he was worthy of her attention.

Lucy let out a soft sigh as she stirred, jolting Natsu's hand away from her head where it had been resting as he did his best to look as surprised as her when she saw their position.

After profusely apologising for squashing him, she jumped out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. A shout from the kitchen asking about breakfast was all Natsu needed to prompt him to get out of bed.

There was a plate on the table with heated up pizza, and Lucy was already cooking pancakes on the hob.

"I know they won't be as good as Gray's legendary pancakes but I think mine are okay?" She started pouring the mixture into the pan, and before it could harden completely Natsu grabbed some chocolate chips from her baking cupboard and almost poured all of them onto the one pancake.

"Oops?" He grinned, taking a step back from the hob.

Lucy's eye twitched slightly, but luckily for him she just sighed, apparently it was too early for her to deal with his ridiculousness. So she just poured some more pancake mix on top and waited for the chocolatey mess to cook through, dumping it on a plate for him.

Bar one slice, the pizza on the table had been scoffed by Natsu, and Lucy finished it off when she finished cooking the rest of the pancakes, chocolate chips now used sparingly.

"Oh so did we ever decide on some of the details?" Lucy started, whilst picking up much of the rubbish that had founds it way in and around her bed from last night.

"Details for what?" Natsu started as he grabbed his own stuff, shoving it into his bag, ready for the walk back to his flat. Lucy rolled her eyes at his question, they were literally talking about this yesterday.

"How long our 'relationship' had been going on for? Who asked who out? Ya-"

"Well obviously I will have asked you out." Natsu interrupted Lucy before she could continue with the examples.

"What? Why obviously?" She inquired, now packing her own bag full of essential library supplies, like her laptop, notebook, and copious amounts of snacks.

"I don't want your dad to think I'm a wet wipe who couldn't man up and ask a girl out!" Natsu emphasised by whipping round to face her and throwing his arms about.

"Wow, Natsu that's so sexist, you saying girls can't ask guys out?" Lucy cocked her head to the side, and held a hand on her hip; practically begging him to agree with her so she could run and tell Erza. Of course Natsu tried to backtrack immediately. She knew that's not what he meant and now she was just messing with him. Getting his varsity jacket on, and slinging his bag over one shoulder he tried to explain.

"No, I'm just saying I don't want your dad to think that of me. Need to make a good impression ya know?" He said thoughtfully for once, walking towards her front door.

"Why does it matter anyways? It's not like it's real." Lucy said with a shrug, whilst grabbing her coat and walking ahead of him.

Natsu stopped in his tracks. Ouch.

He knew that was the truth, but damn why did it hurt to hear her say it so casually like that? Like she just brushed him off without a second thought. Taking a deep, and somehow actually painful, breath he forced a laugh and carried on walking towards her, too busy caught in his own whirlwind of emotions to notice the slight sad expression that crawled onto her face momentarily.

"Still my first time meeting him though." Natsu replied, a little less enthusiastic than before. If Lucy noticed she didn't say anything about it just continued.

"Okay, so you asked me out then, any specifics or do you want to make it up?"

"I'll make it up."

"Okay," She ushered him out the door as she locked it behind them and they made their way down the stairs. "So then how long have we been going out for?"

"Hmmm… a few months?"

"Okay, awesome, and hmm is there anything else we need to know? We have a few weeks left so we can just chat about it closer to the time."

"Can't immediately think of anything else?"

"Nice," She whipped out her phone to call her dad and confirm, but before dialling the number she turned to Natsu. Her eyes held hesitation. "Are you sure you don't mind doing this? If you don't want to I can ask someone els-"

"NO! Uhh no, I don't mind," Natsu interrupted pretty quickly, not liking the thought of anyone else pretending to be with her. "I've never been skiing before, it sounds fun." He turned away, the tops of his ears growing slightly pinker than before.

"Okaayy, if you're sure pinkie.." Lucy dialled her dad's number and told him about her bringing a boyfriend. Natsu just about shivered upon hearing her call him that over the phone, but did his best to hide it. He would try and figure out his strange reactions when home.

Once they arrived to his flat, which was pretty quick considering she only lived round the corner, he waved a slight goodbye and practically ran inside, only watching her leave through the slight window in the door.

"You're a dumbass, you know that right?"

Natsu almost jumped 3 feet in the air, before realising the voice belonged to his stupid flatmate, Gray. He decided to feign ignorance.

"What you talkin' about ice bitch?"

"Natsu I could hear her on the phone, also Levy told me." Ah shit.. so he knew the truth. He could just tell he was about to get chewed out. "You're pretending to be her boyfriend?" The raven haired boy continued as Natsu pushed past and got to his room.

"Yeah so what? She wants a friend on holiday with her." Natsu tried explaining knowing his efforts would be fruitless.

"What do you mean so what? You're basically in love with the girl!"

Natsu spluttered, as he tried to come up with an excuse, mumbling something about best friends and friendship rules.

"Come ON, Natsu," Damn. Gray had actually used his name rather than one of the meaner nicknames they continually called one another. "You've liked her for ages. Literally since the first year of Uni."

He began to question Gray, when? Why? How?

"Dude, come on, I flirted with her at our party? The one you were completely smashed at? You basically sat on top of us both just to stake your claim on her? It's gotta be at least since then right?"

Natsu leaned against the wall behind him.

"Right?" He probed a little further.

Natsu didn't know when. He didn't know when she had become such an important person in his life, but that definitely sounded like something he would've done, not that he actually remembers that night all that much.

Gray smirked as he thought of his next words to say. He would provoke him, not that it was hard, but it was the easiest way to get a genuine answer out of the blockhead.

"Honestly I'm surprised you haven't tried to make out with her whilst you've been drunk, you're not exactly good at hiding your emotions when fucked."

Natsu shoved Gray backwards; offended he would even suggest such a thing.

"Shut up, I wouldn't force myself on her like that.." Gray took it in his stride and looked at him with something… almost soft in his eyes.

"You really like her, don't you." It wasn't a question. Gray was just trying to confirm something that he already knew. Natsu's eyes widened and he looked to his flatmate dead in the eyes.

"Shit.. maybe this is a bad idea…"

Well well, looks like our little Natsu's had a bit of a revalation. (I hope the continuation in this makes sense? If it doesn't please let me know and I'll definitely tweak it) I've been spending so much time looking at writing on my laptop for an essay I have coming up that my brains sorta fried!

Please review if you like, or to ask questions, I shall try to update at the end of the next chapter. Till then, enjoy reading, writing and being yourself :)