Realization

His fist hesitated, poised to knock against the navy door for the third time. Maybe he should have sent her a message first before wandering over to her house. Deep sniffs and a disgruntled huff had Natsu tilting his head curiously, if Plue was here and moving around, that must mean Luce was here. So why wasn't she answering the door?

"I guess she's busy," Natsu sighed as he stepped off the tiny porch and wandered back towards the sidewalk. Instead of leaving, he found himself staring at the white brick that made up the front of Lucy's townhouse. All of her windows were closed, curtains drawn but Natsu swore he'd just heard her voice. He stood there a minute longer but heard nothing else. Just as he was turning to leave he heard her voice again, clearer this time.

"Plue? Why are you whining?" At the faint sound, Natsu took another step back and noticed the window near her small balcony was cracked. He could hear her humming so he decided to risk it.

"Luce!" Natsu yelled. He was going to get her attention, "Aye! LUCE!" Still no response so he started hunting for a pebble to throw at her window.

"Natsu?" Lucy's voice, clear and confused, had him jerking his head up. She was leaning out of her window, her hands gripping the iron railing in front of her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the area and was hoping you could help."

"Help with?"

"I'll tell you in a second, open the window and move back!"

"What are you – Natsu wait!" The blonde started but it was too late. The pink-haired man was already shimming up the small tree close to her faux balcony and tumbling through her window.

"I'd been waiting on your doorstep forever. Your neighbors probably think I'm a creep or something."

"You just climbed through my window.."

"Yeah well I didn't think you'd open the door, so I took matters into my own hands," Natsu countered while straightening up from his position on the floor. He underestimated the drop from the window to her floor and landed in a heap. "So, like I was saying earlier, I was hoping…" His words stuck in his throat as he looked at Lucy for the first time since catapulting through her window. Her hair was down and slightly wet, the strands dripping water on the navy blue robe she was holding shut with one hand. Natsu couldn't help but take it all in, his eyes sliding from her mouth down to her bare feet and pink-painted toes before meeting her eyes.

"I was…busy."Lucy huffed, her face tinting peach.

"Am I interrupting?" Natsu felt his face breaking into a smile, unable to stop the teasing note at the sight of her blush. It was fun seeing her so flustered.

"What did you need help with?" Lucy hedged, turning her back on him with a flick of her hair, "I need to finish getting ready, so spill it and then go wait for me downstairs?"

"I actually was hoping you'd help me with-" The wind was knocked from the pink-haired mage's lungs as a blur of white collided with him. A low rumble ended on a swipe of sticky tongue and Natsu was laughing, pushing the mass of fur away from his face. "Hey Plue! Good to see you too bud."

"Focus Natsu," Lucy's voice floated from the bathroom, glass bottles chiming as they tapped against one another.

"Can you help me with studying? For the written portion of my ranking exam," Natsu sighed, eyeballing her bed and the half-closed bathroom door. She wouldn't care if he laid down right? Her bed just looked so soft and he guessed it smelled like her. Before he could stop himself he was kicking off his boots and laying across the soft cream comforter. It felt better than he thought. He groaned, burying his face further into the soft fabric and took a deep breath in.

"Maybe," Lucy hummed, "Are you busy? Do you want to walk with Plue and me to the shop and we can talk about it some more?"

"Yeah sure," Natsu drowsed, shifting over slightly when Plue jumped up next to him. Natsu watched as the large white monster spun around and around before curling up in a tight circle next to him. "What time are we leaving?"

"I don't need to meet Jellal there for another three hours, but I'd like to get some inventory done."

"You need to relax a little," Natsu whined, he couldn't move if he wanted to.

"What do you mean by that? Also, why aren't you going downstairs to wait for me? I told you I need to finish getting dressed. Hey! Natsu are you listening to me?" He continued to ignore her ranting, trying to keep his face straight as her footsteps grew closer. Plue just sighed loudly before seeming to go inanimate. "Why are you lying in my bed?"

"What's the big deal, Luce? It's just me." Natsu managed around a yawn and smiled at the annoyance radiating from her brown eyes.

"The big deal is that I have to get ready and I can't do that with you in the room with me!"

"Why not?"

"B-because…"

"Because…?"

"Natsu!"

"Calm down Luce, I think you should take a break and relax for a little. You work too much." Natsu said with a laugh as he reached for her wrist and pulled her towards the bed. When her expression shifted from annoyed to embarrassed he yanked her hard, shifting himself over so she fell between himself and Plue.

"HEY!"

"Let's take a nap, I'm tired."

"How can you be tired?" Lucy huffed, sitting up while pushing her still-wet hair from her face. "I can't sleep with my hair wet, Natsu. Besides, get out of my bed!"

"Stayed up late attempting to remember monster junk. Come here let me help." He answered, holding out his arms. There was a long pause, punctuated by Plue's occasional snores before Lucy tentatively laid down next to him, her head on his chest. Natsu was happy she couldn't see the look on his face.

"How were you trying to study?" his blonde asked quietly. Her hand slowly came up to fiddle with the fabric of his shirt.

"Hmmm, I thought reading through these monster encyclopedias I borrowed from the Guild library would help, but I got bored. I don't think I retained anything." Natsu replied, He felt warmer whenever Lucy was around; so warm he thought his temperature was higher than normal so he tried to focus it into his hands. Hands that were stroking over her wet hair, his fingers sliding through the damp strands. "I feel like it's hard for me to focus when I'm sitting still sometimes…and have other things on my mind."

"Mmm," was the only reply he got back, not that he minded. He continued to run his hands through her hair and think.