Hello my friendly flowers! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
I just wanted to send out a special thanks to all of you who are leaving positive comments on my stories; and an even greater thanks to all of you who were so excited for my return, even after all this time. You're all so sweet and it's keeping my motivation strong. Thank you for being so understanding of and patient with me. I hope I keep writing for many more years to come!
A quick shout out those of you who suggested to post this story on AO3. I took this into consideration and I just might end up doing that once I finally finish it here as well as some other platforms. I've already begun to edit some chapters and I'm happy with the minor changes. I am also happy to read suggestions and ideas from any one of you guys out there which you may have but I will always go with my flow! So thank you all again.
I feel myself becoming a stronger writer every chapter. The joys of allowing my fingers the freedom to type words into the keyboard and transform it into a story accredited to my fascinating brain sometimes even blows me away.
I hope I never give up writing again. It is part of who I am and I get lost in the world of my imagination.
BTW: I did go back to some previous chapters to edit them up a little. Some minor tweaks here and there. I just added and took some things away. Ya know crossed my t's and dotted my i's. After posting this chapter I think I may go back and do a little more editing with just a few other chapters.
I realized that I was pretty sleepy when I posted the previous chapter due to writing all day, and I really should have taken the extra time in the morning, after sleep, to post it. But I was just too excited to get it up and posted. ┌( ಠ‿ಠ)┘ wha'cha gonna do.
Side note: When I write stories I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and can get semi critical of myself when I re-read my stuff. For example; finding spelling errors or words I forgot to delete; like seeing a random 'THE' in the middle of a sentence sitting there all mockingly. I NEED to go back and fix it or it will drive me WILD. In those instances when I do go back I typically end up adding to the story and before I know it 5,000 words becomes 5,500. Whoops. ^^;
Is anyone else like that?
Oh well~ I still love me! (˶ˆᗜˆ˵)
Anyway~
Welcome back to Sexual tension chapter 10!
Enjoy my fellow perverts! (ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Sexual Tension Chapter 10
Natsu and Lucy staggered into the large hotel, fifteen minutes after the others, laughing and joking side by side.
"Did you really do that?" Natsu chortled.
Lucy breathlessly huffed in both amusement and embarrassment. "Don't spend much time thinking about it."
"There you two are." Erza shot up from one of the many wing back chairs in the lobby.
"Erza?" Lucy blinked causing the laughing pair to settle down, straighten up, and give their full attention. "Is something the matter?"
The scarlet red head shook. "No, it's nothing. I was just startled you two didn't enter the hotel behind us; and when I peeked outside you two were no where in sight. After five minutes I got worried."
Lucy felt her eyes soften to the woman's concern. From the moment she met Erza, she always seemed so strong, selfless and kind. Lucy could easily tell when she cared about someone she went to any length to take care of them. Lucy really admired that about her.
"Sorry." Natsu jumped in with an apology before Lucy could. "We stopped for a few minutes up the mountain because Luce here-" He pointed beside him with his thumb. "-was telling me about the time she-"
The pinkette was interrupted by a hard elbow jabbing into his side cutting off his words.
"OOF" He winched, losing his breath, then shot a glare to the blonde. "The hell was that for?!"
Lucy mimicked the man's scowl, shooting him with intense eyes that read. 'that's confidential'
Natsu shifted his weight to one leg closing his mouth, still holding a small scowl on his face.
"Sorry to make you worry." Lucy started in. "I honestly didn't realize how much further a head you and everyone were to us."
Erza's once concerned featured softened into a warm smile. "Well never mind. You two are here and that's what matters. We can all join the others; I insisted they go to movie room while I'd wait here."
"I'd really like to take off all this winter gear first if that's alright." Lucy said slipping off the backpack and holding it off to her side by the handle strap.
"Oh yes, of course." Erza nodded; already stripped down into a basic black long sleeve turtle neck, paired with a dusty, dull red colored skirt with black x patterns, tied together with black stocking and boots.
"Natsu, take her to the hanging room-" she commanded simply, unaware of the rushing heat that she triggered between them. "Then you two can meet up with us."
"Alright." Natsu said calmly even though his heart was beating faster.
Erza walked down one of four main halls, leaving the two strange-friends in the massive lobby, of the ten story hotel, alone. A thick invisible cloud was quick to surround the room, trapping the couple in an awkward yet semi-trilling haze.
The awkward couple watched one another attentively from the corner of their eyes until Natsu finally glances over to say: "The coat room is over near the entrance, just across from the receptionist office." Natsu pointed for better emphasis before leading the way.
Lucy quietly followed behind.
Natsu stood, still in the massive lobby, just outside a medium curved archway, encouraging Lucy to enter on her own first. When she did she was was taken back by the elegant sight.
Although it was a small, six by six walk in closet look like room; it had freshly polished dark walnut wood, one white plush bench in the center, one sleek mirror, and all kinds of coats, suits, and dresses hanging on the walls.
"Wow" Lucy simply said lowering the backpack to the floor, to then work at the zipper of the coat.
Zipping her coat down to about half way, Lucy suddenly stopped. She knitted her brows together peeking down her full chest. Zipped up again then yanked down harder.
What the...?
The zipper...
was stuck?
It's been about half a minute Lucy had been working at her zipper now.
Why won't it come off?
How did it even get stuck?
Maybe she didn't have to unzip it. If she could just take it off like a regular t-shirt then surely that will work. Yeah, she'll do it that way.
Lucy tried to pull her arm out of the sleeve of the jacket, but the jacket refused to let go of her arm.
Okay? Well what if?
Lucy tried to dip into the head of the coat to take it off that way. No good. It was very heavy and it clung too much to her body.
What was she going to do now? How was she supposed to get it off?
Lucy sighed in frustration then all of the sudden widened her eyes at the unexpected thought, sending her heart dropping into her stomach.
Natsu?
As if the man somehow heard Lucy's hesitating thoughts, he peered in, staring at the frozen blonde. "Oi! What's taking so long? Hurry up so I can hang my shit up too." He snarled, the coat, lighter than the rest, draped over his forearm.
Lucy then slowly and sheepishly turned to face the impatient man and forced a stiff smile.
"What?" Natsu asked.
"It's stuck..."
Natsu knitted his brows together. "What's stuck?"
Lucy hesitantly pointed to her chest. "The zipper."
"What? Did you get fatter or something?" Natsu crossed his arms.
"Don't be a jerk!" Lucy scolded. "Could you just help me?"
"Fine" Natsu sighed stepping into the small room with no hesitation.
The closet room seemed to shrink down to half its original size with the two teenagers now occupying most of the space. This was what Natsu was trying to avoid in the first place by allowing Lucy to enter first. But alas, the genuine masculine in him just wouldn't allow him to do nothing when this feminine asked for help. So with that instinctive response Natsu towered over to the blonde and now stood mere inches away from the beautiful woman while his hands took a hold of the zipper resting on her collar bone.
Lucy, instantly feeling a shift in the room, nervously dropped her eyes to the floor somewhere just as Natsu began to pull on her zipper. On the other hand, Natsu felt his stomach clutch feeling the room fill with tension and uncertainty the further the zipper went down.
Lucy unsure what to do with her hands just willed them to stay securely at her side. She swallowed slowly hoping her increasing heart rate would go unnoticed.
It didn't. But it wasn't acknowledged.
Soon, the jacket's zipper, sure enough, got snagged just around Lucy's massive rack. This caused both Natsu and Lucy to tense up and inhale a sharp undetectable breath simultaneously.
As Natsu calmly worked at the stubborn zipper Lucy could feel her breasts beneath the fabric of clothes just barely start to ache with a warm tingling sensation. His hands were so close and yet he didn't touch her.
This brewed up a brand new sensation in the blonde's heart, as fragmented memories of last night graced her with another preview of last night's event, where he did indeed squeeze, pinch, bite, and suck on her bare breasts.
Lucy blushed from the memory just as Natsu at last, with one more hard yank, freed the zipper. He watched the small piece of metal as he pulled it down to it's base, just hair away from the woman's pelvic region; unlatching it from the other side. Natsu remained stoically quiet, dipping his hands into the heavy winter jacket and dragging it down Lucy's delicate shoulders until it fell off and onto the plush bench behind her.
"U-Um Natsu...?" Lucy mumbled a bit surprised by that action.
Natsu's focus remained on his self assigned task. 'Help Lucy remove her clothes. Why? Because she asked him to.'
Natsu grabbed the hems of Lucy's simple white sweater; surprising her more, as he started to lift it up, slightly revealing the last layer of her pink long sleeve underneath. For some reason this triggered goosebumps to ignite all over Lucy's sensitive body and her heart flipped inside of her chest.
"I-I can do this part myself." she stuttered; stopping him with her own tiny hands, just before he pulled the second layer over her breasts.
Natsu's eyes darkened, sucking in a sharp breath, as if stopping him was a mistake, but he demanded this hands to his side anyway.
"T-Thank you" Lucy whispered in the meekest voice she'd ever heard, triggering another small blush.
"Hey Luce" Natsu spoke causally, strolling next to the blonde, down the hall to the movie room.
"Yeah?" Lucy turned her head to the pink haired man.
"I was just wondering."
"Go on." Lucy encouraged.
"Would you-" He paused just to give a shrug. "-want to do something tomorrow?"
Lucy blinked, confusion sweeping across her features. "What do you mean?"
"Ya know-" Natsu glanced at her. "-just you and me."
"What?" Lucy's heart skipped.
"Ya know it's just-" Natsu unpretentiously rubbed the back of his head. "I'm aware of how well you have been getting along with the others- and that's great; I just want to be sure that we get the chance to hang out too."
Lucy gazed quietly the pinkette for a little longer than a minute, feeling a wave of curiosity gently settle in. Did he really wanted to hang out with just her? Lucy then looked forward, focusing on her unsteady heart in her chest. "You want us to hang out alone?"
"The whole point of this was for us to put what happened in the past and focus on being friends."
It's a bit late for that isn't it? After what happened last night Lucy was convinced it would be impossible to be friends with this guy. Lucy wanted to speak but kept her words hidden in her throat.
"I don't want to keep avoiding ya Luce. To pretend that what happened, didn't. Because then when I get around ya I-" Natsu cut himself off, stealing back the blonde's attention.
"You what?"
Natsu scratched the inner corner of his eye. "Nothin. I just wanna work on being friends Luce."
By becoming better friends, all these weird feelings will then go away. That was his logic.
"So do ya wanna do something tomorrow?"
Lucy pondered his words carefully for a while. A day with just her and Natsu?
"Where do you want to go?" She asked, returning her focus to the hallway in front of her.
Natsu went quiet for a moment. "Tomorrow I was planning to go back to lake Zeref."
"Oh? What? You want to go ice skating again?"
Natsu looked at her with a tooth grin. "I want to fish!"
Lucy glanced at the boy, recoiling her head a bit and scrunching her brows together. "You want to go fishing?"
Natsu nodded excited. "Yup!"
"In the middle of winter?"
"Yup!"
"How do you plan on doing that? Lake Zeref is frozen at least five inches deep."
Natsu unbothered replied, "It's not hard. We simply have to break through the ice with an ice auger."
Lucy listened to the man.
"There is a small shop on the way, where I usually rent one."
"Usually? So you've done this before?"
"Yeah, many times! It's mine and my best friend's favorite spot to fish!"
Lucy blinked. "Your best friend?"
Natsu gleefully nodded again. "Yeah! Happy and I go during winter break because he's convinced that the fish there are the tastiest. I personally can't tell the difference. Fish is fish."
Natsu paused briefly, giving Lucy time to process the new information. "Now meat on the other hand!" He drooled at the mere mention of his favorite kind of food; but then swiftly shook the thought out. "Anyway, Happy likes it best, so we go."
"Who's Happy? I don't think I've ever heard you mention him before. Does he go to fairy tail high too?"
Natsu shook his head, becoming slightly annoyed. "No, he used to, but the school won't let him come back to class because he was "too big of a distraction," he mimicked mockingly.
Too big of a distraction? Lucy thought. Was he as big and dumb a prankster as Natsu? Or could he have been worst if he'd been kicked out. Lucy shuttered to herself. Perhaps that was a good thing because who knows what kind of prank Lucy would have been victim to then.
"Why isn't he here with you this year? If you come every year."
"A friend of ours, Wendy, has to travel a bit for school. Happy won't get to see Carla, his girlfriend, for a while because she wants to go with Wendy. So Happy stayed behind to be with her before they both leave."
Lucy placed her hand over her heart. "Oh, that's really sweet actually, and a bit too bad."
"It's fine. I told him I'd bring back some fish."
"I see. Well, I would love to meet this man Happy sometime, since you talk so fondly of him."
Natsu emotionlessly glared at Lucy sending a hot and uncomfortable chill down her spine. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Happy isn't a man." Natsu scolded. "He's a cat."
"A cat!?" Lucy's eyes popped out in shock. "No way!"
"Anyway, that doesn't matter." Natsu brushed off. "So do you want to come?"
Lucy placed her hand under her chin. "Truthfully, while I don't mind it, I'm not very big into fishing." Lucy narrowed her eyes. "But I've never been ice fishing before." Life perked back into her eyes. "It might be fun to tag along, even if only to watch."
"So that's a yes?" Natsu wanted to be sure.
"Sure." She smiled.
"Alright!" Natsu air pumped, feeling a rush of excitement.
The crisp, cool winter breeze danced in the sky that was painted soft pinks and oranges, then gently tapped on the hotel window, whispering a voiceless greeting into a new day.
Erza stirred uncomfortably in the queen sized double bed, as a pale golden light began to seep through the curtains.
Rolling over to her side, the red head blindly reached her hand out to the left side of the bed, but when her hand felt the empty space beside her, she slowly opened her eyes.
"Jellal?" Erza whispered sitting up on the bed to scan the empty room around her.
As if right on cue, the entrance door opened, and in ambled Jellal carrying a twenty four inch black walnut ottoman circle tray. The blue haired man paused for a moment just as the door closed itself; seemingly a bit stunned to see Erza awake. He was hoping to surprise wake her. Nonetheless he calmly made his way over to the bedside table, placing the large tray down.
"Good morning Erza." Jellal greeted contently.
"Morning." Erza straighten up more, taking in the assorted food on the tray before letting her eyes focus on a 4.5 inch green magnetic closure decorative box, with a little yellow ribbon for an elegant touch. "What is all of this?"
"Nothing really." He said modestly, planting a warm kiss on the side of Erza's forehead. "I just felt like making breakfast for you."
Erza gazed over the breakfast foods once more.
The astounding display of freshly made omelets covered in steaming melted cheese, sunny side up eggs over toasted alvacado bread, sausages links, crispy bacon, finished off with freshly squeezed orange juice and heart shaped waffles coated in a light chocolate syrup, layered with fresh strawberries and blueberries took Erza completely by surprise.
"You made all of this?"
"Of course I did."
"How?" She questioned. "I mean where did you find the time, and place to even make all this?"
"Well, I woke up a little early and used a little persuasion with the kitchen staff." He left it at that.
Erza smiled warmly scanning over the foods again. "Wow, I don't even know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything. Just enjoy your meal." Jellal encouraged with a genuine smile.
"Thank you." Erza's eyes fell to the floor of the room.
"Is something the matter?"
"You know, before you came in with this tray, I was stuck in my head and I couldn't sleep anymore."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Erza sighed folding her hands into her lap. "I just can't help but to feel that things are a bit wrong this year."
"What do you mean?" Jellal sat on the edge of the bed listening carefully.
"I just mean, splitting everyone up, letting them choose their own rooms partners, even we're here sharing a room."
"I don't think I'm fully understanding. Are you bothered because we are sharing a room?"
"Not just us. Levy, Gajeel, Lisanna and Bickslow... all of us." Erza tried to explain her concerns. "Should we have been strict about boys with boys and girls with girls, we're all still in high school after all."
Jellal let out a stifled chuckle. "Oh my Erza, you are such a worrier."
Erza blushed. "W-What? N-No! I just- think it may be a little improper that as student body presidents we weren't more attentive to how this played out."
Jellal placed a hand on top of hers, relaxing her a bit. "You're taking this student body president thing a bit too seriously. Those rules apply at school. We're on vacation, let loose a bit. I do understand your concerns, but it isn't our responsibility to parent our friends. They are allowed to make their own choices and decide what they want to do with their lives. We can only watch and guide if they ask us to."
Erza squeezed Jellal's hand. "I just don't want anything to happen to anyone."
"You can't protect them from everything."
The two went silent for a moment and then Jellal suddenly smirked. "And you know- saying anything about this to any of them would only make you a hypocrite."
"What?"
"Remember how out of control we were freshman year? We got scolded so much by Mira; but that didn't stop us, did it? In the end she just gave up trying."
Erza's cheeks flushed to match her hair. "W-Well yeah, but that was- I wasn't- I mean, you weren't- I didn't have the responsibilities on my shoulders like I have now!"
Jellal laughed at her flustered state. "It's okay my love, you don't need to worry about any of this. Let our friends live their own life having fun being young however they choose to. And we will have plenty of our own fun too."
"Hey!" Erza elbowed him in the side making them both break into a fit of soft laughter.
"I suppose you're right." Erza eventually admitted.
"That a girl. It's not your thing to control."
"Thanks for listening to me."
"Thanks for sharing with me."
The couple leaned into one another, pressing their lips into a loving warm kiss.
"Oh! I almost forgot." Jellal grabbed the small box and handed it to his girlfriend. "Here."
"What is it?"
"Open it."
Erza took the box from Jellal and carefully opened it. Once the lid was lifted, Erza's eyes sparkled at the surprise inside. Jellal could only chucked as he watched Erza snatched the fresh piece of strawberry cake out of the box.
"You didn't?!"
"Oh but I did."
"From the August bakery?"
"Freshly made"
Erza squealed excitedly and snagged a fork from the tray beside her.
"Wait" She paused reluctantly. "It's too early for cake."
Jellal shrugged. "So what, live a little. It's your favorite."
Erza beamed brightly and dug her fork into the delicacy. "Thanks for the treat!
Up the snowy, footprinted pathway, Natsu had already finished drilling into the ice, and was now grabbing a sturdy stick he found on his way to the lake.
"What are you going to do with that?" Lucy asked, watching the man attentively.
"I've got'ta make my fishing pole." He answered casually, pulling out a sharp knife from the side pocket of a large polyester Ozark Trail tackle and bait Bag, to smooth some of the rougher edges.
"You make your own fishing pole?
"Of course I do. It's more fun that way!"
After a few minutes of preparation, swift handcrafting, and filling a seven gallon bucket with a bit of water, Natsu dropped his lure hooked with bait into the ice hole, then watched as it sank down. Lucy sitting beside him, on one of the folding arm chairs brought along, watched with equal focus as the bopper now danced with the water's current.
"How long does it usually take you to catch a fish?" Lucy questioned just to make small talk.
"Not long." Natsu replied in a hushed voice. "Right now we're standing in the center of the lake where all the fish like to hang out. This is the best spot to fish, but during the warmer seasons you can't come out here without some type of small row boat or kayak."
"Oh I see." Lucy's eyes scanned over the perimeters of the lake. "Maybe we could eat something while we wait." She suggested.
Natsu glanced sympathetically. "I didn't bring anything."
"Oh? You don't normally eat when you're out here?"
"Well I do. But I usually make a fire and then cook whatever is caught."
"Oh that's nice. Shall I make the fire then?"
"If you wanna. The wood you'd need is scattered amongst the trees on the path here."
"Okay, not a problem." Lucy rose to her feet quickly, momentarily forgetting she was on a thick sheet of ice. Her foot slipped from underneath her and she began to fall. "Whoa!"
"Careful Luce!" Natsu sitting in his own seat, was quick to throw his hand around Lucy's waist steading her where she now stood.
"Phew." Lucy breathed in relief.
Natsu held Lucy as she now towered over him in the chair.
"Thanks, that was close."
"Klutz." Natsu mumbled up at her.
"Don't call me that!" Lucy scolded down to him, locking their eyes together.
The couple paused, slight surprise worn in their features, as they became lost in each others gaze. In almost the same moment, although Lucy's eyes were stuck on Natsu, her awareness was shifting fully to the large hand at her waist.
Lucy's heart began to race inside of her chest as strong urges to close the space more collided into her thoughts.
Natsu blinking slowly, sliding his hand lower, now holding her by the hip. This encouraged a warm shiver through Lucy's entire body.
Lucy took an unsteady breath in, and then stepped away from the Natsu. Feeling an unexpected slap of disappointment when his hand left her body.
"I'll be right back." Lucy said weakly, to which Natsu only nodded quietly.
Lucy sighed heavily, holding a large collection of wood and sticks in all different shapes and sizes.
One of the many sticks in her hand slipped away back onto the ground, causing Lucy to dramatically roll her eyes and groan in frustration. "Seriously?!"
Lucy felt like every step she took she only grew more irritable and angry.
Calm down! Calm down! Calm down!
Her heart was pounding violently in her chest, and her muscles where too tense. Why was she so frustrated?
Lucy inhaled through her noes, trying to release all of the pent up tension she was feeling.
Just as she was staring to calm herself down, a desperate chain of thoughts tugged at her mind and heart, begging her listen to her.
Go back. Go back to Natsu. I need to be near Natsu. I just need to be. He's nowhere in sight. I need to go back to where he is. I need to feel his skin. I need to touch him. I need him to touch me.
Lucy, way too aware of her own body and mind, groaned again, ignoring her frantic thoughts.
Back at the fishing spot Natsu watched the water restlessly, frequently glancing around the lake.
With Lucy now gone, Natsu was forced to sit alone with his own intense awkwardness. This unusual feeling really freaked him out, preventing him from concentrating on the bobber.
"Come on Natsu. Get it together man." He began bouncing his leg impatiently.
Natsu's mind just then unexpectedly flashed a vivid image of Lucy's body, covered in a light pink jacket, standing in perfect view of where he sat. He jumped at the thought, trying to force it away, but the view of her large chest, tiny waste and wide hips lingered longer than he wanted.
Much to his relief Natsu relaxed a bit knowing he wouldn't have to sit with these uneasy feelings for much longer; because as he skimmed the perimeters of the lake for the twentieth time, Lucy was finally in sight carrying the largest pile of wood and sticks he'd seen in a long time.
"I'm back." Lucy announced.
"I see that." Natsu replied super casually; as if he had not one care in the world. "You can just put the wood anywhere, I'll start the fire in as soon as I catch a fish."
Lucy nodded and quietly did as she was told, then sat in the open chair beside Natsu.
The two 'friends' were trilled and relieved to be back in each other's presence, but it was left unspoken. And as the wave of silence creeped in more around the teenagers, a shift in the air was made.
Lucy's full attention was brought to the thickening of the air, and the more she focused on it, the heavier it seemed to become.
Her muscles again began to clench and restrict underneath her sensitive skin, and soon Lucy was mentally aware of muscles in her body that she'd never thought much of, until now.
There were small tingles in her toes and in the tips of her fingers. Tingles going down her spine, through her cheeks, and across her breasts, which triggered a deep ache within her nipples and core.
This tingling sensation was like a current. Making her aware of just how alive she really was. This feeling, like electricity flowing beneath her very skin. It was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
Lucy's heightened awareness of her own body soon made her feel awkward and slightly embarrassed. And to add to the confusing feelings the silence felt deafening.
Lucy shifted uncomfortably in the chair and released her breath that she didn't even know she was holding onto.
Lucy only dared to look, watch, and observe Natsu with her prereferral vision. Was he feeling this odd atmosphere too? Or was it just her?
Natsu was so still and so calm. He seemed simply unmovable, like a handsome statue. He watched the bobber in the water as if it was his one and only sole focus.
Lucy sighed softly to herself and just as she did Natsu's eyes shift sneakily over to the blonde and slithered up her body before returning to the bobber.
"So-" Natsu's deep, unexpected voice made Lucy's heart jump. "Why did you decide to come to fairy tail high?" Natsu randomly asked.
"What?" Lucy blinked caught of guard by the question.
"Why Fairy tail?" He repeated in simpler terms.
"Oh..." Lucy paused, relieved to feel some of the heaviness lighten up. "Well it's a bit of a long story."
Natsu shifted in his chair in silent confirmation that he was ready to listen.
Lucy continues. "After mom died, my father pushed me into a private schools because I guess he figured it would help mold me into a woman; or something like that. And for a while I went along with it. But... I was trapped. Under his control, under his money, under his everything. I needed to be free. And that's when I came across an article about fairy tail high's latest academic appraisal. And I just knew that's where I wanted to be."
Natsu and Lucy shoulder to shoulder walked down the darkened snowy path.
They had been fishing all day and lost track of time due to how effortless and fun their conversations seemed to start flowing. Now with the large bucket full of fish, their tummies full, and still talking about anything and everything that came to mind, they were happily on their way back to the hotel.
"The fish there really were tasty." Lucy mentioned along the way. "I can see why you like to go now."
"Yeah! They're great! They have a fresh sweet and savory natural flavoring to them. I think it's because the lake had such pure spring water."
"Whatever it is, they're delicious and you caught so many." Lucy peeked in the bucket she helped Natsu carry.
"Happy is going to be so excited." Natsu beamed.
Soon the couple arrived at the hotel.
"There is a small rundown shed on the side of the hotel where I'll put all this stuff in for now. It will freeze the fish and keep them cold until we leave."
"Oh, alright. Should I come with you?"
"It's okay, you can wait in the lobby warm up a bit."
"Okay."
Natsu pressed the up button for the elevator and quietly waited beside Lucy.
"Thank you for inviting me today." Lucy spoke softly, keeping her eyes on the grey metallic doors.
Natsu shot over a wide toothy grin. "Yeah! Well, thanks for comin'."
Lucy craned her head over to him. "I have to admit that I had a nice time."
"That's good. People today don't really appreciate the sport of a good fishing trip, I'm glad you can."
Lucy narrowed her eyes a bit shyly. "I want to hang out more."
Natsu's smile faded just a little into a serious tone.
"Just the two of us." she finished.
"Yeah?" Natsu tried not to swallow too hard.
Lucy nodded. "Being around you all today, has made me realize that I could really see us being good friends."
Natsu's cheeks tinted a light shade of pink.
"I knew we could do it." He spoke with a genuine smile.
At last the metal door in front of them beeped and then slid open allowing Lucy to step into the five-person elevator with Natsu tailing close behind. The pinkette pressed the button with the number three and just before the door could close there more random hotel guests joined in the tight space.
Lucy was forced to lean up against the back of the elevator, while Natsu stood directly in front of her with his hand against the wall behind her.
A random man pressed the button with the number two and then settled in the tight space.
Lucy's eyes rested on Natsu's lean and muscular torso. She studied his sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat, left open and untucked, exposing his bare chest. With him standing so close the familiar scent of warm musky, campfire mixed with light cinnamon filled the air around her making her feel a bit light headed.
Why didn't she see this before? Wasn't he cold out there like this?
Without thinking Lucy's hand reached up and touched the chest in front of her.
Oh. It was so warm.
Natsu dropped his attention down to Lucy's hand.
'What are you doing?' Is what he wanted to ask but his words were lost when she looked up at him.
"Sorry." She pulled her hand away with a blush.
Before Natsu could say anything, the doors to the elevator opened, and all three of the guests stepped out onto the second floor; freeing up space, allowing Natsu to step back a bit.
The entrance of silence brought the keen sense of awareness to the empty space all around the pair, bring the familiar shift of a thick and heavy atmosphere.
Why was the elevator suddenly so big?
Lucy nervously peeked back at Natsu, and at the same time Natsu peered down at her, as if he was having the same chain of thoughts.
"Um." Lucy mumbled.
"Yeah?" Natsu whispered attentively.
Just before the elevator fully closed, Natsu and Lucy simultaneously lunged for each other, full force, both frantically binding the body of the other and desperately slamming their lips into one another in a heated passionate kiss.