Author's Note/Disclaimer: Whew! This was a beast of a chapter but, after all this time, I have completed a bonus chapter by popular demand! To be honest, I was thoroughly surprised (and pleased, of course!) that everyone liked it so much! I'm really thankful to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story because you all motivated me to finish this bonus chapter. Anyway, enough of my rambling. I hope you all enjoy and that it satisfies your cravings for more NaLu. I apologize if they seem too OOC. The characters in this fanfiction belong to Hiro Mashima.

The next morning, Natsu woke up not knowing where he was. Feeling disoriented, he sat up and blinked in the sunlight, the start of a killer hangover pounding behind his eyes. Wincing, he went to put a hand on his head, but found it was weighed down. Curious, the dragonslayer looked down at his trapped hand, instead finding Lucy asleep on top of it. He rose his head and looked around again, noticing they were on her bedroom floor. But, why? She had a perfectly good bed right over there! And where was Happy?

Natsu's attention was drawn to Lucy when she muttered quietly, turning just in time to see a small smile spread across her face. Well, that's cute. But he still needed to figure out why they were on the floor.

A flash of memory showed him sticking his face in Lucy's neck. His face immediately matched his hair as more and more broken images of him repeating the action began flooding his mind. When in hell had he done that? More memories showed him-oh, shit. He had licked her? Why the hell had he done that? Frantically, he looked back down at Lucy, breathing a sigh of relief that her clothes were still on, despite being a bit wrinkled from sleeping on the floor.

Taking deep breaths, he tried calming his nerves. Obviously, he had overstepped the line last night. Now, don't get confused: he is a little pleased that imbibing in the alcohol had given him the courage he so desperately needed, but he would have liked to have been sober for it.

Lucy shifted and mumbled in her sleep again, causing his attention to shift. What if she didn't want to be friends anymore? No, wait, that wouldn't make sense if she hadn't kicked him out yet. Still, the intrusive thought hurt, more than any physical attack could have.

Perhaps sensing his inner turmoil, the stellar spirit mage woke, blinking at the sunlight in much the same way he had. After looking around a bit, she turned her head to Natsu and gave a sunny grin. He felt his heart stop, then beat double-time as his face heated. As she sat up, Natsu removed his hand from under her, placing it in his lap and looking pointedly at the floor, waiting for the inevitable.

"Morning, Natsu," she chirped, standing to stretch out the kinks that came with sleeping on the floor. He mumbled a halfhearted "morning" as he watched her stretch with interest, fascinated by how her back arched when she stood on her tiptoes and reached upwards, then by the curve of her backside when she reached for her toes. He gulped, hoping she wouldn't turn and scold him for being a pervert as he watched. It was her fault, anyway. Did she have to stretch in front of him like that? Did she even know what she was doing to him?

Standing slowly, she rolled her shoulders back and stretched out her arms to either side. She sighed in relief, then turned to face him, causing the dragonslayer to rear back slightly, face still bright red. Instead of kicking him, she smiled and happily informed him she was going to go take a shower, walking in the direction of the bathroom.

At this point, Natsu was beyond confused. She had yet to kick him out of her apartment (not that he was complaining), she was beaming at him as if nothing happened (while something very obviously did), and, for the love of Mavis, they woke up on the floor! She could have at least yelled at him, if for not being an outright pervert, then for being in her apartment like she usually did. Unless…unless Lucy had also been drunk? Maybe she didn't remember anything! That made so much more sense! He smiled to himself, happy none of his actions had been remembered. There was nothing he wanted more than to tell her how he felt about her, of course, but he wanted to make it perfect, and not some drunken slur.

After determining what he felt was the obvious answer, he stood and made his way to her bed, fully intent on getting comfortable after a night on the floor. Just as he was about to lay down, Lucy walked out of the bathroom – in nothing but a fluffy, white towel. Holy shit, was she trying to kill him? Her pretty face was drawn downwards in a frown as she meandered to her dresser, seemingly confused as to why she hadn't brought her clothes into the bathroom as she usually did. He sure as hell wasn't complaining. Keeping up his oblivious friend act, however, was tough when said friend was beautiful, scantily clad in nothing but a towel, and smelled absolutely amazing. There was nothing he wanted more than to-

"Hey, Natsu." Lucy snapped her fingers in his face, causing him to look down at her. He gulped again, watching the excess water droplets trail down her neck to her chest before disappearing into her towel, before looking back up at her concerned face. She placed a hand on his forehead, then pushed him backwards onto her mattress. "You aren't looking too good. You had a lot to drink, so you should probably lay down. I'll get you a glass of water when I'm dressed, okay?" She smiled gently at him, pressing onto his shoulder until he laid back onto her bed.

Once she turned away, he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. It had to be criminal to look as good as she did in nothing but a towel. The fact that he knew damn well what was under that towel did not help matters. As soon as she picked out her clothes, she passed him on her way back to the bathroom to change, creating another wave of her scent mixed with whatever soap she used. He could have tried to describe it, but it wouldn't do Lucy justice. It was entirely unique to her.

Once she had closed the bathroom door, the hangover decided to make itself known again, pounding away at his head. He laid on his back with an arm over his face, blocking out the light. Exactly how much had he had to drink last night? All he remembered was Mira's seemingly-innocent smile as she poured him mug after mug of his favorite fire whiskey, then he woke up in Lucy's apartment, on her floor with her in his arms. Besides the scant memories of him assaulting Lucy's neck, he couldn't remember anything else.

Speaking of the stellar mage, she practically skipped out of her bathroom to her kitchen – in clothes as skimpy as her towel. But he didn't mind in the slightest. He did wonder what she was so cheery about, though…

"Here you are, Natsu. Drink up!" She proffered him a full glass of water, making him realize just how thirsty he actually was. He croaked out a "thank you" and downed the glass, feeling marginally better. Holding it out to her for more, she simply smiled and sauntered back to the kitchen. He watched her go, especially interested in the way her skirt swung back and forth as she walked. It never really was fair that she wore the things.

Breaking him from his thoughts, she came back out with another glass of water. He downed that one as well, completely ridding himself of that dry mouth feeling. She was staring at him and smiling, which he decided was weird, and called her on it. "Why are you being so weird today, Luce?" For once, she wasn't offended and shook her head at him, still with that grin on her face.

"Do you remember anything from last night, Natsu?" Oh shit. Here it comes. She really was going to kick him out. She was going to lull him into a false sense of security, then dropkick him out of her bedroom window. He really didn't want to die today, so he decided to go the "loveable idiot" route.

Scratching his head idly, he attempted to look confused. "Ah, no, I don't. Why do you ask?" Her face fell for a moment, before she brought the smile back; however, it was a shy smile, as if she were embarrassed for asking. He sure as hell was embarrassed. No one just assaults their partner when they're drunk. That's just wrong on so many levels, even if said partner was beautiful and kind and smelled nice and-

"You…don't remember…maybe, saying anything?" She glanced up at him through her lashes, making his heart stop again. How the hell did she do that? Wait, he said something to her? Shit, shit, shit, what did he say?

"Say something? Like what? About Gray? Everyone knows he's a bastard, so if that's all it was, then that's not new." He chuckled nervously, trying not to panic about what he might have said while also trying to be himself. It was proving difficult.

Her smile was looking more like a frown now, as she shook her head adamantly. "No, well, I mean, yes, you called him a bastard. But, you said something else…" She trailed off before blushing and quietly adding, "About me", as if he wouldn't be able to hear her. Well, now he was concerned. What did he…? Oh, no.

"Ah, no," the nervous laughter became more apparent as he scrambled for something – anything, but the obvious – that he could have said. "Was it about how awesome a partner you are? Or how nice you are to me?" He watched as that tiny smile came back with a blush as red as Erza's hair.

"Well, kind of," she supplied, making him worry further. What the fuck had he said?! "You really don't know what you said?" She stared suspiciously at him, making him realize he had spoken the question aloud.

Hanging his head, he admitted he didn't know, then braced for impact. Instead he heard a sigh and nervous shuffling. Looking at her, he saw her face was still beet red as she stared at her lap, suddenly looking as uncomfortable as he felt.

"Well, uh," she stuttered out, "you, kinda, sorta, told me that, uh, you, um…" She trailed off again, obviously not wanting to finish the sentence. No, he couldn't have. She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush of words. "You told me you loved me," she blurted, shutting her eyes as if waiting for impact as he had done.

"WHAT?" He jumped off the bed in shock. He had done the one thing he shouldn't have done drunk. Words could not have expressed how angry at himself he was in that moment. As he paced, muttering obscenities to himself and tugging at his hair, he became aware of a deathly aura coming from where he had left Lucy. Turning, he saw her livid with anger. Oh, no, she misunderstood.

"Oh, that's fine. I understand." She laughed caustically, standing and brushing down her skirt. He saw the way her hands shook and immediately knew she was covering up the fact that she had been hurt. So, wait, she had been happy he said it? Crossing her arms, she continued her tirade. "How could you, Natsu friggin' Dragneel, great Salamander of Fairy Tail, like or, Mavis forbid, love some weak, airheaded mage like me, right? I mean, who am I kidding? You could have anyone you wanted. Why on Earthland would you want your mission partner and te-"

"Stop it," he growled, cutting her off. He hated it when she thought she was weak. It pained him that she saw herself like that when she did so much for their team and the guild. There was a reason he wanted her on the team in the first place, and it had nothing to do with her looks. Staring her in the eye, he walked forward and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't ever put yourself down. Just because you can't fight like Erza doesn't mean you aren't strong. There are other ways people can be strong and, if you asked me, I'd say you're pretty awesome, and could kick Erza's butt any day." She had lost her angry expression in favor of forming her mouth in a small 'O' of surprise.

Meanwhile, in Fairy Hills, Erza felt the sudden urge to pummel Natsu the next time she saw him.

Ignoring the slight deathly chill that slithered down his spine, Natsu continued his impromptu confession. He figured it was now or never, considering he had technically already told her. Might as well finish what he had drunkenly started.

He sighed, dropping his head before slowly moving his hands down her arms to hug the shell-shocked blonde. Placing his head on her shoulder, he pulled her closer, selfishly enveloping himself in her scent to give him that last push forward to do this right. Sure, he had been planning on taking her to the park under that huge sakura tree to make the whole thing even more romantic since Lucy liked that sort of thing, but alcohol and his own stupidity kind of screwed him over for that to happen the way he wanted.

"Lucy," he mumbled into her shoulder, "you know I'm not good with this sort of thing, since words are more your style, but just bear with me, please. I'll try my best." He didn't continue until he felt a little shaky nod and heard her give a sound of encouragement. Breathing deeply, he brought his head up to look her in the eye. "You are one of my-no, the most precious person to me. You are so amazingly strong, and stuff. Like, all that crap with your dad and your loyalty to your spirits, which is a totally cool magic, by the way. Anyway, you're super kind, too. And your smile, man, what I would give to see you smile every day of my life. And your laugh is really pretty and I like hearing you laugh. I like making you laugh even more, though. You're so weird, but I like that about you because it's you and you're just-I can't- AUGH!" He yelled in frustration, throwing his hands in the air and turning away from her to hide his blush. Sure, he could go up against some super-powerful wizard that could kill him with a snap of their fingers, but he couldn't tell this one girl he-

Natsu froze when he heard her giggling. Turning back to face her, he saw tears trailing down Lucy's face, a silly grin on her face as her frame shook with laughter. "What," he complained, "I told you I'm not good at this, and you're still laughing at me? Jeez, Luce, have a heart-mmph!" He was cut off when she pulled him by his shirt to bring his lips to hers, cutting off his protest. She was still smiling, and he could taste her happy tears. He couldn't have felt more complete in his life.

Keeping her hands in his shirt, Lucy pulled back, too soon for his liking, smiling as wide as she could and wiping away her tears with one hand. "I love you, too, you big, pink weirdo. And you don't need fancy words to say it back."

Staring down at the beautiful blonde in his front of him, blushing and grinning at his reaction, he decided he was wrong earlier. Now he couldn't have felt more complete in his life. He put his arms around her waist and brought her closer, pulling her in for their first proper kiss. And, as both would recount later, they wouldn't have had it happen any other way.