A/N: Natsu is a huge perv, but then again he's basically a middle-school boy. (Age is just a number!) I'm really curious about his (and Lucy's) sexual awakening, so here's a short, embarrassing story about it.

"what's the big deal?"

- ] chapter 1 [ -

It was a normal night. Natsu fell asleep at the guildhall after an unusually large dinner, only to be woken up by Mira after she'd finished her nightly cleaning duties.

"Wah?" Natsu mumbled sleepily, wiping the drool from his face. Mira smiled down at the boy, took hold of his shoulders, and leaned him back away from the tabletop.

"Time to go home, Natsu. Either go sleep in one of the guest rooms or get out of here – you know the rules," Mira explained gently.

"Yeah yeah," he replied, rubbing his face. "Where's Happy?"

"He walked with Charle and Wendy when they went home a few hours ago. Lisanna wanted to wake you up earlier, but I thought I'd let you sleep for a little."

Natsu smiled up at her. "Thanks, Mira. I guess I needed it… I'll be going now." He yawned, stretching languidly, then pushed the bench back to stand. Slinging his pack over his shoulders, he called a goodnight to Mira as he walked through the doors.

] | [

It must've been past midnight, he decided. The air had an insubstantial quality to it, warm but as if it hadn't made up its mind to commit to full-on heat yet. That made sense though, he supposed, since it was just the end of spring anyway. His mind woke up a bit on his walk through town, but he didn't realize he wasn't going to his house until he found himself along the familiar canal.

Staring up at Lucy's window, he had to agree with his subconscious – Lucy's was much closer and much more comfortable. Especially since Happy wouldn't be back at home! He didn't want to walk all the way there just to be alone…

He threw his pack up as high as he could then scaled the façade to rest on the beam below her window. Leaning his arm out, he caught his pack as it began its descent. Lucy had the sheer curtains drawn across her open window, so she must have been feeling the heat, too. He parted them, getting a whiff of her scent, then looked around the studio. Lucy was sleeping quietly on her bed to his right, so he hopped right in and softly set down his pack.

"Stupid Lucy leaving me at the guild," he mumbled as he toed out of his sandals and made his way over to the bed. If she didn't want company, he mused, she should've gotten a smaller bed.

However, the boy froze, perched mid-slump onto the mattress, because when he went to lift up the sheet that covered his partner, he discovered that her top had twisted from what he supposed were her movements to find relief from the new heat. One of her breats was completely exposed above the tangled tanktop, and the other was only just covered.

Sure, he'd seen her chest plenty of times, and she did like to show it off from what he could tell, but seeing her chest bare in the dark and quiet of her room, while she was sleeping and they were alone… it felt different. The air was still, her room was warm, and her scent surrounded them. He couldn't just brush it off with other distractions like he always did when something like this came up. And anyway, as he looked down at her, the sight was… interesting.

Lucy's chest was a part of her, like her hair and her eyes and her keys. But people made such a big deal about it! All the males at the guild, and even most of the females had remarked at one point or another how well-endowed his partner was. What was the big deal, anyway? They were just boobs. Plenty of women at the guild had a nice set of boobs. There wasn't really anything that remarkable about hers or boobs in general – plain skin covering a mound of flesh and muscle. How was it different than her shoulder or the creamy skin of her legs? Sure, she had really nice skin, really soft, too, but why was her chest so legendary around the guild? Natsu thought her eyes were way prettier, and much more Lucy (if that made sense).

As he studied her (unabashedly, mind you) he noticed that the peak of her breast was a light pink that he found quite adorable. The shade fit right into the color scheme that was Lucy – bright yellows, pale skin, light pinks, chocolate eyes. He found himself nodding his head at the understanding. She made sense to him, and even this new part of her seemed right.

Natsu knelt carefully on the bed. Resting his weight on his hands right beside Lucy's warm body, Natsu leaned over to get a closer look at her chest. She was lying on her side, and it didn't give him the best perspective. He looked up at her face, taking in the relaxed muscles and even breathing. He could tell she was very much asleep. If it had been closer to morning he would've been afraid she might wake up, but it was the dead of the night and he knew her sleeping habits. She wouldn't wake for hours.

He gently nudged her shoulder so she was lying on her back. Her head snuggled to the side into her pillow, and she grumbled something in her throat but didn't wake up. With her arms spead away from her body in an attempt to keep cool, she left her chest completely unguarded. Natsu found himself lowering the strap off her other shoulder to expose the rest of her chest.

He would never understand why he did that at that moment. There had been other, much more compromising situations that they'd been in, but tonight was different. He wasn't thinking about sex or how sexy she looked (he rarely thought about that stuff). He was just curious. His body wasn't even responding to the sight of her like that, it was just something new and different that he wanted to explore. But it was Lucy, and somehow he felt he had a right to know anything and everything about her – even this.

He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding as he stared down at his best friend's breasts. Did everyone at the guild who talked about her chest know that she looked like thist? Moon-white, smooth skin rounding over two large curves, topped with small, pink buds – she was certainly nicely shaped and definitely very large. Only a handful of the girls at Fairy Tail, and he supposed none of the boys besides himself and Gray, had seen her naked.

He cocked his head to one side then raised his hand. He very lightly ran a finger along the outside of a breast, marveling at how soft both her skin was. Natsu glanced back up at her sleeping face before pressing several of his fingers into the malleable flesh. He sucked in a breath – nothing had ever felt like that before! He grew up around girls, fought with Lucy and Erza all the time, and had touched pretty much every part of both of them. Sure, he'd brushed against Lucy's chest – even grabbed it on one occasion – but he wasn't really paying attention then. And when he'd come in contact with their rears, well, those were soft, too, but much more muscular then Lucy's breast felt. It might be the softest thing he'd ever felt (besides Happy's fur when it was newly washed), and it was definitely the most supple.

He knew Lucy wasn't going to wake up, but the sudden urge to really grope her embarrassed him. Now that he had an idea of just what her chest felt like, he wanted to really know. So far he'd examined the look of her, and just barely touched her. He took a deep breath and steadied his weight to his knees and ankles. Excitement coursed through him; he knew he shouldn't do these things without permission, but this was Lucy! He knew everything about her; this was just something more (and she'd never know anyway). He was just curious… he wasn't going to hurt her or anything.

As his hands gently enveloped her chest, cupping their large, weighty form, he made a strange, strangled noise in his thoat. She was so soft, so wonderful, so perfect. He squeezed gently, losing himself with playing and enjoying the feel of them. Suddenly, he found himself frozen for the second time that night. Lucy had made a small noise herself. He looked up at her face (with his hands stilled, grasping her breasts) when she repeated the noise, like a whine, and arched her back a bit, pushing her chest into his hands. Her eyes were still closed, but her mouth was parted slightly, her cheeks were flushed, and her brows were drawn together in what Natsu would've thought was pain if he weren't completely, instinctively sure to the core was genuine pleasure.

Lucy liked it. The understanding thundered through his body like adrenaline and lit up a sharp, unexpected spark in the bottom of his belly. He held back a moan in answer to hers and this newfound knowledge. He had never seen Lucy make that face, nothing even close to that face. It was a secret face, he knew, and the thought that he witnessed it – that he made her look like that! – made him growl in pleasure of his own. He felt his groin tighten with this new awareness, but he shook his head. He didn't want to do that right now! He couldn't be distracted. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Lucy's face relaxed at the lack of stimulation and she blew out a gentle breath, falling back into deep, oblivious sleep. Her golden hair gleemed in the dim light from the streetlamps, and Natsu mentally took stock of himself. His body was on fire (thankfully not literally). He was poised above his best friend, in her bed, at night, with her tanktop yanked down to her stomach and his hands full of her chest.

He snickered a little as he calmed down. Man, Lucy is going to kill me! He laughed internally. Oh well.

He grinned down at her, but his face slackened as he caught sight of his hands, darkened from being outside and calloused from work and general neglect, caressing Lucy's pale, delicate flesh. She was just so feminine. The whole experience was driving home just how feminine his partner was, no matter how much he had thought of her (of everyone, really) as non-sexual. He was slow in his ministrations – he didn't want to wake Lucy! – but he wasn't ready to stop yet. She responded again after a couple of moments by arching her back once more and quietly moaning. Natsu smirked but continued to slowly knead her breasts. There was something hypnotizing about the situation, and it was so exciting and fun. Natsu watched as her rosey nipples hardened and he found it very intriguing. He brushed his thumb over a nipple and Lucy immediately gasped. The sound ignited flames down along his neck and spine and his pants grew more uncomfortable. That noise enthralled him, and Lucy was making that pain-pleasure face again, and he couldn't stop himself from rolling that same nipple between his thumb and forefinger. His breathing became labored with excitement as he watched her reactions and each of her small, desperate sounds were ripping away the locks to his inhibitions.

But then he smelled something he'd only smelled a handful of times in the past – the smell of Lucy's excitement. He looked down at her, taking in her quick breathes, the flushed skin from her cheeks to her neck to her chest, and he saw her legs rubbing together under her sleeping shorts. Her body was stretched out before him, warm and fragrant from head to toe. He gently released her breasts and sat back, looking at her, and shook his head.

This wasn't fair to Lucy, he thought. She didn't know this was happening. For all this meant to him, for as much as he would never hurt her, he didn't have her consent to be touching her like this. This completely new and exciting discovery… He didn't have the right to do this, whether or not he was her partner and her best friend. This was for Lucy to share, not for him to take.

Natsu hung his head, and straightened her top without look at her face. After covering her with the thin sheet and blanket, he laid down on top of the covers and fell asleep, acutely aware of but trying his best to ignore the girl beside him.

] | [

Natsu awoke to a noisy Lucy.

"Natsu! What are you doing in my bed?" She screeched, hitting him the face with a pillow. He groaned and turned over, inhaling deeply only to have the memories of the night before rush back to him. The bed smelled like her… and him. The scent caused his heart to skip a beat and his stomach tumble. It wasn't a new aroma for him, but this morning is was especially fantastic.

Lucy grabbed the pillow and beat him again with it. "Lu-cy!" He whined and tried to cover himself with his arms. She didn't relent, so he stole the pillow and, without looking, bashed her in the face with it.

There was a pause.

He sat up and laughed loudly, pointing at her and saying "Your face!" Which, in all fairness, was red and hilarious.

"Natsu, it's not proper for you to sleep in the same bed as I do!" She yelled some more, huffing and hugging the pillow to her. She sat cross-legged on the mattress and glared at him.

"Oh come on, Luce. I fell asleep at the guild and didn't want to walk all the way home!" He explained. I will take the secret of last night to the grave, he whispered in his mind. "So I came here. It's so much closer."

She narrowed her eyes even further. "Natsu, that does not make us – a boy and a girl – sleeping in the same small bed okay!" Really, she was so adorable when she was exasperated like this, but her words actually made sense to him this time. There was a short pause while his mind registered the sight of her small, very feminine body hiding behind the large pillow.

Her body is her secret, Natsu thought. She's not ready to share yet. He hummed in annoyance then stood up.

"Yeah yeah, Luce. Get up already, I'm hungry!" He said, turning his back to her and walking to her kitchen. "I'll make some toast! Do you have any of that fire jelly?" He rummaged through her small refrigerator as he waited for her to get up.

From her post on the bed, Lucy blushed at the domesticity of his actions. She was glad his back was to her so he wouldn't notice, but she couldn't help but feel warmed by his presense and behavior. It was nice, being like this with him. Just be glad I don't tell Erza, she thought deviously. The thought of Erza's violence made her smile, and she unfurled her legs, bounding off the bed to meet him.

] | [

There was an unintentional consequence to his secret escapade: he couldn't stop thinking about Lucy's face when he touched her or the soft weight of her chest in his hands. Or the sounds she'd made. Or that smell…

Interacting with her those first couple days after that night was pure hell. He did his best to act normal, but how could he? He knew things about her that she didn't know he knew. And the awareness would creep up on him suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere. One moment everything was fine and they were just hanging out, and the next, he found himself looking at her and remembering what her skin felt like. What was the point in knowing that secret side of her if he couldn't share it with her? It was a useless, taunting, evil secret.

"What's bugging you, Natsu?" Lisanna asked from behind the bar. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him quizzically. "You've been brooding."

Natsu sighed and looked away from where Lucy was laughing with Levy. "It's nothing. Just having trouble sleeping recently."

Lisanna hummed in agreement as she grabbed a glass and filled it with beer. "Yeah, I know what you mean. The summer is coming with a vengeance this year – it's normally not this hot yet. Especially at night!" She offered the beer to Elfman, who smiled at her in thanks. She missed the faint blush that Natsu quickly tamped down.

"Yeah, and Happy's been spending more time with Charle and Wendy." If he focused on that emotion he wouldn't be reminded of other things. It was a tactic that had always served him well in the past. Lisanna smiled at him and gave him another bowl of fire-roasted nuts.

"Oh Natsu, don't pout!" She laughed. "Happy's just not used to being love. He'll learn how to balance the new relationship with yours, don't worry." Natsu said nothing in response, just chomped down more food.

"Hey Lucy, how's the rent coming?" He heard Gray ask his teammate from off to his left. Lucy looked up at Gray and thought for a moment.

"It's alright," she answered slowly. He took a seat across from her and Levy. "Yeah?"

"Well, I'm only a little short, but I do need to get groceries at the end of the week… Is there a request you saw?" Lucy's voice washed over Natsu and, drawn by it, he walked over to their table. Happy circled above Natsu's head, then landed on his shoulder before they both sat down.

"Yeah, Luce, we should all go on another mission," he chimed in. Natsu knew he could shake off this new awareness in the familiarity of old routine. He looked over at Gray to see how the boy would answer Lucy's question about a request when he caught Gray staring at her chest. Fiery indignation swelled within Natsu. How dare he? How dare Gray look at Lucy like that? Natsu pictured her sleeping form beneath him, like she had been that night, her breasts exposed and her body squirming slightly under his hands. Gray had no right to see her like that! No right to imagine it!

"Gray, you ice-bastard!" He yelled, yanking up the ice mage and shoving him hard.

"Natsu!" He heard Lucy and Levy yell.

"Yeah, flame-brain, what the hell?" Gray shouted in the commotion. Natsu just growled and shoved Gray up against a pillar. Gray quickly decided to just go with it and swung hard to hit his pink-haired teammate. Natsu ducked then punched Gray hard in the stomach.

"Alright, that's enough!" Erza's shout piered Natsu's rage and Gray's growing ire. The two parted, breathing heavily, and watched their serious friend stomp over to them. Lucy hovered behind Erza's shoulder, looking concerned and upset.

"I don't know what happened, Erza! I asked Gray a question and then Natsu came over and just went after him." She griped. Lucy's dark eyes found Natsu's. "Just what were you thinking?"

Natsu looked away from her. What could he say? He blushed slightly and decided to go with the truth. "He was looking at your chest," he mumbled into his scarf with his arms crossed. Like a bucket of ice water had dropped on all of them, the shock of that statement washed the previous hostility away. The stunned silence was broken, however, by a keening wail.

"Love rival!" An engraged Juvia yelled, her face flushed with furious jealousy.

"Juvia, no! It's- it's not like that," Lucy tried to console her friend.

"Juvia!" Erza yelled, pulling Juvia to the side. Natsu looked at Gray and glared, but the other mage put up his hands. "Hey man, I'm sorry. I can't help it." This just further incensed Natsu, who moved to shove the other boy once more.

"Natsu!" Lucy barked again. He felt her pull at his shoulders and he let her. He would never fight her. She turned him around to face her, but he didn't break eye contact with the ice mage. She grumbled something under her breath, then he felt her fingers at his jaw. She moved his face to lock eyes with him. "Natsu, calm down!" Being this close to her soothed him, and the worry in her face had him dropping his arms. "Good," she said. Her eyes warmed a little at him, and his rage melted away.

"I'm sorry, Lucy," he mumbled. "He just shouldn't look at you like that." They heard Juvia sob heartbrokenly somewhere behind them.

Lucy blushed. "Natsu… It's okay. Sometimes guys can't help it." She looked away, her face red and he felt her hands shake a little where they rested on his shoulders. She took a step back. "It's only normal, he didn't mean anything by it." She looked over at Gray. "Right?"

Gray coughed and nearly shouted, "Yeah, no! It doesn't mean anything!" Natsu glared at his male teammate. He decided he was being sincere, but for some reason that made Natsu feel sick instead of better. How could you look at Lucy and not appreciate her? He growled and spun around. "Whatever," he said. "Happy! Let's go!" he called to his friend as he walked to the doors.

"What was that?" Lucy asked into the silence. Happy flew right next to her ear and sang loudly, "He liiiiiikes you!" before taking off into the air at top speed.

"Why you little—!" Lucy shouted after him. Happy just cackled and flew to meet Natsu.

Lucy sighed. "But maybe he actually does," Gray said to her in a disbelieving tone.

Lucy rounded on him, sticking a finger into his chest. "You! What were you doing perving on me?" She yelled at him. Gray grimaced, stepping back and waving his hands in innocence.

"I didn't mean to, Lucy!" He said. "You just look really nice today," he added weakly. Lucy felt her embarrassment spread warmth from her face down to the topic of their conversation. What a line. "Gray, I swear to the gods, the next time I catch you ogling me, I will personally beat the crap out of you." Lucy turned and went to make a dramatic exit, when she saw Erza leaning over their blue-haired nakama.

"What happened to Juvia?" Lucy asked.

"I had to knock her out," Erza answered, making Lucy groan. This guild!

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A/N: Doesn't Natsu seem like he'd be super weird about sex but also super sentimental? I think I'm going to write another chapter or so, but in case I don't I figured this could be a one-shot. Hope you enjoyed : )

Also, I wanted to thank the guest who reviewed: I considered the comments and am in agreement, so I went ahead and made the changes - thank you for support! I appreciate all of the reviewers for taking the time to give me feedback. Thank you thank you!