2. Have Your Cake and Eat it Too (NaLu)

Lucy is honestly beginning to wonder if the day can get any worse.

Forget her awful morning or her failed math test, this takes the cake. Literally. The cake she was supposed to deliver for Mirajane is now all over the floor and there's white icing all down her shirt and in her hair, but hey! At least she smells like a goddamn bakery now! Nothing better than that!

This is what she gets for trying to juggle her books, a large cake, and ten-thousand notebooks. Learning is such a pain! And she doesn't even want to think about how disappointed Mira is going to be. Not angry, just disappointed, and that's probably worse. Mira can be scary when she's angry, and Lucy certainly wouldn't want to piss her off, but a disappointed Mira is like a kicked puppy.

She'll flash those big, sad eyes and say it's "okay" and she's "not mad, just so, so disappointed" and Lucy will feel like she just kicked ten puppies and is the real cause of global warming!

And to be fair, this isn't really her fault! Maybe if the guy who bumped into her had been paying a little attention—No, no! She's not going to do this! She's not going to start blaming things on someone she doesn't know (even if it is his fault, but whatever!).

Lucy squeezes her eyes shut tightly, exhaling through her nose and trying not to cry. It just hasn't been her day. Opening her eyes once more, Lucy drops to her knees and begins to pick through the mess of paper and vanilla frosting on the floor. She tries to ignore the people stepping around her—as if helping her would be too much of a bother—but it's kind of hard when she hears a few snickers and then the bell starts ringing, and great! Now she's late!

Lucy blindly reaches for her history book, only to jerk her hand back in surprise when her fingers touch something warm and rough and definitely not history book like. Her head snaps up and suddenly she's looking into a pair of striking green eyes and she can't look away. And she probably looks like a loser, being covered in frosting and picking up her books off the ground like a clumsy schoolgirl, and just openly staring at this guy (she decides it must be a guy, judging by the hand that's she's still stupidly holding onto), but then again, he's not exactly looking away either so…

Lucy's tunnel vision expands, but not very much. Her vision is flooded with pink, and she vaguely wonders if she was concussed earlier when that douchebag basketball player hit her with a ball, but then she realizes it's his hair.

What the hell? Why is his hair—you know what, never mind. He can do what he wants and it's not like it looks bad. It's kind of sexy actually, especially with his eyes. And—ooh is that an earring?

Well, hello, Sexy!

He blinks back at her with wide eyes and a jaw slightly dropped. "You have frosting in your hair," he blurts.

And you have pink hair, she thinks silently, giving him a strange look.

Lucy smiles, still looking at him oddly as she pulls the book from his fingers, finally regaining her senses. "Thanks?" she tells him, trying not to let her voice squeak awkwardly. She doesn't know if she's thanking him for the help or the frosting comment, but figures it might be both.

"No problem," he replies, clearing his throat and looking away almost as if he's embarrassed, but then his eyes snap back to hers and he smiles so widely that Lucy can't help but smile wider. "You looked like you were having some trouble here," he says, scooping up two notebooks without looking away from her.

Lucy bites her lip, accepting the notebooks and adding them to her pile. "I'm Lucy," she tells him, hoisting her books into her arms and standing slowly.

"Lucy," he breathes back, standing with her. "I mean—Natsu!" he sputters. "You're Lucy, I'm Natsu!" His hand flies up, as if to shake her hand, but he, well, misses and accidentally sends her books tumbling back to the ground. "Oh shit!"

Neither of them look away from each other as the books plop against the floor loudly. Natsu's eyes have gone completely wide and he freezes as they hit the floor, his hand still outstretched.

"I meant to do that," he tells her, scratching the back of his head awkwardly and wincing a little. "I totally meant to do that," he mumbles, embarrassed. Lucy would be too if she just knocked someone's books out of their hands after they just picked them up. That would be really awkward.

Lucy giggles, unable to stop herself as she sees his puppy eyes. "I suppose this is how you get all the girls," she jokes.

Natsu laughs and drops down in front of her, scooping up her books for a second time. Lucy can't look away as his long fingers wrap around the spine of her history book, which someone managed to fly away from the rest of them. He straightens again quickly enough and sends her a grin. "You caught me," he tells her. "I'm picking up your books, but really I'm trying to pick you up."

She laughs, leaning in close and staring into his eyes. Natsu stares back, inhaling sharply as her nose nearly brushes his. "Well, than maybe you should drop them again," she whispers. She slips the books out of his hands just before they go slack, and sends him a smile.

He manages to smile back, though this time it's a little more nervous and a little more flirty.

He reaches out, slower this time, and his fingers wrap around a chunk of her hair, tugging slightly. "You know," he says slowly, drawing out the words, "vanilla's my favorite."

"Really?" she asks, leaning in close. "Mine is strawberry."