Accidentally in Love

Well, I didn't mean to do it
But there's no escaping your love
(Or the ball hurtling straight for you)

Natsu was always up for a challenge.

No matter what it was, he was always down to prove himself to whoever doubted him or his abilities. It was in his nature to be competitive, which is what landed him his position as captain of his school's soccer team in the first place. He was talented, driven, and could run for miles without needing to stop. He was one of the fastest on the team, he was one of the strongest on the team, he was one of the most agile on the team, he was one of the best on the team.

Hell, he was the best on the team.

Hence his position as captain.

He kicked ass on the field, leading his team to victory ever single game. They were undefeated. So to say that he had a bit of an ego, was a bit of an understatement. He had a huge ego, one that towered to staggering heights. However, it was deservedly so. He was the best, after all. So when one of his teammates offered him a challenge, of course he had no qualms with following through.

"Kick the ball as hard as you can," his teammate, Gray, dared him to do one afternoon during practice. "If you really are as cool as you say, then prove it. Let's see how far you can send it with one kick."

Natsu scoffed, grabbing his foot and pulling it back, pressing it against his butt as he stood, stretching out his quadricep. "I don't have to prove anything," he retorted with a roll of his eyes, trying to ignore the request. He had to focus on practicing, nothing else. He held back a glare when he heard his teammate snort.

"Sure you don't," Gray mocked, reveling in how easy it was for him to get under Natsu's skin. "But let's say someone else is able to kick it farther than you. Say… me?" He smirked when he caught the twitch in Natsu's eyebrow, the mere thought of Gray being better than him sending his blood to boiling temperatures.

"Pfft, you're dreaming if you think you can beat me, ice princess," Natsu huffed, switching legs.

Gray hummed nonchalantly, bending down to stretch his hamstrings. "I've done it before. Remember that time in third grade, when I kicked your ass at–"

"You cheated and you know it!" he snapped, his eyes ablaze, ready for a fight. Gray snickered, glancing up at him through his messy bangs.

"Right. Then prove it." He nodded toward two of their other teammates as they kicked the ball back and forth. "Go give it a good whack, hotshot." With his only response being a determined hmph, Gray stood up and observed as Natsu stalked toward his teammates, snatching the ball from them. He ignored their protests and roughly set the ball down on the grass, taking long strides toward the edge of the field. He pivoted on his heel to face the ball, eyeing it with such a fiery tenacity, bystanders could've sworn the temperature went up a few degrees. Natsu charged for the ball, cocking his foot back and swinging it forward.

His foot collided harshly with the ball, a dull thunk echoing across the field as it took off like a rocket toward the sky. Natsu smirked, a smug aura permeating off of him as he and the other spectators watched the ball fly all the way across the field in a perfect arc, even going over the fence. The pride inside of him vanished instantly, though, when he saw a girl running straight into the ball's path. His eyes widened, his heart stopping for a few beats before his hands cupped around his mouth.

"Heads up!" he shouted, hoping she would hear him. She didn't, and the ball struck the side of her head. She stumbled a couple steps before falling heavily to the ground. Natsu cringed deeply, along with Gray and the others. He ignored his teammates exclaiming "ouch" and "oooh," his feet starting to run on their own as he sprinted toward his unintentional and unsuspecting victim.

What a beautiful day, Lucy thought to herself as she left the girls' locker room and into the fresh air. She smiled as she looked up at the sky, taking in the pure shade of blue. It was perfectly clear today, not a cloud in the sky. The only thing that was disrupting the serene calmness of the sky was the occasional bird. Although, she couldn't really say they were "disrupting" anything. If anything, they added a stronger sense of serenity.

She took a deep breath through her nose, enjoying the fresh air. The air felt so much cleaner in Magnolia than it did in Crocus. Not that it was dirty in Crocus, not by any means of the word. But Magnolia was a much smaller town, so she supposed it only made sense that it would feel cleaner here, fresher. She'd only been living in Magnolia for about a week, and she was already happy with the move. Everything about this town made her fall in love with it.

Snapping out of her reverie, Lucy remembered she needed to actually start her workout and put in her earbuds. Putting her music on shuffle, she began to jog down the steps of the bleachers, running a lap around the football field before going back up the steps. She loved the adrenaline. Running gave her just the rush she needed to be able to get through her day. There was just something about it that kept her addicted to the feeling. Her heart pumping, the burn in her legs, the light strain in her lungs. It was one of the best feelings in the world, in her opinion.

She took brief notice of the soccer team as she neared the field, taking a moment to admire each of the boys as they stretched. She hummed, turning her attention back to what was ahead of her. Maybe she should join a team? She did track and field while in Crocus, for obvious reasons, but maybe she should try something different? Now that she was living in a different town, she supposed that trying out for a different sport might be a good change in pace. Turning her head back toward the soccer team, she briefly considered trying out for the girl's team, but she scrapped the idea a second later. Soccer did involve a lot of running, but she had always sucked at the sport. She was too much of a klutz, always tripping over her own feet, and the ball, and the other players' feet.

Not to mention that time in middle school when she and a boy in her gym class accidentally kicked each other in the shins when they went for the ball at the same time, leaving them both with blinding pain and a gnarly bruise each.

She clicked her tongue, her eyes refocusing on the path in front of her. Soccer was a definite no.

Perhaps she could try something of a slower pace? She was a decent swimmer, and in the week she'd been at Magnolia High, she'd made a friend who was on the swimming team. Juvia might be willing to teach her more about the different strokes and techniques she would need to know to be a valuable member of the team. Or maybe tennis? Or volleyball? A grin spread across her face at the thought. Volleyball might be good. She'd always been good at the sport.

I wonder if this school has a volleyball team? she pondered. She shook her head, shaking the thoughts out of her mind for the time being. I'll think about this later.

Putting all of her focus into her run, completely oblivious to the ball that was now soaring through the sky, Lucy decided to just enjoy the scenery as well as her music as the songs transitioned. She grinned, singing along in her head. She didn't like to admit to people that she liked Miley Cyrus. She didn't know why, it didn't matter what other people thought of her taste in music. But in her defense, her music was more of a guilty pleasure, rather than something Lucy was passionate about. For a moment, she wished she was alone in her room so that she could belt out the words along with Miley, but she made do with just screaming it internally.

I came in like a wrecking ball!

Then, as if on cue, she felt a very sudden, horrible pain on the side of her head, the wind being knocked out of her. She barely acknowledged the feeling of her body hitting the ground, and before she could decipher what was going on, everything went black.

Shit, shit, shit, Natsu thought as he all but kicked the gate of the fence open, tripping over his feet when he tried to get going again. He recovered swiftly, continuing his sprint toward the girl that still lay unconscious on the ground. He slid to a stop once he reached her, dropping to his knees. He gave the girl a gentle shake.

"Hey," he called softly, brushing her bangs to the side so that he could get a better look at her face. Her eyes weren't all the way closed, the impact most likely having caused her to pass out before her brain could send the message to close her eyes. The sight, along with the massive bump that was already forming on the side of her face, frightened him considerably. "Holy fuck, I killed her!"

"You didn't kill her, you moron," Gray scoffed, having followed him off the field, as well as a couple other members of the soccer team. "She's just out cold."

"What should I do?!" he shouted, panic beginning to set in the pit of his stomach.

"Take her to the nurse's office, numbskull! What do you think?!" Gray smacked him upside the head. "Get it together, man. Damn."

"Right. I'm okay." Natsu took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair and ruffling it a small bit in an attempt to quell his anxiety. "I'm okay." He turned to the blonde girl, carefully sliding one of his arms around her shoulders while the other one slid under her knees. He lifted her up, securing her in his arms and taking off in another sprint toward the main building. He pressed the handicapped button so the doors would open automatically, since both his hands were currently occupied at the moment. While he waited for the doors, he glanced down at the girl in his arms. She was quite beautiful, which made him feel worse for giving her such a gnarly bruise on the side of her face.

Not that he wouldn't have felt awful for power-kicking a ball into anyone else's head, regardless if they were "beautiful" or not. But he had a feeling that her appearance might be important to her.

Feeling the guilt sink into his stomach like a hot ball of lead, he entered the building, turning so he wouldn't bash her head on the doorframe. He hurried toward the nurse's office, ignoring the teachers shouting at him about not running in the halls. Once he got to his destination, he lightly kicked the door a couple times since he couldn't knock, jolting when the door opened in one fluid motion, revealing an aged woman with light pink hair.

"Were you kicking my door?" she snapped, giving him a glare that made his throat close up. "Have you no manners, Dragneel?!"

"I'm sorry, Porlyusica," he said, readjusting the girl in his arms, something that caught the nurse's attention. "But I couldn't use my hands." Porlyusica glanced back and forth between the two teenagers before releasing a sharp huff, stepping to the side to allow him entrance.

"What happened?"

Natsu stepped through the door, not flinching when she slammed it closed behind him. She never really liked visitors, so the slam was something that happened often. "I kicked a soccer ball into her head while practicing with my team," he explained, tenderly setting the girl on the bed. "Knocked her out cold."

"How careless, but not surprising," Porlyusica griped with a brief glare at Natsu, examining her face. The boy huffed, folding his arms.

"I didn't mean to kick the ball into her face!" he said defensively. "It was an accident!" Porlyusica ignored Natsu's words, gently pulling the girl's eyelid down a smidge so her pupil was more visible, flashing a small light into her eye. When nothing appeared to be abnormal, she checked the other eye, humming when she got the same reaction. The boy watched with bated breath, worried about how much damage he'd caused this poor girl. He heaved a sigh of relief when the nurse spoke.

"She seems fine," Porlyusica murmured, putting the flashlight away. "Just a bump, a bruise at most. She'll probably have a killer headache when she wakes up, but that's to be expected after someone launches a soccer ball into someone else's head."

"I said it was an accident!" Natsu insisted, folding his arms with a huff while he took a seat beside the girl's bed. He grumbled under his breath. "If anything, I blame Gray. He was the only who dared me to kick the ball as hard as I could."

Porlyusica rolled her eyes, letting him know she'd heard him. "So childish." She traversed the room toward her desk. "What's this girl's name?"

"Uh," Natsu drawled, rubbing the back of his neck and taking a glance at the girl. At that moment, he realized he didn't even have an idea of who this girl was. He'd never seen her before. Was she new? She had to be, because he never forgot a face. "I, uh… I don't know."

Porlyusica exhaled sharply, irritated. "Of course. Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait until she wakes up." She locked her eyes with his, making him jerk at her harsh gaze. "You're staying here until she wakes up. You have to apologize to her."

"H-Hai," he stammered, shakily nodding his head. The nurse nodded curtly and turned back to her paperwork. Natsu bit back a scoff, turning his attention to a magazine that lay on a nearby shelf. He groaned under his breath, reaching for it and flipping it open. He didn't have his phone with him, having left it with his clothes in the locker room. He wasn't that much of a reader, especially in terms of magazines or newspapers, but it didn't look like he had very many options. He snuck a glance at the girl, another pang of guilt resonating in his chest.

She didn't have to tell me to stay, he thought, frowning deeply at much more defined the bump on her head had gotten. I was already planning to do that anyway.

Lucy woke up feeling like she'd been hit by a bus. Her body was lead heavy, her mouth was the dryest it had ever been, and her head. Holy shit, the pain in her head was almost unbearable. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were just as heavy as the rest of her body. Her mind was swimming, making her feel dizzy. Her head lulled to the side, a soft groan escaping her lips.

What… what happened?

"Hello?" said an unknown source from beside her. She hazily registered the voice, trying to turn toward it, but she didn't get very far, her head falling back to its original position. There was a warm, gentle pressure on her arm, giving her a sense of stability amidst her dizziness, feeling anchored down so she wouldn't float away.

"Hey," the voice called again, giving her arm a small shake to try and rouse her from her sluggish state. The world spinning around her in protest, she finally turned her head toward the voice, her eyes struggling to open. Her surroundings were very blurry when she eventually got her eyes open, so she blinked a couple times in attempt to clear her head. The blob sitting in front of her slowly came into focus, her eyes connecting with a pair of warm, mildly concerned green ones. They seemed to relax once they recognized her gaze clearing up.

"How're you feeling?" the owner of those entrancing eyes asked her, his voice causing her head to swim even more, although for different reasons. Her brain had to work harder than it normally would have to process his words, slowly composing a response.

"Like…" she began, startled by how raspy her voice came out, but she continued nevertheless, "like I was kicked by a horse." She coughed, her words scraping against her dried throat like sandpaper. The person beside her must have understood, because he stood up and left her field of vision for a moment, coming back with a small paper cup filled with water. She watched him place a straw into the cup before holding it out to her.

"Here." Lucy didn't hesitate, taking the straw between her lips and sucking, gulping down the entire cup in one go. She released the straw with a sigh. "Better?" She nodded weakly, her eyes blinking slowly as she gathered her thoughts.

"Wh… what happened?" she inquired. She heard the man gulp as he lifted his hand to scratch at his scalp, ruffling his hair – which, she just noticed, was pink, the sight holding her attention for the time being. Her attention was brought back to his eyes when he let out a sigh.

"Um…" he stalled, his green green orbs flickering to just about anything in the room other than her. "You got hit on the head with a soccer ball, while you were running passed the field." Lucy blinked, memories of her jog coming back to her. When she didn't respond, he continued. "One of my teammates dared me to kick the ball as hard as I could, so I did. It kinda… flew into your head at max speed."

"You hit me with a soccer ball?" she repeated slowly, making sure she understood what he was saying. He mistook her attempt of clarifying for an accusation, squaring his shoulders in a defensive posture.

"It was an accident!" he shouted, causing her to jump at the sudden rise in volume. He was looking at his lap, guilt clearly written across his face. She frowned, believing he was being sincere, because why would he have done it on purpose? She opened her mouth to assure him she wasn't trying to accuse him, but he continued to speak before she could get a word in. "I-I-If you want someone to blame, blame Gray! He was the one that dared me to do it! If he wouldn't have challenged me, I wouldn't have kicked the ball into your face as hard as I could!"

Lucy blinked, annoyance starting to flare up in her chest. Was he actually blaming someone else for something he did? He wasn't going to own up to it? He seemed pretty apologetic before that comment came out of his mouth, so now she didn't know what to think.

"Regardless of who dared you to do it, you still hurled a ball into my head!" she reminded him, her irritation giving her the strength to push herself up into a sitting position. He finally looked up at her when he noticed her movement, his eyes wide. She glared at him, a fire blazing in her dark coffee brown eyes, a fire that set another one off in his chest, his heart starting to race. He blinked, his cheeks starting to warm up, the sensation foreign to him. His heart never raced like this unless he was tussling with Gray, or when he was on the field. So why was it beating this fast now, while a girl he didn't know was looking at him like that? Her eyes were so dark and warm, the fire inside giving them a gleaming light he'd never seen anyone else possess.

No one other than himself, anyway.

"–was still you that hit me!" she shouted, making him jolt back to reality. The blush on his face darkened a shade or two. He hadn't realized he'd been tuned out of what she was saying. He cleared his throat, forcing himself to match her glare to play it off. Now was not the time to be wondering about these unfamiliar feelings.

"I know it was!" he shouted back, standing up. "That's why I've been waiting here for two hours for you to wake up so that I could apologize to you!"

Lucy's expression changed, her eyebrows unfurrowing and her lips dropping the pout. He had waited with her for two hours instead of going home? It was her turn to blush, feeling foolish for having blown up on him the way she did.

"You did?" she squeaked, her hands instinctively coming together in her lap to fidget. The boy nodded, folding his arms across his chest.

"Yeah. I mean," he paused to chuckle, idly scratching his jaw, "I hit you with a soccer ball, knocked you out cold, and gave you a giant bump on your temple. I feel pretty shitty about it. You'd have to be a whole new kind of dick to not apologize, make sure you were okay." They fell into a moment of silence, only being broken when Natsu chuckled louder. "You gotta admit though, I hit you in the head from over the fence and all the way across the field. I got some awesome aim." Lucy giggled a little as well, feeling her head twinge now that he mentioned the bruise. She swallowed, lifting a hand to touch the bump, hissing when her fingers made contact.

"How bad does it look?" she asked him. Natsu cringed, giving a light shrug of his shoulders.

"Could be worse," he answered honestly, tilting his head to get a better look. "But it doesn't look that bad. Just a little purple. With how hard you went down, I would've expected it to be a lot worse." He offered her a smile. "But it doesn't look that bad."

She returned the smile, appreciating his honesty. Taking notice that she was in the nurse's office at school, she took a gander around the room as if looking for something.

"Where's the nurse?"

"Ah, she left for the day. Said she had something important to get to and couldn't afford to be late for. She said she wants you to visit her office tomorrow morning, though." Lucy nodded, looking up at the clock.

"I need to get home," she sighed, gradually lowering her legs off the side of the bed. "My phone is in my locker, and my dad's probably going crazy right now." She tried to stand, but got lightheaded as soon as she straightened up. Her body swayed, but Natsu stepped up to catch her before she could fall over. Her face exploded into a deep red when she fell against his warm, sturdy chest, her arms automatically grabbing his sides to brace herself. She swallowed the lump in her throat, her hands feeling how strong his torso was through his soccer jersey. Her hands lingered on his waist until she caught herself, blushing even deeper as she gently pulled away, standing up on her own. She avoided his eyes, knowing painfully well that he could see just how red her cheeks were.

"S-Sorry," she stammered, clearing her throat. Natsu only chuckled, shaking his head as he kept his hands on her shoulders, making sure she was steady before dropping them.

"No problem," he hummed, amused. He waited for her to face him again before holding his hand out to her. "I'm Natsu." The blonde gulped as she glanced at his hand, stealing a glimpse of his face a moment later. She placed her hand in his, giving it a shake.

"Lucy," she said with a shy smile.

"Nice to meet you, Lucy."

She mentally cursed herself for blushing again, hating the way he said her name, but loving it at the same time. "It's nice to meet you, too." He grinned wider, following her out of the room and closing the door behind them, hearing it lock like Porlyusica said it would. He walked beside her as she started her trek back to the gym to retrieve her clothes.

"Why're you following me?" she inquired timidly.

He chuckled. "I need to grab my clothes too," he mused. "I don't live in my jersey, y'know." She giggled, and he grinned, his heart thrumming at the sound. They walked in comfortable silence, Natsu clearing his throat to try and get her attention as they neared the gymnasium. He waited to speak until she turned her eyes onto him. "Uh, look. I still feel like shit for what happened. I wanna make it up to you. Anything you want."

Lucy grinned, shaking her head. "Natsu, you don't have to–"

"I do, though," he cut her off. "I do need to. Because otherwise, my conscience will eat at me for the rest of my life." They both chuckled at his dramatic logic. He lightly bumped her shoulder. "So come on. Anything you want, I'll do it."

Lucy lifted a dainty eyebrow, a mischievous smirk dancing on her lips. "Anything?"

He nodded resolutely, unfazed by the gleam in her eyes. Mostly. "Anything."

Lucy hummed as she thought about what she could have him do. A few things came to mind, some ideas bolder than others, so she decided to start off with something easy. "I get a front-row seat to every single one of your games." Natsu chuckled, preparing himself to tell her that she could sit wherever she wanted at his soccer games, since the seats weren't assigned, but she beat him to the punch. "And don't say I can sit wherever I want. I want a reserved seat, in a spot where I can see the most action on the field." She gave him a silly grin, one that he returned.

"Alright. Fine. You got it, Princess."

She playfully swatted his arm before continuing. "I get automatic dibs on your dessert at lunch every day for…" she paused to think over the sentence, "two months."

Natsu pouted, thinking about all the cookies and muffins he won't be able to eat at lunch for the next two months. He was about to protest, but he remembered he said he would do anything to make up for knocking her out with a soccer ball to the head. So he reluctantly agreed. "Fine," he groaned, smiling nonetheless. "I guess I can live with that. Anything else?"

"Yes," Lucy confirmed with a nod. She swallowed, a light flush blossoming on her cheeks as she prepared herself to be bolder than she normally was. He said anything she wanted, and this was what she wanted. "You have to take me to dinner on Saturday." Natsu blinked and jolted, caught off guard. She instantly noticed his shocked expression, making her blush even harder. "I-It doesn't have to be anywhere fancy, and it doesn't have to be a…" she cleared her throat before continuing, "a date. Just… dinner, this Saturday."

Natsu processed her request, feeling a blush of his own starting to bloom on his cheeks. He'd never taken a girl to dinner before. Hell, he'd never taken a girl on any sort of date before. He never really wanted to. But this girl… he didn't seem to mind treating her to some dinner. In fact, he kind of wanted to. If she hadn't have mentioned it, he probably would've, eventually. It actually sounded kind of nice. He gulped, subconsciously lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck.

"Uh… can it?" he asked, immediately clarifying when he saw confusion flash in her eyes. "You said it didn't have to be a date. But… can it? I mean, would it be alright if it was? A date."

Lucy's eyes widened, her blush extending down her neck and to her ears. She didn't have to think about it, a shy grin spreading across her lips. "Sure. If you want."

He gave her a blinding grin, excitement bubbling in his chest. "Sweet. It's a date then." They both laughed a bit, before he gave her a light, silly bump with his hip. "Is there anything else?"

She giggled and shook her head. "Nope. Front row seats to all your games, dibs on your dessert for two months, and dinner this Saturday. That's the least you can do."

He laughed. "Alright. I can do that."

Author's Note: hey, guys! So much for that "new chapter for each of my stories this month" thing, eh? That's what happens when a family member comes to stay with you with like a week's notice. *sweatdrop* The new chapter for "Things Change" and "Ardor" are on their way, though! So either by the end of this month or the beginning of February, so stay tuned!

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was a bit shorter than the previous ones, but I hope you liked it regardless. Let me know in a review! Love you guys, see you next time!