(Based before Grand Magic Games)

It's Not That Hard:

"Come on Luce. Just do it."

"No," I said.

"Please?" Natsu pleaded.

"I already said, no," I told him again, but he just ignored me and continued to annoy.

"Please? Please? Please?!" Natsu said, with that adorable, pleading voice of his. I turned to face him in my chair and stared at him full on and asked,

"Why is it so important to you anyways?"

"Because," he said, shrugging his shoulders. I squinted at him.

"That. Is not an answer." I told him as my eyebrows rose. He just gave me his full on pout and continued to look at me with those puppy dog eyes of his.

"My answer has been given, so why don't you just scurry off and bother Happy. Wait…where is Happy anyways?" I asked him. He shrugged.

As I was trying to shoo Natsu away, I pulled the pages of my manuscript together in a tight bound and was about to put it back into my desk, but two strong hands snatched it from my hands.

"Hey… give that back Natsu!" I said while stammering from surprise.

"AHA! I finally got it! See ya Lucy!" He stood up and tried to escape through the window, but I caught him by his vest.

"Not so fast Pinky. You have something of mine so now give it back." I told him giving him my very scary Lucy glare. He flinched out of fear, but kept my manuscript far from my reach. He was smirking as I continued to reach for my book and utterly failing as he lifted it just a bit higher each time.

"Seriously Natsu! Give it back!" I pleaded with him. He just shook his head while grinning widely. I looked over him and smirked when I remembered an advantage I had over this idiot. He noticed my smirk.

"What?" he asked.

"If you don't give that back Natsu," My smirk grew larger as I kept speaking, "then I'll tell Erza it was you who ate her deluxe strawberry cake that day when she was having a really bad day, which you'll have soon too if you don't give me back my manuscript!" I said, while growling the last words more like a threat. He became completely still and looked over me. He handed me back my pages with reluctant muttering. I smiled and snatched away from him and locked it up in my desk.

Natsu just lied back on my bed and sighed as if he was in heaven and not my room where he was taking up all of the space in the bed like he always does!

I groaned in my head as I headed towards the bathroom for a shower. After getting undressed, I shouted through the closed door at Natsu,

"If you're still out there when I get out, you're dead, understand?"

No response. I just shrugged. Maybe he already left.

I took a quick shower and shrugged on my towels and headed towards my room.

Natsu…was still there, but…he was sleeping.

Which. Was. Very. Adorable!

So…I let him sleep.

I got dressed quickly and silently, but when I was ready to go to bed I was stuck. Natsu literally owned my bed right now, but I don't want to sleep on the couch or the floor because of my back, which has been hurting a lot lately. I looked back at Natsu's sleeping form and then back at the couch.

This was a moment of decisions.

I looked over at Natsu and decided to just do it. I've slept next to him before, right? So it really wasn't a big deal so yeah…this was what I told myself to convince myself that's all it was and not to freak out and wake Natsu up from his sleep.

I peeked open the covers and slid in as quietly and slowly as I could without disturbing Natsu.

However, when I got settled in, I was suddenly very conscious of Natsu sleeping peacefully beside me and that he was facing me. I faced him and then…I was staring.

I noticed every aspect of him. How his pink locks came down across his face and how his lips were parted as he breathed in and out, and for that one moment…I actually thought the annoying best friend of mine was beautiful. I tried to shake that thought out of my head as I turned over on my other side, facing away from him, to try and go to sleep. It was very hard to, due to the fact that he was right there, sleeping beside me, but somehow I did. I finally fell asleep.

….

I woke up and I was very, very hot. I tried to turn but I found myself trapped in a heavy embrace of pink and skin.

"Wha…what…Natsu..?" I murmured. He stirred, but didn't wake up. I tried to see how he was holding me down, but I could literally not move, because he was practically lying on top of me! I glanced around frantically. What do I do in a situation like this…?

"Natsu…could you get off of me…?" I tried to say, but it came out sounding like a cat.

How did I even manage to breathe if he's been holding me like this for almost the entire night? Wait…was he? No, no, no, no, no. I will not think about it.

Finally, I was so hot and sweaty that I couldn't take it anymore so I finally shouted,

"Natsu! Get off of me!" He jumped up and away from me letting me take in deep breaths to regain my lung access.

"Lucy…?" he asked groggily while rubbing his eyes.

"Yup. Now, can I ask what exactly were you doing?" I asked him with pursed lips. He squinted at me to try and see me more clearly and responded,

"What are you talking about Luce?"

"You were practically laying on top of me!" I said in a high-pitched voice

"Oh I was? Sorry about that Luce," Natsu said while rubbing his head. He said it so completely calm and cool, that it pissed me off. Here I was, freaking out about what just occurred and he has the nerve to act so…unabashed!

"Ughh…just get out. Yeah. Just get out, and take your stupid cat with you," I said as I leaned over and picked up Happy (who had suddenly appeared) by his scruff and practically threw him at Natsu. Natsu caught him, surprised and just jumped out of bed.

"Geez Lucy…you don't have to be so mean to me…and Happy," he told me, while pouting. I just rolled my eyes, and Happy who was waking up groggily said,

"Aye!" However, he quickly fell back into slumber. Natsu looked down at him and back up at me, now smiling.

"Isn't he just cu-" he started, but I cut him off immediately.

"Out!" I pointed at the door, and Natsu just shook his head and looked at me as he started towards my window. I glared silently at him, and he looked back at me over his shoulder before jumping and running off in directions unknown. I just shook my head, angry with myself for being so angry with him.

He was just asleep. I told myself over and over again, but that made me feel even worse. I groaned wondering why everything was so complicated.

After a while of contemplating on what to do, I just decided on a shower and a mission with Natsu to show him he's still in my good graces.

….

When I finished my shower and got dressed, I headed out towards Fairy Tail.

I arrived quickly, and just as I was about to open the guild doors, my extraordinary hearing (all of a sudden) heard,

"I just don't get why she's acting so off lately. I don't know what to do!" Natsu complained to someone. A voice, Cana I assume, responded by saying,

"Aww…poor Natsu. Did you ever even consider she just might be dealing with some boy problems or girl problems? We girls can't always be butterflies and unicorns you know. We all have our bad days."

"Yeah you every day Cana!" Macao said while laughing. I heard others laugh as well as I continued to eavesdrop. Cana said,

"Nah. I don't have bad days, just days where I drink! A drink can solve it all right! It's guaranteed!" More laughter and it seemed that the conversation was done, because I didn't hear Natsu utter a single word after that. I just decided to walk on in. I opened the guild doors and entered. Everyone turned to see me, saw it was me, and then went back to whatever they were doing. I grimaced in my head. Apparently, they want someone exciting to walk in like Gildarts or some council member. Natsu, however, looked to be the only one who was happy to see me, which made me smile as I walked over to him.

When I reached him, I realized that the entire guild had fallen into an awkward silence. I glanced around me with raised eyebrows. What was going on?

"So Natsu…" I trailed off not even sure where I was headed with this, but it seemed that the spotlight was on me. I continued by saying,

"Look. I'm sorry about this morning. I was just really grumpy and upse-" I stopped talking. I didn't want him asking why I was upset. He scanned me over quickly and broke out in a huge grin.

"I'm not mad or anything Luce! I was just worried that you were like… different."

I stared at him as he smiled at me and in that one moment all of those memories rushed over me.

When I met him.

When he first saved me.

When he let me come along on that first mission to save Macao.

When he asked for me to join his team.

Daybreak, Lullaby, and even Galuna Island…and how I met all of my friends all because of those words that he told me on that very first day. There's so many more…there's when he saved me from Phantom and all of those moments where he saved me. There's then entire Tower of Heaven time where he was so supportive as well as during Edolas. So many memories… I didn't notice that I was starting to tear up as this realization hit me. He looked concerned as he noticed a few tears start to fall.

"Lucy…are you okay?"

I just looked at him and laughed. I nodded.

"Yeah…I really am Natsu. You have no idea." He smiled at my words.

"I think I have a pretty clear idea," he said. I smiled at him and next thing you know, we were hugging each other in a tight embrace.

A rush of silence fell over the entire guild as I cried in his arms for reasons known to only the two of us.

It was our little secret.

But…my little secret was…

I was in love with Natsu Dragneel.

….

I'm never going to tell him. I said to myself as I lied in my bed doing the now-a-routine Natsu lecture. I haven't actually told anyone, but people in the guild have been talking about us not so discreetly ever since that incident in the guildhall that happened about a week ago.

It was actually a little annoying, because that's all they talk about now.

I turned over onto my side, sighing deeply.

"What's with the sigh, Luce?" Someone said suddenly.

I nearly died as I jumped up from my bed and gave a high-pitched scream. I quickly quieted when I saw it was Natsu, but my glare could have been shooting daggers. He flinched away and I groaned.

"Why…are you here?" I asked, controlling my urge to strangle him half to death.

"I dunno. Happy went on a mission with Wendy and Charle, so that reminded me…we should go on a mission," he said, shrugging.

"Mhmn." I responded vaguely.

"Mhmn?" He asked a little amused. I noticed a ghost of a smile flit across his face.

"Yes. Mhmn." I told him, letting my smile pass through.

"Well, I'm taking that as a yes, so we leave tomorrow, early." He added an emphasis on the early, which in response, I groaned at in annoyance.

"Fine." I finally said, giving up because I was so tired.

"Now, leave." I added as I turned around on my other side, facing away from him. I heard him grunt and stand up, and just as I was thinking he was about to leave he pulled open the covers and got into my bed settling himself in. My entire body stiffened and I turned back around to see his smiling face looking back at me, ever so innocently. I glared and growled,

"What…are you doing?!"

"Going to sleep, obviously. I'm not walking all the way back to my house, it's too dark," he muttered, complaining.

"Well it's your fault that you came to tell me about the mission thing at eleven o'clock at night!" I hissed at him, not so kindly.

"Good night Lucy." He muttered turning around to face away from me.

I will absolutely not accept this.

"Natsu!" I hissed. "Natsu! Get out!" He continued to ignore me as I poked, jabbed, and slapped him on his arm repeatedly.

"I hope you know Natsu…that I will continue to do this until you get out!" I threatened him. He hardly seemed concerned as he responded lazily,

"Then you won't get any sleep Lucy, which is not healthy for a young lady such as yourself…if you actually count as a "lady"…" he finally said.

"Natsuuuuuu…" I whined.

"Good nigh'." He said once more leaving me hanging, I huffed and turned around. Fine. If this is what he's doing tonight, then it's what I'm doing tomorrow. I let my eyes shut as I drifted off to the rhythmic beat of Natsu's breathing beside me. It was peace.

….

Someone was poking at me. Literally. In the face too. I opened one eye cautiously to find a very close Natsu poking at me with his finger. He was up and ready, and he looked clean, which probably meant that he used my shower…great.

"Ready Luce?" he asked, smiling down at me.

"No, but sure. Let's go, but you have to leave. Go to Fairy Tail and choose the request, okay? I'll meet you there in a bit." I told him.

"Got it Luce," he said as he leaped out of my window.

I sighed as I sat up and looked around. It was a beautiful day filled with sunlight, but maybe a little too much for a morning…I leaned over and covered up the windows to stop the light from streaming in. Even though all of these negative thoughts were at the edge of my mind, I was smiling like an idiot. I really was, and yes it was somewhat shameful…but I was happy.

I stood up and got ready to head towards Fairy Tail, but before that I stopped to look at myself in the mirror and decided to just keep my all of my hair down today. I look pretty cute. I wonder if he'll notice…? These thoughts were pounding in my head as I walked to Fairy Tail, but I shook them off realizing how ridiculous they were. With Natsu as dense as he is, I could probably tell him right to his face that I love him and he still won't get it. He is Natsu after all. What can I expect?

Nothing.

That simple, really.

I walked in and instantly spotted Natsu looking over the request board next to Nab who was standing there thinking hard about which job was "meant for him". I laughed to myself as I started towards Natsu, but Gray stepped in front of me and asked,

"So…when are you going to tell him?" I had to restrain my mouth from dropping open as I weakly replied,

"Tell who what?" Yeah. That's right. I'm playing the innocent card Gray. He smirked and shook his head as he turned to walk away, but I swear I heard him mutter, "Figures."

When I reached Natsu, I asked,

"Got one yet?" He glanced towards me and shook his head sadly. I sighed and looked over the requests. I didn't want to do anything very hard, but a lot of these required a lot of work like labor and such.

However, I saw one that I instantly loved. I reached forward and ripped it off the board without even consulting Natsu, but it's his fault. He has been here for a while, and if he doesn't like my request then that's his problem. I tilted my head to the side waiting for his complaints and soon enough,

"Why are we doing that one Lucy?" He asked.

"Cuz it's easy and I don't want to do any work, that's why." I responded with a smirk. He just shot me a glare and huffed, apparently response free. Hmm.

"Why don't you want to do it?" I finally asked as we were leaving the guild. He just glanced over at me and said,

"I dunno. It's just too…no never mind." He said. Now I was intrigued. I pushed him with my elbow and asked, "What's never mind?" He glanced over at me and shrugged casually. He wasn't telling. I sighed and shrugged too. I'll let him have this one…this time.

We continued to walk on when he spoke up by asking,

"So Lucy…are you having boy problems?" I froze on the spot and turned towards him. Damn Cana and her big mouth, and damn Gray just for figuring it out…I gave Natsu weak smile.

"Of course not Natsu. Why would you think that?" I told him, sweetly and innocently. He blushed. Yes, he blushed, which he never does! My face turned red at my response. Is this what this would be like? Me freaking out over him every time he blushes?

How pathetic.

I focused my attention back on Natsu. He actually looked worried, which is…weird.

"You know…you can tell me Luce. It's really not that hard." He told me with a voice laced with sincerity and understanding. What was he talking about…? My eyebrows rose in response and I started to laugh. I mean, really laugh.

"Natsu," I started, "You do know that I love you, right?" I told him, still while laughing.

I stopped laughing. Did I just say that out loud? Oh no. I looked up at him, ashamed and embarrassed trying to assess his response, but he just grinned.

"I love you too Luce. You're my best friend." He responded casually, but his voice seemed a little off…? I quickly dismissed that thought and replaced them with negative thoughts. I knew this would happen if I ever told him! I knew it! It was just so…Natsu. I smiled and turned away before traitor tears could enter my eyes. I knew they were coming, but I willed myself to not sound off as I said,

"We should really go. We have a mission to do."

"Yeah." Natsu responded.

…..

We arrived at the mansion a little after noon. We were just in time as I knocked on the generously huge doors. A small girl who looked to be of age six or seven opened it. She glanced over us and turned her head back to yell,

"Mommy! They're here!"

"They are?" A women's voice replied. She sounded grateful and I soon heard her walking towards us. When she saw us, her entire face brightened.

"Oh thank the heavens." She said. "I was getting a little worried that you wouldn't show up. It is a ridiculous job after all. I was actually very surprised when I found out my request had actually been accepted. I really didn't expect two mages to accept a job to baby-sit, but I am so very thankful." I smiled at her and said,

"It's nothing, really. I didn't want to do anything too hard this time, and when I saw this, it was me who was grateful." She nodded happily and led us inside. Natsu trailed behind me, radiating uncomfortable. I tried my best to ignore him as I sat down and started to converse with Cassandra, which I soon found out. She told me that her husband died a few years ago and she wanted to start dating again, but she had three kids who she couldn't abandon so she hired a baby-sitter from a guild, just in case someone would try and kidnap her kids for ransom, when she was away. I listened the entire time, and a few times I had to kick Natsu to listen too, because he seemed to be more interested in the little aspects like the fireplace and the kitchen. One time, I must have kicked him too hard because he exclaimed loudly, "Ow!" Cassandra looked over at him in surprise and then back at me, with curious eyes and a small smile.

We talked for a few more minutes, until Cassandra's date showed up. She went over the details again and introduced us to her children, which were two small girls and a baby boy. She smiled at me as she left, arm in her date's arm, but I knew she was really worried so I called out,

"Don't worry Ms. Cassandra! Your children will be safe with me!" Her smile widened and then they were gone. Natsu grunted and went back inside. I followed him thinking, Time to baby-sit.

…..

A couple of hours later, after feeding and washing the kids, I was completely exhausted. Who knew that baby-sitting would be so hard? When I sat down on the couch, huffing loudly, Natsu said,

"You know…you're pretty cute with kids." My face reddened in response. We hadn't really spoken at all, just glancing at each other sometimes and then looking away. That was how we've been communicating for the past couple of hours and I don't know why. It just got really awkward between us after that conversation a couple hours ago, and I didn't like it. He didn't even know what I actually meant, so why was it so awkward between us now? I frowned and said gruffly, "Thanks. I guess."

"No. You really are Luce. I was just thinking that you would be a great mom." I swear my face was as red as a freshly-riped tomato now.

"Thanks Natsu," I said, "I think that you would be a pretty good dad as well…" I trailed off, supremely embarrassed about this conversation and where it was headed. Natsu didn't seem to notice, but he stayed quiet and muttered a small,

"Thanks."

We stopped talking for a little while and then Natsu said,

"Hey Lucy…I know you said before that you weren't having boy problems, but I know you weren't being serious. I'm not that dense, ya know." I just sat there, frozen, and staring at him in shock. What was I supposed to say to that? Our conversations weren't even making sense…we were just avoiding the overall subject that I refused to discuss with him, but he kept butting up against it and what was I supposed to do?! I shook my head and sighed pretty dramatically.

"Yeah, I guess I am Natsu."

He nodded as if expecting this answer and said,

"Do you like someone?"

I nodded.

"Who?" He pressed on.

I shook my head.

"Come on...tell me….I think I'm in love with someone and if you tell me…I'll tell you…" He told me, completely taking me off guard. I was so surprised and I couldn't contain my excitement and shock.

"Who?! Ohmygod Natsu! Who?!" I shouted at him. He loved someone?! I didn't even think that he was capable at liking someone with the fact of how dense he was! I was in complete, utter shock. I looked back at him to see him smirking shyly. How do you even smirk shyly?!

"I asked you first Luce," he whispered. I pouted and shook my head.

"No. I won't tell you until you reveal your little secret." I looked at him and I knew he would give in. He did.

"Fine. I'll tell you." He leaned in closer. My breath hitched and I looked at him with wide eyes as he told me,

"I'm in love with a blonde haired, brown eyed weirdo," He stopped for a second gauging my reaction, but I couldn't move a muscle. He was so close! He continued, "I'm in love with you Lucy, but I'm not sure what to do about it."

My world stopped.

Did my best friend, Natsu Dragneel, just confess love to me? My dense friend, Natsu?!

*$ ***$$$!

I blinked up at him and before I could respond, his lips were on mine.

He kissed me passionately and I kissed the crazy, pink-haired boy that I loved back just as equally. He broke away, panting with a wild look in his eyes. Was this even Natsu? Finally he said,

"Come on Luce. Just tell me. It's really not that hard." He smiled at me. I stood up and wrapped my arms around his neck feeling his oh-so-soft hair and then told him,

"Fine. Well guess what Natsu? I'm in love with you too."

And then I kissed him, smiling all the while thinking…

I guess it really wasn't that hard.

…..

(A few minutes later…:D)

"I'm hungry Luce."

"That's your problem," I told him.

"Could you make me something?" he asked.

"No."

"But-" Natsu was cut off.

"Miss Lucy? I'm back from my date and thank you so much." Cassandra said after cutting Natsu off by opening the door.

"Oh you're welcome." I responded. She noticed Natsu and I and then surprised us all by saying,

"Oh good. It worked. I must go tell Mira and Cana."

What?!

*Hi everyone! I hope you liked my short story! Hehehe…I really wasn't planning on the very end, but I just had to have Natsu say he was hungry and ruin the moment, but I didn't want to do it during the kiss…so I just added a little after, where it revealed a few things… (wicked grin)…and you can imagine the rest. Well please review and fave! And thank you so much for reading! :D Bye!