Day twenty-five. The halfway point of the fifty day curse and still no luck. Since Lucy was allowing her ankle to heal up for a few days, he was unable to go on jobs without worrying about her or taking her on the usual dates he would. So, in a way, he was losing time.

And it was eating him alive. At this point, Natsu thought this was fate's way of telling him to give up. Of course, he did go visit Lucy with the rest of his team as she was resting at her apartment. She even asked him a few times to stay a little longer while everyone left.

The time he spent with her made him feel like the luckiest man in the world. Natsu had finally admitted to himself that he had fallen in love with his best friend; the one and only Lucy Heartfilia. He couldn't stop worrying about her, couldn't stop thinking about her and couldn't stop wanting to see that beautiful smile she always wore.

But now, Natsu was at a loss as to what to do about the curse. Clearly, his plan wasn't working as well as he thought it would. He did notice small things. Like how Lucy always snuck glances at him when she first entered the guild and how she always wanted to hold his hand. Natsu surely didn't mind; he enjoyed it too much.

"What are you thinking about?" Mira hummed, snapping the dragon slayer out of his thoughts.

"I don't know what to do now. I only have twenty-five more days and my plan isn't working. Mira, help me!" he complained. He reached over, placing his hands on Mirajane's slim shoulders and gently shaking her back and forth.

"Natsu, calm down and let go of me! I'll help you, but really? This all up to Lucy and her feelings. Each day, she is changing though." Mira turned her gaze to the guild doors where Lucy was entering. "You're the first person she looks to when getting here and without even knowing you, she always wants to be around you."

"You've noticed it, too?" Levy asked. She was carrying a stack of books back to the guild's library when she heard their conversation. Levy set the books down on the counter, leaning against it as well, and looked to Natsu.

"I think you should just confess to her at this point."

Natsu opened his mouth shock, trying to sputter out words before finally, "What if she gets creeped out or something?"

"It's only worth a shot. Or you could just continue what you're doing now." the bluenette shrugged, picking up te books once more and heading off.

"You could always go back to the way things were before the accident, well curse." Mirajane mused.

Natsu turned his turned towards her once more, "What do you mean?"

"Like, pretend none of this ever happened and you guys are still just as close as before. Just don't go as far as breaking into her apartment or something like you used to. It might scare her." Natsu nodded, understanding her.

He folded his arms on the bar top to rest his chin on them and then proceeded to close his eyes to think.

"Mira, I'm taking this job." his eyes snapped open and he looked to see Lucy by his side handing the barmaid a job request sheet.

Mirajane's eyes scanned over the sheet. "Lucy, do you know how to face-paint?"

"Well, I can paint. Doesn't seem that hard to do it on a face." she shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "It seems like a fun job to do tomorrow. Plus it's just here in town."

"Alright, you should probably practice your skills."

"Of course!" Lucy grabbed the sheet back from Mira and turned to face the guild. Her eyes scanned from person to person, sometimes lingering on a person for a bit before she shook her head in frustration.

Her head finally turned and her eyes landed on Natsu, who was already staring up at her. His cheeks redden as he realized he had just been caught staring at her. Lucy was in deep in thought before stretching her hand out to poke his cheek.

"You! You're going to be my canvas to practice on!" she claimed.

"W-what?"

"You heard Mira. I need to practice my face-painting skills and your face is the perfect canvas."

"How is my face perfect for this?"

"Natsu, stop asking questions and help Lucy out." Mira hissed while giving him a wink.

He sighed, sitting up straight and turning back to Lucy, "Fine, but you have to buy me a pizza."

"Deal! Let's go! See ya, Mira!" Lucy grabbed a hold of his arm, hauling him out of the guild with her while waving at Mira and the rest of her guild friends.

Nothing was said on their walk back to her apartment, and when they arrived, Lucy went straight to retrieving her paints.

"You can sit at the kitchen table while I set everything up." she instructed. Natsu plopped down on a chair, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

"Natsu, was it?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Lucy. Thanks for letting me experiment on your face."

"You're getting me food so it's fine."

Lucy giggled. "Let's get started."

A few hours passed. She was able to paint lovely dragons, superhero logos, spiders, rainbows, and even fairies. Lucy even practiced whole face paintings like a pirate and a tiger. Whenever she came to a finish, the results would be shown to Natsu who was always astonished with it.

"Alright! The tiger was the last one. You can go wash your face now."

Natsu walked into the bathroom to clean his face. Once he came back, he saw Lucy sitting on the floor of her living room space with the paints. He gave her a questioning.

"Can I paint on your back?" she blurted.

"My back? I thought you were only doing faces?"

"I know, I know. But, I've always wanted to paint on someone's back. It seems like fun." she gave him a bright smile and how could he say no to it?

"Alright, let me just take this thing off." he told her, referring to both his scarf and vest. Lucy's grin widdened and she gave a nod.

After he set the garments down on her bed, he laid on his stomach in the middle of the floor, resting his head on his folded arms.

"I'm gonna have to sit on your lower back." Lucy awkwardly said.

"That's fine." he hummed.

"Sorry if I'm heavy or something." she told him while getting into position. Her palms rested on his shoulders as she settled on the small of his back.

"Jeez, Luce. I can barely tell that you're sitting on me."

"Really? But Happy is always saying-"

"Don't listen to Happy. He's just full of it, trust me." he states after cutting her off. She smiles down at him even though he can't see it since his eyes are closed.

Lucy begans to paint, but right when the brush meets Natsu's skin, he begins to squirm underneath her.

"Natsu, stay still!" Lucy shouts.

"It tickles!" he laughs.

"Oh, come on! If you stay still, I'll order two pizzas and breadsticks." she bargains. He instantly stops his squirming and goes back to his former position. Lucy laughs to herself and begins to paint once more.

All is quiet, just the sound of the brush being dipped into different color paints and their steady breathing.

"What was your dragon like, Natsu?" Lucy whispers, breaking the silence. Natsu opens an eye and looks at her. Her face is calm, yet filled with concentration.

"How'd you know-"

"Wendy told me when I got to the guild this morning."

He sighed, closing his eyes., "His name is, well was, Igneel. He was the greatest person I've ever known. He raised me and taught me not only Fire Dragon Slaying magic, but how to read and write and stuff like that. Although Erza had to reteach some of that stuff. He taught me a lot and I suppose I did too."

"You admire him greatly, don't you?"

"Yup. Still do."

"He sounds great. I would've loved to meet him." Lucy said softly.

The silence came back, but only for a few minutes. "I'm done."

Lucy sat back to admire her artwork. She had painted the planets across his shoulder blades. Natsu began to roll over to lay on his back.

"Hey! You're gonna get paint on the carpet!" Lucy protested, before realizing their position. She could feel her face begin to heat up, seeing as she was now stradling him.

"Uh, um..." she started before his arms wrapped around her and pulled her to his chest. She lay there, eyes wide, listening to the beat of his heart.

Natsu didn't know what had come over him, but at the moment, he didn't care. Lucy began to lift her head, only to rest her forehead against his.

She didn't know where she got this courage from or this strange sense of familiarity and comfort with him from. They were now looking into each others eyes. Lucy brought her hand up to carress his cheek.

Natsu kissed the tip of her nose, causing her to scrunch it up in an adorable manner.

"They liiiiiiike each other!" said a certain blue exceed, hovering just in the entrance of the window. The two pulled apart; Natsu sitting up straight and Lucy falling back onto her paints that were now splattered all over her white long sleeve and bare legs, seeing as she was wearing shorts.

Now I'll have to buy new ones for tomorrow's job, she thought to herself. She looked up to see Natsu, who had his hand covering the lower part of his face and a flushed face.

Once their eyes met again, Lucy said the only thing that popped up in her mind. "I think I should order the pizzas now."

__________

sorry this took so long. ive been binge watching some animes lmao. picture is what lucy drew on natsu's back. hope you all enjoyed!

vote & comment!

not proofread