Beautiful Dreamer

Chapter Four: Lull'd by the moonlight have all passed away

Natsu, not so elegantly, was able to unlock her dorm room and gently place Lucy on the bed. The room itself was split in two sides, one Lucys and one Levy's. Both sides were stacked with books but one side had a more orange theme and one had a more blue theme. Lucy isn't sure how Natsu knew her side was the blue one.

The moment she felt the soft coldness of her bedsheets she wanted to drift off to sleep, but even in her dazed state she had priorities.

"Wait," Lucy said sitting up, "I'm not in PJ's".

In her current state of mind this seemed incredibly important. Her mouth was unusually dry, and she scanned the room for her water but could not find it.

"Just sleep in this outfit," Natsu says, shrugging, "you really need some sleep."

"No." Lucy pouts, standing out of bed and swaying a bit but maintaining balance. She was proud of herself for a moment before she felt something start to rise in her throat, "I'm gonna puke."

The trash can was suddenly in front of her. She spat up everything she ate and drank at the party. Natsu's one hand held stray strands of hair that had fallen out of the ponytail from falling in her face. His other hand rubbed her back while she got everything out of her system. Lucy hugged the trashcan to her chest like it was her savior.

As she turns to just dry heaving she takes a breath and immediately regrets it when the smell hits her nose, she instinctively holds the trash can further away for herself.

"That's probably better anyways." Natsu says as he takes the trash can and places it in the hallway. He grabs a bottle of water from Levy's side of the room. How did she not see it earlier? He opens it and hands it to her, she drinks a little bit soothing the burn in her throat.

"I still want PJs." Lucy says, and Natsu sighs. "And to brush my teeth."

"Well, go get then." Natsu says, closing his eyes and standing in the middle of the room. Lucy goes to her closet, feeling unbalanced but so much better after puking. She grabs the first pair she sees, tugging off her party outfit and putting on nice comfy PJs. She turns to see Natsu's still standing with his eyes closed.

"Done." she says. Natsu opens his eyes, locks on her figure and smiles.

"Okay where's your toothbrush?"

She quickly gets it from her desk and goes into the bathroom across the hall. When she finishes brushing her teeth, she washes her face with her hands, feeling sleepy but refreshed. When she reenters her dorm, Natsu is still waiting.

"Okay, time for bed." He says, and she nods, crawling into bed and under the covers.

"Night Lucy." he says, pulling her covers up and starting to pull away. She grabs his wrists.

"Stay?"

She suddenly didn't want to be alone.

"I don't know if you'd like that when you wake up not drunk and drugged." He faces her fully, feet shifting from foot to foot like he was tempted between staying and going.

"Stay?"

And he did.

She doesn't know if something in her voice was convincing but he nods, takes off his shoes and gets into bed with her. His shirt was already unbuttoned but bunches up more as he lays down. She snuggles into his open arms and feels safe as they wrap around her. She can hear his heartbeat as she rests her head on his bare chest. With the steady beat lulling her, sleep comes over her quicker than ever before.

...

Lucy wakes up when it's still dark outside her window. She looks over at the clock to read 1:00 am, she'd only been asleep for a few hours. Natsu is sleeping soundly next to her, laying on his back, his right arm draped across her pillow, giving access for Lucy to lay either on him or directly next to him if she wanted. She blushes at the thought of the cuddling she asked for, pulling the covers up to her face in embarrassment.