Lemons ♡

- First Steps PART I

*Lucy Pov*

I was fourteen when my mother died. Her last months were pretty hard on Dad and me, especially Dad, and it took him a couple years to get his feet back under himself. He did get his life back together, and I was happy for him when he could finally bring himself to start dating again.

It wasn't long before he was regularly seeing a woman named Michelle, who had been divorced a year or two earlier, and had a son my age. I knew things were starting to get serious when Dad introduced me to her. And even more serious, when Dad and Michelle planned an all-day picnic outing to a beach house on the lake, so the four of us could 'start getting to know each other'.

I had to say, I couldn't complain about Dad's choice. Michelle was certainly a nice enough lady, and she wasn't pushy about becoming my 'new mom', or anything like that. By the time I was 17, I wasn't in the market for a 'new mom', but I also knew that, if Dad went ahead and married her, like it seemed he was inclined to do, that the two of us would have to get along. And that wasn't going to be hard at all.

I also knew I was going to need to get along with her son, at least until one or both of us grew up and moved out. But I really had no idea who her son was, until the four of us got together at the lake.

I actually knew Natsu from school. I should rather say, I knew who he was; we'd barely had any direct contact with each other, even though we'd been in the same classes for several years. Natsu was one of the 'popular kids' -- the star football player, his friends were the teammates. and the cheerleaders. I, on the other hand, was kind of a nerd -- I had a reputation as a 'brainiac', and a math-science geek. So my 'sphere' and Natsu's didn't overlap a whole lot.

Once I knew who my would-be step brother was, I was a little nervous about how it was all going to work out. Would Natsu play the typical 'social dominance' games against me, or would we work out a decent way to live together under the same roof? At least at first, he seemed inclined to treat me pleasantly enough, and as our parents' courtship proceeded, and we were starting to act more and more like a family-to-be, we actually came to like each other.

*****

Once Dad and Michelle were married, and the four of us were all living together under the same roof, there was a brief period of adjustments to be made. Both Natsu and I had been 'only children', and so it was different -- and not unpleasant -- to have a sibling for the first time in my life, even if the bathroom wasn't quite as available as it had been my whole life before then.

Natsu and I came to a really good way of 'living together', now that we were step-siblings. I was happy to help him with his homework; his grades actually improved after we started living together, and he seemed genuinely grateful for my help.

For my part, natsu was helpful in showing me how to be a bit more 'social' than I'd been accustomed to being. His 'popular' friends would come over to the house, and I got to know them better, and we all kind-of came to realize that we weren't so 'foreign' to each other as we'd supposed. Not at all that I was glad my mother had died, but I was really enjoying the ways my horizons were expanding in our 'new family'.

*****

Natsu and I both turned 18 the fall of our senior year; our birthdays were just over a week apart (just for the record -- I'm older than him). "See," he smiled, "we have even more in common than we thought!"

The night of my birthday, after all the candles were blown out, and birthday presents opened, songs sung and cake-and-ice-cream eaten, natsu and I were chatting in my room.

* pov Natsu

I cocked my head sideways and said "You know, you're nothing like what I expected you'd be."

She laughed. "And just how did you 'expect me to be'?"

"Well, I thought you were kind of a nerd, and that you'd be kinda weird, and awkward, and hard to relate to. But you're not like that at all."

"Well, I'm glad I could exceed your expectations. I suppose I should say, since we're on the topic, that I was worried you'd be all, 'I'm so cool, and you're not' with me, and you're not at all like that, either. You're a really neat person, and I like you a lot."

I stopped and looked at her, thinking about what she just said. "Thank you for saying that. It means a lot to me. I don't want to be all 'stuck-up', just because we've had different friends. I think you're pretty neat, and I like you, too."

I went over to her, and gave her a hug -- as brotherly a hug as I could muster up, even though I was still pretty new to the whole 'brother' thing. "I think we're gonna be just fine," I said quietly.

"Me too."

*****

The other adjustment that needed to be made was simply having women in the house. Of course, I'd grown up with my mom but she was always so busy. I had been living a pretty Spartan existence for the past few years, and it was different -- in a good way, for sure -- having 'feminine touches' around the house again, and I'd never had a sister before, so that was all new. Even just having people in the house who smelled nice.

There were the little 'daily life' things like the Lucy's underwear hanging in the bathroom, that were definite markers that my life was different than it had been. And I didn't mind those at all, either. In fact, in an odd way that I couldn't really put my finger on, I found them interesting; exciting, even.

LUCY POV**

One evening, shortly after my birthday, I was in the shower, when I heard the door open. "Who's there?" I called out.

"It's just me," answered Natsu

"Um. . . I'm in the shower."

"I know; I have to take a piss really bad. Hope you don't mind. Besides," he said, "we can't see through the curtain, anyway. You stay on your side, and I'll stay on mine."

From the other side of the shower curtain, I could hear the sound of natsu peeing. I was getting curious.. shaking my head quickly.

"Okay," I finally answered, "you stay on your side, and I'll stay on mine."

I heard the toilet flush. Then, light appeared from around the end of the curtain.

"I lied!" Natsu said, grinning wickedly as he peeked in on me, while I tried in vain to hide my nakedness, I looked over my shoulder and the fact that his penis was semi-hard, from me. "Oooh!" I giggled, pointing at his cock. "Is that your. . . thing?" He only peeked for a few seconds before closing the curtain and leaving the bathroom, but it felt like he was checking me out for hours. And yet, oddly, once he'd left, I found myself more excited than flustered.

*****