NaLu One Shots

> she

It was a rowdy evening at the guild; the usual brawling, things getting thrown about and people chatting loudly.

But much to anyone's surprise, today Natsu wasn't in the brunt of it. Alone he sat, at a chair to the side of the guild's bar - sipping some concoction of tea Mira had brewed for him.

Mira questioned him as to why he wasn't in the middle of some kind of fight, and he'd only shrugged it off and suggested he wasn't in the mood. He wasn't lying - he sure as hell wasn't in the mood, albeit not feeling ill or tired - he just curved around the truth that's all.

In reality his mind was running laps, beating himself up inside, questioning and thinking way too hard. Since when did he think so much? Especially about her.

He never knew how much he needed her before their paths collided that fateful day in the town of Hargeon. The day everything changed.

He thought he was fine alone.

Just him and his best friend Happy; keeping busy on the search for his father. That was all he needed...

But he didn't notice the gaping whole in his existence. Not until she came, and then he seemed to realised everything he'd used to bandage himself together was only temporary and already falling apart.

So she fixed him.

Unaware, she patched him back together, and he became himself again - all from her just being there. Being his friend, his teammate... and now... being something that wasn't more.

He needed more, he'd come to realise.

All of a sudden, being her best friend just wasn't good enough. He felt selfish - after everything she'd done for him. But all those things only seemed to water the ever growing desire he had within him.

A heavy sigh escaped Natsu's lips as he took another sip of his drink at the bar. Too much thinking. Too much.

He willed himself to go back to how he was. Why couldn't he just be content? She was his best friend, and he was hers. Wasn't that good enough?

His fingers clenched around the glass in his hand, knuckles turning white the slightest. But he froze when he felt a heat against his shoulder, just before he could apply enough pressure to accidentally break it.

"Natsu, are you alright?" Her voice floated to his ears as the hand she'd placed on him gave an unconscious squeeze.

He turned to her, swivelling around on the bar stool. He would be lying if he'd said he hadn't even noticed the blonde was in the guildhall before; it was almost routine for his eyes to sweep the area every day when he came - looking out for the celestial mage he held so dear. But he argued in his brain, it was normal to look out for his best friend, of course he'd want to spend time with her. Then his heart picked apart his justifications, debunking them with a single beat - he liked her, it was so obvious. And my God, her scent! How could he not know when she was around?

No I'm not alright, I can't have you. Is what he wanted to say to her. If he was to be completley truthful to her question, the words that would spill from his mouth would be so heartfelt, so raw and so unrequited... that he'd probably break himself. She could never know. She'd showed absolutely no interest in him, so how could he unload any of the feelings he felt for her? The answer was he couldn't. He just had to keep burrying them, until they eroded into the ground to mere dust. He couldn't let them exist or it would only ruin their friendship, and himself..

"Luce!" He grinned, releasing the glass from his deadly grip. "I'm fine, looking to go on a job or something?" He asked, eyes landing on her who stood before him.