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A…knock at the door?
Lucy nervously smoothed out her cabernet red dress for the umpteenth time before stepping up to the entrance of her apartment. She took a deep breath then swung the door open to reveal Natsu waiting on the other side. “O-Oh, it’s you,” she said.
Instead of his usual attire, he wore a suit and tie. His trademark white scarf was absent entirely. He hardly looked like the Natsu she knew.
“Of course it’s me,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked uncomfortable; that she noticed right away. “Who else were you expecting? You said to come by at eight o’clock, didn’t ya?”
“Y-Yeah,” Lucy answered with a weak chuckle. “I guess I’m just not used to you knocking. You usually just barge in, or climb in through the window.”
“Yeah well…” Natsu’s eyes shifted temporarily to the side. “I figured I was supposed to be all polite for this…or somethin’.”
“It’s a nice change of pace, I have to admit,” Lucy laughed. Her fingers reached to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She had to admit, he looked…really nice. He had run a comb through his hair. His red tie was correctly fixed around his neck, and his shirt was tucked in. Lucy had a sneaking suspicion that someone else from Fairy Tail had a hand in getting him dressed like this, because it didn’t seem likely he could have managed it on his own. Maybe Mirajane. Or Levy. It might have even been Juvia, who would certainly be glad to throw any man in Lucy’s direction, considering she still—somehow—saw Lucy as a threat in her quest to conquer Gray’s heart.
Apartment locked up behind them, the two began to make their way down the cobblestone street. The pleasant Saturday evening, its air gently stirred by a warm summer breeze, had beckoned many others to the streets as well. A man walked by with a child atop his shoulders, the child gleefully licking away at an ice cream cone. A group of young teens laughed as one of their friends took on the challenge of walking backward. An old man kissed his wife on the cheek while they sat on a bench by the canal, and in turn the woman took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
Lucy blushed and unlocked her own hands from behind her back, releasing her arms to dangle deliberately at her sides, ready for the grabbing. However, when she glanced to the side, she found Natsu’s hands shoved deep into his pockets. Lucy exhaled a mildly disappointed sigh and wrapped her fingers around the strap of her cross-body purse. For the duration of the walk to the restaurant, Natsu was abnormally silent, and Lucy, too, couldn’t manage to vocalize any of her numerous, racing thoughts. Had this been a mistake? He’d been the one to suggest the date in the first place, but now that they were here, he didn’t seem too thrilled about it.
Lucy squeezed the strap of her purse a little tighter.
Soon enough, a three-story, tan stucco building came into view, its lowest level boasting one of the city’s most popular cafes: Stellata. Tall windows accounted for much of the front wall, their glass panes thrown open to allow the comfortable evening air to waft toward the tables inside. Blue and gold awnings stretched over small, round outdoor tables, where diners could watch passersby and take in the picturesque street as they enjoyed their meals.
As Lucy and Natsu approached the entrance, the hostess, who stood with a clipboard just outside, saw them and bowed politely. “Ah, welcome back!” she greeted them with a warm smile. “We’ve got your table all ready to go!”
Lucy tilted her head in confusion and looked to Natsu for an explanation, but he spared only a silent glance at her with the same odd expression he’d been wearing since he showed up at her door. She had no choice but to follow him and the hostess as the latter led them to an empty outdoor table. In the middle of the table sat a slender vase from which sprang sunset orange marigolds.
“Oh, I love marigolds!” Lucy said as she happily clapped her hands together. Only after she said it did she glance at the other tables to find none of them bore the same adornment. Her gaze drifted back to Natsu, who scratched at his jaw with a sheepish little smile.
“Please enjoy,” the hostess told them. Lucy could have sworn she saw her wink at Natsu. “Your server will be out shortly.” She uttered a light, friendly giggle before turning on her heels to return to her post.
Lucy stood still for a moment, watching her go, and in the meantime Natsu plopped down in his seat. His eyes then opened wide, and he sprang back up, shuffled to the other side of the table, and pulled out Lucy’s chair. Lucy stared at him in disbelief for a moment—was this really Natsu??—and uttered thanks before tucking her dress under her legs and taking a seat.
As her companion settled back into his own seat, Lucy began hesitantly, “Have you…been here before?”
“Nah,” Natsu dismissed, as if it was an absurd question, but then he paused and added, “Well, I did come by yesterday. Mira told me I should reserve a table.”
“A good idea,” Lucy agreed. Her eyes fell upon the vase again. “And…the flowers? Did she tell you about those, too?” She couldn’t remember a time when she had mentioned her particular fondness for marigolds to Mirajane, but that wasn’t impossible.
“Nah, I…I thought I remembered you likin’ them. On a job or somethin’, a while back.”
Lucy blushed. So the flowers were Natsu’s idea, huh? “They’re perfect,” she told him with a reassuring smile.
“Glad ya like ‘em!” He flashed her a grin, but at the same time he reached up to fiddle with the knot of his tie, as he’d been doing almost constantly since he picked her up at home. For someone who wore a scarf all day long, he seemed markedly uncomfortable with this new accessory.
“We match!” Lucy pointed out, gesturing between his tie and her dress. Different shades of red, but still. “Almost like we planned it.”
“Yeah.” Natsu seemed to become aware of his tie fiddling and left it alone for the time being, leaning back in his chair. A few seconds later, he corrected his slouch and sat up straighter. Lucy had never known Natsu to be as self-conscious of how he presented himself as he appeared to be in this moment, but before she could think about it any further, their waitress appeared with a couple glasses of water, two empty wine glasses, and a bottle of red wine, a real feat of balance.
“Good evening!” the brunette greeted them cheerfully. She set one of each glass in front of both of them then presented the bottle of wine, label forward. “My name’s Janie, and I’ll be your server tonight. Here’s the bottle you requested, sir.”
Natsu offered the waitress a slight nod, apparently unsure of what to do or say. Lucy ventured a guess that he’d never been addressed as ‘sir’ in his entire life. Still, the waitress didn’t miss a beat, and she proceeded to uncork the bottle and pour a small taste into Natsu’s glass.
“Let me know if it’s to your liking,” she said politely.
Natsu’s brow furrowed, and he stared at the glass for a moment before sliding it partway across the table toward Lucy. “I dunno. Give it to her.”
“O-oh, okay,” Janie replied, with the tiniest blip in her smile before she slid the small pour the rest of the way to Lucy and swapped the empty glass back in front of Natsu. “Here you are, miss!”
Lucy tasted the wine, approved, then the waitress proceeded to fill both their glasses. The latter then rattled off the daily specials and bowed politely before leaving them to mull over their choices. After she had gone, Lucy gently swirled the red liquid in her glass and peered up at Natsu, whose jaw clenched as he stared intently at his own glass. Okay, so he wasn’t accustomed to fine dining. No big deal.
“Did you pick out the wine, too?” Lucy asked, trying to break the tension.
He shook his head. “Cana.”
“Ah.” Lucy took a sip. It was rather tasty. She supposed, if she was looking for a wine recommendation, Cana would be the obvious source of information. Then again, Cana tended to go for quantity over quality. “It’s good. You should try it.”
Natsu lifted his glass, inspected it, then tossed back the entire volume with a few huge gulps. He set the empty vessel heavily back down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, froze for a moment, then reached for his napkin. Lucy watched him curiously. Natsu had never been one for table manners, a trait she had long since past learned to accept. This wasn’t typical behavior for him. On the one hand, his attempt at some level of decorum was kind of nice, but…there were certain things about Natsu that just made him who he was, for better or worse. If the fundamentals of his personality truly bothered her, he wouldn’t be her partner and best friend, and they certainly wouldn’t be on a date right now. But he was, and they were.
Lucy nudged the bottle of wine toward him, suggesting he could refill his glass. “You know to let red wine breathe, right?” she asked.
Natsu cocked his head and looked at her like she was crazy. “Huh?”
Lucy couldn’t help but laugh. “Go on; pour some more, and I’ll show you.” She waited for him to add more wine to his glass, then she demonstrated on her own by gently swirling its contents.
“What the heck’s the point of that?” Natsu asked.
“It helps to bring out the flavor,” Lucy explained. She took a small sip and smiled to indicate the taste was pleasant.
Natsu looked dubiously at her. “If you say so…” He turned his attention to his own glass and attempted to mimic the motion Lucy had made, but he went about it with far too much force and sent a great deal of his wine flying straight over the rim. “Crap!” He hurriedly tried to mop up the mess with his napkin.
Lucy leaned over the table and assisted in the cleanup with her own napkin. “It’s okay,” she laughed. “Just not so hard next time, alright?”
“Sorry,” Natsu mumbled. With the mess on the table more or less mopped up, he dabbed at the droplets of wine still clinging to the outside of his glass.
“It’s fine!” Lucy insisted. “Now try it. Do you notice a difference?”
Natsu raised an eyebrow but cast the saturated napkin aside and took a sip from the remaining contents of his glass. He set it back down and smacked his tongue, head slightly tilted as if he was giving it a great deal of thought. Then he shook his head. “I got nothin’. Tastes the exact same to me.” He ran his thumb over the stem of the glass with a mild frown. “Sorry, Luce. I’m no good at all this fancy stuff.”
Lucy raised both her hands and shook them. “No, no! It’s fine, really!” She sighed and rubbed her fingertips over the smooth base of her own glass. “The only reason I know all this stuff is because it was drilled into me growing up. The proper way to do this, the proper way to say that.” She glanced up, acutely aware of Natsu’s discomfort. “Most of it’s a bunch of nonsense, if you ask me.”
Natsu looked up at her, a hopeful glimmer in his eyes. “Really?”
“Totally!” She smiled warmly at him, then, with a coy expression, lifted her glass to her lips and took a long, noisy slurp from it. Sure, it attracted some raised eyebrows from passerby, but it made Natsu feel better, judging by his smile, so it was worth it. “My dad used to get furious with me when I slurped as a kid. I used to do it sometimes, just to make him mad.”
This made Natsu laugh. “Lucy Heartfilia: the rebel.”
“You know it!”
Before long, their waitress returned to collect their orders—while skillfully swapping out their napkins for clean ones without drawing attention to it—then disappeared into the restaurant once more. Natsu and Lucy had settled on two different dishes with the agreement that each could sample the other’s.
Lucy rested her chin on clasped hands while she listened to Natsu tell a childhood story involving him, Gray, Erza, and a ruined cake. Already, he was acting more like himself, though he was back to fiddling with his tie every other minute. She was glad. This was her Natsu.
Unfortunately, that was the final moment of peace for their dinner date.
During a particular lively segment of his story, Natsu swung his hand out and accidentally clipped his wine glass, sending it flying off the table and shattering against the hard ground. “Crap!” Natsu then abruptly slid his chair backward, unaware that Janie had just stepped up behind him, carrying their food. The poor waitress made a heroic effort to maintain her balance, but it was no use; she tumbled forward, cascading sauce-laden dishes all over the table, the ground, and the two diners for whom the meals had been intended.
The waitress let out a horrified gasp. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!”
Natsu, looking equally horrified, gazed helplessly at the mess he had caused. A glob of mashed potatoes fell from his ear. Broken dishes littered the ground. Lucy now wore the noodles, dripping in red sauce, that she had ordered for dinner.
A couple of the other servers rushed forward to assist.
“Please forgive me!” Janie moaned, bowing over and over again.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Lucy assured her, rising from her chair. Did that really just happen?! She spared a glance toward Natsu, who seemed to have lost the ability to speak. “Really. It was an accident.”
That reassurance didn’t stop the waitress from bowing yet again. “Still; I’m so sorry!”
Lucy began to help the servers with their cleanup efforts, despite their protestations. Natsu, too, joined in, but he said nothing other than a single, quiet ‘Damn it.’ Before long there was nothing left to do without a wet rag and a mop, and by that time the manager had come outside to apologize.
“I am terribly sorry about this,” the older woman said after a deep bow. “Please, allow us to provide a replacement for your meal, free of charge.”
“We appreciate it,” Lucy said, laughing weakly as she picked a noodle off her chest, “but, uh, I think we better go get cleaned up, instead.”
“I understand completely,” the manager replied with a nod toward both Lucy and Natsu. “Another time, then. Come back and order whatever you want, on the house. Again, we’re terribly sorry.”
“Thank you very much,” Lucy said, returning a polite bow. The motion caused another noodle to slide off her head.
And then they were on their way. Lucy was glad to make a quick exit; they had been getting lots of stares. The food-covered pair also garnered quite the attention as they ventured back the way they had come along the streets of Magnolia.
Lucy nearly had to jog to keep up with Natsu’s hurried pace.
“Would you slow down a bit?” she asked, reaching out to gently tug at his sleeve. The moment she made contact, he stopped without warning, and she walked right into his back.
“I screwed everything up!” he growled, spinning around to face her.
“Natsu, it’s really not that big a deal,” Lucy answered, ushering him toward the side of the street.
He shook his head. “How am I supposed to keep all this crap straight?” He emitted a groan of frustration and tousled his hair madly. “Gah! I can’t get them out of my head!”
Lucy tilted her head in concern and confusion. “’Them’?”
“Mira says ‘wear this tie’,” he threw one arm out, “Erza says ‘wear this one’,” he threw out the other arm. “Levy says, ‘don’t forget to pull out her chair!’ Elfman says ‘be a man and carry her to her chair!’”
“Natsu…”
“And that bastard Gray kept tellin’ me I was ‘out of my league’ or somethin’ stupid like that. Juvia kept goin’ on about napkins and ‘little fork’ this and ‘big fork’ that, and Droy said ‘don’t be late!’—”
“Natsu!”
“—and Laki said ‘chew with your mouth closed’, and Cana said ‘just get drunk and the rest of it doesn’t matter!’ And Gajeel told me not to say anything stupid, as if he’s some kind of expert now they he and Levy are—”
“NATSU!”
At last the dragon slayer ceased his rant and stared back at her.
Lucy sighed softly. “Sounds like everyone had a lot of opinions about how tonight should go. Jeez, they all need to butt out.” She paused and studied Natsu’s distressed expression. “Natsu, we’ve been through a lot together. We’re comfortable with each other. I don’t understand…what’s going on with you? All night, it’s like you’ve been afraid of offending me or something.”
“It’s not that,” he answered with a little hesitation, “not exactly. It’s just…” He sighed roughly, shifting on his feet. “You’re all proper and fancy and stuff, and I figured…I was supposed to try to be, too.”
Lucy actually laughed. “’Proper and fancy’? Is that what this is about?”
“Well, yeah,” Natsu answered earnestly. “You grew up that way. Isn’t that what you want?”
Lucy shook her head. “Natsu, I left that life behind for a reason. Come on, you know me better than that. Honestly, why would you get such a silly idea in your head?”
Natsu looked away. “I didn’t wanna mess this up,” he mumbled. “Workin’ together is one thing, but this is way different. I dunno what I’m supposed to do to make you happy.”
Lucy heaved a sigh. Next to them, the waters of the canal gently whispered. “I’m still me, ya big dummy. Just treat me the way you always do. Would you feel better if we didn’t call this a ‘date’?”
Natsu looked back at her with an expression so solemn that it caused her smile to falter. “No. I want to call it a date. ‘Cause I got feelings for you. That’s why I asked you out on a date in the first place.”
Lucy blushed. So direct. Normally, Natsu wouldn’t touch any ‘mushy crap,’ as he called it, with a ten foot pole. That’s how she knew he was serious, and the realization sent butterflies fluttering through her stomach.
“O-okay,” she said while tucking a saucy strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly feeling very flustered. “I just have one request. You asked how you’re supposed to make me happy? Just be yourself. Stop worrying about doing things the ‘right’ way.”
Natsu raised an eyebrow. “Screw manners?”
Lucy laughed lightly. “Sure—at the risk of this totally backfiring—’screw manners’.”
Natsu studied her face for a moment as if to confirm she’d given permission, then relief washed over his expression, and he flashed her a toothy grin. “You got it!”
Lucy, too, breathed a sigh of relief. “Great. Now, can we head back to my place so we can get cleaned up? Look at us. We’re filthy.”
“Hmm…” Natsu rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then reached for his tie. This time, he indulged in removing it completely. “Just a sec.” He tossed the tie on the ground and turned toward the canal, proceeding to alarm onlookers by plunging himself into the water with a splash. He hadn’t even taken off his shoes.
Yep. It backfired. Still, this moron was her moron, and in light of this evening’s events, she knew she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Come on, Lucy!” Natsu called to her after he had resurfaced. Many a quizzical eye had turned in his direction.
“No thanks. I’m good.”
Once Natsu was satisfied with his impromptu swim, Lucy urged him out of the water. He’d washed off most of the spilled food but was, of course, dripping wet. He didn’t seem to mind. “Ahh, that’s better! You sure you don’t want to take a dip, Luce?”
“I’m sure.”
She watched as he kicked off his shoes, shoved wet socks into them, and tied their laces together so he could swing them over his shoulder. He then pulled off his suit jacket and tossed that over his shoulder as well. Lucy couldn’t help but notice the way his soaked shirt clung to his body, accentuating his muscles, those strong arms…
Lucy looked away, her face suddenly hot. Maybe she did need to jump into some cold water.
“You ready?” he asked, snapping her back to reality.
“Y-Yeah.”
His hand, wet but warm, slid into hers, and this time she turned her blushing face directly at him.
“Let’s go!” he said with a grin.
* * *
When they arrived back at her apartment, the first thing Lucy did was shove a towel into Natsu’s arms. “Don’t put those wet clothes on any furniture, ‘kay?” she instructed. “I’m gonna go take a shower.” She barely left him an opportunity to respond before retreating into the bathroom and shutting the door.
Lucy leaned back against the wooden slab. What was her plan, exactly? Have him strip out of those wet clothes and do…what? Stand there naked until they dried? Well, he was a fire wizard. Maybe he’d have everything dry by the time she came out of the bathroom. Either way, thinking about it made her feel dizzy, so she elected instead to ignore the matter entirely.
She stepped up to the sink and examined herself in the mirror. Yep, that was the end of this dress. Even with the red fabric, there was no mistaking the obvious sauce stains. Oh well. Lucy plucked a forgotten noodle from her hair and sighed. This night certainly hadn’t unfolded in the way she expected, though she also wasn’t sure what she had expected. A storm of emotions swirled through her chest, yet the one memory that kept resurfacing was the feel of his hand in hers. His warm, strong hand. He’d held her tight all the way home, and that alone made up for everything else.
Once showered, Lucy wrapped herself in a towel—why hadn’t she brought clothes in here first??—and took a deep breath before the closed door. She didn’t know what to expect once she opened that door, but she couldn’t stay in there forever.
What she found on the other side of that door was most certainly not what she expected.
Her bedding. Her blankets, her pillows. Her couch cushions. They’d all been commandeered for a hastily-constructed tent, a pillow fort, that stretched between the stripped couch and dining table. The culprit was nowhere to be seen.
“Uhh, Natsu?” she asked hesitantly.
A salmon-haired head popped out from within. “Heeheehee…welcome to my castle!” Natsu wore a mischievous grin.
“What on earth—?” Lucy began, but then she exhaled a sigh, not all that surprised by Natsu’s antics. She glanced to the side and noticed his wet clothes in a pile by the door, a sight that set her heart beating a little faster. Was he…?
“Get over here and check it out!” Natsu told her, still just a bodiless head sticking out between two hanging blankets.
“Can’t I get dressed first?” Lucy asked. She felt painfully aware of her bath towel being the only thing between her bare skin and the open air.
Natsu would not take no for an answer, and he lunged forth from his makeshift ‘castle’—still dressed in his underwear but nothing else—and grabbed Lucy’s arms, tugging her backward.
“N-Natsu!” she sputtered, but it was too late; the two of them lost their balance and came crashing down through the opening of the tent. Lucy’s fall was cushioned by Natsu himself. The fire wizard laughed at their blunder, the sound joyous and unburdened. She loved it when he laughed like that. Only after a few moments like this did she realize her towel had come unwrapped in the fall. It remained as a thin degree of separation between their bodies, with her back exposed to the air. The heat from his body radiated up through the fabric and warmed her damp skin. “U-um…Natsu?” She had no idea what to do now.
Once Natsu’s laughter had subsided, he finally seemed to realize their current position, and the smile faded from his face. His brow furrowed and he said gravely, “Lucy, you’re, uh…naked.”
Her cheeks grew hot. “I just got out of the shower, you dummy!” she said, flustered. “I-I tried to tell you…” Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. She couldn’t remove herself from his chest, or else she’d give him a show, but remaining in this position was also unbearable. Not that it didn’t feel nice—he was warm. Familiar. But she was way too close to his face, subject to the intense stare of those dark eyes. It threatened to melt her down to a puddle.
“Well, it’s not like I haven’t seen it all before,” Natsu answered bluntly. He wasn’t wrong. Somehow, this kept happening. Natsu opened his mouth to speak again but it took several long moments for words to come out. “Does it…bother you? When I see you like this?”
“Of course it does!” Lucy blurted without thinking. But wait…was that actually how she felt? She lowered her chin against his chest, a conflicted tilt to her brow. “I-I mean…I don’t know. I guess it’s kinda embarrassing.”
Natsu’s eyes shifted to the side, and Lucy saw, even in the dim light of their blanket fort, that he was blushing. Only then did she become aware of a rhythmic beat separate from her own body; his heart was also pounding. Then it struck her; he’d asked her out on a date. She’d agreed. They’d done the darn thing. Now here they were, practically naked, their bodies pressed together on a bed of blankets and pillows. Lucy uttered an uneasy moan and turned her head to press her face into Natsu’s chest.
“I need a minute,” she whimpered, her voice muffled by his skin.
After a moment, she heard Natsu say, “Me, too.”
Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, as if the darkness behind their lids transported her somewhere else entirely. The warmth of his body, the rise and fall of his chest, his heart thumping beneath her…they were the sources of her anxiety, but, funny enough, she’d only feel worse if those sensations were removed. His proximity terrified her, yet she craved more. Lucy had always found a source of comfort in Natsu. She loved being around him, trusted him more than anyone else in the entire world. If there was anyone around whom she could let her guard down, it would be him, right? It should be him. He’d proven himself time and time again to have her best interests in mind. Tonight was as good an example as any. Sure, he missed the mark sometimes, but he was only human.
That’s right. Human. She’d once fought for his right to claim that title. She’d once been terrified that she’d lost him forever, a reality that seemed as unbearable to her now as it did then.
But here he was. With her.
The two of them laid there in intimate silence for an eternity. Little by little, Lucy’s heartbeat slowed, and she felt Natsu’s slow, too, but she wasn’t ready to lift her face. After some time, Natsu reached for her strands of wet hair, gently pulling them to one side of her neck. His fingers then trailed lightly along her upper back, the tempered touch so unlike his usual raucous nature. She breathed in his scent, focusing on the sensations on her back. Once again, she was struck by the realization that they teetered on the edge of a whole new threshold. She knew that she could pull away at any point, if she wanted to.
But…she didn’t want to.
Lucy turned her head to free her mouth, though she still refrained from looking at his face. Her ear sealed against the skin of his chest, blocking out all sound so all that remained was his heartbeat. “Natsu,” she began quietly, “thank you. For tonight.”
A long pause passed between them.
“Lucy…I’m really bad at all this, but…” This particular timbre of his voice was reserved only for her. “I want to make you happy. ‘Cause I love you.”
Lucy’s stomach fluttered. He’d never said those words before.
She swallowed and finally lifted her head to look at him. All it took was one second of looking into his eyes to set her heart racing again. “I love you, too.” After another moment of hesitation, Lucy slid up along his body just enough to peck his lips with hers. “And you do make me happy,” she whispered against them, and Natsu pulled her back into another, deeper kiss.
Neither of them had any experience with this kind of intimacy, but that didn’t matter; there was something so natural, so instinctual about it. Lucy found herself unable and unwilling to withdraw. Natsu wrapped his arms around her as they kissed more and more fervently, and she would readily have melted within his embrace. His fingers traced down her spine, and when they met her sensitive lower back, she flinched and reflexively arched her body into his. This only made him pull her tighter against himself. His arms were solid, strong. He made her feel safer than ever. Lucy’s fingers wandered to the base of his skull and wove their way through the hair there, which was still damp from his plunge into the canal—or maybe, from sweat. The air in their enclosed space had grown warm and humid.
She did not fail to notice the hardened flesh beneath her thigh, where it met between his legs. Nor could she ignore her own aching.
Still holding onto her tightly, Natsu rolled over so that she now lay beneath him, parting ways with her just long enough to cast her bath towel to the side. He ran a flat hand across her stomach before leaning down to reclaim her lips. The way he kissed her had grown…hungry. It left her breathless. His hand found its way to her breast, running over its curved surface before giving it a squeeze. There had been a time where she’d have slapped him for being so bold. But now…now, she wanted his hands on her more than anything.
Natsu suddenly halted with a start, as if catching himself doing something he shouldn’t. “Is this…okay?” he asked after a pause.
Lucy nodded, thoroughly flushed. “Yeah.”
Natsu paused again, eyes flicking down across her body then back up to her face. His hand slowly slid back down her stomach, lower and lower, then halted. “Can I…touch you there?”
A shiver ran down her spine. “Yes.” Her nerves were so taut, she started trembling.
His hand continued to slide down until it arrived between her legs.
The touch was timid at first. Unpracticed, unsure. But as he received positive feedback via little whimpers and gasps, his fingers moved with more confidence. Lucy’s breath shook. She never expected this. She never knew just how good his touch could feel. With one hand, she pulled down on his shoulder blade, and with the other, she clutched at the blanket beneath her. His lips brushed against her neck now, his breath hot against her skin.
The tension in her body built and built until at last it knocked her over, and she clutched at the hair on the back of Natsu’s head, emitting a shuddering gasp as tremors ran through her body. Once the climax had run its course, Lucy eased back onto the padded floor and loosened her grip on Natsu’s hair.
“That…was…” she uttered breathlessly. She stared up at the blankets hanging overhead, a hint of the light outside of their cave reaching in through the fibers. Maybe they could stay in here forever.
Natsu buried his face in her neck. He drew in a deep breath through his nose. “You smell…so nice,” he mumbled. After lingering there for a moment, he began to pepper her neck with slow, gentle kisses, working his way up to her jawline and finally meeting with her lips once more. Having come back down to earth, Lucy cradled his face between her hands and pulled him closer. She then slid her hands down over his shoulders and began to trace the dense muscles along his back. They shifted and pulled under her fingers as he continued to kiss and caress her.
The readiness with which they touched one another would have seemed impossible before tonight—and yet, now she couldn’t imagine ever returning to that reality. These strong arms were meant to be wrapped around her. That pink hair was hers to stroke. These lips belonged to him. Never again could doubt cross her mind, try to sell her excuses as to why she and Natsu couldn’t, or shouldn’t, be together. In truth, she’d probably been in love with him for a long time, but she’d been lying to herself. Paralyzed by fear or uncertainty, maybe. She pitied that version of herself, the one left behind outside of this soft castle of Natsu’s. That girl had never been kissed by the love of her life.
With nervous but determined motion, Lucy slid her fingertips under the band of Natsu’s underwear and gently inched them down from his hips. She flushed deep crimson when it got caught by his anatomy, but he silently finished the task himself and cast the last bit of clothing aside. Oh, her heart was really pounding, now.
Natsu hovered over her for a moment before asking, “You sure?” Sweat beaded along his brow. Each breath he drew in was heavy, desperately trying to fuel oxygen to his pulsing blood. Lucy had never known him to display as much self restraint as he did in that moment.
Lucy nodded. She, too, began to feel out of breath, her body aching anew. “I’m sure.” She lifted her knees to further signal it was okay, and he positioned himself between her legs. Their eyes locked one last time before he pressed into her. The movement elicited a faint moan from deep within Natsu’s chest. Lucy savored the sound, savored the feeling of him inside her. After a brief pause, Natsu began to rock his hips back and forth, sending himself deeper with each thrust. Lucy found a hunger within herself that she hadn’t known she was capable of, an intense desire for his presence—as if he could get any closer! She pressed her hands into the damp skin of his back, pinning him against her, lest he float away.
There it was again, that building pressure, fed by the way he moved, by the primal little sounds that crept out of his throat. His head hung low, next to hers, so it was impossible to miss those low grunts as his hot breath hit her neck like licks of fire. Natsu Dragneel, her fire dragon. She was his treasure, and he would guard her forever.
Lucy hit the peak first, her body tensing up all over again. “O-Oh!” she couldn’t help but utter as she dug her fingertips into his skin. That was enough to send Natsu over the edge as well, and she sensed his muscles tighten harder than ever just before his hips came to a halt. He gasped forth a fractured groan and was left panting above her. For a long moment they remained still, just like that, each of them allowing the ripples from their climax to subside. Natsu then pulled out of her and at last seemed to melt, his tense muscles giving way. With a heavy sigh, he sank onto her body, careful to distribute part of his weight toward the floor, and rested his head across her chest. Lucy swung an arm up to run her fingers through his thick hair while they both caught their breath. She felt the expansion of his chest slowly shift toward his belly, each breath grasping at a more relaxed state.
Natsu was the one to break the silence. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice soft.
“Yeah,” Lucy answered, “more than okay. You?”
His first response was a chuckle, then he said, “Freakin’ amazing.”
Lucy chuckled, too, and continued to play with his hair. “Can you believe…this is what we’ve been missing out on?” Her fingers trailed down to the nape of his neck and she drew circles there. “I-I don’t even know what to think right now.”
Natsu lifted his head and grinned at her—would his smile ever stop giving her butterflies? “Then don’t think!”
“Uh huh,” Lucy laughed. “I guess that’s worked out for you so far, but unfortunately, my brain doesn’t have an off switch.”
“What’s there to think about?” Natsu asked. “Just be in the moment.” A surprising morsel of wisdom from one of the biggest idiots she knew. “No one’s gonna find us here,” he added. “I built this palace with impenetrable defenses!” He held up a fist.
“Palace?” Lucy chuckled. “I thought this was a castle.”
Natsu shook his head. “Nah, it’s a palace now. A castle isn’t good enough for ya.”
A reflexive smile curled her lips. “Oh yeah? Well, you know what? I’d even settle for a pillow fort…as long as you’re there with me.”
Natsu leaned forward and pecked her on the lips. “I think I can swing that.”
The insistent growl of an empty stomach flooded the air. They weren’t even sure whose body made the sound.
“Right,” Lucy laughed, “I guess we never did get to eat dinner. Let me throw on some clothes, and I’ll whip something up.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Natsu said.
“I really don’t mind,” she replied. “I’m hungry, too.”
“No, I mean,” he shot her a devious grin, “you don’t have to put on clothes.”
“You—” Lucy shoved him off of her in mock anger, all the while grinning from ear to ear. She tried to get up, but he wrapped his arms around her from behind and tugged her back down to the floor. She struggled against him in a fit of laughter before finally giving up and accepting her fate.
“You’re everything to me,” Natsu said suddenly. “You know that, right?”
Lucy’s breath caught in her throat, and her eyes watered. “Yeah. I know.”
He squeezed her tighter, pressing his forehead into her back. “We’ll always be together?”
“Always.”