Their first meeting was nothing short of comical, in the worst way possible.
On Lucy's part, it had started off horrendously: she'd woken up to blood soaked underwear and an unpleasant splotch of red on her sheets.
Well damn.
Being the busy bee that she was, Lucy hadn't been bothered to remember her fucking period was coming up, and now she was sorely unprepared. Feeling gross and stinking of dry blood, she changed the sheets and went in search of a pad. God, all she wanted was to crawl back in bed and try to find the most comfortable position to soothe the aching in her back, and possibly eat a chocolate bar.
Reaching into her bathroom cabinet, she grasped onto a. Single. Freaking. Pad. And there weren't any chocolate bars. Her life may as well have ended right then and there because her back hurt. Her chest hurt. Her stomach hurt, and she craved some chocolate and a Nicholas Sparks book to make her bawl her eyes out and wish her nonexistent love life didn't suck so badly. Disgusted at her unpreparedness, she vowed to go to the store as soon as she took a shower (because she smelled God awful) and found some acceptable attire.
She locked the bathroom door (which is completely unnecessary considering she lived alone) and stripped off her bloody pajamas and underwear. The producers of every horror movie ever might as well have shot them in her panties because it looked like a homicide had taken place in them. And while the hot water soothed the ache on her body, as soon as she clambered out of the shower, the cramps returned mercilessly.
Lucy cursed like a sailor and secured the pad to her underwear before putting them on. Deciding that she was in no mood to wear her usual stylish skirts and accessories, she roughly pulled an over-sized cardigan over her plain T-shirt and shoved her legs into a pair of ugly sweat pants. No make-up, she decided, because this was just going to be a simple trip to the store to stock up on menstrual needs. Oh, how wrong she was.
By the time she got to the store, she felt like she could murder someone. Maybe it was the hormones, or maybe it was the fact that every other driver on the road had managed to piss her off by their complete idiocy. But it was probably the fact that she could still feel herself leaking onto the pad like a fucking broken faucet.
And when she got into the store, she found that they had run out of a chocolate. What kind of grocery store runs out of chocolate?! Didn't the manager care at all about the needs of hormonal, bleeding females? Lucy let out a frustrated sigh before turning heel and heading down a different aisle to find something else to numb her from the pain of being a woman and her impending doom due to blood loss.
Deciding that faster was better, she quickly loaded as much junk food as she could eat without instantly getting type 2 diabetes into her shopping cart, along with a large pack of winged pads and three chick flicks featuring half naked hot guys and stereotypical blonde bimbos. She could feel guilty about it later.
When Lucy finally reached the checkout stations, she stared in dismay. The self-checkout had a massive line, one that she was definitely not patient enough to endure, and the female checkout clerks had their hands full with other customers, leaving only one station available, with a guy working there. She could not suppress a groan of frustration.
Really? Was this some kind of joke from God? He was making her face a good-looking guy during this week of all weeks?
It was her only choice, so with a heavy heart, she got in line. Worst. Day. Ever.
The guy, as she had said, was good-looking, in a strange way—strong and tanned but with a childlike air about him. With that bright pink hair and a million-watt smile, he was completely unlike any other boy she'd seen. She fiercely prayed as she got close and closer that her frivolous, love-at-first-sight, unrealistic, barely-a-crush crush, wouldn't pay attention to what she was buying.
Sadly, that wasn't the case.
"So… Pads, chocolate, and three chick flicks featuring half naked hot guys and stereotypical blond bimbos, huh?" His onyx eyes sparkled with amusement, grinning cheekily at her with sharp canine teeth. "Must be that time of the month."
Her tiny crush shattered at the statement (or so she thought).
"Shut up!" She growled, trying to hide her embarrassment and glowing cheeks. She watched as he scanned the items through clumsily, obviously new at the job.
"I'm Natsu Dragneel, what's your name?" He asked happily, oblivious to her humiliation and barely focused on the computer screen which flashed red with the words "ERROR".
"Lucy," She replied through gritted teeth. "Lucy Heartfilia. Now could you please hurry up?"
"Ooh, someone's testy. Hormones getting to ya, Luce?"
"'Luce'? I don't remember letting you call me that! Now hurry up!"
"It's my new nickname for you! Anyway, there's an error, so we have to wait a bit until the system reboots or whatever."
"What kind of checkout clerk are you?"
"The hot kind."
"Puh-lease, Pinky."
"Pinky?!"
"Ah hem," A small cough interrupted their banter. The woman behind Lucy in line looked extremely uncomfortable as two pairs of eyes glared at her. "Sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry."
"Of course," Lucy said stiffly, giving Natsu a meaningful look. "Is the computer or whatever working?"
"Huh? Oh yeah!" The pink head looked as if he'd completely forgotten about it. Lucy resisted the urge to face-palm at his idiocy.
The rest of the checkout consisted of their banter (though quieter now) and the quick swipe of Lucy's credit card going through the machine. Afterwards, he handed her her groceries and the receipt with his large, brilliant grin. So embarrassing. But before she turned to leave, he tossed a large chocolate bar at her head.
"It's on the house!" He called, and if possible, his smile stretched even wider. "See ya around, Luce!"
And with that, he went back to helping out the other woman with her groceries. Lucy turned quickly, walking out of the store as fast as she possible could. She'd be damned if she let him see the blush on her cheeks.
It wasn't until she was in her car that she noticed his name scrawled hastily on the back of the chocolate wrapper along with his phone number. Her blush deepened in color, as she decided that maybe today wasn't so bad after all.
Well played, Natsu, well played.
Author's Note: Another pointless drabble. Must be kind of a disappointment after my long hiatus, huh? Well, I hope you enjoyed this anyway, and like always,
Thanks for reading!