AN: Oops, never got around to posting this here! I wrote this for MizzyPlatinum's birthday! It's actually my fav oneshot of mine and it got the most notes on tumblr than any of my other stories! Which shows me that I'm improving! :D So I hope everyone likes it! :)

Hot Cocoa Kisses

The smell of baked goods and coffee beans filled her nose as Lucy entered the café that day, her best friend, Levy, walking beside her. They had just finished their shifts at the school's library and wanted to escape the frigid air that winter had to offer them. They found shelter in the café and decided to order something warm.

Lucy was no stranger to this café. She came here after work nearly every day as it was one of her favorite places in town. It was a quiet, cozy place to relax and do homework. Not to mention it was where a certain pink-haired boy worked.

Speak of the devil…

"Hey, Luce!" a familiar voice called out to her.

Levy turned to look at her friend, snickering when she found a blush spread across her cheeks. "Is that the boy you were telling me about?"

Lucy nodded. In a quiet voice, she answered, "Yeah, that's Natsu."

"No wonder why you're always coming here. He's cute!"

"Shh, Levy-chan! He'll hear you!"

The petite girl giggled at her friend's expense. "Alright, alright. How about you go order for us then? I'll give you some time to talk to your crush." With that, she walked away to situate herself at one of the tables by the window.

Lucy groaned in mild annoyance after having been teased. Alright, so she might have had a slight crush on Natsu. It wasn't like she was in love with him or anything. He just always took her order and made her laugh by writing dumb jokes on her drinks. They didn't talk much, but she knew he was kind.

With pink cheeks, Lucy approached the counter, where Natsu was waiting with a fanged grin. That toothy grin of his always managed to cause her heart to thump wildly within her chest, along with his cherry blossom pink hair and his dark, mesmerizing eyes. Though she would never say it aloud, there had been many days in which she came to the café simply to see him. Of course, she upheld her cover by buying a small drink.

"Hey, Luce!" Natsu repeated, his grin growing. "Want your usual?"

"Yes, please," Lucy replied with a shy smile. "Oh, one for my friend, too."

Natsu nodded, getting two paper cups. He poured some chocolate powder into them and added hot water, stirring it to create the perfect drink for the winter. He brought his eyes upwards to meet her gaze, giving her a crooked smirk.

"I'll give you extra whipped cream, like always," he said. Just as promised, he sprayed a lot of whipped cream into the cup, she felt like it was going to overflow.

Lucy giggled. "Thanks, Natsu."

As Natsu started to make Levy's cup, he glanced at Lucy, noticing the straps of her pink backpack.

"Just get out from school?" he asked.

Lucy's brows raised. This was the first time she was going to have an actual conversation with Natsu. "U-Umm, no. I work at the library on campus after class. I just came here from work with my friend."

Natsu nodded, stirring Levy's drink. This time, he only put the normal amount of whipped cream. Admittedly, it made Lucy feel special.

"Lucky. I'm here until close," Natsu complained with a cute pout.

"You do work a lot," Lucy mused. "You are here every time I come in, and I come here almost every day!"

Natsu's cheeks turned pink and he ducked behind his scarf in a fruitless attempt to hide it. "I've been picking up everyone's shifts lately."

"Oh, really? Why?"

Natsu eyed Lucy with an expression she couldn't read before shaking his head. "Just wanted some extra money."

He grabbed a pen and with a childish grin, he scribbled onto her cup. Lucy was excited, as this was one of her favorite parts of coming to the shop. When he finished, he gave Lucy a grin that had her heart nearly catapulting out of her chest before handing her the two drinks and a blueberry muffin.

"The muffin is on the house!" he exclaimed.

Lucy's eyes lit up and she replied, "Thanks, Natsu!" With a wave, she turned to meet up with Levy again, placing her drink in front of her.

"Thanks, Lu-chan," the blue-haired girl said.

"Don't mention it," she replied in a monotone voice, too focused on turning her drink to find what joke Natsu had written on it today. As always, it made her giggle. It was a ridiculous joke, really. Still, they always managed to make her laugh. Plus, the fact that he always wrote Luce instead of her actual name warmed her heart.

"What's so funny?" Levy asked with an arched brow. She grabbed Lucy's drink and turned it to find a joke written in sharpie. "Huh? Wait, how come you get a joke and a cute nickname and I only get 'Lucy's friend' written on mine!? That's so unfair!"

"Sorry, Levy-chan," Lucy replied with a smile, though she wasn't apologetic in the slightest. She was glad Natsu only did these things for her. Besides, Levy had her own boyfriend to do cute things for her.

"You should really ask him on a date," Levy said, causing Lucy to blush profusely.

"What? No way!"

"Why not? It's obvious you like him and he likes you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh c'mon, Lu-chan! He gave you a special nickname, writes jokes on your cups, and gives you free food. Plus, you're easily one of the prettiest girls in Magnolia, and one of the smartest. Not to mention nicest. What's not to like? I saw you two flirting it up."

"We weren't flirting!"

"Yes you were. Just ask him out! I asked Gajeel out and look where it got me!"

"That's different! You and Gajeel have been friends for years! And it took you forever to get the courage to ask him out! Natsu and I don't talk that much!"

"You come here every day to see him."

"I-I come here for the hot cocoa too…"

Levy sighed, shaking her head. Oh well, if her friend didn't want to ask the guy out, there was nothing she could do about it. So, she opted for changing the subject instead, leading them into discussing their homework for the weekend- which was a lot considering their Calculus professor was a major ass that purposely assigned stress-inducing amounts of homework over the weekends.

Hours passed by in the blink of an eye, the sun being replaced with the moon much earlier than it should have been considering it was winter. Levy rose from her seat, stretching her arms above her head before packing her things.

With rosy cheeks, she stated, "I should get going, I agreed to meet Gajeel tonight."

Lucy nodded, having already known that they had a date planned. "Alright, have fun! See you tomorrow, Levy-chan!"

"Bye, Lu-chan!"

Levy gave one last glance towards the boy that captured her best friend's heart, hoping that something would happen between the two before finally leaving the café.

Lucy heaved a sigh as she was now alone. Levy was one of her few friends, so when she was busy, her days got pretty lonely. Though being in the café, she didn't feel so lonely considering she felt a pair of eyes drilling into her the entire time, causing her face to flush.

Lucy turned her head to steal a glance of Natsu. He was currently dealing with a customer, an older woman that was scolding him for having pink hair in the workplace. She admired the way he could just shrug off her words as if they didn't affect him at all. Hell, they probably didn't.

When the older woman finally took her food and left, Lucy took a deep breath before rising from her seat.

"I did finish my hot cocoa. I could use another one…"

Lucy could practically hear her heartbeat increasing in speed as if it was going to burst out of her chest. She tried to seem nonchalant over the matter, but each step closer towards her crush filled her stomach with warmth and a tingling sensation, which only increased once Natsu saw her approaching and gave her a wide grin.

"H-Hi, Natsu," Lucy choked out, wanting to punch herself for stuttering. "I probably look so stupid!"

"Yo, Luce!" Natsu replied. He leaned over the counter closer to her, propping his elbow on the counter and resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "What's up?"

The action caused the blonde's blush to deepen. "U-Umm…" Truthfully, she was getting lost in his dark orbs and momentarily forgot why she came up to the counter. "Oh! Hot chocolate! I-I mean, can I get another hot cocoa, please?"

Natsu chuckled, picking himself up from the counter and grabbing a fresh cup. Lucy realized she should've brought her cup over so that he could've reused that one, but it was too late now.

"So, what are you majoring in?" Natsu asked as he began to make the warm drink.

Lucy smiled as she answered, "Creating Writing!" She used to be embarrassed about her personal hobby, but after having Levy read one of her stories and fall in love with it, she no longer harbored such feelings.

"Oh? You write stories?"

"Yep!"

"You should let me read one."

Lucy's original plan was to only allow Levy to read her stories until they were published, but something about Natsu had her nodding her head and replying, "Okay." She looked the boy up and down, trying to find one thing that wasn't perfect about him in hopes of calming her heart, but came up short. This boy was sheer perfection. There was no way she had a chance with him. "S-So, what are you majoring in?"

"Huh? Oh, I don't go to school," Natsu answered with a nonchalant shrug. "I do a lot of pyrography."

"Pyrography? So, you work with fire?"

"Yep! I use fire to make a bunch of cool designs and stuff. Then I sell them. I don't make too much from it yet since I'm still new to it, that's why I'm working here." Lucy saw his cheeks tint pink as he continued, "I could show you some of my work if you want."

"I'd love that!" Lucy hastily replied. Her cheeks were set ablaze as she realized how desperate she must've sounded. And judging from the blush on Natsu's face and his widened eyes, she definitely came out desperate.

Still, he replied with, "C-Cool."

Natsu then sprayed a mountain's worth of whipped cream into her cup and picked up the sharpie. Lucy saw his blush deepen to match his hair as he wrote onto the cup. As he handed her the drink, he refused to meet her gaze, giving her the idea that she scared him off.

With a frown, Lucy mumbled a thank you for the drink and headed back to her seat. Sitting down, she wanted to bang her head against the table for acting like such a fool. All this over a boy she barely knew. Yet somehow despite not knowing each other well, only he could invoke certain feelings from her.

With a heavy sigh, Lucy picked up the drink, bringing it to her lips when she remembered to look at what joke he put on this drink. Twirling the cup to find his handwriting, her brown eyes widened as she stared with a slacked jaw at what was written.

"He gave me his phone number?" Lucy wondered, her blush coming back full-force. She turned her head to glance at Natsu only to find that he was in the backroom. A wide grin graced her face as she typed the digits into her phone to add a new contact.

"Maybe I have more of a chance than I thought."

As Lucy returned to her apartment that night, she eagerly pulled out her phone and brought up Natsu's contact. With shaky fingers, she typed countless messages, erasing them all before she hit send, not knowing what to say. A guy had never given her their number before- at least, not one that she had saved besides her friends'.

Mustering up her courage, Lucy typed a simple, "Hello."

In less than a minute, her phone was vibrating with a reply.

"Is this Lucy?" he asked.

Lucy's heart nearly catapulted out of her chest having received the reply. "Yep! I got your number!" She bit her lower lip as she typed a new text. Straight to the point, she asked, "Why exactly did you give me your number anyways?" Realizing she might have come off as rude, she quickly added, "I was happy you gave me your number! I'm just curious, promise!"

Three minutes passed by without a reply. Lucy groaned and shoved her face into her pillow. She had just started texting Natsu and already it seemed like she had messed it up. Luckily for her, she then got a new text.

With a speed she didn't know she possessed, Lucy picked up her phone and read the message. Warmth shot through her body and her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped on its hinges and she reread the message over and over again, making sure what she read was correct.

"I wanted to ask you out."

Lucy squealed into her pillow. She would have to tell Levy about this later!

"Really?" she asked, hoping it was true.

"Duh! Why would I lie about that, you weirdo?" was his reply.

"Hey! I'm not weird! You're the weird one leaving your number on my cup!"

"Well then you're extra weird for actually texting me!"

Lucy glared at her phone but a small smile broke out on her face. She knew that Natsu had a teasing side to him, but she didn't know it was like this. Their conversation was fun and light, she was having a blast bickering with him. Then she remembered the purpose of their conversation.

"So, are you going to ask me out then?" Lucy typed, her confidence growing after having found out that her crush reciprocated her feelings.

"I don't know, you're a lot weirder than I expected," he replied. He quickly added, "But I like weird. So yeah. Wanna go on a date, Luce?"

Lucy smiled at her phone like an idiot and nodded, though he couldn't see her.

"Yeah, that sounds great."

Lucy fidgeted with the hem of her sweater as she approached the café. It was time for her date with Natsu and she was starting to feel insecure with how she dressed. Since it was winter, that limited her chances at looking cute since she prioritized warmth. Usually, she dressed in clothes that showed off her curves and usually a hefty amount of cleavage. Today, she was dressed in a thick pink sweater that was loose over her body and black leggings. She topped off the outfit with brown boots.

To make up for her plainer clothes, Lucy made sure to do her hair. She curled her long locks of golden hair and brushed through them to create gentle waves. She didn't apply makeup other than a thin layer of strawberry lip gloss.

Lucy didn't know the exact details of their date. All Natsu told her was to meet up at the café. Whatever he had planned, she was sure she would enjoy as long as he was there to keep her company.

Since Natsu gave her his phone number, they had been texting every moment they could. They learned a lot about each other in such a short time, even some more personal stuff that Lucy hadn't even told most of her friends, save for Levy, Gajeel, and Loke. They became quick friends and even flirted a few times.

As Lucy entered the café, her eyes immediately landed on Natsu. He was dressed in a black hoodie with a logo of a band she hadn't heard of and some white joggers. Once he saw her, his cheeks turned pink and he grinned, causing her heart to swell with warmth.

"Lucy!" he called out, getting up to meet her.

"Hi, Natsu," Lucy replied with a shy smile. She could feel her face heating up but ignored it since he was blushing too.

"You ready to go?"

"Are we not staying here?"

"Nope! We'll come back later though to get some drinks. C'mon, let's go!"

Natsu grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with hers. Their hands instantly began to sweat but both ignored it as they wanted to keep holding each other's hand. Since Natsu had a severe case of motion sickness- something Lucy had learned about their first night texting- they opted to walk to their destination.

It was the movie theater, which had a long line forming outside of it as a new movie came out that day.

"You like horror movies?" Natsu asked with a mischievous grin.

Lucy smirked. "I love them, actually." In truth, she covered her eyes every time a scary scene popped up, but she really did love watching scary movies. It was just that her heart could only take so much.

"Good! Because I got us some tickets to watch the new one that came out! It looks good!"

"But there's a long line, are you sure we'll be able to get in?"

"Don't worry, I've got a couple of friends that work here. They saved me some tickets and I'm sure they'll hook us up with free popcorn, too!"

With that, he led the way to the ticket stand. There were two girls situated inside. One of them had long locks of wavy, brunette hair. Her cheeks were rosy and Lucy could smell the alcohol on her breath as she told everyone to move aside for her and Natsu.

The other girl had long, scarlet hair with bangs that swept to the side and covered one of her eyes. She stared at Lucy, who blushed from the attention.

"Yo, Erza! Cana! Can I get those tickets now?" Natsu asked with a toothy grin.

The girl with the red hair glared at him. "Keep it down, Natsu! I don't want the other customers hearing this!"

"Oh lighten up, Erza!" the other girl, presumably Cana, replied. "Who cares if they hear it? Oi, Natsu. Here's your tickets. You guys want some booze to go with your popcorn?"

Lucy was glad that Natsu turned down her offer. She probably would have ended their date early had he accepted. She didn't want either of them to be drinking on their first date.

Erza handed Natsu two large buckets of popcorn before shooing them away so that she could deal with the long line of customers. Cana shouted for them to keep it clean, causing them both to blush.

The movie was much scarier than Lucy had anticipated, filled with jump scares and terrifying characters. To top it off, the music they played any time something was going to happen brought goosebumps to her arms.

Her fears calmed, however, as Natsu wrapped an arm around her shoulder. With that, she could no longer think about the movie, too focused on the warmth that traveled through her body at the touch. With confidence, she leaned towards him and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to focus on the movie again.

When the movie ended, the two followed everyone else out of the theater, waving goodbye to Erza and Cana as they left. As they walked back to the café, Natsu took it upon himself to lace their fingers together once again. Not that Lucy minded.

They reached the café in no time. It was pretty dead inside as there was only one other customer. Lucy thought it felt weird approaching the counter when Natsu wasn't the one there to take her order. Instead, it was another boy their age with raven locks of hair and a shirt buttoned dangerously low that she could see his pecs.

"Isn't that against the dress code?" Lucy wondered before shrugging it off.

"What do you want, Lava Breath?" the other boy asked, glaring at Natsu.

"Get us some hot cocoa, Ice Princess," Natsu answered, returning the expression. "I want mine with dark chocolate. And make sure to give extra whipped cream on Lucy's."

Gray- she had found out his name through his nametag- turned to glance at her and arched a brow. "So, this is Lucy?"

"Y-Yep, that's me," the said girl replied, a blush coating her cheeks from the attention.

"And you went on a date with this loser? Did he pay you or something?"

"What? Of course not!"

Gray shrugged. "That's the only logical explanation here."

"Ignore him," Natsu said, narrowing his eyes at his friend, though more like rival at the moment. In truth, they were best friends. Had been since they were kids.

As Gray made their drinks, he smirked. "Glad to finally meet the girl that this idiot's been taking extra shifts for."

Natsu's face matched his hair as he shouted, "Shut up, Gray!"

"Wait, what?" Lucy asked.

The raven-haired boy ignored his friend's shouts as he answered with a sly grin, "He used to force us to give him our shifts so that he would have a chance of seeing you."

Lucy blushed from head to toe as she stood wordlessly by an equally quiet Natsu. Once they got their drinks, they were on their way out the door as Natsu said he didn't want to stay at the café. Lucy assumed it was because Gray was going to tell her embarrassing things about him.

They walked side-by-side, their arms flushed against each other. They held hands and sipped away at their drinks. The stars twinkling brightly in the night sky paired with the quiet atmosphere made for a romantic setting.

The two walked to a park, sitting on one of the benches and gazing at the stars. Lucy took a sip of her drink and smiled, turning to face Natsu.

"Is what Gray said true?" she asked, her blush returning.

Natsu ducked his face into his scarf and muttered, "Sorta. I also needed the money, but mainly it was to see you. I didn't know your schedule, so I took all the shifts I could so that I could see you."

Lucy's blush deepened, and she returned her gaze to the stars. With a giggle, she replied, "I kind of did something similar."

"What do you mean?"

"Well let's just say I didn't start drinking hot chocolate every day until I saw you at the café."

"Wait, so you came to see me too?"

"Yep," Lucy answered with a warm smile. "You always managed to make me laugh and I kept wanting to see you. So, I would buy hot chocolate as an excuse to go to the café and see if you were working."

Natsu chuckled. "Looks like we both wanted to see each other."

"Looks like it."

The two turned to face each other, the moonlight washing over their features and allowing them to see the rosy tints on each other's faces. Lucy's body flushed with heat as Natsu's eyes darted towards her lips. Then, he began to lean in.

And she followed suit.

Their lips met with a gentleness she had never felt before, barely touching at first and unmoving. Still, it caused Lucy's body to tremble as her body was overcome with joy. They tilted their heads and deepened the kiss, their lips now washing over each other like waves. Natsu brought his hand to the back of her head and pulled her in deeper.

Reluctantly, they pulled away in pants, staring into each other's half-lidded eyes. Then, Natsu gave her a sloppy grin as he teased, "You had a whipped cream mustache, you weirdo."

Lucy playfully slapped his arm. "You're lying!"

The two grinned at each other before Natsu wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against him. She laid her head on his shoulder and gave a content smile as they resumed staring at the stars.

Winter may have been a cold, dreary season that robbed her of her favorite outfits and caused her to catch many colds, but nothing in the world could compare to the hot cocoa kisses it had to offer.

AN: I have to say that I'm pretty proud of this oneshot. I like it! Let me know what you guys think! Thanks for reading! :D