Natsu's dark eyes flittered across the guild hall, bouncing from person to person, looking for someone specific. He didn't seem to be finding whatever it was he was looking for; he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, craning his neck so he had a better view of the back corner.
The hall was packed—busier than usual. Mira was behind the bar, rushing to get people's drink orders in, hurriedly pouring glasses of beer and handing them out to people straggling by the counter. Every single seat in the place was packed with both guild members and friends who had decided to join in for a pint or two. The sound of laughter, storytelling, and the loud thump of music erupted throughout the place, making Natsu's sensitive ears ache. The lights were dim, like they usually were in the evenings, and he struggled to see clearly through the dark haze of drunkenness.
Finally, he caught a glimpse of his target: a certain lovely blonde wearing a short red dress.
Almost instantly, Natsu's expression crumbled into a look of pain, like someone had just ripped his heart out and stepped on it. His hand clutched his chest where it ached as he absentmindedly watched the pretty blonde sitting in the dimmest, darkest booth in the hall.
Natsu let out a sigh, watching carefully as Lucy burst out laughing. He could feel his heart skip a beat, could feel his toes go numb.
There was only one reason for such an idiotic reaction to manifest: the boy was in love.
He'd realized it yesterday at 1:13 PM. It wasn't really anything dramatic—one second he's talking to Lucy, his pal, and the next thing he knows, she's laughing really hard and she's grabbing his shoulder to balance herself, and the next second, she's everything and she's light and her laughter is his favorite sound in the whole wide world and his entire world fell apart. And he did the only mature, responsible thing he could think of: he ran the hell away from her, afraid that looking at her one more time might kill him.
He might be a bit dense, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew what these feelings meant. He knew he was in love. He also knew that he was completely and utterly screwed, but that was beside the point.
Natsu let out a groan of agony as he watched her from the other side of the hall, heart aching and ribs throbbing.
His eyes slid to the right, to the person beside her, the one that was making her laugh so hard she was practically snorting liquor out of her nose. A guy. He had brown hair and green eyes, and yeah, Natsu was okay enough with himself to admit that the guy was a total hunk. Hunky and Lucy were sitting close together—elbows and legs and arms touching intimately—and laughing about something.
Natsu's eyes narrowed, but he dropped his gaze to the bottle before him. He let out a defeated sigh, and took a swig of beer. His throat burnt—he'd had far too many bottles already, but he didn't intend to stop anytime soon—and his eyes were watery, but it didn't bother him.
He'd come into the guild hall today, intending to apologize to Lucy for bailing last night. He'd collected his thoughts, came to the realization that he felt things for her that weren't about to go away, and that he might as well work up the courage to tell the girl. But all of his ideas of confession were gone in the blink of an eye, as soon as Mira told Natsu that Lucy was, in fact, going on a date tonight.
Natsu swore he'd nearly died on the spot.
A date. Lucy on a date, the day after he'd realized he was hopelessly in love with her. Great. What a coincidence.
So, he'd began to drink. At noon. And hadn't found the bottom of the bottle at eleven in the evening.
The world was a blur and everything was spinning, but the ache in his chest was just as vibrant as it was when he was sober. Would anything stop it? A different drink? Drugs? A shotgun, perhaps?
People around him were talking, making conversation, and sure, he was supposed to be listening—but he couldn't. His ears were automatically tuning themselves into Lucy's frequency. He'd close his eyes and all he could hear was her laugh or giggle or talk to the hunk.
But then, Natsu heard Lucy's voice lower into a whisper, and she murmured softly to the guy she was with.
"I think we should go for a walk," She whispered quietly. "Alone."
The two stood from their dim little booth, making their way to the doors, his hand slipping through her fingers, grasping her tightly.
And yeah, it wasn't Natsu's greatest moment, but he saw red. The whisper, the hand holding, the sneaking off to be alone—it made his fists turn to fire. And before he knew it, he was on his feet, walking to the front door of the guild hall as well. He didn't have a chance to stop himself—instinct had taken over.
Lucy and her date were already outside, lingering by the door by the time Natsu broke out into the night air. Drunk, dizzy and broken hearted, Natsu walked right up to the budding couple.
"Luce—gotta talk to you," Natsu sputtered, stumbling over his words. He was so drunk he nearly fell over; his hand caught the brick walls of the hall, and he balanced himself unsteadily.
Lucy turned to look at Natsu, her eyebrows instantly pulling down slightly out of concern. "Geez, Natsu—are you okay?"
He couldn't help but notice her hand was still intertwined with the hunk's.
"Yep, fine, great. Just gotta talk to you right now, real quick. C'mon."
Lucy's date hesitantly spoke up, a little afraid to let her walk towards the pink haired mage. "You sure?" The date questioned, a little worried about how drunk Natsu appeared to be.
Lucy gave her date a reassuring smile. "I'll just be a minute. No worries." She slipped out of the guy's grasp and made her way to Natsu, quickly catching him as he began to tip over. "Okay, come on, then. Let's head over here and chat."
Lucy gripped Natsu tightly, wrapped a hand around his back and using her other arm to steady him as they slowly waddles over to the water. Lucy helped him down, opting to sit him down on the edge of the canal; she sat beside him, their feet dangling over the water. It was dark over here, away from the glow of the guild hall, too far away for her date to hear their conversation.
"Okay," Lucy huffed, a little tired from the effort put in to balance the boy. "What's up, Natsu?"
Natsu looked at her, barely keeping himself upward. "You look nice tonight," He slurred, his lips twisting up into a goofy grin.
"Hah. Someone had a bit too much to drink tonight, huh?" Lucy reached out and steadied the boy, stopping him from tipping over and falling into the canal.
Natsu made a face, closing one eye and scrunching his nose. He was too drunk to give a shit about what he was saying, too dizzy to care. He mumbled out some words, not realizing he had forgotten to respond to her question. "You're—you're not gonna go home with this guy, are ya?" He hiccuped.
Lucy leaned back, frowning. "What?"
"Like—you won't bang him, right, 'cause you could do better, Lucy, he doesn't even use magic 'fer god's sake and he's got green eyes which are—" He drunkenly stammered, words flowing loosely.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lucy snapped, the anger in her words making itself known. "It's—It's none of your business, Natsu."
Natsu frowned, head beginning to throb; he nearly tipped over and his head on the concrete. This time, Lucy did not balance him. "So, you're gonna do it, then."
"That's not your business, Natsu."
"Hey—just tryna," He muttered, his own brand of bitterness spitting through the words, "—tryna take care of my pal."
"What's your problem?" Lucy demanded, annoyed with Natsu's drunken ramblings.
"That guy," Natsu began poking his finger up and pointing to where Lucy's date stood, "Is my problem."
Lucy swatted his finger down, afraid her date might notice and realize this was no longer a friendly conversation between teammates. "And why's that?"
Natsu shrugged, eyes nearly drifting closed. His entire world was twisting, constantly blurring; he was so wasted he could pass out, right now. "He's just so—y'know? Blah, and ugh, and gross." He began to make noises to emphasize her dates 'blah-ness'.
"That's enough," Lucy hissed. Natsu was talking loud enough that her date definitely heard all of that—she'd have to seriously make amends once she went back there. "Natsu, you don't get to decide who I go on dates with."
"Maybe I should," He grumbled back. "Maybe you wouldn't date such douchebags."
Lucy's big brown eyes hesitated, pain flickering through them for a split second before she masked it with anger. "You know what, Natsu? Fuck you." She gathered her purse and cardigan from her lap. "Goodnight." She stood, pushing herself up from the cobblestone edge.
"Wait," Natsu hissed, reaching out and grabbing her wrist, preventing her from leaving. "Wait, Luce, I didn't mean that—"
"Then you shouldn't have said it," Lucy spat back, eyes cold.
"Luce, let me explain!" Natsu slurred, hauling himself to his feet. "I just—I don't know how to describe it, and I've got these feelings and I think I'm dying, and—"
Lucy sighed angrily. "You're drunk, Natsu. Goodnight."
"No, Luce, please—"
She began to pull away, tugging her wrist out of Natsu's grip. He grasped her tighter and then pulled her in, thinking of only one way to express what was going on in his mind, what was happening to his heart. He tugged her towards him and leaned down, his lips pressing against hers roughly.
Lucy backstepped, anger flooding her veins even more than it already had. "Natsu!" She cried, her left hand coming up and slapping his cheek lightly. "Why—why would you—that's not okay, Natsu!"
It felt like there was poision under his flesh, burning him. "I'm—I'm sorry—"
Lucy's eyes welled up with tears, and she turned away from him. "Goodbye, Natsu."
"Luce!"
No response.
And with that, she went back to her date, tugging him by the wrist down the sidewalk, away from Natsu. They went straight, headed the direction of Lucy's apartment.
Natsu watched them walk away, heard her muttering her sincere apologies for her 'colleague'. He turned his gaze back to the water, putting his head in his hands, letting out a groan. Okay, so that was a stupid thing to do.
First, he's rude, but then he insults her? Nice, Natsu. That's definitely how you win a girl's heart. Genius.
After a couple minutes filled with utter self loathing, Natsu let out a cry of anguish; without intention, flames erupted from his hands and set a nearby tree ablaze. Natsu closed his eyes. "Fuck."
Not wanting to get in severe trouble by the locals, the police or Makarov, Natsu decided to make his way down the cobblestone streets. He was drunk—far too drunk to walk properly on his own—but he managed a rather slow pace.
About forty minutes later, he found himself in front of Lucy's apartment building.
Natsu groaned. Why did he have to come this way? Why was he so fucking drawn to her? Why the hell did he have to love her of all people, right now, like this? Why the fuck did he have to kiss her?
He glanced up, surprised to see her not alone in her apartment. Her date was with her, and they were laughing and dancing, jumping around to some kind of music they'd put on, both with wine glasses in hand. Clearly, they were hitting it off despite Natsu's terrible interruption.
Natsu felt his heart crack, and then shatter into a million pieces. He'd fucked it up, ruined any chances he had, all thanks to his stupid drunken behavior and one stupid fucking kiss.
Lucy and her date twirled throughout her living room, her hand on his chest and his hands on her waist. Natsu blinked, turning his gaze to the cobblestone path. His stomach flopped with nausea, and he turned away from the building. He stumbled down the street, no destination in his mind. He just wanted to go somewhere away from Lucy and away from her date and away from that terrible, horrible first kiss he'd just forced on the girl he loved.
Natsu awoke to the horrible sound of someone shooting a gun directly into his eardrum. He opened his eyes, cringing and grunting; everything burnt, from his skin to his eyeballs. He blinked, glancing around.
Oh. Not a gunshot—just someone knocking on his door.
Natsu pulled himself from his bed, stumbling as he fell to the floor; he hauled himself up as the knocking continued incessantly, making his brain throb. "Okay, jesus Christ, I'm coming," He snarled as he walked to the door.
He swung it open to find an extremely grouchy looking Lucy.
Natsu blinked. "Lucy?"
"Natsu, I came here to—" Lucy began, determined, but her voice faltered once she realized that he had, in fact, answered the door in the buff. "Eeep."
Natsu blinked. "Eh?"
Lucy covered her eyes. "Naked," She squeaked.
Natsu glanced down, surprised to find himself…um, exposed. "Fuck," He grimaced, dashing back and grabbing a pair of shorts from the floor, tugging them on and returning to the doorway. "Uh, sorry 'bout that."
Lucy cleared her throat, trying to pick up where she left off, but her confidence had dissolved. "Well," She began, "Natsu, I, um—I'm here to talk to you about last night and your, um, behaviour. It was totally out of line, and I think—I think you owe me an apology."
The foggy memories of the previous night hit Natsu; he grimaced, cringing. "Yeah, I know," He mumbled, embarrassed, as he scratched the back of his head. "Listen—I shouldn't have said any of that shit. I was being stupid and drunk and rude, and it wasn't cool."
"Uh-huh," Lucy replied with a nod.
"And I'm sorry I kissed you," He stammered, eyes dropping to the floor. "It was just…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it, and it was totally out of line, and I'm sorry."
There was a stiff silence in the air; it hung between them for a long moment.
"Why…did you kiss me?"
Natsu met Lucy's gaze, but instantly dropped it to the ground again. "It was just—your date gave me bad vibes." Natsu made a face afterwards, hardly believing it himself. He wasn't exactly about to convince her with that weak tone and bad excuse.
"Natsu. Tell me the truth."
"I just…" Natsu sucked in a breath, then let it huff out. "I didn't want you to go on a date with that guy because I think I'm falling in love with you." He paused. "But then you did, and I got super wasted, and I did all that stupid shit, and now…"
"You're in love with me?" Lucy repeated, surprised.
Natsu truly met her eyes for the first time that morning. "Yeah."
She raised an eyebrow. "And that's why you were so drunk?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well, you could've just told me, you know. No need to sexually harass me." Her voice tilted up at the end, becoming a bit lighter, like she was teasing him. Like they were friends again.
Natsu gave her a half smile. "Yeah. Sorry about that. Guess I've never…never done this before."
"Well, it's okay," Lucy said with a chuckle. "I can show you what to do."
He made a face. "You can?"
"Yeah. Like…how to kiss softly, so as to not face butt a girl."
Natsu's eyes lit up, and his lips twisted into a grin. "You're gonna show me that?"
"Yup. And I'll show you how to hold hands nicely, too."
He smirked. "What else you gonna show me?"
Lucy gave him a perfect smile. "I'll show you how to kiss a girl's ass until she forgives you for being a complete jackass." She leaned forward and grabbed his hand, sliding her fingers along his palm until they were intertwined, perfectly and completely.
"Ah," Natsu said slyly, gently tugging the girl into his house. "I think I might need a few lessons on that one."
Lucy giggled, pulling the boy's face to hers, giving him a quick but soft kiss.
And the rest was history.