Lucy loves sunlight. More specifically, she loves the way it lights up everything it falls on.
Take now, for instance. She's lying in bed with Juvia, who's half-draped over her and the sun is already a quarter up in the sky and – Lucy swears the architect of the building probably had the plight of long-suffering women in love whose girlfriends were prettier than all the stars combined in mind – the sunlight falls just right on Juvia's hair, that it brings out the dark blue undertones of her hair.
"Stop thinking so much," Juvia mutters.
Lucy blinks. Juvia's always been good at feigning sleep that it always throws her for a loop when Juvia makes it known that she is awake. "I can hear your mind going a thousand miles a minute," Juvia adds.
Lucy settles down a bit more comfortably, facing Juvia on her side. Juvia still hasn't opened her eyes. "I'd go even faster for you," Lucy says softly with the cheesiest grin imaginable on her face.
Juvia cracks an eye open, and groans at the shit-eating grin on her girlfriend's face. "I should hope so," she adds a second later.
Lucy throws her arms around Juvia and cuddles her forcefully, throwing themselves under the blanket. They snuggle like that for a few moments, until Juvia asks with the most whimsical look on her face, "Do you remember how we met?"
Lucy scoffs. "It was three years ago, not a century. Of course I remember. You looked so cute in that Bo Beep costume," she adds with a snicker.
Juvia half-heartedly smacks her shoulder and then hums under her breath. "You looked great in that duck dress," she says, pettily.
"For the record, it was a swan, and I'd lost a bet to Erza, alright?" Lucy whines, and Juvia giggles. "We don't talk about that dress anymore."
They shuffle under the blanket a bit more, trying to find a warm spot – Juvia failing miserably what with Lucy pressing her freezing toes against the back of her calves. Lucy is very nearly asleep when Juvia quietly whispers, "Tell me a secret."
Lucy makes a big show of thinking and then curls a finger to beckon Juvia closer, as though to make sure no one else overhears. Juvia plays along, even though they both know full well that there's no one else in the apartment. "I love you," Lucy breathes into Juvia's ear.
Juvia pulls back and fixes her with an annoyed look. "I asked for a secret, not something that everyone and their grandmother knows," she huffs.
Lucy chuckles and wraps her arms and legs around Juvia like an amputated octopus and pulls her in closer – even though they're already so close Lucy doesn't know where they both begin and end – Juvia squealing all the while. "Okay then," Lucy begins, "I once got so drunk, I blacked out and Natsu had to piggy back me home."
Juvia snorts. "Tame. Everyone's done that at some point."
Lucy frowns. Slowly, she rolls them over, blanket falling off of them and her straddling Juvia's waist. She fixes Juvia with an odd look, and Juvia responds with a disgruntled, "What?", but Lucy simply leans forward and to the side, reaching for the drawer below the bed. She finds what she's looking for, and pushes the drawer closed.
Lucy stares at Juvia, and Juvia pouts. "What is it? Tell me already."
"So impatient," Lucy mutters, and then just because she can, she kisses Juvia. When they pull apart, Lucy asks. "A secret, huh? How about this?" Lucy pulls the blanket over their heads once again and brings out what she's hidden behind her back.
It's a box. A tiny blue box, the same colour as Juvia's hair and Juvia knows it, so when she looks up at Lucy and realises what's happening, there are tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
Lucy pushes on. "Did you know that I've had this little box with me for a nearly a month?"
Juvia shakes her head.
"Yeah, I did. I love you so much, Juvia. I mean, everyday I wake up and I find you on the bed spread like a starfish –" Juvia lets out a watery giggle – "and I just get the breath knocked out of me like that one time you punched me in the gut" – Juvia grumbles, it was an accident – "and I want that every day. Every single day. The only reason I didn't do this earlier is because I wanted to do it at a perfect moment."
Juvia raises an eyebrow. "And under our sheets on a Saturday morning is the perfect moment."
Lucy shushes her and Juvia giggles. "I've loved you ever since I first saw you dancing to Beyonce while cooking breakfast" – Juvia scoffs – "ever since I realised that you could drink Gajeel under the table, and I've loved you through every fight we've ever had." Lucy stops, takes a deep breath and smiles at Juvia. Juvia reciprocates, albeit with a lot more tears. "So, Juvia Lockser, apple of my eye, couch to my potato" – Juvia smacks her for real this time; trust Lucy to slip in something like that – "will you do me the honour of being my wife?"
Juvia laughs, a wetness behind it that Lucy doesn't miss, and says, "I should turn you down just for that couch to my potato joke – but fortunately for you I love you too much for that to happen," Juvia adds. "so, Miss Heartfilia, I would very much like to be your wife, but," Juvia tacks on, stilling Lucy for a sudden moment, "only if you do the dishes every night."
"That is a very compelling offer, Miss Lockser."
"Those are my terms, take it or leave it." They don't bother to hide their grins at this point, the two of them beaming so widely that it most likely hurts.
"But of course I will – dishwashing in exchange for the most prettiest and wonderful girl as my wife? That is the best deal I've ever made."
"Shut up and put the ring on me already, Lucy!"
"Gosh, Juvia you grumble so much," Lucy teases.
"You're going to live with this grumble monster forever so you better learn to deal with it," Juvia answers without missing a beat, inspecting her new shiny new ring.
Lucy cuddles her fiancee – fiancee! – like an overgrown puppy. "I don't mind."
"What was that?"
"Nothing. I just really really love you."
Juvia giggles and ruffles Lucy's hair. "I love you too," she murmurs into it.
Silence engulfs the happy couple for a few seconds, before Lucy asks, "Could you hand me my phone?"
Juvia passes it over, and watches mutely as Lucy clutches her hand and takes a photo of them both. "You realise we'll have guests in like, eight minutes, if you text the group chat? You'll induce mass hysteria."
"Mass hysteria looks nice on our friends, They're a bunch of little shits, so we might as well surprise the fuck out of them all."
As Juvia tries to burrow deeper into their warmth, Lucy thinks that this may have been the best decision she's ever taken.