Prompt: "This has been a very bad week and you just grabbed the last box of my favorite comfort food at the supermarket" AU

Natsu wandered the aisles of the supermarket, ignoring the warnings over the loudspeaker that the store would be closing soon. It was promising to be a long night of analyzing equations and god-knows-what-else, and he knew exactly what he needed to make it through what would probably become an all-nighter.

He reached the pasta aisle and made a beeline for the mac and cheese. There was this one kind that sat on an upper shelf that the really liked; it was cheesy, spicy, and easy to make. It was his favorite comfort food, and had gotten him through many long nights and rough days. And there was one box left, so he snatched it.

Another hand brushed his.

"Oh, sorry," he said absently. The hand drew back, and he realized the person had been reaching for the same box. He turned and grinned at them. "Sorry. Finders keep— eh?"

This other person was a pretty blonde girl only a couple inches shorter than him. She wore a sweatshirt for the same college he went to, but he'd never seen her before. And he'd never seen anyone suddenly start crying in the middle of a grocery store.

"Shit. Are…are you okay?" he said, bending his head to meet her eyes. They were wide and brown and glazed over with tears.

"Mm," the girl mumbled, nodding her head once. Well, she said she was fine, but she sure didn't look fine. "I'm just having a bad week," she added bleakly. She turned away. "Sorry."

Natsu stared at her back as she walked away. He wasn't sure how to respond to this sort of situation. Dealing with emotions was never his strong point, but he felt bad just letting her walk away like that. She was about to grab the same box. Had she been crying beforehand or was she crying because not getting her desired comfort food was the last straw? Suddenly Natsu felt really guilty.

"Fuck it," he muttered, jogging after her. He put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't turn around to face him, but she did stop walking. "Hey, uhh…" What was he about to say again? "If you want it, I can just give you this box. I was gonna use it to get me through an all-nighter but it looks like you need it more."

She finally turned around, looking hesitantly at his outstretched hand offering the mac and cheese box to her. "Eh?" Her voice was soft, wavering.

Natsu grinned. "Come on, take it."

"But you're pulling an all-nighter too, so…"

"You too, huh?" Natsu said. "Too bad there's only one left. They really need to restock."

"This supermarket restocks their inventory every Saturday," the girl said.

"Hmm, that's tomorrow. Well, I'll be fine until then. Promise. This is yours." He pushed the box at her, rattling the dry pasta inside. "Just take it already."

She looked up suddenly, meeting his eyes. Her lashes were so long, he noticed. "Let's share," the girl said, her voice raised from a whisper for the first time since he'd talked to her.

Natsu blinked, heat rising to his face. "What?"

The girl's eyes darted away. "Oh, that'd be weird, wouldn't it? Sorry. Forget I said anything."

"No, no," Natsu said, fingers hooking her wrist to stop her from leaving. "I was gonna spend the night at the library anyway. I don't know what you mean by sharing, but I could use the company. And it, uhh, looks like you could use some company, too."

The girl put her hands to her cheeks as she turned bright red. "I don't even know why I cried," she confessed, laughing a little.

"Eh, sometimes it's good to cry," Natsu said. "You just surprised me is all."

"Sorry."

"Stop apologizing; there's no need. Hey, if we're gonna share, why don't we just turn it into a meal? I don't know about you, but I have a special way of cooking with this stuff and it's just the kind of thing to cheer you up."

"We can use my place," the girl said. "It's close by. I have a roommate, but she isn't home tonight so we won't bother her. Wait, but that's weird too. It's like I'm picking you up or something."

Natsu laughed. "It's fine, I know you mean well. And I know how to keep my hands to myself. But I really wanted to eat this stuff tonight, so if the offer stands, I'm all for it."

The girl smiled, and Natsu found himself smiling back. Damn, she was pretty, even with red-rimmed eyes. "Thank you, Mister…?"

"Natsu Dragneel," he said, sticking out his hand. "You?"

Her fingers felt delicate in his, but her handshake was firm. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia," she replied.

Lucy's apartment was small and clean, filled with books and mismatched furniture characteristic of college students. Lucy was a university senior, just like Natsu, and as her sweatshirt suggested, they even went to the same school. Funny how the world could be so small and so large at the same time.

Natsu busied himself working in the tiny kitchen, Lucy watching from a table outside the doorway and giving him directions for where things were located. Soon he had some broccoli steaming, bacon frying, and a pot of water ready to boil.

"To be honest, I didn't think you'd actually cook it for me," Lucy said. "You don't seem like the type who's good at cooking."

Natsu took personal offense to that assumption. "And what does someone who's good at cooking look like?" he challenged.

Lucy regarded him carefully. "Hm…well, not pink hair, black clothes, looks like a punk rocker..."

"And you don't seem the type to burst into tears in the middle of a supermarket because you didn't get the last box of mac and cheese, but here we are."

Lucy blushed all the way to her ears. "So embarrassing," she mumbled, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

"The water's boiling. Wanna get the mac and cheese started while I chop up the broccoli?"

"Sure," Lucy said, jumping to her feet.

It was crowded with two people in the kitchen, but they maneuvered around each other in a way that made Natsu feel like they were on one of those cooking shows. And when the food was all done, he went in for a high-five.

"Good job, team," he said as their hands clapped.

"It looks delicious," Lucy said. "Thanks, Natsu."

"No problem. Uh, just for the record, I don't usually go around cooking for strangers."

"And I don't usually go around getting strangers to cook for me at 9pm. Today's a weird day."

"A good weird, right?"

Lucy smiled. "Yeah. Now it is."

"Why wasn't it good before? Lots of work?"

Lucy sat down at the small table outside the kitchen, and Natsu followed suit. They each took their portions and started to eat.

"Well, that's part of it," Lucy said. "I had a fight with my dad — we always fight so that's nothing new, but the next day my boyfriend broke up with me, and now I have a 20-page paper and a presentation both due tomorrow that I still have a lot of work to do for."

"Ouch."

"I mean, we were only dating for a month, but…"

"A month's still a long time," Natsu said.

"Actually, that's not quite the whole story. We broke up because I found out about him cheating. When I confronted him about it, he dumped me."

Oh. Ouch.

"You don't have to look at me with pity like that."

"Sorry," Natsu said. "That's just…wow, what a jerk."

"I know, right?" She sighed, pushing around the noodles on her plate with her fork. "Come to think of it, I didn't even like him all that much. I'm more hurt about the betrayal than the breakup itself. Well, like they say, hindsight is 20/20."

Natsu really couldn't empathize with this kind of thing. Yeah he'd dated in the past, but it was never something he regretted. Whenever things ended, it ended on good terms. But something like cheating…he couldn't even imagine it.

Lucy looked up at him, a smile on her lips. "So, thanks for cooking for me. It was really spontaneous, but I really appreciate it."

"A lot of bad stuff happened, but you have a new friend now," Natsu said.

Lucy laughed. "You mean you? Do we count as friends?"

Natsu shrugged. "Why not?"

"Then sure, I made a new friend. This is really delicious, by the way."

"Told you."

"Hey, wanna just stay here and work? We're both pulling all-nighters."

"If you don't mind."

"Not at all. We're friends now, right?"

This time it was Natsu's turn to smile. "I guess that means we gotta get to know each other so we can really be friends."

"You've already seen me at my worst, so our relationship can only get better from here," Lucy said, laughing. She was laughing a lot now, Natsu noticed. He decided he liked her better laughing.

"I've never seen someone burst into tears in the middle of a supermarket before," Natsu remarked. "Well, except for kids, but they don't count."

Lucy grimaced. "I know, right? What am I, 2?"

"You're too something, that's for sure," Natsu joked, earning an offended glare from Lucy.

"Oh, just hurry up and eat. You have a lot to do tonight, too, right?"

"Oh yeah. You're right."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You forgot already? Jeez. You'd better not distract me too much. I really do need that paper and presentation both done for tomorrow."

Natsu pointed his fork at her. "Hey, I may seem like a carefree guy who goes into crying girls' apartments and cooks for them, but I'm serious about my studies."

"Chemistry, right? What do you want to do with your degree?"

"Dunno," Natsu said honestly. "I wanted to go into chemical engineering but none of the engineering schools would take me; my grades are always really bad."

"Even though you're serious about your studies?" Lucy teased.

"Just because I try hard doesn't mean I get good grades," Natsu said.

"Ah, yeah, that's true."

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me you're one of those annoying people who get good grades without even trying."

Lucy smiled sheepishly. "Guilty as charged."

"Damn."

"But with the way tonight's going, that might change soon," she said, sighing.

"I'm sure you'll do fine."

"A 20-page paper and a presentation?"

"Hey, I'm in the same boat, sort of. There's this big extra credit that I kind of need the free points from because like I said, my grades are always terrible. So that's at least a couple hours of work right there. And I have an orgo exam tomorrow, and orgo sucks."

"Orgo?"

"Organic chemistry. I already failed that class once; if I don't pass it this time around, I can't graduate."

"I'd offer to help you study, but after we finish eating, I'm gonna have to get started right away. That paper isn't going to write itself, and neither is my presentation."

"Feel free to start working while we eat," Natsu said. "It's not like you planned to have a guest over."

"And neither did you plan to be a guest. Don't worry, it's a welcome distraction. I still need to calm down, I think. And talking to you clears my mind a bit."

Natsu grinned. Being told he was easy to talk to was nothing new, but somehow hearing it from this girl made him happy. "Glad to help," he said.

They settled into an easy conversation that drifted away as they busied themselves doing work. At 3am they took a break to do the dishes that had been sitting there all night, left forgotten in the flurry of paper-writing and equation-solving. Lucy put on some pretty soundtracks to keep them focused as they worked side-by-side in relative silence.

As he slaved over his homework, Natsu relished in the peaceful quiet between him and Lucy. He wasn't normally a quiet guy, and often found silence stifling, but somehow he felt comfortable with Lucy. There were very few people in the world he could be like this with. He'd only just met this girl a couple hours ago, but he already knew he liked her.

After all, what wasn't to like? Pretty, smart, laughed at his stupid jokes but was confident enough in her own wit to tease him. He was glad he'd somehow found himself a friend tonight. And a damn cool friend she was.

A damn cool friend who made him pancakes as the sun came up.

"This is awesome, Lucy," he said, taking the plate from her hands and balancing it on his lap. "Thanks."

"Be careful not to get syrup on your laptop," Lucy warned, pushing his computer a little away from where he was seated on the floor. "And don't drop anything on the floor, either. I won't have the energy to clean up."

"Don't worry," Natsu said, mouth already full of pancake. "I'll be careful."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Chew, Natsu," she said, smiling to herself as she took a bite.

Natsu watched her as she ate. She didn't notice him staring, she was so intently focused on her computer screen, perfecting the slideshow that would accompany her presentation. He watched how her golden hair slipped from its bun, falling to the side of her face, and the way she licked her lips in concentration as her eyes scanned over her work.

Lucy looked up, her expression a mix of annoyed and expectant. "Need something?" she asked, meeting Natsu's eyes.

Oh. So she had noticed him staring. "Uh, nothing. I just thought you'd get along really well with my friend Erza. She's into the same stuff as you."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Wait. Erza Scarlet?"

"You know Erza?"

"Yeah, she's in my gender studies class. We have a lot of really interesting discussions, and end up getting a bagel after class sometimes because we talk so long." Lucy laughed. "Erza's a sweetheart."

That wasn't the word Natsu would use to describe Erza Scarlet, but perhaps Erza was different with girls than she was around him and Gray. The Erza Natsu knew was scary.

"Are you one of those idiot friends she always talks about, then?" Lucy said, grinning. Natsu wanted to wipe that smirk right off her lips.

"Erza's scary," was all he had to say on the matter.

"Ah ah, it's done!" Lucy exclaimed, clapping her hands and flinging them in the air. "Paper, finished. Presentation, finished. Ahh, this feels great." She stretched her arms behind her head, then smiled widely at Natsu. "Thanks for cooking."

"Thanks for breakfast," Natsu countered, indicating the plate next to him that had only scraps of syrup left on it now.

"I should probably get dressed and ready for classes soon; I have an 8:00, and I'm sure you want to get home before heading to campus, too."

"Yeah. I should shower and stuff."

Natsu packed up his things, suddenly feeling awkward. After an entire all-nighter of being relaxed around Lucy, of course now he would feel awkward about it. He tried to pound the concerns from his head with his fists, only to receive strange looks from Lucy and a remark about losing brain cells.

She saw him to the door. "Good luck on your test," she said, giving him a small encouraging smile.

"Thanks. Good luck on your presentation."

"Yeah. Thank you."

"Well, see you around, Lucy," Natsu said, tossing up a hand in farewell. He turned to leave, but Lucy caught his other hand with her fingertips to stop him from going.

"Really," she said. "Thank you. I'm almost glad I…" A slow grin broke out over her face and she burst into giggles. "I'm really glad I started crying in the middle of the grocery store."

Natsu found himself laughing, too. "I'll never forget meeting you, that's for sure," he said

Lucy suddenly looked bashful, her eyes dropping to the ground. "Oh, and um…here." She shoved a folded piece of paper into his hand and then scurried to her door, face flushed. "Thanks again. Good luck today." She quickly closed the door behind her.

Natsu looked down at his hand, opening it up to look at the note in his palm. Unfolding it, it revealed two lines of neat handwriting:

Lucy Heartfilia
Cell: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Oh. Right. They'd never exchanged contact info, had they? He glanced back at her apartment door and grinned, just in case she was watching from the other side. He entered the number into his phone and sent her a text with his name and a promise to come cook for her again sometime. The response came quickly: Yeah. Thanks.

Folding the paper back up and stuffing it in his pocket, Natsu walked away with a skip in his step. He'd never once felt so refreshed and energetic after pulling an all-nighter, but meeting Lucy had done this to him. He knew people's perceptions of each other changed as they got to know each other better, and that new friendships didn't always last, but he had a really good feeling about Lucy. A really, really good feeling.

And when Gray asked him later why he was so happy on the day of an orgo exam, he realized he'd spent the whole morning smiling.

"What, did you finally get a girlfriend or something?"

"No." Even better. He'd met Lucy.