The guild hall was rowdy as ever. Cana was drinking, Jet and Droy were fighting over who would get Levy a drink, although Gajeel had slipped away to do just that. Erza was talking to a mysterious hooded figure at the back of the guild hall, obviously Jellal by Erza's awkward body language and cheeks the color of her hair, Natsu and Gray were scuffling, and the entire building shook with noise.
"Lucy!" Natsu spotted the celestial mage, "Come with me to get some drinks!" he grinned toothily at her.
"Okay I guess," Lucy followed the pinkette to the bar where Cana was swaying in her seat. "Hey Mira!" Lucy spotted the barmaid who was polishing glasses.
"Oh! Hello Lucy, Natsu!" Mira smiled cheerfully. "Anything I can get you tonight?"
"Two bottles of beer and two shots of tequila," Natsu told her, smirking at Lucy's surprised face. "It's Friday, we're gonna let go tonight, right Luce?" he grabbed Lucy's hand and looked over at the blushing blonde.
"U-uh yeah!" Lucy stuttered, letting go of his hand.
"Coming right up!" Mira said, winking at Lucy as Natsu's eyes wandered around the guild.
The drinks appeared atop the counter, and the pair sat down. It was almost painfully obvious Lucy was utterly infatuated with the "pink-haired pyromaniac" as Gray had put it. It was also just as obvious that Natsu devoted everything to his teammate, who in recent years had become something more to him. It was cute really, Natsu was oblivious to Lucy's obvious feelings, and vise versa. The two better get together soon, the rest of the guild anticipating the confession of feelings.
"Drink up, Luce!" Natsu grinned before taking his shot glass and pouring it down his throat, wincing slightly at the burning sensation that followed. "Man! I swallow fire on almost a daily basis and it doesn't burn nearly as much as this!" he joked.
Lucy laughed lightly before tipping back her own glass, shuddering and puckering her lips as she did so. "How can Cana down that much alcohol yet still not even cringe a bit?" Lucy asked.
Natsu shrugged and popped open his beer bottle. Lucy followed and they clinked glasses before taking a swig. It was a rowdy night, and Lucy was content with spending time with her crush. A few drinks were harmless, right?
Few was the understatement of the century.
1 hour, 13 tequila shots, and two beers each later, Natsu and Lucy were swaying back and forth on their bar stools. This was definitely not how either of them thought the night would go. Cana was the only one left still drinking, and the guild had quieted down somewhat.
"Natsuuuu! Your hair is really fluffy!" she giggled, tugging on the soft locks.
"Did I ever tell you, that you're really pretty?" Natsu asked, slurring his words.
"Hehe!" Lucy started blushing in addition to the blush that had formed from so much alcohol. "Let's go hoooome!" she clung to the dragon slayer's bicep and dragged him off the bar stool, teetering on her stiletto-adorned feet a bit.
Mira, who happened to be wiping down the countertop watched the awkward pair stumble to the doors before disappearing from sight. She giggled to herself, young love! So cute! She hoped they'd get home safely though.
Meanwhile, although Lucy's apartment was in walking distance, the two had trouble even navigating the familiar area. Lucy had her arm wrapped around Natsu's middle section, using him as an anchor. Natsu had his arm snaked around the blonde's waist, swerving throughout the cobblestone streets.
Miraculously, the drunken pair did not in fact fall into the river adjacent to Lucy's street, but Natsu did end up hitting a street lamp. They made it to Lucy's door and stumbled inside.
"Hey Luce! I'm kinda hungry!" Natsu slurred, rubbing his toned stomach.
"Let's cook something!" Lucy bubbled.
"Yeah!" Natsu yelled, raising a fist. The two drunkenly stumbled into Lucy's small kitchen, randomly pulling out ingredients from the fridge and pantry, setting them on the counter. Neither were conscious of what they were actually grabbing, but for the time being, neither of them cared. Their items consisted of a head of lettuce, soy sauce, coconut shavings, chicken breast, pasta, and salami.
Lucy found a pot in a cabinet and set it on the stove shakily. She dumped all of the ingredients into the pot and turned the burner on.
"Smells good!" Natsu inhaled, leaning against the refrigerator.
Lucy just nodded, "stirring" the meal occasionally before turning off the burner. Natsu took a plate from a cupboard but dropped it, and it shattered all over the tiled floor. He just shrugged, grabbing another plate and setting it down gingerly. Natsu then took the pot and dumped its burned contents onto the plate, stabbing a knife into a raw chicken breast.
"Tastes good Luce!" Natsu gave the cook a thumbs up, even though he was eating air, almost pathetically missing the charred food with his fork. He then had a fantastic idea. Picking up a raw and somewhat slimy chicken breast, he chucked it at Lucy who was humming to herself, head in the fridge. It smacked her on her exposed cheek, and she spun wildly. That was a mistake.
Lucy was incredibly off balance, gripping a shelf in the fridge for support. She ended up falling into the refrigerator, bringing a shelf of eggs and vegetables with her. More heads of lettuce hit her on the head and the eggs missed her by a small margin, cracking on the floor. Realization that Natsu had thrown food at her, she retaliated by chucking an egg at him. It missed his body and splattered all over the wall.
"Hehehe! That made a funny noise!" Lucy pointed from her seat on the ground.
Natsu threw bits of lettuce and coconut shavings in the air, pretending it was confetti. "Look Lucy! I made fireworks just for you!" he addressed said girl while throwing more burnt food into the air. Soy sauce was dripping down his bare arms by now, and coconut shavings littered his pink hair, but neither noticed. Soon an all out food fight had started, most of it missing the target.
Natsu got up from his chair and teetered over to Lucy slowly. He sat down next to her before pulling her down to the floor with him. Both were lying on their backs, Natsu's arm wrapped around her shoulders lightly. In an instant, both passed out, Natsu unconsciously pulling the blonde mage closer to him.
TIME SKIP- NEXT MORNING
"Mira said she saw Natsu and Lucy leaving the guild last night after getting a bit tipsy," Levy told Gajeel, Gray, and Juvia. "that's why we should go check on them."
"Okay," the rest agreed before heading to Lucy's apartment.
Gray knocked on the wooden door, no reply. Knocking louder and longer, the four waited on her doorstep. Still no answer. Gajeel stepped up and twisted the door knob, to their luck it was open. After ushering the gang inside, he closed the door.
"Hm, weird," Juvia speculated, "they're not in Lucy's bed!"
"You're right, let's check the kitchen," Gray said before heading to the door.
Gajeel, Levy, Gray, and Juvia's jaws all dropped at the sight before them. The kitchen was completely trashed. Food was everywhere! Cracked egg slime littered the walls, miscellaneous vegetables were sprawled across the floor, some sticky brown liquid was spread all over the table, something that looked like burnt lettuce was stuck on top of shelves, not to mention the broken plate shards near the stove.
"What the fuck happened?" Gajeel asked, slightly amused.
"Seems to me like Lu-chan and Natsu got a little too crazy last night when they got home and had a food fight. Maybe they tried cooking?" Levy thought aloud, color draining from her face. "Thank God they didn't set anything on fire, knowing Natsu's ways!"
"Didn't make it to her bed, I guess," Gray said, prodding Natsu's body, which was luckily still breathing.
"Kind of cute! Juvia thinks they are so romantic!" Juvia observed the couple. Natsu's face was buried in the crook of Lucy's neck and Lucy's arms were resting on top of Natsu's, which were wrapped around her waist.
"Let's leave them be," Levy said, exiting the kitchen. "they seem pretty occupied," she grinned.
The two would later wake up in each other's arms, with hangovers of course, but blushing profusely. Natsu was the first to actually confess his feelings for her, and stuttering she did the same. Natsu compared his newly-established boyfriend status to simply "taking on a long and hard S-class mission and succeeding after lots of hard work" which was true. Not like Lucy was complaining.
Author's Note: I'll be doing another rendition of this but Soul Eater style instead very soon! Thank you for reading this AU. I saw the prompt on the 'writing' tag while searching it on tumblr, and decided to give it a go! Thanks for reading! -Lolita