I wrote this little thing for my best friend who's (surprisingly) stuck with me for almost a year and a half now! She loves NaLu and I really hope I didn't disappoint! ^_^'
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MANATEE FRIENDO, NORTHERN! I HOPE YOU HAVE A DAY JUST AS AMAZING AS YOU ARE! CONGRATULATIONS ON HITTING 1,000 WATCHERS ON DA!
Please enjoy!
Lucy Dragneel was having a great morning so far. She was sure her good mood wouldn't last till noon, but she was determined to stay happy at least for a few more hours.
Her newly-wed husband had agreed to let them stay in his house instead of getting a new one, and Lucy was giddy at the thought of not having to worry about paying rent anymore. Natsu had told her that there was no need to pay a monthly fee, as he and Happy had built the small cottage themselves. To be honest, it was reassuring to know that they would be living in a house so close to their hearts, but Lucy couldn't help but worry because it was Natsu and Happy that had built the home.
"But Luce! Me and Happy built it for ourselves! I don't want your weirdness contaminating it or anything," was his argument to her when she had made the request.
"It's Happy and I, and Natsu! I'm your wife! I'm living with you in that house no matter what. Understand?" Lucy had replied with a hard glint in her eyes. She watched geefully as the balls of his feet rocked back slightly out of fear. Lucy didn't feel an ounce of regret when she saw Natsu reacting to her this way.
"A-aye!" he said, imitating his cat.
Today was the day when she was finally moving in. She, Levy, Erza, and Juvia were all scrambling around her old apartment that the landlady had given her a maximum of a day to get out of, throwing all of her belongings into moving boxes and shoving them into the hallway of the building. It was a tedious task, but the thought of finally beginning to live with Natsu made it all worthwhile.
Her friends made her excitement evidently clear, much to her distaste. She couldn't blame them, though. Lucy would have done the same to them if she were in their shoes.
"I'm so happy you and Natsu are finally married, Lu-chan!" Levy squealed, throwing a pile of books into a large box. Lucy looked up from the mess strewn across her floor and shot her a giant grin.
"Me too, Levy-chan," she exclaimed, happy that Levy had taken a more direct approach to teasing her.
"Honestly, after the three of us got married, I was beginning to think of you and Natsu as a lost cause," Levy continued, not noticing Lucy's eyebrows beginning to narrow. "Even Gray and Juvia got married before you and Natsu! That says something."
"Gee, thanks," Lucy rolled her eyes, her shoulders slumping. The other three looked over, and laughed. Erza decided to speak up.
"I can't express my congratulations enough, Lucy," Erza said, picking up the entire sofa with one hand and propping it up on her left elbow. Lucy's eyes widened at the red-head's showcase of strength, but merely brushed it aside, expecting no less from the requip mage. "Though I'm unsure as to why you were so adamant about you and Natsu living in his and Happy's cottage. It's a bit-"
"Juvia agrees," the water mage chimed in, cutting off the older woman, "she would hate having to share her Gray-sama with his cat!"
Erza sighed. "That isn't what I meant, but that's a valid point as well."
Lucy appeared to be thoughtful for a few moments, before answering with a small frown. "The thought has crossed my mind a few times, but there's no way I can separate Natsu and Happy. I knew what I was getting into the moment I said 'yes'. They're a team. I could never do that."
Levy bit her lip. "Lily got his own apartment after Gajeel and I got engaged," she said.
"Pantherlily can transform into human form. Happy can't," Lucy said pointedly. Levy shrugged.
"That's true. Besides, I don't really think it's a big deal, to be honest. Happy'll give you your privacy."
Surprisingly, Erza snorted. "Happy and privacy? I think you have the wrong exceed, Levy," she said with a small smile, turning to face Lucy again afterwards. "Don't mind me. I'm sure that whatever happens , you and Natsu'll be fine."
Lucy returned the smile and nodded. "Thanks, Erza. Thanks, you guys."
The others nodded.
"Juvia is happy you finally moved on from her Gray-sama!" Juvia chimed again, grinning from ear to ear. "Juvia was getting a little worried, even after she and Gray-sama got married!"
Lucy almost face-palmed.
…
Just as Lucy predicted, her good mood did not last till even eleven o'clock in the morning. She groaned, placing her fingertips to her forehead and wiped off a bit of the sweat that was lingering there. Natsu was in front of her, holding up two buckets of paint in each hand.
"Blue or green?" he asked, an innocent expression painting his face.
Lucy grumbled something under her breath while looking away. "How would a green house look? And neon, too! It isn't even a pastel shade."
Natsu's face twisted into a small frown. "We could always do red," he suggested.
"Red? Why red? Blue would look the most natural. Or white," Lucy said, crossing her arms and raising a tentative eyebrow. "Even grey would look normal-"
"Why're you sayin' that ice bastard's name?" Natsu whined.
Lucy threw her hands up in exasperation. "I didn't! Natsu! Focus!"
"Yeah yeah," Natsu said, dropping the green can of paint and shrugging lazily. "How 'bout we do red and blue?"
"Red and blue don't work together. You have to think of that awkward contrast," Lucy rolled her eyes. "Pink and yellow would look cool, though! You know, because they're our hair colors. It makes sense, and holds a special bond to ourselves."
"You don't have yellow hair, you have blonde hair," Natsu said pointedly, ignoring her sentimental words.
Lucy muttered something inaudible under her breath, choosing not to reply to that statement.
"Right, well, what do you want to do?" she asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow, leaning back with the balls of her feet and staring at him for a few seconds. "We're definitely not doing green, pink and yellow doesn't appeal to you, and you obviously didn't like the blue idea, so-"
"Nah, the blue's cool. Let's go with that," Natsu said. "Plus, Happy's blue! It's perfect!"
Lucy sucked in a breath. "Happy?" She then remembered something, stepping closer to him and blinking rapidly. "Hey, uh, how many bedrooms do you have in this house anyway?"
"One, why?" Natsu asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.
"Wait, so, Happy sleeps in your room?" Lucy questioned. Natsu nodded.
"Yup! I have this little cat bed next to mine which he sleeps in every single night! He loves it!" Natsu exclaimed happily.
Lucy frowned. It was one thing for the cat to be staying in their house, but another to be sleeping in the same room as them. Besides, what would happen when they wanted to-
Lucy blushed at the thought, not wanting to think about that kind of stuff at the moment. For now, she had to talk to Natsu about this.
"Natsu, there's no way Happy can sleep in our room," she started strongly, wanting to get right to the point.
Natsu frowned. "What? Why?" he asked, clearly confused.
"Natsu, we're a newly married couple and we need our privacy. Plus, I just don't feel comfortable sleeping in the same room with your cat!"
"You've done it lots of times," Natsu said.
"Well, yes, but this time it's different," Lucy pouted cutely, causing Natsu's cheeks to redden ever so slightly. Lucy noticed this, and smirked. Maybe this way of convincing him would be a better option.
"Why's it different?" Natsu asked. Lucy sauntered up to him and wrapped her hands around his middle, biting her lip and looking up into her husband's eyes. Natsu visibly gulped, more blood rushing to his cheeks as he awkwardly stood there, wondering what he was supposed to do.
"This is our house now, Natsu, our house as a married couple. Having Happy stay in our room comes with some… restrictions," Lucy said, choosing her words carefully. She leaned in a nuzzled her nose into the crook of Natsu's neck. She felt his skin turn hot to her touch, and smirked. This was too easy. Natsu always succumbed to her advances, no matter what the cause was behind them. Lucy sighed happily when she felt his own hands snake around her waist as he let out a low growl.
"Now that ya' mention it, you do have a good point," Natsu said, leaning into her touch. "We'll just… I'll just put his bed somewhere else in the house."
Lucy nodded. "Thank you," she said, separating herself from him and smiling. "That sounds like a great idea."
"Yeah yeah, now what color did you want again?" Natsu asked, bending down to pick up the blue can of paint. "Blue?"
"Yeah, blue's fine," Lucy agreed, grabbing a paintbrush from the grassy floor and grinning heavily. "Ready for this?"
Natsu returned the grin, and nodded. "You better believe it!" he said, taking his own brush. The two leaned in and dipped their brushes, eyes locking in perfect, familiar, contact, before letting out one final big laugh and sprinted in opposite directions. Natsu went to the left side of the house while Lucy went to the right, and they both began swiping their brushes against the rock and wood, racing to see who could finish their side first.
Friendly competition was what their relationship strived in. Lucy adored beating Natsu in the silliest of things, and didn't particularly mind whenever he beat her either. They weren't sore sports with each other, and to be honest, Lucy didn't even really care about the outcome of their childish antics. All she cared about was the feeling of being close to Natsu during these times, and she was fine with that.
Before Natsu proposed, Lucy was getting a little anxious about if he was ever going to ask her to marry him or not. They had dated for a little over two years before he finally asked the question, and Lucy would be lying if she said she wasn't a little more than relieved.
"I finished!" she heard Natsu yell just as she painted the last brush stroke on her side of the house. She gaped when he ran to her side.
"No! I finished at the same time as you!" she protested, her bottom lip pushing out slightly.
"No way!" Natsu said childishly, sticking his tongue out and putting his hands to the sides of his face and making a silly face. Lucy's eyebrows furrowed, playful anger bubbling inside of her.
"Yes way! We totally tied!" she said, breaking into a run when he began to back away. Natsu's eyes widened as she approached him, and quickly turned the other way to get a head start on her. Lucy gasped when she realized she had to catch him, and sped up to jump onto his back. Natsu yelped, the two colliding with the floor, Lucy laughing as she landed on top of him and Natsu winced at her strong hold pushing his arms beneath her figure.
They stared at each other for a few moments before Natsu quickly leaned up and captured her lips in one swift motion. Lucy smiled into the kiss, pressing herself harder against him as his hands found themselves roaming around her back. Her fingers busied themselves by knotting into his spiky pink locks and Lucy moaned when she felt him begin to move.
He twisted his body so that within seconds, their positions were swapped and she found herself being pushed to the ground by Natsu. Her lips quirked up as their mouths burned against each other and her heart continued to race all over the place. His teeth tugged at her bottom lip, begging for entrance which Lucy gladly gave him.
The two continued to kiss underneath the bright afternoon sunlight, content with themselves even as the giant paint job lay ahead of them, completely forgotten. Cans of paint cluttered the morning grass and the only sounds that could be heard were Natsu and Lucy's moans as they violated each other's lips.
They were enjoying themselves so much that they failed to notice a certain blue exceed humming quietly to himself, making his way to his house and gasping quite loudly when he saw the scene in front of him. Happy's beady eyes widened when he noticed Natsu and Lucy sprawled across the floor, kissing to their heart's content.
"Ewww! Can't you guys wait till you're not out for anyone to see you?" he asked, whining.
Within the blink of an eye, Lucy pushed Natsu away from her, much to his displeasure, and quickly brushed herself off and turned to face the bright blue cat who had just caught them. Blood rushed past her swollen lips and to her cheeks.
"H-Happy! What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to act as casual as possible. The thought that Happy had just caught her and Natsu making out was beyond embarrassing, even though the cat had already done the same plenty of times before.
"Hey, Happy!" Natsu said, grinning wildly at the sight of his cat. It sent shivers down Lucy's spine when she saw the way Natsu brightened at the view of the exceed. To her, it looked like he had completely forgotten about herself and instead was focusing on Happy.
Lucy frowned.
She was getting jealous of a cat.
It was so stupid, yet it clawed at her insides. She couldn't be acting like this. Happy wasn't some other girl who Lucy actually had a right to be jealous over, this was Happy. There was no reason for Lucy to feel like this.
Happy smiled and shrugged. "I'll be inside," he said, throwing the blonde a subtle wink and walking inside the house. "You liiiike him!" he said just before entering.
Lucy, not wanting to respond to that, groaned and threw her head back, the color in her cheeks gradually returning. Natsu rubbed his forehead, glancing up at his wife with a disappointed look.
"Aww, and just when it was getting to the good part!"
"Shut up!"
…
Lucy giggled as she flicked a bit of paint using her thumb and index finger onto Natsu's cheek. The two were in the living room, painting the walls a nice, mellow shade of yellow and joking around like they usually did.
"Oi!" Natsu said, using his hand to wipe away the now-buttercup colored stain on his face. Lucy laughed again, before looking away and continuing to mindlessly stroke the large roller to the walls of the room. Natsu pouted, doing the same.
"Hey, Natsu?" Lucy asked, tentatively looking over to the pinkette and frowning. Fear bubbled in her insides as she replayed what she was about to say a million more times in her head.
"Yeah, Luce?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow in her direction.
Lucy gulped. "Is… is this going to be okay? Living here?"
Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean? Of course it's going to be okay."
"No I mean… living with you, and Happy, and everything."
"Luce," Natsu's voice was hard, "what's this about?"
Lucy bit her lip and sighed. "The girls and I were talking this morning about something," she started, "they told me that it really wasn't the most appealing idea to be living with your husband and his talking cat. I don't know, it just kind of got me thinking about a lot of things."
She really was being very unreasonable, and she was well aware of that fact. Seriously? Was she really talking to her husband about something as silly as this? There was no way she could have Natsu all to herself, and she knew that. Happy would always come first for him, and she just had to grow to deal with it.
Someone really couldn't blame her, though. She was his wife, after all. It was natural for her to want his undivided attention. Before she and Natsu got married, she never had this problem. Happy was just Happy, like always. But now, she saw him as an obstacle between her and her husband.
The thought sent her heart on fire.
"Ya' mean," Natsu started slowly, "you're jealous?"
Lucy's head snapped up, surprised that he had caught on so quickly. "What?" she asked, not daring to believe that for once, Natsu wasn't acting like his usual dense self. It would have normally taken him a few minutes more to realize the implications of what she was saying, but for some strange reason, he was pretty on top of things today. Besides his silliness when it came to what color to paint their house, of course.
"You're jealous of Happy, right? I mean, why else would you act so weird about him sleeping in another room? And you were so stiff around him after that kiss," Natsu said, shrugging nonchalantly.
Lucy wondered why she wasn't getting up to strangle him for his painful casualty. Was she really that readable?
So she stayed silent, wondering what he was going to say next.
"Luce, do ya' want kids one day?"
Lucy's eyes widened within a millisecond after he said those seven words, and she jolted back in surprise. This certainly was an unexpected turning in their conversation. They went from Lucy's doubts to them having children?
What.
"What do you mean?" she asked slowly, unsure where this conversation was heading.
"I mean, do you want to have kids with me someday?" Natsu clarified.
Lucy gulped. "Uh… yeah?" she said, her statement coming out as more of a question. Of course she wanted children with her husband, but just not yet. She was more than confused as Natsu looked at her, and put his roller down, walking up to her and taking her own roller into his hands and throwing it to the floor.
She sucked in a breath when he pulled her in a gave her a chaste peck on her cheek. It was something that seemed so unlike Natsu, that Lucy had to do another double take. He leaned back slightly and smiled at her shocked face.
"Are ya' gonna be jealous of your children too?" he asked.
It was then when Lucy understood. He was comparing Happy to their future kids. It was a really insightful thing to do, and Lucy mentally applauded him for thinking of something like this.
"Probably," she admitted with a short laugh. Natsu grinned at her.
"Well, good. That means you're just as possessive as I am," he said.
Lucy smiled. "Yeah? And how possessive is that?" she whispered, liking the way his voice was gradually becoming lower and rougher.
"On a scale of one to ten, I'd say like a thousand," Natsu said, nipping her ear gently, eliciting a sigh from her.
"Not a million?" Lucy questioned slyly.
"More like a billion," Natsu replied.
"Good," Lucy nodded.
"My point is," Natsu started again, "you don't got any reason to be jealous of anyone, because no one makes me feel as weird as you do."
"I don't know how to take that," Lucy admitted.
"It's a good thing," Natsu reassured her. "It's definitely a good thing." He leaned in again to capture her lips with his for the second time that day.
"Eww again?!" a voice interrupted them just as Lucy was about to deepen the kiss. Natsu and Lucy quickly spread apart, blushing intently when they saw Happy flying above them, his paws on his hips. "I can go over to Wendy's place if you want some privacy. Charle isn't doing anything today. I'll just leave you two to your-"
"Happy!" Lucy said, her cheeks reddening further. She glanced towards Natsu, who was cheekily smiling back at her as if telling her 'See? Nothing to be worried about.' Lucy gulped, and nodded, her doubts seemingly vanished from her mind.
"Yeah, you do that," Natsu said, still staring at his wife. "I'll just… be here with Lucy."
Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Happy's nose wrinkle up in obvious distaste as he quickly nodded and swiftly flew out the front door.
"Don't forget to finish painting the house!" was the last thing he said, before he disappeared out of the house.
Natsu chuckled under his breath, before his gaze returned to Lucy and he grinned at her again. He walked up to her, enveloping her in a hug and sighing.
"Oh, Gray told me I had to take you on a honeymoon, or whatever that is," Natsu suddenly spoke up.
Lucy's eyes widened. "That reminds me, Levy told me she was going to plan a housewarming party for us."
"A housewarming party?" Natsu questioned, leaning into her arms and inhaling her scent. "Isn't that if we move into a new house? This house isn't new. It's just my place."
Lucy shrugged, finding it a little difficult by the way he was holding her. "Yeah, I don't think she gets that."
"Is there gonna be food?"
"Probably, yeah."
"Yes! I mean, uh… yeah, tell her it's fine with me."
Lucy swiftly kicked his shin and laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Luce, I'm gonna kiss you," Natsu spoke, catching her by surprise. "And this time, I'm gonna make it last for a lot longer than that first one."
"Okay," Lucy responded, and she didn't have to wait too long till the feeling of Natsu's lips on her own returned, enveloping her into the pure state of bliss she loved so much.
His hands loosened around her waist and her arms moved to his chest as they moved against each other, and Lucy knew that she would never get over the awareness and love Natsu showed her.
Happy was at Charle's, there was no need for her to feel paranoid about him stumbling into her and Natsu's moment. For now, at least.
She smiled into his kiss, letting her thoughts drift away and her mind focus on only the man in front of her.
The painting could wait.
Happy birthday again, Northern! I can't wait to hear your rant about how 'I shouldn't have!' after ya read this! Thanks for sticking with me through it all and I hope you liked this!
And to all my lovely readers, thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed!