Kiss Me At A Fireworks Show
Lucy cursed. Lately, she'd been doing that way more than a lady, or any person in general, should. But she couldn't help it, as her boots buried into the icy snow and made her all the slower as she walked. Her friends were waiting for her at the entrance of the festival, and she was around twenty minutes late, all because of the snow.
To say the least, she wasn't saying goodbye to this year with a happy grin.
Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket yet again. She already knew it was Natsu -he'd called her around fifteen times so far, urging her to hurry up because he was freezing and starving. And she had enough. Besides, she was only a few meters away.
She kept walking, relaxing when she saw the lights of the shining festival and she heard the pullulate of an endless maze of people. And right there, she saw her group of friends waiting for her. At least, they didn't look mad.
Gray was trying to ignore an excited Juvia, though his efforts were meaningless when he was wearing the scarf she gave him for Christmas. Gajeel was making fun of Levy's height, as always. Jellal was holding Erza's hand and they were acting like a lovesick couple.
And then there was Natsu, alone against the column, and the only one who noticed her arrival. His scaly scarf was tightly wrapped around his neck, his pink hair hid under a black beanie that suited him oh so well. He grinned widely and waved at her as she approached.
"Yo, Luce," he greeted. That was when the others finally acknowledged her presence and turned around to smile at her too. "Why are you so late? I was bored," he added, extending his words like a little kid as he threw an arm around her shoulders.
Lucy quickly pushed his arm off, thanking the cold weather for disguising her blush. "I was late because the traffic was stuck, so I had to walk here."
"Are you okay?" Erza asked, polite as usual. "You must be freezing."
"Ah, it's okay," Lucy dismissed it, smiling. "It's cold here too, anyways. Let's just go inside!"
And she was right. The festival was japanese-like, so there was no ceiling nor heater. The different food stands created a rather nice and colorful image, the occasional games full of kids wanting to play.
"I'm starving," Natsu whined, next to her.
"Where should we go first?" Levy asked, a map of the place in her hands. Gajeel looked at it over her head, without she noticing. It was amusing, and lovely, in a way, but Lucy's mood wasn't going to deal with love right now.
That's why she grunted, "Anywhere."
She noticed Natsu's big eyes fixed on her, questioning maybe why she was being such a party pooper. But the others continued being all lovey-dovey with their respective one.
"Ah! Let's go to the games!" Juvia said, all cheerful and happy, like her usual self. A blessing to their group, really.
"Let's go," Erza agreed, practically dragging Jellal behind her. It was so obvious each couple wanted to spend time alone, Lucy didn't understand why they kept it up.
She sighed as they started walking towards the silly, common games every festival had. Lucy admitted they were quite fun, and doing them with her friends always took a laugh or two out of her. Usually, it was a nice way to start New Year. But not now. This day had been literally shit for her and she didn't want to take any more of it.
"Luce, what's wrong?" Natsu asked.
Lucy sighed. "Nothing's wrong."
"You're such a bad liar," Natsu pointed out, that smug smirk of his making fun of her.
"Like you're the one to talk," Lucy rolled her eyes, hiding her face behind her pink scarf.
"That just means we are meant to be honest with each other," Natsu winked at her. There he went again, with his confusing words that left her wondering if he just saw her as his best friend or maybe.. something more.
"Shut up," she said.
He grinned, seemingly satisfied with her reaction. But when both turned to follow their friends once again, they weren't there. Lucy widened her eyes, searching for them, but they weren't anywhere.
That was the last thing she needed.
"Hey…" Natsu said. "Where are them?"
"That's what I'd like to know," Lucy mumbled, standing in tiptoes to get a better view of the people, but she didn't saw any outstanding red hair, nor blue. She didn't saw Gajeel's descomunal height.
That was the last straw to her grumpy mood.
But Natsu just laughed it off, scratching the back of his neck. If it wasn't that cold, maybe she'd had believed that that pink dust on his cheeks was actually blush. But she was sure it only was due the cold. Why would he even blush, anyways? Natsu Dragneel never blushed.
"Why are you laughing?" Lucy asked, her voice bitter. If a look could kill, then everyone, especially Natsu, would already be dead.
"Nothing special," he shrugged. "But for me, things are always more fun when we're together."
"But we were already together when everyone was here," Lucy played dumb, hiding her face.
Natsu blinked, his gaze so deep it made her uncomfortable. Maybe he knew she was avoiding it, who knows. He loved to play dumb, when he was actually pretty smart.
"Yeah, you're right." he said, putting his hands inside his pockets and burying his face into his scarf.
It hurt Lucy.
She didn't even know why she tried to avoid those hints. It's not like she didn't have a crush on him -heck, she really, really liked him by now. He'd been her best friend for five years now, and counting. Was this her anxiety speaking? Probably.
She sighed yet again, and it didn't go unnoticed by him.
"You've been sighing a lot since you arrived. Something's wrong?" Natsu asked, genuine worry dripping off his voice. He was such a blessing of a friend.
"Nothing's wrong," she repeated.
"C'mon, tell me," he whined, playfully bumping into her with his shoulder.
Surprisingly, it got a good chuckle from her.
He always did that.
"I already tell you it's nothing!" Lucy said. The look he gave her forced her to continue. "I just… got into a bad mood because I had to walk here and you know how much I hate snow and winter and all that stuff,"
He didn't ask further -he understood. Her mother had died in winter, in a snowy day.
"But you love fireworks!" he exclaimed, all of the sudden, with that grin of his. "And they'll make a fireworks show at midnight."
Lucy giggled. "True, true. How much 'til then?"
Natsu checked his wrist clock, "Around fifteen minutes,"
"I sure arrived late," Lucy realized. Usually they went to the festival around ten o'clock.
"It's okay," Natsu grinned, again passing his arm over her shoulders. This time, for some reason, Lucy welcomed the warmth provided by his body heat. "We all were a little late, too."
"That's good to know, I guess." Lucy smiled, unconsciously leaning against his chest. The comfort of having him near made her relax, and somehow the anxiety of being late and disappointing her friends faded away. He sure worked magic on her without knowing.
Now she could be at ease with him.
"We can… go watch the fireworks together," Natsu shyly said. It was weird -him, being timid over something. A view she didn't recall seeing before.
"Sure!" Lucy smiled.
He looked surprised, before breaking into a huge grin as well.
The look in his eyes told her, that maybe something could change between fifteen minutes.
"Great!" he said. "I know a really good spot here to watch them!"
He started to drag her -pushing people aside, trying not to lose her in the crowd as he tugged at her hand, because at some point he grabbed it and Lucy didn't know, but she couldn't help but be a flustered mess now.
And finally he showed her a big tree. Its branches were huge, enough to sit on them and Lucy just prayed he wasn't thinking the same as she, but of course he was.
"Do you really… want to climb up there?" Lucy asked, done with all of his ideas.
"Yeah!" he smiled, just as a little kid.
"Natsu, I'm not a monkey." she said.
He frowned and tilted his head to the side. "Well, if you were that would make you even weirder than you already are,"
"Hey!" she protested.
"C'mon!" he insisted. "It's not that tall -come here, I'll help you!"
His eyes were begging, and how could she say no to them?
He licked his lips as he waited for an answer. Finally, Lucy gave in and walked towards the tree. That seemed to cheer him up, and he climbed in two seconds.
Lucy gasped in disbelief. "How…"
"C'mon!" Natsu hurried her up. "It's gonna be midnight before you come here if you just stand there with your mouth open!"
Taking in his challenge, Lucy started to climb the tree, slowly but surely, until she finally reached the lower branch where he sat. There, he extended his hand with a laugh, and scoffing, she grabbed it and pulled herself in so she could sit right next to him It was needless to say that their little seat was freezing.
"How much until midnight?" Lucy asked again. Her butt was slowly turning into an ice cube and it was not funny.
"Five minutes," Natsu said. He was looking at her… differently. She could sense it. And it made her blush and her heart beat faster and her stomach to fly as it always did whenever he was with her.
"Oh…" was all she could muster.
They didn't say much, which was actually weird for them. They kind of… just kept being silent, gazing into each other's eyes. But Lucy didn't know they did that for full five minutes until the sound of fireworks exploding filled the space, and multicolor light illuminated the night sky.
Lucy gaped at the beautifulness of it all. She really did love fireworks.
"Igneel really outdid himself this year, too," Lucy praised Natsu's dad. She knew how proud her friend was.
But when she looked at him, he only mumbled a 'yes', and he kissed her.
As in, mouth to mouth. Their first kiss. What was life?
At first she could only stare, her mind overworking itself as she tried to accept the fact that it was her best friend of all time kissing her over a tree where their butts were freezing and fireworks shone as background and how cliché all of it was, but it made sense because Natsu was a hopeless romantic who loved chick films.
So she just gave in and kissed back. Not like she'd miss what she had been hoping for, for so long.
His lips tasted of candy apple and were warmth against hers.
It all seemed like a dream when he pulled back. "Happy New Year, Lucy,"
She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, her eyes wide. She must had looked really stupid, because he chuckled at her.
"Don't laugh at me!" she said, hitting his arm. But with a more shy voice, she muttered, "And Happy New Year, idiot."
"I really like you, Lucy," he said, "and you look really cute now."
Lucy's heart exploded from his straightforwardness. "D-Don't say it just like that!"
"And how exactly do you want me to tell you?" he asked, licking his lips. Lucy's attention were fixed on them, and by his smirk, he noticed.
Such a tease.
"You can… kiss me," Lucy dared, successfully taking him off guard.
He blushed adorably, and with a smile, he said, "As you wish," before pressing his lips against hers once more.
"I really like you too, Natsu,"
Word Count= 2003. Really fluffy one-shot and a request on Tumblr! Hope you liked it! Reviews are highly appreciated :)