My entry for EsteVamp4998's writing challenge #2. I hope you all enjoy! (Also, fun fact, this is my 40th story!)
"Well, we're back. Finally." Gray sent a glare at the Dragon Slayer walking next to him. "You just had to burn the train."
"Sorry," Natsu replies sarcastically, "but we rode the Death Machine the entire way there, and I don't-"
"We get it," Lucy sighs, placing a hand on her boyfriend's arm. "You hate trains."
"Next time we go on a long distance job, we're leaving Puke Face here behind," Gray says with a groan. "Walking fifty miles is not my idea of fun."
"Fine!" Natsu retorts. "Then Lucy and I are going somewhere by ourselves." Lucy opens her mouth to protest when Gray cuts her off.
"So? I don't want to come."
"Are you boys getting along?" Erza asks.
"AYE!" both boys shout, wrapping their arms around each other's shoulders. Lucy giggles, shaking her head slightly. As Erza tells them off (because this time, they really couldn't fool her), Lucy begins to think about her boyfriend's previous statement. Her and Natsu...on a job...by themselves...
They'd done it before, of course. In fact, they was the way their first job was. There was just something off about the tone of voice he used when suggesting this. It was almost a demand. Lucy flushes, pushing all crazy thoughts out of her head. No, there was nothing weird about this. This was Natsu she was talking about. He was just trying to make Gray mad... That's all it was...
There's nothing wrong with going on job with your boyfriend. Nothing wrong at all...
Three days later, Lucy was going crazy.
Natsu had indeed followed through with his statement, and had picked out the weirdest job on the board. Even weirder, the reward was massive. So massive that it made Lucy wonder why no one else took the job first. She asked Levy this, and got only a knowing smile in response. Then there was the way Natsu looked guilty while presenting the paper to her, as if he had something to hide.
Yup, there was definitely something wrong with this request.
"I just don't know what to do, Mira," Lucy admits. "He's just been acting so...weird. The job already seemed fishy: search an aquarium in Hargeon for a rare eel? With a 30,000 jewel price tag?"
"Hmm..." Mira smiles almost slyly as she cleans a mug. "Sounds fine to me."
"Who requested it?" Lucy asks, leaning across the counter. "Is there even an aquarium in Hargeon?" Mira shrugs, not saying anything as she reaches for another glass. "You know something, don't you?"
"I would just go, Lucy," Mira says finally. "You never know, it might just be a weird job. We've had weirder."
"Yeah, like destroying the moon or the one about that nut-job director that always said thank you," Gray butts in, sitting down next to Lucy. "Water please, Mira."
"Your clothes, Gray!" someone shouts from across the Guild Hall.
"ARRRRGH!"
"I guess Gray's right..." Lucy sighs. "It's just a funny job..."
"Yo! Lucy!" Natsu's distinctive voice echoes across the Guild Hall. "You ready to go?" Lucy her head around, looking towards the door. Her eyebrows shoot upwards at the sight of the Dragon Slayer's outfit: an odd long coat with dark pants underneath. Lucy frowns, her suspicion growing again.
"Uh, yeah! I'm ready!" she shouts back, jumping off the seat. She rushes towards him, her hair flying out behind her. She meets him in the doorway, eyeing his bizarre clothing once more. "What's with the weird getup?"
"Uh..." Natsu looks panicked. "Trying something new! Yeah, that's it!" He laughs nervously, blushing a bit.
"Okay..." Lucy knows something's up now. If there's one thing she knows about Natsu (besides the fact that he's a food-alcoholic) is that he's a terrible liar. "Wait..." Lucy glances around. "Where's Happy?"
"Uh...with Wendy and Carla!" Natsu snaps his fingers. Lucy raises an eyebrow, but stays silent. She decides to keep a good eye on the Dragon Slayer, because she can almost smell the nervousness on him, and that's a sign of something hidden.
After a long, surprisingly peaceful train ride, the duo arrives safely in Hargeon. Lucy notes that it's later than she thought it was, and the sun is fairly low in the sky. "So, where's the aquarium?"
"Oh! Uh..." Natsu looks blank (and still slightly ill from the train) as he continues. "Well...I was thinking we could get something to eat first..."
"Like...a date?" Lucy's eyes widen.
"Well..." Natsu rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "We...haven't done one in a while..."
"No, I..." Lucy trails off, then smiles at him. "Thank you, Natsu. This is why you're acting so weird, isn't it?"
"You noticed?!" Natsu cries, horror struck.
Lucy rolls her eyes, "Of course I noticed, you idiot! You were being painfully obvious!"
"Um...oops?" Natsu grins nervously at her. Lucy laughs and kisses his cheek.
"Love you, idiot."
Fifteen minutes later, the couple were seated in outdoors in a fancy restaurant on the pier. Natsu had dumped the coat off somewhere unknown, revealing a formal suit and pink tie underneath. Lucy felt awkward and under dressed in her light pink t-shirt and black skirt, but Natsu reassured her by telling her she looked stunning.
"Thank you so much, Natsu," Lucy says for what must've been the fifth time that evening, smiling widely. Natsu nods, fiddling with his sleeve. He avoids her gaze, as if paranoid that something awful will happen if he looks her in the eyes. She falls silent for a moment, waiting for a reply. None came. "Natsu?"
"Huh?" The Dragon Slayer looks up at her, but still avoids eye contact with his girlfriend.
"You're acting funny again," Lucy states matter-of-factly, folding her arms.
"Me?" Natsu attempts to sound shocked, but it falls flat.
"Yeah, you." Lucy leans forward across the table. "Natsu, look at me." Hesitantly, the Dragon Slayer shifts his eyes towards her face. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" he says, raising his hands up. "Nothing at all! I'm just hungry and tired, that's it. Yeah…"
"This isn't like you," Lucy says softly. "Natsu…"
Natsu holds out a hand. "Hold on." He slips his other hand into the pocket of his suit. Lucy notices that he's shaking as he does so, his expression a bit nervous. Suddenly, his face turns pale as his dark eyes widen. "No…"
Natsu flies into a frenzy, turning all of his pockets inside out. He stands up abruptly, looking ready to scream. "I-It's not there!" he cries, somehow keeping himself together.
"What isn't there?" Lucy asks, worried. "Y-Your wallet? Because I don't have mine either!" Panic floods through her. "Oh my Mavis-"
Her fear dissipates when Natsu slams his wallet on the table, still looking panicked. Lucy sighs in relief, but notices that Natsu still looks ready to faint. "What are you missing?" Natsu shakes his head, indicating that he can't tell her. "Is it a present for me?"
"Something like that," Natsu mumbles. He sits back down, putting his head in his hands. He looks over his scarf at Lucy, looking ready to be sick.
"You okay?" Lucy whispers, worry creeping into her voice. Natsu opens his mouth, preparing to answer her.
"Can I take your order, Mister and Miss?" The couple looks up at the tall waiter standing near their table with surprise.
'Bad timing,' Lucy thinks, but she plasters on a smile when she replies to the waiter. "Yes, of course."
After ordering, the waiter bows a bit and says, "It is a pleasure to serve you, Mr. and Mrs. Dragneel."
Natsu, who had taken a long drink of his water, nearly chokes on an ice cube.
Lucy's face burns, as she stammers out, "W-We're not married!" The waiter simply smiles and leaves them alone.
"That was embarrassing," Lucy mumbles, smoothing her skirt nervously. "How'd he know our name, anyway?!"
"R-Reservation," Natsu stutters. "Uh…I…bathroom!" He jumps out of his seat and makes a beeline to the bathroom, leaving Lucy alone.
"What is with him?" she asks herself aloud. "I've never seen him act so strange."
"Hey, Lucy!" a familiar voice calls. The blonde's head snaps up as Gray walks over to the table, Erza and Happy close behind.
"Hi," Lucy looks at them nervously. "Uh…what are you all doing here?"
"We need to talk to Natsu," Erza replies.
"The idiot left something pretty damn important at home," Gray sighs, rolling his eyes.
Lucy laughs, "Typical Natsu. He's in the bathroom, probably having a panic attack. Whatever you have must've been expensive or just a really big deal."
"Or all of the above," Erza sighs. "Gray, go give the…err…present to Natsu."
"You might want to talk to him too," Lucy says softly. "He looked ready to throw up."
Gray gives Lucy a mock salute. "Will do."
Ten minutes long later, Gray returns with a slightly calmer Natsu. "Don't screw this up," the ice wizard says, giving Natsu a smack on the back. "See ya, Ash Brains."
"Bye, Perverted Slushie," Natsu replies, shooting Gray a nervous grin. Erza then drags both Gray and Happy out of the restaurant, leaving Natsu and Lucy alone once more.
"I'm assuming you got what you needed?" Lucy asks, sipping the iced tea that the waiter delivered to her while Natsu was gone.
"Yeah…" Natsu mumbles. "Uh…give me a second…" Lucy waits patiently as Natsu mumbles to himself under his breath. Finally, he looks her straight in the eyes. "Here it goes," she hears him whisper to himself.
Lucy wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't this. Natsu walks over to Lucy's chair and sticks his right knee into the air. His face flushes as he shoves an open red box at her while stammering, "I-I'm proposing to you."
If anyone else had done this, Lucy would've kicked them into next week for embarrassing her. But this was Natsu, and she loved him dearly, no matter how idiotic he was.
The blonde jumps out of her chair and flings her arms around Natsu's neck, causing the Dragon Slayer to accidently knee her in the leg. Lucy ignores the pain and simply buries her face into his chest, tears of joy leaking from her brown eyes. Laughter escapes from her lips at how stupidly adorable Natsu is as a blush spreads across her face.
"D-Did I do something wrong?" Natsu stammers, seeing the tears.
"No," Lucy laughs. "This is perfect. It's so…you. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
"Really?" Natsu blushes.
"By the way," Lucy whispers. "My answer's yes, if you couldn't tell." Lucy feels Natsu relax in relief as he wraps his arms around her.
"Thank Mavis," he mumbles into her hair. "Uh…can we go now?"
"Silly," Lucy chides him as she lets go of him, "we haven't eaten yet."
"Food?!" Natsu cries, nearly dropping the ring box. "Alright!" Giggling, Lucy takes the box from him and slides the golden ring onto her finger.
A different waiter comes a few minutes later with their food, congratulating them on their engagement. Lucy nearly passes out when he says that, the whole thing still registering in her head.
As Natsu scarfs down the many meat dishes he ordered, Lucy slowly eats her pasta. It had definitely been a wild night, but that was too be expected when you're a member of Fairy Tail. Lucy smiles to herself. This would be a night she would remember for ages to come.
The blissful silence was shattered when Lucy found her table swarmed by guild members, all shouting about dresses, flowers, and cake. Natsu tries to fend off Gray, who was busting a gut laughing about Natsu's awkward proposal, while Lucy desperately reassured all of the girls that they would be bridesmaids.
"Why are you all here, anyway?" Natsu finally shouts over the commotion.
"We wanted to watch," Lizanna smiles.
"And take blackmail photos," mumbles Cana under her breath.
"And this is the Nalu moment I've been waiting for!" squeals Mira.
"Besides, I wouldn't want to miss Natsu making a complete fool of himself," Gray laughs.
"What was that?" Natsu snarls, standing up on his chair.
"You wanna go?" Gray challenges the Dragon Slayer as he slams his fist into his palm.
"Bring it!" Natsu retorts, his fists bursting into flame.
"You guys!" Lucy shouts frantically. "Stop it! Natsu!"
"I'll win for you, Luce!" Natsu roars, slamming his fist into Gray's face.
Lucy sighs to herself, "You do that…"
Yup, it was going to be a night to remember alright.