This was perhaps the most awkward thing Lucy had ever had to ask anyone, but she was all out of ideas and reinforcements were necessary. There was a time Lisanna would've been the last girl in the guild she'd have gone to for advice but, things had changed. Lisanna and Bickslow had been dating for nearly a year now and in that time Lucy had been free to get to know her. She also had to give a mental apology to Juvia, it was easy to see love rivals where there were none.
With a deep breath she reached up to swing the totem doll door knocker, and then promptly turned and ran down the stairs.
"Lucy?" Bickslow yelled. Lucy swore under her breath and turned to the man walking down the street towards her and she sheepishly scratched the back of her head.
"Um, hi Bickslow, I was just looking for Lisanna but I knocked and she didn't answer so I guess she's not home so I'll just go now because I was hoping to talk to her but she's not there so really I have no reason to…" Lucy rambled. She didn't know how long she would've gone on for if at that moment Lisanna hadn't opened the door to beam at the pair of them.
"Hey Lucy, what's up?" She asked.
"Looks like she is home, must not have heard ya cosplayer," Bickslow winked, his tongue lolling out as per usual.
"It was one time! Mavis almighty let it drop Bickslow!" Lucy groaned.
"Oh sorry did you knock? I thought I heard someone but it wasn't until I heard you two talking that I was sure. Now stop standing on the street you two, come in!"
Moments later Lucy was perched on the edge of Lisanna's couch with Bickslow in a bean bag beside her and Lisanna pouring tea. She felt incredibly out of her depth. This was by no means a situation she had ever considered that she would be in and she had no way of knowing how to even begin to navigate it. She'd practised how she would ask Lisanna for advice a hundred and one times at least, but never once was Bickslow present in the scenario. It was going to be awkward enough to begin with but this was too much. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of a good way out either.
"So," Lisanna nestled herself into the corner of the couch opposite Lucy a mug of tea clutched in her hands, "what did you want to talk about?"
"OK so this may sound kind of odd, and believe me you weren't the first person I wanted to ask. Oh no that sounded terrible! I'm so sorry! It's just that, it's kind of an awkward thing to ask you but you're the only person I can really ask. It's an awkward thing to ask anyone really and I'm not so sure how to word it, I suppose I should've just come right out and asked you that's the Fairy Tail way of handling these things but, oh I just feel so uncomfortable and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable and…"Lucy trailed off and took a sip of her tea trying to steel her resolve. She could do this! She was Lucy Heartfilia, celestial mage of Team Natsu, she'd faced worse monsters than this…or not.
"Spit it out Lucy," Lisanna smiled. She was trying her best to set Lucy at ease, she was usually so confident it was rare to see her as a blathering mess.
"People assumed you and Natsu were dating." Lucy blurted out. Bickslow fell back in his beanbag laughing and Lisanna spat out her sip of tea. Of all the things she'd expected, that was not one of them. She'd thought it may come about when she first returned but that was years ago. Did Lucy really want to bring up love rivalry, now?
"Sorry, that was blunt." Lucy was blushing brightly and she hid her face in her mug. "It's just, how did you do that? People thought you would be together, get married, have kids…how did you get people to see you both like that?"
"Lucy, everyone thinks you and Natsu are going to get together!" Lisanna patted the other girl's knee not entirely sure how to cope with her distress. She couldn't help but feel it was unwarranted.
"Yeah, I thought it was going to happen yonks ago, put a bet in with Cana and everything, you cost me a lot of jewels cosplayer," Bickslow muttered.
Lucy took a deep breath and turned to look at Lisanna. "Natsu thought that you two were dating. He thought that you two were going to get married. He thought…I just…He knew…He wanted…Why doesn't he see me like that? It's been years and while I know that for a lot of that time I didn't know I had feelings for him, but, from the day I realised I've tried to let him know. I've used every method I know and nothing works. He remains completely oblivious. I can't help but feel like, he might know he just doesn't know how to let me down gently but I just, I want closure."
Lisanna watched as Lucy turned away and placed her face in her hands. She was suddenly reminded of a night a little over a year ago, when a certain pink-haired numb skull sat in a similar position begging for her advice. She had been sworn to secrecy but, they were both unhappy. Her silence had solved nothing, hopefully her words would.
"Natsu came to me for advice once," Lisanna began, "before Bickslow and I started dating. He wanted to give me his blessing, to say that his feelings for me had faded a long time ago. It didn't hurt at all you don't need to go hunt him down, I had spent years watching the Natsu and Lucy of Edolas fall in love and I knew where his path would take him. I thought that would be it but then he asked me something I hadn't expected. I knew he was confused but I thought he would've asked Gray or Erza, or Gajeel even, but never me. He said that he knew he loved you, but he didn't know how to make you see him in the same way. And that he didn't want to push you, because he wanted the decision to be entirely your own, so that you would always know you chose your own path. He didn't want his happiness to come at the cost of yours."
Lucy looked up, tears brimming in her eyes the scene before her swimming as those words played over and over in her mind He said he knew he loved you. He loved her. He had loved her for a year, maybe more. Maybe he had loved her as long as she had loved him.
"What do I do?" Lucy asked.
"Be blunt." Lisanna shrugged. "When we were kids I didn't give Natsu a choice. I told him we were going to be a mother and father to Happy and so we would have to get married. I was clear, direct, no questions asked. You were raised by a noble family, you learned subtleties and courtship, always dancing around a topic. Leave it all behind with Natsu. He won't pick up on it. You just have to walk straight up to him, grab him by the scarf and kiss him."
Lucy nodded once, and then again. She lifted herself from the couch with a small 'thank you, goodbye' and then wandered out the door.
"Do you have any plans for us this evening babe?" Bickslow asked.
"Nope, what did you have in mind?" Lisanna asked.
"Oh nothing much, I just think I need to place a new bet with Cana."
Natsu hadn't come to her house last night. It turned out he had been on a mission with Gray but that only made this all harder. She had to get this over with soon or she would lose her resolve, and the next time she'd see him was when he returned back to the guild. Mavis help her she was going to kiss Natsu in the middle of the guild.
Lucy stared in the mirror counting up to and down from 10 over and over again. She'd had a pep talk from Loke, Virgo and Levy (who had come over after Bickslow had made an interesting bet with Cana, in other circumstances Lucy would've killed him but so long as he used the money to get Lisanna something nice she'd let it slide). She could do this.
Plue made comforting noises to her the whole way to the guild, he even danced on the bar to keep her spirits high. Plue believed in her, she could do this. And after all, was it really so bad? Natsu loved her and she was going to kiss him.
It wasn't until midday that he actually showed up, head to head with Gray as the barrelled through the front doors. He had a shiner of a black eye, bandages on his left arm and his scarf wrapped neatly round his neck. Lucy focussed on the scarf as she marched across the hall. She was going to grab it, pull him down, and kiss him. She was going to do this. She caught sight of Lisanna miming pushing her forward
Lucy finally reached him and with a deep breath she grabbed his face and kissed his scarf. Immediately noticing her mistake, she lifted on her tiptoes to get it right and head-butted his chin. They stumbled away from each other awkwardly. Natsu was laughing and Lucy was blushing. She took a deep breath, determined to get this right, and grabbed hold of his scarf, pulled him down and promptly pressed her lips against his in the fastest, most awkward kiss the guild had ever seen. She stepped away, taking great interest in the pattern on the floor with her heart racing madly in her ears.
"Sorry that was, I shouldn't have, that was…I'm sorry." Lucy muttered. She started backing away but Natsu stepped forward and wrapped his arms over her shoulders.
"I think you owe me a better apology," Natsu said. She looked up and found him grinning back at her. "Don't worry, I know how you can make it up to me."
And with that he leaned down and kissed her. The butterflies in her stomach stopped fluttering, she relaxed against him and wrapped her arms round his waist. She could tell he was smiling against her lips. She hadn't felt so happy, so at peace in so long. This wasn't so hard, this was, perfect. She could definitely get used to this.
"I can't believe it took me so long to do that," Lucy sighed, resting her head against his chest.
"Well, technically I did it." Natsu perched his head on hers.
"I called it!" Bickslow yelled before slinging his arms round the pair. "Cana you've got my bet written down, I called it. I win!"
"You made bets on Luce and I?" Natsu demanded, Lucy stepped away her fingers brushing her lips lightly not entirely certain that she had really just kissed Natsu or if it was some over-stressed hallucination. Until Lisanna came over and clapped her on the back.
"Oi Natsu, it wasn't just me! Everyone was in on it," Bickslow held up his hands and stepped back.
Natsu didn't have a response for that. Well, not in words. His fists were immediately alight as he pounced at Bickslow, who didn't have enough time to react. It didn't take long for Freed to appear to protect his friend, so clearly Gray couldn't let that stand. Sure he hated Natsu's guts but he was also his best friend, and no one pummelled him when his guard was down but him. When guildmates fought Elfman couldn't stay out of it too long, fighting was 'man!' after all. It easily escalated from there with Lisanna, Levy and Lucy staring at the scene sighing.
"Will it ever change?" Levy muttered staring as Gajeel laughed maniacally sending his iron fist into Bickslow's stomach while Natsu landed a kick against Freed's head. Gray had somehow left that part of the battle to go toe to toe with Erza. Which could never end well.
"Well, some things change. Natsu and Lucy can finally take things to the next level," Lisanna smirked.
"True, I'll give you that." Levy laughed, Lucy went to protest but Levy cut her off. "Even Gajeel and I got together before you two. You are ridiculous."
"But that's all changed now! And remember Lucy, be blunt."
With that Lucy remembered an important step. She picked out Natsu from the fighting crowd and with expert grace cracked her whip just above him to get his attention. He smiled at her and slammed Freed into the ground to gain himself a moment's peace in the chaos.
"By the way Salamander," Lucy yelled, "you're my boyfriend now."