Title: Gold

Pairing: NaLu

Prompt: NaLu Angst Week 2018 - Obstacles

Rating: M; Ages 18+!

None of these characters are owned by me, they are all owned by the wonderful Hiro Mashima!

A/N:

I hope this came out well because I wanted to make it kind of fun and kind of awful

But the good kind of awful

Idk my angst game is weak rn im sorry tbh

Of course it happens right as angst week writing begins lmao heres an arranged marriage au for you all also I wont be doing tomorrows prompt unless I have time to get it finished. I wanted to do all the prompts but ive got some busy work to handle tomorrow

The male beside her had eyes the shade of the night sky on the new moon; cold and empty. His hand was resting comfortably on her hip, but she'd felt his fingers twitch each time she walked by. The she Lucy was referring to was not herself, but a smaller girl on the other side of the room. The girl with the flowing, soft blonde hair that fell in waves with ribbons adorning both sides of her head in perfect symmetry. Her gown was a shade of pink that reminded Lucy distinctly of cherry blossoms, and though it was elegant she could tell the fabric was lightweight and the design specifically made to appear as though it matched the overall feel of the party. This made sense considering Mavis was cunning, and tactful. She needed to be quick on the floor, but she also needed to blend in. She was her father's advisor, and an outstanding one if this party wasn't a testament to her hard work.

The manor they lived in was all shimmering gold, and sparkling wine. The chandeliers were perfectly lit, and every bulb had been replaced in light of tonight's event. Once again, her husband's hand twitched as the sprite of a girl passed. Lucy didn't much care on the transgressions of her husband. They'd made an agreement after all. That didn't stop her from glowering at him. He was an idiot, and it was like he wanted to get caught. In truth, he probably did. Then he could stop the charade and be with the woman he actually loved. However, that wouldn't do well for Lucy. Her father would just find another man to marry her to and she couldn't have that. She may have wished it in the beginning, but too much was at stake now. Her father wouldn't care if the male beside her was having an affair, but to bring public shame to the family would be a disgrace.

"Careful, darling." She placed emphasis on the pet name, and once more her smile full of lies graced her face. "You'll get us caught." She mumbled below her breath to keep their conversation from being overheard.

"The only reason I agreed to your deal is my brother. Otherwise, I would have left with her long ago." He muttered back to her. His tone having shifted from 'overly excitable husband' to 'don't get cocky' in a matter of seconds. Two could play at this game.

"I know that. I don't care. Don't. Get. Caught." Each word was said through gritted teeth.

"Oh my! Look at the happy couple!" it was her aunt Supetto for the third time that evening. "You look marvelous, my dear!"

Her cheeks turned a shade of rosy pink as she knelt to her aunt's height, and gently gripped her hands. "As do you, auntie." The two separated, and she watched her aunt wander back out to the floor. She'd certainly be back.

"You say I'll get us caught. His face has been the epitome of 'don't touch her' all night." Shots fired. He was right though, Natsu had been throwing a silent tantrum since they'd descended the stairs arm in arm, with smiles of a happy couple. She didn't want this anymore than he did. Zeref's hand returned to her hip and pulled her just an inch closer. They'd come up with a system in their closeness. This marriage was one of necessity and convenience. Neither wanted this, but still. Zeref couldn't shame the Dragneel name, and neither could she to the Heartfilia Konzern. Both would be inevitable as the affairs they both engaged in continued. And yet the pair of them felt addicted to their other half.

"Surely, we could separate for a moment." It was a suggestion that Zeref posed nearly every political event. He couldn't stand to be there like some exhibit for very long, and truth be told Lucy couldn't stand to have someone other than him touching her.

"Surely, we could." She echoed, and the pair separated. Both gave each other their signature smiles, and that lingering glance that they'd practiced and become sufficient at. It was like when she had played pretend as a child. Her performances could give a professional entertainer a run for their money. She crept down a small hallway that normally led towards the restroom, but instead of entering the ladies' room she ventured to the left. The door shut softly behind her, and there she waited.

It wouldn't be long now, she hoped. And she was right. She heard his stomping before he even entered the room, but once he did she felt like her skin was on fire. Her father was insistent on marrying into a family of dragons for the status, and the fame but she'd always wondered what his thought process was on that. Did he think they'd be controlled? Impossible.

"Natsu, could you please turn down the furnace. It's rather hot." She teased. Though, from the look on his face it was clear he was past the 'joking to ease tension' phase. Dragons were peculiar that way. They got insanely territorial over what they felt was theirs. It was how she'd first noticed Zeref's feelings for Mavis, and it was how she'd discovered Natsu's for her. She had been drawn to the mysterious air of the elder Dragneel, but immediately felt he was too tense, and stuffy. Natsu had been like a breath of fresh air in the spring. Zeref felt like a cloudy day with a one hundred percent chance of rain and high humidity. Yet, Mavis loved him with everything she had. To each their own, she supposed. Her own was right in front of her.

Natsu wasn't about to just let Lucy slide with a joke like he normally did. He'd watched them practice flirting, and getting the timing of their own lies together the entire night. That hadn't bothered him, much, but the one thing he'd forgotten in his entire time with Lucy was that their parents had expectations. His father expected Lucy to bear the next heir of the Dragneel name, and of course Lucy's father expected the same. He'd heard them practice what to say to their respective father's, but both had become silent. Every single one of them knew that the argument wouldn't hold out.

Zeref's eyes had been the color of blood red, and Lucy couldn't even bother to face him. She couldn't bear to tell him the truth, and he knew that. He knew that one day she would have to bear the child of his brother. It was either that, or she get sold to some other high ranking socialite. Zeref could easily sway their father to choose Mavis, but he hadn't out of respect for Natsu. Natsu appreciated it in ways his brother would never truly understand, but Zeref was at his breaking point. It wouldn't be long before he called it quits, and Lucy knew that too.

They continued to refuse each other in this small room. Natsu never moving towards her, and Lucy staring into her hands like they were the most interesting thing in the world. He couldn't stand it any longer. The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife. He moved towards her, and the movement startled Lucy into looking up.

She could barely see through blurred vision as the water pooled, threatening to spill over. His hand touched her cheek, and she could feel the weathered skin, and each scar across the tips of his fingers and his palm. A tear slid when her eyes closed and she relaxed into his touch. His thumb ran under her eye to brush the liquid from her cheek.

Not even a single tear should stain her cheeks. He'd decided this when they first began their arrangement, but that was then, and this was now. He couldn't make this better. The greed of her father far outdid that of a dragon. He wasn't sure if that was a compliment, but he highly doubted he could ever think something nice of Lucy's old man.

"Stop cryin', Luce. It'll be alright." She gripped his suit jacket tightly and nodded before tugging him against her. Her forehead nuzzled softly into his chest.

"I know. I've been thinking lately… what if we all just ran away? Me, you, Zeref, and Mavis. Couldn't we just leave?" if she cried anymore she'd ruin her makeup. Appearance was everything. She had to keep up appearance.

"That wouldn't solve a damn thing. My father would hunt us to the ends of the earth, and so would yours." That didn't mean he didn't want to, because fuck did he want to. He could run to hell and back as long as it was her by his side. But they couldn't. They couldn't just leave.

"What if—" she stopped herself. One 'what if' was all she could afford. Any more than that, and she'd have actual hope. His rough hand gently raised her chin up to look at him, and he pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead.

"I love ya. And if that means I gotta fight an army to keep ya then I will." She didn't want him to. Anything that would hurt him, she could never forgive. Even if it was herself.

"Please don't. I don't want you to get hurt, idiot." She lifted to her tip toes, and pressed a kiss to his lips. It was soft like it always was, he mused. Her lips were sticky from the lip gloss she'd chosen. It tasted like watermelon. She had always liked those flavored ones, and he couldn't help but agree. He licked her bottom lip, and she giggled – a real giggle – for the first time that night. The sound was like music to his ears. His own private symphony.

He pressed his head into her neck, and his hands gripped her hips. She gave a small gasp that had him growling softly. Then, a scent rose to his nose. It was buried beneath her floral perfume. He was glad she chose the softest one she had in her array of scents. It hadn't taken the heiress long to learn the sensitivity of a dragon's nose, and since then had only worn soft scents that smelled of vanilla or a flower shop. Today was the flower shop. Still, that wasn't the problem. No, his problem lay under that.

Lucy noticed quickly the change from playful growl to territorial growl. She froze on the spot, and then she waited. Territorial Natsu could sometimes be a hassle, between sibling rivalry, and his disgust about their situation it often gave her trouble. Tonight, for example, he likely smelled Zeref on her skin. They'd had to do a 'lover's embrace' in front of their fathers. Complete with longingly staring into each other's eyes, and happy smiles. They joked about how disgusting it was later.

In another life, she and Zeref would have been friends. She thought so anyway. Here they had a mutual partnership. One that likely wouldn't make it much farther. It was just as she thought. They should all just run away.

Natsu's breath on the crook of her neck distracted her from her thoughts, and she tensed while a shiver ran down her spine.

"Your father sucks." He muttered, resting his forehead to her collarbone, and gently pushing her backward. It wasn't long before she bumped into the desk at the far back of the office. This idiot was going to try that in a place like this.

"He does. But you know what's worse?" she was setting him up for a joke. Just like when she'd entered, but his brain didn't want to hear it. Her dress had been distracting him all night, and with the scent of Zeref on it that was making it all the more irritating. It was tight, black and boy did it fit her like the perfect sized glove. He shivered the second his fingers caressed the fabric. His hands were gripping her hips again, which in turn made her nervous. She'd chosen the dress with slits on both sides with the purpose of riling him up, but she didn't mean for right now, she'd meant for later. When they were alone in their chambers, and the party goers had gone.

"Hmmm." The sound vibrated against her neck as a tongue lashed out to lick her skin. A whimper slipped through her lips, and the grip on her hips tightened.

"Happy's going to destroy the furniture before we get back." She deflected to the feline for aid in distracting Natsu from his current activities.

"And when he does we'll confiscate his prized fish as punishment." A gasp of horror came from her body, but he was more than aware that she was joking. Soon, another giggle erupted through her ribcage.

"And then we'll have to buy a new couch. Again." She mumbled.

"What can I say. He really liked the old one." Natsu wasn't distracted one bit. In fact, his lips were kissing trails up her neck, and she was doing her best to hold it together.

"For someone who owns a cat, you're such a sly dog." He bit into her neck softly, but she got the feeling that if he ever could, he'd leave nothing but marks on her pale skin to show everyone who she was with. She was his, and he was hers. This situation just complicated matters was all. Lucy rocked her hips into his, and he grunted.

"Dragon. I. Am. A. Dragon. We are majestic!" he groaned loudly in annoyance with her terms, and she supposed he was right, but she wanted to make the joke, and so here they were.

"Yes, a mighty dragon. He who lays claim to all treasure." She had deepened her voice, and added a tone that sounded a lot like a story narrator.

"If we lay claim to all treasure, then you're mine. You're my pile of golden coins." He brought her hand to his lips, and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. She flared a vibrant red, and her face felt like it was on fire all the way up to the tips of her ears.

Their lips met again, but this time more urgent. Her fingers dug into his hair, and his hands finally found their way to her thighs. He squeezed one as he slid his other hand up her inner thigh to reach the seething warmth. A shaky sigh left her lips, and with one touch to the clothed flesh she was throwing her head back, and biting her lip to keep from making a sound.

His grin was devilish as the finger began to rub up, and then down. Up. Down. Up. Down. He continued the slow pace, and the deliberate stroking even as her grip on his hair tightened. She breathed, and his name flowed out. His finger stopped abruptly, and he pulled it back. Then, once more a searing kiss to her lips.

A knock at the door startled her from her haze. She froze in fear until she saw the look of irritation on Natsu's sharp features.

"We've got to get back." Zeref's voice echoed from behind the door, and she nearly cursed before pushing past the pinkette. She straightened up her appearance before hanging her head and mumbling something. Natsu had heard her, and all be damned he was a dragon. And wasn't it a dragon's duty to kidnap the princess and hide her where she'd never be found again? Her hand pressed to his chest, and she left him with a soft, lingering kiss. It was so pure and tender. It was so full of love that it nearly ripped out his heart to watch her leave arm in arm with Zeref.

With her lingering glance on him as she left he silently promised the world would fear the wrath of Natsu Dragneel if it meant he could live a full life with her.

A/N:

Shout out to the commenter from last chapter:

MissVarta

THANK ANYONE WHO READ THIS THOUGH AND TOOK TIME OUT OF THEIR BUSY DAY TO READ MY WRITING I LOVE EVERYONE DEARLY