Yo! I've had this AU in my head for a long time and I'm stoked to finally be putting this out there. Started out as a one-shot… then many ideas later, and now turning it into my first multi-chap fic! I love this trope / AU so I hope I can do it justice! Thank you all for reading and hope you enjoy the first chapter!
There's gonna be a touch of angst, some eventual steamy mature content, and slight PTSD episodes, BUT a whole lotta fluff and domestic goodness in between, so enjoy!
Natsu pulled into his driveway, sighing deeply as he shut off his truck. He leaned his head back against the headrest of the seat, closing his eyes to collect himself for a moment.
It was another restless night with little to no sleep. Loud, messy dreams had kept startling him awake last night, making his chest feel tight and the room too warm.
He was forced to throw off the covers with a huff and tugged off his shirt when he got up and flicked on the switch for the ceiling fan above him and the television at some point. Happy, his cat, jumped up on the bed and curled up on his chest after he'd gotten settled again. With his purrs and the rest of the white noise in the room easing his mind a bit, he was finally able to get some decent, dreamless sleep for a few hours after that.
Even though his head still ached at his temples when he eventually managed to roll out of bed this morning, his movements sluggish and slow, already eager to crawl back into bed till tomorrow.
It was always hard for Natsu to get back into the 'normal' routine of things when he got back home from a long deployment like the one he'd just finished a couple months ago.
Some days he wanted to be everywhere at once. Other days he struggled to find the energy to do much of anything. Lately, it was more of the latter. Natsu had gotten a couple errands done today before he felt himself crashing and just wanted to get home.
Natsu eventually got out of his truck, opened the door and threw his keys onto the small table by the front door. He toed off his shoes before making his way to the living room, dropping onto the couch and laying back along it with a groan.
He was grateful for the seclusion and quiet where he lived. The main area of town was always too crowded and noisy for him most days. Especially after rough nights like he'd been having lately.
Happy trotted in with a mrowl, hopping up onto Natsu's chest, kneading his shirt before purring loudly.
"Hey, buddy. I'm just gonna take a quick nap," Natsu murmured, scratching behind Happy's ears.
He reached out for the remote on the coffee table, turning on a random show in the background and let the pull of sleep take him.
What had been a seemingly decent dream of him walking along a cloudy beach, quickly shifted and suddenly he was in the middle of a thick cloud of smoke as booms rumbled through his bones, gravel showering over him. A constant annoyingly high pitch rang in his ears, muffling the shouts surrounding him.
"Dragneel, move! Now!"
"Natsu!"
Natsu flinched awake, the dream slowly fading back to static.
"Natsu."
Natsu slowly looked over at another call of his name, finally seeing Gray there. He was sitting beside him on the coffee table, looking concerned, but his hand on Natsu's shoulder was grounding and bringing him back to the present with a shaky breath.
He felt his shirt cling to clammy skin, fingers itching to pull the damned thing off him already.
"You okay?" Gray asked.
Natsu nodded and slowly started to sit up. "Yeah, I'm good. Guess I must'a knocked out for longer than I thought when I got back earlier," he rasped, rubbing his face and running a hand through his hair.
It really must have been a couple hours as he glanced towards the open shutters and seeing how dark it was out through the windows, and the lack of lights on in the house, save for the lamp they must have turned on in the living room.
Gray didn't seem to believe him fully by the look in his eyes, but he didn't press anything, which Natsu was grateful for. He'd become used to seeing that expression on Gray and some of his friends more often than not these days, but he just found it easier to deflect sometimes rather than get into his bad coping habits right now.
"Sorry to wake you. We tried calling when we got here 'cause we saw your truck, but you weren't answering, so Gray used his spare key," Sting said from where he sat in the armchair with Happy curled up contently in his lap.
"It's alright. You know you guys can come in anytime," Natsu waved off. "So what's goin' on?" he asked.
"We're meeting up with some of the crew at Fairy Tail tonight and we insist you come with us," Sting grinned brightly.
Natsu chuckled, leaning back onto the cushion behind him. "Right, like I wanna hang out with you losers," he teased.
"Oh, come on. It's been a while since we've all seen you. And since you never wanna leave this hovel of a house when we're back home, it would do you some good to get out," Gray argued, arms crossing over his chest. Natsu caught the stubborn glint in his eyes, with that same shade of concern.
There was probably a very low chance he was going to be able to get out of this, but he knew they just cared about him. His chest ached a bit when he realized Gray was right. He'd been distancing himself and it really had been a long while since he went out with everyone and let himself enjoy the warmth his friendships brought.
Natsu's head lolled to the side with a drawn-out groan while he pretended to be in thought. "Hmm, you buyin'?" He raised a brow to Gray in question, trying to hold back the grin that twitched on his lips.
Gray narrowed his eyes, the muscle in his jaw twitching. "Ugh, fine. Just hurry your ass up and get ready," Gray relented with a murmur as he stood up.
"Alright, alright. If you insist," Natsu's grin was wide now as he made his way off the couch too.
Gray rolled his eyes, but there was a twitch of a smile on his face.
Natsu stretched, wincing slightly at the incessant ache in his shoulder that still refused to go away after all this time.
"See, I knew you wouldn't say no," Sting smirked, annoyingly.
"Yeah, yeah. Hope this is worth the energy," Natsu grumbled, starting up the stairs to his bedroom.
Natsu felt a bit better after he took a quick shower before they left, but the bar was loud and crowded and kind of made Natsu wish he was back on his couch with Happy but he figured he should make the most of it.
He finally found a small space to squeeze through, reaching the bar counter after they met up with their friends in their usual spot in the back. He managed to catch the familiar bartender's attention.
"Yo, Lis!"
Lisanna turned, her bright smile widening when she saw him. "Hey, Natsu! So good to see you! The usual?" His long-time friend greeted cheerfully as she skillfully filled orders at the same time.
"Good to see you too, and yeah sure," he started, his usual choice of beer on the tip of his tongue. "Oh, actually, can I get that fire whiskey special thing if you still have it?" A smirk tugged his lips, resting his forearms against the counter.
Why not, Gray was paying after all.
"Technically, no, but I'll make it happen for you," Lisanna grinned, getting started on his glass.
"Awesome, and you can make it with the good stuff!" Natsu's smirk widened. "Gray said to make sure to put it on his tab."
Lisanna laughed and just as quickly, she set down a drink in front of him. "Only the best. Enjoy!" she smiled, going back to get to all the rest of her customers.
Natsu thanked her and turned while taking a sip of his drink, relishing in the warmth that settled in his chest and sweet spice on his tongue, putting him a little more at ease as he looked around for a few minutes.
Then a sudden flash of gold crossed in front of him.
Well, more like crashed into him.
A figure tumbled into his chest, spilling his drink on him. Natsu tensed and stumbled back into the counter, quickly holding them close so they wouldn't fall.
"Woah, steady there. You okay?"
They pulled back slightly once they were back on steady feet, revealing th- her , wide honey brown eyes that met his, a pretty pink flush on her cheeks, and parted plush lips, hair falling in golden waves that looked so soft to the touch.
Oh… She's gorgeous.
She looked down to Natsu's chest where her palms were, seeing the splash of alcohol that was soaking into his shirt. His skin tingled from the warmth of her touch even through his shirt.
"I'm so sorry!" she fretted, pulling her hands back and frantically waving them between them. "And your shirt!
His brain caught back up with the moment from being thoroughly distracted. "Oh, uh,`s alright. This shirt's nothin' special anyway," Natsu chuckled, putting his empty glass on the counter, uncaring about his spilled drink now.
He gave her a warm smile before grabbing some napkins from the counter to attempt to clean up his shirt, admiring the way the flush on her cheeks seemed to deepen when her eyes met his again. Or maybe he was just seeing things in the bad lighting.
"I can't believe I'm still so clumsy sometimes," she huffed a soft laugh with a shake to her head. "At least let me buy you another one please?" she insisted with pleading eyes, already waving down Lisanna before Natsu could get a word in.
"You didn't have to, but thank you," Natsu grinned, leaning a forearm back against the counter after Lisanna happily gave them their drinks.
"It's the least I can do! I'm sorry again, it's my first time here and I was trying to make my way through but guess I wasn't paying enough attention," she laughed softly, her gaze falling to the counter as her fingers fidgeted with the rim of her own glass.
"Hey, it's okay, I promise," Natsu reassured. "This place can get pretty crowded when it's busy. I knock into at least one person every time I come here. Just glad it was you this time and not some lame drunk guy," Natsu finished with a toothy smile.
Those pretty eyes met his again, shining a little brighter with a smile that was already making his heart do weird things.
"I'm glad too."
Natsu felt the back of his neck flush. He cleared his throat before taking a sip of his new drink. "So what brings you out tonight?" Natsu asked, trying to take his mind off of whatever was happening to him.
The woman sighed, finally seeming to relax a bit. "I'm meeting my friend here tonight," she started, glancing over the crowd towards the back of the room. "She's back there somewhere I think, but she said 'it would do me good to get out for a while'," she said, with finger quotes on the last part and an amused shake of her head.
Natsu barked out a laugh. "Mine said the same thing to get me out tonight too."
"Their intentions are good at heart, I'm sure," she grinned.
"Yeah, that's true," Natsu chuckled.
A comfortable feeling soon surrounded them. Which usually didn't happen right away when Natsu met new people, but with her, the guard he usually built up around himself eased up a bit.
A warmth spread through his chest that he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Oh, my name's Natsu by the way," Natsu grinned, offering his hand out to her.
"Lucy," she smiled back warmly, putting her soft hand in his, tingles shooting up his arm at the touch.
Lucy. A name just as beautiful as she was.
"Nice to meet you, Lucy. Officially," Natsu said, squeezing her hand with a wide fanged grin.
"You too, Natsu. Thank you for helping me not fall and make a mess of myself," she laughed.
The sound distracted him again for a good couple moments before reality hit him again.
"Anytime," he grinned brightly. "Guess we should head back to our groups huh?" Natsu sighed, a little disappointed their time together might be ending already. "Mine is over in the back too. Wanna go together?" he offered.
"Sure. Sounds good," Lucy smiled softly.
Natsu led Lucy back through the crowd towards the back of the bar where his group usually gathered. He was just about to ask where hers was before someone called her name.
"Lucy, there you are!"
Natsu looked up to see a petite blue-haired woman waving them over.
"Hi, Levy!" Lucy greeted, giving the smaller girl a hug.
"I was wondering where you were," Levy grinned, turning to Natsu, "already met Natsu I see."
"Oh, yea- wait, you both know each other already?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"How do you guys know each other? We came here for the same group? Who would'a thought," Natsu laughed, shaking his head.
"So it seems," Lucy grinned.
"All will be revealed, both of you," Levy said with a smile that was all too knowing. "So guys, this is my amazing friend Lucy from college," she continued now that their group was gathered, "Lucy, this rowdy crew is Gray, Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Juvia, and my this is my boyfriend Gajeel." Levy gestured to each of them and squeezed Gajeel's shoulder as they all gave their varied greetings back to her, Lucy giving a bit of a shy wave back. "And you already beat me to it, but this is Natsu. I've known all these guys a long time. They can be a little loud and have a bit too much energy at times but have good hearts I promise," Levy laughed. "So how did you guys already meet?"
"Oh, it may have involved Lucy gracefully spilling a drink on me at the bar when we got here," Natsu couldn't help but tease with a light playful nudge of his shoulder against hers.
Lucy groaned and hid her face behind her hands for a moment. "It was an accident and I got him another one," she defended when she looked over at Levy, before narrowing her eyes playfully back at Natsu who cackled and Lucy shoved his shoulder back with a smile.
"Aw, I love it," Levy grinned, "but give poor Lucy a break, Natsu. She just got back to town."
"I'm kidding!"
"You'll get immune to his teasing , Lucy," Levy smirked, pulling Lucy's arm to sit beside her. "C'mon, guys, let's order some food."
Natsu's stomach rumbled in agreement as he sat on Lucy's other side.
"Don't let this guy get to you, Lucy. You can just tune him out if you want," Gray said across from them with a teasing grin that made Natsu roll his eyes.
"It's okay. Maybe not just yet," Lucy said, smiling that warm smile again that made his chest flutter again as he returned his own grin.
A comfortable conversation and bright laughs fell over the group as their food came and they enjoyed some drinks, making Natsu realize how much he really had missed all this with everyone.
It'd been a while since he came out like this with them mostly because he didn't feel up to dealing with crowds and he didn't feel like bothering them with the mental state he'd been stuck in lately. They always undertook every time he declined, but so far he was glad he let Gray and Sting drag him out tonight.
He glanced over to see Lucy laughing brightly at something Levy said.
Yeah, worth it. He thought to himself, hiding a soft smile behind a drink from his glass, still feeling that lingering warmth in his chest.
Lucy's voice broke him from his thoughts when she asked them, "So you've all known each other a long time?"
"Oh yeah, we go back since high school with these troublemakers mostly," Levy laughed, leaning back into Gajeel's arm he had propped up on the back of her chair.
"Us troublemakers? Never," Natsu smirked, "but Gray and I met earlier and then Sting and Rogue joined us a while back."
"And we can attest to them being troublemakers," Sting grinned.
"As if you can talk. Rogue's probably the only one who's immune out of all of us," Natsu laughed.
The group joined at Sting's dramatic pout. Rogue laughed and squeezed his shoulder in comfort, Yukino patting his head with a giggle.
"So you and Levy went to college together, Lucy?" Juvia asked kindly across from them.
"Yes! We met here at Magnolia College a couple years ago. We were in the same orientation group our first year and became fast friends," Lucy started, wearing a fond smile. "But then I-".
Natsu frowned in concern at the sudden unsteady tone in her voice as she cut herself off, her gaze a bit distant. Before he could ask if she was okay she continued.
"Um, but then I had to move back home after that first year. We've always kept in touch though, and I just moved back recently for a job. It's great being here again," Lucy smiled, but Natsu could sense the bit of sad strain behind it as her fingers fidgeted with her napkin.
"That first year was so fun! I missed you so much and I'm so happy you're back. We have a lot to catch up on!" Levy grinned happily, hugging Lucy's arm.
Lucy's expression softened as her smile grew a bit more.
The night carried on and Lucy still laughed with them, but Natsu couldn't help but notice she'd been a bit quieter since earlier.
Natsu got the feeling that it must've been something more behind what she said earlier and she probably wasn't ready to talk about it yet. He fidgeted in his chair, an uneasy ache in his chest, feeling the need to comfort her in some way.
He leaned in closer while the others were wrapped up in their own conversations. "Hey, Luce. I'm sorry if we pushed you into talkin' about something you didn't want to earlier, it's not-"
Lucy turned to look back over at him, lips slightly parted and her honey eyes a little wide. Natsu quickly realized he just let that nickname slip out, his own eyes widening.
A flush quickly shot up to his ears, running a hand through his hair.
"Shit, I'm sorry, Lucy. Probably think I'm some nosey, pushy idiot. Already giving you nicknames and askin' about stuff I-"
"Natsu," Lucy paused his rambling, placing a hand on his forearm, giving him a kind smile, "It's okay. I didn't mind, really… and I- and I like the nickname..."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure," Lucy smiled softly when she looked back up at him.
Natsu searched her expression and the slight haze of sadness that he'd noticed in her eyes had seemed to fade for now, allowing the warmth in her honeyed depths to shine through and draw him in.
"Well, uh, I'm glad. It suits you." Natsu gave her a toothy smile as the tightness in his chest eased, rubbing the back of his warm neck.
"Hey, Natsu."
The little bubble they were in quickly burst.
"Huh, what?" Natsu looked around, wanting to smack the smug grin from Gray's face when he caught it.
"We were just talking about the fair coming up next week. We're actually home to catch it for once and I was gonna ask if you guys wanted to go, but you looked a little distracted," Gray said, his grin forming into a smirk.
Natsu felt his flush reach his ears again, clearing his throat and changing the subject. "Oh, uh, that's right."
"Fair?" Lucy asked, curling her hair around her ear, her cheeks still a little flushed too.
"Yeah! The local fair here in Magnolia. It happens every year, but I usually miss it 'cause I'm out of town."
"Oh, do you have to travel a lot for work?" Lucy asked.
Natsu chuckled. "Yeah, somethin' like that. Gray, Sting, and I are Marines actually, so we're usually deployed out or something around this time. But luckily we got a little more time in between this time."
His chest ached a little. They always missed so much when they were away, but Natsu had grown used to it over the years.
"Oh, that's amazing. Thank you for all that you do," Lucy smiled warmly, squeezing his hand.
"Sure thing," Natsu grinned, "but the fair is awesome! They got rides, games, lots of food," Natsu said, eyes brighter with each thing he listed. "It's gonna be fun! If you're free, you can come with me- I uh, I mean us, go with us?"
More warmth crept up his neck as he thought, Keep it together, Dragneel. Geez.
Lucy giggled softly. "I would love to, Natsu."
The group eventually decided to call it a night a while after that, everyone making their way outside.
Natsu breathed in deep, letting the chill in the air cool his heated skin as he stood back a bit with Lucy.
"Are you parked far, Luce?"
"I found one here in front luckily," she said, her warm smile glowing even under the moonlight.
"Oh, good," he said, digging his hands into his pockets. He could feel the incessant warmth still lingering on the back of his neck.
"Natsu!"
Natsu turned at the call, seeing Sting waving at him over towards Gray's car. Natsu raised a hand in acknowledgement.
Natsu sighed. Guess the night had to end sometime. "Well, it was great meeting you, Lucy. See you soon?"
"Absolutely! Sounds like fun," Lucy grinned, "and thank you for such a warm welcome, Natsu. It was so nice meeting you and everyone too."
A toothy grin stretched his lips. "Yeah of course, anytime. Lookin' forward to next time! Night and drive safe, Luce!" Natsu gave her a wave goodbye that she happily returned before he made his way back to the car after the group all said their goodbyes.
That light feeling in his chest stayed with him for the rest of the night, even as they dropped him back off at home and he got ready for bed.
Natsu sighed in content as he settled under the covers, a smile on his face.
Lucy, huh? He hoped it was the start of a good friendship.
Guess it was really was worth going out tonight after all.
Thanks for reading! Hope you stick around for the ride ;)