Disclaimer: Don't own Fairy Tail or Hiro Mashima's characters.
After a whole year apart, Natsu returned to Fairy Tail, completely unaware that the guild had disbanded at all. How could he have known? He left immediately after the battle with Tartaros, leaving her behind with just a note saying he'd be gone for training. Lucy had been furious at the time. Natsu had left without consulting her or even giving her a proper goodbye. Then she was heartbroken. From his abandonment, to the guild's disbandment, and what truly hurt the most: the loss of Aquarius. She'd been in a depressive state for about two weeks before running into Jason, who then offered her a job as a pin-up model for Sorcerer Weekly. Having no other source of income, she readily agreed and henceforth began her path to healing.
That healing hit a hiccup when Natsu and Happy finally did return. Lucy was still too hurt, too angry about the way he left. So when he barged through the guild doors, carefree and grinning, Lucy disappeared to the second floor.
"Why are you hiding up here, Blondie? I thought you'd be happy to finally see your boyfriend." A smooth baritone voice reaches Lucy's ears.
She sits up on the couch she curled herself onto and huffs, "I'm still mad at him. I'll let him have his time reuniting with everyone and then I'll drag him home to yell at him there."
Laxus nods, his arms crossed over his chest. "Make sure to give him a good Lucy Kick or two. After the way he left, he certainly deserves it."
Lucy laughs at that. "I just might." She tilts her head as she watches Laxus standing before her and can't help but admire his physique. Tall, broad shoulders, muscular chest, strong thighs...he fills out those pants really well.
"You should stop looking at me like that or I might think you're actually interested," Laxus teases.
Lucy's head shoots up to meet his gaze and her cheeks burn at the sight of his shit-eating grin. "Sh-shut up, Laxus. I'm just checking out your outfit. I'm glad you finally stopped wearing those hideous animal print shirts and colored pants."
"What the hell was wrong with those outfits?" Laxus quirks a brow, his face steely.
Lucy rolls her eyes and smiles, "You don't intimidate me, Laxus. And everything was wrong with those outfits. No one told you because they were probably scared you'd shock them."
"You're right about that, I'm thinking about shocking you right now." As if to prove his point, Laxus shoots a small bit of lightning from his finger and strikes the floor beside Lucy's boots.
Lucy backs away to the other side of the couch with a shriek. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Laxus shrugs. "You have to go downstairs now. Salamander heard you."
Lucy groans, "I don't want to go! What am I supposed to tell him?" In a sickly sweet voice she adds, "'Hey, thanks for leaving me behind—your girlfriend—all by herself after a scary guild attacked and I lost everything. But I'm totally fine now, no thanks to you!'"
"Sure, go tell him that. I've gotta go, Blondie. There's a fine piece of real estate I just purchased and it's time I go inspect it." He smirks. "Thoroughly."
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what did you buy?" Lucy asks as she stands and mentally prepares herself to see her boyfriend downstairs. Are they even dating still?
"A club," Laxus grins deviously. "A burlesque club."
As his earlier words register in her mind, Lucy fake gags dramatically. "Gross, you're going to sleep with your employees? Isn't that a breach of like, all rules between employer and employee?"
"Probably, but those girls don't mind, and I don't either." He winks and in a flash of lightning, he's gone.
"Ugh," Lucy scoffs and rolls her eyes. Then she takes a deep breath and lets it out with a puff, bracing herself for confronting Natsu downstairs.
As Lucy makes her way downstairs, she notices a swarm of people surrounding the pink-haired dragon slayer. She pauses in her step as she catches a head of white hair clinging to Natsu's arm as he tries to make his way around the crowd of guildmates. Lisanna, Lisanna's clinging to her boyfriend. It wasn't weird for the two childhood friends to be so close, but Lucy's face grows warm with anger as she watches Lisanna's breasts press against Natsu's arm each time she bounces beside him. Lucy stomps her way down the rest of the stairs and reaches the edge of the crowd just as Natsu does.
His eyes brighten immediately. "Luce!" He breaks free from Lisanna's grasp and rushes toward Lucy, enveloping her in a hug.
"Hey Natsu," Lucy breathes out. "Can't breathe."
"Oops, sorry!" He loosens his grip around her but keeps his arms wrapped around her waist. He grins widely. "I missed you so much."
And just like that, seeing his boyish grin and hearing his voice, Lucy forgets all about her anger towards him.
"I missed you too, Natsu. So much." Lucy smiles and begins to lean forward for a kiss.
"Luusshhhyyy."
Until she's hit in the chest by a ball of blue fur.
Lucy giggles as she hugs Happy tightly to her chest. "Hey Happy, I missed you. I'm going to have to buy some fish to keep in my apartment now that you're back."
"Really?! You're the best Lushy," Happy beams.
"Come on, buddy, let me kiss my girlfriend hello," Natsu says sternly, but his expression betrays his tone. His cheeks are pink and his lips are stretched in a huge smile.
Lucy giggles, her heart beating slightly out of her chest. It's been a whole year since she's done any kissing. And it's just Natsu, so why was she so nervous?
Happy flies out of her arms and covers his mouth with his paws before singing, "They like each other."
Their guildmates laugh and cheer at the exceed's statement. Everyone knew they liked each other. Natsu finally asked Lucy to be his girlfriend after the events at their first Grand Magic Games. They'd both seen her future self die and that forced both of them to rethink everything in their lives, including their relationship with each other.
"Woohoo!" Someone cheers. "Time for some reunion sex!"
It was Cana.
Lucy facepalms, her cheeks burning with embarrassment and mortification.
"Huh?" Natsu cluelessly responds. "What do you mean, Cana? Luce and I have never done that."
Oh my gods. Did he just-
Everyone looks around the guild hall awkwardly, not daring to meet the young couple's gaze. Cana only looks slightly guilty for exposing their lack of a sex life. Wendy looks like she's about to implode, her face so red, she almost matched Erza's hair. Thankfully, Erza is not present, otherwise she might have skewered someone for mentioning sex in front of the younger members. The men of the guild share mixed expressions of awe and disappointment.
"Hehe, umm…" Lucy nervously scratches her cheek. "Bye everyone!" She grabs Natsu's hand and drags his confused self out of the guild and into the streets of Magnolia.
He keeps up until he suddenly starts pulling her to slow down. "Wait, Luce, we forgot Happy!"
"He knows where my apartment is!" Lucy yells over her shoulder. She's surprised when Natsu relents.
It isn't until Lucy has thrown herself on her bed that she finally feels her mortification ebb away. Natsu lays beside her and reaches for her hand. He traces patterns along her arm as she stares at the ceiling. Now that it's just the two of them, her anger at him is beginning to return.
"What's on your mind, Luce?" After so long, his voice is music to her ears. But she's mad at him.
"Why did you leave me?" Lucy's voice sounds hollow even to her, but she can't help it.
"I didn't leave you, I'm right here. We're still together," he replies soothingly, squeezing her hand.
Lucy sits up abruptly and pulls her hand from his grasp. "That's not what I mean, Natsu. You left me, after Tartaros. After we all suffered so much, after the guild disbanded, after I lost—"
Natsu sits up too. "The guild was disbanded? When? How?"
"Yes, Gramps disbanded it after you left me. With just a note," Lucy sighs frustratingly. "You left me after I'd already lost so much and then I lost you and Happy too."
"But Luce, that doesn't make any sense. Gramps would never do that. He'd never leave the guild," Natsu argues.
"Are you listening to a word I'm saying, Natsu?! This isn't about how the guild disbanded. Which doesn't even matter anymore because Laxus brought it back. This is about how you left me. With only a note to tell me you were leaving!" Tears are welling in her eyes now as she continues to yell, "You didn't even say goodbye! Do you know how much that hurt, Natsu? And you didn't even invite me to go with you. We're supposed to be partners, but you left me alone for a whole year."
Natsu's eyebrows furrow and he looks away. "But Luce, you weren't alone. I'd never leave you alone. You had Gray and Erza. They—"
"No! No I didn't have Gray and Erza because they left too! Everyone left!" Lucy buries her face in her palms as sobs wrack her body.
Natsu reaches over to rub a hand down her back. "I'm sorry, Luce. I didn't know."
Lucy turns around and throws herself into his arms, crying into his chest. This wasn't the first time she found herself sobbing against a toned chest in the last year, but being in the arms of her best friend and boyfriend brought back the sense of home she'd been missing all year.
"I've got you, Luce. I've got you." Natsu kisses her hair and tightens his arms around her.
This is how she falls asleep.
A/N: So this has been sitting in my drafts for months and I forgot about it :) I had this idea for a Laxus & Lucy story inspired by Chuck and Blair's relationship in Gossip Girl. If there's enough interest, I'll continue it.