AN: This is a request from lucy-h-lover on tumblr. :)

"Coffeeshop Love"

Rated K.

Summary: Lucy works in a coffeeshop, making drinks and serving customers. The highlight of her day is seeing Natsu, a regular customer of the shop. With a helpful nudge from her friend, Mira, hopefully she can make some progress with her crush.

Coffeeshop Love

Lucy loved her job at the coffeeshop. Sure, there were the occasional assholes bent on ruining her day with rude comments or lingering stares towards her chest, but there was a lot of good to counter the bad. For one, she worked with some of her best friends like Levy, who was a book-loving girl such as herself, and Mira, who was the kindest person she knew and had offered her the job the day they met. She also enjoyed the line of work. She never pictured herself becoming a barista when she was a child, but it was fun making all of the drinks. And lastly, she lived for the days when a certain pink-haired customer came to the store, today being one of those days.

Lucy felt a light nudge at her side. She didn't even have to look to know that it was Mira. Mira and Levy both knew about her crush towards their regular customer. Levy always wiggled her brows- a skill that Lucy never learned to do- while Mira created ship names for them.

"It's Natsu!" Mira said in a hushed voice. "Lucy! You take front counter!"

Not one to turn down talking to her crush, the girl nodded, taking her stance at the register. Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest and she was sure that her face was pink, just like her crush's hair. Not knowing what to do with her hands, the girl pressed random buttons on the screen, pretending to be doing something important.

"Hey, Luce!" the all too familiar voice called out. It was a voice that made her feel light as a feather and sent excitement rushing through her veins.

Shyly glancing up at the boy, Lucy brought a smile to her face. He was in a pair of white joggers, a black tee-shirt with a red dragon printed on it, and his signature scarf. His hair, which usually sported a cowlick in the front, was left down and damp. He must've been on his daily run.

"H-Hi, Natsu! You're here again!" Lucy said. He was the shop's most regular customer, dropping by at least once a day.

"Yep! Was on my run and I started to feel a little thirsty," Natsu replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Lucy's eyes were drawn to his arm, her tongue sliding out and licking her lips as she saw his muscles slightly bulged in that position. With red cheeks, the girl shook her head and forced herself to meet his gaze again.

"Want your usual?" she asked.

"Yep!"

Lucy nodded, tapping the screen and entering in his order of a black coffee. Accepting his money with a word of thanks, she went to go make his drink since Mira went to the back, probably to give them some time alone. Lucy's nose scrunched as she made his drink.

"I don't know how you can like this stuff," she said with a look of disgust.

Natsu laughed. "Is that really something you should be saying as a worker here?"

Lucy glanced at him, a smile tugging on her lips. "What? Are you going to tell on me or something? And it's not my fault! Who in their right mind actually likes black coffee?"

Natsu shrugged. "I like it because you make it for me."

Lucy's cheeks warmed. He was always able to say such things so casually, which was one of the many reasons she fell for him.

"Besides," Natsu continued, "I don't know what any of the other stuff on the menu is. I'm not a big coffee drinker."

Lucy arched a brow. "Not a big coffee drinker? You come here every day."

His eyes widened a fraction, his face turning a light shade of pink before he ducked his face into his scarf to hide it. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he frowned.

"That's because… Oh! That's because I have to drink something during my runs!" Natsu exclaimed.

Lucy rose a brow once again. It was obvious he was lying, but she wasn't going to question him about that. She had other things to press him about. "Wait, so you've been ordering black coffee just because you don't know what everything else is?" A giggle escaped her mouth. "That's ridiculous!"

Natsu narrowed his eyes at her. "Well maybe you guys should write down descriptions of your drinks! Not everyone knows what a 'Fruity Explosion' is supposed to be!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at the boy. "Yeah, yeah." Finished making his drink, she slid it over to him. She propped her elbows on the counter and rested her head on her hands, smiling at him. "Well, there it is. Don't push yourself too hard on your run."

"I won't," Natsu replied, giving her a toothy grin. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'm actually off tomorrow."

"Oh. Then I guess I'll see you next time."

"Sounds like a plan. Bye, Na-!"

"Wait!" a sudden voice exclaimed. The door to the back was bust open, Mira bustling towards them. Her gaze switched between the two. "Lucy, you're off!"

"Huh?" the blonde asked. "I just got here an hour ago. I'm still scheduled to work for six more hours."

"Yeah, well… It's slow today!" Mira said. And while it wasn't exactly packed, it wasn't slow either. "So, it'd be a waste to keep you here. Now shoo!"

Lucy shrugged, clocking out. "Let me grab my things then."

"Right here for you!" Mira replied, shoving all of her belongings into her hands, almost spilling over. "Now go!"

"Alright, alright! I'm going, sheesh!"

Lucy walked outside, slinging her bag over her shoulders. Turning around, she faced Natsu with a shrug.

"Well, I guess I'm heading home now," she said.

Natsu chuckled. "Want me to walk you home?"

Lucy's cheeks burned bright red as she shook her head. "N-No!" Realizing how rude she must have sounded, she amended, "I mean, no thank you. I don't want to be a burden."

"C'mon, Luce! It's no burden at all!" Natsu replied, giving her a lopsided grin. "Let's go!"

Knowing that this was precious time to be spent with her crush, Lucy nodded and walked beside him. She fumbled with her hands, her gaze glued to the pavement. The silence made things awkward, which was unusual for the two of them as they usually clicked easily.

"So, do you go to school?" Natsu asked, breaking the ice.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I'm trying to major in Creative Writing."

"Oh? You write stories?"

"I-I guess. But they aren't any good yet."

"I can be the judge of that!"

Lucy whipped her head towards him. "You want to read my story?"

"Yeah!" Natsu replied, nudging her. Though in truth, he hadn't picked up a book since he was a child.

"Well, not until I get published. That is, if I get published. That's actually why I started working at the coffeeshop. I'm trying to save up enough money to finish school and eventually become an author. I know a coffeeshop job isn't going to be enough, but it's a good start."

Natsu folded his arms behind his head. "Figured you weren't trying to really be a barista."

"What do you mean?"

"You kidding, Luce? I've seen you mess up a bunch of people's orders!"

Lucy glared at him, playfully smacking his chest. "I rarely mess up!"

"Mhmm," Natsu replied, sarcasm lacing his voice. "And I rarely go to the coffeeshop. What's another lie you wanna tell?"

"Oh, hush!"

He cackled, the sound of his laughter filling the air. In the bustling town of Magnolia, filled with throngs of townspeople, his laugh was the only thing she could hear. It was the only thing she wanted to hear.

Reaching Lucy's apartment, the girl frowned. She'd been having a good time with her crush and was sad that their time was coming to an end. She could've invited him inside, but she deemed it too soon to have him inside of her apartment. Despite their bits of chatter every day, they were still practically strangers in a way.

"I guess this is it," Lucy said, facing Natsu with a smile. "Thanks for walking me home."

"Don't mention it," Natsu replied.

Eyeing the cup of coffee in his hand, Lucy asked, "Did you want me to throw that cup away for you?"

"Oh, uhh, I'm good! Still drinking it!"

Her brows rose. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen him take a single sip since they left the shop. Then it hit her.

"You don't like it, do you?" Lucy asked with a frown. "Did I make it wrong today?"

"What? No, you made it right!" Natsu answered. Taking a deep breath, he forced his eyes to meet hers. "Look, the truth is, this stuff really is nasty."

"Then why do you order it every day!?"

"Because I wanna see you, duh."

Lucy's jaw dropped, her eyes the size of golf-balls. Warmth traveled through her body, making its way up to her cheeks. She willed herself to speak, but words failed her.

Natsu rubbed the back of his head nervously. "It's the cheapest drink you guys have, so… I always order this one and then take it back to my roommate. He loves this stuff for some reason."

"Wait, wait, wait," Lucy said. "You're saying that you came to the shop every day and ordered a drink you don't even like just to talk to me? Why?"

Natsu groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Are you really gonna make me say it?"

"Yep."

"Fine! I'm into you, alright?" Natsu said, his face reminding her of a grumpy cat.

Lucy laughed, all nervousness she had before melting away. Who would've figured that the guy she was pining for reciprocated her feelings? Well, Mira and Levy were always telling her that he did, but she never believed them. Turned out she had to give it to them. Their intuition was better than hers.

"I'm into you too," she finally replied, meeting his gaze. Her cheeks were still rosy, and she had a feeling that they always would be in his presence, but she wasn't embarrassed about it anymore. If he could come right out in the open and say such things, then so could she.

Natsu ducked behind his scarf again. "C-Cool."

"So… Now what?"

"I don't know. Never thought I'd get this far."

"Have you ever been on a date before?"

"Nope. What about you?"

Lucy sighed. "Yeah, but they were all bad ones." Smiling at him, she continued, "But I know that I'll have fun being around you. So, let's start there. A date."

Natsu smiled at her. "Yosh! I'm all fired up! How about tomorrow since you said you don't work?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Well then, it's a date!"