Chapter 64

Months have passed, making it the first of June. Lucy and Natsu have officially been dating for a year now. Unfortunately, they have yet to spend the day together due to work. Yay for conflicting schedules.

Lucy is approaching home, computer bag in hand. She doesn't bother fishing out her apartment key to get the lock. She knows it isn't locked since Natsu is inside. He's waiting for her.

After opening the door and talking two steps inside, Lucy comes to a stop. Her eyes grow wide. Her breath gets taken away.

There are scattered, heart-shape balloons against the ceiling. They all have photos tied to the string at the end. The coffee table has lit, wonderful smelling candles on it.

Not looking away from what is in front of her, Lucy finally closes the door and sets down her computer bag. As if walking through water, she steps towards the closest balloon. She doesn't have to grab the photo since it is around eye level.

In the photo, Lucy and Natsu are smiling at the camera from the selfie point of view. It is from this past Valentine's Day. Their first Valentine's Day as a couple.

Lucy moves onto the next photo. It is from Halloween. Natsu is dipping her as he plants a big one on her lips. They are dressed up as Rapunzel and Flynn rider costumes from Tangled.

The rest of the photos are from other cute and special moments Lucy and Natsu have shared. From dates to holidays together. There is even one of Natsu taking a selfie with a sleeping Lucy.

Her heart is melting. She might as well be in the starting phases of becoming a puddle. "Natsu!" she calls, having the urge to hug him as hard as she can. "Natsu!"

"Coming!" he responds, his voice coming from the bedroom.

Lucy is already moving to meet him. The sooner that she can hug him, the better.

"Hey, what's up-Oof!" Natsu doesn't get jostled around much when his girlfriend.

Now with him in her arms, Lucy is getting emotional. She is tearing up a little bit. "And I love you. Like, a whole lot."

Smiling, he hugs her back. "I love you, too, Luce."

They stay in place for a moment, just taking in one another. They have to recharge after being apart since the morning. It's after seven o'clock now.

"Do you wanna go sit down?" Natsu finally asks. "I've got food ready for you."

She merely nods.

So he tightens his grip on Lucy and lifts her off of her feet. He carries her over to the couch and sets her down on one end.

She grabs his hands before he walks away to go into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" he questions, looking down at her.

Lucy doesn't let go of his hand. "You're really sweet."

Smiling, Natsu bends down so she doesn't have to look up at him. "That's my job, Luce. I'm your sweetie."

"You're more than that to me."

"Kinda like how you're my everything?"

She nods.

His smile gets even bigger.

Lucy briefly glances around the room. "How long have you been planning this?"

"I started planning a month ago. Since I wanted everything to be special for you."

"Us," Lucy corrects him. "We're dating each other in this relationship."

Natsu leans forward to peck her lips. "Ain't that the truth?" Then he stands up and leaves his girlfriend to go into the kitchen.

She occupies herself with looking at the balloons and photos. He can be so sweet at times. Especially when it comes to her. He'll always have a soft spot for her.

Carrying two glasses of wine, Natsu enters the family room.

"So it's a wine kind of night then?" Lucy muses.

"It's a special kinda night I think." He sets one of the glasses down on the table and hands her the other one. "Then again, it's always special when I'm with you."

She smiles, sipping from the glass. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"I'm pretty sure it's because you ordered a pizza that one fateful night… Which is exactly why we're having pizza for dinner."

She picks up on his hint. "Is it from Makarov's?"

"As if I'd letcha eat pizza anywhere else," he jokes, going back into the kitchen. After a moment, he enters the family room again with pizza box in hands. Two paper plates are balanced on the lid.

Lucy happens to notice that one of his shoes is untied. She doesn't think that it was like that before when he brought in the wine. Maybe she just didn't notice it then for some reason. "Your left shoe is untied," she says.

He glances down at one shoe while still walking over to the couch. "Huh. This could end badly." After setting the pizza box down on the coffee table, he bends down on one knee to tie his shoe.

To get started Lucy, sets down her glass to grab the plates. She sets them down on the table before opening the lid that is facing her.

The pizza has cheese and pepperonis on it. A specific message is spelled out in mushrooms.

marry

me?

"Feel free to leave a review," Natsu says.

Lucy turns her gaze to him, discovering that he is holding an open ring box. Nestled inside is a beautiful, halo setting ring. The gold band is lined with little diamonds. The main diamond is round-cut and sparkling from every angle.

Tears are welling in her eyes. "I do," she whispers.

He cracks a grin. "You're supposed to say that when we actually get married, you weirdo. And I didn't even ask you a ques-Oof!"

Lucy practically throws herself on him.

He somehow manages to not get knocked over flat on his back. Natsu does end up landing on his butt though, keeping a hold of the ring box. His free hand goes around her waist.

Now in his lap, Lucy cups his cheeks with both hands and kisses him senseless. She loves him. Really, truly loves him.

When they break the kiss, Natsu has a dazed expression across his face. "Whoa… I should propose more often if it means getting that kinda reaction from you."

She giggles. "It's only going to get better from here on out."

"It's a promise."

"Because we'll be together."

"And it's always more fun when we're together."

"Always," she says, kissing him again.

After they stop kissing this time, Natsu asks a question. "Can I put the ring on you now?"

Lucy will not admit that she completely forgot about the ring. She nods in reply, getting off of her now fiancé to sit down on the couch. She doesn't want to squish him anymore than she has.

Getting back on one knee, Natsu removes the ring from the box and slips it onto Lucy's left hand. It's a perfect fit. He knows her size from when she and Juvia had a just the two of them shopping day. They tried on rings so Gray knew what size to order for her engagement ring. When Natsu asked, Juvia was more than willing to tell him Lucy's size since she made sure to remember.

Taking a moment, Lucy admires the ring on her finger. She smiles and makes eye contact with Natsu. "Did you pick it out on your own?"

"I brought a secret weapon along with me."

Just like how Gray brought her along with him. "Who?" Lucy asks.

"Cana."

She is more than surprised. "Cana? My Cana?"

"The one and only." Then Natsu joins Lucy on the couch, sitting down right next to her against her right side. He casually laces the fingers of his left hand with the fingers of her hand that is closest to him.

Lucy files through her memory. She can't recall any articles showing Cana in a jewelry store with Natsu. "How did she manage that without any paparazzi following her?"

"She wore a disguise."

"Really?"

"The fake nose was a nice touch."

"Really?"

"She had on a wig, too. And wore casual clothes. No signature style or anything."

"She is known for going above and beyond expectations for people."

"Especially for her sister."

Lucy smiles, squeezing his hand. "Thank you."

Just then, Happy hops up on the other end of the couch and meows loudly for attention.

Natsu grins at his furry buddy. "She said yes, Happy!"

As if replying to the joyous news, he meows again. Then he nestles down on a pillow.

"As if I'd say no to you," Lucy jokes.

"I knew you were gonna say yes, but I was still nervous," Natsu admits.

"It didn't show at all."

"Because I was freaking out in the bedroom before you got home. And then in the kitchen when I was alone and you were in here. But everything went right. Even with me untying my shoe."

"Wait, you did that on purpose?"

"I needed an excuse to get down on one knee in front of you. If you didn't call me out for it, I woulda said something about it."

She is stunned by his attention to detail. "You're amazing. I really hope that you know that."

He shrugs. "I try." Then he gasps when he remembers something. "Oh, yeah." He points at the bookshelf in the room. "Smile for the camera."

"Camera?" She looks over, but doesn't see one. "What are you talking about?"

"I set up a hidden camera over there to record the moment. Actually, there is a couple since I wanted different angles. Borrowed one from Ice Princess."

Lucy smiles while looking at Natsu. He really did think of everything for the memorable proposal. "Did you make the pizza, too?"

He nods. "Sure did! I went back to Makarov's to make it while you were out for your book thing."

She doesn't know what to say. She's absolutely speechless. Her happy emotions are starting to overwhelm her.

A growing stomach interrupts the mood.

Lucy uses both hands to cover her stomach. Her face is starting to turn red.

On the other, Natsu resists the urge to laugh. He doesn't want her any more embarrassed than she already is. "How about we dig in?" he suggests.

She is mortified for a split second, forgetting her embarrassment. "Not before I get pictures of the pizza!"

He chuckles. "Relax, I already did that. Before you got home."

"You've thought of just about everything for tonight."

Natsu grabs both wine glasses and hands Lucy's hers. "I give it my all when it comes to us."

She holds out her glass. "To us."

Smiling, he clinks the glasses together.


A/N Part 1: This chapter was supposed to be the last chapter. Wasn't the case. The next chapter will be an epilogue of sorts! But I'm really happy about the NaLu proposal! I've been waiting for it! :D

A/N Part 2: I finally applied for a second, part-time job! I'm hoping to get it and not get it. Getting it means making a bit more money. Gotta save up for my wedding :P Not getting it means I keep the same amount of free time I have for writing/reading… So we'll see I suppose!