Anyone remember that time I disappeared for three years?
Yeah me either anyway have this chapter (that totally isn't three years late)!
It all happened so fast. Lucy had been forced to strike back before she even knew what was going on, and the only thing she could think of doing was charging forward and mashing "B" as soon as she could before Natsu could get a hit on her.
But she had been too slow.
She got the direct hit and it was great, but the tragic part of it all was that he had successfully caught her off guard and she had been so unprepared her defeat was all but decided in a millisecond.
No one could even tell who won until the victory screen was displayed after the fact. They were both sent flying off the screen, but Lucy had been hit first.
Max slowly lifted the mic and spoke hesitantly. "T-the winner is Natsu..!"
The crowd was silent.
Everyone in the room stared at the projected screen with loose jaws, processing. It was a few more seconds later when all at once the spectators exploded into screams and applause likely heard even from outside the building.
"Unbelievable! Lucy's winning streak has ended! We'll be talking about this one for months, folks!"
She almost got him. She had been so close!
Lucy was inwardly screaming. She had been aware of the possibility of not winning the match, but she hadn't been expecting it! Rather than wallow in her loss, though, all she could think about was a rematch. Damn it, she wanted a rematch!
Through the screams of the audience she could hear Natsu approaching from her left. Lucy turned her head hesitantly, prepared to see his smug face smirking down at her. She was surprised to find a genuine smile, though she noted with bewilderment that the look in his eye held some… frustration?
"I guess I won, but..." he started, looking up at the victory screen with indignance. "I want a rematch, and I'll definitely beat you!"
Lucy blinked, thrown slightly off guard, before remembering how competitive Natsu would be in his gaming videos with Gray. Of course he wasn't happy with this win. She wouldn't be, either. They had pretty much just lost at the same time!
Either way, a tournament was a tournament and Lucy had died first, even if it was by the smallest of margins. She stood, holding out a shaky hand and a shy smile. "Good game. Congratulations."
Natsu eyed her hand with a pout before reluctantly taking it in his own. He should be happy since technically won, yeah, but the game had been so close it really didn't feel like he won anything at all!
He was also feeling a little bad that Lucy's streak had ended in such a way. After that game, did he really deserve to take her title?
This would be the last time he underestimated Lucy Heartfilia.
"Good game," he echoed, though lacking in enthusiasm.
Lucy's eye shifted curiously behind him, noticing the ecstatic club president approaching. Natsu was met with Max's outstretched hand and congratulatory grin. "Congratulations, Natsu! You're the first new winner in two years!"
"Uh, thanks!" Natsu took his hand, and suddenly found his own being lifted into the air, drawing more cheers from the crowd.
"Those were some great matches, guys! The video game club has some refreshments and music outside for you all as a thanks for coming out, and I hope to see you all in the fall! Congratulations to Natsu!" Looking over to Lucy, he gave a sympathetic smile. "Unfortunately this marks the end of Lucy's streak, but it was an amazing game on both parts!"
He lowered the mic, turning back to the winner of the tournament. "You're free to enjoy the festivities now, and I'll check up with you later to talk about your prize. It was really cool to meet you, Natsu, and congratulations again!" And with a final jovial glance at them both, he walked off to meet with the club representatives.
Before she could form another thought Lucy found herself trapped in a cage of slender arms. "Lucy! You did so great!" Levy cried, pulling away with the corners of her lips lifted sympathetically. "We're gonna restart your streak next semester!"
Lucy let out an amused laugh. "Thanks, Levy. Sorry I couldn't win the Fairy Tail set."
"Who cares about that! We can always just buy it, I'm honestly shocked we haven't yet." The blunette answered almost immediately. "I know how badly you wanted to win this tournament, are you okay?"
Although her loss was frustrating, she couldn't deny that it had been the most exciting tournament she had participated in thus far. In the end, she had a great time battling Natsu, something she never imagined would ever happen in a million years.
"Yeah, it was fun!"
After some comforting words from her friends and more pictures with some fans who attended the tournament, she ended up walking out of the building with a bigger group than the one she had walked in with. Cana had insisted they all come to her place for a small after-party with just them and her Fairy Tail friends, doubling as a going away party for those leaving for Magnolia in the morning.
Now that the hype of the tournament was over, Lucy had nothing to distract her from the idea of being around her idols. Terrified of somehow embarrassing herself, she walked at a distance as much as she could without seeming awkwardly far away from everyone else. Interestingly enough, it seemed Juvia was beginning to get over her initial nervousness and was now managing light conversation with Gray about… states of water?
She eavesdropped a little more closely to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.
"But water is strongest when it's ice," Gray argued firmly.
"Ice can't drown people. Liquid water is much more dangerous, therefore more powerful," Juvia retorted, crossing her arms like she'd won with that single statement.
"But I can't chuck blocks of liquid water at Natsu's head when he's being an ass!"
"Maybe, but if you doused him with water instead it'd be much more inconvenient for him!"
"Oi! Don't give that ice bastard ideas!" Natsu called out from her other side.
Yep, they were arguing about states of water.
Lucy was both amused and slightly disturbed by this.
Levy, Wendy and Cana were talking animatedly about how they wish they were good enough at video games to participate in tournaments like their friends, and then, with a start, Lucy realized that the only one not talking to anyone was her and-
"So Lucy!" Natsu popped up beside her and she almost squeaked in surprise. "When's this rematch happenin'?"
"Oh, um," she laughed nervously. "I want a rematch too! But it would be difficult since you're all going back tomorrow."
"Hm," he thought for a beat. "We should stay in touch then, huh?"
Lucy nearly tripped over her own feet. Was this going where she thought it was going?!
"Is it cool if I message you some time?" He continued.
Message?!
The thought of Natsu Dragneel sliding into her DMs was almost too much to handle.
"M-message me?"
"Yeah! Maybe one day we could even collab!"
"C-c-collab?!"
Mavis take the wheel.
"Yeah! Oh, I mean only if you want to, of course…" Learn to rein it in when you're around new people you crazy ass pyro, Gray's annoying voice echoed in Natsu's head. As much as he hated listening to that asshole, he had to admit the guy was right sometimes.
"Yes!" She said almost instantly. Crap! That may have sounded a little too enthusiastic. Clearing her throat awkwardly, her eyes shifted in the opposite direction as blood rushed straight into her cheeks. "Um, I mean, sure, I'd like that. Sounds um… good," Fucking smooth, Heartfilia.
Natsu's previous uncertainty vanished in a flash, and Lucy couldn't help but steal a glance at that famed smile. She noted with interest that his canines looked even more defined in person.
"We're here guys~" Cana chirped when their building came into view. "Celebratory shots await!"
When they made it to Cana's place, the madwoman immediately started filling her friends with alcohol. By the third peer-pressured tequila shot, Lucy and Juvia started to forget they were in the presence of their YouTube idols. It was easier to relax when they had each other to lean on this time.
After a while they were actually joining conversations, and before long the group was finally talking and laughing like old friends.
"Flush!" Lucy called out excitedly, throwing her cards down on the carpet in front of her. "I win!"
She leaned over her crossed legs and flung her arms around the pile of change sitting at the center of the group circle, ready to pull it all to her side when she was stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Uh, Lucy," She looked up to the voice beside her with a furrowed brow, growing even more confused to see that Natsu seemed to be holding back a laugh as he watched her attempt to collect the change from the center of their circle. "That's not a flush!"
The friends burst into laughter as Lucy let out a small "huh?" while looking frantically back and forth between her pair of cards and the three laid out on the floor. "But they're all red!"
"They need to be the same suit too," Natsu laughed triumphantly as he threw his own cards down. "Flush!" he raked in the change for himself as Lucy watched, utterly gobsmacked.
Oh this was just unacceptable.
Lucy's competitive spirit flickered to life for the second time that night at the idea of losing to the same person not just once, but twice in one day. She refused to be the Vegeta to his Goku. She would be Goku, dammit! Why did it have to be poker?! This wasn't the type of game she was good at!
"Can we play a video game?" She whined pitifully as she watched her would-be prize be taken by her smug YouTube crush.
"Yes, please," Gray agreed, absentmindedly throwing his pair of cards into the center of the circle. He was also losing to his pink-haired rival, hating it just as much.
Natsu simply crossed his arms and leaned back on the foot of the couch behind him with a satisfied grin.
"I have Mario Kart!" Cana jumped up and turned around to power up her small flat screen TV. Alcohol induced cheers erupted from the group of friends.
"I love Mario Kart!" Wendy chimed. She was actually the only sober one, but who didn't get excited for cute Mario themed party games?
"Oh wait, I only have two controllers though," Cana said with a pout as she fiddled with her TV setup.
…
"Lucy has some!" Levy suggested, exchanging a hidden glance with Cana before getting up to whisper something in her ear. The brunette's frown was instantly replaced with a smile that screamed of ulterior motives.
Lucy did not like this.
Just as the blonde YouTuber had predicted, Cana aimed the grin in her direction before speaking again. "Would you mind getting your controllers, Lucy?" she asked sweetly, the friendly tone only making Lucy even more wary. Then when Cana raised her brow suggestively, she knew exactly what the two girls had planned. "Natsu will go with you! To… help," she added, her voice dripping with diabolical honey.
Lucy gaped at the not-so-subtle suggestion.
Natsu suddenly looked up from admiring his prize money. "I will?"
"Yes, you will," Cana answered, immediately dropping her act.
"U-um," Lucy stammered, wanting to get out of this situation immediately. "I-I don't think I need help..."
"Nonsense! Natsu loves helping people," Cana insisted, grabbing the unsuspecting male's hand and forcefully pulling him up from the carpet. "Right?"
"Uh, yeah?" he stated questioningly as he rose to an involuntary stand. It seemed everyone in the room except Natsu knew the brunette's intentions with this mission as he looked at her with barely concealed bewilderment.
"It's really fine—"
"Take your time!" Before they could even process what was happening, Lucy and Natsu were being pushed out the door, thrust back into the current reality with the sound of Cana's front door slamming behind them.
…
…
It appeared that all the alcohol Lucy had consumed had dried out in her body somehow, since she was now extremely sober all of a sudden. "Um, I'm over there," she gave a small gesture to her unit down the hall before beginning the short walk. It wasn't like she could tell him to go back now. "Thanks for uh, helping…"
"Sure!" Natsu wasn't sure what was happening, but he rarely ever did, so even though Lucy seemed to be freaking out about something, he was feeling pretty normal. He didn't know why Lucy needed help grabbing a few controllers, or why Cana had singled him out specifically to go with her to her apartment, with that evil looking smile of hers that she had whenever she was in the middle of a diabolical matchmaking scheme—
Oh.
Lucy hesitated when they reached the door in a last ditch effort to calm the fuck down.
Meanwhile, Natsu was too busy thinking of ways to get revenge on Cana to focus on the scenario at hand.
She cringed when she noticed her hand was beginning to shake when she reached into the pocket of her jeans for her keys. This was no big deal! They (kind of) knew each other now, right?
This was fine!
… Right?
The memory of their drunken party kiss took this moment to involuntarily enter her mind.
Damn it, brain! She couldn't be thinking about that when they were about to enter her apartment alone!
She cursed anxiety and took a couple discreet-as-possible deep breaths before opening the door for the two of them to enter. The girl nearly jumped like a startled cat when she heard the door close gently behind them.
Lucy's living room was the first room you enter when you walk into the apartment. She had forgotten to turn off the TV after playing Smash Bros earlier that day, leaving the menu screen open and the iconic music echoing through the walls of the place. It kind of felt like the universe was mocking her right now. She had practiced all day and still lost, damn it. Much of her nervousness was replaced with indignance at her Vegeta moment as she stared unimpressed at the screen.
"So this is where you shoot your videos!" The sound of Natsu's voice when he entered brought her from her thoughts and back to the matter at hand. He slowly circled the room with interest before casually plopping down on the couch as if he'd visited dozens of times before. Judging from the carefree personality he presented online, Lucy couldn't be surprised by this. It also helped her to remember that this whole thing wasn't a big deal, and they were just getting controllers.
"Yep," she smiled politely, not used to house guests.
"Let's have a rematch!"
Her eyes snapped up, following his gaze towards the screen at the other end of the living room. The menu screen of the game she had left on stared back at her, and it didn't take much for her to put the pieces together.
"Right now?"
"Doesn't this feel like a sign?"
"But they're uh, waiting for us... " she gestured lamely to the door, but was silently intrigued by the prospect of a redemption arc.
"One game," he bargained with a hopeful, innocent looking smile that decimated all possibilities of refusal.
With a final look from the door to the TV screen, her anxiety was thrown out the window as she fell back into tournament mode. She grinned widely and hurried to grab two controllers from the stand, already plugged in from when she had been playing with Juvia and Levy earlier today. Lucy handed one to Natsu before moving to sit on the opposite side of the couch.
"One game."
Natsu's jade eyes brightened and his gaze lingered on the newly revitalized Lucy for a moment before looking down to familiarize himself with the new controller. He was quickly learning that competitive Lucy was definitely the best Lucy.
And the prettiest.
Ignorant to his gaze, Lucy quickly took a look through the game settings to make sure they matched the ones from the tournament to mimic an official rematch.
She hit play and they were met with the character selection screen.
To neither's surprise, they chose the same characters they had used for the last round of the tournament, as well at the same stage.
"Ready?"
"I'm all fired up!"
She subconsciously smiled at the sound of his catch phrase in Real Life D.
The "Fight!" button appeared just as they had finished choosing, and the match had begun.
And then what was supposed to be one game melted into three.
Then five.
"Best six out of seven!"
"That's not even a thing!"
"But- last game was a tie!"
Lucy looked towards Natsu in amused exasperation. "We're gonna go on forever if we keep this up." It didn't help that the alcohol they had consumed prior began asserting its presence again, making their gameplay progressively worse.
He disappointedly looked back at her for a beat before suddenly whipping his phone from the pocket of his black jeans. He swiped at the screen a few times before flipping it over and holding it in front of him. Lucy could see his face on the screen of the phone, quickly realizing he was recording himself and she was currently live and present in a Natsu video.
Despite how long she had been experiencing this in her dreams, she never thought it would happen like this. Or at all.
He suddenly paused briefly, looking over to Lucy in question. "Oh wait, is it okay if I record in here for the Hargeon vlog?"
She blinked twice. At this moment, she had been wondering whether she had the right to be in his video. Lucy couldn't help it, she'd been idolizing his channel for years! Gathering her wits, she finally nodded. "Yeah, I don't mind." It wasn't like the inside of her place was foreign to the internet.
Natsu gave her one last appreciative grin before turning his attention back to the phone screen. "Okay, so I'm here with Celestial," he turned his phone once more and aimed it towards a completely unprepared Lucy.
"Oh!" she squeaked involuntarily, instinctively turning and raising an open hand beside her face to cover it. Don't get her wrong, she was comfortable being on camera, but only when she was in control of everything!
Natsu moved the camera around to show his face again, this time showcasing a mischievous leer. "She's a little shy right now," he chuckled, "probably 'cause she lost in Smash after being so confident-"
"It was a tie," she stressed, the phone suddenly out of Natsu's hands and in hers. "A tie," she repeated at the lens.
It wasn't until she saw Natsu blink curiously at her that Lucy realized what had just happened. She must still be drunk! She seriously just snatched Natsu Dragneel's phone from his hands and took over his vlog. Lucy quickly handed back the phone and bowed her head swiftly with an apology on her tongue, but before she could say anything he was speaking again.
"Damn. She's way more of a sore loser than I thought," he joked as he adjusted the phone.
All thoughts of apology instantly evaporated.
She lunged to steal the phone from his grip again but Natsu, now aware of her phone swiping habits, was prepared this time and moved it to the hand she was further from before she could reach it. They both laughed when her hand was met with air and she toppled over near where he sat on the couch, but if this night had taught anyone anything, it was that Lucy was not a quitter.
The slightly inebriated blonde crawled across his lap to reach the phone that sat in his hand an arms length away from the arm of the sofa, only for him to raise it above his head and dodge her grasp once again with a triumphant snicker. Damn his reflexes!
Knowing there was nowhere for him to go now that she had monopolized his lap, she turned to face him and grabbed the arm he held over his head, grinning at her near victory. He noticed her stumble a little and wrapped his own hand around her free arm to prevent her from falling over.
The arm under Lucy's hand flexed under her grip, effectively redirecting her attention to her captive's toned bicep.
And then his face.
Because her face was now inches away from his face while she straddled him on the couch.
They both seemed to realize this at the exact same time, because the smiles and mirth on both ends died simultaneously.
A deafening silence enveloped the pair as they sat there, neither saying a word, but neither wanting to move either.
Then Natsu watched the blonde's gaze drift slightly downward towards his lips, and his brain short-circuited.
He didn't know what god he had pleased to make this happen, but the hot girl he'd been admiring for weeks was currently on his lap eyeing him like a fancy dessert, making this one of the greatest days of his life.
His heart began to thunder wildly in his chest as he found himself beginning to follow her lead.
Controller retrieval duty could wait.
…
Or could it?
Before a single move could be made, a harsh knock on the front door startled them both, and Lucy hopped off the pyro as if he had suddenly burst into flames.
"Yo firebrain! Those controllers made of lead or somethin'?!" Gray's voice boomed through the door.
Lucy could vaguely hear Cana's voice from down the hall. "Leave them be and let the magic happen, godammit!"
Natsu and Lucy looked back at each other in a panic for a moment before she rushed over to her TV to unplug the controllers they needed to play with their friends. It was difficult to refocus on the gaming when they were both still reeling over what had (almost) happened. And this time they weren't nearly as intoxicated or disguised as before. If Gray had come even a few seconds later, Lucy would have likely been locked in another make-out session with Natsu Dragneel, with full clarity on their identities.
And to think this time last week she was freaking out over mentioning him in a video.
They had no time to talk or think about it any further though, because the door swung open right then revealing a hopeful looking Levy and Cana.
"So what're y'all doin'?" Cana asked sweetly, unassumingly.
Lucy forcibly kicked the last 30 seconds to the back of her mind and attempted to act normal. "S-sorry guys, we were just gonna do a quick rematch—"
"You guys are having a rematch?! Hell yeah! Beat his ass this time Lucy!" Gray made his way into the apartment with Juvia and Wendy, hoping for a front row seat. "Did I miss it?"
"Yeah, we've been here for ten minutes you dumbass," Natsu spoke finally, never one to miss an opportunity to call Gray a dumbass.
"Well then what the heck have you been doing this whole time?"
The two people in question exchanged a quick glance, looking off in two completely different directions the second their eyes met.
This exchange did not go unnoticed by a certain brunette, who then moved immediately to fetch Natsu and Gray from the couch and rush out of the door.
"Well this has been great and all but it looks like it's time for these guys to get ready to leave! Can't be late for their flight tomorrow," Cana said quickly as she approached the door frame leading into the apartment. "Natsu and I have much to discuss, and I'm sure you, dear Lucy, have some things to talk about too." Lucy stared back in confusion as she watched Cana drag the two protesting grown men by the arm into the hallway, who eventually succumbed to defeat and let themselves be taken away with Wendy in tow.
"Nice meeting you guys! Maybe we'll meet at a con soon!" Gray called out. Juvia waved enthusiastically at the raven-haired YouTuber with a wide grin.
"Bye everyone!" Wendy chimed in afterwards.
Natsu took one last look at Lucy, who was already looking in his direction.
He shot her one last grin as Cana turned to shut the door.
"See ya."
She smiled back in response, her own grin lingering even when the door was already closed.
Somewhere else, in a hotel room, a metalhead was trying to figure out when and where he'd gotten someone's bracelet stuck to his leather jacket.
Guess they're never getting this back, he thought eyeing the small silver bracelet.
They must have really small… pipsqueak-like wrists.
The next chapter of this story is already completed, and will be coming much sooner than this one!
(I also have yet another fic in the works, for those interested)
Lastly, I'd just like to thank everyone who left reviews on my stories, you're the reason this chapter is here :)