As she caught another whiff of bleach and wet mop, Lucy wondered again why she agreed to play Seven Minutes of Heaven with her guildmates. Well, no. That's a lie. She knew why she agreed to play. The reason why sat directly across from her in the Guild's cleaning supplies closet.
Seemingly bored, Natsu flicked a flame over his fingers - one, two, three times. It was the only light in the closet, other than the thin strip from under the door. The fire varied in intensity with each snap, something she figured was from his tipsiness. Neither of them had verged into outright drunkenness yet, but both had had their fair share of drinks. She could picture the pink flush on his cheeks, only a little lighter than his hair.
Lucy sighed. She knew him. They were close and, because they were so close, she noticed that he was treating her differently. His glances lingered on her lips and he gave affection even more freely than usual. She saw what she even thought was jealousy, directed towards the various men who caught her fancy or various flirtations on their trips. If she wasn't so full of self doubt and her own conscious awareness that she tended towards hopeless romanticism, she would swear that Natsu had romantic feelings for her. But she wasn't sure and Natsu refused to make a move.
Mira wasn't subtle and Lucy knew that she shared her suspicions about the nature of Natsu's feelings – hence, when Cana suggested the game, Mira immediately paired the two of them. But using Seven Minutes of Heaven to result in a love confession or whatever only works if the person Lucy's shoved into a closet with actually makes out with her.
"This is stupid," Natsu said.
"You agreed to it." Her voice only sounded somewhat petty.
"I don't even know why we're playing this game."
"You don't know – do you seriously not know what Seven Minutes of Heaven is?"
The fabric of Natsu's pants rustled. "I'm going to leave."
Absolutely not, she thought. Lucy reached out blindly and grabbed what she thought was his forearm. "Don't go," she said, her hands grasping the taut muscle tightly. Her voice sounded stressed, even to her own ears, but she couldn't let him go. She couldn't face that rejection just yet.
Natsu's fingers flexed. His skin felt hot under her palm. She heard him shift again; this time, he sat closer, his knees against hers. His fingers reached outwards and delicately searched for her hand. Once he found it, he squeezed.
"You okay?" he asked.
Lucy's heart fluttered, her body more aware of his every movement, due to the darkness of the closet. "I'm fine," she eventually said.
They sat in silence for a minute, before Natsu spoke. "I grew up with Macao and the old guys as the only adults around." His hand pulled hers onto his lap. "I've known for awhile what the game is."
"So you've played it before?" Lucy hated herself for asking the question, but she was tipsy and evidently so was he, if he was talking about his childhood so openly.
"No." What? "There's no one I've ever wanted to play it with." Natsu huffed. "Why can't this just be over?"
Anger bit at Lucy's throat. "If there's no one you've ever wanted to play it with, then why are you playing it now?"
"That doesn't matter."
The words fell out of her lips, before she could even think. At least, if this went badly, Lucy knew she could blame it on the alcohol. "Do you think I'm pretty?"
"Wha – why are you asking that?" Natsu shifted again, his hand tensing around hers.
"So you think I'm ugly? Is that what this is? You just pity me and think I'm ugly."
"No! Lu, I think you're super pretty and smart and brave. I don't know what I'd - Sometimes, I see Alzack and Bisca and wish we could be like them."
"Then, why won't you kiss me?! If you think I'm so great, why won't you do that?"
Natsu stilled next to her. "I didn't know you wanted that." His voice was quieter than she'd ever heard it.
"Well, I do."
"Are you sure you're not just drunk?" He sounded uncharacteristically uncertain, but she knew what he was getting at. Lucy was a flirty drunk, after all.
"I wanna kiss you when I'm sober too, if that's what you're asking." Natsu made a noise somewhere between a choke and whine. He let go of her hand and then, his fingertips brushed her right shoulder. His fingertips sketched out the plane of her shoulders and neck and when he finally found her chin, his thumb touching her plump bottom lip, he pulled her into a kiss.
Natsu kissed her.
For a second, all she could comprehend was his warmth, his palm and lips burning with body heat and fiery passion, so typical of him. But then, she kissed him back. Her fingers threaded through his hair and he took that as his cue to press closer to her. Sighing happily into his mouth, she lost herself in him.
It felt like only a few seconds, but their kiss must've lasted longer as, before she knew it, Lucy heard a knock at the door. "Your seven minutes are up!" Cana called. "How's the lucky couple?"
Cana opened the door, letting the light of the guild in. Natsu's hair was mussed and his eyes were dazed. While she couldn't see her face, based on Cana's gleeful smile, Lucy figured her pink lipstick was at least smeared. A blush rushed up to her cheeks.
Mira approached and looked at them over Cana's shoulder. "Looks like you two had fun!" Mira said, happily.
Natsu stood up and gave a wide smile. "You guys are just jealous that you weren't able to kiss Lucy," he teased.
"Damn straight," Cana said. "Bet I'd kiss her better than you."
Natsu scoffed, but before he jumped into a friendly competition over who's the better kisser, he helped Lucy up off the floor. While Lucy knew Natsu and her were in for an endless night or week of teasing, the look in his eyes, which promised they would continue in a place decidedly not the guild closet, made it more than worth it.
.
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a/n: i swear i meant for there to be more kissing. the song title is from where did the party go? by fall out boy. this was cross-posted on ao3. also, i appreciate hearing what people thought, so comments (both feedback and happy vibes) are always welcome!
