I just feel weird about this one. I can't quite put my finger on what it is I don't like. Hopefully you still enjoy it. Also, Happy is back!
Larissa: The increased rating is a just-in-case move. There will be no sex scenes in this version, but future makeout scenes might get hot and heavy. It's purely to cover my tail.
As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!
"So you never did tell me why you were in Aspen," Lucy said as she took a bite of her dessert. The cafe Stier had chosen was still fairly new and it was Lucy's first time visiting. Their menu was small, but rather diverse, and their dessert selection was to die for. She smiled up at her companion as he finished chewing.
"It was a spur of the moment thing," he eventually said. "After I talked tooo you, I guess I just got an itch to go skiing and since no one was available to come along, I just went on my ooown."
Lucy frowned. "I'm sorry that you had to go on your own."
"Oh, it's nothing really. I work alone all the time, so I'm uuused to it."
"What do you do?" Lucy asked. They'd talked for almost two hours already, and she felt like she still knew so little about the man across from her.
"I do deliveries," Stier answered, then took a sip of his coffee. "I drive truck and make deliveries all over town, actually. My buddy got me intoo it after one of his delivery drivers quit unexpectedly. The company needed a quick replacement and he suggested me to them and they called that night."
"Is your friend a manager or something at one of the restaurants in town?" Lucy asked as she took a drink of her water.
"Oh, no, he's actually the owner. Have you ever been tooo Loke's Celestial Dining?"
Lucy barely managed to get her napkin in front of her mouth as she spit out her water. Stier stood up slightly so he could lean across the table and pat her on the back. "Luuucy, are you okay?"
Lucy nodded and coughed a few times to clear her throat. Once she was able, she spoke again. "I'm fine, really." She took another sip of her water and then looked up at Stier. "Are you telling me that you're friends with the owner of that restaurant?"
"Yeah," Stier said with nod, still looking a little worried. "Why do you ask?"
"Because Loke is one of my best friends. My best male friend, in fact."
"Really?" Stier lit up. "That's amazing! How have we never met each other befooore now? I make deliveries there three times a week, I'm surprised I've never seen you before."
"I go every Monday, so I'm guessing you don't deliver that day."
"You would be right," Stier said as he cleaned the last of his plate. "Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are my delivery days. OH! You even told me that you hang out with your friends on Fridays and he's invited me mooore than once to join you guys. I can't believe I didn't put that together." He sighed and then ran his hand through his hair. "Man, I am really stupid."
Lucy leaned forward to grab onto his free hand. "You're not stupid at all, Stier. What are the odds that we'd be friends with someone as long as we both have without having ever met? It's no surprise to me that neither of us made the connection."
He smiled at her and then moved his other hand to take her free one. "Youuu know, I'm really glad that we met now. Even if the potential has been there for a while, I think I prefer meeting you this way. I'm not suuure I would have agreed to a date if I'd known you were one of Loke's Friday crowd."
Lucy leaned back a little and pretended to be offended. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
Stier grinned as he tightened his hands. "I've heard some stories about you guys."
"That was most likely Cana, and sometimes Levy or Juvia. I am always on my best behavior when we go out."
"I don't know if I believe that," he said with a smile. "I think I sense something in you that wouldn't say nooo to doing something crazy after a few drinks."
"Well, you're wrong," Lucy said. "I'm rather boring, actually, and not at all adventurous."
"Oh really?" Stier briefly let go of her hands and moved his chair so it was next to her instead of across the table before taking her hands again. "I think I'd like tooo test that theory."
Lucy leaned toward him with a grin. "How exactly would you like to do that?"
Stier leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Truth or Dare."
Lucy snorted. "Isn't that a little too middle school for people our age?"
Stier stayed close as he gave her a challenging smile. "What's the matter? Scared?"
Lucy narrowed her eyes and then leaned even closer to whisper, "Dare."
He grinned. "I dare you to dooo something you wouldn't normally do on a first date."
"What?" Lucy felt her face warm as Stier continued to look down at her with that maddening glint in his eye.
"You heard me," he said. His tongue came out to lick at his bottom lip. "I dare you to dooo something you wouldn't usually do on a first date."
Lucy's eyes darted to his before going back down to his lips. She knew what he was really asking for, but could she bring herself to do it? It wasn't that she didn't like him - he was attractive and funny and nice, and really hard not to like - but she wasn't sure if she liked him enough to kiss him yet.
As she met his eyes again, the challenge lurking in those dark depths made her decision for her. She looked back towards his mouth, and as she started to move forward, she saw his smile grow triumphantly. "Is that really want you want to dooo?" he murmured.
Lucy found that her voice wouldn't cooperate, so instead she nodded. After a moment, she leaned forward again. He stayed still and she kept her eyes open just a slit so she could see. Just before their lips touched, she saw him pull away from her.
She jerked back as she looked up at Stier, who was avoiding looking at her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have done that. It's obvious you didn't want tooo, and I shouldn't have teased you like that. I apologize."
It took Lucy a moment, but once she'd gathered her wits, she shook her head. "No, that's alright, really. I wan-"
Stier stood and gave her a small smile. "How about I walk you home? It's late and I don't want you getting harrassed on the way."
Still embarrassed, Lucy grabbed her purse and stood up. "Sure, that'd be really nice of you."
"Great. I'm just going to go pay for our foood and then I'll meet you outside." He didn't look back as he turned away and headed towards the register.
Shoulders slumped, Lucy made her way out of the cafe and stood near the front door. As she waited, she looked up and searched the stars above her. Again she found herself wishing she lived somewhere with less lights so she could enjoy the night sky. She'd found three full constellations before the door opened beside her.
Stier gave her a smile as he gestured down the street. "Shall we?" He didn't offer his arm, like he had on the way there, nor did he walk as close as they made their way towards her home. They spoke on and off as they walked, not talking about anything important, until they arrived at her door.
Lucy had her mouth open to say something, but Stier beat her to it. He took her hand closest to him and shook it as he said, "I had a great time, Lucy. I hope the foood was okay? I know the place is new but I'd heard great things about it."
"It was just fine," she said. "I had fun, too."
"Great." He gave her a big smile. "Maybe I'll join Loke next time he invites me tooo your Friday bar gatherings, how does that sound?"
"Oh, uh, well, that's fine, I suppose."
"Great." He started to walk away as he waved. "Good night, Luuucy."
"Good night," she murmured with a wave. As he made he way back into town, Lucy turned to unlock the door, but was met with a narrow eyed roommate instead. "What do you want, Natsu?"
"Nothing," he said quickly, glancing out the open door towards where Stier was still visible. "Just wanted to make sure he didn't try anything funny."
"I'm not sure what you would categorize as 'funny' but nothing happened and nothing probably will." Lucy made her way roughly past Natsu as she threw her purse and kicked off her shoes before making her way towards her room.
Natsu followed close behind, worried. "Luce, did he do something to you? You seem upset."
"No, Natsu, he didn't do anything, and that's the problem."
He stopped in the living room, completely confused. "I don't understand."
Lucy rounded on him, angry tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "I'm saying that he was charming and nice and sweet, and he flirted with me as though he really liked me, but when I went to kiss him he clammed up and then ended the date as quickly as he could, okay? So you don't have to worry about him anymore, he clearly doesn't like me like I thought he did."
"Lucy…" Natsu moved forward and pulled her into his arms. She tried to resist, but he refused to let her go. After a while, she stopped trying to escape and just stood there with her arms at her sides. Before long, she had her arms around him as well, and she was crying almost silently against his shoulder. He kept whispering to her, "I'm sorry, I wish I could fix it, I wish it hadn't happened, I wish he hadn't been an idiot," until the words ran together.
When she'd finally run herself out of tears, she leaned away and wiped at her face. As she opened her eyes, she found herself sitting with Natsu on the couch. Apparently he'd moved them at some point while she'd been crying, and she was grateful. She took a few deep breaths to try to catch her breath as Natsu rubbed her back. Lucy vaguely wondered where Happy was, but then decided she was glad he didn't seem to be around. Ever since he'd been summoned back, he'd been acting strange, and she was sure she didn't want to listen to whatever he would say seeing her break down like she was.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"You have nothing to apologize for," he said.
Lucy shook her head, feeling tears begin to fill her eyes again. "I just… I get asked out by weirdos and jerks at the bar all the time. Or I did," she amended, "until you showed up and scared them all off."
"You're welcome," he said, making her smile.
"I just… no decent guys ever ask me out. There's always something about the guys I've dated that just makes me want to chew off my own arm if it would get me out of the date sooner. Either they're assholes, or they're so full of themselves, they seem to forget I'm there, or they only like me because I'm pretty, or they just want to try and get in my pants. It's…" Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look at Natsu as she spoke. "What's wrong with me? What is so wrong with me that I can't attract just one decent guy?"
Warm hands grasped either side of her head and pulled her face up. She opened her eyes to see Natsu's intense ones only a few inches from her own. "There is nothing wrong with you, Lucy, do you understand me?"
"I don't know-"
"Nothing. Tell me you understand, Lucy."
Lucy swallowed, unable to stop the quiver in her lip as she nodded.
Natus wiped at the tears that escaped before speaking again. "You are more than just a pretty face, okay? If those idiots are too dumb to see how amazing and wonderful you are when they have you all to themselves, then they are the ones at fault, not you. Never you, Lucy. You are smart and kind and generous and forgiving and beautiful and talented and so much more than you give yourself credit for. You are the most extraordinary human I have ever met, and I will not sit here and let you belittle yourself like that, do you understand me?"
Lucy giggled as she nodded. "I understand."
"Good." Natsu moved his hands slightly so he was cradling her face instead of just holding her head. "Now, if I hear those kinds of negative comments come out of your mouth again, I will sit you back down on this couch and I will tell you again just how spectacular you are, got it?"
She nodded as she smiled up at him, thankful, not for the first time, that he'd shown up in her life. As he continued to stare down at her, she saw his eyes waver again. This time, instead of a flash, his eyes slowly lightened until they were that familiar, rich gold.
Lucy's breath caught in her throat at the tender look Natsu gave her. He carefully ran his hands up her face towards her hair, where he buried his fingers in the soft strands as he leaned forward. His forehead came to rest gently against hers, and then he tilted his face to run his nose against her temple. Lucy remained frozen as he continued to rub his face softly against hers, a soft purr rumbling in his chest. He ran his face down hers to her jawline, and then buried his nose against her throat. As he breathed her in, the soft purr became louder and louder until she could hear nothing else. His fingers began to move in her hair, running carefully through the strands as he continued to cuddle against her neck.
Goosebumps ran up and down Lucy's body and she had to fight to hold perfectly still. It seemed that her moving or talking were what knocked him out of these phases and she found that, in that moment, she didn't want it to stop just yet. Natsu tilted his head again, and Lucy could have sworn that Natsu's purring had invaded her entire being. She could barely feel anything through the vibrations running through her body. He carefully tilted her head, his face buried against her skin, and then his tongue came out to run along the flesh he'd exposed.
Unable to stop it, a moan slipped through Lucy's parted lips, and suddenly, Natsu froze. He pulled away, rapidly blinking his eyes as he studied her. "Sorry," he said, pulling his hands out of her hair. "Not sure how those got up there. I only meant to hug you."
Lucy swallowed as she fought her body's urge to yank him back against her. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that-"
"Natsu!" Happy appeared suddenly next to the pair. "Hey, you said you were going to come back after you grabbed a snack. What are you still doing out here?"
"Sorry little buddy, but Lucy had a bad night and I was trying to help." He gave her a smile. "You feel better, right?"
"I… I guess so. Happy, if you don't mind-"
"Hey Natsu, I want something to drink, can you get me some water?" Happy didn't even look Lucy's way as he spoke.
"Can't you just do it yourself?" Natsu asked.
"I would, but it's hard in this form, and I'm supposed to avoid my other one around here, remember?" Happy folded his paws in front of him as he widened his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip. "Please? For your best friend?"
"Ugh, fine! Put that lip away, you know I hate when you do that."
"Thanks a bunch!" As Natsu headed into the kitchen, Happy moved to sit next to Lucy. "Lucy, I need a favor," he whispered.
"What is it, Happy?"
Happy waited until Natsu was running the water before he flew up right in front of Lucy's face and spoke to her so quietly she almost couldn't hear him. "Don't mention the yellow eyes thing, okay? Please? I can't tell you what's going on, but he's gotta work through it on his own, okay? So just don't say anything to him. Knock him out of the trances whenever you want to, but just don't talk to him about them, okay? Please?"
"But Happy-"
"No buts," he said, putting a paw over her mouth. "I can explain later, Lucy, but for now, he has to figure this out on his own. Please don't say anything. Please."
Natsu came back into the room, glass in hand. "Here you go, little buddy."
"Thanks Natsu, you're the best!" Happy took a long drink, smacking his lips once he was done. "I'm going to head back to your room, I'm getting sleepy. Don't stay up too late, Lucy!" With that, he grabbed his water and flew off towards their room.
"Silly demon," Natsu said with a grin as he turned her way. "So, are you good now?"
Lucy glanced after Happy. She was surprised when the word yes came out of her mouth. "I'm much better. Thank you, Natsu."
"No problem!" Natsu gave her his signature grin before saying good night and heading towards his room. As Lucy watched him leave, she hoped she was making the right choice.
She'd choose to listen to Happy for now. Hopefully, she wouldn't regret it.
