Lucy's intuition proved correct. The more they talked, the more she was certain that she really was in love with Natsu. The rest of the evening dragged on with the weight of her realization hanging over her head, tinting every joking line he said to her. He called her beautiful so many times, Lucy wasn't sure if she was going to survive. Somehow, though, she made it through dinner without her heart bursting out of her chest, and they left the restaurant, walking at a leisurely pace back to Lucy's apartment.
As they started down the darkened street, Natsu said, "Hey, can I see your hand for a minute?"
Dubiously, Lucy replied, "Sure?" Hesitantly, she held out her hand.
"Thanks." Catching her hand up in his, Natsu entwined their fingers together and grinned.
Lucy's heart began beating at a breakneck speed. She covered for her embarrassment by muttering, "Weirdo," under her breath.
Her partner gave her a lopsided smile. "You're just jealous you didn't think of it first," he retorted.
She looked away. He was getting a little too close to the truth for her comfort level. Hurriedly, she decided to interject her own pick-up line to hopefully regain some semblance of control over her emotions.
"Hey, Natsu, if you were a library book, I'd check you out."
He snorted. "What the heck, Lucy, that's so lame."
She felt her cheeks flush as she protested, "Well, excuse me for being lame! I thought you were the one who said the point of pick-up lines was to be lame!"
"No, I said it was to be funny. That one was just sad," he responded, still chortling a little.
Annoyed, she yanked her hand out of his and folded her arms across her chest. How was it he could so easily send her spiraling into a fit over his words, but all she got in response to her lines was ridicule? Did he just…not feel anything for her?
This action seemed to get his attention where her words had failed. "Hey, don't get mad. I'm sorry I laughed at your pick-up line. I just thought it was funny, that's all."
"You're not helping yourself out here," she growled.
"Aww, come on, Luce, I said I'm sorry." He poked her upper arm gently. "Come on, don't be mad at me," he cajoled, poking her again.
She glared at him, and he grinned in response. "There, at least you looked at me." Lucy sputtered as he said, "Now can you stop being mad at me? We were having so much fun."
Sighing, she uncrossed her arms and allowed her feelings to get the better of her. "Fine, whatever, Natsu."
His grin widened. "Good. Now, here, can you hold this for me for a sec?" He held up his hand, loosely clenched in a fist.
She looked at him suspiciously. "What is it?" she asked warily.
"It's nothing bad, come on, just take it."
Despite her doubt, the deeply-engrained trust in him won out, and she hesitantly lifted up her hand to take whatever he was trying to give her. But instead of receiving something wet or slimy, as she had feared, Natsu simply placed his hand on her palm, unrolled it, and latched it around hers, so they were once again holding hands.
It took Lucy a moment to realize what he had done. She felt impressed despite herself. "That was pretty smooth," she admitted.
He laughed. "Glad you think so."
Hurriedly, she added, "It doesn't count as a pick-up line, though."
His eyes flicked over sideways to her, then back forward again. "That's ok, I'm still winning anyway."
"Ah, that's right, since I'm so beautiful you forgot your pick-up line." Lucy tried desperately to fight the rising nerves that came from holding his hand, hoping that her palm wasn't getting sweaty. She almost missed Natsu muttering something under his breath. "What was that?" she asked.
He looked up at her, with his usual carefree smile. "Nothing, Luce. Anyway, we're back at your house."
Looking up, she noticed that he was right. She'd been so focused on controlling her responses to him that she hadn't noticed their surroundings. She turned to Natsu, almost relieved to be getting away from him and these confusing feelings. "I guess we are. Thanks for dinner. Good night, Natsu." She turned towards her door, and put a foot on the first step, but was stopped short by the dragon slayer's grip on her hand. Confused, she turned around and tried awkwardly to wriggle her hand out of his.
He seemed to not notice her struggle, stepping closer to her so that they were mere inches away from each other. She stopped tugging, instead becoming much too aware of the short distance between them. Then, Natsu leaned forward just a little, and suddenly their mouths were almost touching.
A small gasp escaped from Lucy, and she jerked back inadvertently. A shadow passed over Natsu's face, so fleeting she wasn't even sure it was really there, because the next moment he was all smiles. "Good night, Lucy," he said simply. Dropping her hand, he whirled around quickly and strode off into the night.