A small snap sounded through the silent room and Lucy closed shut her bottle of hand sanitizer. The liquid smelled sweet, like vanilla cupcakes, as she spread it over her hands.

One thing she loved about college was the fact that is was so free. There were no more annoying bells during passing periods; instead, a polite professor dismissed them when he decided he was done talking. The outside campus was very nice as well, making for a great walk between buildings and her apartment.

Lucy called out softly for the person in front of her to hold the door. Luckily they did-she didn't want to touch the door handle and have to pull out her hand sanitizer again.

Smiling gratefully, she nudged the door open with the wide of her hip and wiggled her way out. Her skin was greeted by cool air that made the baby hairs stick straight up. Apparently a small sweater and jeans still wasn't enough to keep her warm this late October.

Her boots crunched over the gravely sidewalk as she strode outside. The courtyard was bustling with her classmates, though most of them she had never seen before. Magnolia was a huge city was just as giant of a college, so strange faces were bound to be seen.

Though most of the people she had seen. For example, there was the same bluenette she always saw in the library when Lucy went to exchange her semester books for new ones. Or the raven haired boy who always took his shirt off once he left the room. And how could she miss the giant blonde man, always alone and listening to music under the tree?

All these people Lucy thought of as her friends, strangely enough. She saw them, and they saw her, though few to no words were ever exchanged. But just their presence seemed to comfort her, as if each one of them had a unique roll in her day to day activities.

Not everyone stood out to her, but Lucy definitely made note of those who did. There was the redhead who lived next to her, and they would see each other every night while Lucy was walking inside and her neighbor was just leaving.

Everyone was like a checkmark in her routine. Saw the blue haired girl in the library today? Check. Was the blonde still in his same spot at lunchtime? No, well he must be sick or something. Lucy never talked to these people nor did she have friends of her own to talk to. She just sort of-drifted.

Each day was spent waiting for one moment; the time when Lucy would walk home and cross through her apartment lobby. She would walk to her mailbox and open it up, smiling politely at the pink haired boy who was always checking his mailbox as well.

Lucy tugged the collar of her jacket tighter around her neck and quickly pushed through the revolving doors of her apartment building. The warm, heated air rushed at her so quickly she had to stop and take a deep breath to savor the moment.

There he was; wearing jeans and a hoodie, a checkered scarf thrown haphazardly around his neck. His head was down as he looked through his stack of mail-he always had more than Lucy-yet his hair was pushed back and stayed out of his face.

Lucy hummed quietly to herself, twisting the key inside her mailbox and swinging it open. Her eyes wandered into the empty box. Some days she never had any mail, but she liked the routine of seeing him there every day.

The pink haired boy looked up at Lucy curiously, just seeing who it was. He smiled warmly like he always did. Lucy returned the gesture, rummaging around in her bag just to occupy herself. One of her few talents included pretending she was busy when she really wasn't.

She pulled out a small folder of hers, looking through it and shifting her weight from foot to foot as she waited. Wait for what, really, she wasn't sure. Just maybe for him to leave so she could get the satisfaction of being around someone in a comfortable silence.

Once she heard his mailbox clank shut, she took a soft breath and closed hers as well. Lucy locked up and slid her key into her palm. The boy smiled at her again as they turned to each other, both holding a small stack of random papers and mail.

The boy took a few steps forward just as Lucy went to turn away as well. They stepped into each other, colliding with a loud thud and falling to the ground. His mail flew in the air, scattering about and mixing with the papers that fell out of her folder.

"I'm so sorry." He laughed nervously, pushing himself up onto his knees. His pink hair finally fell out in front of his face and over his eyes as he reached out to scoop the papers back into his possession.

Lucy shook her head, blonde hair wiggling slightly in her ponytail. So that's what his voice sounds like, she thought, returning the dorky grin he had plastered over his face. "It's fine. I got mixed up, I should have seen you going the same way."

He just shrugged and pushed his mail into a sloppy pile in front of his knees. He kept reaching for and cleaning up Lucy's papers as well. He touched them, filing them into a jagged pile where none of the papers faced the same direction. It looked messy and out of order, and Lucy just imagined how long it would take her to organize them all again.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so clumsy." He smiled, handing the stack of papers to Lucy. She grabbed them, of course, though she wasn't sure she wanted to; they were dirty from his hands and the floor, and she could print out more when she got upstairs.

Lucy opened her mouth to protest but he quickly shut her up. "Why don't we just call it a draw, okay?"

His voice was so calm and sweet that Lucy couldn't help but take a moment to forget about the papers in disarray. "Alright."

He must have noticed her uneasy glance to the stack in her arms, so he apologized again. "You probably have to organize all those again, right? Sorry."

Although she was burning up inside, the blonde waved him away. "I don't have too, I just like to. So don't worry about it. We're even, remember?"

He nodded his head, giving her a warm smile that only seemed to turn up on the right corner of his mouth. It didn't seem as cocky as a smirk, so Lucy just settled on the idea that he had a quirky kind of smile.

"I'm Natsu, by the way." He introduced himself at last, holding his mail to his chest so none of it spilled again as he offered her his hand.

Lucy glanced at his outstretched arm, taking a deep breath. She pretended to have her hands full with her papers so she didn't have to shake it with him. "I'm Lucy."

"Well nice to finally know your name." Natsu shrugged softly, not seeming to be phased by his denied hand shake. "What floor do you live on? We can share an elevator."

The blonde girl perked up at the suggestion and pushed herself to her feet. Natsu mimicked her, standing up as well. He kept slowly taking small steps behind him as he walked to the elevators. "I live on the sixth floor."

Natsu whistled, sighing as he pressed the side of his fist against the up elevator button. A wide smile spread over Lucy's face as she realized she wouldn't have to touch any of those filthy buttons today.

"Good thing the elevator works, I couldn't imagine walking up six flights every day." He said. Natsu stepped into the small cabin as the doors slid open, holding them for Lucy.

She gingerly stepped beside him, hugging her papers to her chest. Natsu pressed the fourth floor button and then the sixth for Lucy. Mavis, bless this man, Lucy smiled to herself at his kindness. "Yeah, I really don't think I've ever used the stairs here."

There was just a blur of pink hair as Natsu nodded his head to what she had to say. "Well, you definitely seem like you walk up the stairs every day."

Lucy turned to him, raising her brows in confusion. He smiled awkwardly, tugging at the end of his scarf. "I just meant you look good, um - in shape? Yeah, I was just-"

"It's fine." Lucy laughed, clutching her papers to her chest. She could feel her heartbeat pulsing against her palms even through the entire stack. "I understand. And thank you."

Natsu's face was as pink as his hair as a soft rush of air audibly escaped his lips. "You're welcome."

The elevator doors slid open, and Natsu nodded his head once at Lucy in a kind show of affection. "Nice meeting you, Luce, but this is my floor."

Lucy resisted the urge to pick her hand up and wave to him, afraid she'd drop her papers. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Oh, and Luce?" Natsu asked as the small bell sounded, signaling the doors closing.

Her chest fluttered at the sudden trust he had in her where he gave her a nickname. It was nice, but it made her rather uncomfortable. That was probably just how he was though; some people were still nice. She hadn't lost faith in everyone yet. "Yes?"

"You didn't need to keeping pretending you had mail." He laughed, stuffing his hands in his pockets as the doors slid shut. "If you wanted to talk, just know I don't bite."

Lucy's throat dried up. She suddenly felt closed in, like the elevator was even smaller without him there with her. Her mind was screaming for it to go faster and finally let her out.

Once the doors released her onto the sixth level, she stumbled out, panting and heaving. People weren't supposed to know how weird she was; definitely not the stranger she'd seen all these weeks. Now he knew, and he probably thought she was a creep, no matter how nice his words or how kind his smile.

She was still hyperventilating when she got to her room, locking the door behind her and hanging her lanyard on the wall tack. Her arms dropped the papers from the chest, watching them flutter down and sink into the plastic trash can.

They were dirty, touched by the floor and Natsu's hand, which had been Mavis-knows-where. Sure, they had weeks of lecture notes on them, but she just walked away to her laptop to print more out. While she was online, maybe she'd buy something so she actually had mail to pick up one of these days.

Nalu Lemon Novel
Exy Koroleva © 2016
Thank you for reading.
Some triggering scenes
to be included, so please
do not report. Comments
& votes are appreciated.