Day 5 of NaLu Week: Struggle

Lucy stared at her computer screen. Never in her life had she wanted to swing a bat against it more than she did right now. She had just written an entire three pages of writing when the program she had been using decided to glitch and she lost all her work.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Lucy screeched. She was on a strict deadline, and it was already hard enough to write those three pages as it is. She was having some major writer's block, so getting those three pages typed was the equivalent of pulling teeth and now they were gone. Lucy wanted to cry. She had never had this much of a struggle with her writing. Maybe she just needed to get out for a bit and meet new people, and she knew just who to call.

"Hey, Mira?" Lucy asked when the person on the other end of the line picked up the phone.

"Lucy? Is that you? What's up?" Her friend asked.

"Mira, I need you to set me up on a date," Lucy said before making sure the phone was nowhere near her ear.

"AWH, LUCY! ARE YOU FINALLY THINKING ABOUT LOVE?" Her friend yelled excitedly.

"Something like that," Lucy smiled.

"Tonight. Eight o'clock. Go to the Guildhall," Mira told her in a frenzy before saying a quick goodbye and handing up. Lucy chuckled at her friend's response. She just hoped that her date was every bit as promising as Mira made her blind dates out to be. Lucy looked over to the clock and saw that she still had six hours before her date and she needed a new dress. She slipped on a pair of flip-flops and grabbed her keys and purse before heading out the door. She was happy that her date was at the bar that her friends frequented at least.

Three hours of shopping later, Lucy finally settled on the perfect dress to wear. After buying it she went home and took a shower. As she stepped out of the shower, she wrapped her towel around herself and walked over to her computer to figure out what to do for make up. She towel dried her hair as she scrolled through ideas before settling on a simple smoky eye.

"Alright, Lucy, it doesn't look too hard," she said to herself as she got out her makeup kit and hair supplies. She decided to curl her hair tonight. It took her forever to brush it out before the curling commenced. After an hour, her hair and makeup were finally done and she slipped on her new dress. It was a sparkly dress with gray lace overlay. She slid on a pair of silver flats in case her date was on the shorter side and grabbed her clutch before heading out the door.

It took her half an hour to walk to the Guildhall, but she didn't mind. It was a beautiful night out and it let her use up some of the free time she had before her date arrived. When she got there, she was still 15 minutes early, so she headed over to a familiar white haired bartender working behind the bar.

"Lucy! What are you doing here so early? Your date isn't even here yet," Mira told her.

"Well, I wanted to get here early," Lucy told her.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm not giving you any alcohol until after you see your date. That way you can decide whether or not you actually need it," Mira teased.

"I figured as much. Can I just have a cup of tea?" Lucy asked.

"Sure. Coming right up." The white haired girl disappeared for a couple of seconds before returning with a steaming cup of tea on a saucer.

"Thanks, Mira," Lucy smiled as she took the saucer.

"No problem," Mira told her, "Oh look! There's your date." Mira pointed past Lucy to whoever just walked in. Lucy turned to look where she was pointing. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Natsu! Over here!" Mira called. The pink haired man walked over to where they stood. The closer they got, the more the saucer shook in Lucy's hand. Eventually it was so loud that Mira and the man were staring.

"Here, you seem to be struggling," he said as he flashed a smile at her before taking the saucer from her hand and placing it back on the bar top.

"Natsu, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Natsu," Mira told them, "You're each other's date. I'll let you two kids get to it then." With that, Mira disappeared to the other side of the bar.

"Well then, care to dance?" he asked her as he held his hand out. Lucy just nodded and gently placed her hand in his. She let him lead her to the dance floor before finally getting the nerve to talk to him.

"So, how do you know Mira?" she asked.

"We grew up together. How do you know her?"

"We were in the same sorority in college."

"That must have been fun. So, excuse me for asking, but why did you agree to go on a blind date? You hardly seem like the type to need any help in that department."

Lucy nervously laughed, "Well, you see. I'm writing a story and I got writer's block, so I figured I should do something to get inspiration."

"So a blind date is what you decided to do?" Natsu started to laugh.

"Well… yeah. I mean. I thought it might be fun and maybe I'd meet someone new that would actually stick around," Lucy murmured.

"What do you mean stick around?" Natsu instantly sobered.

"I don't have great luck with guys. My last boyfriend just kinda left a note on the table saying that we were over and disappeared. I woke up to find the note and all of his stuff gone," Lucy said as she looked down at the ground.

"I promise I'll never leave you," he told her.

"Isn't it a little too early to be making promises?" Lucy questioned.

"No. You're friends with Mira. That means you're part of my nakama. I don't leave nakama," he told her with sincerity. Lucy smiled at him and nodded.

"Hey, do you want to get out of here? Bars aren't exactly my scene and Mira is watching us like a hawk," Natsu suddenly said. Lucy glanced over her shoulder and sure enough, Mira was blatantly staring.

"Sure," she told him. Natsu took her hand and ran outside, dragging her behind him.

"Where are we going?" She asked him.

"You'll see," he smirked. Lucy didn't know if she liked that smirk, but something in her caused her to trust him.

"Okay," she smiled back.

Natsu stopped running and Lucy looked around to find that they were in a park full of cherry blossom trees.

"Natsu, it's beautiful," she said as she looked up at the trees.

"Yeah, it is," he said looking at Lucy instead. He was still holding her hand and slid his thumb over her knuckles.

"Natsu, why did you agree to this date?" Lucy asked as she turned to look at him, briefly glancing down at their hands.

"Well, you're going to laugh."

"Am not."

"Fine. Well. Gray's girlfriend dragged me to a fortune teller and she said that love would find a way into my life, and then my phone vibrates with a text from Mira telling me about a blind date," Natsu said as a blush crept up his face.

"So you think that love is me?" Lucy asked.

"I hope it is… Let's prove it!" He suddenly declared.

"How?"

"We'll go back to the fortune teller. If my fortune changed then that means it's you," he reasoned.

"I don't know…"

"Come on, Luigi!" He yelled as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder before running off towards the fortune teller's house.

"IT'S LUCY!"

Later that night, Lucy finally crawled into bed. She definitely had enough to write about in the morning. She could barely believe the events of the night. She turned over in bed and nearly screamed when she felt her body make contact with something warm.

"Luce, you're so loud. I'm trying to sleep," the voice mumbled.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?" she groaned.

"You heard the fortune teller."

"Yes and at no point did she say you were moving in with me."

"Well no, but the fortune changed."

"So you say."

"It used to be 'you'll meet your love.' Now it's 'Don't fuck up.'"

"So?"

"Lucy, you're my love."

"You're ridiculous."

"Can we sleep on it?"

"Sure," Lucy yawned as she cuddled into him. At least he was warm.

"Night, Luce," he said as he kissed her forehead.

"Night, Natsu."