AN: I'm sure you will all be happy with this chapter. You can thank me in the reviews. ;)
Chapter 18
"LUCY!"
Everyone at the guild erupted at the sight of the blonde, walking hand-in-hand with her partner. Usually they would tease them for their contact, but everyone had been so worried about the two they decided to shrug it off. After all, there was still a slight bruise on Lucy's forehead from being slammed against her cell. There was no time for teasing.
"Hello, everyone," the blonde greeted in return with a shy smile. She could feel all of their intense and curious gazes. She knew that word about her mother and their spell quickly spread throughout the guild.
"I'm here too, you know…" Natsu muttered as he released Lucy's hand and encouraged her to go talk to everyone.
Lucy smiled at Natsu and nodded before trotting towards the bar where Mira and the others waited. Before she could take her seat, she found herself in a bone-crushing embrace and looked down to find Levy crying into her chest.
"Lu-chan! I was so worried about you!" the petite mage cried out. She was squeezing the air out of Lucy until Gajeel came and pried her off.
"Personal space, Shrimp," he said as he sat her down.
Lucy laughed at their antics and finally took her seat at the bar between Gray and Erza while Mira came up to them behind the counter.
"How've you been holding up? I am sure you are upset," Erza stated. She always was straightforward.
"I've been fine," Lucy answered. "I guess I was a little upset at first because I didn't know my mother like I thought I did… But Natsu came over earlier and made me feel better. By the way, thanks for trying to save me, guys."
"Don't mention it," Gray chimed in while nudging her arm. "Thank you for coming just in time and stopping Takeshi. I'm sure we would be dead right now if it weren't for you coming."
Lucy laughed awkwardly and fumbled with her skirt. "Yeah, you would also be dead if Master didn't come and stop me."
Gray laughed heartily as Erza smiled.
"That's true!" Gray replied.
"You really have grown quite strong, Lucy," Erza added. "We must train together some time."
There was a sudden crash nearby as Natsu ran up and shouted, "No! Lucy has to fight me!"
There was then a brawl throughout the guild, everyone fighting to be the ones to battle against Lucy. At first the blonde was nervous, but then she erupt into a fit of laughter. This was her home. This was her family. She watched the fight with anticipation, awed at how fast the number of contestants was dropping. Then her jaw dropped at what had happened next.
"NAB COME HERE!" Natsu shouted at the tanned man, who did nothing but oblige. Only to be punched harshly in the face by a flamed fist. "That's what you get for hurting Lucy!"
Everyone in the guild had stopped moving, their will to fight completely lost. Just what the hell was this boy talking about? Lucy collapsed to the floor as she felt all pairs of eyes land on her curiously. She wanted to crawl in a hole from the embarrassment she felt.
"N-Natsu!" she finally screeched, surprising the pink-haired boy. "What the hell are you talking about!?"
Natsu stared back at her with a confused expression and answered, "Weren't you and Gray talking about how Nab rejected you the other day?"
Lucy's jaw had dropped on its hinges even further than before as her skin turned sickly pale. He had been listening to her conversation with Gray in which she talked about her love for him.
"At least he's such an idiot he doesn't know I'm actually in love with him…"
"What the hell makes you think I was talking about Nab!? No offense, Nab."
"None taken," the tanned man replied, still sprawled across a table from being punched by Natsu.
Natsu stared at her incredulously and answered, "You told me that the guy you loved that rejected you was in Fairy Tail, likes about every food, has the favorite color red, and that his name starts with the letter 'N.'"
Lucy nearly died at the eruption of loud laughter that echoed throughout the guild hall. Just because Natsu was a dense idiot didn't mean that everyone else in the guild was. In fact, they were all aware of Lucy's feelings towards their fire dragon slayer. Hell, they knew about it longer than she had. Now they were laughing at both Natsu's idiocy and the fact that Lucy was finally aware of her feelings.
"Natsu," she seethed through clenched teeth, "I do not like Nab. Now shut up already!"
"You don't?"
"Nope."
"…THEN WHO IS IT!?"
Lucy literally face palmed as she turned away and focused her attention on the vanilla milkshake Mira had placed in front of her. Part of the blonde wanted to just come out and confess, just so she wouldn't have to deal with her friend's stupidity any longer. However, her fearful side had stopped her, not wanting to risk their friendships. Not to mention the fact that she didn't want to confess just to be rejected.
"Nope. Not happening."
Lucy knew that she had told herself to confess after the battle, but after everything had turned out alright, she had lost the motivation. Now that she wasn't desperate, there was no need to rush. And that was just how she wanted it. She didn't want to feel forced into confessing such important feelings because she feared Natsu was going to die. No, the girl wanted to confess knowing there was nothing to lose. No risking friendship, no losing lives. She wanted to confess knowing that Natsu felt the same. Thus, she waited.
After a long day at the guild, Lucy walked back towards her apartment, Natsu and Happy following closely behind.
"You walk so slowly, Lucy," Happy said as he flew in circles around the two.
"You know, you two don't have to walk me home," the blonde replied, slight irritation in her voice. "You guys better not be planning on staying the night. I will drag you out if I have to."
"So mean!"
"Agreed," Natsu said, though the grin on his face contradicted his words.
Once entering her apartment, Lucy quickly tried to shut the door so that her two friends wouldn't come inside. However, much to her chagrin, Natsu was undeniably faster and his reflexes allowed him to stop the door from closing just in time. Shoving it open with ease, despite Lucy still trying to shut the door, Natsu strode inside casually and slumped onto her couch.
"Face it, Luce," he began, "you just can't get rid of us."
"Aye!" Happy added.
"I hate both of you," the exhausted blonde said as she marched to where they were sitting and sat beside them.
"Don't worry, Lucy!" Happy said, flying towards the window. "I can't stay tonight! I have to uhh… walk Carla home! Yeah! That's what I have to do! Bye!" Before the exceed left, he winked at Natsu rather obviously.
"What was that for?" Lucy asked once the cat was gone.
"W-Who knows?" Natsu replied. He was glad that his usually smart friend wasn't smart enough to figure it out despite Happy's obvious efforts. He would definitely have to lecture his feline friend later. "Anyways, can I at least have a hint about who you like?"
"W-Why do you wanna know so badly!?"
Natsu turned to face the blonde and shrugged, a light blush evenly spread across his cheeks. "Not saying."
Lucy stared curiously into his eyes. "Does Natsu actually like me back? Why else would he be so interested in knowing who I like? Damn it this boy is going to be the death of me… This is it. No more being afraid, Lucy! Just do it! Your mom was brave, you need to be too!"
Readjusting her position, the celestial mage turned herself so that her body was completely facing her partner. Getting onto her knees, she slowly made her way towards the pink-haired boy, who was watching her with his mouth open and the blush on his face deepened. Finally, Lucy mustered all of her courage and wrapped her arms around his neck. They were close, almost as close as earlier that day. She wasn't going to let him back out this time.
Fighting the part of her that desperately wanted to run back into her room and hide, Lucy inched her face towards Natsu. This was it. After the years of laughing, unintentional flirting, crying, and growing together, they were finally going to share a kiss. Lucy could only hope Natsu would react well to it. She just couldn't fight it anymore. She was utterly in love with her partner and there was no hope of moving on. Even a year and a half of being apart with no contact whatsoever couldn't help. She needed this.
Natsu gulped and his mouth began to feel very dry. He wasn't as dense as everyone thought he was. He knew what Lucy was going to do and could only wait with impatience as her lips traveled closer to his. His mouth was hung open, gaping like a fish. Thank Mavis Happy left or else he would never hear the end of his relentless teasing. A few strands of Lucy's golden hair brushed against his cheek, eliciting a shaky breath from the boy.
"L-Lucy-"
Finally, their lips met. Lucy was soft, her pink lips pushing against Natsu's as she shoved her bottom lip in between his. A volcano erupted in the pit of her stomach, followed by a swarm of butterflies. She cringed feeling how unresponsive her partner was, but at least he didn't push her away. Instead, he sat there frozen, his eyes as wide as they could possibly be. The blonde took in his scent and a quiet moan escaped her mouth. Natsu was still unresponsive, so she decided to end his suffering. She pulled away, her cheeks flushed and her eyes glued to the couch.
"I'm sorry, Natsu… I guess I just lost contr-"
Natsu leaned forward and crashed his lips against her own. While she was soft and gentle, he was rush and forceful, exciting the blonde to no end. He pushed her backwards so that her head rested on the armrest of the couch as he laid on top of her. He sucked on her bottom lip while she ran her fingers through his pink locks. His hands began to travel, one on the side of her while the other rested on her hip. Lucy could tell he was restraining himself, and that only made her want to push the boundaries.
Separating their kiss, Lucy skillfully flipped him over so that they were in each other's previous positions. She ran her fingers over his ab indentations and kissed him playfully. She squeaked in surprise as she felt Natsu's hand trailing down her spine and towards her rear. Quickly pulling herself away just in time, she sighed in relief as he hadn't touched her bum yet.
That was when the two took in each other's appearances. Natsu's hair was messy and his cheeks were flushed. His gaze stayed stuck to the opposite wall. He was clearly embarrassed over losing control, causing Lucy to giggle.
"Now do you see who I like?" Lucy asked in a quiet tone.
"I-I guess," Natsu replied, still refusing to look at her in fear he would pounce in hunger.
"You know you can look at me, Natsu."
The pink-haired boy sighed and he reluctantly met her gaze. The two blushed even deeper.
"S-Sorry," he said. "I guess this ruins my plan."
"Plan?" Lucy questioned curiously.
"I was going to flirt with you to get me to like me and get over Nab." The blonde laughed, Natsu laughing as well.
"I'd love to see your attempts at flirting."
"Really? Okay, well… H-How are you?"
Lucy burst into a fit of laughter. Natsu huffed in annoyance and playfully pushed her.
"I-I'm sorry, but really? How are you? That's the best you got?" Lucy asked, still giggling.
"Hey! I've never liked a girl before so this is all new to me!" Natsu shot back.
"So I'm your first?"
"Duh."
"You're mine too."
Finally it was Natsu's turn to ask the questions.
"Really?" he asked. "But you seem more experienced than me!"
"Nah. I guess I never found the right guy because I hadn't met you yet. And when I did we were both two dense idiots that couldn't put two and two together I guess," Lucy answered. "So this whole time we just danced around each other, huh?"
"I didn't wanna ruin anything… But I guess I didn't have to worry about that. Wait a second! How did I not figure it out then!?"
"Huh?"
"Favorite color red, in the guild, likes every food, and name starts with N! How did I not figure out it was me!?"
Lucy laughed and answered, "Because you're an idiot."
"I feel like one." He then ran a finger through her golden locks. "Though, I'm starting to think I like the color yellow just a bit more now."
Lucy fought from letting her flushed cheeks gain even more warmth. Thus, she changed the subject. "Sooo…"
"So?"
"What does this make us?" Lucy asked nervously.
Natsu shrugged. "I don't know. I guess a couple?"
"A couple? That's weird."
"Tell me about it."
"Should we tell the guild?"
"Nah. Let them figure it out on their own."
Lucy giggled. "Alright."
The two then cuddled up on the small couch, relishing in each other's warm touch. It was hard to believe that a week ago, they had been on a deadly mission. It was even harder to believe that ten minutes ago they were just friends. Life was weird like that. Yet the two wouldn't have it any other way.
AN: YAY THEY FINALLY KISSED AND ARE TOGETHER HOW EXCITING. By the way, the next chapter is the last so stick around! :D
CelestialLunaPanda-Senpai: DON'T WORRY THEY ARE DONE BEING TWO DENSE IDIOTS! And thank you so much but sadly there is only one chapter and an epilogue left! All good stories must come to an end and I don't want to drag it out and run out of ideas and abandon it! D: BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LIKING MY FIRT NALU STORY!
Aoutre: Hello! :D And I know, I'm sad it's ending too! D: But it must be done! I'm glad you loved the story, and I hope the ending meets your expectations! And I actually have another nalu story out if you are interested and there will be more to come! Thank you for the review! :D
J.C: Why hello again! :) And thank you haha :D
12Rayne: Haha I love teasing everyone with the nalu ;D And yes, poor Nab but it must be done haha :D
Doom Marine 54: You're back! Good to see ya! I don't understand why you reviewed the same hateful comment you did a while ago, but now I'm starting to think you leave that same exact review on everyone's stories haha! That's okay, have fun with your life! Keep leaving reviews lmao!
MirrorFlame: I don't mind Rowen actually! Especially since some of the recent chapters in the manga haha! :D But Wendy/Mest makes me feel so uncomfortable because he's way too old for her and it's weird! D: And hahaha it had to be Nab because he fit all of the hints from their game and Natsu is too dense to realize that it's him haha! :D
Alexa60765: Thank you so much! :)