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natsudragneelswh0re · 2 months

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never requested before, hope im doing it right, but can i request one where lucy loves hand holding and is a bit shy of it and its basically just random occasions of her trying to hold natsus hand rather it be in the middle of the guild or at home just for a sense of comfort? much love 🫶🏼

thank you for the request! and sorry it took me 8 months. i went in a little bit of a silly direction with this one but i hope you like it nonetheless!

summary: Lucy is no stranger to affection when it comes to Natsu, especially not as they walk into a relationship together. Despite having his hands on her at almost all times, there's still one small affection that she's just a little shy to ask for. ao3

Lucy was no stranger to affection when it came to Natsu. He had always been handsy and affectionate with her long before their relationship stepped out of the bounds of platonic; their newfound romantic relationship was now just an excuse to show even more affection.

Lucy found herself fond of this new type of affection he shared with her. Though he still maintained his casual touches, like the way he slung his arm around her shoulder or the way his hand would rest on her thigh when they sat near each other, now they were interwoven with new touches that held a more romantic intent to them. Their once handsy relationship had grown even handsier, now littered with cuddles and tender kisses.

The way he touched her made her whole body tingle and set her heart alight. It felt like it could have come straight out of a romance novel. Lucy loved each and every one of her newfound affections, though perhaps her favourite was the way his fingers felt intertwined with hers. His hands were always so warm, his grip always so secure around her own. The feeling was synonymous with love, safety, and assurance to her.

Her only problem was that, for some reason, she always got just a little bit nervous when it came to initiating.

It was a silly, stupid problem that she had—it was only Natsu, after all, but she had just become so used to him being the one to instigate that she had all but forgotten how to do it herself. He wasn’t one to instigate handholding often. More often, it was an arm tossed around her shoulder or his hand resting on her waist, and though she certainly wasn’t about to complain about either, sometimes she wished that he would lock their hands together more.

For some reason, the idea of asking or being the one to initiate made her nervous. There was no real reason, no rationale. Before he was her lover, Natsu was her best friend, the one person she could confide in, share anything and everything with. They had faced countless dangers together; she had looked death in the eye and escaped from its clutches, so why was it this that made her hands shake and her heart race faster?

She glanced down at his hand, resting atop her thigh as they sat across from their teammates. She had long tuned out of the conversation, her mind wandering elsewhere. It was comforting, warm, his thumb mindlessly rubbing circles against her skin. The sight of his hand made her own feel… empty. It was right there and yet not in her own. That wasn’t to say she didn’t like the feeling of it resting there, but she just wondered why he would never hold her hand under the table.

She looked up at Natsu, his attention elsewhere, as he and Gray prattled on, then back down at his hand. She couldn’t interrupt their conversation for the sake of holding hands, but she wondered if he would mind if she tried to slip her hand into his own. Surely he wouldn’t. Surely he would let their fingers entangle quietly and without fuss. She considered it for a moment and then another, but it seemed like it was a moment too long.

She moved to let her hand rest on his, but in that same moment, his own was whipped away as he stood up, provoked by something Gray said on the other side of the table. It wasn’t long before he was out of his seat completely, his fist flying towards him, and the moment stolen from her.

Lucy let out a soft, dejected sigh, her upper body dramatically falling against the table, where her forehead landed with a thunk against the wood—not an uncommon reaction to this sort of thing. Mira shot her a sympathetic look, as she did every time this happened.

If only she knew just what Lucy had to lose this time.

.☆.

The ambient sound of the river rushing from besides them and the sweet serenade of birdsong had long since become familiar to Lucy since moving to her apartment on Strawberry Street. It wouldn’t take long for it to also become little more than white noise to Natsu, too.

More and more often, he found himself at her apartment overnight, the duo making their trek to the guild hall together the next morning. It was a routine that Lucy had come to enjoy, even if it meant Natsu smacking her as he sprawled out in bed at night. It had, of course, predated their romantic relationship, but it had grown more common after it, and there were little things that had changed about their routine. The men on the boats now knew to greet the both of them, one coffee order turned into two, and over time they inched closer and closer together, no longer a comfortable and platonic distance away from one another.

With each step they took, the backs of their hands brushed up against one another, his fingers grazing her knuckles. It would be so easy to grab his, to hold it, squeeze it in her own—it was right there, after all. She imagined their arms swinging between them as they walked, him keeping hold of her as she balanced on the edge of the river. The moment was innocuous enough that she could have slipped her hand in his without much question.

Each brush of his skin against hers sent sparks throughout her body and a warmth that went straight to her soul. She had wondered if it would ever fade, but now, even months into their relationship, as she got even the slightest touch of him, she still felt it in the very fibre of her being. Right now, she wanted more of that feeling; she wanted to feel his strong, warm grip around her hand.

She looked over at Natsu, a look of yearning hidden behind her eyes as they trailed down to his hands. Natsu hadn’t noticed her looking, his gaze fixed firmly in front of them on their trek—something Lucy should have followed suit in. Unfortunately, that would be her downfall, quite literally, when her foot caught in a crack on the pavement, causing her ankle to wobble. Had she not been wearing her stupid heeled boots, she may have been able to catch herself, but it seemed as though her choice of footwear was not on her side today as the small wobble turned into a larger one, and in an attempt to catch herself, she instead went plunging into the water beside her.

Her terrified scream alerted Natsu of her situation a moment too late, and even as he reached out to grab her, he was already much too late.

Stupid Natsu and his stupid, pretty hands for distracting her like that.

She coughed and sputtered up water as she broke the surface, treading water in an attempt to stay afloat. Looking up at the sidewalk, Natsu had given up on any attempt to rescue her and was now doubled over in laughter.

“What are you doing, idiot?” Lucy cried out. “Help me!”

Obliging with her request (though not without wiping a stray tear of laughter from his eye), Natsu got to his knees, reached his arm out to her, and helped lift her out of the water, not caring that she was dripping all over his feet. He took her into his arms, and she chose to ignore his cackles in favour of snuggling closer to his body to warm herself up.

Sure, she had wanted affection from Natsu, but this wasn’t exactly the context she had hoped it would be in.

.☆.

The crowded and busy streets of the Sunday Magnolia market were something that Lucy had long gotten used to. Whether she was shopping or not, if Lucy ever found herself leaving her apartment on a Sunday, she would inevitably be caught up in the hubbub of it all, and today was no exception. She wove between foot traffic with an expert step she had developed over time as she and Natsu made their way through the crowd to their favourite stall, lined with fresh bread and pastries.

Though she was used to busy Sundays, today seemed like a bit much. Maybe there was a special event or Magnolia had been featured on some list of desirable holiday destinations, but it felt like there were more tourists in town than usual. It had always been busy, but not this busy. For every agile step she made, she was still met with shoves against her shoulder as she was squished between the bodies of people desperately trying to make it from point a to point b.

Glancing over, she checked that she was still close to Natsu. She feared that if they were trapped in this crowd much longer, they would be separated, and based on the way someone shoved between them, that fear was not unwarranted.

“Natsu!” she called out the moment she saw him slipping from her field of sight.

“Yeah, I’m still here,” he affirmed.

Their steps moved in tandem for the time being, a fragile pace so easily prone to rupturing in these conditions. This would be the perfect time to grab hold of his hand—a small romantic gesture under the guise of keeping them from being separated in the busy streets. As if by instinct, she reached out for him, searching for his hand within the sea of people. She wanted to lock their hands together, to hold onto him as they navigated the busy streets, but instead she was met with nothing but strangers passing by.

Looking up, she saw that in the brief moments that had passed since he called out to her, he had been swept away in the ocean of people. Only a flash of pink hair could be seen from her spot in the sea.

Lucy let her shoulders slump and allowed the frustrated groan to slip past her lips. If that wasn’t bad enough on its own, she found herself shoved around and stumbling backwards, forced to do nothing but watch as Natsu got further and further away.

.☆.

The soft glow of the television illuminated the dark of Lucy’s apartment long after sundown. She was huddled up into Natsu’s side, bundled under blankets to protect her from the coolness of the night creeping in. Some horror movie was playing on the screen at Natsu’s insistence. It wasn’t something Lucy would have chosen for herself, but it was his turn to pick, so she conceded.

It was strange how they had been through scarier things than even fiction could conceive, and yet these silly films with bad special effects could still frighten and shake them to their core. Even when she knew they were coming, she couldn’t help the way she flinched at every jump scare. Though Natsu would insist it didn’t faze him, she could see the truth in the way he clutched at her arm.

Though she had failed every time before now, this seemed like the perfect time to slip her hand in his, veiled under the guise of much-needed comfort for the both of them. Her hand came to rest on top of his in a gentle attempt to coax his grip off of her, but before she could manage that, they were met with another one of those stupid screamers on the screen.

“Shit!” He cried out in panic.

Lucy could hardly register what was going on before she was practically tackled by Natsu, who was using his entire body to shield her from the threat on the screen. She let out a scream of fright, from either the sudden jump scare or the aggression of Natsu’s protection; she couldn’t quite tell. Both of their bodies were quivering like leaves in an autumnal breeze. Her hands were shaking much too much to even consider holding Natsu’s—after all, right now she thought the both of them needed a little bit more comfort than hand holding alone could provide.

Instead, she made better use of her hands by reaching out for the remote and flicking the TV off for both of their sakes.

.☆.

A gentle spring breeze ruffled Lucy’s hair as it passed them by. She was sitting on a picnic blanket spread out across the green grass, taking advantage of this easy spring day for a cute lunch date in the park, just her and Natsu.

It seemed as though they weren’t the only couple to have taken the nice weather as a chance for an outing. Various couples roamed the park, admiring the scenery and taking in the sun. Many walked together, hand in hand, and the sight of it sent a pang of jealousy straight to Lucy’s chest.

It was like fate didn’t want that for her.

What a stupid thing for fate to get in the way of.

Even though she tried to hide it, the sudden drop in her demeanour did not go unnoticed by Natsu beside her. He paused his indulgence in the lunch that they had packed, his attention shifting to her as he met her eyes.

“Lucy?” He asked, careful voice and concern in his eyes. “Everythin’ okay?”

His hand came to rest on her thigh in a display of comfort, but the feeling of his warm hand against her skin only had her feeling more agitated over the whole thing.

“I just-” The words seemed to catch in her throat as she tried to form some sort of excuse, but before she could stop herself, the word came tumbling out of her lips. “I want us to hold hands!” She squeaked.

“What?”

The concerned expression he had once regarded her with quickly turned into one of confusion, as if he wasn’t certain that he had heard her right. She was certain he had. Nothing could slip past those ears of his.

Her cheeks grew a deep red, her face feeling incredibly warm as what she said just sank in. She hadn’t meant to say that, but it seemed as though all the frustration had simply boiled over until she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

"Well, why didn’t you just ask?” Natsu replied, head tilted in confusion.

“Because, I-” She paused, her mouth slack, as she tried to come up with a reasonable excuse. “Because it’s embarrassing.”

Though it was the truth, it wasn’t exactly reasonable. It was only Natsu, and the worst thing he could do was say no. Even still, she couldn’t seem to give herself the push to say it until she had practically snapped. She averted her gaze, fully expecting the inevitable teasing that was to come, but instead she felt Natsu’s hand slip into her own, her eyes flicking up to meet his.

“There, that better?”

He looked down at her with a grin plastered across his face—a smile of true, genuine love. Lucy's expression softened, and all of the worries she might have had melted away in that moment. He squeezed her hand, and her heart practically jumped in time with it.

“Yeah,” she breathed. “Thank you.”

She squeezed his hand back, and he met her with a laugh that turned the flush of embarrassment on her face into one of soft love and adoration.

For a moment, the two stayed like that, hand in hand as they sat in adoring gaze, until the light-hearted teasing did ensue. Lucy rolled her eyes as Natsu began to poke fun of her irrational nervousness, though not letting go of her hand the whole time.

Still, it was well worth the price if it meant holding his hand like this.

If she had known it would be this easy, she would have done it ages ago.

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