Chapter Text
The first thing he heard was the crash.
Natsu’s head snapped back toward the building, just as the emergency exit doors burst open hard enough to slam against the brick wall behind them.
The metal rattled violently on impact.
And then she came stumbling out just a second later.
Dark green and white fabric wrapped perfectly around her body in the form of a gown, like she was a girl who stepped out of the pages of a fantasy novel. Silver pins restrained her golden hair, currently unraveling, strands falling loose from the perfect bun she’d arrived with earlier that night. The diamonds that she wore around her neck, on her ears, and her wrists looked so heavy he could practically feel the way they weighed her down.
Her arms were bare, the dress strapless despite the cold, but the green lace corset was pulled so tightly around her waist it looked painful just to breathe.
She shoved the doors behind her hard enough for them to shake again. Fury rolled off her in waves so sharp he felt it from halfway across the alley.
Then she screamed.
The sound ripped out of her throat raw and jagged, more rage than pain, and before he could process it she turned and launched her phone straight at the wall.
It exploded on impact.
Glass shattered across the concrete. The screen cracked apart instantly, pieces skidding beneath the dim alley light while her chest heaved hard enough to make the diamonds at her throat tremble.
For a second she just stood there breathing.
Her shoulders trembled violently as she pressed both hands against her forehead like she was trying to physically hold herself together. Her golden hair became more undone the harder she pressed.
She looked like she wanted to destroy something else.
Like smashing the phone hadn’t been enough.
Like the scream had only been the beginning.
He only watched her, waiting to see what she would do next.
Would a trash can be knocked over? Would the glass of the doors be shattered next? Would she run straight out into the street traffic at the end of the alleyway?
But then her knees gave out.
She dropped into a crouch beside the wall, head hanging low, hair falling forward and hiding most of her face.
Natsu couldn’t look away.
Not because she was beautiful…
Though she was.
But because suddenly she didn’t look like the kind of woman who belonged upstairs beneath chandeliers and champagne tower glasses.
She looked familiar, and not in the way that he knew her…
But he did… he knew who she was.
Everyone in Magnolia, maybe even in Fiore knew who she was.
But she looked lonely right now. Tired and broken.
That was what looked familiar.
Like someone had finally cracked her open from the inside.
His body moved before his brain could stop him.
“Fuck,” she whispered shakily into her hand. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…”
“Are you okay?”
Her head shot up, eyes snapped wide when she heard his voice.
She hadn’t even looked at him properly before she had jumped back up to her feet in a startle.
“You scared the shit out of me,” she breathed out, stepping backwards.
“Sorry I…” he trailed off, as he took her in closer. Her cheeks stained with dark tears from her makeup, her eyes still watery, her nose still red. “… I—”
She shook her head, dragging her hands across her face in a futile attempt to dry her tears. Fresh ones simply replaced them, but she seemed to ignore them, reaching down to pick up her shattered phone, staying lowered when she held it.
“Shouldn’t you… be in there?” He tried slowly, his heart rate increasing with every word he spoke.
“Why aren’t you?” She narrowed her eyes, her brow lifting in confusion. “I saw you in there. What are you supposed to be anyway?”
Natsu glanced down at himself. At the black leather pants, the fancy boots, the dark button up that hung slightly too open for such a classy event, and the blazer that Gray had forced him into, still pristine, clean, and distinctive.
“Uh… the Lone Ranger…” he shrugged, his fingers brushing over the black mask he wore over his eyes, and then adjusting the black cowboy hat he was wearing on his head. “It’s a Western film—”
“Yeah I’ve heard of it.” She snapped back quickly. “But I’ve never seen him wear a scarf like that.”
Natsu’s hand gripped onto the fabric that hung over his shoulders.
She still hadn’t straightened back up. Hadn’t looked back at him once. Her eyes stayed fixed on the shattered screen in her hands, delicate fingertips tracing slowly over the cracks.
“And you’re dressed as what?” Natsu asked carefully. “A sad heiress?”
Her head lifted.
For the first time since she came crashing into the alley, her eyes landed fully into his. Sharp. Watery. Annoyed enough to almost make him smile.
He felt his heart jolt, in a way he didn’t think it could.
“I thought the theme was stupid,” she muttered, exhaling hard as she looked away again. “I mean, a costume theme for a gala?” She scoffed lightly. “Give me a fucking break.”
“You’re Lucy Heartfilia...” he said softly. “Isn’t your family hosting this event?”
“Do you work here?” She finally turned, looking at him, her eyes narrowing again. “Or are you some kind of stalker?” She shook her head. “No, wait, let me guess, you’re a nepo baby from a rival company whose parents forced him to come, and you’d rather be anywhere else so that’s why you’re creeping around in an alleyway?”
He blinked, his lips pressing together. “I wasn’t creeping…” he held up the cigarette he was smoking between his fingers, “I was just getting some air when I suddenly heard you… screaming.”
She looked away, her mouth twitching, like she was trying to stop her bottom lip from trembling. “Well, do you mind? I don’t really like talking to creepy strangers in a dark alley in my free time.”
His brows shot up, taken aback by the snip in her tone. “Okay sorry. Have a good night, Ms. Heartfilia.”
He started to turn, but her voice pulled him back instantly.
“And I’m not a sad heiress by the way.”
He turned to glance at her over his shoulder.
“What?”
“You said I was a sad heiress.” She rubbed up and down her arm. “Just now.”
Natsu’s hand came to the back of his head. “No, Ms. Heartfilia, I was just kidding…”
“I’m a princess.”
His brows furrowed. “Oh.” His gaze landed on her dress, giving a small shrug. “Okay.”
“You see the people who work here, they call me that, but not in a cute way, it’s more of a… why is she here? She’s just a spoiled little girl playing in her dad’s company kind of way.”
“Okay.” He glanced over her dress once more. “I… which princess? I don’t recognize that dress from any movie.”
Her brows soared incredulously. “You watch princess movies?”
He chuckled softly. “I have a little sister.”
She scoffed, dropping her head to look over the fabric of her dress. “Think more Victorian or Regency era, it’s from a book my grandmother liked to read to me when I was little.”
“Right.” He nodded, unsure if he should leave her alone, or move closer and try to help her up.
She narrowed her eyes once more. “What company did you say you were from again?”
“I didn’t,” he answered quickly. “Actually I’m—”
Her phone screen lit up, and she chucked it again as soon as it did.
She sank down onto her knees, not caring about the way her dress collided into the gravel, staining the expensive fabric further.
“It doesn’t matter.” She mumbled, staring forward, voice cracking lightly. “It doesn’t fucking matter.”
Natsu grimaced, crouching down now as well. “Do you need help?”
“Do I look like I need fucking help from a stranger?! Go away!” She snapped, her fists colliding with the ground as the words slipped out. She held the tight expression for just a second, just one, before she shut her eyes, and sagged forward, softness finally slipping into her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that…”
“It’s okay. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered you.” He stepped back once. “Have a good night, princess.”
She turned her head, watching him turn around, and head in the direction of the street traffic at the end of the alleyway.
“Hey, wait!”
He stopped, and turned just in time to catch her pushing herself up off the ground.
“Yes?”
“Where are you going?”
A small, almost playful curve appeared on his lips. “I think you were lying when you said you didn’t like talking to strangers.”
Her nose wrinkled slightly. “No, I just…” she hesitated, looking back at the doors she had come bursting out of, before turning back to him. “You’re leaving?”
His brows furrowed. “You told me to go away, remember?”
She tore her gaze away from his, her eyes landing on her shattered cellphone just a few feet away. She slowly walked over and picked it up, before lifting her head once more.
He still stood there, under the moonlight, right at the edge of escape, like he was waiting for her to ask him again.
“I didn’t mean you should leave the gala.”
A smirk fell on his lips. “I’ve actually got to go anyway.” He stepped just a little closer. “Are you sure you don’t need help?”
She looked towards the ground, her gown swaying as she shifted her weight.
“No.” Her eyes shut tightly. “I mean… yes.”
Natsu raised an eyebrow. “You’re more indecisive than I thought you’d be.”
She opened her eyes at that, avoiding his gaze. “No, I’m not.” She furrowed her brows again. “How do you know me?”
“You’re Lucy Heartfilia.” He told her softly. “Everyone knows who you are.”
She frowned then, like she didn’t want to acknowledge the truth in his words.
“What’s your name?”
“I’m nobody important,” he said with a small shrug. “Trust me. This is probably the only time we’ll ever talk to each other."
She pouted, watching as the stranger backed away just a bit further.
“Why would you say that?”
He shook his head, the curve on his lips still visible. “Because you are someone very important.”
“Tell that to my father and his board of directors.” She muttered, more to herself but he managed to make out what she said.
She looked back toward the doors like she was checking whether someone would come after her.
No one did.
Her grip tightened around the broken phone. “I’m not important… I never have been...”
“Hey.”
She looked over at him, eyes uncertain, glistening under the dim lamppost lights.
“What?”
He smiled at her, soft and real. It must have been the first real smile she had seen all evening.
“I’m going to a party at this underground club some of my friends told me about. Wanna come?”
Something shifted in her expression. Maybe intrigue, maybe relief.
She took a step forward instantly, before she shook her head and stilled.
“Who are you?”
“Does it matter?”
She swallowed nervously. “If I went missing… I would be found really quickly.” She furrowed her brows. “And my father would never pay any ransom money if you’re planning to kidnap me or something.”
He chuckled, hands in the air defensively. “I’m just inviting you to a party.”
“You won’t even tell me your name.” She mumbled.
He shrugged. “You seem like you want to be anywhere else right now… does it matter with who?”
She stared at him for a long moment, like she was trying to decide whether he was dangerous.
“Do you do this a lot?” she asked quietly. “Invite women you meet in alleyways to random underground parties?”
A breath of laughter escaped him. “Not really.”
Her eyes drifted back toward the doors one last time.
Still closed.
Still no one coming after her.
When she looked back at him, something in her expression had softened.
She didn’t look ready to put up a fight.
“…Fine.” She tightened her grip on the broken phone. “But I’m gonna need a name.”
He smirked. “You aren’t gonna let it go, huh?”
She shook her head. “Well tomorrow I’m definitely going to face some kind of consequences for decisions I make tonight. I need to know how to blame you properly.”
He smiled, shrugging playfully. “How about we continue tonight… like it just doesn’t count?”
She blinked, “what?”
“No thoughts about tomorrow. No consequences. Tonight doesn’t count.” He looked forward. “It could be a rule for both of us, just for tonight.”
For the first time since she escaped the lavish party upstairs, a small curve settled on her lips.
“What are you running away from?”
He extended his hand out toward her, keeping their eyes locked onto each other.
“Everything.”
She looked at his hand, back up at him, and all the thoughts in her mind quieted for a moment.
“Okay… let’s run away from everything then…”
“Just for tonight.” He whispered again, like he was reminding himself more than her.
She shook her head lightly, smile impossible to hide now, stepping closer, placing her hand in his.
The calluses on his palm scraped lightly against her skin immediately.
“What should I call you then?”
His grip tightened just a fraction.
“You can call me…” a faint smirk tugged at his mouth. “Dragon.”
…
She followed him in silence, not even keeping track of how far they’d gone before he turned down another alleyway.
The city noise dulled instantly.
Music bled faintly through brick walls somewhere ahead, distant bass vibrating beneath her heels as he kept walking without looking back.
Lucy slowed near the corner of the building.
For one second, she just stood there watching him disappear deeper into the shadows, her pulse suddenly catching up to her.
What the hell was she doing?
She didn’t know his real name.
Didn’t know where he was taking her.
Didn’t even know if this Dragon was actually a person or the future subject of a true crime documentary.
Natsu glanced back then, stopping beneath the flickering glow of a green neon sign farther down the alley.
“Change your mind, princess?”
“Did you bring me here to kill me?”
A small chuckle escaped his lips. “No, I really didn’t.”
She lifted her hand, pointing at him. “That’s exactly the kind of thing that someone who brought me here to kill me would say.”
He only shook his head, grin spreading slowly across his face beneath the neon light.
Somehow that made him look even more tempting.
Maybe it was the mystery of him.
Maybe her judgment was completely gone.
Maybe both.
“If you don’t want to come, I’ll walk you back to Heartfilia Food Co. or I can help get you home… it’s your choice.”
The corner of her mouth twitched before she could stop it.
This was insane.
Completely insane.
But the way he spoke, the way he smiled at her…
It only made her want to follow him more.
So she did.
…
The music swallowed her whole the second they stepped inside.
Heat hit next.
Bodies packed too close beneath flashing lights, shoulders colliding, hands dragging across strangers as people moved together without rhythm or shame. The bass thundered through the floor hard enough to shake through her ribs, through her lungs, through the bones beneath her skin. Glitter floated through the air every time the lights spun overhead, catching on bare shoulders, smeared eyeliner, spilled alcohol, shiny jewelry.
Sweat. Smoke. Perfume. Liquor.
The entire place pulsed like one living thing.
Nothing about it resembled the polished ballroom she’d just escaped.
And somehow she could finally breathe.
Lucy turned toward him through the chaos, only to realize he suddenly looked a little out of place too.
Less mysterious.
Less untouchable.
Just a guy standing in the middle of the noise wearing a black cowboy hat, a mask over his eyes, and that strange scarf draped around his shoulders like he couldn’t let himself fully belong here either.
Her pulse stumbled for reasons she didn’t want to examine too closely.
“You said your friends were here?”
He scanned the crowd, trying to see through the sea of moving bodies for any familiar face.
Lucy glanced around as well. The room was too dark to make out faces for more than a second before the lights shifted again. Glitter, smoke, and flashing colors swallowed everyone whole. She doubted anyone would get a good look at her tonight.
“They said they were gonna head here...”
She followed his gaze.
People danced on raised platforms near the bar, laughing loud enough to disappear beneath the music. People in glitter and leather climbed into strangers’ laps without hesitation. People with smeared lipstick around their mouths stumbled past holding drinks over their heads. Every person here looked free in a way she didn’t think she had ever been.
In a way she never could be. Not really.
Even in the stained gown, she suddenly felt overdressed for reasons that had nothing to do with fabric.
“Are you gonna go look for them?” she asked quietly.
His eyes flicked back to hers instantly.
“Maybe.” A small shrug, an attractive smirk sat on his lips. “I don’t think they expected me to actually come.”
The lights flashed green across his face for half a second before disappearing again.
She looked away first.
“So you’re gonna leave me alone then?”
The words came out softer than she meant them to. A little more honest too.
For a second the music almost disappeared beneath the pounding in her chest.
But his expression shifted. Not teasing anymore.
“Is that what you want?”
“No.”
The speed, and immediacy of her own answer startled her.
Something softer flashed across his face then, a look she couldn’t fully read before he stepped closer again. Close enough that she caught the faint scent of smoke and cologne that clung to him.
“Okay,” he said quietly, and he held his hand out toward her again. “Don’t leave my side tonight.”
…
They ended up tucked away into the corner of the bar, though tucked away wasn’t really possible in a place like this.
The music still thundered against the walls hard enough to shake the glasses beneath their hands. The lights spun endlessly overhead, washing the room in shifting shades of blue and gold and crimson while bodies moved together in tangled silhouettes around them.
But somehow the space between them felt quieter than the rest of the club.
Smaller.
Closer.
Like it belonged to only them.
Lucy leaned against the edge of the counter, turning toward him fully now, one bare shoulder brushing lightly against his arm every time somebody bumped past behind her.
Each touch felt accidental.
None of them felt accidental.
“You haven’t had a real drink yet,” she noticed.
Natsu glanced down at the untouched soda in his hand, condensation dripping slowly against his fingers.
“I don’t really like to drink much in places like this.”
She watched him take a drag of his lit cigarette, her eyes lingering on his lips just a moment longer than necessary.
“Why not?”
The lights flashed overhead again, catching against the glitter dusted across her collarbones. Tiny stars twinkling against her skin.
He exhaled once before answering.
“Too many consequences.” A quiet laugh escaped him. “Sometimes I can overdo it and start forgetting things.”
“Hm.” The sound curled low in her throat as she slid her drink toward him.
Her fingertips brushed against his knuckles for barely a second, before she reached over and plucked the cigarette out of his fingers.
His entire hand tightened instinctively beneath her touch.
She took a small drag, holding eye contact with him, before exhaling.
Just the look in her eyes was enough to make his heart stumble.
“I thought tonight didn’t count.” Her voice had softened into something almost dizzying.
Natsu looked down at the glass between them before lifting his eyes back to hers.
Too close now.
He could see the smudged shimmer near the corner of her eyeliner. The faint flush spread across her cheeks. The way her lipstick had faded slightly near the center from drinking.
And suddenly the rest of the room felt very far away.
“I think…” His voice lowered beneath the music. “I want to remember it though.”
The words settled between them slowly.
Her expression shifted almost immediately after. The smirk faded first. Then her eyes softened in a way that made his pulse kick harder.
Had nobody ever said something like that to her before?
Lucy looked down briefly, fingers curling around the edge of the counter.
Then back at him.
And when she smiled this time, it was smaller.
But it was real. He knew it was.
The music swelled louder around them again, bass vibrating through the floor beneath their feet, but neither of them moved away.
If anything, they drifted closer.
Almost like the night itself kept pulling them together inch by inch.
…
He didn’t even realize the exact moment they stopped hiding in their quiet little corner and drifted into the heart of the noise.
One second she was leaning against the bar looking up at him through spinning lights and cigarette smoke.
The next, her back was pressed flush against his chest beneath the pulse of the music.
Heat surged through him instantly.
Lucy tilted her head back against his shoulder, arms lifting above her as the bass rolled through the room hard enough to shake the floor beneath them. Bodies moved around them in flashes and colored lights, but Natsu barely saw any of it anymore.
Not when all he could feel was her.
The slow drag of her body against his every time she moved.
The soft hitch of her breathing.
The way her hips found the rhythm against his like she’d known him longer than one reckless night.
Lucy couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed this much.
Maybe she never had.
Not without wondering who was watching.
Not without wondering what she was supposed to say next.
His hands settled against her waist first.
Then lower.
Careful.
Testing.
But she only pressed herself closer.
A quiet sound escaped her, almost lost beneath the music, and it shot through him hotter than the alcohol in the air ever could.
Her hair had completely fallen apart by now. Golden strands spilled down her back wildly, catching against his hands every time she turned her head. Every few seconds another strand fell into her face and she kept laughing breathlessly as she pushed it away without success.
She tilted her head back, brushing her nose against his before pulling away just as quickly with another breathless laugh.
God, she looked so beautiful like this.
Not polished.
Not perfect.
Not the princess of a company who would never even know he existed.
This version of her looked alive in ways he didn’t know possible.
Lucy turned suddenly in his arms, nearly colliding against him in the middle of the crowd. Her hands caught against the front of his shirt, his blazer long gone, forgotten, to steady herself, fingers curling instinctively into the fabric as she looked up at him.
She moved in closer.
The lights flashed blue across her face, then crimson.
He could feel the warmth of her breath against his mouth. Her arms slid around the back of his neck as she moved closer again, their bodies fitting together so naturally it almost felt dangerous.
For one reckless second neither of them moved.
Then she laughed again, the sound breathless and electric, and tilted her head back just enough that the tip of his nose skimmed against her chin as she moved.
His grip on her waist tightened instinctively.
Their lips continued to hover dangerously close.
Almost touching.
Close enough that he could feel her breathing change.
But every time he thought she might close the distance, she smiled again, dazed and beautiful beneath the flashing lights, and leaned back into him instead like she liked the anticipation almost as much as he did.
And maybe she did.
Natsu let himself have the moment anyway.
Just this once.
Just for tonight.
To hold her.
To pretend…
Pretend this was something he could actually want.
That she was someone he could actually want.
Not Lucy Heartfilia.
Not the heiress.
Not the princess.
Just a girl laughing in his arms while the whole world disappeared around them.
Just for this moment.
Just this once…
His hand slid slowly higher against her waist as she swayed against him again. His lips brushed near the curve of her neck this time, barely there, not quite a kiss.
He stopped himself at the last second.
Hovered instead.
Eyes falling shut briefly as her perfume wrapped around him, sweet beneath sweat and smoke and alcohol, intoxicating enough to make his chest ache.
Lucy shivered against him.
Not pulling away.
If anything, she melted closer.
…
“Come on,” he said, voice low beneath the pulse of the music. “I wanna show you my favorite place here.”
Lucy hesitated for barely half a heartbeat.
Just enough time to remember she didn’t know his real name. She didn’t know anything about him really.
But her mind lingered on the way he had stayed beside her all night. The way his eyes hadn’t left her once. The way his warmth had enveloped her completely.
So she smiled anyway and slipped her hand into his.
He didn’t intertwine their fingers. Or squeeze her hand too tight.
He just held onto her like he was guiding her through the dark instead of pulling her somewhere away from all the noise.
And somehow that felt infinitely more intimate.
He led her toward a narrow staircase hidden behind thick velvet curtains near the back of the club. The deeper they climbed, the more the party dissolved beneath them. The bass softened into a dull vibration beneath concrete. Laughter faded into muffled echoes. The flashing lights disappeared one floor at a time until all that remained was the sound of her heels striking the stairs and the weight of his hand wrapped around hers.
Lucy glanced down at their hands.
She shouldn’t feel this calm.
Not with a stranger.
Not with someone she hadn’t even seen properly yet.
Her heel caught suddenly in the heavy fabric of her dress.
She stumbled forward with a startled breath, but he turned instantly, laughing softly under his breath as he reached down and gathered the bottom in one hand before it could trip her again.
“Careful, princess.”
The nickname rolled through her now.
She looked up at him, hair falling into her face as she climbed the next step slower this time.
“You know my actual name,” she pointed out. “Why do you keep calling me that?”
He glanced back over his shoulder.
The dim stairwell light caught along the edge of his jaw, the curve of his mouth hidden partly beneath the mask.
“If I say your name too much,” he murmured, almost too quietly, “this might start feeling too real.”
Her grip on his hand tightened without her realizing it.
“Is that supposed to be a bad thing?”
His smile only softened, “Tonight doesn’t count.”
But even he sounded less convinced now.
At the top of the stairs, he pushed open a heavy metal door.
Cold air rushed toward them instantly, making her shiver.
The city unfolded around them as the door slammed shut behind them, swallowing the club whole. Suddenly there was only wind between buildings and distant traffic far below.
Lucy inhaled deeply, her hands coming up to rub at her arms. He had wrapped his scarf around her shoulders before she even realized he had moved.
She walked slowly toward the ledge of the rooftop, one hand still clutching the scarf draped around her shoulders. The city stretched endlessly beneath them in ribbons of gold and white light.
Cars drifted through the streets like moving stars. Windows glowed against the dark skyline, every single one holding somebody else’s life inside it.
Everything felt a little more alive from up here.
“I guess you see views like this all the time,” he said as he stepped beside her. “Huge building. Huge office. Your daily view is probably better.”
She laughed softly beneath her breath.
“No.” The wind tugged strands of loose hair across her mouth. “I don’t actually look outside much.” A quieter laugh escaped her. “I had my assistant order curtains for my office because the windows were too distracting.”
He turned his head toward her then.
“Distracting?”
He wondered if she meant the city itself, or the idea of stopping long enough to notice it.
Lucy tightened the scarf closer around herself as another gust swept across the rooftop. It smelled faintly like smoke and cologne and something warmer buried underneath both.
Something entirely him.
He noticed the way she leaned into it.
The way she held onto it like comfort.
“Actually. I think I get it,” he admitted quietly.
His forearms rested against the ledge beside hers, eyes fixed somewhere far below.
“Some days get so busy…” His jaw flexed once. “I don’t notice whether the sky’s still there.”
She glanced upward as he spoke, the stars twinkling in her eyes.
“Or I pay too much attention to it and start thinking the whole thing’s gonna fall down and finally crush me.” A faint smile touched his mouth. “That’s why I come up here, when my friends actually convince me to go out. Just to remind myself.”
She tilted her head. “To make sure it’s still there?”
“No.” He shook his head, and continued softly. “To make sure that it’s not actually fucking falling.”
Silence settled between them after that as they looked over the skyline.
Lucy turned toward him slowly.
“Take off your mask.”
The request came out softer than she intended.
She stepped closer as she said it, close enough that her shoulder brushed lightly against his chest beneath the wind.
He looked down at her through the shadows beneath the mask.
And smiled.
“No.”
The answer wasn’t playful this time. It sounded almost careful. Guarded. Almost afraid.
Lucy laughed quietly beneath her breath anyway, but her hand lifted before she could stop herself. Hovering near his face for a second before finally resting against his cheek.
His skin was still warm beneath the cold night air.
His breath caught at the contact.
“Then tell me your name?”
His eyes fluttered shut for the smallest second beneath her touch before opening again.
“I told you,” he said softly. “It’s Dragon.”
She laughed again, brighter this time, but her hand stayed exactly where it was.
And when he leaned into her touch, barely even realizing he’d done it, her heartbeat fluttered hard enough to hurt.
“That’s not fair,” she whispered.
“What isn’t?”
“You know exactly who I am.”
“Everybody knows who you are,” he answered too quickly. “Ms. Lucy Heartfilia.”
Her name sounded different in his voice.
Not like a headline in some gossip article. Not like another polished introduction offered to rich men in expensive suits, smiling at her beauty before they ever listened to her ideas.
Not like something disappointing.
Not like something forgettable.
It sounded gentle.
“That’s not true.” Lucy’s fingers shifted slightly against his jaw, before she slid them just a little lower. “They know my face,” she said softly. “My father’s company. My last name.” Her eyes lifted to his again. “But nobody actually knows a real thing about me.”
Something in his expression changed at that.
He leaned closer without realizing it.
“Then tell me something real.”
Their faces were too close now.
One more inch and she would feel his mouth against hers.
“The way you’ve told me something real tonight?” She whispered back. “You haven’t even told me your name…”
A quiet laugh escaped him.
“I’m trying to follow the rules.”
Lucy stepped closer.
The city disappeared behind him completely now.
“Rules can change.”
His eyes dropped to her lips instantly, and stayed there.
“They shouldn’t.”
“You’d be surprised,” she whispered, “what happens when people stop following rules.”
He could only look at her now. Like he was trying to memorize every tiny detail of her face before the moment disappeared. The shine in her eyes. The softness in her smile. The way she looked at him like he was someone worth choosing.
“Should I tell you something real then?” He whispered now, surrendering to the moment, surrendering to her.
She grinned, nodding slowly as she leaned closer.
“I wish…” His voice nearly caught beneath the words. “That I was someone who could know everything about the real you.”
Only a breath separated them now.
One breath.
Natsu could feel the warmth of it against his lips.
It had only been a year since he first laid eyes on her, the night she stepped into the restaurant beside her father.
He noticed her hair first.
Gold beneath the restaurant lights, bright enough to remind him how little sunlight he actually saw anymore after spending the last two years locked behind the remodeled kitchen.
Then her smile.
Then her eyes.
Her eyes moving slowly across The Dragon’s Table restaurant like she was already falling a little bit in love with it.
He remembered watching her politely refuse the fresh house rolls before dinner even started. No appetizers either.
Just a burger. No mushrooms. Truffle fries on the side.
And then, almost as an afterthought, she’d glanced up from the menu and quietly asked the server if they had any of the specialty desserts made with yogurt. She must've heard about the parfaits that the pastry chef added to the menu.
Her father had looked at her immediately after that.
She corrected herself almost instantly.
Just the burger, please. No fries. No parfait.
Natsu remembered standing behind the pass pretending not to listen while something uncomfortable settled beneath his ribs.
Then the plate finally reached her table.
And he remembered that too.
The first bite.
The way her eyes lit up before she could stop them. The way her shoulders loosened slowly afterward. The way she kept eating like she’d forgotten someone, or everyone, might be watching her.
Like for one small moment, the food mattered more than whatever weight the world kept pressing onto her shoulders.
And Natsu—
He’d spent the rest of the night thinking about the smile on her face.
Her forehead found his, pressing in gently.
“Why can’t you be?”
His breathing caught.
“When I look at you… it’s all I want.”
He hadn’t realized how badly he’d dreamt of this until now.
“Why me?”
“I don’t know why yet.” He smiled softly. “But I want to know that more than anything.”
How many nights he’d stood in the kitchen pretending his chest didn’t ache the moment Laxus announced the princess would be seated at the VIP table. How many nights he’d linger near the pass pretending not to watch her smile across the dining room. How many times he’d memorized the sound of her voice without meaning to. How many times he’d forced himself to remember that a girl like Lucy Heartfilia… that Lucy Heartfilia herself, did not belong to worlds like his.
Yet somehow she was here.
Standing beneath city lights with his scarf around her shoulders and her hand against his chest like she didn’t want to let go.
His hand slid carefully around her waist.
Her breath caught gently.
Their noses brushed lightly.
Once.
Twice.
Neither moved away.
Lucy tilted her head just slightly and his mouth hovered beside hers, so close it became impossible to tell where anticipation ended and touching began.
He could feel her smiling.
I want this…
Could feel the warmth of it.
I want her…
His eyes slid shut.
Tonight doesn’t count…
Just seconds away…
Until—
A shrill alarm exploded through the rooftop.
Natsu jerked back immediately like he’d been burned alive.
The sound cut violently through the night, ugly and mechanical and cruel against everything the moment had almost become.
Lucy blinked in confusion as he fumbled for his phone, panic flashing across his face so suddenly it stole the magic right out of the air.
Midnight.
00:00
The numbers glowed against the screen like a warning.
His stomach dropped violently as reality came crashing back in.
“I have to go.”
Everything about him changed instantly.
Not colder, but far away now.
Lucy stared at him, breathless and confused. “What?”
“I’m sorry.”
He was already backing toward the door, already disappearing.
“No, wait—”
“I really have to go.”
The rooftop door screeched open beneath his grip. Cold air rushed between them again, harsher this time.
“Please wait!” Lucy rushed toward him desperately. “At least tell me your—”
But the door slammed shut before she could finish.
The music below swallowed him whole.
He stopped halfway down the stairs when he heard her voice echo faintly after him.
“Wait, please!”
His hand tightened against the railing.
And he looked back once.
She stood framed beneath the rooftop lights with his scarf wrapped around her shoulders, hair wrecked by the wind, lips still parted like she hadn’t fully recovered from how close they’d been.
He swallowed hard.
“I’m so sorry.”
Then he ran.
The club blurred around him in flashes of color and noise as he shoved through the crowd, nearly slipping down the final stairwell. Someone cursed as he slammed into their shoulder.
But all he could still feel was her hand against his face, her forehead pressed against his.
The night had almost become something magical.
Until the clock struck midnight.
“Shit.”
Cold air punched into his lungs the second he burst outside.
He sprinted.
The expensive boots he borrowed from Gildarts slammed hard against wet pavement as the city streaked around him in neon smears and headlights. His chest burned. His lungs ached. His stomach tightened violently.
But it wasn't from the running.
It came from leaving her there.
He cut recklessly across the street, ignoring blaring horns and shouted curses as the bus stop finally came into view ahead.
The big orange bus was already pulling in.
“No, no—”
He pushed harder.
The doors hissed open.
Then immediately started closing again.
“WAIT!”
The driver paused long enough for him to throw himself forward and catch the metal bar just before the doors sealed shut behind him.
Silence hit instantly.
Natsu bent forward, palms braced against his knees, breathing hard enough to shake.
He didn’t look back.
Not this time.
Because if he did…
He already knew he’d go running straight back to her.
…