Chapter Text
To say Lucy hated her roommate would be an understatement. All those stupid movies made college seem like it would be fun and she’d make friends. And she believed that if she had to room with someone she didn’t like, they would eventually be thrown into some situation or other that would cause them to bond and become lifelong friends. Instead, Lucy was stuck with someone who had no sense of courtesy. Or decency.
She tried, she really did, but when one is awoken at two in the morning before an important presentation to the sounds of fucking. Loud fucking. In their shared room that allowed neither privacy of any sort. And then to open one's eyes to see an inconsiderate roommate bent over her bed so that EVERYTHING can be seen…
And that was just one of the things that happened in the first semester. AND Lucy did not have the option of switching rooms. Unless she moved out, she was stuck with this person until graduation.
But then, after three years of hell, an opportunity presented itself. Lucy had been working as many hours as she could as the school’s library - which she enjoyed, but the pay was so low she may as well have not worked at all - but it wasn’t enough to move into an apartment. One month before the end of semester, however, Natsu told her that he had received an offer for an entry-level position in his field in Magnolia. The only problem was that he wouldn’t be making enough for the first year or so to afford a decent apartment.
That, and he would have to find and train a replacement for his bartender position at Fairy Tail. Lucy volunteered to help with both. Within a week, she had been hired to work the same shifts as Natsu, starting as a waitress, then quickly moving behind the bar and mixing drinks. Just after he graduated, they put down a deposit on their two bedroom apartment, then moved in a week later.
Everything transitioned smoothly from there. Lucy was accepted as part of the Fairy Tail family and life was getting good.
Until it wasn’t.
See, Lucy had a little protective bubble around her while Natsu was around, one that burst as soon as his new job began. The first month was training. Nearly endless training, in fact. So much so that between her classes, her shifts, and his new work schedule, they barely saw each other.
And that’s when the predators came out. Nearly every night, someone was asking Lucy for her number. Or asking her on a date. Or when her break was so they could go for a quickie in the bathroom (or the alley, or the office…). Some of them took her decline well, while some were more insistent.
With so little time spent together and Natsu being focused on work, Lucy did not want to bring up these new developments. He could be a bit overprotective, and she knew that she would need to be able to handle herself instead of relying on him all the time.
When Natsu finally made it back to his home away from home, Lucy hopped over the counter to greet him, wrapping him in a big hug before pulling him to the side for a talk.
“It’s about time!”
“Hey, I told you I’d be back. It just took a little longer than usual.”
Lucy looked around the bar, taking note of the patrons before turning back to him.
“So, I wanted to warn you that you’re probably going to see a few things you don’t like tonight.”
Natsu’s warm smile disappeared in an instant. He had known something was off, but he hoped it was school crap instead of work crap.
“I know that look, Natsu. Don’t you dare go blaming anyone for this. I’m not looking for help, I just wanted to make sure you know that I can handle it.”
“Fine,” Natsu replied, glaring at everyone in the bar as if they had personally offended him. His arms crossed tightly in front of his chest as he huffed out another breath.
“It’s mostly harmless flirting, but there are a few who try to push their luck. No one had had to be tossed for it, but Elfman is aware, and I promisepromisepromise to let you know if I need help. Okay?” Lucy held up her pinky towards him. Without hesitation, Natsu hooked his pinky around hers and gave it a tug.
“Okay.”
She gifted him with a big, wet kiss on his cheek before skipping back to the bar and serving the customer that walked up.
For the first hour, things were mostly peaceful. The other employees came over in turn to give Natsu a hard time for being gone so long, which was their usual behavior. A few guys flirted as they waited for their drinks, but Lucy handled everything so smoothly Natsu didn’t feel any reason to step in. None of them were saying or doing anything that could be considered disrespectful, so he tipped back his beer bottle and hung out like he had months before.
“Lulu!”
Natsu and Lucy - as well as most of the others in the bar - flinched at the stupid nickname. Their eyes locked over the bar, Lucy giving him a small shake of her head and Natsu grimacing back with a nod. He was not to interfere unless signaled to do so, and for just a moment he regretted making that promise.
“That’s not my name,” Lucy said, plastering on the most hideously fake smile Natsu had ever seen as she placed a napkin on the bar in front of her ex-boyfriend. “What can I get for you?”
“Another chance,” Dan said without hesitation.
Natsu snorted at the request, knowing several reasons Lucy would not be giving him one. They’d barely been friends when she told him all about their bad breakup; Lucy hadn’t dated since, and Natsu definitely understood why.
“Okay,” Lucy surprised them both by saying. “I’ll give you another chance to place a drink order before I ask you to leave the bar.”
Dan wilted at her no-nonsense tone and Natsu had to hold back another laugh.
“Margarita,” Dan grumbled.
Lucy went to work with an efficiency that impressed Natsu. She had picked up in a matter of months things that took him nearly a year to get down so well. In under a minute, Dan’s drink was poured, Lucy pushing it his way while telling him how much he owed.
“But, Lulu-”
“Not my name,” she told him again firmly.
“You know I like my margaritas blended,” he whined. “And strawberry. This is all green when it should be pink like your beautiful lips.”
“I have already told you that we don’t blend drinks here.” Lucy crossed her arms, unknowingly pressing her breasts closer together and drawing both men’s eyes in the direction of her deeper cleavage.
One of them respected her enough to only glimpse instead of ogling - though Natsu absolutely did not mind the show - and managed to discreetly point out what she had inadvertently done.
“Plus,” she continued after she lowered her arms, “I could get in trouble for not making what you ordered. You ordered a margarita, that’s what I delivered, and now that’s what you get to pay for.”
Dan begrudgingly handed over cash for his drink, then tried to tip Lucy by slipping money into her top. Natsu bit back a growl, only stopping himself from doing violence because Lucy batted Dan’s hand away and told him not to step up to her bar unless he was ordering another drink.
“Is that what you were talking about earlier?”
“Yep,” Lucy said with an exasperated sigh.
“How many times has he been in?”
“All of my shifts for the past two weeks. And he’s getting more persistent. Two nights ago, he grabbed at my arm when I walked past him.” Lucy shrugged in an attempt to downplay the harassment, but Natsu knew better.
Lips pressed into a thin line, Natsu glanced over to where Dan was hitting on two women who looked even less interested in his advances than Lucy was. Still, he kept his mouth shut. He trusted Lucy’s judgment, and if she didn’t think he was a threat, then Natsu would just bide his time. Men like that - the ones who played at being a knight in shining armor, but who had no real respect for the women they intended to “rescue” or the strength they had - they didn’t like being denied their conquests. Because to so-called men like Dan, that’s all women were.
Twice more, while Natsu sat at the bar, Dan approached. He would place a different order each time, making the drinks slightly more complicated with every order, then trying to find something to complain about. Every time, Lucy calmly explained to him that he was being an idiot (only using nicer words like the sweet person she was), and that not only would she not remake his drink, but he was required to pay for it.
By his fourth round, Dan was a bit tipsy. He had loosened his tie and his tongue followed suit.
“What would you like to drink?” Lucy asked again, that fake smile plastered on her face.
“How about a Ramos Gin Fizz, my sweet little Lulu?” He swiped a hand towards Lucy for reasons unknown, which she dodged easily.
“Are you fucking kidding me? First off, that’s not my name, and I hate it when you call me that. Second, that drink takes forever to make, Dan,” Lucy scolded as she started rounding up the ingredients for his ridiculous drink.
“Well, you keep denying me what I really want, so if I can’t have my first choice, I’ll go with this.”
“I’ve told you already that we don’t blend margaritas here.” She looked to her best friend as she measured things out so she could mouth the word ‘moron’ and roll her eyes.
“No,” Dan denied. “What I want is to drink from your sweet lips once more. You don’t have to make that drink. Don’t worry, I’ll still pay for it. All you have to do is come home with me.”
“I think there’s a misunderstanding here,” Natsu interrupted their conversation for the first time. Lucy looked like she was about to break if the jackass didn’t leave her alone, and the slight nod was all he needed to continue. “See, Lucy’s coming home with me tonight. And even if I’m not able to come to the bar when she works, she still comes home to me every night.”
Dan glanced at Lucy’s left hand, noticing the distinct lack of jewelry on display.
“No ring means she’s fair game, Pinky, and I had her long before you did.”
“Lucy isn’t a fucking toy for you to play with, jackass. She doesn’t belong to anyone but herself.” Natsu wasn’t sure if it was possible for him to be more disgusted with someone than he was at that moment.
“Don’t worry, Lulu, I’ll still take you back if you’ve been sleeping with the lesser man.” The most cocky grin crossed his face.
For her part, Lucy turned to look at Natsu, waiting for him to say something more. Instead, he raised his chin in her direction, letting her know that he had her back, but Lucy needed to finish what was started.
“Actually, I have slept with Natsu,” she confirmed as she looked him dead in the eye. “More times than I can count, actually. And unlike you, Natsu always makes sure I’m taken care of.”
“You can’t be-”
“But I am. If you tended to my needs half as well as Natsu does, maybe I wouldn’t have dumped you on your ass. Now get the fuck out of my bar and don’t come back.”
He nearly argued with her. Dan wanted Lucy back, and he was determined to pursue her no matter what she said. Before he had a chance to tell her that, however, a throat was cleared nearby, drawing his attention away from his prize and towards the almost seven-foot-tall man standing next to him.
“Real men know how to take no for an answer.”
Opening his mouth to reply, Dan was cut off again before he could let out a single sound.
“If you so much as dare to open your mouth, your tongue will be removed from it.” The scarlet-haired woman, though over a foot shorter, was an even more imposing figure in the deafening silence of Fairy Tail.
When he was gone, everyone slowly returned to their previous activities, a few coming to check on Natsu and Lucy, and when it was calm again - well, calm for a rowdy bar, anyway - Natsu finally turned back to Lucy. He raised an eyebrow in question.
“What? It’s not like I lied.” Lucy poured Natsu a glass of his favorite whiskey and set it on a napkin in front of him.
He deserved a lot more than that for having her back, but she knew that the comments that could be taken as flirtatious were anything but. That was just their dynamic, she had realized after the first few weeks. Unlike so many others, the only thing Natsu seemed to want was her company, and Lucy had found a certain contentment in that fact.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Well, it’s not my fault that he assumed I meant sex.” Natsu snorted. “And it’s not like I’ve kept track of how many times we’ve fallen asleep watching old movies or that metalworking competition.”
“Any chance you want to come home with me again tonight? We can even sleep together if you want it.”
Lucy’s eyes brightened at the prospect.
“Yes! But you have to buy me dinner.”
“Sounds fair, since you already got me all liquored up.” Natsu raised his glass towards her before finishing the remainder of its contents. He checked his phone for the time, then leaned over the bar to bat at Lucy’s ponytail. “I’m gonna go get the living room set up, then I’ll be back for you when your shift ends. Pizza and wings?”
“Sounds perfect.”
Her eyes followed as he walked out of the bar, her coworker Mira sidling up next to her as soon as the door closed behind him.
“That boy is so in love with you,” Mira stated, her eyes sparkling at Lucy like some lovestruck anime character. “Please tell me that you two have confessed your feelings?”
“You’re delusional, we’re just friends.”
“Oh, please, you’re just as in love with him.” She flipped her long platinum hair into Lucy’s face. “Let me know when you two get your shit together. Oh, you’ll make the cutest babies!”
Lucy just rolled her eyes. She’d heard it before, but Lucy knew in her heart that she would one day lose Natsu to whomever he fell in love with. Until then, she would selfishly take whatever time he was willing to give her.