𝔸𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕆𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕤

Dancing the Night Away-Nalu

Modern AU

Natsu Dragneel had always hated dancing–not the jumping, generally haphazard motions of dancing in a club, but the actual choreographed dances that generally accompanied the high-spec events Lucy attended as the daughter of Jude Heartfilia, CEO of Heartfilia Konzern. He always marveled at how coordinated people's movements were, and how they could possibly not look at their feet. For him, there were just too many moving parts, too many steps and spins to remember, as well as the looming fear of stepping on your partner's feet. But predictably, as Lucy's boyfriend, Natsu was dragged to all of these events. Well, dragged wasn't exactly the word since he volunteered; he knew Lucy would explode if she had to keep up a façade with every single person there.

He remembered vividly the days when she'd appear on his doorstep after such events, looking like someone had shoved the nozzle of a vacuum in her mouth and sucked all the energy out of her. She'd throw herself into his arms immediately and hang off of him in koala fashion until she'd sufficiently recharged. After about four instances of that, he'd forced her to take him with her, risking her father's blatant discontent, which was exceedingly obvious tonight.

Jude Heartfilia's small, sharp eyes glared at Natsu from over his prominent nose, gaze flicking constantly between Natsu's face and his and Lucy's conjoined hands. Having completely gotten in the habit of such glares since he'd started dating Lucy, and frankly not giving a damn, Natsu merely stuck out his tongue at the man, not caring at all about the gasps of snobby onlookers. Jude started, nostrils flaring, clearly not expecting such a childish response, before hands clamped down on the pinkette's mouth, an embarrassed hiss sounding from his girlfriend even as her lips stretched into an I-can't-believe-you're-doing-this-in-front-of-people smile.

She yanked at his hand, pulling him behind a large marble pillar and out of sight of most of the milling guests. As soon as they were engulfed in shadow, Natsu drew Lucy flush against him, eliciting a small gasp from her as he moved to lightly kiss her neck, teeth grazing against her flesh.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" she yelped, smacking at his arm, though not drawing away.

He could almost hear her heartbeat quicken, pulse jumping in her throat.

"Let's just get out of here," he groaned, resting his forehead on her shoulder.

She laughed lightly, entwining her arms around his neck and planting a kiss in his hair.

"Trust me, I want to get out of here as much as you do, but it's the company's 25th anniversary. I can't just leave, even if this party is making me want to blow my brains out."

He snorted into her shoulder, burrowing his face further into her neck, inhaling her scent properly. That had been one of the first things he'd noticed about her when they'd met. It was sweet, like strawberries, yet it promised something far more exciting, as if merely being in her presence would incur an adventure. He'd only gotten a whiff of it as she'd walked past him into class that first day, yet it had instantly made him turn from whatever stupid argument he had been having with Gray to stare after her swishing blonde hair. And as soon as the bell had rung to actually signal the start of class, he had zoomed over to the desk next to her, claiming it as his own before some guy ogling her breasts could. He'd introduced himself, gotten smacked for mishearing her name as Luigi, and they'd been inseparable ever since.

He remembered how his heart had pounded so fiercely the night he'd planned to ask her out, that he'd seriously thought he might die before the words could leave his mouth. Ironically, he had asked her out the night of a school dance, their Graduation Ball. He'd done the exact thing he hated for months prior so as not to embarrass himself when he inevitably asked her to dance. Yet despite his numerous practice sessions with Mira, he had still somehow managed to trip over his own feet, step on her feet, and on one occasion, tripped the platinum blonde so that she face planted on the linoleum floor. How he'd managed that, he still didn't know, but it had almost made him give up on asking Lucy out altogether. But after some pep talks from Mira, intense badgering from Erza and Gray, and cuddles from his cat Happy, Natsu had re-mustered his courage.

He remembered that night as if it were yesterday. Lucy had looked absolutely stunning clad in a pale pink body-con dress with silver rhinestones decorating the bottom in a curving motion. A similar shade of shimmering gloss atop her lips had made him unconsciously lick his own, then blush embarrassedly. His hands had trembled as he'd approached her, and he'd marveled at how her mere presence destabilized him like nothing, or no one else did. He had almost felt the stares of their friends burning into his back as he stuttered in asking her for a dance. She'd gracefully accepted, though she had quirked a questioning brow at his obvious nervousness.

He'd fully expected that familiar hate of the choreographed motion to flare to life in him as he placed a hand on her waist, fearing that it might ruin his long-awaited moment forever. However, even as he'd awkwardly maneuvered her across the dance floor and even stepped on her toes a few times, Lucy had continued to smile, laughing every now and then when they both threatened to fall because of his clumsiness. And he'd found pure joy filling him steadily instead, that same comfortable happiness and excitement that resided in him whenever he was in the blonde's presence. Only she could make him enjoy an activity he detested with such a passion, and that realization had only further served to strengthen his resolve. So, in the middle of the dance and quite unceremoniously, he had almost shouted at her, "Will you go out with me, Luce?"

The blonde had been so taken aback by the sudden question that she'd stopped moving altogether, catching Natsu off-guard, and causing him to stumble into her so that they both ended up on the floor. He had propped himself up on his elbows immediately so as not to crush her, finding himself nose to nose with her as her hair was splayed out around her like a halo.

"Do you mean it?" She'd asked. "This isn't a prank, is it?"

He hadn't been able to help the laugh that had taken him at that; it definitely sounded like something he would have done.

"No, it's not a prank. I mean it, Luce. Seriously. I mean why do you think I asked you to dance, ya weirdo?"

"I did think it was strange," she had muttered. "You hate dancing."

"I do," he'd grinned. "But you love it, and I love it when I'm with you. So, what do you say, will you be my girlfriend?"

Natsu had felt like a ticking time bomb for those few agonizing seconds it had taken her to respond, like his very existence had hinged on her assent.

"Yes," she'd whispered as the music had wound down. "Yes, absolutely yes!"

She'd thrown herself on him then so she was the one on top of him, giggling as she'd pressed her lips to his in front of all the students.

"Took you long enough," she'd said, pecking him again.

"How about one dance and then we can find a way to slip out of here?" his now girlfriend proposed.

Natsu snapped back to the present, the time when he was Lucy Heartfilia's boyfriend of over a year and a half and not merely pining for her affection.

"You're the best," he sang, kissing her quickly before dragging her out onto the dance floor. "Let's get this over with!"

And so, under the watchful glare of Lucy's father, Natsu and Lucy danced terribly across the floor, stumbling and laughing loudly all the way, but it didn't matter, because they were enjoying themselves, because they were about to leave all these rich losers behind, and because he was with the one person he loved dancing with.

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I hope you guys enjoyed and as always, let me know if you have any prompts or suggestions!