"Is it just Juvia, or has your hair gotten thicker since you've been pregnant?" The blunette mused as she ran a brush through Lucy's hair, "This used to be easier..."
"Hey, it beats my hair getting brittle and breaking off instead," Lucy giggled, "But I'll make it up to you, don't worry."
"Oh, no need, Juvia loves styling your hair, " She smiled as she set the brush aside to instead run her fingers through her locks, "It's gotten so long... So many possibilities..."
"Go crazy, I'm your canvas right now," Lucy giggled, it was so endearing how much fun Juvia could have with her hair.
Just as she felt her start off a braid on the crown of her head, the front door slammed opened, both women gasping from the sudden intrusion.
"I told you you'd fall if you tried to bring them all in at once, you fucking idiot."
"You tripped me, jackass! And I did get them all in, anyway."
"Boys," Juvia glared at Natsu and Gray as they came in, their hands full of grocery bags, "You nearly scared us half to death!"
"Sorry," Gray gave her a sly smile and a quick kiss on the cheek, "We didn't mean to scare you guys, Natsu's just a dumbass."
Juvia was already forgiving him as Natsu threw a loaf of bread at his head, ready to give him an earful until he spotted Lucy in the corner of his eye.
She'd been sitting on the floor against the couch, positioned in front of Juvia's legs. With her arms outstretched to him, Lucy beckoned him towards her with the cutest pout on her face that had Natsu melting.
"Hey, honeybee~" He kneeled down to her level and scooped her up in his arms, "You get cuter every time I see ya'."
"Shhh~ Less talking, more hugs~"
"Yes ma'am."
They cuddled right there on the floor, paying no mind to the way Gray and Juvia stared at them.
"Uh... you guys okay?"
Natsu glared at Gray for the way he interrupted their moment, "Wouldn't you like to know, fuckface?"
"...You little-"
"Guys," Lucy laughed, stopping them from starting another argument, "What's all the groceries for?"
"Oh! I figured I'd make food for everyone, I kinda miss this ole' kitchen. Even though it's tiny as hell..."
"Aw, that's so sweet of you to do that!" Juvia cheered, "We're always so hungry after these study sessions."
"Really? I've never been to one of these study groups, how do they usually work?" Lucy leaned back to look up at Juvia, who seemed to be previously distracted with the way Gray was putting groceries away.
"Oh, well we start off by getting homework help and tutoring for however long we can stay focused, and then we tend to trail off onto other topics as the day goes on. These groups are one of the few occasions when everyone is together, so we like to take advantage of that."
"Oh yeah? Well it'll be so nice to see everyone, thanks for letting Natsu and I join, I needed this."
"Of course, you two are always welcome. With your good grades, perhaps you could help tutor a few of us on certain subjects sometime, Lucy."
"Yeah, unlike Natsu who's useless aside from cooking," Gray quipped, mainly just trying to rile his friend up, "Maybe we'll make you clean up afterwards, give you something to do."
Natsu was ready to cuss him out, but Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered the word "behave" into his ear to distract him.
It worked like a charm, Natsu was just putty in her hands, and the sight of her calming him down so easily was so unnerving for Gray and Juvia, they shared confused stares once more before the latter started,
"Um... Natsu, Lucy, is there something we should know about?"
The couple looked first at them, and then at each other, and laughed.
That wasn't a proper response, but they didn't have time to ask anything else as there was a knock at the door followed by a very loud, "We've arrived!"
Gray looked at the time on his watch and grumbled as it was still about 15 minutes until the study session was supposed to begin, but he should've known better when it comes to Erza.
He opened the door to let her in, finding her joined by Cana. "Hey, guys-"
"Gray, put a shirt on, please. There are guests present."
"What-" He looked down at himself to see that he had in fact stripped, "Dammit, when the fuck did I..."
"I missed this shitty old house," Cana said as she eased pass everyone and stepped into the living room, "I haven't visited in so long."
She admired the tiny space for a bit until she spotted everyone on the couch, her throat tightening when she saw Natsu and Lucy cuddled up together on the floor.
"It is so good to see you again, it's been weeks," Juvia smiled, momentarily distracting her for a bit, "How have you been?"
"Oh, ah, just... same old same old, y'know?"
Natsu looked up at the brunette, but Lucy still seemed occupied with him, running her hands through his hair. "Hey," He started, which finally got her to look at the others, "Wassup, guys?"
"Natsu? Goodness, how long has it been since you've been here at your old house?" Erza kneeled down to greet him with a harsh handshake, "What brings you here?"
Trying to ignore the pain of her crushing his hand, Natsu shrugged, "Lucy really wanted to join in on the study group this week, and I guess I missed everyone too... Also, I wanted to see how much Gray wrecked the place since I moved out."
"Yeah, I missed you all so much!" Lucy had that cute pout again as she requested a hug from the redhead, "I feel like I never see anyone anymore."
"Oh, Lucy," Erza was mindful enough to hug her gently, though she ended up picking her up off the floor and lifting her feet above the ground, "It really is good to see you again, you're glowing, y'know?"
"Aw, stop it~" Lucy giggled, "Thank you." She looked pass Erza, her eyes locking with Cana's, "Hey, you..."
"Hey," Cana didn't know what to do with herself, and she all but panicked as Lucy started to make her way toward her. Although they've talked since their very awkward argument weeks ago, this was the first time they've really seen each other in person since then, and with Natsu present, Cana felt extra out of place.
"Stop being so tense," Lucy teased, pulling her into a hug.
It felt so nice to hold her, even without any romantic feelings behind it. "Sorry, it's been a minute. I can't help it."
A part of her felt like she was overstepping some sort of boundary- she could feel Natsu's eyes on her- so she cut the hug short. When she began backing up, she caught the way Lucy's belly was at least twice as large as it was the last time she's seen her. "Oh, look at how big you are..."
"Excuse me?" Lucy bursted into laughter, "That's not the best way to point something like that out, girl."
"Oh shit, my bad. But seriously, now you really look pregnant, isn't it still early for you to be showing this much?"
"C'mon, I'm not that big, but yeah... It feels like I just popped over night."
"What if it's twins..?"
Lucy scowled, shoving her away, "Nope, it's just one. But don't jinx it."
"Yo... Twins would be crazy," Gray butted in, "Imagine-"
"No! It's not twins!"
"It'd be so cute, imagine the matching baby clothes," Juvia joined in on the teasing, though she seemed genuinely excited with the idea.
"Twins would be quite the handful, though," Erza didn't seem to catch on that they weren't being serious as she evaluated the idea thoroughly, "Luckily you have more than enough space at your condo."
"C'mon guys," Natsu stepped in when he saw how red Lucy was getting, "Give her a break, she'd have a heart attack if it was twins... Even though I think it'd be pretty cool..."
Lucy hissed at him, but the hug he gave her from behind made her blush. "W-whatever."
The intimacy between them did not go unnoticed, but again, someone knocked at the door before anyone could question them.
"I got it," Gray answered the door, and was met with a pleasant surprise, "Loke! It's nice to see you, bud!"
"Hey!" They almost shared a hug until Loke stopped him, "Nah, put on a shirt, bro."
"Wha- But I just-"
"Anyways, I haven't been to one of these in a minute, I've really needed some extra... Help..." Loke trailed off when he saw Lucy, and his eyes lit up, "Woah, what are you doing here, Lucy-belle?"
"I wanted to see everyone!" She beamed at him, rushing up to wrap him in a hug, "I missed you guys~"
Natsu glared at them, radiating pure rage. He had no problem with Lucy being close with her friends, but something about Loke rubbed him the wrong way.
Cana could spot how upset he was from a mile away, and she pulled Loke aside once he was done schmoozing it up with Lucy. "Hey, you should be careful," She whispered to him, and motioned her head towards Natsu.
"Huh?" Loke caught on to what she meant, and shrugged, "Oh, I'm not scared of him."
She wanted to warn him that he probably should be scared, but a part of her thought it'd be a little funny to see how it plays out. "If you say so..."
Before he shut the door again, Gray stepped out for a bit to see if anyone else would be showing up. It was getting closer to their scheduled study time, and- seemingly not noticing how angry he suddenly was- Lucy took it upon herself to tap Natsu on his arm.
"Hey, maybe you should get started on the snacks? I think almost everyone is here."
For a second, Natsu had forgotten all about that, he was glad she was here to keep him focused. "Yeah, you're right, I should-"
"Lucy," Loke was back, which got Natsu riled up all over again, "I didn't expect to see you today, but luckily I keep this in my school bag," He reached into the little side bag he wore, "I got this for you a little bit ago."
Pulling out a necklace with an "L" pendant, he handed it to her with a blush dusting his cheeks, "Here, I hope you like it..."
Lucy accepted it with an amused grin on her face, she found it silly that he'd get her something like this. "It's very cute, thank you."
Loke was way too excited to see her go to put the jewelry on, but he frowned when she turned to smile at Natsu.
"Could you help me clip the back of it in place?"
He wasn't sure why she didn't just ask him to help her, and Natsu looked visibly disgusted with the necklace as he hooked it together.
The tension between them was immeasurable, and it almost seemed like Lucy really did notice as she looked back and forth between them and giggled. "Natsu, the snacks."
He said nothing as he went into the tiny kitchen and rustled through the grocery bags on the floor, trying to hold himself back. He didn't need to be getting all grumpy today.
Gray came back in with Levy and shut the door behind them, "Alright, we can get started now."
Everyone gathered in the living room, sitting around the little coffee table that was in the center. Juvia stayed sat on the couch and Lucy sat back in her place on the ground in front of her so she could go back to braiding her hair.
"Lu!?" Levy sat beside her when she noticed her and wrapped her in a side hug,"It's good to see you!"
"It's good to see you too! But what are you doing here? Aren't you doing great in all of your classes?"
"I usually just came to these for Gajeel, but now it's become a part of my regular routine. But I could ask the same for you, have you been falling behind in your classes or something?"
"What? Oh heavens no," They both laughed at the suggestion, "I just wanted to see everyone again."
"Aw, that's so sweet-" Due to the tiny layout of the house, the noises from the kitchen could be heard clearly from where they sat- considering it was only a couple yards away- and Levy looked behind the couch to see Natsu working on the stove, "Oh, you brought your boyfriend along too, I see~"
Lucy laughed at that, so much so that her cheeks grew red. The fact that she didn't deny it even slightly made one of Levy's eyebrows raise, and Juvia tilted her head as she heard their interaction cleary.
"Alright everyone," Erza cleared her throat and searched through her bag for her materials, "Is there anything that anyone needs help with specifically?"
"I do, I have a huge bio exam coming up and I have no clue where to start studying," Gray started, getting his laptop and books ready as well.
"Ah yes, well-"
They all turned to the door when there was a frantic-sounding knock, and Gray called out, "It's unlocked..."
In came Mirajane and Lisanna, both of them completely out of breath. Everyone was surprised to see them- they're usually too busy with work to show up to one of these groups- and for some reason, Mirajane looked completely over-dressed.
"Sorry we're late," She smiled, "We ended up working the opening shift today, did we miss anything?"
"No, we're just getting started," Erza looked a mix of suspicious and exasperated, "But is there a reason why you're dressed like that?"
"What? What's wrong with how I'm dressed?" Not only were her bangs down- a very rare sight- but she wore a skin tight latex dress that barely covered her chest, and matching stilettos that would be impossible to walk in had they'd been worn by anyone else.
"I tried to tell her..." Lisanna giggled under her breath, but held her tongue when her sister glanced at her.
"Nothing's wrong with it, you look hot, Mirajane," Loke gave her a thumbs up, but she paid him no mind.
"I just threw something on, really. I hope it doesn't offend you, Erza~"
Erza stared at her for a minute, and then rolled her eyes, "Anyways, Gray here was just talking about his upcoming biology exam-"
"Oh, bio's my major, I'm pretty good at it. I bet I could help you," Lisanna eased in beside Gray and quickly got started, while Mirajane stayed where she stood in front of the door.
She scanned the little living room until she and Cana locked eyes, and then she "adjusted" the bust of her top before sending her a wink when she caught the blush on the brunette's face.
Cana tried to keep it together as much as she could, but she felt like she'd just faint from the way Mira licked her lips. Sparing her, the vixen took herself over to the kitchen to give Natsu some company, which had Cana sighing in relief.
She turned to her side to see Loke staring at her, and she fought the urge to punch him. "What are you looking at?"
"You," He glanced back at Mirajane and then at Cana's annoyed glare, "I saw that."
"Saw what?"
"You two were totally checking each other out..."
"Oh please, don't joke like that," Cana tried to play it cool, leaning back on the couch, "She just looks fine in that dress, I doubt she noticed me staring."
"Nah, her eyes were screaming for you~"
She tried her best to not show how much his teasing was getting to her, but he was relentless.
"You guys are fucking or something, aren't you? Is that why you haven't been wanting to see me lately? I honestly wouldn't even be mad, she's hot as fuck."
Now Cana felt like she'd just explode, so without another word, she got up and sat on the floor where Levy and Lucy were, leaving Loke a bit suspicious.
As per usual with these groups, none of them seemed too focused on actually studying, but that was okay. All she needed was a distraction.
Only, she had to bite back a groan when she realized exactly what the girls were talking about.
"So, Lu, Loke gave you a necklace, hm?" Levy wiggled her eyebrows, Lucy laughing in response,
"Yeah, this is, like, the 20th piece of jewelry he's given me. I don't know why he keeps doing it."
"Because he likes you," Juvia said matter-of-factly as she tied off one of the braids in the blonde's hair.
"Well yeah, I know that. But he knows I don't like him. I asked him about it once and he claimed it was just a friendly gesture, but we all know that it's not."
Cana rolled her eyes, butting in even though it didn't seem like the others noticed she'd been listening, "Loke's just an idiot, he thinks he still has a chance."
Everyone turned to her, and Lucy clicked her tongue in thought. She looked past Cana at the overly-persistent man in question, who was only sitting a few feet away. "Loke, come here."
The girls went silent when Loke got up and sat on Lucy's other side, anticipating what was to come. She held him by the shoulder and smiled at him, her tone contradicting her sweet face, "You're a bit of a hopeless romantic, aren't you?"
"...Hopeless?" He brushed her loose hairs through his fingers, earning a glare from Juvia.
"Loke, I consider you a very good friend, you know that?"
"I'd hope so..."
"Mhm, but I can't return your feelings for me."
"...I know," He smiled sadly, "Did you call me over here just to tell me that?"
"Actually, I have some news. For all of you," Now Lucy began to blush, and she hugged herself, "Natsu and I... We made it official."
"W-what?" Loke was flabbergasted, but he was drowned out by everyone else's excitement,
"What!?" Juvia gasped, gaining the attention of everyone in the living room.
"Congrats, Lu," Levy gave her a nice big hug, "I'm so happy for you! Only you could sway the heart of a no-romance guy like Natsu~"
"Hang on, this makes no sense!" Loke refused to go ignored right now, "When did this happen!?"
"About a week ago," Lucy was giggling proudly, which was just fuel to the fire.
"Wha- Why!?"
"Because we wanted to." That got Loke's eye to twitch, but she cut him off before he could say anything else, "Listen, I'm telling you this to give you a heads up. You can't keep flirting with me."
Loke didn't look happy at all, in fact, he looked pissed, but he didn't say anything more to her. When he was done staring angrily at Lucy's face, he looked over at Cana, who didn't seem bothered or surprised or upset whatsoever.
"Did you know about this?"
It was clear that he was talking to her, but Cana couldn't be sure of what she should say, if anything. She only partly knew, Natsu made it clear that he was going to ask Lucy out, but she'd never followed up with him to know how it went.
And not only that, but she was genuinely surprised with herself for the fact that hearing Lucy confirm this didn't really make her feel bad at all. Honestly, she just felt indifferent about it.
"I dunno, not really."
That wasn't a confident answer, and Loke could only groan, "I have to use the restroom..."
As soon as he got up and left, Levy nudged Lucy's arm, "Wow, that was pretty bold dropping that bomb on him like that."
"Was it?" Lucy was completely unbothered, staring blankly at the pendant around her neck.
"Just a tiny bit," Juvia found the romance drama a little humorous, grinning to herself as she thought about it, "He is very much in love with you, Juvia doubts this alone will help him to move on."
"He'll get over it."
"I hope so, I don't feel like hearing him cry about this..." Cana grumbled, she knew she'd be the first to hear him vent about all of this soon enough.
"Oh, Cana, I should've told you first," Now Lucy cared, she started to feel a little cruel with how she came out with it so suddenly.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
It wasn't clear if she was pretending to not be bothered in order to keep her feelings a secret from the other girls, or if she's actually feeling okay with the news, but Lucy didn't want to dwell on it if Cana wouldn't make it a big deal. "Well... I just thought you'd like to know first."
"Nah, it's cool. But seriously, I'm gonna have to be that loser's personal therapist for probably the next month or two."
"Sorry," Although Cana wasn't really joking, Lucy started to laugh softly.
"Ladies," Suddenly, Erza was standing before them, her fierce stare having them all frozen in their spots, "What are you all talking about?"
"Uh..." They all looked amongst each other, Levy taking one for the team and shrugging, "...Nothing?"
"I'd advise you all to take advantage of this opportunity to brush up on your academics with your peers, rather than talking about 'nothing.' Surely at least one of you could use a bit of extra studying assistance."
"Oh, don't be such a party pooper," Mirajane sauntered into the living room, Natsu trailing behind her, "Things are just getting good."
"What?"
Mira didn't need to elaborate, simply pointing at where Lucy met Natsu halfway and he pulled her in close, toying with the twin braids in her hair.
They were all over each other, paying no mind to anyone that might've been watching them. "Are you done? What'd you make?" Lucy traced his features with her finger, making it nearly impossible for him to focus on her question.
"Ah, just some sliders... We got some chips and soda from the store, help yourself."
"...And pickles?"
He squeezed her waist, bringing her even closer and earning a flustered giggle. "Yes, I got you plenty of pickles for you, honeybee."
"Thank you~"
Erza gaped at them, and she wasn't the only one who was surprised to see them this close.
"Okay, what the fuck?" Gray had kept quiet long enough, "Are you two a thing or something?"
"Shhhhh, this is so cute!" Lisanna tried to stop him from interrupting, but the damage had been done.
Natsu scoffed and rolled his eyes, leaving Lucy's side to return to the kitchen, "Whatever, the food's done."
Lucy just couldn't stop laughing, unable to shake the giddy feelings she held inside. Everyone gathered into the kitchen, ignoring how cramped it was in favor of getting something to eat.
As much as he wanted to sit beside her, Natsu stood away from Lucy so she could mingle with her friends- that is the whole reason why they decided to come here today.
Gray stood next to him, crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. He was definitely expecting answers.
"Fuck off, bro."
"C'mon, I gotta know what's going on between you two. It's getting weird."
He had no reason to keep it a secret, Natsu was only trying to keep from making this day about him and his relationship. "I asked Lucy out last week."
"Woah, really?"
"Yeah, and we're dating now."
"Oh... Well, good for you guys. It was about time."
"Stuff between us was just kinda... complicated, alright?"
"I don't see why. You guys could've easily been friends with benefits or something since the beginning, I think you two just overthink about it too much."
"Lucy's not that... straight forward..." Natsu smiled at the sight of his girlfriend whispering something with their friends, "She doesn't want to have sex yet, anyway."
"...She doesn't? Wait, you two have been living together this whole time and haven't fucked yet? I thought being pregnant makes people super horny or something."
"No, she was mostly sick and sad for the first trimester. We got closer but I know she's not ready for sex yet, and I'm not gonna pressure her into it."
"Well good luck. I wonder how long she'll put up with you before you annoy her to death."
"...Shut up."
"So you guys have been dating for a whole week!?" Lisanna gasped, looking back and forth between the new couple and then turning to glare at her sister, "You knew, didn't you?"
"Of course I did," Mirajane's sweet smile hadn't left her face, "Cana and I helped him a little bit, but the charm was all his."
"Wait, so how did he ask you, Lu?"
Everyone was at the edge of their seats, Lucy was a bit flustered from the attention, "Oh, um, well he was planning on making it super romantic for me, but I kinda ruined it by being too nosy. We ended up just talking together under the stars, and then we slept together.
"Woah..."
The others were all red-faced, and she caught her slip-up a little late, "Wait, no, we didn't sleep together, we fell asleep in front of the window."
"Oh..."
"Yeah, we totally haven't gotten that far yet, heh."
"Uh, yes you have," Juvia tilted her head and pointed at the blonde's growing belly, causing her to hug herself,
"I-I mean, not really... I don't even remember the night we 'met'... I still haven't had my real first time. Natsu doesn't seem bothered by it, at least from what I can see."
"You two are just adorable," Mirajane got up from the table and made her way towards Natsu and Gray, leaving the girls staring at her in confusion.
Cana narrowed her eyes at her, usually Mira would love to hear about the status of someone's relationship, but she felt like she should know better than to try to decipher that vixen's actions by now.
"I am proud of you for not being pressured to cross that boundary when you are not ready," Erza brought the conversation back on topic, "You have a very strong will."
"Actually..." Lucy nervously rubbed at her arm, "I really want to, I've been dying to finally have sex with him... I'm just terrified."
"Aw, really? Natsu's very sweet, I'm sure he won't do anything to upset you," Lisanna gave her a comforting pat on the back, but Lucy only laughed it off,
"I know, I trust him, it's just..." With a bite to her lip, she looked downward, "...What if it's bad..? Or, what if I'm not up to his standards? Ugh..."
"What?" Cana barked out a laugh, "Then in that case, you'd do what a healthy couple would and communicate it. The first time is never perfect, don't have high standards."
"Gray and Juvia's first time was perfect," Juvia gushed, earning a few sighs.
"Well, my first time with Gajeel was far from perfect. I was pretty scared too, but then I realized I was just overthinking about it. A nice conversation about your likes and dislike before you guys actually take that step should help," Levy chirped, though Lucy still looked nervous.
"I know... But I feel like it'd be kinda awkward to talk about it, it's not something I'm usually comfortable with mentioning."
"True, but you're gonna have to have lots of awkward conversations if you want your relationship to work."
She had a good point, and as much as Lucy understood Levy's advice, she was still dreading actually going through with it. But she couldn't keep denying how much she wanted to do this, so she had to suck it up.
Her eyes trailed over to Lisanna, and after mulling it over in her head for a few seconds, she found the courage to ask, "Hey Lis... can I ask you a... personal question?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"You told me your first time was with Natsu... How was it?"
"Ah, yes, that," Lisanna laughed, thankful that her sister wasn't sitting amongst them right now, "Well... It was extremely chaotic."
"I-it was..?"
"Yeah, well, he was experienced and I wasn't. At the time I was so scared of not pleasing him, I let him lead it completely. It wasn't bad, there were times when he was too rough but he eased up when I asked him to... I'm just not sure if I liked it as much as I liked him."
Lucy's eyes were glazed over at this point, and Lisanna laughed again, "Hey, we had no idea what we were doing then. Natsu's learned a lot and I'm sure he worries about making it perfect for you just as much as you do."
Lucy nodded quietly, slowly but surely taking it all in. Watching her eyes go in and out of focus made Cana uneasy, and although she felt a rush of confusing emotions upon thinking about Lucy sleeping with someone, she didn't like seeing her be so unsure.
"You know..." She stood up and grabbed both of the blonde's shoulders from behind, leaning into her ear to whisper, "The best way to go about it, in my experience, is to just rip the bandaid off. Stop anticipating it and just go with the flow, make it a spur of the moment sorta thing, that way you won't give yourself any time to panic or overthink."
Lucy slightly turned to look at her, studying her face from this close distance, "...I'll keep that in mind."
"Good, now I'm gonna go check on Loke. He's probably dead or something."
"Oh, right, if he's still alive, tell him to come here. I still have some stuff to say to him."
"Ooh~ Are you gonna cuss him out?"
"Of course not, silly, but if I want him and Natsu to be civil, I have to establish some boundaries."
"True, Natsu can be a savage beast at times."
They both turned to look at the pink-haired man in question, who turned away from his conversation with Mira and Gray so he could wave happily when he noticed Lucy's gaze.
"...Yeah, definitely a savage beast right there."