In the end there was no melodramatic love confession, no "I love you"s, no roses, no plan. Just a simple understanding between two individuals and the overreaction of their friends.—nalu drabble

Warning: excessive use of italics

Disclaimer: (idek why I have to do this considering this is a fanfiction website but oh well.) I may be Asian but I'm not even a the slightest bit Japanese, nor am I a dude so yeah. Besides, if I did own Fairy Tail, LISANNA WOULD BE BISEXUAL AND HAVE A HUGE CRUSH ON LUCY THUS MAKING HER NATSU'S RIVAL SO THERE.

It's just so, so obvious and at the same time so completely out of the blue, no one expects it (but at the same time, they do.)

It begins with lingering touches and long looks and faint blushes and sweeter words. The handholding grows to never fade and the wistful gazes lose their shame. The blushes remain and the words are like saltwater taffy, sweet with an underlying sense of something else.

No one sees and yet everyone does. Their observance comes in the form of a scheming Mirajane and knowing smirks and frustrated sighs. Nudges and winks are thrown about the guild carelessly, almost too much, until the novelty wears off and Mira is reduced to an exasperated mess.

And then Evergreen notices that they're constantly touching and they seem to be acutely aware of this fact. Lisanna sighs, heart clenching and gut twisting, because she wanted to be where Natsu was, holding and laughing and smiling with the flaxen beauty. The smirks emerge and gossip arises because those two are the It-couple, with an indestructible bond and too much chemistry to bear. (Her feelings are written off, because if Lucy's happy so is she.)

Then when Natsu cries out Lucy's name in his nightmares, and Lucy can no longer sleep without him curled up by her side, all of Fairy Tail - especially Mira and Cana, the cheeky wenches - sits at the edge of their seats, waiting for them to blurt out their feelings (but really, they're all waiting for Natsu because Lucy's too proud and he's too open).

Instead, all they get is an exchanged glance - filled with electricity and sparks and love love love - and a smile.

"Natsu?" she says.

"I know," he says back.

(They're sure Mira is going to die of a heart attack because it's just so anticlimactic.)

(It turns out they've been dating for three years - but they don't find out until Lucy is kidnapped (again) and they all rush to beat the bloody moron to a pulp for taking her (again) and Natsu pulls her into a surprisingly practiced and passionate kiss.)

(In the end, they find out that that exchange was the Natsu-Lucy equivalent to those three little words, considerably less sappy, but just as meaningful.)

(Mira just about dies afterward, and Lisanna's there to burn the now useless plans.)

A short drabble on NaLu just knowing that they love each other because I'm infatuated with the idea of anticlimactic love confessions and slow acceptance of feelings and no need for flowery words and the clichéd "I love you."

I have never even had a legitimate crush on anyone before so please no judging.

Sorry for any grammar errors.

Word count: 338, oops