Hey guys! Here's a NaLu oneshot, and of course I included some GrayZa. :3 Inspired by Taylor Swift's song "Story of Us." Read and Review!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Lucy looked at herself in the full length mirror. She straightened out the skirt of her light coral gown. The gown was single strapped, the strap and border was cinched and lined with small diamonds. She fixed her softly-curled hair, making sure nothing was out of place. She looked very put together, but she felt the complete opposite inside.
"Lucy, are you almost done? Gray said we should be there at around 7, and it's already 6:48." Erza called from downstairs. "Yeah, I'm almost ready!" Lucy called back. She walked over to her bed and threw herself on it. I'm not ready…not ready to see him. she thought.
This whole thing had started three months ago, when Lucy and Natsu broke up. Their relationship was really good, especially because they were best friends first.
During their relationship, Lucy always dreamt of telling everyone how she met Natsu, with the fluttering heartbeats, fireworks; the whole shebang. And then everyone would say how perfect they were together, and how lucky they were.
At the same time, Natsu knew that Lucy was very attractive. And with great attractiveness came LOTS of suitors. Lucy knew he could tell that most were just stalker-fanboys, but there was one that stood out more than the others.
Lucy flipped over to lie on her back.
His name was Keisuke. Lucy had taken a writing class in hopes to improve her novel, and had met Keisuke there. He was a nice person, and very helpful. However, his helpfulness had soon turned into infatuation for Lucy. He constantly came to see her no matter where. Unfortunately, Natsu had always seen them together at the wrong times, and he always got the wrong idea.
She and Natsu had talked about it once, and that one time was enough. Lucy constantly told Keisuke after that Natsu was her boyfriend, but he seemed to completely ignore that fact. Then at Lucy's New Year party (which Keisuke wasn't invited to), Keisuke showed up. Lucy had pulled him aside to yell at him, but at that exact moment Natsu had walked in and saw them. After that, he walked out, ignoring Lucy's pleads.
Lucy could still see the hurt and disbelief on Natsu's face as if it happened yesterday.
Since then, she and Natsu didn't make contact at all. She'd hang out at the guild, hoping to see him walk through the doors, but everyone told her that he was taking back-to-back missions, rarely stopping at the guild.
Lucy put her hands over her face and groaned in annoyance. It had been three months. Natsu seemed to have moved on, so why hasn't she?
"Lucy, it's already 7:05! We have to go, and—" Erza stopped at the doorway and looked in the room. "Hey, are you alright?!" the redhead gasped and ran to the end of the bed when she saw Lucy's defeated position.
"What's wrong?" Erza demanded.
"It's…nothing." Lucy answered, her face still covered.
"You better tell me."
"I'm fine."
"Don't make me hit you."
Lucy immediately sat up straight, facing her friend. "That's more like it. So, what's your problem?" Erza asked.
"Well, I'm just nervous to see Natsu. It'll be the first time in a long time. And don't tell me that he won't be there, because it's Bisca's birthday party, and everyone in the guild is going." Lucy answered.
"Why don't you tell him that you still love him?"
Lucy laughed. "Erza, it's not that easy."
"Sure it is. You guys broke up with a simple miscommunication. What you have to do is make sure he knows how you're feeling."
"He thought I cheated on him with Keisuke! He won't listen!"
"Then make sure he does when you tell him exactly what happened." Erza decided. Lucy opened her mouth, and then closed it. "Yeah, you're right." she agreed. Erza smirked, "I know I am. So, are you ready?"
Lucy sighed, and then stood up. "I'm ready." she nodded, and followed Erza out.
I hope.
X-X-X-X-
They had arrived at the party. The hall was very crowded; everywhere Lucy looked there were people. "Jeez, I never realized how many people Alzack and Bisca knew…" the blonde remarked. Erza laughed, looking around the room as well. Just then, a familiar ice mage came into view.
"Erza! Lucy!" Gray greeted. He pushed past one last person, and then stopped in front of them. He was wearing a black tux with a white collar shirt buttoned all the way up, and a gold tie to top it off. Lucy stepped back to admire her friends' ensembles.
"Wow, you guys look amazing!" she remarked, staring at Gray's attire and Erza's elegant, gold halter dress. "It's like—" Lucy was saying, and then it hit her. "Oh my gosh. You guys coordinated your outfits." she realized. Gray just smiled, and Erza blushed. Lucy smirked. She loved teasing her two friends, especially now that they were dating each other.
The trio stood there, making small talk. Lucy was in the middle of telling a story, when Gray's eyes widened as he looked past her. Erza's widened as well. Lucy frowned, and turned around, and her jaw dropped.
"I'm all fired up! Who's ready to parrr-tay!" a voice shouted from the open door. "Aye!" a voice, Happy, chided. Natsu had arrived. "Wow…"Lucy breathed. She knew Natsu hated dressing formally, but when he did he looked jaw-dropping.
He was wearing a normal suit, but no tie, giving him a more "carefree" look. His collared shirt underneath was unbuttoned two buttons, and off centered perfectly. What hit Lucy the most was that his collared shirt was exactly the same shade of light coral as her dress. It wasn't too pink or clashed with his hair; it was just light enough to make it look stunning.
Gray waved Natsu over. The dragon slayer walked over and joined them, and his eyes widened when he saw Lucy. Lucy froze up. "So Lucy, continue your story!" Gray urged, completely oblivious to the blonde's current situation. Erza elbowed Gray. Natsu curiously looked at Lucy. Lucy gave Gray a blank stare. "Oh, nevermind." Gray covered, and turned to Natsu, "Did you pick that outfit yourself?" Erza, Gray, and Natsu continued talking while Lucy zoned out.
She awkwardly stood there, fiddling with her dress. Is this killing him like it's killing me? she wondered. She pretended to check her manicure, she twirled her necklace, picked off pieces of imaginary lint; anything to make her look busy. "So, Lucy, how have things been?" Gray asked. Lucy panicked. "Um, I, uh, well," she stammered, and was interrupted.
"Hello, everyone. We'll start cutting the cake now, so please take your seats at the tables!" Bisca's voice boomed throughout the room on the loudspeakers. Lucy let out a sigh of relief. Saved by the cake. she thought, and walked with the crowd to the tables.
Long, white tables were linked together, forming a large rectangle. Sitting at the head table were Bisca, Alzack, and their relatives. Lots of fairy tail members were seated on the other sides. There was a seat for every person that was there.
Gray and Erza took their seats next to each other. Lucy took one of the two empty seats next to Erza, and breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully that will be my only run-in with Natsu tonight. she thought.
"Hey, is there another seat?" It was Natsu, on the other side of the table-rectangle, asking a waiter. "Yes, sir, right there, next to the lady with the pink dress." the waiter answered. Lucy realized that they were pointing to the empty chair…RIGHT NEXT TO HER.
Natsu nodded, but then saw Lucy there. He quickly whispered something to the waiter. The waiter gave him a strange look, left, and then came back with another chair. Natsu squeezed his chair between Gajeel and Levy on the other side. He sure is doing his best to avoid me… Lucy thought sadly.
After all the birthday speeches, singing, and cake eating, they released the guests to socialize again. Lucy finally found a quiet corner. It seemed to be the only empty part in the whole room. She was standing next to the decorative trees, sipping from a punch glass and observing the socialization around her. She almost didn't notice the old man that walked up to her and said, "Hello, Lucy!"
She snapped out of her daze. "Mr. Miyamoto! Hi!" she greeted, recognizing her writing teacher. The two engaged in small talk, when Mr. M. turned around and saw someone he recognized. "Oh, Lucy, I have someone for you to meet! You both share the same enthusiasm, and I think you'd both get along very well!" he said. "Oh! Okay!" Lucy answered, slightly surprised.
Mr. M. turned around and grabbed an arm. Lucy couldn't see for a split second, because of a wave of waiters walked in front of her. Mr. M. came back, holding the arm of the person. "Here he is!" he announced. The person turned around.
Lucy gasped. It took almost everything she had to keep from dropping her glass. In front of her was Natsu. He stared back at her, just as dumbfounded. "Lucy, this is Natsu Dragneel, and Natsu, this is Lucy Heartfilia! You two are so alike in personality, I'd think you'd get along very well!" the old man introduced. He then realized their dumbfounded reactions. "Oh, do you two know each other?" he asked, curious.
"Well—we, um—" Lucy stammered, but Mr. Miyamoto waved her off. "It's alright, I don't need to know the affairs of you young people." he spoke with a smirk. Lucy and Natsu both blushed hotly, still avoiding each other's gazes. Mr. M. cleared his throat. "So, Lucy, how is your novel going?" She smiled, knowing this was something she could answer.
"It's going well! I'm suffering some writer's block right now, but it usually moves on quickly." she answered. "Like some people…" Natsu muttered. Lucy frowned at him. Did he just say that?! Since when was he so rude?! she thought. "Did you say something, Natsu? I couldn't hear it; these damned hearing aids…" Mr. M. asked.
"It's alright, Mr. M., don't blame the hearing aids. Some brands have a glitzy front to make you buy them. Then they'll be going well for about six months before they start wearing out, till they finally let you down." Natsu assured him, glaring at Lucy the whole time.
"Oh, is that so? Perhaps I should switch brands." Mr. M. pondered.
"Oh Mr. Miyamoto, that won't be necessary. Sometimes you have to stay with the brand long enough to make a decision." Lucy answered, glaring at Natsu.
"That's a good point!" Mr. M. commented.
"Yeah, but with some you can tell from the start that you need to change it." Natsu countered. Lucy scoffed. "That's a good point too!" Mr. M. agreed.
"But that would be judging it before you understood the whole story. You have to gain some background knowledge to fully understand what it's going through." Lucy said.
"Fufufu, you're right!" Mr. M. laughed.
"Yeah, but you can't stick around for the whole story when you realize you've been dealing with a fake one for so long. You just gotta leave it, and hope it'll fix itself." Natsu glowered. Lucy's expression darkened.
"Another good point!" Mr. M. said.
"Fix itself? You can't expect that when you were the one that left, and didn't understand the full story. It may have been a complete misunderstanding, like DEALING WITH AN UNWANTED STALKER." Lucy answered, emphasizing each syllable on her last five words.
"Hm, true, true! Understanding is important, and…wait, unwanted stalker?" Mr. M. was saying, and then realized that the whole conversation had nothing to do with hearing aids. He looked in fear at the now-heated conversation between the two people in front of him, who were getting closer to each other with every insult.
"An unwanted stalker, you say?! That doesn't even cut it! If he was an 'unwanted stalker,' you obviously didn't make it clear that he was 'unwanted!'" Natsu shouted.
"I didn't make it clear?! Excuse me, Mr. Judgmental, but I did everything I could. Maybe you could've stepped in and, y'know, made him leave?!" Lucy shouted back.
A crowd had gathered around the two. Gray and Erza had finally made it to the front of the crowd. Erza took a step forward, hoping to break up the fight, but Gray held her back. "Let them settle this." he told her. Erza nodded, and stood back with her boyfriend.
"Lucy, this was different! You obviously enjoyed spending time with him, and it was obvious that you were seeing him while you were with me! I still can't believe you!" Natsu shouted.
"Natsu, how could you throw an accusation like that?! It's just-" Lucy was in the middle of saying, but something choked up inside her.
Their argument was a contest of "who to put the blame on," and they were going in circles. Who am I to say all these horrible things to someone I still love? Lucy realized. Her moment of silence opened some realization to Natsu as well.
"We're arguing…and just going in circles." Natsu murmured, but loud enough for Lucy to hear.
"I know we're still confused, but…I liked it better when you were on my side." Lucy admitted shyly.
"Yeah, and…you know, I'd rather love…than fight." Natsu whispered. He gave her a smile, one that warmed her heart.
"I'll admit it, I should have made it clearer to him that I was with you." Lucy admitted.
"And I should have defended you and listened to your story, instead of leaving you with mine." Natsu apologized.
"Natsu, I…I've missed you." Lucy suddenly confessed. She looked down at the ground, now embarrassed, because her statement was met with nothing.
Just when she was about to break down in rejection, a hand tilted her chin up. She looked into Natsu's eyes. "Luce…miss doesn't begin to describe it." he told her. She almost passed out as she felt his warm lips brush hers. The room erupted into applause and cheers. "I knew they would get along!" Mr. Miyamoto cheered.
"Now, let's eat!" Natsu declared, his arm around Lucy. Everyone went back to the party, and Lucy watched Natsu as he and Happy ate their heart's content.
Here she was, at the same party, except she was right where she was supposed to be: by Natsu's side. Their story had ups and downs, and it had finally come to the happy ending.
To be continued…she thought with a smile, before partaking in their mini-feast.