Natsu walked into his kitchen after getting home from soccer practice to a familiar sight. Lucy, with her blonde hair up in a ponytail that reached past her hips, stood by the stove, a smile on her face. To her left, seated at the kitchen table, was Igneel, laughing at whatever they'd been talking about.
Smiling, Natsu walked further into the kitchen, plopping his bag down on the seat across from his father. He'd never admit it out loud, but this was where he felt the most relaxed: at home, with Lucy and his dad. Of course, he'd love it if his brother was with them too, but since he was away studying, Zeref wasn't around much.
"Hey, Lucy. Sup dad," Natsu greeted, crossing his arms as he smiled at the two.
"Hey Natsu!" Lucy replied happily, turning slightly to smile at him over her shoulder, still stirring the pot on the stove.
"Jeez, old man. I leave you alone with my best friend just while I'm at practice and you've got her slaving over our stove?" Natsu playfully accused. Lucy laughed while Igneel put his hands up in defense.
"Totally not my fault! I was ready to make dinner, I even offered to help once she said she wanted to. She wouldn't let me! She's the bad guy here, not me," Igneel said, making a show of trying to subtly point at Lucy for emphasis. Natsu turned an amused grin to Lucy as she spoke in response.
"Hey, you work too hard! Seriously, you run your own company and then you have to come home and take care of two boys. The least I can do is give you a break and make dinner for you," Lucy said, turning the pot on low and putting a lid over it. She turned around and took a seat next to a grateful Igneel at the table.
"Thank you, Lucy. I know I ask this all the time, but can I adopt you? Really. Lord knows neither of my boys would ever offer to make dinner," he said, pointedly staring Natsu down, earning another laugh from Lucy.
"Hey, I offer to put money up for pizza all the time," Natsu said, shrugging off the intended insult. Lucy rolled her eyes, looking to Igneel who only inhaled deeply as a response.
"I don't know where I went wrong with him," Igneel stated in all seriousness. Natsu frowned as Lucy giggled, and picked up his bag to chuck it across the table at his father.
"Jerk," he muttered, watching Igneel laugh and push the bag aside.
"So, what are we doing tonight?" Lucy asked after Igneel's laughter died out. She glanced between both males around her, which made Natsu fill with a feeling close to happiness. He loved this about Lucy. She was so family oriented, maybe because she didn't have much of a family herself. Regardless of the reason, Natsu loved her for it. The best times of his life were spent with her and Igneel. And, on occasion, Zeref too. Lucy just fit in with them. She was part of his family.
"Well whatever it is, you two will be doing it on your own. I'm hanging out with Grandeeney tonight," Igneel stated, leaning back in his chair. His expression didn't change at all while he spoke, but that didn't stop Lucy and Natsu from attacking.
"Ooohh, Grandeeeeeney," Lucy purred, leaning forward towards Igneel. Her elbow was bent, leaning on the tabletop with her hand cupping her face as she grinned at the older man.
Igneel blinked in response. "Uh, yeah. What about her?"
"You liiiiike her," Natsu teased, making his voice high pitched as he spoke. Lucy laughed at the facial expression Natsu got from his father in response.
"It's really not like that. We're just two adults, hanging out, being friends." Igneel shrugged when he finished speaking, and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Uh huh, two adult single parents. Come on, Igneel. You guys are always together. Tell us what's really going on between you," Lucy reasoned, crossing her arms challengingly in return.
Natsu smirked at Lucy before looking back towards his father, waiting to see how he'd react. Natsu had known Grandeeney for a long time now, and her daughter, Wendy, was like a little sister to him at this point. She often times hung out with him and his friends. It was like she and Grandeeney were already family, and Natsu decided he liked the idea of making it official.
"Oh yeah? How about you tell me what's really going on between you and Natsu, first?" Igneel shot back, his eyes sparkling a little when Lucy immediately started to blush.
"W-what?!" she squeaked, arms falling to her sides in shock. Natsu couldn't say he was looking any different. His mouth was hanging open and he was sure his eyes were going to fall right out of his skull. What was going on between him and Lucy? Nothing, that's what was going on, much to Natsu's deep disappointment. Lucy would always only see him as a friend.
"And that was me, changing the subject long enough to make my graceful exit," Igneel laughed, standing up from his seat. He started to walk out of the kitchen as he spoke. "I'm going to go shower so I don't smell like my office. I'll be back down before dinner. Remember, it's fall break, so Zeref will be home tonight. I think he's bringing Mavis."
"The twelve year old lookin' blonde?" Natsu asked, sliding into the seat next to Lucy.
"Yep, so be nice. I'm leaving dinner to you, so don't burn the house down you two. And by 'you two' I mean you, Natsu. Seriously. Do not set anything on fire." Igneel's tone along with his stare made it clear that he was being serious, which made it seem all the more funny. Natsu couldn't blame Lucy for bursting out with laughter.
"I get it, just go shower, ya jerk! You smell," Natsu yelled, laughing around the words as he spoke them. Igneel gave him a fond smile before finally leaving the room.
"Should we set some plates for Zeref and Mavis?" Lucy asked as she started to put plates down on the small, round table in the Dragneel's kitchen.
"Nah, they won't be home til late. Zeref called like a half hour ago to tell us not to wait up for him. There seems to be a lot of traffic," Igneel said, shrugging without worry.
"Sweet!" Natsu yelled, throwing his fists up above his head in some unknown victory. "I get to eat their shares then!"
Natsu's smile only widened when Lucy rolled her eyes at him. She sat down at the table and started to serve herself before she spoke. "You eat like you've never known what it's like to have food. Seriously, where does it go? So unfair, if I break my diet just once my thighs start to look like baby whales," Lucy grumbled, frowning down at her plate.
"You know where it goes, Lucy. Straight to these guys," Natsu laughed, exaggeratedly flexing his biceps. He laughed harder when Lucy and Igneel shared an annoyed glance.
"You're ridiculous," Lucy muttered, although her cheeks looked to be a shade darker. But maybe Natsu was just imagining that.
A noise came from the porch before the front door opened, causing the trio to curiously glance at one another. Before they had much time to react, Zeref and Mavis joined them in the kitchen, crumpled up McDonald's bags in their hands.
"Hey dad, Natsu," Zeref nodded to them, before turning to smile at Lucy. "Hey, Lucy, I figured you'd be here." The older Dragneel brother only laughed in response to Lucy's instant blush.
"Hey, kid. I didn't expect you home for another couple of hours," Igneel said, a smile on his face as he quickly stood from his chair to give Zeref a hug.
"I know, but traffic cleared up sooner than I thought," the boy stated, shrugged once he was released from his father's embrace. "You remember Mavis don't you?" Zeref asked, eyeing his father's smile towards the girl.
"Of course I do! Welcome home, Mavis! You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need to."
As Mavis said her thank yous, Zeref turned towards Lucy with a grin on his face. "I don't think you've met her, Lucy. This is my girlfriend, Mavis," he said proudly, motioning towards the short blonde.
Before Lucy had time to respond, Natsu abruptly stood from his seat. "What?! You made it official?!" he yelled, earning a short "Yup" from his older brother. "I can't believe this!"
"I know, me either," Zeref said softly, looking towards Mavis with a dream like gaze. Her expression wasn't much different.
"No, stupid! I mean I can't believe you got a girlfriend before me!" Natsu shouted, causing everyone in the room to pause for a moment. Obviously, they weren't expecting something like that to come from Natsu.
"I'm older than you, doofus," Zeref countered, obviously taking offence to the statement. "This is normal."
"The hell it is! Nothing about you is normal. You're into black magic and stuff, who would want to be with someone like that?! Plus, I'm a lot nicer than you. I should have gotten a girlfriend before you. This sucks!"
"I have to agree, Natsu is more friendly than you," Mavis piped in with an innocent shrug. Zeref turned wide, accusing eyes her way.
"Mavis! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"Eeep!" the girl squeaked, obviously realizing her mistake. "Sorry! I forgot."
The Dragneel brothers groaned in union, and Igneel finally stepped in, effectively ending the conversation. "So, Mavis, you and Zeref must be hungry after that long ride. We haven't eaten dinner yet, would you care to join us?"
"I would love to, Mr. Dragneel, but Zeref and I already ate on our way home. We really didn't expect to be back this early. Your meal looks really delicious though, I wish I hadn't eaten," Mavis said wistfully, eyeing the food on the table with glossy eyes.
"I take no credit for it," Igneel said, putting his hand up. "Lucy played chef tonight."
"You made all this delicious looking food?" Mavis asked, looking at Lucy with wide eyes.
The younger blonde squirmed under her gaze, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. "Oh, it was nothing. I spend a lot of time with the cooks at my home so it's no trouble for me to just whip something up. Plus, Igneel works so hard, I wanted to give him a break."
"And that," Zeref sighed to Mavis, pausing in his speech to throw out their fast food bags, "Is why my father wants to sell Natsu and I to a circus and adopt Lucy."
"Can't say that I blame him," Mavis giggled, folding her hands behind her back while shooting Lucy a grin.
Ducking her head in embarrassment, Lucy looked at the ground and said, "Er, can we change the topic?"
Natsu couldn't help but smirk at that. He kicked Lucy's leg under the table and gave her a taunting stare, as if to say, "You brought this on yourself". He only got a scowl in response.
"Sure. Why don't you show Mavis to the guest room, Zeref? I'm sure you're both wanting some rest after that long ride," Igneel suggested. The two teenagers nodded gratefully at the idea before disappearing out of the room.
Igneel sighed once they were gone and retook his seat at the table. He and Lucy watched silently as Natsu piled his plate with food. When Lucy's upper lip began to curl in disgust, Igneel couldn't help himself, he burst right into laughter.
"What?" Natsu asked, finally looking up from his plate to see Lucy frowning down at her food.
"Nothing, just eat your food," his father answered, not before sharing a knowing look with the young blonde, however.
"Alright, I'm outta here. Enjoy your movie night," Igneel said, walking briskly towards the front door, keys already in hand.
From where he sat next to Mavis on the loveseat, Zeref frowned. "Where are you going?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly disappointed.
"He's got a date with Grandeeneeeyyy," Natsu cooed, earning a laugh from Lucy. She shifted in her seat next to him so that their shoulders were pressed together and Natsu stopped breathing for a moment.
"It's not a date," Igneel explained, rolling his eyes at the smirk Zeref was giving him. "Metalicana will be there too."
"Oi, old man! I didn't know you were into that," Natsu said, and the room erupted into soft laughter. Igneel wasn't laughing, though. Instead, he was giving Natsu a hard stare.
"And I didn't know virgins knew how to make jokes like that," he countered, making everyone laugh harder. When it was clear that Natsu wasn't going to try to make another comeback, Igneel went on to say, "It's no big deal. We're all just old friends, who like to get together and complain about our kids."
Natsu and Zeref instantly began to fake laugh at Igneel's last comment, which made the two blondes giggle in response. Igneel mock laughed back at them before quickly sobering up.
"Okay, I seriously gotta go or Grandeeney will talk my ear off for being late again." And with that, Igneel was out the door. A few moments later, the sound of his truck's engine revved and disappeared into the distance.
Natsu felt the sofa shift next to him as Lucy stood up, leaving the side of him cold where he'd been connected to her. "I should go, too, actually," she said, her tone slightly sad.
"Wait what? Why?" Natsu asked, grabbing her hand to pull her back to him. "The movie hasn't even started yet!"
"I know," Lucy sighed, pulling her hand out of his grip. There was a tiredness in her eyes that Natsu hadn't noticed before, and suddenly he felt bad for asking her to stay. "My dad hasn't been eating lately, and I want to be home to make sure he takes breaks from his work. I don't want him to get sick."
She didn't have to finish her statement for Natsu to understand what she meant. Don't want him to get sick like your mom, he thought, frowning. Natsu hadn't known Lucy when he'd lost her mom, but he knew her now, and he would do anything to make sure she never had to go through something like that again.
"Okay," he shrugged, standing up with her. "Just let me get my hoodie and I'll walk you home."
"Huh? You don't have to do that, the walk isn't long," Lucy said, speaking fast as she followed Natsu to his porch. She tugged on his arm, trying to get him to stop searching for his hoodie and return to his seat on the sofa. But it was no use.
"I know, which is why I don't mind walking it. Where the hell is this hoodie?!" Natsu mumbled to himself over Lucy's defeated sigh. Finally he saw the faded red material that Lucy had gotten him at the beach boardwalk two summers ago. It was his favorite hoodie, even though he never really needed to wear it.
"Why do you even want a hoodie? You never get cold," Lucy complained, looking away. It was one of those instances where Natsu couldn't tell if Lucy was blushing or not, so he decided to ignore it.
"Yeah," Natsu agreed before ungracefully shoving the hoodie over Lucy's head, successfully messing up her hair. "But you do. I don't want you to get cold while we walk."
"Thanks," Lucy whispered. And now she was definitely blushing.