Jealousy
Natsu tapped his fingers against the bar table, his irritation growing with each passing second. He'd never been so annoyed his whole life. He wasn't one to get jealous, but…justlook at him. Sitting there with his arm draped over Lucy's shoulders. The air around him was so intense and dark, even Happy chose to give him some space. Mira observed from the sidelines as Natsu glared at Lucy's new boyfriend from across the room. She felt bad for the young fire wizard, but she couldn't help but feel giddy at his obvious jealousy. She'd always thought Natsu and Lucy would make a good couple, and she knew about the dragon slayer's growing feelings for the celestial wizard. It was bittersweet in Mira's eyes to see him so angry about Lucy's relationship.
If Natsu's mood could've darkened even more, it did when Gray sat down next to him. "What's with you, flame brain?" he asked. Natsu glanced at him before refocusing his attention on the couple across the room. Gray followed his gaze and nodded. "You snooze, you lose, slanty eyes."
Natsu glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean, frost bite?" he snapped. The ice wizard shrugged.
"You had your chance, Natsu, and you lost it. That's all I'm saying." Natsu growled in the back of his throat and looked back at Lucy and her…boyfriend. That word left a bad taste in his mouth.
"I don't know why I'm so pissed," he said softly. "She's my friend."
"Welcome to the wonderful land of jealousy," said Gray. "For the price of admission, you get a splitting headache, a nearly irresistible urge to commit murder, and an inferiority complex. Yippee." On the last word, Gray unenthusiastically twirled his finger. Natsu was about to object, insist he isn't jealous, but what would be the point of lying? He was definitely jealous, it was obvious to everyone. He watched as her boyfriend leaned in to kiss her, feeling his blood boil within him. He must've been radiating heat, because Gray suddenly began to strip out of his clothes. "Shit, dude, calm down. You're suffocating me." Calm down? Calm down? How could he calm down? Some guy just kissed Lucy! HisLucy! Oh, even that man's own mother won't be able to recognize him by the time Natsu was finished with him.
"Mira," Natsu said sharply as he abruptly stood up.
"Y-yes?"
"I'm going home early today." He didn't give her a chance to respond. He was already away from the bar and stalking over to the main doors. As he left, he shot one last fiery glance at him. Mira and Gray watched with wide eyes as he left, slamming the doors behind him.
"Should one of us go see if he isn't planning on killing someone?" asked Mirajane, anxiety evident in her voice. Gray shrugged and turned back to her.
"Nah, he'll be fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. Natsu's crazy, but even he wouldn't kill a person over something so stupid." Mira nodded and handed the exhibitionist a drink. She decided to stop talking about it, she knew that to Natsu, this wasn't stupid. Someone had just kissed the girl that he's been in love with for ages. Oh, she prayed to Mavis he wouldn't do anything irrational.
For once, he didn't do anything irrational. In fact, he went home – like he said – and plopped face down into his couch. He groaned irritably into the cushion. Was he seriously moping? He was so peeved about Lucy's new boyfriend that he wasn't going to do anything but sit around at home and…mope? Would you just look at what this girl does to him? She turned Natsu Dragneel, the man that could take on anything that gets shoved his way, into the man that falls into depression after a battle he didn't even know he was fighting. Pathetic. Simply pathetic. He was ashamed of himself, yet he made no move to get up. He just sat there, wallowing in self-pity.
Well… Lucy had a boyfriend now. Might as well man the fuck up and get used to it.
Oh, it was torturous! After he knocked some sense(?) into himself a week ago, he'd forced himself to stay at the guild with…him. Every time he made Lucy laugh, he wanted to punch him in the face. Every time they hugged, he wanted to kick him in the balls. Oh, but every time they kissed…he wanted to castrate the bastard. He caught them making out once. After that, he felt like burning the man's entire being into ash. He didn't how much longer he would be able to keep this up. It was breaking his heart a little more each time he saw them together, and he could feel himself easing closer to the point of actually hurting the man. And even though he wanted to, he didn't want Lucy to hate him, and he knew she would if he was to do anything to get in between her and her boyfriend. He wouldn't allow something to get in the way of their friendship.
Natsu sighed heavily as he stared into his drink. He was tired for some unknown reason. He rested his head on his forearms and closed his eyes, his thoughts focused on the coolness of the bar table. He started slightly when he felt someone poking his shoulder. He lazily lifted his head, his eyes meeting those entrancing brown ones he loved so much. "Hi!" she greeted cheerfully, sitting down next to him.
"Hey, Luce," he said back, trying to rid the drowsiness from his voice as he straightened himself somewhat. He couldn't help but grin at the cute expression she made, her eyebrows furrowing and her lips perching slightly.
"What's wrong, Natsu? You seem tired."
He shrugged. "Maybe I am."
"Why're you tired? The sun isn't even setting yet." She didn't let him answer. "Anyway, I thought I'd come hang out with you for a while. We haven't talked much in the past week." Natsu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. I wonder why. "So how've you been?"
He shrugged again. "Eh, I've been better."
"Really? How come? Is there something on your mind?" Natsu smiled at her, happy that she cared about him.
"Nah, it's nothing." His heart pounded when she touched his arm. What the—Why is my heart beating so fast?
"Natsu, please don't lie to me. What's wrong?"
He glanced at her with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Really, Luce. It's nothing." She held his gaze, pleading for him to talk to her. She wanted to help, but she couldn't if she didn't know what was wrong.
"Natsu…"
"Hey, luv!" Natsu turned away, this time letting himself roll his eyes. Here we go. He tuned out their conversation, taking a sip of his drink. He spared a glance at Lucy, and he was surprised to see her looking at him rather than her boyfriend. Her usually bright and cheerful eyes were now dark with sadness. He looked away. He hated seeing that look in her eyes, and knowing he was the cause made the knot in his stomach worse. "What're you looking at?" he heard her boyfriend ask, and he could sense him turn to look at him. "Oh, hey, Salamander!" he said happily, placing a hand on his shoulder. Natsu increased his body temperature immediately, causing the boy to quickly retract his hand. "You're, uh…a little warm there, buddy."
I'm not your buddy, was what he wanted to say, but for Lucy's sake, he said "Yeah. That happens."
"Oh. Sorry, were you and Lucy talking?"
Lucy piped up. "Actually, we—"
"No." The dragon slayer stood up turned to leave. "I was just leaving." He made a move to call for Happy, but he saw that his feline companion was in the middle of a conversation with Wendy and Charle. So he let it go and made his way to the doors by himself.
"Natsu, wait." He pretended not to hear her and pushed through the doors.
He was at the park, his back up against the tree and his eyes closed. He wasn't thinking of anything in particular, well…other than how he felt a little bad about leaving the guild like that. He didn't mean to hurt Lucy's feelings – he assumed that he did, anyway – he just really didn't want to listen to that man's voice more than he had to. He was perfectly content to be listening to the faint sounds of people talking and laughing, the birds singing in the tree above him, the sound the leaves made as the wind wisped through the branches. He acknowledged the sounds of approaching footsteps in the grass, but didn't open his eyes. He knew who it was. His heightened sense of smell never failed him. "Why'd you follow me?" he asked softly.
"Because we weren't finished talking," she said back. He sensed her sitting down next to him. "You never told me what was wrong." He opened his eyes to look at her.
"I appreciate your concern, Luce, but seriously. Don't worry about me." He didn't want to say this, but he wanted her to think his feelings about her having a boyfriend were indifferent. But at the same time, he didn't want to convince her to leave. This is the first time the two of them had been alone to talk in a little over a week. "Go back to the guild. You have a boyfriend to attend to."
A hint of a smile pulled at her lips. "Not anymore." Natsu furrowed his brows in confusion. "I broke up with him."
"What? Why? What happened?" he asked, trying to sound concerned. But his happiness still managed to show through his façade. Lucy tried to stifle a laugh, but just like him, she failed to do so.
"He talks too much."
Natsu snorted. "You broke up with him because he talks too much?"
"I know, it's a selfish reason to break up with someone, but he just doesn't shut up!" He knew he shouldn't laugh, but he couldn't keep himself from doing so. He let out the first genuine laugh since she got together with that man. Lucy laughed as well, leaning against him. Oh, he missed this. He missed being able to talk to her. As their laughter died down, she rested her head on his shoulder. "Actually, I didn't break up with him because he talked too much."
Natsu lifted an eyebrow. "Then why did you?"
She didn't answer his question. "I asked Mira if she knew anything about why you've been acting so weird lately."
The dragon slayer froze. "And…what did she tell you?"
Lucy sat up and looked at him with a smug grin. "She told me it was because you were jealous." Her grin broadened when his cheeks flushed to a bright red. "Just kidding. She told me she didn't know. But that's why, huh? You were jealous?" Natsu scoffed and turned away.
"You wish."
"Aw, are you embarrassed?" she teased, poking his arm. Her only reply was another scoff. She giggled. "I didn't know your simple mind was able to process such profound feelings."
"Are you calling me stupid?" he snapped, his blush becoming more defined as he turned to look at her.
"Not stupid. Just dense." He scoffed once more and turned away from her, folding his arms. She giggled and laced her arms around his bicep, leaning her head against his shoulder. He was so cute when he was embarrassed. In fact, she was going to tell him that just to embarrass him even further. "You know something, Natsu?" He looked down at her through the corner of his eyes. "You're cute when you're embarrassed." And then he looked away again, lifting a hand to cover his crimson face with his scarf. She laughed lightly and lifted a hand and pulled it back down, and then she placed a gently kiss on his cheek. He blinked and the "angry" look on his face vanished. Did Lucy just…kiss him? Granted, it was on the cheek, but he still accepted it as a kiss. Stunned, he turned to look at her.
"Luce—" He was cut off as she pressed her lips to his without warning. His eyes widened and a small noise of surprise hummed in the back of his throat. Much to quickly for his liking, she pulled away. Without saying anything, she placed her head back on his shoulder, leaving him frozen in his place. After a couple of moments of processing what just happened, he leaned his head on top of hers.
This was definitely not the way he imagined this day would end.
Author's Note: I have no idea where this came from. I just got onto my computer and it was like a light bulb flashed above my head. Not my best work, I'll admit.
Cover photo belongs to Komodo92Tenbinza on deviantART.