No More, No Less
Natsu and Happy had never been so quiet when they were sneaking in Lucy's apartment. That was usually because they were for certain that she wasn't there and it didn't matter. This time though, Natsu knew without a doubt she was around and that was why they had to be sneaky.
They lucked out by her not being in bed when they entered. Instead, she had fallen asleep over at her desk, no doubt writing a letter to her mother. Natsu smiled sadly at that before shaking his head and getting back to work. He and Happy had a job to do after all.
"Where do you think it is?" Natsu mumbled.
"Maybe it's still in her pocket?"
"Mmmm." He looked over at her, but she wasn't wearing what she had been that day. She had already changed for bed. "Does she have a dirty clothes hamper?"
"I dunno."
"Look in the bathroom. Maybe she dropped her pants in there."
"Aye, sir!"
"Shhh," Natsu shushed.
Happy giggled before nodding his head and whispering, "Aye, sir."
With that, the blue cat headed off to the bathroom to search out her clothing. Natsu, left alone in her room, stealthily headed over to the desk to see if maybe she had the piece of paper up there with her. All he saw though was a letter that she was writing. Without meaning to, he caught a few of the words there.
-gave me a slip of paper. I was so excited! No one has ever approached me like that before and-
He shook his head. It was private, after all. Just between her and, well, really just between Lucy, but her mother in spirit as well.
It had all happened earlier that day when he and Lucy were hanging out, walking around Magnolia after being at the guild had grown stale. While he and Happy were busy with something else (buy some food from a shop), he had seen Lucy talking to some guy who then gave her a piece of paper. Not just normal talking either. They both seemed excited. Rather too excited for Natsu's taste. That's why he and Happy had to get that sheet of paper. It was their job to protect not only Lucy, but all of them at all costs.
The next place he looked was her dresser, but it wasn't there either. He did find a container of that perfume that Lucy wore as well as some money. He figured he'd scold her later about not putting her money in a safe place. Just anyone could come into her apartment after all! He would know. He was one of those people.
"Found it, sir," Happy called happily to him as he came out of the bathroom. "It was in her pants, just like we thought."
Natsu turned then before glancing back at Lucy. She hadn't moved in the slightest. That was another thing he was going to have to go over with her. If just anyone could break in, anyone could harm her. She needed to be on her toes, even when she was asleep.
"Come on then, Happy," Natsu said, going back over to her window. "We got what we needed."
It wasn't until they were outside once more and walking down the street that Happy spoke up.
"Why did we do that again, Natsu?" Happy asked. "Because Lucy seemed really happy tonight when that guy gave her that slip of paper. I think-"
"Because, Happy," Natsu began, getting ready to repeat what he had already reiterated to the cat about a hundred times. "If Lucy goes out on a date with this guy, then what? Huh? She might like it. And then they might, you know, go out on even more dates."
"But if she likes it-"
"If she starts dating him or, worse, he becomes her boyfriend, then you know what's going to happen to you and me?"
"What?"
"She's going to cut us out of her life."
Happy frowned at that. "Lucy wouldn't do that! She-"
"She wouldn't be doing it on purpose, buddy, but she would. She'd start spending all her time with him and forget about us."
'We'd see her when we did jobs though, since she needs money for rent."
"No," Natsu said with a shake of his head. "She'd probably move in with that guy and then what? Huh? Then we've lost Lucy. And there's no way that I'm going on a job alone with Gray and Erza."
"Hmmm." Happy was still bothered by this though. "So what are we going to do? Stop Lucy from dating every guy ever?"
"Well, no. I mean, think about it, Happy. How many guys in this world really want to be with Lucy?"
"I'm guessing not a lot," the cat said with a nod of his head. "She's such a weirdo."
"Exactly," Natsu agreed. "So we're only gonna have to keep away a few guys. Not many. There probably won't be another after this one for, at least, another year."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"I still don't think it's fair to keep her from dating though, Natsu," Happy said. "What if she was, you know, really happy with some guy?"
"She'd only think that she was happy, little buddy," Natsu told him with absolute certainty. "She's only really happy with the two of us. Understand?"
"I guess so," Happy sighed. It just seemed like a lot of work, keeping Lucy from ever having a boyfriend. And kind of pointless. He didn't really see Lucy as ever abandoning them. But if Natsu thought so…well…he did know Lucy better than anyone.
Natsu only continued down the street, crumpling the paper Happy had handed him up and shoving it in his pocket. He'd toss it out when they got home, if he remembered.
"Job well done then, eh, Happy?" He asked, glancing down at the Exceed. Even though Happy nodded his head, he could tell that the cat was still troubled. Sighing he said, "Look, Lucy just isn't someone who can split up her time. I mean, look at that novel that she's been writing forever. If it wasn't for us, she'd be able to finish it. But instead she chooses us over working on it for the most part. It would be the same with us and a boyfriend. She'd choose us over him. Understand?"
That just made Happy even more depressed, as he realized then that not only were they keeping Lucy from finding a boyfriend, they were also keeping her from the joy of writing, which he thought she liked rather much.
Were they not just the worst friends ever?
When Happy and Natsu got to the guild that day, they found their whole team had gathered already. Lucy was in a state of panic however as she explained her current situation to Erza.
"-gave me his address, but now that I've lost it, I have no idea how to get there!" Lucy looked close to tears. That made Natsu frown slightly, as he only thought she'd be a little annoyed with herself. Not this upset by a long shot!
"It's alright Lucy," Erza told her, bowing her head slightly. "We shall think of something."
"What's the big deal?" Natsu asked as he walked over to the table they were seated at. Gray was there too, looking sympathetically at Lucy. Everyone in that moment should have bowed in prayer that Juvia wasn't around to see it. "So you lost some guy's address? Big deal. Now your date's off, we can go on a job."
Lucy looked at him then as he came to take a seat as well. "Date? What are you talking about?"
"The paper," he said as Happy looked anywhere, but at Lucy. He had a horrible poker face. "It was an address of some guy's house right? Some guy that you met yesterday while we were out? And you were going to go meet him for a date, huh?"
"No," Lucy told him darkly then as Gray only sighed. "You thought that I was going to go to his home? Some guy I just met on the street? What kind of girl do you take me for?"
"It was a job, moron," Gray told him with a frown. "The guy recognized Lucy from that article on us in Sorcerer. His town needed help and she agreed to meet him tomorrow with the rest of us."
"Uh…" The blood was starting to rush to Natsu's head. Job? Not date? "But…why would he have sought you out instead of just sending in a job request?"
"He said that he had sent one in, but no one ever responded. The reward isn't much," Lucy told him with a sigh. "But he was so excited to see me. And I couldn't turn him down. Now I'm going to fail him."
"Cheer up, Lucy," Erza told her before getting to her feet. "I will go to the board and gather up the least paying jobs. Perhaps that will help us, huh?"
As she went off, Happy took to glaring up at Natsu. He was only staring at Lucy though, trying to figure out how to fix things.
"You sure that you searched your whole place?" Natsu asked. "It has to be there. Maybe-"
"I looked everywhere, Natsu," she complained.
"Yeah, but a fresh pair of eyes never hurt anything," Gray said then before getting to his feet. "Come on then, Lucy. Let's all go look, just to make sure."
"I guess we can," Lucy sighed. "But Gray?"
"Hmmm?"
"You might want to put some clothes on before we go."
Looking down at himself, his mouth dropped when he found that he had, once again, unconsciously stripped. Gah!
After alerting Erza of their plan to go search again, they headed out, Lucy leading the way. Natsu and Happy hung back from the group slightly, both with a sinking feeling.
"What are we gonna do, Natsu?" Happy asked him as quietly as possible. "Maybe we should just tell her."
"Don't worry, buddy," Natsu told him. "I've got a plan."
"What is it?"
"Just when we get to her place, fly me up to her window, huh? We'll get in there before her and Gray, drop the paper somewhere, and go on with life."
"You don't think that maybe we should just tell the truth?"
"No," he told him with a sigh. "Not this time, buddy."
Needless to say, Lucy began yelling at them the second they got to her apartment and took to the air. Something about how come he couldn't use the stupid door or something. Doors were for slowpokes.
He quickly hid away the slip of paper under a book when he got there, planning on finding it in mock surprise after a few minutes of searching. There, all better.
"See, little buddy? Nothing to it."
Happy still wasn't convinced. "I just feel like we did something bad."
"We did. But we fixed it. And now we can go help this guy no problem." Natsu grinned at him even though he himself wasn't feeling too good about the whole thing either.
"Are you sure you weren't just jealous?" Suddenly, Happy perked back up. "That Lucy was going on a date? Is that why we were-"
"Why would I be jeal-"
"Because you love Lucy."
"Hey! Don't start that with me."
It was too late though, as Lucy and Gray were coming into the apartment then and they had to stop the conversation. But it didn't matter. Because Natsu didn't love Lucy. Not the way Happy was making it out to be. She was one of his best friends and he wanted to keep her as that. He just knew that if she started, like, seeing another guy on a regular basis that it might hinder their friendship. And even though it was selfish, he didn't want that. And he knew deep down that she would never want that either.
Still, it bothered him, even after he pretended to discover the slip of paper and they all headed out to the guild to get Erza and head out. He wasn't…jealous. Was he? He didn't think so. Not really. He could never…be with Lucy. Could he?
"Thanks again, Natsu, for finding the paper for me," Lucy told him randomly after they had begun their journey to the man's home. It was a few towns over, but not far enough to warrant a train ride, for which Natsu was thankful. "I could have sworn that I looked under everything in the room, but I guess I missed it."
"It's okay, Luce," he assured her with a shake of his head. "Happens to the best of us."
"I guess so," she sighed as she fell into step next to him. Then, slowly, as if embarrassed, she asked, "So did you really think that guy asked me to go on a date with him?"
He glanced over at her. "Well, yeah. Why didn't you tell me that it was a job?"
"I thought that it was obvious. Not to mention, I thought you didn't care, since you didn't say anything."
He grunted slightly. "I just thought it was a date. That's all."
"He was rather cute," Lucy said then slowly. "Don't you think?"
He didn't want to think. About anything.
"But you know that guys never ask me out anyways." Lucy sighed. "Except that once and I blew it off to go on a mission with you and Happy, let Cana have him."
"Who needs guys anyhow?" he asked her before grinning. "You have me and Hppy. You shouldn't get greedy."
"Right," Lucy sighed. Why wasn't she impressed? "I have you and Happy."
"And don't forget Erza and Gray?"
"How could I?"
"We all have each other. As friends," he told her then, more trying to convince himself of that as well. "No more, no less."
Lucy smiled slightly at him, but he still continued to look rather serious. "No more, no less."