Shake It off
Lucy was pacing in her room and she was pissed. She would rather be breaking things or stomping around but she was already behind on rent money without having to cover broken windows or replace her crockery. And if her landlord heard her stomping around, well she wasn't really in the mood for a visit from that old bag. She had tried to read for a bit but the romance novel only made her more upset and it lay discarded in the corner where she'd flung it angrily. She'd tried to write but she couldn't keep up any of her ideas to put pen to paper. Her thoughts kept returning to what Mira had told her when she got to the guild at midday and her broken pen attested to how well she was handling that. Save for drunken debauchery and whatever else people do when they're upset.
Usually in situations like this she called on her spirits but, they'd be entirely unhelpful. Aries would apologise. Aquarius would insult her then go on a date with Scorpio, which was why he wasn't an option either. Capricorn would look all high and mighty and rattle off about meditation and not letting emotions rule your life and she didn't want to hear that right now. Gemini would only be useful if she got them to change into someone who was good with this kind of thing but, Lucy couldn't bring herself to call on Gemini for that. Sagittarius wasn't one for conversation, ditto for Cancer. Taurus would be ... Taurus. Virgo would demand punishment. And Loke, who promised she could always call on him, was out drinking with Gray. It really wasn't her evening.
It had started out as such a good day too. There was a short solo mission in the morning that had her back by lunch. With the money from that even if Natsu destroyed something on their next big mission she'd be able to cover her rent. So she went to the guild around midday to find out what that next big mission would be. And that was when it happened. She couldn't decide what was worse, that her best friend and romantic interest was dating somebody else, or that her best friend didn't even tell her. She had to find out from the guild gossip, Mirajane Strauss.
Pacing, like every other inane distraction, only worked for so long. She just needed something that would, make her feel better, something that would make her believe it'd all be alright.
"Of course!" Lucy yelled turning to her music lacrima. Dancing always managed to cheer her up and she had the perfect song for this. Her landlady wouldn't appreciate the loud music anymore than the stomping and smashing things but this was a sure fix to all her problems.
As soon as the first beat played she was off. Her body moved of its own accord and she was more than happy to follow. She bobbed her head and shook her hips through the first verse quietly getting into it but the moment the chorus started she was off. She agreed wholeheartedly with the lyrics, as she danced she just knew everything was going to be alright. She leapt onto the bed with her arms over her head and sang along as loud as she could. Focussing especially on the last half of the chorus.
"Heart-breakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off," Lucy shouted, her voice broke in a couple of places as she tried too hard to hit high notes as loud as possible but she wasn't bothered. How she sounded, how ridiculous she looked, none of it mattered to her at that moment. All that mattered was she was shaking it off with a passion.
She giggled at the line about lightning thinking of Laxus dancing to this song. She remembered the time her and all the rest of the girls in the guild, and Freed for some reason, all danced to this song when Levy first showed it to them all. They had so much fun that night. Even Carla had danced! Sadly they hadn't managed to convince any of the guys, except Freed, to join in. Gajeel had offered to sing, but only Levy considered that for even a second.
"It's like I got this music
In my mind
Saying, "It's gonna be alright," Lucy yelled again. She sang every word all the while shaking, shimmying, bouncing her way through with arms flying and heart racing. As the song changed tempo she leapt down again and scrambled for the nearest pen to use as a microphone for the upcoming 'sick beats'.
She stood in the centre of her room holding the 'microphone' in both hands and tapping her foot steadily awaiting the far too accurate next verse. Not that Natsu was her ex-man but, it sure felt that way when she saw them together.
"My ex-man brought his new girlfriend
She's like "Oh my god!" but I'm just gonna shake
And to the fella over there with the hella good hair
Won't you come on over baby and we can shake shake shake" Lucy sang alongside Taylor. As the song picked up again she bunny hopped back onto the bed and shook her hips to the beat. She giggled a bit thinking about how that line really shouldn't help her get over Natsu since he had the best hair of any guy in the guild. It was her favourite colour for Mavis' sake, how could she not love it? Hella good didn't begin to cover it.
"You're such a weirdo Luce," Natsu chuckled from her window. She startled slightly having not noticed him breaking in. She held up her hand and shimmied (less dramatically now she had an audience) with the next couple of lines before she came in again.
"And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate" Lucy winked at Natsu as she sang along. This song was seriously a magic cure. Earlier she was sure the next time she saw Natsu she'd be so angry she'd have to have Virgo come out to hold her back from whipping him. Now, she was just happy she had good music and her friend was here with her. She could do this, she'd be happy for him and his choices. She'd just shake it off.
"Why'd you leave the guild in such a rush earlier Luce?" Natsu asked once the song was over and Lucy was lying breathless on her bed. He cocked his head to the side in that adorable way he had and Lucy wasn't sure if her heart was racing because of him or the dancing.
"I just heard something that upset me is all Natsu, it's OK now it was just a shock," Lucy said lifting her hand up and waving him off.
"What happened? Are you sure you're OK?" Natsu asked. She felt the bed dip where he sat down beside her and moments later his face appeared over her own all gentle concern and wide eyes.
"Of course I am, I just can't believe you didn't tell me yourself!" Lucy said pushing his chest playfully when he looked as confused as ever she rolled her eyes at him, "about you and Lisanna? And you know the fact that you're dating?"
"We're what?!" Natsu yelped sitting bolt upright.
"Wait, you're not?" Lucy said sitting up alongside him, "but Mira said..."
"You really listened to Mira about who was in a relationship?" Natsu laughed, relieved that he finally understood what was going in. He was grinning as Lucy blushed profusely, "but...why did that upset you?"
"I, um, I just...I didn't like finding out from Mira is all," Lucy muttered tucking her hair behind her ears and trying to avoid his gaze.
"It wouldn't happen to be because you like me would it?" Natsu teased.
"How on earth did you get that idea?" Lucy asked looking at her childish, immature, dense friend. There was no way he worked that out on his own. Did Gray tell him? Or maybe Gajeel, ever since he and Levy got together he was almost as determined to give relationship advice out as Mira.
"Mira said you might have feelings for me," Natsu rubbed the back of his neck worried that his information might've been wrong.
"Of course she did," Lucy huffed.
There was silence between the two for awhile. Natsu felt like he was up against some terrible foe, working out how best to approach it. Although, usually he just ran head first into battles without thinking at all, this was far more complicated. Lucy was far more used to thinking, her thoughts were off in every direction. She figured since he seemed so carefree about her liking him that he had feelings for her too, but maybe he just didn't understand what he was getting into.
"I do like you, I've really liked you for an incredibly long time I don't even know how long. Maybe it started when I first met you, maybe when you uprooted that Sakura tree for me, maybe it was a little bit every time you caught me when I fell. It might have been all the times you slept at my house, or ate all of my food and even though those things annoyed me whenever you weren't around I missed you so much. Of course I like you, you big doofus," Lucy admitted finally all in a rush.
With that Natsu did what he was good at, he dove into the situation headfirst without thinking too much. And he kissed her. It was awkward, it was quick and it was perfect.
"I like you too," Natsu grinned pressing his forehead to hers for a moment before pulling back, to her disappointment, and studying her again.
"Are you sure you want this Luce? I know you really like your romance and I don't know how to do any of that stuff," Natsu's eyebrows were furrowed and he was barely looking at her. Lucy sighed and kissed his forehead lightly.
"This is what I've dreamed of Natsu," Lucy admitted and then gave him a wink, "I'm all fired up."