pairing: nalu
summary: a small town bag boy whose adopted dad has hit the road and enlisted brother has yet to call. the girl who shows up barefoot with a camera and is stained by strawberries. her name is lucy, and natsu's summer just took a spin
a/n: originally this was posted to tumblr but i thought i'd post it here as well. this was written for my twin in every way but blood, lone storm (who i am going to assume you all are already familiar with her because WOW is she a great freakin writer !). HAPPY FREAKIN BIRTHDAY, RY! I love you dearly and not just because we have so much in common, but because you're by far one of the sweetest human beings i have ever met and you deserve the bestest of days today. here's to 19, and another 364 days before we are officially no longer teenagers
disclaimer: I own nothing
Natsu Dragneel was not the happy-go-lucky type by any means, but he blamed that partly on the soul-sucking job of working as a bagboy at the town's only grocery store.
As he scanned a box of elbow-shaped macaroni, waiting for the beep that would tell him if the scanner decided to work that day or not, he could only shake his head. Up until this point he'd thought he already had his future planned out, and his to-do list didn't involve asking 'paper or plastic'.
When he had graduated this past spring he'd counted on hopping the first train leaving Magnolia-a tiny population town that, to him, was nothing more than a coffee stain on a laminated map coated in dry syrup at some two-star diner occupied by the occasional occupant.
Hell, it was no secret that he wanted to leave. He'd spent his entire senior year telling everyone he was finally getting out; gonna go off to college and make a new name for himself. Natsu didn't even necessarily want to do anything remarkable, he just wanted out.
The boy knew his friends were sick of hearing his proclamations, but they understood his desire.
Ever since his brother had been deployed there wasn't much to stick around for. His adoptive dad was still in touch, but had embarked on a year long road trip with some buddies from his old band days. The most Natsu ever heard from him was a postcard every few weeks with Igneel's shitty scrawlings that barely passed as chicken scratch.
He'd left a few months after Natsu had turned eighteen and graduated, ruffling the boy's hair while he slept one night before slipping out the front door in the early hours of the morning. He'd left some money, a fair amount, but not enough to support the boy for a full year-hence, the shitty job of bagging groceries for grouchy customers and pushing carts with bum wheels in the unforgiving summer heat.
Igneel's leaving had really put a damper on the boy's plans of getting the hell out, but Natsu didn't hold it against him. The only thing the boy wished-other than for a train ticket-was that the man had waited just a few more months before high-tailing it out of there. Zeref, his brother, was coming back in six months and it'd be the first time in two years since Natsu had seen him.
For as long as Natsu could remember his older brother had shared his feelings for their small town, and while he wasn't ever nearly as vocal as Natsu about it, he too had a very strong desire to leave the first chance he could. And for Zeref, the quickest way was to enlist.
Natsu wished he hadn't.
It left his nerves on high every time the telephone rang or someone knocked on the door, causing the boy to expect the worst.
He missed his brother and, hell, he even missed his crazy adoptive dad.
Only thing worse about being left in a shitty town, was being left alone in a shitty town.
Not that Natsu was alone all the time; he had friends. A few being constant pains in his ass, sure, but friends nonetheless. Gray in particular was one icy bastard, but he'd been by Natsu's side ever since the cursive handwriting days of elementary school, so the boy figured he was stuck with him for life-might as well enjoy a few days out of the numerous years with him.
It was one day in particular that sent the boy's summer in a tailspin. One hot, humid and muggy day that would change his life forever.
One unforgiving July morning that his world would be turned upside down in the most anti-climatic sort of way.
It was a Tuesday when he saw her for the first time.
Natsu sighed, running a hand through his hair that was now damp with sweat from pushing buggies all morning. He hung up his maroon-colored vest in the back room and nodded to his manager on his way out, thanking the skies above that he only worked the morning shift that day. His phone buzzed against his leg but he ignored it, figuring it was probably Levy trying to get him to hurry his ass up and meet the gang for lunch.
He stepped through the sliding doors and squinted at the sudden transition from the store's florescent lights to the intense summer sun. Using one hand as a visor and stuffing the other one in his pocket to stop the constant buzzing-Levy was getting pissed, he could tell; probably enlisted Juvia's help by this point-Natsu waited until he got to the old truck that Igneel had left him before he began searching for the keys.
The truck was old and the paint was starting to chip, but it had character. It too had scars, and for that, Natsu had always loved the old piece of crap-even though it was, indeed, a piece of crap.
While he patted down his pockets, he noticed a girl standing in the middle of the lot, minding her own business a few empty spots away from where he was standing. In her hands was an old, vintage-looking camera. The kind that takes instant photos and requires a dark room and, honestly, way too much time and patience than the boy could ever hope for.
Natsu just snorted to himself at the sight of the old device, shaking his head lightly as he unlocked the driver's side.
Who even uses those anymore? he wondered idly as he hopped in, sliding his eyes over to get a better look at the girl. Her hair was a dirty blonde shade that fell in long, loose waves down her back. As he started the old geezer, giving the truck a few seconds to fully come to life, he noticed a faint purple streak in her hair as well. Her makeup was heavy.
Thick, black wings lined the girl's eyes, but Magnolia's unrelenting heat had caused it to smear underneath, making it look as though the girl had been crying. Or maybe like a raccoon.
Her white sundress was stained green at the hem, making the boy wonder where she'd been.
Natsu put the truck in reverse and pulled out of the parking space, and they locked eyes in his rearview mirror as he shifted into drive. She did nothing other than cock her head to the side, as though in thought, before raising her camera.
He didn't bother hangin' around to ask for the polaroid, thinking maybe she took candids of people for a quick buck. It was something that wouldn't be totally far-fetched, even sounding like something that could be found on Magnolia's boardwalk during the day.
Dangling his arm out of the truck's open window, he flashed a lazy piece sign, too far away now to hear the shutter of the camera go off.
She looked around his age, but she was no one he had ever seen before.
There weren't many times in Magnolia where you could say that.
"What's got you lookin' so down?" Gajeel asked, flicking an empty peanut shell at his cousin's forehead as the boy channel surfed. Natsu waved him off, turning his attention back to the TV.
His friends were over at his house-the usual hang out spot because, duh, it was just Natsu most of the time-and half of them were currently raiding his kitchen.
Gajeel and Natsu had been put on movie duty, and the latter was the only one who seemed to be concerned with picking a good channel. The older boy just kept throwing his younger cousin disbelieving looks from the corner of his eye when he thought Natsu wasn't looking.
Gajeel had been pissed when he found out Igneel had left, though he never said so outright. It was actually Levy who had spilled the beans late one night after a few drinks, nearly three weeks after his adoptive dad had hit the road. The second Gajeel had found out he'd tried to follow the RV's path, assuming he knew his "uncle" well enough to find his first stop, but no dice.
At the time, Levy had explained Gajeel's absence as nothing more than a job a few counties over that was paying well and required the young man to stay on-site, but the truth made a lot more sense in the grand scheme of things.
Gajeel hadn't been able to locate Igneel, but he tended to stick around the house more often now than he used to. He had his own place, sure, but Natsu shrugged it off. He didn't mind the company.
"You two manage to find anything decent yet?" Levy asked as she entered the room, a large tray balanced carefully on one arm as she brought in the popcorn and plate of cookies. Juvia trailed behind, bringing everyone's drinks.
"Glad to see those two weeks of working at the Olive Garden really brushed up your waitressing skills," Gray teased as two cookies slipped from the tray and onto Natsu's rug.
"Those two are yours, G." Levy responded, not missing a beat as Gajeel snickered from his spot on the couch.
"Five second rule," the boy replied, swiping the cookies from the ground and sticking his tongue out at Juvia's wrinkled nose.
"Gray is unsanitary," the girl said, taking the cookies from her boyfriend's hand before he could actually take a bite.
"That's what I've been saying for years," Natsu grumbled, mindful of his feet on the living room table so that he wouldn't knock over the popcorn or have one of his laces fall into someone's soda.
"Someone's being extra grumpy today," Gray smirked, throwing a piece of popcorn at the boy, who had been expecting the toss and expertly caught the kernel in his mouth. It'd taken years of practice and had resulted in multiple tries and a few near-death experiences-i.e. choking-but he and Gray had the toss down to a science now.
"Just tired from work is all," he replied, stretching his arms over his head before settling once more into the couch. "Sorry buddy," he told the Russian Blue in his lap as the feline made a disgruntled sound at being disturbed from it's nap.
"Are you getting enough sleep?" Levy asked as she settled into Gajeel's side, the long-haired man waiting expectantly for Natsu's reply.
Geez, it was like they were his parents.
"Yes, mom, a regular bedtime of eight-thirty is good for a growing boy, after all." he rolled his eyes, but tossed the girl the remote in good fashion. "Here ya go, Lev. You can pick the movie."
It wasn't long before the group had managed to agree on one particular film-actually, it wasn't even a film. After a brief argument that had broken out over American Pie or Clueless, the gang had eventually settled on old reruns of Scooby Doo. Natsu didn't really know how.
Thunder clapped outside the boy's window.
His eyes drifted away from the TV to stare out the glass, watching as the drops of rain collected there before running down the sides in the summer storm.
For whatever reason, the shift in weather reminded the boy of earlier that morning, and the girl that had been standing in the parking lot.
It only just now dawned on him that she had been barefoot.
It'd been four weeks since his brother had last called.
Which didn't really sound all that out of the ordinary, but Zeref always tried to call at least once a week when he could. The longest time in between phone calls had been three at the latest, and now he was about to push five.
Five weeks-that was just over a month. Thirty-five days; eight-hundred and forty hours without speaking to his brother.
It made communication with Igneel seem like an everyday thing.
At first, Natsu had taken to never letting himself stray too far from the kitchen where the phone was hung just above the counter. He took five minute showers, being sure to leave the bathroom door open so he would be able to hear the phone ring if Zeref called.
It would be like his brother to have shit timing, after all.
But the phone never rang while Natsu was in the shower.
In fact, it never rang at all, even during the nights that Natsu would camp out in the kitchen floor on a pile of blankets, Happy snoozing on his chest as he waited, desperate for confirmation that his brother was okay.
Gajeel found him like that one morning, and pretended to not notice how the boy's eyes seemed more swollen than they would have been from just sleep alone.
His older cousin might give him shit most of the time, but he was always good when the times got tough.
But Natsu refused to believe this was one of those times.
"He'll call," was all he said as Gajeel turned the oven on before digging in the fridge for an egg to fry.
"I know," was all his cousin replied. But it was good enough for Natsu.
His brother would call, it was just a matter of when.
The next time he saw her was a week after the incident in the parking lot, where she'd snapped a picture of him in his truck as he was leaving.
She was checking out in his aisle, with nothing more in her arms than a can of whipped cream and a small basket of strawberries.
"They're my favorite," she told him without him having to ask. Her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, a few strands escaping the band to frame her face. She wasn't wearing makeup this time, as far as Natsu could tell. Maybe a little bit of mascara, but maybe her lashes were just naturally-okay, he had to stop spending so much time with Levy and Juvia.
"That's nice," he told her, ringing up her total and accepting the five dollar bill she pulled from her purse.
"Do you wanna help me eat them?" she asked, picking the strawberries up from the counter before Natsu could even ask 'paper or plastic'. She hugged the container to her chest, not noticing when a small bit of the red juice spilled from the basket and onto her top.
First the grass-stained dress and now a strawberry-splattered top. This girl should learn to stay clear of the color white.
"Eh, sorry, miss." he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm still on the clock. I'm not allowed to leave right now."
She listened to his words that tripped over one another, cocking her head thoughtfully to the side.
After a moment, he watched as her eyes drifted to the sliding doors that led out into the parking lot, and a small smile suddenly pulled at the corners of her lips that held the faintest red sheen, as though she had already helped herself to a few strawberries that morning.
"We can eat them in the parking lot then," she responded, tossing him the can of whipped cream and turning to leave, as if expecting him to follow.
Bewildered, Natsu whipped around at his station to see if any of his co-workers were around to at least offer a helpful explanation as to what just happened, but it'd been a slow day, and it seemed as though Natsu was the only one on the clock.
Hell, not even his manager seemed to be browsing along the aisles as he normally would on the slower days.
The girl, whose name he didn't even know yet, seemed to be the only one occupying the store alongside the boy, and now even she was gone.
Slowly, Natsu found himself unable to resist the urge to follow the strange girl out into the parking lot, where he found her camped out on one of the concrete blocks placed at the end of a parking space.
She offered him a strawberry as he carefully sat down on the side opposite from her, being sure to leave space between them. After a quick moment's debate, he accepted the fruit, turning down her offer of adding whipped cream to it.
He twisted the strawberry around between his fingers, staring at the deep red color and checking for any signs of bruises. His brother used to tell him that bruised fruit tastes even sweeter, but Natsu had never put the theory to the test.
He took a hesitant first bite, ignoring the sound of a camera's shutter going off. Some of the juice ran down his hand and stained his shirt underneath the open vest with flecks of pink.
As he chewed, the girl leaned over and sprayed a small dollop of whipped-cream on the half-eaten strawberry, her hands also stained pink and sticky from the fruit. With her face close to his, he could almost count the different shades of brown that made up her eyes before she pulled back.
Without warning, she smiled and showed teeth that were so white and straight that it couldn't have been possible without painful years filled with brackets and wires.
"I'm Lucy."
Until Next Time...