Lucy was relieved when they finally reached Hargeon. The first part of the mission was over and they all made it in one piece. More or less.
Mr Granger had woken up still hanging over Natsu's shoulder. And he was not happy about it. He had cursed and screamed, hitting his fist on his back and kicking him in his stomach. Natsu almost fell to the ground, but somehow he managed to stay on his feet. He dropped Mr Granger though. The man was so angry you could almost see steem coming out of his ears. He accused Natsu for violating his personal space and looked disgusted by the thought of Natsu touching him.
Natsu turned to Lucy and rolled his eyes. Still looking at her, he hit Mr Granger and knocked him down again.
"I like him so much better when he's not talking."
"You can't keep hitting him, Natsu!"
"You have to admit he's more likeable this way"
Lucy didn't say anything. She knew he was right, but still. Mr Granger was the one who hired them for this mission and she really wanted the reward. But as long as he was out cold they could talk and laugh and Happy could fly. Natsu threw the man over his other shoulder and they continued walking.
Lucy's feet hurt and all she wanted to do now was to take a bath. A nice, warm bath with a lot of bath foam.
Mr Granger payed for the hotel room in cash. He refused to use a credit card, he was not going to let anyone use that information to track him down. And he was not paying for more than one room.
"I am not letting the two of you share a room and leave me all alone. And I am not sharing a room a with you and let her have a room of her own just so you can sneek over there when I'm asleep. I know how teenagers work. You keep it in your pants and control your hormones"
Lucy and Natsu looked at each other. Was this man for real? What was going on inside his head? Like they would sneak off somewhere and make out or something.
Lucy felt her cheeks get warm and looked away. Natsu had spent several night in her bed, uninvited most of the time. But he had never tried anything inappropriate. He hadn't even tried to kiss her. Not even once. They were very close, but there was nothing romantic going on between them. They were just friends. Nothing more than friends.
Natsu's cheeks also had a hint of red. He liked Lucy's bed, it was more comfortsble than his own bed. And he liked sleeping next to her. She had kicked him out more times than he could count, but sometimes she let him stay. They were friends, but that was all they were. Friends. And now Mr Granger was standing here insinuating they were a couple of teenagers who couldn't control themselfs. This was a mission. Even if something was going on between them, which it wasn't, they weren't gping to sneak off in the middle of the night.
Mr Granger unlocked the door to their hotel room and they walked inside. Two beds were standing on the left side of the room, a small couch and a coffe table was in the right corner next to a big window. The bathroom was also to the right.
Lucy dropped her bag on the floor, kicked of her shoes and walked to the bathroom.
"I'm taking a bath," she said on the way.
She almost squeeled when she saw the bathroom. A big tub was to the left and cosy, fluffy towels was haning on the wall. A very cosy and fluffy bathrobe was hangingg there waiting for her as well. She picked up a bottle of bath foam and sighed with satisfaction. It smelled so good.
She filled the bathtub and poured lots of bath foam into the water. She turned the water off and lowered herself into the hot water. This was so nice!
She wasn't sure how long she was in the tub but she felt so relaxed she almost forgot about the mission. But she couldn't stay there forever. She got out from the tub and wrapped one of the cosy towels around her body and another one around her head. She reached for her clothes, but she could only find her old ones. She left her bag in the hallway. She had no clean clothes to put on.
She sighed and wrapped the towel tighter around her body. She opened the door just enough to look into the other room.
"Natsu, can you give me my bag?"
"Sure, but why don't you get it yourself?"
"Because..."
"Alright, where is it?"
"In the hallway."
Lucy saw him walk past the bathroom towards the hallway. Suddenly the door opened and she had to take a couple of steps back to not get hit by the door. She hadn't expected him to actually go into the bathroom with the bag, she had thought he would just give it to her from the other room.
It wasn't the first time he saw her in a towel. She had walked out of her bathroom wearing nothing but a towel and found him sitting on the couch or lying in her bed, uninvited as usual. It had happen a couple of times. But now he was staring at her, holding the bag infront of him in midair.
Lucy was embarrassed, and judging by the look on Natsu's face, so was he. He gave her the bag and left the bathroom. Lucy closed ther door and let out a deep breath. She quickly put on her clothes and hesitated for a brief moment before she opened the door. She was not going to make a big deal out of this.
"The bathroom's free," she said and Natsu walked into the bathroom without looking at her.
Happy had fallen asleep on one of the beds and Mr Granger glared at Lucy.