A/N: Another late-ish chapter! But it's six-thirty here so it's not like I didn't make the deadline. Pfft. I'll try to get the next chapter up earlier tomorrow. Email is still acting a bit funny, but that means I just have to keep a closer eye out for your reviews. But anyway...
Thank you all for favoriting, following, or dropping a review. I'm sure I have said this, but I appreciate all the support, even if it is just a read!
Enjoy and as always, see you in the next one! -808Lionfire
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail (c) Hiro Mashima
Seven Attempts to Fall
Attempt Four: 25 December x791, 5:20 p.m.
It was Christmas and Lucy was paranoid.
But her being paranoid wasn't anything new. If anything, her being paranoid was currently the norm of her life since this whole 'let's-set-Lucy-up' debacle started; even her regulars had gotten used to the skittish glances to the café's door. In the beginning, they asked her if she was alright– if they could help in any way, but the golden-haired woman refused politely.
She couldn't help it.
The golden-haired woman sighed, currently waiting for one of her last regulars to leave so she could start wrapping up the café. The yearly Christmas party started at seven and it was Juvia and Gray's turn to host. Lucy was excited because the bluenette's fiancé, Gray, was the biggest Christmas buff in their little group. Actually, he just loved the winter season in general but it domino-ed to Juvia who was always overly-enthusiastic in helping her boyfriend-of-two-years express his 'emotions'.
There was no doubt they'd go all out this year.
Which was kind of upsetting because the blonde was going to host Christmas next year and she had no one to bounce ideas with. Levy had Gajeel, and Juvia had Gray. And that very thought made her temporarily lean towards liking her best friends' nosiness in her love life. Which brings her back to the reason why she started to get paranoid in the first place.
It's been nearly two months since their—as in her and the pink-haired stranger's—last encounter. Two. Months.
Despite knowing that their nonsensical meddling was actually working out in some weird, twisted way, she still doesn't condone what her friends were trying to do; however, she still expected some sort of attempt. She was getting more and more on edge because if there was one thing her friends were not, it would be patient and their next try was taking way too long.
That wasn't to say that she hadn't seen the pink-haired man since then, because she has. Literally speaking. All she did was see him; sometimes he was just strolling casually past the café, other days he would be helping Levy out because the tiny bluenette was currently renovating Iron Ink. They had no interactions other than his exuberant waving from across the street and her, more reserved, smile from inside the café.
Occasionally they'd catch each other's gaze when the pinkette impatiently waited outside for either Gajeel or Levy to return, arms too full with books or parchments to wave. That's when he would just smile after she glanced up to catch his gaze. It was those brief seconds of looking that made her overwhelmingly flustered and she had to rip her gaze away before he could notice her blush. She did, however, catch the knowing smile from a few of her regulars but she lifted her chin and ignored it.
The reason for her blush was trivial, really. Or rather, it should have been trivial.
He was just smiling at her, for star's sake.
Although, Lucy couldn't help but admit that maybe his smile was the reason she blushed. It wasn't the childish, uncontrollable grin that he normally had on his face. A grin that—she'll begrudgingly admit—does strange things to her heart when she sees it and, for obvious reasons, his grin was not his smile.
There was something about the lop-sided smile he gave her that made her wonder why he never did it more. His smile was just as carefree as his grin but there was a tender warmth in the way the left side of his mouth lifted just a bit higher than the right. The quirk of his lips never lost the boyishly endearing quality that resided in his grin, but it was a lot more controlled that way. His olive-colored eyes softened whenever he smiled, pooling the warmth once lost in the chill winter brought.
She never thought about it but green was a pretty warm color, wasn't it?
Lucy wore a fond beam as the her last remaining regular (an extremely short, yet kind, elderly man who gave no name but insisted she call him 'Gramps') gently placed his fork onto the ceramic plate and slid from his chair. The white tufts of hair peeked out of his winter cap, bouncing slightly as he strolled over to her. There was a tender touch to the smile he gave her as he reached out to gently pat her hand, wishing her the merriest of Christmases.
The blonde's heart swelled joyfully and she returned the sentiment with equal vigor before sending him off with an angelic smile. She locked the door earlier, but it was designed in a way that wouldn't keep customers from leaving– just kept them out after they left. So instead of moving to unlock the door for one of her regulars, she moved to clean off his table instead.
She was too busy gaping over the hefty tip Gramps tucked under the cup saucer to notice the elderly man kindly holding the door for someone to step in. She missed the way Gramps patted the newcomer's hand much like how he did to her earlier, but this time it was more of an amused 'good-luck' than a fatherly gesture. She also missed the answering grin that was shot back at the movement, full of similar amusement and just a touch of gratitude.
Lucy just managed to get over her shock long enough to slip the tip into her apron when a warm hand slipped onto her shoulder, making her shriek in surprise and drop the teacup she picked up a moment before.
Thankfully, a large, tanned had shot out to catch the porcelain cup before it could shatter onto the table. The golden-haired woman spun around, her heart nearly bursting from her chest as she prepared to shout curses at the person who invaded her space. However, her breath caught when her gaze was met with a large grin filled with noting but amusement at the situation.
And he answered her question before she was even aware she had one.
Apparently Juvia sent him over to help her out with closing the café. The bluenette told him all about how she was always late to parties because she would take too long and she didn't want the blonde to be late for present exchanging. She wanted to feel offended, but her history told her that what Juvia claimed was true. So instead of protesting, she told him to flip the chairs onto the table while she wiped down the booths. He shot her a wide grin, gave her the teacup he still held in his hands, and strolled over to do what he was told.
Then, completely out of the blue, he told her that his hair was salmon and not pink.
Lucy wanted to ask if there was a difference between the two colors but wisely kept her mouth closed and hummed a response. There was an amused disbelief to her smile as she cleaned the dishes from the boot's table and rounded the counter to drop them in the dishwasher.
The golden-haired woman slowly shook her head in disbelief as she walked back out with a damp cloth in hand. The pink– salmon-haired man must have caught the action because he started to whine his argument about the difference in shade, quality, and even how it reflected differently in the dark. Lucy didn't know how she managed to do it, but she kept a strong rein on her laughter as she patiently listened.
As she deftly finished her fourth booth of five, she took a surprised note of how he was had already completed half of the sitting area. The blonde also took note that, even with his constant complaining about difference in colors, he still did a heck of a lot better than Gray did when he volunteered to help her close.
Unfortunately, she made the mistake of admitting this to him.
Lucy watched in awe as he yelled some unintelligible garb about being fired up and something about ice-cold strippers before proceeding to complete the last half of the sitting area within the next minute. By no means was her sitting area small. There were roughly about twenty-two tables all with two or more chairs around them. It would normally take the blonde at least ten minutes to flip only half of the the heavy, wood and metal chairs onto their respective tables.
He did them all in three.
She quickly went back to wiping the last table before he could notice her gaping and dropped her cloth onto the counter, asking if he was ready to head out. He was already outside, holding the door open, by the time she replaced her apron for her coat and grabbed her wallet and keys from behind the counter. The golden-haired woman briefly thanked him and locked the door once he let it swing close.
The walk towards Juvia and Gray's apartment was comfortably silent until Lucy remembered exactly what happened the last time she was there. Thankfully she could blame the flush on her cheeks to the chilly winter air and just silently sighed off her embarrassment. The salmon-haired man didn't look to bothered by it, so she couldn't show that it affected her either.
They shuffled into the lobby of the apartment building, laughing after they both shuddered at the insane change in temperature and made their way up towards their mutual friends' apartment. He roughly pounded onto the door, making the blonde roll her eyes at his impatience. Juvia was the one to open the door and beamed at them, waving them into the foyer. The bluenette gave them the job to close the door and she swept her way into the living room, the late comers slowly following behind.
Lucy was halfway through taking off her coat when she felt multiple different eyes staring at her. Instinctively, she froze in confusion and took her time to stare right back at each one of her friends. However, it was the nudge to her right arm, the mess of salmon hair, and the tanned hand that pointed up that made her turn to look and– oh.
She's so screwed.
A/N: Before you ask... yes, I am leaving at that.
MWAHAHAHA!
I actually wasn't going to put that last part in (I intended this chapter to be just pure interaction-fluff with our dear Natsu and Lucy), but then I brilliantly added the last bit just to give my readers some grief, haha! I'm kidding, the last part was a little important if only to give a little angst in the next few interactions and whatnot.
Cliffhangers are the worst though, aren't they?
