Chapter 7

"I guess I'd better go for now. Oh! I forgot, here's my phone number." Erza handed him the piece of paper as Natsu grabbed for it. Natsu entered the number in his phone as Erza shut the door behind her with a wave. "What an ordeal today has been." Natsu sighed. He walked into his room and collapsed on the bed face first. He turned over onto his back swiftly and was face to face with his pale ceiling. "Things are really changing huh Mom? Dad." Natsu, lost in his thoughts drifted off into a deep sleep.

Natsu woke up refreshed on Saturday. He felt as if nobody could make his day go sour. Yawning, he got up from his bed heading towards the computer. Natsu waited patiently blank minded for the computer to start up. "Oh! The game has the patch early! Time to play!" Natsu said eagerly pressing the play button in the launcher.

Time flew by and before you knew it, noon had finally arrived. Natsu turned off the computer but felt a little grumpy since he still felt like he woke up just minutes ago. He hated mornings. There were sounds coming from Lucy's apartment that made Natsu curious. "Probably just listening to loud music" he said." Natsu went into his kitchen and made himself lunch. Sitting down and turning on his TV, he noticed that the music hadn't stopped. Natsu liked how loud it was as he didn't feel alone. It was almost like Lucy was living with him and was having fun in her room just down the hall. Natsu shook his head and continued watching his anime and eating his lunch. Natsu was a causal anime fan. He only watched what was on his streaming apps. He never really searched around for anything specific. This morning he couldn't focus on what was happening on the screen since he was too lost in his own world. Natsu was looking back on the events of yesterday, he felt very lost but there was a sense of relief in the back of his mind. He understood he was looking for friends that cared but why was he so hesitant he asked himself. Natsu didn't feel like eating.

2:00 PM

Natsu couldn't take it anymore. The loud music was starting to annoy him. Annoy might be an understatement. Natsu was at Lucy's door in seconds. Knocking on the door loudly the door almost immediately opened. Natsu and Lucy were face to face. Natsu was a little startled by how fast the door opened and forgot what he was going to say. "Good afternoon Natsu!" Lucy screamed at him. Natsu looked at her angrily. "Can you turn it down!" Natsu yelled back. "Oh, I'm sorry." Lucy said apologetically. She went over to the laptop and turned down the two speakers while waving Natsu in. Natsu sat down in the same spot that he sat in last night on the L shaped couch. "Sorry Natsu. I was getting a little carried away, I really love that opening." Lucy said sitting down. "What opening is that? What anime is it from?" Lucy just pointed at the laptop which caused Natsu to lean forward to squint at it. "You've been listening to that for the past few hours? On loop?" Natsu asked chucking. "It's really good okay? Shush your mouth." Lucy said huffing towards him. Natsu didn't respond but chuckled at her aggressive response. "I didn't have any coffee this morning, do you wanna go down to Fairy Tail Cafe?" Lucy asked. Natsu thought that it was a bad idea because of Mira's "date" accusations. Also, Gildarts would probably embarrass him. "Nah, why can't we just stay here and hang out?" Natsu asked. Lucy puffed out her cheeks. "Fine. But that means you have to spend the whole day with me." Lucy proposed. "Fine by me!" Natsu said eagerly. "You're reaching out a bit Natsu." Lucy said smiling. "What do you mean?" Natsu asked cursiously. "You came here to talk with me, I didn't have to initiate it. You're also eager to spend time with me. That's a good sign." Lucy said softly. Natsu had on a more cheeky smile. He didn't really think the music playing was that annoying, but it gave him an excuse to come over to Lucy's again like last night. Events he still couldn't get out of his head.

3:00 PM

Natsu and Lucy were sitting next to each other by the next hour. They were watching a sitcom with a pillow in-between them. Lucy didn't want Natsu to try any funny business. Though her comment about her chest from the night before was already confusing enough for Natsu. Natsu looked over at Lucy, she was wearing only some short track shorts and a tank top. While Natsu was wearing sweatpants and a black tank top. Natsu felt like he knew Lucy forever. There was a weird connection that seemed to click after finding out about Lucy's similar past. Lucy looked back at Natsu in the eye and leaned in towards him. Natsu blushed and stood still. Lucy looked at him for a second and the ran her hand across his face. Natsu was in pain. "WHY!" he said clinging to his cheek." Natsu looked at her and decided to hit back with a pillow. Natsu grabbed the pillow next to him and threw it at her in a soft manner. Basically tossed it at her. Lucy threw it back but harder. Then it got to a point when Natsu and Lucy were flailing pillows at each other for what seemed like hours but were only a minute or two. It was somewhat cliché. Lucy ended up winning as all of the pillows were on her side and Natsu had to surrender to the kind of pillow fights. Natsu smiled at her which followed in a returned smile from Lucy. But catching Natsu off guard, he fell back as the pillow hit his face. Hard.

4:00 PM

Natsu and Lucy were in her room watching some romance anime that Natsu found to be really cliché. Lucy had a large bed but Natsu sat in front of the screen like a child as Lucy gazed at the show with sparkly eyes on her bed laying on her stomach. As single-minded as the show was, it was really funny looking back at Lucy who always looked like she was about to cry at every moment. Once the show ended, Natsu stood up and looked back at Lucy whose face was in a pillow crying in a comical fashion. "Hey Lucy." Natsu started. Lucy looked up from her drenched pillow. "Yeah?" She said sniffing. "Let's go down to the Cafe." Lucy's face sparkled.

Natsu and Lucy arrived at the Cafe shortly after Lucy's eyes had stopped raining. Natsu spotted the table where Gildarts and Makarov were sitting. They were drinking and having a fun time. Natsu and Lucy walked over and sat across from the two. "Hey Natsu! Oh, is this your girlfriend from earlier?" Gildarts asked with wicked intentions. Natsu facepalmed. "Yup!" Lucy said. Natsu slowly turned his head to her response. The two old men were shocked by her response. "Just kidding! But Natsu would do nicely when I think about it." She said nudging his elbow. Natsu had a "really" expression on his face. The two old men cracked up at Lucy's flirtatious statement. "Oh hey Lucy! Hi Natsu! I had fun last night at your place Natsu!" Mira said waving while jogging towards them. It was almost like the whole pub started staring at the teen. The fact that the beautiful Mirajane had gone to the boy's house shocked everyone as they had the wrong idea. "Well he is cute" Natsu heard a girl say. Natsu blushed and chuckled at the situation. "You amused by this attention you perv?" Lucy leaned in and whispered at him. Natsu shook his head sternly. "What would you guys like?" Mira asked holding up her notepad. "Was she blushing?" Natsu thought to himself. Natsu and Lucy both ordered coffee with only 2 creams and turned back towards the old men as Mira ran off with their order. "What's all this about you and Mira huh Natsu?" Gildarts asked Natsu with a grin. Makarov glared at Natsu awaiting his response. "It's not what you think. Natsu was actually at my place for a while!" Lucy said excitedly. "We actually are spending the whole day together!" Gildarts and Makarov looked at Natsu with the most mischievous looks. "Not like that! Me and Lucy are just friends!" Natsu reassured them. Lucy had a gleam in her eye after he said that. He actually said she was his friend.

"I'm gonna go use the bathroom". Natsu said walking over towards the restrooms. Lucy watched the boy as he entered the door. "So you got the hots for Natsu huh?" Gildarts said with another sheepish grin. Lucy blushed. "Don't worry, if you do, we won't say a word to Natsu." Makarov said. Lucy smiled at the short old man. "I'm really happy to see that the boy has found a true friend in you. You seem to have a strong connection by the way you look at him. Knowing Natsu, it's weird to see him click with someone so quickly. I hope this isn't a false alarm. Natsu has gone through a lot of pain these few months. You understand this right?" Lucy nodded at Makarov to go on. "I see. What makes you so happy to be around Natsu?" Gildarts and Makarov focused on Lucy and anticipated her answer.

"Well. He's just like me. Shy at times, short temper, but is just looking for good people to surround himself with. I know his pain. I saw it the moment he was silent for once and not making those crude jokes. He might have the pieces I need to feel complete and I might have his. I hope." Lucy explained. Makarov and Gildarts smiled.

Natsu looked in the mirror of the bathroom. The reflection of himself was shining ever so brightly. Natsu didn't feel alone for the first time in what felt like centuries. Where did Lucy come from? Why is her friendship being handed to him for free. Was it really this simple? Either way, he was going to reach. He was going to accept them. He was going to accept her.

"Hey uh, kid. Can you step aside? You've been staring at yourself for the past minute and I need to wash my hands." the stranger said. "Oh sorry" replied Natsu walking out the door.

Makarov and Gildarts left and Lucy was sitting at the table by herself sipping her cup of coffee. Natsu sat down and didn't question the other two's whereabouts. Natsu took a sip out of his coffee. They sat without speaking with grins on their faces just like from the other day. "I'll reach out more Lucy. You are my friend after all." Natsu declared. Lucy looked at him with a funny look. "Prove it then". Natsu slid his coffee towards her. "Better perk up Lucy. It's going to be a fun". Lucy slid his coffee towards him. Natsu looked at her questioningly. Was he being rejected? "I think you'll need it. You might need that "perk" if you wanna keep up with me!" Lucy said smiling wide. Natsu smiled back with no hesitation.