Chapter Seven: Brawl
The celestial wizard known as Lucy Heartfilia was currently walking to the Fairy Tail guild. She hadn't been there since yesterday morning, and she was a little nervous to show her face. Not only was there a chance of running into Gray, but there was also a chance that her guild mates could see the permanent blush coating her cheeks.
Her face heated up mainly due to her nonstop thoughts of a certain dragon slayer, but it was also caused by her potential embarrassment. She knew she had to confront Gray, even if she really, really didn't want to see his face anytime soon.
However, she wanted to be able to move on with her life, and start a relationship with Natsu, and she couldn't do that if she was still the girlfriend of that cheating asshole.
"Whoa, calm down Lucy," the blonde said to herself, trying to see past her anger and jealousy. She was trying to get over what happened between her and the ice-make wizard, but she had no such luck. She needed closure, and she wasn't going to get that without talking to him.
She still had a bit of a walk to the guild, so she used that time to think.
Yesterday had been the longest, and strangest day of her life. She had caught her boyfriend cheating, ran away from him, only to end up in the arms of her best friend, Natsu. What they did behind closed doors was not something she wanted to discuss with anyone anytime soon.
After they finally had a talk about their feelings, she ended up spending the night at his house. Nothing sexual happened, even when they laid half-naked on his couch. It was a tight fit, but they made it work. She had never slept more comfortably, and she loved that Natsu held her all night long.
Unfortunately morning had to come, and with that, she had to face reality.
She remembered the first thing she smelled when waking up was sweat. Her body, along with the dragon slayer's, smelt like sweat and sex. It was ironic since they didn't actually have full-blown sex.
Natsu woke up shortly after her, and asked if she wanted to get some breakfast with him at the guild. She actually laughed, looked down at her body and shook her head. There was no way in hell she was going out in public looking like she did.
Her blonde hair had way to many tangles to simply brush out with her fingers, her shirt and panties were either ripped or burned, and her body smelled like she just ran a marathon. She was in no position to be making an appearance at the guild with all their friends present.
She held up her ruined shirt that Natsu burnt from his eagerness, wondering how on Earthland she was supposed to make it to her apartment without proper cover. That's when a shirt was held to her face.
Natsu was standing there, deep red blush on his cheeks and a wrinkled, black shirt in his hands. "Take it," he muttered, embarrassed that it was the cleanest laundry he had.
Lucy found herself extremely comfortable wearing the baggy shirt. It clearly hadn't been washed since the last time he wore it, and instead of smelling like sweat or food like she expected, it just smelled like Natsu.
She was tempted to keep it and never give it back.
The blonde gave him a kiss goodbye, which stunned Natsu. He probably thought last night was a one time thing, but Lucy didn't want to go back to seeing the dragon slayer as just her friend. He was so much more, and she planned on keeping him that way.
Natsu had insisted on walking her home, but she told him he should just get cleaned up and meet her at the guild. She had to take care of a few things before she saw him again. He was reluctant, but he eventually agreed -after stealing a few more kisses from her that is.
Without another word, she left his house and walked to her apartment, wearing her short pink skirt and his baggy black shirt.
Of course she received strange looks on the street, and she wondered if they thought she was doing the walk of shame. The female didn't mind, since she was in such a good mood.
Natsu had confessed to her, and she almost did too. She wanted to say, "I love you," back to him, but she needed to end things with Gray first. The pink haired man deserved better than that, and she was determined to show him just how much he meant to her.
She was surprised to see a note by her door, and chose to wait until after she washed up to read it. Lucy wasted no time hopping in the shower and washing last night's activities off her sore body.
After her shower, she got dressed in the strangest outfit she'd ever worn in public. Black boots, a white skirt, and Natsu's black shirt. Despite it being wrinkled and slightly dirty, she felt more comfortable in it. It was like he was with her even when she was alone.
When she was finally done dressing, she went back to her kitchen table to read the note. She immediately recognized the handwriting, and let out a sigh before reading.
Lucy, I'm really sorry for what you saw. Please come find me when you get this, I'm really worried about you and we need to talk. -Gray
The blonde let out a slight laugh, before throwing the note in the trash. She didn't even read it twice, she just discarded it because it really didn't matter what he said, he broke her trust. There was nothing he could say to make up for his betrayal, and she was determined to give him a piece of her mind -and maybe a kick from her boot.
Before she knew it, she was already standing outside of the guild's doors, surprised she had arrived so soon. Getting lost in her thoughts easily made her journey seem shorter. With a deep, reassuring breath, she opened the heavy doors.
Her eyes scanned the area. Loud chatter and the smell of booze filled her senses before she was able to make out her target: Gray.
He was sitting at a table, talking with Erza and Lisanna. Juvia was no where in sight, which was a relief for the blonde. She didn't know how she'd handle seeing the two of them together so soon. She'd probably flip out and run again.
On her way to the table, she noticed a certain fire dragon slayer sitting at the bar. Happy was next to him, eating a big fish while Natsu was drinking his fire whiskey, compliments of Mira. His head turned to look at Lucy when he caught her scent.
A knowing look was shared between the two, and she saw the way his smile widened, no doubt from the fact she was still wearing his shirt, even after her shower. What? She liked it.
Lucy was glad to see Natsu hadn't confronted Gray, though she could see the way his eyes narrowed when he glanced over to the ice-make wizard. She asked him earlier if he would behave himself until she had a chance to talk to him first, and Natsu reluctantly agreed.
The pink haired man gave her a subtle nod before returning his attention to the blue exceed, who was alternating between talking about food and Carla. That cat was a hopeless romantic, but everyone was still rooting for him.
Another deep breath was needed before approaching the table that held the ice-make wizard and her other friends.
"Hey Lucy," Lisanna was the first to notice the blonde. The white haired woman gave her a bright smile that seemed to ease the tension coursing through Lucy's body.
"Hello," the celestial wizard said, surprised by the strength behind her own voice. She was sure she'd crumble once she was in Gray's vicinity, but it seemed she was standing strong.
It didn't take long before the ice-make wizard's head shot up to look at the standing girl. "Lucy!" He spoke a little louder than necessary, but in his defense he was caught off-guard.
He didn't think he'd see her this morning, especially not after he looked all over Magnolia for her last night after getting caught with Juvia. For awhile he was thinking she just left town to be alone, he was relieved to see her standing in front of him.
"Hello Gray, can we talk?" Lucy asked, looking over towards Erza and Lisanna who nodded. They started to get up before Lucy waved her hands, "I meant outside. No need for you two to move."
"Y-yeah," the raven haired man stood up and handed Lucy the purse she'd left at his apartment. She muttered a small 'thanks', before he followed her closely as they exited the guild.
At the bar, Natsu was biting his inner cheek. He wanted to go out there to be with Lucy, but he knew she had to do this on her own. That thought didn't make it easy to sit still, and his foot tapping on the stool did little to settle his nerves.
He wondered if she was actually going to go through with it. She was a beautiful and sweet person, and he worried that Gray might get her to forgive him. Natsu wasn't sure if he'd be able to go back to just friends with Lucy again after everything that happened yesterday.
Despite his troubled mind, the dragon slayer tried to be positive. Lucy said she wanted to say 'I love you' back to him, but first she needed to talk to Gray. Natsu hoped that meant he'd hear those words come out of her mouth soon, because just the anticipation for it was enough to make his heart soar.
"Something wrong?" Mira said, walking by as she cleaned a mug.
He shook his head, returning his focus to his drink, "everything's fine..." He sure hoped he was right though as he took sip.
"Lucy, I'm so sorry!" Gray said once they were alone outside. They'd moved to the side of the guild so no one coming or going would eavesdrop on their conversation.
Lucy didn't really know what to say. She had thought of different scenarios in her head last night and this morning, but suddenly she was drawing a blank. Instead of replying, she just shifted her weight on her right foot.
"Please Lucy, say something," the raven haired man pleaded.
"Just tell me why you did it," the blonde finally demanded. She was surprised by her own voice, but didn't care that she sounded harsh. After what he put her through he could handle a little rudeness.
The ice-make wizard sighed, dragging a hand over his face before speaking. "I knew you were going to be gone for a while, so I thought it was the perfect time to set everything up."
Lucy made no effort to talk, and instead waited for him to continue. "I had everything perfect at my apartment, the only problem was I didn't know how I was going to ask you."
She bit her lip, forcing herself not to comment. "My mistake was I asked Juvia for advice. I..." He shook his head as if remembering something. "I asked her to meet me at my apartment to talk. When she got there I told her about us."
Finally Lucy spoke, "what did she say?"
"She was hurt. I guess she really did like me. I thought it was a silly infatuation, but turned out her feelings were real," Gray said, his voice deepening. "I told her I wanted advice on how to ask you..." He gulped, "how to ask you to move in with me."
The blonde let out a small gasp. That was not what she was expecting. She remembered a distinct conversation they had within the first month of dating, where Gray said he'd never lived with a woman before, and that he thought it was a huge step in the relationship. Lucy didn't think he'd ask her to move in with him since they hadn't even been together that long.
"I told her how nervous I was, and she told me there was no reason to be. She kept complimenting me and shit, saying I was a great catch an any woman would be lucky to have me."
Lucy fought hard not to scoff at the statement. Gray didn't seem to notice as he kept on with the story, "she ended up kissing me."
That's when he stopped talking, and finally looked into her eyes. She felt the icy stare, it held so much grief and remorse. "What did you do?"
"I guess I just got weak. I've been doubting myself ever since we got together. I've been worried I'm going to mess things up. Juvia made me feel better about myself. I never meant for it to get that far," Gray confessed, then swallowed hard. "One thing just led to another..."
Lucy knew that he was likely telling her the truth. She had experienced the same thing with Natsu. She hadn't expected them to get so far, but they did.
"But that's honestly as far as it got..." Gray's words entered her mind. "What you saw-"
"What if I never interrupted you two?" Lucy's sharp tone cut him off.
Gray hung his head low, staring at the ground. "I honestly don't know. I just know that's all we did. I didn't even touch her down there."
Lucy was torn between scoffing and cringing. She wanted to scoff because he said it as if it made things better, which it didn't. The celestial wizard decided to go with cringing, as she remembered vividly Juvia was still fully dress -besides her hat. If they really stopped when Lucy caught them, then he never had the chance to explore the water mage's body.
"Juvia confessed to me again, saying she really loves me. I told her I don't feel the same way, because I don't," Gray's voice was strained, and Lucy had the feeling he wasn't being completely honest with himself. "It was a mistake, only physical. I'm sorry Lucy, I promise," he looked back up, meeting her gaze. "I promise it will never happen again."
The blonde knew the last part was true, about it never happening again, but not because of Gray himself. Lucy was going to end their relationship, making sure there was no way he ever could cheat on her again.
"I'm really sorry," his eyes steeled. "Can you forgive me?"
Lucy let out a nervous giggle. She was finding out that she wasn't very good in these types of situations. "Well I can tell you now that I'm not moving in with you. If you never cheated on me, then I would have said yes."
She decided not to mention the part where she was planning on giving him her virginity. It was better that he didn't know. The romantic dinner she planned was also not needed information.
"As far as forgiving you, I think I can do that," Lucy said, seeing the way it lifted Gray's spirit.
He smiled and moved in to hug her, but her hand rose to stop him from taking another step. "I said I can forgive you, not that I'll forget it happened. You really hurt me Gray. I trusted you, and you betrayed that trust with a woman who I told you I was wary of. You always told me 'she's harmless', or 'she means nothing to me', but clearly you were lying. If you truly wanted to be with me then you wouldn't have allowed something like that to happen. You wanted it Gray, just admit it."
Lucy hadn't expected herself to voice her inner concerns, but lo and behold they surfaced anyways. She waited for an answer, and was surprised by his honesty.
"Okay," he said through a clenched jaw, "maybe I do have some feeling for her, but they're nowhere near how I feel about you. I promise it was a one time thing."
She gave him a perplexed look before sighing. Gray must have thought that was a good sign, because he finally asked the dreaded question.
"Do you want to try to work this out Lucy?" His dark blue eyes were filled with sadness. She could take away all his sadness with just one word. However, she could not give him false hope like that. It was cruel, and besides, he didn't know the whole truth.
"Before I answer that," Lucy started, "there's something you need to know. I'm sorry too."
"What?" The ice-make wizard raised his brow, "what are you sorry for?"
"Well, you see..." Lucy felt her face heating up, "after I left..."
The blonde was at a loss of words. How exactly was she supposed to tell him what she did with Natsu? Blurting it out didn't seem like the best answer, but neither did beating around the bush. Her teeth caught her bottom lip as she tried to decide how to go about this uncomfortable conversation.
"Where did you go?" Gray finally asked, giving her something easy to answer. It would definitely help her get started.
"The forest," she admitted, finding it hard to meet his dark blue eyes.
The man nodded his head, "that's why I couldn't find you. I never thought you'd go there."
"Yeah..." Lucy could feel anxiety weighing heavily on her chest.
"Did you stay there all night?" Gray asked, worried about her safety. He knew the forest was filled with vulcans, and she didn't have her gate keys with her, since they were left at his house. He had waited at her apartment for hours before giving up for the night.
He checked back at the guild, but no one had seen her either. He had no idea where she would go, and it sickened him to know he was the cause for her absence.
"Technically, I did," Lucy started.
He raised a brow, "technically?"
"Yeah..." Lucy felt like this conversation was going nowhere, and she realized she was in fact beating around the bush. Tightening her fist she finally muttered, "I stayed the night at Natsu's house."
Gray's eyes widened. "Natsu's house? Why would you stay at that flame brain's house?"
"He found me crying in the forest," she noted the way Gray winced when she mentioned crying, and was secretly pleased with his reaction. He hurt her, and making him feel guilty was the least she could do.
"Natsu wanted to take care of me..." It wasn't a lie. That's exactly what the dragon slayer had done when they made it back to his house. It seemed like so long ago that she was sitting on his couch and wiping the dirt from her body with a damp rag. The past twenty-four hours had been passing by so slowly for her, and she was looking forward to time going back to normal again after all this was over.
Gray didn't like the idea of the pink haired man taking care of his girlfriend. He knew the pyro wouldn't try something, but it still bothered him that Natsu was the one to be with her last night and not him.
"Is that what you're sorry about?" Gray asked, a slight laugh in his voice. "There's no reason to apologize about crashing at a friend's house for the night."
Lucy fidgeted in her spot, her fingers twitching from her nervousness. "That's not what I'm sorry about... Something happened last night."
"What?" The ice-make wizard asked. "What happened?"
Gray's mind automatically went to the worst case scenario, but he held on to the small shred of hope that his girlfriend wouldn't have cheated on him with the fire dragon slayer.
"Natsu and I..." The celestial wizard took a deep breath, then looked up at the troubled man. "We did some things..."
Natsu had just finished his mug of fire whiskey when the guild's doors slammed open. He didn't even flinch, laughing with Happy and Mirajane about how Nab will never take a job.
"NATSU!"
Said dragon slayer turned around on his bar stool so see a very irate Gray.
"You fucking fire crotch!" The ice-make wizard took large steps as he sprinted to the bar. A fist collided with Natsu's face, sending him flying into the shelves of alcohol. His back hit an invisible wall, purple lines and characters dancing around the background.
Freed had set up an enchantment months ago just for this occasion, knowing the guild roughed house frequently. It prevented any bottles from breaking, but that did little to calm Natsu's newfound rage.
The fire dragon slayer jumped onto the counter with two fists engulfed in flames. "What the hell was that for?"
"Don't play dumb! I know you touched my girlfriend!" Gray yelled, gaining everyone's attention.
Realization struck Natsu that Lucy must have told him what they did. He could imagine the hurt he must have felt when Lucy admitted that to Gray, but it couldn't possibly compare to the pain Lucy felt when she walked in on Gray and Juvia together.
Natsu narrowed his green eyes in anger, his blood boiling at a dangerous temperature. "You're the bastard that made her cry!"
The ice-make wizard's body tensed. How many times had he seen Natsu get wildly outraged that someone made the blonde shed tears? He always just assumed Natsu cared about his friends, but now he suspected that the dragon slayer might have been harboring feelings for the girl for a while.
Still, Gray was angry, and he wasn't going to calm down anytime soon. "That doesn't give you the right to defile her!"
Natsu could hear the guild's members whispering to each other. Most of them asking who Gray's girlfriend was, since no one was even made aware he was dating someone.
Natsu didn't have much time to eavesdrop before a frozen arrow hit his chest. It stabbed into his flesh, causing him to bleed.
"Damn it!" Natsu ripped the frozen arrow out, seeing that it was dangerously close to his heart. A trail of blood trickled from the open wound, only serving to increase the dragon slayer's rage. "Careful bastard! You could've really hurt me!"
"I kissed Natsu..." Lucy's voice echoed in the ice-make wizard's head. He didn't want to believe it, but she really had no reason to lie to him.
"That's the point!" Gray threw his shirt off before slamming both hands together, "ice make!"
The fire dragon charged for him, not giving him a chance to finish the spell. "Fire dragon iron "fist!" He purposely punched Gray in the face, sending him flying across the guild.
The shirtless man's impact broke the boards of the wall. Splinters dug into his exposed back, but he couldn't feel it. In fact he couldn't feel anything but the need for revenge. Natsu was supposed to be his friend, and even though they fought, he never thought the dragon slayer would do something like that.
"Natsu went down on me..." Gray grimaced as he imagined that asshole's face between his girlfriend's legs.
The raven haired man stood up, rubbing the bruise already forming on his upper cheek. He sized up his opponent, debating whether to take him head on or from a distance. The guild hall was large, but not that large. He'd have to keep his attacks in check to avoid destroying the building.
"And then I went down on Natsu..."
Gray smacked his head twice, trying to get Lucy's voice out of his mind. Did she really have to tell him that? Couldn't she just leave it alone and kept it as 'they did things'.
"... until he finished... in my mouth..."
Gray was pissed off at Lucy. He was pissed at her for cheating on him and for telling him the fucking details of it, but he was more angry at Natsu. Just the idea that the pyro had his cock in his girlfriend's mouth was enough to make him contemplate murder.
"I'm gonna make you pay, Dragneel!"
Natsu bared his teeth, a low growl rumbling in his throat. He was ready for anything Gray could throw at him. Not only was he defending himself, he was fighting to get revenge for Lucy. He was also fighting because an instinctual part of him told him Gray was a threat to his chances at being with Lucy, and he had to eliminate that threat.
He would win Lucy's heart.
Natsu anticipated his enemy's next move, but became distracted when he noticed a familiar scent drifting through the guild's doors.
A dark voice shouted in the back of Natsu's mind as his eyes raked over Lucy's body. 'MINE, MINE, MINE!'
She was standing by the entrance of the guild, fear in her eyes. Only when he registered her tears did the voice in his head die down.
Her hand flew over her mouth as her watery eyes took in the scene in front of her. She looked so distraught, but Natsu couldn't comfort her as he was now being thrown into a table by Gray's sneak attack.
The table broke from the crash, scraping his arms and legs. He was glad no one was sitting there as he climbed back to his feet. Ice was imbedded in his forearms, and covering parts of the floor.
Flames licked up and down Natsu's arms and legs as he fought to remain in control. He was pissed, and only now realized that Gray wasn't kidding about trying to hurt him.
Still, Natsu wasn't one to give up easily.
The dragon slayer propelled himself with flames blazing from his feet. He grabbed Gray, throwing him back into the already broken wall. He started delivering punch after punch, worried that if he let up, he might get overthrown.
A few times Natsu swiped at the ice-make wizard with his hands, nails scraping those pale arms and causing them to bleed. The pink haired man was out for blood now, and he didn't care who might be watching.
Gray's hands gripped Natsu's wrists harshly, then used his foot to kick the dragon slayer away. He stumbled backwards before steadying himself. He waited for Gray to stand back up, but the smell of wood burning was enough to break his concentration.
A quick glance around the guild was enough to make Natsu wince.
Ice and burns coated random spots in the dining area, and Natsu wasn't sure how their magic got so out of hand. He didn't remember losing control of his fire, but the evidence didn't lie. He was just glad the other guild members had moved out of the way, allowing them space to fight, since none of them seemed to want to get involved.
Natsu looked over at Lucy, who was still crying, upset to see her two good friends fighting. They made eye contact, and all he could do was mouth, I'm sorry Luce, before dodging an attack from Gray's ice-make canon.
Lucy started screaming for them to stop, but her pleads fell on deaf ears. They were in to deep, and nothing was stopping them. The blonde hated being the reason for their pointless fight, and wished they'd just listen and end this.
The two testosterone-driven males continued to fight. The only relief was that they stopped using magic and resorted to fists and legs, punching and kicking to try to claim victory. Gray was fighting because he was mad at Natsu for touching his girl, and Natsu was angry that Gray had hurt Lucy.
Their fight went on for way to long. If only the master was present, he could stop them easily. Unfortunately he was out of town, dealing with the magic council. No doubt it was because of the damage Fairy Tail caused to another city.
The force that finally ended the senseless brawl was everyone's worse nightmare: A pissed off Erza.
Apparently during the fight, one of them had fallen against her, effectively smashing her perfect piece of strawberry cake. That had been the straw that broke the camel's back.
Titania forcefully grabbed both men by their necks and hurled their heads into one another, causing a searing pain to flash through their skulls. "Enough!" She shouted before tossing them out of the guild like a sack of potatoes. "You may not come back until you settle this!"
The two men let out a strained groan as their heads continued to spin from the impact. They should have known their teammate wouldn't allow such destruction in the guild, and they were honestly surprised she allowed it to go on for so long.
They weren't able to worry about it for long, since their heads throbbed and the world was slowly fading around them.
Lucy watched as her two male friends fought to stay conscious. Her tears were still spilling, but it had slowed considerably since they were no longer trying to injure each other.
The redhead then looked at Lucy, who was still crying. The requip mage's hand rested on the blonde's shoulder before saying softly, "I'm not sure what's going on, but I trust you can handle it from here?"
Lucy opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Erza only nodded at the girl before walking back into the guild, closing the doors behind her. The blonde turned to see the two males laying on the stone ground. They were battered, bloodied, and bruised from the unnecessary fight.
The celestial wizard didn't think twice before running over to Natsu, pulling his body into a sitting position before running her thumb over his cheek. Her eyes studied his face, noting the bruises and his busted lip before she glanced at those dark green eyes. He was still awake, and that was a relief to the blonde. "Are you okay?"
So I should probably warn you that I really don't know if this will end with nine chapters or ten, so for now I'll just say we're almost to the ending. Hope I'm not annoying people with extending this story.
I'm so excited to see that there are 54 favorites & 110 follows! That's so cool!
I wanna thank everyone for the favs/follows! You're so awesome! And I want to thank the people who reviewed: FlameDragonHime(x2), MarSofTheGalaxies, westerngoddess, Gh0st's buddy(x2), FlameDracoZ, , ChristieAmanda, caslspirit15, Shunakoo25, Crimsonlink310, Ryuoujin, AnimeArmorFreak, mikethepokemaster(x2), & fairyblackheart.
I guess I'll see you next time with Chapter Eight: Closure
Here's a preview for Day One: Longing, for NALU week. Let me know what you think?
The celestial wizard didn't trust her voice, knowing she'd crack if she tried to use the wretched thing. So instead, she nodded, terrified and excited at what he wanted to try.
The dragon slayer smiled, his sharp teeth coming into view. All she could do was stare, as his head began to lower.
The closer he got, the more she started to sweat. She didn't know if it was because she was nervous, or because Natsu was naturally hot. Either way, she ignored the damp feeling on her body as her heart pounded violently against her rib cage.
Lucy felt his warm breath fanning over her lips, and chills ran down her spine. This was it, her first kiss. It was only then that she realized she really wanted it.
She may not be able to live a normal life: Get married, have children, and grow old with a husband. That was out of her control, but this...
She wanted this, and no one at the church would be able to stop her. She could afford a small sliver of normality, and no one but Natsu and herself would have to know about it.