Chapter Seven: Don't Delete The Kisses
When I see you, the whole world reduces
To just that room
And then I remember and I'm shy that gossip's eye will look too soon
Lucy was a bundle of nerves as she walked into the cafeteria that morning. She paid no attention to the fifty people long queue for pancakes as Cana and Juvia rushed off to join it. Instead she scanned the room for a shock of pink hair.
Natsu was sat in the back corner of the room, adjusting his beanie to cover his wonderful hair a moment after she'd noticed it. He didn't look up from the notebook he was hunched over and intently scribbling in as Lucy noted the rest of the table was empty, and his breakfast tray lay untouched in front of him.
"Oh god," She moaned, "He hasn't eaten his pancakes."
Behind her, Gray sighed. Loke stepped forward and offered her a tentative pat on the shoulder.
"There, there, sweetness. Maybe they just gave him the wrong toppings?"
Lucy nodded, but she didn't believe it. The few times they'd eaten with Natsu he'd always had the biggest appetite out of all of them. She even remembered Gajeel complaining to her about how he always eats all the pigs-in-blankets at Christmas before he can even get to his cousin's house. If he had no interest in food he was clearly upset.
"I am the worst person." She whispered to herself.
"Stop being so fucking dramatic," Gray huffed, "You just need to explain the situation and apologise."
"I need to explain the situation?" Lucy whirled on him, "How about we explain the situation? Y'know, since this is partially your fault?"
Gray was never one to show much emotion, but she could tell by the slumped set of his shoulders that he still felt a little guilty. But whatever guilt Gray felt was nothing compared to her own- poor Natsu must think she was pretending not to know him this whole time. He probably thought she was a completely horrible person by now.
Lucy shook her head to ward of the thoughts. It didn't matter what he'd come to think of her. If he thought she was horrible she'd just have to change his mind, and that all started with telling him the truth.
She grabbed hold of Gray's wrist and dragged him to the rear of the cafeteria where Natsu was sitting. Gray didn't fight her. She knew it was more likely he was willing to apologise to Natsu more for Lucy's sake than for any offence towards his cabin-mate, but at least he was trying.
When they reached his table, Natsu didn't look up from his notebook. He was tapping out a beat with his pen on the table, his brows furrowed deep in thought at the scrawl covering the page of his notebook that was slightly too messy for Lucy to read upside down. For a second her stomach churned at the thought he was deliberately ignoring them, but she reassured herself he was just immersed in his work before finally gathering the courage to speak. She caught sight of a patch of his jaw yellowed and tender looking, Gray holding his hands up in surrender at Lucy's sharp look. She turned back to Natsu, who was still oblivious to their approach, and took in a deep breath before speaking.
"Natsu."
The boy in question looked up from his work in surprise. The second he realised who had spoken his cheeks turned pink.
"Heya Lucy." His gaze turned to Gray, "Popsicle."
Before Gray could come up with an epithet of his own Lucy cut in.
"Natsu, we need to talk. Can I sit down?"
Natsu groaned, the pink of his blush turning almost stop-sign red.
"Lucy, I am so sorry. I wasn't thinking I-"
"What? Natsu, you have nothing to be sorry for. If anyone here should be apologising it's me. And Gray."
"Really?" Natsu's eyebrows shot up, "I know Gray should really apologise for burdening us all with his existence, but what do you have to be sorry for?"
Lucy glanced to Gray, who was visibly trying to restrain himself from retorting to Natsu's jab. It was probably best she do the talking.
She sat down across the table from Natsu, with Gray reluctantly sinking down beside her. Natsu closed his notebook and placed it on his lap out of the way.
"You went to 'Rock On In Hargeon' right at the beginning of the summer, right?"
"Right." Natsu fidgeted awkwardly.
"Well, so did we. With Loke and Cana, obviously. And you know what Cana is like-"
"So you were drunk when you kissed me, I know. Ice Princess said you never would have otherwise. It's probably the only time he's ever been right in his whole life."
Natsu avoided her eyes as he spoke. His words squeezed at her heart, and for a second it was painful to breathe. She hated it that Natsu thought so low of himself. She hated it even more that she had unwittingly contributed to that feeling.
"Don't sell yourself short, loser," Gray rolled his eyes, "If she thought you were good-looking with drunk goggles on, imagine how great you look when she's sober. Assuming she has her contacts in of course and you're not just a vague pink blur."
"I've had my contacts in this whole time I'll have you know and I think he's better than good-looking."
Lucy caught herself a second too late, her last reserves of anger at Gray making her too desperate to come up with a witty retort for his compliment-but-masked-as-an-insult-because-I-can't-show-any-emotion-too-positive-or-I-will-be-in-violation-of-the-emo-handbook. Gray was emitting positive emotion however as his lips quirked upwards at Lucy's misstep. He glanced towards Natsu to gage the other boys reaction and Lucy followed his gaze.
Natsu had gone stop-sign red again, but this time his eyes were wide with surprise, and the hint of a smile played on his lips.
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is," Lucy fumbled to recover, "That I wasn't pretending not to know you this whole time. I just didn't remember you, or the kissing, or most of the festival actually…"
"And that's my fault." Gray admitted, "Not the not remembering the festival part- that was Cana's-but her not knowing you. I never told Lucy about the kiss. I didn't want her to be embarrassed about throwing herself at strangers."
At that, Lucy felt her own cheeks burning.
"And I am so sorry about that-"
"Don't worry, you didn't throw yourself at me." Natsu interrupted, "You just fell on me."
"Fell on you?"
"Yeah." Natsu chuckled, but his smile soon turned shy, "And as for the kiss… don't worry about it. It was… it was my first too and it was actually, uh, pretty great. Amazing actually."
Her blush intensified. Beside her, Gray made a retching sound.
"Alright, I'm clearly done here." Gray motioned vaguely with his hands to them as he stood, "I'm off to get pancakes. Feel free to join after you two have y'know… furthered the plot or whatever."
Gray walked off, leaving the two of them in silence, both blushing too furiously to pluck up the courage to look at one another. Natsu leant his elbows on the table, his fingers fiddling with a guitar pick as he waited for Lucy to break the silence it seemed.
"So… you don't hate me then? You don't think I'm a terrible person."
Natsu smiled softly.
"I never hated you. And I don't think you have it in you to be terrible at anything, to be honest.
Lucy laughed lightly.
"I'm still sorry. I know I wouldn't have felt so great if our roles were reversed. I'd probably overthink myself crazy."
"I almost did." He admitted, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "I should apologise too. I can't imagine my performance at karaoke was that great if it triggered such a traumatic memory."
Lucy swatted at him playfully.
"It wasn't a traumatic memory. From what I remember it was… were you shirtless?"
Natsu groaned.
"Yeah. It was a hot day."
"Yeah, really hot. But, uh, you know. Falling into some shirtless guy's arms is the dream of most girls."
"I highly doubt they picture my face in those dreams."
"Some might." She tried for a laugh, but it feel sort as her face overheated.
Natsu glanced away bashfully. She spotted a smile a smile on his face however, and when his eyes finally met hers again, they were bright with amusement. And something she desperately hoped was a growing confidence.
"And as for your performance," She continued, "I've never been serenaded before. It was quite the experience. Good song choice by the way."
Natsu dropped his head onto the table, his groans of shame absolutely pitiful. Lucy stifled a laugh.
"I can't believe I did that."
"I will admit, after already encountering the effects of Cana's notorious flask, I'm surprised you had a go at it yourself."
"She said it was a good cure for stage fright. I figured it couldn't hurt but clearly, I was wrong."
"Well, despite your method, your performance was amazing. You had most of the crown on their feet."
"I don't know why. Singing isn't really my forte."
Lucy reached out and took his hand, the pick that flitted between his fingers falling onto the table. He looked at her painted finger-tips as though it were an alien hand come to take him to another world. The touch sent sparks racing up her arm, but she held her grip firm.
"Doesn't matter if it's not your forte, you're good at it Natsu. You should have more confidence in yourself."
Natsu avoided her eyes, but his hand squeezed hers in return.
"Confidence doesn't really come easy to someone like me."
"What do you mean someone like you?" She asked lightly, "What sort of person do you think you are Natsu?"
She could see a hundred thoughts swirling inside him. His mouth twisted in a way that made her think he was desperate to tell her- to tell somebody- but he just couldn't set them free.
He withdrew her hand from hers.
"I'm sure you'll figure that out for yourself," He smiled weakly, "If you still want to be friends that is."
Lucy looked down at her hand, the one she'd reached out to Natsu. There was no trace of him there other than the lingering warmth. She looked back up at him to find him watching her nervously, as though he were afraid she would turn round and shout no! Never speak to me again!
She offered him the brightest smile she could muster. It seemed to perk him up a little, but she could see still the worry in his eyes.
"Of course. Friends."
Levy rested her head on the table, even the sounds of the busy cafeteria unable to keep her eyes open. Her tummy was full of pancakes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, her cabin mates weren't sending silent death vibes or pacing around in the dark, and the wood tabletop was making a surprisingly comfy pillow on her forehead. Maybe she'd be able to recover a few precious hours of sleep before the first week assignments would be posted...
"Oi, is Shrimp here dead or somethin'?"
Levy scowled, both at the nickname and how her heart skipped a beat at hearing his voice. Stupid, dumb, musclehead and his stupid arms and stupid laugh and-
"Oi," Gajeel said again, pushing a finger into her head a couple times. "Shrimp, I don't think it'd be the best idea to fall asleep where my cousin could find ya with a sharpie."
That stupid nickname.
Levy lifted her head, scowling as best she could while craning her neck to look at him.
"For the record, I'll break Natsu's pen and then smear it all over his dumb face if he so much as tries to draw cat whiskers on me," Levy hissed, stabbing a stray strawberry for emphasis, keeping her gaze levelled with Gajeel's dark and amused one. "And secondly, if you'd had to have spent the night dealing with Lucy and Cana then you'd be exhausted too."
"I spent the night dealing with Gray and Natsu. You wanna bet your girls are worse than my chucklefuck bunkmates?" Gajeel snorted, dropping his tray heavily to the table and claiming the spot to her left. Levy glared half heartedly. She had been meaning to save the spots for Jet and Droy, but she figured they'd want to spend some time with their own bunkmates, Max and Warren. At least, she hoped so.
"Fair," Levy sighed. She drew a smiley face on her plate in the syrup, using a strawberry to smear it and return it to the shapeless blood of strawberry flavoured liquid sugar. She looked over at Gajeel's plate, a stack of five pancakes loaded with enough whipped cream to make her cavities ache. Sniffing, Levy leaned closer, narrowing her eyes at the plate of food as she finally picked out the fruit she thought might be on his. A piece of green fruit with black seeds and a white core slid out from under the pile of whipped cream. "Really? Kiwi?"
"It's a good fruit," Gajeel glared at her. He ripped open a packet of apple syrup with his teeth and poured it over his pancakes. Levy wasn't sure if she was horrified at his taste or unimpressed with his dramatics. She was stopped from commenting on it by Cana slamming a bottle of -uncorrupted- orange juice on the table.
"Alright folks, now that those two both understand what happened in their special moment it's time to start taking bets on when they'll figure out why they can't stop thinking about the other in the shower." Cana announced, somehow loud but not drawing attention from more than a table or two away. "Dates start in a week, who thinks they're gonna get their shit together like functional human beings?"
"Firstly," Loke drawled, finding a spot on the other side of Levy, "you don't need to be so crude. I don't think Gajeel here is too eager to imagine what his baby cousin thinks about in the shower."
"The walls are thin at home. Trust me, I don't need to use no fuckin' imagination."
Levy cringed at Gajeel's flat voice, his eyes hollow as he sneered at his food, shoving his fork into it hard enough that Levy thought he was trying to stab the memory itself.
"Tragic." Loke said without a glance at Gajeel's direction. "Secondly, I don't think you're one to talk about functional human beings."
"I never said I was one," Cana grinned at him, sitting on the table and taking a swig of her juice.
"And thirdly, put me down for the summer solstice night thing. It's gonna take them at least a month to hook up."
"Now hold on," Levy asked, lifting her fork to point between Cana and Loke, "Are we talking dating or hooking up. Because those are very different things and I won't be cheated of my winnings by some technicality."
"Hmm, I'm gonna say they kiss once in like three weeks and then are super awkward and don't date for another week or two," Cana said, nodding wisely to herself. "But no, must be full dating for you to win."
"What are we betting," Gray sighed, his voice worn like someone who had to deal with Cana and Loke's plans on a regular basis would be; warily accepting and without the energy to fight it.
"When those two idiots are gonna accept they looove one another," Loke sang, scooting over and making room for Gray. Levy's thigh brushed Gajeel's under the table and she jerked back, face heating as she stared at her plate pointedly. Levy firmly believed in personal bubbles, and she had a feeling Gajeel would be the type of guy to appreciate it. She knew she could get carried away, Levy was still mortified that she had grabbed his arm so casually that first day, but thighs under a table... Levy bit her lip and forced herself to pay attention to the conversation surrounding her again.
"Obviously," Gray grunted, halfheartedly rolling his eyes. "I mean what are we putting in the pot for the winner. Which will be me, because that pink haired dumbass isn't gonna push himself on Lucy, and none of ya know her as well as I do. They don't get together until the end of camp."
"The buy in is five bucks and the one who eats it the worst has to sing a song to the winner," Cana grinned at Gray, sharp and challenging. It was clear that she expected to win, and was expecting Gray to be the furthest from winning. Levy almost didn't want to know what song Cana would pick out if she was right.
"I say sixth week. Give Strawberry a chance to realize how miserable he is without her during the break and Bunny Girl enough time to be worn down by his pathetic puppy dog eyes." Gajeel said. The table was silent for a moment before Cana whooped at his involvement, pulling a pen and paper for somewhere and marking his time down beside a 'Ga'. She filled in the rest of their bets, grin wide to herself and humming a familiar tune under her breath. She tapped along with the pen beside the names when she was done, Levy smiling when she remembered that Cana was said to be one of the best drummers at the camp.
"Put me down for third week. I think they're cute together." Levy smiled before looking over her shoulder at where Lucy and Natsu sat several tables down. They kept blushing and looking away from one another, reminding Levy of two kindergarteners rather than teenagers. She felt a pang of envy at their giddy and nervous energy, both unsure of the other but unwilling to walk away. She knew Jet and Droy had a crush on her -maybe loved her- but all she felt for them was sibling love.
"Alright, all we need is Juvia and then a few other-" Cana cut off as she whipped her pen at Gray, hitting him squarely in the forehead.
"Oi!"
"LOOK AT THAT THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS."
All heads whipped around, the table obvious in their gawking at the pair a distance away. And indeed, Lucy's hand was in Natsu's, her smile shy and her head dipped so she looked at Natsu from her lashes, Natsu beet red and his whole body slowly leaning into the middle of the table, almost as if gravity was pulling him closer to her.
Loke spoke up, eyes quick as they snapped between Cana and the love birds. "I'm saying two weeks. Look at that. They're basically having sex on Natsu's pancakes."
Levy nodded, unable to help her grin at one of her bunkmates and a quickly developing best friend. Lucy looked happy, and Levy felt the seed of jealousy melt away at that fact.
"What is Juvia supposed to be part of?" A confused voice asked. Levy took her eyes off the pair to look at Juvia claiming a spot beside Cana's calf, her two pancakes covered in a mountain of blue and blackberries.
"Look over there Juvia and tell us what you see." Cana gestured towards the opposite end of the cafeteria.
Levy watched Juvia as she stood up a little to properly see where Natsu and Lucy was sitting. The girl's smile lit up in an instant, her grin almost mischievous.
"It appears that Lucy will not be a love rival after all."
Juvia sat back down and tucked into her pancakes, unaware of the confused glances of her friends.
"Look at that moron," Gray scoffed, seemingly paying no mind to Juvia's strange words, "His face is practically as pink as his hair."
"Why does he always cover it up anyway?" Loke mused, "It's such a rosy pink."
"The kids got issues." Was Gajeel's curt reply.
Levy could have sworn she detected defensiveness in his tone. He acted like he didn't care, but she knew Gajeel would be the first to throw a punch if anyone other than him bad-mouthed his cousin.
"Oh oh oh, he's retracting the hand." Cana motioned dramatically, shifting forward so far Levy was sure she'd fall off the table.
"A mistake." Loke tutted, despite the fact he was more concerned with checking his pores in the front camera of his phone rather than the brewings of a love story across the cafeteria. Levy stifled a laugh as he prodded at the flawless skin under his eye, scowling into the camera.
"What does this all even mean." Gray sighed.
Levy laughed at his inability to understand real human emotion before turning in her seat to watch the show. She couldn't quite see Lucy's face from this angle, but she was certain the girl was looking down at her hand. And Natsu- poor, sweet, love-struck Natsu- was looking at her the way they always wrote about in those cheesy romance books she refused to admit to reading.
"It means true love is a fickle thing Natsu and Lucy are destined to fight for. Juvia believes love is worth fighting for, do you not, Gray?" Juvia sighed, her chin sinking into her hands as her gaze pierced through Gray. Levy met Gajeel's smirk as Gray literally began to thaw, face turning pink and his throat clearing awkwardly. He shrugged noncommittally, suddenly focused intently on his pancakes.
"Don't scare him off, hun, don't you know Gray can only handle one dose of happy emotions before noon?" Cana cooed, patting Juvia's shoulder. The musical major's shoulder slumped, lip wobbling in defeat as she poked at her pancakes with much less enthusiasm. She didn't even swat at Cana when she stole a blackberry, though Levy thought that might be the girl's calm and giving disposition rather than her sadness.
Levy looked back over her shoulder, gaping at what she saw.
She slapped at Gajeel's arm, not stopping at his squawking as she tried to get her excitement out in the least attention grabbing way. "She's eating his food. You guys! You guys Lucy's eating Natsu's food."
"What?!"
"There's no fuckin' way that dipshit ain't hoarding his pancakes like some kinda addict."
"I want to change my bet!"
"Juvia would like to double down on three weeks before Love Rivals are officially no longer her rivals."
"Ohhh, I'm so gonna win this," Levy squealed. She kept her eyes glued on Lucy playfully stealing a piece of his pancakes again, Natsu's grin wide as he pretended to try and stop her. He used his pen when she went in for a raspberry, the two mocking a sword fight and giggling with one another.
"This is more obscene than if they were having sex," Gray scowled, corner of his lip twitching up despite his disgusted tone.
"It's true love!" Cana crowed. "Look at that! Boys don't share food unless they're gonna get married! OH MY GOD GONNA THEY'RE GONNA GET HITCHED. I CALL MAID OF HONOUR!"
"Does Juvia get to be a bridesmaid?" Juvia asked, perking up at the mention of weddings. Levy smothered a laugh at Gajeel's suffering sigh, both knowing who Juvia would claim for dance practice, no matter how impossible an actual wedding happening would be. He scowled at her. Levy stole one of his kiwis. She stuck her tongue out at his deepened glare, his mouth falling open in shock. Levy saw a glint of silver flash on his tongue, but quickly diverted that train of thought.
She looked over her shoulder at where Natsu and Lucy were when Loke whistled low, the sound a warning of trouble like when someone got called to the principles' office in school.
Lucy and Natsu were both staring at the table, bright red and pissed off. Lucy stood quickly, smiling at Natsu shyly before running off -and sending a gesture with her hand directed towards the table that made Levy raise her eyebrows. Natsu grabbed his book and plate of food after a minute, slowly making his way towards their table.
Levy turned back to her pancakes trying her best to look innocent, as did everyone else. Except Cana, who most likely was overjoyed at being caught spying- though she did hide the book of bets by tucking it into her bra. Levy frowned, wondering how Cana got away with just wearing a loose netted top that ended before her ribs did, blue bra -or bikini- basically being showed off, considering the camp dress code was very clear on what was and wasn't appropriate.
"Whatchu guys lookin' at?" Natsu asked, smug tone despite his sneer and narrowed eyes.
"True love," Juvia sighed. Cana and Loke barked out a laugh as Natsu turned a deep red. He pulled his beanie lower so his hair was covered more fully and scoffed, looking away.
"You must have been watching Loke and his reflection then." He retorted a beat too late.
"I can't believe I fretted over you," Loke sniffed.
"He has a point," Gray smirked, taking a bite of his pancakes and lifting a smug eyebrow at Loke's pout.
"E tu, bae?" Loke gasped. He pouted at the table's laughter, turning back to his phone with a grunt. Natsu and Gray shared a knowing smirk before realizing they weren't actively hating one another and looking away pointedly. Levy felt relief wash over her as the group returned to it's regular, but less-than-functional, dynamic. All that was left was-
"Yes Natsu, what was happening over there?"
Erza.
All of Natsu's colour drained as he fell into his seat beside Juvia. He squeaked, refusing to look away from his pancakes. Levy couldn't help her grin as she noted that the only bite taken had been from Lucy. "Nothin'." Natsu said between his teeth. Erza slid into the place beside Natsu, placing her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.
"It didn't look like 'nothin'," she said. Levy met her eyes, happy to see amusement flicker in Erza's deep brown gaze before she turned back to a mortified looking Natsu. "It looked like you might have been flirting with a certain blonde haired girl. I can't remember the last time you shared food with anyone but Happy."
"We ain't flirtin'. We're just friends," Natsu defended weakly. He stabbed his pancakes and lifted one whole, losing part of the fruit and whipped cream as it slid back onto his plate. He got a bite in before Erza slapped his hand. He met her narrowed eyes with his own glare before sighing and cutting off a quarter of the pancake with his fork and shoving it in his mouth. Erza nodded, pleased with his action, and Levy was awed at how easy their interaction felt. She knew first hand how... much, Erza could be, but watching the scene before her was like watching an overprotective and strict big sister lecture her suffering baby brother. The scene was only strengthened when Natsu spoke with his mouth half full and indifferent to Erza's disgusted curled lip. "Lucy only likes me as a friend, so that's all we're gonna be."
The table groaned at his obliviousness, Natsu swallowing and squawking in confusion, looking at Levy for answers. She looked at him flatly before putting a much more reasonably sized cut of food in her mouth. "I wish you wouldn't sell yourself so short Natsu," Erza sighed, squeezing her shoulder. "You have much to offer, and that Lucy seems like a sweet girl. Don't resign yourself to a fate that hasn't yet happened." Natsu flushed, a hint of hopefulness lifting the corner of his mouth as he looked at Erza. "Though I will remind you that any inappropriate meetings between campers will have repercussions."
"Erza!" Natsu objected, choking on his shout. Juvia squeaked loudly, Gray and Gajeel made their own noises of disgust while Cana nearly fell off the table she laughed so hard. Erza held up her hands in surrender, playful smile brightening her face but her gaze warning underneath her teasing.
"I'll leave you be while I help Mira set up the lists. Be sure to be at the announcement board twelve thirty sharp." With that Erza walked off, leaving the group to leer at Natsu, the boy himself flushing and groaning in embarrassment.
"I can't believe Erza was the one to give you the talk," Loke chortled. "I was looking forward to doing that. Maybe I'll slip Lucy one of my condoms and watch her face go through the five stages of grief."
Levy choked on her drink, feeling milk come out her nose. She whined in pain while the table began to laugh again, even Juvia unable to hide her giggles behind her hand. She glared at Gajeel through her watery vision, his head thrown back as he cackled at her. His lip ring caught on the light, eyes pinched shut and full lashes pressed to his cheeks. Levy felt her heart lurch into her throat. She ignored the feeling, stabbing four more pieces of kiwi from his plate and shoving them in her mouth, ignoring her burning airway the same way she was ignoring her emotions. The apple syrup tasted disgusting on the tart fruit but Levy swallowed, pleased when Gajeel sneered at her for stealing his fruit. It was his own fault for laughing at her.
Juvia pushed several pieces of fruit from her plate onto Gajeel's, blueberries rolling in his whipped cream and syrup. Levy pouted, and Juvia smiled at her sweetly before discreetly winking at her. A blush burned her cheeks at Juvia's knowing look and encouraging smile, her innocent facade replaced immaculately.
"Rain woman loves me," Gajeel grunted, grin mocking as he looked at Levy.
"Are you saying Levy should love you too, Gajeel?" Natsu asked impishly, obviously pleased at no longer being the center focus. His eyes danced when Gajeel tripped over his words, flustered. He settled on glaring silently, an aura of death radiating from him.
"Juvia agrees with Natsu. Does Gajie wish Levy to share her fruit with him?"
"I think he wants her to share more than fruit, if ya know what I mean."
"Cana could you not make everything sexual, once in your life?"
"But Gray, where's the fun in that?" Cana cooed, subtly stealing a fingerful of whipped cream from Gray's plate. Levy raised her face from out of her hands, glaring at the table. Gajeel was more coloured than Natsu's hair, which had begun to peek out from under his beanie.
"Juvia wishes to place a bet. Put me down for Gajie and Levy for a month and two weeks." Juvia said, looking at Cana intently. The brunette blinked twice before a large grin broke across her face. She took out the bet book and wrote down Juvia's date.
"I knew you were my type of girl, Juvi!"
"Oi!" Gajeel shouted, betrayed.
"What're you guys talkin' 'bout?" Natsu asked, looking around in confusion. Levy whined pitifully and buried her face back in her hands. She knew she should have saved those spots for Jet and Droy.
All around her was a sea of people, and she was on a boat far, far above them, with a special view of the stage. Her own little personal view! Lucy giggled at the idea- that the band was performing just for her. Where did the band go anyway? Maybe if she yelled loud enough they would come back on. Lucy took in a breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, her shout soon turning into laughter.
"Oi, be quiet up there will you? I've got enough noise in my ears without adding your squealing to it," snapped the young man whose shoulders she sat on. He was so strong. Strong Gray. Silly Gray! How else was the band supposed to come out if they didn't hear her scream? Lucy didn't trust her mouth though, the drink Cana had given her made her tongue feel fuzzy. Well, it was more than one drink now, maybe two, three at most. Either way, Gray was still silly. Lucy ought to tell him that.
She tapped the top of his head, prompting the raven haired boy to look up at her -at such a funny angle Lucy had to giggle- and glower slightly.
"What?" he barked out at her.
Lucy pouted down at him and stuck out her tongue.
"Gray," she said in as serious as a voice as she could muster, "You're silly."
"And you're cut off." Gray said while rolling his eyes and turning his head back to the stage. Lucy stuck out her tongue at him again, hoping a part of him would feel her mocking him, and looked back at the stage too. Bored by the empty stage, Lucy looked around at all the other people that were on their friends shoulders. They were little boats too! She was part of an arsenal of boats meant to cheer on the musicians! Really, another band should be coming out soon, it was quite rude to keep her and all her other boat friends waiting. Maybe they were waiting for Lucy to make more noise! This time she took in an even deeper breath and raised her hands off of her thighs so she could wave them above her head. They felt heavier than usual, but Lucy didn't really care as she continued shouting, imagining the band was still performing.
They were definitely waiting for Lucy to make more noise.
"Oi, what did I just say? If you keep squirming around up there I'll drop you." Gray shouted up at her, not even bothering to lift his head in her direction.
"Graayyy," She whined, partially out of breath from her latest scream, which was quite impressive if Lucy would say so herself. "you're my friend, and friends don't drop friends."
"Yeah well friends don't give friends back problems either; you're heavy and I'm putting you down."
"Are not!"
"Are too."
"Nope," Lucy giggled and put her hands back up, looking at the stage again. Suddenly she felt a shift under her butt and then the stage was being replaced by the afternoon sky. She couldn't see all her other boat friends now. Lucy realized she was also falling, but her other boat friends seemed more important. She really should be bracing for the ground now, she was sure to hit any second. Was she screaming? The sea was so loud she couldn't really tell. Mean Gray.
All thoughts of boats and mean Grays left her head as Lucy collided with a soft object and finally hit the ground with a very undignified 'oomph'.
Lucy let out a low groan as she stayed on top of her very comfy cushion. It was probably a person. Lucy had probably just crushed some poor innocent soul with her falling. Now her head was against this poor innocent soul's chest - a man she realized from the shirtlessness - and she really ought to move. Lucy lifted her head to look down at her saviour, and realized that she just crushed a god. Sun kissed skin was pulled tightly over muscles across his chest and arms. A strong jaw and a straight nose, not to mention cheekbones that should be worshipped themselves. And beautiful dark, slanted eyes. Were those more of an olive or an onyx colour? Lucy couldn't tell right now. But those indescribable eyes were staring up at her so widely that he looked like a puppy. A puppy God. Lucy had to giggle at the thought that she had just crushed a puppy God.
The strange Puppy God's face turned red and he shot up to his feet quickly, pulling at a strange white scarf around his neck. It was much too warm to being wearing a scarf, although he wasn't wearing a shirt so Lucy decided that it made sense. Lucy realized that he had a hand extended down to her and was shyly smiling at her. His smile was cute. Cute Puppy God. Lucy took his hand and let her haul him up. Looking up at him she was finally able to see his hair. Pink.
Her Cute Puppy God had pink hair.
Of course he would, he was adorable like that, her Cute Puppy God. Was it dyed? His eyebrows were pink too though, so maybe it was natural? If it was natural then that could only mean that... No, Lucy shook her head slightly, mentally berating herself. Cana was having far too much of an influence on Lucy's poor innocent mind. Looking back at the boy's face she realized that he was apologizing. This boy was apologizing to her after she had fallen on him and then thought about his... Bad Lucy!
"No, no, no," Lucy smiled at him and waved her hands in a shooing motion, "Don't be sorry! It was Gray's fault. He's so meeeean."
Lucy felt her smile fall off her face as she thought about Gray. He wasn't Strong Gray, he was Mean Gray. Stupid Gray. All thoughts of Stupid Gray flooded from her mind again as she saw a smirk pull at his face, taking over his shy smile. Lucy definitely liked the smirk more, it added a mischievous light to his eyes. Was that a slight fang she saw peeking out from his grin? No way could that be real. Although it would fit her smirking Puppy God. She smiled again at the thought of her new pet name for this mystery boy. Puppy God. She should thank him, but how? Lucy bit at her lip as she thought about it, and took in more of his face. Oh, she knew!
Stepping closer, Lucy put a hand on his chest, and most certainly not because she had been dying to touch him since they had stood up. No sir, she was a good girl after all. Letting out a soft 'thanks' Lucy raised herself onto her tip toes so that she could reach his face and press a soft kiss into his right cheek. She pulled back slowly, allowing herself time to drink in the sight of his face. He had on such a, a bewildered expression that Lucy couldn't contain how cute her Puppy God was.
"You know," she said out loud as her eyes traced his wild hair. He really could use a brush, or her hands running through it right now, "You're pretty cute."
She didn't wait for a response as she leaned in again and pressed her lips against his warm ones. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to pull her body closer to his as she felt him pull her close as well. She'd never done this before, but her books always mentioned something about tongues. Cana did too, but Lucy felt it was a bit too soon for her to put anything Cana had told her to practice.
Pushing her tongue against the seam of his mouth, Lucy was a bit surprised by how easily he opened up for her. Feeling brave, she started to explore his mouth with her own tongue when she felt him start to prod at her mouth with his own. His tongue was much more forceful than hers had been and she let him take control, feeling warm pressed up to him as he pulled her even closer against his shirtless body. She lifted a hand and played with the hair at the nape of his neck, and Lucy was certain that it was not the alcohol making her this warm, but this boy. This boy and his rough hands on the small of her back, his warm lips moving against her own, his hot tongue that kept delving into her own mouth. But just as she was reaching to twine her hand more solidly into his soft, pink hair, the warmth was gone and an arm wrapped around her waist was dragging her away.
Lucy picked up her speed as she walked from her cabin to the showers, hanging her head in embarrassment.
"I can't believe I called him Puppy God," she mumbled to herself.
She kept playing the memory in her head, unsure of the extent to which Lucy was remembering Natsu's hotness without his shirt was accurate or if her drunk mind was embellishing it. She wondered where that cocky smirk from the festival had gone, only hints and glimpses of it flashing through in the few days she had known him. The karaoke night had been most like the other version of him, loud and wild and so overwhelming Lucy couldn't help but lose herself in him- in his performance, she corrected herself quickly. He hadn't looked drunk at the festival, though Lucy was unsure given her own compromised thoughts.
Lucy brushed her fingers over her lips, the memory bringing phantom sensations to her; the heat of his mouth against hers, the taste of citrus pop when his tongue had brushed against hers, the feeling of his arms around her and his hands pressed to the bare skin of her back.
"Stop thinking like that! You two agreed on being friends and that's all!" Lucy hissed to herself, shouldering open the door to the shower building just between the loop of cabins and the outdoor activity area, the building two storied with a pool on the main level and the showers and washrooms above. Lucy sighed as she breathed in the smell of chlorine and looked through the glass barrier between the entrance hall and the pool itself.
It was fairly small, only ten meters across and barely twice that in length, but it made up for it by the diving boards, the highest of the four nearly two stories high. Musical notes and inspired designs littered the white and seafoam green tiled walls in mosaics, the splash of colour matches to the lining of the pool itself. Lucy marveled at how rich the camp must be to afford all of its equipment and facilities, the slide on the left corner beside the diving boards as tall as the top platform, a steady stream of water spilling from the yellow lip at the bottom, a Fairy Tail insignia stamped on the bright plastic midway up in white. Lucy loved the design, something whimsical while still in the shape of a bird like figure, beak curling towards its talons facing right, two streaks of a profile wing lined up with the swoop of its tail to the left.
Lucy carried on, taking the stairs that led to the showers above two at a time, her fluffy pink towel draped over her arm and her shower bag in the other. She hadn't showered since arriving, and Lucy was looking forward to not feeling gross, and it had nothing to do with suddenly being worried about how limp her hair looked in front of a certain boy.
Lucy's face fell into a scowl as she pushed the door open with her shoulder, trying to out dumb thoughts like that out of her head.
"Well we'll see about that at the performance. You're not the ones who don't need me." The door was yanked from under Lucy's weight and she stumbled forward, colliding with something soft.
"Get off me!" The same voice as before snarled, a hand pressed to Lucy's arm and shoving her away. She fell, yelping as her tailbone met with the concrete floor of the washroom. Lucy glared at the person who had shoved her, paling under the other girls deadly look. Long curls of brown hair tumbled down either side and framed her face, her glasses making her seem half a decade older than Lucy rather than the one or two years it really was. She was pretty, but her beauty was covered by her sneer and hard glint in her dark eyes. "Pathetic."
Lucy was left gaping as the girl walked out, shock quickly bleeding into rage at how rude she had been.
"I'm sorry about that, are you okay?" Lucy looked over her shoulder in surprise, not realising there had been a second girl. And that that girl was Mira Jane.
AN: Natsu and Lucy are just so cute to write about please send help. Thank you to everyone who's left a review so far! We really appreciate your thoughts and knowing you're enjoying the fic helps to keep us motivated, so the more reviews the merrier! We hope you enjoy this chapter! The next update should hopefully be in about two weeks time! Thank you!
Much Love,
-HN & NJAF