I'm sorry for not being able to update for like three weeks! WOW! Anyway, I never had the time to re-read this so please, if there are any typos, please forgive me! I swear, I got so busy these past few weeks and I don't think I will be able to update next week either because exams are coming up, so I want to apologize in advance.
Anyway, I hope everyone appreciates this little side chapter! As an apology, I decided to write Natsu's POV! I hope you enjoy! I worked hard on this, despite it not being the best lol.
Secret Love Chapter 7: 変更 (Change)
Previously on SL: Natsu nodded, clearly still feeling sorry about not being able to eat with Lucy's family. "It's okay, young man. As parents, we also would not like it if our child would much rather eat at another family's house than ours. There's no need to feel sorry." Jude said as he patted Natsu in the back, silently telling Natsu and Lucy to go on with their business.
Natsu smiled at Jude and went up the stairs while Lucy stayed behind for a few seconds. "Thanks Mom and Dad." She said before kissing both of their cheeks and following Natsu to her room.
The next week rolled on like usual, but instead of Lucy being stuck with Levy and the rest of her girl friends, there was one blonde-haired man who refused to stray away from her.
"Sting, when will you stop following me around?" Lucy asked Sting as they ate their lunch in their usual table in the cafeteria. Lucy could feel Natsu's gaze burning holes through her skull, probably questioning her why she was sitting beside Sting.
"Never, I missed hanging out with you." Sting smiled as he ate his lunch beside Lucy. "Hey, I saw this girl, Yukino. I think she's really cute."
Lucy rolled her eyes at Sting. She knows that he didn't mean harm and that he was only hanging out with her because they used to be the best of friends and judging by how he was acting, there is a big possibility that he thinks that they still are.
"I can't believe you two used to date! Don't you feel awkward at all?" Cana asked, a flask in her hand which contained alcohol, no doubt. Lucy rolled her eyes, expecting the question to come sooner or later. She turned to glare at Sting who had let it slip in the middle of a gossip session with the girls.
"Nope," he answered, popping the last part of the word. "I mean, we've always been really great friends and we were still hella young back in the days. I only asked her in a whim, really. I just thought that the atmosphere needed it."
Sting's answer was followed by a series of giggles. They all looked at Mira who was laughing through the food in her mouth. "What's so funny, Mira?" Levy asked the white haired beauty.
"Nothing, it's just-" Mira couldn't finish her sentence as she exploded in another fit of laughter. Mira heaved a breath as she calmed herself, clutching her possibly aching stomach. "It's just, how does a mood even need a spontaneous romantic question like that? It may fit, sure. But need?"
Lucy sighed at this, agreeing with the white haired woman but not being in the mood to answer. "Anyway, to finish this topic, no it's not awkward at all. We're friends and that's it and I agree that whatever romantic thing we had for each other faded over the years and it's never going back. Happy?"
Cana smiled as she nodded and finished what was left of her bottle. The bell rung, indicating the end of their much treasured lunch break. They all gathered their table scraps and returned their trays in their proper place before parting ways at the halls of the school. Levy left with Cana as they both had the next class together while Mira left to go to the school's library since she had to finish their group's research. "Should we go as well? I wouldn't want to be late." Sting asked Lucy as they both waved their hands to bid their friends goodbye for now.
Lucy nodded her head, not exactly hating Sting's presence. They both started walking towards their next class which was Calculus. They reached a part of the halls that were already deserted since there were no other classes in the first floor by the end of the day since the noise coming from the Student Athletes' practice made it practically impossible to hold a decent class. Lucy hated Calculus because of the location of the classroom and she inwardly groaned as she has to endure another session of never-ending shouts coming from outside.
As they both turned to go inside the classroom, Lucy felt something hot touch her lips and she looked at Natsu's retreating figure. He held a wide grin on his face, possibly happy from taking Lucy off guard. "See you later, Luce!" He shouted as he waved her goodbye. Lucy raised her hand in confusion, waving slowly as she stared at Natsu who was now punching Gray's arm, his cheeks tinted with a pink flare.
Lucy laughed at the thought of Gray teasing Natsu about the surprise kiss and got inside the room to see that the two of them were the first ones to arrive. A few minutes later, the class was overflowing with students taking their seats and pulling out their notebooks, a clear sign that they were ready for class.
The day rolled on much like usual, their teacher giving them another homework to do but thankfully this time, it was to be done by pair. Lucy and Sting simultaneously looked at each other and smirked, knowing that Calculus was never going to be a challenge when it was the two of them together.
NATSU'S POV
Natsu opened the doors to the cafeteria and immediately looked around, hoping to find his blonde-haired girlfriend. When he couldn't, he turned to follow Gray to line up to get their food and sat down in their table. The usual people were already there; Lisanna, Gajeel, Laxus, and a few of Lisanna's girl friends.
As Natsu was about to sit beside Gajeel, Lisanna called out to him. Sighing, he knew he couldn't ignore her when she was being like this, her voice strained with fake plea and her eyes staring right at his very soul. He moved to sit beside the girl while Gray took the spot beside him. "Where the hell is she?" Natsu muttered beneath his breath, stabbing the poor apple on his plate and shoving it to his mouth.
He looked around, desperate to have at least a glance at her beauty before hell begins and by hell, he means practice. "Dude, stop it. You're doing it again." Gray said, his voice low enough for only Natsu to hear.
"What?" Natsu asked, pausing to look at Gray. It had been a few minutes since lunch began and he was expecting Lucy to show up any time now so his minutes were precious. He couldn't let his day end without seeing Lucy blessing the cafeteria with her presence. That would just be ridiculous.
"You're looking around again and Lisanna's starting to stare at you." Gray replied, not withdrawing his attention from his food. "They'll be here soon, so just behave and eat your food."
Natsu huffed as he looked away from Gray and took a few bites from his food before he saw Mira, Lisanna's older sister come in and he knew that Lucy wouldn't be long now.
Minutes had passed and a Heartfilia was still not in Natsu's field of vision. He was now starting to have the urge to go over to Mira and Cana's table to ask them where on earth Lucy was when he heard Lucy's heart clenching laugh from across the cafeteria as she entered.
He felt himself smile at the thought of Lucy being in a good mood until he saw Sting beside her, probably talking about something funny. Natsu frowned, not knowing what to make of the situation. Sure, the two had always been good friends and the man has known Lucy even before Natsu had but that didn't stop the overflowing thoughts of confusion and jealousy coursing his veins as Lucy clutched her stomach in pain from all the laughing that she had been doing.
"Okay, now you're making it all so obvious." Natsu heard Gajeel but he couldn't process the taller man's words as he just stared at the blonde haired beauty. "What the fuck's wrong, Salamander?"
"Huh?" Natsu turned to Gajeel at the mention of his alias. He had been caught off-guard by his friend's sudden question. "What do ya mean?" Natsu asked, trying to act casual and brush it off.
"You look hella weird." Gajeel said and Natsu could feel Gray's annoyed look sending daggers through his idiotic brain. "Tell me, do you have a problem with blondie or are you just that constipated?"
"What, blondie?" Natsu asked, trying to stall and provide himself with enough time to think about his answer. He furrowed his brows, deciding to embarrass himself rather than blowing up his and Lucy's cover. "I, uh, had these really painful stomach cramps. I don't know, man. They come back from time to time."
"You've got to stop mixing tabasco with everything, Natsu." Lisanna said, giggling and Natsu had to admit, it wasn't exactly that annoying. The only problem with it was that it was not Lucy's nor was it anywhere near her's.
Natsu rolled his eyes at the group's comment about his fake stomach cramps and diverted his attention to the now eating blonde. She was sitting beside Sting, her brows furrowed in annoyance as she talked. Natsu released a hearty laugh at his girlfriend's expression.
Of course, his sudden chuckle did not go unnoticed by his group of friends. He turned to them, "Oh, I just remembered something popsicle idiot here did a while back." Natsu said, gradually getting better at coming up with impromptu lies and excuses.
He got back to the pretty scenery right in front of him. He continued on lovingly gazing Lucy from afar, like a fan admiring his crush from the distance. Moments later, faster than Natsu had liked, the bell rung. Indicating that Natsu's little break had ended, and so did his act of looking at Lucy's beautiful face that openly showed her emotions.
"Well, flame-brain and I have to go. We've got training in the Right Wing Ground of the school. See you all later." Gray said as he ushered Natsu out of the cafeteria. They were almost out of the doors when they heard the usual giggle come their way they both had to suppress the urge to groan.
"Aren't you going to lead me to class, Natsu?" Lisanna asked with a smile and Natsu tried his best to return it before nodding and linking his arms with Gray's to not let the little bastard escape this time.
"Oh, Gray doesn't have to come." Lisanna said with a confused look. "He might get late to practice, and I wouldn't want to be held responsible for that."
"Yeah, but if I came with you then I'd be late so I'd better have Gray with me so that it won't be just me alone." Natsu said, nodding to Lisanna and going out of the cafeteria to come with Lisanna to the second floor of the building.
Natsu spared Lucy's table a glance only to see that they had already finished cleaning up their tables and were now on their way to the halls. Natsu smiled as he remembered that Lucy had Calculus class today and that their classroom was perfectly on his way to the school's South Wing. Now he just had to dash all the way there to catch her and finally have some of her attention even for just a second.
After they had dropped Lisanna to her next class, Natsu dragged Gray's arms along and hurriedly ran all the way to the South Wing of the school grounds to catch Lucy. Natsu couldn't care less with being late. He just wanted to have some of his girlfriend's addicting attention.
"What the hell, dude?" Gray shouted as he ran along with Natsu. The two now long disconnected from their little arm-bonding and were now running alongside each other. "Are you that scared of being late?"
"Nah, man. Don't care 'bout that crap." Natsu said with a chuckle as Lucy came into view and he couldn't help but notice Sting beside Lucy as well. He rolled his eyes, slowly accepting the fact that the two had classes that they shared every now and then.
"Psh, I see." Gray said with understanding as he saw Lucy's figure as well. Natsu ran faster than Gray had ever seen the man run and he slowed down to grab Lucy's shoulders and kiss her right then and there, in front of Sting and Gray.
Natsu let go of Lucy's shoulders and admired the way her face turned from shock, to confusion, to embarrassment, and lastly, to that cute little face she always did whenever she felt giddy. Natsu's smile turned to a wide grin as he saw Lucy's cheeks turn to a bright red. "See you later, Luce!" He shouted before opening the doors that led to the South Wing of the school.
"You've fallen deep, dude!" Gray said with a laugh as they slowed to stop in front of a large field where a few of Gray's teammates had already started doing their warm-ups. "Anyway, see ya later. I don't think coach's there yet so I better hurry." Gray said, raising his clenched fist and offering it to Natsu.
"Shut up, you're just as bad." Natsu laughed as he fist-bumped his friend and turned on his heel to go to the gym on the right side of the wing.
Natsu opened the doors, thankful to see only their team's assistant coach setting up for today and writing down agendas to be accomplished by the end of their four-hour practice session.
Natsu wiped his forehead as he sat down the bench and looked at all the aspiring first years do their best to impress the coach and let them be a part of the team's regular.
Natsu dumped his sweat drenched towel on his gym bag and whipped out his phone to send his favorite girl a text only to see that he had one text from her.
From: Luce
I'm going over to Sting's to do some Calculus homework. I just wanna get it done by today. You know me lol. Anyway, don't wait up. Love you x
Okay now this whole Sting-and-Lucy-being-close-friends deal is starting to get annoying by the minute. Honestly, he couldn't care less when Lucy was hanging out with some guy friend she made, but going over to his house, doing God knows what behind closed doors? He trusted Lucy, this he was sure of, but the guy? Not so much.
And to top it all off, it was Sting-fucking-Eucliffe we're talking about here. They used to be the best of friends and they dated each other at one point of their lives which meant that they held some kind of romantic attraction towards each other at one point, though it was not that strong to last a whole year.
But still, it irritated Natsu to the point that despite his sore body shouting for rest and just a comfortable bed, he pushed himself and sent Lucy a text saying to send him Sting's house's address so that he could pick her up when they were done and bring her home.
Natsu waited for a few minutes for Lucy's reply to no avail. He decided to just start packing up and get ready to go. Just as he was picking up his bag and bid the coaches and his other teammates goodbye, he felt his phone buzz. He ignored it all the way to the parking lot and got inside his Jeep before opening his phone.
He unlocked it to see that Lucy had sent an address to a place that Natsu knew all too well.
Natsu put his Jeep to a stop as he looked at the posh looking white house that was the Eucliffe household. He sent Lucy a text saying that he had just arrived and immediately got a reply back saying that she was just getting ready to leave.
While waiting, he looked around Sting and Lisanna's neighborhood. Unsurprisingly, Sting's family was also filthy rich. He scanned his surroundings to locate the Strauss household only to see that they were still a few meters away from it. Just as he was starting to get bored, the door to the white house opened and out came two blondes.
He could see Lucy saying something to Sting with a frown on her lips. Natsu groaned, hating the way her lips pulled down to a frown. Their small talk seemed to take a bit too long for Natsu's liking and Lucy's frown was just deepening as time went by so he did what he thought he should do.
He slipped his arm inside the driver's side of the car and punched the steering wheel, a loud beep erupted, catching not only Lucy and Sting's attention but probably the whole neighborhood's as well.
Lucy turned to look at Natsu and he loved the way her face lit up at the sight of him, her smile making him feel giddy on the inside. "Let's go." He mouthed, motioning for them to leave. Lucy nodded before looking back to Sting and the frown made its way back to her face.
She pointed her index finger to Sting's face and muttered a few more incomprehensible words. Sting kept nodding with that silly little grin of his that made Natsu want to punch its way out of his pretty face. Natsu saw Lucy huff before she rolled her eyes and descended.
"What was that all about?" Natsu said with a chuckle, grabbing Lucy's backpack from her right shoulder and tossed it to the back seat of his car. He followed Lucy to the passenger seat and opened its door before Lucy could. He shut the door and made his way to his side. Not sparing Sting another glance, he turned on the ignition and started the car.
"Nothing." Lucy started, right after the car started. "We weren't able to finish the homework. I mean, I finished my part of it but I don't have the confidence that Sting will do it if I weren't there which was why I offered to keep an eye on him. I just wish he finishes it before the deadline."
Natsu let out a huff before turning to Lucy, "You and your need to finish and submit homeworks before the deadline. I swear, cramming is so much fun."
Lucy let out a snort and Natsu turned to her in amusement, happy to see that she was being her usual self, and not the smart, dependable, school version of herself. Now, she was just Lucy. Lucy who was kind and smart and pretty and humorous, and most of all, understanding. "Cramming is never fun."
"Sure it is!" Natsu exclaimed, his free hand reaching over to Lucy's side to grab a hold of her hand. "The adrenaline rush is amazing."
"Pft, you and your love for adrenaline rush." Lucy said, covering Natsu's hand with her other hand. "But I guess it is fun, once in a while, to be overcome by the need to complete the assignment before the deadline and by the fear of failing if you were unable to finish on time."
"Are you being sarcastic right now, Heartfilia?" Natsu asked, his voice dripping with inquiry and humor.
"Not at all, Dragneel." Lucy said with a laugh. Lucy removed her right hand from their intertwined fingers and turned the radio on. The song "What You're Missing" by the band R5 blasted. "Oh, I love this song. This was the song you played when you were still begging me to give you a chance."
Natsu glared at Lucy, making her giggle more. "I did not beg you. I merely asked you to give your poor little nerd ass a chance at having a boyfriend." Natsu's statement transformed Lucy's small little giggles into full blown laughs with a mixture of snorts here and there.
"Suure," Lucy said in between laughs. The car slowed to a stop and Natsu hurriedly got out from the driver's seat to open Lucy's side of the door. She unbuckled her seat belt and accepted Natsu's offer in helping her get down from his elevated car.
Natsu opened the back door of the car and grabbed Lucy's back pack from the back seat and handed it to her. "Do you still have time to talk?" Lucy asked, slinging her backpack in her shoulder.
Natsu nodded, unable to deny Lucy of his attention despite his lack of sleep and now, energy. Lucy gave him a heart-warming smile and Natsu could feel his energy coming back to him. He followed her to the inside of her house only to see that both of her parents were out of town yet again.
Natsu went straight to Lucy's room while she stopped by the kitchen to get them some snacks. Natsu opened his drawer and changed into a plain white shirt before collapsing in Lucy's bed, her scent intoxicating him.
He felt metal clank against the glass of the circular table inside of her room and he looked up to see Lucy placing down freshly sliced apples down and a glass of water beside it. "I'm just going to go change okay?" She said and left Natsu alone to change without even waiting for his reply.
Natsu stood up from the bed, his hunger getting the best of him and grabbed the metal tray from the table and lied back down again in Lucy's bed. When he was on his sixth slice of apple, Lucy reemerged, wearing pink shorts and an oversized tee that was clearly one of Natsu's old shirts.
"What did you want to talk about?" Natsu asked, his voice muffled by the food inside his mouth. Lucy twisted her face in disgust but spoke nonetheless.
"It's just that the Senior Ball is coming up and I want to discuss with you what your plans were." Lucy asked, lying down beside Natsu and snaking her way towards his arms. Natsu happily welcomed her presence and discarded the tray of apples, letting it rot on Lucy's bedside table. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and slipped his right beneath her neck, supporting her.
"Well, remember when I went home last earlier than usual last day to have dinner at home?" Natsu asked and he felt Lucy bury her face in his neck and nod. "We talked about the Ball and they wanted me to take Lisanna, so I thought, why not, right? I mean, I did do it last year as well, I don't see what could go wrong."
