A/N: Hello everyone. Really sorry for not updating the story lately but I was adjusting to the classes and living alone here. Oh who am I kidding? I still am struggling. It's not easy being an engineering student.
Anyhoo, have you seen the latest FT chapter? Am I the only one who's looking forward to the war? And have anyone seen the Mashima's draft drawing of Lucy crying on the floor and Zeref beside her saying 'You will..'. Kyah! I'm so excited. I think E.N.D is coming. (pun intended)
Chapter 7
'So why are you really here?'
Lucy asked the boy with pink hair and onyx eyes who was sitting in front of her, munching away at the large, spicy-looking pizza.
'I can't let you be by yourself when there's a dangerous guy looking for you.'
She smiled at her best friend. His overprotectiveness was the same as ever but that's what she loved about him.
'I'm not a kid anymore, Natsu. I don't need you to rescue me all the time. I can take care of myself.'
Natsu dropped the half-eaten pizza on the cardboard and turned to her with cold, steel eyes.
'I know that. It's just I can't sit by and do nothing. I'm your dragon and you're my princess, remember?'
Giggling softly, she shook her head at his ridiculous words. She used to say that to him because he would always guard her like a dragon would at the tower with a princess in it. It didn't help that he's hot-headed and always looking for a good fight. How he became a private detective, she would never understand. He looked like he belonged to the other side of the law. But Natsu was extremely loyal and take care of those he loved. Looks could be deceiving.
'So, Natsu, how do you know our drummer?'
Crap. She forgot the other guys were sitting across the room. Her room looked smaller than normal with four huge guys occupying almost half of the room. Natsu flashed them his signature smile which showcased his sharp canines.
'Lucy and I go way back. We were a bunch of nosy brats and that's how we met. Our parents know each other. Well, more like my brother knows her father and whenever I come over with my family, she and I would play in the garden. I was her first kiss.'
'Natsu! They don't need to know that part.'
Lucy could remember the day he was talking about. Natsu's brother, Zeref was one of her father's business partners. Zeref would sometimes come over to the Heartfilia Mansion and he and her father would lock themselves in the conference room and talked for hours about their business or whatever. That didn't matter to Lucy. All she cared about was the cute pink-haired boy with slanted onyx eyes and mischievous smile would accompany Zeref and they would play together until his brother had to leave. Those times were one of her happiest childhood days. One day, Lucy was telling Natsu about the book her mother would always read to her before Lucy would go to bed while she was alive.
***Flashback*****
'So, the handsome prince in shining armour rode across the blistering desert to the tower where the princess was held which was guarded by a fire breathing dragon.'
'Why is a dragon always a bad guy in every stories you read to me Luce?'
'Natsu! Don't interrupt while I was talking. That's rude!'
'Ok ok. Please continue.'
'The handsome prince and the dragon fought for the dragon couldn't let the prince take the very precious treasure of his, the princess. However, the dragon was no match for the brave prince and he was defeated. The prince climbed over the tall tower and woke the beautiful princess whose hair was as golden as the sun with a kiss to the lips. And they lived happily ever after. The end.'
Lucy closed her favourite book and smiled at the boy sitting on the grass near her feet. Natsu ran his hand through his pink locks and cringed his nose in distaste.
'Why do the prince always win in the end? Why can't it be the dragon that kiss the princess and get the happily-ever-after?'
Lucy giggled at her friend. Natsu would always ask her crazy questions like that whenever she would read a story at him but she knew he loved her story telling because he would always ask her to read him one of the books whenever he came over.
'I don't know, Natsu. Because the prince is the hero so he get to be with the beautiful princess. After all, only a kiss of true love could break the spell.'
'How do you know? You've never been kissed before.'
Lucy blushed all the way to her toes at Natsu's words. He could be so blunt sometimes and occasionally, she would feel the need to hit her friend with the books for his dumbness and insensitivity.
'That's because I'm waiting for my prince charming.'
'You're weird Luce.'
'Don't be so rude! I will never play with you again.'
'Sorry sorry. Here. I will make it up to you.'
The pink-haired boy bent and kissed his blonde best friend and ran off to the house laughing at the poor blushing girl who was stunned speechless.
Lucy smiled a little at the memory. Ahh… She was so pure and innocent back then, still daydreaming about a knight on a white horse would come and sweep her off her feet. Before she was tainted by humanity and seen first-hand how corrupted the real world was.
'Oh. So you knew cosplayer since she was a brat huh? Was she cute as a kid?'
'Are you kidding me? She was an ugly duck when she was a kid. Even when she was teenager, she was a tomboy with no sex appeal. We all treated her like one of the boys.'
Lucy gasped at Natsu's blatant lie. She knew she was a cute kid. And so maybe she was a late bloomer. She didn't have her full assets until she was sixteen and by then, there were a lot of boys chasing after her.
'You fucking asshole. You were the one with the ugly mug.'
Lucy climbed over the table between them to throttle her best friend but Natsu just laughed at her and pushed at her head using one hand.
'But I'll tell you this one thing. She was timid and quiet when she was a kid. Never thought she would turn out like this one day. Mouth like a sailor's.'
'Bunny girl? Timid? I never would have thought in a million years.'
'Shut your trap, black steel.'
Everyone sweat dropped at the words coming out of the blonde's mouth. If one would ignore all the inks on her body, she actually looked like an angel with her golden hair shining like a halo and her beautiful and sinful body but once she opened her mouth, she could make most of the men run in the other direction with their tails between their legs.
'Yeah. Definitely no way in hell. But that's alright by me. I like a little fire in my woman. Makes me wanna test if she's a wildcat between the sheets or not.'
Both Lucy and Natsu tensed at Laxus's words. Lucy knew Natsu wouldn't let this taunt passed by him. He had this weird notion that he had to protect her virtue for her since she couldn't give less of a crap about stuff like that. And her bandmates liked to sexually harass her with their words as often as they could.
'Nah. Bunny girl would most likely to submit to her lover and let him take control over her body. Giving up control might be exhilaration for her.'
'I think cosplayer would love to have all the control in the bedroom. Like a dometrix. I can already imagine her with leather corset and a whip. Hmm…'
Whatever Bickslow was going to say was stopped short when an object whipped past the guy and hit him square in the face.
'Shut it, perv.'
'See? She's definitely an "S".'
'You never learn do you Bicks? Better cut it out before she decides to use pizza cutter this time to throw at you.'
Gajeel grabbed Bickslow's collar and pulled him back before Lucy decided to end his life. Bunny girl has the mood swing worse than that of a hormonal pregnant woman. The last time Gajeel made fun of her was when she had tripped and chipped her tooth. Lucy made sure he paid by replacing his hair gel with a glue. Let's just say his precious long hair wasn't long any more. That girl held a grudge very seriously for some reason.
Lucy glared at the dark-blue haired man for a few seconds as if daring him to push the line further. But Bickslow was anything but stupid.
'So Luce. Can I crash at your place tonight? I haven't booked any hotel.'
'Again? My flat isn't a B&B you know. Next time you come to town, you aren't sleeping at my place. I don't care if you have to sleep on the street.'
The pink-hair idiot just smiled at him like she wasn't threating him. He grew up with that violent girl after all. He knew deep down, she was still a kind and soft girl she used to be who took care of people she cared about. It was because of that reason she did what she did after all.
'Yeah yeah. I promise I won't hog all the blanket this time. And kick you off the bed.'
Lucy snorted. 'You shitty liar. You say that all the time and every morning, I find myself curling on the floor!'
Laxus sat at the corner the whole time, dare I say sulking at the overly-friendly couple who were talking too closely for his liking. There's no way they were just friends. Friends have boundaries, these two obviously didn't. Not that he cared. He just didn't want to lose to that idiot. And seriously, which guy had pink hair? He only wanted blondie for one reason and that reason included her naked in his bed and strawberries and whipped cream. Laxus Dreyar didn't do relationship after all. He knew blondie wouldn't be the type to get clingy after a night of passion. Hell, he saw her cutting her partners when they got too demanding.
His eyes flickered to the clock all the wall and he winced a little. It's getting a little late and he had somewhere to be tomorrow. Damn. He hated having to do this every time they're back in town.
'Well, I have to go back. I have an early start tomorrow. You coming with guys?'
Gajeel and Bickslow got up as well, picking up the empty bottles and pizza boxes and Laxus smiled a little. They talked big but he knew they all had a soft spot for the blonde spit-ball.
'Well, I won't send you off. You know your way out.'
'What a great hostess. Anyway, remember we are shooting the music video in a few days.'
'Sure. I'll see your fugly faces in a few days.'
'And we will miss your filthy mouth and unladylike words too.'
All the four bandmates laughed in light-heartedly while a certain pink haired boy looked at them like they had all gone insane.
Well, welcome to the Slayer.
Lucy pulled an extra pillowcase from her closet and a flash of red caught her eyes. She felt nostalgic staring at the large sweatshirt of Natsu she stole from him before she left the house and all her friends but she just kept it anyhow. It reminded her of the good times in her miserable existence. Yet she never took it out. It would just miss them too much and break her promise.
'I see you still have that', a tanned hand reached over her head and snatched the object away.
'Of course. It's my favourite.' Lucy smiled brightly at her best friend. It's been a while she smiled so sincerely. Natsu tend to have that effect on a lot of people. Letting them feel comfortable in their own skin.
Natsu gently cupped her cheek. His own eyes were suspiciously shiny and watery.
'I missed that beautiful smile. God. I missed you so much.'
'Hey now. Don't get all emotional on me. Natsu I know ain't a pansy who cried over small things.'
What could she say? She got awkward at the show of emotion most of the time. That's how she had been raised after all. Not to expect affections from people. People would stab you in the back if you gave them the chance and showed you're vulnerable.
Natsu, on the other hand, looked close to killing Lucy for her remark.
'Small things? The last time I saw you, you were wheeled into ICU with so much blood all over your body. I thought I had lost you.'
People were so silly sometimes. Little things could make their heart melt and a few words could turn their world upside down. Lucy could feel the back of her eyes burning up with the unshed tears. She never let herself grieve for what happened that day. There was no other choice. She unconsciously traced a rigged scar over her heart she had covered with a phoenix tattoo. They hadn't know if she would make it while she was undergoing a surgery. The stab was just too deep and it left an ugly scar. But like a phoenix, she had risen from the ashes.
'I should have been there. I never felt so helpless before. The most precious person was going to be taken from me right in front of my eyes because of my incompetence.'
'Don't! It's not your fault. You can't blame yourself. We never saw that coming.'
Natsu pulled the blonde in his arms, hugging her tightly. His friend had gone through so many things and it always amazed him that she still continued to fight and didn't give up. Lucy was an amazing woman. After a while, the woman in his arms started trembling and he could feel his shirt getting wet.
'Let it all out Luce. Cry your heart out. I'll be here to wipe your tears.'
Natsu hugged her even tighter. No one could get between them because no one had suffered like the two did. And they had braced all the pain and tear together, holding each other hands. Until she was ripped away from him one day by her own father.
A/N: Another chapter for you amazing people! And nearly 100 story followers. Yay me! Totally worth having to stay up late at night to finish another chapter. And I know this chapter is a bit angst-y and there're more unsolved mystery but it will slowly start to unravel in later chapters. And those who already figured out what's going on, don't tell others. .V
Reviews would be greatly appreciated so I would know what you guys want in the next chapter. I will update soon I promise!
