Kitty: I bet y'all liked that last chapter, didn't ya? Well look no more! Here's the next chapter!
Gray: Y'all motherfuckers are going to like this chapter.
Kitty: Could've said it better myself, Gray.
(Kitty does not own anything. She also wonders if any of y'all watch Supernatural. It's fucking amazing! She also wants to let you all know that her story 'Because of Will' is up on Wattpad, so read on and give her votes! If you can not find it, PM her so that she'll send you the link.)
Natsu's family was… something. His dad was a light redhead, but his mom had black hair, making me question how Natsu's hair was so pink. His brother had his mother's black hair and father's red eyes. Natsu must've gotten his hazel eyes from Mrs. Dragneel. Zeref's wife, Mavis, had blonde hair and these vibrant green eyes. She was short, about Levy's height. Her hair was really long and in these beautiful waves that almost reached her ankles. I'm surprised that she didn't put it in some sort of bun to keep it from getting dirty. Either way, she's beautiful.
Since Kyouka was the one who was acting, the little girl looking up at us must be Sayal. She looked like her father with her dark hair and red eyes and long nose-the nose that all the Dragneel boys seem to have. Her mother must've dressed her up in the black dress and put her hair in pigtails. I wasn't sure if I should talk to her or not.
"Natsu! Oh my! You actually have a girlfriend!" We looked at each other as his mom said this. "And look how beautiful she is! Oh, she could be a model with that stunning hair." I felt my cheeks heat up, and I looked away. I'm not used to having a lot of attention on me. But then Natsu put his hand on the small of my back, and I looked up at him, and I suddenly felt all my embarrassment fade away. His eyes were on mine, looking at me gently. My heartbeat raced up, and before I could do anything to embarrass myself further, I looked away. "Th-thank you," I stuttered.
"Izumi, stop it! You're embarrassing her. Just look how red she is!" Natsu's father said. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her head. "This is not how we wanted to make a first impression, remember?" He looked at me before turning to Natsu. "Why don't you introduce us, son?"
"Yeah, introduce us, Natsu," His brother said while smirking a little. I could tell that he was just simply dying to embarrass him. Natsu, however, was not about to give his brother the satisfaction of that. He simply smirked his own smirk before wrapping his arm around my waist. If my heart wasn't slamming against my chest already, it was definitely now. "This," he leaned in a little, "is Lucy Heartfilia, my girlfriend."
Yeah, my heart has completely left the building by now, especially since he said the word 'girlfriend.' I don't know what I like more-the fact that Natsu is holding me closer than he should be or that he called me his girlfriend. It felt right to be that close to him. I found myself thinking that I don't really want to leave his side.
Zeref seemed dissatisfied at his answer and gave a frown. "Huh. Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Lucy. I hope this lug here is treating you well. He can be a bit daft sometimes." He gave me a wink before getting hit by Mavis. "Ow!"
"We have to get inside soon," Mrs. Dragneel said, gaining our attention. "Little Kyouka won't be happy if we're late getting in to see her play. Plus, we need to get our seats." She turned around, grabbing Sayla's hand in the process, and began to walk inside the theater. Everyone else started to mumble their agreements and followed the pair. I started to follow them too until I realized that Natsu wasn't moving. And his arm was tightening around my waist.
"What are you doing? We're not going to get any seats." I said. When I looked at his eyes, they showed no emotion, making it harder to tell what he was thinking. My eyebrows scrunched up together. "What? Is something wrong? Do you want to-" I didn't finish. I couldn't finish. There was absolutely no way that I could finish. My mind went blank, and my heart sped up to a thousand beats per whatever the hell the count is. Why?
Natsu. Freaking. Dragneel. Was. Kissing. Me.
It wasn't too hard or sloppy or anything. He wasn't trying to attack my face. It was soft and gentle, like he was afraid that I could break. One hand was on my face while his other was still around my waist. I couldn't really react because my brain wouldn't do anything. I just stood there, staring at his face as still as a statue. Even when he pulled away, I couldn't move. His forehead rested on mine as he stared into my eyes. "Wh-what was…?" I stuttered.
"They're watching. Trying to make sure that it's real. And what's a better way than to probe it with a kiss?" He whispered. His eyes flickered inside the theater and then back to mine. "I think we should go in now." I nodded in response. It was the only thing I could do at the moment.
We started walking towards the entrance together, his arm still around my waist (will he ever let go?) He was right about them watching, though it was really only Zeref and Mr. Dragneel. They were trying to be discrete by hiding behind potted plants. It wasn't the best place to hide, but there really wasn't any where they could hide. They scurried away as soon as we began walking in there.
Natsu led us to our seats quickly. I was glad that I was sitting on the outside of the aisle so I wouldn't have to be near his family. Not that I don't like them; I would just be too embarrassed to be next to any of them.
The play wasn't really interesting, so I found myself getting a little tired. Apparently, in my drowsy state, my head had fallen on Natsu's shoulder. He was really comfortable despite the muscles that threaten to rip the fabric of his shirt. I could feel my eyes grow heavy with the urge to sleep. Right as I was about to doze off, I felt Natsu intertwined his hand with mine. It was nice, warm even. I could hold it forever.
"Hey, Lucy. It's time to wake up." I heard somebody whisper. The voice was deep and husky. Sexy. And the warmth I was next to was extremely comfortable, so I didn't want to move. I snuggled closer to the source of heat in hopes that whomever was calling to me would just shut the hell up. The same voice chuckled lowly, and I realized that my source of heat was the one laughing. I didn't like it.
"Heartfilia? Lucy Heartfilia? It's time to wake up now. We have to go and congratulate my niece now."
"No. I don't wanna wake up." I mumbled. There was another chuckle before my heat moved. First, it started with letting go of my hand, then the entire thing moved. Something wrapped around my shoulders and gently shook me. "I know, sleepy head. But we have to go and eat! Can't have you go hungry, now can we?" I shook my head, but I wasn't sure if I was answering their answer or refusing to get up.
"Need help, Natsu?" A high voice asked. It must be a woman's voice since it was so high. My heat-which I now figured out is Natsu-laughed again (he laughs a lot apparently) and replied. "No," he said. "I'll meet you guys outside once I get her up. It won't be long. Thanks for the offer, Mave."
"Alright. See ya outside. Let's go, Say-say!"
The higher voice left me and Natsu alone to do whatever the hell it is that he was trying to get me to do. I swear that sounds more perverted than it really is. He tried to shake me awake again before sighing. "You really are impossible. Do I have to carry you out?" He asked. I wasn't sure if he was really serious until I heard his seat do that flappy thingy it does. My eyes started to crack open a bit, giving me a little bit of vision. It was still a little blurry though.
I felt a warm breath on my face. "Maybe," Natsu said, his voice low and quiet. "I'll just have to kiss you awake, Sleeping Beauty?" Kiss me? Nah, he wouldn't really do it. I heard him hum a bit before leaning in closer. "Okay. You asked for it."
His lips were really, really warm. And soft too. I really like his lips. Like, really, really, really like his lips. I don't want to stop kissing them. Maybe if I pretend to still be asleep, he would just keep kissing? I was going to do that, but the kiss kinda woke me up, and he pulled away too soon. "Looks like a kiss really does work. And here people say that fairy tales aren't true."
My eyes fluttered open to see Natsu's amazingly hazel ones. I just noticed that his eyes were slightly slanted, and his skin has a little bit of an olive tint. Now that I think about it, his mother and brother have the same tint. Are they Japanese or something? I'll have to ask him about it later.
He smirked. "Awake, are we? Ready to go to dinner?" Dinner sounds good right now. I wonder where we'll eat. Nodding my head, I tried standing up, but I almost fell because I was sitting down for so long. Natsu's arms immediately wrapped around me in an attempt to keep me up right. "Whoa! Easy there! Do you need help walking?" He asked. He sounded so concerned, but I couldn't let him help me. My pride wouldn't allow me. So I shook my head 'no' and continued to try to walk again.
I tripped.
Thankfully, Natsu's arms were still around me so I didn't faceplant. That would be even more embarrassing than earlier. "Okay, so maybe you do need my help. C'mon, Sleeping Beauty. Let's go see everyone else." He helped me to the door before I stopped him. If we're going out to eat, I have to make sure I don't look like a raccoon that just got jumped. But where's my purse?
"I have it." Natsu said, handing me the magical bag. Did I say that out loud? He laughed and nodded. "Yeah, you did. Here you go. Ready?" I shook my head, making him scrunch up his eyebrows. He cocked his head in confusion. To clear up his confusion, I asked, "How's my hair? And my make up? Are there any dark circles under them or anything?"
He blinked. Yes, I know it's a weird question to be asking, but I still want to look good! I'm in public for Pete's sake.
"Uh…" He said before turning a little pink. "You have something right… here…" He licked his thumb gently and rubbed under my left eye a little. My face heated up at the action, and I quickly averted my gaze from his eyes. It wasn't ideal to look at his lips either. That just made me want to kiss them. My mind flashed to the memory of his lips and how they tasted-minty and cinnamony. I'm not particularly a fan of cinnamon, but I might change my mind after this.
Natsu pulled back his hand slowly. "There," he said. "All gone. You're clean." He glanced briefly into my eyes before opening the grand doors. I'm so happy that the only people in the theater were those cleaning it and putting up the set.
The Dragneels were waiting outside in the lobby for us, just chatting up a storm and congratulating the blonde that was obviously Kyouka. She was an exact replica of Mavis, but she had this sort of condescending smirk on her face, like she was better than every other child actor/actress here. Her hair was in a curly blonde bun for her character. I remember Natsu telling me in the last few minutes of the car ride that she could be… well, a bitch. Yay fucking me.
"You two took forever." Zeref said with a knowing look. "Anything we should be concerned about? We don't need like pinkheads running around." He wiggled his dark eyebrows suggestively. I blushed. I'm only seventeen and am not eligible for sixteen and pregnant, so fuck off. I'm not doing any fucking… yet.
"Whatever." Natsu muttered. He ran his unoccupied hand (his other one was holding mine) through his pink locks. His eyes briefly looked down at me before he said, "Where are we going to eat?" I forgot that we were going out to eat. I hope it's Mexican food.
"We're going to Italian food."
Fuck.
We all stayed there for a few minutes more before deciding exactly where in the city to go to. Eventually, we decided on this little unknown restaurant that was supposed to be really good. I've never been, but I've heard good things about it. It's a popular date restaurant.
Date. I'm on a date. I am on a date with Natsu Dragneel. I don't care if it's not a real one; it still counts. He still kissed me (twice, might I add), we still held hands, and we're still going to dinner together. If that's not a date, then I don't know what is.
"So…" Natsu said after we got in the car. "How do you like my family?" His nervous laughter told me that he wasn't sure if I would like them or not. Placing my hand on top of his, I smiled and said, "They're not as crazy as mine. Trust me when I say this, my family is crazier. Aunt Cecilia is possibly the most craziest of them all. One time at Christmas, she practically demanded that we only talk about her. We had to wait until she passed out from the eggnog to open up presets."
"Oh yeah? Well, one time…"
For the rest of the drive, we tried one-upping each other for crazy families. In the end, it was a tie. That's okay. I'm pretty sure that we both have pretty crazy families.
The restaurant was (as all restaurants in our city were) one of those restaurants that had apartments above them. That way, everybody who lives above it will smell like pizza or spaghetti or chinese food. Sneaky sons of bitches.
"Ready?" Natsu asked. I smiled and nodded. The car doors shutting behind us was a death march earlier that night, but now, it was more comforting. We could see his family indoors from where we were. They were laughing and adjusting their seats. The twins were having their own little chat, Natsu's parents were laughing slightly, and Zeref seemed too preoccupied with Mavis to care about the current conversation. I smiled. What I wouldn't give to have a family like that.
Natsu grabbed my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. It felt natural, despite his hand being extremely larger than mine. They were warm, comforting, and… Perfect. Is that creepy? Ah, fuck it. Natsu is holding my hand, it feels so fucking nice, and my brain is getting fuzzy. I like it. I like him.
"Natsu! Lucy! You guys finally made it!" Mr. Dragneel said as he sat down. His grin was exactly like Natsu's-lopsided and friendly. "Come! Sit, sit!"
We sat in front of the twins together, our hands still entwined. I looked up at him, only to see that he was already looking, and smiled. Nice.
Dinner went by fast, and by the time we were done, it was already past 10. Mavis went to go put the almost passed out twins in their car while the rest of us just stood outside and talked some more. I was talking to Mrs. Dragneel-she actually told me to call her Izumi, but I can't fall out of my habit for things like that- when Zeref tugged slightly on my arm. "Hey, Lucy," he said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" I couldn't read his facial expression, but I could tell that it was something simple. At least, I hope it was.
Pardoning myself from Natsu's mom, I turned to Zeref, and he dragged us away from our little group. Once he was sure that they couldn't hear, he said, "I know you're not really his girlfriend, Lucy." My eyes widened. He… He knew?! How what that possible? We were so careful! Must've been that idiots fault. If we're that obvious with his family, how are we going to be in front of mine?!
As if reading my mind, he laughed. "You're not obvious. In fact, you two play the part extremely well. But I'm his brother, and I know when he's telling the truth or not. Mom just likes to believe the stuff that she hears. Dad is too aloof to really figure this stuff out. My wife… I don't even want to get into that. It's pretty easy to read Natsu; he's an open book. So it didn't take me long to figure it out," he told me. He continued when he saw that I was still slightly confused. "Plus, that kiss outside of the theater," I blushed as I remembered that, "was kinda rigid, like he wasn't sure if he should do it. It was almost like he was nervous. 'Testing the waters' as I like to call it."
Nervous? He was nervous? Natsu Fuckneel was nervous? No way. There was no fucking way that a pink ball of hotheadedness could be nervous. And because of me? I just died and went to heaven.
I turned back to look at my date. He had that same lopsided grin he always had. He didn't seem nervous. Maybe Zeref was just joking and saying that to make me tell him everything. But then I looked at him, and he was smiling at his family, and that thought didn't seem possible. Maybe Natsu really was nervous.
"He really is something," I said, not realizing I had until I got a reply. Zeref laughed and said, "Yeah. He really is."
"Hey, Luce! Ready to go?" Natsu called. I gave Zeref one last smile before walking over to him. Immediately, his arm went around my shoulders, and I could feel the blush coming up. Holy shitballs, holy shitballs, holy shitballs! I'm going to die tonight with all the blood rushing to my head.
We said goodbye to his marvelous family and made our trek across the street to the parking lot. Easier to park there than in front of the restaurant. Thank heavens that there wasn't any traffic or we'll be street cakes.
"You know," Natsu said after we got in the car. "They totally bought it. Mom was gushing all about how 'her little boy has finally grown some balls'." His voice went high as he tried to imitate his mom. I laughed and dropped my voice down to his dad's level-or the deepest I could manage. "How about your father's 'baby boy finally realized that he's not gay.'" At that, we roared with laughter, having to lean against each other because we were laughing too hard. I wiped away the tears in my eyes when I could laugh any more. Natsu's head was still on mine, and the car had yet to start.
"Zeref didn't buy it," I said. Natsu raised his head up off mine and looked at me with shock. In the dark, his hazel eyes looked like black. I wonder what mine looks like. "What do you mean he didn't buy it? He's the most gullible of them all! One time, I told him that I accidentally let my pet lizard loose and it crawled into his bed, and he freaked. You should've seen him! I never thought that I would see my older brother cry like a baby over a lie."
"Wait, you made him cry?"
"Yep. But don't tell him that I told you. He made all of us swear not to tell anybody. Not even Mavis knows, and we've told her practically every embarrassing detail about him. Like how Mom would dress him up like a girl sometime, or how he peed his pants when he had a solo for choir, or how I puked in his mouth when I was a baby… Man, the list goes on and on and on." He laughed. By this time, I was doubled over in my seat, clutching my stomach and trying to catch my breath. How could Zeref-the one who looks like he should be the emperor of some evil kingdom- be such an uncool crybaby? That just doesn't make sense.
Natsu started the car before turning to me. "Any embarrassing stories about Jenny I should know about?" He smirked. Any embarrassing stories? Oh, I've got loads. Smirking evilly, I began. "When Jenny was just starting to get into acting, she would do community theater like Kyouka does. Well, she finally got the lead role in one the plays. She was so excited, inviting all of our family members, making plans, all that shit. But then came the opening night. I don't know what it was-the chili we had before the show or the nerves getting to her-but when she got onto that stage," I had to pause to catch my breath, "she literally shat herself. All over her white dress. We never went to that theater again."
He was laughing so hard that he had to pull over before we got into a wreck. His head rested on the steering wheel as his shoulders moved up and down. I leaned back in my seat and clutched my stomach. The image of Jenny with her brown stained dress and mascara running down her cheeks has always been etched in my mind, and now it's a full blown picture. Honestly, it was the funniest moment of my entire life.
By the time we got to my house, tears were streaming down our faces, and I'm pretty sure the makeup I did earlier was ruined. That's going to be hard to explain to Mom. But as we were laughing as we walked up the porch stairs, I didn't really care. It was still the best date, despite it being fake.
"So, uh, thanks for being my girlfriend tonight," Natsu said when we finally stopped laughing. His lopsided grin came back, and I smiled too. "No, thank you for telling me all of those stories. I'm pretty sure I laughed enough to make me live way past one hundred." He laughed slightly and looked at the window. His grin dropped, and his eyebrows scrunched up. "Uh…"
"What?"
"Apparently, Gajeel, Rogue, your mom, and a blue haired popsicle like to spy on people and their fake dates." He said, his head nodding behind me. I turned around to exactly what he described (except the blue haired popsicle. I have no idea wha-oh. He means Wendy.) Groaning, I turned back around. "I thought they left…"
Natsu leaned in and tilted his head. I blinked. What is he thinking? Is he going to… Nope. Don't think of that, Lucy. You've had enough sugary goodness tonight that you don't need anymore.
"I've learned," he whispered, "from some TV show that I can't remember the name of, that if you do this long enough, they will think that we're kissing. Especially at this angle."
What a fucking genius.
He winked and pulled away, glancing behind me slightly. Turning away, he said, "Goodnight, Heartfilia." Then he walked back to his car and drove off. I smiled. I think I just found my new best friend.
When I got inside, I was bombarded with questions. Most from my mom and Wendy, a few from Rogue, and Gajeel just asked if the food was good. I could tell that he secretly wanted to know about the 'date' too. He's a big ol' romantic despite his exterior looks and personality. He and Levy would make an awesome couple.
"Oh, Lucy, that had to be so romantic! I just have to know all the details! I want to know what you did on your date so that when either Mest or Romeo ask me out, I know exactly what to do!" Wendy said excitedly. Lately, two boys have been crushing on her a bit. She likes them both, but doesn't know who to go out with. Very troubling for a freshman who's turning fifteen in a month.
Gajeel looked down at his cousin, his protective face on. "Isn't Mest a sophomore?" He growled. Wendy looked up at him, her face the picture of innocence. "Isn't Juvia dating a freshman?" She shot back. Juvia-that barista that I met a week or so ago-has been mentioned by the family a few times that I now know she and Gajeel are best friends. Their practically siblings, but I've only just met her. I don't know why I haven't see her more. Dicks.
Gajeel looked away, obviously beaten by his kid cousin. She smirked. "You know, Gajeel. I'm not the only one with a love life. How are you and a certain little bookworm?" Bookworm? Is there another bookworm that I don't know about? Maybe it's Levy.
"Levy?" I asked, not entirely realizing it until I said something. Gajeel's face went red, and he suddenly became interested with what's on TV. It is Levy! I practically jumped on his arm. "Wait! You like her?! This is amazing! I have to tell Mira! This is perfect, isn't it Rogue?!"
Rogue's eyes lightened up as he grabbed his cousin's other arm. "Yep! You and Levy are going to be dating by the time these two idiots kiss!" He said, pointing at me. I blushed and looked away. "Well, you see…" I started. "You might need to have another goal…"
They froze. Everyone froze. My mom froze, Rogue froze, Wendy most definitely froze, and Gajeel… Gajeel was like a rock. As if they were mentally connected, they all blinked at the same time.
"WHAT?!"
Kitty: 4340 words without my commentary! That's my longest chapter that I have ever written. Ever!
Gray: I hope you guys liked this chapter. Kitty made it especially for you guys.
Kitty: Yep! Gray's right! The next chapter-or maybe the chapter after the next-will probably be from Levy's POV, or maybe Gajeel's, maybe Natsu's. I'm gonna have a poll for whose POV you want, and also for who Wendy should end up with. Plus, I'm going to make a Gajevy version of this story, with the same events of this story happening in that one.
Gray: She's also putting this story on Tumblr, so you can read it there.
Kitty: Au revoir, my lovelies!
