Cana and Levy are still partying with the rest when I find them by the pool. Gray's chasing Natsu around, naked while Natsu's waving Gray's swimtrunks around. He takes one look at me and flings Gray's swimsuit back at him and the ice mage repays him by freezing him in a block of ice and kicking him into the pool.
I tap Cana and Levy on the shoulder. "Hey, can we go back to my place?" I whisper to them. "I want to talk just the three of us." I'd invite Erza, but who knows how she'd react with that sense of justice of hers. She'd probably go straight after Oliver herself to teach him not to mess with her friends.
Levy looks at me, concerned. "Did something happen?"
Cana slings her arms over Levy and I and starts walking us out of the pool room and toward the front door. "Let's go do that girl talk thing some more. Fun stuff!"
On the way back to my place Cana stops into a store to get some bottles of wine. She has this uncanny ability to know when someone needs alcohol.
When we get back to my place I change out of the clothes I'm wearing, which are covered in blood and dirt stains from this morning, and change into some more comfortable clothes. Cana pours out some glasses of wine and Levy runs out for snacks when she sees how empty my kitchen is.
"This will be a regular girls' night," I tell Cana, helping her spread out pillows and stuff on the floor so we can relax.
"I'm planning on sleeping over, if you're cool with it," Cana tells me. "That way we can really catch up."
As long as Natsu doesn't come in the night, I'm fine with it. Of course I don't say that to Cana. She knows he shows up whenever he wants, but now that we're dating it might mean something different.
"Fine with me! Sleepovers are fun!" I say cheerfully.
Levy returns with snacks and we all make ourselves comfortable. I start explaining everything that happened with Oliver yesterday and last night and then finish off with what he did today. They throw in comments here and there, asking me to elaborate on things. We get side tracked a few times when something I say reminds them of another story. They're both awestruck by the end of it.
"What a loser!" Levy exclaims. "Lu-chan, that's crazy! I can't believe that happened!"
"I was so hoping he'd be the old, uncomplicated, good friend that I remember from when we were kids," I tell them. "I mean, we used to do everything together and he was such a sweet friend to have. I wonder what changed him? I never thought he'd become a wizard, and that magic concealing pendant must not have been cheap. I didn't think he'd become a wizard while I was gone."
"Who cares? Whatever it was changed him negatively," Cana tells me, refilling my wine glass for me.
"I swear, if I ever see him again, I'll snap and attack him myself," I declare. "He won't need to be afraid iof Natsu, he'll need to be afraid of me! I can open three gates now!" I state proudly.
"We heard!" Cana and Levy exclaim together. Levy giggles.
"Oh, Lu! So you and Natsu are dating now," Levy giggles, her cheeks red from smiling. "Have you kissed and all that yet?"
My face turns red. I nod, smiling. "I did it this morning. I didn't even think about it. I just did it!"
"Good for you," Cana congratulates me. She holds up her glass and Levy holds up hers. "Heres hoping you two will be together forever, no matter what might happen from here on in."
I hold up my glass just as I hear the door opening. "Hear, hear," a male voice agrees. I look to see Natsu standing at the door. "You guys are loud. I could hear you from two streets away."
"Oh, no." I blush, burying my head in my knees. Levy bursts out laughing and Cana snickers behind her hand.
"I could see him walking down the street when I looked out the window so I asked you about it cuz I thought it'd be funny if he heard you talking about it!" Levy giggles.
"Levy," I groan.
"Hey, we'll see you guys tomorrow," Cana tells us, pulling a clumsy Levy up with her. She abandons a still sealed wine bottle, along with their two glasses. The two of them walk out of the apartment, Cana supporting Levy as the blue haired girl giggles her goodbyes. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Cana calls to me before shutting the door.
I peek up at Natsu, who's watching me with a smirk on his face. "You drunk?" he asks me.
I nod my head. "A little."
"A lot. you're weird when you're drunk." he comes over and crouches down in front of me.
I hold up my wine glass to him. "Join me?" I offer.
He sits down next to me and peels the seal off the wine bottle next to him. He grabs Cana's empty wine glass and pours himself a glass and touches it to mine. "So you were talking about this morning, huh?" he asks me.
I nod. "They wanted to know how everything happened. I told them about Oliver and stuff."
"Oh, man, really? Now Cana and Levy'll tell everyone," Natsu groans. "Just the way I want to be seen, a whiney jealous-type. Thanks a lot, Luce."
I drain my wine glass. "Blame it on the alcohol."
"Nah, I'd rather blame the one drinking it," he declares, draining his own glass.
I refill it and my own. "So what? you're telling me Gray and Elfman and the other guys haven't asked?"
"Yeah, but I didn't tell them the details. Like, I told them about Oliver coming, but I just told 'em I thought the guy was a creep because he just seemed like bad news. It wasn't just jealousy, it was more like protectiveness."
"Well I didn't tell the girls you were acting jealous, I never said the word jealous at all! I don't care what the others think anyway," I proclaim honestly. "Let them gossip. I'm just happy we can be together now!"
"Oh, really? Me too," he tells me. He drains his glass and burps, fire streaked out of his mouth and he covered it to keep more from coming out. I lean back so it won't burn me and crack up laughing, taking his wine glass from him.
"No more for you. I forgot what fire does when alcohol is in the mix."
"Good thing it wasn't liquor. Those burps burn longer and farther than stuff like wine," he tells me with a laugh.
He stands up then and holds out his hand for me. "You're done too. It's late. Weren't we supposed to meet tomorrow morning at the park?"
I look up at him and recall what he's talking about. "Tomorrow morning at ten, right? We'll meet at the park to go to Acalypha."
He nods. I take his hand and lose my footing right off the bat, stumbling and falling into him. I look over at the wine bottles. I had at least one full bottle. Oops. I didn't realize how drunk I really was until now. "You can't even walk? You're such a light weight," Natsu chides.
"I can so walk," I argue, pulling away from him, remaining as steady as I can. I focus on the hallway leading to my bedroom and start walking toward it. it's just a few steps, but it's still something. I only trip over my feet twice and all without falling on my face. I turn back to him and stick my tongue out. "Walking like a pro!" I cheer.
"Real top notch walking," he agrees, coming over and kisses me lightly on the lips. "You're kind of cute when you're drunk. I didn't notice last time I saw this because it freaked me out to see you drunk for the first time."
"Oh, that wasn't my first time," I inform him, going up for another kiss. I love kissing him.
He accepts graceously but then pulls back when I try kissing him again. "Let's not do this while we're both intoxicated," he says softly. "It feels weird, like it's the alcohol doing it and not us. If we're going to figure out how to be a couple, I want to do it sober. Okay?"
I process that slowly and then nod. "Great idea," I murmur.
He picks me up bridal style to take me to my room. I snuggle into his chest and close my eyes. "You're warm."
"I should be," he responds with an easy laugh. "It's kind of my thing."
"I like it more than I like the alcohol's warm."
"I'll keep that in mind," he chuckles.
He holds me with one hand while pulling my covers up with the other. He slides me under them and tucks me in. Next ne jumps over me onto my window sill and sits there, talking with me until I finally fall asleep.