Yoyoyo what's poppin'.
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She wouldn't let the tears fall.
She wasn't going to let the tears fall.
She refused to let the tears fall.
Oh, screw it.
She let the tears fall.
They were salty and wet and stained her cheeks. Her vision blurred over and her breath hitched as she walked through the mall, trying to find an exit. All she wanted to do was go home, eat ice cream, and rant to Stranger without any interruptions by stupid boys.
Stupid Natsu. Stupid Natsu. Stupid Natsu. Stupid Natsu.
"Lucy! Lucy! Lucy wait!"
It was Stupid Natsu again. Lucy shook her head roughly, not wanting to face him. His multiple calls drowned her ears out, but she still refused to turn.
She could faintly hear the soft gasps from her friends when she did end up passing them. She heard Levy's quick inhale, Erza's breath hitch, and Gray mutter something under his breath.
"Lu-chan?" Levy asked, walking up to her when Lucy stopped. "Why are you crying?"
Lucy didn't answer. She leaned down to grab her knees, breathing heavily. Her mind was clouded with thoughts and she knew she was overreacting. There was no reason to be acting this way because of something Stupid Natsu had said. Stupid Natsu shouldn't have held that much importance to her. It was just Stupid Natsu.
"Lucy?" a rough voice interrupted her thoughts. Lucy's eyes darted up to meet with Gray's. He reached a tentative hand out to her and his eyebrows raised gently. "What's wrong with you?"
Lucy just stared at him, the glossy overcoat on her eyes beginning to her heavier. "Well you c-can just go tell your stupid friend that I never want to speak with him again."
Gray looked confused. "Stupid friend? Who are you… oh shit."
Lucy glanced back to where Gray was looking to see Natsu standing in front of the group, breathing heavily and holding his knees steady.
"Oh crap, Lucy, what did the idiot do to you?" Gray asked again, biting his lip and looking at her nervously.
Lucy just shook her head. "You know what, I don't have time for this," she said, turning to Natsu, "forget it. If you don't want to play for me, I can't do anything about that."
"Lucy…" Natsu started, but she was too quick for him. With one flick of her head, she turned and swiftly marched away.
She could faintly hear Gray grab Natsu and yell, "Dude, what the fuck did you do to her?!"
…
Lucy Heartfilia: I've just been hurt. Not from my father. In fact, this hurts more than any amount he could ever cause.
Lucy stared down at the text she had sent over an hour ago. She laid on her bed, her feet sprawled around her and her hair loose. She desperately wanted to talk to her anonymous friend.
Then, finally, her phone pinged.
Stranger: I'm sorry.
Stranger: For you, I mean.
Stranger: Sorry.
Lucy Heartfilia: It's not your fault. I just didn't expect something like that to happen.
Suddenly, she got another message outside of her chat with Stranger. When her phone rang twice, she exited out of the message box to see two new messages from different people. One was from Levy, and the other was from Gray.
Levy McGarden: Lu-chan, are you sure you're okay? Did Natsu do something to you? Lu please respond.
Guilt immediately flooded Lucy as she quickly went to type out a reply.
Lucy Heartfilia: I'm really sorry, Levy-chan! Yeah, Natsu did do something but I think I just overreacted a bit. I'm fine. No need to worry about me!
Levy McGarden: Okay, if you say so, Lu-chan. I'm always here to talk if you need!
Lucy Heartfilia: Thanks, Levy-chan.
Levy McGarden: Of course!
Lucy sighed, before clicking into the other thread she had with Gray to read his own message to her.
Gray Fullbuster: What on Earthland did Natsu do to you? I tried to get him to tell me but he wouldn't.
Lucy inwardly winced.
Lucy Heartfilia: He hurt me.
He was Gray. He deserved to know that much at least.
Gray Fullbuster: Lucy…
Lucy Heartfilia: I'm fine, Gray. It just kind of hit home, I guess.
Gray Fullbuster: What did he say? I swear to God Lucy you better tell me what he said or I will get Erza to come get you.
Lucy Heartfilia: Please don't.
Gray Fullbuster: So you're going to tell me what he did to you?
Lucy Heartfilia: I never said that.
And then her phone started vibrating. Lucy squeaked, almost letting go of her hold on the device and almost letting it fall flat onto her face. She glanced at the caller I.D., groaning when she saw it was Gray.
Reluctantly, she answered.
"Lucy. Tell me," was the first thing she heard from the opposite end.
"Geez. Hello to you too, Gray," she responded sarcastically.
"I don't have time for hello's or goodbye's or whatever the hell you want. Now Lucy, tell me what that bastardly freakish pimp did to you right now."
Lucy bit her lip. "First, tell me what you asked him and what he told you."
She could hear Gray's long sigh. "I just asked him why you stormed out crying like that and he was all like 'Why'd you let her go?' and 'I'm an idiot and I gotta make it up to her' and 'Where'd she go?' so I'm here, asking why he reacted like that."
Lucy stiffened. She knew Gray wouldn't lie to her, but she couldn't say she wasn't confused at why Natsu seemed so adamant on finding her. Clearly he made his point, so what was the need for all of that?
"Really," she said. Her tone didn't necessarily suggest disbelief, but it definitely portrayed her confusion.
"Yes, really. So please tell me, Lucy," Gray started again, but this time, his voice was a lot softer than before.
Lucy took a deep breath, before spilling. "He told me he didn't want me to come to his concert because he doesn't want to play his clarinet for me. Then he made up all these different make-believe excuses before finally settling on the fact that I haven't known him for as long as the others, and that's why he doesn't want to let me hear his music."
Gray sucked in a quick breath, and Lucy could tell he was thinking about something, or rather about what she had just told him.
"Don't listen to him," Gray said right after.
"What? What do you mean?" Lucy asked.
"I mean, don't listen to him. He's just spouting nonsense and of course he wants you to hear him play his flu-clarinet. Even though I've known you for longer, anyone can tell how close you two are. You hit it off so well, so don't listen to him and just come to the concert with us anyway," Gray finished.
"But he doesn't want me there," Lucy pressed. "I'm not about to go somewhere where I'm not welcome."
"You are welcome. Everyone wants you there," Gray replied immediately.
"Natsu doesn't," Lucy pointed out.
"Who cares about him?"
"I care about him!"
Gray didn't answer for a while. "Hey, Lucy… do you, you know, like him?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.
"What?" Lucy asked in a voice just above a whisper. "Why would you ask that? Of course I don't. I haven't known him long enough for something like that."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be sure?"
"Well, you don't sound too sure," Gray retorted.
"Oh please, Gray, just go back to your own girlfriend, would you?" Lucy groaned.
Gray laughed. "Okay, okay, maybe I'm jumping to some conclusions."
"Maybe?" Lucy muttered. She could tell he was grinning, and all she wanted to do was wipe that stupid smile off of his face. She loved talking to Gray. He provided the comfort a guy friend could, all while being completely open with her to her own feelings and emotions.
"Alright alright. I should get going. Juvia's been begging me for a date all week and today was finally the day I was free for dinner," Gray said.
Lucy exhaled. "Alright. Have fun. Gray!" she said happily, her previous thoughts about Natsu completely gone.
"Yep. And don't forget to come to the concert!" Gray said. "Bye!"
"We'll see. Bye," Lucy said, before the line went off.
She sighed, leaning back in her bed and going back to the messages section of her phone. There was a chain of unread messages from Stranger, which made her almost slap herself because of her stupidity. She had forgotten about her previous ongoing conversation with him! He must have thought she was a completely jerk.
Stranger: Are you okay?
Stranger: What happened?
Stranger: Did someone do something to you?
Stranger: Pretty Stranger, please answer me.
Stranger: What happened to you?
Stranger: You were just online!
Stranger: Where'd ya go?
Stranger is typing…
Lucy's eyes widened. She quickly moved to type a message before his could send through.
Lucy Heartfilia: Woah, sorry! I was talking to someone. Sorry about that.
Lucy smiled with satisfaction upon seeing his typing symbol disappear for a few seconds, before it reappeared again.
Stranger: Oh okay. Now tell me what happened.
He seemed awfully keen on finding out what was going on, but Lucy didn't pay much mind to that.
Lucy Heartfilia: A (stupid) friend of mine decided he didn't want me watching him do one of his hobbies because I wasn't that close with him.
Stranger: Why did that hurt you?
Lucy Heartfilia: Because I honestly thought we were friends?
Stranger: And?
Lucy Heartfilia: Friends don't do that to each other, Stranger. Like you, for example, you'd never do something like this to me, because you're a real friend. Maybe the other guy and I weren't actually friends. Maybe that's it.
Stranger: NO!
Lucy lifted an eyebrow.
Lucy Heartfilia: What?
Stranger: No! That isn't it!
Lucy Heartfilia: How can you be so sure?
Stranger: Because… this guy and I must have a similar mindset or something.
Lucy Heartfilia: Really.
Stranger: Yeah!
Lucy Heartfilia: Whatever.
Lucy Heartfilia: Also you're no help at all.
Stranger: Oi!
Stranger: I happen to think of myself as a really helpful person!
Lucy couldn't help but smile.
Lucy Heartfilia: Bye, Stranger.
She quickly shut her phone off before she could see his incoming reply.
She needed to go for a walk and just think about everything.
…
Lucy left the house quickly so she wouldn't have to see her father upon passing his study. She really did not want to deal with him at the moment. She took a deep breath, looking out into the streets and beginning to leisurely stroll down the sidewalk.
'Maybe I should go to the concert. Just to spite Natsu,' she thought, slipping her hands into the pockets of her denim shorts.
The cool breeze hit her straight blonde hair and Lucy was sure she had a few knots in it. Ignoring the minor worry, she shook her previous thought out of her mind.
If she went to Natsu's concert out of spite for him, she'd just feel even worse about it afterwards. He had made it clear that he didn't want her to be there, and she would just have to suck it up and live with his decision.
"Lucy?" a familiar voice called out to her just as she was about to cross the road. Lucy glanced behind her to see a tall blue-haired man with a shorter, blue-haired girl next to him. Lucy, recognizing the man, smiled broadly.
"Jellal? Hi! What're you doing in this part of the neighborhood?" she asked, turning fully and walking up to the two of them.
Jellal smiled. "I live a few streets away. Wendy and I were just on a walk."
"Wendy?" Lucy questioned, before glancing down and meeting the shorter girl in eye-contact. "Is this her?"
"Yep. She's my little sister. She goes to the junior high," Jellal explained. "Wendy, meet Lucy. Lucy, meet Wendy."
Lucy definitely recognized the name. On the day when she and the group walked home together, Natsu had brought her up as the girl that set up Jellal and Erza on his command.
This innocent-looking girl set her older brother up with Erza?
Lucy shook her head. No. That was probably all Natsu's doing.
"Hi there," Lucy said, leaning down so she could better speak to the younger girl. "Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy. I go to school with your brother."
Wendy nodded, a smile overtaking her lips. "Hi, Lucy! I'm Wendy. Natsu talks about you."
Lucy's eyebrows shot up. "Natsu?" she questioned, before remembering. "Oh! That's right! You play with Natsu in the band, right?"
Wendy nodded. "Yeah. I play clarinet."
"Oh, same as Natsu. That makes sense, I guess," Lucy shrugged. She missed Wendy stiffen, but thankfully she relaxed a moment later.
"Yup! Ditto same!" Wendy said, laughing awkwardly. Lucy cocked her head to the side, but didn't question her odd behavior.
Besides, Lucy already liked this girl. She seemed nice.
Jellal then spoke up. "Look, Gray told me about what happened… well, a little bit of it, anyway. I managed to make out the rest of the story from Natsu's incoherent babbles earlier."
Lucy nodded, understanding. "Yeah."
"Lucy. Go to Natsu's concert." But it wasn't Jellal who said this. It was Wendy.
Lucy's eyes widened and her gaze snapped down to the navy-blue haired girl. Wendy was smiling softly at her and tilting her head to the right slightly.
"What?" Lucy asked slowly.
"You heard me. Natsu talks about you at rehearsals. He likes your company. He wants you to go watch him play."
Lucy stood still. "What do you mean?" she asked.
Wendy sighed. "Okay. Let me confess. I overheard your argument with Natsu from earlier today at the mall. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was just there and happened to hear."
"You… did?" Lucy asked, still frozen still.
Wendy nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry about that, but please, you have to listen to me when I say that Natsu really didn't mean any of that."
"But he was-"
"Of course he wants you to hear him play! You're his friend!"
She sounded so sincere, Lucy almost believed her.
"Yeah, but he sure didn't make me feel like it," she said finally.
"Lucy, you have to believe me," Wendy pressed. Jellal stood silent, watching his little sister communicate with his friend.
"I don't know…"
"I think he's just scared," Jellal added softly. "You know, of how you might react to hearing him play."
Wendy nodded, going with what her brother said. "Yes, Lucy, he's scared, and you have to show him that there's nothing to be afraid of," she said. "Sure, it may seem a little hard, but trust me, he wants you there in the audience, watching him play his instrument."
Lucy stilled, taking a deep breath.
First, it was Gray who told her. Then, it was Stranger. Now Wendy, and even Jellal was telling her to go to the concert.
But Natsu's words refused to leave her mind.
"I'll… I'll think about it," Lucy said finally.
Wendy nodded.
"I couldn't ask for more."
So Lucy thanked the girl and her brother, before saying goodbye and taking her leave. She stuck her hands back in her short's pockets and turned, making her way back to her house.
Maybe she would go to the concert after all.
We're nearing the end of the first arc! Whoop whoop! Chapter 13 will be the final chapter of this first arc ("Their Friendship") and Chapter 14 will begin the second arc ("His Problems")!
Thanks for reading! And I hope you enjoyed the chapter!