Author's Note: Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster.
'Kay bye. plsreview.
"You're incredible…" Ro breathed out, gaping at the blonde standing besides him. Lucy grinned widely, throwing a chain of car keys to him and winking.
"Enjoy, my friend," she said, smirking. "Don't put my hard work to waste, you hear me?"
Ro gulped. "You're incredible…" he repeated. "Lucy, you're incredible. You're so incredible."
"Well, when I heard you had a car that was old, broken down, and just bad, I couldn't just stand around and do nothing," Lucy scoffed, enjoying the praise that Ro was giving her.
"Hey Lucy, have I ever told you that you're really incredible?" Ro asked.
"You might have mentioned it a few times," Lucy winked.
"You mind if I take it for a spin?" Ro asked. Lucy nodded quickly.
"Duh! I fixed it up for you!" she exclaimed happily. "I'm meeting up with people for the reservation in a few minutes, so just park it at my house after you're done and we'll go for a ride tomorrow morning. I'll text you the address."
Ro nodded. "Sounds good. Thanks a lot for this, Lucy!" he smiled softly, watching as she waved to him and disappeared back into the restaurant.
Ro sighed to himself, playing with the keys in his hands. He really had fallen hard for her…
…
"Hey, Lu-chan! Who was that just now?" Levy asked, nudging her best friend as she took her seat at the giant table in the middle of the room.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Just a co-worker," she explained, looking at the spread of food. She turned to Natsu. "Did Ro really make all of this?"
Natsu shrugged. "I made a few of the appetizers, and Jimnee tried his hands at the desserts, but Ro made everything else," he explained with his head down. "You two seem to be getting close…" he added quietly.
Lucy blinked. "Well, he is a great friend to me," she said with a shrug.
The table fell into an awkward silence with everyone just staring at their meals.
Jellal nudged Erza and gave her a look. Erza started sputtering, looking up at everyone with a nervous smile.
"Um… Jellal and I have an announcement," she started. Lucy inwardly smirked. She knew what they were about to tell everyone, of course. Erza had told Lucy beforehand, and she had told Natsu.
"Gajeel and I have one too," Levy said slowly. Gajeel snorted.
"Hm? What is it?" Mira asked curiously, rubbing her stomach.
"We're expecting!" Erza and Jellal said together with big smiles.
Everyone's jaws dropped.
"A fourth child?!" Laxus exclaimed. Erza nodded proudly, clutching onto Jellal's hand under the table.
"I found out earlier today," she said softly. "I'm already two weeks in. Eugene's going to have a little brother or sister!"
"We're hoping for a girl," Jellal said.
Lisanna nodded. "I would too," she laughed. "After three boys… wow."
"We haven't told Velza or Jay yet," Erza said again. "I'm not sure how they're going to take the news."
"They'll be fine," Lucy assured them. "But seriously, congratulations!"
"Congratulations!" everyone chorused.
"Well, that kinda makes our news seem like baby-play," Levy laughed. "Gajeel and I have set an official date for the wedding."
"Awesome! When is it?" Lucy exclaimed.
"Exactly a month from today. August 20th," Gajeel cut in. "We've also been talking about best man and maid of honor a lot…"
Levy nodded. "And I think we've come to our decisions!" she said.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Wow… well, I think we all know who Levy's maid of honor is," Mira said, smirking at Lucy.
"Lucy, will you be my maid of honor?" Levy asked hopefully.
Lucy's lips parted into an ear-splitting grin.
"Oh my gosh yes! Of course I will!" she exclaimed, taking Levy's hands and squealing like a little girl. "Levy-chan, I'm so happy for you!"
"Thanks Lu-chan!" Levy said happily.
"Actually, I'm quite interested in hearing who Gajeel's best man is," Gray said with a deep smirk. "Who does Gajeel think of as closest to him?"
Gajeel gave Gray an annoyed glare. "Shut up, Ice Brain," he muttered, before glancing to Natsu. "Salamander. You get the job."
Natsu's eyes widened. "ME?!" he screeched, running up to him. "What the heck?!"
Everyone at the table looked shocked.
"Well," Jellal said.
"That's definitely something," Laxus said.
"Awww that's so sweet!" Lisanna said, cupping her hands around her face and grinning.
"So we have Lucy as maid of honor, and Natsu as best man… what an interesting combo," Laxus started again.
"Great. Just great," Lucy sighed, rubbing her temples. "Wonderful. Simply splendid."
"Do you two already know your duties?" Levy asked.
Lucy and Natsu both nodded.
"Sure. We plan the parties, Luce helps Levy during the wedding, I give a few motivational words to Iron Fist, I dance with Levy, Luce dances with Gajeel, Levy throws the bouquet and wedding over," Natsu said proudly.
Gajeel squirmed. "I think you're missin' a few things," he muttered.
"What about the best man and maid of honor dance? Are you two doing that for the wedding?" Wendy asked Levy and Gajeel.
Levy nodded. "Of course! We'll have the bride and groom dance first, then the maid of honor and the best man dance, then the other two," she explained. Lucy sighed. Of course, she couldn't do anything about it, no matter how much she didn't want to dance with Natsu.
"Whatever. This is fine," she said, taking a sip from her cola. Cana looked over.
"Oh right, you weren't here for any of the other weddings," she said. "Also, why aren't you drinking like a twenty-nine-year old woman should be?"
Lucy shrugged. "I'm trying not to get wasted today. I'm going for a drive early tomorrow morning with someone," she explained. "Having a hangover would not be very beneficial towards that."
Natsu looked sceptical, but didn't say anything.
"Ehh still," Cana said, winking. "It's 'aight to drink every once in a while with the consequences in mind."
"Anyway," Erza cut in. "Cana brought up a good point. Lucy, would you be interested in hearing about everyone's weddings?"
Lucy smiled. "That sounds really nice," she said.
"Mine and Jellal's was simple. Everything a traditional wedding has, and decorated in red and blue," Erza said.
"That sounds… really peaceful," Lucy grinned.
"I think we're all missing the point here," Cana droned. "The real question is, how was the wedding night?"
Lucy couldn't help the fierce blush from taking over her face. Just as she was about to say something to reduce the awkwardness, Jellal spoke up.
"Intense," he said, causing everyone to look at him with wide eyes. "She finally let me do something to her other than kissing."
Erza was less than pleased with that answer. "That isn't true, Jellal! I let you-"
"I think this conversation just took a turn for the worst," meeped Mira. "Anyway, back to the original topic. Laxus and I had a wedding that was pretty out of control, seeing as I was pregnant during it."
Erza scoffed under her breath. "Disgraceful…" she muttered, not allowing anyone to hear her. Mira ignored her and continued.
"Actually, I was there for your wedding, Mira," Lucy said quietly. "Remember? I hadn't left yet."
Mira's eyes widened. "Oh! That's right. Silly me," she laughed. "You were there for Lester's birth too. The way you acted when you met him again made me forget that."
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, when I came over to your house after that whole job interview fiasco, I had met Lester again. I knew he wouldn't recognize me, much less remember me clearly, so I just acted like I never knew him in the first place."
Mira smiled. "That was a good idea," she said. "The other kids might have started a fight with Lester since he already knew you. You know how they can be."
"Yep. What about you, Gray? Juvia?" Lucy said, turning to the couple. Gray grinned.
"Our wedding was decorated with ice. I had personally designed every single sculpture, and had spent hours forming them," he said proudly.
Juvia nodded. "Gray-sama had insisted on doing everything himself, so Juvia had to convince him to hire a few employees to help out," she said. "Juvia wanted the wedding to be under water!"
"Yep. So we had it in a water chamber," Gray said, crossing his arms and smirking. "Pretty sweet, eh?"
Natsu scoffed. "Pshh, anyone could do better than that," he said. Gray raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really Fire Freak? I don't think you have any room to talk! You're not even-" he started, before cutting himself off. He suddenly realized what he was saying, and cautiously looked over to where Lucy was sitting. She seemed calm and composed, but anyone could tell she was trying to hide something inside.
Gray gulped. "Never mind," he said, setting himself back down on his chair. "Continue."
"Well, Evergreen and Elfman aren't here, so they can't tell you about their wedding," Mira said, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Uh. What just happened?" Natsu asked, looking at Lucy with a weird expression.
Everyone else ignored him.
Wendy coughed. "I've been talking about marriage a lot with my boyfriend," she meeped out quietly.
"What?!" Erza screeched, dropping her plates and looking at the woman with wide eyes. "Already?! You're much too young, Wendy!"
"Um… I'm twenty-three," Wendy said slowly. "Didn't you get married at twenty-four, Erza? And Gray and Juvia got engaged when they were twenty!"
Lisanna laughed. "I think we all sometimes forget that you are no longer a little girl, Wendy," she said with a wide smile.
Wendy giggled. "Anyway, I don't think I'll be making the commitment just yet… but I really do think Romeo's the one, you know?"
Lucy sighed. "I definitely know how you feel there…" she said with a dreamy smile.
Natsu looked up. "What? You talkin' about Nashi's dad?"
Everyone froze. They all turned to Lucy with wide eyes, wondering how she was going to handle the situation.
Lucy took a deep breath, closing her eyes and nodding. "Yes, Natsu. I'm talking about Nashi's father."
No one expected Lucy to be so blunt about it. They were expecting her to ignore him at the most.
Natsu gulped. "I've been meanin' to talk to ya' about him, by the way," he said, remembering back to when he walked on her and Ro talking. Lucy shook her head.
"I have no intention of speaking with you about my ex-lover. It is none of your business," she said with a sweet glare directed at the pink-haired man.
"But I wanna know about him! Everyone knows except me!" Natsu exclaimed stubbornly.
"Well, I don't want you to know! If I did, I would have already told you, wouldn't I?" Lucy huffed, getting angrier and angrier by the second.
"You even told Ro about it! Why'd ya?! Huh?! Why do you trust him so much when you've barely even known him for a month?!" Natsu yelled, getting up from his seat and banging his hands on the tabletop. "I've known you since junior high! I was your first boyfriend! I was your first lover! I was your first!"
Everyone flinched. This was not looking good.
"Oh just shut up!" Lucy screamed. "You have no room to talk, you little brat! Ro is a good friend to me! Just stop being so damn jealous already!"
"Oh I'd hardly say you two're just friends!" Natsu spat. "What were ya' thinking when you cried to him? Huh?!"
"How… oh nevermind. It doesn't matter. You are just too much, you know that?" Lucy hissed. "You jealous brat. You don't even know what you're talking about!"
"Dammit, stop gettin' on my nerves!" Natsu yelled, taking a plate and raising it to his head. "Just stop! You've done nothing but hurt me since you came back!"
"You hurt me first, you douche bag! How dare you?! Have you already forgotten what you did to me?!" Lucy screamed, panting for breath.
Lisanna cowered away. She didn't want to be a part of this.
Natsu's nostrils flared. "Are you serious?! Do you even know what you're talking about?! I already told you! I didn't-"
"Just save it!" Lucy screeched.
"No! You know what, I deserve a chance to explain myself. You better hear me out or else I will-"
"AGH! GET OFF ME!"
And just like that, Natsu had pinned her on one of the restaurant walls. His gaze hardened as he squirmed underneath him.
"Listen to me," he hissed under his breath, leaning close to her ears. "LEAVE. EVERYONE," Natsu screamed. He heard shuffling and suddenly two strong arms pulled him away from Lucy.
"What the hell do you think you're doing to her?!" a voice yelled.
Natsu was expecting Erza, but who it was completely shocked him.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Gray screeched, raising a hand and slapping Natsu across the face.
Natsu blinked.
Lucy gasped for breath, covering herself and sinking to her knees. How could Natsu violate her like that? She… she didn't know what to do.
So she ran.
She picked herself up, grabbed her things, and made a break for it. Lucy couldn't stand being around that sick man anymore. She ran for her life, not bothering to answer the shouts of her name from behind her.
She exited the restaurant, ignoring the stares she got from the citizens. Lucy checked her watch, acknowledging the time.
He'd be done by now. He had to be done by now.
Lucy turned into her driveway, breathing a sigh of relief once she saw him getting out of the car she had fixed for him.
She choked out a sob. He turned to her, his eyes widening out of shock and fear once he saw her.
"RO!" she yelled, running up to him and tackling him into a tight embrace. "He… he… he… he…"
"Lucy?! What… what are you…"
Lucy panted, her feet sore and bruised from running in her heels. She looked up into Ro's eyes and gulped.
He looked back at her.
"He… Natsu, he…"
Ro's gaze hardened.
"What did he do to you," he said in a dangerously low voice.
"He… he… Ro, I can't…" Lucy kept trying to say. She knew she had to tell him what had happened, but she wasn't sure if he could take it.
"Lucy. Answer me. What did he do to you," Ro said again.
Lucy gulped, closing her eyes and remembering the feeling of Natsu's skin against her own. She recalled back ten years, when she had felt it before.
What was he doing to her?!
"I… still…" she started, not daring to believe her own words. She knew she would regret saying this. Especially in front of Ro.
"You still…?" Ro queued.
Lucy's eyes widened as reality sunk in.
"I… I still…" she said, closing her eyes, letting the tears pool in her eyelids. "I still love him."
Ro's eyes widened. He looked at her figure underneath him.
He could only do one thing now, after all. He had to.
"Lucy. Go out with me."
Lucy's eyes shot open. Her head slammed up to look at him. She released her hold on him, and backed away.
"Wh… what?"
Ro clenched his fists. "He doesn't deserve you. I won't hurt you. Please, be my girlfriend. Even if it's just for a little while."
Lucy didn't move a mustle.
Maybe… maybe… maybe this would benefit her. If she went out with him. Maybe she could get over these stupid feelings for Natsu.
If she became Ro's girlfriend, maybe she could let the past go.
Lucy gulped, facing him head on.
She nodded.
"Okay."
