Natsu Dragneel

The movie is finally over. I have a feeling that Lucy is getting suspicious of my odd behavior, so I pretend to say goodbye to Gray and Lucy and leave. Right after, I hide behind a pillar, watching them.

Dammit Lisanna! You told me that the pickup line was a total hot thing for a guy to say! She looked totally turned off by that. Ugh, now she probably thinks that I am a creeper. Great.

How do I even get Lucy back? Ugh… I don't understand girls at all. Maybe if I find Gray's weak spot or something. That's it!

Quickly, I call Gray's childhood friend, Juvia Lockser. We aren't that close, but she will definitely hear me out… I hope.

"Hello?" I hear Juvia answer.

"I need Gray's weak spots. Now," I immediately say.

"Huh? Why?" Juvia asks. "Don't tell me that you're planning another prank against Gray."

Now that I think about it… The only reasons why I usually call Juvia are when I want to prank Gray or want to fight him. "Uh… not this time."

Juvia sighs. "You know that I won't tell you any of Gray's weaknesses," she says. "Give up, Natsu. I'm always on Gray's side."

She is about to hang up when I quickly shout, "Wait! It's not like that this time!" I eye Gray and Lucy again. They are leaving, so I follow them out. I wonder what they are doing next.

"Listen Juvia," I say. "It's a long story, but you have to hear me out."

"Fine," she replies. "But hurry it up."

"Okay, so there's this girl I like," I say. "She used to be my ex, but we had to break up. But it turns out that I am still in love with her, but now she is dating Gray even though she told me that she didn't like him-"

"Hold up," Juvia suddenly interrupts me. "Are you talking about… Lucy by chance?"

Every single nerve of mine suddenly freezes. Oh shoot, how did she know?! Does she know Lucy in person or something?! Oh shoot. I'm so screwed. If she ever tells Lucy, I am screwed. "Uh… Uh…" I am speechless. I can't even deny. Oh shoot.

"Don't you already have Lisanna?!" Juvia suddenly shouts. "What the hell are you thinking?! Don't tell me that you're-"

"Lisanna isn't my fiancee anymore," I whisper. I am pretty close to Lucy and Gray. If they hear me talking, they'll know for sure that I am following them. "I told Father that I couldn't marry Lisanna, not with these half-baked feelings."

Juvia stays silent for a while. After about twenty seconds, she sighs. "Stop following them, Natsu."

Huh? How did she know that I was following them?

"Lucy texted me that you were acting strange," Juvia replies, as if she read my mind. "Anyway, following them won't change anything. Come over to my house. I need to tell you something."

Juvia isn't wrong. What's the point of following them anyway…? I glance over at Gray and Lucy again. They are laughing together, hand in hand. People who are walking past them look at them and whisper to each other about how cute of a couple they look. I can't watch this anymore. That's strange… I feel like crying.

OoO

I take my motorcycle to Juvia's place. I had nothing planned for today anyway, so I'll just go there. I wonder what she wants to tell me though. She could've just told me on the phone. Then again, there are a lot of things that should be told in person.

I ring her doorbell. Juvia answers the door and invites me inside. I sit on the couch as she brings me some tea. "So… what's up?" I ask.

"You shouldn't go between Gray and Lucy," she says quietly.

My eyes widen. Why is she telling me that? "You don't know anything," I reply. "And even if I explained, so wouldn't get how much it hurts to see someone you like dating someone else-"

Juvia slams the tea kettle on the table. I cringe in surprise. "I do!" she exclaims. She lifts her head, and to my surprise, she is crying. Tears are pouring through her eyes as if they were mini waterfalls. "I've known that feeling since I was eighteen!"

"Eighteen…?" That means… Four long years. Oh my god. What did I just say? I must have reminded her of terrible memories. "I'm so sorry…" I say. "I didn't mean to remind you… If you don't mind, may I ask who made you feel this way?"

Juvia makes a sorrowful smile. "I used to always think that… no matter how things turned out, he would always belong to me since we were childhood friends," she replies. "You know what I mean, right? Like those shoujo mangas. Childhood friends always ended up together no matter what. It was always a given."

She takes a cup and pours tea in it. "But… that is only fiction. Not reality," Tears begin to pour out of her eyes. "What I mean is, another girl came along… and he fell madly in love with her. Not like the little crushes he used to have in the past, a real love."

Oh god. This already does not sound good. I wonder who is this friend of hers though. I take the kettle pot from Juvia and hand her a tissue. "Thanks," she mumbles as she uses it to wipe her tears.

"No problem," I say. "Just let it out. I'm here for you."

"What was worst was… that the woman he fell in love with… was so kind," Juvia says. Tears begin to pour out of her eyes even faster. "She was so kind that I couldn't help but be her friend. And somehow, we became best friends."

Best friends with her crush's crush. I could relate. That… was actually my situation also. Gray is my best friend (if he still considers me as one), but he is dating the person I love. It's a hard situation.

"What's his name?" I ask, taking my cup of tea.

Juvia looks at me and forces a smile as I take a sip of my tea. "You know him very well, Natsu," she says. "It's… Gray."

Huh? Instantly, I spit all my tea out by accident. My eyes widen in shock. No way. She liked Gray? That Ice Princess? Now that I think about it, it all makes since. He is her childhood friend.

"I'm so sorry…" I mumble. "Four years of watching him in love with-" I suddenly stop. I come to realization. Gray told me that it was love at first sight for Lucy. And now he is dating Lucy. Juvia had always been suffering, watching Gray watch Lucy. I only suffered this for a single day and already I can't take it.

"Four years of this is nothing…," Juvia mutters. "Compared to Lucy's suffering."

"Lucy?" I ask. "What happened with her?"

Juvia looks at me as if I were stupid. "Do you really not know?" she asks. I look at her, confused. "Do you really not know?" she repeats.

"What do you mean?" I ask. "Oh wait, I know." Suddenly, I remember. Lucy told me that she had a boyfriend a long time ago, and even after that long, she was still in love with him. However, he had already moved on a long time ago. He is probably already married by now. She didn't tell me who it was, but by the way she was crying at the time, I knew that she had those feelings for years.

"So you figured it out, huh?" Juvia says. "Guess you're not a clueless idiot after all."

Clueless idiot? Wow, was that what she thought of me all this time? What an insult.

"Lucy is finally happy now with Gray," Juvia starts. "Even though she used to have feelings for you for the past ten years, we should leave her alone-"

"Wait what," I quickly say. I can hear my blood pump through my ears. My chest is banged with a least a trillion heartbeats in that one second. Did I just hear her right? "Lucy had… feelings for me… after we broke up?"

Juvia looks at me strangely. "Wait what? I thought that you said that you knew what happened to her!" she exclaims. "Oh shoot… I revealed Lucy's secret…" she mumbles to herself. "Oh shoot. Holy crap, what have I done?"

"Wait a second," I say. "Let me get this clear." But Juvia is still mumbling to herself, so I take her shoulders and force her to stare at me in the eye. "Listen to me Juvia!" I shout. "Lucy… Did she really like me for the past ten years?!"

Juvia trembles in fright, but slowly she nods. "You have no idea… how much she cried for the past ten years because of you," she says. "So don't interfere with her relationship with Gray! Because… now she is finally happy!"

"With someone she doesn't even have feelings for?" I question. Juvia cringes when I say that. She knows that Lucy only started dating Gray to get over me. "Stop acting like the good guy Juvia. You're jealous, aren't you? You want Gray all for yourself, but your own best friend is in the way-"

"No!" she screams. "I'm not like you! I…"-she puts her hand over her heart-"I treasure my bonds! I wouldn't ruin my friendships with Lucy and Gray for such a petty reason!"

Does Juvia even know what she is saying? Lucy and I have mutual feelings! When Gray becomes heartbroken, Juvia can just string by and heal the brokenhearted Gray! That way, in the end, we will all be happy!

Suddenly, Juvia and I hear voices outside. We look out the window and to my surprise, it is Lucy and Gray. It looks like their date ended and now they are saying goodbye at Gray's house (which is right next to Juvia's).

"It's them…" I whisper. I am about to run to the door when Juvia pulls my arm, forcing me to stay at the window.

"Don't interfere," she whispers. She points to Lucy. "Look at her one more time. Don't you think that she looks a lot more happy now that she's with Gray? She's not crying anymore."

I watch Lucy. Her smile is so beautiful. She… really does look happy. I can feel my heart twist in jealousy. Why… can't I make her smile like that?

Lucy says goodbye to Gray and then begins to walk to back home on her own. I can't stand just watching her anymore. I have to go. Quickly, I shake off Juvia's grip on my arm and run to her doorstep.

"Wait! Natsu!" Juvia cries. "Stop!"

But ignore her and put on my shoes as fast as possible.

"Are you listening, Natsu?!" she shouts. "You know how Lucy feels whenever she's around you! All she does is cry! She'll be miserable with you!"
"Love…," I say. "Love is not a happy feeling." I stand up after I put on my shoes. Then I put my hand over my heart, just as how Juvia did earlier. "Love is also a painful thing. It's not always supposed to make people smile, like how Lucy did. That smile was to a friend, not a lover! Friendship heals love, not the opposite. If I leave Lucy alone with Gray, she'll never be happy."

And with that, I ran out of Juvia's house and sprinted as fast as I could to Lucy.

- End of Chapter 14 -

Hi guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! From the next chapter on, things are going to be a little more hectic! Anyway, thanks so much for reading this chapter and please look forward to the next one!

~ Metallic Snow