AN: Hello everyone! How's life going for all of you? :) Life is really keeping me busy these days haha! Because of this, I am thinking about posting twice a week! If I were to do this, what two days would be best for all of you? :) It's not for sure yet, just a thought!
Chapter 21
Lucy woke up the next morning with a bright smile plastered to her face. Stretching her arms above her head, the blonde relished in the feel of her back popping relaxingly. Grabbing a fistful of her blanket, she pulled it to her nose and inhaled the smoky aroma of Natsu, who had spent the night last night for the first time since she started dating Hibiki. Of course this time new things were thrown in the mix such as cuddling and a few occasional kisses. Other than that, it was like old times again, before things got messy.
But things were fine now. She was no longer engaged, she wasn't dating Hibiki, and was instead with her soulmate, who also happened to be her best friend. Things were perfect. Well, there was one thing that couldbe better. And that was the fact that she didn't know where she stood with Natsu. Were they dating? Was he expecting only occasional flings? Did she even want to date again?
Lucy sighed and shook her head. No, she shouldn't be stressed over it. After all, she had spent the past week- perhaps even months- being stressed. For once, the girl was going to allow herself to relax. Well, besides the whole going to school thing. She still had to do that. Thus, the blonde forced herself out of her heaven-like bed and reluctantly got ready for school.
"Lu-chan!" Levy cried out frantically at the sight of the blonde. "You're here! Erza told us all about your engagement and WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL US!? WE'RE YOUR BEST FRIENDS YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD US."
"Juvia agrees!" the other blunette added. "Why did you tell Erza and not us?"
Lucy sighed and answered, "Because she was there when I tried packing to fix it. Look, it's not that I wanted to tell her and not you guys. You know that you two are my closest friends! It's just that I kinda didn't have any other option at the time."
"What about before? You've had so much time to tell us!" Levy shot back with narrowed eyes.
The blonde awkwardly chuckled and answered, "Well, you see… It's not something I like to talk about!"
"Still! We could've helped you!"
"How?"
"I-I don't know but we could've! We could've gone with you for moral support or something! Or we could've tamed Natsu- oh my gosh! What ever happened with Natsu!?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Lucy lied, averting her gaze. "Nothing happened! You're crazy, Levy-chan!"
The two blunettes' eyes widened as they shrieked loudly.
"Something did happen!" Juvia exclaimed. "Tell us!"
"Don't you dare try getting out of this one!" Levy added.
Lucy sighed, knowing she wouldn't win against her friends. "Fine. W-We kissed. Again."
"AGAIN!?"
"Yes, again! Now be quiet! Anyways, I never told you guys this because there wasn't time, but the first time Hibiki broke up with me, Natsu came over and one thing led to another and we almost kissed… And that's when I realized that I was in love with him. But then I screwed up and took Hibiki back-"
"Really, Lu-chan?" Levy asked while face-palming.
"So that's why Natsu was angry!" Juvia exclaimed. "Go on!"
Lucy sighed and continued, "Yes, that's why he was mad. And I'm guessing Erza told everyone about my engagement?" Seeing her friends nod, the blonde sighed once again and went on, "Well, after that Natsu tracked me down in Acalypha-"
"So he did find you?"
"Yep! And he was beyond angry. He was yelling at my dad and then dragged me back to my place to yell at me. I've never seen him so angry before. But after I explained everything to him and confessed my feelings, we k-kissed and things are better now!" Lucy smiled, recalling the prior day's events. But after seeing her friends' questioning gazes, her smile vanished and was replaced with a confused frown. "What?"
"That's it?" Levy questioned almost desperately. "Nothing else?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Wait," Juvia began, "so you confessed to Natsu but he didn't confess to you?"
Lucy's eyes widened a fraction as she realized Juvia was correct. "I-I mean, not in those specific words..."
"But he kissed you?"
"Y-Yeah…"
"So you two aren't dating or anything?"
"Nope…"
"DAMN IT YOU TWO ARE SUCH IDIOTS!" Levy screeched, bashing her head against her desk. "I swear you two make things more complicated than Gajeel does, and he's the most complicated guy I know! It's not that hard! Just get together!"
"That's not true!" Lucy protested. "It's just that… Well you see… Damn it."
Just then, the teacher walked in, signaling the start of class. Lucy laid her head exhaustedly on her desk, not caring about the lecture. She didn't notice the shared look between the two blunettes.
Levy sighed at her friend's idiocy. "Looks like the plan is still in motion after all."
Lucy raised her arms above her head as the bell rang, dismissing all students from the hell-hole called school. Packing her things, the blonde thought about her conversation with her friends. Who knew something that made her so happy the day before could also make her immensely confused? If she knew that things were going to get so complicated, she never would've kissed Natsu. Okay, that was a lie, of course she would still kiss him. She couldn't resist it after all.
"Just play it cool for now, Lucy," the girl thought as she followed her friends to Fairy Tail. "All I have to do is follow Natsu's lead. If he thinks we're better off without labels, then that's how it'll be! We don't need labels anyways! It's me and Natsu! We'll be fine! But then again-"
"Lu-chan?" Levy's voice rang out, interrupting the blonde's thoughts. "We're here. You almost just walked past Fairy Tail. You okay?"
Lucy awkwardly chuckled and answered, "Of course! I was just a little zoned out!"
"What were you thinking about?" Juvia questioned.
"O-Oh, it's nothing! Just about our homework!"
"But we don't have any homework."
"O-Oh yeah! I was just thinking about how happy I was to not have homework, you know? L-Let's just go inside!"
Lucy grabbed the two blunettes' wrists and began dragging them into the pub. The two blunettes shared a look and sighed. Lucy never was a good liar. Well, besides the whole engagement thing. They had to give her props on that one.
Lucy's stomach dropped with each step, twisting and churning from anxiety at the sight of an all too familiar pinkette. Her heart stopped when he turned to look at her with his signature toothy grin. It was almost as if nothing happened between them. Should she be the same way? Pretending that nothing changed? The girl swallowed thickly and mechanically sat in her usual spot.
"Yo, Luce!" Natsu greeted in a typical manner.
"H-Hi, Natsu," the blonde replied. She found herself unable to make eye contact and instead stared at the drops of water sliding down Natsu's cup. Her cheeks were warm and red, she didn't need a mirror to know that she was blushing.
Natsu frowned and arched a brow at the girl. "You okay, Lucy? You have a weird face."
And just like that, Lucy forgot all about her prior embarrassment and was instead fueled with irritation.
"I don't have a weird face!" she screeched, slapping the boy upside his head and crossing her arms.
The pinkette groaned but smiled through the pain. "There you go! There's my Lucy!"
Lucy's heart fluttered at his words, her cheeks dusted a light pink. "S-Shut up."
The rest of the table smiled knowingly at the pair. Though Natsu didn't speak of what happened when he went to Acalypha, it didn't take a genius to see that something happened between the two during that time. It was obvious to anyone. Hell, even a stranger could walk through the door and see the new chemistry between the couple. It was hard to place, but they were different. They were clearly happier, which was made obvious with their cheery smiles. They talked as if they were even closer than before and if Lucy's pink cheeks were anything to go by, they probably were closer. Yes, something happened between the two. But as luck would have it, it wasn't enough for the rest of the group.
"Get a room you two," Gray quipped as he removed his shirt.
Lucy whipped her head to her friend and stuttered, "W-Why would we do that!? We're just talking!"
The boy smirked and replied, "I didn't say you and Natsu. What makes you think I was talking about you two? Are you together or something?"
The blonde realized her mistake and began making amends. "N-No, nothing like that! It's just that I figured… Well… Umm… Damn it."
The table erupted in laughter, including Natsu.
"You aren't that good at lying are you, Lucy?" Lisanna asked followed by a giggle.
"For someone that kept such a huge secret, Bunny Girl sucks at lying," Gajeel added.
"Shut it," Lucy muttered, though the smile on her lips betrayed her words.
Peeping at the boy next to her in the corner of her eye, she saw Natsu with his signature grin. He was normal and treated her the same as before. Though it confused her before, now she understood his actions completely. He didn't things were different between them. And in truth, she hoped they never would be. She liked the teasing and the fun they had together. That was probably why she fell in love with him in the first place. If he started acting like a "proper" boyfriend, one that her father would have approved, he wouldn't have been the boy she fell in love with.
Lucy smiled to herself, finally okay with things. No matter the outcome, she would be happy with Natsu, label or not. Because she didn't need a label, the fancy dates, or any of the things she had with Hibiki. All she needed was Natsu and that was all she ever would need.
"Hey Natsu," Levy's voice called out, bringing the blonde out of her thoughts. "When do you and Lucy work next?"
The pinkette arched a brow but answered, "Tomorrow after school. Why?"
"Oh nothing!" the blunette replied. Though the smirk and infamous brow wiggle gave Lucy other ideas.
Chalking it up to probably being a surprise visit, the blonde traveled into her solitary world of thought once more. As she was thinking earlier, she would and Natsu would be fine. Everything would be up to him. Besides, with how she wasted the last three months of her life with some boy she thought was her soulmate, she really didn't trust herself to be at the wheel of her relationship with Natsu. They would take time to work into their new relationship, figure each other out more and find out what it would mean to be together. They had all the time in the world to figure out what specifically they wanted. Lucy smiled feeling that she didn't need to fret about it anymore.
But as she should've learned by now, fate always loved surprises. And this time, fate went by the name Levy McGarden.
AN: I said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE LEVY. Carry on.
Zerophelia: Wow thank you so much! :'D Such a sweet review! I'm glad you like the story!
Avhaskake: WOW HOLY COW THANK YOU! Top favorite for Fairy Tail? That's unbelievable. :')
Biyiksizkedi: Tbh I probably would've made it Dan if I remembered he existed lol. But now I'm glad I didn't! Besides, I wanted it to be somebody that didn't have feelings for Lucy, so clearly Dan wouldn't have worked haha! And your English is great! :D And oh really? :) I would never be able to learn it on my own. It's one of the hardest languages to learn and good job if you manage to teach yourself, seriously! :D And good luck on your university exam! AND YES I READ THE NEW CHAPTER I'M SO EXCITED!
DragonSlayerDiana: Hahahaha out of all the Nalu you got most excited about the punishment!? That's amazing I'll make sure it's hilarious for you!
PineappleText: I'M GLAD YOU ENJOYED THE NALU, YOU DESERVED IT SINCE YOU'VE BEEN HERE SINCE THE BEGINNING!
21jhauptman: Well, Levy isn't happy enough haha! And she won't be satisfied until they are officially together! :D
MirrorFlame: THANK YOU I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT!
AsunaLucy: They really are the best couple. :')
Avhaskake: Thank you again! :)
Humbleblossom: Hope you liked the chapter! :D
BloodRedRubies: Haha I know, took a while for the two idiots. :') And I understand that! My only problem with Bleach was that each fight took like 3 episodes, too much for me. That's probably why I fell in love with Fairy Tail because each fight is 1 or sometimes 2 episodes! It has just enough action, comedy, and romance. :')
Aidansidhe: Ahh ishihime. I'm not a big fan of that ship either haha!
SingingAngel327: Sorry, but there is going to be the "oh they aren't official" thing! I hope you will like the story anyways!
Soul Eater Maka: I KNOW TOOK THEM LONG ENOUGH.
Beautifullove521: Thank you so much! :D
Alexa60765: Well we've got some time before the end! It was just a heads up! :)
Snavej: Gotta love nalu kissing :')
Musicalocelot: We've got some time before then at least! :D I don't have the end all figured out yet so you've got some time! :D
CelestialLunaPanda-Senpai: YAY NALU IT HAPPENED FINALLY!
PandemoniumEclipse: I love Lucy's spirits I had to make them badass body guards in the story haha! :D
Sarara1.8: Glad you liked it! :D
Mysticrainee: Haha thank you! I have a picture of what the tattoo would look like in my head and I really wanted to make a cover image for this story but I can't draw at all!
UltimateGoham: Oh yeah Ulquiorra doesn't come in for a while haha! And thanks so much! :)
XxTentenXx179: You got some time before then though don't worry! :D