Chapter Twenty-Six: Trust
Natsu held Lucy's hand for the rest of the episode. When it ended, a different show came on, but Lucy told him to change the channel because she didn't like it.
While Natsu flipped through the channels, Lucy left to go put away the dirty dishes. He leaned against her bed, trying to get comfortable. His butt was numb and his back ached, but there was no way he was sitting on the girl's bed. The thought alone made him feel uncomfortable.
Natsu was flipping through channels when Lucy came back. Before he could press the up button again, she screamed, "No! Keep it there!"
He jolted at her sudden outburst, then glanced up. Lucy was already back in her room, hurrying over to where he sat. She plopped herself down next to him, then grabbed the remote to turn the volume up. His attention was on her brown eyes, watching an excited gleam flash through them.
Natsu turned to look at the tv, visibly pouting when he realized what they were watching. "You wanna watch the Miss Fiore's beauty pageant?" He raised a brow, clearly surprised by her choice in shows.
"Yeah," Lucy smiled at him, causing his heart to flutter. "I watch it every year."
"Oh... Okay..." He didn't see the appeal in a show like this, but he kept quiet for Lucy's sake. It looked like it was just the beginning of the show since an announcer was naming the different girls.
Natsu stole a peek at Lucy, seeing her eyes fixed on the screen. He shrugged to himself as his eyes drifted back to watch the show. As long as he was with Lucy, he could tolerate it. Even if it was dreadfully boring.
Everything seemed normal between the two, until Natsu's ears picked up something he hadn't heard in a while. Lucy was so engrossed in the show she barely noticed the sharp inhale coming from her side.
"Natsu?" Lucy blinked a few times after seeing a flash of pink run by her. She heard a door slam before she could find out where he went. "Natsu?" She stood up, then walked over to her bedroom door. It was now closed, so she figured he went out that way. Before she could open the door to take a step into the hall, she heard a sound coming from her bathroom.
"Natsu?" She padded over to her bathroom, realizing when he slammed the door shut, the wind must have forced her own bedroom door shut. She knocked on the wood separating them, asking, "Are you okay?"
Her reply was the sound of vomiting. She opened the door, finding Natsu hunched over her toilet, puking. "Natsu!"
Lucy rushed to his side, rubbing his back as she gazed at his pale face. "Are you okay? Are you sick?"
He nodded, gulping back more stomach bile to avoid her seeing him like this. "I think so," he jolted, not being able to hold it down anymore. He threw up again, knowing how disgusted Lucy must be of him. His hand came up, fumbling to flush the toilet to rid the small room of the smell of his vomit.
Natsu's eyes stung with tears, snot running down his nose. He knew he looked like a wreck, but to be fair, no one looked good puking. He just hoped he could trust Lucy not to make fun of him like most kids did.
Natsu reached for the toilet paper, surprised when a hand already had some torn for him. He glanced up, seeing Lucy offering him the paper squares with a concerned look on her face. He nodded, taking them and wiping his nose first. He went to grab more, seeing Lucy already had some for him.
He wiped his eyes, then sighed. "Sorry 'bout that. Dunno what came over me," it was a damn lie, but there was no way in hell he was admitting that to her.
Lucy continued to rub his back, hoping it brought him some type of comfort. "If you need to let more out, go ahead. I promise I won't judge you."
He cringed, realizing he did in fact feel like vomiting more. The only thing holding him back was the fear of freaking her out. He could feel the saliva building in his mouth, waiting to be expelled with the rest of his stomach contents.
"Thanks," he muttered, then released the urge to hold back. It came fast, spilling into the toilet bowl.
Lucy looked away, not wanting to shame Natsu for the natural act. She had a feeling he was going to beat himself up over this. Her hand moved in circles on his back, feeling the heat radiating off his body. "Better?" She asked when he flushed again.
"Better," his voice came out raspy.
"Did... did my oatmeal make you sick?" Lucy asked, feeling horrible that she might have caused him to get ill. Her stomach wasn't feeling bad, but she knew that wasn't a guarantee that he'd be fine as well.
"What?" Natsu looked over at her, shaking his head. "No, the oatmeal was good. I promise."
She smiled. "That's good. I'm sorry you got sick though."
"I'll be fine." Natsu grabbed some toilet paper, cleaning his face up again. "I throw up quite a bit."
"You do?" She tilted her head.
"Yeah," he nodded, forcing his wobbly legs to stand. "I'll be right back." He walked out of her bathroom, only to return with a small bottle. Before she could ask, he answered, "It's mouthwash... I carry it around just in case. Vomiting can rot your teeth."
Lucy's eyes widened at that bit of information. "It can?"
"Yeah... Can I use your sink?" He pointed at the faucet.
"Go ahead," she finally stood, watching as he took a swig from the bottle.
When his mouth was filled with foam, he started talking again, though it came out gargled. "It's the stomach acid that corrodes the enamel on the teeth."
Natsu spit out the foam, then continued. "I have a bag with a toothbrush and some toothpaste, but it's not good to brush your teeth immediately after throwing up. You have to wait about an hour later... Also, you can't brush too hard 'cause that can cause damage too."
He took some more mouthwash in to make sure his mouth was thoroughly clean. Lucy leaned against her wall, unsure if she should watch him or not. If felt weird to leave now, so she stayed put, thinking about what Natsu said. She guessed he had to throw up a lot. Why else would he carry around stuff to brush his teeth all the time. 'Does he carry it around all the time?' She didn't see him with it when they first met, but then again, she didn't dig through his pockets.
Natsu rinsed his spit down the drain, then turned off the sink. He moved his tongue in his mouth, trying to get rid of the nasty taste from his mouthwash. It wasn't flavored, so the taste disgusted him.
Lucy saw his discomfort. "I have some gum in my purse... Can you have that?"
Natsu looked at her with a questioning gaze. 'What does she mean can I have gum?' Then he realized that she didn't know if it would effect his teeth since he dumped all that information about teeth care after vomiting. "Uhh, yeah. I'm pretty sure that's fine." No one had ever told him he couldn't have gum.
He followed Lucy out of the bathroom. Her purse still hung on her door knob, so she went to retrieve it. Once she opened it, a memory flashed through her head of her stealing something and slipping it into her purse.
Lucy quickly grabbed the pack of gum, handing it to Natsu before heading to get her luggage from her trip to Crocus. Since she had to get on an airplane, she had to store the hot sauce in her luggage because it was over the liquid limit to bring on in her carry-on.
A smile surfaced on her face when he found it was just where she left it, in the front pocket of her luggage wrapped up in a shirt to keep it safe during the travel. She was lucky Virgo hadn't gone through all the pockets, since she wouldn't have a good excuse for why she had hot sauce in her bag.
Lucy turned around, walking over to Natsu who was standing by her bathroom door. "Here," she held out the red bottle of hot sauce called 'Fire Blast'.
Natsu stared down at the bottle, then back up at Lucy. "Wh-what's that for?" He didn't know why he felt nervous. He could only guess it had to due with the fact that people made fun of him for consuming hot sauce regularly, so much so that he gave up the spicy sauce when eating in public.
Lucy saw the panic in his eyes, realizing he was probably wondering why she would offer it out of the blue. She came up with an excuse, though honestly she should have thought it through better. "Oh, I just got it while I was in Crocus."
She forced a laugh to come out, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I tried it but it's way too hot for me. I was going to throw it away, but I thought I'd see if you wanted it first..." She wanted to slap herself. 'Why the hell did you say you were going to throw it away! Now you sound wasteful!'
When Natsu said nothing, she asked, "Do you want it?"
"Umm, I-I guess so?" With a shaky hand, he took the bottle. His eyes traced over the large words on the top of the label. 'Fire Blast'. He'd never heard of it before. He knew he shouldn't test it out so soon after vomiting, but the thought of having something spicy in his mouth was enough to cast that worry aside.
Lucy watched as he popped the cap off, then raised a brow at the bottle. "Luce?"
"Yeah?" She asked, wondering if there was a problem.
"You said you tried it?" Natsu's eyes flashed up to meet her own.
Lucy merely nodded her head in response. Natsu looked down at the bottle again, debating whether he should tell her or not. "Was it from this bottle specifically?"
Lucy felt her chest weigh down as she nodded again, unsure why he was suddenly questioning her. It all made sense when she saw him unscrew the top off, revealing the white paper that sealed the bottle.
'Oh... My... God...' She forgot that the bottle was unused, meaning he just caught her in a lie! She bowed her head, her blonde bangs covering her eyes. "I am so sorry," she felt mortified getting caught like this. She really didn't have a good excuse now. "I-I just saw it at the reception, and I wanted to get back at those jerks, so, I... I stole it from the party. I don't even like hot sauce that much. I just thought you might like it so I took it. I'm sorry."
Her eyes stared down at her feet, waiting for Natsu to scold her. She was surprised when she heard the sound of his laughter. She glanced up, seeing one of Natsu's hands clutching his stomach as he chuckled. "Man, you really are a weirdo!"
Lucy opened her mouth, ready to protest, but then sighed. "I guess I really am..."
"That's okay," he grinned, stepping up to wrap her in a quick hug. "Thanks for the sauce. Is it really hot?"
"I don't know," Lucy mumbled against his scarf. "Haven't tried it."
The boy pulled away, looking down at the bottle. "Wanna try with me?"
"Ehh, I'll let you go first. I'm not much for spicy things."
"Okay," he pulled off the seal, then brought it up to his nose. The smell alone was enough to make his head spin, so he could only imagine what the taste would do. He dabbed a little on the tip of his finger, then popped it in his mouth.
"Holy fucking shit!" He ripped his finger out, moving his tongue in his mouth to spread the flavor so it wouldn't be as strong at the tip of his tongue. "That's hot!" Tears collected in his eyes. It felt like he just tried to eat fire. He'd never had something as spicy before in his life.
He loved it!
Without thinking about it, he brought the rim of the bottle to his lips, tipping it back to take a sip of the hot sauce. His taste buds exploded from the intense blaze of flavor filling his mouth. Natsu put the cap back on, practically panting as he looked at the bottle again. "Wow. That was amazing!"
Lucy's soft laughter caught his attention. He paled, realizing he looked like a freak just now. 'Who the hell drinks hot sauce?'
Natsu reluctantly glanced up, seeing the slight pink tint to her cheeks. She opened her mouth to say between giggles, "I'm glad you like it."
"Y-yeah..." He waited, anticipating her to say something about his odd behavior. Instead, she didn't say anything about it, showing him that he could trust her not to make fun of him for his weird quirks.
"Do you want to keep watching?" Lucy looked back at her screen, seeing a girl getting interviewed by the host.
A lump formed in Natsu's throat. He refused to look at the screen as he shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I can head home so you can watch it."
Lucy's eyes widened, realizing her time with Natsu was almost up. In a last ditch effort to keep him there, she said, "I can just record it for later. We can do something else?"
"Are you sure?" Natsu didn't want to impose, but he also didn't want to leave. Aside from the throwing up part, he was having a great time hanging out with Lucy.
"Of course!" She rushed over to her tv, pressing the necessary buttons to record the show to watch later. She turned the screen off, then looked back at the boy. "What do you want to do?"
Natsu shrugged. He didn't exactly know what there was to do at her house. If they were at his house they could play video games or even some board games. He was about to suggest playing Pokémon GO, but then he remembered her data was low. 'Oh wait!'
"Do you have WiFi?"
"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "Do you need to use it?"
Natsu shook his head. "If you use WiFi we can play Pokémon GO? We probably won't be able to leave the house though."
Lucy's brown eyes lit up. "We can go to my backyard! I know I get signal all the way to the fence." Her smile faded when she said, "But I usually only find Rattatas out there."
"That's fine," he assured. "We can always get them for evolving. Five hundred points is five hundred points after all."
"I guess that's true. Let's go," she grabbed his hand, dragging him out of her room and down the stairs.
On their way to her backyard, Lucy noticed Virgo still hadn't come home. She wondered if she should call the maid, but knew she was more than capable to go grocery shopping on her own.
Lucy blanched, hoping Virgo didn't leave the house dressed as a maid again. Lucy didn't think she could handle that type of embarrassment, even if no one would be able to connect the two females together.
Natsu followed Lucy until they reached her dining room. She pulled back the curtains, letting light flood the room. Natsu's eyes widened when he got a glimpse of her backyard. He gulped, feeling intimidated by her all over again.
'I guess she really is rich...' He knew it was a stupid thought to have, but for some reason he kept denying to himself what Lucy's family had money. He guessed it was just his way to try to make her more approachable. The gap in social class between them started getting bigger as she opened the glass doors to the yard. "Come on!"
Natsu hesitantly walked through the doors and out into the sunlight. His eyes flitted over the yard, shocked when he saw not only a large pool off to the side, but also a fountain.
'A fountain?!'
Who the hell just had a fountain in their backyard. The thing was large, easily looking like it belonged in a park, not this place. He subconsciously took a few steps towards it, marveling at the beauty of the smooth stone it was carved from.
"It's pretty, huh?" Lucy said, walking up next to him.
"Yeah," he subtly nodded his head. "Is it a mermaid?"
"Yup," she let out a short giggle. "It's modeled after an old family friend named Aquarius. Her and my mother were really close."
Natsu turned his head to look at Lucy. "Do you not see her anymore because of..." He didn't want to bring up her mother's passing again. She seemed down earlier, but he was curious.
"Oh, I see her more often than I'd like to," Lucy said, puffing out her cheeks. "She's the one who convinced me to get that dumb outfit. Horrible idea."
Natsu couldn't argue with her there. "Why did you wear it? If you don't mind me asking."
Lucy sighed, shifting her weight to her right foot. "Aquarius said it would—" She stopped herself. There was no way she was going to admit that she decided to get it because the water-bearer had told her it would get her a boyfriend. "—make me look better." That wasn't necessarily a lie, so she didn't feel bad about saying it.
"You didn't need it," Natsu mumbled, thinking she looked great in whatever she wore. Especially now in her shirt and sweatpants. It made him feel comfortable, like he could just hang out with her without worrying about clothing brands or the fact that Lucy was clearly out of his league.
He looked down at his own clothes. They were bought at department stores, brands that no one cared for. His family didn't have the money to buy expensive clothing that he was just going to outgrow, so whatever he had of name brands he had to buy with his own money.
Usually Natsu didn't care about things like that, but after seeing Lucy dressed up not only today, but for that wedding too, he felt even lower than her. He was just glad she didn't rub it in his face.
"Let's see," Lucy's voice rang from beside him. He glanced over, seeing she was tapping on her phone.
She connected to her family's WiFi, then smiled. "Okay, I'm all set. If you want to use it too, you can. The password is 'punishment'."
Natsu raised a pink brow at her. He blinked, clearly thrown off my that choice of password. Before he could ask why, Lucy explained, "I didn't choose it. Virgo did. The WiFi name is 'gate of the maiden'." She laughed, "Once again, I didn't choose it."
Natsu couldn't help but laugh too. "So weird..." He ignored her protests as he connected to her WiFi. This wasn't as personal as exchanging Pokémon GO passwords, but it still felt good. When his game was loaded he looked up at Lucy. "Ready?"
"You bet!"
As they began walking, Lucy giggled. "Funny how when this game first came out, I wanted to find Pokémon with a higher CP," Lucy started, tapping on a Pokémon, "but now I'm hoping for a low CP just so I don't waste my Poké balls on them."
Natsu laughed, "Yeah, that is kinda funny. I do the same thing when I see a really low Weedle or something. I don't wanna waste balls on a dumb bug."
When they were finished laughing, the two teens decided to walk around the perimeter of her backyard first to get an idea of what Pokémon were around. Natsu was stunned when he realized they'd been walking for a few minutes when they finally reached the back gate. He couldn't believe it was so big.
"Who mows the lawn?" Natsu asked as he tried to catch a Rattata. It was a random question, but it worked to start up a conversation.
"People come once a week to touch up the place," Lucy answered, tapping on a Pidgey. "I think they come when I'm at school, because I've never seen them." Lucy had an idea that Virgo just told Lucy people came to do it. She had a feeling Virgo herself was out here mowing and trimming the lawn as some sort of self-punishment. Of course she'd never caught the maid in the act, so she had no proof.
Natsu transferred his Rattata as he said, "That's cool. I usually mow the lawn at my house."
"Really?" Lucy turned her head to look at the boy. His pink hair looked lighter in the direct sun, a carefree grin gracing his face. "That's cool."
"Not really," he groaned, knowing he had to start mowing the lawn regularly now since the weather was warming up. He loved summer, but he liked winter too just because he didn't have to do as much mowing. 'Then again, I get stuck shoveling the snow... Maybe mowing's not so bad...'
"Why's that?" Lucy asked.
"Have you ever mowed a lawn before?"
Lucy shook her head. "Can't say that I have."
"You should try it," he chuckled. "Then you'd know why it sucks."
Lucy looked up ahead, seeing that they were about it hit the other corner of her backyard. A shed rested in the corner, containing gardening equipment. "Can you show me how?"
Natsu looked up at her. "What? How to mow?" When she nodded her head, he laughed. "I mean I can, but you're not gonna like it."
"Says you," Lucy stuck out her tongue, then walked faster towards the shed.
That only caused Natsu to laugh harder. He sped up, seeing Lucy already in front of the structure. She opened the door, disappearing inside.
He followed in after her, seeing her attempting to pull a lawn mower from the shed. He was surprised they didn't have a riding lawn mower for how big the yard was. His thought vanished when he saw one at the back of the shed behind a weed wacker and leaf blower. He quickly looked away when he felt his stomach twist from the thought of that 'vehicle'.
"Here, I'll help you." Natsu put away his phone, then grabbed the mower's handle. Lucy watched as the boy effortlessly pulled the mower from the shed and onto the grass. He waited until she was beside him before he started.
"Alright, now the first thing you're gonna do is make sure there's gas in it." He pointed to a cap on the mower. He unscrewed it, then peered in. "Yup, looks good. See?"
Lucy leaned in, looking through the hole to see some liquid inside. "Yeah..." She didn't know why, but she felt a little wary about this.
Natsu screwed the cap back on as he said, "Next we're gonna prime the engine." He pointed to a little rubber button on the side of the mower. "Press that in about five times. Usually it's three to five..."
Lucy raised a brow, but did as told, pressing the little button six times to be safe. When she was done, Natsu continued. "Now you're gonna hold this handle back," he watched as Lucy grabbed the handle, pulling it in. "Then take this cord and yank really hard."
Lucy gave him a questioning look, but Natsu showed no signs of messing with her. It sounded odd, but she did it anyway, yanking the cord as hard as she could.
It did nothing.
Natsu began laughing, holding his sides as he watched Lucy pull it a few more times with no success. "Y-you want m-me to help?" He asked between gasps of air.
Lucy huffed at him. "No! I got it!" Despite her confidence, she still couldn't get the thing to start. "What am I doing wrong?"
Natsu wiped away a stray tear, "Try putting some muscle behind it."
That earned him a dark glare. He gulped, thinking that she reminded him of Erza in that moment. "S-sorry!"
Lucy sighed, releasing her angry stare. "I guess it's harder than I thought."
"I can show you," he walked up behind her, grabbing the cord's handle. Lucy's hand was still on it, so his hand overlapped hers. "Keep that part down while I do this."
Lucy nodded, heat flooding her cheeks as she felt Natsu's warmth radiating off his body. She had no idea how he could stand to be that hot all the time. She would ask him, but currently her mind was short-circuiting from their close proximity.
"Okay... One... Two... Three!" Natsu yanked the cord back, jerking Lucy's hand with it. The engine roared to life, scaring Lucy. She immediately let go of the handle, effectively killing the engine.
"Damn," Natsu muttered, releasing her hand to step away. "Next time don't let go. That's how you turn it off."
Lucy shook her head. "There won't be a next time. I think I'm good."
Natsu laughed, "Oh come on! You haven't even gotten to the hardest part. Here..."
He took the lawn mower from her, holding down the handle and giving the cord a nice yank. The engine came back on, the mower vibrating as it attempted to cut the grass.
"Okay," he shouted over the noise the machine produced. "Now you're gonna hold the handle down while pushing it. That's how you cut the grass."
Lucy felt uneasy as she took the handle from Natsu. Her hands and arms shook from the mower. Lucy gave him an uneasy look, finding the slightest comfort when he gave her a thumbs up. She pushed, finding it more difficult than she originally thought to make the mower move.
Putting all her strength into it, she pushed the mower forward. It seemed to take off on its own, luckily not at a fast pace. Lucy guided it across the yard. The grass had barely grown since the last trim, but it was just tall enough to tell where she'd gone.
Lucy laughed to herself, thinking this wasn't as bad as she thought. However, after a minute of pushing the mower, she started to sweat.
The teenage girl traveled to the opposite side of the yard, then struggled to turn the machine around. By the time she got it facing the correct direction she was already sweating bad. She pushed it, cutting a different strip of grass so she didn't go over the same one again.
Natsu watched Lucy mowing her lawn. He felt oddly proud of her for sticking it through, even if her lines were jagged and she looked like she was having problems staying motivated. When she finally reached him, she cut the engine off, gasping for air.
Her shirt was partially wet with sweat, her hair wild from the air blowing against her without her being able to fix it up each time. She grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling it outwards to allow air to flow against her skin. "I feel like I need a bath."
Natsu smiled, "You did good!"
"I did?" Lucy turned back, seeing the crooked lines she cut into the grass. When she looked back at the boy, she frowned, "You're just saying that."
"Maybe," Natsu gave her a cheeky grin. "It was still cool to see you doing manual labor."
Lucy shook her head. "I have no idea how people do that. It's horrible!"
"Well most people don't have yards as big as yours," Natsu looked around, estimating in his head. "I'd say this is... maybe five times bigger than my yard?"
"Really?" Lucy looked at the backyard, thinking it was a lot smaller than the one her family had in Crocus.
"Oh yeah," he nodded, taking the mower from her. "Let's put this up." He said 'let's', but he did it himself, somewhat pitying Lucy since she was sweating. For some reason he liked seeing her like that. Not necessarily sweating, but doing something physical. It made her seem less out of reach and more like him in a way.
He pushed the though aside as he put the mower where they found it. When he got out, Lucy closed up the shed. "So, more Pokémon GO?"
"Sure," Natsu pulled out his phone again, having to reload the game since he waited too long. When it was done, he smiled. "Hey Luce... Guess what's nearby?"
Lucy looked at her own screen, smiling wide. "A Growlithe!"
"For the last time, it's not a—"
His words died in his throat when the orange and black dog Pokémon popped up beside his avatar. "Well fuck," he glanced over to Lucy, seeing she was already trying to catch it. Under his breath he mumbled, "Guess you were right."
Natsu watched Lucy as she flicked a Great Ball at it. Her tongue stuck between her lips as she concentrated, aiming her balls. She jumped for joy when she caught him, then ran up to Natsu to hug him. "I told you! I told you it was a Growlithe!"
Natsu didn't even care that Lucy was sweating while she hugged him. He laughed, hugging her back. "Yeah yeah, don't let it go to your head!"
She could hear the smile in his voice. Sure enough, when she pulled back his lips were stretched into a grin. "Are you gonna catch it?"
"Huh? Oh!" Natsu looked down, remembering that he had to try to catch it too. He tapped on the Pokémon, laughing when its CP was shown. He had nothing to worry about because the Pokémon had a CP of seventeen. One Poké Ball was more than enough to subdue the Pokémon.
When he looked up, he saw Lucy's huge grin. He let out a dramatic sigh, hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry I doubted you. You were right."
Lucy giggled, hands coming up to clap. "Yup! I think I deserve a reward for being right!"
"What'd you have in mind?" He looked up, seeing her smile hadn't faded. 'She has such a pretty smile...'
"Hmmm," Lucy tapped her chin as if she was thinking. "Oh, I know! You have to take me to the movies this Friday!"
"Wh-what?" Natsu's eyes widened. He almost opened his mouth to ask her if she meant like a date, but his lips remained sealed.
"You heard me." Lucy tried sounding confident, but she started sweating from nerves now. "And you have to buy me popcorn and a soda!"
"I-I can do that," he gulped, feeling his heart speed up. Going to the movies with a girl was basically a date, right? Was there even a need to get confirmation? "Do you know wh-what you wanna see?"
Lucy shook her head, stabbing the toe of her shoe into the grass. "I haven't thought about it." The idea had just come to her out of nowhere. She was glad it did, and that he agreed so quickly. It was another date with Natsu, even if neither of them specifically said it was. She figured it counted anyway.
"I can look up what's playing later," he started smiling, growing excited about seeing a movie with Lucy. He'd never gone with a girl before, always in groups with his friends or family. This would be a new experience he could look forward to.
"Awesome!" Lucy felt so great she didn't even bother avoiding his gaze. It was clear Natsu liked the idea just as much as she did. "Do you think maybe you'd want to come over again?"
"To your house?" Natsu raised a pink brow. He hadn't thought she'd actual want him over after today. He figured this was a one time thing, her being nice for him walking her home.
"Yeah," she smiled. Damn... Why did her smile make his heart leap.
"I-I can do that..." He took a deep breath, trying to calm his shaky nerves. Lucy always managed to do weird things to his emotions, but for some reason he kind of liked it.
"Great," Lucy nodded, then started to walk again. Her eyes went to her screen, waiting for another Pokémon to pop up. "Maybe when it gets warmer we can go swimming."
"Sa-swimming?" He glanced at her inground pool, seeing it was covered by a tarp.
"Yeah," Lucy didn't exactly know how to swim, but she didn't need to tell Natsu that. Besides, she could always stay at the shallow end like she always did whenever she had to get in the water. "We can invite everyone else over too if you want."
Loke told her he would invite her and all her friends to his birthday party, but she forgot to ask exactly when his birthday was. She realized she didn't need to wait for him to have his party. She had her own pool! All she had to do was convince Virgo to let her throw a party since her father was still living in Crocus. She'd have to ask the maid about it later. Maybe when it got warmer outside.
"That sounds fun," Natsu realized it actually did sound like a good idea. There was only one problem he could see.
He'd have to take his shirt off.
Natsu cringed at the idea of exposing himself like that. In front of his friends and family was one thing, but Lucy? He didn't want her to think the same things his classmates thought.
"There's no way a dork like you has a body like that without help!"
Lucy didn't notice the way Natsu's face scrunched up. She was too busy transferring her duplicate Pokémon to get more candy. Two more Paras Candies and she could get a Parasect.
"So how was the wedding," Natsu finally asked, trying to get his mind off his self-esteem issues.
Lucy groaned, dropping her head. "It was horrible. So bored and long, and then the reception was just awful."
"Why's that?" Natsu cocked his head. Every wedding he'd been to wasn't as dreadful as she made it sound, but then again he had known the people getting married and had lots of people to talk to. According to Lucy, she didn't have very many friends, or any for that matter before she came to Magnolia. He doubted she had someone to hang out with at the wedding.
Natsu's eyebrows furrowed together when he remembered the photo he saw of Lucy with Loke. 'Oh yeah, she had someone to talk to all right!' He didn't want to get jealous, but that's exactly what happened. He felt like it wasn't fair that the playboy of their school got to see Lucy over the weekend but he didn't.
Biting back his desire to ask her about the picture, he remained quiet to listen to what Lucy had to say.
"Ugh, well first I had to play dress up! Don't get me started on how boring that was. The only good part was I got to see Cancer, and I guess my nails are pretty. Oh did you see them?" Lucy jutted out her hand, letting the boy see her nails. He wasn't much for fashion, so he simply nodded his head as if he knew what he was talking about.
"Then I get to the church. There's cameramen everywhere. You'd think two celebrities were getting married!" Lucy violently threw a Poké ball at a Spearow, cursing under her breath when it busted out of the ball. "And then I ran into Loke!"
Natsu sucked in a quick breath. 'She mentioned him... That has to be bad, right?'
As if reading his mind, Lucy shook her head. "That guy has some nerves. Guess what he did!"
Lucy finally looked at Natsu, seeing his face growing red. When the boy only shrugged, she told him, "He tried to blackmail me! Said he was gonna tell the school about my real identity unless I agreed to be his girlfriend for a month."
Natsu's legs stopped moving. "What?" It sounded like someone else asked the question as he stared at Lucy.
Lucy stopped too, not sure why Natsu wasn't walking. She didn't ask, instead saying, "Yeah! I told him no obviously. There's no way I'd go out with someone who tried to blackmail me. Especially over something that stupid. I mean, maybe if I murdered someone..." She tipped her head back, staring at the clouds in the sky. "I might murder him if he tries to ask me out one more time..."
Natsu could help the little smile that spread across his face. 'Even while being blackmailed she said no...' That made him realize she really didn't have any interest in the playboy. For some reason he thought maybe Lucy was just really good at playing hard to get with all the boys asking her out, but she wasn't. She was just actually hard to get!
"Glad you said no," Natsu mumbled, nose buried in his scarf to hide his blush.
"Oh," Lucy's lips curved into a coy smile. "And why's that?"
Natsu spoke through his scarf. "You deserve better than him."
Lucy's heart warmed. "Thanks, Natsu."
"Don't thank me," he felt his face heating up. "So did anything else happen at the wedding?"
Lucy groaned. "Well there was the butt thing with Dan..."
Natsu's head snapped to her. "What?"
She looked at Natsu incredulously before remembering he wasn't there in the morning when she told Erza and Gray about the little incident. "This jerk at the party grabbed my butt."
"What?!" Natsu's voice came out low and threatening. When Lucy met his eyes, she saw a darkness to them that wasn't there before. "Who the hell touched you?"
The blush on Lucy's face intensified from Natsu's feral look. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was about to burn the guy to ash.
"It doesn't really matter anymore," Lucy tried to reason with him.
Natsu wasn't buying it, but at the same time he knew there was nothing he could do about it. "Did you tell your dad?" His voice had gotten a little softer, but it still held that sharp edge from before.
Lucy shook her head, but didn't offer any words.
"What?" He could tell something was wrong from the way she dropped her gaze to the ground. "Luce?"
She shook her head again, tears forming in her eyes. "H-he didn't d-do anything," her voice cracked. Natsu was about to reach for her hand to comfort her when she started walking away.
She heard him following behind her as she walked to the house. Before she got there her foot caught on a rock, causing her to lose her balance. She was about to kiss the ground before warm arms caught her.
Natsu righted her body, keeping his hands on her arms as he looked for her eyes. They were hidden under her bangs, but he could clearly see the tears that had rolled down her cheeks. "Hey..." He spoke in almost a whisper. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Lucy shook her head fervently. Talking about it was the last thing she wanted to do. She just wanted to ignore it, pretend it never happened. "It was just a grope," Lucy sniffled, "Nothing that hasn't ha-happened before..."
Natsu had to force himself not to tighten his grip on her arms. "It's happened before?"
Slowly, Lucy nodded. When Natsu asked why else has grabbed her, she started crying again. The boy's heart broke, he could only imagine the emotional pain she was dealing with.
With a lot of care, he wrapped her up in a hug, not wanting to startle her. He wasn't going to tell her everything would be okay, because he didn't know if that would be a lie or not. Every time someone had told him that very same thing, something else bad happened.
Lucy returned the hug, arms coming around to hold onto Natsu. She was still sweaty, but neither seemed to mind as she cried against his chest.
"I'm sorry," Natsu whispered. He knew he didn't do anything wrong, but he still felt bad for Lucy. She didn't deserve that. No one did! It made his blood boil just thinking that some jerk touched Lucy like that. What made it worse was they got away with it!
'What kind of asshole father lets his daughter get groped and then does nothing about it?' Natsu decided then and there that he never wanted to meet her father. He didn't think he'd be able to look the guy in the eye after everything Lucy said about him.
Natsu ran his hand through her blonde locks. He almost felt sick doing it. A few days ago he was fantasizing about holding Lucy and touching her hair, and now he got his wish. He just wished it was under different circumstances.
Lucy shook in his arms. He held onto her tighter, trying to show that he wasn't going anywhere. She was free to get it all out. He wouldn't judge her, because he'd been exactly where she was before. Just this weekend he was crying on Erza over something similar, so he knew the pain she was experiencing.
Hollow, alone, filthy, empty...
At least that's how he felt.
"Luce," Natsu whispered, feeling her body tremble. "I'm here to talk whenever you need me." A hand came up to rub circles on her back, hoping it would calm her down.
Lucy's eyes were sealed shut, but the tears continued to pour. She hadn't allowed herself to cry like this in front of someone in a long time. The last time had been her cousin, but it didn't really count.
"Th-thanks," Lucy choked on her thick saliva. She felt her tears smearing against her cheeks, so she pulled away.
Natsu let go of her immediately, watching as she wiped her face with the short sleeve of her shirt. She took a deep breath, then another. "Oh man..." Lucy looked down at herself, feeling messy and gross. "I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me." She gave him a wane smile, staring at his shirt. "Sorry about getting your shirt wet."
"I don't care about that," he said in a whisper. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," she said, trying to assure herself more than him. "I'm just overreacting. It's not like I was raped or anything."
Natsu tensed when she said that word.
"I just had some old guys getting a little handsy with me. Nothing crazy, just my shoulders and waist mainly. Dan was the first guy to straight up grab my butt," she clenched her teeth, nose scrunching up in disgust. "Well, I guess Jackal slapped my butt, I don't know, I'm just overreacting."
"N-no," Natsu shook his head. "If you didn't want them touching you then they shouldn't have touched you. It's as simple as that."
"If only my father saw it like that." Lucy sighed, "Can you just pretend that whole crying thing didn't happen?"
"What?" He blinked in shock. "Why?"
Lucy looked at him as if it were obvious. "I don't want you remembering me for that."
"Crying doesn't make you weak," the words slipped from his lips without any thought. It was something his father had told him a long time ago. It didn't do much good for him, but maybe it could help Lucy.
She tried to laugh, but it sounded strained. "Yeah... I hope so..." She paused before adding, "Thanks... for that..."
"No problem," he muttered, glad he was able to be the comforting one for once instead of needing it. "The offer still stands, if you ever wanna talk about it."
"Thanks," she sighed. Lucy felt safer with Natsu now, knowing she could show real emotions without being scolded. She couldn't remember the last time she cried in front of her father, but she knew she got in trouble for it.
This little situation showed Lucy that she could really trust Natsu. At least with this. It made her happy that he was such a great friend, sticking my her side even like this.
He wasn't there for her when she was at her worse, but they didn't know each other back then. Lucy wished they had known each other. Maybe he could have taken the sting away when she found out her mother passed away, or for when Michelle—
"Can we still play Pokémon?" Lucy blurted out, forcing her mind away from dark thoughts.
Natsu jolted at her sudden change. One minute she was crying, the next she was asking to play a game? He didn't know how she was able to bounce back so quickly, but he guessed it had something to do with how she was raised. Something about that fake smile she sometimes wore made him feel a little uneasy, but the smile on her face looked pretty genuine.
"Yeah, let's play!"
And just like that, the two teens were hunting down Pokémon again. Lucy felt a little better knowing she could trust Natsu, and Natsu felt a little weary of Lucy's emotions.
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Up next, Chapter Twenty-Seven: Tutor
Let me know what you thought of this chapter!
*For one of the guests: Zeref is in this story. He will be brought up in the future chapters. He is Natsu's older brother who lives in Crocus. :)