My Chemistry Partner - 29


It was the end of a slightly chilly day, at the last bit of summer, and our favorite duo had found themselves sitting outside a fast food joint.

"Stop throwing your french fries at me!" The blonde slammed her cup on the table, shooting daggers at her pink-haired friend.

Natsu didn't even look up as he continued to throw the side dish at her.

"Stoooop!" Lucy started throwing the fries that landed on the table back at him. What was his deal today? He was acting all gloomy and throwing perfectly edible food. Natsu never wasted food he could eat.

"Luuuce," Finally looking up, Natsu pouted, "You haven't talked to me in like three years."

The blonde rolled her eyes at her friend, "More like three days, you over-dramatic child. Is that why you're all gloomy?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders, "Actually-"

"Hey flame brain, and Lucy. What are you two doing here?"

The two looked up, seeing Gray standing at their table with Juvia hanging off his arm. The blue-haired girl was sending off murderous waves to anyone who even look at her boyfriend. Lucy couldn't help but laugh silently at her over-protectiveness.

"Eating, what does it look like ice prick?"

Gray sent him a glare, "I meant together. I didn't know you two were like that, pinky."

"We aren't like what you're thinking," Lucy raised her eyebrow at Gray, "I thought you'd know that though."

The blue-eyed boy smiled at the blonde, "Nah I know, just wanted to get under his skin."

Natsu grumbled as he shoved a fry into mouth, "Ah shuddup."

Juvia smiled at Lucy, who politely returned the gesture. The blue-haired girl momentarily detached herself from Gray to sit next to the blonde.

"Hey Lucy-san, it's good to see you again!"

"You too, glad to see you're doing well."

The two teen boys shot each other confused looks as if wondering the same thing, 'When had they become friends?'

Juvia was waving her arms as she talked, laughter bubbling from the two every now and then as the reminisced about... well the boys weren't exactly sure what it was they were talking about.

Natsu tossed another fry at the blonde, gaining her attention in a quick glare, as she looked ready to dump the whole tray onto his head. He managed to send a cheeky smile before she could however, snacking away the tray in a swift motion.

"Luuuce," The blonde sighed, a sign he had come to realize was her giving up, "What are you guys talking about?"

Juvia looked back over to her boyfriend, as if realizing he too had no idea what was going on, and immediately wrapped herself back around his arm.

"Grayy-sama, Juvia is sorry... she didn't mean to cut you out of the conversation." Her blue eyes looked glossy as she hug his arm tight. Gray laughed awkwardly- not being too good with the crying- before patting her head affectionately,

"Ah- no it's fine. I'm not so noisy like the hot head over here," Which was a lie, because Gray was arguably just as noisy and curious, but hey, anything to get under Natsu's skin.

Natsu jumped up, ready to brawl, when a loud, demanding voice, called out from behind.

"Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Juvia-" A shiver went down the male's spine as they subconsciously took a step back, "I didn't except to see you out this late in the evening."

The two girls greeted the red head politely, who smiled at them softly, before introducing the boy next to her as Jellal.

"WAIT- JELLAL YOU OWE ME A FIGHT-" Natsu suddenly spun on his heel, yet immediately backpedaling at the venomous gaze Erza shot him. No words had to be spoken at the silent threat that was made very clear. If he dared to raise so much as a fist, he would be dead where he stood.

"I mean- Hi Erza wooow, you look so nice tonight have you been working out, you look deadlier than usual..." The pinkette slowly shrunk back behind Lucy, who raised an amused eyebrow.

"Erza, we were just talking about last time at the Karaoke place." Juvia finally said, both her arms still wrapped around one of Gray's.

"Karaoke?" The seemingly silent boy next to her asked, making the blonde blink. She was sure she had seem him before, but where? His name sounded so familiar...

Lucy tried not to stare as she went through her memories. It was hard, even though she appreciated Lisanna for introducing her to new people, she wasn't used to remembering so many names. She had seen him before though! Probably at school, no doubt, but she couldn't but think there was something important she was forgetting.

Erza blushed at his inquiry, "Ah- yes. Lisanna invited us all out, you know the usual gang- along, of course- with Lucy and Levy."

It was Natsu's turn to raise an eyebrow. Lisanna invited Lucy and Levy out for what? When? Why? Gray looked equally as curious, but nonetheless said nothing. He would find the right time to find everything out later. The pinkette on the other hand...

"So you met Mira?" He couldn't help but cringe as the words Lisanna once told him replayed in his mind. She wasn't trying to play at anything... right? No- she wouldn't meddle... that... wasn't...

Who was he trying to kid. Of course she would meddle, that was completely like Lisanna. Even more like Mira.

Juvia answered in confirmation for the blonde, "Yup! Oh- but what surprised us all was she already knew Cana!"

Lucy tried shrinking away at the feeling of her friend's eyes shooting into her skull.

"Haha- well- uhm- it's a long-"

Erza nodded along with Juvia, "I was a bit surprised too. You said you were from the same junior high, no?"

The blonde let out a nervous laugh, "Right..." Oh god, there were suddenly way to many people here.

She was saved, however, when Jellal's phone buzzed loudly enough to gain the attention of mostly everyone- minus the pinkette who was obviously trying to ask questions telepathically. Lucy wished he would get her message to kindly fluorine uranium carbon potassium off.

The blue haired boy looked down at his phone quickly, typing something in response before looking back up to the group.

"Sorry- me and Erza should get going. We have to get back to the school to drop off these forms."

It was only then, that Lucy noticed he had been carrying a stack of stuffed tan envelopes. Why where they dropping those off that the school? It was right at the tip of Lucy's mind...

Erza gave a quick salute, "Right, well student counsel duty calls-"

Ah that's right! Jellal was the new student counsel president, and Erza was the VP! Lucy felt a sense of relief wash over her as the memory of where she knew the boy came back. She felt silly forgetting what she had learned about Erza only a few days prior.

While the blonde was celebrating her recall of memory, it seemed everyone had said their goodbye's, and it was once again only the four.

Well, at least it was for a few seconds.

"Me and Juvia should probably be going to. I have to drop her off- and make sure Lyon and Ur haven't destroyed the house..." A exhausted look crossed his face, before he shot the two a goodbye. Juvia waved to the blonde, before turning to keep up with her boyfriend- who looked like someone who remembered they left the stove on.

Now, Lucy was trying reaaally hard to not notice how Natsu's stare followed her as she snatched the fry's from the side of the table he was sitting at. Or how when she was avoiding any eye contact as she rambled- trying to change the subject- he simply followed behind her wordlessly, like he wasn't even listening. Granted, she knew he wasn't- but it had gotten to the point where they had long left the food joint and were now walking to the bus stop, and he hadn't said as much as a word.

Natsu. Not saying a word? Lucy inwardly groaned. When he didn't want to drop a subject, it did not get dropped.

"-Like I was saying though, Levy let me borrow these books about how to make science puns and honestly I thought some of them were pretty funny-"

She could try though. Her hands were laced together behind her as she walked in front of him, her eyes saying in front of her. Don't ask, don't ask, don't ask-

"Lucy-" Oh for the love of carbon- "We past the bus stop like, thirty minutes ago."

Oh.

Wait?

"WHAT?" The blonde finally swirled around, "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

Natsu's hands shot up defensively, "You were going on about puns and I didn't wanna kill your vibe."

Lucy blinked, was she overthinking the idea of Nastu asking her about Cana so much, that she had herself paranoid enough to walk past the bus stop without even noticing?

Thirty minutes? Carbon, there was no way their bus didn't already leave. They'd have to wait for the next one when they got back.

"You just... let me talk about science puns for..." Lucy closed her eyes, dragging her hand along her face, "For thirty minutes... without thinking of bringing up the fact we pasted the stop a while ago?"

Natsu rose an eyebrow, "I mean I did- but every time I tried talking you would just indulge into another joke that didn't make any sense. That and..." The blonde looked at him through her hand as he paused, "It was kind of uh cute?"

Lucy nearly choked, her hands going to cover her mouth as she let out an embarrassed cough. Since when did Natsu find anything cute? She wanted to laugh at the idea of him even using the word, but she was too busy trying to not die from the sudden cough attack. A warning would have been nice.

The pinkette looked offended as he crossed his arms, "You don't have to be so weird geez- I just meant it was funny how you got so wrapped up into the lame jokes." His voice was barely a mumble as he turned his head away, a spot of blush on his ears that he wouldn't admit to in a million years.

He was originally going to ask about this Karaoke thing... like if Mira had said anything, or something about Cana since she apparently knew the brunette from her past- which she never talked about. But that was when they were still at the food joint. Lucy started rambling on about nothing the minute Gray and Juvia left, and he didn't get the chance to cut in. She picked up the nearly empty tray of fries and dumped it into the trash before walking off- which was alarming enough but this was Lucy and she was weird so he just followed along.

Eventually his questions became more so of the 'Are you feeling okay, did you catch a fever' type rather than the 'So did Mira happen to say... anything?' and by the time he noticed they had passed the bus stop he was so caught up in watching her just- talk- that he didn't know how to explain they should probably head back. He didn't think it would hurt if they walked just a little more- it's not like he minded listening to her ramble on. Her laugh was sweet enough for him to be fine listening to it all the time.

That and, he was fine admiring the way her face changed expressions at each change in the story, without her even realizing she was doing so. Not to mention the sky had turned a purple-ish pink and it cast this pretty light that traced the outline of her side with a seemingly soft and perfect glow. In a short conclusion, Natsu was too embarrassed to admit he was too busy staring at Lucy to look around anywhere else. That was until, of course, he realized they were in a different neighborhood completely, and really should head back.

Lucy finally straightened up, sheepishly nonetheless, and looked around at her surroundings. She wasn't usually one to space out this badly, GAH- this was all Natsu's fault. With his usually never ending questions she thought he'd trying asking things like Lisanna- and she was not up for going through that again so soon.

Then again, she never really got a choice in the matter of topic's she didn't want to talk about. That was the universe, she assumed, and it's seemingly vendetta like grudge against her. Did the stars know her or something? Or was this her mother's way of teasing her?

So now, they turned and started walking back from the way they came. This time, however, Lucy didn't have any stories or jokes to tell, and Natsu was looking at something to his right with interest. The silence wasn't awkward, but nothing like their normal comfortable quiet. She wasn't sure anymore if she was just being paranoid, or if the questions she refused to talk about were really hanging in the air.

The blonde coughed, "Uhh so two chemists walked into a bar," Natsu looked over to the blonde, who was now finally walking next to him inside of in front of, "And the first one says 'I'll have h2o', and the second one says 'I'll have h2o too', and so the bartender gives them their drinks and the second one collapses. So the first chemist goes, 'What did you give him?!' and the bartender says 'I gave him what he ordered- h2o2' haha..."

The pinkette deadpanned, he was sure even if he understood the joke, it wouldn't be funny. Nonetheless Lucy tried explaining it,

"Get it? Because... H2O is water, but H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide... which kills people when they... drink it..."

Natsu let a snort slip, making the blonde shoot him a cheesy smile, "See! It's kinda funny!"

He waved his hand dismissively, "Sure, sure, that's what I was laughing at."

"Hey!" The blonde hit his arm, only to make him laugh again, which once more gained a pout from his friend.

"Awe- don't pout Luce," The pinkette threw an arm around her shoulder, "I'm sure... Levy would find your nerdy jokes funny."

Lucy poked her tongue out at him childishly, "I'm sure she would!"

A honk from behind them interrupted their conversation, the two jumping forward at the sound. They both turned, shooting glares to the black car behind them.

"Oi, we're not on the road!" Natsu called out, wondering if the driver was high or tipsy. Lucy just crossed her arms, her eyes scanning over the car with skepticism.

It was a beaten down black Honda, that much she could tell, and with the sun now in their eyes they couldn't see the person inside.

"Would you like a ride? You look lost." The person in the car waved their arm out, "I could drop you off."

"We're good." The blonde managed say as she bit down in a grimace. Ugh, their voice was so unsettling, it sent familiar chills down her spine.

That's when the car pulled forward again, "I insist. Come on, as an old friend."

Lucy felt her feet get cold at the sight of brown hair. She squinted just enough to see the same grin that gave her nightmares. No way- he wouldn't go that far. Finding someone after a few years at their school... was one thing... finding someone again on a random street?

"Like she said, we're good. I don't know you anyways."

The blonde relaxed. Right. Natsu was there too, it wasn't like she was walking alone in the evening- this time. Another chill went down her spine. Okay, but what if she was next time. This couldn't just be another coincidence, not after the school thing.

"I wasn't asking you, no way I'd give you a ride when you hang around her like that..." He trailed off, "Lu- come on, get in. I know about your dad. That's alright. You can stay with me now. See? It's just me. We can be together now, just get in the car."

She was going to throw up.

"What the fuck? Are you high or something? Drive away sicko." Natsu had now grabbed the blonde's arm, slowly dragging her behind him. Lucy couldn't find her voice to say anything. Her head was spinning- she felt like her lung would explode on their own. This was just like back then.

This was bringing way to many memories back. Memories she buried a year ago, and swore to never dig up.


Ohmy god. First time I sent this was a mistake im so sorry. Anyways. I finally updated. Gosh, I love your guy's reviews. They're so nice and inspiring.