Chap 23: Unusually behavior

Lucy was silent and her expression was blank. Levy saw Lucy o completely blank and went over to her. She put a hand on Lucy's shoulder and Lucy looks at levy.

"Hey are you alright?" asked Levy. Lucy nodded.

"Yeah….I'm fine" she said. Ley raised an eyebrow at her response, but she did not want to pry into Lucy's matters.

"Well alright then" she said.

"Actually Lu, I think I should get going, my mom wants to do some chores and I have to finish reading a book for English tomorrow" Said levy.

"Yeah that fines, thanks again for coming over" Said Lucy.

Levy smiled, "No problem, and if anything, else is bothering you, text me and we can talk about it alright?" Said Levy.

Lucy nodded and made her way towards the front door to open it for Levy. The hugged quickly and levy made her way out the door. Once Lucy shut the door, she went over towards the couch and sat down.

She pulls out her phone and dials Jude's number. After about 3 rings he picks up. "Hello?" Said Jude. "Hi dad, I was wondering if you could explain the situation in more detail to me please" She said.

"Of course, so you already know the bad news" He said.

"Yes" She replied.

"The good news is that she will be alright, but this does mean that will have to stay here until Layla is released from the hospital, and I am not sure how long that will take." Explained Jude. Lucy sat there listening carefully.

"I spoke to the nurses and Layla is going to need surgery, so that will also take some time" he said.

"I understand" Said Lucy.

"Lucy I am sorry to tell you this but I am afraid that with everything that has happened we will be able to come home for another three weeks or so" Said Jude.

"I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone for such a long period of time, but I can't ask you to come to the capital and miss school" said Jude.

"I know, but don't worry dad I'll be alright, I'll just get some more shifts at work so that I can buy myself food and other necessities" said Lucy.

"Right now just focus on helping mom get better and helping our relatives emotionally" Said Lucy.

"Thank you for understanding, we are both so proud to have a daughter like you, be safe and I will keep in frequent contact with you Lucy, alright?" Asked Jude.

"Yes dad that's fine, and be safe as well, I'll call you again tonight" Said Lucy. And with that she hung up the phone.

Lucy just sat there on the couch, not moving from her position. She was thinking about everything that happened. She was lost in thought until her ringing phone brought her back. She picked it up. It was her manager asking her if she could come in for a shirt today. Lucy agreed and got ready.

After she changed into her work clothes she quickly put on her shoes and grabbed her bag and a sweater.

XxX outside…

Lucy locked her house and made her way towards the sidewalk and began to think about school and how she will be living alone for another three weeks, that's a whole month alone. Will she be able to handle it? After about 15 minutes of walking she was at work and began her shift.

XxX at the Dragneels house…

Natsu was in the living room playing some video games when Zeref comes in. He saw that Natsu's expression was kinda blank and he seemed a bit spaced out. "what's wrong? "asked Zeref as he took his shoes off.

Natsu looks over at him" Nothing, just tired" he said.

"Are you sure?" Asked Zeref.

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm a bit down because today is Sunday and tomorrow I have school" he explained.

"We both have school tomorrow, and besides, you're in your second year, so you have it easy, I have to think and start applying to universities" said Zeref.

"I guess you do have a good point there" Said Natsu.

"Oh, by the way, you seemed to be in a really good mood yesterday" Said Zeref.

Natsu's eyes widened after hearing Zeref say that.

"W w what do you mean by that? I'm usually in a good mood, right?" He said.

"I mean you are, but something about yesterday was a bit different" explained Zeref.

"Well, I had a good time with my friends yesterday, I am always happy hanging out with the guys" Natsu said.

He was obviously lying, since he cancelled his plans yesterday to help Lucy.

"I see, well then that makes sense" said Zeref, he clearly knew that Natsu was lying to him, as he saw Natsu leave the Hearfilias house last night.

"Anyways, I got a call dad saying that he will be home in about 20 minutes and that we are going to have pizza for dinner tonight" Said Zeref as he made his way over to the couch.

He sat down next to Natsu, "Oh sweet, I can't remember the last ate pizza" Said Natsu.

"haha dad knows you too well" Said Zeref.

Natsu smiles" Well of course I'm his son, and I take after him" He said.

They both burst into laughter. "Let me play as well" Said Zeref as he pointed to the controller in Natsu's hand.

"Alright, want to play a two-player game?" He asked.

"Sure, but only if I can choose which one" Said Zeref.

"uhhhhh fine" Said Natsu.

As Zeref went to choose a different game, Natsu checked his phone, and he had a few messages from Gary. He checked them and responded to him. He had been checking his phone all day to see, if Lucy had messaged him, like me promised and still nothing. He saw that Levy was over earlier today, but now it was 6 pm, surly Levy could not have stayed for that long.

He changed his attention towards the T.V and began to play.

"I'm sure she'll text me, just a bit later" He thought and continued to play.

XxX at the restaurant...

Lucy was busy at work. There was big party happening today for some company and they needed some extra help, so Lucy was called in.

"Hey Lucy, can you please take this to the main table? Asked the chef as he handed her a plate.

"Yes, no problem" She replied.

It was almost the end of Lucy's shift and she was a bit tired. She quite a stressful morning and now she was dealing with another stressful situation.

Once she had returned from delivering the plate, her manager pulls her to the side. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked. "Yes, I am fine, why do you ask?" Asked Lucy.
"Oh nothing, you just seemed a bit down that all" She replied.

"Oh" said Lucy.

"It's fine, your shift is almost done, just make sure to get some rest tonight alright?" she said.

45 minutes later and Lucy's shift was over. She was making her way to a convenience store to buy some food. She left her house not eating lunch and did not get a chance to eat at work since they were so busy. She was just going to buy a few snacks for herself.

Once inside the store she goes immediately towards the instant noodles and picks up two different types. She continued to walk around until she accidently bumped into another customer.

"oh sorry about that" she said as she raises her head to see who it was.

"Oh hey Lucy!" said Natsu as she looked up.

It was Natsu. Lucy looked at him and felt a little bit more relaxed now.

"Hey Natsu, funny running into you here" she said.

"Yeah I guess so" he said.

He noticed that she was wearing her work uniform.

"Are you coming from work?" he asked.

"Yeah, I got a last minute call today and went in for a few hours" Lucy said.

Natsu looked at her and could she how tired she was. "Want me to walk you home?" Asked Natsu.

Lucy stopped what she was doing.

"you don't have too, I'll be fine" she said.

"I know, but we're neighbours, we will be going in the same direction either way, besides I want to walk you home" He said.

"Thanks Natsu" said Lucy as she looked at him with a smile.

Once they were finished at the convenience store and everything was paid for they made their way home. It was silent between them for a moment.

"So, how are you feeling?" Asked Natsu.

"I feel much better today, thanks" said Lucy.

Natsu saw that her facial expression seemed to be a bit worried.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked.

Lucy shook her head. "No, I'm fine" She said. Lucy was swaying a bit.

She was exhausted from everything that had happened today. She was happy that she ran into Natsu and they were now walking back together. She was thinking about what he had told her previously and was wondering when a good time would be to tell him her feelings.

"Hey Natsu?" She said.

"yeah? What's up?" he said back.

"Would you want to walk to school together tomorrow?" She asked.

Natsu's face started to turn a light shade a of pink from Lucy's question. "Sure" He said.

Before he noticed, they had arrived at their houses.

"Thanks for walking back with me Natsu, this is for you" said Lucy as went up and gave him a hug.

After that she went to unlock her door and turned around to say, "Wait for me at 8:15 tomorrow" and then went inside.

Natsu was still standing in the position she had hugged him in.

"Did that really just happen?" he thought. He finally moved and went inside his house and up to his room.

"Tomorrow at 8:15" he said to himself with a smile.

Hey guys! Its been a while! How have you been? I've been busy lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter; I'm going to write more when I am able to. Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion for a future chapter. Have a good day, night, or whatever time it is where you are! And remember…FAIRY TAIL FOR LIFE!