8

"I'm sorry."

Lucy watched as Natsu stopped midway for a bite, his green eyes falling on her brown ones. Her heartbeat quickens in its pace and as usual, in a fight or flight situation her instinct always tells her to choose flight. Despite that, she stood her ground, her mind scrambling to figure out what to say next.

To her surprise, Natsu was smiling. "Why are you apologising? You still let me be a dragon every time—although it did take some convincing."

"No—Natsu, that's not what I meant. I'm apologising for something else." Her hands lay fisted on her lap. Taking a shaky breath in, she continued, "I'm sorry for a lot of things, I've been a terrible friend to you."

His smile was wiped away from his face. His lips pulled into a frowned as he took in what Lucy had just said, not understanding where this was coming from. "Luce, I—"

"Please let me apologise first," she cuts him off, afraid that she'll chicken out if she lets him talk before she is able to say the words out. "I need to get this off my chest. I'd like to be friends with you again, I really do. I enjoy spending time with you and talking about the littlest things, and it's just so fun to be your friend but I can't do that without telling you this first."

Natsu didn't reply and she took this as a sign to continue what she needed to say.

"I'm sorry that I didn't try hard enough to keep in contact with you, I was too caught up in my own life to even send a simple message just to say hi to you or Levy—or even Gray, my own cousin. Hell, I don't think we would've started talking again if he hadn't come to Acalypha for my dad." She laughed but there was a tremble in her voice and she had to pause to clear her throat. "And then one day I stumbled upon our old conversations and you were telling me about how your parents were fighting and I just—I was too focused on myself to realise a friend was suffering.

"I didn't know, I never realised until that moment and I feel so terrible that I was never at your side when you needed me. We were friends a—and you comforted me and sent me off with a smile when you were the one hurting." She couldn't see very well as tears had welled up in her eyes and were streaming down her cheeks. Her sleeve was already tear-stained and the guilt felt heavy on her chest. She was staring down at her lap and she couldn't bring herself to look up at Natsu. "I'm really, really sorry Natsu. I should've known, I should've been there for you and even if I wasn't, I should've at least made an effort to keep in contact."

Lucy's eyes widened when she was pulled into a hug, warm arms enveloped her and that made her cry even harder. She was just sobbing now and she didn't care. Natsu had moved from his seat to the sofa she was sitting on, his hand rubbing her back to calm her down while she wrapped her own arms around his waist. Not wanting him to see her face, she buried her face on his chest. It was a bit embarrassing, she was the one who was apologising but he was comforting her instead. It seemed like nothing really changed, she's still a crybaby and he was the one supporting her again.

"Luce," Natsu called out to her, "it's okay, You were hurting too, we both were."

She shook her head. "Still, that doesn't excuse how I became distant to you."

"Look at me." He gently tried to push her away from his chest, both of his hands now at her shoulders but she latched on, not wanting her swollen eyes and red face to be seen. "Lucy, c'mon, look at me." He tried again, putting a bit more effort to push her away but not hard enough to hurt her. Lucy was persistent but when she realised he was just as stubborn as she was, she let herself be peeled off from his chest. Brown eyes met green ones. Natsu looked serious, an expression she has never seen on him before. "I don't hold it against you. We might've been children back then but we were old enough to understand some things. And I know how scary and strict your dad is, I knew you were really busy and I'm not mad—okay, maybe a bit hurt…but I've never held it against you. Do you understand?"

Lucy wiped her tears, sniffling as she did so. She nodded even though her mind was racing, trying to process what he just said. She was not expecting this response from him. She always thought that he would be upset or he wouldn't be open to having this conversation, so now that he was responding in such a kind and understanding way, she didn't know how to react.

"Good," He gave his grin, canines showing and all. "You're such a crybaby."

"I'm not, okay?" She let out a laugh, lightly punching his arm. "Thank you for letting me cry and uh…sorry I got your shirt wet." Lucy muttered the last part, eyes avoiding his as she pointed to his chest.

He looked down and saw the part where she buried her face soaked with tears. He shrugged as a reply. "It's alright, just gonna wash it when I get home later."

"I didn't really mean to get all emotional. This is embarrassing."

"Is it?"

"Never mind then."

"Y'know, I was thinking," He watched as Lucy glanced at him. "You've never really met my dad yet and I bet my mom would be happy to see you again." He grinned.

Lucy sniffed and nodded. "Okay, should I bring something as a gift when I visit your home?"

"Nah, they wouldn't mind. Just bring yourself, that's what Gray did."

"I'm serious, I want to at least bring something. Gray's lazy so what he did isn't even an option.

"If you really want to, anything is fine."

She groaned at this. Why was he so uncooperative? "Natsu, please."

"Lucy, please." He imitated her, making his voice thinner and he winced when her fist landed on his arm.

"Fine, I'll figure things out myself. Thanks for the help, it was really useful." She replied.

"You're welcome."

The television, which was forgotten earlier, was now showing a documentary about a celebrity. The two of them focused their attention on the screen, sipping on their sodas. "Does this mean we're friends again?" She asks, voice quiet as she silently cringed at her own statement.

"Lucy, we've always been friends. I never stopped considering you as one."

She was sniffling again, her eyes burning with new tears. Okay, maybe Natsu was right, she was a crybaby. It's just that Natsu's statement touched her deeply, she felt like she didn't deserve his unconditional support and friendship. If she was in his shoes, she was not confident she could say the same thing straight away. It would take her a lot of time, just like how it took her a long time before she had the courage to apologise.

"Ah shit, what did I do this time?!"

"You tell me! Stop saying things that'll make me cry!"

"What?" Natsu was at utter loss for words. He didn't know what about his statement was worthy of tears being spilt. Wasn't it something to be glad about? She was talking about how she couldn't be his friend until she apologises, and here he was telling her he was and forever will be her friend. He was expecting a different reaction.

"You know what, just let me cry this all out. Maybe my eyes will run out of tears soon enough."

He watched as she stood up, entering the guest room which he assumed had been turned into her room. She came back seconds after, a box of tissue in hand. "Why are you looking at me like that? I need to sneeze and wipe my tears too."

His eyes went back to the television. "I'm not looking like anything." Was his dumb answer.

When Lucy sat down, he let her cry her eyes out like she wanted. She wasn't a sobbing mess like earlier but Natsu could hear her sniffles, her tiny, almost inaudible sobs and the rustle of tissues. He focused his eyes on the tv screen, occasionally glancing at Lucy to check if she was alright.

On the other hand, Lucy felt refreshed even through the crying. It was like a heavy weight was lifted from her shoulders and she could breathe again. Being able to say what she had been carrying around this whole time made her feel a bit more braver so she glanced at Natsu who was already fixated on the TV and said, "Natsu, I also want to apologise for being unable to respond to your feelings back then, looking back on it now, I should've been more honest."

The pink-haired boy's attention was back on her. "What are you talking about?"

Lucy cleared her throat. "Y'know, you told me repeatedly how you like me and I would always choose not to respond properly, I wasn't really sure what you meant by it but now I'm sure."

Natsu laughed at her reply. "Was it really not that obvious? Of course I like you, I still do. That's why we're friends, aren't we?"

Hearing those words, she failed to respond immediately. Her courage all went down the drain in an instant and her face flushed with embarrassment. Turns out she didn't know what he meant by it. "Of course! We just established that earlier."

It wasn't like she was confessing right now, she was about to admit how she had this childhood crush on Natsu and that despite that she still wants to remain as his friend in the present. She just wanted to have it all out in the open and maybe give her brain some rest from all the what-ifs. As a writer, as well as a hopeless romantic, her mind wouldn't stop torturing her with thoughts of how things would've turned out if her choices back then were different. However, all she wanted right now was to crawl in a hole and die. She shouldn't have said anything and let it all be buried in the past.

Still burning with embarrassment, Lucy placed all her attention to the TV with the most relaxed and nonchalant face she can muster as she tries not to cringe, her actions from a minute ago replaying in her mind. She needed to get over it immediately.

—

Halfway through the documentary, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Lucy had fallen asleep and unconsciously leaned to his side. Not wanting to wake her up, he sat there as still as he could. He felt like he was about to turn into a statue and it wasn't a great feeling. Fifteen minutes into being in the same position for a while, he was dying to move so when the front door creaked open and Gray arrived, he was about to cry tears of joy and relief.

"Hey, you still here?"

"Obviously." Natsu huffed. "Can you…?" Gesturing at Lucy who was still asleep, Natsu hoped Gray would wake her up. He didn't want to get hit a fourth time.

Gray observed the scene. Lucy looked like hell and he knew by her look that she'd been crying. If his assumptions were right, this meant that the two were able to talk out whatever issues they had. "Ah, she's a bit of a heavy sleeper, just get up and leave her there or something. I'll wake her up or carry her to her room."

"You sure? I can carry her if you want."

"Nah, just leave her there. She'll be fine. And get out of my house, it's already late."

"You've got a problem with me being here, frosty?"

"Yeah, I don't like looking at your face. Now, get out."

Natsu puts his hands up in defeat. "Alright, I'm going. Have fun cleaning our mess though." And he started heading towards the front door only to be grabbed by the collar of his shirt.

Gray let go once Natsu had stopped in his tracks. "Wait, help me clean this up first and then leave. The fuck am I? Your maid?"

"No, but you might as well be." He snickered, grabbing his keys from the table. "I'm leaving, have fun."

"You're not leaving until you clean this up, ash brain." Another collar grab and this time Natsu choked.

"What the hell? You tryin' to kill me or something?!" The salmon-haired boy rubbed his neck, wincing at the pain. "Fine, I'll clean up!"

The next few minutes were spent cleaning up the living room. Pizza boxes and empty soda cans were thrown in the bin with the tissues and the coffee table was wiped clean off crumbs and hot sauce. Lucy was still deep in slumber on the sofa the entire time and Natsu left as soon as the area was clean.

Gray sighed. He was already exhausted and he still had to clean shit up that wasn't even his own. He glanced at his cousin who laid unmoving on the sofa and went away to retrieve a pillow and blanket. He placed the pillow under her head and threw the blanket over her, making sure she was comfortable before leaving her there to go to his own room and retire for the night.

Surely, Lucy will feel better when she wakes up.

A/N: Whoops, sorry for the really late update. I actually finished this a couple days after the previous chapter (I wrote it so fast I even surprised myself) but had doubts about whether or not it was appropriate for the theme. So… I procrastinated with uploading the chapter and then just decided to change the plan up a bit to make it more light-hearted and here we are!

I don't know if I gave this chapter justice or if it fell flat but yeah, I need to get this out of the way. I knew it wouldn't be too dramatic 'cause Natsu's not the type to hold a grudge on someone he considers a friend. I'm basing this off my memory since it's been a while since I've read or watched Fairy Tail but yeah, I think he's very forgiving to his friends despite being a hot-headed, impulsive person. Let me know if I'm doing this right or not haha.

I want to thank those who left a review last chapter, I can't do a shoutout right now but I'm so grateful for your support and I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter. :')

P.S. I'm a bit busy with college, I'll be starting work placement again in a week or so and I need to crack on with my requirements if I want to finish college this year. I'll do my best to keep writing updates for this story too. :D

-itsjustMin