Hello, everyone !
I'm back with the twelfth chapter :D
I'm so sorry for the late update this week *deep bow*
As an apology, I'm updating two chapters at once !
I hope you enjoy reading this !
Disclaimer: I only own Haru Heartfilia and the plot
Both Lucy and Natsu were too stunned to say a word. Their brains were trying hard to process Haru's question.
Or in Natsu's case, a proposal.
A wide grin suddenly appeared on Natsu's face, showing that his brain had done processing what Haru had just asked him. He stood up from his seat, picked Haru up from his own seat, and swung the toddler in the air.
"Of course, Haru!" Natsu agreed while the toddler was giggling happily. "Of course I'd want to be your daddy! Gladly!"
"N—Natsu! Wait—" Lucy blinked her eyes.
"Hurray!" Haru fisted up his hands. "Haru loves you, Daddy!"
"And Daddy loves you, my little buddy." Natsu hugged Haru tight. He couldn't believe how happy he is right now! It feels like rays of warmth has just exploded in his heart.
"N—Natsu, that's—"
Natsu quietly put a finger in front of his lips, signaling Lucy that they would discuss about this later on. Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Lu-chan?" Levy softly called. "Are you awake?"
"Y—Yeah!" Lucy said and quickly made her way to the door to open it. "Come in, Levy-chan."
"Auntie Levy!" Haru waved his hand.
"Good morning to you too, Haru." Levy chuckled. She then turned to face Natsu who was still carrying Haru in his arms and smiled. "Thanks for taking care of both of them, Natsu."
"No problem." Natsu grinned.
"I think it's better for you to go now." Levy said as she gently took Haru from Natsu's hands. "Gajeel told me that the morning briefing is about to start."
"Oh, right!" Natsu mentally slapped his forehead. "I completely forgot about the morning briefing!"
"They're waiting for you downstairs." Levy said.
"Okay, thanks, Levy." Natsu picked his jacket up and walked towards the door. "I'm going, now. Bye Luce, bye Haru!"
"Bye-bye, Daddy!"
Levy's eyes widened. "Dad—WHAT?!"
"I'll explain later." Lucy grimaced a bit upon meeting Levy's sudden stare at her.
"Natsu-nii-chan agreed to be Haru's Daddy!" Haru giggled happily.
"Agreed?" Levy stared at Haru, then stared at Lucy again. "When?! How?! Why?!"
"I don't know." Lucy sighed. "Haru just blurted out the question and he just agreed to it."
"There must be a reason why Haru suddenly asked him to be his daddy. What happened last night?" Levy raised an eyebrow.
The memory of their kiss popped out in Lucy's brain, but she quickly shook it off. "Nothing happened."
"Where did you go last night?" Levy asked again.
"I'll tell you that later." Lucy smiled apologetically.
"Haru loves Natsu-nii-chan!" Haru suddenly said. "And I can see that he takes a good care of me and Mommy! Mommy smiles a lot ever since we met him, so is Haru! So, Haru wants Natsu-nii-chan to be his daddy!"
"Haru…" Levy's gaze softened. "But… To suddenly call him 'Daddy' is a bit…"
"It's a secret between us!" Haru shushed. "No one can know about it, not even Loke-nii-chan and the others!"
"Oh? Why is that?" Levy asked.
"Haru's tummy feeling told me that it's better to keep it as a secret for now. Haru will only call Natsu-nii-chan 'Daddy' when there are only the four of us!" Haru's expression looked determined.
"It's 'gut feeling', Haru." Levy corrected amusedly.
Lucy was taken aback by Haru's reasoning and unknowingly smiled. Gut feeling, eh… Seemed like Natsu had somewhat passed down his trait to Haru.
Right on then, another knock was heard on the door.
"Lucy?" This time, it was Loke's voice. "Levy came here, didn't she? The two of you should get ready to work, too. The security will take care of Haru."
"Oh! Bulky-nii-chan!" Haru clapped his hands happily.
"His name is 'Capricorn', Haru." Lucy chuckled as he opened the door to let in the team of professional guards that Loke had arranged for Haru.
"Good morning, Haru." The leader of the team, the bulkiest among them, Capricorn, greeted the toddler.
"Good morning, bulky-nii-chan!" Haru greeted back.
"We better be going now." Levy looked at her watch.
"Okay." Lucy nodded. Right, now is not the time to think about the kiss she shared with Natsu last night, nor about why Natsu agreed to be Haru's dad. Today is Fired Up!'s first day of concert in this venue, after all.
"Work hard, Mommy!" Haru pecked Lucy's cheek when she kissed his forehead to say goodbye.
Lucy chuckled. "I will! See you later, Haru!"
A few hours later…
"Geehee." Gajeel chuckled and nudged Natsu's side with his elbow. "Did you enjoy your stay last night?"
"Is Lucy okay?" Jellal asked as he opened a bottle to gulp down the water. "You said she was pretty drunk yesterday, right?"
"She's all sobered up this morning." Natsu said and opened a bottle for himself too.
"Did anything happen?" Gray teased.
Natsu instantly thought of the kiss he shared with Lucy, but he quickly buried it to the back of his mind. "Nothing."
"Meh, no fun." Gajeel huffed.
"Dude, she was drunk!" Natsu scoffed. "I can't take an advantage of her!"
Well, I actually sort of did, but she was quite sober when that happened, so it's not like I kissed her when she was drunk!, Natsu muttered inwardly.
"But, why did she go to the bar all of a sudden?" Gray asked curiously.
"She told me she was meeting someone there, but she didn't say who." Natsu lied, deciding to value Lucy's privacy. Judging from how she didn't even tell Levy about meeting Haru's birth father, Natsu deduced that she most likely didn't want anyone else to know either. He even knew about that because Lucy told him in her drunken state.
"Well, whoever it is, it must be pissing her off if she drank until she's drunk after meeting him." Gajeel said.
Well, if I were her, I'd pretty pissed off too., Natsu scoffed inwardly.
"Great rehearsal, guys!" Loke walked over to the band. "You'll be given two hours break now, before getting ready to get on the stage!"
An idea crossed Natsu's mind and he pondered about it for a bit.
After a few minutes of internally debating with himself, Natsu made up his mind. He put his bottle down and faced Loke. "Do you know where Lucy is right now?"
"In her waiting room." Loke nodded. "She's going live for today, so she's getting ready too."
"I'm going over to her for a bit." Natsu said and ran away. "Thanks, Loke!"
"So, something did happen last night." Gray snickered.
Gajeel and Jellal also snickered.
"Guess he's not trying to hide it anymore from us." Jellal smiled. "I'm glad Natsu's moving on with his love life."
"He's making it obvious that he's chasing that blondie right now." Gajeel said and smiled teasingly. "I wonder what happened between them last night."
"Well, he'll tell us eventually if he feels like we need to know." Loke shrugged his shoulder.
Knock, knock!
"Come in."
Natsu softly opened the door and stepped into Lucy's room.
"Yes, what is—oh, Natsu." Lucy blinked.
"Hey." Natsu smiled back at her and closed the door again. "Busy?"
"No." Lucy quickly put down the script she was reading. "What is it?"
"I got two hours break and I thought… I… Well, I can talk to you about… That." Natsu sheepishly scratched his cheek.
"And… Which that are we going to talk about?" Lucy asked.
"Both of them." Natsu took a deep breath to calm his nerves down. "Why I agreed to be Haru's dad and—uhm, the kiss."
Lucy smiled and pulled out a chair so that Natsu could sit in front of her. "Okay."
Natsu sat down and cleared his throat a bit. "So… Uhm… Which one do you want to talk about first?"
"Whichever you're more comfortable with." Lucy said.
"I'm comfortable with either one." Natsu said.
"You're comfortable in doing something by impulse?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. Her heart was racing and various thoughts swirled inside her mind, making her feeling complicated and nervous. And anxious too.
"By impulse, you mean… The kiss or my answer to Haru's question?" Natsu asked back.
"Both?"
Natsu scoffed. "Neither one is done by impulse, Luce."
Lucy scoffed back, she was feeling a bit of skeptical. "You mean you didn't kiss me by impulse last night? Not when I was drunk and the mood was there?"
"Absolutely not." Natsu firmly answered. "I've told you I'm not playing with you."
"I know…" Lucy let out a soft sigh. "But, I… Natsu, I'm a single mother! And we've just been friends for the past few months… I mean… I just… Damn it, I don't know."
Natsu smiled understandingly and pulled his chair even closer towards Lucy. "Hey, don't think about this too hard. Sure we've just been friends for the past few months, but then so what? There are people who hit it off right from the first time they met coincidentally or right after a blind date. There are people who take their relationship to the next level after knowing each other for so long. Even people who hit it off after having a one-night stand exist, too. How long we've known each other doesn't matter, right? I've known you enough during these past few months."
"How do you even know you've known me enough?" Lucy asked back.
"Lucy, the way you treat and take care of Haru speaks a lot." Natsu said. "All of the time we spent together speaks a lot. All of the moments we shared, all of the moments we created together, they speak a lot."
Lucy's gaze softened. "Natsu…"
"And I'm comfortable around you, Luce, really comfortable." Natsu smiled. "When I'm around you, I don't have to think about my public image or my celebrity status. I can just be me, Natsu Dragneel. This feeling of comfort is not something I can casually get from other people apart from my bandmates because I've known them for years. And yet, I'm comfortable being around you in just a few months. That also speaks a lot."
Lucy softly chuckled. "I guess. I feel the same way too."
Natsu let his heart took control. He raised his hand and gently caressed Lucy's cheek, and she unconsciously leaned into his touch. "And who cares about you being a single mother?" Natsu said. "Unless you're married—and thank goodness you're not."
"What if I'm married, though?" Lucy chuckled.
"Then I cannot wish to be more than friends." Natsu blatantly answered. "I don't want to ruin someone else's marriage."
"But you looked fine in spending time with me, you even looked eager if I may say." Lucy tilted her head a bit.
"Because I stupidly didn't think about that." Natsu chuckled. "You seemed fine in spending time with me too, so I thought your family wouldn't be ruined by our friendship. Although I began to think about it after my friends brought the topic up. You don't know how glad I was when you told me that you're not married."
Lucy chuckled.
"Lucy, listen." Natsu's voice became even more serious. "I like you, Lucy. A lot. After spending time with you together for these past few months, I can surely say that I like you more than a friend. However, as to whether I love you or not, that's a question I cannot answer yet. But I wasn't joking nor taking advantage over your drunkenness when I kissed you yesterday. I kissed you because I wanted to, and I have no intention of running away. It's also the reason why I agreed to be Haru's dad. I wanted to be his dad. I wanted to be a part of your lives."
"Natsu…" Lucy choked a bit, for some reason tears started to fill her eyes.
"Will you give me the chance to, Lucy?" Natsu cupped both of Lucy's cheeks, his eyes were boring straight into her own. "To be someone special to you, to be someone who is more than just a friend to you, to be Haru's dad, to be a part of your lives?"
"Of course." Lucy gently squeezed Natsu's hand back tight, happiness exploded within her and Natsu could clearly see it in her eyes. "I like you too, Natsu. A lot. More than just a friend."
"I'm allowed to get to know you even more, now?" Natsu also couldn't stop happiness from showing in his eyes.
"Of course, silly." Lucy chuckled.
"Can I kiss you again?"
Lucy softly laughed and encircled her hands around Natsu's neck. "You don't have to ask for my permission anymore."
Natsu smiled widely and dipped down to share their first kiss as a couple.
After officially becoming a couple, Natsu and Lucy spent their time together even more. Levy squealed so hard when Lucy told her that she and Natsu had become a couple and demanded to know everything in detail. Lucy told her everything—from the moment she met Lyon which Levy reacted in annoyance—until their first kiss when she was drunk. Lucy left out the part where she met Sting, however, instead telling Levy that she had met Lyon that night which caused her anger to flare up and she ended drinking until she was drunk.
Natsu also told the same story to his friends when they demanded to know the details. Loke scolded him though when he told them why he suddenly went out back then and seeing Lucy with her ex-boyfriend, as well as how he stepped up and ended up punching Lyon instead, saying he was too reckless even though he was wearing his disguises. Per Lucy's request, he also left out the part where Lucy met Sting—Natsu told her that he knew that because she accidentally told him in her drunken state—and changed it into meeting Lyon's instead. His friends were a bit amazed when they knew that Lucy used to date Lyon. His band was a rising up band at the moment and Lyon himself had quite a huge fanbase too.
Apart from meeting Sting, Lucy and Natsu also left out about how Natsu is Haru's daddy now. Only Levy knew why, because Haru had said that she could know. They felt bad towards the rest of the band, but Natsu assured them that fulfilling Haru's wish was more important. He deduced that Haru's little brain somehow knew that it could cause trouble if the rest of Fired Up! knew about Natsu becoming his dad, so he opted to keep silent about it instead. Nevertheless, their friends were happy and supportive for their new relationship.
And since Lucy had told him that he didn't need to ask for her permission anymore, Natsu stole kisses from her here and there. He stole a kiss from her when they were playing alone with Haru in her hotel room and stole even more kisses when he helped her preparing dinner or breakfast. He also stole a kiss after she had done interviewing them at the backstage. He stole another kiss when she came over to them and gave them her support before they got on to the stage. He stole a kiss whenever they said goodbye towards each other every night. To prevent any troublesome scandal from arising, Loke had made it clear that they couldn't stay over in either one's hotel room. He pardoned it before because it was a special case. This rule was also enforced on Gajeel and Levy.
Until they held a press conference to announce their relationship, they had to keep their relationship as low as possible.
Not that any of them complaining, though. They pretty much wanted privacy for their love lives.
Natsu stole quite a lot of kisses from Lucy—she had even lost count since a long time ago—during the 1.5 months of the tour.
One day during the second month of the tour, however, Loke suddenly showed an online article to them.
Particularly, to Natsu and Lucy.
"I've told you to be careful, idiots." Loke didn't know whether he should be laughing or angry.
Natsu and Lucy read the article carefully.
Natsu Dragneel, the Leader of 'Fired Up!' Has a Girlfriend?!
Fired Up! is currently on their second month of their tour! Everything went well for the currently most popular band, and it seems like a new love story is blossoming for our leader. Natsu Dragneel, the leader and the guitarist of the band is caught kissing with an unknown woman!
This photo was taken from afar by the paparazzi, due to the strict security around the hotel where the band is staying. However, it seems like Natsu had brought his girlfriend to join him in his band's tour. He was caught sharing a passionate and romantic kiss with his girlfriend near the hotel room's window. The figure of his girlfriend isn't clear, though, and speculations have arrived as to figure out who this lucky woman is.
Natsu Dragneel is known to be one of the remaining members—the other one is Gajeel Redfox—of the band that is currently single. The only girlfriends that have been announced by the band so far is Erza Scarlet who is Jellal Fernandez's girlfriend and Juvia Lockser who is Gray Fullbuster's girlfriend. Apart from those two girls, the band has also announced Aries Ram as the girlfriend of Loke Lion, the band's highly skilled manager. Although there are many fans that are broken-hearted upon knowing this news, there are many of them too that shared this joyous occasion and supported their idol.
Nevertheless, many questions have arisen towards Natsu Dragneel and this mysterious woman he was kissing. Who is exactly this woman? How long has she been dating the band's leader? How did they meet? In the first place, is she truly his girlfriend or is she just a fling for the leader?
Stay tune to keep being updated for this hot news!
Along with that article, there was also a photo of Natsu kissing a woman near the window. The woman's back was facing the camera and she was wearing a hoodie, so she couldn't be identified. Not only that, but the photo was also a bit blurry. However, Natsu's face which was facing towards the camera was clearly photographed. Even though it was blurry, but his salmon hair could be seen clearly.
That was a kiss Natsu and Lucy shared one night after putting Haru to sleep. The toddler was exhausted from playing with the band members, so he was fast asleep after somehow finishing his dinner due to his sleepiness. Natsu decided to stay a bit longer to help Lucy wash the dishes and that was when they reminisced of their almost-kiss moment. Although this time both of them decided to make it into a real kiss.
It was one of the most passionate kisses they had ever shared during this tour.
"Do you really have to kiss your girl near the window, Natsu Dragneel?" Loke rubbed his temples.
"Can't I kiss my girl wherever I want?" Natsu scoffed back. "Besides, it's not like they'll know it's Lucy."
"Natsu, this isn't just about you and her." Loke said. "What if somehow there's someone who recognizes her? What if they become 'a close source' and babbled out about Lucy? They might mention Haru too! I don't want to put him under the spotlight!"
"Well, can anyone actually recognize her, though?" Jellal also voiced out his doubt. "I mean… She's wearing a hoodie and her hair is covered too."
"Can't you two just be more discreet next time?" Loke asked.
"Okay, okay." Natsu said.
"By the way, do you two already have a plan when to hold the press conference?" Gray asked.
Lucy nodded. "We've talked it over with Levy-chan and Gajeel, and the four of us agreed to announce our relationships together in one press conference."
"Very well." Loke agreed. "I'll arrange that. Until then, please stay as low as possible!"
Done !
Finally, they're a couple !
And Natsu becomes Haru's daddy!
I know Natsu is such a goofy person and not the type that talks much, but I just can't help picturing him that way in my mind XD
What do you think about this chapter ?
Don't forget to leave your reviews and/or flames :D