'Do you want to go to the convenience store with me? I wanted a snack, mango popsicles on me?'

Lucy chewed on her nail as she waited for Natsu's reply, trying her hardest not to feel so crestfallen. He had been doing his best to ignore her all week, it being almost ten days since they shared a true conversation.

He kept dodging her with lame excuses, going to school without her, sticking to Lisanna, and refusing to talk to her. It all made for a lot of stress that Lucy didn't think she'd have to deal with. She wanted to do anything she could to get her best friend back.

'Wendy asked me to help her with her homework, sorry Luce. Maybe next time?'

The blonde groaned and fell against her bed, her head pounding with a mild headache. It was getting painful to be without Natsu, only communicating with him through these lies. He didn't even want to make an effort to reconcile.

She rolled over to grab her pillow, burying her face in the fabric as she began to cry.

"Princess? Should I go talk to him?" Loke asked as he settled a hand against her back.

"No," Lucy sniffled, refusing to look up. "He doesn't even want to look at me. What's the point? I'm getting tired of trying…"

Loke simply nodded, knowing there was nothing either of them could do. Even if he went over and beat Natsu to hell, the kid still probably wouldn't cough up his reason why. And spirits could only do so much in the human world against the wish of their masters. It was best to let things run their course, even as unfortunate as that was.

Lucy wanted to cry again, her stomach twisting in uncomfortable knots.

Because what the actual fuck. Natsu, that jerk.

Didn't she deserve a little honesty? Did he really have to lie to her? That was her biggest issue with this, his incessant white lies that kept stabbing her in the back.

She sat up as she felt Loke leave, rubbing her reddened eyes. Maybe a quick walk would help to clear her thoughts.

Lucy grabbed her wallet and a hoodie before jumped out her window, floating down with expert ease. She didn't want her mom to see her swollen eyes.

It was always refreshing to stand under the gaze of her brethren, knowing they were all worried for her right now. Her magic bloomed underneath her shimmered skin, dampening the pain of withdrawal she couldn't help feeling. Maybe because Natsu had so much mana that it leaked everywhere, and without it by her side, she felt a bit off.

She sighed at the light blue tint staining her fingers, Lucy doing her best to suppress her over emotional color changes. It was embarrassing enough that her friends were witness to their drama, she didn't want them to worry even more.

She pulled her hood up, shoving her hands in the pocket as she sighed. Just when was this going to end?

"Oh yeah? Well, I think you'll have to try my cooking tomorrow night," She heard a familiar voice say from around the intersection across the street. Two houses on the opposite sidewalk marked an opening that led to Natsu's street, a place she hadn't set foot on in what seemed like forever. "Mira-nee is nothing compared to me."

"As if," She flinched at the sound of his laugh. "She's the only Strauss I trust to cook me food! I'm not gonna let you poison me, Lis."

Lucy didn't tell anyone she vomited that night. But Cana and Levy knew she was more than worse for the wear. Her light was clearly fading.

It was worse the next day at lunch. They walked right past her, not even acknowledging her presence. Just talking. About the same topic, in fact. She was going to cook for him. Helping Wendy with her homework...that douche.

She was returning to class to get her water bottle, and rounded a corner they happened to be walking toward. Her heart beat in an awkward way, Lucy unsure if she should stare at him or anywhere but. But him, not even a blink, not even a wave.

Lucy ran to the roof, already a tragic deep ocean blue, the color of heartbreak. It was far darker than her usual sad, cornflower blue. The dark color stemmed from her heart and seeped into the rest of her skin, Lucy unable to hold her tears back any longer.

The roof was technically restricted from the student body, but not hard to get onto by any means. The door was always unlocked, you just didn't want to get caught by the disciplinary committee.

Maybe all she really needed to do was to cry, to let out the pain in her heart. A good, vocal, unabashed sobbing that no one else could hear.

She fell to her knees and covered her eyes, bottom lip quivering as she cried.

How could he treat her like this? Couldn't he see that she missed him? Were her texts not making it clear? Couldn't he smell how devastated she was? Why was he being so standoffish, so cruel? Didn't he love her more than this?

"Oi, oi, fucking quit it! Geez, how am I supposed to take a nap with you wailing like that?!"

"Laxus! Shhh! She's crying! You can't yell at a girl like that!"

"Says who? She woke me up," The voice grumbled, Lucy startled from her dramatic display of emotion. "Oi, kid! What's your problem?!"

"Stop that!" Another voice yelled, smacking the first one on the arm. "That's not how you treat a girl!"

"Why should I—ouch! Bickslow! Not you too?!"

"Have a heart, asshat. The kid's a mess, just look at her. I don't think chicks are supposed to look like that when they cry."

Lucy cautiously wiped her tears away, looking around for whoever was talking.

"Up here," The grumpy voice sighed. "Rather we should just come down."

Lucy turned to see four people jump from the top of a brick shed built onto the roof. She sniffled as they straightened out their clothes, the one girl quickly running up to her with a tissue.

"It's alright, I'm sorry we interrupted you." She said gently, carefully helping Lucy wipe her face.

"You sure got some pipes for a pipsqueak," The one wearing a helmet snickered. "Ah, see! She's not supposed to be blue!"

"You sure got a lotta nerve comin' up here. We could give you a citation, I hope you know. Your lucky day; you ran into the disciplinary committee on their patrol."

"Laxus, calm down," The green-haired one glared at him. "She's not okay, this isn't the time to be authoritative."

"Yeah!" The other two glared back, doing their best to comfort the weeping star.

"Fine," Laxus let out a heavy breath. "I can tell you're sick. Is that why you're so sad?"

"Sick? I'm...I'm not sick?" Lucy said between breaths, thanking the girl that offered her some water.

"Anyone could tell that you are. At least any smart person. You've got sick written all over ya," He said, kneeling in front of her. "Smell this."

He waved a little vile under her nose, Lucy flinching back at the pungent smell. She grunted and rubbed the tip of her nose, almost giving him a funny look before her headache started to clear up.

"What the...what is that stuff?"

"Lightning dragon pheromones. Seems like you've been around someone who complements my element," He shrugged before taking a seat. "I never have to use this, so I'm not too happy that I did. What kind of dragon would leave someone he imprinted on alone for so long? That kind of thing can really make someone feel like they're losing their mind."

~000~

"Okay, what the hell, Dragneel! Everyone's mad at you and now they're getting mad at us for it! Why are you avoiding Lucy?!" Gray shouted as he kicked in his bedroom door, Gajeel following indifferently from behind.

The pink-haired dragon scrunched his nose slightly and pouted, pausing his video game as he glared at his friends.

"As if I have to tell y–"

"Don't start with that crap, fess up," Gajeel smacked his cousin with a pillow, already almost certain of what he was going through. It wasn't hard to guess from the way he acted in class, and the annoying scent of his pheromones leaking everywhere without someone to cling to. "We had to hold off Erza from beating you to death for two weeks, so be grateful."

"Fine," Natsu grumbled, falling onto his back and turning to face the wall beside his bed. "I had a dream about Lucy."

"You're kidding me," Gray scoffed, rolling his eyes at his dimwitted friend. "That's all? You had a dream?"

"It wasn't a normal dream!" He hissed, contemplating on whether or not he provide the honest truth. "It was...weird."

"Oh my god, just spit it out! What could've been so weird that you–"

"We had sex, okay?! I had some creepy, messed up dream that we…! Argh! I don't even want to talk about it!" He burst into flames as he yelled, the sudden flash of heat making both step back. They fell silent as he put himself out, Natsu slowly sitting up and turning around. He clutched his pillow and hung his head, absent-mindedly scratching his neck.

"Aren't you and bunny girl dating, what's so weird about that?" Gajeel asked first, Gray nodding along in agreement.

"Yeah, we all thought it was pretty obvious."

"What? Luce and I are just friends," Natsu glared slightly at them, tilting his head in confusion. "Best friends."

"Natsu, you told us she shoved her tongue down your throat, friends don't do that." The winter sprite felt actual concern, but almost wasn't surprised by this display of idiocy.

"Don't say it like that, Lucy and I always kiss." He crossed his arms, both letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Dude, it was one thing to do it when we were kids, it's a completely different thing to fully makeout with a girl."

"She's not a girl, she's Lucy. And it's not like that, we just like to be close."

Gray took a seat on his floor, holding in the desire to start beating Natsu. Just what wasn't he getting about this?

"I think I get it," Gajeel sighed, moving to sit as well. "You hafta remember he's a dragon. A fucking idiot, but a dragon."

"Hey!"

"So? Dragons just makeout with their best friends?" Gray asked, the metal beast shaking his head.

"It's clear that bunny girl is more than a friend," Natsu's lips twisted uncomfortably as his cousin continued. "You've got some weird mentality about your relationship being a friendship, probably cuz you've never thought to think of it as anything else. It's obvious you already imprinted, telling by how creepy close you two are. And your dragon wants more, so you had that dream."

"Eww," Gray shivered, smoothly dodging the small fireball Natsu chucked at him. "What? You want me to say it's not gross? I have to sit here and hear all about your fucked up biology. Realize you want the girl already and fucking sack up. Lucy doesn't deserve this crap."

"Even I know that," The fire dragon mumbled, slowly taking everything in. "Luce is just so...and I...it felt wrong to just hang out with her after that. I couldn't tell her either, I didn't want to creep her out. I figured it was better to keep to myself."

"You were being forced to see your unconscious desires, it's not that weird. The fact that we have to talk about it is weird, and you're fucking stupid, but that's it."

"I should talk to her, huh?" Natsu sighed as he fell back again, smiling slightly as the two yelled their tired answers at him.

"No fucking shit!"

Casually up late bc I needed to post, lowkey tired and not in the mood to work tomorrow

Surprise me in the morning with what you think! I hope to have the next chapter out soon, let me know if you're confused about anything!

I'll explain Laxus more in the next chapter!