Chapter 14

Not wanting to be in anyone's way, Lucy and Gray have their backs to a corner. Juvia is standing next to Natsu who has Lucy's phone aimed at the pair in the corner.

"Annnd… action!" Natsu cues.

Lucy waves at the camera, smiling a little. "Hey, guys! Ashley here with a little message just to clear some things up. I'm sure many of you have seen the video interview that Marvelous Millianna posted to her blog. I just want to clarify that Gray"-she motions to him with a hand-"and I have no romantic affiliation with each other."

"We're just friends," Gray adds to support her statement. "Ashley is great and all, but I already have a girlfriend who I love and care about."

Juvia swoons a little and claps her hands together in front of her chest, overjoyed to hear him talk about her like that.

"He is not my crush or my boyfriend," Lucy clarifies for good measure. Then she smiles and waves one last time. "Thanks for watching. Bye for now!"

Natsu stops the recording. "That's a wrap, everybody!"

Lucy looks at Gray. "Not bad for one take."

He holds up a hand for her. "That's because we're awesome."

The two have a celebratory high-five before Lucy walks over to Natsu, taking her phone from him. "Thank you for that."

He smiles at her. "No problem."

She busies herself with the video, knowing she needs to post it to her multiple social media accounts. A few minutes later, she texts Yukino to inform her that the matter should be taken care of. When Lucy is finished, she sighs in relief. "That should solve things."

Juvia nods. "Juvia hope so!"

Lucy looks at Gray. "I just hope your friends who saw Millianna's video don't get up in your face about it."

He merely shrugs. "If they know me then they won't believe any of the rumors. They might think it's cool that I know you though."

"Hey, more than an hour ago you didn't think she existed!" Natsu points out.

"You got me there," Gray says with a shrug.

"And you thought Natsu was going to show up pretending to be me," Lucy chuckles.

At that, Natsu cracks up. "He what?" He laughs loudly, not caring if he is gaining attention from others nearby. "You guys didn't mention that before!"

Gray clearly looks frazzled and does his best to not appear embarrassed. "I'm sure Gajeel would have thought the same thing too…" he grumbles.

"Oh, he would have," Juvia assures him with a giggle. "I'm sure he would have."

Lucy takes a moment to scan a bookshelf with her eyes, seeing if she spots what she is searching for.

Natsu stands behind her to rest his chin on her head, his hands stuffed in pockets. "Sooo whatcha looking for anyways?"

"A book…" she replies, completely distracted from giving a proper response because she is still looking over the covers.

"What kinda book?"

"A paranormal romance one…"

"Is it part of a series?"

"Trilogy…"

Natsu lowers his head so his mouth is next to her right ear. "Hey, Luce?" His breath is warm against her skin.

Her skin tingles at the sensation. "Yes?" she whispers back to match his speech.

"Do you wanna be my–"

"Ooo, Juvia loves this series!" she squeals, interrupting whatever Natsu was about to say. She grabs the first novel and holds it in her hands.

Forgetting all about Natsu's question, Lucy looks over at the hardcover book in her hand and smiles. "I love that series as well!"

Juvia glances over her shoulder to look at Lucy. "Juvia thinks the series is great and all, but Juvia still really like the first book the best!"

"Same here!" Lucy agrees.

"Uh, Flame Brain…" Gray says warily. "What are you doing… ?"

The two girls fangirling over the series look to see he is standing next to a shelf, his face pressed against the books lined up on display. He merely grumbles incoherent words in response.

"Are you all right, Natsu?" Juvia inquires, tilting her head to a side.

Like before, he mumbles words no one can clearly make out.

Lucy notices what his head is next to and her face lights up. "You found it!"

Natsu is quick to pull away from the shelf so he can look at her. "Huh?"

With a skip in her step, she walks over to him and grabs a hardcover book off of the shelf. She holds it up for him too look at. "You found the book I was looking for. Thank you."

Natsu flashes her a toothy grin. "Don't mention it, Luce!"

Lucy hugs the book to her chest and looks at the couple. "I'm all set!"

"Wait, if the trilogy is complete, why isn't Lucy getting the rest of it?" Juvia inquires.

"Because I have a rule for myself," she replies. "And that rule is I only buy one book per bookstore."

"So the next time you're here, you'll grab the second one?" Gray asks. "And so on?"

She nods. "Exactly."

"So are these the next ones you need?" Natsu asks, pointing a finger at each of the spines.

"Yes. And by the"-Lucy watches as he grabs them off of the shelf-"What are you doing?"

Without a word, Natsu winks at her and strolls away, the two books tucked under his arm.

"Natsu?" Lucy says.

He does not bother even looking over his shoulder. He keeps on walking away without a care in the world.

"Natsu!" Lucy goes after him, hoping to stop him. She does not like it when people buy her things. She does not like having things handed to her. She is independent and is more than capable of taking care of herself.

He rounds a corner into the romance section.

Of course, Lucy goes right after him. "Get back here, Natsu!"

Catching her off guard, Natsu spins around to face her once they are far enough down the aisle.

Lucy stops short, ending up on her tip toes so she does not crash into him. She takes a deep calming breath before talking. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Natsu does not look away from her as he speaks. "I wanted some alone time with you. I've been happy with the double date so far, but I think I just wanna be on a date with just you."

"So you plan on just ditching Gray and Juvia?"

He shrugs. "Maybe… Probably…" He softly smiles at her. "Honestly, do you know what would be great?"

"What?" she asks to humor him.

"To go on a date with my girlfriend."

"G-girlfriend?" Lucy stutters, a wave of embarrassment washing over her. Did he really just use that word with her?

He nods. "Just the two of us."

She opens her mouth to speak, but words do not come out. Not even a sound escapes. In fact, her mind begins to process what he has said before it goes blank completely.

"But here's the thing," Natsu begins. "I still gotta ask her to be my girlfriend." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "I tried asking her a bit ago, but she was too distracted by looking at books. And then I never gotta finish the question."

Lucy knows which precise moment he is talking about. If Juvia did not accidently interrupt, he would have been able to complete his question to her. Her face begins to heat up at the very thought if he did pull off what he intended to finish.

A split second later, Natsu loses his cool. "Gah, dammit! Am I screwing this up?!"

She laughs at him, finding his reaction to things totally amusing.

Of course, Natsu loosens up when he hears her happy laughter. He finds himself grinning because of her.

"You're such a weirdo," she sputters, attempting to stop laughing.

"But I'm your weirdo," he jokes.

"My weirdo…" Lucy muses. "I like the sound of that."

"Hey, you know what's even better than that?"

"What?"

He grins from ear to ear. "You're my weirdo."

"I think I'm the only one who can handle you," she chuckles.

"Maybe we're meant to be then."

"Maybe," she agrees.

A comfortable silence falls over the two until Natsu breaks it. "Hey, Luce?"

"Yes?"

"So what are we? Officially, I mean?"

She taps a finger to her chin. "I'm pretty sure you're my weirdo and I'm your weirdo…"

Grinning from ear to ear, Natsu lights up. "Really?!"

Lucy laughs. "Really–" She squeals from surprise when he hugs her tightly, lifting her off of her feet. "N-Natsu!"

"You're the best weirdo ever!" he says, his voice laced with happiness. "And you're my weirdo which makes things even better!"

From her viewpoint, she can see behind him. Of course, there is a young woman with a book in hand. She is focused on the open pages, but she is trying her hardest not to stare and laugh. "P-put me down!" Lucy says.

Natsu sets her down with ease, but takes a hold of her right hand with his left. "Let's go!"

"Shouldn't we at least tell Gray and Juvia?" she asks.

"Nah. I'm sure they'll catch on soon enough." Then he pulls her along. "C'mon, Luce!"


A/N: Yooooooooo. Some major NaLu finally happened in this fic! Woooooo~ Anyways. I've been majorly busy with work and life since I got back from the con. But I have been hella eager to write more to my fics! Also, Chapter 15 is gonna be longer than usual! To kinda make up for the lack of updating :P


Guest: Thank you! I'm happy you enjoyed it :D I didn't know either about Juvia until I wrote that chapter XD Hopefully I didn't have you waiting toooo long :P

luv it: I always thought Gray and Natsu were the same age. Minus what has been somewhat recently learned about Natsu's age :P

ArouraJean: Yay, I'm glad you like it :3 And that's a good reaction for sure! Thank you :) I'm still trying to improve my writing when I can! And you are most welcome :D *bows*

Nalu girl: Aye, sir! Well, at least I think it was XD

leyncarol: I'm still accepting it tooooo! :3 And I liked the Millianna idea :D Just for some drama :P I'm still working out how to fit in Jerza. Maybe. I have yet to introduce both Erza and Jellal anyways! Somehow maybe!