Chapter 22
After eating at the restaurant, Lucy and Natsu are back at her apartment. She is taking up a space on the couch to write with her laptop while he is lying down, taking up two spaces. He is snoring up a storm while he is in dreamland.
Lucy glances over at him when he snores rather loudly. A small smile tugs her lips upwards. Even when he is asleep is can still be noisy and loud. The moment is picture perfect–
Only now it hits her. She and Natsu have been dating over a month now, and she has yet to post a photo of her and Natsu. Or even just Natsu by himself. Of course, she has been sending Snapchats to friends of hers. However, no fans have seen a trace of any of them.
So why not make it public to her fans and followers? After all, some time has passed.
Lucy reaches for her phone and readies the camera, aiming it at Natsu. Right before she takes the picture, he spazzes out and rolls off the couch with a loud thud. "Owww…" he groans.
"Are you all right?" Lucy asks with worry. It was not a long fall, but he still could have injured himself somehow. After all, he is still Natsu and he is always able to cause trouble.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Remaining on the floor, Natsu sits up and faces her. "Fine."
"What happened?"
"I fell off the couch."
An amused grin tugs at her lips. "I meant, why did you? What were you dreaming about?"
He is quiet for a moment, recalling what happened in his dreams. Something strange is in his eyes. "Dunno," Natsu finally says.
"You don't know… ?" she asks uneasily. She is not buying it at all.
"Was I saying anything?" he asks, slightly changing the topic. "Like, at all?"
Lucy shakes her head. "You were fine while sleeping." Then she puffs out her cheeks. "You falling off ruined the picture though."
He tilts his head to one side. "Picture?"
She wiggles her phone through the air for emphasis. "I was going to take a picture of you, but you, like, freaked out and fell."
"Ha, I'm so awesome that I avoided a picture while sleeping!"
She pouts. "You're no fun..." Then, just to mess with him, she quickly snaps a photo of him. The sound of a camera clicking betrays what she just did. There is no chance of denying it.
"Hey!"
"Now it's time to share this with the whole world," Lucy teases.
He flinches. "Whole world?"
"I think it's time to show off my so-called awesome boyfriend." Although, after looking at the photo, she decides she will not post it. She wants something else for her first post of Natsu. Maybe even of them together–
"You can't do that!" he says abruptly.
She is surprised by his sudden outburst. "Why not?"
"Er, because. Because. That's why."
"Because why… ?" she pries. Now she knows something is off with him. He had not been himself around Loke earlier either. "What's going on with you today?"
"I'm fine."
Lucy arches an eyebrow at him. "Really? Because you didn't argue back with Loke earlier. I've seen you do that with complete strangers. You always take a stand. But for some reason, you didn't with him."
He realizes she had been more observant than he thought.
"And now you're acting like this…" She puts down her phone and moves her laptop to the side so she can give Natsu her full attention. "What aren't you telling me?"
He swallows hard before standing up and stepping towards her. He bends down at his waist to kiss the top of her head. "I think it's time I went home. Getting late and all."
Her eyes grow wide and she jerks her head up to look at him. "What?" she breathes.
Natsu is already gathering his belongings from his phone to his jacket.
Taking in the scene, she is absolutely bewildered. Stunned speechless in fact. Lucy remains motionless on the couch. She is not entirely sure what to do or how to act in this situation.
He is already by the front door, slipping his shoes on. Natsu opens the door and walks out. "Bye," he says without looking back, and closes the door behind him.
Tears bubble up and Lucy starts crying, clamping her eyes shut tightly. "Y-you idiot…"
x-X-x
"That doesn't sound like Natsu at all," Levy comments as she and a miserable Lucy sit together on the couch.
In response, Lucy weakly nod and eats away at the container of chocolate ice cream in hand. Minutes after Natsu had left, she called Levy and asked for her to come over. Luckily, it did not take long for her to arrive. Lucy needs help and she hopes Levy can give her some answers. After all, she has known Natsu longer than her because of Gajeel.
"And he hasn't called?" Levy inquires. "Or even texted?"
With a mouth full of ice cream, she shakes her head.
Levy ponders things over for a moment. "Boys are confusing," she sighs.
"Says the one who's going to marry one," Lucy points out, and groans. "I don't even know if I'm still dating one…"
"Aww, Lu. I'm pretty sure you two are still together. With what Natsu did, that doesn't sound like his style of a breakup."
"But he hasn't dated before. It could have been a breakup." She sticks another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. The only upside to what happened is she is experiencing a different sort of heartbreak unlike the others she has gone through. It is raw, and feels deep. She cannot put an exact finger on it, but she feels a little empty inside. Right where her happiness should be, but it is not there. Gone.
Meanwhile, Levy taps a finger to her chin. "I still can't understand why he acted the way he did though. That's not the typical Natsu I've come to know, that's for sure."
"Which is why I was hoping you could help me. You've known him longer than me."
"But I haven't gotten to know him as well as you have," Levy points out. "You're his girlfriend."
Lucy huffs. "I could be his ex for all I know and I'm just too stupid to take a hint."
Levy merely gives her a look. "If you weren't in this mindset you would think what you're saying is crazy."
"Sign me up for the Crazy Express then. Next stop, Brokenheartsville." Can Lucy even call this a case of broken heart? She has had her heart broken a few times, but never by someone she has known for as short of a time period like Natsu. Oh, Natsu… She blinks back tears.
"You're going to get dehydrated at this rate if you keep crying." Levy hands her some tissues. "Here you go, Lu."
"Thanks." Lucy uses a free hand to dab away the tears before blowing her nose. "And I'm pretty sure that's impossible." Then she tosses the used tissue onto the floor with the ever growing pile. Maybe the whole floor will be covered by the time she is feeling better.
"Gajeel has done some stupid things in the past," Levy starts. "I have, too. We aren't perfect. But we've learned to get through things."
"And pretty soon you'll be getting married." Even with her situation, Lucy is still happy for the engaged couple. There is no way she will be bitter about their happiness. She can only hope she can have what they have someday. She wants it for herself.
Levy quickly checks her cell phone. "Huh, I haven't heard back from Gajeel." Then she puts it down on the couch so she can keep an eye on the screen if it lights up for any reason. "I hope that's a good sign he and Natsu are talking."
That catches Lucy's interest. "Why would they be talking?"
"Because I told Gajeel to talk with Natsu just like I'm talking with you, Lu. Maybe he can talk some sense into Natsu. Or learn what's going on."
Lucy's heart squeezes. She grows hopeful that she will get Natsu back. "You're the best, Levy!"
She pats her on the back and giggles. "You're not so bad yourself."
That gets Lucy to crack a smile. "You've been hanging around Gajeel too much. That sounds like something he'd say."
"One can never have too much Gajeel in their life," she teases.
"And one can say the same about Natsu–" Lucy's smile falters and she looks down at the ice cream. "Natsu…"
"Chin up, Lu. Things will get better. Soon enough, things will be how they were before. Or even better!"
"Maybe," she agrees glumly.
"Hey, I'm pretty sure that right now Gajeel and Natsu are–" Levy begins.
The front door is practically kicked down, causing the two girls to jump in surprise. With Natsu in tow, Gajeel strides into the apartment. "I'm not gonna letcha screw up your first relationship, dammit!"
A/N: I'm soooooo sorry for not updating sooner! Life has been kicking my butt D: But here's the next chapter! Woo~ So there was some NaLu drama. Not gonna lie, I still have no idea where it came from XD I originally didn't plan on Natsu walking out like that!
A/N Part 2: Not related to this fic, but wishyouweremedontya from FFnet made me a cover for RPRT and I LOVE IT SO MUCH :D I've already changed the cover on my FFnet account! So I'm on a happy high from that :D THANK YOU AGAIN!
Jessyka Lyn: Life has kept me from updating :P But I'm happy to hear you keep an eye out for when I do update!
Guest: Yay, I'm glad you enjoyed it :) Nah, Natsu had to keep it professional. It made for great photos! But he gotta after hehe
Panickingathogwarts: Killing with them feels *cue evil laughter* I finally brought Loke in! Not sure if he'll reappear or nah though… But thank you :D
Guest: Lucy's past will come up at some point! I'm deciding which arc to add it in!
Flamexofxchaos: Hey, I hoped the running did you will! And thanks for reading this fic :D
Guest: Aww, you're welcome! I'm glad you get a smile outta my writing :D And more surprises to come hehe
Anonymous Guest: AND CUE SOME DRAMA! Gah, that's great you notice the improvement! I'm stillllll working at it! Thank you so much :D And thank you for reading!
Army4life: MORE UPDATES FOR SURE :D YOU CAN COUNT ON THAT!
kiteou-kun: Yay, I'm glad you do :D
Shluk: I'm really happy I continued this fic from a one-shot! Although, RPRT (a work of mine) started out as a one-shot and made it to 45 chaps 0.0 So we'll see how far CAF gets XD
