Chapter 23
"Let go of me!" Without a doubt, flames would be spouting from Natsu's mouth if he had the ability to breathe fire.
Gajeel brings Natsu around and lifts him into the air, holding him by the scruff of his jacket. "C'mon, you lil' shi–"
"Put me down, Lug Nuts!" he bellows.
"Cool it, Salamander!" he chides.
"I only told Gajeel to talk with Natsu…" Levy says numbly to Lucy. "Talk…"
She is trying to wrap her head around what is happening as well. It is a lot to process.
Upon seeing Lucy's tearstained face, Natsu freezes up from head to toe. "Luce!" He scrambles away from Gajeel, drops to the floor with ease, and makes his way over to her. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"You should know," she says stiffly.
He falters in his pace and stops short of her. "What?"
Gajeel comes back from closing the door that had been left wide open. "You're the reason, dumbass. So talk and make things better with Bunny Girl." He folds his arms across his broad chest. "It's weird seeing you two like this."
Natsu does not retaliate because of what Gajeel referred to him as. It goes over his head. Instead, he keeps his focus on Lucy. He is trying to piece things together. Then they fall into place. "Shit," he whispers.
Lucy sniffles loudly.
An uncomfortable silence falls over the whole apartment.
"What did I tell you, Salamander?" Gajeel growls. "Communicate with her. Properly."
Using it as a defense mechanism, Lucy digs out a spoonful of more ice cream. On the other hand, she does not feel like communicating with Natsu.
"I'll be right back." Then Levy snatches away the ice cream and spoon from Lucy and stands up to walk into the kitchen.
"Hey!" Lucy whines.
"Talk, Lu!" Levy says over her shoulder.
Lucy looks up at Natsu. "If you're here to properly breakup with me–"
"Why would I do that?" Natsu is astonished those words even left her lips. He is still processing what she had been saying before he interrupted her without meaning to. "I'll never wanna do that!"
"Your actions weren't entirely clear when you left here earlier," she points out.
Natsu looks back at Gajeel for help.
He merely arches an eyebrow.
Keeping his gaze on his cousin, Natsu motions to Lucy dramatically.
"So talk," is what has to say about the matter.
Inhaling deeply, Natsu looks back at Lucy. When his face starts turning red, he exhales. Then he rubs the back of his head. He is stalling.
Levy strolls back into the room and stands by her fiancé's side. She knows Lucy has enough backbone to not need her support from the couch.
"Sooo I've been going through a few things," Natsu begins. "I thought I could handle it on my own. Not let 'em get to me too much. I guess I've been cracking."
Her mood changes. "Has something been bothering you?" Lucy asks.
Natsu takes the spot Levy had been occupying earlier since he wants to be close to her. He stares down at his hands resting on his lap. "Loke said something earlier that I've been hearing a lot. Like, from a lot of different people. People I don't even know." He glances at Lucy with a cracked grin. "I'm sure your fans have your best interest in mind, but they can be quite defensive."
She is confused and braces herself for the worst. "What do you mean?"
"They want what's best for you and… they don't think that's me."
She instantly flares up. "What?"
"He's been getting some hate from your fans," Gajeel says, wanting to speed things up so the couple will stop moping around.
"Your fans don't like that I'm dating Ashley."
Lucy takes a calming breath. "They might be my fans, but they don't decide things for me. If I want to date you, then I'm going to date you. End of story."
Natsu's face lights up.
"I'll try addressing the matter soon. I promise. And they'll just have to accept what I'm doing." She bites her lower lip. "I'm sure some won't stop, but I hope you can do your best to ignore the hate. Or don't even acknowledge it."
In the blink of an eye, Natsu has his arms around Lucy for a tight embrace. He buries his face into her neck. "Thanks, Luce," he whispers, his warm breath tickling her skin.
She hugs him back. "You can always tell me if something is bothering you, Natsu. I'll be ready whenever you want to talk. About anything. I promise."
They break apart after a moment, and Natsu keeps close to her so their thighs are touching.
"Do you feel better now?" Lucy asks. "Even a little bit?"
"A lot actually," he replies genuinely.
She softly smiles. "So what else?"
A bashful look comes across his face for a few seconds. "So some people think I'm dense when it comes to girls. It's kind of like a long running joke about me. But I know how things work. I know"-he shoots Gajeel a cold look-"how sex happens and what it involves."
Lucy is slightly surprised. Now is the first time she has even heard about it. She never would have thought of guessing it before.
Shocked her own fiancé is a culprit, Levy gasps. "You've been teasing him about that?"
"Just poking at him a bit," he admits.
Natsu turns his attention back to Lucy. "Some of the guys have been poking at me because we haven't had sex yet. But we've talked about it before. I know how you feel." He does not remind her with Levy and Gajeel present, just in case they do not know. "I'm fine with waiting. They just don't understand that."
"Sex doesn't make the relationship," Lucy assures him.
"It helps," Gajeel chuckles.
"Sex doesn't make the relationship, Gajeel," Levy scolds.
"Oi, don't get mad at me, Shrimp," he says a little defensively. He does not want to face the wrath of his fiancée. She might be petite in size, the almost opposite of him, but she packs her own kind of punch.
"I guess it was getting on my nerves more than usual…" Natsu says. "Maybe it's because I have a girlfriend now. Maybe it's because of the other stress from your fans."
"I'm surprised you haven't thrown a punch at the people who have been teasing you about it," Lucy admits.
"I didn't think I'd hafta just to get them to stop," he huffs, shooting Gajeel a look.
"If I recall correctly," Levy begins, tapping a finger to her chin as if deep in thought, "Gajeel and I didn't have sex until he was the one all right with it. I waited until he was comfortable with it."
Natsu looks utterly bewildered. "Whaaat... ?"
"O-oi, why are ya telling him that, Shrimp?" Gajeel questions, clearly frazzled about the topic.
She folds her arms under her chest. "Because I don't like you teasing him about it."
"The last time I teased him was about two days ago!" he argues. "That's in the past!"
Natsu thinks for a moment. "I'm pretty sure he's telling the truth…" Then he shrugs, a devilish smile on his lips. "But I can't be sure. So many people have teased me they've all kinda blended together."
"Why ya lil' d–" Gajeel begins.
"Gajeel!" Levy scolds in a harsh tone.
He flinches at the sound of her voice. "Y-yeah?"
"If I hear that you're still teasing him," she starts to threaten, "then no sex for a week."
His eyes nearly pop out of his head. "A week?"
"Do you want me to make it two… ?"
Gajeel will be sweating bullets soon. He merely shakes his head in reply, keeping his mouth shut.
Then Levy smiles sweetly at him. "Good!"
"And I thought Erza was scary," Natsu whispers to Lucy.
"Who's Erza?" she asks.
He blinks in confusion. "You don't know who Erza is?"
Lucy thinks it over. "I don't think I've met an Erza before…"
"She can be real scary at times," Gajeel comments as her shudders a little bit.
"Erza Scarlet owns a flower shop that's next door to one of my favorite antique shops," Levy adds. "She's real sweet once you get to know her."
"Maybe I'll have to meet her someday," Lucy muses.
"Let's not rush into things now," Natsu cautions.
Levy rolls her eyes. "She's not that bad."
Now Lucy is a little curious to meet Erza someday. "Hey, Gajeel?" she asks, looking at him.
"What is it, Bunny Girl?"
"Thank you for bringing Natsu over."
"Literally," Natsu grumbles under his breath.
Gajeel cracks a grin. "No problem. It was kinda fun dragging his sorry ass around."
Natsu shoots him a look. "Don't expect to do it again."
Levy clasps her hands together. "And now everything is better for you two, right?"
Natsu slings an arm around Lucy and pulls her close, smooching the top of her head. "Aye, sir!"
She merely smiles and snuggles into her boyfriend, happy they are better off now.
A/N Part 1: At least now everything is good again for NaLu :D Yay! PS. I have no idea why Erza hasn't been introduced before now!
A/N Part 2: Oh, if y'all are interested and haven't read yet, I had posted a fluffy one-shot called Secret. It features NaLu of course :D I wrote it in order to make up some of the more angsty chapters I've had for MTAP and CAF haha. Enjoy~
A/N Part 3: As a side note, I apologize for the delay. It's been hectic this past week. My great grandmother, the matriarch of my mum's side, had passed away. She was 101 so we knew it was going to happen, but it's been hard. But we'll make it through!
Guest: Yay, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And thank you :D
Guest: "Maybe a lot." Those were the feels I was going for! Right in the feels! And thank you :D
Jessyka Lyn: Deep breath! Inhale. Exhale. But see? All better now :D
Guest: I had to keep the readers interested for more somehow XD
cookie panda-roo: It's been one of my fave moments so far!
Nashii-Drangeel: Woo, I'm glad you liked it! More to come for sure :D
Flamexofxchaos: I'm happy you enjoyed it :)
Army4life: Yay, I'm happy you liked it!
FanFlower: Got around to that update :P
Anonymous Guest: Yay for drama! And nothing too terribly bad :P And wow, thank you so much! I'm still trying to improve my style and writing for sure! Thanks again!
geekgirl.k: I'm sure he'll make it up to her somehow. He is Natsu after all!
Guest: (Chap 21) I'm glad you enjoyed the good feels while they were still around haha
Shluk: I mean, I hope so, too! But I doubt it'll be as long. Already MTAP has surpassed the chapter count for RPRT! But RPRT will always have a special place in my heart :)
Aya Rose: Yay for some drama haha. But some questions have been answered at least!
Person: Um, I dunno. He already is a model… I doubt he'd need singing on top of it. Maybe he has a horrible voice, but he can play an instrument or something? IDK
Anon: Omg, thank you so much! (betting on me will be good haha) Thanks for reading again :D
Guest: Yeah, I know. I feel bad for the lack of updates. But last week wasn't a good week for me…
