Chapter 3 – Jealous
Some weeks after the accidental kiss Lucy gave him, Natsu found himself annoyed and confused again. Which was a big turn of events, because the last few weeks had been heavenly. He got to kiss Lucy at least twice every day. It was the best feeling. He always sneered men who let themselves get carried away just for the sight of a pretty girl, but there was not much he could say now. After he discovered how good a kiss could feel, he would give up food and even fights for it. Not that it could be with anyone. He had been kissed before, but it felt only awkward and uncomfortable. But it was very different with Lucy. She had delicious lips that, combined with her fragrance, was enough to knock him out of his senses for a good time. Every night for those past few weeks he felt like he came home floating, just from experience kissing her.
So why he was feeling so angry and irritated right now?
They were at the guild. They went to a job yesterday, so Lucy said she would like just to hang out with their friends. The guild was pretty crowded, since it was snowing outside.
And Gray was talking to Lucy.
They were at the counter. He came with Erza and Wendy, so he didn't think much about it, but at some moment he noticed the girls had gone somewhere, and now it was only Lucy and Gray. She was telling him about the details of his last mission, and he was looking at her and smiling.
How dared him. Natsu really wanted to punch him in the face, but he had the feeling Lucy wouldn't like that. So he restrained himself to just watch out.
Watch out for what, exactly? He never cared if Gray talked to Lucy before.
It's because of her kissing. Gray may have found out about how good her lips felt, and wanted to steal a kiss from her.
Well, he wouldn't allow that. The thought of other man touching Lucy now made his insides boil.
He passed his hand on his face. Damn, what was wrong with him? He was behaving like Juvia. Next thing, he would be imagining the two of them getting married or something.
The thought of Lucy hugging Gray and saying she would be choosing him because he was such a better kisser invaded his mind.
"Keep it together, Dragneel!" he said to himself, shaking his head. "The hell is going on here?"
He almost had it. But when he looked again, Gray had took off his shirt and said something to Lucy that made her laugh. So he lost it.
"OI, STRIPPER!" he yelled, pulling him away from Lucy. "WHY DON'T YOU GO PUT SOME CLOTHES ON?"
"Maybe after I'm done kicking you dragon ass" Gray came back, facing Natsu, and they began to exchange punches.
"My, that was sudden" Mira laughed. Lucy thought so as well. Not that Natsu picking up a fight with Gray wasn't usual, but he came out of nowhere.
"Well, that's Natsu" she said, not thinking much of it.
"Oi, bunnygirl"
"Hey, Gajeel" she greeted the iron dragon slayer, who had approached her.
"Levy went on a mission yesterday and asked me to give you this" he handed her a book Lucy had lent to Levy a few days ago.
"Oh, thank you! She sure reads fast!" Lucy picked the book from his hands. "Did she mention if she liked it?"
"Well, she…" Gajeel was about to answer when he was hit on the face by a tray throw by Natsu. "Salamander!"
"I thought you looked hungry!" Natsu teased, throwing another tray in his direction.
"Oi, finish the fight you started with me first, you moron!" Gray complained. Gajeel walked towards them, joining the fight.
"Wow, Natsu's on fire today" the stellar spirit mage observed. She had never seen him pick two fights in a row so quickly.
"Lucy, you have food on your hair" Laxus pointed out as he passed by her. He stopped to remove some peanuts that got stuck on her hair due to Natsu's tray throwing.
"Oh! That's all Natsu's fault… Thank you, Laxus!" she beamed at him. From the other side of the guild, all Natsu saw was Laxus stroking Lucy's hair and she smiling at him. He used one of Gray's attacks for impulse and went for the lighting mage, who had to stop him with one arm, but was successfully pulled away from Lucy.
"What is wrong with you today, Natsu?" he asked, noticing this wasn't the normal fighting behavior he was used to.
"That's enough, Natsu!" Erza came and stared at him until he let go of Laxus, and walked away, sulking. At least there was no one around Lucy anymore.
"Geez, Natsu's starting to scare me" Lucy told Mira.
"Actually, I think I found a pattern on Natsu's fights today" Mira observed, with a hand on her chin.
"Pattern? Please, Mira-san!" the blonde shook her head. "It's just him being destructive"
"Normally, yes, but today there is a pattern" the barmaid assured. "He's beating up men that come close to you"
"What?!" Lucy blushed. "No way!"
"Yes, it is! I'll prove it! Elfman!" Mira yelled and waved for her brother. "Lucy needs to talk to you!"
"Eh? Is it about being manly, Lucy?" Elfman asked, coming close to her. Lucy panicked, thinking about something to say to him, but she didn't have to. When Elfman was two steps from her, Natsu put himself between them.
"Elfman! Fight me!" he yelled, preparing a punch. Elfman stopped him with one of his take over hands and they took their fight to the other side of the guild.
"See? Cute, isn't it?" Mira said smiling like it was the most romantic thing ever. Lucy, on the other hand, couldn't think more differently.
"I'm going home to wash my hair, Mira-san. Bye!" she ran away before Mira could stop her. Soon she was out of the guild, walking the path along the river towards her apartment.
"Lucy! Wait!" she heard Natsu's voice behind her, and turned. "Are you going home?"
"Natsu, what the hell was that?" she asked, furious. "Is it true? Were you picking fights with men who were near me?"
He diverted his look, scratching his head, clearly uncomfortable.
"Well, they were all over you!" he argued. "What did you want me to do?"
"Nothing!" she yelled. "I want you not to get into fights with my friends just for talking to me!"
"Oh, yeah? Why?" he turned very aggressive all of a sudden. "So you can keep staring at Stripper's naked chest? Getting books from Ironface? Having Laxus stroke your hair?"
"Huh? What are you implying?" she stepped back, shocked.
"I just… You… And them…" he stuttered, losing the fuel to fight. He walked in a circle, and when he turned to face Lucy again, he was hit by a snowball and fell on his back.
"You jerk!" Lucy yelled as she ran away "Leave me alone!"
Natsu sighed as the remains of snow on his face and hair melted away. He needed more advice.
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"What do you want, Salamander?"
Natsu was at Gajeel's doorstep, with his hands in his pockets and a long face. He didn't want to do this, but Gildarts was out of town. Besides, he suspected this problem had something to do with his dragon slayer instincts, so Gajeel was really the only one that could help him.
"I need advice" he mumbled against his scarf, but he knew the iron dragon slayer would hear him.
"Advice on what? How to be less of an idiot?" he asked in disbelief. "Come in"
Natsu entered and closed the door behind him. Gajeel was eating some scraps of iron on the couch. Next to him was Panther Lily, reading a book.
"Hello, Natsu" the exceed greeted him "I will leave the two of you alone"
He flew somewhere in the back. Natsu just kept staring at Gajeel.
"So, are you going to say what the problem is or just stand there?" the older mage inquired, getting annoyed. Natsu sighed.
"I need to ask you something… Since you started dating Levy…" Natsu started, avoiding his gaze "How do you not… punch everyone around her?"
"What?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Jet and Droy, they like her, don't they?" the fire dragon slayer tried to explain "They're in love with her. And they're her friends. Don't you feel the need to keep them away from her?"
"Why are you asking that?" the mage let out a smirk. He finally understood what this was all about. But he was gonna make Salamander suffer a little. "Are you feeling this way about some woman? Who?"
"That's none of your business!" Natsu shouted, irritated.
"Fine, go look for advice elsewhere, then" the man shrugged. Salamander stormed off, slamming the door. He waited a few minutes, and then he was back.
"It's Lucy. A few weeks ago, our relationship changed" he explained, sitting in an armchair. "We kiss now."
"Kiss, huh?"
"Yeah. And today I started to feel this way. I really wanted to punch every male that came near her…" he clenched his fists, remembering the anger. "So I need to know, how do you cope with this?"
"You've been kissing and no one knows about it?" Gajeel asked, quickly adding: "It's important for your answer."
"Yes. She said she gets embarrassed doing it in public" the young man only now noticed how this made him feel sad.
"You're getting this feeling because you haven't established a relationship" the iron mage explained. "You're right, I've had moments when I really wanted to knock Jet and Droy's heads against each other just for looking at Shrimp. But all changed once I established that she was mine."
"Establish…?" Natsu remembered Gildarts telling him that this kind of relationship brought up complicated matters. "I don't understand. How do I do that?"
"You need to ask her to be yours and then let everybody know that" Gajeel made it sound simple. "But, of course, you can't say it like that. Women have this thing that they don't want to be own."
"Lucy's not a thing" he protested.
"I know, but you still need to feel that she's yours. Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it sounds" he laughed. "Here's what you're gonna do: you're gonna ask her to be your girlfriend, and you're gonna give her a present."
"A present? Like flowers?" he considered.
"No, it has to be something that lasts. It can be a ring, or a necklace, anything she can wear everyday" Gajeel continued "Ask her to be your girlfriend and give her the thing. Then, if she says yes, you'll establish the relationship. She'll tell everyone that she's your girlfriend, and every time a guy sees her, he'll notice your present and know that she's taken"
"That's… brilliant" Natsu was astonished. He couldn't believe the iron dragon slayer would be so smart.
"Heh, told you! But you still need to do all the crap women like. So make a nice speech about how much you love her when you're asking, and don't tell her to use your gift because men will know she's yours, just tell her she looks good with it or something" he reminded him "If she likes you, she'll wear it all the time."
"And that will make the anger go away?"
"Probably most of it"
"Thank you so much, Ironface!" Natsu got up and shook his hand, already feeling much more relieved. "That was really helpful!"
"Well, it's not free, you owe me one, and I won't forget!" he said with a smirk.
"Okay, okay, whatever you need! I'll buy her a gift right now!" the fire mage got out, all fired up.
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"So what do you have in mind to give Lucy?" asked Happy as he and Natsu made their way through the market center. All the stores were lighten up with Christmas lights and the stores had a lot of movement.
"I'm not sure…" Natsu said, examining the stores "Hey, maybe a piece of armor?"
He stopped at an armor store, looking at the various weapons and armor pieces.
"This way she'll be pretty and protected!" Happy agreed, and they went inside.
"What are you two doing here?" a voice came from behind, and they found Erza when they turned. She was with Wendy and Charle, and they all were carrying a lot of bags.
"Oh, hey, Erza! Wendy, Charle!" Natsu greeted them, holding a helmet.
"We're looking for a gift for Lucy" explained Happy, showing a big metal bra. "I think she would like this"
"I don't think Lucy would enjoy anything from this store, Natsu" Erza informed, and the girl and the female exceed nodded, agreeing.
"Why not? Look how cool this is" Natsu said, picking up a big hammer. "There is even a chain for her to carry with her all the time…"
"You are both idiots" Charle stated.
"Come with us, Natsu-san. I know a store that will have a lot of good gifts for Lucy-san!"
Natsu and Happy followed the girls and ended up in a store with all kind of female accessories. He had never noticed this store. But he remembered Gajeel's words and decided it probably was a good place.
"Can I help you?" asked a young woman that worked at the store.
"Yeah, I'm looking for a gift for my friend…" Natsu explained. He looked around, and saw that Wendy and Erza were looking at rings while Happy was speaking to Charle. Then he lowered his voice.
"Okay" the woman agreed with a smile "Well, we need to find something that will suit her! What are the color of her eyes and hair?"
"She has brown eyes and blonde hair" he told, and watched as the woman took several rings, necklaces and bracelets from behind her counter.
"I think these would go great with her!" she started pointing and talking about a gigantic number of those accessories, to the point Natsu got his head spinning. He had no idea what to take… there were too many options. He thought about what Gajeel said again… He said that other guys would look at the gift and know it was from him.
"Do you have anything with a dragon?" he asked.
"A dragon…?" she thought about it for a few seconds. "Oh! I have a pendant"
She took a box from one of the shelves behind her and brought to him. Inside there were several pendants of various themes. One of them was a tiny red dragon.
"You see, you buy this bracelet" she showed him a thick golden string "And you can put all the pendants you want"
She demonstrated, putting the little dragon, a little house, a cat and a tree.
"You can put together a pretty gift with this, since you can choose things you know that she likes" she explained, and Natsu thought it was perfect. He just needed to find the right pendants.
"Did you find something good?" asked Happy, appearing at his side. The saleswoman left him to choose calmly to see other costumers.
"Yeah, here!" Natsu showed him the box "Help me choose some of these. I already got a dragon"
"Oh, there's a fish! Take this fish!" Happy handed him a little blue fish.
"No, Lucy doesn't like fish as much as you"
"Then she'll have something to remember me!"
"Well, you buy it for her, then!"
"Fine, I will"
It didn't take too long for Natsu to find a combination he liked. He took three pendants: a yellow star, a pink heart and the little red dragon, in this order. He paid for them and had it wrapped in a golden wrapping paper. Now he could only hope Lucy would like it too.
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Lucy was at her writing desk, with her head laying on her arms. Under her was a very long letter she wrote to her mother. For almost two years now she hadn't needed to write letters to cope with the pain of losing her mother anymore. But after fighting with Natsu, it was the only thing that could calm her down. She missed her mother so much. She wished she could talk to her and ask her what to do.
After running away from Natsu, she went home and was furious. How did he dare imply she was some kind of slut? She would never, ever look at him again. She gathered all the stuff he bought for her and put them on her bed, to throw it all away. But when she saw them all together, she just broke down and cried. Why would Natsu turn against her like that?
That's when it occurred to her to write a letter. It took a long time, she told her mother all about their first kiss and the wonderful last weeks. Then, when she got to the incident at the guild, it didn't seem like such a big deal anymore. She remembered Cana's words: "It's Natsu!" Perhaps he was feeling just as confused with all these new feelings. He also didn't have a dad or a mom to ask for advice…
She raised her head and decided to go after him, even though it was already dark. She put on her boots and opened the door, letting out a small gasp. Natsu was there.
"Natsu…" she called him softly. He had his face hidden on his scarf, and after seeing her, he stretched his arm towards her, handing her a small golden package. "What's this?"
She opened the package carefully and found a golden bracelet with three pendants on it: a yellow star, a pink heart and a red dragon. She felt her eyes filling with tears.
"Lucy" he said at last, as she smiled warmly at her gift. "I'm so sorry I acted like an idiot. This is all new to me. You're my best friend, but I never had to ask you to be my best friend, or had to announce for everyone to know. I also never minded if you had other friends, because the more, the merrier."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"But now we started to kiss, and I really, really like to kiss you, and I'm sorry, but I'm very selfish on this matter, I want to be the only one who gets to kiss you and I want everyone to know about it, too" She could see his face and ears getting red. "So, will you be my girlfriend? Please?"
"Oh, Natsu. Of course I will" she said, hugging him. She had her arms around his neck and buried her face in his scarf. She felt his arms involving her waist. After some minutes, she released him, and pulled his scarf down to kiss his lips.
"You've been crying" he observed when they parted, and stroked her cheek with his fingers.
"It's nothing" she assured him, drying her tears with her sleeve. Then she pulled her left sleeve up and gave Natsu the bracelet. "Would you put it on me, please?"
He gave her a small smile and took it, holding each end in one of his hands and passing it around her delicate wrist, tying it together in a way that didn't hurt her or mark her pale skin. Then he hold his hand up to see it better.
"It suits you" he said, kissing her hand.
"It's beautiful. Thank you" she said, also admiring how it was against her skin. "Close the door already! It's cold!"
He did as she asked, and followed her to the couch, where they sat very close to each other.
"You're cold" Natsu sensed her cold limbs and pulled her closer, embracing her with one arm behind her shoulder and another in front of her belly. She snugged on him, since he was so warm, hugging his torso and leaning her head on his chest.
"I don't like to fight" she whispered.
"Me neither" he replied, putting his chin on the top of her head. "Let's agree not to fight anymore."
"Deal" Lucy smiled as her body became warmer in contact with his. At that moment, it didn't occur to any of them how impossible that deal was. She looked up and noticed he still had an upset expression. "Why are you still sad?"
"I made you cry" he explained, looking annoyed at himself "Kinda feel like someone should punch me"
"You can have one of those at the guild tomorrow" she assured him, and he chuckled.
He felt as Lucy's hand went to his face, caressing his cheek. Then she entangled her fingers on his hair and pulled him to her, kissing his lips. They kept getting closer and closer while kissing, until it was impossible to continue unless one of them move. Then Lucy lifted her leg and quickly sat on his lap, facing him as they continued kissing. Natsu felt his heart beat so fast he was actually surprised it didn't come out of his chest. Lucy had never done something like this. In this position she was taller than him, so he threw his head back and felt her hands travel from his face to his neck to his chest. After some seconds, he remembered he had hands as well, and passed them shyly on Lucy's legs, which were one on each side of him. He could feel her tender flesh through her pantyhose and kept going up. She would usually stop him when his hands were this daring, but this time she let him go all the way under her skirt. When he was about to slip a finger inside the cloth to feel her smooth skin, however, she stopped kissing and started to move away from him.
"W-Where are you going?" he asked very confused, leaning to follow her. She stopped, still sitting on his lap, with a look just as confused.
"Someone's at the door" she explained, pointing at it.
"What? I didn't hear anything!" he frowned. He really didn't. And he was a dragon slayer, if he didn't hear, then… Suddenly there were three loud knocks on the door. She was right. His senses had been so completely engulfed in her, he had lost the awareness of his surroundings. He couldn't even tell who was at the door, because all he could smell was Lucy's fragrance. She made a move to get down, but he held her closer and put his index finger in his mouth, whispering: "Shh, let's pretend we're not here"
"But…" she started, but he put his hand over her mouth, interrupting her words. They stood still for some seconds, breathing heavily and looking into each other's eyes.
"Lucy?" they heard Erza's voice coming from the other side along with more knocks. "Are you ok in there? If you don't open in five seconds, I'm putting this door down"
Lucy shook her head with a grimace and Natsu let her go, cursing under his breath. He never wanted Erza gone so much in his life. He heard Lucy open the door.
"Hi, Erza! Sorry, I was in the bathroom! Come on in!" she greeted in a happy tone "Oh, Wendy and Gray are here too, how nice!"
Happy came flying and sat on the couch's arm right next to Natsu, mumbling: "I swear I tried to stop her". Natsu just grumbled, crossing his arms.
"Natsu, you could have opened the door for us while Lucy was busy" Erza said, reprehending him, as she sat on a armchair close to the window.
"Well, I was hoping you'll go away" he answered, not hiding the fact that he was very annoyed at their presence. Wendy came in carrying a big package and sat on the other end of the couch, blushing as Charle sat on the couch's arm next to her.
"What's with the mood?" asked Gray with a smirk, sitting in a chair across from him. "Did we interrupt something?"
"Yes" Natsu said, glaring at him.
"Don't mind Natsu" Lucy tried to explain quickly "He was about to take a nap"
"Oh, don't worry, Natsu, you'll be very happy once you see what we brought" Erza assured him.
"Doubt it" he continued to sulk as Wendy put the package on the coffee table at the middle of them.
"It's a gingerbread house!" the sky dragon slayer announced, taking off the brown paper that was covering it.
"Ohhh, how cute!" Lucy exclaimed in pleasure. The miniature house was perfectly done and completely decorate with all types of colorful candy and white frosting to mimic the snow.
"We found it at the candy store and had to buy it!" Erza told them, very excited. "We met Gray on the way and thought it would be a good idea to bring it here so we can all eat it together!"
"It's a wonderful idea! Wait just a minute, I'll make cocoa for all of us!" Lucy clapped her hands happily. "Natsu, come help me in the kitchen"
The fire dragon slayer followed her, still in a bad mood. Lucy got the milk from the fridge and put it in a big kettle.
"Natsu, be nice, please" she asked in a low voice, mixing the milk with chocolate powder and sugar. "And pick up mugs for all of us"
"If I'm nice, they won't go away" he answered, going to the cabinet. "And I really want them gone"
"Come on, they're our friends" she argued, putting the kettle on the stove.
"Yeah, you'd think I'd care about that, but I really don't" he groaned, putting seven mugs on the counter. "I want to continue what we were doing before"
"We can continue that later" she said, taking a tray and blushing.
"Promise?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If you're nice" she replied, putting the mugs on the tray. He made a grimace, realizing he had been lured into a trap.
"Damn it! Fine, I'll try" he agreed, crossing his arms.
"Thank you" she smiled and gave him a quick kiss in the cheek. She finished the cocoa and poured it into the seven mugs. "Can you take the tray to the living room, please?"
He did just that, sitting on the couch again, as everyone took a mug. Lucy sat next, between him and Wendy, bringing napkins.
"So, we can dig in!" Erza allowed, and everyone took a piece out of the house. "Wow, it's really good!"
"Delicious, right, Charle?" asked Wendy, eating a piece of the roof with a lot of frosting.
"It's very sweet, but it's good" agreed the white exceed, who had taken a piece of the fence.
"I want the chimney!" yelled Natsu after eating a good piece of the roof. Lucy got happy to see him in a better mood.
"I wanted the chimney too, share with me!" whined Happy next to him.
"I'll take one of the windows!" Lucy said, taking a delicate blind decorated with pink sprinkles.
"Hey, what's this?" asked Gray, holding her hand. When she stretched her arm to take the candy, her sleeve slipped, and her new bracelet became apparent. "Is it new?"
"Oh, y-yes" Lucy answered. She could feel Natsu's tension beside her. He didn't like that Gray was touching her. "Actually, Natsu gave it to me"
"What? You should have waited until Christmas, Natsu!" exclaimed Erza.
"It could only come from Flamebrain" the ice mage laughed, still holding Lucy's fingers. "With this dragon"
"It's not a Christmas gift" Natsu explained, dead serious "I gave it to Lucy to ask her to be my girlfriend"
Silence fell among them. Gray finally let go of Lucy's hand. Lucy felt her face get hot, and looked up. Everyone was looking at her in expectation.
"It's true" she confirmed. "I said yes. We meant to tell you guys. We're dating"
"Really? Oh, I'm so happy for you guys, Lucy-san!" Wendy yelled, hugging the blonde. "Right, Charle?"
"Well, they're the ones that should be happy" her friend said with a small smile.
"I'm glad to hear it" Erza said with a smile as she sipped her cocoa. "You're growing up, Natsu. Please be patient with him, Lucy"
"It's about time, too!" Gray chuckled. "Mira's gonna faint from such joy"
"I already knew" Happy bragged.
"We're very happy for the support, everyone!" Lucy exclaimed, tearing up.
"Why are you crying?" Natsu asked in disbelief.
"Because she's dating you, of course!" Gray answered, and they all laughed as Natsu got up to scream at him but left one hand on Lucy's shoulder.
They finished the gingerbread house and the cocoa among laughs and in a very happy spirit. After a couple of hours, they all began to feel sleepy.
"I think we should leave Lucy to sleep" Erza said, getting up and helping Wendy, who was almost sleeping on the couch, hugging Charle. "Thank you for having us, Lucy"
"Thank you for bringing the gingerbread house!" Lucy got up to, stretching.
"You better put on clothes, Gray, outside is much colder than here" Erza advised, putting on her coat.
"What? When did I…?" the ice mage got surprised once again to find himself without clothes.
"See you all tomorrow at the guild, everyone" Lucy waved at them as they left through the door. Erza, however, stayed behind looking at Natsu, who was still sitting on the couch.
"Natsu. We're leaving" she told him, serious.
"Yeah, bye, see you tomorrow" he answered. She didn't move. "Thank you?"
"You need to go too, you'll bother Lucy" Erza sighed.
"Oh, it's ok, Erza, I think he and Happy can spend the night" Lucy said, a little embarrassed. "They always do"
"Well, but now you two are dating" the armored mage explained. "It's not appropriated for him to stay anymore."
"You gotta be kidding me" Natsu got up from the couch, irritated. "This is none of your business, Erza!"
"Oh?" she just stared at him with her most terrifying expression, and he couldn't help tremble in fear.
"It's ok, Natsu" Lucy said, putting his coat on his shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"
She gave him a soft kiss on the lips and he walked away with Happy, disappointed.
"Sorry, Natsu, but I don't trust you alone with her just yet" said Erza, walking by his side.
"I hate you so much, Erza" he mumbled, ready to receive a punch, but she only chuckled.
"You really like her, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do"
"Then everything's going turn out ok" she assured him "Be patient. Bye!"
She waved as they parted ways, she and Wendy towards Fairy Hills and he and Happy towards the forest.
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