Chapter 10
"It's unrequited love. She'll never love you back," Lisanna patted Loke's shoulder. "Just like Natsu will never love me the way I want him to. We're only good friends. That's it. That's all there is to it."
"You… I… I just want Lucy to be happy." Loke sighed and looked up towards the sky. "I want to be happy to, though."
Lisanna smiled and stared towards the sky. "I know. As my older sister tells me, everything will work it's magic in time. We'll all end up with our happy endings. It just might not be what we think it will be."
The door to the roof burst open as Lucy ran outside, tears streaming down her face. She didn't even glance towards the two once before running towards the other side of the roof. She disappeared from sight around the other side of the building entrance. The two could hear her sniffles.
Lisanna nudged Loke. "Maybe," she muttered to him, "you could go over there and console her with whatever is wrong?"
Loke nodded. He stood up from where they sat and walked out of Lisanna's sight. Lisanna moved to be by the door to listen to the conversation, knowing full well that she probably shouldn't be. But something told her she'd be interested in their conversation.
"Luce…" Loke said. "Is everything okay?"
A few sniffles came from Lucy.
"Can I sit here with you?"
After a moment, Lisanna heard Loke sit down next to Lucy.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I just… I don't… I don't want to see Natsu anymore right now…"
"Do you want to enlighten me why?"
Another moment of silence passed, then some more sniffles. Lucy finally spoke, "The way he looks at Lisanna and the way she looks at him… They're… they must be…"
Loke sighed. "They've just been friends since Elementary school. What makes you think…"
"I saw Lisanna kiss Natsu."
Loke remained silent while Lucy bawled. Lisanna, on the other hand, exited the rooftop. She had, in fact, confessed to Natsu and kissed him a few days before. But, he had not kissed her back. He had pushed her away and calmly told her that he loved Lucy.
"You were just both so dense…. But I think in that moment, Loke took it upon himself to protect you from Natsu and the heartbreak that he thought would ensue. I tried to talk to Loke after that, asking him to stop shielding you from Natsu. And to allow you both to talk to each other, but Loke… well, I'm sure by now you know how stubborn he was."
Lucy stared at the coffee cup in front of her. Levy sat to her side, Lisanna sat opposite her, Erza sitting to Lisanna's left. Lucy looked up from her coffee cup to look at Lisanna. "He wouldn't let me even see Natsu… We weren't in the same classes either so that made it a bit easier…"
Lisanna nodded. "Loke had asked me that one time I tried to talk some sense into him, and I told him the truth. That I had formally been rejected by Natsu. I totally expected it, too. I just didn't expect you to see my confession. That was supposed to be private…"
Silence surrounded the group for a moment.
Lisanna looked towards the door of the coffee shop. "We dated for some time starting in college. I got pregnant. We tried to make it work for Kairi, but we just couldn't. So, we coparent now. We called it quits after the Levy and Gajeel's wedding because we knew it just wasn't working out between us." A solemn smile appeared on Lisanna's face. "He's never really been mine."
No one in the rest of the group said a word, really not sure what to say.
Right as Lucy opened her mouth to speak, Lisanna pushed her chair back and stood up. "It's about time I head out. Today is one of my days with Kairi and I need to pick her up from Natsu's."
"Thank you for talking to me," Lucy said.
"Of course. I just wish we had gotten to know each other more during school. Maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this then." Lisanna smiled at Lucy. "You're also welcome to visit Kairi anytime. She told me she absolutely loves your stories."
Lucy smiled softly and nodded.
They three remaining at the table sat silent for a while.
"Well, there you have it." Erza broke the silence.
"The truth," Levy chimed in.
Lucy stood up from her own chair, fiddling with her engagement ring. "Looks like it's time I talk to Loke about this. He's back today from his business trip."
"If you need a place to stay after your conversation, give one of us a call, okay?"
Lucy nodded. "I will. I most definitely will."
A/N: It's been a hot minute folks. I know. I know. 6 years from the last time I updated. Life has just been so busy! But anyway… I'm here now and we're getting to the truth of what really happened during high school for Natsu and Lucy. A misunderstanding? That just got perpetuated? I definitely don't know what that's like at all… Ah yes. Youth. Well, anway… I hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter. I'm going to try to actually finish this as a part of nanowrimo so I can officially call this project that I started so long ago done! And who knows… maybe it will give me inspiration for my next work of fiction. Anyway… Until next chapter!