AN: Your guys' reviews from the last chapter were so amazing, thank you guys so much for continuing to give me so much support!
Not much else to say here, hope you enjoy!
What woke Lucy up the next morning wasn't the coaxing rays of the rising sun, nor the internal clock she had hardwired into her brain after a life full of early mornings, but the encumbering warmth that surrounded her. It had to have been there for hours, because she could feel the engravement of heat deep within her bones. The sensation probably wouldn't have bothered the average person, likening it to being deep under covers and content, but Lucy had never felt such a way. Pairing it with an intense aroma of the smell she'd come to enjoy so much, the girl knew exactly why it was so different.
A blonde head twisted up from the cozy embrace. Glittering gold lashes blinked dazedly out of their stupor to find the channel of such comforting heat. Her brown orbs took in his tan neck, a scar there, slightly lighter than the rest of him. Her gaze moved slowly upward to take in his strong jaw with the beginnings of a pink haired shadow forming, and lastly his full, partially opened lips that allowed one of his alluringly sharp canines to be on display.
That's when Lucy, struggling out of the depths of sleep, realized she was in Natsu arms. He was holding her naked body close to his own with a curled bicep caging her head under his chin.
"Mmm, Lucy..," Natsu moaned in his sleep.
Squeezing her eyes shut while trying to gather how she felt about their entanglement, Lucy stayed deathly still, barely even allowing herself to breathe. Last night had gotten pretty intense. They had continued on in the bed after Natsu flourished her body with more kisses and then forced her to cum on his lips, before he went back to her panting mouth and they made out once more. From there, their fucking started up again, but it was much slower and deeper than ever before. Lucy had ignored it, believing it was because they were probably both exhausted from the long and emotional day that ended with them dancing for hours, but thinking back on it the girl couldn't deny the way they held each other or kissed each other's body. Nor could she forget the soul numbing way Natsu looked deep into her eyes as he held her hands above her head: the look was so enrapturing it made her come apart for the last time with his name on her lips.
Her heart had beat so loud at that time, she was afraid the man could hear it. A feeling of euphoria, quick and intense but daunting at what it could mean, had forced her to look away once she came down. His lips enjoying her neck helped her succumb from her high.
She shouldn't feel like that.
He was her enemy.
Right?
Breathing out deeply, the blonde gathered her thoughts. She tried to ignore the man nuzzling her head and moaning happily into her ear, only allowing herself a second to ruminate in the feeling before slowly sitting up, careful not to wake him. Lucy only had a moment to think about the sheets falling down her bare chest before his arms, corded with tight muscle, were around her waist, pulling her quickly back to him.
"Mine," Natsu growled, voice still dark with sleep.
Lucy squeaked at his tight squeeze, flushing deep and red all the way down to her toes at his declaration. After a moment of realizing he wasn't going to wake up any time soon, Lucy allowed her eyes to drag down his sleeping form.
Actually, now just realizing it, this was the first time she had seen him sleeping in the morning. He always seemed to leave before she woke, or maybe he never actually slept with her in the first place. The thought made her eyes round as she took him in. His pink flushed locks, messy around his head, matched his tinted cheeks. She didn't think she'd ever seen him blush before either, well at least until yesterday at the diner and last night when she said something depraved, so it was still a shock to her systems even now. Her pale hand reached out before she realized it to gently rub over his tense brow, watching as it worked like an eraser to soften his features. He looked so innocent sleeping…she could almost…almost forget everything terrible he did and said to her.
Sighing, Lucy remained in her thoughts. A war continued in her heart, a very loud voice that stated she shouldn't be enjoying this. But the warmth in her chest wouldn't leave. The same warmth that she felt when she woke up. She had never been held so dearly in her recent life, especially not when she was asleep. Maybe her mother did when she was younger, but the feeling was so distant she couldn't even conjure it up if she tried. Tears beaded in her ducts despite the small upward tilt at the edge of her lips.
This man with pink hair, her kidnapper and possessor, but also her betrothed and savior, helped her remember the sensation she thought was long forgotten.
Something even her own father neglected to soothe her with.
It was all just too ridiculous.
Blinking away her cloudy vision, she could almost see herself taking him in with new eyes.
As he cuddled her slim waist closer, content to stay in dreamland for however much longer, Lucy contemplated going back to sleep herself. Her head had become heavy from the many thoughts running through it.
Just as Lucy settled herself further in the bed, the door to the room was ripped from its hinges and slammed open.
"Boss!"
Instead of pleasant sleep, Lucy was brutally startled back to full wakefulness by someone with ashen yellow hair instead. The girl screamed, tearing the sheet around her waist over her bust in record time before the grinning man could fully take her in.
"Wha…" Natsu moaned under her.
She watched as the man's smirk fell in surprise before it returned back with a vengeance, this time ten times larger. "Damn Gajeel, you didn't tell me there was gonna to be a hot babe up here!" The man leered, eyes pointedly on her barely covered chest, sheets clutching even tighter in her fists.
Petrified to a numb state of mortification, Lucy barely acknowledged Natsu roughly righting himself awake with a grunt. It wasn't until she heard his deathly growl, so chilling it made the tiny imperceptible hairs on her back stand on end that she returned to her senses. She'd never heard him sound like that before.
Lucy could only blink before Natsu had somehow teleported from the bed, to choke slam the unsuspecting intruder down onto his dresser. Distinct choking sounds filled the room as Natsu squeezed the life out of the man; she could see from the cross of his eyes and the blue tint to his cheeks that he was not going to make it if nothing happened soon.
"N-Natsu, stop!" While she didn't particularly love being ogled in the nude, the man seemed to be on friendly terms with Natsu before everything happened, enough that he was able to just walk into the man's room at least. On top of that, he also mentioned Gajeel's name, someone she definitely knew was Natsu's friend. He probably had no idea that she was going to be up here, so she didn't think he deserved to die. The blonde sat up from the bed trying to decide if she was strong enough to stop him.
"Lucy get into the bathroom…"
"B-But—"
"NOW!" He didn't give her a chance to consider it as he barked those words at her. The blonde jumped, a true fear she'd never felt from him before slinking into her skin as she took in his rage filled gaze. She tried to blink away the heat she felt in her irises, righting herself and wrapping the red sheets fully around her body before making her way to the bathroom. "I..I can't believe I thought you were different." The girl whispered as she passed by him before slamming the door shut.
Rubbing at her eyes, Lucy steeled herself from going back out into the room, praying Natsu stopped his foolishness before he actually killed the man.
She thought of ways to distract herself, letting her gaze fall onto the porcelain bath. With one last thought to the consequences of not stopping him but also remembering how her father reacted to her insolence and trying not to question if Natsu would do the same, her thoughts flashed back to the rage filled expression on his face. There was no warmth there, he was completely cold and distant. Just like the man who raised her. Lucy numbed herself completely before filling the basin with hot water.
As she sat on the lip of the bath, her ears perked, hearing Gajeel's distinct timber. Her heart calmed at the realization that she at least wouldn't be an accomplice to a murder.
She was a fool to think Natsu was any different, just because the sex was great, she shouldn't forget who he was. He was a 'grade A' manipulator. When they first met, he hurt her, he conned her, he lied. He used every tactic to get his way and he never seemed to feel any shame.
Well, that wasn't quite true.
He did apologize…as vague as it was, and in recent times she could feel the hesitation in his touch, see the regret in his gaze. However, it wasn't any different than how her father treated her after a beating, understanding his remorse when he'd stutter his words and avoid her eyes.
But did she deserve that?
Band-aid covered wounds and glossed over uncomfortable subjects?
Lucy pulled her hand through the quickly filling water, watching it ripple melancholically, the undulations making waves that matched her emotions.
Like a sorceress looking into a magical orb, there was a recognition there. A reasoning that answered back.
Her life was not meant for fairy tales. Her life was never destined to be a happy one since the day she was born into the Heartfilia family. She doesn't remember love and affection.
So,
when it was all she knew,
maybe she should just be grateful he acknowledged her pain at all.
.oOo.
"What in the fucking hell…," Gajeel wasn't expecting much after taking a leak.
Where had his unfortunate partner of the day had run off to?
Going up the stairs of the penthouse where the rooms were, he heard a large commotion. That was nothing new. The noriette knew Natsu hated being rudely awoken so early in the morning, it was fuckin' common knowledge, so Jackal was just asking for it.
No, none of that stuttered his steps or made him pick up speed from his lazy stroll in hopes to see his angered boss. However, the yell of the bunny girl's name said boss had growled out, as well as the clamber of a broken lamp falling onto the floor, had his skin prickling in anticipation and finally got his ass in gear.
When he rounded the corner and walked into the room to see the pinkette nude—not his favorite sight-holding his dumb ass companion down by the jugular and extremely angry, he knew damage control had to be enacted and quick.
Despite how tense the situation was when he walked into the room, all it took was for Gajeel to put a tense hand on Natsu's shoulder, adrenaline rushing him to do so as Jackal's life was on the line. He overlooked the man being butt ass naked for the moment, and waited for Natsu to calm down enough to recoil his grasp. The tense set of his shoulders and the darkened glare he kept on Jackal's wheezing face was the only evidence that there was an altercation in the first place.
Gajeel quickly let go of his own grip on the pink-haired man's shoulder, wanting to touch him as little as possible in this state. He didn't know what to say—or if he should say anything for that matter, only staring dumbly at the two, trying to gather the fact that Jackal almost got taken out. Granted, it shouldn't be too surprising when his intention was to rudely wake his short-tempered boss anyway, but fuck-damn Natsu truly wasn't holding back.
"Get the fuck out, before I kill you." Natsu finally spoke, baring his teeth through the words and cutting the heavy silence that had settled on the room as Jackal slowly righted his breathing.
Jackal released his neck from soothing it, to sit up with a light glare of his own. The purpling bruise tightly wound around his neck made even Gajeel suck on his teeth, watching the man flush with indignant anger of his own as he got off the dresser and moved to do as told.
Trying to diffuse the situation—or maybe it was because of his own crass personality, Gajeel gave him his own farewell, "I told your fire-cracking ass not to bust in here." He chuckled lowly.
Jackal looked back at the man, seeming to realize he was in the wrong even if Natsu went overboard, and rubbed the back of his neck, "Fuck you, ya giant metal-licking asshole."
Gajeel guffawed at that, throwing the man the finger before directing his attention back to the pinkette. Remembering why they had come here in the first place, Gajeel watched as the man walked shamelessly to his closet before throwing open the door. "Hey—"
"Clean that shit up." Natsu cut him off, referring to the broken pieces of the unfortunate lamp before he disappeared into the closet.
Gajeel allowed himself to be stunned only for a second at the turn of events before cursing to himself about how it wasn't even his damn fault and obediently picking the pieces up anyway.
By the time he was done, Natsu had remerged from the space back into the room, finally and thankfully clothed.
"I'm assumin' you're here 'cause something came up at the base?" Natsu questioned, finally calming himself enough to speak.
He watched Gajeel's annoyed face crinkle further, probably realizing Natsu was astute enough that he didn't have to come and deal with this shit at all. Hindsight really was 20/20.
"If you knew that much, why didn'cha answer the calls Jellal made last night?" Gajeel growled, finally getting up from his crouch as the last of the lamp pieces was thrown away.
Rolling up the sleeves of his white button-up so that it cuffed below his wrist, Natsu gifted him with a clipped answer. "I was busy." He ignored Gajeel's incredulous face in order to pull a black belt through the loops of his tailored dress pants, the length of which just ending at his ankles and showing off his tall stature. Next, he slipped on Gancini black loafers and tightened a leather strapped Bvlgari watch around his wrists. He tried to dress semi decent today knowing that he was going to have to make a visit, but since it wasn't to the office, he didn't have to wear a full-blown suit.
Finding more interest in watching the birds fly about outside the open windows of the balcony than his irritating boss, Gajeel continued on. "Well, ya probably want to come now. It's important enough for me to come here and ya know how much I hate to make house calls. Is bunny girl coming with you?"
Hearing an overly familiar moniker for Lucy made Natsu's jaw tick. He really fucked up with the blonde, no matter how justified he felt. While this worked in his favor as he'd been pushing in the direction for her to hate him since the beginning, yesterday had started to lead him onto the fact that maybe that's not what he truly wanted at all…
He didn't mean to yell at Lucy and scare her, but feelings he never felt before in relation to her made him lose control. He just…he couldn't have other men threatening his space, even if it was an underling. As crazy as it sounded, a rage he hadn't felt since his father died had taken over, and almost made him black out and kill the man.
Even crazier was that he honestly would have done it. At that moment, Jackal's life meant nothing to him. The years he put into the business and the loyalty he'd shown until then didn't matter. All he saw was a man's desire for someone he claimed as his, and then he felt his implicit desire to eradicate him.
It was a scary feeling, that was for fucking sure.
Sure, he'd been dead set on ending someone's life before, especially after his father's death. He had also made a name for himself as an 'END bringer' even before that. But the thing was, he was always able to differentiate between friend and foe even on his darkest days. This time was obviously different.
Anyone and everyone could be a foe if they came between him and Lucy.
The thought was fucking crazy. Why did he feel that way?
Lust didn't make a man go blind with rage. Could it?
With his fists tightening at the thought, Natsu turned back to the other man, "Yeah, we'll bring her with us. The girls can keep her occupied while I talk to everyone."
A distinct hiccup coming from the bathroom broke their conversation causing Natsu to quickly direct his attention to the door and Gajeel to raise a studded brow at him.
"Not to pry, but uh ya should probably fix whatever that is before we go to base. We've been getting word that senior Heartfilia hasn't been seen in public for a while, so whatever they find might be about him." Natsu's eyes darted heatedly back at the man, his muscles tensing at the implication as memories flooded back of his own father's disappearance.
"It's not that simple." Before he realized it, he'd opened up. Gajeel seemed just as surprised as he was, going by his expression and stalled response.
Clearing his throat, the heavily pierced male gathered himself enough to answer. "Look, I've only talked to bunny girl a handful of times, but if she's anything like her shrimp friend she's probably as delicate as all hell. I know you're more of the pump and dump type, but women are much more fragile than ya think. I'm not the nicest guy around either, but ya can't just yell at her all the time and expect to get something sweet in return. That mysterious shit doesn't last long, and they usually move on if you have the emotional capacity of a brick wall…" Realizing his rant was sounding a little sappy, Gajeel coughed before grunting out the last bit. "I..I'm speaking from experience here."
"Right." Natsu intoned, leaning on the syllables to show his disbelief at the man's wise words. Arms crossed matching his own. Their conversation was as awkward as imagined, and he could tell by Gajeel's shuffling that he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment.
Throwing pride to the wind with potential to lose intimidation points in order to relay decent advice, the noriette finished off with what he thought Natsu should hear. "I'm obviously in no position to tell ya what to do, nor do I wanna...But just think about it. You and I both know she ain't the one who deserves this mess. Hell, the fact alone that you're listening to a word I'm saying and not punching my nose in shows ya care about her more than yer letting on." Gajeel snorted.
Natsu growled, "Who's to say I won't when you're done?" The threat was clear in his bared teeth, canines sharp and eyes wild.
Gajeel sucked on his teeth, popping his neck before turning around and walking to the door. He mumbled some choice words under his breath but knew better than to speak up even if picking a fight with his boss used to be a pastime. "I said what I said." He finished, pulling back open the door. "I've got Makao downstairs for you whenever yer ready." Noticing the confusion in Natsu's narrowed brows, Gajeel added on, "Jellal told me to bring him." The burly haired man walked out after that, quick to avoid more of his boss's ire.
"Fucking bastard." Natsu sighed, scrubbing his hands through his hair as he considered what he had to do.
Hearing the water slosh in the bathroom, Natsu knew he at least had to speak to her and let her know what was going on.
Walking towards the bathroom with every intent to just barge in, at the last second, Natsu recoiled his hand from the knob and instead used it to knock. Delicate. "Luce, can I come in?"
There were a couple sniffles before an answer came. "I'm naked." She replied, her voice thick with tears.
"And…" He didn't mean to sound so impatient, but considering they went at it all night, that was a piss poor excuse. It wasn't her first time being overly conscious of her nakedness after they had a night together though...so maybe it was just a woman thing.
Changing up his tone once he realized that fact, Natsu tried again. Fragile. "Never mind." Sighing Natsu continued on, grudgingly settling for talking through a fucking door. "Look, what happened earlier. I didn't mean to yell at you Luce…I don't know what came over me. I just couldn't let him see you like that, and—"
"Why? Because I'm one of your possessions? Because you own me?"
"Yeah—NO! I mean, maybe? Technically I did buy you—" the sound of Lucy's continued crying stopped him dead in his blunder, "Okay, okay, here's the thing. You're my partner from now on. Not a slave or an object." Natsu sighed, trying to order his thoughts, "At least that's how I view our relationship. I plan to marry you and have kids of course. I don't expect there to be love between us or for you to even like me, but I WILL protect you. At all costs. Don't ever forget that." Natsu growled. "I've just, never done this before…"
Huffing Natsu slapped his head against the frosted glass door. Coming up with the proper thing to say was hard. He's never been in a situation like this with anyone, it's to no one's surprise he was hard pressed with what to say. "When you're done getting dressed, we gotta leave in an hour. I have some things to do at the base, alright?"
"…Okay."
Hearing her compliance was enough. There were other things he knew he needed to say, but his pride wouldn't let him. Plus, how did he know she wouldn't turn out like the rest? Just because she could understand him better than anyone else could, and she fucked well didn't mean anything. Gajeel be damned, this is the way things have always worked for him. Steeling his emotions and rolling with the punches.
True, thinking on it a little more and hearing Lucy cry made him realize he didn't want her to necessarily hate him anymore, but he knew what they had was nowhere near healthy enough for a normal relationship. He was about to fucking kill someone just for looking at her for fucks sake. Really, all he could do at this point was form the broken pieces of their lives into something and hope it wasn't an abomination.
At least, that's what he told himself. Eyes stinging, and fists clenching as he turned away from the door.
.oOo.
The drive to Natsu's base was tense at best. Instead of the pink haired man driving like he normally would, a man by the name of Makao drove them instead. He was nice enough, chatting them up as the silence loomed as if he didn't notice it. His cheery disposition allowed Lucy to ignore his not-so-sneaky glances at her chest in the rearview, however, that was quickly nipped to the bud when Makao took his last glance in the rearview and caught Natsu's sharp gaze instead.
Lucy rolled her eyes.
When that seemed to pass, Natsu and Lucy were left to their thoughts. Sitting in the back of the Maybach, each on their respective side of the seat, as far away from each other as they could possibly get.
You wouldn't think with the current atmosphere, that last night they had the most intimate, mind blowing sex of their lives.
Lucy's lip wobbled, biting it to staunch her quickly rising emotions. Even with everything that happened, she couldn't bring herself to hate Natsu like she was so easily able to in tough moments like this before. Instead, she was forced to face her changing opinion of the man, and it didn't help that he showed remorse for the things he did. Expecting a gruff grunt like always, she was surprised he tried to make amends at all. However, just like she thought in the bathroom, that doesn't mean he'd changed, and it certainly didn't mean he wouldn't do something to hurt her again.
How did she feel about Natsu now?
She didn't know. Looking at him from the corner of her eye, dressed like the handsome young business mogul he was, Lucy took note of her racing heart and sweating palms. As if he always knew when her attention was on him, green eyes flashed to her own, instantly making her heart seize and a small warmth to settle in her gut.
When Natsu cocked a brow, Lucy turned away tersely, breathing deeply to try and gather herself.
Her reaction could mean a number of things and they all didn't necessarily point to infatuation. She could have been worried about him noticing her inspection, for one, and her body reacted that way because of nerves.
But as her heart continued to pound, and the memories of his intimate gaze weaved through her mind, she knew that wasn't quite it.
Slowly, a deep pout formed at her lips.
"Luce," a rough timber spoke in the stilled air of the car after a moment.
Looking up quickly, Lucy realized it was Natsu, watching him clear his throat and nod towards the car door to show his intentions. "We're here."
After helping her out of the car, Natsu walked Lucy up to what she could only describe as a normal looking bar. Truly, there was nothing unusual about it as it stood between a coffee shop and a bakery. Further down the road, Lucy could see some well talked about clubs on campus that even Levy mentioned in passing, but most confusing of all was the Magnolia Police Department a little farther down! While watching people happily milling about in front of the bar, Lucy could hardly believe the headquarters to their criminal exploits was in an up-in-coming newly developed part of town.
The only thing ostentatious about the building was the large sign above the front that had sharp peaks and curves. It took the blonde a second to realize that it was the same symbol she saw tattooed on Natsu's bicep, Gray's chest, and Gajeel's arm. It was the symbol of their group, so powerful that just the hint of the markings alone had people up and running with fear.
Before Lucy could question it all, Natsu seemed to anticipate her confusion, but instead of replying vocally he settled for a rugged smile and a flirty wink.
Well, it seemed his amusement killed all the awkwardness between them.
With an easy push of his shoulder against the front door, Makao led them into the residence and Lucy was completely floored. The place was packed! And it was only noon on top of that! Corner to corner, there were people cheerily socializing and drinking. Their driver for the day waved and guffawed with what looked to be regular patrons while they ambled farther in. Lucy was hardly able to take in anyone's face enough to recognize them as there were too many people who passed by her. Looking back up at Natsu, who had moved to rest his warm hand on her waist, had her zeroing in on the stoic detached look on his face. The expression wasn't completely cold, but it still gave her a small amount of surprise as she realized in just the one day that they'd spent with each other, that she had gotten accustomed to his emotive expressions. Going back to his brick-like façade pained her more than she was willing to admit.
Despite the cluster of people, it didn't take long for them to get to the main bar, everyone seeming to know not to get in Natsu's way and yet not showing enough familiarity to speak to him.
Natsu nodded to a large hulking man in the corner of the room whose skin was so deep it was almost purple. He then disappeared from sight just as quickly as she noticed him.
"Hohoho, look who's here! And with his honey I presume that we've heard so much about~." Lucy looked back at the bar to see a buxom brunette with auburn eyes and a devilish smile. The best way Lucy could describe her with looks alone was carefree and sexy. Later on, she would learn that was pretty much the woman's perfect description. From her head down to her toes she was a force to be reckoned with. The woman wore nothing but a gold and green bikini top and as she hopped on the length of the bar with sultry ease, Lucy was able to take in her long tan legs and hip hugging jean booty shorts with bedazzles on the pockets along with a gold belly chain to complement it.
"Heya toots, what's your name?" Her voice was charming yet had a slurred accent to it that hinted that she had been drinking although Lucy couldn't tell anywhere else. Her expression was completely calm, and she moved with assuredness that even a sober person would have a hard time replicating.
Lucy was so taken aback by the woman, she couldn't even answer, blinking at her owlishly instead.
"Cana, this is Lucy. Lucy, Cana." Natsu tilted his head in acknowledgement of the woman but made no further moves to greet her.
Narrowing her almond eyes, the woman leaned in closer to Natsu making Lucy's palms sweat and her shoulders to tense. Without her even noticing, her body naturally pressed more into the pink haired man as well.
"Hmm, you seem different, boss."
Natsu only raised a brow at the woman and tightened his hold on Lucy's waist. He didn't take the bait by gifting her with a worded answer.
"Meh, maybe it's just a trick of the light." She snickered, seemingly gotten what she wanted.
"Lucy?" Lucy and Cana looked to her right to see who had called the girl's name. The blonde became totally blind sighted at that point when she saw the older Strauss.
"Mira?"
And the youngest right along with her. Lisanna?
"Lucy! How are you!" The white-haired upperclassman was just as beautiful as always if not even more so. Standing behind the bar, Lucy could only assume she worked here. It wasn't too far out of the realm of possibility if what Gray said about Elfman working for Natsu was to be believed. She just thought Mira would have focused purely on being a model and business owner than be a part of any sticky situations.
"I'm good, it's great to see you Mira! It's been too long." She answered with a genuine smile despite her surprise. Mira grasped her hands across the bar with a meaningful squeeze before letting the girl go with a happy giggle. Chancing a glance at the younger Strauss once more, sitting on the bar stool in front of her sister, Lucy somehow got out a greeting. "H-Hello Lisanna."
The girl only pulled her lip up a smidge in what was supposed to be a smile, but came off as more of a sneer.
"Hey Natsu." She quickly greeted, ignoring Lucy completely.
Without missing a beat, Natsu got down to business. "Cana, I need you to take a break at the bar and keep Lucy busy. Let Mira and Laki handle the tending for now." The blonde in question rose her brows at hearing the arrangements for the first time herself. "I have to talk to Guildarts and the others about some things, so I won't be back for an hour. Good? Great."
"Righty-ho, Mr. Bossman!" Spinning around on her hips, she slid back behind the bar and followed down the line of it with Natsu as he pulled Lucy by her bicep behind him.
Once again, he didn't have to worry about anyone getting in his way until they finally met up with Cana at the bar's opening.
"I'd prefer if you kept her in the lounge to meet the other girls or even take her to the library if she wants. Luce likes to read," Lucy's mouth continued to gape like a fish in her shock looking up to Natsu and almost getting out a stuttered question on how he knew that before she was cut off. "If ya have time before I come back, get Lisanna the fuck out of here. Mira knows better than to bring her around right now, so I'll talk to her myself if she isn't gone by then."
With that, Natsu gave one last, almost comforting look Lucy's way that she could see if she peered behind his tough stoicism, before letting go of her arm and walking in the same direction as the man Lucy had noted earlier...
"Soo~, Boss is pretty hot right?"
"Um, uh..if you-I mean, if you're into the dark brooding type, I guess. Um...what?" Lucy flubbed over her words.
Cana snickered, enjoying the dark tint to Lucy's cheeks a little too much as she licked her lips. Before Lucy knew it, she was being pressed deep into a pillowy chest. "Oh, you're so cute!"
Lucy took a deep breath of air when she was finally released. "That's not good though Lu-Lu, the girls you're about to meet eat men alive for breakfast. They're nothing at all like Mira and I." With a leering grin, Cana took her in once more from head to toe. "You're definitely dressed the part of a bad bitch, but even I can smell the innocence on you. Natsu hasn't fucked you enough to get rid of it yet?" At the tomato like hue that completely took over the blonde's face, Cana laughed hard enough to lean over the bar for support.
Barely noticing the nickname Cana used that was identical to Levy's, Lucy pondered on everything else the fiery brunette said instead. Lucy didn't know how a bad bitch—as Cana put it, dressed but she guessed her clothing choice was a little more risqué than normal. In fact, over the time that she had left her father's house, her clothes got progressively more and more revealing as she appreciated the new facet of freedom and the fact that Natsu never minded. Truthfully, he encouraged her to dress how she wanted, if the strappy excuse for an outfit he picked for her the night after coming back to his home was anything to go by. And every outfit since he seemed to enjoy in one way or another.
Today, the blonde had her tailbone length hair straight all the way down her back and parted in the middle hiding her bangs. On her curvaceous body, she wore a tight bodycon gray and pink plaid mini dress that emphasized her small waist and voluptuous hips and chest. She paired it all well with white thigh highs and matching pink short heels.
"You're definitely one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen which means a lot considering I bartend the most popular bar in Magnolia." Cana giggled, at the surprise on Lucy's face. "The fact that Natsu left you alone with me even though he knows I love beautiful women more than I love sexy men, means more than you know."
The memory of Natsu tensing when Cana leaned forward came back to mind realizing then that he wasn't protecting himself at that moment and Lucy choked, her mind reeling from too many things including the absolute lack of a filter on Cana's words. She partially found it relieving and mortifying at the same time. She definitely never had a female friend like her before.
With little time for Lucy to think on Cana's words, the woman had her by the wrist and pulled her in the same direction Natsu had gone. They made their way to the quiet corner away from the chaos of the front of the house until they were in a darkened hallway. It was almost eerie how silent it became as they walked further down the hall. There were no windows to the outside, so the only light was thanks to the dim light bulbs that hung from the ceiling. As Cana continued to drag her to their destination, Lucy wasn't able to take in much of the walls outside of them being darkly painted, helping the threatening mood. After a few minutes more of them walking briskly, they finally stopped at a door. It was bland looking and blended into the walls, giving nothing away as to what most likely lied behind it.
Assuming Cana would quickly open it, Lucy was taken by surprise when the woman rounded on her instead. "Okay Lucy, I know I mentioned it earlier, but I really mean it now. You're the boss's girl and that means a lot here. These women hardly like each other and they don't even see each other as competition. You on the other hand, have taken something they all desperately want. I noticed the air between you and Lisanna so I'm sure you're used to it." Cana snorted with a grin.
"About that…" Lucy sighed.
To ease Lucy's worries, Cana took the girl's other hands and squeezed them comfortingly in her palms. "Don't worry too much. Lisanna is the most self-sabotaging of the bunch, these ladies won't do anything to you that would get them on Natsu's bad side... besides seeing if they can shake you up a little. You're really cute though, so that might dissuade them despite what I thought earlier." Cana peered at Lucy's nervous expression thoughtfully. "Yep! Ignore everything I said before I got here. Just keep acting like you are and try to relax. If I can see why Boss likes you so much and we've barely talked, I'm sure they will too."
With that pep talk, Cana finally turned around with a chuckle and damn near busted open the door. "Heya ladies, come join me for a drink as we get to know the new member of Tartaros!"
'Oh boy,' Lucy blanched. Today was going to be a lot harder than she thought.
.oOo.
'Fucking hell,' Today was going to be a shit ton harder than he thought.
As soon as Natsu left Lucy in Cana's clutches, a decision the man warred over longer than he'd like to admit, he was off to find Guildarts. He initially wanted to leave Lucy with Mira but as soon as he walked in the bar and sensed that Lisanna was with her, he knew that was a no go. Laki wouldn't have been a bad impromptu babysitter but saw as soon as Cana had her sights on his partner that the woman would have manipulated Laki into giving her up anyway. At least if Mira was available, he knew Cana wouldn't even dare, almost more scared of the woman than Erza.
It also didn't help that Lucy looked good today, well she always looked amazing, but today she didn't hold back at all and it made him antsy to leave her alone with the bar dwellers. He hoped that seeing him walk in with her on his arm would hold most of them back and if not, that Cana had some sense to leave the main area and actually take Lucy to where he told her to.
It irritated him the amount of anxiety he felt leaving her, but he knew this meeting was important and bringing her with him would cause more problems than what Cana could get her into. At least he hoped.
Thinking back on the way Lucy dressed, he could honestly say he liked it, and not just because of the obvious that had him trying to figure out the most effective way to get her back into the bedroom, but because it was clearly something she wanted to do. While Natsu had a very strict idea of how he wanted their relationship to be, he never wanted Lucy to lose herself along the way. He wanted her to have her friends, have her life, and continue her major. Achieve the goals she wanted long before her father put his foot down and dictated every movement she made. He wanted her to continue on like she wanted, he just needed her to know that he would now be a part of that. To the public they needed to be a happily married couple and he obviously needed an heir to continue on his father's legacy. Outside of that, he didn't give a damn what she did as long as she didn't cheat. That and reneging on their agreement were two things he would not loosen up on.
At the time, he felt like that kind of scandal would be too easy of a thing for the public to find out, but now…he realized his own personal feelings might also hate the idea of her with another man. His demands seemed so simple in his mind but thinking back on the way he went about it he could see how Lucy perceived it the way she did. He was an asshole through and through.
So now, with the truth lying ahead of her father's actual position in this whole clusterfuck, Natsu knew he was going to have to make some tough decisions, and soon.
Rounding the lengthy hall to a set of double doors at the end, Natsu finally opened them and set his mind straight to get down to business.
In the room, the most apparent thing was the floor to ceiling glass wall open to the Cloud Sea and its unending horizon. In front of such an immaculate view was a long table similar to the likes of which you would see in a boardroom. Already, some of the key members of his illustrious gang were already sitting and waiting for the meeting to start.
"Hey, Natsu! Nice of you to join us!" Just the man he needed to see walked up to Natsu's side, a glass of aged Cognac already in hand.
Giving the older man but a fleeting glance, Natsu stole the drink from the man's hands and walked authoritatively into the room. Without a word he made his presence known.
"Hey! That was mine—"
"It seems whatever you all have to say to me today was important enough to get Jackal here almost killed, so let's cut the chatter and get down to it."
The room quickly quieted and every head in the room seemed to turn towards the still indignantly fuming man.
He knew he could seethe all he wanted, but it was mostly for show. He wouldn't dare cross their leader.
In the large room, seeming larger with so few members present in it, sat Jellal, Gray, Gajeel, Lamy, a large and imposing blonde named Laxus, a man with hair as black as night and probably as dark as his soul named Mard Geer, Erza, who was still remote and set up on a video conference from a tablet screen, the aforementioned Jackal, Guildarts, huffily making his way with a new glass of his drink to his seat, and Torafuzar, the man Lucy noticed earlier and who announced to everyone Natsu was on his way whom was standing at the door.
This was his main team of operations, as well as the head of intel, Lamy, and the head of covert operations and legislated punishment, Mard Geer. They would tell everyone else under their sect about the meeting and the decisions to be enacted because of it. Rarely did Natsu set up a meeting with everyone there, choosing to pick a specific area of business to talk to or have the head of each group in the meeting so they could tell the rest later. It was only if it was structurally altering news that would force everything to be made anew (like his father being murdered and Natsu taking over) that would make such a large meeting necessary.
"It's nice seeing you again Erza. I hope our next meeting will be in person and on lighter terms."
"Natsu," Ezra smiled through the screen, "I hope so as well."
"Now, like I said I don't really want to waste time here. What did you guys find out?" With his mind fully settled and all thoughts of Lucy out the door, Natsu knew his command wouldn't go unheeded with the tone he used in his voice. In the presence of this group, he was their leader and each and every one of them knew what he was capable of. The power that rolled off of him in waves was felt even without magic or sorcery.
Clearing his throat, Jellal, the usual spokesperson started off for everyone. "Two weeks ago today, Jude Heartfilia announced to the public that he would be going on a vacation because his darling daughter Lucy Heartfilia was off to college. Very little photos have been posted of the business tycoon leaving his house until a few days later when he was escorted with his entourage including a certain Jose Porla onto a private plane. Their destination, Bosco. An odd choice to many, over well-known vacation spots like Hosenka, Cedar and the City of Morgate that wealthy people typically go to."
Natsu took a large drag of his Cognac, he already knew most of what Jellal was saying but understood he had to paint the picture for the rest of the team before he gave them the final news.
"I say all of this to say, that Jude Heartfilia is not where he says he is. Not even close."
AN: So what did you guys think? Natsu and Lucy's relationship is definitely progressing, but is it in a positive or negative direction? I really wanted to put an emphasis on the complexity of Natsu and Lucy's situation and not just fly by it. They truly did slap a bandage on their problems, but is that the best of what can be done for something that started out so toxic? Also, where's Jude?
I hope you guys anticipate the coming chapters, we're definitely getting to the hill of this story.
