. Jump Then Fall .
"I like the way you sound in the morning.
We're on the phone, and without a warning,
I realize your laugh is the best sound
I have ever heard.
~x~
I like the way I can't keep my focus.
I watch you talk, you didn't notice.
I hear the words, but all I can think is
We should be together.
Every time you smile, I smile,
And every time you shine, I'll shine for you."
~ "Jump Then Fall" by Taylor Swift
As the weeks danced past, Natsu grew more and more concerned about Lucy. Winter began to fade away, but Lucy looked as if she'd been standing out in the cold for weeks as she trudged into the kitchen. It had been another rough night for her, he knew. It was more often than not a rough night for Lucy Heartfilia, actually. He felt horrible about it - mostly because he found that he was having the most pleasant dreams.
She blinked at the sight of him standing in her kitchen, already halfway through a cup of coffee he'd prepared in her coffee machine. "When'd you get here?" she demanded, squinting at him. Deep dark shadows were resting beneath her eyes, he noticed with a frown. He didn't like that at all.
He beamed at her. "Sting said you kept waking up and he could hear you but had to be up, so I climbed in through your window. You should really lock them." He paused, then added, "Happy's here, too." Happy had offered some helpfulness during his trial period, though it had faded off. He paused and then hastily said, "I made you coffee," in the hopes that Lucy wouldn't be too angry with him for breaking in.
But she said nothing, merely sighed and took the coffee from him with mumbled gratitude.
They stood there in silence for a few moments, Natsu watching her out of the corner of his eye. He was worried, truly worried, about his friend. "Call out," he said, and she glanced at him, confused. "Call Yukino or Mira or Lisanna and tell them you're not going in today. Call out sick."
"I can't," she protested. "I'm tired, not sick. And there's a shipment coming in today-"
Natsu set his coffee aside and braced his hands on his hips, staring Lucy down. "Call out," he repeated firmly. He nearly ordered it with his tone of voice, and Lucy puffed up angrily. "Luce," he said, reaching out and gently touching one of those shadows. "You're gonna hurt yourself. You need to try and get some more sleep-"
Panic shot through her features. "No. I don't want to sleep any more. I'll just see people dying again-"
He felt a stab of sympathy for that. But he still cut her off and said firmly, "You're going to get some more sleep." He'd make her, too. Even if he preferred having fun and enjoying spending time with her, she needed to sleep. She needed to look to her health before him, and he'd ensure that it happened, too. Even if it meant tying her down to do so.
Lucy changed tactics, throwing him a furious glare instead, and slammed her coffee down. "Get out of my apartment," she seethed, and he settled into a defensive stance. He wasn't about to budge. "Get out."
"No."
"I'll scream until Sting comes in and drags you out," she threatened darkly.
Natsu folded his arms, staring Lucy down. She glared right back up at him, and he couldn't help but think that her attempt at looking scary was dragged down by the fact that he could see her practically trembling with exhaustion. "Sting's the one who called me here," he pointed out and Lucy snarled in frustration.
Natsu softened a bit when she just gave up and stared at him pleadingly. "Sleep on the couch," he said. "I'll sit with you until you wake up. You said Happy helped, so I won't move an inch." He might even take a nap himself. He was tired from getting up and breaking in. Natsu gave her a bright grin when she sighed heavily and ran her hands down her face, giving in. "C'mon," he said, offering a hand. She reluctantly took it, and he curled his fingers around hers.
He took a moment - just a moment - to study her hand in his. His hand was so much larger than hers, and was calloused where hers were soft. He liked them. He quickly moved on, however, and Natsu flashed her a warm look as he tugged her towards the living room. He grinned when she began to yawn, already shutting down.
"I have to call the bakery," she protested as she was pushed down onto the couch. She stared up at him sleepily. Natsu ruffled her hair playfully and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
"I'll do it right now. Lay down," he said, climbing onto the couch beside her. It was large enough that he could take up an entire cushion by himself and she could stretch out if she put her feet in his lap.
He was expecting her to do that.
Not to simply sprawl out with her head near his hip, her fingers latching onto the cloth of the sweatpants he'd donned before leaving his house in the middle of the night. He blinked, flustered, and she was too tired to react in any way. She closed her eyes, and within moments, was out like a light.
"That was fast," Natsu said a bit hoarsely, eyeing her. He hesitated, and then gently touched her head, feeling the silky strands of golden hair that had yet to be brushed out that day. He settled down, shuffling through his phone's contacts until he found a useful number. He didn't have the Strauss' numbers, nor did he have Yukino's or another employee's.
But he did have Levy's number, and he dialed it without hesitation, knowing that she'd be up despite the early hour.
Levy answered immediately. "Hello?" she said, sounding distracted. Natsu touched Lucy's hair again as he shifted the phone to his other ear.
"Hi, Levy," he said lowly, keeping his voice quiet. "It's Natsu."
"Natsu!" she said, alarmed. "Is everything okay?"
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?" She muttered something he didn't catch, so he just moved on. "Could you call Mira or someone important at the Heartfilia Bakery and let 'em know that Lucy's not going in today? She's taking a sick day."
"Is she okay?" fretted Levy immediately. "Does she need me to stop by?"
Someone was a worrier. "Lucy's fine," Natsu reassured, stroking her hair almost mindlessly. It was really soft, and he understood then what she'd meant when she'd said his own was fun to play with. He could have sat there for hours just touching her hair. Not that such a thought was creepy or anything… "She's just doing really bad on sleep because of dreams, so I'm making her take a day off so she can try and catch up on it. I'm hanging out, so you don't need to come by or anything."
Levy puffed out a breath of air. "You're sure? I can take time off if I need to, and Gajeel wouldn't mind if I cancelled our lunch later…"
"Yes, he would," said Natsu bluntly. He remembered his cousin admitting to Wendy the night before that he had something nice planned for the couple's lunch that day. "Don't cancel on him."
"If you're sure…" Levy sighed softly. "Thank you for taking care of her, Natsu. I'll probably stop by later today anyways. I've been meaning to come hang out with her, and if she's taking time off, this evening would be fantastic." He could hear her fidgeting with something as she added, "Does Gajeel and Wendy know where you are?"
"Yep." He'd left a note hanging on the fridge. Not that it worried them so much nowadays when he vanished in the middle of the night. They knew exactly where he'd be now that he'd done it a thousand times. "And punch Gajeel if he says otherwise."
"I'm not going to punch him, I can't even see where his face is," Levy pointed out with a dry laugh. Natsu found himself grinning until she said softly, "If she says anything weird, you'll call me?"
"I guess? Lucy says weird things all of the time though," he told her, glancing down at the subject of their conversation.
"I mean anything truly odd," said Levy impatiently.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll call."
"Thank you, Natsu." She bid him farewell and then hung up.
Rolling his eyes at Levy's odd questions, Natsu carefully reached out to drop his phone onto the coffee table and settled back, yawning himself. He gently ran his fingers through Lucy's hair a few more times. His head throbbed almost painfully and he winced, annoyed. Maybe he needed to go to the doctor, he thought as he rested his head back, closing his eyes. He'd been getting headaches a lot recently, although he wasn't sure what to tell them since it only really happened around Lucy.
It wasn't long before Natsu had dozed off, his fingers still tangled in Lucy's hair.
When Lucy woke up, she was absolutely astonished for several reasons.
For one, there'd been little to no dreaming at all. What little there had been had even been pleasant - full of warmth and comfort. She'd recalled arms curled protectively around her, laughter in her ear, and upon waking, she felt that something was within arm's reach - something she couldn't remember, but was dancing through her memories and waiting for her to do so. She wished she could have been able to remember whatever it was that she was thinking of.
It was accompanied by a hand casually running over her head again and again, soothing and warm. The touch only made that urge worse. She wanted so badly to remember what it was that was just out of reach.
Finally, it was the realization that the hand belonged to Natsu of all people. The TV was going, though she didn't know what on earth he'd put on. Some kind of documentary that couldn't possibly be interesting to him. But when she finally glanced up at his face, feeling fully rested for the first time in what must have been months, he seemed totally invested in the film.
She effectively distracted him, however, when she simply began to shove herself upright, yawning. Natsu dropped his hand away from her head and beamed as if he'd not just sat there for who knows how long simply so she'd sleep. "You're still here?" she mumbled, rubbing at an eye. She noted the happy blue-furred cat curled up on the back of her couch, not moving an inch despite the action that had started in the living room.
"I said I'd be," he said cheerfully. "Feel better?" He immediately hopped to his feet and stretched, arching his back almost painfully to try and get a better stretch.
"Yes," she admitted, scowling when a smug grin crossed over his features. "Thanks." She meant that last part, however. She was grateful that she'd done as he'd said and gotten a good sleep. "How long was I out?" Last time she'd checked, it had been dawn. She glanced towards a window - and gaped. It was pitch black out.
"A while," was all he said, awkwardly shaking out his legs.
"It's dark out!" cried Lucy, leaping to her feet. She stumbled immediately, hissing when her knees buckled. Natsu snagged her arm awkwardly to keep her from falling, and kept a hold of it until she'd straightened and could keep her balance. "Natsu, why didn't you wake me up at some point?"
"Because you were tired?" he said pointedly, laughing at her despair with a grin. He shrugged, raking a hand through his pink hair. "Did it work? Did you sleep okay?" Just because she'd not woken up or really shifted since he'd woken up himself didn't mean she'd not had bad dreams. He knew that from experience.
Lucy thought back to her dreams, remembering the warmth that had come from the other person that had filled her mind. "Yeah," she said softly. "I slept okay. I had dreams, but they were nice ones for once. Thank you," she added again, and then furrowed her brow when Natsu beamed, looking delighted that he'd helped. His relief and happiness at having helped her made her bite back a smile. She was glad to see that he was as happy as he was about helping her.
It made her feel just as warm as the dreams had.
Lucy considered that as Natsu wandered towards her kitchen, saying something about making them something to eat. She didn't follow, instead heading for the bathroom to brush out her hair and see how bad her face looked.
He was the only one who could do that, Lucy thought as she kicked the door shut. Only Natsu could make her feel like that. He was unique in that sense - in every sense, actually. She'd never met anyone else like him. And while he wasn't the person she cared so deeply for in her dreams…he was-
Lucy paused, startled.
Oh.
Oh, no.
That wasn't good at all.
She should not be thinking that way.
Shaking those thoughts off, Lucy bustled out of the bathroom, very aware of the fact that she was wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt. She flushed, but decided to say nothing about it since Natsu hadn't. She found him making coffee in the kitchen again, although he was also digging out materials to make food with. Eggs, from the looks of it, and bacon.
Lucy got the feeling she'd be picking at the food. Wendy had mentioned once that Natsu didn't cook - and with good reason. He was terrible at it.
When he heard her duck in, he looked back at her and offered a bright smile, as if delighted by the fact that she was simply there. He went back to focusing on what he was doing, laying out things to make her breakfast despite the fact that it looked like it was the middle of the night. She checked the time; it was one in the morning. She grimaced. He'd said he'd not moved an inch while she'd slept. She got the feeling he'd meant that literally. Which meant he'd not eaten in a while either.
"How about," Lucy said, plucking a pan he'd grabbed - how he even knew where she kept specific cooking things was a mystery to her - and nudging him aside with her hip, "you let me cook so we can eat? Wendy said you were terrible at cooking."
"Little traitor," he grumbled, but willingly stepped out of the way. He leaned against a counter, folding his arms with a happy smile on his face, content to simply be hanging around in her presence. His onyx eyes were sharp despite the bleariness that accompanied a weird sleep schedule. She was very aware of him watching every single movement she made, and she found that her cheeks were heating much to her despair.
He noticed immediately, of course, and his grin widened, which only made her turn even more red. "Stop staring at me," she finally huffed, cracking eggs and dumping a few into the pan.
He looked positively impish as he purred, "But it's fun."
She waved the spatula she'd pulled out threateningly, flashing him a warning look despite the heat in her face. "Stop," she whined, "or I'll smack you into next week and leave you cleaning raw egg out of your hair!" To further her point, she showed him the still-raw egg on the tool.
Natsu held his hands up in surrender, unable to stop the laugh that escaped him. "You win." He turned on his heel, humming under his breath in a cheerful way. "I gotta go get Happy anyways. Little buddy's gotta be hungry, too, by now. Is that cat food I left here still in the-"
"Pantry," Lucy called, turning her attention back on the eggs to avoid burning them. She counted to make sure there were enough. She knew Natsu's appetite well. If she didn't make enough food for him before focusing on her own, she knew he'd come digging into her plate, too.
Relieved he was out of her kitchen, Lucy swallowed thickly and ran a hand down her face. Not good, she thought to herself. Not good at all. Because damn it, she found that she'd actually liked him looking. She doubted his mind had been in the same space that hers currently was, but still.
Lucy paused in flipping an egg. She needed to talk with Levy. Levy would know what to do.
As if reading her mind, Natsu suddenly ducked back into the kitchen, a purring cat tucked under one arm and a bag of cat food in the other. "By the way, Levy tried to stop by earlier. I told her you'd call her."
There went that plan. Levy had tried to come over and found that Natsu was staying at her house. Fantastic. She'd never escape the teasing if Mirajane and Lisanna found out. Lucy groaned softly and briefly buried her face in her hands.
Still hovering in the entry, Natsu blinked. "You okay, Luce?" He frowned. "Do you need more sleep?"
"No," she said hastily, dropping her hands from her face. "No, I don't need more sleep. Thank you though, Natsu." She twisted to give him a faint smile, and he narrowed his eyes as if he didn't entirely believe her. But he didn't push her, instead leaving Lucy to finish making breakfast for them.
She was screwed, she thought as she dished the food out onto plates. Her sleep schedule would be completely out of whack now, and it was always hard for her to fix such things. And now Natsu was unintentionally screwing up her head.
"Natsu! It's ready!" Lucy shouted when she was done, not caring if her neighbors heard. Undoubtedly Sting wouldn't mind, although he might tease her about having Natsu over at such late hours despite having been the one to call him there. The other neighbors could get over it. Though they'd not yet complained about the screams that came from her apartment, so she couldn't say that she thought they'd care about the yelling either.
She heard a cheer and rolled her eyes as Natsu came nearly sprinting back into the kitchen, excited about simply having breakfast and not caring that it was a ridiculous time of day to have the meal. "Happy's set?" she asked as she handed him the plate.
"Of course," he replied, eyeing his eggs. "Thanks, Luce."
Lucy's lips twitched as she studied him briefly before grabbing her own plate and whirling away. "No problem." She paused, just once, to look at him again, and felt something warm swell in her chest. It only made her face turn red again.
She supposed there was no point in denying it.
She liked him. No, she didn't just like him.
What she felt...she didn't think there words for that.
Something was clearly up with Lucy, Natsu thought a few days later. He eyed her suspiciously as he tried his damn hardest to keep his attention on his newfound cousin, who he'd been working with to try and find their remaining family member. Gajeel hadn't been initially excited to supposedly have someone new in their small, tight-knit family, but he'd grown used to the idea, and Wendy claimed that he'd even grudgingly invited Sting along for their next "family trip."
Not that it was a real trip of any sort; they just went out for ice cream, but still.
"Hello," sang Sting, waving his hand in Natsu's face. "You hear me?"
"No," admitted Natsu as he turned his attention back on Sting, "sorry." He sneaked a glance at Lucy again when Sting opened his mouth and received a huff for his efforts. But she'd disappeared into the back to likely do some baking.
Sting, cranky that he wasn't paying attention, focused his own on where Natsu kept looking and then glared at Natsu. "It's not like you don't see her ninety percent of the day, so why do you keep staring at her?" He spoke a little louder than necessary on purpose - just loud enough that the older couple having a peaceful breakfast beside them chuckled at Natsu's behavior, but not loud enough that Lucy herself would overhear from the back.
"Would you shut up?" snarled Natsu, swatting at Sting.
Sting smirked, avoiding his light blows, and then shifted. He put his chin in his hand and smirked. "Seriously though," he said, ignoring the seething glare being given to him. "Why do you keep watching Lucy? She doing okay?"
"Better now," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head. He'd been over every night, and was feeling the lack of sleep himself now. He didn't mind sitting with Lucy on the couch so she could sleep, but his body didn't appreciate it. He'd likely head home and take a good, long nap before heading back to her place that evening. "We figured out a way where she can sleep in peace."
"I noticed. I've also had full nights of sleep recently. So what's the problem?"
"She's being weird." The complaint came out like a whine. "She won't look me in the eye, and she's been avoiding me. She won't admit it, but she has!"
Sting's lips quirked at his complaints, and Natsu glared at him for it. It's not funny, he wanted to shout at him. He was worried. Desperately. Had he done something to upset Lucy? He knew that their newest sleeping arrangement was kind of odd, and that he'd been invading her space a lot lately, but still! Maybe he was pushing it too far? That had to be it.
Sting dragged him from those thoughts with a simple three words.
"She likes you."
"What?" said Natsu bluntly, completely confused. He stared dumbly at Sting, who was now grinning and fighting back a laugh.
"You're a bit slow about things like this, aren't you?" mused Sting, sitting back and folding his arms. Gone was his annoyance. He didn't mind so much now that he knew what was going on. And the matter explained Lucy's behavior earlier that day, too, when she'd given Natsu an extra muffin and flushed while doing so. "She's not mad at you. If anything it's the opposite. She likes you, Natsu, and not just as a friend," he added hastily when Natsu tried to say just that, "but a bit more, I think."
"That's not true," protested Natsu, horrified by the suggestion. He wasn't someone people liked in that way! He'd never dealt with things like that. No one had ever been interested, nor had he returned it! And Lucy was...Lucy. She was so much better than he could ever be. She deserved better than a person who couldn't get a job because he didn't know what he wanted!
Sting studied him for a moment and then said, "Hold on. Watch this." He turned his attention to the workers chatting away behind the counter. "Hey!" he called, waving to catch their attention. Lisanna and Yukino, who'd been mid-conversation, didn't look too excited to have been interrupted. Sting waved them over and Natsu's face paled a little when they began to come over.
"C'mon," he huffed. "Don't do this. Just 'cause we're cousins doesn't mean you get to push into this part of my life, man."
Sting ignored him and flashed Yukino the friendliest, warmest smile he could muster. She flushed a bit at the look and Natsu squinted at her. Did she like Sting? He hoped not. He'd never hear the end of it if Sting found a girlfriend. He'd not known Sting all that long, but he'd gotten to be fully aware of what happened when Sting found something or someone he was interested in. He didn't shut up about it or them.
"Natsu here," said Sting, ignoring Natsu's protests and demands that he stop, "doesn't think Lucy likes him."
Lisanna perked up, losing her aggravation with Sting, and grinned. Yukino giggled a bit, her dark eyes shimmering with amused delight. The women looked beyond pleased to have been included in this conversation, and Natsu's face turned red when Lisanna smiled gently at him and said, "Oh, she likes you. Take it from someone who knew her before you showed up, Natsu."
"We sound like a bunch of high schoolers," said Yukino under her breath, entirely amused before she propped a hand on her hip. "Do you know how much free food she gives you? We don't even get that much free food and drinks from the bakery."
Natsu looked very much like a fish as he gaped at them. "I…" He glanced over to make sure Lucy wasn't coming out, mortified by the idea of her coming across them having this conversation.
"To put it bluntly," finished Lisanna. "If you asked her out for dinner or something, she'd say yes in a heartbeat. The only question is...how do you feel about the matter, Natsu?" He jolted, caught off guard, and tipped his head to meet her gaze. She smiled. "Do you like Lucy, too? If you don't, you need to be careful with how you handle this situation, Natsu. We don't want to see her hurt."
Natsu was caught off guard by this and sank back a bit. He didn't like the fact that he was suddenly being stared down by three curious people who had no business getting involved in this. Swallowing thickly, he rose to his feet, a little agitated. "It's none of your business," he said angrily and ducked around the side of the table, fully intending on leaving.
It wasn't that he didn't. Lucy meant far more to him than they probably thought, but he didn't like that this had suddenly been thrust upon him. That thoughts he admittedly had been having were being forced into his face. It made him uncomfortable and…
She was as important as that starlit girl, but she wasn't her.
It still bothered him, the connections that he found between them. And he couldn't say he was ready to deal with that just yet.
Yukino and Lisanna winced when he huffed angrily. "Sorry," said Yukino softly. "We weren't try to push anything on you, Natsu. We just...wanted to help." She smiled. "In any case. You know our opinions on everything for later reference."
"Like I said," agreed Lisanna. "We just...we don't want Lucy hurt, that's all." She patted his shoulder and then dragged Yukino back towards the counter as Lucy came from the back, drying her clean hands on a towel. The blonde blinked, startled at the realization that her workers had been chatting it up with Sting and Natsu. She glanced briefly over at him, and Natsu hastily averted her eyes, flustered over what the others had told him.
If what they'd all said was true and Lucy like him like that...his stomach twisted with anticipation and excitement, and he wanted to punch himself.
He wasn't good enough for Lucy Heartfilia. She'd realize the same sooner or later, and there was no point in that kind of hope. She would find someone much better than him eventually and her gaze would turn to them, leaving him in worse condition than she'd found him. And maybe they'd be friends afterwards - because he couldn't imagine a life without her at this point - but it would still hurt. And that kind of pain wore down on a relationship, whether it be friendship or not.
He did like Lucy. Maybe, if he put the effort in, he could come to forget the girl that smelled of starlight, watch as she was replaced by Lucy.
But he didn't want to lose Lucy, simply because of who he was.
So he'd step back. Unless she approached him directly, he'd step back and let whatever was forming wither and die.
Sorry about the wait! I hope it was worth it with all of the cute Nalu moments! ;)
Thanks to reviewers (stranger1999, Guest #1, PinkFireandGoldenStars, BrokenAngelWings83, ThaDesperado64, nkukurichan, Alera33, itsxoi, Guest #2, AlaskaHolmes90786, Lovetoreadff, Sassysarcastic, FairyLover01, LePengwen, MagicalFoxInTheWilderness, and Bananarock509!) as well as those who favorited and followed!
