EIGHT: My oh my
A week had passed since Layla suggested having their summer vacation in their summer residence in Acalypha. Zeref and Wendy had left a day before the intended day that everyone leaves for the vacation. Being the easily sick person when he is not the one driving, Natsu had asked permission to use Gajeel's motorbike and drive there on their own along with Lucy. Although Jude was a little hesitant to allow Lucy, Natsu had assured the man that he'll drive safely.
So, as Lucy and Natsu watched the van drive away with Grandine and Layla waving to them, Lucy blew a kiss to them and shouted out that they'll see each other later. When the van was no longer in sight, Natsu immediately cleared his throat, catching the attention of the blonde.
"Are you sure that all of your stuff was in the van?" Natsu asked as he straps a belt bag on his waist
"Yep, I just have my small belt bag for my wallet and phone," Lucy then showed her bag to the man, "Thanks by the way for this bag," Lucy grins, "I love it,"
"Sure thing," Natsu then grins back when Lucy smiled at him
"Where'd you buy this?" Lucy asks as she watches the pinkette pull out their helmets
"Do you remember the day that I lost a sparring battle with Erza?" Natsu then stands and looks at the blonde
"Oh yeah," Lucy teased as she nods her head, making Natsu scowl at the blonde, "She beat your ass off,"
"F-Y-I," Natsu raised a finger as he watches Lucy giggle, "I wasn't beaten, totally, I just fell on my butt," Lucy just then laughs, "Yeah, sure…either way, you lost a bet and you were tasked to shop with her," Lucy then grabs the helmet that Natsu hands her
"Yep, that one. She dragged me to this shop that she loves and bought a huge armor set. Good thing I didn't have to buy the same thing as hers and saw these belts, instead," Natsu then grins when Lucy chortles at his story
"But did you have to buy a matching belt bag?" Lucy asks as she slowly puts on the helmet and Natsu quickly stood close to her and clasps the helmet securely on her head
"Yeah, because we're partners," Natsu grins widely at the blonde, who was taken aback with his proximity to her. Feeling her heart beat a little faster than usual, Lucy just stared at Natsu's eyes as the pinkette just stared back at her
"Ready?" Natsu whispers, making Lucy snap out of her daze
"Huh? What?"
"Let's go!" Natsu then steps back and quickly rides the bike
"Oh…" Lucy then chuckles at herself, "Sure," Lucy then inhaled deeply as if she was trying to calm her nervous heart
"You look nervous Luce," Natsu then chuckles at the blonde, "You've ridden this bike with me before,"
"Exactly…that's why I'm nervous," Lucy teases as she chortles when Natsu gave wide-eyes to her. Soon, Lucy urged the teen to turn and start the motorbike. When they were ready and Lucy had ridden at the back of Natsu, the pinkette grabbed Lucy's hand and wrapped it around his waist. Without seeing the blonde's surprised look, Natsu shouted over the motorbike's engine sound, "Don't let go, Luce,"
"What?" Lucy shouted over, quite deaf over the noise
"Hold tight!" Natsu shouted again but then Lucy still didn't get it and instead, just pressed on the gas, making the blonde yelp in surprise.
X…x…||…x…X
Lifting her hands in the air as the wind caresses her cheeks, Lucy howled in excitement as Natsu revs the engine. After nearly an hour of driving, Natsu and Lucy are on a different route to head towards Acalypha, making the scenery all-new for the blonde. Nevertheless, Lucy enjoys the view.
"Where are we?" Lucy shouts over the loud sound of the wind passing their ears. As Natsu turned his head a little to hear Lucy better, he replies to her, "Somewhere between Lupinus town and Oak town,"
"Lupinus town? This is quite off-road," Lucy remarks as she tightens her hold on Natsu's waist
"I know! I just want to show you something first!" Natsu then leans the bike, making the blonde shriek in surprise but later becomes excited
Soon enough, Natsu and Lucy slow down on the road and parks the bike by the nearby cliff before entering Oak town. It was somewhat like a park, where people take photos. The scenery had mountains and forest sites, showing the tips of the heritage castle of the infamous Phantom Lord as well.
"Wow!" Lucy sighs in delight, "I've never known there is this kind of tourist site," Lucy then steps down from the bike as she slowly takes off her helmet
"Well it's because we always use the main road going to Oak town," Natsu then leans the bike safely before he steps down from it, "Actually, it was Gajeel who showed me this,"
"Really? You both dated here?" Lucy teased as she looks at the pinkette, who just gave a deadpan look at her
"Ha-ha, funny, Luce," Natsu then walks up to the blonde and grabbed the helmet from her to place it back in the motorbike
"You always talk about Gajeel like you're not close but the truth is, you both are close like brothers," Lucy sweetly smiles at the man as she entwines her arms with his and walks towards the railing of the cliff
"No, we don't," Natsu scrunches his face in denial, but Lucy just chuckles at him
"Yeah, right. Then, why did he tag you along here if you weren't bonding like brothers?" Lucy challenged, but Natsu just laughed at him
"He just wanted to brag," Natsu replies, making Lucy tilt her head in confusion, "He said he brought Levy here on their first monthsary, making him the best boyfriend according to Levy,"
"Oh…" Lucy then laughs which Natsu follows after as he thought about that time, "So, Gajeel wanted to brag to you about being in a relationship,"
"Yep, that's all it is. After all, we had a bet who'd have a girlfriend first. Apparently, Gajeel was already courting Levy secretly when he challenged me,"
"…I see. So, why don't you have a girlfriend?" Lucy suddenly asks, out of curiosity
Natsu then looks at Lucy as if she had grown another head, "Do you really have to ask that, Luce?"
"Well, yeah! I mean, we're best friends but I've never seen you talk or hang out with another girl…are you even interested in girls?"
"I've dated a few times with girls, Luce," Natsu then shakes his head as his smiles continue to grow, "I've gone out with Aiko once, then Mika, and then Giana," Natsu said as he counted the names
"They are all from your department, right?" Lucy asks as she turns to lean back on the railing
"Yeah," Natsu then leans forward to the railing as he kept his gaze to the blonde
"Then, why aren't you dating any of them? Why only first dates?" Lucy inquires, totally curious with Natsu's love life
"Why are you so interested in my love life? I don't question yours," Natsu counters back, as he tries to avoid answering her question
"Nothing…I just realized that most of our friends are in a relationship,"
"Gray isn't," Natsu compared but Lucy shook her head as she answers, "Gray says he isn't in an official relationship with Juvia, but you know that you can't ask Juvia out because he will definitely kill you,"
Natsu then smirks devilishly, "I think that's a good idea. I'll ask Juvia out to piss off ice-princess!"
Lucy quickly knuckles Natsu's head, making the pinkette yelp in surprise and pain, "Baka! Don't do that!"
"What?! That would be hilarious to see ice-head's pissed face,"
"You're being childish again, Natsu," Lucy shakes her head before she chortles and turn to look at the scenery, "Ah~, this is a really nice place,"
"I know…that's why, when I find the girl that I'll really like, I'll bring her to a place like this…scenic and calming,"
Lucy then glances at Natsu and sees his calm demeanor. For a long time, she hasn't seen Natsu like this. Someone who'd be in deep thoughts yet they are calm inside. Natsu has always been mysterious and complicated, and sometimes Lucy finds it hard to figure him out. Even if they were best friends, sometimes she feels that there is something that Natsu doesn't tell her and that goes with her as well. But the only reason why she keeps things from him is that he is the topic of her secrets and only her girlfriends are the ones who know.
"Do you have an idea of what she'll be like?" Lucy curiously asks
"Nope…" Natsu then grins at the blonde before he stands up straight and brings his hand out toward her, "Give me your phone,"
"What? Why?" Lucy questions with furrowed brows as she slowly opens her belt bag to get her phone
"I'll take your picture," Natsu then snatches the phone from the blonde's grasp and walks back. Positioning himself a few meters away, he then shouted to the blonde to do her pose, making Lucy a little bashful before she strikes an awkward pose.
"Luce! Seriously, is that how you pose for pictures?! This is for your Instagram!" Natsu bellowed, making Lucy even shyer
"Shut up! I don't usually pose for pictures!" Lucy then shakes up her arms and legs as she tries to calm her nervous
"Oh come on, you've seen Mira and Lisanna do some posing. Just—copy them or something," Natsu then looks down to the screen on Lucy's phone and watched her try to figure a pose. While he watched the blonde figure a good pose, Natsu snapped a few pictures that caught the blonde candid.
Lucy looks cute when she's flustered…
"Is this good?" Lucy shouted out, making Natsu snap out of his thoughts
"Huh?" Natsu then stood up straight and looked at Lucy directly. She had her hands in her shorts' back pocket while her right leg was slightly bent, "Uhh…yeah, tilt your head a little to the side,"
"Like this?" Lucy enacted
"Yeah, then…" Natsu looked down at the screen and shouted, "Smile!" He then took pictures, numerous to be exact. Then he asked her to turn to the side, making the blonde shift her pose a little and Natsu quickly took another round of pictures.
"Alright, your turn!" Lucy then walks toward Natsu and grabbed her phone, "Give me your phone,"
when Natsu handed his phone, he went to Lucy's previous spot and waited for the blonde to take pictures
"Alright, make your pose!" Lucy shouted as she positioned the phone at the right angle, "Is that it?" Lucy asked when Natsu didn't bother to move with him just standing straight and arms crossed over his chest
"Yep, now take a picture," Natsu called, making Lucy roll her eyes as she presses on the screen
"Okay, do a different pose," Lucy suggested as she stood up straight to watch the pinkette, but then Natsu scrunches up his face and walked towards her, instead. When they were close to one another, Natsu quickly pulled Lucy back to their posing spot, and told her, "Let's take a picture together,"
"How?" Lucy inquired as she stood close to Natsu
"Selfie?" Natsu asked back as he pulled his phone and positioned it, showing their faces and the scenic background, "Cheese!" Natsu chimed as he and Lucy smiled together in one screen
When the photo was taken, Lucy grabbed the phone to look at the image. As she smiles at the nice picture of them together, Natsu suddenly called on a person requesting if they could take a picture of them together. Looking up, Lucy saw a young girl who was ready to take their picture. So, she quickly hid Natsu's phone on her back as she felt Natsu wrap his arm around her shoulder and pull her in.
"Cheese!" the young girl chimed, which Natsu and Lucy copied after as they stayed in place while being pictured.
After all the picture being taken, Natsu walked up to the young girl and gave his thanks to her, "Thanks for helping,"
"You both look cute together," the young girl commented as she hands over the phone
"Huh?" Natsu baffled replies as he watches the girl grin giddily
"Your girlfriend looks so pretty and you're good looking too," the young girl then steps back as she bows her head and wave goodbye.
Leaving Natsu confused, the pinkette barely said a proper goodbye to the young girl when Lucy suddenly came up to him. Startled a little, Natsu whipped his head to look at Lucy with wide eyes.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lucy questioned as she exchanges their phone, "Did she say something?"
"…nothing," Natsu quickly shrugged it off before he turns his back and heads for the motorbike, "Come on Luce! Let's go to Oak town for lunch,"
"Okay!" Lucy then skips behind Natsu and soon the two were back on the road entering Oak town.
X…x…||…x…X
As the two strolled around town to look for a place to eat, they finally settled in a fast-food chain famous in the city. Natsu volunteered to order up for them while Lucy looked for a table for them. While waiting, Lucy pulled out her phone to look at the photos that Natsu had taken. But before she could scan all of it, her phone suddenly rang with her mother calling.
Answering the call, Lucy bashfully apologized for not texting them immediately about their detour. She instantly assured them that they were almost at Acalypha and that they are just going to eat their lunch around Oak town. When Layla was a little at ease now hearing Lucy and Natsu were alright and that they were about to eat, the blonde mother reminded them that they shouldn't be too late to arrive at the summer residence since they wanted to have dinner with them. As Lucy agrees and mentions that they'll arrive by late afternoon, Natsu finally arrives at their table and takes his seat. Pulling the phone away from her ear, Lucy immediately placed down her phone and explained to Natsu who called.
"Late afternoon?" Natsu repeats before he hands over Lucy's meal, "So does that mean we can roam around first?"
"Yep!" Lucy gleefully replies as she takes the food that Natsu placed in front of her, "I don't really want to ride the bike under the scorching sun,"
"Of course," Natsu then takes a bite of his first chicken buffalo wings, "So, what do you plan to do?"
"I don't know…anything," Lucy shrugs her shoulders as she takes a bite of her garlic parmesan chicken wing, "How about we go to the castle? I haven't been there," she suggested
"Alright, I haven't seen it too," Natsu replies as he nods his head while biting off the wing part of the chicken
As they continued to eat, the two almost played around, teasing one another on how messy they eat. When Natsu initiated to send one another photos that they don't have, he began secretly taking pictures of Lucy eating her fries in chucks, making the pinkette snicker in amusement. Although Lucy does notice the snickering of the man, she immediately assumed that the pinkette was taking photos of her. But Natsu quickly showed to her that he was just copying photos.
Grinning to himself, Natsu thought that Lucy was looking adorable with how she eats and tries to maintain a clean area but completely fails at it.
"Luce," Natsu calls as he crosses his arms, "Is that how you eat with other people?"
"Hm?" Lucy tilts her head in confusion as she continues to chew her fries, "What do you mean?" she asks back with her mouth still full
"I think guys will be intimidated with how you eat," Natsu then chuckles, making the blonde glare at him and soon, Lucy kicks the shin of the pinkette, who yelped yet continued to laugh, "Come on Luce! I'm serious!"
"Excuse me," Lucy raised a finger, "I only eat like this when I'm with you,"
"Oh, really? And why is that?" Natsu curiously asks
"Because you eat like a pig too," Lucy then chuckles when Natsu scowls at her, "Just saying,"
Soon enough, the two left the place and headed to the castle to join the typical tour around the site. During that tour, the two continued to fool around. Natsu would spontaneously spook the blonde, making his best friend yelp in surprise and scare the other tourist as well. When the scaring continued during the tour, finally, Natsu and Lucy were escorted out of the site and told them that they were not in the right place and should just head towards an amusement park.
Left with no choice, after apologizing to the workers of the castle, Lucy and Natsu left the venue. With Lucy glaring at the pinkette, Natsu tries so hard not to laugh and pretend that he felt bad for being kicked out of the place.
"You are so annoying," Lucy remarks as she crosses her arms while she watched the man take his seat on the bike before revving it to life. When Natsu looked at Lucy with a sheepish smile, he mumbles, "Sorry?"
Groaning in annoyance, Lucy just rolled her eyes at him before she grabbed the helmet Natsu was offering. When Natsu couldn't hold back his amusement anymore, he started snorting and laugh out loud, making Lucy roll her eyes again, "You are hopeless," she remarked
"I'm sorry, Luce!" Natsu pleads as he tries to stop from laughing, "It's just so funny! Especially how you looked when they were pulling us out of the group!"
Moaning with irritation, Lucy suddenly knuckles Natsu's head, "Well they wouldn't have pulled us out if you weren't so playful inside!"
"But it was getting boring!" Natsu whined, making Lucy sigh in exasperation
"Figures," Lucy then takes her seat behind Natsu and wraps her arms around Natsu's waist, "I guess, let's just go home,"
"Yosh!" Natsu pumps up a fist before he presses on the gas and dashes away
Finally arriving at the summer residence of the Heartfilia's at Acalypha, Natsu and Lucy immediately parked the bike where all the vehicles were placed. As they stride going inside, the two met Jude and Igneel on the way, both holding a tennis racket.
"Woah, are you going to play Old man?" Natsu teased his father, who gave a deadpan look at him
"So what if I am," Igneel retorts back, as Jude tries to hide his laughter while embracing his daughter
"Oh, uncle Jude is sure going to beat your ass," Natsu snickers along with the two Heartfilia
"I wish you good luck, uncle Igneel," Lucy chimes while her arms were entwined to her father, "Papa usually takes this sport quite seriously,"
Natsu then bellows in laughter before he starts pointing at his dad, "Have fun~"
Natsu then runs away when Igneel attempts to grasp his son and give him a hard brush of his knuckles in his head. Laughing at the antics of the Dragneels, Lucy embraced her father once again before she pulls away and tells the two fathers, "Have fun, you guys,"
"Of course. See you around Lucy," Igneel replies as he waves goodbye and heads on towards the tennis court
"Take a rest now inside and settle your things after, okay?" Jude reminds as he cups the cheek of Lucy, who nodded in agreement
"I will," Lucy then waves goodbye to her father who followed after the red-haired man
When the two parents were no longer in sight, Lucy immediately headed inside the house and looked around to find Natsu. Obviously, he was seated in the dining area, munching on snacks that were left for anyone around the house.
Seeing that a few helpers and caretakers were roaming around the house, preparing everything that was needed to be prepared, Lucy instantly invited them to eat afternoon snacks but they all declined as they said to the young Heartfilia that they have taken their snacks already. Left with no choice, Lucy joined Natsu at the table and ate what was left on the table.
"You know, when we were younger, I thought this house was like a mansion," Natsu remarks as he leans back on his seat and stares at the high ceiling
"It does feel like a mansion sometimes for me," Lucy confirms as she leans her body over the table with her left arm resting on top and placed her head on it, "Everything looks pricy and shiny,"
Natsu then chuckles along with Lucy, "But it feels homey, do you agree?"
"Yeah, it does…surprisingly," Lucy then sighs as she finally feels like she could rest.
Finally, pushing herself up, Lucy bid Natsu goodbye as she told him that she was going to rest for a moment before she starts to unpack. Suggesting it as well with the pinkette to unpack his things, Natsu just agreed and said that he'd do that within the day.
X…x…||…x…X
Nighttime falls when Lucy woke up from her afternoon nap. Despite waking up later than she wanted, she was happy enough because she felt rested after all doing all the things that day. So, standing up from her bed, Lucy peeked at the window to view the garden where the others might have settled for dinner. Seeing that a tent was set up in the garden with beautiful warm lights hanging up, Lucy was excited to head down and join everyone.
Descending the stairs, Lucy was immediately called when Layla noticed her, "Seems like you had a good nap,"
"Oh yes," Lucy agreed as she nods her head and walked up to her mother to give her an embrace, "my bed here has magic,"
"That's for sure," Natsu suddenly chimes in as he enters the living room, "I heard your snores,"
Lucy turned red for embarrassment before she felt annoyed with the pinkette, "How would you even know I snored?"
"Um, you were pretty much loud," Natsu teased, making Layla chuckle at the bashful look of her daughter
"Oh, that's fine, Lucy. Natsu's just being honest," Layla grinned, making Lucy even more embarrassed while Natsu finally laughs out loud.
"Hey, you guys," Grandine suddenly calls from outside, "Come on, let's have dinner,"
"Yosh!" Natsu pumps a fist in the air before he turns to Lucy and wraps an arm around her shoulder to urge her to walk, "Come on Luce, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I have always known that you are a loud snorer,"
Lucy grunts at the man, "can you—just shut up," Natsu then laughs as he watches the blonde to roll her eyes at him
As Natsu and Lucy sit along with everyone, they started their dinner with a prayer before they began to dig in with the food. Everyone was just happy to have the vacation, wherein they get to chat almost the whole day, play games, and activities that they couldn't do daily.
Telling the story of what happened during the tennis game, Jude and Igneel couldn't help but laugh at their mishaps. Grandine and Layla were just laughing at their husbands and teased them about how they were really getting old. When they were done talking about it, the four adults put their attention to the two young adults and asked about their detour.
"So, where did you two go?" Grandine asked before she grabs her wine glass to take a sip
"We went off-road between Lupinus and Oak town," Natsu replies
"You went off-road?" Igneel repeated, "What's there to see?"
"There is this scenic view of Oak town and the Phantom Castle. It was beautiful, let me show you," Lucy then pulls out her phone and searched for a picture to show. When she found one, she handed her phone to her mother and said, "I think you guys should see it too when we head back to Magnolia by the end of the week,"
"Oh wow," Grandine says in awe, "This is beautiful, good for a new profile picture,"
Natsu suddenly snickers, "Yeah sure, why not,"
Grandine jokingly glared at her son, who immediately tried to defend himself, "No, seriously, mom. I think you all should visit the site. It's very nice there,"
"How'd you know about this Natsu?" Layla asked, "Did you bring someone there already?"
"Huh?" Natsu bafflingly looked at the older blonde, while Lucy looked at him with curiosity, "Um, no I haven't. Actually, Gajeel did,"
"Gajeel?" Igneel remarked with surprise, "That kiddo had some romance in his body?"
They all laughed for a moment before Natsu replied, "Apparently yeah. He brought Levy there for their first monthsary and I think he made this big gesture of singing for her right at the cliff, I think,"
"Aw, that is so sweet," Lucy commented as she imagined Levy and Gajeel standing by the cliff with a scenic background
"How about you Natsu?" Grandine suddenly asks, "What would you do for your first monthsary?"
"Mom, I don't have a girlfriend," Natsu counters as he leans back to his chair and stared back at his mother's challenging look
"Hypothetically speaking that you have a girlfriend, what do you plan to do?" Grandine continues to ask
"Hypothetically," Natsu quotes with this hand, "I'd bring my girlfriend to an untouched paradise and have this romantic candlelight picnic,"
"That is romantic," Layla comments, which Grandine agrees on
"Now that's my son!" Igneel suddenly boosts with his fist thrown in the air
"Are you saying you are as romantic as your son?" Jude jokes back at the red-haired man
"Yeah!" Igneel confirms, "Just ask my wife,"
Grandine suddenly rolls her eyes as she hears her husband trying to impress everybody, "Sure, why not Honey," Grandine taps her husband's hand, making the others chuckle at the gesture
"How about you Lucy?" Layla questions her daughter, who was taken aback for a moment, "What is your ideal first monthsary date?"
"Me?" Lucy points to herself as she looks around the table and notices how everybody was paying attention to her, "Um, well…I have no clue,"
"Impossible," Grandine replies, "Every girl has this dream or fantasy of ideal dates. I'm pretty sure you have one,"
Lucy tightens her lips for a second as she weighs the idea of telling them or not. When she thought that there was nothing wrong sharing about that, she cleared her throat and answered, "Well, if it's that, yeah I do have a fantasy dream of an ideal date,"
"What is it like?" Grandine inquires
"Um, it's pretty much simple. Just dinner under the stars,"
"That's it?" Natsu suddenly injects, quite not impressed
"Yeah," Lucy confirms, "I'm just a simple girl who likes to be under the stars,"
"You should challenge the guy to impress you. Not just some simple dates under the stars," Natsu remarks
"I think Natsu has a point," Grandine then looks at her son, whom she notices were quite uptight with the current topic. But then she looks away and focused on the young blonde, "You deserve to be treated special and have the most memorable date you'll ever have,"
Lucy sighs in defeat as she nods her head, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind,"
Layla suddenly claps her hand to get everybody's attention, "So, who wants to watch a movie?"
"Oh, I do," Grandine then stood up and urged her husband to stand up as well, "Do you have the 'Phoenix Priestess' movie?
"Yeah, we do, right Jude?" Layla then stares hard at her husband, who only then realized that he should stand up and agree
"Yep, we do," Jude then stands up and play-acted to ask the two teenagers, "Do you want to watch with us?"
"I'll pass on this one," Natsu said as he grabbed his mug of beer, "I'll just enjoy this beer,"
"And you Lucy?" Layla asked
"Um, I'll stay here. Enjoy the movie, you guys," Lucy then smiled at the parents
"Alright. Do you mind cleaning up after?" Grandine asks
"Sure," Natsu then grins back at them as he and Lucy waves goodbye to their parents
When the two were left on their own, Natsu suddenly sighs out loud, making Lucy look at him curiously. Grabbing her mug of beer, she then comments to the pinkette, "That was deep,"
"What was deep?"
"Your sighing," Lucy then chuckles when Natsu contorted his face, "Did the last conversation made you uncomfortable?"
"Quite…How about you? Didn't you feel a little uncomfortable?" Natsu asks as he crosses his arms over the table
"Hm, not sure. I mean, I just don't have my mind on relationships and dates. I'm still figuring out what I really want," Lucy calmly smiles at her best friend, "After all the transition I did last year, a lot has changed,"
"Sure it did," Natsu agrees as he looks down at his mug, "Even for me, a lot has changed,"
"Like what?" Lucy inquires
"Well first, you totally look different to me now. You looked boyish back then but now, you are definitely dressing up like a girl, which I think is a good thing,"
"Well it doesn't sound like it's a good thing to you," Lucy counters but Natsu immediately shook his head
"Don't take me wrong. I'm happy for you that you are now freer to express yourself, it was just abrupt for me. But this has nothing to do with me, so you can ignore me," Natsu quietly smiled at the blonde
"Actually you're right…about how the transition was way too fast. I mean, Wendy just had this party that forced me to dress up differently then all of a sudden, I dressed up differently now…" Lucy then sighs at the memory, "Then after that, things pretty much changed for the both us,"
"I didn't change," Natsu disagreed
"Oh, you did for sure," Lucy counters back
"Like how?" Natsu challenged
"You used to care less if guys hang out with me. But now, you pretty much fight with them when you see them around me," Lucy noted to him, making Natsu guilty about it, "Another thing changed, when you used to talk with me about girls you want to date or hook up with…now, you don't share those stuff with me anymore. Why's that?"
"Um…nothing. I just realized that maybe I'm offending you or the whole race of women, or something. Sorry about that. My point is, I realized that you are a girl and that there may be times that I sound offensive. So, to avoid disappointing and offending you, I'd rather share those conversations with the boys,"
"You really thought I was a guy back then?" Lucy confusingly asks
"No…not really. It just felt like you were one of us but then the transition happened, I finally realized how insensitive I was. So, I had to put limitations…between us,"
Lucy suddenly nods her head in understanding, which surprised her because she never thought Natsu felt that way.
"Is that why you never talk about your dates when we're together? You're putting boundaries to what we talk about now," Lucy sums up
"Yeah…But if you're curious about it, we can always talk about that stuff. And if you feel comfortable talking about guys you meet, I'm all ears,"
Lucy just nods her head before she drinks up all of her beer. When she stumps her mug on the table, she quickly stands up and utters, "I'm heading inside first…Good night, Natsu," and with that Lucy walks away from the table, making Natsu wonder if he said anything hurtful. As Lucy disappears inside the house, Natsu couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion as he mumbles, "What did I say wrong?"
When the next day came, Natsu came down to the dining table with everybody already eating their breakfast. Seeing the sleepy teen, Grandine immediately greeted her son with a wide grin on her face.
"Finally, the sleepyhead woke up,"
"Morning everyone," Natsu greets back as he scratches his sleep away, "Was I the only one who didn't get the memo that we should wake up early?"
"Not really. We just didn't want to wake up the loud snorer," Lucy then winks at the pinkette before she chuckles on her own
"Right, of course," Natsu then shakes his head as he softly chortles and takes a seat in front of the young blonde, "So, what's the agenda today?"
"Agenda?" Grandine questioningly asks back as she looks at her son while passing on a plate of pancakes, "Well, there is not much planned out yet. But we're going to the salon. Do you want to tag along?"
Natsu then looked at Lucy, who was mindlessly eating her breakfast. When Lucy finally realized that someone was staring at her, she looked up from her plate and looked at Natsu.
"What?" Lucy curiously, "Is there something on my face?"
Natsu shook his head and grinned at her, "Well, if Lucy is going then I'm going,"
Lucy then points at herself, "Me?"
"Yeah, I'd like to hang out with you today," Natsu uttered without hesitation before he began digging in on his food.
Lucy, being taken aback with Natsu's words, she couldn't understand why she felt her heart skip a beat when they usually spend time together. Although, she realized that when Natsu says it out loud that he wants to spend time with her, there is this feeling of happiness inside her chest.
"Um, I don't feel like going to the salon today," Lucy answers as she glances at Grandine and her mother, "Would it be alright if we head to the lake instead?"
"Yeah of course!" Layla replies with enthusiasm in her voice, "Do whatever you like, just be safe. Okay, Natsu?"
"Yes ma'am!" Natsu saluted to the older blonde
"Alrighty then, Layla and I would head out now and we'll be bringing our husbands. So, you two take care of yourselves for the meantime," Grandine said as she stood up along with Layla
"Yes auntie Grandine, I'll make sure Natsu doesn't break anything," Lucy grinned at the blue-haired woman while noticing the skeptical look Natsu was giving her, "Good, bye guys!"
When the adults were no longer in the house, Lucy and Natsu just sat there in the dining area as if they were bored to death. Lucy just kept sighing as she scrolled on her phone. When Natsu was getting tired of hearing her sigh, he immediately pushed his chair back and grabbed Lucy's attention.
"What's gotten into you?" Lucy questioned as she looked at the pinkette
"Didn't you say you wanted to go to the lake?" Natsu reminded as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, aren't we gonna go?"
"Natsu," Lucy suddenly sits up straight and gave a skeptical look, "I just made that up,"
"What?" Natsu baffled with Lucy, "But…"
"Come on, did you really feel like going to the lake?" Lucy inquired like she was trying to point out something
"Well, lake or not, I wanted to do something with you," Natsu suddenly sits down again and sighed in defeat, "For some reason, I feel like there are things we don't know about each other,"
Lucy suddenly chortles, "Natsu, you know every inch of me…well except for the fact that I'm a girl,"
"Hey!" Natsu widens his eyes, trying to defend himself, "I know that you are a girl…it's just that I may have thought that you like…boys stuff,"
Lucy then rolls her eyes, "Whatever," then she chuckles at the pinkette, "But fine, let's head out to the lake and take a dip in the water,"
"Yosh! I'll meet you outside in ten minutes?" Natsu quickly stood up and pushed his chair back while looking at the blonde
"Yeah sure," Lucy then stands up and chuckles as she watches the boy gleeful skip away and headed upstairs
X…x…||…x…X
"What the-" Lucy exclaimed as she glared at her things before looking around her room if anyone heard her. When there seemed to be no reaction from her surroundings, she looked back at her unpacked bag and stared angrily at her packed swimwear.
"What the hell happened to my packed swimwear?" Lucy whispered angrily to herself as she pulls up the pieces of clothes, "This isn't mine…"
A piece of paper suddenly drops on the floor, catching the attention of the blonde. Lucy immediately drops the swimwear and grabbed the piece of paper. Flipping the paper around, she read out loud, "Lu-chan, take this as a gift. Your swimwear should also be updated so enjoy your summer,"
Lucy suddenly clenches her fist, crumpling the paper, "Levy-chan…I'm going to strangle you," she then stood up and grabbed her phone to call the blue-haired girl
Once the call was ringing, Levy immediately answers it with glee in her voice, "Lu-chan!"
"Levy-chan! I'm going to kill you!" Lucy exclaimed, making the blue-haired girl laugh knowing why the blonde was becoming a violent person
"Oh come on Lu-chan, didn't you like the swimsuit I gave you? That for sure shows off your curves,"
"Curves?! Levy-chan, this barely covers anything!"
Levy laughs hard, "Oh don't be too exaggerating. Some swimsuits are way skimpier than that. That swimsuit is pretty much decent,"
"Ha!" Lucy shouts in sarcasm, "Decent?! Oh, my goodness Levy-chan! I can't wear this in front of Natsu!"
"And why not?" Levy inquired, almost like she was suggesting something
"Uh…because!" Lucy poorly makes an excuse, making the blue-haired girl chortle
"Come on Lu-chan, just give it a try! Then ask Natsu to take a picture of you so that you can send it to me. I wanna see how the swimsuit looks on you,"
Feeling her face heat up, Lucy bit her lower lip as she contemplates wearing the only swimsuit she has now. She thought to herself, there was nothing wrong with wearing the swimsuit and in all honesty, it wasn't that skimpy. She was really just exaggerating. But then, she wasn't comfortable yet walking around showing off so many skins. She is pretty much still embarrassed to show more of her skin. Especially around Natsu.
"Fine," Lucy mumbles over the phone, making Levy cheer in excitement
"Alrighty then! Start changing and take a selfie or ask Natsu, whatever. We just want to see you wear it! Go Lu-chan! Good luck!"
Lucy then pulls the phone away from her ears as she mumbles back, "Good luck? Levy-chan is sure nuts sometimes…"
As Lucy sits down on her bed, she couldn't help but glare at the swimwear lying on top of her bag. All this time, her swimming attire is just one piece that has short sleeves and has a shorts-like cut. It has no skin to show because aside from that, she also wears a large t-shirt over it. So, seeing this piece of the swimsuit so different from her usual, she couldn't help but feel like she will be stark naked wearing that.
Lucy grumbling as she stands up from her bed and walks towards her things. Despite being hesitant, she picks up the swimsuit and tries it on. When she was done, she headed towards her long mirror and stared at herself.
"Hm…not bad Lucy," She mutters to herself as she slowly warms up to the idea that she'd step out to the lake wearing the swimsuit, "I look pretty sexy…" Lucy then bursts out in laughter, feeling ridiculous for saying it out loud.
As Lucy kept herself busy, Natsu, who was waiting outside already was beginning to be impatient. It was more than ten minutes already and Lucy wouldn't even answer whenever he shouts out for her. After sighing for the nth time, Natsu felt like it was enough waiting, and it was time to rush the blonde. So, heading towards the room of Lucy, Natsu without hesitation opens the door to her room and shouted, "Oy Lucy!" Natsu was then frozen, barely breathed out as he stood by the door.
To his surprise when he opened the door, Lucy was standing before a mirror with her back reflecting on it. Without realizing it, Natsu was actually staring at Lucy, who's completely shocked as well to have Natsu barge into her room.
Dead silence filled the air until Natsu mumbled softly but loud enough for Lucy to grasp, "My oh my…"
"…KYAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Natsu's eyes grew wide when Lucy started screaming and realized how much he had been staring. So, immediately he closed his eyes and closed the door, "Luce! I'm sorry!"
"What the hell, Natsu?!" Lucy shouts behind the door
"Gah! Sorry! I'll wait for you at the lake!" and with that Natsu dashes off and heads alone to the lake.
When silence was heard again, Lucy, who was down on the floor, trying to hide her exposed body, felt like her heart is about to explode. With her red face, Lucy looked up and saw that the door was closed already. Lucy sighs in relief as she mumbles, "What the fudge did just happen?"
Meanwhile…
Sitting on the ledge of the ramp towards the lake, Natsu stared ahead, completely astound with what just happened. He couldn't believe what he just saw.
"Lucy's…" Natsu then trails off as he felt his face warm up. But then he slaps his cheeks as if he was trying to wake himself up, "No! Stop it Natsu! You can't check out on Lucy like that! Bad! Natsu, bad!"
Sigh…
"Shit…I'm doomed,"
To be continued…
