A NaLu story:

False rumors

"Thanks for the help, Liss." Natsu says, while standing at her doorway with a present in his hand.

"No problem, I'm glad I could help."

"Let me know what she thinks of it, okay?"

Lisanna asks curiously.

Natsu gives her a big smile.

"I will!

He looks at her, moved by her kindness.

Then he steps forward and pulls her into a tight hug.

"Oof" Lisanna hufs, surprised by the sudden movement.

He releases her and steps back, putting some distance between them.

"I have to go, Lucy will be home by now and wondering where I am."

"Okay, I'll see you later, bye!"

Natsu waves and takes his leave, whistling a happy tune while thinking about Lucy.

She'll be so happy with his present….

When he gets home, he looks everywhere, but Lucy is nowhere to be seen.

"Odd, where can she be?"

"I'm sure she'll be around here somewhere" Natsu thinks while looking around for his wife.

Then he looks at the staircase and frowns.

"Maybe she's upstairs", he wonders, while taking the steps two at the time, in a rush to be upstairs.

He hears the sound of loud sobs coming from their bedroom.

The door is closed, and Natsu just stands there, shocked.

Lucy rarely cries, unless something is horribly wrong.

His stomach churns, he starts to feel uneasy and a feeling of dread washes over him.

Natsu waste no time and quickly opens the bedroom door.

The sight makes his stomach drop and his heart heavy:

Lucy is sitting on their bed, her face is buried in her arms, her whole silhouette is shaking.

Natsu's heart breaks at seeing his wife like this : miserable and tearful.

Lucy hasn't noticed him yet, so he clears his throat to make himself noticeable.

She looks up at the sound.

Her face is blotched, her eyes are red and tears are streaming down her pretty face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't you be with your other lover?" She asks, voice cracking while she speaks.

Natsu is confused by her words.

Other lover?

What the hell does she mean?

"What are you talking about?" he asks in a surprised voice.

Lucy sighs, she gets of the bed and walks to Natsu.

"I'm talking about Lisanna, Natsu."

"Vesna and Dimitri told me that you two have a secret affair going on!"

"You always visit her when I'm not home, stay at her house for a really long time and leave all smiley and happy, with that big grin on your face."

"They even said you had the decency to kiss her right in front of her front door, you don't even hide it!"

Lucy can't speak anymore, her throat hurts and there's a heavy weight on her chest.

Natsu looks at his wife, completely speechless.

"Lucy" he says quietly, while reaching out to her.

She flinches, as if he struck her, and that alone is enough to send a pang of hurt through Natsu's heart.

He tries again, this time without trying to touch her.

"Luce."

She looks up at the nickname, it still sent shivers down her spine.

She hates it when other people call Luce, only Natsu can do that.

He looks at her, his eyes look sad and pained.

"Will you please listen to me?"

"Every story has two sides, I want to tell you mine."

"Please, Luce?"

She sighs deeply, before looking him straight in the eyes.

"Alright then."

"Explain" she says, while crossing her arms over her chest.

Natsu breathes a sigh of relief.

At least she is willing to listen to him, that must mean something, right?

"Okay, so, here's the thing: "

"Tomorrow is your birthday, and since it's your 30th,I wanted to do something special."

"You know Lisanna is pretty creative, so I went to her for help."

"And she did, help me, I mean. "

"We got together a couple of times and she helped me with your present."

"I had to do it secretly, so I always went when you weren't home."

"As for the kissing, that never happened, I swear it didn't."

He looks at her pleadingly, hoping she would believe him.

"I swear, I never kissed Lisanna, she's my best friend, she's like a sister to me."

Lucy keeps staring at her husband, an unreadable look on her face.

She sighs, suddenly feeling tired and emotionally drained.

"Then would they say all those things to me, Natsu?"

"Did they just made that up?"

"Did they lie to me?"

"Of course they did!"

"You know how they are: always gossiping and lying!"

Natsu shouts, startling Lucy by his outburst.

"Sorry" he lowers his voice.

His gaze softens while he looks at his wife, his soul mate, his other half.

"Luce" he says, voice trembling.

"Do you really think I would do that to you?"

"To us?"

"Do you honestly believe I would ever be so stupid to cheat on you?"

"I would never hurt you, Luce, I love you too much to let that happen."

He walks closer to her, lifting her chin and looking straight into her eyes.

"When we married, I promised to love and protect you forever."

"I made a vow to stay at your side at all times, good and bad."

"I meant them then and I still mean them today."

"Don't you know how much I love you?"

"How happy I am that you're my wife?"

"I would be the world's biggest fool to let you go, Luce."

"Please believe me when I say that you're the only one I want, the only one who makes me happy."

Lucy is full out crying right now, but this time it's different:

They're tears of happiness instead of sorrow.

She sobs and flings herself into Natsu's arms.

He's caught off guard and stumbles a bit, but he recovers quickly.

He hugs her back, holding her tight to his chest.

"Are we good now?"

"Or are you still mad at me?"

Lucy smiles through her tears, and Natsu cannot help but feel hopeful.

"We're good" she answers, causing him to sigh in relief.

"Good, I'm glad" he tells her.

Lucy looks emberassed.

"What is it?" He asks gently.

"I'm sorry for doubting you, Natsu, I don't know what has gotten into me."

"I should have now better."

His gaze softens.

"It's alright" he assures her, while hugging her again.

"Just know that I will always be there for you, no matter what".

"Oh Natsu".

She presses her lips to his, pouring all her love, hope and relief into the kiss.

Natsu kisses back as soon as Lucy's lips touches his.

They keep kissing until they're both out of breath.

He breaks the kiss and presses his forehead against hers.

"I love you, Luce."

"I always have and always will."

She smiles, her whole face lights up at his words and Natsu feels a wave of affection by seeing that beautiful smile on her face.

"I love you too."