Hello!
This is the last chapter I promised for this story
After my break. The last one was a little short but hopefully this and the
Other one still made up for it!
Thank you guys for reading!
Enjoy!
Still Breathing
'Cause I wear my heart on my sleeve-'
Fifth Breath: Where Everything Starts
OoOoO
Natsu hummed a tune as he drove up to Lucy's house, such actions having become normal for the singer to do. It had been a few weeks since he had picked his partner up from off the street and attempted to treat her to a donut. Natsu was still under the impression that Lucy and her friend had yet to speak to each other, it seemed her friend had been avoiding her for the last little while. Although, as bad as it may sound, he was sort of glad that they hadn't made up yet, he had grown closer to his friend which helped with loosening up during practice.
She is a lot easier to speak to than he had originally thought.
They still weren't close enough to be "good friends" but he did enjoy his time around her, she was cool when she was being so weird, which he noted Lucy did not like to be called when she screeched at him for it. Despite the yell he still persists with calling her weird to annoy her. On the odd occasion he would purposely screw up her name and call her Luigi. Mavis did she hate that. He chuckled slightly and pulled the car to a stop in front of her house.
Natsu briefly debated on whether or not he should hop out and ring the doorbell but decided against it when the door swung open. His onyx eyes travelled to the familiar blonde and felt a small smirk pull at his lips until he saw the angry look on her face. Her hair was a mess, more so when the wind whipped around and her face bright red, eyes puffy and her clothing seemed different from the usual style she would wear. Considering it was a weekend and a little chilly, he'd expect to see Lucy with a pair of jeans and a small sweater but instead she looked as if she had just hopped out of bed in her short gym shorts that exposed her long legs and the small sweater that exposed her stomach.
Natsu could hear the faint sound of yelling over the wind, watching as another figure walked out of the house, he immediately dismissed the thought of the man being her father seeing as how young the guy looked, perhaps around his own age. Messy brown hair, light blue eyes narrowed angrily at his blonde friend as she stepped toward his truck. Natsu quickly unlocked it and she hurriedly hopped in right after. He waited for her to get settled and fasten her seatbelt, watching as Lucy's brother stopped the man from approaching her in the truck. He sped off before he saw anymore.
He kept his eyes on the road for the most part, glancing at Lucy briefly whenever they came to a stop but other than that he avoided looking at her. It was obvious that she was upset but he felt that it wasn't his place to say anything, especially after witnessing the argument only moments before. "Sorry you had to see that," her voice was contained and a little raspy, as if she had just been crying-he wouldn't have been surprised if she was, her face was an angry red and by the puffiness around her eyes Natsu could have guessed that she's distressed about whatever had just occurred.
"You don't need to apologize," he told her, because really, he didn't mind. An argument like that must have been for a good reason and as long as nobody was injured in the process he was fine-sort of. He didn't like the feeling that pooled in his stomach when Lucy was upset but instead of trying to coax her into anything he would just be there as silent comfort. She could tell him if she was comfortable.
"…You aren't going to ask?" She looked away from him so she was looking out the window.
"No," he shook his head, "It's not my place to ask." But I want to. She nodded and took a small shuddering breath, curling in on herself and rested her head against the window. Considering the weather, Natsu assumed that the coolness of the window felt nice against her flushed face. Natsu knew she didn't want to talk; she seemed to be thinking heavily, most likely about the argument which brought Natsu's thoughts to the man yelling at her. He assumed that was not her brother based on the description Lucy had given him about her twin, Sting.
So who was he?
He shook his head and pulled into the studio driveway. He was sure that Lucy was not going to be in the mood to deal with any bullshit. They hopped out of his vehicle and quickly got to work when they were in the studio, warming up before beginning their practice. Natsu had to admit that their dance was coming along well, he still wasn't the best at everything they were doing but Lucy was working hard to help get him to the best he could be.
Natsu still went on runs and did yoga with Lucy; however he never knew how little cardio he really had until he began those regular jogs with the blonde. Sure he had muscular endurance, the results coming in the shape of his muscular arms and hard stomach but he wasn't much of a cardio fan. Actually he never really did like running; that was more Mest's thing.
Now that he thought about it, Mest was the only one who really liked to run out of all of them in the band, Gajeel and himself liked weight training, Lyon skates and Jackal… well Jackal is a lazy piece of shit, Natsu couldn't remember the last time he had seen the guy walk without complaining that his feet hurt.
Natsu sighed once they came to a stop in their practice, taking a slight break for a bit and eat something and get a drink. "So how have things been going with you and the guys?" Lucy asked as she sipped at her water and he shrugged,
"Alright I guess, under a bit of pressure to get things done by the end of June." They only had a few more months left to prepare for that but with all the things they had to do and learn, they were going to need all of that time to finish. "Not like we can speed up the process much, guys are still stressing over some things and doubting I can actually make this dance work but I'm doing well."
"That you are." She smiled, "And then you'll be able to prove to everyone that you can dance."
"I'm all fired up!" He grinned, liking how she laughed at his actions. "How have things been going for you in the studio?"
"Fairly well," she tilted her head. "Although I have been having some troubles, considering it's for a wide variety of arts students we're doing every one dances taught here so plenty of students don't have the same dance techniques." He looked at her oddly,
"And you're having trouble with your art assignment?"
"Well every person in the class is paired up at random with a person of the opposite gender," she explained briefly before continuing, "The pairs have to choreograph a dance together and perform in front of the others and welcomed guests by mid-May the latest, four weeks."
"Okay so what's the problem?"
"I'm not really on good terms with my dance partner at the moment and I'm finding it hard to choreograph anything that I'd like to." Natsu nodded as he listened, it was a similar situation to his own, only he was writing words down on paper while she had to feel the emotions through her body. If she couldn't get along with this person while she choreographs, he could only assume that the dance would not be as in sync as it would be if they were getting along. Chemistry and emotions were everything in art.
"Well how about I tell you something I do when I'm stuck on my writing? I don't know if it will help much but I can at least give you some advice," She seemed to think for a minute before nodding and sitting up straighter. He chuckled quietly at her movements; she looked to be an attentive student. "Sometimes when I get stuck on writing something because of a certain person I'm not very close with at the moment I try to think of the things that we had done when we were close."
"Like think back on happy memories?"
"Exactly, just think of how you felt in that moment, try to base your dance off of your feelings of past memories." He though a moment, "Say you've picked your song, make sure it represents the chemistry between the two of you, things are tense but you want to grasp onto those connections you had, pick music that will put the audience at the edge of their seats. Then your dance should represent those emotions but you also need to feel the music." She most likely already knew what he was saying and was just boring her now but he would continue to say it until she told him to stop.
"If you're going for a darker dance like I said, feel the emotions-not all bad- and feel the music, make the two of you fight while your dancing but as you push each other back, show the remorse on your face, like you miss each other." He scratched his head, "I'm not really good with explaining stuff but, do you get it?"
"Yeah," Lucy was already beginning to plan something in her head. Natsu couldn't help but smile at her; he noticed that she often got this bright shine to her dark eyes whenever she would think about the choreography for a dance she was planning. He wondered if this was how he looked whenever her got inspiration to write and came up with some new lyrics, his friends often told him that the pride was always evident on his face whenever he showed them the new song. Natsu felt happy to know that someone else got just as excited about their type of art work as he did with his lyrics.
"Lucy?" Natsu's head turned to look at the person who had called his best friends name; it was the man that had been yelling at her when he went to pick her up. He looked to be a bit worse for wear and now that he could really see the man closely, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the tension drawn in his face. Natsu didn't like the looks of this guy, something about him just put him off and he had to stop himself form glaring at the man. His eyes shifted to the blonde, trying to see if she didn't want to speak to the man but she didn't seem as angry anymore. The man stepped forward, eyes locked on Lucy's, "Can I speak to you in private?" Lucy turned to him with a complicated look and he rose.
"I'm just going to go buy us some snacks." He announced, brushing past the guy and silently made his way out into the hall. Natsu made his way toward the vending machines; this would at least give them a few minutes to talk things over. He still was a little hesitant to leave the room due to the intensity of the argument from earlier but Natsu wanted to respect Lucy's privacy and decided against waiting outside the door.
After pressing a few buttons on the machine as it ate his money, he quickly grabbed the snacks for himself and Lucy, Doritos for him and a granola bar for her. He made a face at the food and sighed, Lucy had explained that she was on a strict diet plan the last time he had gone to get them food and made the mistake of getting her chips. Natsu still didn't understand why her dietary plan was as strict as it is, it wasn't as if she needed to lose any weight, sure sometimes he found her heavy-not that he would say it aloud- but she's extremely thin. He understood that she needed to be healthy especially since she is a dancer but that didn't mean she had to cut out all fats from her diet.
Natsu paused when he heard the faint voices coming from the studio room, "Dan that isn't even the problem-" So that's his name.
"Then what is-Lucy she's just my partner, you know this."
"Doesn't mean nothing will happen."
Are they dating? "Hey-I like you, not her." That answered it for him. Dan's tone sounded gentle and assuring, he understood why Lucy was so upset earlier. She had thought Dan was cheating on her.
"Promise?" Her voice was so soft, and weak. Natsu couldn't believe it, this was a side of Lucy he hadn't encountered yet, she sounded so insecure and worried-although Natsu didn't find it odd for him not to hear her like this considering they weren't best friends or anything, or dating for that matter but it still surprised him to hear something other than the usual confident and bossy Lucy he was used to.
"I promise LuLu."
"…Okay," Natsu took that moment to open the door and walk in, catching the two separating from a hug and watched as Lucy turned to him, her face looked a little flushed and eyes a little swollen again but other than that she seemed to be better than prior to their conversation. He nodded to her and tossed her granola bar, opening his bag of chips while she caught it with ease. Dan was staring at him, he noticed, probably a bit curious of whom he is but he would leave the introduction to Lucy if she found it necessary. For now, he would just enjoy his chips.
Dan's eyes lingered on him for a moment longer before shifting back to Lucy as he kissed her cheek, giving her a brief farewell before exiting the studio. She stood there for a moment, her face blank as she stared at the door to the studio room; she seemed to be deep in thought. He only had to wait a moment before she snapped out of her thoughts and sat beside him, he swallowed, "Everything alright?"
"Hm?" She blinked, "Oh! Yeah, everything is fine."
"You seemed to be thinking about something a second ago…" He paused, unsure where he was going with this. She smiled for a minute before biting into her granola bar,
"I was, there are a few things I need to think about, but everything's fine." She nodded as she finished up her food and swiped away at the crumbs on her clothes. "Are you ready to get back to practice?" He smirked and hopped up,
"I'm all fired up!"
…
"Thanks for driving me Natsu," Lucy smiled at Natsu as he pulled to a stop in front of her house. For once she was thankful for him having the death trap-she needed to get away from the house quickly and had she walked to the studio alone Dan would not have let her have a chance to think. She doubted anything would have come to the same conclusion as it did, had Dan chased after her and if Natsu hadn't come and taken her away.
"'Course," he grinned, unlocking the door for her, "what kind of partner would I be if I let you tire yourself out before you even got to the studio?" She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest,
"Says the guy who cannot handle yoga." She laughed and shook her head, "Seriously, how hard is it for you to touch your toes?"
"Hey! Don't be mean!" The small quirk of his lips told Lucy he wasn't really mad despite his raised voice, "I don't have sloth arms like you!"
"Excuse you," she stuck her tongue out. "It's called flexibility, Natsu."
"Whatever."
She giggled at his pout before smiling at him, "But seriously thank you. Also, thank you for your advice today, it helped me a lot." With more than he thought it did. Natsu just blinked at her and shrugged, his smile relaxed, and nonchalant.
"Well, what are friends for?" She paused, looking at him through the open window, she felt her eyes soften slightly and her face relax at his words. Nodding, she agreed.
"Yeah, friends."
Still Breathing
'-if you cut me I'll bleed.'
Sixth Breath
ALaViola: So this chapter took me a few days to write and I am finally writing it the day before my literacy test! Yay! I don't mind though, I did good on the practice test we had and then almost perfect on our practice sheets we got yesterday so I'm pretty confident with that. On the other hand I'm pretty sure I failed my history test, did not study for that at all. Anyway, this was my last promised updated for this story and I hope you enjoyed it and didn't find it too rushed! As a small assurance, my chapters will not continue to be this short, they will get back to their original length by the next update.
Thanks for reading!
Love it? Hate it? Review!
