Chapter 5! Thank you for all the feedback I am getting. For clarifying purposes, this does not occur right after high school, it is several years after that.
This chapter is kinda short but I wanted to leave this here since I will be gone for a week. And... it's the first chapter I've written on my new laptop! So all you MRNL fans look for a new chapter next month!
Enjoy and as always please review!
"Sting, it's a misunderstanding…" Natsu stated as he slowly backed up and the angry blonde began to walk towards him.
"A misunderstanding?! You called me just the other day to tell me about some hot chick you just hooked up with and then you show up here with my sister?!" Sting lunged towards Natsu but the pinkette was able to dodge the advance by running around the table.
"It's not what you think!" Natsu continued to argue. Lucy's shoulders dropped when she heard; she didn't bother to think about what her lie would do to Natsu's life. "You're seeing someone?" she asked as she slowly lifted her head to make eye contact with Natsu. How could I not consider him in this?
The room seemed to come to a standstill for a moment. Lucy felt guilty, Natsu was shocked and Sting was pissed. "YOU'RE CHEATING ON MY SISTER?!" If Natsu was even shaken before, now he was terrified. Sting always had an anger issue, especially when it came to Natsu. It was a weird relationship of constantly one uping each other but respecting one another in the process.
Sting lunged to the right to get around the table, the one thing obstructing him from strangling Natsu. Natsu's instant reaction was to push the chair beside him into his blonde attacker and run the opposite direction.
"It's not like that!" Natsu looked back to see Sting had deflected the chair with his forearm with ease and was still in pursuit. "What, does my sister mean nothing to you?!" Lucy just stood still and watched as Sting continued to chase Natsu around the apartment; it was almost like an epic game of tag except it wasn't a game and it would end with punches being thrown.
Natsu jumped on top of the bed just as Sting dove forward towards him. "If you just give me a second to explain…"
"I don't want to hear the dirty details of your love affair!" Sting yelled as he stood and pulled Natsu off the bed by his legs. Lucy held her face in her hands as the two rolled around on the floor, Sting trying to punch at Natsu but to no avail because Natsu had his arms pinned. With a heavy sigh, she strode over to where the two were rolling around to break up the fight. "Alright, stop it you two," she yelled as she smacked the back of whoever was on top at the moment. "Sting, sit down and Natsu and I will explain everything."
…
"So it's all fake?" Sting asked incredulously, to which Natsu and Lucy both nodded in response. "And you're doing all this to make dad happy?" They nodded again.
Lucy was able to calm her brother down and sit him on the futon to deliver the news. She went on about Dan (Sting responded by threatening to kill the male and Natsu agreed to help hide the body), her phone call with their father and her depressed mindset when concocting the scheme.
Sting sat in silence for a moment just trying to piece everything together. "So… you're not dating." Both nodded again. "And you didn't sleep together?"
Lucy nodded but Natsu quickly answered, "Yet." Lucy and Sting's eyes both went wide; before Sting could react physically, Lucy hit Natsu in the chest with the back of her hand, "Natsu!"
"I'm joking, geez."
"That's not funny," Sting deadpanned.
"Agreed."
"And the girl you hooked up with?" Sting sighed.
"Just some girl I met at the bar. It was a one night stand kind of thing, nothing serious came out of it," Natsu said the last part more so for Lucy's benefit. Sting leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. He shook his head before he spoke, "It'll kill him when he finds out."
"IF he finds out," Natsu clarified.
"And he won't because we won't tell him." Lucy pushed as she stared hard at her brother. "Please don't say anything." An almost plea but more so demand, from the older sibling to the younger.
"So I'm just supposed to smile and play along?"
"Just for the weekend," Natsu answered.
"Preferably." Lucy added.
"Lucy…" Sting began but she was quick to jump to her defense.
"Look, Dad has always got on my case about marriage. First it was to better the company and I refused because I wanted to marry for love…"
"Then what is this?!" Sting yelled.
Natsu placed a hand up defensively between the two siblings, "We aren't actually married, Sting."
"Mom wasn't at your wedding and I know it killed all of us knowing she wasn't there… I think it saddens him to imagine he won't be there for mine… but at least meeting my future husband is enough for him. If I can make him happy just by having Natsu pretend to be engaged to me… then I will. At least he will have fond memories of his last moments."
The room was silent… death seemed to be a strong force which followed both families. Natsu's parents died when he was a baby and Igneel and Grandine took him in as their own. Lucy and Sting lost their mother yet it seemed death was not satisfied… it was now coming for Jude.
"What if he lives longer than he says… are you guys gonna continue to charade until he actually passes?" Natsu and Lucy thought about it… they didn't get that far in the thought process behind the plan.
"We'll deal with it once we get there. We are just going to focus on this week." Lucy responded. It was just too difficult to think about things that far in advance.
"I guess I will play along." Natsu and Lucy perked their heads up, Lucy overjoyed and Natsu still surprised he agreed. "Really?!"
"But this doesn't mean I approve of what you're doing."
"Oh thank you brother!" Lucy cooed as she wrapped her brother in a hug. Sting reluctantly hugged her back. His sister was weird but he still loved her, fake plans and all. As soon as Lucy released her grasp on Sting, Natsu walked up, "Bring it in brother!" he yelled with open arms.
"I'm out of here," Sting stood from the futon and began walking towards the door. "Just remember to get to the Dragneel house at a decent time tomorrow. We need help setting up all the tables and chairs."
Natsu wrapped his arm around Lucy's shoulders and pulled her in tight. "We'll be there," he responded with a giant grin on his face, knowing Sting hated what he was doing. Sting turned, cursing under his breath, and exited the apartment.
As soon as the door shut, Lucy threw Natsu's arm off of her. "What was that?!"
"What?!" Natsu shrugged.
"I swore him to secrecy, I don't need you egging him on and make things worse," she angrily stated as she trudged over to her suitcase by the bed. She threw the case down on the mattress, unzipped it and began taking out some clothes.
"What are you doing?" Natsu called as he stood at the makeshift box wall they constructed.
"I'm getting dressed for bed."
He crossed his arms across his chest, "Why do you get the bed?"
Lucy paused, "Excuse me?!" He strode over to her until he was millimeters from her face. While Lucy was shocked and disgusted, Natsu was smug. "Cuz I'm the girl."
"So." He deadpanned. Lucy threw the clothes in her hand into the open suitcase and turned to face him, crossing her arms as well. "I figured you'd be the gentleman and let the lady sleep on the bed."
"You figured wrong," he whispered. He moved past her to stand in front of her suitcase. "Well… I'm the guest here and I'm doing you a huge favor by pretending to be engaged to you so…" he remarked as he put the items into the suitcase, zipped it up and thrust it into her arms. "I'm taking the bed."
"WHAT?!"
"Remember that favor you owe me?" he wiggled his eyebrows as he retrieved his duffel bag from the living room area.
"Seriously?! You're wasting your favor on this?" Natsu set his bag down on the mattress where Lucy's used to be. "I mean… unless you want to share the bed with me?" he followed his statement with a wink.
"Ugh!" Lucy turned her head in disgust and strode into the living room. Natsu couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. "It's not like we haven't shared a bed before." He jested. She always wore her heart on her sleeve which made her fun to tease. She threw her suitcase down onto the table and took out her choice of pajamas for the evening.
Between the cracks in their box wall, she could see Natsu gathering his bathroom items. She quickly grabbed everything she needed and ran towards the bathroom door. She got there right as Natsu was reaching for the handle but she was just a tad quicker. "Then you won't mind if I use the bathroom first!" She smirked as his eyes went wide and she smirked even more once she entered the small bathroom and slammed the door in his face.
She made sure to take extra long getting ready for bed; she brushed her teeth twice, rubbed lotion all over her body, washed her face slowly and even took the time to braid her hair. Content with her twenty minutes, she strode out of the bathroom, a big smile on her face. The smile quickly went away when she saw a shirtless Natsu lounging on the futon reading a familiar looking book.
"Took you long enough," he remarked, his eyes never leaving the pages.
"Is that my notebook?!" she yelled. She quickly threw her stuff down on the card table acting as the dining table and strode over to the pinkette. "Stop going through my stuff!" she yelled as she attempted to reach for her notebook but Natsu moved it farther from her reach. "Is this your latest story?" he asked genuinely.
"Yes and I need you to give it back, it's not finished." She stated as she ripped the notebook out of his grasp.
"But you never finish any of your stories." The statement made her pause; she stared at the closed notebook in her hands which held her newest project. He was right though… she had been writing stories as long as she could remember… well, pretty much since she could pick up a pencil; however, she just never could seem to finish anything she wrote. She lost interest or her life got busy and she dropped the story, or she couldn't think of how to end it… pretty much all excuses.
"But I know you will someday," Natsu muttered as he walked around her towards the bathroom. Natsu shut the door leaving Lucy alone with her thoughts. She wanted to be a writer, that was the whole point of getting a job where she did but to be honest, she has settled in a comfortable rut as a mere editor. I mean I kinda write… right?
The creaking of the bed on the opposite side of the room roused her from her thoughts. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound but took the hint when the light turned off. Lucy placed her notebook back into the backpack beside her before laying down on the futon. Once comfortable underneath the blankets, she reached over to the lamp and gently flipped the switch to completely darken the room.
Silence filled the air palpable with raw emotion… for Lucy, it was guilt, sadness, but above all else worry. How long did her dad have to live? What would happen to his estate? To Mrs. Spetzo? How would Sting feel? Would their sham be found out? How would her father feel? All those questions flooded her mind… why was it when she tried to sleep that's when her mind decided to work in overtime?
Natsu rolled over in bed, rustling the sheets and creating a soft sound but one loud enough for Lucy to hear. Thinking of him brought her mixed emotion, both comfort and sorrow. She was glad to have him here with her in this mess but that's exactly what made her sad… she drug him into this. She owed him more than sleeping on the bed.
She sighed, releasing her emotion in the sentence, "I'm sorry."
"You said that already," she heard.
"I'm still sorry for getting you involved in all this but… I shouldn't have taken it out on you or Grandine." She was confused when she was met with a chuckle. "She deserved it anyways." She couldn't help but smile.
"She has always been a very passionate woman and she tends to get overly excited about things she is passionate about… which can be a bit overbearing."
"So I've seen," it was her turn to chuckle. Countless memories played in her head of times when Grandine put Natsu in some embarrassing situations because of her 'passion.' His humiliation was fun to watch but she knew it was always out of love… a love she so desperately longed for from her father.
"I'm sorry for getting angry with you." Lucy's eyes went wide and looked over in her roommate's direction. "I know your dad is just excited to see you get married and all the different possibilities that lie in your future… and I know it kills him inside to know he won't be a part of it." Natsu stared into the diamond of the ring he twirled in his fingers. He remembered the look on Jude's face when he promised him he would protect Lucy's future. He saw pride, of his daughter and her choices… including him; but he also saw the sadness.
"I'm sorry, I should have picked a different word." He glanced over at their box wall in an attempt to get his apology across to her.
"It's okay." He looked at the ring once more before placing it back in the little black box then placing it in the drawer of the bedside table.
"Hey, Luce?" He glanced back in her direction.
"Yeah, Natsu?"
"You're amazing." Her eyes went wide. "You are so selfless; you care so much about people that you help them no matter what it costs you. What you are doing for your dad is admirable… so don't feel bad about it or by including me." Lucy blushed and smiled at his kind words. "And just because you can get any guy doesn't mean any of them deserve you. You deserve someone who can give his focus to you and treat you with respect and devotion… not like that Dan guy."
Lucy continued to blush as she smiled. "When we get home, remind me to find him and kick his ass."
"I already punched the man; don't you think that's enough?" she jested.
"I wish I could have been there to see that! I know how you punch so I bet it was amazing!" The two chuckled at one another. "Was it anything like your fight with Bacchus?"
"Oh my gosh! I forgot about that!" Lucy yelled. During her junior year in high school, Natsu and Lucy went with their football and cheerleading teams respectively to a party where the rival team was invited, no one had a clue why they were there. Regardless, one of their players, Bacchus, got drunk and tried hitting on her. She turned him down politely several times before she resulted to telling him off, which she hated to do but the guy just wouldn't take the hint.
She tried to walk away from him but the scumbag took the opportunity to grab a hand full of her ass. Lucy was too consumed by rage to exactly remember what happened next, but Natsu told her she punched him so hard he went flying across the room and crashed into the drink table. When his teammates went to check on him, he was out cold. Natsu claimed he got off lucky because he would have torn him to shreds but he knew Lucy could handle herself.
"Hahaha, not quite. I know I knocked him back but I left too quickly to know what happened to him."
"He's lucky you stopped there." Lucy chuckled at their conversation.
"Luce," she stopped laughing to listen to her friend, "No matter what, let's agree to just have fun this weekend."
"That sounds like a great idea." Lucy agreed. Both of them rolled over to face away from the makeshift wall, smiling and actually a bit hopeful for the weekend.
The blonde felt herself drifting off to sleep but right before she let it take her, she said, "Natsu…"
"Yeah, Luce," he said comically.
"I've missed you." With that, she drifted off but the pinkette stayed awake a moment more. "Me too, Luce… me too."
