Hey guys, sorry for the delay... so much has happened in my life and honestly, I've been super depressed. It's been hard for me to do anything, especially write something so happy.
I am almost done with the epilogue so this isn't the end; don't worry. So please enjoy.
This is dedicated to my best friend... I lost her so quick and never got to say goodbye. I miss you so much!
Natsu looked around wildly as he passed through the double doors, his bobbing head only stopping when his eyes landed on his sister's face. "Where is Lucy?" he asked her as he approached the group.
"She's in the back with Jude, but they are in the process of discharging him as we speak," Yukino answered.
"Well that's anticlimactic," he muttered to himself, there goes my big entrance.
"Are you here to get her back?" Wendy asked.
Natsu rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, "I technically didn't really have her to begin with."
"If you are here for her, then why were you with Lisanna?" Grandine questioned.
Natsu sighed in aggravation; he didn't want to have to explain this to everyone, but he was somewhat trapped. "Lisanna has been after me all week; she took me being here as a sign we would get back together. She somehow found out Lucy and I were faking the engagement, so she cornered me and threatened to tell everyone."
"So… she demanded you kiss her?" Grandine asked.
"Not quite…" The group gave him a 'get on with it' look so he continued, "I told her I didn't care if she exposed it or not. My feelings for Lucy weren't a lie anymore." Grandine's eyes began to light up as she realized what he was getting at. "Well, it's not that they weren't real before, I mean, I loved Lucy before but not in a romantic sense as much. But then I spent so much time with her again this week and reconnecting made me realize I guess I sorta always did? Does that make sense?" Grandine and Wendy nodded wildly.
"Anyway, I was just so focused on exploring a life with Lucy that I didn't want to be held down by the past, so I told her off. She begged me for one last kiss, so I did…" He blankly stared at the people in the room; he clenched his jaw and looked down at the floor. "That was stupid of me, I shouldn't of…"
"So, you weren't having an affair?" Mrs. Spetzo clarified.
Natsu rolled his eyes, "How can I have an affair when we were never together?!"
"He's telling the truth." Natsu whipped his head around to look at Levy. He never broke eye contact with her as she spoke. "I overheard the whole thing. He told Lisanna he never loved anyone more than he loves Lucy in his entire life." Levy smiled at the pinkette and he returned it with a soft grin.
"You love me?" The group whipped their heads around to see Lucy standing at the exit doors with Jude beside her. Everyone's heads quickly turned back to Natsu to see what would happen. Natsu stared at her, his focus solely on her like everyone else suddenly disappeared.
"Yes." He said simply and paused. The release of the word brought a flood of emotions forward and he smiled at the thought of them. "Yes, I do. I love you, Lucy." He took one step towards her to test the waters; he didn't want to overstep his boundaries, not again.
The crowd held their breath as Lucy took a step towards Natsu. Natsu continued to beam as he gazed at her. Lucy wore a soft questioning expression as her focus darted between each of Natsu's eyes. Natsu reached out to place his hand on her as he spoke, "Luce, I…"
His eyes went wide as he saw the blonde reel back and thrust a fist forward towards his face. The pinkette flew across the floor and slammed his head against the wall on the other side. Everyone gasped, except for Sting who chuckled to himself.
"Shit, Lucy!" he yelled as he pushed himself into a sitting position against the wall with one hand and grabbed his nose with the other.
"I'm so sorry," Lucy said as she took a small step towards him, then she paused. "Wait… no I'm not, I'm mad at you." She said it in a stern manner but by no means in an angry tone.
"What did I do?!" Natsu yelled.
"Y-you kissed Lisanna after sleeping with me," Lucy hesitantly answered.
Natsu paused, "Okay, bad timing on my part, but if it's any consultation it meant nothing to me."
"Kissing Lisanna or sleeping with me?"
He paused once more but only because he was stunned at how brazen she was. "Lisanna obviously."
"Just checking," Lucy mumbled.
"Look, Luce…" Natsu stood but stumbled slightly to get his footing. He grabbed his nose once more before shaking his head.
"Sir, I think you broke your nose, you need to get checked in immediately," a nurse stated as she walked over to Natsu and tried to walk him to the counter. He brushed her off and continued to walk to Lucy.
"It's not the first time she's hit me, and I pray it won't be the last." He smiled at the blonde.
"Was that your attempt at being romantic?" Lucy asked.
"We've discussed this, I'm not very good at it." After Lucy chuckled, Natsu tried to continue, "Luce, this week has been…"
"Sir, you really need to get your nose checked out." The nurse butted in again.
Natsu turned towards the woman in annoyance, "I'm fine, I don't need medical attention." He turned to face Lucy again and gave her an 'anyway let's continue' look. The nurse angrily stomped away down the hall.
"Luce," Natsu began sternly, "This weekend didn't turn out like I thought it would. I didn't expect I would have to play fiancé to the entire town, I didn't expect we'd be living together all week, I didn't expect I would get punched in the face by both Heartfilia siblings…"
"Sorry, again," Lucy whispered.
"I'm not!" Sting yelled from his seat.
"And I didn't expect to fall in love with my best friend." Natsu grabbed Lucy's hands within his own before Lucy pulled one away. "You got blood on your hand," she answered.
"Oh sorry," he stated as he wiped the blood off his hands and onto his pant leg. Once he was satisfied with his cleaning job, he took Lucy's hand in his own once more. "Despite everything we've been through this week, I wouldn't change any of it for the world… well, maybe getting hit in the face."
"You know you really should get it checked out, it's starting to bruise," Lucy added.
"Later, anyway…"
"Sir…"
Natsu turned and yelled at the new voice, "WHAT?!" The nurse had returned, but this time had brought a doctor with her. "Sir, the nurse has notified me you have a possibly broken nose; do you mind if I take a look at you?"
"I'm a little busy at the moment," Natsu almost grunted.
"A broken nose is a very serious issue, Sir. It could quickly lead to severe breathing problems."
"I'm breathing fine right now, thank you."
"Natsu, you should probably listen to the doctor," Wendy added quietly but Grandine shushed the girl.
"I will handle this," she told her daughter before standing and approaching the doctor. He visibly stiffened upon seeing Grandine. "Uh, Dr. Dragneel… I'm sorry I didn't see you there."
"That's alright, Harold. Why don't you go prepare a room for my son and I will be there in a moment to examine him." The nurse and doctor shook their heads before speed walking away. Grandine turned with a satisfied smirk and placed her hand on her son's shoulder, "Please continue." Grandine returned to her seat and stared intently at the two.
Now more than ever, Natsu was very aware of the others around him. He cleared his throat and tried to return his attention to the blonde girl in front of him. "As I was saying…" Lucy chuckled in response to Natsu's sarcasm, "I loved spending this week with you. And if there is one thing that I can take out of all this, it's that I never want to spend another moment of my life without you in it."
Natsu fell to a single knee; in doing so, he caused every girl in the immediate vicinity to gasp. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring he had been holding onto all night. "At the beginning of this week, I gave this ring to you for your dad's sake, to be the lynch pin to hold our lie together; but now… I'm giving this ring to you for me.
Luce, I want to spend the rest of my life with you… to argue with you, to drink wine and eat cold chicken in a tree house with you, to slow dance to music played on crappy phone speakers, to give you piggy back rides when you're too drunk, but most importantly… to love you for the rest of your life." Lucy chuckled and sniffled at the same time. She tried to keep the tears back as she watched the beaming, bloody boy in front of her.
"Lucy Heartfilia, will you marry me?" Natsu stared longingly into Lucy's eyes. Her eyes watered as she fought back tears; her focus jumped back and forth between Natsu's eyes searching for something. What she found was joy, love and hope… she saw her future.
The words didn't come at first, so she simply nodded. She realized she wasn't speaking when Natsu's eyebrows raised. "Yes… Yes!" Natsu smiled as he slid the ring onto Lucy's finger before he stood to meet her. Lucy placed her hands on either side of Natsu's face to pull him close.
The crowd cheered joyfully, some crying happily and hugging one another, as they watched the new couple before them. Lucy smiled widely before leaning into Natsu so her lips met his. Before she could though, her nose bumped into Natsu's, causing pain to shoot through his face.
"Ugh!" Natsu groaned in pain, as he pulled his face away from her and grasped his nose. Lucy gasped and pulled her hands back suddenly. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She panicked.
"It's okay," Natsu insisted. He reached forward and took her hand in his own; with a gentle tug, he pulled her closer to him. "Just be gentle with me." Lucy smiled and slowly moved her face towards his. Lucy titled her head ever so slightly as she gently placed her lips upon Natsu's. He could feel her smile and he couldn't help but smile himself.
The crowd of family cheered, causing others present to join in and leaving some to wonder what just happened. Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck and Natsu responded by squeezing her closer. When the two pulled apart, Lucy slid her arms from around Natsu's neck to rest on his shoulders.
"Now will you please go get your nose checked because if you want to do more of this," Lucy motioned back and forth between the two of them, "then you need to make sure that is fully healed."
Natsu tipped his head back and released an aggravated sigh, still maintaining his grip on her hips. "But that could take forever."
"Well then you'll be motivated to heal."
Natsu quickly tipped his head forward, showing Lucy his mischievous grin, "We could do other things that don't require my nose getting potentially injured." Natsu raised his eyebrows causing Lucy to nervously chuckle and blush.
Some people gasped; Grandine covered Wendy's ears while Sting started fuming. "Natsu, there are children present!" Grandine yelled as she nodded her head towards Wendy.
"Dude, that's my sister!"
"Get used to it!" Natsu yelled at the blonde male, who responded by slouching further into his seat.
Lucy leaned in towards Natsu's ear to whisper to him, "We can talk about it later." Lucy winked as she pulled away from him. Natsu couldn't help the huge grin on his face.
Grandine stood, walked over to her son and grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt collar. "Come on, lover boy." She gently pulled her son away and towards the examination room. Lucy's gaze never left Natsu's face as he was led away from her. She noticed she was beaming and the smile on her face wouldn't leave… and she loved it.
She entered this week coming out of a bad relationship as the 'other woman,' causing her not to have an optimistic outlook on her romantic future; added with the 'sham' she pulled with Natsu, she was sure she would be doomed forever. Despite the rough beginning and little lows during the week, love managed to find a way. It wasn't her plan to fall in love but maybe that's how it was supposed to happen all along.
