Fairy Friendship Week 2020
Prompt: New Friends
Pairing: Romeo & Natsu, Natsu & Jellal
August 4, 2020
It was the afternoon lull, the part of his workday when the lunch crowd had returned to their offices, and only a few customers remained, talking over upcoming cases or nursing a loss in court. Natsu usually spent this period cleaning up, restocking the bar, and prepping garnishes for the evening shift. Meredy would often go to the kitchen to help Ultear, their cook, prepare for the evening meals while Jellal slunk into his office, exhausted by the effort of being social.
During this time, the bar was quiet, and that suited Natsu just fine. He still hadn't fully settled from the botched intervention Gildarts, and Erza had tried to stage for him two days earlier, and Loke's outburst the previous evening hadn't helped matters either.
All Natsu wanted was to be left alone, but everyone was determined to make him grieve for his wife their way, refusing to understand that he was trying his best to move forward. How quickly he did that was up to him, not them. Still, he knew there was a point buried within their well-meaning meddling.
"Hey, Natsu?" Jellal called out from his office, "Can you take out the trash? The bags in both the kitchen and the bar look pretty full."
"Yeah, on it."
Crap!
He should have done that already. Looking out the window to see that it was raining, he muttered a curse and went off in search of his umbrella. Ten minutes later, he was carrying two large, overly full bags of trash. Meredy opened the door that led out to the alley for him, and he strode outside, holding on to his umbrella as best he could against the pelting rain.
Once again, he muttered a curse, realizing that he'd have to put down the umbrella to get the dumpster open. He felt someone grab the umbrella from his hand and hold it above his head and was astonished to find Romeo Conbolt standing there.
"Romeo? What are you doing here?"
Romeo offered him a small smile, but it wasn't hard to see something was wrong.
"Can I talk to you?"
This is perfect! Macao just bailed on us, something about Romeo, wasn't really paying attention...
Natsu recalled the words Gildarts had mentioned in passing on Sunday and had an immediate suspicion that the two things were related. He didn't know Romeo all that well, had only really talked to him at the Dads Club meetings, but Atlas had taken an immediate liking to him, and they had chatted a few times.
He opened the dumpster and deposited the bags inside, the lid making a loud clank when he urged it shut. Natsu wanted to say he was in the middle of a work shift and suggest they talk later, but he couldn't get the words out of his mouth. Romeo was soaked, making him realize that whatever the teen wanted to speak to him about was serious enough for him to stand in that smelly alley in the rain, just on the off chance that he would come out. He couldn't just send him away.
Natsu sighed to himself, hoping Jellal was in a good mood.
"Come on, you're going to catch your death out here," he recovered his umbrella and led Romeo inside the building.
Natsu liked working at Crime Sorciere, but he'd never thought the place was all that impressive, so it amused him to see Romeo gawk at it. He led him to one of the booths furthest away from the bar.
"Sit here," he ordered, " I'll be right back."
"Meredy?" Natsu called out as he entered the storeroom in search of some towels.
"Yeah, what?"
"Can you make a couple of mugs of hot cocoa?"
"You got it!" Meredy replied, and he heard her asking Ultear for help.
Natsu hurried back to Romeo, handing him the towels and fighting off the instinct to help him as he would his own son. He was tempted to turn on the fireplace, but he knew Jellal would have a fit if he did, so the hot cocoa would have to do.
He sat across from the boy, hiding a smile at his awkward attempt to dry himself off. "So, uhm, what brings you here?"
"I don't know what to do."
Natsu waited for him to say something more, but Romeo only stared at him with wide, pleading eyes.
"Uhm, should I call your dad for you?"
"NO!" he yelled, and then in a quieter voice, "Please don't do that."
"Alright, I won't call him," Natsu winced, looking around to see that the remaining customers were openly staring at them. He offered them a confident smile and turned back to Romeo, "But you need to tell me what's going on, okay?"
Romeo nodded, leaning in towards Natsu, and in a voice so quiet that Natsu had to strain to hear it, he said, "I kinda got a girl pregnant."
"YOU WHAT?!" It was Natsu's turn to yell, and once again, everyone's attention was fixed on them.
"What is going on out here?"
Jellal came out of his office, looking annoyed, and heading straight for Natsu.
"Dragneel," Jellal stopped in his tracks when he saw who his bartender was sitting with. "Why is there a minor in my bar?"
"Relax, Jellal. He's not in the bar area. It shouldn't be a problem."
Jellal walked to the booth and peered at Romeo. "Hey, aren't you one of my little sister's friends?"
"Y-ess, Sir," Romeo stuttered, looking utterly terrified.
Jellal nudged Natsu to move over and sat down across from Romeo, "How's she doing? I haven't seen her in a few weeks."
"She's f-fine."
"She should be at that meeting tonight that I told you about," Natsu reminded him, "She babysits the kids there. Romeo does too."
For a moment, Natsu panicked, worrying that the girl he was referring to could possibly be Wendy. Why else would Romeo come to talk to him? Or flip out at Jellal's presence, for that matter?
"It's not Wendy," Romeo blurted out.
"Oh, thank god!" Natsu exclaimed, his relief palpable. The idea of having to mediate between Makarov, Laxus, Gildarts, and all the other members of his rather insane adoptive family over someone they all felt so protective of had terrified the shit out of him. Not to mention Jellal, who was also incredibly protective of his sister.
"What's not Wendy?" Jellal asked, his curiosity aroused but quickly diverted by Meredy's arrival. She bore a tray with 3 mugs of hot cocoa and handed one to each of them.
"I put extra whipped cream on yours," she winked at Jellal before walking away, checking on the remaining customers taking her place behind the bar.
"Uhm…" Natsu peered at Romeo, not wanting to reveal his secret, hoping the boy would do so himself. He could use some backup.
"My girlfriend is pregnant," Romeo explained quietly, eyes glued to the cup of cocoa on the table in front of him.
"You're like 15! Are you even old enough to get laid?!" Jellal blurted out, and Natsu elbowed him under the table.
"14…" Romeo squeaked, looking like he could slide under the table at any moment, "I'm 14. My birthday isn't for another few weeks."
"Christ! Didn't anyone teach you about protection?!" Jellal scolded.
"We were careful!" Romeo insisted, trying to defend himself against Jellal's disapproval, but then he lowered his head, and added in a much smaller voice, "most of the time."
"Most of the time?" Jellal echoed in disbelief.
"Will you stop?" Natsu snapped at Jellal, remembering how terrified he'd been when he'd found out Lisanna was pregnant with Hana, and he'd been several years older. "That seriously isn't helping."
Jellal grunted but didn't say anything else, letting Natsu take the lead.
"So, you wanted to talk to me because I had kids when I was pretty young?" Natsu guessed.
Romeo nodded. "My girlfriend and I both agreed that we want to keep it, but I have no idea what to expect. I tried talking to my dad, but it didn't go too well."
"You probably just caught him by surprise." Natsu assured him, "I'm sure he'll come around. I mean, he runs a support club for dads, doesn't he?"
"I dunno about that," Romeo mumbled, "He was pretty mad…"
"They cry a lot," Jellal rejoined the conversation, and when both Natsu and Romeo peered at him in confusion, he added with a half shrug, "He wanted to know what to expect."
"That's the one thing I remember about Wendy as a baby," Jellal revealed, "I could never seem to figure out what she wanted, and I remember thinking maybe she was just crying over our parents' death."
Natsu stared at his boss for a moment, absorbing what he'd said and shaking his head. "I worry about you."
Jellal seemed uncomfortable, so Natsu let it go and turned his attention back to Romeo.
"It's true, infants do cry a lot, but they do a lot of other stuff too," Natsu agreed, recalling Hana's first days, even though those types of thoughts brought him more pain than joy these days. "My situation was a little different, though."
Natsu had been eighteen when Lisanna had gotten pregnant, and they'd already been living together in a small apartment in Edolas. And while he had indeed been absolutely terrified when he'd found out, he'd also had no qualms about asking her to marry him or about working two jobs so that she could stay home with Hana and then Atlas. They'd been unbelievably happy until she'd…
He immediately shut that thought down, the pain too much for him to bear. He felt Jellal squeeze his arm tightly and took a deep breath in an effort to control his tears before they could surface.
"I uh- was a few years older," he added by way of explanation, hoping Romeo didn't notice the tremor in his voice. "But probably even more terrified."
"I don't think that ever changes," Jellal commented, "I remember my dad being a nervous wreck while my mom was pregnant with Wendy, and it certainly wasn't their first go around."
Natsu was surprised to hear Jellal talk about his parents. It was a topic that he rarely brought up, even though it had been years since they'd died, leaving him to care for his baby sister.
"So it's okay to be scared?"
Both Natsu and Jellal laughed at that, although it was Natsu who responded. "I'd probably be more worried if you weren't."
"I'll be honest with you- " Natsu gently placed a hand on Romeo's arm, "You're already more prepared than I was. I had zero idea what I was doing until Hana was born, and even then, it took me a few weeks to get the hang of it. That class you took for the club already taught you most of what you need to know, and I've seen you with the kids. You're a natural."
"But I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you, either," he warned, "Your life is going to change. Babies aren't cheap. There are diapers and wipes to buy, and food, not to mention clothes. You're going to need to get a job to afford these things. Even though I know a lot of us will be more than happy to help out however we can."
"And be prepared for a lot of sleepless nights," Jellal added. "You'll be up feeding, changing, soothing, and worrying."
"That's right," Natsu conceded, "But in all honesty, the best advice I can give you is this. If you can possibly manage it, don't drop out of school like I did. That's my one regret. Because of that one choice I made at seventeen, I sabotaged not only my future but my kids' as well."
Romeo nodded weakly, eyes tearing up. "I knew it was going to be a lot, but-."
Before he could get anything more out, he began to shake, and this time Natsu was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the state of his clothes, and he tried to backtrack, realizing much too late that they had overwhelmed the poor kid."
"Listen, you might still be young-"
"Very," Jellal emphasized, earning him another elbow from Natsu.
"You might still be young," Natsu tried again, "but I think it's incredibly brave of you to step up and take this responsibility. I know it sounds like a lot right now, but you have months to prepare before the baby is born. You can do this!"
"Natsu's right, and you shouldn't worry too much about making mistakes either. We all do," Jellal assured Romeo. "Oh, and never shy away from asking for help when you need it, even if it means letting someone else take care of the baby until you can do it yourself like I did."
"You're still doing it," Natsu reminded him with a shove, "Gramps is the one who takes care of Wendy, not your overgrown ass."
"She's happy there!" Jellal protested, "And I give him money every week to help."
"Which he doesn't accept," Natsu reminded him, rolling his eyes at how stubborn both men were. "You might as well-"
"No!" Romeo interrupted their banter, "I can do it."
His tone was forceful, but there was something about it that felt off to Natsu. It made him think that Romeo hadn't told them everything, and he got the distinct impression that Romeo wouldn't want to discuss whatever it was. Not yet, anyway.
"Of course you can!" Natsu was quick to reassure him. He grabbed the notepad he used to jot down long drink orders out of the pocket of his half apron and wrote his phone number on it in neat numbers. Ripping the page, he handed it over to Romeo.
"You can always come to me for help." Natsu gave him what he hoped was an encouraging smile, "Teen dads have to stick together, right?"
Romeo took the piece of paper and stared at the numbers for a full minute. He then looked at Natsu with eyes full of gratitude and admiration.
"I knew you were the right person to talk to!"
"That's our Natsu," Jellal teased, grabbing Natsu in a headlock and ruffling his hair, "an inspiration to one and all."
He knew Jellal's words were meant in jest, but after months of wallowing in self-pity and being on the receiving end of everyone else's best intentions, he had to admit it felt good to help someone out. To know that he could pay all his friends' efforts forward.
It also made him realize something else. He and the kids weren't the only ones who had lost Lisanna. Mira, Elfman, and even Erza had too. Maybe it was time he stopped shutting them out so they could grieve together and become a family again.