Chapter Thirteen

Say Something

Silence filled the space between them, nagging Lucy to bridge the gap and connect with Natsu on a more familiar ground. "So, did you-?"

"Lucy." He interrupted, his mind seemingly occupied on himself and their situation. Though the awkward distance made her heart sink, the low and husky sound of her name picked her back up. "I gotta tell you something." He said, then hesitated. His dark eyes scanned her face, and she tried to suppress the heat from rising to her ears and cheeks with slow and deep breaths.

His expressionless gaze lingered on her features and her self-consciousness spiked. She pressed her dry lips together to moisten the bottom lip with her tongue. Another moment dragged on. And she raised her brows, leaned her head forward slightly, nodded, or any gesture she could think of that would get him to spit it out already. "Yes?"

Something light and mischievous flickered in his eyes and eased the tautness in his posture and firm line of his mouth. Then he said, "Do you know if Celestial Spirits can read people's minds?"

Lucy blinked. As if their planet halted and took a different orbital direction around this alien question. "And you're curious about that, why?"

"Eh, I don't know." He shrugged, pocketing his fists in his pants. "Oh!" He snapped his fingers and pointed. "Just remembered something. I saw this mission posted on the board this morning. Somethin' about a help at a library. Whaddya say we head back to the guild and check it out?" He turned at his heel, making his way towards Magnolia.

"Wait, hold up." Lucy scrambled to his side. "What about what I said earlier?"

"Huh?" He kept walking, not meeting her gaze.

"About my confession to you!" She grabbed his arm to slow him down, but lost her footing as he maintained a walking pace. With both hands, she gripped onto his arm for support.

"Not now, Luce. We gotta get to the guild first."

Her cheeks puffed up with air rising from her boiling blood. She stepped in front of him, arms extended out from both sides to block his path. "You chased me down all over Magnolia. Interrogated me in my birthday suit. And you were just going to walk away without an answer?"

He groaned, tilting his head back.

She placed both hands on her hips with a huff. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you wanted us to be honest with each other from now on. Were you just in the mood to patronize me earlier? Talk about open communication, buddy!" She didn't care if she'd insinuated that he was a hypocrite. He needed to own up his side of the deal. And heaven knew that she sure deserved an answer from this pyromaniac.

He straightened his shoulders and crossed his arms. "You really wanna know what I think?"

She folded her arms, pouting her lips. "Only for the past hour."

"Okay, fine! I don't know how I feel about you!"

She stiffened and held her breath, channeling the negative energy as mental fuel for her logic reasoning

He dipped his chin and looked to the side, putting up an impassive front. "All I know is that I auditioned and I'm suddenly hot stuff. I save your life almost every week, take you on missions, help pay your rent. And you never said you wanted me that way." He looked up to her, exuding an unspoken trust in her, as the brain of their team, to explain the relativity of these separate events. "So how's this time any different?"

She understood where he was coming from, how her confession seemed to drop the bomb on him. But he also made one wrong assumption. "It isn't. Because your audition was not the first time I'd experienced these feelings for you." She lowered her head, hesitating to look up and see judgment etched on his face. "You didn't seem interested in dating anybody. So, I didn't want to say anything that would make things awkward between us. Like right now." She added the last part with a small voice.

If he didn't want her, he could make that clear right here at this very moment. But only a contemplative aura emanated from him. Was this a good sign? Did he also have secret feelings for her too?

Rubbing his chin, he stepped to her right. "So what you're sayin' is… even when I break into your apartment." She sensed him behind her. "Frighten you with my fire dragon roars." He moved to her left. "And eat out of your fridge." She took a side-glance and caught the sight of his half-grin. "You still want me more than a friend?"

She smiled gently, his warm presence making her feel calm. "As long as it's you and not some other guy in my apartment. I may not be experienced as a girlfriend, but if you give us a shot, I think I can make you really happy."

A red hue simmered on his cheeks. He looked down to his feet and kicked the dirt softly. "Uh, I may not be good at this mushy romance stuff."

She giggled, the sight of his blush warming her heart. "I can teach you."

"All right, but if we're gonna date, you gotta stop looking at me like I'm stupid."

She arched a brow, sizing him up and down. "When have I ever looked at you that way?"

"Just now."

"Ah!" She squeezed her eyes shut, covering her face. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm totally not doing that." She dropped her hands, breathed out, and grinned nervously. "And besides, I don't always think you're stupid. We just have our differences, that's all."

Natsu broke into his signature grin. "Good! 'Cause I always saw you as smart."

"Aw, really?" Lucy felt all bubbly inside as the rush of romantic images flooded into her brain. Eating at a romantic restaurant over candlelit dinner, frolicking in an exotic flower garden at a picnic, stargazing in the arms of her lover while holding deep thought-provoking conversations.

He held out his hand to her. "So we headin' back to the guild for more auditions?"

She nodded and slipped her hand into his. His hold was warm and firm, giving her a tingling sense of security with a possible package of commitment. "Yeah." She said, forcing herself to sound cool and collected. "So let's get Happy."

As he led her onto the path back home, Natsu hollered, "Happy! Get your tail back over here! We got work to do!" When there was no response, he stopped walking and looked behind him. He blinked and his eyes darted towards the trees and bushes in the vicinity where Happy had disappeared into the wilderness. His brows drew together as he turned around. He let go of her hand and moved in front of her in a stance she knew all too well.

He heard danger lurking in the distance.

A/N:

Hi everyone!

For those who had been reviewing my story and messaging me, thank you so much for being so patient in waiting for me to update a new chapter. From this point forward, I'll be updating a new chapter every two weeks on Saturday since I already got the entire story written in a rough draft (yay!). The next post date is May 30th. Now it's just a matter of editing each chapter and posting them as I progress through the story. Your feedback keeps me motivated into working hard on my storytelling skills.

For those who are new here and had gotten hooked into this story, welcome! Please feel free to comment on what you like (or don't like) about this chapter, and what events do you expect will happen in the next future chapters. Your constructive feedback would help me improve my skills in plot development, writing believable character arcs, and keeping you guys entertained.

I appreciate every one of you! So please stay safe and stay healthy!