Hey everyone, sorry I've MIA for the past couple of weeks I've been having a hard time with LIM lately. To make up for it, I wrote this short story and have another one in the works because I'm procrastinating LIM… sorry (T.T) Anywho, hope you enjoy and comment on what you think, please!
Fuck, he was cold. Why the hell did it have to be this cold today, of all days? It was fucking September for fuck's sake! Shoving his large hands into his thin grey sweatshirt, 18-year-old Natsu Dragneel grumbled to himself as he searched for the cafe he was supposed to be at half an hour ago.
Glancing down at his outfit, the man suppressed a whine as a gust of frigid wind blew down the street, practically freezing his balls off. He'd haphazardly thrown on a Magnolia Uni. Hockey training sweatshirt, black joggers, Nike socks, and white sneakers earlier that morning in his rush to get out of the door after sleeping through all nine alarms he'd set the night before.
That was the last time he was going out drinking with Cana and Bacchus on a fucking Sunday. At least until next weekend. Walking faster, the tall male scanned the store signs hanging off the buildings, searching for this damn cafe.
"How fucking far is this goddamn place?" He muttered, pulling out his phone to check the time. It was 10 a.m. He was supposed to meet his Chemistry study group at 9:30 for their final review before their unit test that was coming up in a couple of days. "Why the fuck did it have to be 9:30 in the fucking morning?" He growled lowly, swatting away the few strands of pink hair that had fallen in front of his eyes from under his hood.
Finally, finding the cafe the pinkette all but sprinted through the door to avoid another freezing gust of wind. The man sighed at the warmth from the cozy, coffee, and pastry-smelling cafe. Glancing at the baked goods displayed in the cases by the cash register, Natsu felt all his annoyance dissipate into hunger as he rushed into the line to order breakfast.
After receiving his giant cup of coffee and breakfast sandwich from the blushing barista, he'd charmed into giving him a 'student' discount, the pinkette turned to find his study group. He spotted a couple of them over at a table by the window at the front of the cafe. Making his way over to them, the man tried to mentally prepare himself for the onslaught of annoyance that was bound to come from his lab partner Zancrow.
"Well, if it isn't the Dragon himself, good of you to finally join us sleeping beauty." The blonde-haired man teased with an arrogant smile. Natsu glared at the college student before taking a seat beside him.
"Fuck off, I'm not even the last person here," Natsu grumbled before digging into his sandwich. Zancrow opened his mouth to retort, but Natsu held up a finger, effectively shutting him up as he took a large bite of his hot sauce drenched burrito. Zancrow grunted in annoyance at being silenced before turning his attention to one of the girls seated opposite them who was trying to study. Poor thing.
Pulling out his phone, Natsu went into his photos to pass the time. He was seriously starting to miss summer right about now. No school, no cold, and no Zancrow. Scrolling back up to his memories from June, the pinkette passed a familiar photo that had been taken later on in the summer. He smiled sadly at the picture.
"Yo, fuck face, did you use my shampoo?" Loke screeched from the upstairs bathroom. Natsu lifted his head and smirked as he continued cutting some pineapple. He was standing at the kitchen counter in a pair of swim trunks and a tight black t-shirt covering his tan skin.
"No, Rapunzel, it was probably one of the girls." The pinkette offered, dumping the chunks of yellow fruit into a bowl. Taking the bowl, the soon-to-be college student headed upstairs to annoy his friend further. Once reaching the top of the stairs, the pinkette immediately headed for the bathroom only to find Loke, Gray, Lucy, Juvia, and Erza already in there.
Staring at the group of them, Natsu felt his eyebrow rise in confusion at the sight before him. Both of his guy friends blinked owlishly at him in shock, their hair tied up in little sprouts of hair on top of their heads, and charcoal face masks painted on their faces. Natsu shifted his gaze to the girls who blinked back with the same expression.
"The fuck is going on here?" Natsu asked, setting the bowl of pineapple down on the counter. Lucy shrugged before leaning over to steal a piece.
"We're doing face masks." She said it was the most obvious thing in the world, which was quite honestly. Natsu stared at the group for a few seconds longer before shrugging himself.
"What the hell, I'm in." He said before letting himself get dragged further into the bathroom. Lucy giggled at his shocked and slightly concerned face, which made the pinkette smile happily. He didn't know what it exactly was about the blonde-haired girl, but she drew him to her like a magnet.
Lucy sat him on the closed toilet before picking up her brush and a tube of some fancy face mask product that Mira gave her from her last beauty campaign. Natsu sighed and closed his eyes as he let the blonde work her magic gently on his skin. She brushed the cream on his forehead, across his nose, and onto his cheeks before adding some below his mouth.
Once she was done, Natsu felt the blonde lean in closer to inspect her handiwork, and the action made his breath hitch. Natsu guessed by the way Lucy stopped short that she noticed but didn't say anything, which he was grateful for given their company. "You're all set." She breathed quietly before backing away from him. Natsu slowly opened his eyes and looked at her.
The pinkette didn't know how the girl staring at him with a cute little blush staining her cheeks, could mean so much to him in the short amount of time they knew each other. But sitting there, staring into her honey-colored eyes, he didn't know if he could imagine a life without her somehow in it.
After a couple of seconds, Lucy's eyes shifted to his unusually pink hair that was about to fall into his still wet mask. Without hesitating, the blonde ran her hands through his hair to gather the longer strands to pull into a pathetic looking ponytail. In reality, he looked exactly like his douchebag friends that were standing off to the side, giggling at him.
Despite the twinge of annoyance he felt towards his friends that were now making stupid faces at each other in the mirror with the other girls, Natsu felt as if time had slowed with Lucy's hands in his hair. An overpowering sense of calm washed over his warm body as he thought all of his worries drift away with the warm ocean breeze coming in through the open window.
When she was done, Lucy leaned back with a smirk at how stupid he probably looked. Natsu looked at her with a small smile, even though she was secretly laughing at him.
"Thanks." He whispered before standing up. Lucy followed his eyes as he rose to be a good foot taller than her. She nodded her head before turning to the other girls who were looking at her with unreadable expressions. At least to Natsu, but after glancing at the blonde, he realized she might have a better understanding than him in that department.
Just as people were about to exit the bathroom, Gajeel popped his head in with a confused expression similar to Natsu's when he first came in.
"Do I wanna know?" He asked tiredly. Everyone in the bathroom collectively shook their head before he nodded. "Right." Before he left, Juvia whipped out her phone.
"Quick before y'all go, I wanna take a picture." She said excitedly, making the boys groan.
"Whyyyy," Gray whined from behind her. The bluenette turned around with an annoyed expression as she eyed him incredulously.
"When is the next time we'll be able to get you three in face masks? I want to remember this momentous occasion." She stated, turning back towards the mirror. Everyone shrugged in agreement. Lucy, Erza, and Juvia positioned themselves in different poses while Natsu and Loke tried to muster the manliest expressions they could to compensate for their appearance. Gray held up a peace sign, seemingly accepting his fate of looking ridiculous. Gajeel popped his head into the picture before running off before he could be stuck there any longer.
After the picture was done, everyone's face mask was miraculously done, leading everyone to take turns washing it off. This was the only bathroom upstairs, aside from Natsu's parents, but he didn't let anyone go in there, not even himself. 'Too much breakable shit.' He'd always say.
After most of the people had already gone, Natsu and Lucy were left to finish cleaning themselves up. Natsu found himself staring at the girl's gorgeously golden hair thrown up haphazardly in a messy bun on top of her head. He noticed a bunch of random strands had almost turned platinum from the sun. As he stared, he couldn't help but think of the moment they'd shared before when she was putting the mask on.
At least he thought it was a moment. Stuck in his thoughts, Natsu felt a nest of butterflies explode in his stomach at the thought of their relationship. They both knew what they had was more than just a simple friendship; it was apparent from the start. Even when they met about a month ago, there was an instant attraction. But the pinkette would be lying if he said whatever they had didn't scare him.
After the end of his last relationship, he wasn't sure he was ready to get himself into another one, especially with him and Lucy going to different schools in the fall. But despite his reservations, somewhere in the back of the pinkette's mind, he knew he was falling. It may be happening slowly, but it was happening.
"Alright, if anyone has any questions, don't be afraid to text me," Kinana said, closing her textbook. Natsu jolted out of his stupor and glanced around at the rest of his classmates who were beginning to pack up. Closing his book with a sigh, the pinkette shoved his notes, textbook, and computer into his backpack before standing up. "Oh and Natsu, don't be afraid to ask me anything, I know you weren't exactly here for most of the session." The purple-haired senior said with a wink. Natsu swallowed awkwardly with a blush and nodded before turning to leave.
As he walked out of the cafe, a familiar red-head skipped up next to him, bumping his broad shoulder. Glancing to his right, the pinkette rolled his eyes as he recognized his hockey teammate Erik Cobrana.
"Seems like Kinana's got the hots for you pinky, you gonna start some scandalous teacher-student relationship?" Erik asked teasingly but Natsu could hear the edge in his voice. It was common knowledge that the red-haired senior actually did have the hots for their tutor. Natsu smirked at the statement before shaking his head.
"Nah man she's all yours, I got someone waiting for me." I hope. Natsu thought, pulling out his phone. He'd set it on silent during the study session and was hoping to have gotten a text or something from a certain blonde.
Sighing in disappointment when her name didn't come up, the pinkette glanced at the time and understood why. It was 11 o'clock in the morning but Acaphyla was four hours behind so he knew Lucy was probably still sleeping. Even still he couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his chest. Natsu could hear the deep chuckle from beside him and looked at his teammate.
"Right well good luck with that bruv," Erik said clapping him on the back before turning down the street heading for his apartment. Natsu grinned after the red-haired man who gave him a lazy salute in goodbye before walking on. He still had a good couple of blocks before he got to the dorms of Magnolia University.
Walking down the street, subconsciously matching his steps with the song playing through his headphones, the pinkette felt himself get lost in nostalgic thoughts of summer. Since he'd scrolled through his pictures before the session, he'd found himself missing summer a little more. Summer, to him, reminded him of his time with Lucy. Now while that normally would make him happy, he just missed her terribly. And he didn't know what to do about it.
The rest of the walk was quiet and uneventful, as he passed students and bikers and vendors. He loved going to school in a city because there was always something to look at and he was never bored.
He briefly wondered how Lucy was doing out in Acaphyla. He recalled their conversation from over the summer where she adamantly explained how excited she was to be going to school by the beach. She had grown up by the water and always loved the sea, having taken up surfing when she was younger. He remembered begrudgingly, being woken up at 5 o'clock in the morning by her banging around outside with Gray getting their surfboards to catch a swell at Akane beach.
Entering into his dorm, Natsu dropped his keys on his desk before climbing the ladder up to his bed. He didn't know how he'd gotten stuck with the top bunk when Gray seemed to have an affinity for being in high places, literally and figuratively. Natsu smirked as he thought of his stoner roommate/best friend. He wasn't better but there honestly wasn't a time the kid was sober anymore.
Flopping onto his bed, Natsu checked his phone for the time and saw that he had some time before his afternoon classes and decided to continue his trip down memory lane. Something had gotten him into a mood and he really started to miss his girl right about now.
Placing an arm behind his head, the college student scrolled up to his summer memories, Natsu clicked on another photo and smiled. That was another special day for him and Lucy too. His and Erza's groups of friends had decided to pile into the topless Jeep Wrangler's Gajeel and Gray had driven to his house and headed to Akane at sundown. Akane was the beach that allowed people to have bonfires on the beach.
Each group split randomly into each car, bringing a cooler filled to the brim with white claws along with them and a couple of blankets. Gajeel also brought his guitar, despite his obvious lack of musical talent. Once they got there and everything was set up, they hung around laughing and drinking by the fire until the last fiery streaks of the sunset faded into blue.
Natsu smiled contentedly as he brought a bottle of Jack to his lips. He had no idea where it even came from, he thought Gray might've had it stashed somewhere in his car, but at the moment he didn't care. He was carrying on a bit of a buzz, not bad enough to leave him impaired but just enough to make him happy. This was the summer he'd been hoping for before heading off in a month.
Looking up, Natsu stopped himself from taking another swig as he watched Lucy laugh at something Loke had said from across the fire. Her skin was tinted a hue of red in the firelight and her eyes sparkled like the moon that was coming up from the ocean. The pinkette didn't think she could look more beautiful than she did just then, smiling widely as Loke told her some dramatic story and without a care in the world. Natsu smiled at the sight of seeing her happy.
He'd accepted a while ago that he was developing feelings for the care-free blonde but it still shocked him how deeply he felt for the girl. He was also shocked at how quickly some of his, and her, friends were catching onto his feelings.
The pinkette was knocked from his thoughts when Lucy shifted her eyes to lock with his. It was only then that he realized he'd been staring at her the entire time. The blonde smiled shyly before tucking a strand of beachy blonde hair behind her ear, blushing. Natsu turned his head out towards the ocean, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly trying to hide his own blush.
"Alright how 'bout a song?" Gajeel asked clapping his hands and rubbing them together. Collectively, everyone sitting in the circle groaned out words of protest causing the black-haired man to scowl.
"I wouldn't mind a song but not from you," Jellal stated from his position snuggled up to Erza, leaning against a worn-down log with a blanket wrapped around them. Words of agreement were voiced causing the noirette to pout childishly.
If Natsu was being honest, the buff man looked stupid pouting like that looking the way he did. He was probably one of the most unapproachable looking people he knew with long spiky black hair, piercing red eyes, and piercings on every available place. But everyone knew deep down the big man was a huge softie. Especially when it came to a certain small bookworm.
"Yeah, dude you suck." Laxus voiced from his position lounging on the sand. Next Gajeel, Laxus was probably the next most unapproachable person the pinkette knew. Granted the man didn't have any piercings and short blonde hair, but the two men were about the same height and Laxus had a massive lightning-shaped scar covering half of the right side of his face. He looked like a bigger, scarier, badass version of Harry Potter.
Laxus had his head in his girlfriend, Mirajane's, lap as she ran her hands through his hair. After his comment, she tugged harshly on his ear making him yelp. The huge blonde-haired man was about to say something before Mira leveled him with a menacing glare that effectively shut him up. Natsu smirked at the sight before glancing at Lucy out of the corner of his eye.
She was smiling contentedly at the sight. Natsu didn't know what drew him to her so much but he found that he didn't mind. She was beautiful. Small talk erupted between different people as Levy tried to console a dejected Gajeel. Natsu could tell the noirette was milking it to keep her attention. Erza and Jellal talked to Mira and Laxus about the upcoming school year and their classes, while Loke tried to get Lucy to look at something on his phone.
Natsu smirked as the blonde tried, and failed, to get the ginger to leave her alone. One thing about Loke was that he was relentless. Like a lion going after its prey. After a couple of minutes, the chatter died down and everyone sat looking at the fire, slowly nursing their drinks.
"Hey Lucy why don't you play us something," Erza suggested after a while. Natsu looked at the blonde to see her eyes go wide at being called out and tried to stifle a chuckle when she floundered around thinking of a way to get out of it.
"You know? I'm not really feeling it, I don't think…" The blonde was cut off when Erza held a finger up grabbing Gajeel's guitars and plopping it in her lap and stuck the pick in her hand.
"Don't even, you won our high school's talent one too many times to be modest." She claimed with authority that Lucy couldn't refute. The blonde looked at the instrument for a second before sighing.
"Fine." She conceded.
Positioning herself properly, the blonde took a few moments before thinking of a song and started plucking away the melody.
"It's you..
It's always you.
If I'm ever gonna fall in love..
I know it's gon' be you."
Lucy began singing and Natsu was immediately entranced. Her voice sounded like angels singing to him from above and sent wave after wave of calming over his heated body. The pinkette watched as Lucy plucked away at the guitar, eyes closed lost in herself.
"It's you..
It's always you.
Met a lot of people
But nobody feels like you."
Natsu stared at the blonde intently as she opened her eyes to look at him. When their eyes met, the blonde quickly averted her eyes to look at the rest of their friends but it was too late. Natsu knew she was singing to him and there was no way they could ignore what they had any more.
"So please don't break my heart.
Don't tear me apart..
I know how it starts
Trust me, I've been broken before.
Don't break me again..
I am delicate.
Please don't break my heart.
Trust me I've been broken before."
Natsu remembered one drunken night, earlier in the summer, Lucy explained how back in her junior year of high school she'd gotten her heartbroken by her high school sweetheart and that it really took a toll on her. Sitting here now, the pinkette wondered how anyone could let her go?
"I've been broken, yeah.
I know how it feels..
To be open and then
Find out your love isn't real."
Finally, Natsu was able to, albeit unwillingly, rip his gaze from his blonde to look at the rest of his friends. All their expressions ranged from understanding, from the girls who knew Lucy through her break-up, wonder from the guys at the fact that she was so good, and pride at her talent. Natsu couldn't tell which one he was feeling cause frankly, he felt all of them.
In a way, he understood where she was coming from. He too went through a bad breakup back in high school with Mira's younger sister Lisanna. It nearly cost them their whole friendship even from before they started dating. But with Lucy it was different. Even in the short time they knew each other, it felt as if they'd been close for years.
"I'm still hurtin', yeah.
I'm hurtin' inside.
I'm so scared to fall in love
But if it's you, then I'll try."
Once again, Natsu and Lucy locked eyes and the blonde smiled at his look of wonder before turning towards the guitar and continuing on.
"It's you.
It's always you..
If I'm ever gonna fall in love
I know it's gon' be you.
It's you.
It's always you.
Met a lot of people
But nobody feels like you."
The more Natsu thought about it, the more this song seemed like a love letter to himself. Looking at the girl with a newfound light, the pinkette couldn't suppress the smile crawling onto his face as pride and love shown in his eyes.
"So please don't break my heart.
Don't tear me apart.
I know how it starts
Trust me, I've been broke before.
Don't break me again
I am delicate.
Please don't break my heart.
Trust me, I've been broken before."
As the song went on Natsu felt more of their friends begin to look back and forth between him and Lucy, just starting to figure what was going on. It was almost comical how slow and shocked they were at the realization, but Natsu couldn't care. The only thing he cared about was the girl singing across from him, beautifully illuminated by the fire.
"No, I'm not the best at choosing others.
We both know my past speaks for itself.
If you think that we're right for each other,
Then please don't let history repeat itself.
'Cause I want you.
I want you.
And you're the only thing I want."
Lucy took in a shaky breath, stealing her herself for a moment before continuing. Natsu didn't know what to do. He was so overwhelmed with so much emotion but at the same time, Lucy's song seemed to calm him. He didn't know whether he wanted to jump up and start dancing, rush over to the blonde and start kissing her senseless, or run away from all the confusion. As Lucy continued, his thoughts shut off as he let the music take him.
"It's you.
It's always you..
If I'm ever gonna fall in love
I know it's gon' be you.
It's you.
It's always you.
Met a lot of people
But nobody feels like you.
So please don't break my heart.
Don't tear me apart.
I know how it starts
Trust me, I've been broke before.
Don't break me again
I am delicate.
Please don't break my heart."
As the blonde finished the last note, everyone was silent for some time. Natsu could see the blonde waiting anxiously for their reaction and when it didn't come in time she began getting flustered. Just as she was about to say something, Juvia exhaled deeply.
"Where the hell did you learn that?" She asked breathlessly. Natsu saw Lucy's eyes brighten at her friend's bewildered look and he smiled as Lucy's smile widen at the mirrored expressions on everyone else.
"Cana showed me the song a while back and I just felt that it was the right thing to sing," Lucy replied honestly, stealing a quick glance at Natsu. The pinkette held a look that only Lucy could read and what she saw made her smile sheepishly.
"Well it was bloody amazing," Gray added in the same breathless tone as Juvia. Lucy blushed at their kind words before looking at Natsu. He knew she was expecting him to say something but honestly, he didn't know what to say. There weren't enough words in the English dictionary to explain what he was feeling at the moment.
After a couple of moments, while everyone waited anxiously for his response, Natsu came up with a masterful and breathless 'wow.' Lucy giggled at him before handing the guitar off to Gajeel. Standing up and brushing the sand off the back of her thighs, the blonde clapped her hands.
"So who's hungry?"
Natsu stared at the picture of the black silhouettes dancing around a raging bonfire and sighed deeply. Words couldn't even explain the crushing feeling setting in his chest under the weight of missing those times. Clicking off his phone, the man dropped onto his stomach and looked out at the disaster of a room.
He was excited about being at school. He loved the classes he had to take for his Chemistry major and he loved the friends that he'd made here but part of him longed to be back at the beach at sundown, in a temperature when a light sweatshirt and shorts were acceptable, holding the girl that made his heart stop.
Natsu stayed like that for a while, lost in his own world. His thoughts drifted from Lucy to his older brother Zeref who was off at medical school in Tenrou. He was four years older than him and following in their step-mother's footsteps of practicing medicine except he was studying to be an occupational therapist. From Zeref, his thoughts drifted to his younger step-sister Wendy who was 16-years-old and just started her junior year of high school.
And just like that, his thoughts progressed from Wendy to his parents who both worked too much but he hoped they were happy. His father, Igneel, was an investment banker, volunteer firefighter, and an active member in their community while his step-mother Grandine was a surgeon at Magnolia General Hospital as well as a member of the community with her husband.
Natsu missed his family. Despite the fact that he went to school in the same city that they lived in, except for Zeref who was a couple of hours away by plane, he never got to see them with all of their crazy schedules. Sighing to himself sadly, Natsu peeked at his alarm clock on the dresser pushed under the window the pinkette groaned when he had to start getting ready for class.
xXx
Five hours later, Natsu sighed to himself as he exited his last lecture hall of the day, heading for the Magnolia Bar & Grill to meet a couple of friends for dinner. He swore he was about to pass out in his last lecture, Professor Porlyucia kept droning on and on about molecular compounds. Shit Natsu had learned in the 6th grade.
Walking down the street, now wearing a proper sweatshirt, his Magnolia Uni. Hockey boathouse jacket and a pair of khakis Natsu breathed in the crisp September evening air. Natsu had an ongoing joke about how he always wore some college Hockey merch every day. They'd say some stupid shit like 'Did you know Natsu plays Hockey?' in a ridiculously girly accent to piss him off. Then he'd make some comeback about him being the assistant captain and it'd shut them up.
Bobbing his head a bit to the beat of his music, Natsu hummed the sad tune of It's You by Ali Gatie. A few nights after their moment at the beach, Lucy finally showed Natsu the original song she had sung. Ever since then he'd been hooked. Sighing to himself, the pinkette looked at the scene around him. Families walked around laughing and chattering, some arguing, while businessmen and women rushed to meetings and appointments. The street vendors sold food and trinkets, the artists played a multitude of different pieces, and people sat eating dinner in restaurants and outside.
It had turned into a nice night after the wind had died down. Natsu smiled as he passed a small family on a tiny pop-up playset across the street, and sighed as a couple eating ice cream kissed after saying sweet things to make the other smile. The world must really hate him today to keep throwing things at him that made his nostalgia worse. Looking ahead, Natsu sighed as he wondered for the second time that day about how Lucy was doing.
"Whatcha doin'?" Lucy asked coming up behind him and placing her hands on his bare tan shoulders. Natsu smiled and leaned his head back against her smooth warm legs. He could tell she had just come back from the beach because her skin was still warm and her eyes were bright.
"Nothin' much, just trying to fix Wendy's longboard. I was gonna take it out to Pegasus farms with Gray and Juvia to pick up some more fruit." Natsu sighed closing his eyes. Lucy smiled at his serene face and ran her hands through his silky pink strands. Taking an opportunity to mess with him, Lucy gasped in fake anger.
"And you weren't gonna invite me?" She asked dramatically. Natsu opened his eyes and looked at her, confused by her antics. Lucy suppressed a giggle at his face.
"I didn't know what time you were gonna get back from the beach." He stated simply. Lucy giggled as she leaning down to nuzzle his nose.
"I'm just messing with you dumbass." She said softly before kissing his forehead. Since her song at the beach, the two of them had shamelessly been getting close. They'd cuddle at night, go out on little dates, hang out, and sometimes sleep in the same bed together. Both of them knew that their time together was running out but after that moment neither seemed to care.
"Yeah, I figured," Natsu muttered sarcastically. Lucy just rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, are you done? Is it fixed?" She asked, grabbing water out of the fridge. Natsu hummed before standing up, taking the board with him by the front wheels. It was a beautiful board, simple sanded pine wood with the white outline of a wave in the center. The bottom was covered by a multitude of random stickers Natsu had collected over the years for his sister.
Running forward, the male threw the board down before jumping on it gliding easily down the driveway. After a couple of seconds, he skated around to face the smiling blonde waiting by his black pick up truck parked in the garage. She slow-clapped at his display before turning to go inside. "I'm gonna go change."
Natsu nodded before fiddling with the board again just to make sure it was good. Twenty minutes later, Natsu stood in front of the house taking in the warm evening air. The pinkette was wearing a tight long-sleeve white shirt, black shorts, Nike socks, and vans. A baseball cap was placed delicately over his spiky pink hair to keep the strands from flying in his face from the breeze.
"Yo fire breath, you ready to go?" Gray asked shuffling his feet behind his own longboard. Him and Juvia had come down a couple of minutes ago and were talking between themselves while they waited for a certain blonde to show herself. Natsu glared at the black-haired man impatiently. He wanted to leave just as much, if even more so, than the noirette but Lucy would kill him if they left without her. Before he could respond, the screen door clicked shut as the blonde in question came running out of the house out of breath.
"Sorry, Mira had an emergency with some birds in the backyard." Lucy forced out breathlessly. Natsu stared at the blonde wide-eyed at her appearance. She was wearing a rusty rose bohemian flowy tank top, dark blue ripped jean shorts, and flip flops. Her tanned skin looked even darker in the twilight and her smile looked brighter.
"Hey." Natsu breathed in awe of the blonde. Lucy smiled and shifted awkwardly in place.
"Hi." She responded. The two soon-to-be college students stood staring at each other, blushes spreading across their cheeks. They were knocked out of their stupor by Gray clearing his throat awkwardly.
"So are we gonna go or Nah?" Natsu coughed before nodding his head as Lucy blushed a deeper shade of red. And with that, the four of them were off longboarding down the road towards Pegasus. They got there in record time and spent about half an hour picking out random fruits that seemed cool. After a while they got bored and began to head home.
On the ride home, the dark cloud that had been hanging over the sea finally reached land and light rain started sprinkling the area. Gray, had his JBL speaker with him blasting his summertime playlist during their whole adventure, started freaking out about the device getting wet. Natsu and Lucy chuckled amongst themselves as Juvia tried to calm the noirette down.
"Stop being such as fucking baby Gray, your speaker's gonna be fine." Juvia deadpanned pushing off the asphalt to gain more speed. She was scrolling through Gray's phone trying to find the song she wanted him to play next. The aforementioned black-haired man grumbled quietly to himself about how this was why we couldn't have nice things as Juvia gave him an eye roll.
Lucy chuckled at their friend's antics as she glided along the pavement enjoying the light rain on her heated skin. Closing her eyes to take in her surroundings, the blonde breathed in deep just living in the moment. Feeling a large warm hand capture her own, Lucy glanced towards the culprit and smiled at the pink-haired man boarding next to her. He returned her smile and offered her a small white daisy he'd just picked from the side of the road.
"Having fun there?" He asked with amusement at her blissed-out expression. Neither teen noticed when Juvia nudged Gray to 'stop bitching about the damn speaker' and watch the scene unfold. Lucy smiled and nodded happily, placing the flower behind her ear.
"Yeah, I can't believe that summer is actually almost over." She said a wave of remorse crashing over her huge chest. The blonde knew that her time with the pinkette was quickly coming to a close as their move-in dates came closer. She was excited to go to school; just the thought of spending semester after semester at the beach, taking classes and making new friends made her heart warm but at the same time she desperately didn't want to leave this life behind.
Glancing at the pinkette, Lucy noticed his similarly dejected expression and smiled beautifully. Squeezing the hand that still held hers, Lucy gave the male a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we'll figure something out." She said softly as the two students rolled to a stop.
They were on a long narrow road that passed by fields of dead sun-dried grass, sporadic patches of trees, and the occasional flock of animals grazing. Natsu sighed to himself as he took in his surroundings. In that moment there was nowhere else he'd rather be than standing in the middle of the road in the rain, in the middle of nowhere with his girl listening to music.
Looking into her honey brown eyes, Natsu smiled knowing exactly what he should do. Stepping closer to the girl, Natsu lifted his hand to cup her cheek as her eyes widened.
"What are you doing?" She whispered staring curiously into his deep onyx orbs. The pinkette simply smiled before sighing.
"Something I should've done a long time ago." He murmured before completely closing the distance between them. Grabbing her head between his large hands, Natsu lowered his head and at first softly brushed his lips against hers. For a moment she didn't respond which made his heart drop. 'Maybe this wasn't what she wanted?' Natsu thought defeatedly as he prepared to pull away.
But just as he was about to let go, Lucy seemed to shake herself from her stupor and began to kiss him back with startling force. Smiling into the kiss as she hesitantly wrapped a toned arm around his neck while the other grasped onto his forearm, Natsu leaned forward slightly dipping the blonde backward.
While they were caught up in the moment, neither realized they weren't exactly alone. It was only after an uncomfortable Gray cleared his throat rather loudly that the two teens finally parted. Natsu and Lucy glanced sheepishly towards their friends with grimaces on their faces as they finally realized that Gray and Juvia had just witnessed their first kiss. And Natsu guessed by the way Juvia was holding her phone and giggling that she'd taken a picture of the whole encounter.
"Let's go, Romeo and Juliet, everyone's waiting for us back home," Gray said before skating ahead with Juvia. Natsu and Lucy turned to look back at each other before smiling. Natsu couldn't even begin to explain the joy welling up in his chest at what just happened. He finally kissed Lucy Heartfilia!
"I gotta be honest, I've wanted to do that since we first met," Natsu admitted breathlessly. Lucy giggled at his cheesy comment before going up on her tiptoes, despite being on the unstable surface of the longboard. Wrapping her arms around the pinkette she gave him another quick kiss before pulling him into a hug.
"Me too." She breathed a sigh of relief at now knowing Natsu felt the same way she did. After pulling away, the pair continued their way back to the beach house, laughing and talking about random things that came to mind. Once they reached the house everyone wore similar expressions as Gray and Juvia earlier during their little exchange.
Almost immediately the two teens were swarmed by everyone in the house, all the girls flocking to Lucy while all the guys surrounded Natsu separating the two. Natsu zoned out the intense grilling initiated by Loke as he looked at the blonde. She was smiling and laughing as all the girls animatedly asking her question after question, a steady blush rising in her cheeks.
Natsu didn't know what they were going to do or even where they stood but one thing he did know was that at the moment he didn't care. There was still some time left and he was going to make the most of it.
Finally reaching the restaurant, Natsu immediately spotted his group of friends and walked over to their table. Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, and Erza were all sitting talking amongst themselves, completely disregarding their menus, as Natsu walked up and plopped in the seat between Erza and Gray.
"Finally you're here dipshit, we were beginning to wonder whether you got lost on the way here." Gajeel quipped with a smirk hidden behind his beer. Natsu made a face at the bigger man before resting his arms on the table.
"What'd I miss?" He asked leaning in, ears perked with interest. Gray smirked as the pinkette pointedly ignored Gajeel's comment in favor of talking about anything else.
"Well, apparently you have a pretty big surprise- OW!" The noirette yelped as Juvia stomped on his foot and Erza kicked him in the shin. "What the hell was that for?!" Gray yelled glaring at the two females. Juvia gave him a menacing look that made the man shrink into his seat. Natsu glanced between the two college students with confusion.
"What surprise?" He asked genuinely lost. Gajeel sighed as he looked up from his menu.
"They have an all-you-can-eat buffet out tonight, go nuts." He muttered monotoned before looking back at his options. Hearing that was all the pinkette needed before he was out of his seat heading for the line by the back of the restaurant. Once he was gone, everyone turned to glare at Gray.
"What?!" He asked incredulously.
"You need to learn how to shut your fucking mouth Gray Fullbuster," Juvia growled lowly. The noirette threw his hands up in exasperation at whatever was going on.
"I still don't understand what the hell I did wrong?" He questioned.
"You can't tell Natsu about that," Erza said picking up her strawberry daiquiri. Realization fluttered onto the man's face as he remembered the conversation he'd had with his blue-haired girlfriend earlier that day.
"Ohhh, sorry about that." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. Everyone else at the table collectively rolled their eyes at his stupidity before carrying on their earlier conversations. Half an hour later, everyone was stuffed from all the food they'd gotten and sitting peacefully nursing their drinks.
"So are y'all planning on going to the lights festival this weekend?" Erza asked, taking a swig of beer. All around, everyone sitting at the table nodded their head except for Natsu. He'd been warring with himself about whether he wanted to go since school started.
Truth be told, he loved going to light fest but lately, it seemed like such a summer thing to do that he wasn't sure he'd be able to make it through the night without feeling depressed. Also, there was the predominant fact that it was the ultimate date night activity and he was the only one out of his friends still single. And he really didn't feel like being a thirteenth wheel to everyone.
"I don't know I might sit this one out," Natsu admitted after a while. This earned him a shocked look from everyone at the table.
"But you always go to light fest," Juvia claimed incredulously. Natsu leveled her with an annoyed look that screamed 'yeah no shit sherlock' but the pink-haired man just sighed.
"Yeah but it just reminds me of summer and I also don't want to third wheel all of you cuffed people." He said pointing to everyone at the table. Since the summer almost everyone had gotten together with someone within each of the groups.
A couple of weeks into the school year Gray and Juvia started dating. Erza and Jellal had already been dating for a while when they were at the beach, same with Mira and Laxus. Gajeel and Levy had a thing going although it wasn't official yet, and even Loke had found a nice girl named Aries who had turned his womanizing ways into dust. Natsu was the only one left and the girl he wanted was across the country.
"Enough with this 'pity me I'm single and miss summer' bullshit, we all miss summer and you're going fire crotch," Gajeel said in annoyance. Natsu glared at the black-haired thug.
"Oh yeah, you gonna make me metal face?" Natsu challenged, his muscles tightening at the thought of a fight. Natsu was the type of person who'd rather let his fists do the talking than have an actual argument with someone. It'd gotten him in a helluva lot of trouble back in high school.
"Why don't you find out droopy eyes," Gray added, tension radiating off his entire body. All three men sat there staring at each other, challenging either one to make the first move. Out of his haze of aggression, Natsu could just make out Juvia muttering 'There is just way too much testosterone over here' but there was no way he'd be the one backing down.
"Alright, all of you just shut the fuck up. Natsu you're going whether you want to or not and that it." Erza said with authority. The 18-year-old opened his mouth to complain but Erza just gave him a look daring the pinkette to challenge her. After a moment he relented with a sigh.
"Fine." After that everyone packed up to leave. Gray and Juvia headed back to her dorm while Gajeel went to Levy's and Erza went back to her apartment that she shared with Jellal. Natsu watched as all of his friends went in their different directions, his eyes lingering painfully on Gray and Juvia. They were a good match for each other.
Juvia liked to act all down-to-earth and mature but he'd seen first hand how much that girl could turn into a crackhead with enough liquor in her system. Gray, he was just a mess but Natsu was glad his best friend had someone like Juvia to keep him in check.
Watching as they walked away, Natsu smiled when the pair started play-fighting over something they had been arguing about until Gray bent down and picked the smaller girl up. The man all but sprinted to the nearest subway station while the bluenette yelled 'put me down you asshat!' while banging on his toned back. Yeah, he was glad they found each other. He'd always wonder what kind of a woman could learn to love Gray Fullbuster, and Juvia did not disappoint. Now he just wished his blonde would come back to him.
The rest of the week passed by painstakingly slow as Natsu just tried to put his head down and get through it. Pushing open the door to exit the lecture hall Natsu breathed in the warm late September air before sighing. He felt like a weight had temporarily lessened as his classes let out for the weekend. And today was the first day of light fest.
Natsu walked home quickly already cursing Erza for making him go. He could list a multitude of different things he'd rather do than thirteenth wheel his friends. But, nevertheless, he didn't want to know what being castrated felt like by disobeying the red-haired demon. Entering his dorm, the pinkette quickly stripped his t-shirt and basketball shorts, having kicked off his sneakers by the door.
The man changed into a white linen button-up shirt, khaki shorts, and black flip flops. His last lecture ended at five and he was supposed to meet everyone at Fairy Tail for a drink before the festival. Glancing at his watch, the pinkette cringed at the fact that he was already half an hour late. Just as he grabbed his keys and a light sweatshirt he felt his phone ring.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm on my way, tell Erza I'll be at Fairy Tail in ten minutes," Natsu said all but running out the door. He didn't even need to look at his phone to know that Jellal had been calling him to make sure he got his ass to the bar. As soon as he left the dorm building, the pinkette immediately started sprinting towards the pub that was owned by Laxus's grandfather Makarov Dreyar. It took him about 15 minutes, waiting for traffic lights slowed him down. Once he got to the place, it took him an easy two minutes to spot his entire friend group. Walking up to them, Natsu smiled as he started getting noticed.
"There's the guy that's always late, tell me are you always late to class Bruv?" Erik asked, smiling at the pinkette. Natsu chuckled humorlessly clasping his hand with his teammate.
"Ha. Funny." He muttered before bumping his shoulder against the other male.
"No seriously man what the hell are you doing here? I didn't think light fest would be your scene this year considering…" The red-head trailed off as Natsu gave him a look. The pinkette sighed before looking around the bar searching for his immediate group.
"Erza. That demon made me come for some fucking reason but I'm not ready to lose lil Natsu if I'd said no." The college student explained. Erik nodded his head in understanding. At that moment, the redhead was handed two full bottles of beer. Handing one to his friend he offered a cheers.
"To old friends." He said before taking a swig. Natsu looked at the senior curiously before taking a sip of his own drink.
"Natsu!" Whipping around at the sound of his name, the pinkette saw an already buzzed Juvia waving at him excitedly. Natsu waved back before turning to Erik.
"I'll catch you later." The redhead nodded before Natsu left to join his own group. Walking over to them, Natsu attempted to socialize whilst ignoring the glaringly obvious fact that he was the only single person out of everyone currently at the bar. After about an hour of hanging around, Natsu switched from beer to Jack Daniels and began feeling a slight buzz settling his uneasiness. By the time they started to migrate towards Southgate park, he was easily laughing and chatting with everyone around him.
"Natsu are you gonna get a lantern?" Levy asked giddily as she skipped up beside him. Natsu looked down at her petite form and smiled when he saw a thoroughly embarrassed Gajeel dragged up next to her by the hand.
"I don't know, maybe. I gotta find someone to share it with." He said with a sigh looking out at the big green lawn area filled with people. He saw couples, families, groups of friends. He enjoyed the happy sight around him but a big part of him longed to have a familiar blonde there. The pinkette didn't notice Levy's smirk until she spoke up again.
"That shouldn't be too hard." She replied honestly. Natsu gave her a sad smirk.
"You'd actually be surprised." Levy just shrugged before pulling on Gajeel's arm.
"We'll get one for you, be right back." Natsu nodded with a smile as the bluenette dragged the grumbling dark-haired man towards a vendor selling paper lanterns. The pinkette vaguely heard Gajeel growl out an irritated 'not with my money' before getting instantly shut down by the small woman. Natsu sighed as he looked around the area again.
"All by yourself?" Natsu's eyes widened at the voice that came from behind him. Turning around with speed fast enough to give a normal person whiplash, the pinkette stared in shock at the person now in front of him.
"Lucy?! What… how… when?" The blonde giggled as the man struggled to think let alone form coherent sentences. Natsu breathed deeply, a huge grin practically splitting his face in half. "What are you doing here?" He asked, taking in her appearance. Her tanned skin looked even darker under the light of some lanterns already in the sky but somehow her golden hair shone even more. She was wearing a red sweatshirt with MALIBU printed in white letters, light ripped jean shorts, and flip flops. Her hair was wavy, coming down to frame her beautiful face.
The blonde sighed stepping closer to the man. Grabbing onto his shirt, she looked up at him with the prettiest smile he'd ever seen. Vaguely in the background, Natsu could hear the count for lift-off begin. "I never should have let you let me go." Natsu smiled at her before leaning in. Right as everyone released their lanterns, the pinkette finally closed the distance between them.
To him, the world finally felt right. Standing in the middle of a field with lanterns lighting up the sky, Natsu was kissing the love of his life and nothing could make it better. Suddenly the blonde pulled away and rested her forehead against his.
"I think I'm falling in love with you." She whispered. Except that, that could make his night infinitely better.
I thought of this memories idea while I was riding in the back of my friend's car just hanging out with my friends' just missing summer. I honestly can't wait for it. Anyways, hope you liked the story, I thought it was a nice lil present before Valentine's Day. I hope y'all enjoy your day with loved ones; family, friends, and lovers. Please comment your thoughts on it, I love reading them. Also, keep a lookout for my new short! Byeeeee :)