You should come meet my family. The idea of it rattled inside Lucy's brain for a very disastrous length of time. From the moment she disappeared under the steamy water of her shower to the moment she sat in the lecture hall of her astronomy class, Lucy heard her own mind whispering it to her.

Somewhere between the flashes of galaxy break-downs on the projector the professor was showing them and the pen-drawn stars boarding the edges of her notebook, Lucy was thinking about the little stars in her own mind.

Mauna Kea. The stars there were beautiful; would Natsu go there with her? She was not the type to take home to your parents. Lucy was the kind you took to lunch during the week when you were free on time and didn't have much else to do. Spot the difference.

Her pen made silent strokes along the border or her college-ruled notebook. She had a laptop for most classes, but astronomy she never needed it. To her, it was just pretty pictures of things she had already learned. It was the one class Lucy was already top at, mostly because she had already taught herself most of the theories.

A small scuffling noise sounded out beside her. Barely moving her head to the side to see who it was, Lucy watched as Loke sat himself down in the rolling chair beside her. He had just gotten up and switched seats mid-lecture. How daring, Lucy scoffed to herself.

"Morning." She said quietly. Her elbow on the table, Lucy propped her head up lazily against her fist. Her pen kept scratching at paper.

The orange-haired man beside her huffed in response and laid over the table and rested his head on his folded forearms. "You should really pay attention more."

"Says the one talking during class." Lucy whispered back. Her eyes kept a downward cast on her half-doodled page.

She hadn't spoken to Loke since their run in with Natsu, mostly because she knew she would take sides if things came down to it. Besides, he told her to stay away from Loke at least a little bit. It wouldn't go well if he knew they were still friends.

Then again, who was Natsu to dictate her friendships? "How have you been?" Lucy asked. How long had it been since that day-hardly a few weeks?

Loke shrugged as if that were a good answer. "I survived." He mused humorlessly. "You?"

Lucy snorted quietly. "Ditto."

The orange haired male beside her pouted with dramatic sympathy. "Things really that bad with your pretty pink boyfriend?" He snickered.

Her brows furrowed as she finally turned her head to look at him. "Why would you say that?"

"What, like it wasn't obvious? The way he was so~ protective of you that day we shared a cab." Loke laughed with genuine amusement rather than jealousy, which made Lucy somewhat relieved. "Natsu's protective in general and all, but he goes a little too far when people he cares about are involved."

Lucy's already plump lips pursed slightly. "Speaking from more than one experience I take it?" She raised an eyebrow and they silently shared a look that said, Gray.

At just the mention of it between them, Loke's face erupted into a childlike smile. "Yeah, you could so say. Natsu tried to fight me once."

"And?"

Loke snorted with stifled laughter. "We got stuck under the bleachers during high school because we were fighting during gym class and didn't get back inside before the doors locked again. We had to wait for security to let us in."

Lucy's cheeks flushed pink at the idea of Natsu doing something so reckless. She could only imagine the way he would get so flustered over it if it was ever brought up again...

"You should've seen Gray's face when he heard me and Natsu were caught skipping class to sit under the bleachers." Loke's hazel eyes stared at the surface of the table as his fingers drummed on it. "It was something else."

Her pen hand stopped doodling on her paper for a moment. She still had her knuckles propped against her temple to hold up her head, but Loke seemed much too lost in thought to notice her staring. His lips even held a vague smile in his oddly indie-themed reminiscent moment.

Lucy eventually nudged Loke to bring him back to reality. The boy seemed harmless enough; how could Natsu hate someone like that? He was a bit of a player, but she chose to overlook that at the moment.

"Do you want to get lunch with me today?" Lucy asked. Natsu nor she had called or texted the other after he left yesterday after their session, and suddenly the thought of spending lunch alone made her heart sink.

It was strange how foreign being alone seemed after only a few weeks of forced friendship. Even if it was just awkward café meet-ups and dinner dates at her friends' house, Lucy had found she was almost never alone. Whether it was Gray or Erza or Natsu especially, it's like they hadn't allowed her much time alone.

Lucy hadn't realized how much she liked the company until she had to plan which corner of the library to spend her lunch break today in solitude.

"Sure." Loke said after a moment. He seemed taken aback as well, considering the Natsu situation, but he nodded anyway. "We can go somewhere after this class lets out."

Lucy nodded her head and leaned back in her chair. The professor droned on and on again, discussing the different known shapes galaxies could make. Yawn.

It didn't take long for Lucy to relay her 'it's-complicated' status with Natsu to Loke. This strange ginger in her class seemed to be a lot more perceptive than the dense minds of Natsu and her dear friend Gray. She was thankful for an open mind.

They sat together on the green after walking to the cafeteria and buying premade sandwiches and bottled drinks from a machine. Lucy didn't trust the germs of the people making her food and Loke was cheap, so vending machine food it was. Perfect.

"I like him, it's just I'm so-" Lucy paused at her lack of a better word. Her life of nestled into library niches was failing her now. "-me."

Loke snorted softly in empathy. "And what's wrong with being you?" Loke asked, his tone almost slightly defensive as if she had insulted him and not herself. "You don't seem all that bad."

The words themselves were vaguely admirable, but the way he said it made Lucy realize just how effortlessly flirty he was all the time. "Are you always like that? Just saying flattering things in hopes it'll lighten up the subject?"

The orange haired man opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He eventually cocked his head at Lucy and smiled with the corner of his lips. "Are you always so plainly boring and so-you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "That's rude. I can say that about me, not you." She murmured, stuffing another huge bite of food shamelessly into her mouth. "Once again, changing the subject." The blonde sang.

Her friend raised his hands up in feign surrender. "It may possibly be my motive. Then again how the hell would I carry out a serious conversation with someone? I'm ten years too immature for my biological age."

"As if that much was obvious." Lucy sighed tauntingly. They both snickered silently as they ate. "Is that what happened with you and Gray?"

Loke was silent, but this time it was a very uncomfortable silence, at least on his part. "Gray was always more serious than me. If anything he didn't know how to let loose a bit." He said, his head hung down to stare at the food placed in his lap.

Natsu was playful like that. For someone as wild and carefree as Loke, Natsu was an easy replacement. Or the other way around, she guessed. Everyone except Gray seemed to care about the little 'battle of eccentrics' that was fought over him.

If anything, Lucy could imagine Gray walking up to Natsu and Loke fighting, sigh like a pained parent, then turn around and walk away.

But maybe that was why he was almost just as alone as Lucy; because neither of them gave other people the chance to get close.

Lucy sighed to herself. She was overthinking again, and that was an awful idea. "So you were the one to help Gray out of his comfort zone." Lucy noted aloud after a moment. "And he pushed you back on track when you strayed.

"Yeah." Loke nodded his head plainly. She could practically hear him saying, 'we're just like you and Natsu too, you know.'

Lucy finished eating what she wanted. She would've gotten up to go throw her trash away, but the foreboding blonde man with the headphones sitting a mere few feet away was much too intimidating to walk near, even if he was asleep and listening to Mavis-knows-what.

Loke finished eating and crumpled up his food as well. His meal was only half-picked at, but he much have lost his appetite. "Does Gray ever say anything about me?" He asked quietly. He picked his head up to look at Lucy with oddly pleading eyes.

"Well, not really-" Lucy started. She was trying to come up with a nice way to say, 'he actually avoids you almost every time I mention you!' Luckily she didn't have to finish: a sweet looking girl came up to their two-person lunch group and awkwardly waved at Loke.

"Hi, Loke." She giggled. Giggled. The girl payed Lucy no mind. "You still didn't call, so I figured I'd give you my number in case you forgot."

And with that she held out a slip of paper to which Loke humbly accepted with his playboy smile. "I didn't forget Sasha."

"Sarah."

"Well have a nice lunch, Samantha." Loke smiled warmly and the girl walked away with a face beaming red with giddiness despite the fact he messed up her name twice, most likely on purpose.

Loke turned to her with an exhausted expression. 'Don't ask,' it read. Continuing where they left off, he asked, "About Gray..?"

At least the interruption had given her some time to think about ways to let him down slowly. Oh, if only she had his playboy skill and the 'it's not you, it's me' attitude. Sadly, she was a painfully honest and modest person. Screw her good nature.

"I've asked about you a few times, but he's always gotten clammy about it." Lucy settled for saying. Simple, vague, just her style. Lucy picked at her meal scraps as she felt Loke staring at her for more.

"Lucy!"

The blonde turned around to look over her shoulder at the sound of the familiar voice. It was friendly, male-which really only ruled out Erza as it's host, then, which she tried not to dwell on-and jogging straight towards her in minimal clothing.

Before Lucy could beam with happiness that she was no longer without the company of a friend-sorry Loke, but a true friend, she thought-Gray had slowed his pace to throw a nervous glance at Loke. The cherry on top was the fact that Natsu was walking behind him, yet his poor and pink-haired soul was still entirely oblivious.

Gray came to a stop by Lucy's side. He didn't pay the ginger much attention: only looked down at Lucy with a more pained expression than angry.

When she glanced at Loke, he was staring intensely at Gray, or rather the bruise mark on the side of his face. At first she thought it was guilt, then she remembered how Gray told her Loke hadn't caused it. His upset look was more pity, perhaps?

"Hey." Gray said quietly. He gave Lucy a pleading look, asking with his eyes to leave and not say anything to grab the attention of their disastrous hot-headed friend. Gray had shut Loke out like a fly on the wall. "We should g-"

"Lucy." Natsu's voice was tight and deep as he walked up to her. If she were standing up, she could imagine the way he grabbed her hand in that possessive-protective way he had so often before.

With his onyx eyes betraying the coldness Gray had settled upon the scene, Natsu burned through the ice with eyes set on the orange-haired man still staring at Gray with brows knit together in worry.

"We don't have time to waste on shit." Natsu murmured, clearing invoking the last word as a substitute for the noun 'Loke.' "We're leaving."

Lucy let Natsu pull her to her feet; she would have fought back, but the thought of an actual fight scared her too much. Where was Erza when she was needed.

With her fingers threaded through Natsu's they began to walk away. Only with a glance over her shoulder did she notice Gray had lingered there for a moment as if completely missing the fact Lucy had stood up to leave.

Gray was fixated on nothing, but his mind was reeling with so many unknown thoughts that Lucy was counting the seconds until they all exploded from his head like a radio set to the wrong station.

Nalu Lemon Novel
Exy Koroleva © 2016
Thank you for reading.
Some triggering scenes
to be included, so please
do not report. Comments
& votes are appreciated.