dedicated to Natsuto Dragneel

Chapter Fourteen

Holy mother of...

Lucy's expression was a mixture of confusion and relief. She was probably expecting to find me drunk and passed out on the sidewalk or something. She didn't say a thing about my crying and just stood there silently. I was thankful for that.

I screamed and cursed my father's name out, yelling out all my fears which I had wanted to say. I spoke about my mother, about the issue with work and always being alone, about the fact that I didn't speak to anyone about it since I didn't want to bother people, I screamed about my will to look strong in front of others; and at some point my crying turned into a full-blown rant as I paced around the empty streets, Lucy just standing a few feet away from me.

A few minutes—or seconds later, I found myself standing silently in front of her. Who knew what was going on in her head right now? She'd never seen me like this before. I didn't even want her to see me like this. I felt like it would've been best if I just never texted her in the first place.

"So um," She looked sideways, and I closed my eyes in anticipation of the rock hard repulsion, "Do you want to go get some coffee or something?"

…

I had to stop myself from jumping her right then and there.

"I can see that you're having a hard time and all, and I don't really know if there's anything open at this time of night, but I have some coffee back home…"

Is this really happening? Or did I fall and bang my table on the park bench and am now having some sort of wild dream?

"By the way," she smiled, "Nice getup."

I looked down and blushed when I noticed that I was still in my pajamas since I didn't change when dad arrived. So that's why that shop assistant looked at me weirdly… I am a lousy human being. I tried smoothing out my hair to look a bit more presentable. Most of the time I knew exactly what I wanted to say and even talked a lot more than I wanted to. But now, I was at a loss for words.

She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "It's cold here, and the sun will probably rise quickly, so I want to get out of here as fast as I can. I still have some more work to do at home though, so I'll be going."

Shit. Did I miss my chance?

I stood there in dead silence watching her turn and walk away from me. "Are you coming or not?" She asked, and I stumbled forward, a happy feeling tugging at my heart as we neared her house. It started snowing, and I couldn't help but want to run up to her and just start a normal conversation. But I was used to walking behind her.

I watched her sway her hips in rhythmic motion, coming to a stop when she reached her door, and then unlocked it. This was it. The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The key to the chamber of secrets. I couldn't stop the smile from spreading on my face as I walked in after her.

The house was extremely cute. Judging from the small furnace, the grandfather clock, and the olden furniture surrounding the living room, the place was decorated to her liking. I marveled at the bookshelves cluttering the walls, surprised by just how much she loved reading. I slowly staggered off to her couch, feeling a bit light-headed. I dropped down to the soft piece of furniture, letting out a sigh of relief when my muscles relaxed. This was the life.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her discard her coat, and turn around to look at me.

My mind came to a halt.

How is someone even allowed to wear something like that? I mean, the shirt is so fucking tight her breasts are practically seeping out of the thing – not that I'm complaining. Telling myself that I was not in my element right now, I forced my eyes to look up and meet hers. She looked sincerely troubled.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"You have to stop bringing in guys like this," I said, watching her roll her eyes, "Other than me, of course." She asked whether I wanted something to drink or eat and I said I was fine with sleeping for a while. She disappeared somewhere and returned seconds after with a blanket. I watched her cover me with it, then lean in front of me to make sure I didn't have a high temperature. I almost died at the sight of her chest pushed up against my chin, something she was clearly not aware of.

I tried to keep my mind in a rational thought as she slowly repositioned to sit on the couch, next to my lying figure. If I moved my hand I could touch her. I could grab her and pull her into a hug right here on the couch and see where the night—or morning, whatever—takes us. But she'd trusted me enough to let me in here alone, and I didn't want to sabotage that.

"Thank you for uh, everything" I mumbled, begging my eyes to stop ogling her, "You really saved me back there." She smiled, but still looked worried. "Why were you up in the middle of the night?" I asked, as a diversion from the bra strap I could clearly see.

"I was… thinking about something and couldn't sleep." She muttered, looking away from me. "I'll go tidy up in the kitchen and go to bed."

"It's six in the morning," I interrupted, managing a stern look on my face. "Go straight to bed." She rolled her eyes, but got up nonetheless. As I watched her walk away towards the stairs leading to what I assumed was the second floor where her bedroom was at, I couldn't help but tease. "Hey," she turned mid-step to look at me, "I'm a bit drunk, so you can take advantage of me if you want."

She was too far away, and ran off too quickly, but I thought I saw a faint blush on her cheeks.

Stabs of pain kept flashing across my head as I desperately tried to go back to sleep, even though the rays of the sun had been tickling me long enough. I dared open my eyes, and looked towards the grandfather clock. Two-thirty in the afternoon.

I turned around, trying to catch some more sleep.

TWO-THIRTY!? WE'RE TOTALLY LATE FOR SCHOOL!

I dropped down from the couch in panic, frantically rushing upstairs to find Lucy's bedroom. There were three rooms in total, and I scanned all of them. The first one was a cute pink bathroom with a huge tub, and I searched the cupboard for some aspirin, sighing in delight when I swallowed the pill. I closed the door and walked into the second room, where I was greeted by the sight of my babe sleeping on her light pink bed. I surveyed the room, greeted with countless books and just one wardrobe. She had two nightstands on each side of the bed, one topped with books, the other one with her phone and her laptop.

I looked towards her, feeling my headache completely disappear. Right there, laying sprawled on the bed and gripping her sheets tight, was my Lucy. She wore light blue pajamas, legs entangled with the bedsheets, head buried in the pillow. Her expression was calm, and didn't move a muscle when I slammed the door behind me to empathize that I had entered.

Well, we were late anyways, why not prolong it a bit more?

I slowly tiptoed over to her bed, careful not to make any noise. I almost ran out when she shifted positions, and now lay flat on her back, her head tilted upwards toward the celling. And as though something inside me pushed towards her, I felt my legs move on their own, as one of them slowly climbed on the bed. I stopped, ready to have her wake up and scream at me. But she'd been tired last night, and it didn't seem like she was about to rise and shine any time soon.

I let out shaky breath of air, as I tossed my leg over her body, and climbed up whole. Sitting on top of her with each of my legs on both of her sides, I felt a weird smile creep up my lips. Oh my god. What the hell was I doing!? Sitting on top of the girl I love and imagining heating scenarios was not the sign of a healthy mind. And, arguing with my inner self that yes, I could get arrested for this, I decided to slowly climb down before she wakes up.

Too late.

She stirred, bringing up her hands to rub her eyes, and before I could die of a heart attack, she went back to sleep and removed her hands.

And placed them on my hips. I felt heat flush over me, and I had a hard time controlling myself when I felt the softness of her small hands on my pajamas. Okay, so I'm sitting on top of her, and she's holding me in place with her hands.

HOW DO YOU STAY CALM AT A TIME LIKE THIS?

I closed my eyes, thinking thoughts that wouldn't get me in the mood.

Hitler killed more than 11 million people in concentration camps.

I felt her slowly move beneath me, and scrunched up my eyes, exhaling loudly to try and calm myself.

1% of all babies die before they are born.

She let out some sort of mmph sound and I almost squealed in fear. I opened my eyes and cursed those small plump lips, that parted slightly every time she took a breath. Desperate not to touch her in any spots she'd kill me for—all spots?—my hands settled on top of her own.

There is an average of 121 suicides every day.

My breath come out slow and shaky, as I searched for a way out. I decided that jumping out of this deathtrap was out of the question. I had to do it nice and easy. She brought up one of her hands, releasing my right side, only to pull down her bedsheet, revealing her top pajama.

She wasn't wearing any.

Dead puppies. Dead puppies. Dead puppies.

The only thing she had on her was a small shirt that looked… well. What even was that? I think I heard Erza call it something like chimney, or charcoal, or chemise. Yeah, that's the one. I swallowed hard, tying not to take such notice of the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. I dug my nails into my thighs to keep myself from moving, looking around for some sort of opening. I got up on my knees and when her hands threatened to move again, I held them over her head with my own, unaware that that had caused a lot more damage to me. I swallowed back my spit when my knee slipped and I ended up an inch in front of her face.

Dead bodies. Plane crashes.

This is it. My time to shine.

But I knew better than to use her like that while she was asleep, so I slowly tossed my leg on the other side and my grip on her hands loosened.

Finally free from my femme fatale, I fell off the bed and sighed in relief. I had only tried to lie down next to her when this whole mishap occurred by mistake. But I was somewhat glad it happened. I mean, I still didn't do anything to her. Come to think of it, she did something to me with that thigh gripping and stuff.

I jumped back up and settled for nudging her on the shoulder. "Wake up." Her eyes fluttered open for a moment, but closed in the next. "Lucy", I crouched down next to her bed, "Hey you". Poking my finger at her soft cheeks, I let out a chuckle. "Sleepy head", I muttered, letting my fingers ghost over her mouth. She moved to face me, but her eyes stayed closed. Honestly, this girl is so unprotected… so…

I licked my lips.

…vulnerable.

My palm moved to rest on her cheek, as I slid away a lock of long blonde hair. Unconsciously, I traced my thumb over her lower lip, and shuddered when I noticed what I was doing. This could easily be called sexual assault.

I got up abruptly, feeling a strong hatred towards myself. How could I be so weak and disgusting?

And as those conflicting thoughts crowded my mind while I headed towards the door, I heard the cause of my lust yawn. "Natsu?"

This was something I'd been dreaming about. Lucy calling my name first thing in the morning.

"Is something wrong?"

"We're late." I said, the raging feeling of guilt still not subsiding. "It's three PM." She giggled, and I wondered if this was the way a star student was supposed to act.

"We're on winter break as of today, you idiot."

I almost killed myself, as my fears deflated. Even if she called me an idiot, it would still get my heart racing. I wondered what I was supposed to do now. I caused such an inconvenience already but the idea of going back home and facing my father was out of the question.

"Do you want some breakfast?" She asked, and I felt all my love for her double. She got up and instructed me to leave so she could change, and I walked back downstairs, trying to ignore what was happening behind that closed door.

I snooped around in her kitchen, hoping that she wouldn't be angry if I did. Finding some eggs and bacon, I took them out on the table and stared. How the fuck does this work? Should I turn on the oven or something? Ah, I got it.

"NOOO!" I heard Lucy shouting as she ran downstairs, watching me close the microwave door. "Eggs explode if you put them inside a microwave!"

I looked back and forth from the machine to Lucy. A dark grin creeped up on my face, "cool."

"Don't you even dare!" She shouted, playfully shoving me away from the contraption. "If you wanted bacon and eggs, you could've told me so." She pulled out a pan from the cupboard, and placed it on the stove, "Why don't you go take a shower and come back when you're done?" I nodded. "I have some of Jellal's old clothes in the other room, I'll bring them up for you in a second."

And with that, I disappeared behind her bathroom door. Sinking inside the warm bath she'd already prepared for me while I was downstairs, I couldn't help but thank whoever was up there for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. I opened up her bottles of shampoo, thinking that this was where she would dip her naked body and—that was that. I needed to get out fast before the water wouldn't be the only hot thing in that bathroom.

Wrapping a towel across my lower half, I exited into the hallway. I wasn't sure what room she'd said the clothes were in, so I guessed she meant the one I hadn't checked previously. The third room on this floor.

I rested my hand on the doorknob.

"What are you doing?" I abruptly turned around, startled. "I thought I told you that I would bring you the clothes." In her eyes she had something scary, something menacing.

My mom talked to hers, and she mentioned something about some sort of secret that got out.

I shook away Jellal's words from my head, and followed her downstairs, greeted by the smell of fresh breakfast. I dug in, watching Lucy disappear to take her own bath. My face heated up at the thought of her bathing in the same water I did. I slapped my cheeks in an attempt to calm myself, as I put on some black sweats and a blue t-shirt.

I ran a hand though my hair, letting it dry naturally, when I heard the steps of my little angle coming down the stairs.

"Lucy I—" I ran up to talk to her, but stopped on a whim.

Wet hair dripping down her sleeveless shirt, damp enough for the fabric of her black bra to pinch through. She wore light gray yoga pants which hugged her curves in a way that made the insides of my stomach turn. She had a small towel in her arms, and used it to dry her hair. I had to leave. This place was becoming more and more dangerous by the second.

"The sports festival is two days before Christmas, right?" I asked finally, after a long while of silence. She mumbled a yes. "Well, I'd like to ask you something that day. Well, more like tell you something." I fumbled the ends of the shirt, and she nodded.

"What was your fight with you dad about?" She asked suddenly, and all those images of last night came back to my head. My brain had suppressed them long enough for me to enjoy my morning, but now I felt like everything came crashing down.

"A lamp."

She scrunched up her nose, "Excuse me?"

"It was about a lamp. He said we needed a lamp or something and I blew up in his face. I mean, I was a ticking time bomb for quite a few years now. It was bound to happen", I raised my shoulders as if to say nothing could be done about it. We sat on the couch next to each other, and I looked at her for permission to continue the conversation.

"You can tell me what's bothering you," she said, as though reading my mind.

"It's just…" I inhaled a sharp breath of air, "I see them once a month, sometimes even more rarely than that. And usually they come one by one. They both come together only on birthdays or special events. So I don't even know if they see each other outside of that. I mean, why are they married? Do both of them have a person on the side? And like, they don't even call me that often. The only thing that matters to people like that is work and money. I can fucking buy everyone in our school plus their families and everything they own, but what's the point?"

She listened to me with a hurt expression, which I dubbed sincere.

"I'm sorry for springing this on you like I'm doing but I really didn't have anyone to talk to. I hadn't even realized how suffocated I have been feeling in the past few weeks, under constant pressure and stuff." She was understanding, and I felt like I couldn't handle this anymore. Here she was, inches away from me, her mouth close to mine, my fingers just a second away from her waist. I was thankful having her help me like this, but it was too much for a guy. I needed to get out and away since I didn't want to pressure her into anything.

"Oh," she suddenly remembered something, "Juvia said she'll confess to Gray again at the sports festival."

I nodded at the piece of information, seeing that she was just trying to take my mind off everything that has happened lately.

"Listen Lucy," I started, fully aware that my next words will hurt me deeply, but it had to be done. "I know that you're hardworking and don't seem to have any time for friends and things like that, and I've been really inconsiderate lately… So I decided something. I won't follow you around or come to your house until the Sports Festival. That way the both of us can dedicate everything we have to win, and nothing will distract us. I mean, I'll still send you messages, but I won't come see you. You're probably cheering on the inside," I paused for an awkward laugh, but she didn't say anything, "So just wait for me. Once the Festival ends, I will come at you with everything I've got, and make you an offer you can't refuse!" I pumped my fist in the air, and shouted for an added effect.

Instead of calling the police—like I anticipated—she laughed lightly before nodding. "Alright, Natsu Dragneel, show me what you've got."

And that sentence alone was enough to make me the happiest person in the world.

But these are going to be the toughest three weeks in my life.

Pajamas in hand, Jellal's shorts and shirt on me, and a fully charged phone in hand, I was ready to face my dad as I walked towards the house. He won't be able to get away now.

"So are you home yet?" Gray asked from the other side of the line, after the half-hour I spent repeating my adventures with Lucy—disregarding the crying part of course.

"Almost," I replied, feeling the adrenaline rush from seeing my house in the distance. "If I get into a fight with my old man I'm planning on you to come to my rescue."

"Fine. Soldier Fullbuster will solve any problem you have. Since I'm ten times stronger than you."

"Soldier Fullbuster? Really?" I laughed, but was thankful for having a caring friend nonetheless. I hadn't exactly told him everything, like the part about fearing that my parents might be cheating on one another.

"Speaking of soldiers, how did Soldier Natsu manage to leave Lucy's house without raping her?"

"Dude, I came so fucking close." I heard his loud laughing from the other side of the phone, and had to distance the contraption away from my ear in order to save my hearing, "I talked to myself about dead puppies in order not to get—"

"I get it," He deadpanned, "I'm pretty sure you climbed on top of her and gave up at the last second."

"Oh man, it's like you were there."

"No wayyyy!" He laughed even louder, and I knew I was in trouble. This wouldn't stop unless I think of something else to change the topic. Fast. Oh right…

"Lucy gave me some interesting information though…"

"Her three sizes?"

"No, I already know that."

"Oooh? Tell me"

"Like hell I will," I felt a blush creep up my cheeks, and my will to have Lucy all to myself sparkled again. "Anyways, what I was trying to tell you is that she told me Juvia is planning to confess to you again at the sports festival."

There was a small pause, and then a lighthearted laugh, "Not if I get to her first."

Author's Notes: Aww I'm so glad I got a lot of positive reviews for the last chapter

Thanks a lot guys! Annnnnnddddd here we have a lot of NaLu fluff and even some Gruvia at the end. Cute, huh?

What do you think's gonna happen next?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH! and check out my newest story titled "How to Seduce a Lady" !

~With Keys, through Flames! Aye!~