Chapter 5
There are morning people, and then there's everybody else. These people—logical people understand that the earliest parts of the day were not meant to be filled with activities such as 'getting ready for school' or 'going to school' or 'oh, god, I'm at school.' True morning people, on the other hand, live in a sort of godless vacuum that compels them to convert others into morning people; however, these attempts rarely work, so they have to be content with flaunting their their sheer morning giddiness. This, in turn, attracts more morning people to also rub it in your face; just in case you weren't sure that they started their day before you did.
Lucy was, by all accounts, a morning person. She enjoyed starting her day early, because the extra time often allowed her more time to study before class; in fact, she was already in her school uniform, ready to start her day. The problem was, however, the evidently not morning person on her couch. Natsu, obviously, fit into the other category, and to him, sleeping in was a sacred act, one that must not be disturbed. Lucy, however, as a morning person, did not understand this, so it should be no surprise that she roughly awoke the boy far earlier than he would have liked.
Her hands, firmly gripping each of his shoulders, roughly jostled the boy until his eyes snapped open. Dazedly, he looked into her own dark eyes, trying to make any sense of the situation; however, Natsu only knew that he wanted this shaking to stop. His hands quickly moved to Lucy's wrists, effectively stopping the shaking, and she looked at him with what may have been surprise.
"I'm up—stop—please." He said lazily, and he could feel her arms physically relax until finally releasing their hold altogether. Natsu groggily rubbed his eyes, blinking as the bright morning light peeked through the curtains, and he realized that he must have spent the night here. He also realized that Lucy was still watching him, an expectant look in her eyes.
"Let's go!" She said with a tone that was much too cheery for the morning; at least, Natsu thought so, "Come on!"
"Okay, okay," Natsu said groggily, slowly sitting himself up, "Wha—Lucy, it's only 7AM!"
Lucy's eye twitched in annoyance; however, she kept her cheery persona, "Exactly, so get ready!"
"But we still have a whole entire hour." He whined, lying back down to resume sleeping, and suddenly, Lucy's cheery demeanor was replaced with one of anger; a change morning people are prone to, and she roughly grabbed the front of his shirt.
"No way!" She exclaimed, "You are not sleeping here ever again, got it?!"
"But what if-"
"No! Now quit the lost puppy dog routine and go change! Then we can leave and pretend this little sleepover never happened." She huffed, pushing him in the direction of the bathroom. He awkwardly stumbled a few feet before turning to the blonde.
"How about I sleep only a few more minutes—"
"Natsu!" Lucy yelled, and grabbing the back of his shirt, she literally dragged him into the bathroom, "Now get ready! You're not going to ruin my perfect attendance record!"
Natsu groaned as the blonde slammed the door behind her, wondering how she could be so energetic at this early hour; it really was terribly inconvenient for someone who enjoyed sleeping in, and he had half a mind to fall asleep right there on the floor. A sudden banging on the door, however, prompted him to lazily lift himself up and walk over to his uniform. He only hoped that it had dried, because nothing's quite as disheartening as having to wear damp clothing, especially this early in the morning. He was surprised to find it, not only dry, but neatly folded on the counter. When did she… Natsu shook his head; it was too confusing to think about, and morning people were such an enigma as it was.
A few minutes later, Natsu exited the bathroom, fully dressed and looking extremely exhausted. Lucy, who had been waiting outside the door to chastise him if necessary, examined his outfit and expression; she appeared to nod her approval at both, much to his annoyance. Behind Lucy, a large portrait of herself wore the same look, and Natsu felt temporarily disarmed as he realized that the portrait wasn't of Lucy at all. Sure, they were nearly identical; however, the woman in the portrait appeared to be a bit older than Lucy, and she had a certain regalness that Natsu knew the blonde incapable of. It was like looking at a picture of a picture of somebody you knew; all the right elements were there, but something about it felt unfamiliar and far away.
Natsu awkwardly looked back and forth between the two, opening his mouth to ask the question but immediately stopping himself. After all, she never brought up her mother before, and wasn't that strange? The blonde, noticing this, looked behind her skeptically, sighing at the realization.
"Yeah, that's my mom." She said softly, transfixed on the portrait. Natsu reached his hand out for a moment to comfort the girl but thought better of it. Instead, he turned his attention to the portrait as well, giving the blonde a sidelong glance as he did; she really did resemble her mother. There was the blonde hair, of course, and the large, brown eyes and the way her eyes crinkled like Lucy's when she smiled—really smiled. Natsu also noticed a gold chain with a single star charm; something he instantly decided suited her.
He suddenly turned to look at the blonde directly, "She seems nice."
"She was." Lucy said, and her voice broke as she did. Natsu, once again, thought better of acknowledging this, because he understood that sometimes people need to do these things without too many concerns or questions. The blonde spent a few more moments looking at the portrait before finally turning to him.
"We should probably go." She said, "I don't want to be late-"
"Now? But we haven't even eaten yet." Natsu replied as he followed her to the living room.
Lucy looked at him as if he spoke a foreign language, "We don't have time for that-"
"Look," He exclaimed, grabbing the clock off the side table, "We still have thirty minutes!"
"It'll take at least fifteen to get school, because we can't drive. Because you get motion sickness," She said accusingly, "And I wanted to talk to Mr. Wakaba before class-"
"C'mon," Natsu pleaded, "We'll get to school on time. Breakfast is just the most important meal of the day— Look, I'll even make it!"
"Fine," Lucy sighed, unsure why she was caving, "Just make it quick."
Natsu grinned, running into the kitchen before Lucy could explain what food items she had stocked, but she supposed this may save them some time; however, the constant bursts of sound made her rethink this as Natsu apparently rummaged through every drawer and cupboard she had. The possibility that he was going to trash her kitchen or even burn it down became a very real possibility. Before she could intervene, however, Natsu suddenly emerged, carrying two bowls. He proudly placed one of these bowls in Lucy's hands, and she looked up at him skeptically.
"Cereal, seriously? That's why you made all that noise?"
"Hey, this isn't just any cereal," He explained, "It's 'Natsu's special cereal.'"
"Special, huh?" Lucy chuckled, scooping a spoonful into her mouth. She made a strange moaning sound.
"I know it's good, right?"
"So good. What's in this?"
"Eh—some Fruity Pebbles, Crunch Berries, and Lucky Charms—just the marshmallows. That's what took so long."
"This is amazing!" Lucy said, scarfing down the bowl.
Natsu chuckled, "Think of it as thanks for letting me stay over last night."
"Honestly, it was pretty nice not to be alone for once." Lucy said offhandedly. Realizing what she said, she added, "I just mean, my dad's out of town a lot."
"Yeah, sure." Natsu replied, once again not pressing the matter further, and Lucy had to be grateful; she wondered when she could ever stop owing this boy. Shaking her head of this thought, she quickly changed the subject.
"I forgot to ask yesterday, how'd asking out Lisanna go?"
Natsu shrugged, "I asked her out to a movie. She wanted to invite everyone. Ya' know, make it a 'group' thing instead of a 'me and her' thing."
"Well, that explains the text she sent me yesterday." Lucy said nonchalantly, "Wait—we forgot to go last night! I told her I would, but that whole Minerva thing got in the way." She then faced the pink haired boy, "I'm so sorry, Natsu! I made you miss your first date with Lisanna."
"Don't apologize. It wasn't a date." He said matter-of-factly; although, his serious tone was soon replaced with a more characteristic grin, "I had more fun with you anyway, Luce."
The blonde suddenly felt flustered, "Yeah, well, what's with the whole 'Luce' thing?"
"What? You don't like it?"
"I didn't say that. I was just asking what's with the nickname all of a sudden."
"I don't know." Natsu shrugged, "It's like- I just feel it when I look at you."
Lucy suddenly slammed her bowl down on the coffee table, "Stop saying things like that!"
"W—What? Why?" He asked, feeling a wave of confusion overcome him.
"Because people will think we—that we're—Ugh—We're not even friends, Natsu! Don't you get it?! We're not anything to each other! We're just keeping our ends of the deal! After that, we're—we can-" Lucy tried desperately to finish her sentence, but for some reason, she simply couldn't.
"Fine!" Natsu said irritably, crossing his arms over his chest and pointedly looking away from the blonde. Immediately, Lucy felt a pang of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Natsu. I-I didn't mean that."
The pink haired boy turned to her slowly- hesitantly, but upon seeing her face and how remorseful she looked, he released a breath.
"I know. It's just…" He shook his head slightly, "I know."
Lucy gave him a half-hearted smile, "You should never listen to anything I say." She looked away guiltily, "I know I don't."
"But that's the thing; I like to listen to everything you say, Luce." He said sincerely, causing the blonde to feel flustered yet again, and she immediately put her effort into not snapping at the boy, having no idea what was compelling her to do so.
"Yeah, well…" She said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with the boy, and he simply watched her curiously, slowly returning to his bowl of cereal. Lucy's eyes, still looking away from him, flickered over the nearby clock, prompting the blonde to immediately jump off the couch.
"We're late!" She exclaimed, scrambling towards the door, only to realize that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Desperately, the blonde ran circles around the room trying to locate them. Suddenly, Lucy realized that she didn't have her bag either, and she began to run in the opposite direction as she looked for it. Natsu watched the spectacle, but felt his neck hurt after a few minutes; it was exhausting just to watch.
"I'm late?! I've never been late before! What do I do?! Oh, god, what's going to happen to me?!" She said hysterically; hands gripping her roots in frustration as she frantically searched the room. Suddenly, Lucy felt a pair of warm arms encircle her waist; they pulled her back so that she fell awkwardly onto Natsu's lap.
"Lucy, stop!" He exclaimed as she tried to wriggle out of his grip.
"Let go of me!"
"Not until you calm down!"
"I don't need calm! I need to go! I need to find my shoes-"
"Your shoes are right here by the couch!" Natsu exclaimed, and the blonde's eyes moved to the edge of the couch where her shoes were lined neatly on the carpet just as he said.
"But my bag!"
"Right by your shoes." He replied, and sure enough, there it was. Lucy looked at her items in disbelief before pathetically slumping her body in defeat.
"You done freaking out then?" Natsu asked her, and she released a sigh.
"Yeah, I'm done."
Seemingly satisfied with this response, Natsu finally released her, and the blonde immediately leapt up, frantically grabbing her items, "We have to go! We're so late-"
Natsu looked at her disapprovingly, extending his arms, "Luce-"
"I'm calm! I promise!" She told him, "I—We—Let's just go!"
She grabbed the boy's arm, roughly tugging him out of the house, and by the time they reached their school campus, Lucy was practically dragging Natsu down the hall. Much to his relief, she released her hold on him right outside their classroom; however he looked at the blonde in confusion as she stared at the door hesitantly rather than rush in as he expected her to. Natsu simply shrugged at this, reaching to open the door; he was used to being late after all. Suddenly, Lucy's hand covered his, effectively stopping this movement, and she shook her head as if to say 'not yet.' His confusion grew at the action, but this quickly turned into annoyance as she proceeded to straighten out her uniform.
"Geez, for someone who's so worried about being late, you're really taking your time."
"Shut it, Natsu! It's important to be presentable." Lucy retorted; although, she immediately stopped grooming herself, "You know, it wouldn't hurt you to straighten up."
Natsu looked at her incredulously, "What's wrong with my look now?!"
"Nothing, if you like looking like you just rolled out of bed!"
"Hey, that's my aesthetic! We agreed on that!"
"No, I said we'd talk about it later!"
"Well, this seems like a great time!" Natsu retorted, and the pair continued to bicker as they walked into the classroom, stopping instantly at the sight before them.
For some reason or another, the classroom was almost completely empty—almost, because settled on a desk in the corner of the classroom was a sight that caused Lucy to immediately blush. Natsu, on the other hand, stared on in complete shock, and he briefly wondered if this was some sort of prank. Of course, it wasn't, and the pair continued to watch in stunned silence as the display continued. There was absolutely no room for innuendo or misunderstandings, because Erza and Jellal were kissing—and rather heavily at that. Lucy turned to Natsu awkwardly as if to say 'let's get out of here,' and he nodded his agreement.
"Maybe we should come back later!" He practically yelled, and Lucy immediately face-palmed. There went any chance of leaving unnoticed. Meanwhile, Erza and Jellal jumped apart at the sound, awkwardly turning to face them, and for what seemed like an eternity, the four stood in complete silence. Natsu and Lucy for fear of what Erza would do to them, and Erza and Jellal trying to determine how much the others had seen. Finally, the redhead straightened out the pleats of her skirt and took a step toward the pair.
"Natsu. Lucy. You're late." She said disapprovingly, "What is the meaning of this?"
"We—uh—Natsu and I met up early for tutoring and –uh- lost track of time?" Lucy replied hesitantly, and the redhead appeared to nod her approval; however, a split second later, she shook her head.
"You two need to be more responsible!" She exclaimed, "This is unacceptable-"
"Unacceptable?!" Natsu exclaimed, "This isn't even your classroom!"
"Punctuality, as you both should know, is the cornerstone of our society," Erza explained, ignoring his outburst, "Moreover, both of your absences from the movie last night were noted. Tch. This sort of behavior is deplorable. As senior class president, I should give both of you detention-"
"What?! Detention?! You were the one's getting hot and heavy in here!" Natsu exclaimed. Erza remained impassive at this comment; however, Jellal appeared slightly red. Lucy, o the other hand, elbowed him sharply in the ribs, "Ow—Lucy!"
"As I was saying," Erza continued, narrowing her eyes at the boy, "I should give both of you detention; however, as your class is out on a school trip, I will be lenient."
Natsu and Lucy turned to the redhead in confusion, "School trip?"
"Mr. Clive took your class out for an extended lunch." Jellal explained.
"To reward them for ranking so high. Your absence from that is punishment enough." Erza said simply, and Natsu literally collapsed on the floor in disappointment. Lucy was close to doing the same as she considered the fact that her GPA was a component for their high class ranking. It was becoming increasingly obvious to both of them that this 'punishment' was for walking in on the pair as opposed to their tardiness.
"Now, then," Erza said authoritatively, "We do have some business to attend to-"
"More sucking face?" Natsu said without thinking, and not a second later, he clutched his stomach in pain where Erza had punched him.
"You should probably not talk for a while." Lucy said awkwardly beside him, and he simply groaned in response.
"You may spend the remainder of the class period in the library." Erza said venomously, and she gave Natsu a look that prompted him to bolt out of the classroom.
"I have to leave as well, Erza." Jellal told the redhead, and he gave her such a soft look that even Lucy blushed.
"Uh, Erza," The blonde said awkwardly after he exited the room, "What's going on?"
"You said you'd volunteer for the winter carnival, right?" The redhead asked, ignoring her question completely, "I've been trying to assign everyone's tasks."
"Erza, what's going on?" Lucy repeated, covering her own stomach with her hands as if for protection, and the redhead sighed.
"You saw, Lucy. What more is there to say?" She replied, and she might as well have been talking about the weather.
"Let me see: you and Jellal were kissing. We could start there."
"That was very blunt," Erza commented, "I see Natsu is rubbing off on you."
Lucy felt a twinge of annoyance, "Don't change the subject!" And in a movement that maybe only she, as one of Erza's closest friends, could get away with, the blonde forcefully sat her down, "Look, I just need to know that you're okay with whatever's going on between you and Jellal! I mean, I assume that's why you've been going into those empty classrooms these past couple of weeks—don't think I haven't noticed- It's just not like you to keep secrets, Erza. So, I know there must be a reason, but I just- I mean, as long as that's what you want to do…"
"It's not what I want to do." Erza said quietly. Lucy turned to her in surprise.
"It's not? Is—is Jellal making you keep it a secret?"
"No, he's not, or he couldn't anyways." Erza laughed, and the blonde nodded her agreement. Then turning serious, the redhead added, "It's actually my parents."
"Your parents?" Lucy looked concerned.
"They don't exactly approve of Jellal."
"But he's such a good student, and he's on student council. I thought they'd be all over that."
"That's true, but my parents still think he's a bad influence. With his dad and all…" Erza didn't have to say anything else. It was common knowledge that Jellal's father was spending his life in prison. Of course, Jellal was a nice boy, but some people still treated him as if the situation was somehow his fault. Lucy could understand what that felt like.
"That's why you're keeping this from everyone." She said softly.
"I know it's not fair to you and Levy, but I can't risk word reaching my parents. I'm not even sure what would happen…" The redhead said, and Lucy put a comforting arm on her shoulder.
"Erza, I'm sorry you have to… Just to be with Jellal…"
"There's no need to apologize," She said, giving the blonde a small smile, "To be honest, it is rather fun sneaking around."
Lucy giggled, "Who knew Erza Scarlet had such a taste for adventure?"
The redhead laughed, patting Lucy rather roughly on the back, "Still, I'm glad you know, Lucy. There are so many things I've been wanting to tell you about this-"
"Why don't we start with how you guys got together?" Lucy asked enthusiastically, and Erza chuckled.
"Well, Jellal and I were working late for student council one evening. We both reached for a stack of papers at the same time, so our hands grazed each other's. And I suddenly realized that I didn't want to move my hand. It took a few more minute for me to realize that he hadn't moved his hand either. Before I knew it, we were kissing, and it—it just felt right."
"That's so romantic." Lucy said dreamily.
Erza smiled, "It's strange. I think I had feelings for him long before I realized. It's like I just woke up one day and realized I could not imagine my life without him- I couldn't imagine not having him around. It is hard at times, and I know a lot of people wouldn't understand. It's just-" Erza seemed completely unlike herself and uncharacteristically groped for the right word.
"Erza, I understand," Lucy assured her, "Your secret's safe with me—And I'll make sure that Natsu doesn't blab either."
The redhead gave her a grateful look, and Lucy simply nodded in response.
"Well, I have a lot of work to do." Erza said, returning to her business like persona, "There's still so many arrangements to be made for the carnival. You can help if you like."
"Uh—I'm okay." Lucy responded. The winter carnival was something that Erza spent the whole year planning; it was like her baby, and Lucy was not about to risk the redhead's fury if she were to make a mistake.
"Very, well," She said, shuffling through her papers, and suddenly, she turned to the blonde with concern, "By the way, Lucy, I've been meaning to speak with you about the tutoring."
"Uh—what about it?"
"Just try not to meet up with Natsu too late. Last night some delinquents completely vandalized Minerva Orlando's home, so be careful."
"R-right." Lucy said awkwardly, walking slowly out of the classroom, "I'll—uh—I'll look out for delinquents and stuff."
"That's all I ask." Erza smiled, "Now get to tutoring. It doesn't pay to neglect your duties."
Lucy laughed nervously as she left the classroom, burying her face in her hands and desperately hoping that the redhead would never figure out that 'her duties' were directly responsible for the vandalism the night before.
AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! And thanks to those who reviewed! You keep me going! Anyways, I will update soon. Let me know your thoughts on the story so far:)