CHAPTER 7: APOLOGIES
The door's wide open! Natsu wouldn't leave the door open... would he? "Natsu? Natsu, are you in?" I yelled. "Lucy? It's Zeref." He responded. I sighed and walked in. What is Zeref doing here? "Zeref, hi! You scared the life out of me." "Sorry. I just thought I'd leave it open to let Natsu know I was here." "Oh. Natsu isn't here?" I asked concerned. "No, I'm just waiting for him. Thought that he might be with you. You don't know where he is?" Zeref asked.
"Well he went to see Wendy last night and never came back." I cringed. "Oh."
"So... you let yourself in?" I asked. "Oh, yeah, I have a key." "Is that... is that normal?" I replied. "What do you mean?" He looked down. "Well, for someone's agent to have a key to their house and let themselves in." I said. "He hasn't told you then?" He asked. I shrugged, "Told me what?" I really hope it's not more bad news. "Natsu is my little brother." He deadpanned. "Oh!" I replied. I studied Zeref for a second, "You guys look nothing the same!" I screeched. "Yeah, we get that a lot. Well, what if we went out to get Natsu a gift, like... well, his favorite coffee from Moonbucks!" "What is his favorite coffee..?" I stupidly asked. I didn't know, but still.
"I guess you really don't know much about each other." He mentioned. "Not really, no. Every time I think I'm getting to know him, he seems to withdraw from me." I sighed. And usually it's because of Wendy. "Yeah, Natsu does that." Zeref stretched his arms. "Did I hear my name?" A voice called.
"Natsu!" I yelped. He walked into the room wearing his usual top and jeans. He patted my head, "Hey guys! Zeref, what are you doing here?" He asked. "Well, since news of your marriage was leaked this morning and the press are having a field day about your little outing with Wendy Marvell I decided to come round and see what's going on with you." He said giving Natsu 'the look'. "Oh, yeah, Zeref, the thing with Wendy, she's having a tought time and I'm being a friend, that's it." He hesitantly said. "And I would have believe that had Lucy here not just told me that you spent the whole night with her." He crossed his arms.
"But, Zeref..." "Natsu, listen to me. The whole point of you remaining in this... 'marriage' is so that the press see you as a changed man. Not an alcoholic, not someone who allegedly cheated on Lisanna Strauss and not an unreliable, washed-up actor. A changed man, Natsu. This means you can't stay out all night with other girls, having brunch with them. You need to be seen with your WIFE, not a teenager." Zeref spoke up.
"But Wendy and I are just friends, you know that Zeref. Whatever we used to be, we're just friends now." He defended. So Wendy DOES mean something to him! Or, at least, she did... "I don't care what you are, I care what it looks like." Zeref face palmed. "Plus, it's not me you need to convince with this stuff. It's Lucy."
Natsu sighed. "Lucy, I..." He started but Zeref interrupted him. "Hey, you guys can discuss this later in private. The main reason I came is because I need to release a statement. I can't keep saying 'no comment' What do you want me to say?"
"I think I can help here." I waited a moment and Zeref nodded. "Natsu and I have agreed to an exclusive deal with the magazine I work for, Sabertails." I started. "Yes, I've heard of it." Zeref put in. "They're going to be confirming our marriage with a picture in the next issue and on their website in 2 days and then we're going to be doing some exclusive interviews and photo shoots with them. So if you could only issue a statement confirming that the rumors are true, I know they would appreciate that." I took a breath after that mouthful of words got out.
"So that they can release most of the details themselves?" Zeref assumed. "Yes, that's right." I confirmed. "Okay I can do that. Do you want me to give your name or hold that for now, too?" He said eyeing Natsu. "Hold it for now. Just confirm that Russ is married to me, and maybe say something like we're enjoying it so far, to add some personality." I said. "But we don't need to add personality." Natsu said. "I think she's got a point, Natsu. Especially after your stunt with Wendy this morning." Wow that was rude of Natsu, maybe he doesn't like me after all...
"Fine." He agreed and crossed his arms. "Okay, great, I think that's very doable. So I'll give a statement shortly but that's all, okay?" He assured. We nodded and he was about to get ready to walk out of the house and leave but I quickly stopped him and mentioned, "Oh! There's something else you might be able to help us with..." He stopped in his place, "Yeah?" "Sabertails wants to release the news of our marriage with a photo from our wedding." I said. Natsu and Zeref both gasped. "Ah... that is a problem." He shrugged. "Yes. And I was told to get the photo to them tomorrow or else." I bit my lip. Zeref was thinking and Natsu was freaking out.
"Tomorrow!?" He started, "Lucy, this is the first I'm hearing of this don't you think you should have said something?" "Well, Natsu, I only found out today and if you'd been around then I would have told you." I squinted at him. "Okay, I have a plan. Tomorrow morning, I'll send 'round Natsus' stylist, Mirajane, and you can go somewhere with a nice backdrop and pose for some fake wedding photos." He replied.
I nodded, "That sounds good, where will we go?" "I'm not sure yet, but we'll most likely have to work something out. I'll have the photos sent to me in digital format the same day and, Lucy, give me an email address and I'll send a picture over to Sabertails for their magazine, okay?" He said consciously. "That would be great, thanks Zeref." I responded with a nod. You know, he's not really that bad after all... I guess just maybe a bit misunderstood.
"Great! Now, I better get going, it seems you two have a lot of talking to do... talk to each other, get over whatever issues you have going on and be ready for Mirajane at 9 AM sharp." He turned around and waved walking out the door, "I'll see you both tomorrow." and then he shut the door behind him leaving us awkwardly watching. "So.." Natsu crooked his neck. "So." I said crossing my arms.
"Look, I'm sorry I disappeared for a while." He shrugged looking guilty as ever. "It's okay, it's not like I'm your real wife, anyway." I mumbled. "You don't have any obligation to me." I bit my finger nail and faced towards the ground. "No, but that's just it. You are my real wife and I should treat you like it..." He sighed and grabbed my hand. "Maybe we should take a minute and go and talk about this somewhere else."
I tore from his grip and crossed my arms again. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked uncomfortably. If the paps (papparazis) get a shot of me and Natsu before Mr. Dreyar can publish one, I better say au revoir to my job. "It's okay," He started, "It's getting dark out and I know somewhere we can get some peace and quiet. I'll just shower and then we can go." "Can I ask where we're going" "It's a surprise." "Well, what should I wear." "Fine, I'll give you a clue." He looked away as if he we're thinking and then hesitated, "D-dress warm." I looked down again and thought the clue through. Dress warm? Does that mean we're going outside..? I waited a very long pause and looked up and noticed he already had left. Oh no, the water's running, he's already in the shower and really isn't going to tell me anything else! Oh well, I guess I'd better pick something to wear.
I straddled myself into my room and groaned not knowing the slightest of what to wear. Well... Natsu wants me to wear something warm but I want to wear something that looks nice. Something warm, but also nice. I rummaged through my wardrobe and picked out three outfits.
The first, a cute teal mid-length dress, a black cardigan, and black leggings. The second, a very short maroon dress with a cut out back, an off white knit cardigan, and brown tall gladiator sandals. The third, black skinny jeans, with an army green tee, a black scarf, white vans, and a light gray sweatshirt which would probably go around my waste just to make sure.
I thought about my choices and just went with the third outfit so I know I could be safe in case it would be colder or warmer. Although I'd be more certain if I knew where we were going... I'm finally ready! Let's hope Natsu is too.
\ In the Car /
"So where are we going?" I automatically asked. "I told you, it's a surprise." He replied slowly. I crossed my arms and pouted. "Why did you want to go out to talk, anyway?" I asked throwing off the whole idea I was upset. "I know I haven't been as forthcoming as I could be about... certain things, recently. And I can't promise that I will tell you everything that's going on, simply because I can't. But I want to prove to you that I do want this relationship to work... or, at least, look like it's working. Plus, I like you, Lucy. I do want to be friends, even if I'm not so good at showing it. So I want to take you somewhere that is special to me to show that I can open up to you." He replied and then took a deep breath after speaking.
"Oh. That's... nice.." I replied weakly. He really confuses me, yet he says that I am his real wife I am only spoken to as a mere friend. "How is this mystery place special to you, then?" I picked up conversation. "I just come here when I need to think. It's where I've come in my best times, and my worst. And..." He cut himself off. "And what?" I quickly demanded an answer. "Well I've never taken a girl here with me before." "Oh." Wow, he really is opening up to me. I just hope he can tell me truthfully what's going on with him...
"Um, well, we're nearly here!" He stuttered and then nervously laughed. The way we were headed looked familiar so I looked out the window and noticed a familiar sign and then it hit me, "Hang on, we're going in the direction of Tenrou Wetlands Park! We're not going there, are we?" "I'm not telling you anything..."
"But that's a tourist place! You said we shouldn't be disturbed. And it closed half and hour ago!" I shrieked. "Relax, Lucy, it's all under control." He parked on the side of the road and we exited the car. "Okay, so we've come to the Wetlands Park, a very popular public park." "Lucy, it's after closing time, there's no one here." We walked out towards the park and there was either a mansion or a keeping house for the whole park, I honestly couldn't tell. "I get it superstar, your flashy celeb status gets you in places after closing it's still hardly the secluded paradise you were alluding too..." I spat. "Your inability to see the bigger pictures disappoints me." Natsu yelped. "Come on, I'll take you to the place I WAS talking about..."
It was a silent walk as he led me towards the back of the building. I looked at his face and he was just smirking. I grunted but he didn't notice since he was probably to caught up in his own thoughts. He nodded when we stopped in front of a cave that had a door. He opened the door and inside it was basically a house. A very small house or something. "It's solar-powered." He spoke up. I gazed into the house longer.
"Okay, fine, I underestimated you." I admitted negatively with the accent of sarcasm hovering throughout my speech of words. "This place is amazing!" I then said. "I told you-" "Hey, don't ruin it with 'I told you so'!" I interrupted him. He laughed and opened the door which was a beautiful outside. The moon, the weeping willows, the midnight sky, it was just me, him, and the outside. "It's just so... peaceful" I continued, "And the views of the park from here! It's beautiful." "Yeah... beautiful." He mumbled as I was still watching the outside. "And what's this?" I asked. "I asked the staff to leave us a little picnic in here." He replied. "Where is it?!" I immediately shrieked. "It's in the other room I suppose." He replied grabbing my hand for the second time today and taking me towards the room. He opened the door and nodded signaling for me to go in.
"Little?! This is a huge spread! Sandwiches, coffee, and champagne.." I said the first few things I had noticed. "Well the champagne is for you, apple juice for me... because... well... you know." He muttered. "Of course. Natsu, it's wonderful!" "I'm glad you approve." He picked up the champagne and poured it in a solo cup and then did the same with the apple juice. I picked up the champagne and we both had knew what was going to happen next.
"Cheers!" We said and then laughed. But then both drank our drinks. I stopped after a sip and put my cup down. "Hey, Natsu?" I said seriously wanting his attention. It grew quiet and he gave me a serious face. "Can I ask you something?" I continued as he nodded. I have so many questions for Natsu but which one should I ask... either what's up with Wendy or why he didn't tell me Zeref is his brother. Before thinking any longer I grew my voice quieter.
"What's going on with Wendy? You two were all over the entertainment new this morning and I- well, I want to know whether I have anything to worry about." I added and he sighed. "I mean, not that we're really married but, well, you know... it's got to look authentic or we won't even get out of the starting gate." I looked at the food embarrassed.
He took a deep breath and looked me seriously in the face, "Look, I know it looks bad but I swear to you, Wendy and I are just friends. The thing is, we've known each other for a long time now and she's helped me through some tough times. But now... now she's got some stuff going on and she needs me. You know she left home the day she turned 16? Her father was an alcoholic and her mother left them when Wendy was very young. So as soon as she could escape, she did. She came to Crocus and never looked back. And then, when I met her at the Teen Choice Awards, I was blown away by how someone... so young could be so mature and so thoughtful. She took one look at me and knew. I mean, she'd seen her father go through it. She knew straight away about my problems with alcohol. And the look in her eyes... she felt sorry for me! Me! I had money, I had screaming fans, I had a mansion in the middle of Crocus! My career was hanging on by a string, sure, but I still thought I had it all. It was Wendy who helped me to see that being in Crocus was doing me no good. She suggested Shirotsume Town - celebrities who want to escape the madness of Crocus and move there all the time! Did you know Bob lives two streets away from me?" "What? No way!" "Yes way! But anyway shortly after I moved, Wendy decided to come and live over this way as well. If it wasn't for Wendy... well. Well, I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere." He smiled. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't of brought it up." "No! No, it's fine. You deserve answers, Lucy. You're my fake wife! I just.. I have to tell you what she's done to help me so that you can understand... why I just can't tell you what's going on right now. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone and I can't break that trust. Wendy's kind of the only real friend I have outside of my family. And so all I can tell you is that she needs me and I swear that there is nothing between us but friendship. You understand, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose so. But Natsu?" "What is it?" "It's nothing.. I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds here, I know we're not really married. I just need to know what I'm getting myself into." I said. "I know, I understand. Being in the public eye makes every relationship a complicated one." He replied. "Yes, and speaking of relationships in the public eye... if you're going to keep seeing Wendy like this, you're going to have to be careful about it. If you keep sneaking off..." I realized that was a bad choice of words. "I'm not sneaking off..." He rose. "I know, but it could be interpreted like that. And, actually, it was. This morning, Mermaid Heel News were theorizing that we're already experiencing marital problems.. and we haven't even officially went public yet! All I'm saying is that you're going to have to be careful of who sees you with Wendy. We're doing this for your image and your career - if you look like you're cheating on me... no one will buy it. And I know Zeref agrees with me." I crossed my arms. "This coming from the journalist herself! I'm sorry, I know you're only saying this to protect us... to protect me. It's just... it's hard to stay out of the spotlight." said Natsu. "I know. All I'm asking is that you be careful." "I can do that." "Thank you." "You're welcome."
"Also, why didn't you tell me that Zeref was your brother?" I asked. "Oh. That. Did he tell you?" "Yeah, he was surprised you hadn't already told me." "Well I suppose one reason is that it never came up in conversation. It just didn't seem that important to mention it when we were discussing our accidental marriage. Plus you didn't seem to like him all that much and... well..." "Well what?" "To be totally honest with you, I'm ashamed of it." "What? Why?" "Well, I used to have a real agent. Not that Zeref isn't a real agent! Just... I used to have Wally Buchanan." He said. "Oh! I know him! He's the agent for loads of A-listers! Gray Fullbuster, Mavis Vermillion, Rogue Cheney..." "...Minerva Orland, Sorana Agria, Yukino Agria... yeah, he's got them all. He's really good." "What happened?" "Well, you know I told you my career went belly-up when Lisanna left me? She left me for Wally Buchanan." "What?!" "I know. So I fired him and no other agent will touch a client who's fired Wally Buchanan. Zeref had a background in events management so I figured person management was almost the same thing. So I talked him into being my new agent. He's really struggled with it, especially since as soon as I brought him on board no one would employ me to do movies either. Truth is, I know he doesn't enjoy the job but I need him so I can't let him go and do something else. And I'm his little brother. I know he won't abandon me. I know I'm taking advantage of his kindness but I can't seem to stop. If I didn't have Zeref... I wouldn't have anything."
"Oh, Natsu, it's okay. I'm sure Zeref doesn't mind being your agent. If he really didn't want to do it, he wouldn't do it." "Do you think?" "Yeah, I know I'd do something like that for my sister and I would not mind it one bit. And for the record, I like Zeref just fine." "Thanks, Lucy. You always seem to make me feel better." "That's what a wife is for." "Well, then, I should have married you years ago!" He said and I blushed. "You know, I'm glad you told me to dress warmly." I smiled. "I think you've chosen the perfect outfit for tonight. And , well, you look beautiful." "Thank you!" I blushed harder than I was. "Hmm, it's getting quite late. Maybe we should start heading home?" "No! We've barely eaten any of the food you put on!" "It's okay, I still had a nice time. Plus, we can take it home and eat it with a movie." "We can?" "Of course we can, I already paid for it." "Yay!"
"What movie do you wanna watch?" He asked packing up the food into the picnic basket. "Can we watch Pitch Perfect 2?! I love that movie, starring my favorite actor, Sherria Blendy!" "Sure we can! Come on, let's go home." He said picking the picnic basket up.
\ At Home /
I sang along during the movie for all the songs and eventually Natsu reacted. "Alright, next Barden Bella, calm yourself!" "Sorry!" We both laughed. "Thanks for the food and the movie, Natsu. I'm full right now I don't even think I'll ever eat again." He laughed this time and not me. "That's okay, it was not problem. We should head to bed it's late and the stylist is coming in the morning." "Oh yeah." "It'll be fine. Mira's really nice." "Okay..." "It really will be fine. I promise." "Okay." "Goodnight then, I guess I'll see you in the morning." "Yeah, see you in the morning." I said as he walked away but then abruptly stopped. "Oh! I almost forgot!" "What?" "I meant to ask you earlier..." "Yes?" "It's kinda stupid it's just... well I have to go to a movie premiere in a few days it's been lined up for a while. I was invited by Lyon Vastia, I was the lead in the first film he was casted in... and so he looks up to me and so he invited me to this premiere and... ...well... I was wondering whether you'd like to come with me?" "To a movie premiere?!" "Well... yeah." "Are you joking?! Of course I want to come! And it will be with one of my favorite people!" "Great! Wendy's coming too! You can finally meet, I'm sure you two will become great friends."
"Yes.. friends, I'm sure!" I tried to act cheerful but I really wasn't. "That's so great, we'll have a blast! I'll see you in the morning then." "Yeah, night." I was so excited about that until he mentioned Wendy. I turned around after he already left me to think and headed towards my room. I can't believe I got my hopes up enough to think he was actually asking me on a date. No, I'm just a friend. And I'll have to meet Wendy and I really don't like her at the moment. Although I guess I'll finally be able to see if Natsu has been telling the truth about her.. but then, we had a really nice evening together... I could probably get used to being married to Natsu Dragneel after all...