Hey there, hi there, ho there! This one's suuuuuper fluffly, just a warning, haha. I'm in a fantastical mood today, which means happy stories! Yay!
This message is brought to you by my inexhaustible fanfiction sweet tooth. Enjoy!
#29 Defend
Natsu pounded a fist against the front door, a frustrated scowl on his face. "Hey! Lucy!" he called, not knowing whether or not she could hear him from inside. "I live here too, you know! What gives?" He grabbed the knob and threw himself against the wooden door, but to no avail. Evidently, something heavy had been pushed against the inside, effectively blocking the entrance.
With a growl, Natsu stomped around to the side of the building and looked into the ground floor window, which also had been blocked by what looked like the back of the bookcase that usually stood by their fireplace. "You can't keep me out, you know!" he shouted, a vague sense of amusement creeping through his irritation. "I've done this a hundred times!" When no answer came, he let out an exasperated sigh before heading around to the back of the house. After discovering that the back door had been similarly barricaded, he set his sights on the small basement window that sat less than a foot above the ground. The frame was a bit rusted, but thankfully it hadn't been blocked from the inside, and pushed open with a small amount of force, allowing Natsu to slide inside and drop to his feet on the dusty basement floor.
Upon climbing the stairs and entering the living room, he saw that it had indeed been the bookcase that was now blocking the nearby window. The blockade against the front door turned out to be the sofa, with both chairs piled atop it. How'd she even do that? Natsu wondered incredulously, scratching his head.
"Lucy?" he called, spinning around and listening for any sign of movement. She had to be in there. No one barricades an empty house. "Where are you?"
"Go away!" her muffled voice shouted in reply, originating from down the hall. Yeah, right, Natsu thought in reply as he shook his head and set off toward Lucy's bedroom.
"You in there?" he asked loudly, knocking hard on the door. "Let me in already!" He turned the knob and tried to push the door open, but was once again foiled by an unseen, heavy force against the other side.
"No!" Lucy replied, sounding angry, and somehow also a bit afraid. "I don't want to talk to you! Just leave me alone!"
Natsu growled in frustration before setting his jaw and gripping the knob tightly. He took a step back and threw all his weight against the door in an effort to force it open. He was rewarded with a dull scraping sound as the door slid inward a few inches, and after one more violent shove he finally forced back both door and dresser and gained entrance to the bedroom.
Lucy was sitting cross-legged on her bed, wearing loose-fitting pajamas and a wary glare. On her lap was a plate of what looked like fish sticks piled around a bowl of… was that pudding? She huffed in apparent defeat and picked up a fish stick, dunking it resolutely into the pudding and popping the end of it into her mouth without a word.
Natsu stared at her in confusion and a tiny bit of revulsion. "You've been acting weird lately," he said carefully, not moving from his place in the doorway as she finished the fish stick in her hand and went for another one. "You won't talk to anyone – even me, you're always angry, you don't want to go on missions with us – and now you're locking me out of the house and eating fish sticks and pudding? You gonna tell me what's going on?"
"Nothing's going on," she answered uncertainly, avoiding Natsu's eyes. "I just haven't been feeling well." She chose another fish stick and dipped it in the pudding before biting off the end and chewing it rather dully.
"Maybe that's because of your new diet," he suggested sarcastically, waving a hand toward the plate on her lap. With a sigh, he moved over and sat down beside her on the bed, trying to get her to look at him. "Come on, Lucy. It's obvious something's up. Why don't you just tell me?"
She stared into the bowl of pudding and answered, "I can't."
"Why not?"
Lucy breathed in like she was about to speak, but hesitated before whispering, "Because I love you."
Natsu's eyebrows knitted together in a confused frown. Where was she going with this? "I know," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I love you, too. That's why I want to help you. And that's why you can trust me."
She took a deep, calming breath and was silent for a long minute before finally twisting around and raising her eyes to meet his gaze. "Alright," she conceded, her expression carefully guarded. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, then blurted out, "I'm pregnant."
Natsu felt the expression leave his face all at once as he fixed Lucy with a blank stare. Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, that hadn't been it. "W-What?" he stuttered absently.
"You heard me," she said in a quiet voice. When he didn't immediately respond, Lucy quickly turned her face back toward the pudding and said hurriedly, "I know I should've told you sooner, but I was afraid that—" She broke off suddenly when Natsu finally snapped out of the shock and let out a giddy laugh, a wide grin spreading unconsciously across his face. Her eyes darted back to meet his, a reluctant sort of hopefulness in them. "You're… not mad?" she asked uncertainly.
"Mad?" Natsu repeated incredulously. "Are you kidding? Why in the heck would I be mad? We're having a baby!" He laughed again and threw his arms around Lucy, yanking her toward him in a tight hug and causing the plate in her lap to tip over, spilling vanilla pudding over the mattress beneath them. Lucy laughed as well and returned the embrace, ignoring the mess her snack had made. "You're telling me that's why you've been avoiding me?"
"I'm sorry," Lucy said with a sheepish smile. "It was stupid."
"Nah," Natsu argued, leaning his forehead against Lucy's and grinning at her. "Nothing about this is stupid." He squeezed her hands comfortingly, before standing up and stretching his arms, a calm sort of euphoria spreading through him as he allowed Lucy's news to sink in. "Told anyone else yet?"
"Not yet," she replied, a wide smile on her face and gleaming mirth in her eyes. Suddenly she giggled and said wryly, "Guess we'd better move the wedding up, huh?" Natsu laughed and grabbed Lucy's arms, pulling her to her feet. She returned the laugh as he wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her into the air, spinning her in a circle. When he set her down she stumbled somewhat with a breathy giggle. As he steadied her his eyes shot to her stomach and he said, "Whoops… Sorry, heh heh."
She shook her head with a smile. "No, it's okay," she replied. He looked at her inquisitively and she nodded her head, before he spread his fingers and placed the palm of his hand against her stomach. She flinched and muttered, "Your hand's warm," though she was smiling all the same. Natsu grinned as he felt the vaguest bit of movement beneath his fingers and a powerful swell of emotion rose up inside him. There was life in there – a tiny, little life that the two of them were responsible for, and the realization gave him one of the best feelings he had ever experienced in his entire life.
Lucy placed her hand beneath Natsu's chin and raised his head to look at her. "You're really happy?" she asked, eyes boring into his and hoping for the right answer.
Natsu's smile only widened as he brushed a loose lock of hair from her forehead and replied, "Really."
So much fluff... Man, I need to throw a couple more serious one-shots in here or I might just kill everybody from sugar overdose.
Extra-sweet cookies to anyone who caught the reference in Lucy's snack, haha. My brain totally went there and I couldn't say no once it had!
Reviews are love, friends! See ya sooooooon!
-oMM