A/N: This chapter's a little long, but I didn't want to split it up. Two big things happen this chapter. Enjoy!

Natsu became one of my best friends so quickly, it was almost scary. Once he decided we were going to be friends, it happened, just like that. I'd worked really hard for the friends I already had, so it was strange for a friendship to happen so easily. Being with Natsu was as natural as breathing. And I wasn't sure to think of that.

But as we spent more time together, I found myself wanting to know more and more about Natsu, and wanting him to know more and more about me. We'd gotten close so quickly, but there was still so much more to talk about, so much more to learn about each other.

The main thing I was facing now: the girls all knew I was bi, but I'd never had that conversation with Natsu.

What would coming out to Natsu be like? I still remembered exactly how the conversation with Erza went.

"Erza, we're friends now, so I want to mention that I— I'm bi."

"Cool. I'm sexually attracted to women and romantically attracted to Jellal."

I'd said the first thing that came to mind: "That sounds annoying."

"It is," Erza agreed.

And that was the day we went from being friends to best friends.

My own orientation was much less complicated than Erza's, but would Natsu understand it? He wasn't entirely clueless, but he was remarkably simple-minded. I just wanted him to know without it changing anything.

Then we'd really be best friends. It was the last secret I was still holding from him. This was the final step.

He barged over to my house so often that it was mostly a matter of working up the courage to bring it up while he was around. It was after Friday's cheer practice, the two of us lounging around on the couch in the apartment, that I forced it out of myself.

"Can I tell you something?" I said, leaning back uneasily.

"What?" He continued to stare at the TV.

"I'm bi."

He looked up and stared at me for a moment. Then he looked back down. "Oh. Okay."

"It's not really a secret, but if my dad found out, he'd flip. I just wanted to tell you myself."

He nodded. "I understand." That goofy grin spread across his face. "Thanks for telling me."

"It's not that he's homophobic," I continued. "My dad, that is. But with his logic, me saying I'm bisexual means I've been thinking about sex." I rolled my eyes.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I never think about sex."

"Not even once?" I teased.

But he shook his head in agreement. "Not once."

I leaned forward. "Really? You're not joking?"

"It just never occurs to me. I don't see people that way. Everyone else seems to, but I just…don't." He shrugged. "I don't think it's bad either, I'm not repulsed by it. I'm just…I'm kinda apathetic toward it all."

"Are you saying you're asexual, then?" I said. It sure sounded like he was trying to come out to me, too.

He smiled a bit. "Is that what it's called?" he mused. Or not.

"Look it up," I said. "Even if it's not you, it's good to know what it means."

"Okay. I will. Thanks for telling me about yourself, by the way."

I looked down at my hands. "You're welcome. I was nervous so I'm glad you're cool with it."

"Don't be nervous," Natsu said.

"I've lost a friend over this once back in middle school, so of course I'm nervous."

Natsu nodded. "Sorry. It's just…it's me. It's okay to be nervous, but just know that there's no need. Besides, Lucy's Lucy. It's a part of who you are, but you're still you." He squirmed. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

"No, I get it. I'm telling you because I knew you were trustworthy. Doesn't make me any less nervous, though."

He pouted. "I don't want you to be nervous with me."

I laughed. "Natsu, that's not something I can control." Little did he know just how nervous he made me all the time.

"Are you nervous now, though?"

I pretended to think for a moment. "I dunno, Natsu…"

"Hey!" He hug-tackled me, knocking me over so he was practically lying on top of me. "You're not allowed to be nervous around me."

I held back a round of nervous laughter. "This isn't helping," I said, my voice coming out more strained than I'd been hoping.

He seemed to belatedly realize the compromising position we were in — his chin was definitely resting on my boobs — because he backed off. "Oops."

I giggled. "Never change, Natsu." I leveled a glare at him. "But if you do that again, I just might have to hurt you."

"Lucy, you're acting like Erza again."

"You know very well that I can be even scarier than Erza when I want to be." I curled my fingers like claws and inched toward him, sending him skittering behind the couch.

"Eep!"

Cackling with glee, I chased after him, and just like that, we were back to our usual antics, the heavy conversation forgotten.

It was a busy weekend. Competition season was growing ever-closer, so cheer practices were likewise growing in intensity. Our choreography was set and mostly memorized, so it was just endless practicing until we got it right. And as captain, it was especially important for me to be perfect.

On Monday, I arrived at school with a feeling of soreness all over my body. I'd definitely pushed it too hard this weekend.

As I walked from the bus to school, Natsu came bounding up to me. "Hey, Lucy! Guess what?"

"What?" I said.

"I'm asexual!"

I muffled a laugh. He was standing in front of me with arms spread wide. The look on his face was filled with so much joy. I glanced around us, but the sidewalk was mostly empty and nobody was paying us any mind.

He continued, "I looked it up all last night and I think you're right. I'm asexual. Oh, but I still only like girls, I think. So far, anyway. I just don't like them sexually the way all the other straight people do. If that makes sense." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No, I get it," I said. "Thank you for telling me." I hadn't expected the conversation yesterday to deviate from the topic of my own sexuality, but hearing about his was nice. It was nice to be trusted in return. And I'd even helped him find the right words for it.

"No problem. Thank you for telling me."

We fell into step with each other.

"So you're asexual, huh?"

He nodded.

Well, if his romantic orientation still included girls, that meant I still had a chance. I wasn't going to let differing sexual orientations get in the way. Even if I was bi, I wasn't a very sexual person, so him being asexual was a non-issue as far as I was concerned.

Next I just had to figure out his willingness to date a bisexual person. He seemed unfazed by my coming out, but even so, a lot of people avoided dating bi people due to stereotypes and such. I doubted Natsu cared, oblivious to such things as he was, but it was best to make sure before I got in too deep.

I was already strategizing how to get together with him and calculating my chances. I had it bad.

"I wonder what everyone else's orientations are," Natsu said, putting his hands behind his head.

"I'm sure they'll tell us if they want us to know," I said. I knew my own friends' orientations, having exchanged coming-outs with them, but I'd wait for them to come out to him on their own. As for his friends, of course I was clueless as he was.

"True. It's a little hard to explain without seeming weird, so I don't think I'll tell the others. Just you." He turned to grin at me.

I smiled back. "Thank you for trusting me."

"We thanked each other a lot already," Natsu said. "We should say other stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like…you're bi, and I think that's awesome!"

I giggled. "How is that awesome?"

"I dunno, it just is."

"Well asexual people are so cool."

"Aren't I?"

"Asexuals are like dragons. That's how cool they are."

"Grahhh," Natsu roared, baring his teeth and hooking his fingers into claws. He stopped when I giggled. It was his turn now. "Bisexual people are made of stardust. Like that poster on your wall."

My heart started racing immediately. "Which one? The Crab Nebula? The Abell 1689 supercluster? The Milky Way poster? Probably not one of the planet posters…"

"Uhh…the colorful one."

"So the Crab Nebula."

"I guess so. It's all pretty and colorful and sparkly and stuff. Just like you!"

"Aww, thanks," I said. I could feel heat tint my cheeks. It was actually a pretty nice compliment. Also, he was kindly ignoring my overexcited outburst at being compared to the colorful starstuff that littered my bedroom walls.

We laughed together at our hyperbolic compliments until we reached our homerooms, when we had to split up.

"You're in a good mood this morning," Levy said as I sat down.

"Me and Natsu had a heart-to-heart yesterday."

She leaned forward and raised her eyebrows. "Did you?"

"Well…" I lowered my voice. "I came out to him. That's all."

"And it went well?"

"Yup."

"That's great. And how about him?"

"What about him?"

"He strikes me as a straight guy, but I don't want to make assumptions." Well, technically she wasn't right, but she wasn't entirely wrong either.

I thought for a moment. How to answer that? He said he didn't want to tell anyone. "Hrmm…well, I guess the best way to say it is, I have a chance."

"That's awesome, Lu!"

I giggled and grinned. "Right? Now I just gotta use a little—" Wait. He was asexual. My trademark sex appeal was probably not the way to go. It's not that he seemed particularly bothered by sexual stuff — goodness knows he heard plenty from Loke — but he'd mentioned apathy.

I buried my head in my arms. I didn't want him to feel apathy about me. I wanted to give him butterflies, to make his heart beat faster, to make him happy.

Wow, I really had it bad.

"Are you okay, Lu?" Levy said, tilting her head down to look at me.

"I'm fine," I mumbled. "Just wallowing in self-pity."

"Okay. Let me know when you're done."

"Thanks a lot, Levy."

"Anytime, Lu."

I groaned and sat back up.

"You're really red," she pointed out.

"I know. My entire existence is embarrassing."

"Lu, you're really freaking me out."

"I can tell. You keep saying my name." I laughed and stretched. "I'm fine, don't worry. I just have a lot to think about these days."

"You know I'm here if you want to talk."

I smiled at her. "Of course," I said. "I'd invite you over tonight, but I have cheer practice every day this week."

"You push yourself too much," Levy said. "You're the only one who practices every day."

"I'm captain. I have to." The regular cheer practices were the same days as always, but with competition season already started, I planned to stay late every day after school so I could perfect my technique. I refused to be the weak link. And if I had the energy for it, why not?

So I stayed after as usual, despite cheer not meeting on Mondays. As a result, I had the gym to myself, just me and the mat I dragged out of the storage closet. I'd been messing up my back handsprings lately, and there was no way I was letting that happen at the competition this weekend. It was time to practice.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. I knew it was bad to wear myself out like this every day, but I wanted to fix whatever little hiccup was getting in the way of my routine.

I managed to do a little homework, but sleepiness quickly overtook me. I crawled into bed, texted Natsu a quick My first competition is this weekend so don't wait for me after school this week, okay?, and then almost immediately drifted into dreaming.

For days, I did nothing but practice. I still talked to my friends at school, and student council kept going without me, but I knew I was neglecting them. Still, it was an important time for me. I couldn't afford any distractions. Even schoolwork could wait for now.

Then the day arrived: our first competition.

Though I'd never admit it to the squad, I was nervous. We'd been practicing for so long, if it didn't go well I'd be devastated. I had a responsibility to my team and the upperclassmen to make this year great, and if the competition season didn't start with success, I'd lose all my confidence.

So yes, I was very, very nervous.

We all held hands as we awaited our turn. And then we were up.

As we took our places on the gym floor, my eyes scanned the crowd for familiar faces. I knew my dad wouldn't be here, but I did recognize some parents in the audience. Good. We had support.

And then I saw them. They were sitting in the top corner, all smooshed together, but it was definitely them. My friends.

Natsu was waving wildly, and it was a wonder I hadn't noticed them right away. I hadn't told anyone the details of this competition, but somehow one of them must've looked it up and now they were all here, both Natsu's friends and mine. Even Wendy was there, I noticed. My new and old friends had all come out to support me.

Juvia always came to competitions when she could (she was up there too, tomato red next to Gray) but seeing all the others there too was the last thing I expected. I was so happy.

I started tearing up, but I had to get our routine started so I held back my emotions. I'd had friends come to competitions before, but never so many. I had to make them proud.

In the end, we placed second. Not bad, but placing lower than our rival, Sabertooth, was not ideal. We'd have to step it up next time.

Luckily there were exactly zero run-ins with the Sabertooth girls themselves — a few glares here and there with their captain, Minerva, but no confrontations. Our cheer teams had a history of getting into fights, so it was probably for the best. But next time, we would definitely do better than them so I could rub it in Minerva's smug little face.

After I was changed back into casual clothes, I ran out to greet my friends. I didn't even say anything, I just grabbed Levy and Erza into a tight hug, and soon I felt the rest of them pile around us.

"Thank you guys for coming," I said, my voice muffled by Erza's shirt. I pulled back and smiled up at her.

"It was Natsu's idea," she said. "He said you'd feel lonely without us and had Juvia bring everyone."

"Lu, why did you tell him and not me?" Levy cried.

"I didn't," I said, looking at Natsu with wonder. I hadn't even though to invite them, I was so focused on practicing. It wasn't until I saw them in the crowd that I realized how relieved I was to see so many familiar faces. Somehow Natsu had known I needed them here before even I did.

"Even Gajeel came," I noted, looking at the only one who hadn't joined the group hug. Cheer competitions seemed like that last thing someone like him would let himself be seen at.

Levy grinned. "He may not look it, but he's surprisingly a real softie."

"Shut it, shrimp."

Levy just giggled. Since when had they been on friendly terms?

This whole thing was amazing to me. Natsu and I may have merged our groups together when we became friends, but now they were getting to know each other on their own, too. It felt really good.

"Oh, look who's here!" Miss Mira was standing nearby, trademark benign smile on her face. "Great job today, Lucy. I'm sure your friends are all proud of you."

"We are," Juvia said.

"Thanks. See you next week, Coach," I said.

Miss Mira looked around at us and nodded in satisfaction. "Byebye," she said, and then she was gone.

Half of me wondered what that weird look was about, and half of me already knew. Excluding Wendy who was too young and Loke who was with his current girlfriend, our little group was an equal number of girls and boys. And there was nothing our hopelessly romantic coach loved more than some good, old-fashioned boy/girl matchups.

She would be delighted if she knew just how neatly we split into pairs. Out of the four of us girls, Levy was the only one who didn't have a crush on one of the boys here. Funny how that worked out. It was a wonder our groups hadn't come together earlier, given all our connections.

We all went out to dinner later, taking up one long table. We were rowdy and probably pretty terrible customers, but I couldn't help but laugh along at my friends' antics. If all went well, we wouldn't get kicked out. Probably. Erza and Jellal were chatting amiably, lost in their own little conversation as always. Levy and Gajeel were on the far end of the table making awkward small talk. They were fine. It was the lethal combination of Natsu, Gray, and Juvia that had me worried.

Natsu and Gray were fighting again. Out of the two of them, Natsu was the most hot-headed and easily provoked, so the fact that Juvia was siding with Gray and egging them on was definitely making the situation worse.

They got louder and louder until I heard Erza and Jellal's conversation pause, unable to hear each other over the sound of the two boys fighting. Ah, here it came.

"Shut up!" Erza bellowed.

The entire restaurant stopped. We'd been noisy this whole time, but Erza was something else.

"Sorry," Gray said.

"We're not fighting," was Natsu's response.

Juvia just froze, wide-eyed.

Her job done, Erza went back to a relaxed conversation with Jellal, leaving the formerly fighting threesome shocked into silence. I could swear I heard someone at a nearby table snickering.

My friends were ridiculous, but I loved them.

"For Lucy, who had an amazing first competition today," Levy said to clear the silence, holding up her glass of iced tea. Everyone else did the same with their own beverages. "Cheers!"

Glasses clinked. "Cheers!"

After the dinner ended and people had to start going home, Natsu lingered behind with Levy, Gray, and I.

"How'd you know?" I asked him.

He tilted his head. "How'd I know what?"

"About the competition. Where and when. I didn't tell anybody. And how'd you know I'd need everyone there?"

He shrugged. "It just felt like you were nervous. So I asked Juvia."

"Not fair," Levy whined. "Lucy's my best friend, so why does Natsu notice these things and not me? You seemed really confident whenever you talked to me."

"I thought I was confident," I said, "but when I saw you guys in the stands, I was so relieved I could hardly believe it."

"I'm sure you would've done great either way," Gray said.

"You guys should surprise Juvia next at one of her meets. I made it to one of them, but most of the time cheer gets in the way. She needs the support more than I do."

"She has one next week that I'm planning to go to," Levy said. She grinned at me. "I'm the replacement Lucy."

"Nobody can replace Lucy," Natsu said, slinging an easy arm around me. "But you should go too, Ice Princess. How much longer are you going to procrastinate this?"

"I'm not an Ice Princess," Gray snapped.

"You aren't? But you're so cold to her."

"Ohhhh," Levy and I jeered, laughing.

"Hey, she's the one who gets all weird," Gray defended.

I sighed. "I can tell her to back off, if that's what the issue is," I said. "But she always goes out to support you in soccer, I just thought it'd be nice if she had you come to a swim meet once. There aren't too many left, you know. It'd make her week."

"I'll consider it," Gray said. I could tell he was still iffy about Juvia, and there was nothing to be done about that, but even if it was just once, I wanted Juvia to have his support. She'd be so happy. And I couldn't go to her meets myself, so getting Gray to go was all I could do for her.

"That's all I'm asking," I said. "Ah, my bus is here. See you at school!"

"You did great today, Lu!"

"Congrats on not losing," Gray said with a smirk.

Natsu gave me a quick side-hug before dropping his arm from my shoulder. "You looked good, Lucy." He pumped his fist and took a fighting stance. "We'll have to get first next time. I'm all fired up!"

"You're not even the one competing, you dolt," Gray said, knocking Natsu's head.

I laughed. "Let him dream, Gray. Bye, guys!" I waved before boarding the bus, and watched out the window as they disappeared behind me.

As the world whizzed by me on my way home, I clutched my phone in my hands, butterflies still making my heart tremble with happiness. I still couldn't believe they actually surprised me at my first competition of the year. All of them. At once. Now that I was alone, I could let the feelings overflow, and boy were they overflowing.

I loved my friends. I loved my friends so, so much.

A/N: Hope everyone has a wonderful day! Thank you all for your endless kindness ^^