Hey, Dark Gothic Lolita here!
Here I am with the 8th installation of this story. I'm hope I didn't make you guys wait too long from the last chapter, but this chapter was the hardest to write. I had some writer's block on this one and hoped to complete it by the time I had started posting this story. That plan failed lol. That probably means I need to change the following chapters slightly now though. Oh well.
ENJOY!
The wrong girl
Chapter eight
Natsu felt excited. Just knowing that Juvia had bought new clothes with him in mind was exciting. The blood was pumping throughout his body, even though it probably shouldn't. He had seen Juvia wear different styles as she was the only person behind Lucy to wear the most amount of outfits, but they were all pretty conservative and they were all to impress Gray. Whatever, he was just excited that Juvia had him in her thoughts when buying these new clothes.
She had pretty much locked him out of her suite when he helped her get all her shopping up there. It turns out that the girls were going to be getting ready there and he wasn't allowed to be around. That made the dragon slayer sour, but he didn't dwell on the thought for too long. He's had enough of Happy's mocking tone for one day.
Just as he was about to use the lift and brace himself for his stupid motion sickness, Gajeel came out of the lift with Levy. The doorman for their floor greeted him with familiarity and Gajeel smirked at him. He then turned to Natsu who was surprised that he was there. Gajeel's smirk turned to a wide grin.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
The iron dragon slayer placed his hand on his chest as if he had been wounded, but the grin was still present and still growing. "Ouch, is that how you greet your brother-in-law?"
Levy couldn't help herself as she snickered from next to him. Gajeel beckoned for him to follow behind him to his own suite down the corridor from Juvia's. "It's good to see you too, Natsu."
"Yeah, it's always good to see you, Levy. That piece of scrap metal, not so much."
Gajeel scoffed. "I'm gonna let that go, just because yer cat has been updatin' mine on what's been goin' on with you and Juvia."
Natsu felt himself burn as Gajeel let out that stupid weird laugh of his. Why was the world so against him?
"So what are you doing here?"
"Levy and I could use the break and Juvia and I are pretty much celebs around these parts. That and bunny girl called us."
Natsu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Luce called you guys? For what?"
Levy sighed. "Because Juvia outed herself as an assassin, something that she's been hiding forever. Lucy didn't really know how to get Juvia to open up and talk, so she called Gajeel and I to come and act as moral support. We're going to the restaurant with you guys tonight."
Natsu felt his chest tighten in anger. Were they saying that he didn't know how to console his mate? Gajeel must have seen him react and he clamped his hand down on his shoulder. He didn't have the heart to remove his hand as he knew that Gajeel wouldn't tease him about something that was so sensitive to dragon slayers.
"Don't let it bother ya, they don't know yer both mates and that you've already made her feel better. I know you played yer part in making her feel better, right?"
There was a sharp edge in his voice as Natsu nodded. He wasn't scared of Gajeel at all, but he wanted him to know that he was a good fake mate. So good, he wanted it to be real. After tomorrow, they weren't going to be mates and Natsu basically had one full day left as they were all leaving tomorrow.
"Of course I did, I was a good mate. I dunno why she was so worried about me above all people finding out that you guys are assassins, I was literally End. Zeref practically made me to be the worst demon and she thinks I'm scared of her? Adorable," he muttered the last part to himself. He didn't notice when Gajeel and Levy shared a glance at each other, a smirk on their lips that disappeared the moment Natsu looked up.
"Oh, since you're here, I've got a question for ya! What's up with my motion sickness? Whenever Juvia's there, I'm fine and shit, but when I'm with anyone else, I feel like shit and everything's back to normal."
"That's because of the mate bite. If yer close to Juvia, everything that moves becomes easier for you to deal with. I'm good with Levy, still a bit shaky without her, but I do better than before even when she's not with me. That's only because we've actually mated."
Natsu's eyes widened as he nodded, soaking in the information before thinking again. "But on the train journey up here, it was like it had always been before the mate bite."
Gajeel shrugged. "Honestly, I'm learning a lot from ya, I don't know anyone who accidentally mated with anyone and Metalicana never told me about any dragons who resisted the bite. Most of 'em ended up fuckin'. But still, it's probably cos you guys were still tryna fight the mate thing. Whenever you try and resist the mark, it will fuck you over. Accept it and it's alright. If you guys go through with the mate bite, it will get better."
Natsu's head snapped to Gajeel with a suspicious look. "Why are you encouraging it?"
Levy smiled. "Personally, I think you and Juvia would be a cute couple! I mean, why didn't we think about it before? I think you guys would suit each other."
"I actually like ya a lot better than that prick who's been leadin' her on."
Natsu didn't really know what to say. He was clueless about relationships, everyone knew that. His mind had never really wandered around the idea of having a mate, he just knew that one day he was going to have one. He thought it might be Lucy, but as time went on, he wasn't sure if he saw her in a romantic sense. He just let the idea of a mate die off for a bit. Now Gajeel and Levy are here saying that they think him and Juvia are better suited for each other. He felt himself smile as he turned his back on them to hide his face.
"Yeah, well I am better than the icicle. I could've told everyone that for free."
Gajeel slapped the back of his head which made Levy jump in between them, shooting a glare at her own mate. "Let's not start a fight, Gajeel. We're here for Juvia, remember?"
Gajeel nodded promptly, still grinning that he was able to hit Natsu without the fire dragon slayer able to retaliate. Natsu mouthed over Levy's head that he was going to get him back before he focused his attention on levy.
"So are you gonna go and get ready with the other girls?"
She shook her head. "I was going to, but then I decided that I wanted to surprise her with Gajeel when we go out for dinner. But we want to ask you, what exactly happened on the job? And how did Juvia respond?"
Both Levy and Gajeel looked serious as if they didn't want to waste any time as Natsu explained everything. How Juvia omitted that they were going to be killing their suspects. She had gone out for two nights in a row, killing everyone on their hit list.
"How did ya know she was going out every night?"
Gajeel looked serious and Natsu explained.
"Honestly, she would've gotten away with it if it weren't for Vidaldus brainwashing a bunch of people near here. Juvia ain't dumb, I know she didn't make it rain on purpose so that I wouldn't be able to smell her magic in the rain. That long haired dickhead then took control of a bunch of people near here and they all started yelling. Happy flew up to Juvia's window and noticed her bed wasn't slept in, so we pretty much tried to follow the trail of people and we found Juvia..."
Gajeel nodded in understanding. "How did she do it? Did she use one of her weapons?"
Natsu was confused. "Her weapons? Juvia uses weapons?"
Gajeel sighed and Levy shot him a side glance as he nodded. "Yeah. Back in Phantom, a lot of our murders were...setups. We would get others blamed for our crimes. We wouldn't use magic to do our final killings, we would use weapons. I was pretty simple, I just made greatswords and claymores to pretty much bash people's heads in. Juvia had a solid arsenal of weapons. They ranged from scythes to daggers. I think the scythe is her favourite. Now that she's improved with fine tuning her magic, she uses her water as a blade on the scythe instead. Even though she was technically using magic, she managed ta get away with it. She's a bit of a genius like that."
Natsu was torn between being uncomfortable and being in awe of his mate. She was just so cool. The more he heard about her abilities, the more he wanted to spar with her. Forget Gray and Erza, Juvia was where it was at.
"So what did she use instead? If you didn't see any weapons, that means she killed him another way."
Natsu turned to Levy who had asked the question. "I'm pretty sure it was her blood make that she used. It wasn't even violent, she just drained him of his blood. I honestly thought she would have made him explode or something. I've never seen Juvia actually hate someone. To be honest, if Juvia didn't kill him, I probably would've done it myself with all that shit he was saying to her. I don't know if I would've been able to hold myself back."
He could've sworn that the closer he got to her, the more he could feel her burning hate for the man. Gajeel nodded to confirm his words.
"Ame explained everythin' to me that day that she stalked ya to the Tower of Heaven. Every so often, she would end up coming ta mine, just cos she couldn't sleep cos of that voice in her head. Made Levy jealous apparently."
The script mage blushed at the mention of her jealousy. "I-I wasn't! I was just curious as to how deep your friendship really went!"
Gajeel barked out a laugh. "Gihihihi, is that so? Well, you know you've got nothing ta fear, Shrimp."
He planted a chaste kiss on her lips, making her blush deepen a little before they turned back to Natsu. He seemed to be deep in thought about Juvia.
"I mean, I've done all that I can to get her to trust me and stuff, but, do you think what I did will be enough? Juvia's basically been haunted by this guy for years and she never said anything."
Gajeel looked up at the ceiling with a sigh. "Honestly, I don't know. There's no one who can read Juvia better than me, but I think you might overtake me real soon in that department. As much as that girl wears her heart on her sleeve, that's her tactic ta hide shit from people. If she makes ya believe that she's readable by displayin' meaningless shit like constantly confessin' to that exhibitionist, ya don't realise she has a lot more shit goin' on that she would never tell anyone about. If she's already explained her past and stuff to you, I think ya might be more than halfway there."
Natsu felt relief flood his body. That was a good thing to hear, because he really wanted Juvia to trust him. He wanted to at least become a good friend to her even after the mate bite had faded. There was no way they were going to go back to just regular nakama, they were definitely going to be good friends. He couldn't just lose his friendship with her, not after everything that had gone on.
Levy stood up. "Well, I'm going to start getting ready now and Natsu, you better not be wearing your normal outfit to this dinner!"
Natsu frowned as he looked down at his clothes. It was what he always wore. "What's wrong with my clothes? I always wear this."
Levy rolled her eyes and started rummaging through a bag. "Exactly and it's boring. Put this on. Nothing too formal, it's casual stuff and pretty much your style. Just wear something different for once. Maybe it might sway Juvia's judgement and then she'll want you too after this is all over. You've got what, tomorrow and then the day after that the bite should fade, right? Make the most of it now."
Natsu grabbed the bag without a second thought and grinned. "You've got it!"
Gajeel and Levy were going to meet the team at the restaurant. The walk there had been painful, purely because Natsu couldn't believe just how much Juvia had changed. She wore a short light blue skirt and a matching cropped jumper. Her hair bounced around in waves on her head as her cheeks were dusted lightly with pink blush. He wasn't sure if it was from her makeup or if she was really blushing.
Still, Erza and Lucy still held her captive with them as she was forced to walk in between them. He was sour as he found himself walking next to Gray and that was when he decided that he would rather be walking next to Gajeel. Maybe it was because Gajeel had his own mate and saw Juvia as his sister. Gray was openly staring at Juvia as if he couldn't believe that it was her.
"Dude, what are you staring at?"
Happy wasn't making the situation any better if he was going to laugh anytime he called Gray out for staring at Juvia. The ice mage himself turned his head to Natsu who was trying to keep the glare off of his face. He wanted to look confused, but he doubted he did. He clenched his fists by his side when he saw an actual blush on his cheeks.
"N-nothing. Don't you think that Juvia looks different? Maybe cute?"
Of course Natsu did. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her legs and that cute butt of hers. Still, that was all for him, not Gray. Well for now it was.
"Yeah," Natsu said simply. He wasn't going to hide it. If he denied it, it meant that he was hiding what he felt for Juvia and he didn't want to hide anything. He knew that would make Gray suspicious, but he was so over it at this point. He didn't care what he thought.
He saw Happy's eyes widen at his words and even Gray choked on what seemed to be a cough. He turned to look at him. "What?"
"You just admitted that Juvia's cute! You've never looked at a girl that way!"
Natsu crossed his arms over his chest. He was glad that he had worn something different, because even Gray had done the same thing. He really had to thank Levy for looking out for him and getting him a different outfit.
"Doesn't mean I can't appreciate when a girl looks cute though. Juvia looks pretty cute when she's not dressed up like she's trying to walk through some stupid ice blizzard."
Gray's face shadowed over, knowing full well that he was making a dig at him somehow. Still, he left it because they had arrived at their destination. Erza held the door open and Natsu used this time to sneak in behind Juvia.
She suddenly sped off when she saw both Gajeel and Levy sitting at a table talking. Erza and Lucy smiled as they watched her launch herself into Gajeel, hugging her brother figure close to her. She then pulled Levy close to her chest too, excited that they were there. Natsu couldn't help but watch the scene. She was so adorable as she spoke animatedly, asking them what they were doing here.
She then came running back and pulled Erza and Lucy into a hug. "Levy-chan said that you guys called them here for Juvia. Juvia doesn't know what to say, thank you so much! Anyway, Juvia is so hungry, so let's all sit down and eat!"
Natsu took a seat at one end of the table, opposite Gajeel. Levy was sat next to Gajeel and Juvia put herself next to Natsu, much to his excitement. He glared sharply when he saw Gray take a seat on the other side of Juvia. Lucy sat opposite Gray, Lily sat opposite happy and Erza took her seat at the head of the table.
Natsu couldn't help himself as he reached under the table and gripped Juvia's thigh. He saw her stiffen before she relaxed, glancing up at him briefly before turning her gaze to her menu. She placed her hand on top of Natsu's and he thought that she was going to remove his hand when she just left her hand there. He couldn't help the grin on his face.
"Ha, take THAT, Gray!"
Levy tried her best to hide her smile, almost as if she knew what the two of them were doing under the table. He ignored the short mage and just tried to keep his focus on Juvia's hand that was holding his on her thigh. She looked gorgeous and he wanted to tell her that in front of everyone, but he had to hold himself back from doing so.
"So Gajeel, you and Juvia are really famous around here, huh? Everyone seems to love you guys."
Erza was clearly trying to start a conversation and before Gajeel could answer, Gray snorted. "It's so fucking weird, I thought you woulda terrorised them."
Juvia turned her head to frown at him as Gajeel just rolled his eyes and didn't bother engaging. There wasn't really much that the ice mage could say to piss Gajeel off as the iron dragon slayer was a master at ignoring him. Instead, it was Levy who spoke up for her man.
"Uh, actually Gajeel is great with people. He doesn't make promises he can't keep, he tells things to people bluntly and he's reliable. Very different from some people despite the past he's had. At least he strives to do better everyday."
Lucy and Happy choked, Erza's eyes widened, Juvia's jaw dropped and Natsu cackled. Gajeel smirked as Levy planted a soft kiss on his lips and they turned towards the menu that they were sharing so that they could choose what they wanted to order. Gray looked so ashamed and guilty that when he turned his head to look at Juvia, the water mage closed her mouth and looked down at her menu, studying it intently. She didn't want to have to deal with him.
"So Juvia, what's good here? Have you guys been here before?"
Natsu was rubbing his thumb in slow circles on her leg and her mind almost went blank before she answered his question. She knew he was trying to get her attention so that she didn't focus on Gray and she appreciated that.
"Juvia hasn't eaten here before actually. Gajeel-kun came here with Levy-chan last time and they suggested that we should come here at some point. Juvia is just as excited to eat here as you are. What's Natsu feeling like eating?"
"You," he whispered lightly under his breath. Judging from the colour she turned, she must've heard exactly what he said. He snickered, his grip on her thigh tightening before he released her completely. He was glad Gajeel didn't even hear him otherwise he would probably have his head for saying something like that at the table.
"A-ano, Juvia will go for something seafood based."
"Is that your favourite? Seafood?"
Juvia nodded with her eyes glittering as she looked up at him. "Yes, Juvia loves anything seafood based! Juvia really loves fish!"
"AYE, SAME!"
The cat and the water mage high fived each other from across the table making Lucy and Levy giggle. "And this is why Juvia is going to come fishing with us from now on! Don't be weirded out when you see Juvia with us from now on."
Natsu knew what Happy was doing and for that he was extremely grateful. He was setting up a way to have Juvia hang out with them more without anyone being weirded out by it. No one would ask any questions if they knew that Juvia was hanging out with them more because she was fishing with them.
He saw Juvia's cheeks glow slightly as her body temperature raised slightly. He felt good having been the one to be able to do that to her. She never even reacted this way when Gray was in her presence.
The waitress came over to the table to take their order and she seemed to take a shining to Gray. Her flirtatious words towards the ice mage weren't lost on everyone and Natsu noticed as both Erza and Lucy were slyly looking over at Juvia to see what her reaction would be. He almost laughed when Juvia's face lit up when she saw the dish that she wanted in the menu and she decided to point and show Natsu himself.
"This is Juvia's favourite! A good seafood boil!"
Natsu nodded his head. "Can I try some?"
He watched as those beautifully plump lips pouted as her eyebrows furrowed a little bit and he chuckled at her reaction. So she didn't like sharing her favourite food, did she?
"Ano, just some, okay? This is Juvia's favourite meal after all."
"I promise."
She seemed to be satisfied with that answer as she then looked up at the waitress who had still been flirting with Gray and making him uncomfortable. Juvia smiled blindingly at the waitress as she waited for her to be finished with Gray's order. It was odd for everyone to watch a girl openly flirt with Gray in front of Juvia and she wasn't being attacked. Everyone who didn't know about the mate bite couldn't hide their shock. Juvia barely noticed the stares.
"Has Gray-san finished ordering?"
"He hasn't even ordered yet..." Erza muttered bitterly as the waitress blushed and finally decided to take everyone's order. Drinks were quickly rushed to the table as an apology for taking so long and they all accepted it wholeheartedly. The waitress didn't flirt with Gray for the rest of the evening, having been embarrassed when she was caught doing so.
Their orders were finally taken in and Juvia couldn't help but glance over at Natsu. She could feel him looking at her and she smiled slightly before Gajeel started talking.
"So you guys found out about mine and ame's...side hustle, huh? Better ta talk about it now rather than over our food."
Juvia couldn't help but go red, but she relaxed when she felt Natsu's hand land on her thigh again and give her yet another reassuring squeeze. She had already discussed it with Natsu and he already made her feel better, but she couldn't run away from it anymore. What Samagui said still resonated with her. She needed to talk and trust someone. Talking to Gajeel wouldn't work as they both went through hell together, but he found solace in Levy. Juvia temporarily had Natsu.
"Yes, we're aware. It was hard news to stomach, if I'm being honest. I didn't realise the two of you had such an important role and to join a guild like Fairy Tail...I know you guys love the guild and I don't doubt that for a second. I guess this situation is a bit delicate, purely because I understand some people will never change, even if we want them to. And for this man to have terrorised Juvia all those years ago and then still want her now for his own selfish reasons. I'm filled with rage at the fact that I didn't end his life myself."
Erza had gripped the table in anger and accidentally broke off a part of it under the tablecloth. They all stared at her in surprise as she blushed at her mistake and tried to hide the piece of wood. Juvia herself felt choked up from how nice everyone was being about it.
Lucy chimed in. "I was there the first time Vidaldus took control over Juvia. He wanted a petty cat fight at first and then he was going to control Juvia to kill me before he would've taken Juvia for himself. I remember hearing her heart in all of the water that she was controlling. She didn't want to harm me, she wanted to find a place that would love her and where she could have friends. This was before she even joined us and you wrote nice enough to help us get Erza back. I hope you know you're stuck with us. We love you, Juvia."
The water mage couldn't help herself as she practically burst into tears, crying a little bit. Natsu was about to put his arms around her, but the girls beat her to it and he doesn't even understand how they ran so fast. All three of them were already up and hugging her in her seat. Juvia was trying her best to dry her tears as her friends made her feel better.
"Thank you, you guys don't understand how much this means to Juvia. Even Gajeel-kun is grateful, even if he's not saying anything. Sorry for getting all emotional."
"It's okay. We're nakama and that's all there is to it."
Natsu wanted to get a word in before anyone else. He saw Gajeel smirking at him out of the corner of his eyes and he tried not to focus on him. He knew Gajeel was going to mock him and he didn't want to deal with all that now. Still, being next to Juvia drove him insane. If it wasn't her scent, it was the cute outfit that she had on. She had definitely changed her style this time around.
The girls sat down in their seats and the table was filled with idle chatter and Natsu couldn't help but notice the way that Gray was trying to capture Juvia's attention and it pissed him off to no end. When the girl was draped all over him, he never even gave her the time of day, but now that she actively had no interest in him, that's when he wanted her? It made no sense to him.
"So I heard you offer some of your favourite meal to Flame brain over there. Can I get some of that when it arrives?"
Natsu didn't even realise that he was going to launch himself at the ice mage until Juvia's hand landed on his thigh discretely as she smiled in Gray's face with the shake of her head which immediately made Natsu calm down.
"Sorry, it's Juvia's favourite and it's already killing Juvia to have to offer some to Natsu. Juvia can't offer it to a second person. Maybe next time."
Natsu couldn't help the smug look that took over his face, although he wanted to say that there will be no next time at all. Still, he had to be realistic. This 'relationship' of theirs wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the bite. The minute the bite fades, that could be the end of them. There could be nothing between them and then she would go back to liking Gray and offer him all her favourites.
He felt Juvia squeeze his thigh and he wondered if she knew what he was thinking. He wondered if she was just as worried as he was or if she couldn't wait to go back to liking Gray.
"You guys came!"
Everyone looked up to see the owner grinning at them. Gajeel, Levy and Juvia waved at him as they stood up to greet him.
"We just couldn't stay away from your restaurant, old man. We even brought friends with us."
"I see that! We invited Juvia earlier today and told her everything is on the house. Thank you for everything that you've done for us."
Juvia waved her hand as she shook her head. "It's okay, seriously. It was probably because of Juvia that you guys were all targeted anyway, so Juvia is sorry. Still, thank you for looking after Juvia and her team. It's much appreciated. Juvia must say that she's ready to compensate you for any food that Natsu may over indulge in."
She gave the fire dragon slayer a sharp look as he grinned in promise of ruining their supply. The owner looked as if he was ready to say that there's no need for that, but Lucy shook her head and cut him off, clearly remembering the first time he ate her out of her wallet.
"Honestly, you should take Juvia's offer for that. Natsu is a bottomless pit."
The man shivered when everyone at the table nodded in agreement, so he accepted Juvia's offer.
Eventually, all their food made its way out of the kitchen. They were all so excited to finally be able to eat and their food was laid out in front of them. Natsu found himself salivating when he saw his food set down in front of him and he almost laughed when Juvia's expression seemed to mirror his when her food came as well. She had already set up her bib and wore her gloves and was ready for her seafood boil.
"You look excited there."
Juvia snorted as she looked up at him. "So do you. Seeing as Juvia is giving you some of her food, does that mean that Juvia gets some of yours?"
She was looking at him with those siren eyes that he had come to realise would be his downfall one day if he wasn't careful. She was effortlessly sexy without even trying and he wondered why the men in the guild never spoke about it more. He had heard of the whispers about other women in the guild and about how cute or sexy they were, but other than Lyon, no one had ever mentioned Juvia.
"Good for me I guess, she's all mine. I need to calm down..."
"Fine, I guess it's an equal trade."
She began to snap the crab legs like they were nothing and everyone stared at her in shock as she did so. Happy tried to copy her with his own, but the legs were too strong for him, so Juvia offered to do it before him. Natsu couldn't help but be fascinated with the way she did things and couldn't help but laugh at everyone's expression. He wanted to be proud openly and tell everyone that she's his mate, but he wasn't able to. He just had to sit there and watch.
She was soon done de-shelling everything and removed the gloves that she had worn. Using her knife and fork, she passed some over to Natsu's plate with a begrudging smile and Natsu smirked at her while she glared in response. Clearly, she didn't think that sharing her favourite meal with him was funny.
"Those poor crabs," Lucy lamented. She couldn't help but be happy with what she got. Just a simple chicken caesar salad. Juvia couldn't help but giggle.
"Those delicious crabs," she answered and Natsu couldn't help himself as he roared out with laughter. Even Gajeel laughed with him as Juvia grinned and started to eat. She savoured each bite as she chewed over and over again with her eyes closed and Erza smirked while cutting into her steak.
"I must admit it, Juvia is also very clean and thorough. It's almost like she eats the way she fights."
Juvia blushed slightly at the joke/compliment and nodded her head in thanks. While everyone was eating, Natsu had some of his steak and the sauce on a fork. He nudged Juvia who looked up from her meal. He wiggled his eyebrows.
"You wanted some of my meal, right?"
"Yes, just put it on Juvia's plate," she whispered slightly. Natsu shook his head, his grin widening with every second that passed.
"I want to feed it to you. C'mon, Luce, Erza and the icicle aren't watching and the others won't care about what we do. Just have some before they decide to look up and things get weird. What, you don't want your mate to feed you?"
He brought his lips down to brush past her ear and gently grazed his tongue over her mate bite. He knew that it took everything within her not to moan suddenly at his contact and she shot him a hot and bothered glare. He noticed the way she clenched her legs under the table and he couldn't help himself as his grin turned devious.
Still, he held out his fork and Juvia decided to give in before he did something else to give her away. Her eyes widened at the taste and she chewed on the piece of meat with an impressed look on her face.
"Not bad at all. Still, seafood is the best."
Natsu sighed dramatically and placed a hand over his heart. "Maybe we really weren't meant to be mates. No mate of mine would ever say that seafood is better than steak, none."
Juvia scowled at him before smirking and rubbing over her bite, making Natsu cover his mouth as he tried not to roar at the table. The pair of them could see Gajeel, Levy and Lily laughing silently. Even Happy was grinning and Juvia was happy that she got her payback. Natsu growled and gripped her thigh under the table.
"You tryna fight fire with fire?"
Her eyes sparked at him. "Juvia is a water mage and Natsu can't burn her so...yes. Yes she is."
She turned away from him and Natsu let go of her thigh as he thought of how evil and cunning his mate was. Still, he wouldn't have her any other way.
~x~
Natsu was waiting for Juvia by the bar in the hotel. Dinner had been great and Juvia had apologised profusely to the owner on Natsu's behalf. He really had eaten a lot of their food. Afterwards, Erza decided to go to the spa, Lucy and Happy went shopping while the others all came back to the hotel.
Well, that was until Natsu saw Juvia leave the establishment with Gray and it had taken everything within him to not follow the two of them. He knew that Juvia was still affected by the bite that was slowly fading and that she didn't currently have any feelings for the ice mage, but at the end of the day, her true feelings were that she does have feelings for the ice mage. When the bite fades once and for all, everything will go back to normal.
"I guess I can take this as practice with how things will be with my real mate. Juvia and I weren't made for each other after all."
He wasn't the type to drink, but he couldn't help himself as he knocked back his scotch. He had lost count as to how many drinks he had taken, but it was a lot. The bartender was watching him and he made it a point to ignore him and just focus on what he had in front of him. He didn't want anyone judging him and thinking he was some sort of alcoholic like Cana was. Still, he was surprised that he could hold his liquor this well.
He didn't know why it bothered him so much that Juvia wasn't going to be his mate. He had never thought of her in this way. She was never a potential. Lucy or Lisanna would have filled that spot. Even then, more Lucy than Lisanna. However, he really didn't know what possessed him to bite Juvia the way he did. He had bitten Lucy, Erza and Lisanna many times as a joke but never with magic in his teeth. Biting Juvia with the intention to mate with her never once crossed his mind and he still managed to do it. He didn't know if there was something innate there or not.
He didn't know how long he was at the bar for, but he eventually felt arms around his waist and he sunk into the feeling. He knew exactly who it was, even if his senses had been dulled. It could only be one person who could ever make him feel this way.
"Natsu...what are you doing here?"
"Jubia, am drinkin'. Wanna join?"
His words were all slurred and he turned his head to smile at Juvia. She frowned and shot him a concerned look. He didn't like that expression on her face. She shouldn't have to worry about him. Not when he was currently a drunken mess.
"Juvia didn't know that you drank. What's going on?"
Natsu hiccuped and shook his head. "Is nothing. Dun worry bout it, kay?"
He tried to hop off the bar stool, but he didn't quite manage it. He laughed at himself as Juvia caught him and held his cheeks in between her hands. He glanced up at her as she bit her perfect lips. He closed his eyes, almost as if wincing in pain. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but no amount of drink could cover up his pain to know that soon enough, he won't have the pleasure of doing so anymore. Juvia wasn't his.
"But Juvia is worried. What's going on with you? Please, let Juvia help in any way that she can. Juvia is your mate."
Her voice was soft and that somehow made Natsu stand up straight. He brought his hands up to hers and removed them from his face, holding his hands in hers. He couldn't bear to look her in the eyes, so he stared down at their hands instead as he shook his head.
"And that's the problem," he said gruffly. He didn't mean for it to come out like that, but the alcohol had done something to his throat. "Just like you pointed out before, we're not mates. I can't help but feel like we got a stronger bond than we think but...yeah, I fucked up, just like always. Sorry."
He brought one of her hands up to his lips and kissed the back of her knuckles. He couldn't see that Juvia's eyes were glistening with unshed tears. The situation was just so fucked up right now. No matter where they went from here, there would be so many questions. If they gave into the bite, would they constantly think about how their feelings were shaped by the bite? If they let the bite fade and they realised that they do like each other, again, would it be because of the bite? If they let the bite fade and they realised that they didn't think of each other in this way, would they forget about the last 5 days or would they always dream of what could have been?
"I never even got to tell ya, you look real beautiful tonight."
With that, Natsu let go of her hands and stumbled as he tried to walk away from her. Juvia didn't let him get far without him as she slotted herself against his side, throwing his arm over her shoulder and placing an arm around his back. Natsu stared down at her in surprise, his heart skipping a beat as she smiled up at him.
"Well, we still have about 48 hours before we can really think about that. Will Natsu be Juvia's teddy bear again tonight? Although, Juvia thinks that she will be Natsu's teddy bear tonight more than anything."
Natsu laughed slightly and nodded his head, feeling very tired. He wondered if he would even remember any of this by tomorrow and he really hoped that he wouldn't. He didn't want to give Juvia any more problems. "I would love that."
She helped him into the lift and hoped that he wouldn't get motion sick the moment it started moving. She could see his face turn a little green, but he was otherwise able to hold everything within him. The bellhop on the top floor greeted them before trying to help Juvia with her mate. Natsu could hear Juvia giggling and turned down the help.
"Juvia is okay, Juvia will help him."
Natsu couldn't help but smile slightly. Juvia was strong, he could practically feel it. He had never thought about her strength before, but he remembered that she was known as the third strongest female mage in the guild. Even the way she thought was beautiful and deadly, probably the best combination in his eyes. She held the grace of a dancer, but hit with the strength of a freight train.
"Hey Natsu, do you think you can remove your clothes?"
His eyesight was blurring now, but he could still see her face light up when she said that. He smirked slightly as he brought his hands up to unbutton his shirt. It was the clothes that Levy and Gajeel had bought him to wear to the dinner and his eyebrows furrowed when he realised that he was going to have some trouble taking them off.
"Ah, can't do it. Help?"
He saw her nod slightly before her fingers swiped his away from his buttons gently and she started to unbutton his shirt. He hadn't even noticed that they were currently in her room and that he was sitting on her bed. She was standing in front of him and Natsu couldn't help himself as he stared up at her. She was bent a little far forward when she had to deal with the buttons at the bottom and Natsu felt his cheeks up when he realised that her cleavage was so close to his face. He averted his gaze to the side, because it didn't even look like Juvia knew what she was doing and he shivered when she placed her hands on his bare skin, sliding his shirt off his shoulders.
She took the item of clothing and folded it neatly and placed it on the back of one of her chairs that she had at the vanity drawer. He pushed himself up from the bed, still swaying a little bit. He knew the next part was to deal with his trousers, but he couldn't let Juvia do that for him. He was going to have to deal with it somehow.
"Jubia-"
She turned around to face him, yet she kept her eyes to the floor. "Ano, should Juvia help you with your belt buckle? You were barely able to help yourself out of the shirt."
Natsu chuckled a little bit. "Yeah, I guess that's right. But it's fine, I'll just sleep in the trousers. It'll barely be uncomfortable if I'm passed out, right?"
Juvia took a step forward towards him and then looked him in the eyes with a shake of her head. "No, it's fine, Juvia can help you," she whispered softly. She slowly reached out for his belt buckle and undid it for him. They both stared at each other with bated breath as Juvia's fingers swiftly glided around the buckle like she had done this many times for him before. She didn't need to watch what her fingers were doing as Natsu was captivated by her eyes. Despite still being drunk, he had never really taken in just how blue they were. Her pale cerulean pupiless eyes seemed to shine as she stared up at him and her plump lips coated in soft pink lip gloss were practically begging to be kissed. Still, he held himself off as he found that he just enjoyed watching her and taking in her beauty.
She was done with his belt before she unbuttoned and unzipped his flies and she stepped back. The trance that they were both under was suddenly broken as they both looked away and started to breathe once again. Their blushes intensified as Juvia announced that she was going to get changed in the bathroom. She grabbed her own pyjamas and was gone in a flash as Natsu frantically removed his trousers and placed them where Juvia had originally placed his shirt. His eyes were wide as he was thinking about what had just happened between the two of them.
"Fuck, I'm hard."
He didn't know if Juvia had a pair of shorts lying around anywhere and it was more than too late for him to go and get anything from his room. He was going to have to suffer like this or wait for Juvia to be done and slowly jack off in the bathroom. Still, with him being so drunk, he doubted that he was even going to be quiet enough to get away with the act. He heard the door open and there was no longer any time for him to do anything.
"Ano, why aren't you in bed?"
Natsu shrugged, not wanting to let her into his thoughts. "Uh, y'know. I was waiting for you to come and get comfortable..."
If she knew he was lying, she didn't let it show as she pottered past him. "Juvia has a spare toothbrush in the bathroom if Natsu wants to use it."
He nodded as he bounded into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He knew he was going to have to do something about his boner, but he wondered if there was any point. He was just going to get another one later down the line. Being close to Juvia would do that to him in this state. He just groaned as he found the spare toothbrush and began to brush his teeth. He decided to deal with his friend and hoped he could reduce his grunts to sounds of nothing. He ran the tap just in case. He was glad that Juvia didn't have enhanced hearing like him.
All seemed to be well when he was done, washed his hands again and again before leaving the bathroom. Juvia was already in bed and under the covers and he slipped right in. He noticed the glass of water left on the bedside table next to his side of the bed and thanked her silently before downing it. He thought that they would just sleep on separate sides of the bed as if they were having an argument, but Juvia rolled over and scooched towards him, putting her head on his chest. She seemed to sigh as if she were enjoying it and Natsu couldn't help the happiness that spread through his chest. He wrapped an arm around her as she seemed to wiggle in even closer. His earlier thoughts of Gray and Juvia were brushed out of his head as he decided to relish in having Juvia by his side for this one last night.
"Will you tell Juvia why you were drinking? As far as we're all concerned, that's not really something you do."
Natsu sighed. "I was mad...I saw you leave with Gray and I got...mad."
Juvia sighed. "It's okay. Gray and Juvia were talking because he wanted to know if Juvia's feelings for him were gone. He said he's been in two minds about two girls and Juvia was one of them, but Juvia let him know that he can try for the other girl's heart. Juvia has an inkling as to who that is."
Natsu raised his head a little bit as he looked down at her. "But what if your feelings come back from him when the bite fades?"
Juvia was silent and Natsu wondered if she had fallen asleep. He soon shuddered when he felt her lips on his pecs and he knew that it had definitely taken her a lot of courage to do that.
"Then that's a bridge that Juvia will cross when she gets there. For now, Juvia is Natsu's mate. We still have some time together, let's not ruin that. Good night, Natsu."
He couldn't help the smile on his face as he spoke. "Good night, Jubia." Giving into the bite was something that she hadn't wanted to do, but it was almost like she was seeing the beauty of it. Of course it was a shame that their time together will soon be over, but for now, they were making every moment count.
So, how was that chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for all your love and reviews for this story, it really warms me!
Lolita-love,
Lolita-chan