(A/N: HEY GUYS! Sorry I've been MIA recently, life has been getting in the way and writer's block isn't really helping. BUT to make up for me not giving you chapter's recently I've decided to make this chapter extra long. Also, I was reading my old chapters and noticed how terrible my writing was back then. WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE READING THIS? Anyway here we go!)
PLEASE READ: At the beginning of the story I said that Lucy was in her sophomore year but for the sake of this story, and me not really having a plan for it, I have decided to change that to senior year. IT WILL MAKE SENSE SOON I PROMISE! This note is only for the people who have been reading this since the story came out)
Summary of previous chapter (cuz reasons): Lucy, Natsu and co were having a snowball fight in the cold. Natsu got hit by a snowball and because of Lucy's NaLu shipping friends, the only way that Natsu could get back in the game was if Lucy kissed him. However, Lucy instead ended up kissing a pile of snow. In the midst of her anger she raced up to her room where Natsu followed her. Lucy again ran away, this time too a bridge at which she had tried to commit suicide when Natsu stopped her. She sat at the edge of the river, refusing to think about killing herself again when Natsu showed up and Lucy realized how much she loved him. The two decided to go back home after the long day) DISCLAIMER: A great portion of this chapter is somwhat filler with some mixed in fluff. If you would like actual plot, you can probably skip a portion of this chapter, except for a great amount of the end I pulled the sheets over myself, turning over to one side of the bed, preparing to sleep, when. Achoo! I covered my nose with my hand, closing my eyes again until...Achoo!"Luce are you OK?" a voice spoke from behind me. I jerked my head towards the doorway, finding the much adored Natsu. Wait, what, who wrote that?
"I'm fine," I forced out in my new found nasally tone.
"Yeah sure. And I'm a unicorn," he deadpanned.
"Seriously Natsu. It's just a little cold. I'll be fine." I assured, pulling the covers up to my nose, preventing any further sneezes.
Natsu sighed, "At least let me check your temperature?"
"Yeah whatever," I responded. To be honest I didn't even care what he was saying, I just wanted to sleep. Yeah, sure. SHUT UP, ME! He walked towards the bed, placing the front of his hand on my forehead.
"You're burning up," he commented. "I think you might have a fever."
"Ugh..." I groaned. I think it might be you.
"That's what you get for not wearing your jacket," he said about to walk out of the room.
"DON'T YOU DARE ABANDON ME!" I yelled, waving my hands in the air dramatically.
"Wouldn't dream of it, I was going to get the phone so we could go to the doctor," he explained without even batting an eye in my direction. HOW DO YOU SAY THINGS LIKE THAT CASUALLY! LIFE'S NOT FAAIR! I pulled the covers back up to my nose, but this time in an attempt to hide the redness of my face. I relaxed once more, silently listening to Natsu on the phone. Though his words were indecipherable, his quiet murmuring calmed me. I closed my eyes slowly, the sound of Natsu's voice barely audible from the other room.
"Lucy, get up, we're going to the doctor's office"
"NOW?!" I whined, throwing the cover over my face, only to have it pulled away from me, now shivering in the tundra that had existed outside my fuzzy blanket. I just wanted to sleeep.
"Yes, now," his tone stern.
"You sound like my mom," I complained, eyes still closed.
"Someone has to be the parental figure."
"Never guessed it would be you," I teased, finally pulling myself up from the bed. I quickly pulled my arms around myself in a sortof self hug used to fight off the cold. I ran over to my closet, searching for my winter coat.
"Are you looking for something?" his voice was deep enough and sudden enough to startle me. I spun around to a smirking Natsu had been holding the misplaced coat. I snatched it from him, walking towards the door, trying to conceal the dusty pink blush that had formed on my cheeks. I walked out of the room towards the front door while simultaneously drawing my jacket on. Why do jackets have to be so hard to put on? I allowed myself through the front door, Natsu rushing behind me. Once down the first porch steps, something occurred to me.
"Natsu! How are we gonna get to the doctor's office?!" I questioned.
Natsu just stared at me as if the answer was obvious, "The bus."
"But, your motion sickness!"
He shrugged, "I'll be fine, we have to get there somehow and I doubt it would be any help to your cold to walk in the freezing cold." I glanced at him, his look and tone so sincere. And while walking to the dance he vomited at the mention of a mode of transportation.
I tossed my head down, elbowing him in the side, "Idiot."
"Ughhhhhhh," Natsu groaned, hunched over in his bus seat, looking like he was about to vomit.
"I told you this was a bad idea," I scolded, awkwardly rubbing his back from the seat beside me.
He shook his head, tossing his head into his hands, "I'm fine."
"And here I thought I was the sick one," I mumbled to myself.
"Hey! I'm nauseous not deaf!" Natsu forced out before hurling into the plastic bag that was provided on the bus. I moved away from him a bit, slightly disgusted. Finally, ending the horror that Natsu had gone through, the bus came to a screeching halt. Natsu, somehow suddenly forgetting the previous few moments where he was just puking his guts out, jumped out of his seat, pumping his fist in the air, then unceremoniously racing out of the bus.
"WAIT FOR - whatever," I sighed. After pushing and shoving my way to the front of the bus, I was finally able to exit the train. I glanced around for Natsu till I noticed a patch of pink hair sticking out the crowd. I followed the pink hair to a small white building with a sign that read "Dr. Porlyusica's Clinic" and watched as he went inside. I followed suit, pushing the door open and going inside.
Finally finding Natsu among the few sniffling and coughing patients that had also fallen victim to the plentiful amount of sickness going around, sitting down in a chair with a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. I walked over to him, taking a seat beside him and lazily staring down as he monotonously scribbled down information and occasionally asked me for answers. Finding no entertainment within his handwriting that somehow far better than most boys, I felt my eyes slowly droop downward. I searched for a comfortable pillow to rest on, finally settling for the next best thing, Natsu's shoulder. His muscles tensed slightly before allowing me to rest, finding comfort within his abnormally warm body temperature.
This comfort, however, was very short lived, for after a while a sweet, high pitched voice, sounding as if it belong to a child, spoke only loud enough for me to hear, "Lucy?" I looked to the holder of this innocent voice, finding a small girl, maybe 5 years younger than me, with dark blue pigtails in the doorway holding a folder, a name tag placed on her dress, reading, 'Wendy'. I picked myself up (unwillingly) from Natsu's shoulder, following 'Wendy' into one of the rooms with Natsu trailing behind. Upon entry I found at least seven things my mind was telling me I had to play with, but social rules prohibited me, forcing me onto the bed while Natsu sat on one of the chairs beside the bed.
"So, Lucy, what brings you here today?" Wendy asked, pulling out a pen, preparing to write down something.
"Well I'm sick."
"Yes, we know. Natsu called earlier saying as much. What I meant was how did you get sick?"
"Well, I think it might have been that I went outside yesterday in the snow with a hoodie," I murmured, all of a sudden humiliated by my stupid mistake.
"Ok," she mumbled, pulling out a thermometer and sticking it in my ear, "101.5."
She scribbled something down, then said, "The doctor will be with you shortly," before exiting the room leaving an awkward silence in her wake. After a few minutes of twiddling my thumbs and blaming my brain for choosing the best of times to refuse to work, a woman, who was much older than Wendy, with pink hair, much lighter than Natsu's hair, that was tied into a bun entered the room.
I thought I heard her say something along the lines of "Ugh another one," but she quickly recovered plastering a smile onto her face. "So, Lucy, what brings you here today?" the doctor asked, mimicking almost every other doctor in existence.
"I have a fever and a stuffy nose," I explained as she stuck a weird doctor gadget in my ear, then in my other ear, then shined the light in my mouth while just going, "Hmmm." She then pulled her stethoscope on and placed the cold metal part on my back, asking me to breath in and out. I did as I was told and after doing this five times and other various commands she finally came to the conclusion,
"You just have the common cold, nothing major. I'd say rest tomorrow and if you don't have a fever on Tuesday then go back to school." I nodded, sliding off the bed and leaving the building. Well that was a waste of time.
Natsu and I both walked outside into the bitter cold, finding the doctor's appointment completely useless when the bus pulled in. I glanced at Natsu who was already leaning forward looking dead already.
"Hey, Natsu, let's walk home," I offered, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket.
"I can't let you walk home when you're sick." he declared
I rolled my eyes, "I'd rather walk a few miles than sit next to a puking Natsu for five minutes."
Natsu sighed, "Alright, fine. We'll walk." I nodded in agreement and began walking. I turned around to make sure Natsu was following when I heard him call out. "Hey Luce! Home is that way," he said, pointing in the opposite direction in which I was walking.
"I knew that," I assured, walking in the direction he pointed in.
"Hey, Luce, are you sure you're OK?" Natsu asked,
"Yeah of course," I assured him. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You're tripping a lot," he commented and as though dictated by fate, I caught myself once again from falling flat on my face.
"I'm fine," I said, continuing to walked through the sharp cold.
"Here," he offered before placing on of his hands on my leg and the other on my back and lifting me up. (A/N: Bridal style). My face flushed as he continued walking as if it was nothing.
"N-Natsu are you sure about th-"
"It's fine."
Soon enough we reached the house, and I had pretended to fall asleep. Well, not really pretending, I was attempting to fall asleep but that wasn't working at all. Probably because of how fast your heart was beating. OH SHUT IT ME! Natsu placed me on the bed and finally I had gotten what I had wanted this entire time. THANK YOU WORLD FOR THIS AMAZING GIFT OF HEAVEN KNOWN AS SLEEP! As soon as I had found refuge from the icy tundra known as the outside world I fell quickly to sleep.
The bright sunlight that shone in from windows, awaking me from from my once again dreamless sleep. Yeah...SURE. WOULD YOU STOP! I was about to get up from bed when I noticed something preventing me from doing so. I looked over to my right and noticed tuft of salmon colored hair under the sheets beside me. WHY IS HE HERE? I looked over to the alarm clock placed next to my bed and read of the time. 11:38. HE'S GONNA BE LATE! I quickly sat up and began shaking Natsu back and forth yelling,
"NATSU YOU'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"
"Hmm?" he groaned.
"NATSU, QUICK WAKE UP!" A few seconds later he sat up, rubbing his head.
"Lucy, what are you yelling about..." He eyelids opened slightly. My cheeks tinted with a light pink. Curse your adorable bed head!
"You're late for school! You've already missed first and second period!" I exclaimed, flailing my arms around in an attempt to convey my worry.
"I wasn't gonna go, someone has to take care of you," he explained, his tone still lazy. I felt my face redden a bit, quickly turning away to conceal it.
"Yeah, yeah, I forgot you were my mom," I crossed my arms. (A/N: TSUN MODE ACTIVATE!) "And why are you sleeping here? What if you get sick? You won't be much help if you're sick," I commented. How the hell did I say that with a straight face?!
He stared at me with a somewhat annoyed expression, "I don't get sick."
"You seemed pretty sick yesterday on the bus," I teased, a playful smirk tugging at the ends of my lips.
"HOW DARE YOU BRING UP MODES OF TRANSPORTATION! You're so cruel!" his skin turned a faint shade of green as his cheeks puffed up.
"I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T HURL!" I yelled as I frantically and awkwardly tried to console him. "AND IF YOU ARE, PLEASE DON'T HURL ON ME!" He looked at me with a mischievous look behind his eyes as he pretended to vomit in my direction. "Natsu!"
"I can't control where I throw up," he stated smugly.
"I hate you," I sighed.
"Awww, I love you too," he replied. My face started to burn up. They say when something like this happens your heart does flips. Well if that's the case then my heart was doing a gymnastic routine, complete with backflips, frontflips, somersaults and handstands.
"S-shut up, " I forced out, failing to remain calm and collected. But then again who could remain collected when their heart was literally having a sugar rush, but instead of sugar it was feelings. A feeling rush. "I'm going to sleep," I said a bit to loudly, trying my best to prevent any further snarky remarks from his side.
"I'm skipping school to watch you sleep?" he rolled his eyes, his voice cleared filled with boredom.
"Rest is the only way I'm going to get better," I explained, already lying down in bed.
"If you're just gonna sleep I might aswell have gone to school! I'm risking Erza yelling at me!" he cringed a bit while saying that.
"You chose to stay here," I sighed, pulling up the covers.
"FINE! THEN I'M SLEEPING WITH YOU!" My heart quickly fought its way out of my chest onto the floor, ran a marathon before warping its way back into its place. I glanced at him beside me, expect some sort of devilish grin splayed across his lips but he was still pouting, clearly frustrated. This idiot probably doesn't even know what he's saying.
I tried my best to avoid making eye contact or even noticing the sleeping pinkette beside me, but as I tried harder and harder to sleep, the more I kept thinking, thus preventing me from sleeping. Eventually I simply started staring at the ceiling, letting Natsu occasional snores fill the empty silence of the bright yet dark room.
Within what I can only assume had been hours, I had finally built up the courage to turn to my right and look at Natsu. I noted his adorably messy bed head and his closed eyes which were only a bit open, revealing a sliver of the actual eye. Yet although everything about his screamed 'asleep' something about his was still bright and awake. Even when he slept he seemed to have a happy aura about him. But then, I noticed something that I hadn't noticed in all the time that I had known Natsu. There was this remnant of what I could only assume to be emptiness is his playful snores and beaming feel. The part of him that was once occupied by Natsu was now occupied by... not Natsu.
Then, I something happened. Natsu's eyes tightened shut and he gripped the pillow case his hands had been resting on previously tightly, small folds forming on the white sheet. Huh? Then he began turning left and right, shuffling his position as if it was an attempt to numb some sort of pain. I looked back at his eyes and notice a sphere like glassy substance building up in the corners.
Tears.
He was crying.
Immediately I recognized why. He was having a nightmare. The feeling that he was sending off was all to familiar to the one I experienced every single time the memory of my mother haunted me in my dreams. I had never seen how it felt from an outsider's view.
"No, no, no, no," faint whispers took the place of the void snoring, his voice weak and unstable. Like balancing a pencil on your finger.
In panic, I did the only thing I could think to do.
"Natsu, Natsu, wake up," I whispered while lightly shaking him back and forth.
"No, no, no, no!" his whispers became more violent and frantic. Hopeless and suicidal. It reminded me of me.
"Natsu! Wake up!" I yelled louder, now with tears forming, stinging my eyes and fogging up my already darkened vision.
"IGNEEL!" he shrieked, his terror mortifying me. A shook him furiously, hoping that somehow I could stop his pain and suffering. But I understood everything. There was no doubt that this Igneel was a family member. A long gone family member.
"NATSU! GET THE HELL UP!" I yelled, competing with his yelling in a yelling battle which appeared to have no winners. Only sore throats and sadness.
Finally, Natsu's eyes jerked open as he flung forward, finally sitting upright and awake. I took in a breath, thankful that he was awake, but breaths afterward were fast and short. Part of me wondered why. Natsu's head turned towards me and his eyes widened as he quickly put his hand on my back, trying to console me for reasons that I didn't understand until I realized how I was crying. And how bad I was crying.
"Lucy, what happened?" he asked, concerned, but I couldn't care less about me crying. So I quickly shoved my inexplicable sorrow into by back pocket and wiped away my confusing tears.
"I'm fine, seriously, I just got startled. Honestly, I should be asking you that question," I looked up, my eyes still tained a light pink.
He seemed shocked and sad. That felt so odd and eerie for someone who seemed to never experience sadness in their entire life.
"Nothi-" I cut him off right before he could start feeding me bullshit.
"Someone died, right?"
For a moment Natsu was surprised, but that look quickly faded away into one of sadness as he nodded.
"Is it this Igneel guy I heard you talking about?" I asked.
His face lighted up, but in a strange way. It didn't brighten, it only seemed to go from black to gray back to black. "How did you-?"
"You were talking about it in your sleep. He was a family member?" I asked. I don't know why I pushed it this far. I know that if I had a nightmare about my mother, I would never be able to talk about it so openly for a while. Yet for some reason I disregarded this for my own selfish curiosities.
"He was my dad," Natsu voice once again faltered as his eyes once again became misty and clouded by glazed tears. Quickly, I noticed what I was doing to him, talking about the death of a long lost family member.
"I'm sorry! I should just-"
"No, it's OK. It's just that today is the day that he-," he choked on the word, unable to force it out. He continued to stutter out the first sound, but quickly I cut him off using the power of hugs. Immediately while embracing him I noticed how strangely cold he felt.
It was terrifying. How could Natsu be cold? Natsu?! Dug my face deep into his chest, somehow trying to fight these unreasonable tears. Why the hell am I crying? I could feel my salty tears staining his shirt a darker shade than it was previously, but I kept hugging him.
"I-I get it," I stuttered out. At that moment I knew exactly how he felt. The way his muscles relaxed and his body gradually warmed soothed me, reminded me of something. That feeling that was resonating off of him.
It's the same feeling I felt when Natsu came into my life.
I can't describe the feeling exactly, but it felt like he was OK. We were OK. Though these ghosts would never die, we could fight them off together.
I discarded my thoughts for a moment, my train of thought finally entering the real world. For a moment, there was just silence, me hugging him and him returning the hug. I realized then, how much I wanted to be with him.
I also noticed the weight of loosing him. I wanted everything to stay like this, but what about college, or living our lives in the real world. My mom had always wanted me to gain all the knowledge this world had to offer, so I planned on going to college using a student loan and some saved up money. But what about Natsu, and his education. Did he have enough money to even go? Natsu had been playing on the baseball team so I could assume he would want to pursue that. But I have always wanted to be a journalist. Would we have to leave each other? Would he even visit me in college? Would I be justified to visit him?
Thoughts ricocheted to other thoughts and soon enough I was trapped in this deadly cage of thoughts with no way out. I mean, only couples visit each other in college. The image of Natsu visiting some other girl entered my mind. The idea chipped away at me bit by bit the more I thought about it. I thought for a second before coming to my conclusion.
The only way I could stop any of this from happening, was to confess to him before the end of senior year.
(I ACTUALLY WROTE IN SOME DECENT PLOT! YaY! So FYI, I do have an idea for the next few chapters (I kinda stole the idea from Toradora! [If you haven't watched the anime, you NEED to watch the anime!] So yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed this and I promise I will update soon!)