The Roommate

A NaLu Fan Fiction

Chapter 3

"Eat any more and you'll explode! Your eating habits are seriously cutting into my rent money!" Lucy yelled at the dragon slayer, who happened to be sprawled out on her living room floor, his human stomach the size of a literal dragon's. "Natsu! Are you even listening to me!?"Lucy screamed. She was losing her temper with him. Whenever he overate, he had a habit to switch himself off from the rest of Earthland and escape inside some other alternate universe. "Lucyyyyyy…" Natsu groaned from the living room floor. The blonde celestial mage glared down at him, tapping her foot impatiently. "What is it now?" She asked, fury noticeably flaring up in her tone. "…I'm hungry…" He replied hesitantly. He's an idiot. A greedy, lazy idiot. Lucy thought to herself. "Get up, Natsu! I told you yesterday, we need to shop for groceries, since somebody ate everything I had in my home, including the fire from my fireplace." She sighed. Mavis, why am I stuck with him? He's going to make me homeless at this rate. Though, Lucy had to be honest with herself. She was much happier having Natsu rather than the woods. It's for the best. She thought. He's your nakama, after all. Sighing in defeat, she dragged Natsu up onto his feet, checked she had her precious keys with her, and left her home, with a worn out dragon slayer by her side.

"Lucy! Can we get this!? No, no! This! But wait! This looks so tasty! Luuuucyyyyyy, can we get three of everything?" Natsu asked. Natsu had always been extremely easily excitable over anything, ranging from a life or death battle, or looking at anything edible. Well, they didn't always have to be edible. The blonde mage smiled to herself when her male companion wasn't looking. Well, a man's got to eat, I suppose. You've got to give it to him, he even eats the food I cook! Lucy was renowned throughout the entire guild for her lacking in cooking skills, hence the reason she usually visited restaurants or bought food that her (arguably) most adaptable celestial spirit, Virgo, could prepare.

"Okay, Natsu. You can pick one out of the three. No more, though. I have novel supplies to buy." She explained. She was in the middle of writing her third novel, "Love and Lust Forever", which entailed a story line involving a lonely female mage who was approached by a male mage, and together they went on adventures, unaware that both mages felt passionately about one another. This particular novel reminded her of two people, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

She looked up to see Natsu holding one item, a new ramen named 'Super Spicy Salamander!' "See? I did it!" grinning ferociously at Lucy. Seriously, stop grinning at me. She thought, looking away quickly. You know how that grin makes me soften up around you. The thoughts alone were causing Lucy to feel a hot flush coming over, so she decided to extinguish the thought by continuing to look for the final items on her list.

As she looked down at her list, Natsu playfully placed his arm around her shoulder and leaned in. "So, what's next?" still grinning. Lucy tried to ignore his warm touch. He's nakama. Nakama! Nothing more! "W-well, we still need to buy some tinned beef." Lucy replied, ticking the beef off her shopping list. The two walked side by side around the super market in search of the beef. They finally arrived at the tins isle within the store, and Lucy made a beeline towards the tinned beef which was on the top shelf. It was then that she came to the realisation that she couldn't reach the top shelf without jumping as high as she could. She checked her skirt length to ensure that she didn't flash anything she was uncomfortable showing to the other customers and Natsu. Once she was comfortable, she squatted slightly, and then jumped high enough to grab the tinned beef from the top shelf. It happened that her pinkette friend decided to grab the tin at the exact same time as Lucy, although he merely had to raise his arm to reach it. When they both grabbed it, their hands grasped each other's whilst holding onto the metal can. Both mage's blushed intensely at the sudden contact. Whoa, Mavis, her hand is so soft. This actually feels pretty good. The dragon slayer thought to himself. Without thinking, they both let go of the tin out due to the shock of each other's touch. Consequently, the tin fell towards the ground, landing full force on Lucy's foot, causing her to yelp out in pain. "Natsu, you idiot!" Lucy screamed at him. I can't believe I thought such stupid things about him! He's not cute, he's an idiot! Lucy was furious. She stormed off in the other direction, only to bump into a customer. Lucy opened her mouth to apologise, however, as she looked up, she was greeted by a man who ticked all the boxes on her list to be her dream man. He had messy hair and black eyes. He was taller than her, and was the perfect height to envelope her in his arms. She wanted to swoon at the sight of him, however, Natsu's accident made her barely able to stand. "Miss, are you alright? I saw the tin fall. Here, I'll find you a place to sit." the stranger showed kindness, with concern filling his onyx eyes. Lucy attempted a smile whilst her heart was melting at the sight of him. "Well, it hurts a-" she began to reply, before a certain pink haired mage began to interrupt her. "Lucy, I-I'm so sorry! It was an accident! You know I'd never hurt my nakama-""Shut up, Natsu!" Lucy screamed at him. The dragon slayer took a step back. "Can't you do anything right?!" Once she said those words, she covered her mouth. I can't believe I've just said that. Too far, Lucy. Too Far. Though she'd already hurt him, and regret wouldn't take away the pain she threw at her partner. Natsu's eyes began to cloud with sadness and sorrow, before he looked to the floor, and Lucy was unable to see them anymore. "Well, I guess I'll just see ya around, Luce." He quickly brushed past her, and she briefly came into contact the coldest touch she'd ever felt from Natsu. He's not mad. He's upset, and it's all my fault. Lucy was filled to the brim with regret. Ignoring the pain on her foot and the groceries she had collected, she began to run after Natsu. He was the only thing on her mind at that point; he was the only thing she could think of. That was until the stranger called after her. "Wait! You shouldn't run on that foot! You need to think of yourself a little more." Those words made Lucy flinch. She stopped in her tracks and turned to the stranger. "You don't know anything about me. Think about myself? How can I do that when I've hurt the most important person in my life?" She turned back towards the exit and sprinted home.

She never stopped once. She stumbled over the path every few moments, but she just couldn't stop. Natsu, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. Please, forgive me. Her desperation to find her nakama to apologise was the only motivation stopping her from collapsing in pain from her foot.

After what felt like a lifetime to Lucy, she made it home. As she stood outside the door to her apartment, she took a deep breath, praying that Natsu's belongs still sat in a heap in the corner of her living room.

She took a deep breath and opened the door, expecting the worst.