The Girl Next Door
notes: i was gonna make this one kinda songfic-y ("dancing in the rain" by b.a.p, anyone? :D) but it didn't really fit. anyway, sorry for the long wait! i've had this one in mind for a while, just was too busy with school to actually write it out. there was gonna be an almost-kiss in there somewhere but it didn't work out that way. you're just gonna have to wait a bit more! ;) sorry it's short. enjoy!
iv. dancing with her
Natsu sighed, slumping down into his couch and smoothing a hand down his face. He felt irritable and exhausted and droopy and he blamed the rainy weather entirely. He hated gloomy days. They made him feel like a sloth and he despised feeling so useless and unenergetic.
Groaning, he peeled himself off his couch and made his way to the window where Happy was curled up comfortably on the windowsill. He pet the cat softly, enjoying the feel of silky fur under his fingers and Happy's soft, soothing purrs.
A flash of blue and yellow caught his eye and he squinted out the window through the pouring rain to see none other than Lucy standing in the rain. Just standing. Getting soaked to the bone and not a flicker of movement.
"That stupid weirdo," he uttered under his breath as he grabbed a waterproof jacket and an umbrella and headed for the door. "She's gonna get sick!"
He ran out, pulling up the hood of his jacket and opening the umbrella before jumping into the rain. The drops beat down on the umbrella like a drum, steady rhythm, loud background noise. It would almost be calming if it wasn't so wet.
"Lucy!" he tried to shout over the rain, but his voice was completely drowned out. Growling, he hurried down the street and quickly covered her with the umbrella.
"Huh?" She spun around with surprised eyes and exclaimed, "Natsu! What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing out here, weirdo? You're gonna get sick!" He started to shrug off his jacket so he could give it to her but a gentle touch of her hand on his arm froze him. He looked at her and found her beaming.
"You're right, I probably will," she agreed with a giggle, "but I just love the rain. It's so loud and unstoppable. Standing in it makes me forget about everything else." Her eyes trailed back to the sky and she held a hand out from under the umbrella, catching a puddle of water before fully stepping back out into the storm.
"Hey!"
Laughing brightly, she spun away, her drenched hair whipping around and plastering itself to her neck and face, her soggy clothes wrinkled and clinging to her, and yet she had never looked more beautiful with such a happy smile on her face.
"Come on, Natsu! Dance with me!" She reached her arms out towards him.
He hesitated a moment too long. She rolled her eyes and darted forward, grabbing his hands, making his umbrella float to the ground and his hood fly off. Immediately he was uncomfortably soaked. But then she tugged his hands again and spun them around, splashing into puddles, and he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his lips as he joined her, whirling and prancing. She laughed and despite the heavy downpour, he swore he could hear it ringing in his ears.
Maybe he could learn to love the rain. Maybe he could learn to love her.
© Copyright 2015 by The Siege