Chapter6

"Yes, I'm engaged."

Those words rang in his ear over and over again but, his heart didn't feel it. Was he really that cold? Was he heartless? A lot of things happened to him in his life and no one can really blame him for becoming such a person with such a character after all. Juvia took a step to the back and her sweat dropped moving her eyes to look at the salamander who was staring at his desk with a very calm expression. She felt it. Natsu was hurt and the pain was enough in his heart that's why he was ready to any new pain and expected anything. He raised his head to look back at them to meet them with deep eyes. Suddenly Natsu's phone rang and he picked it and answered. Erza kept looking at him and when she realized that he got busy she moved her head to look at the blonde woman.

"Engaged?" Erza whispered as she looked into her eyes with a question eyes. She really didn't understand why are they doing that? She didn't know anything except that the both were playing with fire and will hurt each other deeply. "Why?" Erza frowned while asking. Lucy looked down at her ring and then raised her head to look at her old friend nervously.

"What why?" Lucy asked her as she crossed her hands hiding the ring from their eyesight.

"You have no idea what Natsu went through when you left?"

Lucy looked back at Natsu who was still talking in phone and not focused in their talking and then looked at the chair he was sitting at, the handicapped chair. Then she moved her head to look back at the ground and opened her mouth to speak. "I never got the chance to read any of his news or things related to him." she said as she looked at some corner of the room sweat dropped on her face. She glanced at Natsu once more and then closed her eyes for a moment to ease her tension. She went to where she put her bag earlier and then grabbed it walking to the desk standing in front of Natsu waiting to finish his call. Natsu looked at her from the corner of his eyes and didn't say a word even to the person talking in the phone. At the first, she thought that he would hang up to see what does she want but, he didn't do that. He didn't hang up for her. She doesn't mean anything for him anymore and neither he was. The number one in the life isn't number one anymore. Later Natsu hanged up the phone and looked back at her waiting for her to talk.

"Natsu, I'm so happy I was able to meet you again." She spoke firstly. "But I think there's nothing will allow us to meet again so this is my farewell." Their friends' eyes widened at they heard from her. They wanted to stop her doing something like that but didn't know what to do but when they looked at the pink haired guy to find the same expression, they backed away.

"Same goes here, farewell." Those simple words which he said and let go of her. They weren't the old lovey-dovey couples who made everyone daydream about being like them. They turned from that to this and nothing is gonna go back to how it was anymore. Lucy left the place wishing to not come back again because this place will open a wound that will never be healed no matter how much you try to heal it. Their friends looked at each other and then looked back at Natsu who was busy writing something down at the paper.

"Umm, Natsu…" Erza called his name catching his attention.

"Hmm?" Natsu stayed the way he was while answering them like that but he found nothing coming from their mouths. He raised his head to check on them.

"Why haven't you called once? You didn't even answer our calls!" he heard Erza asks. He kept staring at her and then his attention went to Gray when he started to talk.

"Erza's right, do you know how much we worried about you?! You no know nothing about how many times we tried to reach you but we never knew your place." Gray continued what Erza started as Natsu kept staring at them. He took a deep breath through his nose and then let out the breath looking down at the wooden desk.

"I have been thinking lately,…" Natsu finally broke the silence. "I regret playing basket." With a flash Gray ran towards the pink haired guy grabbing him from the collar shirt. He got carried away and with such a force, he carried Natsu out from the chair with his bare hands.

"How stupid you acts right now?! Don't you remember how much you encouraged us to play basket?!" Gray shouted in anger as he forced an eyes looking into Natsu's eyes. in the other hand, Natsu didn't look at him, he let his hair covers his eyes in order not to get emotional. Seeing how angry he was and how he treated a sick person, Erza and Juvia hurried to them trying to calm the both down.

"Gray, Stop it. You are doing a mistake!" Erza spoke trying to take Gray's arm away from him but he was so angry he didn't let go of him.

"You made me love basket, you made us love basket. Why do you regret playing it now?! Why did you became this weak?!"

"Because… I have legs and I can't walk anymore." Gray's strength weakened after hearing his sentence and this when the redhead used her force to separate them apart. Erza and Juvia used much forced and separated the both males pulling Gray and falling together with him and Juvia to the ground. Natsu fell on the ground too but not because of what happened; it was because of his legs that he couldn't walk with. The three friends stared at Natsu who was staring at the ground not saying anything. They might know the answer now; they know why Natsu left and never called them. They know why he never answered his phone. It was because he never wanted to be reminded with what happened and they were his past, his pain. Erza stayed on her knees and took steps until she reached him. She grabbed his hands while he was still looking at the ground, tears falling from her eyes on his hands.

"I know now. I know how much it hurts, I know." Erza spoke as she kept looking into his shady eyes. "You have been trying to be fine until now. You have tried to push us away in order not to get more pained." She wrapped her arms around the salamander as she kept crying. It was hard, so hard. He endured a lot and his friends, the closest people to him weren't there to ease on him. He thought of himself to be pathetic, so pathetic when it comes to the loved people to him. Even though he wanted to see them so much, he couldn't because whenever he heard about them the emptiness grew inside of him. Natsu raised his arms and pulled Erza away from him keeping his cold eyes on the ground and never meeting hers. He moved his hand to the back searching for the chair's spindle and was finally able to find it. He grabbed it and tried to pull himself up but no matter how hard, he couldn't get up in his own.

"Natsu-san." Juvia went fast to Natsu as she grabbed the right arm of him and Erza hurried to grab the left one. They helped him to sit down on the chair and stared at him while he was avoiding meeting their eyes by staring at the ground.

"Natsu," Erza called over his name looking down at him. He didn't flinch, he kept his head in the same direction feeling really tired of what happened. A lot of things happened today and he wasn't expecting that much to happen and he got exhausted after all this. Before Erza could continue, Lisanna cut them off and opened the room's door staring at the inside.

"Natsu," the white haired spoke first catching his attention. Natsu moved a little to look at her and stayed silent. "The driver is here, what I should tell him?" asked Lisanna as she started to look at the people in the room remembering that the blonde left a minute ago. After looking at the white haired woman, they moved their heads to look back at the pink haired guy.

"Tell him…" he finally spoke. "I will be coming." The salamander said as he moved to his desk to get his things so he could go home.

"Natsu," Erza spoke once more but stopped when the blue haired woman grabbed her arm from the back shaking his head as a no.

"He needs to rest." She whispered.