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Chapter 7

"So this is why you weren't at the gym," Lucy said after a long pause.

"Y-yeah," Erza replied, face red. Lucy didn't miss the fact that the two were still holding hands.

"Well, it's about time," Lucy winked, pointing her finger at the two. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Lucy," Jellal smiled. He looked down at Erza, smiling like he was the happiest man on Earth.

"What?" Natsu said. He was completely lost. "Why are you not surprised, Luce?" he asked. "This is so random!" he cried. Wondering why everyone was so calm.

"No, it's not, Natsu," Lucy told him. "You are probably the only person who didn't see this coming," she told him sternly.

"I don't understand!" he cried.

"Maybe open your eyes sometime then!" Lucy replied, hitting him.

Erza and Jellal chuckled as Lucy dragged him towards the dining hall, muttering under her breath.

"I'll see you guys later!" she called over her shoulder.

"How could you tell, Luce?" Natsu asked seriously at dinner. He was very distressed that he was the only one who didn't see it.

"There were all sorts of signs," she told him.

"Like what? I didn't see any signs!"

"Well, the main one was that Erza would blush whenever we mentioned him," Lucy chuckled. "I also caught them constantly looking at each other across the room, without the other knowing. Also, Jellal always appeared to help Erza when she needed it, and vice versa. Basically, they were different around each other," Lucy shrugged, listing some of the things she'd noticed.

"Different how?"

"Well," Lucy said, thinking, "I guess they were more calm, and cautious? I don't know how to explain it. It was like they were magnets; when one moved, so did the other,"

"Did you like, stalk them or something?" Natsu asked, screwing his face up.

"Of course not!"

"Well, how do you know so much, then?"

"It's called opening your eyes and looking around you from time to time," Lucy told him. "There are always signs, you just need to be open to seeing them,"

"What are you two talking about so seriously?" Levy asked slyly.

Lucy glared, but Natsu answered before her.

"Lucy was telling me about noticing signs," he said. "Did all of you notice the signs too?" he demanded suddenly.

"Which signs are you talking about?" Levy asked, eyes lighting up.

"Erza and Jellal," Lucy quickly cut in.

"You didn't notice them, Natsu?" Mirajane asked. Natsu shook his head.

"You're even more stupid than I thought, flame brain," Gray laughed, pointing.

"You wanna go?" Natsu growled.

"Natsu," Lucy said sternly, reminding him of his promise.

"But Luce, he started it," he whined.

"I don't care!"

Levy cleared her throat. "So, are you gonna tell us why you were talking about Jellal and Erza? Any new gossip Lu-chan?" she asked.

"We just caught them making out," Natsu told her.

He was met with silence.

"Seriously?!" yelled Mirajane, Levy, Bisca, Cana and Lisanna all at once.

Natsu shrank back in his chair, scared of the five girls leaning towards him.

"Yes," came Erza's voice. She had just arrived, still holding Jellal's hand.

Mira looked like she was about to faint.

"Erza! I'm so happy for you!" Lisanna called to her.

The rest of dinner was filled with 'congratulations' and questions about how it happened. Lucy sat back smiling, happy for her friend. She noticed the looks that passed between Gray and Juvia. Lucy was determined to show them that the girls wouldn't ruin their relationship. Maybe if Gray saw that Jellal and Erza could handle it, they could too.

Lucy also noticed that Natsu didn't say a word during dinner. He seemed to be thinking really hard about something. Lucy sighed. He honestly seemed upset that he couldn't see the signs.

Maybe from now on, he won't be so dense.

By the end of the week, Lucy had lost her hope that Natsu would no longer be so dense.

For the next two days, he tried to point out possible couples, but he was way off.

"Look, Luce! Lisanna blushed at Elfman! Do they like each other?"

"Natus," Lucy face palmed. "They are brother and sister!" she cried, shaking him. "You know that!"

"Oh, yeah," he mumbled.

He soon gave up on the endeavour. Lucy wasn't really all that surprised.

It was Saturday afternoon, and the group was in the main common room. The guys were having an 'epic tournament' on the Xbox, while the girls tried to study. Since the game was only a two-player, most of the time the guys were sitting around, yelling at the screen.

Lucy tried to coax Natsu into studying when it wasn't his turn. That's what Jellal and Alzack were doing.

"Come on, Natsu," Lucy said. "We have a Chemistry test on Monday, and you won't have much time to study tomorrow," she reminded him.

"But luuce," Natsu whined. "It's so boring!"

"I know, but it needs to be done!" she cried, pulling on his arm.

"Fine!" he eventually cried, sick of Lucy's nagging. His eyes continuously strayed to the TV, however.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled, snapping his attention back to his textbook. "If it's too distracting, we can go to the library," she warned.

"It's not distracting!" Natsu cried. He got stuck into the questions then. Fifteen minutes later, it was his turn. He practically flew out of his seat.

"Wow, Lucy, I've never seen him study before," Bisca said.

"Neither has Juvia," the bluenette added.

"Well, it's an important year. If he wants to get into a good college, he's gonna have to study," Lucy replied.

"But for you to so easily convince him to leave the game," Mirajane mused. "I don't think he would have for anyone else,"

"Not this again," Lucy groaned.

"Aren't you going with him to meet his sister tomorrow?" Cana asked.

"So?"

"So, that's practically like him taking you to meet his parents!" Bisca told her.

"No it's not!" Lucy cried. "I've already met his sister before, and I want to see her again!" Lucy reminded them.

"It's still a big deal, Lucy," Mirajane said. "He's never taken anyone with him before,"

"Mira, we're best friends!" Lucy cried. "We get along well, and yes, we're close, and yes, we like each other a lot – but only as friends," Lucy tried to explain. "There's nothing more than friendship there,"

"But–"

"No buts!" Lucy screeched. "We. Are. Just. Friends! End of discussion!" Lucy gathered all her books.

"Where are you going Lu-chan?" Levy asked, frowning.

"To the library, where I can study in peace," she stated, before storming out.

The next morning, Lucy met Natsu after breakfast like they had planned, then he led her over to the middle school.

"Lucy-san!" Wendy cried, jumping on the blonde. "It's so good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you, too, Wendy," Lucy smiled, hugging the girl back.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Natsu grumbled, walking towards the front gates.

The three of them spent the morning walking around the markets in town, where Lucy bought Wendy a small bracelet that said Friends Forever. Wendy was crying tears of joy, which scared Natsu at first. For lunch, Natsu and Lucy had packed a picnic and the three of them sat under the cherry blossom trees in the park to eat. They went to the small theatre to watch the latest chick flick in the afternoon, much to Natsu disgust.

"I don't get how you can watch those movies," Natsu grumbled as they walked out. "They're so boring,"

"You just wouldn't understand," Lucy told him. "That was a beautiful story, and there were funny bits too!"

"What, like when the guy fell face-first into the cake?" Natsu asked. "Because that's just a waste of cake,"

Lucy sighed.

"All you watch are fighting movies, Natsu-nii," Wendy cried. "Those are boring! They have no storyline!"

"They don't need a storyline when they have that much action!" Natsu argued.

"Guys?" Lucy held up her hands between them before the fight could really get started. "Why don't we just pick where we're going for dinner?" she suggested.

Natsu calmed down immediately at the thought of food.

The siblings led a laughing Lucy to their favourite restaurant at the edge of town. Wendy had already made reservations for them, since Natsu always forgot, and the waiter led them to a table outside overlooking the river.

"It's so beautiful!" Lucy cried. The sun was setting, and the sky was filled with pinks and oranges.

"This is our table," Wendy told her. "We always sit here, and the staff here have learnt to always keep it free on Sundays,"

"That's so sweet," Lucy smiled. "I think it's really great that you two spend every Sunday together," she added.

"Yeah, well I wanna know if I need to hurt anyone for picking on Wendy," Natsu muttered. "It's not like I miss her or anything,"

"Yeah, it's not like we get along," Wendy added.

Lucy giggled at the two looking away from each other.

Just then, Wendy's phone went off. She'd been getting messages all day, and Lucy hadn't missed her smile at every one.

It was an order-at-the-bar restaurant, and Natsu offered to go order their meals. As soon as he was gone, Lucy pounced.

"So, who are you texting?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked. It was that moment that her phone beeped again. Wendy blushed.

"That!" Lucy cried. "Don't think I haven't noticed you texting and smiling all day!" Lucy wagged her finger at her, winking.

"I-it's nothing!" Wendy cried, going red.

"Come on, what's his name?" Lucy asked. "I promise I won't tell Natsu,"

"Really?" Wendy asked.

"Yup," Lucy nodded, miming zipping her lips shut.

"Well, he's in my class," Wendy started. "His name is Romeo, and he's really sweet. He's my best friend, but I – I kind of want him to be more. I think he likes me, too, but I'm not sure," Wendy admitted, bright red.

"Aw, Wendy!" Lucy cried. "I'm sure he likes you too! How could he not? Why don't you confess to him, and see what he says? If he's you're friend, I'm sure he'll be able to accept your feelings and give you an honest answer," she smiled.

"But what if he doesn't like me and I ruin our friendship?" Wendy asked. "I'd rather not tell him than lose him as a friend,"

"I guess it's hard to tell," Lucy agreed. "But I don't want you to be unhappy, keeping these feelings to yourself, and I think he would rather you be honest as well," Lucy told her.

Wendy sighed, looking at her hands.

"Tell you what," Lucy said. "Why don't you bring him to the game next week? It's the first game of the season, and you can just tell him that you want to see your brother play – and me cheer of course – and then I can keep an eye out for you, then you can introduce me to him, and I'll tell you what I think you should do?"

"Really? You would do that for me?" Wendy asked, eyes bright.

"Of course!" she cried. "What are friends for?"

"Thank you so much, Lucy-san!" Wendy cried, hugging the blonde.

"What did I miss?" Natsu asked, returning to his seat.

"Nothing, just girl talk," Lucy told him smoothly, winking at Wendy.

Natsu looked at them both as if they were aliens.

A/N: ahhh I love Wendy! She's just so cute! I squealed like a fangirl when I realised that Romeo was now Wendy's age - it's just so perfect!

There weren't a lot of Nalu moments this chapter, but don't worry! There's plenty more to come! ;)