A/N: I'm so sorry I didn't update yesterday! I wasn't home at all :( so so so so so sorry! :(

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews you guys gave me! It means a lot and I couldn't help but smile when I read them :3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Enjoy!

Chapter 15

Lucy was only a little embarrassed when she woke up a few hours later in Natsu's arms. He had helped her a lot, and she felt much better.

Sure, she was still hurt and disappointed, but she was able to move past that now. She could go out and be her cheerful self again.

It was almost time for dinner, so after making sure that Lucy was alright, Natsu left for his dorm to get ready. Lucy sighed as she had a quick shower before getting dressed.

Half an hour later, she met Natsu in the courtyard, and the two walked into town together.

"Lucy-nee!" Wendy cried, jumping on the girl when they walked into the restaurant. It was the same one they went to every Sunday. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lucy smiled. "Don't worry about me,"

She looked up and smiled at the red-haired man and blue-haired woman sitting at the table.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Lucy," the woman smiled kindly.

"You too, Mr. and Mrs. Dragneel," Lucy smiled back. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding,"

"Not at all!" Mr. Dragneel cried. "And please, call me Igneel, and this is Grandine,"

"Thank you," Lucy smiled. "I apologise for my father's outburst, and for taking your son from you this afternoon,"

"Don't worry about that, sweetie," Grandine smiled. "As long as you're okay now?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Lucy replied. "Natsu was very helpful,"

Igneel burst into laughter. "My Natsu? Helpful?" he pointed to his son. "That Natsu right there?"

"Hey!" Natsu cried, scowling at his father.

"I know, it's hard to believe," Lucy agreed. Natsu turned to her, shocked and betrayed.

Igneel was still roaring with laughter, and Wendy was giggling to herself. Natsu kept scowling at his father.

"Uh, shall we order now?" Grandine asked, immediately getting the boys attention.

Lucy smiled. Natsu was exactly like his father.

Lucy had a wonderful time at dinner.

The Dragneels were the sweetest people, and accepted Lucy straight away. They asked her questions about herself and seemed honestly interested. There was never a pause in conversation, and Lucy felt like she'd known them her whole life. She found herself laughing and smiling the whole time. It was hard to believe that only a few hours earlier she was a crumpled heap on the floor, bawling her eyes out.

What an emotionally exhausting day.

The school organised activities for the parents and students over the weekend, and most parents stayed – although not all. Igneel and Grandine were staying in a hotel in town, and Wendy wanted to stay with them that night.

After dinner and a walk along the river, they said goodnight and Natsu and Lucy headed back to campus.

"If you wanna stay with your parents too, that's fine," Lucy said.

"Of course not!" Natsu replied. "That old man snores really loud, and you saw how much Mum fusses over us – I'd never get any sleep,"

Lucy laughed. He had a point.

They walked in silence through the town. Most places were closed, so only the streetlamps provided light. When they could see the school again, Lucy spoke.

"Thank you," she said. "For everything. You have no idea how much you've helped me,"

"Well, I promised your mum didn't I?" he told her. "I just wish I could do more,"

"What more could you do?" Lucy asked, surprised. "You've done more than enough, more than anyone's ever done for me before. So thank you, and don't worry about it,"

"But you're still sad,"

"A little," she admitted. "But, I guess I'm always a little sad. I'll always have that, until I can learn to stop putting faith in my father. Nobody can do anything about that little sadness but me,"

"I'll keep trying," Natsu told her.

"You don't have to," she frowned.

"Yes, I do," he said. "You're my best friend – when you're happy, I'm happy, when you're angry, I'm angry, when you're sad, I'm sad. That's what best friends do – they share everything,"

"You're right," Lucy smiled. "So I'll keep trying, too."

The next morning, Lucy was woken by an excited Levy.

"Levy-chan?" she asked sleepily.

"Lu-chan! Wake up!" she cried, grinning as she shook the blonde.

"What's wrong?"

"Will you play volleyball with me?" she asked, eyes shining.

"Volleyball?"

"Yeah! It's one of the games today, and you need teams of four," Levy explained. "There's only me and my parents, so we need an extra person. Plus, my parents want to meet you anyway,"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Levy cried, pulling Lucy out of bed. "Besides, with you on our team, we'll have an even better chance at winning!"

"O-okay then," Lucy sweat dropped.

"Yay!"

The bluenette hurried over to Lucy's wardrobe, pulling out her black short shorts and orange tank top.

"Our team colour is orange," she explained. "Now hurry up and get dressed! We need to get down there!"

Once Lucy had gotten dressed, Levy dragged her to the beach volleyball pitch that the school had set up.

Lucy was introduced to the McGardens – two lovely people, that were exactly like Levy – as she signed up. She was starting to wake up now, and was getting excited. She'd always loved volleyball, but it had clashed with cheerleading.

Lucy was grinning at Levy as they took the field. Her grin dropped when she looked up at their opponents, however.

"Natsu?" she gasped. She was facing the four Dragneels.

If they were all like Natsu – and she very much believed that they were – then they were in trouble.

"I'm not gonna go easy on you Luce!" Natsu called to her.

"Good!" she called back confidently. "Me neither!"

Even though she was shaking on the inside, she wouldn't let him see that.

The Dragneels were fascinating to watch. They were so in sync with each other, always knowing where the others were and what they were doing. They were a strong and determined bunch, each of their moves flowing effortlessly to the next. Lucy would have loved to sit there and admire them, but she had a game to win.

Lucy had to admit that she was pleasantly surprised by Levy's parents. Even though they were small like Levy, and seemed like the nerdy type, they were strong, fast and ready for anything the Dragneels threw at them. Levy was quite good as well; because of her small body, she was able to move fast, flying through the air for the ball.

It made Lucy even more determined to win.

The scores were even from the start. When one team scored, the other scored the next point. It was about fifteen minutes into the game when Natsu jumped up, ready to spike the ball. Lucy jumped from the other side, in an attempt to block it.

That was when Natsu accidently pushed the ball into Lucy's face.

"Oh, shit," he murmured. "Luce? Are you okay?" he called to her.

She stood there silently, head down as everyone watched in silence.

"Luce? I'm really sorry – i-it was an accident," Natsu tried again.

The blonde had a dark aura around her as she slowly lifted her head.

"Natsu," she growled dangerously.

"Uh, oh," Natsu said, backing up. "It's Demon Lucy! We're in for it now!" he called.

Sure enough, when the game resumed Lucy played harder and faster than before, scoring three points in a row.

"This is all your fault!" Igneel screamed at his son as Lucy scored another point.

"I didn't mean to!" Natsu whimpered. He just hoped that she got all her anger out in the game.

In the end, Team McGarden won by two points.

"Yay, Lu-chan!" Levy cried. "I never thought I would appreciate seeing Demon Lucy!" she chuckled.

"I'm really sorry if I was too rough," Lucy said to Grandine as the teams shook hands.

"Not at all!" she replied, smiling. "It was just a bit of fun,"

Lucy looked up to see Natsu and Igneel kneeling on the ground.

"Igneel! Natsu! Come shake hands," Grandine called to them. "Don't get so upset – it's just a game,"

"Good game," Igneel reluctantly mumbled, shaking hands with the four of them.

Natsu was too scared to get close to Lucy. He shook the McGardens hands first, before slowly approaching the blonde.

"I –I'm really sorry, Luce," he said slowly, holding his shaking hand out.

Lucy glared at him, having a little fun. He shrieked and jumped back, making Lucy laugh.

"I'm not mad anymore," she told him. She grabbed his hand and shook it. "Just be careful next time, okay?"

He nodded vigorously.

Levy and her parents went to play mini golf after that, and the Dragneels abducted Lucy so that they could play basketball.

Mr. and Mrs. Strauss had the same silver hair and blue eyes as their children did. The family looked like they had just stepped out of a movie as they stood there, waiting for their next opponents. So far, they had played three games and were undefeated.

"Grandine! It's so nice to see you again," Mrs. Strauss called. "We must have a proper catch up this week sometime," she smiled warmly.

"Of course," Grandine smiled back.

That's when Lucy remembered that they were old family friends. This was going to be interesting. She wondered if they'd played against each other before. This is why they were so desperate to play.

"Wendy, Lucy," Grandine whispered as the five huddled. "Just remember that those girls aren't as innocent as they seem,"

"Oh, I know," Lucy mumbled dryly.

"They will use any trick – don't fall for them!" she told them. "Pretend you're Natsu – keep your head in the game, and don't worry about anything else. Block it all out,"

"Should I be offended?" Natsu asked his father, who shrugged.

"Okay, let's go!" Grandine called.

The two fathers did the jump, and Igneel hit the ball to Grandine who immediately tore down the court, scoring the first two points. Lisanna quickly scored two points for their team.

"So, you really are part of the family now, huh Lucy?" Mirajane asked sweetly.

Just ignore her, she's trying to get into your head and mess you up, Lucy thought, gritting her teeth.

"Now that you've met the parents, it won't be long until he proposes," she continued.

Lucy's eyes widened. She quickly brushed it off, ignoring her friend as she tried to get around her.

Unfortunately for her, Mirajane's plan backfired.

"Then there's gonna be little Lucy's and Natsu's running around – how adorable will they be?!" she cried, getting carried away in her little fantasy.

Lucy quickly dodged around her, heading for the ring. Natsu faked a shot, passing her the ball. Lucy scored a three-pointer.

"Yes!" Natsu yelled, running over to give Lucy a high-five.

"Nice pass," she winked before turning her attention back into the game. Mirajane was more focused after that.

Halfway through, Wendy and Lucy switched players, so that Wendy was on Mirajane, and Lucy was on Lisanna. Lucy thought Grandine's plan was that Mira would be distracted by Wendy's cuteness, but she wasn't sure it would work after the silver haired girl's mess up earlier.

Either way, Lucy didn't mind. Lisanna wasn't one of her major teasers, so she didn't think she would try to psych Lucy out like her sister did.

In the end, the change didn't make much difference. The game resumed as it had in the first half. The Dragneels were ahead by a few points, but that could easily change.

As they were running down the court side-by-side, Lucy didn't notice that Lisanna was slowly edging closer. Her foot landed in front of Lucy, but the blonde was so focused on the game that she didn't notice until she tripped and went flying, skidding across the court.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Lisanna cried, crouching next to her. "I'm so sorry!"

It was only at the sound of Lisanna's voice that everyone else noticed them.

"It's not your fault," Lucy assured her. "I'm just clumsy."

"Luce!" Natsu was suddenly beside her. "Are you alright? Can you get up?"

"I'm fine," Lucy assured him, moving to get up. She winced halfway up and sank back down. "Or not," she decided, holding her ankle.

"Natsu, help me," Lisanna said, draping Lucy's arm over her shoulder. Natsu quickly did the same on the other side, and they helped Lucy to her feet.

Natsu's arm was tight around her waist as she hopped off the court.

"We need to take you to the nurse," he said, looking at the grazes she had all over her body.

"Lucky Nurse Virgo is on duty today," Lisanna said.

"You need to stay here and rest for a while," Virgo told Lucy once she'd finished bandaging her up. "I'll be back to check on you shortly, and your friends had better be gone by then,"

"Thanks," Lucy said weakly.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy," Lisanna said again, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, it's not your fault – it was just an accident," Lucy told her friend. "I should have been paying more attention,"

Lisanna hugged her friend carefully.

"I'll be out of here in no time – you watch!" Lucy assured them.

"Okay, we should probably go then, before she gets back," Lisanna said.

"I'll see you later," Lucy smiled.

"Get some rest," Natsu told her. He hadn't said a word the entire time until then; he had just watched stonily.

"Promise,"

Natsu and Lisanna then left, just before Virgo got back.

After Virgo had silently checked her over, Lucy tried to sleep, but it was hard when she could hear Lisanna and Natsu's conversation in the hallway.

Natsu and Lisanna were walking down the hallway, away from the nurse's office. They were both too caught up in their own thoughts to even acknowledge the other.

That is, until Lisanna stopped.

"Natsu," she called quietly.

His hearing was good enough to hear her quiet voice, and he stopped to turn to her.

"I have something I need to tell you," she paused.

"What is it?" Natsu asked, cocking his head to the side. Lisanna was acting strange.

"I – I…" she stuttered. Natsu waited patiently.

She struggled for a moment with herself before blurting the words out.

"I like you!"

Natsu stood there for a moment.

"Well, considering we've been friends forever, I would hope so," he replied, confused.

Lisanna blinked at him. She'd always known he was dense, but she'd thought he would at least understand her confession.

"Natsu, you idiot!" she called, running past him. He saw the tears trailing behind her.

A/N: dun dun duuuuunnnnn! So what did you think?

Just so you know, I don't hate Lisanna. I think she's a sweet character, but I just don't like her with Natsu. They were childhood friends, and I think they're more like family, like brother and sister. I do get annoyed sometimes, because there are times when she seems to ship Nalu as well, and then suddenyl she switches - like with the whole wedding thing. I think the purpose of her coming back was to help Natsu and Lucy get together, and if that's the case then I'm grateful to her ;)

Anyways, please review! It really means a lot to me :)