A/N: Sorry guys, I was having major writers block :(
thegreaterza thank you so much! I'm planning on writing a sort of sequel to this haha it's hard to explain, but its like a continuation of this, but you don't necessarily need to read this first haha but I'll let you know more about that later ;)
Nalu4Ever you will find out this chapter ;)
Flaminmokingjay oh wow! Thank you, that made me smile :) how cool would that be though?! :D
GoldneRoseTanya I know exactly how you feel!
XxSnowDragonXx thank you! :D I was actually really happy with that scene, and I'm glad to hear you like it :D
skribble-scrabble wow. I never thought that my story would be one where you read until the early hours of the morning! haha thank you so much! :) and don't worry, I'm a sucker for happy endings ;)
and finally, ShadowMaster2013 - you are incredible! Thank you for all those reviews! There's so many! haha I really appreciate that you took so much of your time to not only read, but review every chapter :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail!
Enjoy!
Chapter 22
Lucy woke up early the next morning, planning to skip breakfast and see Levy. She had slept better than she thought, and she knew that was because of Natsu's scarf.
Once she was dressed – still wearing the scarf – she headed downstairs and was surprised to see Natsu waiting there, three hash browns in his hand.
"Here," he said, handing her the hash browns. "Eat these,"
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I know you, Luce," he rolled his eyes. "You think I wouldn't know that you wanted to skip breakfast – which isn't good by the way – to see Levy?"
"You skip breakfast all the time," she reminded him. "And how did you get up so early?"
"I set a lot of alarms," he told her. "They woke Gray up and he poured water on my head," he added, and Lucy chuckled.
"Oh, here," she said taking off his scarf. He put his hand on hers, stopping her.
"You keep for a while," he told her. "At least until Levy's better,"
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"I'm sure," he smiled, taking her hand and leading her to the nurse's office.
When they got there, not much had changed; Levy was still asleep and Gajeel was still sitting near the window, watching her.
"She woke up at four," he told Lucy. "Only stayed awake long enough to take painkillers though,"
"Thank you," Lucy smiled. "For staying with her,"
"Whatever," he grunted. "If you're here, I'm gonna go get some breakfast," he announced, standing up.
He looked over at the sleeping girl for a moment before walking out.
"So, why did you want him to stay?" Natsu asked. "I didn't think they were friends,"
"Didn't you see them at the dance together?" Lucy asked.
"Levy and Gajeel went together?!"
"Yes," Lucy chuckled. "He's just too stubborn to admit that he likes her. I was doing them both a favour,"
"Wow," Natsu said, trying to comprehend it. "I didn't know my cousin was into bookworms," he said, more to himself.
"He's your cousin?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah," Natsu replied. "Did I not tell you that?"
"No,"
"Oh," he replied. "My bad," he grinned.
Lucy sighed before punching him lightly in the arm. "Idiot,"
"Your idiot," he corrected, grabbing her hand and pulling her onto his lap.
Lucy sighed, imagining what Levy would say if she woke up to see them like that.
"That scarf looks good on you, Luce," Natsu commented, nuzzling into her neck.
"It looks better on you," she told him.
"I'm not sure about that," he argued.
Just then, Gajeel came back. When he saw the couple he scoffed before sitting back in his seat.
"That was quick," Lucy commented slyly. Gajeel didn't respond.
Natsu looked at his watch. "We should probably go, Luce," he said. "You don't wanna be late,"
Lucy turned to stare at him. "Who are you and what have you done with my Natsu?" she demanded.
He laughed, rolling his eyes. "I don't care about being late, but I know you do," he said. "Wouldn't want you to ruin your perfect streak,"
Lucy whacked his arm lightly before getting up and grabbing her bag.
"Are you coming?" she asked Gajeel.
"In a minute," he said. "I don't wanna walk with you lovebirds,"
"Okay," Lucy chuckled as Natsu walked her out.
Lucy went to see Levy again at lunch – Natsu went to get them both some food and was meeting her there.
"Lu-chan!" Levy cried as the blonde walked in.
"Levy-chan! I was so worried!" she cried, running to the girl and hugging her. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm still a little sore," she admitted. "But I'm okay,"
"What happened?" Lucy asked desperately. She needed to know who was responsible.
"Sting and Laxus," Levy said, confirming Lucy's suspicions. "They got me alone after practice, tried the usual pick-up lines – nothing I couldn't handle. Then they started to get into my head, saying how I didn't know my friends as well as I thought, stuff like that,"
Lucy immediately thought of Natsu, and what they heard learned about him. She growled under breath.
"So, I started arguing back, telling them I didn't believe them," she continued. "They wouldn't let me past, so I tried to f-fight them,"
"Oh, Levy-chan,"
"They don't like it when you fight back," she said simply. She was silent for a moment. "I woke up last night, and at first I was scared, but then Gajeel was there. He gave me painkillers and told me to sleep,"
"You know he's hardly left your side," Lucy told her, watching the bookworms eyes widened. "He's the one who found you and carried you here. He was so worried, he almost got into a fight with Natsu for practically dragging me here,"
"Really?" Levy asked, cheeks turning pink.
"Yep," Lucy grinned. "I'm surprised he's not here now," she added.
Just then, Natsu walked in.
"Levy! You're awake!" he called, grinning.
"Hey, Natsu!" she smiled at him.
"So?" he asked, handing Lucy a sandwich.
"Sting and Laxus, like we thought," Lucy said darkly. "Just you wait until I see those guys," she growled.
"Lucy, don't do something stupid like fight them," Natsu said. "We don't want you in here too,"
"Well that's what you're gonna do," she huffed.
"I probably won't alone – I'm sure Gajeel will join in," he said, not noticing Levy's blush.
"Speak of the devil," Lucy called, seeing the studded teen walk in.
"You're awake, shrimp," he said, nodding to Levy.
"Y-yeah," she stammered.
"How ya feeling?"
"Okay," she shrugged.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Lucy suddenly exclaimed, standing up. "Natsu and I have a test next period that we really need to cram for. You guys will be alright, right? Great. I'll see you later then, Levy-chan! Get well soon!"
The blonde spoke quickly as she pushed her confused boyfriend out the door.
Levy sweat dropped, watching her blonde best friend. She knew they both had a free period next.
"So, think we can take a break from studying Friday night?" Natsu asked as he and Lucy walked across campus, hand-in-hand. "We can do dinner and a movie in town?"
"That sounds good," Lucy smiled. "But we have to study extra hard on Saturday," she added, winking.
"Why do we have to study so much?" Natsu mumbled, half to himself.
Lucy just laughed. She'd answered that question many times before.
There was a rustling noise coming from the bush next to Lucy, and she turned to it curiously. She stopped, leaning in to get a better look.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, looking at her weirdly.
"I thought I – ahh!" Lucy screamed and jumped back into Natsu as something shot out of the bush.
Sitting in front of the couple, looking up at them curiously was a blue cat.
"It's so cute!" Lucy squealed, carefully picking it up.
"I've never seen a blue cat before," Natsu said, scratching it behind the ear.
"Do you think he belongs to anyone?" Lucy asked. "He doesn't have a collar,"
"I think we would have heard about it if someone owned a blue cat,"
"That's true," Lucy nodded, smiling at the cat. "What should we do with him?"
"Let's keep him!" Natsu cried, grinning.
"And how are we gonna do that?" Lucy sighed.
"I'll keep him in my room," Natsu said. "No one will know but Gray, and he won't go blabbing if you ask him,"
"Won't Scorpio notice?" Lucy asked. "Doesn't he do weekly rounds like Aries?"
"Nah, he's hardly ever around," Natsu told her. "He doesn't care what we do, so long as he doesn't have to hear about it,"
"Well, how about this," Lucy said. "You keep him there – for now – and we'll call Grandine, see if she can come down one day to pick him up and look after him during the term. There's no way he could survive long in your room,"
Natsu frowned. "I guess so," he mumbled. "But I'm telling Mum to take her time!"
"Okay," Lucy smiled. "Now what are we gonna name him?"
"I know!" Natsu cried. "Happy!"
"Why 'Happy'?"
"Dunno, he looks happy," he shrugged.
"He kinda does, doesn't he?" Lucy smiled. "Alright. Happy," she grinned.
The two turned and headed for Natsu's dorm, Happy still in Lucy's arms.
Lucy and Natsu spent the next few hours in his dorm with Happy. They had been on their way to the library to study, so Lucy made sure they did some while still playing with the cat.
Happy had just fallen asleep on Lucy's lap when Gray walked in.
Gray sighed when he saw Lucy. "Just stay away from my side," he told them.
"We're just studying!" Lucy cried, turning red.
"What is that?" Gray demanded, finally seeing Happy.
"Promise you won't tell!" Lucy cried. "This is Happy, and he needs to stay here for a while, until Grandine can come get him," she explained, patting his back softly.
"What's in it for me?" Gray demanded. "I don't want to share a dorm with a cat, I'm already sharing with that animal!" he pointed to Natsu, who protested loudly.
"Please, Gray?" Lucy's eyes went round. "We'll do anything – what do you want?"
Gray paused, thinking hard. He had to use this to his advantage. "I'll get back to you," he eventually replied.
He grabbed his books from his desk and left the room without another word.
"I'm gonna go see Levy," Lucy announced after a while.
"I'll come too," Natsu said, throwing his books to the side.
"Was that necessary?" Lucy sighed, making him pick the books up again.
She put the sleeping cat on the makeshift bed they had made him, and they both left the room quietly.
As expected, Gajeel was there with Levy. It looked like she was getting ready to leave.
"Lu-chan!" she cried, looking up. "You guys are just in time – five more minutes and I would have been gone," she smiled.
"Sorry we couldn't come sooner," the blonde apologised. "But I figured you had company. How are you feeling?" she asked, ignoring the two blushing teens.
"I-I'm fine," Levy replied, not looking anywhere near Gajeel, who was also looking away. "I feel much better,"
"That's good," Lucy smiled.
"Ooh, Natsu-kun!"
They all froze. Nurse Bob had just appeared.
"Have you hurt yourself again?" he asked, grabbing Natsu's arm. "Here, let me look at you,"
"Get off me!" Natsu cried, pulling his arm away and running behind Lucy. "Save me, Luce!" he whimpered.
"Natsu isn't hurt, Nurse Bob – we're just here to see Levy," Lucy explained. "So there's no need to touch my boyfriend,"
"Boyfriend?" Bob asked incredulously. "Oh," he suddenly looked depressed as he walked away.
"Thank you!" Natsu sang, hugging Lucy's waist from behind and kissing her on the cheek. Lucy giggled.
"Levy, do you need a hand with anything?" Lucy asked.
"Well, I might need help with my books," she said. "I don't have a bag,"
Everyone looked to the large stack of books beside the bed. Levy had asked Lucy to bring homework for her, and everyone who had visited brought her reading material. She'd finished the homework and the ten novels already.
Gajeel grunted and lifted all the books. "Got 'em,"
"T-thank you," Levy said, smiling.
The four of them walked out and headed for the girls dormitory.
"You really are a kind person, Gajeel," Lucy told him as they walked.
"No I'm not," he mumbled, turning away.
"Yeah, Luce, he's really not," Natsu said.
"Natsu, be quiet," Lucy whispered to him.
"Yes, you are," Levy suddenly said, quietly.
Three pairs of eyes turned to her incredulously.
"You are a kind person, Gajeel," she said, not looking up. "You've been nothing but kind to me, and you barely know me, so don't put yourself down like that," she finally looked up.
"O-okay," he eventually replied, shocked.
Lucy was smiling knowingly behind them, hand over Natsu's mouth.
A/N: So, what do you think? I think it's time for Sting and Laxus to get beaten to a pulp!
Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed so far, it really means a lot to me :)
And thank you for taking the time to read my work! I've always been like Lucy, never showing anyone my stories, so it's good to know that people actually like to read what I write :)
Much love xx