I love the last line of this chapter so much, it's probably unhealthy.
It's strange that we're only on chapter 6 yet I feel like I started this fanfic ages ago.
I'm honestly still so surprised at how much everyone is liking this fanfic and it makes me so happy.
Thank you guys soso much for reading. :-)
There will be some drama next chapter, so look forward to that!
Enjoy this chapter~
"Lucy, wake up!" Natsu shouted, loudly knocking on her bedroom door.
Lucy listened to the knocks with her eyes closed, taking a deep breath. With how bright her eyelids were, it was definitely early in the morning.
When Natsu never took a break from knocking, Lucy forced herself out of her comfortable bed.
"What do you want, Natsu?" she whined at her door.
"You overslept," Natsu responded plainly.
Lucy's eyes widened when they landed on Natsu's school uniform.
"Again?!" she exclaimed, doing as she did several days ago—whirling around and slamming the door.
"Yep, again," he answered as she scrambled all across her room to put on her uniform.
Though her uniform was wrinkled, she snatched her schoolbag and flung open the door.
"Levy is going to kill me for being late. I better text her—"
She abruptly stopped walking after taking note of what time it was on her phone. She blinked a couple of times just to make sure.
"Natsu," Lucy spoke shortly, slowly lifting her head from her phone.
"Yes?" he asked, lazily shuffling to the couch and plopping down on it.
"It's Saturday!" she screamed.
"Really?" he raised his phone in the air to check the time. "Oh, you're right. I guess my eyes were playing tricks on me."
Lucy didn't need to see his face; she knew he was grinning from ear to ear.
"You're not getting any breakfast today," she stated through gritted teeth. She stomped back into her room, not paying a speck of attention to Natsu's protests.
"That'll show him," she huffed as she went back to wearing her pajamas and returning to bed.
Pulling the covers over her head to block out the light, she shut her eyes.
She couldn't tell if she had slept any but her heavy eyes told her otherwise. Lucy blinked several times and after counting to ten, she rose from her bed.
Creaking open her door, she exited the room. The apartment was awfully silent considering that it was nearly eleven in the morning.
Her stomach growled while walking to the bathroom. She knew she wanted something delicious to start off her first day of break right.
"I'm not going to wake him up," she told herself in her head after glancing at Natsu's sleeping body on the couch. She was still a bit upset with the prank he did.
Despite telling herself that, she found herself moving around louder than usual so he would hear. She knew he would be up all night if he slept in any longer.
"You sound like an elephant, Luce," he groaned, putting a hand over his eyes as if he was forcing his eyes toremain closed.
"Don't call me that," she narrowed her eyes at him from the kitchen.
"But elephants are awesome sometimes," he responded. He removed his hand from his eyes to stare up at the ceiling.
"That wasn't what I was referring to," she muttered, returning to making her breakfast.
When it was done, she placed her food on the table to begin eating.
"Where's my portion?" Natsu asked as he walked to the kitchen, his nose leading him.
"I told you, didn't I?" she smirked. "You're not getting any breakfast today."
"You were serious?" he inquired with large eyes.
"That's right," she nodded, purposely humming softly to herself as she ate.
"You're breaking our deal," he spoke as he realized.
"What are you talking about?" she raised an eyebrow.
"You can only use the bathroom as long as you make me breakfast every day," he stated.
"Then I won't use the bathroom today," she shrugged as she easily found a solution.
"Really?" he smirked.
"Really," she responded, accepting the challenge floating in between them.
"Okay," he replied with a quick nod.
"Okay," she returned the nod.
"Stop repeating what I'm saying," he said while entering the kitchen to find something to eat.
"Stop repeating what I'm saying," she retorted simply to push his buttons. She pressed her lips in a thin line to prevent a laugh from escaping.
"Two can play at this game, Luce," he told her as he gave her forehead a poke when walking past her to the living room.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" she countered.
"But I didn't call you an elephant," Natsu's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Lucy sighed, not bothering to reason with the boy. She couldn't tell if he was teasing her or not, and she didn't care enough to find out.
Being on break made the teenagers realize how much free time there was now. One hour felt like one year to them.
Natsu left sometime in the afternoon to hang out with Gray, leaving Lucy all by herself.
"Happy will tell me if you used the bathroom or not," Natsu warned before he left.
"I'm not going to use it," she rolled her eyes, realizing several minutes later that he wasn't joking when Happy's eyes began to follow her much more than usual.
Though she loved how relaxing her apartment was, she had been lying down so much her back began to ache. When she heard her phone ring, she felt like she was being saved from boredom.
"What's up, Levy-chan?" Lucy spoke into her phone, roaming around the apartment.
"My parents want me to make something tonight for dinner. Can you help me buy the ingredients?" Levy asked.
"Okay!" Lucy nodded eagerly, not noticing how desperate she actually was to get out of the apartment.
"Thanks, Lu-chan! Let's meet up at the store by your house!" Levy arranged.
"See you there," Lucy disconnected the call and spun around to rush into her room.
When she was dressed, she quickly slipped on her shoes and exited her apartment. The spring air had never felt so fresh before.
As she stepped down the stairs, she was met with Natsu hiking up them.
"Where are you going?" Natsu inquired as their steps slowed down in the middle of the metal staircase.
"I'm going to help Levy-chan buy some things at the store. I'll be back in time to make dinner," she assured.
Natsu's eyes lit up after Lucy mentioned making dinner.
"See you soon then," he returned going up the stairs.
Walking to the store to meet Levy, Lucy looked up at the sky. The clouds floating across the sky seemed to get darker and darker with each step she took.
It was rare for it to rain in the spring, so she dismissed all her thoughts of any rainfall.
"Hi, Lu-chan!" Levy greeted with a grin as she stood at the front of the store.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," Lucy admitted with a smile as she gave her best friend a short hug.
"I felt the same way," Levy agreed sheepishly.
"What are you making for your parents?" Lucy asked once they entered the store.
"Here's the list," Levy showed her a small piece of paper with scribbled handwriting.
Lucy's eyes widened when they landed on all the ingredients they needed.
"O-Okay," she stammered, contemplating on which aisle to start on first. "Let's start."
After at least an hour, the girls had at last found all the ingredients. They were exhausted after scurrying throughout the entire store.
Yet when Levy had paid for the items, they were placed in a mere three plastic bags. It was hard to believe for the girls and the cashier.
"I'm so excited for dinner now!" Levy cheered, bouncing in her step as they walked to the exit of the store.
"Tell me if it's good or not—"
Lucy paused when they exited the store, gaping at the pouring rain that was silent when they were inside.
"This is the first time it has ever rained on spring break," she stated with disbelief.
"I don't have an umbrella!" Levy exclaimed with large eyes. "Lu-chan, what do we do?"
Lucy opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had absolutely no idea what to do.
"L-Let's just wait it out," she eventually suggested.
Both of the girls knew the rain wasn't letting up soon when there were two loud rumbles of thunder in less than a minute. It made them jump both times.
"Well, that didn't work," Levy pouted.
Lucy gave out a helpless sigh. She knew she could simply run home since her apartment wasn't too far away, but what about Levy?
"Yo. My boss told me to come out here and help you two. Do you need an umbrella or something?" a gruff voice asked behind the girls.
Lucy and Levy turned around to look at the owner of the voice; both of their breaths hitched.
"Is that a yes or no?" the man's crimson eyes narrowed at them when they were silent. The piercings that were scattered across his face moved with each of his blinks.
"Y-Yes! We don't have an umbrella," Levy stuttered.
"I don't need one," Lucy waved her hands in the air. "I'll only get a little wet if I run home."
"So it's just you?" the intimidating man directed his attention to Levy.
"Yes," Levy nodded quickly.
"Okay, let's go," he nodded his head to the side while opening up his umbrella.
"I'll talk to you later then, Lu-chan," Levy said with a wave, though her eyes were large with alarm.
"Enjoy your dinner," Lucy replied with her own wave as she watched her small best friend stand beside the large man.
"What's your name?" Levy asked, looking up at him since her tied up hair hardly reached his shoulder.
"Gajeel," he responded shortly.
"I'm Levy," was the last thing Lucy was able to hear.
She watched as the two walked away from her. She found their extreme height differences incredibly amusing.
"There's no way she doesn't like him," Lucy giggled to herself, knowing that was the same man who Levy complimented when she first came to the store. Lucy could hear Levy's pounding heart from where she was standing.
Even though Gajeel looked terrifying because of his plethora amount of piercings, Lucy knew Levy would be safe. She didn't know where the feeling came from, but she was certain he meant no harm.
Lucy jumped once again when another thunder sounded throughout the sky.
"Well, here goes," she prepared herself with several deep breaths. She had already calculated how long it would take her to sprint home.
She stared at the ground as she took one step out of the store that covered her, but she was instantly pushed back by two warm hands.
"Were you seriously going to run home with all this rain?" Natsu asked incredulously.
"What are you doing here?" Lucy's eyes widened in surprise.
"I'm saving you, of course," he responded, shaking the umbrella above him for emphasis.
"I would have been fine if I ran home," she muttered when she reluctantly joined him under the umbrella.
"Do you want to try running home without an umbrella then?" he smirked.
She had no time to reply when Natsu shifted the umbrella away from her, causing her to feel freezing raindrops splash across her arm.
"That's cold!" she exclaimed, shifting the umbrella back to cover her.
"You're standing too far away," he stated while reaching over her shoulder and moving her closer to him.
Lucy was about to protest that she was fine, but the loud thunder interrupted her.
"Sorry," she squeaked.
"Are you afraid of thunder?" Natsu looked at her with amusement.
"Of course not!" she scoffed. "Thunder doesn't scare me at all—"
"What were you saying?" he smirked once again when there was another boom, causing her to jump again.
"So what if I'm afraid of thunder?" she mumbled, gaining a chuckle from him.
Lucy felt slightly uncomfortable when her shoulder brushed against Natsu's arm several times, but she decided not to say anything. She didn't want to make it any more awkward.
She was grateful when they reached their apartment. Though it was difficult to go up the stairs simultaneously, the two teenagers managed to reach the door.
"Go take a shower before you get sick," Natsu ordered.
"I'm not allowed to use the bathroom, remember?" Lucy remarked.
Natsu froze as he thought about the situation; Lucy enjoyed looking at his conflicted expression.
"Fine," he groaned. "Use the bathroom."
"Okay," she replied shortly. After getting some dry clothes, she shuffled to the bathroom.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. I rarely get sick," Lucy spoke slyly before shutting the bathroom door behind her.
With a triumphant smile, she stepped in the shower.
Lucy was winning whatever game they had somehow created; she had no intention of losing.
Yet neither did Natsu.
"I'll help you with that," he offered once dinner was made.
"Oh, thanks," Lucy smiled as he moved the food to the table.
"Any time," he replied.
"Why are you being so nice?" she questioned, sitting down in her seat to begin eating.
"No reason," he shrugged as he began to drizzle his infamous hot sauce on his food.
"Weirdo," she scoffed.
She happily chewed her food but she immediately stopped.
"What did you do to my food?!" she shouted, nearly breathing out fire.
"I might have dropped some hot sauce in your food," he answered with a twinkle in his eye.
"Why would you do that?" she inquired breathlessly after chugging her water.
"Two can play at this game," he repeated what he said in the morning with a mischievous grin.
"You're so on," she said, her competitive side feeling stronger than ever.
"These two weeks are going to be great," he grinned.
"Wait," she paused, a thought floating into her mind. "I'm going to an aquarium tomorrow."
Natsu stopped with her as his eyes stared straight into Lucy's.
"W-What?" she asked after they were silent for a while.
"I'm going to the aquarium, too!" he exclaimed.
"You are?" she repeated with disbelief.
He nodded with another grin spreading across his lips.
"Let's have fun while we're there," he said, his eyes glinting with something Lucy couldn't see.
"Okay," she responded nervously.
Lucy thought these two weeks were going to be interesting, but now she was quite anxious to see how interesting.
Hopefully, just this once, everything would run smoothly. But in Lucy's perspective, smooth wasn't in Natsu's vocabulary.