Since the FT updates have been moved to Saturday (or at least I think they have) Mondays have been so lonely.
By the time Wednesday comes along, everyone has already heard about the new chapter! How depressing.
Chapters from here on will be soaked with dramadramadrama so look forward to that, everyone! I'm excited to write it all.
With each chapter I publish, this story grows more and more and I couldn't be happier. You guys are awesome and don't ever forget that.
That's all I have to say for now! I'd love if you dropped a review to tell me your thoughts on this chapter. ;]
Enjoy this chapter~
Lucy apprehensively bobbed her leg under her desk as she hastily wrote down her notes. When she was finished writing, she went straight to chewing on the tip of her pen.
She had been in school for a total of four hours and she had yet to hear Natsu talk about the change of plans to Gray.
"He didn't forget, did he?" Lucy thought to herself with worry.
"Are you okay?" Natsu mumbled to Lucy after taking note of her bouncing leg.
"Did you forget to tell Gray about today?" she whispered.
"What about me?" Gray inquired, hearing his name.
"Nothing," she shook her head in response and returned to her notes before she got into trouble.
"I'll tell you later," Natsu waved Gray off.
"Everyone have a good day," the teacher nodded to everyone before exiting.
"Finally!" Levy sighed, her arms stretching up to the ceiling. "I'm starving."
"I could hear your stomach the entire period," Gajeel muttered.
"No, you couldn't!" she exclaimed.
Lucy listened to the two pester each other with entertainment. It was only the second day of school, but Levy and Gajeel were slowly warming up to each other. It was always nice to see who made the first step to getting closer.
After scooting several desks together so everyone could eat together, Lucy happily took out her lunch.
"I'm excited to go to your apartment today, Lucy," Erza smiled.
"I brought the drinks again," Cana wriggled her eyebrows.
"Lisanna, why don't you come to Lucy's apartment?" Levy offered.
"Can I?" Lisanna's eyes widened.
"Of course!" Lucy assured with a nod.
It wasn't until Lisanna smiled when Lucy recalled something incredibly important. She immediately stopped chewing.
Lisanna had visited the apartment to pick up Natsu on the day everyone went to the aquarium.
Looking around to see if anybody noticed, Lucy resumed nibbling her food anxiously. She was absolutely clueless on what to do now. What was there she could do?
"I don't think I can stay long, though," Lisanna confessed. "I have to go work with my sister at the restaurant."
"You have a job?" Levy gasped.
"Only part-time," she explained. "I help out with the waitressing."
"Can we go to your job?" Cana asked.
"I want to go, too!" Levy agreed.
"I'm going to get so embarrassed if you come!" Lisanna pouted.
"If you have any, what kind of cakes are there at the restaurant?" Erza questioned.
"We're famous for our strawberry one," she replied.
"We're going," Erza stated immediately. "We're going as soon as we get out of school tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me," Cana shrugged.
"Great!" Levy clapped her hands.
"I'm excited now," Lucy smiled slightly, slowly recovering from her uneasiness.
"Wait, guys," Lisanna gave everyone a nervous glance.
"What?" Erza tilted her head, her eyes only thinking about the cake.
"I don't work tomorrow," Lisanna spoke.
And simultaneously, the girls' faces fell.
"I'm sorry!" Lisanna apologized.
"Can we go, anyway?" Levy nearly pleaded.
"Well, I don't see why not," she mused after a while.
"Then we're going," Erza announced again.
"Well, alright," Lisanna responded hesitantly.
"So it's settled," Lucy said.
"Yep," the rest of the girls nodded.
"What's settled?" Natsu inquired, joining the group.
"We're going to go to Lisanna's job tomorrow," Levy answered gleefully.
"Can we go, too?" Gray asked.
"Yeah, it sounds fun," Jellal chimed in.
"E-Everyone is going to go?!" Lisanna exclaimed, instantly becoming flustered.
"You won't be working, remember?" Lucy reminded.
Lisanna breathed out a sigh of relief as she remembered. Lucy giggled in response.
The bell that signaled the end of lunch began to ring. Though nobody wanted to, everyone placed the desk back to its rightful home.
"Did you tell him?" Lucy interrogated Natsu when they were back in their seats.
"Yeah, we're going to the arcade today," he replied.
"Good," she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders disappear.
"You worry too much," he chuckled, giving one of the legs of her desk a gentle nudge.
"There's nothing wrong with worrying," she huffed while sliding out one of her notebooks.
Since it was the first day of learning, it was as easy as it could get. Once the last bell of the day chimed, Lucy waited for her friends to get ready and leave with her.
"Lisanna, you're going with them?" Natsu raised an eyebrow before the girls left the classroom.
"I want to see Lucy's apartment," Lisanna proclaimed.
Lucy watched Natsu's eyes flicker with something she couldn't detect.
"It probably smells funny," he scoffed.
"You would know," Gray jabbed an elbow in Natsu's face. "See you all later then."
"Bye," the girls waved behind them, stepping out of the classroom.
Of course, Levy was extremely excited as they walked to Lucy's home.
But Lucy's heart pounded in her ears with each step she took. She had already accepted her fate of being found out due to Lisanna.
"Hey," Lisanna casted a look around her. "Doesn't Natsu live around here?"
"D-Does he?" Lucy stammered, trying not to stumble over her words. "I wouldn't know."
"But how would you know?" Cana inquired to Lisanna.
"That day we all went to the aquarium, Gray and I went to pick up Natsu at his home," Lisanna answered.
"How messy is Natsu's home on a scale of one to ten?" Erza asked.
"I didn't get to see it," Lisanna revealed. "By the time we reached the apartment buildings, Natsu was already outside."
Lisanna's response sounded like music to Lucy's ears. Lucy felt so utterly relieved she wanted to give Lisanna a hug. Everything should be alright now.
"Oh, these are the apartments Natsu lives in!" Lisanna pointed to the several complexes.
"So Natsu lives around here, too?" Levy examined the buildings.
"That's weird," Lucy stated, playing along with the conversation.
"I want to go to Natsu's apartment one day," Erza spoke. "I want to see how messy it is."
"It probably smells really bad," Cana sneered.
"I wouldn't doubt it," Lisanna giggled.
"You've known Natsu for a long time, haven't you?" Cana remarked.
"For a really long time," she nodded with a smile.
"How was Natsu as a kid?" Levy asked curiously.
Lucy listened in as Lisanna described Natsu as a child while she unlocked her front door.
"You two raised a cat together?" Lucy repeated incredulously when everyone had stepped inside.
"Yes, and his name was—"
Lisanna paused when her eyes fell on the blue cat roaming up to the girls.
"Happy?!" she blurted out, picking up the cat. "What are you doing here?!"
"How do you know Happy?" Lucy tilted her head.
"This is the cat!" she shouted with bewilderment. "Happy is the cat Natsu and I raised when we were younger!"
"So the cat that comes into Lucy's apartment is Natsu's?" Erza inquired.
"Happy comes in here?" Lisanna turned to Lucy with a puzzled expression.
"Every time I come home, Happy is always here," Lucy bluffed, her anxiety rapidly returning.
"Natsu must live pretty close then," Levy mentioned.
"Imagine if you were neighbors!" Cana cackled.
Lucy laughed at her ironic joke. It took all her strength to not reply, "You don't have to imagine that."
"Well, now I know where Happy comes from," she stated.
"We should follow Happy to find out where Natsu lives," Erza suggested.
"That's weird, Erza," Cana gave her a strange look. "Don't you want to know where Jellal lives first?"
Erza's eyes immediately began to shoot lasers at Cana. Cana didn't have to think twice about backing off after that.
"Well, I have to go now," Lisanna glanced at the clock after the girls had eaten a small snack.
"Already?" Levy whined. "But you only had a snack!"
"I'll eat a little at the restaurant," Lisanna guaranteed her concerned friend. She rose from her chair and began to walk to the door.
"Whoa, you have a lot of hot sauce here," she observed the bottles of hot sauce on the counter.
"What's the restaurant called, anyway?" Lucy directed her attention elsewhere while she walked Lisanna the rest of the way.
"Fairy Tail," she beamed.
"That's a nice name!" Levy called out from the table.
"Thanks," she grinned, stepping outside.
"Thanks for coming over," Lucy gave her a smile.
"Let me come and hang out with you guys again soon!" Lisanna waved.
"Anytime you want," Lucy replied. "See you tomorrow!"
She watched Lisanna go down the stairs as she closed the door. For now, she was entirely safe.
Strolling back to the table, she listened to the conversation her friends were having.
"There's no way you don't like Gajeel," Cana accused. "You look at him with every chance you get."
"I don't like him!" Levy complained, turning to Lucy. "Lu-chan, back me up here!"
"I'm not saying anything," Lucy shook her head.
"Because she knows I'm right," Cana smirked.
"H-How about Erza and Jellal?" Levy pointed at Erza.
"What about us?" Erza raised an eyebrow, an intimidating aura surrounding her.
"Never mind," Levy pouted in defeat.
Lucy giggled; they sure knew just how to tease each other.
After munching on some junk food and watching a bit of TV, the sky began to darken.
"I guess we should go now, huh?" Levy looked at the time on the wall. "It's getting late."
"Yeah, I need to go do some things," Cana pushed herself off the couch.
"Student council meetings are going to start soon," Erza said. "I should probably go plan some of the meetings."
"Of course, Erza has to do something school related," Cana scoffed.
"Always," Erza smiled proudly.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," Lucy responded to them.
"Thanks for letting us come over!" Levy waved as she started to leave, pausing to pet Happy behind the ears.
"See you tomorrow," Cana waved as well.
"Bye, Lucy," Erza added in.
The girls left the apartment, Lucy closing the door behind them. She spun around on her heels and stared at nothing in particular.
The transition from having friends over to being alone was something she could never get used to.
"That was close one," she eventually sighed to Happy, squatting down to his level. "So you were raised by Natsu and Lisanna?"
Happy's black eyes were as inexpressive as they could be, but Lucy pretended she could read them.
"Weird," she ruffled his fur before getting back up.
To pass the time, she took a lengthy shower. She was in the middle of drying her hair with a towel when Natsu entered the apartment.
"Hey," he greeted.
"How was the arcade?" Lucy asked, shuffling to the couch.
"Here you go," he grinned as he handed her several rainbow slinkies.
"What am I going to do with these?" she scrutinized at the slinkies.
"Play with them, of course. What else?" he answered as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
She rolled her eyes as while he went to turn on the TV to play his video game.
"They're fun, aren't they?" Natsu smirked after noticing her playing with the slinky in her hand.
"A little," she muttered.
"Did Lisanna notice anything while she was here?" he leaned into the couch to get comfortable.
Lucy went straight into explaining everything from start to finish. She was out of breath as she viewed Natsu think about the situation.
Since his thinking process was definitely slower than normal, Lucy couldn't help but ask the question that was too thick to swallow down.
"How long have you known Lisanna?"
"For as long as I can remember," he replied. "Lisanna was my first best friend."
"I feel bad for Lisanna," Lucy admitted. "Having to know you for so long must painful—"
"Hey," he frowned, flicking her forehead. "She hasn't complained once."
After several attempts to flick his forehead but only to fail miserably, she stood up from the couch.
"I might ask Lisanna for a secret about you someday," she grinned while going to her bedroom.
"Too bad for you because Lisanna and I swore to never tell each other's secrets," he retorted.
"We'll have to see then," Lucy giggled softly.
"She won't tell you!" Natsu declared.
"We'll have to see," she repeated, simply pushing his buttons. "Goodnight now."
"Goodnight," he turned back around to the TV.
Closing the door behind her, Lucy lied down in her bed and rolled around until she felt comfortable enough to think about what happened that day.
She had somehow managed to get away with the strange coincidences involving Natsu. It was hard to believe Lisanna didn't question any of it.
"Lisanna," Lucy breathed out, recalling all the small stories she shared about Natsu as a child.
The more she thought the stories, the heavier her chest became.
"Am I getting sick?" she wondered, unfamiliar with the feeling.
This heavy feeling was completely foreign. She had never felt something this gloomy before.
"I'm overthinking again," she groaned into her pillow.
Deciding to put on some soft music, Lucy hummed along with the lyrics until she fell asleep. She forced back anything to do with Natsu and Lisanna to the back of her mind.
Whatever that feeling was, she absolutely did not want to feel it again.
But it was no wonder Lucy felt something like that—she was notorious for overthinking about anything and everything, after all.