Oh, so many things I have to say in this A/N! omg let's get started.
First off, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR 1,000 FOLLOWS!
I cannot believe this story was able to get so many follows by everyone, it really means so much! I can't stop staring at it, haha.
And it's crazy that the last chapter got over 100 reviews. You guys are all too much, I love each and every single one of you.
As if I didn't have anything else to cry about, a lovely reader has drawn some fanart for this story!
I've never had anyone draw a scene from my stories before, so it was really awesome to see for the first time. You guys should seriously look at it, it's great!
Here's the link: deviantart/ art/ Living-With-Him-545731164
Remove the spaces and there you go! Thank you, Miriflower27. :')))
I apologize for not updating DWTD on Saturday. I had some stuff come up and I wasn't able to update. Sorry for making you all wait an extra week. ;~;
Okay, that's enough of my announcements. I hope you all like this chapter because too much happens and I'm pumped.
See you next week. ~
It took Lucy several pinches on her arm for her to process Lisanna's secret. Out of all things, this had to be it?
"I knew this was going to happen someday!" Cana boasted with a grin. "Nothing beats childhood friends."
"No way," Lisanna uneasily waved her hands in front of her. "I'm scared to death to tell Natsu how I feel about him."
"It's a good thing the legend exists then," Erza remarked. "If it's true, then everything will surely work out."
"I hope so," Lisanna replied with a modest smile, twirling her thumbs. "Well, that's my secret! Lucy, you go now."
"O-Oh, okay," Lucy blurted out with large eyes. She gulped—her scattered thoughts making her palms damp.
She immediately knew she wasn't going to be able to reveal that she was planning on confessing to Natsu as well. Lisanna was one of her best friends; there was absolutely no way she would be able to do that to her.
Just the thought of liking Natsu when Lisanna had liked him all along made Lucy's stomach flip.
Lucy didn't deserve to like Natsu.
So, with a dry throat, she said the secret that she had been keeping inside of her since the very first day.
"I'm living with Natsu," she revealed slowly.
"You're kidding," Levy whispered with disbelief. "Are you kidding?"
"I wish I was," Lucy's eyes fell to her lap to avoid all the eyes on her. "Natsu and I have been sharing the apartment since I moved in."
"How on earth did that happen?" Erza inquired with a raised eyebrow. "You do know it's illegal for two students to be living together, right?"
Lucy winced, remembering that Erza was the president of student council. Erza had the power to kick Lucy out of school if she wanted to.
"W-We didn't have a choice," she explained in a rush. "We tried to get our own apartments, but there weren't any left. One thing led to another and now we've been living together ever since the day we moved in."
"That's why I always smelled hot sauce," Cana muttered. "I knew something was off."
"You did a good job hiding that from us, Lu-chan," Levy admitted, the girls nodding in agreement.
"I didn't want to lie to you guys!" Lucy instantly proclaimed. "I thought it would be troublesome to let everyone know we were living together."
"Wait," Juvia spoke up. "Lucy has been living with Natsu, but Lisanna?"
"I accidentally found out," Lisanna confessed sheepishly. "I'm okay with it! I know they're not doing anything wrong together. I still like Natsu a lot."
"Thankfully, it's Lucy he's living with," Cana mentioned to Lisanna. "You won't have anything to worry about when you two start dating."
"Natsu and I are just friends, anyway," Lucy forced herself to say. She tried her best to ignore her aching heart that she was sure was going to shatter any minute now.
"See! So it's fine," Lisanna gave a content smile. "There's nothing to worry about! What I do need to worry about is how I'm going to confess to Natsu."
"It'll be successful, according to the legend," Levy reassured.
"Juvia has an idea on how to confess to Natsu!" she declared.
It was then when Lucy couldn't endure the stabbing pain anymore. After hearing the words date and kiss, she knew she had to escape the conversation.
"I'm getting tired now," she faked a yawn. "I'm going to go to sleep."
"We should probably all go to sleep now," Erza agreed. "We'll only be getting seven hours and twenty minutes of sleep."
"Are you one of those people who need exactly eight hours?" Cana scoffed while clicking the light off and placing her lantern into her duffle bag.
"Yes," she answered simply into the dark. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight!" the girls replied in unison.
Shoving her face inside her pillow, Lucy closed her eyes with the most anxiety she had ever felt in her life.
For some reason, even after finding out Lisanna was going to confess, Lucy felt the impulse to tell Natsu her feelings. These bottled up feelings were getting closer and closer to shooting out.
"Maybe I could write him a short letter?" she wondered to herself, turning in her futon in the process.
It was entirely cliché, but it was the only thing she could do, even if it meant betraying her best friend.
Lucy didn't want to think about the consequences of her confession. She forbade herself to think about it.
Perhaps before Lisanna could confess, she may have a short few seconds to hand Natsu her letter to him. Slipping it into his pocket would be sufficient.
And if those few seconds were all she was going to get, Lucy was prepared to take the risk.
"Get up, girls!" Erza yelled exactly seven hours and twenty minutes later.
"Erza, give us a couple more minutes," Cana moaned out, sinking into her futon to hide away.
Lucy rubbed her eyes, feeling as if she hardly received any sleep. She wouldn't be surprised if she didn't; not once did her mind take a break of thinking about the confessions that will happen tonight.
Many shouts and shoves later, the girls shuffled to the main building where breakfast was being served—faint purple bags sat comfortably under their eyes.
"You all look awful!" Gajeel snickered as the girls went past the boys' table to stand in line to get their meal.
"You're just going to let your boyfriend talk to you like that?" Cana nudged Levy with her elbow.
"Shhh, I told you not to say anything!" Levy glanced at Gajeel nervously to see if he heard.
"Juvia hopes her boyfriend will talk to her like that," she pouted unhappily.
The girls sent Juvia a look that was a mixture of disapproval and sympathy.
"Starting tomorrow he definitely will," Lisanna was the only one to reply.
"Lisanna, too!" Juvia assured.
To avoid any extra heartache, Lucy hurriedly served herself her breakfast and strode to the boys' table.
"Good morning," Natsu grinned at her once she sat down across from him.
"Morning," she responded with a strange look.
"Feels weird not being woken up by you," he said, low enough for the boys not to hear.
Lucy swallowed her juice with a tight throat to prevent herself from choking. She shoved her blush away to make sure it didn't surface.
"Did you get to your room okay last night?" she directed the conversation elsewhere.
"He came to our room last night with leaves in his hair," Gray answered for him.
"I almost got caught coming back!" Natsu defended himself. "It was either I get caught, or I jump in a bush."
"You could have hidden behind a wall," Lucy pointed out.
"But I already did that," he protested.
Lucy rolled her eyes with a smile, noticing her friends sliding in the seats beside her.
"Good to see you smiling, Lu-chan!" Levy exclaimed.
"Lucy has been quiet all morning," Juvia stated.
"Are you okay?" Lisanna questioned. "I have medicine back in our room if you need it."
"I'm fine!" Lucy sent them an assuring smile. She forced herself to look at Lisanna, ignoring the shame it brought her. "I didn't notice I wasn't talking."
"How do you not notice something like that?" Gajeel raised a brow.
"She was probably too busy thinking about the cooking class we're taking after this," Levy teased.
Gajeel's crimson eyes widened immediately, returning to his food without another word.
"What else will we be doing today?" Juvia asked.
"Since we have the midnight hike after the campfire tonight, we shouldn't do any hiking," Jellal advised.
Lucy noticed Lisanna become stiff at the word campfire. It wasn't until she felt her hand go numb when she realized she was tense as well.
"We'll figure it out after the class, then," Cana shrugged.
The group returned the nonchalant shrug, eating their breakfast which was served at least three times to the boys.
"You better leave some space in your stomachs for the class," Erza warned, having finished her breakfast ages ago.
"We never get full," Natsu guaranteed with food spewing everywhere. He grinned as Lucy cringed at the sight.
Eventually, after the group realized they were the only ones left eating, they rose from their seats and walked together to the building holding the cooking class.
"Do we really have to go?" Gajeel attempted to stall when they were a few steps away from the door.
"Yep!" Levy took his hand and pulled him inside with her. The girls giggled as they trailed behind them.
Lucy had never felt so eager to cook before once she was given a cute apron and being told she was able to keep it. The boys' reaction was just the opposite.
"What is this?" Gray scrutinized at his flowery apron.
"It looks wonderful on you!" Juvia squealed.
"D-Do they not have plain aprons?" Jellal stammered slightly, noticing Erza observing him.
"Welcome to our cooking class!" a staff member soon stepped inside the building and strutted to the front. "Everyone needs one partner to begin."
Lucy wasn't sure who to look at as everyone hesitantly separated into pairs. However, she didn't need to look at anyone since a warm hand touched her wrist.
"Natsu?" she nearly gasped while he took her to one of the counters. She anxiously flicked her eyes over her shoulder to see who Lisanna ended up pairing with.
"You're with me again," Natsu smirked when he picked a counter for them.
"I'm not going to do all the cooking for you," Lucy said firmly.
"I knew you'd say that," he chuckled. "I promise I'll help."
She sent him a satisfied smile, directing her attention back to their teacher.
"Send one person to the front to get the ingredients!" they instructed.
Lucy waved Natsu off as she followed everyone else to get the ingredients. She didn't waste a second to go up to Lisanna.
"Sorry for ending up with Natsu," she whispered. "Do you want to trade partners?"
"No, that's okay," Lisanna smiled. "I don't want to hurt Cana's feelings."
"I'll make sure you and Natsu get together on the rest of the activities we do today," Lucy promised.
Lisanna's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Lucy!"
Lucy returned her smile, taking her ingredients and going back to her counter with Natsu.
She felt as if her heart was going to burst any moment now—everything that she was doing felt wrong.
But for the time being, she needed to focus on the cooking class.
"We're going to be making pizza from scratch," the teacher spoke, eyes filled with amusement at the simultaneous groans. "Everyone pay close attention to my instructions."
Lucy felt a slight sense of relief; pizza from scratch was surely a piece of cake.
"What do you want me to do?" Natsu asked once the teacher let them loose.
"I have the perfect job for you," she grinned.
Natsu sent her a puzzled look, watching her skillfully create the dough. Each of her movements were incredibly impressive.
"Okay!" she presented while taking a step back. Since she had flour all over hands, she tried her best to blow away a lock of her hair that kept coming back in front of her eyes.
"Here," Natsu offered, reaching out to her and gently placing it behind her ear.
"T-Thanks," she stuttered with tingling cheeks. "Okay, so what I need for you to do now is knead the dough."
"For how long?" he inquired.
"Six to eight minutes," she informed. "You're not allowed to take any breaks!"
"What if I do?" he challenged with eyes following her and viewing her wash her hands.
"You'll be kneading forever," she replied, catching a glimpse of his hands on the dough. "You're kneading it wrong!"
Natsu cocked a brow as she lightly pushed him away and demonstrated the correct way to knead. He couldn't help but admire her skillful hands.
"Six to eight minutes," she repeated after making sure Natsu understood.
"This reminds me of when we used to work at Fairy Tail," he said randomly.
"It reminds me a little of Fairy Tail, too," she agreed with a small smile.
Lucy assumed these six to eight minutes were going to keep Natsu busy; that wasn't the case.
"No more kneading is required," the teacher told him after three minutes.
"What?" Natsu smirked as Lucy sent him a skeptical look. "I'm just that good."
"How did you even do that?" she mumbled, inspecting the dough to make sure the teacher hadn't made a mistake.
"What else do I need to do now?" he questioned with a hint of excitement.
"Can you finish making the pizza sauce?" she requested. "I don't trust you putting the dough into the oven."
"Thanks, Luce," he scoffed, but obediently finished up the sauce for them.
By the time he was finished, Lucy had already slid the pizza dough into the oven for it to bake for ten minutes.
"Now what do we do?" he asked, staring at the dough inside the oven.
"Wait and relax," she answered, leaning back on the counter with her arms crossed.
Of course, waiting wasn't in Natsu's vocabulary—what was in his vocabulary was bother.
"Hey, Ice Princess, how's your pizza coming along?" Natsu walked to his counter and leaned against the edge.
"How's it look like it's going?" he grunted, clearly having problems kneading the dough.
Lucy pressed her lips together to keep herself from laughing. She scanned the counters to look for Levy and Gajeel.
Though Gajeel also seemed to be having problems with his dough, Lucy could tell Levy had everything all under control.
"Are you waiting for your dough, too?" Lisanna questioned, being only two counters behind Lucy.
"Yes," she nodded. "How much longer do you need to wait?"
"We just put it in," Cana explained. "It better come out good because it took a lot of work to knead!"
"Which is why I made Natsu do it," Lucy replied slyly.
"He didn't knead it long, though," Lisanna remarked. "Why is he so good at everything he does?"
"I'm just that good," Natsu repeated as he returned to his counter, beaming. "Nobody will ever be able to knead like me."
"I'm not sure if that's something to be jealous over," Lisanna giggled. Natsu stuck his tongue out in response.
"Can I take out the crust?" he nearly begged with hopeful eyes once the ten minutes were up.
Lucy couldn't refuse his twinkling eyes. Handing him an oven mitt, she took five steps back as a precaution.
"Don't burn yourself," she instructed as if she was speaking to a child.
"Never," he responded while carefully taking out the now light brown crust. He set it on the counter with ease.
"Why do you look so nervous?" he looked at her with amusement.
"You and an oven don't mix well at all," she shuddered to get rid of her nerves. "I think my heart stopped when you opened the oven!"
Lucy felt him laugh behind her as he peeked over her shoulder. If she leaned back an inch, she would be pressing against Natsu's chest. Personal space obviously wasn't in his vocabulary either.
But she couldn't deny it—she enjoyed how close he was to her.
"You can put whatever you want on the pizza," she allowed once she had evenly spread all the pizza sauce.
Natsu didn't hesitate to grab a handful of cheese and sprinkle it all across the pizza. Lucy watched with entertainment as he tossed pepperoni and sausage all over the place.
"Wait!" she shouted, taking his hand and moving it away from the pizza. "You are not allowed to put jalapenos all over the pizza."
"Why not?" he pouted.
"I don't want to burn off my taste buds, Natsu," she scolded.
"Where can I put them, then?" he inquired.
Lucy eyed the pizza, contemplating how much space she should give him. She gave in with a sigh, releasing his hand. "You can only put it on half of the pizza."
"Great!" he cheered.
She already knew that if Natsu tried to return the pizza into the oven, he would most likely drop it before it touched the rack. So to avoid a mess, she gently put the pizza back.
"How long will this take now?" Natsu squatted down to the oven and resumed his staring contest with it.
"Twenty minutes," she responded.
"I can already smell it," he groaned in exaggerated agony.
She was surprised to see him stay with her at their station. She was certain he was going to wander off and pester Gray some more.
The twenty minutes were over as soon as they started. Natsu was about to drool on the pizza until Lucy commanded him to close his mouth.
Despite having breakfast an hour and a half ago, Lucy's stomach growled while slicing the pizza.
"Definitely one of the best pizzas I've had in a long time," the teacher complimented after trying a small slice. "Congratulations!"
"We make a great team," Natsu grinned, lifting his hand up for her.
"For sure," Lucy high-fived him with a matching grin.
It wasn't long until everyone else finished their pizzas; Natsu and Lucy's pizza were the most successful. It was clear by all the complaints being yelled out.
"Juvia's pizza slice is too cold!" Juvia whined.
"Why is this so watery?" Gray frowned.
"Erza, this wasn't supposed to be a dessert pizza," Jellal facepalmed.
"Gajeel, what did you put in here that tastes like metal?" Levy inquired.
"Cana, how much alcohol did you put in here?!" Lisanna exclaimed.
Lucy stifled a laugh at her friends. She proud to say her pizza was entirely delicious.
And since it was made by Natsu as well, she had to admit—it was a little special, too.
The cooking class went on longer than expected, but the group didn't pay too much attention to it.
The vast amount of activities they were able to do throughout the day didn't allow them to look at the time once. And even when their hour long break time started, they still didn't want to stop.
"Well, us girls are going to go back to our room," Lisanna mentioned while the boys were on their way to another activity.
"See ya!" the boys halfheartedly waved them off so they could go on to the next activity.
"Boys," Cana mumbled on the way to their dorm.
The girls' futons instantly lured the girls into them. They comfortably lay in their futons and stared up at the ceiling.
"Okay, girls, I need help," Lisanna stated, sitting up from her futon and crossing her legs.
"Juvia needs help, too!" she proclaimed, mimicking Lisanna's movements.
"With what?" Lucy questioned as she propped herself up with her elbow.
"With our confessions!" Lisanna and Juvia cried in unison.
"The campfire starts in three hours," Levy reported. "You two can do this!"
"You can practice on me if you want," Cana wiggled her eyebrows at them.
"I will take you up on that offer," Lisanna admitted, the anxiety in her voice becoming more noticeable.
It was then when Lucy decided to zone her friends out. Partially because Lisanna and Juvia were getting enough help already; mostly because she needed to write down her feelings down for Natsu.
She was grateful all the attention was being focused on Lisanna and Juvia. If it wasn't, they would surely hear Lucy muttering to herself.
No matter how difficult it was and no matter how awful she felt, Lucy knew she had to write it down. Even if the words I like you looked awkward on the paper, she had to tell Natsu.
Doing something like this made Lucy's chest sting, but she ignored it.
Soon enough, the hour long break came to a close and the girls made their way to the main building to eat dinner.
"Why are you shaking so much?" Natsu asked Lisanna as they ate. "Do you not remember how to use a fork anymore?"
"At least I know how to eat without making a mess!" she countered.
"She's so nervous," Cana snickered beside Lucy.
"Yeah, I can tell," Lucy whispered. By the amount of times Lisanna had dropped her fork on her tray, it was unmistakable how flustered she was becoming.
But little did they know, Lucy was just as jittery.
The rest of dinner was spent reminiscing about the activities they had done earlier in the day. The campfire wasn't brought up once.
That was until Erza and Jellal excused themselves from dinner early.
"We have to go help with the campfire," Jellal said. "See you guys there."
"I want to eat s'mores already," Cana whined.
"Me too," Lisanna nodded in agreement. "S'mores are great!"
"Don't let Flame-brain get too close to the fire," Gray warned everyone.
"Why?" Levy asked.
"He loves fire too much, so he always stands super close to it," Lisanna explained. "He almost got caught on fire last time we made s'mores!"
"I've learned from my mistakes," Natsu defended himself. "Right, Luce?"
Lucy shrugged in response, not knowing how he had learned from mistakes. She felt that Natsu was simply trying to get her into the conversation.
She appreciated the effort, but she wasn't planning on shifting the attention away from Lisanna anytime soon.
"The campfire will begin in five minutes," Erza's voice sounded out from a megaphone.
"That's our cue!" Cana jumped up from her seat. "Let's go."
Lucy viewed Juvia and Lisanna as they walked together, frantically babbling to one another about their upcoming confessions.
Juvia looked more than ready for it, yet Lisanna was at the edge of having a panic attack.
"You'll be okay!" Lucy walked up to her and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "It's going to be successful."
"I hope it does!" she replied restlessly. "Should I start looking for him now?"
Due to the crowd surrounding them, Juvia was no longer beside them.
"Maybe wait a few minutes after the fire is lit up?" Lucy suggested, not paying attention to the pang of betrayal she felt inside of her. These few minutes would give her the chance to give Natsu her confession.
"Yes, it'll give me extra time to rehearse! Thank you so much, Lucy! See you at the hike!" Lisanna began to wave and soon blended in with the crowd.
Lucy let out a heavy sigh, mentally sending Lisanna dozens of apologies for what she was about to do.
She followed the crowd as it circled around the pile of sticks waiting to be lit up. The darkening sky didn't allow her to look for her friends.
"Welcome to our annual campfire!" a staff member announced once all the students were around the circle. "Erza and Jellal have all the items to make the s'mores, if you're interested. If not, please enjoy the campfire! Have fun!"
Getting a box of matches, the staff member began to strike the match against the side. It was as if everyone was holding their breath as they tossed the match onto the sticks.
Lucy watched the flames of the campfire with awe. She could feel the warmth from where she was standing, but she knew she didn't have all night to look at it.
She needed to find Natsu.
Squeezing her way around the crowd, she searched her surroundings for a pink head. The bright fire lit up the entire field. He had to be here somewhere; she just needed to do her best.
There was a flash of pink hair before Lucy's eyes for a mere second. Her breath jumped in her throat when her eyes landed on him by the fire.
She tried not to crumple up the paper holding her confession in her hands too much.
She found him, alone. This was her chance.
But there was someone else who found her.
There was no time to react as Lucy was tugged away by her wrist. Before she realized who the person was, they were already at a secluded area by the edge of the woods. It would be impossible to give Natsu her confession now.
"Gray?" Lucy breathed out. "W-What is it? Where's Juvia?"
"Forget about Juvia just for a second," Gray spoke, a hint of it being a command.
"But she—"
"Lucy, I like you," he interrupted her bluntly.
Lucy froze, her wrist becoming limp in his hold. He released it slowly so it could return to her side with ease.
It took several blinks for his confession to register. She could hear the crackling of the fire beside her.
The feeling that she had dread came true.
"Y-You gave Juvia a chance," Lucy eventually squeaked out. "You two were getting along so well, and I thought you had started to like her!"
"For you!" Gray countered with his voice becoming as loud as Lucy's. "I gave Juvia a chance for you!"
"Do you not understand how misleading that is?" she retorted, feeling a rush of exasperation ripple through her. "Were you trying to lead her on or something?"
"Of course not," he responded with a bewildered expression. "Juvia is nice, but I became friends with her because I couldn't get your words out of my head."
"I knew this feeling would come true," Lucy rubbed her temples with distress, leaning against a tree to calm herself.
"What feeling?" he inquired.
"I had a feeling that you would confess to me and break Juvia's heart."
"D-Don't say that," Gray grumbled, his hand scratching the back of his head. "Juvia knows that I'm confessing to you, anyway."
"She does?!" she exclaimed loudly.
"Yeah," he nodded plainly.
It took a few deep breaths for Lucy to regain her composure. This night was only getting worse by the minute.
Not only might she lose Lisanna; she may also lose Juvia, too.
"She's okay with it," Gray guaranteed after taking a look at her troubled face. "She still wants to be your friend."
If Lucy could have let out any more relieved sighs, she would. But with all the sighs and breaths she'd been taking, she was going to become light-headed.
She pushed herself up from the tree and stood up straight once she had collected her thoughts.
"I appreciate your feelings, but I can't like you."
There was a glint in Gray's eyes that told Lucy he had expected this reply. It made her chest ache for some reason.
Even then, Gray opened his mouth with a steady voice. "Why not? Is there someone else you like?"
A smile danced upon Lucy's lips; she had no idea which world this smile came from.
With a slight shake of her head, she clenched her fists to hide her trembling hands.
"I can't like you because I'm leaving Magnolia."