Guess who's back! ;-)
Whoa, it's almost been a month since I've updated! How are you guys? Are you okay? Do you remember me? Should I introduce myself again? I'll do a small introduction to remind you guys.
Hi, my name is Ame and I've been in school for three days and I am already suffering.
Being a junior is probably the hardest thing I've done yet haha and I'm already getting loads of homework! Though I hate all this work, I know I'm going to be missing high school as soon as I graduate.
When do you guys start school? If you've started already, I am so sorry and I hope we all survive this year.
So I hate to say my updates will be later than usual since I'm in school again.
I've missed you guys so much, and thankfully, time flew just as fast as I wanted it to. You guys have no idea how long I've been wanting to write this chapter. :3 It took me a week to write, so I hope you guys like it!
Thank you all for the birthday wishes earlier this week! I'm really surprised you guys remembered!
Well, I can feel everyone waiting for me to update at this moment omfg so I'll end the A/N here.
Thank you so so much for 2000 reviews and almost 1200 follows! :') See you guys next week! Glad to be back!
Lucy couldn't remember the last time she had woken up this early on a weekend. She was sure it wasn't even past eight in the morning.
But with all the thoughts swarming through her head, she just wasn't able to sleep. After uselessly rolling around in her bed for a few minutes to get comfortable, she decided to get it over with and heave herself out of bed. The morning shadows were too bright for her eyes, anyway.
Creeping out of her room as silently as she could, she was able to hear Natsu's light snores coming from the other side of the wall. It was soothing, somehow.
"Morning, Happy," she smiled at the blue feline sleeping on the couch. Happy snuggled closer to Kemokemo in response.
Since everyone was fast asleep, she felt a sudden urge to make a large breakfast. Not only was she feeling hungrier than usual, but she wouldn't mind seeing Natsu's eyes light up at the feast in the kitchen.
Lucy moved instinctively as she made whatever came to her mind. Of course, she relied on her mother's recipes that Natsu loved to no end.
She was only halfway into making breakfast when a door creaked open.
"Why are you awake so early?" Natsu yawned out, his hand scratching his stomach as always.
"Why are you awake so early?" Lucy incredulously countered from the kitchen. "You're supposed to be asleep for the next two hours."
"I smelled food," he responded simply. "Was I not supposed to wake up?"
"D-Doesn't matter to me," she stammered slightly, receiving a strange look from him.
"Right," he scoffed before entering the bathroom and shutting the door behind him.
Lucy coughed to clear her dry throat, returning to making breakfast. She wasn't expecting Natsu to be awake this early, and it made her incredibly nervous.
"Your fingers look like sausages," Natsu remarked once he had gotten settled onto the couch. The TV began to light up and he turned on his video game.
"Don't look at them!" she exclaimed while hiding her hand away. Natsu sent her a grin.
"Does it hurt?" he asked with a hint of genuine concern in his voice.
"It could be worse," she confessed. The only time it did hurt was when she bumped it against something. Other than that, she forgot her fingers were still swollen from playing air hockey.
"Should I help you with breakfast?" he offered.
"Are you sure you want to stop playing your video game?" she inquired.
"I don't, but I don't want you to force yourself to make breakfast either," he replied smoothly.
Lucy felt herself squeak. Did she even have a right to be cared about? Natsu should be caring about his girlfriend, not her.
"It'll be fine," she assured with a tight voice. Before he could say anything else, she whipped back around and went back to cooking. She was relieved when Natsu made no effort to go up to her and help.
Letting her empty stomach lead her was both a good and bad idea. An hour and a half later, Lucy had made enough food for at least ten people.
"Thanks, Luce!" Natsu cheered as he instantly drizzled his hot sauce over everything.
"Why did I make so much food?" she mumbled to herself, putting what she wanted on her plate.
"Who knows, but I wouldn't mind if you did it every day," he spoke while shoving a whole waffle in his mouth.
Lucy cringed at the always distasteful sight, but couldn't stop herself from giggling at his liveliness. Natsu truly was his happiest when he was eating food.
"So, are you ready to dress up as a girl during the festival?" she questioned with amusement.
Natsu was the one to wince this time. "Do I really have to?"
"Absolutely," she nodded. "When do you want to see your outfit?"
"Never," he muttered as he crammed more food inside his mouth.
Lucy grinned—once she started to tease him, she couldn't get enough. The pout that danced across his lips always made her want to laugh.
"It's going to be great seeing you in a—"
"Don't say it!" he cut her off.
"In a—"
"Luce," he childishly whined out, slouching in his seat with his predicted pout.
Lucy couldn't suppress her laughs as she tipped her head back to laugh even harder. She held onto her stomach once it began to ache. By the time she was finished, her cheeks were completely flushed. Natsu looked at her with a blank expression, the edges of his lips twitching.
"It's going to be great seeing you in a girl's outfit," Lucy eventually stated with a content smile when she ran out of laughter.
"I'm going to get you back one day," he proclaimed with a fork being pointed her way for emphasis. "Next school festival, for sure."
"Good luck," she hummed carefreely.
Even though there were piles of food, it was gone in minutes; Natsu and Lucy stayed at the kitchen table longer than they usually would. Lucy was sure Natsu was staying because it was early in the morning so they might as well waste time talking to each other.
But she knew she was only staying because she wanted to keep talking to him for as long as she could.
However, like always, time passed too quickly when they were together.
Their conversation ended up getting interrupted by Natsu's ringing phone. The hesitation in both of their eyes was crystal clear.
"Hey, Lisanna," he answered the phone after Lucy had convinced to accept the call in front of her.
Lucy listened quietly, being able to hear Lisanna's cheerful voice inside of the phone. Her stomach churned, but she ignored it.
"Lisanna wants to go out with me somewhere," Natsu revealed once the call ended.
"Have fun with her," Lucy smiled at him. "I'll see you later."
Natsu nodded, pushing his seat back and getting up. He opened his mouth to say something, yet he ended up closing it shut and keeping his thoughts to himself.
Lucy had noted that Natsu never dressed up for dates, so she wasn't surprised to see him in an extremely wrinkled shirt as he left. Though she was sure Lisanna didn't mind what kind of clothes he wore in the first place.
"See you later," he spoke, opening the door.
"Tell Lisanna I said hi," she waved goodbye.
The moment Natsu closed the door, Lucy let out a sigh. The feeling that surfaced in her chest after Natsu was always the worst. She sat in her seat in silence, contemplating if she should wash the dishes first or do something else.
She perked up in her seat when the door began to unlock by itself.
"Natsu?" she tilted in her head with a puzzled expression.
"Hey," he breathed out.
"What is it?" she questioned curiously, noticing his chest falling and rising rapidly.
"It looks like there's going to be a storm," he continued to breathe heavily. Once he caught up with his breaths, he swallowed. "The clouds are darker than usual."
"Did you come back here just to say that?" she asked with a laugh at the back of her throat.
"I wanted to let you know," he said plainly, though it was obvious he felt sheepish.
Lucy's chest became warm in seconds. She didn't deserve this. "Okay, thank you for letting me know!"
"You can hug Happy if you get scared," he grinned. "Now, I'll see you later."
Getting a grin in return, Natsu shut the door and left Lucy alone once again. But this time, Lucy felt much happier. She nearly wanted to scream at herself for getting so giddy at something small like this.
"I guess I'll wash the dishes, then," she whispered to herself, rising from her seat. Yet she didn't get very close to the sink due to her phone vibrating on the table.
Lucy's eyes widened the instant they landed on the caller ID. With an accelerating heartbeat, she brought the phone up to her ear.
"Hey, Mom," she mumbled slowly.
Lucy listened intently to her mother's voice, not missing a single word. The more her mother talked, the tighter her fist became. It was the only thing she could do to express how the call—and her mother—was making her feel.
"Okay," she responded once her mother was finished explaining everything. She glanced at Happy roaming into Natsu's room. "Let me get ready right now, and then I'll be on my way. See you soon."
Listening to her mother end the call, Lucy stared at the table until she knew she needed to go.
Then, without another word, she placed her dish in the sink and wordlessly went to her bedroom.
To Gray, working at the convenience store had its pros and cons.
One pro was that he could eat any snack he wanted as long as the customers didn't see. Another pro was that he got paid for simply shelving items and occasionally helping out customers. The last pro was that he could talk to Juvia almost the entire day.
Other than that, working at the convenience store was mainly a drag—especially when Juvia wasn't working the same shift as him.
Today was one of those days.
"You look gross," Gajeel snickered while he meandered past him in one of the aisles.
"Shut up," Gray retorted. "I'm just bored. Aren't you bored of working here every day?"
"Not really," Gajeel shrugged half-heartedly. "I like the money and the breaks."
"The manager is going to catch you and Levy someday," Gray warned.
"Won't happen," Gajeel called out, going off into the back area where he had his secret time with Levy.
Gray scoffed under his breath, returning to fixing the cans on the shelves. It was a tedious job, but it had to be done.
"This sucks," he grumbled to himself.
He never noticed just how lonesome work could be without Juvia. Despite her being creepy at first, there was something about her that made him want to talk to her more, and more, and more. He enjoyed the late night conversations he had with her, the way her eyes lit up when he said her name, her brilliant smile, her—
"Gray, what are you doing?" a voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"S-Sorry, manager," he coughed out, realizing he zoned out and began his embarrassing habit.
"You always unbutton your shirt at the most random times," the manager muttered mostly to themself before walking back to the front counter.
Gray sighed heavily, leaning back against a shelf. Folding his arms across his chest, he closed his eyes for a small break. It wasn't until his arms fell back down and he subconsciously touched his phone in his pocket once he remembered.
"I haven't really thought about Lucy today," he mumbled.
It was odd—Lucy was almost always the first one on his mind. Usually, he'd steal a glimpse out the window of the store in hopes that she would come and buy something since she lived so close. But recently, the only person he wanted to come in was Juvia.
Maybe this was the progress Juvia had mentioned once.
Nonetheless, Gray removed his phone from his pocket and sent his daily text to Lucy. He couldn't progress that fast. And anyway, it comforted him to know that she was still here in Magnolia.
He stared at his phone screen after he sent his message. Lucy didn't respond immediately like Juvia did, but she didn't take more than ten minutes to reply.
So when ten minutes passed by and Lucy still hadn't replied, a pit of worry entered Gray's stomach. Even after thirty minutes there wasn't a response.
"Something's not right…" his voice trailed off, commanding himself to not overthink the situation.
Texting her a second time just in case, the pit in his stomach expanded when an hour had went by and there was still no reply. His thumbs trembled as they slid all over the screen so he could text her again.
"Where are you going so fast?" Gajeel asked as they went to the backroom once their shift was over.
"I have somewhere I need to go," Gray answered hastily, not wasting a second to take his belongings from his work locker and speed out of the room.
Ignoring the chilly air stinging his face, Gray sprinted to Lucy's apartment. Something was not right and it wouldn't be right until he talked to Lucy. Or saw her, at least.
Since the apartment was so close to the convenience store, it took Gray less than a minute to reach her front door. He rapidly knocked on the door, yelling out, "Lucy, are you there? It's Gray!"
Like with the text messages, Gray was only given silence as a response.
"What the hell?" he grunted as his knocks came to a stop. Knowing that he would only be lucky if this actually worked, he reached for the doorknob. His breath went still while the knob started to turn.
"Don't you guys know it's unsafe to keep the door unlocked?" he raised his voice while entering the vacant apartment. "Hello? Is anyone here?"
Gray scanned the apartment, noticing Happy poke his head out of Natsu's bedroom. Once their eyes connected, Happy went back inside.
Gray took cautious steps throughout the apartment as though he was afraid he was going to wake someone up. His heart was pounding in his ears. Though he knew the owners of the apartment, he felt as if he was intruding somehow. But he immediately shrugged it off after remembering the countless amount of times Natsu barged into his home.
It didn't take long for Gray's eyes to fall onto Lucy's closed door. He hesitated, not sure if he should give in to his thoughts.
Would it be wrong to go inside there without permission? He didn't feel comfortable going inside of a girl's room without her knowing. What if she was sleeping? He didn't want to wake her up and be called a pervert for watching her sleep. Which he wasn't going to do—of course.
"I-I haven't tried calling her yet," he realized.
Every part of him wished that he would hear her phone ring inside of her room, but the only ringing he could hear was the one coming from his phone. He didn't know what to think when he was directed to her voicemail.
Never having to leave a voicemail for anyone before, Gray opened his dehydrated mouth.
"Lucy, you need to call me back now," he ordered firmly. "Call me back as soon as you get this."
Gray wasn't able to keep still as he impatiently waited for Lucy to return his call. He checked the bathroom and Natsu's room multiple times as if she would randomly pop up. By the time he was fed up with checking, he was no longer wearing a shirt or pants.
And to make matters worse, he was positive Kemokemo's eyes were following his every move.
"You look too weird, sorry," he murmured to Kemokemo while turning his face into the couch.
Plopping down in the chairs at the kitchen table, his right leg bounced without a second thought. No matter how many times he told himself to stop, his eyes kept landing onto Lucy's door.
"If I call her, and she doesn't answer, I'm going in," he stated with a shaky breath.
Gray didn't know what to say when he was sent to voicemail once again. He hung up before the beep sounded.
Rising from his seat, he shuffled to her room. He was only going to take a peek. He forbade himself from taking more than three steps inside. It was going to be like he never decided to look.
"Here goes," he readied himself, placing his hand on the knob. It only took one flimsy turn for him to jerk his hand away as though he had put it on a scalding hot stove.
He heard Happy mockingly meow behind him. Gray frowned at the cat.
"I'm not stalling!" he proclaimed loudly out of frustration. "Wait, why am I talking to you?"
Turning back around to the door, he gave out another sigh.
"There better be a suitcase on her bed," he said under his breath. "There better be a suitcase on her bed."
Repeating those words over and over while he finally started to turn the knob, he shoved the door open and stepped inside.
One step was all it took for him to stop.
The suitcase he wished for was nowhere in sight. What was, was the only thing he wished to not see—a folded piece of paper on her bed.
"She didn't," Gray breathed out in disbelief. He began to take a step to the note, but after remembering his policy, he froze. He knew he didn't need to see the note; he knew exactly what it said. He could already see all the goodbyes she had written for everyone.
He could feel his heart clench.
"This can't be happening!" he groaned as he went back outside her room, accidentally slamming the door.
His erratic thoughts were going absolutely everywhere. He couldn't believe it—Lucy couldn't have left, right? She wasn't the type of person to do that. Yet the note on her bed told him otherwise.
Gray was in the midst of breaking out into a cold sweat when he hurriedly took out his phone and dialed the only person who would know what to do. He wouldn't be surprised if he reacted just like he did.
If not, worse.
Natsu still wasn't used to the cold weather that had officially came over Magnolia. So when he met up with Lisanna in a simple t-shirt, he watched her gape at him.
"You're going to get sick if you don't start wearing sweaters!" she instantly scolded.
"I never get cold, remember?" he remarked with a smirk. "I don't need anything like that."
"So unfair," she pouted, aware of his unnatural body temperature.
"What do you want to do today?" he inquired while bringing his hands up behind his head. They aimlessly walked through the streets, glancing at every other store.
"L-Let's go get something to eat," she suggested, her voice wavering ever so slightly.
Natsu quirked a brow in her direction, but his thoughts went elsewhere. His stomach felt much heavier than usual due to Lucy's savory food he wished he could eat again. Though he would probably get the worst stomachache, he would eat more if he could.
"I'm not really hungry," he stated plainly.
Lisanna's eyes widened for a second before she shook her head. "You don't have to get anything, then."
Natsu shrugged in agreement, his thoughts still circling around Lucy's food. It didn't take much for his thoughts to solely focus on Lucy. He was already starting to think of all the ways he could tease her when he goes home.
"Natsu?" Lisanna's voice poked inside of his mind.
"What?" he questioned, hardly realizing they were sitting down. Did she already order something? Did he subconsciously order something, too? He wasn't sure.
"Are you okay? You're not paying attention today," she said cautiously. Concern filled her eyes as she looked at him.
Natsu blinked several times to get away from his trance. However, he wouldn't have minded staying in his Lucy trance just a little longer.
"Sorry," he cleared his throat. "I was thinking about my new video game."
A small smile swept across Lisanna's lips. "What kind of game is it?"
"It has dragons, of course," he grinned.
"We haven't played video games together in a long time," she pointed out. "I should come over sometime!"
"Lucy isn't good at playing the game at all. I bet you'd beat her," he chuckled at the memory of her swiftly pressing each button on the controller. Yet whatever she did only made her player's health drop until it finally hit zero.
Lisanna's face fell as he laughed to himself, but she shoved her thoughts away before he could see her expression.
"Is she really that bad?" she laughed weakly.
"Really bad," he nodded. "One time, we had to go back to the beginning of the game because the dragons were easier to kill. Lucy can never get passed level 10."
"I'm sure I'm not any better than her," she admitted, pausing for a few seconds too long. Her gaze then fell to her lap. "Hey, Natsu—"
"You two could go against each other and see who wins," he suggested, not letting her have a chance to speak. "Lucy's weakness is—"
"Natsu," Lisanna interrupted him sharply.
"What?" he asked. "Lucy really won't mind—"
"Natsu," she repeated with a hand lifted in the air to stop him.
Natsu immediately caught on to her stern tone. He closed his mouth, wondering what she was going to say next.
"Can I ask you a question?" Lisanna eventually questioned. It was obvious she was feeling nervous.
"Sure," he nodded.
It was silent for so long, Natsu was about to ask Lisanna if she forgot that she had a question she needed to ask. But before he could speak, she did.
"Would you rather move out of your apartment or break up with me?" she blurted out.
Natsu stopped at the question. He and Lisanna shared blank stares as they processed what had been asked.
"W-What are you talking about?" Natsu's brows furrowed in confusion. "Are we playing 'would you rather?' because I don't—"
"Natsu, answer the question," Lisanna pleaded with a trembling voice.
Natsu's leg instantly started to bob under the table. He was more of a two lies and one truth kind of person, but that wasn't the point.
"Uh," he stammered out, feeling tongue-tied. "This is just a joke, right?"
His heart hammered in his chest once Lisanna shook her head. She wanted him to respond to this question seriously?
"I'm being serious," she whispered. "Will you move out?"
"I like living with Lucy," he protested. "I don't want to stop living with her. Happy doesn't want to move out either."
"You living with Lucy has made me feel really self-conscious, you know?" Lisanna gave out a nervous laugh, bashfully scratching her cheek. She averted her gaze as she spoke. "Every night, I can't stop myself from thinking of what you two are doing together. It's about to drive me crazy."
"Lisanna, don't make me answer this question," Natsu stated roughly.
"Answer it," she ordered. "Lucy is my best friend, but I can't take this feeling anymore! If you don't stop living with her, I'm going to break up with you. I really don't want to do this, but I really don't want to be feeling like this either."
The two were silent for a moment. Neither of them wanted to be the first to talk through the tension. It was unbearable, although plenty of people were in the restaurant they were at.
Natsu clenched and unclenched his hands a few times. Despite not knowing how to react to the question, finding the answer was surprisingly easier than he thought. It was simple, obvious, a no brainer.
It was natural.
Natsu took a deep breath, gathering up the courage to break the silence. However, the ringing of his phone beat him to it.
So he could unadmittedly stall for a couple of more minutes, Natsu held his phone against his ear.
"Gray, I'm going to have to call you back," he said.
"No, Natsu. You need to get to your apartment quickly," Gray commanded in a rush.
"Why? What's up?" Natsu inquired. This tone of Gray's was rare—he only ever used it if there was an emergency. And he actually said his name and not the usual nicknames he had for him.
Something surely wasn't right.
"You need to come here as fast as you can," Gray spoke breathlessly. "Ugh, I'm starting to feel sick."
"Why do you need me to come so bad?" Natsu demanded. "Is everything okay? Is Lucy okay?"
Natsu could hear Gray inhale deeply into the phone. He was expecting Gray to start laughing and reveal he was playing a joke, but it never came. What did come made Natsu's body become ice cold.
"Lucy is gone."